LOVE, LEIA (letters to tom) • Tom Holland au •

SIX

Leia was terrified. She was terrified to even leave the school campus. After her mother called her earlier that day, telling her that her sister would be picking her up, she'd been so hesitant to leave. She was unsure of how to approach her sister for not only has she not seen her for three years but that she has chosen to leave Leia and her mother to go and live with their father, who was clearly in the wrong. Leia had an overwhelming rollercoaster ride of emotions.

But even though she really wasn't ready to face her sister yet, she also could never let her mother down. She clutched her books against her chest in a tight grip before taking a deep breath as she walked towards the familiar red Honda civic. Her stomach felt like a butterfly garden, and that wasn't really a good thing either.

"Hey there, little sister." Her sister, Keliana, greeted as she rolled the car window down. "Get in"

"Well, aren't you very warm and welcoming" Keliana joked, noticing Leia's oddly silent state.

"What are you doing here, keli?" Leia asked, a frown on her face. "Don't even say that you're here to see mom because we both know that's not the case" she spoke sadly.

It's been five years since Leia's father left them, only going back once to take Keliana with him. It broke Leia's heart to see that her father and his family were living the life that Leia and her mother were promised. It broke her heart even more to see that her mother was so broken because of it. To be left by your husband (whom you love with all your heart) is terrible, but to have your daughter be taken away from you is far more worse, even more so when she happily obliged to be taken. Which is why Leia had sworn to herself that she would be by her mother's side up until her last breath.

"You want to go straight to the point, huh?" Keliana sighed, halting the car on a red light. "Father wants me to take you with me. He wants you to live there with us."

Leia's eyes went wide as she heard the words come out of her sister's mouth. She was shocked. She was scared. She was heartbroken and angry.

"No" she spoke sternly, making Keliana glance at her quickly, not expecting Leia to decline the offer without a second thought.

"We both know you can't say no, Leia." Her sister pulled up on their driveway. "Even if you wanted to, dad would only take this to court and it's very obvious who'd win custody."

"I'm not going anywhere without my mother, Keli. Haven't you and father caused enough damage to this family?" Leia's voice raised, which never really happens. Leia never liked arguments and she had always kept to herself, but this was an exception. Her patience was wearing off with every word that left her sister's mouth.

"think about it, Leia. Our life would be so much better with dad. Your life would be so much better. I mean look at mom, she's a mess. Do this for your future." Leia could not believe what she was hearing. She couldn't believe that the person she was talking to was her sister. She could not believe the nerve that Keliana had to speak of her mother so negatively.

"Listen to yourself, Keli. Do you really think that I'd want to live a life like yours?" She shook her head before collecting her things, pausing for a second to take a glance at her sister, saying: "I'm staying here with my mother. If you have nothing but sadness to bring upon her, then you can leave."

'Upset' was an understatement to how Leia felt. Her sister was nothing like she remembered she'd be.

She watched as her sister drove away, sighing to herself.

"how heartless could she be?" she thought.

Leia entered their house and was surprised to see that her mother was already standing there with a frown on her face, for once outside of her room.

"she left again, didn't she?" her mom asked, teary eyed.

"we have each other, mom. that's all that matters" Leia smiled weakly as she enveloped her mother in a hug