Author's Note: Originally published on my Archive of Our Own account.

Chapter 1:

Universe 1 – 11 ABY

For so long, thirty-year-old Leia Organa-Solo had longed for ordinary life. In the past five years she finally started to feel normal again. Ever since the Empire faced a huge blow at Endor and the Alliance's Council started to arrest former high-ranking officers for the Empire.

But her life continued to move forward and soon another roadblock hit each time she experienced a few days of normalcy. The current dilemma was preparing to become the Chief of State for the New Republic. In only five days, Leia was going to take the mantel from the current leader, Mon Mothma.

For the past few days, that was all Leia thought about. But today, was different.

Today, as Leia braided her hair, she thought about the re-occurring dream that she had yet again the night before.

In this dream, she saw a younger version of herself going through the motions of a life as a farm-hand at Tatooine. She could still feel the sand caking her skin and the sweat rushing down her skin from the vivid dream.

As Leia tied her hair together, she remembered the realistic feelings that embraced her skin. The stench of womp rats and from fumes of burning oil.

Leia could feel the girl's desperation to leave the planet and the girl's boredom toward the repetitive lifestyle.

Leia finished adjusting her hair into a braided arch. She decided that the dream had to be another force sensitive problem that she would need to talk about with her twin brother Luke Skywalker the next time he called. Maybe Luke would have read stories about the force allowing people like them to dream about alternate versions about themselves.

For the past year, Luke had spent his time exploring the galaxy for potential places to start a new Jedi Academy. He was currently in some backwater planet near Kamino. According to one of the Jedi scrolls he found, the place contained an ancient Jedi temple from many centuries ago. The building was supposed to be deep underground. Leia was sure Luke was more busy digging than finding any new information about Jedi.

"Mama." A bright young voice cried. Her son, Ben Solo, came running into her room. He was tall for his young age of five. He already reached her shoulders. Soon, he would tower over her. "Look what I just did."

He raised his hands upwards and, across the room, her jewelry box open. With a flick of his lumpy hand, he started lifting the jewelry up in the air and the jewelry began to jump around the room. "I got R2 and Threepio to spin too. Look."

He raced back out. Leia smiled, knowing that he never once doubted that she would follow. Mornings like these were almost perfect because she could watch her son happily run around the house as he demonstrated his newest interests. Practicing his powers was his favorite activity ever since Luke began to train him about using the Force during a visit a few months before.

The only thing that stopped this from being a perfect morning was her husband, Han Solo, not being around to enjoy it; he was still out on a smuggling job. He said he would be back a few days ago, but he was delayed after a fight with some bounty hunters at a bar.

Once she exited her room, Leia heard Threepio's exasperated voice. "Master Ben, I ask that you put me down at once. You're shriveling up my circuits." Ben was twirling Threepio and R2 around in circles.

"Wow!" Leia cheered for her son. "Excellent job, Ben."

"Thank you, Mama," Ben squealed.

"But I think it's time that you let Threepio and R2 go. They had enough excitement for one morning."

"Fine." Ben pouted, but lowered the droids down slowly as Threepio cheerfully thanked Leia.

Ben loved the droids too much to hurt them purposely. Her husband's screwdrivers and other random tools, however, were another story. Ben often broke them apart out of anger towards Han's frequent absences.

"Now, sweetheart, sit down while I make breakfast" Leia told Ben. Instinctively, Leia felt his annoyance at her request. "How does eggs sound?"

"Yes! Yes!" Ben told her cheerfully. Beneath his exuberance, Leia recognized some darkness from the Force rubbing off from him.

It was likely nothing. Just her overreacting to her fear that Han would continue to miss most of his son's growing up if he continued to spend most of his time out on jobs. Ben would tell her if something was bothering him.

Ben's big ears perked up as she placed some eggs and orange juice in front of him. He babbled along about his school friends as they ate breakfast. He finished with saying, "And Aaron say he never, ever, ever be locked in bacta tank again. No more yucky water ever."

Leia laughed. "I'm sure he'll change his mind after spending one day hurting after he falls from something again."

"I know. He idiot," Ben exclaimed.

"Ben. We don't use that word. That's not nice," Leia reprimanded.

"Mama." Ben stuck out his tongue. "He is."

"Ben." Leia paused for effect. "It's more important to be nice when talking about people than to be right."

"Fine." Ben shouted. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right, darling." Leia then grabbed their dishes. "Now, grab your bag. We need to get to school."

Since Leia worked in New Republic's headquarters in Chandrila, Ben attended Hanna City Elementary; much to his chagrin. Ben would often complain about the other kids and the teachers forcing him to participate in pointless activities like coloring and playing dive ball.

Leia liked living in Chandrila. It's calm seas reminded her of the lakes she used to swim in at her home world Alderaan. The main difference was the lack of clouds, the many steep hills and the cooler climate.

"I don't wanna," Ben was now complaining. "I wanna stay with you."

"You know I need to go to work, sweetheart." Leia lowered herself to his level. "And schools not that bad. You'll get to see Aaron, James and all your other friends."

"They annoying. Talk, talk, talk." Ben gripped.

Leia patted his head and Ben squirmed. "You don't mean that. You'll feel differently once you're off playing with them."

Ben pouted again. He loved doing that when she convinced him to do something against his will, which was pretty much twenty times a day.

"Okay-y-y, I go."

"Glad to hear," Leia said cheerfully. "Now go and get your stuff."

Ben stomped over to his room and slammed the door shut. Leia could hear Ben frantically stuffing in materials in his bag. He always did like to leave things to last minute. Much like his father.

Yet again, Leia felt a flicker of cold darkness coming off him in the Force. It was likely nothing. It was simply her mind playing tricks. Her son was not dark.

Leia spent most of her day looking over paperwork in her office. It was a thankless task; boring and repetitive. But she needed to do it. In a few days, Leia was going to be in charge of the Senate and it needed to remain successful more than anything. Leia knew she was the right person to address the plethora of concerns across the galaxy. Most of all, Leia needed to remain on top of her responsibilities to prepare to speak out against her dissenters; mostly former Empire loyalists.

On days like these, where she was stuck doing busywork, Leia longed for the days of fighting against the Empire. She remembered the joy she felt when going on secret missions for her parents. She longed for the endless discussions she had with Mon Mothma and other Alliance leadership about battle strategies against the Empire. She yearned to be back on life and death missions with Luke and Han.

Someone knocked on her door. Her colleague Doman Beruss came in. She was from Cornellian like her husband. She had short blond hair and wide blue eyes.

"Senator Organa, I'm sorry to disturb you." Beruss began.

Leia knew that was a lie. Beruss enjoyed blocking many of her past proposals. "How may I help you?"

"A representative from Lothal has requested a meeting with you and Mon Mothma. He didn't say much about why. It likely is another Imperial refugee request for assistance. After what they did under Imperial leadership, though, I think that they don't deserve another credit."

"I shall look over their request, if that is the case. Lothal might have grounds for further assistance. The Empire damaged Lothal a great deal more than any other planet."

"Besides Alderaan," Beruss said bluntly. "Which received a worst punishment. You're planet's refugees never rigorously followed Imperial doctrine."

"Yes. That is true." Leia inwardly squirmed. How dare she! Who did she think she was! "Tell Mon Mothma and the rep that I'll be over in a few minutes."

"Are you all right? You are looking a little frail."

"I'm fine. Now, are you going to comply with request or are we going to have a problem."

Beruss nodded. "It's in Room 9C. I hope it goes well."

"I know were Mon's office is," Leia snapped. She could only hold in her temper for so long.

Leia sighed in relief after the woman left. Why did she have to work with so many politicians? They all believed that they were right about everything and had to pretend to care while sharing obnoxious references to past horrors.

After double-checking her current organization of piles of paperwork and locking the papers in her desk drawer, Leia headed over to Mon Mothma's office.

Mon Mothma was talking to a tall Zabrak in Zabraki with a little help from a protocol droid who translated some of the hard to understand words.

"Thisska Princess Leia, misza." The Zabrak greeted her, his bright blue eyes stared intently on her. Typical Beruss, judging someone based on what planted they represented. If Beruss took the time to review Zabrak history, she would know that Zabraks were among the first to join the Alliance for help against the Empire. "Hai m pakata chu maska."

The protocol droid translated, robotic and to the point. A far cry from Threepio's amusing voice. "Welcome, Princess Leia, your excellency. You are more beautiful than any description."

"Erita," Leia said gracefully, providing the Zabraki word for 'thanks.' The only word she knew. "I look forward to hearing your proposal."

As the protocol translated, Leia took a seat across from the Zabrak. He had the typical small horns and artistic tattoos coloring his face. He was on the darker side of the Zabrak spectrum with dark purple hair.

Soon, after a bit of back and forth, Leia found out that the Zabrak's name was Sumi. Leia learned that Sumi had not come to request assistance for Lothal refugees. Instead, the Zabrak came to show Leia and Mon Mothma a stone he found many years ago and had kept throughout the years. He had talked with a friend in Lothal about the stone and its mysteries. Apparently, it was originally from Dathomir and Sumi believed it held great importance to the Nightsisters, a coven of female, Dark-sided Force users.

"Hai mi Luke Skywalker umitite traika umiwika erka oppomari. Ka hai rallask irta erka mikkomari?"

"I heard you are a friend important to Luke Skywalker who looks for Jedi artifacts. Do you think he like a Sith artifact?"

Most of the world only knew of Leia and Luke as close friends because they decided to keep their siblinghood a secret.

Sumi placed a tablet in front of her. It was made from solid gold and reflected bright yellow and blue lights. In the middle was an etching of a circle that was crossed over with a star. On the bottom was many lines of small scripture written in an unrecognizable language.

"He may." Leia answered. "Would you be willing to give me the artifact to give to Luke? He generally wants to gather anything that points to the history of Force sensitivity"

As the droid translated, Leia experienced a sharp pull towards the object in the Force. She needed to grab it, to touch it and read out the inscription on it.

Leia closed her eyes and shook her head, feeling the yearning to have it leave her. Maybe she should leave it in Sumi hands and request it only if Luke says he wants it. It was too tempting.

"He agreed to give it to you in exchange for assistance in a current conflict in Lothal."

"What's going on?" Leia tried to remember if anything important was happening in Lothal. She needed to ignore the artifact that was continuing to draw her in though the Force.

The droid translated Sumi's answer. "An alliance of Anx and Feeorin want his clan to leave their home. Sumi requests that you talk to the group about the illegality of their eviction."

"I don't typically handle mediation between small parties," Leia explained. "I can have my friend Ileen Asbaroti come back to Lothal with you to handle the conflict. She's one of my most reliable mediators with an untarnished success rate."

As the droid translated her latest answer, Leia reached across the table to touch the stone. She needed to understand. What was it trying to show her?

Once she touched the edge of the stone, an image from her reoccurring dream came to her instantly. The other her, the Leia with short, unwashed brown hair, was trembling as she cried over two dead bodies in a torn apart cottage. Some unrecognizable auburn haired boy was kneeling next to her, watching her cry.

Who was he?

"Leia!" Mon Mothma cried out. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yes-s," Leia stammered.

The artifact could not be related to the dreams. The dreams started long before she encountered this artifact today. Yet, somehow, touching it, brought the other universe before her.

Sumi was gazing at her, rattling off a string of angry words.

"I apologize," Leia told Sumi. "I should never have touched the artifact without your permission. I experienced a moment of weakness. In retrospect, I believe it would be best to leave the artifact with you until I talk to Luke about it. If he agrees, I will have him meet you for the exchange."

This time, while the droid translated, Leia pressed her hands firmly between her legs. She needed to stay away from the object, it was too alluring to her Force sensitivity.

Thankfully, Sumi agreed to her proposal to wait for Luke. As for his clan's housing conflict, he agreed to Ileen's assistance.

Exactly what she wanted. Perfect.

Ben acted extremely energetic that night. He bounced around the room as he cheerfully talked about his day. As usual, his strong Force ability caused small items to fly in the air after him.

Leia was thankfully he was not having one of his brooding days. She could not deal with that right now. Not when she needed to prepare the final draft of her acceptance speech to becoming the Chief of State in five days. She won the election in a landslide of Council approval, now she needed to prove she deserved the role.

"How does this sound?" Leia asked her son rhetorically. She knew that he did not care about her political duties. It was on her to make sure the speech sounded confident and resolute. "I am proud of how far the New Republic has come in the past six years since the fall of the Empire. We have assisted multiple refugees. We have accepted willing outer rim and mid-rim planets into the fold of representative democracy. We have…"

"Bor-ing." Ben's voice rang in annoyance.

Yes. Her speech was rather boring and very redundant. Leia simply could not concentrate. This was not the time to be behind, though. She needed to provide the speech for Mon's approval before she left work tomorrow. She had to prove she was a worthy successor.

"Can't we play?" Ben was begging now. His brown eyes widened in a cute puppy-eyed look. Such a manipulative, little boy. He was so much like her at his age; always wanting attention from a work-focused parent.

"I'm sorry, darling. I can't play tonight. I have a very important speech I need to finish. How about we play tomorrow?"

"Fine," Ben said sadly, pouting. "Can I go outside? I bored."

"No. It's too dark," Leia told him. Plus, she could not write a speech and watch him outside at the same time. "How about you play with R2. I'm sure he's looking forward to finishing the puzzle with you."

Frowning, Ben stomped over to a table in the living room that was covered with a large puzzle and various of his toys. He roughly dragged R2 to him through the Force. He continued to frown as he placed pieces together into the puzzle.

Leia longed to take back her earlier reply. Her growing headache would dissipate if she was playing with Ben instead. She wished she had less responsibilities and that the Galaxy was not counting on her to fix all the horrors the Empire left behind.

She stuck to writing her speech for the next hour. Every so often, Leia glanced at Ben who remained hunched over his puzzle. After a few minutes of pouting, he returned to the happy child he was at the beginning of the night.

Everything was going to be all right.