There are things that Leia Organa had planned to say to her son if she ever saw him again in life. (Something she had not expected because she had so much and Ben had been the first of the losses and the cause of the losses and sometimes it took all her mother's heart not to pray for his death.) She had imagined condemnation, tears of joy from her son having come to his senses … she had even pictured shouted words of defiance as he stabbed her through the heart with the same light saber he had used on Han. She imagined everything but what she actually said:

"You need a haircut."

"Hello, Mother." There's both fear in his eyes and something else … hope?

"Hello, Ben. Seriously, you need a haircut. I've never seen it that long. How do you have time to do anything but take care of that hair in the morning?"

"I like it. It's nice to run my fingers through," Rey says with that characteristic bluntness of hers.

"I multi-task, Mother. One of the things I learned from you." He turns to Rey and there's a kind of happiness and love that Leia never thought to see in her son's eyes.

Rey slips into his arms and kisses him. It's not the most chaste of kisses. Leia has the distinctly uncomfortable feeling that the young woman is preparing to ravage her son right in front of her. "Um, Rey? Can you let my son use his mouth for something else for a few minutes?"

Rey blushed slightly as though remembering her presence. "You and I are going to talk later, Prince Ben."

Ben winces … and it almost makes Leia want to cry. It's such an open human reaction from her son. There had been a time when he had been like other boys- he had laughed and cried, demanded and begged for his parents' attention- but gradually he had become a stranger to them. Anger he had in plenty- but laughter, embarrassment- when was the last time her son had felt safe enough with her to be so human? "You told her, Mother?"

"Of course I did, dear. You weren't going to plan on telling her on the wedding day were you?"

"I was pushing the whole elopement thing." Ben arches an eyebrow, and Leia almost tears up at seeing that echo of his father in him...

Ben and Rey glance at each other. She can feel the Force flow between them, their bond so strong that she can almost see it. Her connection with Luke- with Han- had been different. Is this what love between two Force sensitives is like?

Seeing this- seeing her son so happy- causes the words to escape her without thought. "Force but I wish Han were here!"

"So do I," Ben says softly.

Rey embraces him again, glaring at Leia as though she had made an accusation.

"Ben ..."

"It's all right, Mother. I know what I did. I've accepted it."

She wants to say that she forgives him, forgives her son for taking her husband from her, but she can't. The ability to forgive those who harmed her had never been one of her strengths. She had never forgiven Darth Vader for her mother's death, for Alderaan's destruction, for torturing her- no matter how much Luke had encouraged her to do so. "All right. It's best that we don't speak of it."

"I agree," Ben says with a nod of his head.

And again Rey glares at her … it's a bittersweet feeling – Rey had become something like a daughter to her- but when it came to choosing between Leia and her son, Rey was clearly prepared to choose Ben every time.

The strength of that bond frightens her. If Rey had been a little weaker … if she had chosen to join Ben on the Dark Side … there would have been no hope for the Resistance at all. Thank the Force for small favors.

And then because she's Leia Organa … "Rey says that you became Supreme Leader after the two of you killed Snoke."

"That's right."

"When you came to us, what did you tell them?"

Ben shifts uncomfortably. He can see the judgment in her eyes- and she hates herself for having it but can't help herself either. "I told them I had something to take care of and that I would contact them when I could."

"That's it? That's all you did?"

"Yes. That's all I did." He looks away.

"Ben … do you think your throne will be waiting for you?" She hates herself for this- hates that the politician, the general, is stronger than the mother in this moment. "You could have saved so many lives if you had stayed. Not just Resistance lives- those of the First Order. People you're supposed to lead, Ben."

He blinks. "You're mad at me because I left the people who are trying to kill you?"

"There are things more important than my life, son. I spent my life trying to bring peace to the galaxy- you had a chance to make that a reality and you threw it away to be with your girlfriend."

"And to save your life, Mother. Don't forget I did it to save your life."

There's anger in Ben now. She can feel it rolling through the Force like a gathering of thunder.

"Ben!" Rey cries out. "No!"

She wants to tell Rey that it's no use. That once Ben lost his temper nothing would cool it until he had unleashed his power. Destroying something. Destroying someone …

But Ben is looking at Rey, and the anger drains out of him like water being poured from a bottle. He grabs her tightly, burying his face against her neck.

And Leia gapes. She had never seen her son regain control so quickly.

"Maybe Ben isn't the one with too much Vader in him," Rey snaps. "Let's go, Ben."

"Ben-" Forgiveness has never been a strength; neither is saying sorry. The words stick in her throat. "Thank you for saving my life."

Its all she can give him.

"Your welcome, Mother." And he lets Rey lead him out of her room.

Leia lays her head down again wearily. She's dying. The droids here can keep her alive, but only so long as she has life support attached to her. How can I lead the Resistance if I can't even leave this bed?

And then she feels the presence come again. He's tried to speak with her many times over the years. She always shut him out. Always refused to listen to him. Guiltily she wonders if he could have warned her about Snoke if she hadn't been so determined to keep him away …

Now … now she's too weak, too tired … to fight him. "Hello, Darth Vader."

"Anakin," he says gently, looking impossibly young and handsome. "Anakin Skywalker Or Father. Not Darth Vader."

"Bail Organa was my father. I never met Anakin Skywalker. Darth Vader- I knew him quite well. He spent several hours supervising my interrogation."

There's pain in the old-young man's eyes. "You can't imagine how sorry I am about that. If I had known who you were—"

"I'm sure. But what about the other people you tortured- the other people you killed? Do you feel bad for murdering them? For torturing them?"

"I do. But I'm not here to talk to you about my many failings. I'm here for you."

"I know I'm dying. There's nothing anyone can do about that."

"Your heart is failing."

"I know. Your medical droids told me." Leia sighs. "I think I'm okay with that. I'm tired … Anakin." She could afford to give him that much now. "Poe can lead the Resistance. He'll do well as long as he has the others to help him. And my son … my son came back. I have faith in the future. I have hope."

"There is another way. A way for you to stay alive. I know my droids told you about it."

"They did. I won't do that. I'd rather die than become … that."

"You're a true Skywalker, Leia." He chuckles wryly.

She glares at him. "Only if you mean I'm like Luke."

"Skywalkers love fiercely, deeply. We're passionate and we don't forgive." He pauses. "You had Padme's strength and my passion … both good and bad. Luke had my power … and Padme's heart. Ben … Ben has it all. That's what nearly damned him … and that's what saved him. I don't know if I could have had his courage- the courage to keep on living after acknowledging the many wrongs I did."

"Rey gives him strength."

"That's what he believes too. He's as wrong as you are. No one else can give you strength. The only one who free you from the Dark Side is yourself."

"Why didn't you go to him? He would have listened to you! All this tragedy- all this death- could have avoided!"

"Why didn't you listen to him?" There's no anger in Anakin's voice. "You were his mother. How did you not know what was happening to him?"

"I … thought it was from you. From me. From the blood I gave him. I thought Luke could save him because I didn't know how. Luke had saved you- why couldn't he save my son? Why did this have to happen to us?!"

"I wondered the same thing when my mother was taken by the Sand People. If only the Jedi had let me go to her sooner. If only I had understood my visions sooner. I tried to go to Ben, but the Force wouldn't let me. All I could do was watch him make the same mistakes I made..."

"The Force? Snoke?"

"I don't know. I'm dead not omniscient. Maybe the Force itself needed Ben to lose himself so he could find a better, stronger version of himself." Anakin looked down at her. "He needs you, Leia. He still needs his mother."

"He has Rey." There's bitterness in that acknowledgment. "He's in love with a girl he barely knows- and she knows him better than I did and I'm the one who gave birth to him. I failed Ben; Rey never will."

"Like you never failed Han?"

She winces. "We were different."

"Rey and Ben are strong- stronger together than any two Force users I've ever heard heard about- in life or death. But they aren't invincible. They're human. They're going to make mistakes. They can't topple the First Order for your Resistance, Leia. They need your strength. Your guidance." He pauses. "Search your feelings. You know this to be true."

"Do you use that line on everyone, Anakin?"

"Only my children- only the people I love. I know you're tired, Leia. I know you want to be with Han and Luke, but your son- your people- need you to hold on just a little longer. They need you."

"And we both know what that will take." She's so tired. Her heart hurts. But then … "Can you see the future?"

"The future is always in motion."

"If I stay- if I keep on fighting- will I live long enough to see my grandchildren?"

Anakin says nothing for a moment, a long moment. "They're going to need a very big house, Leia."

"All right. I've made my choice." She pauses. "Thank you, Anakin. And … I'll try to forgive you."

"That's all I can ask for, Leia." He smiles at her one last time. "Now try to do the same for Ben- and yourself."

And the spirit of Anakin Skywalker disappears.

Author's Note: Now I'm sure that this will be my last update on this story till after Christmas. Probably. And I expect this will be the only chapter from the viewpoint of anyone else but Been or Rey, but I wanted to show it from Leia's eyes. I read an interview Mark Hamill gave where he said that Carrie Fisher told him that the story of the Skywalkers was of a dysfunctional family, and I really felt that I had to give my viewpoint of this. Leia and Han were good people trying to be the best parents they could be, but even without Snoke, even without Ben's power, he would have had a difficult and lonely childhood. That doesn't excuse Ben's actions, but it does make him a litle more redeemable to us all.