Luke knows the burden of being the son of Darth Vader. He has felt the conflict in his heart for a while now. But Leia has never known parents other than Breha and Bail Organa, Queen and Viceroy of Alderaan. Before they were friends, closer than most and able to read one another easily. Now they are siblings, bound by blood. It’s comforting he thinks, to understand his attachment to Leia. he can’t imagine what she’s feeling now, knowing that her biological father was partially responsible for the death to her parents and her entire world. He knew about grief, but he didn’t think he could empathesize with the deaths of millions of her people. He wished he could shoulder that burden for her, but he knows that even if he could, she would never allow that.
His arm is pressed against one of hers and he expels a breath as his eyes close, feeling her force signature easily. She’s a part of him. He had always felt that so much was missing from his life on Tatooine. He had never really belonged there, after all. He just didn’t realize how much of him was missing. He wondered if she felt it too, staring up at the night sky in the palace on Alderaan. Did her heart ache for someone who was never there? Did she also feel a different purpose? He could imagine not. Her parents were pillars of the Rebellion. She was raised for to lead. It showed in every action she made. If it came out that she was the daughter of Darth Vader, it could ruin her in a way that it would never ruin him. He knew that.
Slowly Luke’s eyes open, though they do not turn to Leia. He can offer her no words to fix the burden that he has now given her. There are no reassurances that everything will be okay, that any bloodline they had may be tainted with the Dark Side. But his hand moves to hold hers, squeezing in gently. He would be there for her no matter what, fight any battle that she could not do on her own. He was her twin after all.
silently sit with my muse to comfort them / @spacetrekked
