In Return of the Jedi, and time has changed the old guard. In Leia's case, she ultimately became a successful Galactic Senator and a great Resistance general, but not before beginning Jedi training under her brother, Luke.
After the defeat of the Empire, Leia used her newly-discovered Force-sensitivity to begin studying as a Padawan under the tutelage of her brother. While she would prove to be very gifted in the ways of the Force, Leia abandoned her Jedi training when she had a premonition that the path would eventually lead to the death of her future son. She ceased using her lightsaber at this time as well, giving it to Luke and requesting that he it on to one of his Jedi pupils, a promise that he would only fulfill many years later when he gave it to Rey.
Encased in a distinctive silver-and-copper hilt, Leia's lightsaber used a naturally-occurring blue kyber crystal, much like Luke's original saber that he had inherited from his father by way of Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, the leaner shape and ringed blade emitter more closely resembled Art Deco lamp. The alternating copper and steel lines also bear a hint of the design seen on the hilt of Anakin Skywalker's lightsabers, both the blue saber ed on to Luke and the red one he wielded as Darth Vader.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Being skilled enough to best Luke in a sparring session is a testament not only to Leia's abilities as a duelist, but also to her strength as a conduit for the Force, which would continue to influence her life even after walking away from the Jedi path.
Leia's lightsaber is a wonderful bit of prop design and has loving aesthetic touches to distinguish it from the sabers that came before it, but its similarities to Luke's lightsaber are perhaps more noteworthy than its differences because, much like their twin owners, they are meant to be seen as counterparts to each other. At the climax of The Rise of Skywalker, when Rey uses both of them in tandem to defeat Darth Sidious on Exegol, it is not only the power of "all the Jedi" that aids her, but also the dioscuric weapons of two of the most important people in the history of the galaxy.
