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Kyleia is the family ship between Leia Organa and Kylo Ren from the Star Wars fandom.
Canon[]
Leia and Han Solo are the parents of Kylo Ren, born Ben Solo. He was named after Obi-Wan Kenobi, a man that Leia had known in her youth, and who later sacrificed himself so that she could escape the Death Star. Ben grew up to be strong in the Force, just as his mother was. However, Leia began to notice that Ben found himself called towards the dark side. Worried for her son's future, she sent him to train with Luke Skywalker at his new Jedi Academy.
Ben, however, felt as though his parents were abandoning them. He'd heard them speak about his Force powers, and how they were worried for his future. Sending him to the Jedi Academy felt like a final act of betrayal. Ben spends over a decade training with Luke, and fighting back against his dark impulses. When he is twenty-three, Ben learns the truth about his grandfather over the HoloNet. Ben is shocked and betrayed by the fact that his family has kept Anakin Skywalker's true identity a secret from him for all these years. Leia calls him to try and apologize, but Ben refuses to listen to her.
When Ben completely surrenders to the dark side, taking on the name of Kylo Ren, Leia can feel his pain through the Force. Leia and Han's marriage falls apart after this, with Han believing that there is too much Darth Vader in Kylo for him to be redeemed. Leia, however, believes that their son still has light in him.
Before Han leaves to infiltrate Starkiller Base, he shares a moment with Leia. She asks him to try and bring their son back, if he has the opportunity. Han agrees. When he meets Kylo on Starkiller Base, he tells his son how much he and Leia have missed him. He implores Kylo to come home with him, but Kylo ignites his lightsaber and kills Han. Back at the Resistance base, Leia feels Han's death through the Force and collapses into a chair.
The next day, the Resistance make a hasty escape from D'Qar. The First Order easily finds them, and pursues their fleet. Kylo leads an assault in his TIE Fighter. He is about to shoot the bridge of the Raddus when he senses his mother's presence there. Leia senses him as well, and the two share a moment of connection through the Force. Kylo hesitates in firing, but another one of the TIE Fighters shoots. Leia is ejected into space, but uses the Force to safely pull herself back to the ship. Kylo tries to reach out for Leia through the Force again, but she has slipped into a coma. Since he cannot feel her presence, Kylo mistakenly believes that she has been killed.
After the Battle of Crait, Leia and Rey briefly discuss Kylo. Leia explains that the only one who can save him is Kylo himself, and does not blame Rey for not being able to lead him back to the light side. She says she's unsure if Kylo truly wants to redeem himself or not, but that he is the only one who can do so.
Leia continues to hold hope for her son and his possibility of returning to her. One day, she senses his duel with Rey. She realizes that there is only one thing that she can do to help save him. Reaching out through the Force, Leia connects with Kylo and calls his name: "Ben". The exertion of her use of the Force, combined with a weakened state from the attack of the Raddus, causes Leia to die. She dies knowing that she has helped lead her son back towards the light side. Upon sensing Leia's death, Kylo collapses.
When Kylo, now having redeemed himself as Ben, dies after saving Rey, Leia joins him and they journey together into the afterlife. Their physical bodies both simultaneously vanish, suggesting that Leia was waiting for Ben before she left this world behind.
Fanon[]
Kyleia is a popular dynamic in the Star Wars fandom. Although some fans believe that Leia and Han were bad parents to Kylo, and that they sent him away to train with Luke because they did not love him, the majority of the fandom sympathizes with Leia. They feel for the complicated relationship that she had with her son, and the way that she still tried to do anything that she could for him. Fans were disappointed when Leia and Kylo did not have the chance to meet face-to-face in the sequel trilogy, although this was complicated by Carrie Fisher's untimely passing.
The relationship between Kylo and Leia is most prominent in Kylo-redemption fanworks. Fans enjoy writing about Kylo coming home, returning to his parents as Ben. They like to see Leia accepting her son with open-arms, and forgiving him for all of his sins. This dynamic is also popular in Reylo fanworks, as some see Leia as a pseudo-mother to Rey as well as being the biological mother of Ben.
There are currently over 650 works on AO3 for this pairing.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Leia & Kylo tag on AO3
