Is it possible to imply Leia has been in poor health since her spacewalk in TLJ? Add coughing in both movies, maybe dub in a line of some Resistance member with their back to the camera suggesting she will never fully recover, even put a single word in the crawl or something. Her death already comes out of nowhere but cutting the Maz scene (essential to do, I hate it) would make that even worse.
I think adding something in the crawl would help a lot. It would explain her diminished role and hopefully make her scenes stand out slightly less.
I would remove that Rey is trying to commune with the Jedi, and cut out the “Be with Me” portion of the training. I feel it’s actually more powerful just being heard at the end, as if in that moment she innately calls upon them.