The morning was running late.
Which, according to Padmé, was entirely Leia's fault.
Leia emerged from her room wearing her third outfit of the morning.
"You said that about the last two."
"Because the last two were wrong."
The sigh of a woman who had once ruled a planet and somehow found arguing with her teenage daughter more difficult.
Leia dropped dramatically into a chair.
"I have a Senate meeting, Mother."
"I need to look professional."
"I need people to take me seriously."
Without a word, she disappeared into a nearby closet.
A moment later Padmé returned carrying a garment bag.
Leia immediately became suspicious.
Inside hung one of her old Naboo outfits.
Not one of the elaborate gowns from state ceremonies.
This was something she'd worn for meetings.
The sort of outfit a young queen wore when she needed adults to remember she belonged in the room.
"That was my reaction too."
Leia reached out carefully.
The fabric was beautiful.
At fifteen, Leia attended Senate meetings.
At fifteen, Padmé had ruled Naboo.
Neither of them said it aloud.
Leia studied the dress again.
Like stepping into someone else's life.
Padmé immediately understood.
"You don't have to wear it the way I did."
Leia looked back down at the dress.
A little while later, Leia disappeared into her room.
Then finally the door opened.
And forgot what she was about to say.
The jewelry was mostly hers.
Even the shoes were hers.
Leia had woven her hair into a braided crown circling her head.
She'd adjusted the sleeves.
Simplified the accessories.
But she'd made it her own.
Leia touched one of the braids.
"I wanted something formal."
Leia had inherited Padmé's sense of duty.
But she'd inherited Anakin's need for everything to actually work.
"You know," Padmé said, "when I was your age, my handmaidens spent nearly an hour on my hair."
Padmé stepped closer and adjusted a loose strand.
"The part that's not me."
And suddenly Padmé felt something she hadn't expected.
Because the little girl who used to steal her jewelry and play Senate meetings in the living room wasn't gone.
Becoming someone entirely her own.
Just then the door opened.
Padmé immediately knew why.
Because Anakin wasn't looking at her.
For a second he looked genuinely confused.
Like he'd walked into the wrong year.
Not because it belonged to Padmé.
Because he'd seen it before.
When a transport door had opened on Coruscant and he'd seen Padmé again for the first time in ten years.
The first time he'd realized the little queen from Naboo had become something else.
The first time he'd fallen hopelessly in love.
The same determined posture.
The braid crown replacing Padmé's old styling.
But enough to make his chest ache.
Leia immediately looked at Padmé.
Anakin looked between them.
"The one from Coruscant."
Then Luke wandered into the room.
"You look like you got hit by a transport."
Padmé burst out laughing.
Leia's expression softened.
Because she recognized that tone.
The one he used when he talked about Shmi.
Padmé stepped beside him.
For a moment he wasn't in the room anymore.
He was back on Coruscant.
Rain against transparisteel.
And a girl in that dress turning around and smiling at him.
Leia looked down at the sleeves.
Padmé immediately covered her face.
"The prettiest girl I'd ever seen."
Luke made exaggerated gagging noises.
Leia grinned triumphantly.
And suddenly the moment wasn't emotional anymore.
Anakin looked at Leia one last time.
The determination felt familiar.
But the girl standing in front of him wasn't a memory.
And somehow that made him even prouder.
Padmé reached over and fixed one final strand of hair.
Leia rolled her eyes automatically.
"You're my mother. That doesn't count."
He looked at her for a moment.
"I think you look like you."
