Beyond - Legends Beyond the Saga Take A Memo—the life and times of Princess Leia’s PA for Dear Diary 2024

Super to read that Han and Luke are around to give emotional support.

I like very much that Alole is being discreet and thoughtful.

 

I'm really enjoying Alole's perspective on Leia, and life in the New Republic in general. And I liked that you incorporated her being a Twi'lek into the history that you had for her, giving things more complexity still. And as painful as it is, the fact that Leia's friends and family try to support her without pushing too much on the anniversary of Alderaan's destruction feels spot-on. I like the little detail that Alole is taking some small measures to help out in case of hangover the next day as well -- it's good professionalism but also compassionate. I really find myself liking her character a lot!

 

Sure a sad day for Leia but she will have Han and Luke there.
Alole is supporting and is helping in her own way

 

It's great to see Han helping Kashyyyk as best he can, behind the scenes. Alole being at a bit of a loss with her downtime makes a lot of sense; that shift from "always on" guerrilla fighter to keeping everyday office hours (and weekends!) must've been jarring for many. Entry 8 was a real nice insight into that detail. It's great to see everybody rallying around Leia in Entry 9, as they should be, but it's totally like her to schedule appointments and get on with her job regardless! Also, I like how Alole's private and professional worlds are beginning to merge (or at least become familiar with one another).

Oh, and I hope your hand is feeling better soon, too!

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha I've had their actions and attitudes written into several fics for the anniversaries of Alderaan's destruction, like the year Han couldn't get the right wine, so he got Leia VERY drunk on Alderaanian moonshine. Or the year she refused to let Luke help. So I enjoyed working with this in peacetime.
@Kahara, thanks a lot. I try to keep things consistent in terms of my fanon characterization across stories and this is channeling a lot of my Summer Olympics collection dealing with Luke and Leia. I'm glad you're a fan of Alole as I interpret her.
@earlybird-obi-wan It is both a "I want her to have some relief" and "I want Luke in this story NOW" in equal measures.
@Happy Sando I feel like Leia would be a little embarrassed, but never getting to the point of opposing what happens these days to support her on this anniversary. I haven't worked on my birthday in over a decade and publicly, it's because I like taking vacations during this one holiday, but it's actually the anniversary of when my grandfather got a terminal diagnosis and I remember crying at my desk between meetings and client calls because I still had to work another six hours. Instead of going to work and missing my grandpa Leo, I have an adventure that he would have liked. I gave Leia the option of a coping mechanism like this and she started arguing with me about how long the requiem prayers take to actually say and what she could do with the other 23 hours and 30 minutes of the day. And thanks. I have a flight of concrete steps to climb to get to my house and I fell on those, cutting my hand and making my wrist very sore. It hurts to type, but it's getting a little better.
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Entry 10

I wore green today. It doesn't llook very good with my skin in the traditional shade, but dark green is what they wear to funerals on Alderaan and i wanted to respect that even if it never came up. Princess Leia wore a green coat over her usual uniform and nodded at me when she saw my sartorial choices.

There were no overnight memos, but she was on the receiving end of six bottles of Alderaanian green wine. Clearly, people were trying to support the way that she will mark the anniversary with the memorial toasts and prayers. And if this is authentic, those bottles are now so rare that they must have cost nearly two hundred credits a piece. But they will be kept in stock for the next year's vigil and I think that is a lovely thing. One came from Mon Mothma, delivered before either of us got to the office, another from General Rieekan who will remember their homeworld on another base.

General Solo came around noon for his scheduled appointment, bringing both another bottle and Commander Skywalker. He considered me for a minute, then snapped his fingers in recognition.

"My gunner on Hoth went out with you a few times."

Han looked slightly envious that Luke hadn't done anything as embarrassing as flirting with me. I smiled at the accuracy of his memory.

"I liked Dack," I said. "I was sorry to hear he died."

Luke nodded. "I'd have liked to see what he made of himself once this whole war was over."

"Me, too."

The noon appointment was for Han alone, but Leia emerged from the office a moment later and completely ignored everyone but Luke. for a few minutes.

"We'll be back here five minutes before sunset, no arguments allowed, Your Worship," Han said. "Alole, don't schedule her for anything at the end of the day.."

I didn't agree until HRH nodded behind his back, looking both fond of and exasperated by her beloved for managing her grief without consent. Maybe if Luke hadn't stood his ground, she could have protested, but she seemed to have turned the clocks back five years just seeing the people who got her personally through the last several years.

"I've got some time before my next meeting," the Princess said. "Let's have lunch."

"Debriefing," Luke said.

"Repairs," Han added. "We'll be back here ahead of schedule. If you change your mind about clearing your afternoon, I won't mind a bit."

She didn't clear it. All of her scheduled appointments came on time, honoring her willingness to work with them on a day when she had every right not to. I took two more deliveries--not wine, but flowers. She took one with her when Han and Luke returned, but instructed me to bring the other with her regards to the service the base organized. She also took the bottle of green from General Rieekan.

I delivered the flowers as requested and stayed for the entire service. I don't know any of the language the prayers were said in, but I knew several of the people who showed up for their world's loss or in memory of people they'd known and I stayed out of respect for their grief. I drank the toasts at signals from the leaders and used the few stories HRH has told about her world to personally mourn. None of us in the New Republic can really go home again, no matter what comes of our work with NRI, but at least there's a chance of me seeing my childhood bedroom again someday or getting a drink at a cantina where i used to be too young to buy a drink.

For the people I sat with tonight, they came here or remained here with nothing and have whatever wine they can afford and publicly-available holos of the palace at Antibes to fill in the holes in their hearts.

 

A great entry about the mourning for Alderaan with her dressed in green and taking bottles of wine
And the service, poignant with only the stories and holos left.
No one can go home after what Sidious has done to the galaxy

 

Very touching and caring of Alole to join the service of commemoration. I can absolutely see Leia's desire to stay busy and not cancel any appointments although I personally would think she would be in a very unsettled frame of mind to say the least.

Han and Luke keep it light and yet make it known they're going to be there throughout.

 

ENTRY 11

Today, I got to the office to find HRH had brought along a few more heroes. Luke was still around—he mentioned heading out the day after tomorrow—but I also recognized a few of the pilots. Wedge, Janson, and Hobbie all remembered me from Hoth, since a chilly blue rebel stands out, but they’ve been more lauded and decorated since the last time I saw them.

Luke: There are four requests about friends of ours in your search.

Wedge: And we’re here to fact-check, while we’ve got the day off.

Janson: And embellish some of those facts to give Cracken’s people a good laugh.

Hobbie: It’s a nice change from being next in line for martyrdom.

So, none of them has changed much after all. I politely asked HRH about her night and she told me about doing the memorial prayers without worrying about the last known location of the Executor. She said that very quietly, but I don’t need an explanation for her thinking about Darth Vader’s flagship.

I don’t know if anyone’s had more close calls with Vader than the people on her walk-in list, but I bet the number is pretty small.

The pilots didn’t find any mismatched information in two of the files, but Hobbie dated the sister of one of them back home and “she didn’t look that good when I was around.” Janson ribbed him about how most people find their lives improve in his absence.

Pilots are known for being a tight-knit community and it made me miss the cell I started out in before we got integrated into the larger Alliance. It was during my college days and I was the silent participant because I was definitely more my noticeable than the eight others. I couldn’t know the three kids endangered by our activities because if their parents were arrested and the little ones identified people their parents worked with, ISB could identify me before you said lekku.

But we were a weird little family like the pilots in my office today. Azir would bring me crisps to apologize for having fun without me and I helped Norn with his cover stories. I learned quickly what people said when they were very stressed and how to rearrange duties to cut them some slack.

I got to Hoth and mostly knew people who had shifts at the same time as me or lived near my quarters. I met Ilar because my space heater malfunctioned and gave me a second-degree burn in my sleep one night.

I could use more people to casually insult in my life.

 

LOL about how Wes, Hobbie, and Wedge are still as goofy and bantering as ever. I liked Alole's reminiscing about her college days and how conspicuous she would be and how things were on Hoth.

 

Pilots and their bantering. And Leia thinking about the Executor and not worrying or?

 

Sorry for the delay. I relapsed with bronchitis last week. Or so I thought until my Covid test came back. I’m writing from bed today. I’ll do replies soon.

ENTRY 12

In putting the schedule together today, I noticed a request from HRH in the notes for a “service block.” I asked for clarification and discovered that one of those Alderaanian traditions that I never heard of was helping others on your Naming Day. It’s supposed up be on your birthday, but Princess Leia doesn’t have an exact date for that, so she sets aside a time the week before her Naming Day.

“We’ve got a permanent base for the first time this year,” she informed me. “A famous philosopher said that if the world were ending, he would plant fruit trees.”

“So, the world didn’t end and you want to plant julaberries?”

“Start a sustainable vegetable garden,” she corrected brightly.

I think that’s pretty sweet and I can see why it appeals to her. And I’ll probably get permission to get up to my elbows in dirt, which would be a nice break.

So I spent most of the day with my normal work and an hour and a half setting up deliveries of what we’ll need. She had some specific requests, but also let me choose a few varieties. General Solo is acting as courier and he added some Corellian seeds to the list before signing off on the order. It took some doing to cover the data trail so we wouldn’t be sabotaged by some ex-stormtrooper botanist noticing the customer name, but with permission, I used one of the rotating identities that Alliance intelligence used to use and routed the payment through an off-world bank that was set up for another cell.

It’s the most secretive I’ve ever been about potting soil in my life.

 

@DarthIshtar Hope you're feeling better soon, and that writing acts as a nice distraction during recovery.

Ouch. It's such a brutal detail, that Leia doesn't know her own birthday (although it makes total sense, given the circumstances). I love the idea of the garden, though! That's a very practical and positive way to embrace tradition, and so very Leia.

I've really enjoyed the last couple of entries; sorry it's taken me a while to reply beyond dropping likes. Looking forward to more!

 

Writing in your bed. I hope you will recover soon. But the entry about getting the potting soil and being so secret about it and the naming day was perfect

 

What a wonderful idea to plant a vegetable garden or fruit trees. I like how Leia is finding ways to continue Alderaanian traditions in a way that helps others as well. I like Alole's resourcefulness in putting all the details together.

 

FYI, the “famous philosopher” thing is something I read attributed to Martin Luther about planting apple trees.

 

Oh, heaven help me. I spent two weeks getting over COVID and then went on vacation for five days. I'm back and will do replies on my next post.

ENTRY 13

Ilar has the strangest connections. That is how I can explain having personally wished a Jedi Knight a happy birthday..

The way he tells it, every person in Rogue Squadron comes through the medical corps facilities at least once a year. And their officers don't like to leave them friendless and alone. So the medics are on good terms with all of them and friends with some of them.

As it happened, Wedge needed some testing after an ejection last night and I was picking Ilar up for his lunch break when Commander Skywalker decided to be Commander Antilles' moral support. Unlike HRH, Luke Skywalker pinned down a day for his entrance into this cruel galaxy. He just doesn't like it to be spread around because people feel obligated to make a fuss over a Hero of the Rebellion.

Ilar has seen his medical records enough to notice what day it was. He kept it discreet, so I watched Ilar hand him an extra serving of hospital food and wish him a happy birthday. I presented him with a spoon and wished him many happy returns. Hobbie, who was also visiting, swiped both when Luke wasn't looking.

Over lunch, the matter of our anniversary came up. It falls three days before the weekend, so I can't exactly ask for vacation hours--I don't even know if those exist in peace time--but Ilar's talking about smuggling me off-world for some alone time that won't be interrupted by an urgent comm from one of the Of States or some state of emergency. I wouldn't mind leaving after work on the last day of the week and putting some ligihtyears between myself and a uniform.

It's still two weeks away, but it's nice to have something besides lorna bulbs and non-engineered fertilizer.​

 

I like how she found out about Luke's birthday and planning a vacation with Ilar

 

I enjoyed that-reading more about Alole and Ilar. I liked how the medical staff make their patients feel supported during medical procedures or hospital stays. LOL on pranking Hobbie.

 

Resuming after the Kessel Run. I have not abandoned this. I just needed to reconnect.

ENTRY 14

The first of the deliveries arrived today, which was kind timing because it was the only truly pleasant thing of the day.

The medics say that the pilots rotate through, but HRH was three hours late to the office this morning and Ilar had to explain that when she was on her way back.

Luke was feeling generous with his time and filled in for Hobbie on an escort assignment. Both of them made it back, but their protected vessel had a hull breach. Cargo lost, two crew members lost.

Both of the pilots made it back, but HRH was waiting for Luke to be put in bacta after he saved the rest of the crew in less-than-safe conditions. Leia arrived in complete silence with red eyes and sent me a request from her computer for the kind of file work that fills my days so it doesn’t interrupt hers.

Han turned up an hour later and spent most of his visit just holding her. Said something about “the kid” being lucky as hell to be a Jedi today and HRH said that she sometimes hates how often her brother has to be lucky. Since that was a very vulnerable thing for me to overhear, I took my lunch break and asked Ilar to meet me anywhere but medical.

He could only get away for the last ten minutes, but we held hands in the sunshine and talked about a family HRH tracked down in her desperation to feel more in control of things. We don’t know much about the details, but it’s a solid enough lead to forward and I think HRH needed a win.

It was on my return to the office that I found twenty lorna cuttings from a xenohorticulturist who specializes in engineering extinct plants. Lornas are rare, not wiped out, but he sent a list of other Alderaanian flower varieties that he is close to recreating. Nineteen of the plants will be part of the garden, but I put one of them on HRH’s windowsill.

Han stopped back in while she was out and gave me a crash course on HRH in crisis. The main takeaway is to let her work when she needs to and keep her fed against her will if necessary.

I’m hoping Luke will be recovered in time for some tilling.

 

WOW a lot has happened. Luke injured and Leia red-eyed. Great to see her finding the lorna cuttings.

 

Han is a darling. He is privileged to see Leia vulnerable and to give her support. Alole is becoming a wonderfully empathic true friend.

 

I'm here at long last for a first review on this story, and I find it very unique in that you managed to take someone who comes across as a character about which there's nothing exceptional at first sight and to make her interesting. Alole isn't a big damn hero, she's really the Alliance footsoldier and even then she's actually an administration type rather than a fighter; she has an absolutely ordinary life with a boyfriend who wants to take her on a vacation for their anniversary; and her current job isn't the most glorious one – yet through her, you not only show us how the high and mighty of the New Republic grow into their roles, but you also drop a number of clues that there must be more to Alole than meets the eye. There's the matter of her family and her half-brother Jov of course, but also this line from the very first entry that made me curious:

What are these talents that only Rieekan knows? Maybe she wasn't just an administrative assistant back then, or maybe she got to handle more intricate and complex situations than in her current position.

I love how you show us Alole figuring it out as she goes along in these early days of the New Republic when there are no proper procedures in place and when the entire government and administrative system is juggling all sorts of issues at the same time. The tracing of Rebellion members by families would definitely be on the agenda at this point in time, and this was a great way to introduce Wedge, Janson, and Hobbie in addition to Han, Luke and Mon Mothma, who were bound to make an appearance in Leia's office. I noticed that Admiral Ackbar hasn't turned up yet, but I'm sure we'll see him before the end of the year.

One character that caught my attention is Erskin Semaj. He's another "nobody", like Alole, who lives and works in the shadow of his "Of State" and in a sense, Alole doesn't seem to really understand how much power people like them actually wield. She does note at one point that people are polite to her because she handles Leia's appointments, but I'm note sure she realises how important she actually is – and that may be precisely why Leia gets along with her so well.

She also doesn't really seem to realise that Leia is opening up to her. The sense I got was that Leia appreciated Alole's green outfit on the anniversary of the Calamity much more than she let on, and I believe that putting Alole in charge of her gardening project is actually a show of trust. At the same time, Alole is showing at every step that she is a very thoughtful person, like in this last entry with the Alderaanian plant that she puts on Leia's windowsill. She's handling the balance between her boss's professional and personal like a real pro, and that's what makes her so valuable as a PA.

I'm very happy that you came back to this story now that the KR is over, because I'm eager to find out more about Alole, her mystery background and her interactions with Leia!

 

@earlybird-obi-wan thanks! I was reminded of Wedge needing bacta treatment the day after the Empire fell in The Truce at Bakura and his victory doesn’t mean safety yet.

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Han is wonderfully developed as a character from mercenary to man Leia can’t live without and once he gets his head out of his cockpit, I like putting that on display. He learned from Endor and the bridge scene. And I’m glad you approve of the direction of alole.

@Chyntuck you realize you give me more credit than I deserve every time, right? . That said, on with the reply! I approve of the use of Big Damn Hero as a brown coat. She is really a standin for the run-of-the-mill at times. I’m fond of her because I literally was a secretary in every organization I joined for years because I wasn’t leadership and still could see what had to come together for the people who led. For instance, a chapter of a state writing league was being established and by the time the organizer finished introducing himself, I’d used the sign in sheet to create a mailing list and a Facebook group with him as the administrator. His first elected action was to nominate me as secretary. Being unremarkable but efficient is my superpower and Alole’s, too. I’m glad you’re picking up on more than meets the eye vibe. When I wrote her brother into one line of one fic, I didn’t think I’d return to that years later. Talents are more like virtues and habits here that she doesn’t yet know are visible to other people. I feel like HRH needs someone who is patient with the trial and error of things when she’s not sure that she’s doing things in an effective way. People who ran the republic are in short supply and she knows more about the failings than what kept it going for a thousand years. In legends, we really see more of the new republic a couple of years in and it’s still struggling, especially in Leia’s estimation.
The tracing project is inspired by a place I visited in Rhodes where someone documented who was taken away in the war and found who returned. I feel like that was a labor of painful love for someone and I’m sure there are people grateful for it beyond the community there. I want part of the post-empire healing to include people finding unknown history. I’m a huge fan of the X-wing guys as you know from the Queen Leiaverse. . Confession: I kind of just realized I forgot to bring Ackbar in because I associate him with Leia closer to the time of the Thrawn trilogy, when he’s more involved politically. I hereby vow to include him. I do like Erskin. He’s not in the Mon Mothma circle that I was familiar with growing up with the EU. The two PAs to the “of States” really need to someday recognize their individual worths. I agree that it might be part of Leia’s budding friendship with her. You’re right about the trust starting to grow, in my opinion. There’s a part of the Courtship of Princess Leia in which she talks about Alderaanian gardens and in the ending scene, the person she told is holding a potted plant of the flower she said was part of her tradition. That’s what made me put the flower on the windowsill. That and Leia finally being in a place where she gets sunlight more often. Thanks again.

Entry 15

On a hunch, I asked Ilar to check in on HRH and see if she’d feel better staying at the medcenter today. Luke is still in bacta—they think he’ll be out tomorrow—and they will have a better idea of any time he needs to take it easy later. He commed to say she was still asleep. I continued tracing for two hours, then was given permission to meet her at Medical.

Han met me halfway there with a change of clothes for her and an emotional support Wookiee as he put it. I had her breakfast, her messages, and caf that wasn’t made by any of the pilots. I also brought along my datapad so I could be on hand if she decided to have me work from there.

She did and her attempt to distract herself with work lasted three hours. Then she walked me back to the office and announced we were going for a walk of an indeterminate duration.

I pulled open my desk drawer and pulled out my slightly-worn-out hiking shoes that were part of the uniform at a very hilly base between Hoth and Sullust, which seemed to amuse her. That led us to her quarters so she could find something comparable. I tried not to stare or be intimidated by her apartment, but she makes the ramshackle things we all cobbled together first night on base look like deliberate decor choices. It’s a good day when I remember to make my bed and I have mementos that I’ve hauled from base to base. Nothing like the tapestry that was apparently a gift from Han in the days when they were still fighting half the time. Or the sculpture she brought back from the first world she persuaded to join the New Republic. It was slightly reassuring to see that everything underneath was standard-issue.

Indeterminate was the right word for the walk. I found out that she had coped with her lingering feelings about her imprisonment by walking an hour around the Yavin base before they had to move on. She still goes wandering this way, but not during office hours.

I also got to hear about what it was like for Luke to live in a jungle as a Tatooine farmer. How he learned the names of everything he didn’t recognize, even the ones that gave him a rash. She talked a great deal about what it was like to feel arrogant in her knowledge just because she was best friends with the Rebellion’s most naturally curious recruit.

She gave me a full tour of the area set aside for the garden. It was at this point that she turned and headed straight to the office. I didn’t understand why until she found the manifests for everyone contributing to the garden. Melsie’s Folly had pallies and black melon, both from Tatooine. She breathed easier then and decided we’d spend the rest of the day in the office.

Erskin gave me advance notice that his “of state” was on the move just after lunch and it was from her that HRH received a diplomatic assignment. It’s a sector and that means she’s sending a delegation. Fortunately, it’s after the gardening day, but I’ll be off world until just before the planned anniversary trip.

I’m hoping for swift negotiations.

 

Nice to see her going at a walk and hearing more about Luke. Nice details about the mementos

 

Super blend of efficiently getting some work done and confiding during a nice walk. Hope the negotiations are short indeed. Don't want Alole to learn the heard way that balancing work and romance is a chore sometimes at least not so soon.