Leia gave a small, amused smirk at the notion that Ben's romantic troubles were payback for earlier, private mockery of others in similar situations. "Somehow I don't think it's quite that one to one," Leia said. "Relationships are just inherently complicated, and the Force being involved only makes them more so. Though it also makes them that much more rewarding."
"I hadn't either," she said. "Not for a long time before I started thinking of your father as more than just a comrade in arms. I thought that was what people needed of me. The Last Princess of Alderaan; a symbol of the Rebellion, of strength and resolve, of why the Empire needed to be stopped, of everything that had been lost and what could still be lost. I'd resigned myself to that I think; to a life of duty."
"Then came your father," she said, smiling fondly. "This brash, arrogant, scruffy-looking scoundrel that I'd initially dismissed as nothing more than a mercenary; a man who never gave up, even as I tried to cling to what I thought was required of me. He was the first man to ever treat me like a woman; he didn't see a princess, a senator, a commander, or a political symbol, he saw me."
"And that was wonderful... and it was terrifying. I'd all but forgotten how to just be Leia, a human being with needs and feelings. Even after what happened in Cloud City, during those months when he was Jabba's prisoner... I almost didn't go on that rescue mission. It was too risky, and I was too valuable to the Alliance. It took the advice of a very wise woman and the events of 'Operation: Yellow Moon' to convince me otherwise. To convince me that my love for him was worth risking everything for, and that it was alright to need someone that much, rather than just being someone who others needed."
"It'll be a long process," she said, "but I know you can do it. And I'll definitely help you in any way I can, including arranging things so that you can have more time with Rey and Poe. Both together and separately, if I can manage it."
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"I hadn't either," she said. "Not for a long time before I started thinking of your father as more than just a comrade in arms. I thought that was what people needed of me. The Last Princess of Alderaan; a symbol of the Rebellion, of strength and resolve, of why the Empire needed to be stopped, of everything that had been lost and what could still be lost. I'd resigned myself to that I think; to a life of duty."
"Then came your father," she said, smiling fondly. "This brash, arrogant, scruffy-looking scoundrel that I'd initially dismissed as nothing more than a mercenary; a man who never gave up, even as I tried to cling to what I thought was required of me. He was the first man to ever treat me like a woman; he didn't see a princess, a senator, a commander, or a political symbol, he saw me."
"And that was wonderful... and it was terrifying. I'd all but forgotten how to just be Leia, a human being with needs and feelings. Even after what happened in Cloud City, during those months when he was Jabba's prisoner... I almost didn't go on that rescue mission. It was too risky, and I was too valuable to the Alliance. It took the advice of a very wise woman and the events of 'Operation: Yellow Moon' to convince me otherwise. To convince me that my love for him was worth risking everything for, and that it was alright to need someone that much, rather than just being someone who others needed."
"It'll be a long process," she said, "but I know you can do it. And I'll definitely help you in any way I can, including arranging things so that you can have more time with Rey and Poe. Both together and separately, if I can manage it."