Poe Dameron strode through the corridors of Theed's royal palace, Lieutenant Connix and Captain Namit half a step behind him. They and what remained of the Resistance fleet had arrived on the planet of Naboo just over a week ago aboard the Millennium Falcon. After escaping Crait, they had—at General Organa's insistence—attempted to transmit one last message to their allies for help. A response from Naboo came almost immediately, and they set course for the planet before the First Order could ascertain their whereabouts.
They were personally welcomed by the planet's ruler, Queen Sosha Soruna, but the warm reception was short-lived; hours after arriving, General Organa fell ill and all planned discussions of obtaining aid and establishing an alliance to counter the First Order were suspended.
The three slowed as they approached the private quarters Soruna had provided for the general. Commander D'Acy stood outside the doorway, several feet away from the four sentries that had been stationed there for security. Poe sensed her worry before even reaching her but was unsettled at how deeply it was etched on her face.
"Any change?" he asked.
"No," D'Acy breathed. "She's still in critical condition. The royal physicians think the sudden atmospheric change in our hasty evacuation from Crait to here, as well as the events that came before it, have taken a toll." She swallowed and set her blue eyes on Poe's.
Poe took a breath and, not knowing what else to do, set his hands to his hips. Leia was all that remained of their leadership and the very reason they hadn't engaged Soruna in talks about providing aid or making contact with other key allies. Aside from still being their commanding officer, she and Soruna were old friends. An overture to the queen on Leia's behalf would not only be brazen but also seemingly impertinent. But as much as Poe wanted to afford the general all the time she needed to recuperate, he knew every second counted. The longer that they waited, the more the Order's advantage over them grew.
Not that they don't already have a significant one, Poe thought cynically.
He looked up to see Soruna approaching with her attendants in tow. Clad in a vibrant red fitted silk gown laced with gold and wearing elaborate twin braids that crossed at her chest and ended at her torso, the queen's commanding presence was unlike anything Poe had ever encountered. When she had greeted them at the city's hangar, she had been wrapped in a white cloak with her hair tied back in tight bun. The only other detail he had noted at the time was how tall she was. Standing before her now, he took in her elegant stature and the calm, composed look in her deep brown eyes. He vaguely recalled the general telling him the queen had been a pilot in her youth and wondered what it would have been like to see her in action.
"Commander," she said to D'Acy with a nod. She turned towards Poe, Connix, and Namit. "Captains, Lieutenant."
"Your highness," they answered, bowing their heads.
With salutations now out of the way, Soruna's aged face took on a grave look. "As much as it pains me, I believe it may be time to begin discussing what's next for the Resistance, especially in terms of your leadership."
For a brief moment, the four Resistance members stood in silence. Poe glanced from Soruna to D'Acy and back to Soruna. "What are you—What is she talking about?" he asked D'Acy.
"It is extremely likely that Leia will not recover—"
"What are you saying?" Poe said, incredulous at what he was hearing. His captivation with the queen quickly left him, overtaken by a mixture of alarm and disbelief. "The woman was blown into outer space, flew back to the bridge door, and after a brief lie-down, got up, shot me with a stunner, and restored her command. And," he added, lifting a finger, "that was a dead shot."
"All of which," D'Acy calmly interjected, "may have contributed to her current state."
Poe swallowed. He looked back at Soruna. As angry as he was at the mere suggestion Leia could die, he couldn't ignore the serious look on her face. It mirrored the fear inside him he had been struggling to repress since their first day on Naboo. He rubbed his chin with his hand and exhaled slowly. "We've lost everyone else outrunning the First Order. We can't—"
He paused, closed his eyes briefly before opening them again. "We can't lose Leia."
D'Acy opened her mouth to speak just as the door to Leia's quarters opened. Everyone save the Nabooian guards turned to look at the doctor making his way out. He glanced at the three Resistance fighters, then to D'Acy and Soruna, his lips pressed tightly together.
Something tightened in Poe's chest. "Doc?" He was startled by the twinge in his own voice and even more so at the feeling of it echoing through him.
— — —
Rey's quarterstaff cut through the air, following the current of energy flowing between the grassy field beneath her and the azure sky above. Shortly after they had landed on Naboo and everyone had disembarked the Falcon, she relocated the aged Corellian fighter to a wooded area outside of Theed. Although the Nabooian queen had assured her that the ship would be in excellent hands stationed inside the royal hangar, the starport's exposure left her uneasy. She also knew Chewie likely would not countenance any of the royal maintenance crew physically assessing the ship or performing repairs. At the very least, moving the Falcon outside the city served to help protect the queen and her people, should the First Order discover their presence on the planet. And luckily for her, doing so had also allowed her to take in Naboo's landscape and provided her with a place to continue her training.
Rey moved from position to position, conscious only of the rhythm of energy around her. She had yet to attempt to repair the broken lightsaber. In truth, she wasn't entirely sure where to start. Despite her mechanical skills and her years scavenging on Jakku, the lightsaber was a technology unlike anything she had seen before. No piece of machinery or weapon's part was close to comparable. She had briefly considered taking it to Maz Kanata but then remembered Maz's castle on Takodana had been demolished by the First Order. Rey also wasn't entirely certain if Maz was even on the forest planet. Still, a part of her sensed the pirate queen, for all her years and knowledge of the galaxy, would be able to provide her with some guidance. The lightsaber had been in her possession, after all.
Rey turned on her heel, twisting around to bring the staff in front of her, and froze. Something had moved through her—no, around her?—and then dissipated. She had felt it in the briefest of seconds but recognized it almost immediately. It was nearly the same sensation she had felt days earlier before departing Crait.
"Leia," she whispered.
— — —
Rich purple cloth hung from the walls of the palace rotunda's side room, creating a muted ambiance without casting an overbearing sense of solemnity. In the center of the room sat an open casket atop an ornate catafalque, its bottom half covered with a velvet tapestry adorned with the Crest of Alderaan. Leia was just visible over its side, her aristocratic features as exquisite in death as in life.
"Are we sure this is a good idea, having her lying out publicly?" Finn asked. He turned to Poe. "No disrespect or anything, but this feels like an invitation for the First Order to swoop down and take over the planet."
"We don't have much of a choice," Poe answered. He wore a grim expression and his voice lacked its characteristic strength and confidence. "She was a public official and a princess. There's no way of hiding her death. But what we can do is take advantage of what little time we have. Soruna has ordered that no word about this leaves the palace until arrangements are completed." Poe swallowed the lump forming in his throat and continued. "Soruna has staged everything so that it appears the general arrived on Naboo with an attendant before her passing. The First Order will then be less concerned about tracking us down here, believing the two separated from us for Leia's sake."
"And exactly how is that going to work?" Rose asked softly. There was a wariness in her voice that Finn couldn't decide was dubiousness regarding the plan or if she was experiencing lingering pain from where she had crashed into him on Crait. For her part, Rose had recovered rather swiftly and surprisingly well. There were still small cuts on her face and at least one larger gash on her forehead from the impact, and she sustained a rib injury. Despite the Nabooian physician's insistence that she rest, she pulled herself out of bed the day before, having spent the days prior conscious but confined to the palace infirmary. She still moved slowly but quietly reveled in the freedom to move around.
"There were a number of transports and passenger ships that came in over the past few days," Poe answered. "The attendant Soruna designated was already listed on the manifest for one of these and—assuming the First Order will be gathering intel on incoming vessels—it will be easy to play it off that she accompanied Leia aboard one of the ship's earlier stopovers. The fact that the general's name doesn't appear on the same manifest won't arouse suspicion."
Finn nodded. "Because it was an unarmed ship and having her listed as a passenger would have easily exposed her."
"Exactly."
All three gazed at the former general. "What about us?" Rose asked, inhaling deeply.
"We're small in number and we came in on the Falcon, which the Order can't track," Poe said. "As long as we lay low, the Order won't be tipped off to our presence."
"I hope you're right about that," Rose said. "I'm not sure the Order would believe that we wouldn't follow the general. Or come to retrieve the body."
Her words hung in the air, giving way to a mournful silence. Poe shut his eyes. Once the announcement was made, Leia would be prepared to lie in state before being laid to rest, something Soruna determined was more appropriate than the Nabooian tradition of cremation. As Leia's homeworld of Alderaan had been destroyed during the Galactic Civil War and having been largely mobile in the years that followed, her body would remain on Naboo. The First Order would, if all went according to plan, surveil the ceremony remotely and likely monitor the planet for incoming Resistance spacecraft. Rather than dwell on any deficiencies in the plan or devise a contingency strategy, however, Poe's mind grappled with the reality before him: that this would be the very last time he or any of them would ever lay eyes on the general again.
As much as he wanted to linger—perhaps imprudently waiting for Leia to suddenly revive as she had after the hit to the Raddus's main bridge—Poe knew doing so would be in vain and against Leia's wishes. He turned toward Finn and Rose. "She wouldn't want us standing here, mourning," he whispered before taking a deep breath. "We need to start planning before the First Order makes its move."
The two nodded silently in agreement. Without a backward glance, they filed out of the room, carrying an ache in their hearts despite themselves.
— — —
Rey waited until her three comrades were out of sight before approaching. She paused outside the doorway, glancing at the palace guards standing on both sides. Recognizing her as a member of the group that had arrived with the general, they allowed her to pass, much to her relief. Although she could easily manipulate their minds, she wasn't keen on doing so and preferred their silent acquiescence.
Despite the solemn air and stillness that filled the room, Rey felt calm. It surprised her somewhat that she was not as sad as she thought she would be. Perhaps Luke's passing mere days ago had something to do with it. Indeed, Leia departed much in the same way Luke had—softly and in peace. The only difference was that the sensation she felt on Crait had been greater while this one had been somewhat gentler. Leia, despite the last few days, had not suffered. Even now, lying in repose with her eyes shut, she looked serene.
We have everything we need.
And that didn't include you, did it? Rey mused.
The air around her changed suddenly. She turned to see Kylo Ren standing in an empty room overlooking a hangar bay. Sensing the connection, Ren turned slightly to his right. His eyes locked with hers.
They stood silently, holding each other's gaze. Had he felt it? Rey wondered. Had he felt her passing?
Ren turned the rest of his body toward her, and she saw his lips move slightly before he pressed them together. Whether he had felt it or had uncovered the truth in Rey's mind was unclear. She mentally chided herself for not properly shielding her thoughts and for allowing the connection to bridge in the first place, but managed to keep these two thoughts closed off.
The change in Ren's demeanor was apparent, and strangely, he didn't attempt to hide it. "She's gone" he said, his voice low.
It wasn't a question as much as it was a verbal confirmation. Rey tilted her head in a nod before quietly turning back to the body she knew Ren couldn't see.
"How?" he asked, not bothering to hide the sharp, urgent tone in his voice.
"What does it matter?" she said, snapping her head back to face him. "I thought you wanted to let the past die?"
Something changed in Ren's eyes. He cast them downward before Rey had a chance to determine exactly what but the thin press of his lips and the tightness around his mouth was noticeable. And almost as quickly as it came, the expression was gone, replaced by the impassive look he frequently wore. His eyes were focused on her own again.
"We'll be gone by the time the fleet gets here," she said flatly, answering a question she knew was already forming in his mind. She shifted her eyes back to the casket. "There's little point coming for us."
Ren didn't answer, but she felt the conflict of emotions within him. She knew his gaze was still on her but refused to look at him again.
"What will you do now?"
"What do you mean?" She replied softly.
"You have no leader. The fleet is decimated. The Order outnumbers the rebels completely. To continue to fight is senseless."
"You underestimate us."
"I suppose you're going to lead them?" The derisive tone of the question echoed across their connection, grating her nerves and causing her to surrender her resolve.
"And if I did?" she challenged, turning toward him. She could sense his anger rising in response and issued a wave of defiance to greet it. Ren's lip curled slightly, but he did not answer.
The connection ended a moment later. Rey's eyes considered the space he had occupied. Then slowly, she turned away, realigning herself with the stillness of the room. Leia's high cheekbones peaked over the edge of the casket, relaxed in eternal rest and seemingly suggesting that the body they belonged to was unmoved nor concerned with the conversation that had just occurred.
We have everything we need, Rey thought to herself. You helped to ensure that.
She turned to leave, glancing back once over her shoulder. It was likely her imagination or perhaps a change in the light, but she thought for a moment that she had seen a hint of a smile on the general's lips.
