InsaneJournal

Kitty hadn’t really had the opportunity she’d wanted to talk with Leia. But then that was probably a good thing, because she was Leia Organa and childhood heroes weren’t easy to face. Besides, how could she tell her she’d always really liked her dad? That would just be awkward.

Still, she was more than willing to grab her lunch and sit across from Leia that morning. “Morning!”

Leia looked up, a wry smile on her face at the exclaimed greeting, and sat back. "Hello," she greeted. She had spoken to the young woman via the network before, seen her there, but they hadn't spoken yet face to face. "How are you?"

“Pretty good. I was just about to ask you the same thing.” She tucked some hair behind her ear, deciding that maybe she should go ahead and cut most of it off like she’d been thinking, and picked up her fork. “I’m Kitty. You probably already know that, but formal introduction are good.”

Leia nodded. "Leia," she said, though she had a pretty good suspicion that the younger woman was well aware of who she was. "Is there anything in particular I can do for you?"

“Not really, I just … I guess I wanted to chat a bit.” Leia was probably used to people being star struck with her, though Kitty couldn’t exactly say why in her case. It didn’t take a lie to cover that though. “There aren’t too many women where i’m from who survive long enough to take leadership roles like Generals. We either get killed or get passed over by the men.”

The only exception that came immediately to mind was Ororo but then a near literal weather goddess was hard to keep down.

Leia honestly had no idea how she had survived that long either, really, but she could understand where Kitty was coming from. "Well, maybe that means you're not from a place where having a general is a necessity?" she asked, hopefully.

“It’s not an army in the strictest sense, but we’re still at war, and we still have leaders to fall behind.” Kitty wasn’t sure how to summarize it all, but she tried. “My people are born with mutations. Gifts or curses, depending on how you look at it. Non-mutants, being human beings, hate and fear things they don’t understand or things that are different. So we become targets. Of protests, and outright attacks. Even the governments that are supposed to look after us turn on us. We try to coexist, to help, to use our abilities to protect those who can’t help themselves. And yet, we’re always at war, just trying to survive.”

It was incredible sometimes how similar each universe was, even amid their differences. "It's unfortunate that war seems to be a staple of life in many places. Even here there seems to be civilizations on the verge of war, even in times of peace." Leia sighed. "I'm sorry to hear about your world. Are things better for you here?"

“Yes. Starfleet and the Federation are a lot better with regards to people’s differences, though even then there seem to be some things it takes more convincing of.” There were no androids yet, but Kitty knew that when Data was created, there’d be issues of him being considered a life form or not. Assuming he would still be created in this timeline, or in the same way. She hoped so. “Plus I pass as human which helps in both places.”

"This universe isn't nearly as varied with beings as the one I'm from, and even there, there have always been difficulties with discrimination and prejudices. I tend to think this ship is fairly progressive though, and that's better than the opposite."

“It is.” Kitty sighed, sitting back and looking thoughtful. “You’d think people would eventually realize we’re all the same underneath, no matter what the color or make-up of our blood, or if we’re silicon or carbon based, or whatever.”

"One would hope for that, at least," Leia said with a wry smile. "I was raised to view everyone that way, but it's not always easy or natural."

“That’s true. I’ve wrestled with it sometimes too. One of my friends is.. Blue and furry, looks like a devil. I was young, still a child, and didn’t accept him at first. But part of being young is making mistakes.”

"I wish I could say that, eventually, we stop making mistakes, but that isn't the case." Leia shook her head. "Enough about all this, what are you doing here on the ship? Are you working somewhere or just enjoying the vacation."

“A little of both. I got into engineering. It was that or the computer sciences team, but I’ve always been more of a hardware girl. When I was still in school I helped build a fusion reactor.” Kitty didn’t mention the part where she had to cause it to melt down to take out a mutant killing robot, but it had worked fine until then!

It was interesting for Leia to note that the majority of the people the nebula pulled in here seemed to have various degrees of outstanding histories or abilities. She considered it for a moment and thought she might mention it later to Chris. "Well, I imagine engineering gives you the chance to be hands on," she said.

“I like working with the crew. Honestly, something like this has always been one of my dreams. I mean on one hand, I was really, really sick of being in space, but on the other hand, this is… different.” She smiled “Way different from my last couple of trips.”

"You live in a world where you can travel in space too? There doesn't seem to be that many of us. For most of the people here, this is the first time they've left whatever planet they were born on. I can't really imagine living in a world where it wasn't an option."

“It’s a bit more complicated than that. Most people on Earth can’t. We only went up because we made friends with aliens. Sort of. Ended up involved in various interstellar wars on one side or another, or defending Earth from invasion. The only people on Earth who go into space either go with alien allies, or are scientists trying to design new tech. So you’re right, it’s not really an option unless you’re lucky, unlucky, or a super hero.”

Leia pursed her lips and nodded. "I see. I suppose it's odd for me, to think of myself as being in the minority. For the most part - and I'm being rather general with this - most everyone can travel in space if they want, where I'm from. But as you said, there are some more fortunate than others."

“Sounds like Earth, just on a grander scale. Some people can afford to travel to other continents or countries, but most people can’t. If you’re lucky to get the time off work, you still have to save up for the costs of a plane ticket. Most people live and die within 50km of where they were born, without ever leaving it see the wider world.”

"That's unfortunate," Leia said. "But it makes me glad for this opportunity for a lot of beings then," she continued. "Even if all of us have a learning curve in one way or another in getting used to it."

“It’s a little crazy.” Kitty rubbed the back of her neck. “We used to have entertainment like this. You know, a crew exploring space, boldly going where no one has gone before and addressing issues of the day with metaphors for racism and sexism. Space opera, space fantasy, that sort of thing. As a people, we’re always looking outward, even if the farthest the non-superpowered have gone is the next planet over.”

Leia sipped her caf and nodded. "We all find certain things entertaining. That's one thing I'm looking forward to when we get to shore leave here," she said. "I'm interested in seeing more about what constitutes as entertainment around here. How about you?"

“I can’t wait, myself. The holodeck is a lot of fun, but there’s more to do. I hear they sometimes run theater shows, and that kind of thing.” Kitty tilted her head. “Ever try acting?”

"I used to be in politics," Leia said with half a laugh. "That's enough acting for me."

“Fair enough. We should see what kind of card or gambling games they have. I used to be pretty good at Poker. I’d be happy to teach you.” Kitty smiled. “I know some crew will run games. Not that they use money for bets, but it's still fun.”

"That sounds like fun," Leia said, thinking that if Han were here - her Han at least - he'd be giving her one of those looks of his, seeing her agree to playing a card game involving gambling.

“Great! I’ll let you know when I’m free. I should really be getting to my shift though.” Responsibilities, go figure. She’d rather chat all day today, and she wasn’t even that big a chatter.

"Of course," Leia said. "Don't be late," she suggested, not really a warning but as she had spent years in command of troops and tended to say things like like to them, it may have come out that way. "And I hope to talk to you again soon."

“You probably don’t have anything to be late to, but I used to give some advice to my students before the weekend. ‘Think before you do it.’ Not that I always followed my own advice.” She flashed Leia a grin and a playful salute. “I’ll see you around, General.”