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The sun was just beginning to set on the horizon on the Silver Sea as Rey entered her small apartment on the outskirts of Hanna City. She wearily set her pack on the table in the hall, kicked her boots off, and sighed as she ambled to the kitchen to fill a glass with water before walking over the window and gazed out toward the sea. The sky was awash in the rosy glow of sunset. In the distance she could still see smoke billowing from the city center. A suicide bomber hand managed to breach the perimeter of the building where the newly-reformed Republic Senate had gathered following the Resistance’s victory over the Final Order.
They had won the battle over the skies of Exegol, but the war was far from over. While Order loyalists--Acolytes of the Beyond they had told her--had no banner to rally behind, nor a leader to follow, insurrectionists had emerged across the galaxy even before the victory bonfires on Ajan Kloss had even died down. They didn’t crave control that Order had sought. No, they craved control under the banner of something else.
Darkness.
While not Force adept, they worshipped the darkness that only the Sith like her grandfather had hefted like a cudgel. They were zealots that craved the power of the Dark Side and wanted to destroy anything that stood in their way. The Acolytes were plain in their mission. They wanted to harness the darkness by any means necessary and seize power in the vacuum that had emerged as the Republic scrambled to reorganize and establish peace and purpose across the galaxy.
If they only knew that Sideous’ blood coursed through her veins. It was a secret that she had shared with no one, not even her closest friends. That would be a secret that she take with her to her grave. If they found out, she would no longer be a target for assasination but rather a prize to be taken, a weapon to be forged.
A shudder crept through her as she realized that she would not be the only target if the galaxy learned of her heritage. Perhaps the greater prize was the secret that she carried within her.
As she watched the smoke rise to meet the sky, she absently caressed the subtle swell of her abdomen with her free hand as she took a sip of water. It has been four months since she realized a tiny spark of life had started to blossom within her. She had kept her secret hidden beneath loose tunics and flowing cross-wraps that her friends had not quite noticed the subtle changes to her body. She’d been so clever to write off the nausea to new foods far richer than the Resistance's rations and the constant fatigue to the stress of supporting a new government in its infancy. After all, she wasn’t the only one that worked nonstop to bring peace once again to the Republic.
But she wouldn’t be able to hide her pregnancy for much longer. She was starting to show, and her friends would start asking questions. She would have to give them answers, some of them would not understand, and none of them would fully accept.
She carried Ben Solo’s child. The tiny spark of light woven with darkness. Just like her, just like his father.
Just like Sideous.
The child would be a target the moment the galaxy knew he existed, and she was happy to keep him a secret as long she could.
Rey couldn’t help but smile as she felt a tiny flutter deep within. A week ago, she had written it off as a little gas bubble, one of the many new inconveniences of her ever-changing body. But now she realized it was her tiny hurricane of a child that tumbled within her.
“It’ll be alright, little one,” she whispered as the flutter faded away. “I’ll keep you safe.”
She took one last look at the city center. The smoke was starting to fade as the fire was brought under control. Activating the privacy setting, she dimmed the window and turned to head to her bedroom to change into something more comfortable.
She let out a gasp, and the glass she was holding slipped from her hand and shattered on the tiled floor, water spilling everywhere.
“Be careful,” he said with a smile. “You don’t want to step on the shards.”
“You’re not real,” she sadly replied as she stooped down to pick up the fragments of glass. “You’re just a memory.”
Standing before her in the same clothes he wore when he died, Ben Solo bent down to kneel beside her. Something was off. Rey couldn’t feel his presence in the Force’s ever-moving flow. He didn’t shimmer with that ephemeral glow that Luke--or Ben’s mother for that matter--had when they had briefly visited her on Tatooine. The Ben kneeling in her home was spun together with nothing more than memories and wishes.
“Just because I’m a memory doesn’t make me any less real,” he sadly explained.
Rey quickly gathered up to the glass fragments and rose to a stand. Suddenly filled with nervous energy, she walked around him and headed to the kitchen. She quickly deposited the broken bits in the recycler before grabbing a towel and heading back to where he was kneeling on the floor. She mopped up the spilled water and gathered up the remaining glass shards in the rag.
When she could no longer distract herself with the task at hand, she looked up and asked, “Where did you go when you died? I never felt you cross over.”
“I don’t know,” he answered as he pushed himself to a stand just as she did. “The Force claimed me, and that’s the last thing I remember. I don’t know if I crossed over. I think I’m lost.”
Her heart ached, and it hurt to look at him. Still bloodied from the battle, he appeared as if they had just stood shoulder to shoulder to face down the monster that had been her grandfather. He was still bruised along his cheekbone. His split lip had never healed.
“We were close to finally being together,” she said as tears prickled behind her eyes. She hurried to the kitchen to shake out the rag into the recycler. If she lingered beside him, she knew she would dissolve into an ocean of tears.
Ben followed her into the kitchen and stood silent as she tossed the cloth into the sink. His footsteps had made no sound.
“Why did you have to go away?” she asked.
Rey blinked once, and the tears she had been fighting to keep at bay spilled on to her cheeks. She flinched as his hand cupped her face. Memories were not supposed to feel warm, nor were they supposed to have calluses on the pads of their fingers or a gentleness she craved.
“I couldn’t stay,” he tried to explain. “I made so many mistakes in my life, but giving you my life force was not one of them. Only one of us could walk out of Exegol, and I wanted it to be you. I would do it again if given the choice.”
She leaned into his hand and savored the contact, even if it was spun from nothing more than unfulfilled wishes. She cursed their bond after he died. It had felt like a phantom limb, always aching and never quite healed. But now she was thankful that it had given her another opportunity to see him, even if for just a minute or two. Closing her eyes, she imagined what life would be if he wasn’t just a memory, that she had just come home and he was eagerly waiting for her to return.
“It wouldn’t be like this, Rey,” he quietly said as if he could read her mind. “If they didn’t execute me on the spot, they would’ve thrown me in prison at the bottom of Vescovo Deep on Kamino.”
“I miss you,” she interrupted, not wanting to consider the stark reality of what could have happened. She wanted to savor the scarce moments they had before he would once again fade away.
Her eyes snapped open as she felt that tumbling within her once again. Grabbing his hand, she brought it to the slight curve of her belly and said, “There’s part of you that they can never take from me. Not the Force, not the Republic. No one.”
Ben looked puzzled as he caressed her abdomen. His brows knitted into a frown until Rey felt her little starfighter gently kick against his fingertips.
“He’s yours,” she whispered. “You have a son.”
Ben’s eyes widened. “How,” he asked. “We were never together that way.”
Rey shook her head as she answered, “The Force had other plans.” She didn’t quite understand it herself. “You left something behind when you went away.”
The child kicked again, and Ben smiled. “I’m sorry,” he apologized.
She swiped her tears away with the back of her hand before answering, “What for?”
“All of this,” he tried to explain. “I never meant to force this burden on you. I didn’t know this would happen.”
Rey walked back to the living room and waited for him to follow. “You didn’t force anything on me,” she said. “The moment I chose to move forward with this pregnancy, he wasn’t a burden.”
Ben took a step closer and gently wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned into his embrace. Her head tucked neatly beneath his chin. They fit together like two pieces of the same puzzle. The musty scent from Sideous’ cathedral still clung to his clothes. While it felt so real, she knew that this quiet moment was as fragile as a soap bubble. At any moment it would pop and she would find herself alone just had she had with so many times in her life. But until that happened, she hoped that seconds would stretch into hours. She wasn’t going to waste a moment worrying about the future. Only now mattered.
“Do your friends know?” he whispered into her hair.
As he drew her closer, she shook her head against his chest. “No, she finally replied. “I haven’t told them yet.”
“They are going to figure it out sooner than later,” he said as he rubbed small circles into her back.
She took a shaky breath before answering, “They won’t understand.”
“You underestimate them,” he said. “You shouldn’t be going through this all alone.”
He’d promised her well over a year before that she wouldn’t be alone as they sat thousands of light years apart but yet only feet away, huddled before a small crackling fire as the wind howled outside. Something sacred had passed between in that hut on Ahch-To. For the first time in her life, she felt like she had been part of a greater whole.
And then he’d been torn away from her in the blink of an eye.
Rey placed her palm against his chest where his heart should be, hoping its steady cadence would comfort her. But there was nothing beneath her fingertips. His chest was still, and it was just another painful reminder that he wasn’t real. The Ben holding her was just a shadow of a man that was gone forever. She felt it bubble up from the core of her being. At first it was just a little hiccup of an ache. But that feeling quickly became unbearable and suddenly she was drowning in a torrent of pain. The grief she had been holding back and hiding from the world since the war ended came crashing to the fore. She could no longer maintain control of that brave face she had put on and pretend that nothing was wrong.
Her other half was gone. Soon this illusion would fade and she would be faced with a future alone.
“Lean into them, Rey,” he soothed as she started to sob. “You’re going to need them. Something is coming that is bigger than us. Something that will be coming for you and your child. That bomb at the Senate is just the beginning.”
Rey looked up at him. She knew she looked like a mess. Her nose ran and her eyes swam with tears. “What do you know?” she asked.
Ben shook his head. “Not any more than you already know,” he tried to explain. “I’m not connected to the Force like this. The Acolytes are trying to harness power. I can’t protect you like this, but your friends can.”
She pulled away and took three steps toward the window. Changing the privacy settings, the city once again came into view. The smoke from the Senate was dissipating as the fire was likely coming under control.
“What do they want?” she murmured.
“Chaos,” he answered.
She sat silent as an armed cruiser helped establish a secure perimeter around the city center. “What do I do?” she asked. “I don’t know how to be a mother.”
“You will,” Ben reassured. “Just love him, and the Force will guide you.”
“Your parents loved you,” she countered, “and they weren’t able to protect you.”
He gave her a sad smile.She’d seen his memories when they had first met and she’d somehow find her way into his mind. “Learn from their mistakes,” he cautioned. “And mine.”
She could feel his time with her coming to a close. The energy holding the illusion together was starting to dissipate, and there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening.
“I really did want to take my hand,” she confessed.
“You did,” he said with a watery smile. “You grabbed it and pulled it pulled me out of the darkness.”
“Don’t go,” she pleaded as his form started to feel cold and distant, just as he had on Exegol.
He stepped closer and placed his hand over her heart. “I’ll be right here,” he explained. “I’ll always be with you.”
She sighed and fresh tears streamed down her face. Ben leaned in and pressed his lips against her forehead to offer the gentlest of kisses as her eyes slid shut and she savored the contact.
“I love you, Ben,” she whispered knowing that when she opened her eyes he would be gone and she would once again be alone.
… Five Months Later …
This ship rocked as it absorbed another blast from the Marauder class fighters that swarmed on all sides. Rey caught herself as she slammed into the narrow passageway’s wall just as another contraction rolled through her swollen abdomen. She winced and breathed her way through the pain, her eyes scrunched shut until the pain ebbed away.
Now two minutes apart, the contractions had grown in intensity. What had been a minor discomfort that had woken her from her sleep cycle earlier in the day now brought her to a standstill each time they began. She wasn’t due for another week, but her son was on his way with a stubborn determination not unlike herself.
They were never going to make the rendezvous on Kashyyyk below where Finn, Chewbacca and her doula were awaiting her. She had planned to give birth in the treetops outside Rwookrroro where she would be hidden away from the insurrectionists that had started to hunt her down with her closest friend at her side. Chandrila was no longer safe. Her apartment had been breached. Had it not been for Finn’s watchful eye, she may have never noticed that her comms had been bugged.
It didn’t matter what her plans had been, the Acolytes had found them the moment the ship dropped out of hyperspace. Outnumbered and outgunned, it was only a matter of time before the shields failed and they boarded the ship.
She looked out the viewport. Kashyyyk’s lush surface was so close yet so very far away. Landing was no longer an option. They had to escape the firefight if they were to survive.
Another blast sent her careening into her friend Poe Dameron, and he caught her before she could hit the deck.
“I got you,” he reassured as he helped to steady her.
She nodded as another contraction to blossom in her pelvis. They were strong enough to prevent her from answering anything meaningful.
Poe gently placed his hand on the small of her back and said as he guided her down the passageway, “Let’s get you back to medical.”
The lights flashed on once they reached the small medbay. There was nothing fancy about it. It was clean and had that sterile smell that reminded of the trauma bay from the Resistance base on Ajan Kloss where disinfectant mingled with the acrid scent of industrial laundry detergent. An outdated medical droid stood in the corner charging its motivator core in the event it was ordered into action.
“We’re not going to make it to Rwookrorro, are we?” she asked, though she already knew the answer.
Poe gestured to the chair in the corner and waited for her to sit before replying, “We’ve got to jump or they are going to overtake the ship,”
After weeks of preparing, their plans had evaporated in the blink of an eye. There would be no birthing pool nor soothing incense nor warm Kashyyyk summer. They would be lucky if they reached their alternate destination at this rate. Her doula would not be at her side until long after her son was born. And the last thing she wanted to do was give birth with Poe as a reasonable facsimile for a birthing partner. She loved him like an older brother. But like a sibling, he drove her kriffing mad more often than not.
“Plan B.” He smiled at her. “We knew it could be a possibility.”
Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes. She hated how hormones had turned her into a torrent of emotion at the drop of the hat. Only yesterday it had some inane kaffa holo ad reduced her to a blubbering mess. “Yeah,” was all she could say in the moment with a curt nod.
“Shields are at twenty-seven percent,” Yolo Ziff’s voice crackled the comm in Dameron’s pocket. “If we don’t jump now, there won’t be enough bits of us to even make through atmo!”
Poe dug into his pocket, retrieved the comm and barked back, “How close are you to jumping?”
“Coordinates are locked,” the artist-turned-pilot answered. “Shields now nineteen percent. Just say the word.”
Poe locked eyes for a moment with Rey as if waiting for permission. There was no hiding her disappointment. She sought out Finn’s presences on the surface and tried to alert him to the change in plans. His signature flared in her mind, wrapping hers with reassurance. She drew in a breath and nodded. Poe was right; they needed to get out of there.
“Punch it!” Poe ordered as he gripped the arm of Rey’s chair.
The ship lurched forward for a split second before her ears popped and her body pressed into the chair, the telltale signs that the ship had dropped into a hyperlane and accelerated to light speed. Her son must’ve felt it as well. As soon as that momentary turbulence faded away, the baby kicked against her lower ribs in protest. Instinctively, Rey rubbed at her belly to comfort the child and tried her best to send him soothing energy through the Force. Within seconds the baby stilled, and she could feel him drift to back to sleep.
Poe held out his hand, and Rey reached out to clasp it. He gave her hand a soft squeeze before he asked, “Are you going to be okay back here? I need to check if Yolo needs any help.”
She put on a brave face and tried her best to smile before she let go of his hand. “I’ll be fine.”
He seemed to buy it. Too bad she didn’t believer herself.
He tucked the commm back in his pocket and heading toward the corridor. “I’ll be back to check on you in a bit,” he explained. “I’ll swing by the galley on the way back. Can I get you anything?”
No one had told her that labor would make her queasy. The thought of food turned her stomach.
“Just water,” she answered.
Poe flashed her a smile and replied before he headed to the cockpit. “Water it is.”
Once he was gone Rey pushed herself to a stand. Too much nervous energy to sit still. Besides, she wasn’t comfortable sitting in it when her last contraction hit. She should probably rest before labor kicked into overdrive, she silently told herself. There would be no rest then. The baby kicked against her abdomen as if he were reacting to her anxiety.
“Shhh,” she whispered to the unborn child, rubbing her hand over her abdomen. “Just stay in there a little longer.”
Another contraction started to build, this one was stronger than the past few. She drew in a breath and slowly exhaled as her doula had taught her. Center yourself, it’s what the Twi’lek woman would tell her if they were together. As the contraction started to crest--they were far worse than the false contractions she had felt for months--Rey squeezed her eyes shut, and her face twisted in a grimace as she let a small groan slip past her lips. Without looking, she reached for the arm of the chair to anchor herself to something. Her belly tightened, and the child stilled as he rode out the surge with her. As it peaked, she took another deep breath, held it a moment before blowing it out.
“Looks like you’re in the final stretch,” a voice called from the otherside of the room.
When opened her eyes and turned around, Ben was leaning against the bed that could convert to a birthing chair if needed. His face was still bruised and wan like the last time she had seen him. His boots were still dusty, and she could easily make out the hole in his tunic that she had created when she had pierced him with his own lightsaber.
“I was just thinking about you,” she smiled. Her memories had made him solid if only for a few minutes.
“I’m glad I could be here,” he said as he closed the distance between him. He pulled a hand through his tangled hair. Even if he were still just a memory, Ben had that nervous energy that he always carried with him.
He gazed at her with something akin to awe. “You’ve never looked more beautiful,” he quietly added.
Rey could feel herself blush. “Flattery will get you nowhere,” she jokingly warned. “I look like I swallowed a small moon.”
Ben sought her eyes for a silent permission before he brought her hand to her belly. “You look like you’re about to be a mother,” he said.
Covering his hand with hers, she savored the contact for several long moments. Once again the Force had gifted her a respite with nothing more than a shadow. She wasn’t going to squander it. It was something to be cherished.
“I’m not ready,” Rey said. There was no hiding the panic in her voice.
“Yes, you are,” he whispered into her hair. “You’re the strongest person I ever knew.”
She leaned into him. His form was solid and warm. “I’m scared, Ben.I can’t do this alone.”
Wrapping and arm around her, he added, “You’re not. This may not be what you want, but you won’t be alone.”
Rey broke the embrace and headed to viewport to gaze at how hyperspace bent stars into infinite steams of light. They had just left the firefight above Kashyyyk. Would they Acolytes be waiting for them on the other side of the jump? Only few select confidantes had known they were heading to the Wookiee homeworld, and yet they were ambushed the moment they had dropped out of hyperspace. What if that happened when they emerged at Dantooine in a few hours?
“Do they want you or the baby?” he asked as he joined her at the viewport.
“Both, I suspect.”
She was nearly captured on the way home from the senate building two weeks prior. That’s when she realized she wasn’t safe in her own home. The past two weeks were a series of short journeys to various systems--Naboo, one of Corellia’s moons which she never learned the name, and Maz’s stronghold on Takodana. Each safehouse was just a brief stop to rest for only a handful of days before trying to keep one step ahead of the mercenaries that continued to hunt for her. Only when she reached the final weeks of her pregnancy, had Poe arrived to transport her to her final destination where she planned to give birth.
“What happens if you can’t shake them next time?” Ben asked. Of course he’d want to know the details.
But he was right. They had planned for everything. “There’s a escape pod that’s packed and ready to go. It’s on the other side of this wall,” she said, praying they would never have to use it. “Poe plans to stay and stall them while I try to put more distance between them and me. It has supplies and tracking beacon. Finn has it’s twin.”
Ben scowled as he listened to the plans. “Dameron must love you if he’s willing to go down with the ship for you,” he grumbled.
She didn’t need to read his thoughts to know that even this memory of Ben Solo was jealous. She wasn’t surprised. Poe had finally confessed that he and Ben had been close as children, and everything was a competition with them.
Rey wanted to slug him in the arm for this childish jealousy. “It’s not like that,” she said. “He’s just a friend...more like a friend I want to strangle most days.”
“I see he hasn’t changed much.”
The declaration was enough to make both of them chuckle for a moment. “I think the biggest reason he’s doing this is he realized the baby is Leia’s grandson. He’d do anything for her, ” she added.
“Even die for the cause?” Ben asked as he cocked an eyebrow,
She couldn’t bear the the thought of another person she loved dying for her. It was hard enough shouldering that burden since Ben’s sacrifice. She didn’t want to lose another person close to her heart.
“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” she finally answered.
She barely managed to get the words out before the strongest contraction yet spread across her abdomen. Rey wasn’t prepared for it’s intensity. Her body tensed, unable to move as a painful moan slipped past her lips. She gripped at the wall and instinctively lowered herself toward the floor until she was nearly squatting. The change in position gave her a slight reprieve as the pain in her belly spread into her lower back.
Without saying a word, Ben crouched beside her, his hand finding that ache in her back as he pressed the heel of his hand into the center of the agony and massaged it away, not saying anything until the discomfort abated.
As the contraction dissipated, Rey rested her forehead against the wall and released the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Only then did Ben finally offer her words of encouragement, “You’ve got this.”
Rey stayed in the at position for a few moments longer. Ben stood first offered her his hand to help pull her up. She nodded her thanks.
“I wish you could be here for real,” she finally admitted.
“I know.”
She wasn’t going to start crying again, she silently warned herself as if she could stop the barrage of emotions that were threating to spill forth by sheer will alone.
“At least we have this,” she admitted.
“Maybe the Force is still connecting us wherever I am,” he said as he cupped her face.
“Ben, I …” she started, only be interrupted as she felt a warm gush of water soak her leggings and drip on to the permasteel floor. The contraction that was threatening to start crashed through her with an intensity that felt vastly stronger then all of the previous ones.
“I think your water just broke,” he said as she gripped his forearm to ride out the wave of pain.
Through gritted teeth, she spat out, “What does that mean?”
“It means your son is going to be here sooner than you think.” When the worst of the contraction was over, he helped her cross the room toward the procedure area and the comm on the wall.
“Where’s Dameron?” Ben asked.
Rey glanced out the door. Poe would be back any minute. “He,” she started, “he, said he’d be back in a few minutes.”
“He needs to be here with you,” he said.
“Don’t go,” she pleased. She could feel him starting to fade away. While he still appeared as solid and real as he had been in life, the energy holding him together started to weaken again.
“You know I can’t stay,” he sadly answered.
Before he could vanish, she threw her arms around him and held him in a tight embrace which he immediately returned. They only had a few more seconds together. She closed her eyes and tried to commit every part of him to memory--his rare smile and dimples, the crinkles around his eyes, the ears he tried so desperately to hide behind a tangle of black hair. She held him as long as she could. But time didn’t belong to her. Memories were there one minute, gone another.
When she was ready to let go, she opened her eyes and he was gone.
Rey took in the silence of it all for a moment, the peace that she had found in the controlled chaos of hyperspace. Ben’s presence lingered for a moment or two longer before returning to the unseen eddies in the Force.
………
“Lean into it,” Poe urged, and he helped her curl forward on the birthing chair as she drew in a breath, held it and beard down pushed for what felt for the millionth time. The obstetrical droid they had brought with them stood between her knees and monitored progress.
As he had for the past few contractions, he counted to help her focus on the task at hand. “Two, three, four, five,” he continued until reached ten and she let out her breath with a forceful exhale.
Sweat beaded on her forehead and gathered in the small of her back. Rey was exhausted after pushing for nearly two hours. It was all so very normal, the droid had explained to her. The monitor gently strapped to her belly let her hear her son’s constant heartbeat, racing at twice the rate of her own. When she would contract and start to push, it would slow to where it was easy to count and then race back up each time she relaxed.
“What do you need--water, a cold pack?” Poe asked as she leaned back during the brief respite. It would only last a minute or so before that urge to push would return again.
“Water,” Rey answered as he brought the bottle to her her mouth and she drew in a small sip through the flexible straw attached to the spout. For all the times Poe had driven her mad, he made up for it on this journey. He didn’t complain when she squeezed his hand to the point of nearly breaking. He was quick to offer water when she needed it or a cool washcloth to dab on her hot forehead.
He set he bottle back on the stand as the next contraction started to grow. They were coming in waves on top each other, and Rey tried her best to stay in control. She was sure there was a way to tap into the Force and take control of labor, but how clearly escaped her, and prepared to push again in attempt to bring her son one step closer to birth.
“We’re dropping out of hyperspace in about thirty seconds,” Yolo’s voice chirped from Poe’s comm beside the bottle..
Dameron picked it up and answered, “Once we’re in real space let the medical team on the ground know Rey is about to deliver. They need to be ready!”
“Copy that,” Yolo replied.
The ship shuddered a bit as it dropped into the space above Dantooine. As soon as they did, a blast rocked the spacecraft sending the water bottle and comm skittering off the bedside table.
“What’s happening?” Rey asked. Panic crashed through her as she already knew the answer. The Acolytes had found them and had been waiting on the other side of the jump. She was going to ask more when she let out a cry and leaned forward. The urge to push short circuited any meaningful thoughts.
“Don’t worry about it,” Poe lied. “Just push!”
She scrunched up her face and visualized her son’s presence as she pushed. He had stilled as labor had kicked into high gear, but his Force signature was a strong as ever. He was going to be strong like she was.
Strong like Ben.
“I can see the top of his head!” Poe explained. “It looks like he has a full head of dark hair.”
The ship rocked from a second blast.
“You are about to crown, Mistress,” the droid announced. “A few more pushes and your child will be born.”
“Did you hear that?” Poe added. “His head is almost out. Another push and he’ll be here!”
The contractions were coming one on top of the other. As soon as this one had faded, another was already threatening to build. She tried her best to ignore how the ship rocked as the assault outside continued.
Without urging, she curled forward and beared down as hard as she could. In the distance she could hear the baby’s heart slow as it always did when the contraction crested.
“That’s it Rey, keep going!” Poe said. “You’re almost there.”
She blew out her breath with a loud cry as the baby’s head emerged.
“Oh, he does have a lot of hair!” he exclaimed.
She couldn’t help but smile as tears prickled in the corners of her eyes.
“Shields are at ten percent!” Yolo’s voice crackled over the comm.
“Don’t listen to him, Rey!” Poe demanded. “On the next push, you’re going to deliver your baby.”
Her body didn’t hurt as much now. She wasn’t sure if the worst was over or if it was exhaustion taking over. Nodding, she let Dameron know that she heard him. As the next wave started to build in intensity, she took a slow deep breath, then another one. It didn’t matter if a war waged outside. Nothing was going to stop what was happening in the medbay.
The contraction strengthened and her body took over. Rey grunted and gripped Poe’s hand tightly. She focused all of her energy to where she felt her son. Bearing down, she pushed one last time as the droid pushed down on what she assumed was the baby’s shoulder and the child slid out with relative ease. Exhausted, she reclined back, and the tension in her body started to ebb.
The room silent for a moment that felt like an eternity before she heard the most beautiful and reassuring sound.
The tiny boy drew in breath, let out the loudest of cries, and announced his presence to the galaxy.
The droid tended to the child for only a moment before Poe placed the baby, cord and all, on Rey’s chest as he tried his best to dry the baby with one of procedure towels from the medkit while the droid clamped the cord and separated mother from child.
“Hello, little one!” Rey gently sobbed as she wrapped her arms around the tiny bundle and placed a kiss on the crown of his head. It felt so natural cradling him against her. After all the waiting, he was finally here, soaked hair and covered in vernix that protected his skin while he had floated in the womb.
The infant stilled with her gentle touch, and he opened his eyes as he nuzzled into her embrace. There was no mistaking his resemblance to those she had loved and lost. Rey immediately recognized Leia’s nose. But everything else was Ben in miniature--his raven hair, the curve of his lips, and his expressive dark eyes. Her heart ached because their family was incomplete. She would have to be both mother and father to her son.
“Hi,” she whispered through tears of joy. “I’m your mamma.”
Poe drew close to swap out the wet towel with a dry one. “What’s the little guy’s name?” he asked.
Rey smiled. She’d know her son’s name from the moment she’d felt him stir within her. He was her song, her joy, and so she found a Corellian name that embodied that love and elation.
“His name is Liran Solo,” she announced and the Force sang around them.
He would carry his father’s name with pride. Rey would see to it.
A thundering blast rocked the ship and the medical equipment on the procedure stand clattered to the floor and the lights flickered for a moment. A alarm blared loudly in the passageway. Before she heard Yolo scream out, she already knew that the shields had failed. The thud that followed heralded another ship docking with theirs.
The Acolytes had surrounded them and were preparing to board.
“They’re here,” Poe said. There was no mistaking the fear in his voice.“We need to get you two to the escape pod.”
Rey shook her head as she held Liran close, desperately trying to commit every one of his features to memory. “Take him,” she instructed. “I won’t make it there in time.”
They had planned for everything. Three plans how to deliver her son, including the possibility of a surgical birth, and yet they hadn’t planned for the worst case scenario--ambush when she was at her most vulnerable in the moments immediately after delivery. She was in no condition to run. The umbilical cord still hung between her legs, and she had not yet delivered the afterbirth.
“I can carry you,” Poe bargained.
Rey shook her head as silent tears coursed down both of her cheeks. They had almost made
it, but she couldn’t stomach the thought of another person she loved sacrificing themselves for her. In the time it would take him to help her to the pod, they would all be dead.
“Take him,” she repeated. “Hit the sublights as soon as you detach from the ship. They won’t be able to stop you.”
“That’s not the plan, Rey,” he protested as the baby started to cry. “Just let me help you.”
She pulled herself forward, and kissed her son’s head. “Get him out of here,” she said as she was already saying her silent goodbyes. “I can sense some of them. They want him more than anything. Liran will be stronger than Ben or I.”
From the far end of the passageway, she heard a scream as the sound of blaster fire echoed down the corridor. Reaching out with Force, she felt their pilot’s life slip away.
She wrapped her son in the blanket and handed him to Poe. In that moment she realized why per parents had abandoned her on Jakku. They hadn’t sold her for drinking money. They didn’t dispose of her as unwanted garbage. They had made the ultimate sacrifice so that she could live. They gave their lives because they loved her just as she now unconditionally loved her own son.
“Go!” she cried. “They want Liran because he isn’t just a Skywalker. He’s also a Palpatine.”
She wasn’t sure if Poe fully understood her confession, and it really didn’t matter at that point. Her son was who they had sought, and they weren’t going to stop until they got what they wanted. In moment of clarity, she realized the cultists weren’t following the orders of a Sith Lord. No, they wanted Liran because they wanted to create their own idol and weapon to heft.
Poe’s eyes glistened with tears. His own pain was palpable as he likely realized he would never see her again. He gave Rey’s forehead a chaste peck of a kiss before breaking apart.
“Thank you,” she sobbed. He waited a moment, likely to give her time to say goodbye to Liran. She cradled her baby’s head before kissing him one last time. “I love you, my son. I will always be with you.”
Holding the newborn tight to his chest, Poe pivoted past the obstetrical droid and ran toward the aft hold at the ship’s stern.
Rey could feel the Acolytes before the entered the medbay. She tried to hold them off with the Force, but they seemed immune to her efforts.
She put up no fight as a half dozen hooded troops entered the room with their blasters drawn. In the distance she felt the subtle rumble of the escape pod roaring to life and streaking away from the melee. Her son was safe, and she was prepared to meet her own fate.
“You’re too late,” she smiled. “You’ll never find him.”
“Take her alive,” the leader of the Acolytes sneered as she spied the Ysalamiri in the crook of his arm. It was why she shouldn’t shove them down the passageway with the Force.
A flash of light, a metallic taste on her tongue, and her world went black.
... Seventeen Years Later …
The High Priest’s shuttle touched down on Exegol in the middle of an electrical storm. The wind twisted his robes around his legs as he strode down the ramp with his two aides in tow. He paid no attention to the decrepit TIE that slowly decayed at the edge of the landing field, a relic of a war decades ago. It sat as a reminder of how close they had come to losing everything in the last battle that took place in the Cathedral.
He nodded to the guards as he entered the structure, its facade still in ruins. The Acolytes were not concerned with appearances and the exterior had been left to crumble. The sanctity of its interior was that mattered.
The priest rode the massive lift to the bottom of the cavern in silence. The only noise came from the wind that howled above. Making his way to the laboratory deep beneath the rocky surface he headed toward the hidden laboratory. The giant holding tanks had been drained. He had no need for failed and useless cloned avatars.
They had learned from the mistakes of the past. They didn’t need another flawed clone of their dead Master to revive the Sith.
They had his own flesh and blood alive and in perfect hybernation.
His chief scientists greeted him as technicians and droids hauled a block into place in the center of the chamber. A technician assessed the readings from the block’s sensors and entered data into their holopad.
“You are sure the conditioning is complete?” the High Priest asked.
The physician nodded with a smile. “Yes, my lord,” he answered. “The subject is ready for the awakening process.”
The priest stepped forward and surveyed the upright block of carbonite. A woman’s visage broke through its smooth surface, her nude form frozen in time as if nothing more than an artist’s rendering. Her breasts were full, her belly still rounded as if she had recently given birth.
“It is time to wake Her Grace,” the High Priest said with confidence. He had waited nearly two decades for this moment. A shiver passed through him as his patience and diligence had finally come to fruition.
“She will not be prepared to receive visitors for several days,” the physician explained. “It will take that long to treat her hybernation sickness.”
The High Priest did not wait for permission. He stepped forward and caressed the woman’s frozen cheek. “You are sure she will survive the awakening process?” he asked. They had experimented with other humans in long-term hibernation. Only half had survived past ten years.
“We have a bacta tank at the ready if she requires it,” the physician answered. “We anticipate temporary blindness, but she is in perfect health. I do not foresee any complications.”
The priest nodded again. It was time.
“Begin,” he instructed.
Working in concert, the technicians activated the the thaw sequence. The grey carbonite sublimated around them, evaporating into an pungent mist that was quickly whisked away by the vents overhead. It did not take long for the woman to emerge from melting block. A trio of technicians were there to extract her from her frozen tomb and catch her before she could crash to the permasteel floor.
They transferred her with ease to the waiting hoverbed and immediately started to towel her off before she could fully awake. An fourth technician waited at the head of the bed to fit a mask over her nose and mouth and fill her lungs with a few breathfuls of oxygen.
The woman stirred on the bed. Naked, disoriented and afraid as a newborn drawing its first breath, she cried out, pushing the mask on her face aside as she struggled against the many hands tending to her before the physician pressed a hypospray gun against her neck and injected a mild calming agent into her bloodstream. She stilled and her breathing evened out.
As the technicians continued to dry her, she let out a groan as a midwife pressed on her abdomen. Another collected the umbilical cord that still snaked between her legs and delivered the afterbirth that still remained from a labor a lifetime before, depositing both in a waiting basin.
“Save the placenta,” the physician ordered. “We have stem cells from both mother and child for cloning!”
The technicians covered the woman in a gown before wrapping her in a warmed blanket. Once she was properly covered and her modesty assured, the High Priest stepped forward. He wanted his voice to be one of the first she heard.
“You are safe, My Grace,” he said as he gently clasped her hand and pressed a kiss of fealty to her knuckles. “Your eyesight will return in time.”
He helped her pull herself up until she sat, his hand steading her at the small of her back. Only then did he see the rewards of their years of faith and patience. When she finally opened her sightless eyes, they flashed with the brilliance of shining citrine before yielding once again to a softer hazel.
“Where am I?” she asked. There was no mistaking the confusion and fear in her voice.
“You are home, Empress Palpatine.”
END