Willeia

Willeia is the het between Leia Organa and Wilhuff Tarkin from the Star Wars fandom.

Canon
Pre-canon

In the Star Wars Legends comic "The Princess Leia Diaries", a thirteen-year-old Leia meets Tarkin for the first time when he visits her home planet, Alderaan, for a diplomatic meeting with her father, Senator Bail Organa. She takes an instant dislike to the Grand Moff, writing in her diary that "When he looked at me, it felt like death was staring me in the eye." Appalled by the fact that he keeps slaves, Leia believes that Tarkin is "everything wrong with the Empire." Tarkin first sees Leia running through the palace, trying to get away from her lessons. Bail introduces his daughter, informing the Governor that she will one day take his place in the Senate. Tarkin remarks, "Charming girl, I'm sure."

Despite Tarkin's intimidating nature, the mischievous young princess decides to play a prank on him, dropping a water balloon on his head from the palace balcony. When confronted about it, she insists that she was only "watering her plants." Tarkin, once again, sarcastically refers to her as "charming."

A few years later, Leia is grown, has secretly begun her work for the Rebel Alliance, and has taken her father's seat in the Imperial Senate. Bail Organa reintroduces the pair to one another, and Tarkin makes it clear that he has not forgotten the Princess, calling her a "troublemaker". Leia (insincerely) apologizes to Tarkin for her past "juvenile behavior", saying that she has "learned a lot since then." Tarkin, likely suspecting her family's affiliation with the Rebellion, simply responds that he "hopes she does not plan on being such a thorn in the side of the Imperial Senate." The two take their leave, but before the Governor can exit, Leia retreats to the balcony and drops a water balloon on his head again, taunting Tarkin that he has gotten all wet. She resolves, in her mind, that it is "time to make a difference," while he states that he will return to her planet "very soon". In the Disney era of Star Wars, the canonicity of this story is dubious; however, Alexandra Bracken's junior novelization of A New Hope, titled The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farmboy, makes allusion to its occurring, in that Leia recalls having met Tarkin at the age of thirteen. Here it is noted that her father had warned her to stay away from the Grand Moff, and yet, unable to contain her curiosity, Leia follows the two men throughout the halls of the palace, listening to their tense conversation. She makes up her mind that he is nothing more than a "merciless murderer and slaver". The young adult novel Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray also sees a young Leia confront Tarkin; this time when she is sixteen. As a member of the Apprentice Legislature, preparing to be a Senator, she attends a celebration that sees him promoted from the rank of Moff to Grand Moff. The two briefly converse about political matters and their respective homeworlds. Tarkin is intrigued by the young woman, having heard about one of her previous "mercy missions," wherein she broke certain Imperial regulations. He muses upon whether she will be "a similar senator to her father."

A few moments occur in which Tarkin nearly foils Leia's attempts to aid the Rebellion, though she manages to evade capture until the fateful events of A New Hope.

Star Wars: A New Hope

In the opening of the film, Leia is captured by Darth Vader while attempting to deliver the stolen plans of the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance. She is brought on board the battle station, which operates under Tarkin's command, to be interrogated for the location of the rebel base. Vader enters her cell and has her tortured with an interrogation droid. Leia resists Vader's torments, refusing to give up the information which her captors seek. Frustrated, the Sith explains her lack of cooperation to Tarkin, who has one final idea to get the Princess to talk.

Tarkin soon has Leia brought to the bridge of the Death Star for further questioning. She is initially defiant, telling him that she "should have expected to find [him] holding Vader's leash" and that she "recognized [his] foul stench when [she] was brought on board." Tarkin is unphased, albeit seemingly amused, by the Princess's insults, smirking and taunting her as he derisively calls her "Charming to the last." He reaches forward and grabs Leia's face while informing her he's signed an order to have her executed. Leia flinches away from his touch, but is unafraid even at the threat to her life.

However, it is here that Tarkin delivers his ultimatum- she will tell where the rebel base is, or see Alderaan destroyed. Leia grows frightened, pleading with the Grand Moff to spare her homeworld, until at last, he backs her into Vader and forces her to reveal the name of a planet- Dantooine. Tarkin is pleased at having seemingly broken the Princess, but he decides to have Alderaan destroyed anyway, despite Leia's ostensible cooperation. Vader holds her against his chest and she is forced to watch her home planet's destruction.

Tarkin has a scouting team sent to Dantooine to investigate if Leia's claims are true. An officer soon returns from the investigation, informing the Governor that no one is there-- only the remnants of a base long abandoned. Realizing that Leia has lied to him and outraged by her deception, he orders that she be "terminated immediately." However, Leia is spared from this fate when Luke Skywalker and Han Solo rescue her from the Death Star and deliver her to the true rebel base on Yavin 4. The stolen Death Star plans, which Leia had hidden in the memory banks of R2-D2 before her capture, are used to target the Death Star's reactor shaft-- the one weakness of the seemingly invincible battle station. When Luke Skywalker manages to exploit it and destroy the Death Star, Tarkin perishes in the explosion, and the rebels celebrate their victory. The nature of Tarkin and Leia's relationship is highly adversarial, with Tarkin seeing her as an annoyance and an obstacle to the order and stability he believes the Empire to preserve. Leia, meanwhile, is disgusted by Tarkin's tyrannical method of rule, believing him to be nothing short of a monster. After the destruction of Alderaan, her hatred of him only increases. It is likely that even in the years to come, Leia was never able to forget the trauma Tarkin inflicted upon her aboard the Death Star, nor the annihilation of her planet which he had forced her to witness.

Fanon
The ship is a rarepair, and, as such, has a very small fandom. It can also be seen as quite controversial, due to the large age gap and the highly antagonistic role which the two play against one another. However, those who enjoy darker relationship dynamics may find the taboo nature of this pairing to be intriguing. Additionally, considering the hatred and rivalry between the two, it is also a high candidate for a pairing of the Foe Yay variety.

Based on the dialogue exchange between them in the film, Leia and Tarkin are heavily implied to have met previously. Leia quips that she "recognized [Tarkin's} foul stench" and Tarkin refers to her as "charming to the last." They were likely political rivals during Leia's time in the Senate, with her secret support of the Rebel Alliance and his devoted service to the Empire putting them at ideological odds.

Tarkin frequently invades Leia's personal space in their scene together, likely as a bid to intimidate and assert dominance over his captive. However, it can also be interpreted that he feels some attraction to her. Famously, he grabs her face while taunting her, an oddly and distinctively intimate gesture between enemies.

Many of the fics written for this pairing can be classified as "darkfic". They often feature a further exploration of Leia and Tarkin's interactions aboard the Death Star, frequently taking on a more mature or intimate tone. Since Tarkin is largely considered to be a creepy and irredeemable villain, and it is unlikely Leia would ever forgive him for the destruction of her homeworld, fic does not take the typical "enemies to lovers" route where the villain is redeemed at the end. Instead, it may play into their hate for one another, seeing them as enemies with Belligerent Sexual Tension. Tarkin may also attempt to corrupt and manipulate Leia to his side or to force her into a relationship with him.

Fandom
Leia Organa/Wilhuff Tarkin on AO3

tarkin x leia on tumblr