Leia stared at the cloth laid out on the floor.
It wasn't armor.
It wasn't a trap.
It was… a dress.
And it was going to be beautiful.
She wasn't sure why it mattered. Only that, lately, when her fingers moved, they wanted to create something more than just protection. They wanted to speak.
She had gathered strips of midnight-blue fabric from torn banners behind the merchant quarter, and a few broken mirror shards from the scrap piles. Sewn together with dark thread and woven runes, the result shimmered with quiet defiance.
The first real design took three nights.
A flowing hooded cloak-dress, light and flexible. The mirror shards sat like crystal buttons along the shoulder line. Her triple-stitched collar curved elegantly around the neck.
The moment she stepped out into the early sunlight, she felt it.
Eyes.
---
The butcher's apprentice, usually the first to scoff, paused mid-step.
Two scavenger girls whispered as she passed the crates.
One even asked, "Where'd she get that?"
Leia didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
---
Later, in the market, a tall woman in polished leather armor stood at a fruit stall. C-Rank, Leia guessed, judging by the energy aura surrounding her gloves.
The woman turned, did a double take, and blinked.
Leia almost tripped.
"Who tailored that?" the woman asked.
Leia glanced down. "I did."
"Is that… glass in the collar?"
"Mirror shard," Leia said, careful not to show emotion.
The woman's lips twitched. Not quite a smile. "Does it have a purpose?"
Leia hesitated.
"It reflects light. Blinds attackers… if they get too close."
The woman's brows lifted. "Clever."
Then she walked away — not laughing, not sneering — just curious.
---
Back at the yard, one of the boys from the scrap line asked, "Are you really a seamstress? Or do you just enchant trash?"
Leia was threading a new sleeve with an illusion weave — designed to blur the arm's outline when moving fast.
She didn't look up.
"Why not both?"
He scoffed, but didn't ask again.
---
That night, Selene touched the sleeve of Leia's new coat.
"This is silk," she whispered. "Where did you get silk?"
"It's not real silk," Leia said. "It's blended thread from old sheets. I soaked it, stitched it over night runs, then layered it with fade-runes."
Selene blinked. "It's beautiful."
Leia smiled.
"Thank you."
She meant it.
---
The next morning, Moth appeared at the stall with a square of parchment.
"Your style's making waves," he said. "Some academy prep kids came asking if I sold the design. Called it 'thread couture.'" He laughed. "Sounds expensive."
Leia flushed. "It's not for sale."
"That's the thing," Moth said. "The good stuff never is. That's why they want it."
He leaned in, quieter.
"They don't understand how you're doing this. That's power, girl. Power in silence."
Leia looked at the cloak-dress folded in her hands.
"I just wanted it to feel like me."
Moth nodded.
"And now the world wants to wear it too."