borntorebel | ✧ Fifth Rebellion ✧ Shift-ing Perceptions [Action/Video]

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✧ Fifth Rebellion ✧ Shift-ing Perceptions [Action/Video]

Action - Midmorning

[This new Luceti is, honestly, a much nicer cage than the one she remembers from before the time traveling experience, but it is still a cage. Growing up as the Crown Princess of Alderaan, Leia has known gilded cages a time or two.

And hated them.

Now that she is nearing twenty-five, her opinion has changed very little. Cages equate to a form of slavery in her mind. True, now that she's older, she's learned that one's role in life might not always be stuffy or confining. One's thought process going into the who thing does determine how it works out, after all.

But as she walks through the streets of this cage, it makes her thoughts turn back to other times. Times where she and Winter would run around the Royal Palace of Alderaan as little girls, visiting Neena, sneaking out of the palace complex to play with people her aunts would never have approved of. (Proof positive that she's always gone out of her way to associate with people of all kinds, no matter what.)

Her mind wanders a little, but her eyes still watch for any danger as she enters the forests of the enclosure. She is not, however, expecting to be caught up in one of the Natural Shifts that still take place. Instead of the woman many of the village will be used to seeing, there is a girl of ten, all long, brown hair, brown eyes and the largest scowl on her pretty face as she swims in the white dress and coat she'd been wearing before. The blaster she's had with her until now lies at her feet, ignored in the face of other issues.]

This isn't the school.

[Her voice is strong and severe, despite the high pitch and youth in it.]

I don't remember there being forests like this nearby. Hello? Is someone there? HELLO?

Video - Much Later

[Hello, Luceti, this is your tiny space princess and she is pissed.]

To those who've removed me from my school and home, know that your efforts are useless. My family will never give in to your demands and you will only be calling down the wrath of one of the Ancient Houses of Alderaan. We might be a planet of pacifists, but we will not cave to barbarism or petty kidnappers.

My suggestion is that you return me at once.

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[After running from the forests, Leia decides that hiding in the library, antiquated though it is with its physical volumes, is a smart move. It's quiet. There's hardly anyone there, and she can hide in a corner so no one can find her until she decides what to do.

She's good at hiding. She and Winter have done it numerous times, spying on people in the palace and sneaking around to prank everyone. Or, just slipping away to visit Neena or her friends outside the palace grounds.

No, being quiet and sneaky is something Leia Organa is very good at, skills she's proud to have acquired over the years.

But, footsteps near by have her skittering behind a particularly high set of bookshelves. She uses the tomes as coverage to see who it is that's so close. And when she sees the lady's face, she seems oddly familiar. Sad, beautiful, lonely, and kind... For some reason, Leia knows this woman and she gasps as she takes a step back, knocking into the bookshelf behind her and causing many volumes to fall from higher shelves, some hitting her on the head in her shock.]

Ow.

[The gasp is heard, although Padmé has no reason to believe it is directed to her. She is in a library, and while one is supposed to be quiet, that doesn't mean that one is not allowed to make any noise. She would have thought it was simply someone finding something they were looking for.

Until the thumping of books says otherwise.

Shifting toward the noise, Padmé is met by a young girl, who, from the looks of it, has somehow managed to topple over several large tomes. Her eyes rise from the books to settle again on the child, pausing for a moment. There is a sense of deja-vu, although Padmé cannot explain why. It is likely just from her being on edge lately.

Leaning forward slightly, she asks.] You're not hurt, are you?

[Leia continues to look up at the woman, shocked that she's living and breathing. She'd grown up knowing that Breha and Bail Organa weren't her birth parents, that they'd died around the time she was born. But it's one thing to know a thing and another to have it staring you in the face, asking you if you were injured.]

No, I'm okay. Just...disoriented.

[And ready to go home from whatever kriffing hell she's stepped into this whole day.]

[Padmé almost wonders if she has something on her face. She doesn't clue in that it is a young Leia. For starters, why would she? She also has no idea what her daughter had looked like when she was young. Still, there is enough that her gaze does linger. Something about how she is looking at her and the way that the girl looks herself.]

That is good to hear. The not being injured part, I mean. [Offering a smile.] Shall I help you put the books away then? Or were you wanting all these particular ones?

[Leia wants to reach out and touch the woman, to reassure herself that she's not seeing things. If it weren't for the pain on the top of her head from where one of the heavier books struck, she'd swear she's dreaming this all up.

How many nights had she dreamed of this woman's face and imagined talking to her?]

N-no, I don't think I'll be reading all of these. THey look a little dull. [Geography maps of strange worlds with creepy magic don't really strike Leia as good reading material just yet.

She reaches a hand up to touch the tender spot and notices her hair is coming out of the tight bun and groans.]

Aw, man, Sabé spent all morning fixing my stupid hair and now it's loose again.

[And she didn't even do it on purpose this time.]

[There are no doubt some who would think it strange for one so young to be reading such books, but Padmé's own parents had made certain that Padmé and her own sister were well educated. And, she had enjoyed learning.

Having picked up several of the tomes, Padmé froze. The hair style is something she is familiar with, although she doesn't think that it would only be from her universe, but it is the name that catches her attention.]

Sabé?

[She is, after all, familiar with one by that name. She settles the books in to a little pile, hand resting on the top one, silent for a moment, contemplating the situation. Her eyes gesture towards the wayward hair.]

Here. May I?

[As that is something that Padmé could fix.]

[Leia's all for reading and learning. Truth be told, she has read these books, not that she knows that she has. But at ten, she likes history and languages the most. Even learning diplomacy from Sabé is more interesting than geography to her.]

Y-yes, Sabé is...my personal handmaid back home.

[Normal children don't have those, Leia. You know that. But she looks at the woman who is her mother with large brown eyes and nods silently.]

[Her fingers are nimble and delicate, carefully unwrapping the hair, only to recreate the bun that she has had. Has she missed something, Padmé wonders, as she works the strands between her fingers?

Had Leia left, only to come here again? Because there is no doubt there. How and why are beyond her understanding though.]

There. Good as new.

[It is a smile that lingers, although there is something deeper in her expression. Just as Leia would eventually describe her; kind, but sad.]

You're name is Leia, isn't it?

[The feel of her birth mother—for who else in the galaxy can this woman be—in her hair is nice. With it so long, it gets heavy, even up as much as it is, and to have someone else manipulate it so well is comforting. She's reminded of times where her older friend would tell her stories of her former mistress with no names or how she'd kindly instruct Leia in what she needed to know.

Sabé is wonderful, truthfully. Only Winter and her adopted parents are more dear to the little girl.]

Thank you very much. I don't want to look like a "heathen" when I meet whomever's in charge here.

[Because she will.]

Yes, it is. I'm Leia Amidala Organa, but I... I know you. You're my mother.

[Sabé, Bail and Breha. Given that she couldn't have been there herself, Padmé knew that the ones who raised Leia couldn't have been better. All three were held in high regard by Padmé, although there was a slight lurch of her heart, one she sought not to let show.

Her first steps, her first word... They would all be things that Padmé would miss. Yet, the woman that she knew and the girl standing before her, Padmé knew she was proud of both. Her hand lingered for a moment, before moving back.] You look perfect.

[And that was no lie. Then again, she could be covered in dirt with her hair going in every direct and Padmé would say the same thing. It was a moment she might not otherwise have, but for all this place took, it also gave.]

This place is a bit complicated. [Starting with that.] But yes. Yes, I am. Padmé Amidala.

[Leia was spoiled and petted and scolded with as much love as she could have possibly gotten. Having her adopted parents and four aunts and Sabé had made that as true as breathing. Which is why she's such a relatively happy, well-adjusted child for a princess.

The loss of Padmé touching her nearly hurt but she held back comment and just looked up at her some more.]

I'm sure that I've missed something. My aunts always find fault with one thing or another. "Leia, you've forgotten to put on your shawl." "Leia, how is your dress hem so filthy?"

[She loves Tia, Celly and Rouge, but they are nags. Of the highest order.]

How?

[Padmé would have gladly wrapped her in a tight hug, although she did hold back. She might have, had she not been told that she would die. Yet she didn’t want to frighten her daughter who likely knew little to nothing about her.]

I think in this instance they would forgive you. It isn’t every day you end up in a place like this.

[Or at least she hoped not, recalling the conversation that the two of them had had.

Her gaze dropped a moment, before rising, to catch Leia’s again. How was this place complicated, or how was she here? Answers weren’t exactly forthcoming though, but at least Padmé wouldn’t need to explain about being in the past. So she couldn’t explain either too well.]

This is a place that is its own little world. It takes people from their own galaxies and brings them here. We can’t communicate with anyone not here either, nor does anyone notice that we are gone.

[After a moment's hesitation, Leia reached out and grabbed her mother's hand with both of her own. She was real. Alive. She hadn't made her up to comfort herself when she was lonely or scared as a child.

She was beautiful.]

I guess, but then, Dad would probably make them back off after a while. He only lets them go for so long if he's home.

[She bit her bottom lip as she realized what she'd said. True, this woman was her birth mother, but she probably didn't want to hear about Leia's life back on Alderaan. It wasn't that interesting in her own opinion.

She dropped Padmé's hand and looked away, tired and scared and ready to go curl up somewhere and cry if given half a chance. Especially since she was sure she'd said something bad.]

Sorry.

[Her countenance softened at that, feeling those hands take her own. So small and so delicate... She knew now, knew who she would have called dad, and despite all the feelings that knowing she wouldn't be there brought, it was easy to see that Bail had treated her just like his own. Not that she would have expected otherwise though. Bail and his wife were wonderful people.

Yet, she watched the shift in emotions play across her daughter's face, the coldness that came with the sudden departure of her grip, and Padmé leaned forward.]

Oh, Leia... [She moved to wrap her arms around her, to draw her close, to hug Leia to her tightly, making a soft shushing noise.] It's okay. You don't need to apologize.

[Leia froze at the sound of her name and the feel of the unfamiliar hug before she wrapped her own arms around Padmé. Tears welled up in her eyes and she held on tightly, afraid that if she let go, her mother would disappear.]

I'm sorry. I-Please don't be mad.

[She gave a tighter hug at that, as Padmé couldn't be mad with her, and had no reason to be. It was held for several moments before she shifted back slightly, her hand cupped her face, and she gave her daughter a gentle look.]

I'm not mad. Not at all. [Her thumb brushed against Leia's cheek, to get rid of that tear.] I am glad, because today I get to meet you.

I thought...[How can she say this without sounding insane?]

I thought I had made up your face. I saw you every night in my dreams. Winter used to tell me that I made you up, that I didn't really see you before.

[She knew so little about the future, aside from the fact that her children wouldn't be raised by her. What Anakin had told her... She still couldn't see him ever hurting her. That something happens to her, yes, that is clearly the future, but any knowledge about it isn't in Padmé's scope.

She blinks several times, to keep those tears at bay. What can one say to that? A future, that seemed so golden, so bright, had gone out, like a dying star, and she hadn't even been able to leave anything for her children.]

I'm afraid I can't answer how, but no, I am real.

I'm glad.

[Her voice is a happy whisper as she buries her head into Padmé's neck for a moment. It's as nice as she'd ever imagined, but she doesn't want to cry all over her newly-found mother either.]

Can I call you Mother? Or...do you want me to call you something else?

[Queen Breha Organa was mom. Nothing would change that to Leia, but this woman... she's special too. And she'd like to be able to call her her mother if it isn't too weird for her.]

[She recalls time spent with her own nieces, watching them grow, although she had missed much. She would miss more with her own daughter, she knew. But there is something warm and comforting about this, an ease about her being younger.]

If that is what you would like to call me, then please do.

[After all, Padmé knows that she will be nothing more than the one that gave birth to her. She's not even certain when she dies, only that she does.]

... in fact, I would like that very much.

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✧ Fifth Rebellion ✧ Shift-ing Perceptions [Action/Video]

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