4 hours ago, KungFuFerret said:

Yes, hence my confusion on what you meant by "later in life" for Leia. Considering her age when we finally see her directly using the Force, I wasn't sure if you were implying that she only then ever used it, or what. My only point is I just don't see any being, when told you have magic powers, and it being demonstrably true, to not try and improve on those abilities, even casually, over time. So even as a rookie, with 30+ years of practice, she could be significantly powerful. Not on par with Luke, or with younger people who have dedicated their lives to improving their Force abilities, but still powerful enough to be a force to be reckoned with.

Either way, both she and Luke are examples of Force-sensitives who grew up to be adolescents without knowing. Anakin at 8 was using the Force without realizing it. There’s not much cause to require characters that will become Force users at some point to get a FR at character creation.