Across fictive worlds

Chapter 3

Leia POV

The night after Leia's first date with Edward, she met Bella again. She felt the weight of the future, of fate itself heavy on her shoulders and was terrified her feelings for Edward would eventually drive her down the same path of insanity her biological father had taken. She saw so many similarities between them already. The lowly slave boy falling for the queen, so similar to the fugitive falling for an idealized magical creature from a fantasy world. Then there were the mood swings, worse than any pregnant female and just how quickly she fell in love so deeply. It had only been a month since she came to this world and already she never wanted to leave it again. Even if that meant never seeing her real parents again. Never guiding her people the way they deserved. Never getting to know her own twin brother.

What she wanted, needed now the most was reassurance. Permission. Leia did feel guilty for leaving her old life behind but she couldn't bear the thought of parting from Edward. If she switched back now there was no telling if she could ever come back.

... Was this what Vader had felt like when he kept his marriage a secret from the Jedi? This yearning for a friend mixed with ugly jealousy, was that what he'd felt for Obi-Wan Kenobi?

She knew if she wanted to commit to Edward she had to tell him the truth about her. He would find out eventually if she slipped up in her thoughts. Edward... would understand, wouldn't he? He wouldn't think her crazy? He was part of the supernatural world himself! He wouldn't blame her for taking the real Bella from him, would he? He never met her and he loved her now, he said so.

But the more Leia's love grew the more she was terrified that Bella would one day demand her life back. If that happened, did she have the right to deny her? Wasn't it unfair to force her to fight her war while she stole her family? Bella was the main character in her own story. Leia was just the tag-along, the female representation, the spare. The last hope if the best hope failed.

Such feelings of inferiority were new to the proud princess and she didn't like it at all. For once she understood the constant self doubt book-Bella had suffered from. She needed a friend to talk to, someone who knew her secret, someone to tell her that she was allowed to feel this way. But that friend was also the source of many of her worries.

So Leia sat down on her bed in the tiny apartment she shared with Charlie, who had exchanged his wheelchair for crutches only recently (by the stars how would she explain that to Bella?). She immersed herself in the Force, doing her very best to remain calm and not be driven by her intense need for guidance. She thought of Bella and only Bella, her friend and sister, who'd given her so much. She didn't fall asleep this time. The blue, translucent specter of Bella Swan just appeared before her, like a Force ghost.

"Bella!"

"Leia!"

"It's so good to see you!"

The two girls looked at each other, deeply moved by the reunion and holding themselves back from hugging each other and accidentally switching universes.

"H-How are you doing?" Leia asked past the giant lump in her throat.

"Oh, I'm good! I'm doing good. I've been taking shooting lessons and piloting lessons and Luke has been helping me - Luke Skywalker, that's one of the main protagonists of-"

"I know", Leia said quietly. "I... I've seen the movies. Well, the first six that is."

"O-Oh..." Bella's face fell. "Then you know..."

"I know", she said quietly.

Unexpectedly, Bella suddenly teared up.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Leia! I really should've told you sooner - right from the start! I don't even know why I kept it from you, I thought... There was so little time, I thought, and you didn't want to stay and - I'm so sorry." She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I... I was just being selfish, I guess. When you made that offer to switch... I wanted that so much. But... But this is our family. It's like the most important family in the whole galaxy too. I don't really have a right to interfere with it..."