❝ IS THIS YOUR WAY OF COMFORTING ME? ❞ with a rushed, defensive inflect, leia feels a spark of betrayal — but it is foundless, a disservice to her mother. luckily, she recognizes it & exhales smoothly, releasing the quickly-knotted threads of anger. tone shifts shades, to a melancholic blue, & she leans into the comforting coldness of it all. ❝ this is no fairy tale. it’s nothing like a fairy tale. ❞ fingers raise to tuck loose strays of hair behind her ear, as if the motion will clear her mind as well. she suddenly feels silly, & she shakes her head. ❝ i’m sorry. i know i don’t need to tell you that, but — oh, i’m so tired to being told to look for hope in the farthest corners in the galaxy, or in something an alderaanian philosopher wrote down hundreds of years ago, or on stars that burnt out long before we ever thought to pray on them. if we do this, we do it because we had the strength to do it ourselves. ❞ she blinks thoughtfully, then silently admonishes her lack of perspective. ❝ mama, if that’s how you keep your faith, then you’re a better woman than i am — but i suppose we already knew that. ❞