The last place Leia expected Lando to take them was the Bespin system. She tried to recall what she knew about the system these days, what intel she had on Cloud City, but couldn't really recall anything. She had lost track of it years ago. As the freighter came up on Bespin, Leia's thoughts were bombarded with memories. She told Han she loved him just before her father had him frozen in carbonite following hours of torture. She had first realized there was a connection she couldn't explain between herself and Luke here, though it would still be awhile before she would find out why they shared that connection.
As the gas giant appeared in front of them Leia leaned forward in her seat, her eyes narrowing. The planet didn't look the same as she remembered. It's swirling gases were different somehow, they almost looked sick in away. "Lando?"
"Bespin's seen better days." Lando explained from the pilot's seat. "After Endor, Cloud City spent the next couple of decades shifting from one warlord to another. The last one, a relic of a crazy ass Imperial, decided that if he couldn't have the tibanna no one could. So just before he was pushed out by a band of ruthless pirates, he positioned the planet. By the time the people who remained on Cloud City realized it, it was to late. The tractor beams sucked up enough of the changed gas that it caused an explosion that took out the city's repulsorlift engines, knocking the city out of orbit."
Leia watched as Lando flew them past Bespin towards one of it's far off moons. "Cloud CIty's gone?"
Lando nodded. "Most of it crashed into the planet. Thankfully Lobot and I were able to get most of the people off. Though at that point it was mostly pirates, smugglers, bounty hunters. All the decent folks had long since fled the constant violence of take over after take over."
Reaching over Leia put her hand on Lando's arm. "I'm sorry, Lando."
"It's for the best." Lando replied, flashing her a brilliant smile. "A few years ago Maz found something interesting on one of the moons." As he spoke he flew straight towards a mid sized habitable moon. "She reached out to me and we partnered up to see what we could do with her discovery."
Leia turned her attention back to the viewport as the ship broke through the atmosphere of the moon. Squinting a bit she could just make out a circular shape in the surface. Her eyes went wide when she realized what she must be seeing. "Lando, is that…"
"Use to be." Lando answered. "Cloud City is gone, everyone knows that, everyone knows it fell into Bespin, lost to the damaged gases. This place doesn't exist, so no one is going to even think to look for you here."
Before landing the freighter inside the base's hanger bay Chewie launched the Falcon so he could land it in the base's bay on it's own. There was room enough for both ships and about a dozen more small ships. As Leia disembarked from Lando's ship, she was surprised to see three X-Wings, and an A-Wing already in the bay. Not to mention the crates stacked against the walls. "Lando?"
Lando smiled. "Maz and I thought a place like this might come in handy for our favorite rebel princess. It's not quite as finished as we were hoping to get it, but it's got plenty of space, comfortable beds, hot water, all the supplies you'll need for a few months, and best of all, it's safe."
"Lando." Leia said, feeling relief wash over her for the first time since leaving D'Qar. This felt like a place where they could finally catch their breath and regroup. Taking it all in she asked, "How did you manage all of this?"
"You have many friends, Leia, all of whom are willing to help whenever and however they can." Lando answered as he smiled down at her.
When no response came while they were on Crait, Leia had begun to wonder if that were true. Then again on Crait, before she knew Amilyn was still alive, before she'd head Rey's voice over the comms, before seeing her brother again, Leia had come close to her breaking point.
"General." A young woman with dark hair, dark eyes, and a smattering of freckles across her nose called out. She was coming towards them from the other side of the bay where the old wings were. "General Organa, we got your message. I'm sorry we couldn't be any help at the battle. But I hope these will make up for it."
Leia's smile grew as she closed the distance between herself and the young woman. "Zay Versio."
Zay smiled as she hugged the general warmly. "I'm glad to see you're alright, General."
"Same here, Zay." Leia replied. "What are you doing here? You're last report said you and Shriv were still suring up allies in the Outer Rim."
Zay smiled warmly as she replied. "When you get a message saying Leia Organa needs your help you drop everything to go help. We were on our way back when we got a message from Maz." Zay continued despite the roll of Leia's eyes and amused smirk. "She wanted to know how possible it would be for us to get our hands on some wings." Dio, Zay's ID10 seeker droid, chirped something about it not being easy from over Zay's shoulder. Zay shrugged it off. "No one said anything about easy, Dio, just possible." Returning her attention to Leia she added, "Shriv is on his way with another A-Wing. I know they're more than a bit battered and old, but they were the best we could do on such short notice."
Leia could hear the voices of her people from across the bay and smiled. "No worries, Zay. I know a few people who can get those wings up and running in no time."
"Poe!" Rey hissed at the man as he made a beeline not for one of the old beat up wings, but the shiny black and red one on the other side of the bay. "Poe stop touching it! That's not yours!"
"But look at it!" Poe replied as he let his hand glide over the edge of the X-Wing's wing. "It's so beautiful, and it's even black!"
"If you'll excuse me, General." Zay said with a chuckle. "I need to go stop Commander Dameron from molesting my ship."
Leia laughed and nodded her permission for the girl to go. "Of course Zay, but it's Captain Dameron at the moment."
Lando's attention was drawn once more to the brown haired girl with the Alderaanian braid. Leia had told him about Rey on the flight here, had re-introduced him to her daughter, to Han's daughter, but hadn't given him many details.
"How about after I get my people settled you crack open a bottle of whatever really good stuff you have stashed on your ship and we catch each other up?" Leia said after watching Lando watch Rey. She knew what he was looking for, each and every spec of Han he could make out in the girl. She'd done it herself many times. While Rey tended to look more like her, except in stature, a lot of her personality was Han's. Leia took comfort in that, knowing that Han lived on in their little girl.
Lando nodded his agreement. "You can tell me all about her, and I can tell you all about my new grandson."
"Grandson?" Leia repeated brightly.
"Lando Calrissian the Third." Lando said proudly, but then his smile turned a little bittersweet as he added. "But we call him Solo, after the man who saved his life before he was even born."
Leia's heart squeezed in her chest. Reaching out she put her hand on Lando's arm again. "I look forward to hearing that story."
Across the bay Rey watched as Poe hugged a dark haired girl who was about her age, who'd come over to yell at him playfully for touching her X-Wing. There was a tiny little flicker of something in Rey's chest that she couldn't describe as she watched the way Poe laughed and smiled so easily as he hugged the other girl. It was the same tiny little flicker of something strange she felt whenever she saw Finn hug Rose. The feeling made her frown but she managed to put on a small smile when Poe pulled away from the girl to introduce them all.
"Guys." Poe said brightly to Rey and Finn. Finn had helped unload the injured, and then watched as they were taken from the hanger bay to what he assumed was medical. Then he'd joined his friends because the way Rey teased Poe always made his chest feel warm, and he liked that feeling. "This is Zay Versio. Zay, this is Finn." Poe paused to let the two greet each other and then continued. "And this is Rey Organa."
Rey blinked. In the whirlwind that her life had become it hadn't really dawned on her that she now had surnames. She was still dealing with having a family. But of course having a family meant having a family name. Several actually, since both Snoke and her grandfather's ghost had rattled off nearly half a dozen, each holding meaning and weight. Rey wasn't sure she could bare that weight. For so long she had simply been Rey, a random name off the side of a helmet because for some strange reason she'd liked the sound it, found it comforting when she would whisper it outloud. Since being reunited with her mothers she'd heard Amilyn call her and Leia her rays of sunlight and star light several times and was starting to think that's why the name had appealed to her so much. Plus it was better than being called a sandmite or just girl, which is what Unkar had called her. She had been just Rey the scavenger, the sand rat from Jakku, longer than she'd been Breha Organa Solo at this point. Did she even have the right to use that name anymore?
"It's Organa Solo actually." Leia's voice cut in as if answering Rey's question.
Rey looked at Leia a little wide eyed and then smiled when her mother looked at her that way. The way a mother looks at her child to reassure her yet again that she is where she belongs. Rey Organa Solo. Rey Solo. She liked the sound of that, she liked the way it felt, the warmth it caused. Rey smiled at her mother and then at Zay and said, "It's nice to meet you."
They all chatted for a few moments until Zay excused herself. Apparently Maz had a lead on something special for Leia and as soon as Shriv arrived they'd be off to see if they could get their hands on it, so she had some things to prepare before he got there. Then Leia called everyone together to let them know what was going on, and to give out orders. They would need to make sure the base was secure, not that she didn't trust Lando, but they had procalls to follow. She knew they were all running on empty, and she told them how much she appreciated them pushing through, and then she promised, "Once we're set up and secure, we will all get some much needed downtime to catch our breaths and deal with what's happened, I promise."
Everyone understood and quickly got to their assignments. Connix would make sure everyone had a room to call home while they were here. D'acy would contact the other cells to let them know their status, but not their location for now. Leia assigned Finn to the teams who would see what they had in way of supplies. Poe would come with her and Amilyn to see what they had in the way of defensives, and to get a general idea of the structure. Luke was familiar with the old Cloud City just as she was so he and Rey would also have a look around. She gave everyone two hours and then they would all report back here to see where they stood.
As they walked the corridors Luke could sense that Rey was ill at ease. He watched as her eyes darted around as if she somehow recognized her surroundings as a place from a bad memory. When he asked her about it she explained how she'd seen a flash of these corridors in the vision she had when she'd found the lightsaber. Luke hummed and stroked his beard. "The first time I faced Vader, it was here, in this place, in these halls, with my father's lightsaber. I had no kriffing idea what I was doing." He explained with a shake of his head. Then he looked at her for a long moment and added, "I would bet that you've inherited a very rare ability from your mother." He explained as they walked. "Leia has the ability to sense strong echoes left in the Force. The old texts call it psychometry. Though she doesn't really know that's what it is. You know how your mother feels about her powers."
"She claims not to have any." Rey replied.
"Your mother's abilities with Force are more natural, more instinctual." Luke said with a nod. "And I think that suits her a lot more than being a Jedi would have."
Rey nods and thinks about what Leia said to her about how she'd killed the hutt. Maybe her mother had the right of it, maybe balance in the Force was something far more personal. The Jedi ending the Sith wasn't balancing the Force, it was making it Light sided. The Sith wiping out the Jedi made it Dark sided. What if finding Balance in the Force was being able to draw from the Dark Side while staying firmly in the Light? Was that even possible?
"Rey?" Luke said a bit sharply to get his niece's attention.
"Hmm?" Rey replied and then turned to look at her uncle. "What? Sorry."
"I said," Luke repeated with a shake of his head. "You need to start on repairing your lightsaber."
"Right." Rey replied. "And how do I do that?"
Luke rolled his eyes as he pulled an old battered journal from his robe and held it out to Rey. "Read this."
"What is it?" Rey asks as she takes the book.
"My first Master's journal." Luke answered. "It's how I learned to build my lightsaber. It'll help you repair yours."
But it wasn't really hers though, was it? It belonged to Anakin Skywalker, her grandfather, the man who saved her life at the temple. Reaching up Rey pinched the bridge of her nose in a way that Leia was known to do. She still had so much to learn about who she was, about her relationships with the people in her life who were living, and now she needed to figure out how the dead played into all of this?
"I know it can feel overwhelming." Luke said gently as they began making their way back to the hanger bay. "But you got this, Rey."
"How do you know?" Rey asked.
Luke smiled. "You are your parents' daughter."
With the new base secure Leia's small band of survivors were given their room assignments and an allotment of supplies. Then they were dismissed with twenty four hours of personal time before they were all expected to be ready to pick up the fight again. Leia and Amilyn were given the largest of the rooms and were able to get some time alone before Lando showed up with several bottles of glow wine, Corellian whiskey, and a sweet Riosan mead that he knew Leia was found of. Lando also arrived with Luke and Chewie in tow, both looking as if socializing was not high on their list of things to do at the moment, but Lando could be hard to refuse.
Sitting beside Amilyn on the sofa Leia told Lando how Rey had come back into her life, how Han had shown up with this swany girl from Jakku with Leia's eyes, Han's smile, and no idea who she was. "Han knew. He'd figured it out and brought her home to me."
Lando swirled the ice in his drink and then said, "I found him on Corellia in a drunken stupor. I'd never seen him so broken before. I managed to get him off planet. It took another month before he was sober enough to tell me what happened."
"My fault." Luke said from where he sat in a chair across from his sister. "I should have known Breha wasn't…"
"Luke." Leia said with a shake of her head. "Don't. We felt her presence leave the Force, what else were we supposed to think? We had no idea our father's Force ghost told her to run from the temple that night. Or that Ben would block her memories and conceal her presence from us, and then take her to a planet that was so far from nowhere it makes Tatooine look like a vacation hot spot."
Luke looked up from his drink and stared at his sister for a moment before saying, "Wait, what was that about Father?"
Leia hummed and shook her head. "No, I am not dealing with those issues tonight. We'll talk about it later. Tonight is about Han, and Gial, and those we've recently lost."
Chewie roared his agreement and Lando poured everyone another drink. They told stories of Han the smuggler, Han the war hero, and Han the father. "Han was freaking out. I'd never seen him lose his cool like that before. And Ben, Ben was no help at all." Luke snorted. "He just kept telling Han, "Mother's going to be so mad at you." and Han just kept telling him, "Well your mother doesn't need to know." and I was just having too much fun watching Chewie pick up random people and roar in their faces."
"You lost my three year old daughter on Lothal!" Leia yelled at her brother, her dark eyes wide as she glared at him.
"Only for a couple of minutes!" Luke replied. "Ten, maybe fifteen tops. We found her, safe and sound, eating star berries with a green haired boy who promised Han he wouldn't tell his mother if Han would let him fly the Falcon."
Leia blinked, dug around in her own memory for what she would have been doing at that time, and why Han would even be on Lothal, and then she laughed. "It must have Jacen Syndulla. I think Han and Hera were working cargo together back then."
More drinks were poured, and more stories told.
"Han was allergic to cats." Leia said with a fond smile. "But he just couldn't say no."
"He was also scared of Mon." Amilyn added as she pulled pins from Leia's hair and played with the tumbling braids. "He wasn't going to tell her she couldn't give Bay a kitten for her birthday."
"Han wasn't afraid of Mon." Leia replied with a dismissive snort.
"Yes he was." Amilyn, Luke, Lando and Chewie all replied.
Luke laughed. "She threatened to give him to the Hutts personally if he ever hurt you."
"My fate would have been having to work personally with the Council of Mothers." Amilyn said with a groan. "I'd have died of boredom in a gray dress and crimson robe."
Leia hadn't known that. She knew that because of her friendships with Bail and Breha, as well as Padme, Mon Mothma had been protective of her. But she had no idea Mon had threatened Han and Amilyn on her behalf. It made her miss her mentor and friend all the more, and Leia was once again reminded of all the loss in her life.
As promised Lando told them about his son, who went by the nickname Chance, and how the young man had fallen in love with a Crimson Dawn slave girl. The two ran off together and managed to live on the run for several years before the gang was able to catch up with them, mostly because Crimson Dawn just wasn't what it use to be. His daughter-in-law was pregnant when they were discovered, and if not for Han both she and Lando's grandchild would have been taken by Crimson Dawn. For saving his wife's life, and keeping his son out of slavery, Chance had decided to call his son Solo in honor of Han.
Just when they thought they were nearing the end of the bottles Lando had brought he produced a few more. That's when the good natured teasing and the loud boisterous laughter started. Leia laughed about having to keep Ewoks from trying to eat Gial on Endor, and Chewie replied that she should have let them eat the stormtroopers. Luke mentioned going back to Hoth, and that he was fairly sure the wumpas had eaten a few. Of course bringing up Hoth meant Chewie just had to tease Leia.
"I only kissed him to piss off Han!" Leia said loudly and defensively as Luke, Chewie and Lando laughed. "And to be fair I had no idea he was my brother!" The boys laughed harder and Leia huffed. "Oh fuck off!"
Amilyn chuckled as she hushed her drunk lover. "You're so adorably crass when you're drunk."
"I'm not drunk." Leia grumbled.
Outside the door to her mothers' quarters Rey could hear the laughter and was curious as to what was going on inside. She had been helping Poe work on the old busted X-Wing he'd claimed as his own until he declared enough was enough for one night. Then he went on the hunt for some drinks and Finn, while Rey was put in charge of finding food and cards. She was on her way to her quarters which were next to her mothers', and bigger than the shared room the boys' had been given, when she heard a roar of Wookie laughter coming from her mothers' room. Careful not to trigger the door's release she pressed her ear up against it and listened. She couldn't really make out what was being said, but she was fairly certain she'd just heard her mother, the princess, tell someone to fuck off.
"What'cha doin'?" Poe whispered into Rey's ear after sneaking up on her.
Rey yelped and jumped back from the door, which caused her to crash right into Poe. Spinning to face him, finding herself nose to nose with him, she huffed and slapped his chest before pushing him back. "Don't do that!" She hissed at him. "I'm not doing anything!"
Poe was laughing hard and Finn was smiling as he said, "You know eavesdropping is really rude."
"I wasn't eavesdropping!" Rey huffed at them.
Throwing his arm over Rey's shoulder, Poe started guiding her away from the General's door and down the corridor towards her own. "Ya know Rey." He said with laughter in his voice and the biggest of his dopy smiles in place. "I've been with the Resistance long enough to know that it's a bad idea to listen in when those two are alone. It'll scar you for life."
Being her mother's daughter Rey pulled a face and pushed Poe away as she groaned, "Oh fuck off!"
"That's my whole point!" Poe barked out a laugh.
Rey's room had a half circle sofa around a low table, which is where they deposited their discovered treasures. Poe had found some beer and a bottle of whiskey, while Rey had strange looking fruits that Connix said were safe to eat and absolutely delicious. The slightly older young woman said star berries were among some of her favorites and had smiled when she told Rey she'd like them, trust her. She also managed to find some jerky packets and bags of nuts. While Rey had brought the sabacc set from the Falcon, it was Finn who'd brought something else to do. One of Rose's crewmates had a collection of old race recordings and he thought his favorite pilots might like to listen to them.
"I know about this one!" Poe said excitedly as he wiggled his sock feet which were resting on top of the low table. He had his fingers wrapped around the neck of brown bottle half full of Yarvin ale, which he'd had half way to his lips when the announcer named the race. "This is the race Sonnel was in! She never talks about her racing days, no matter how much I beg."
"You mean there's someone out there other than my mothers who can resist your charming smiles?" Rey teased. Finn laughed.
"I know, hard to believe right?" Poe replied with a snort, playing along. He was well aware of his reputation and to be honest he wasn't afraid to play on that reputation when he needed too. "I wish this were a holo recording. Sonnel had this beautiful purple RZ A-Wing interceptor." Poe hummed. "It was a work of art."
While Poe was describing Greer Sonnel's racing A-wing in almost perverted detail Rey was making a face. At first Finn thought it was because of the tiny yellowish fruit Rey had just eaten, but as he watched her tilt her head in a certain way he knew it was something more. "Rey? Are you ok?"
Rey nodded and began to describe a woman with black hair, brown eyes, and coppery skin. She explained that she kind of remembered a woman who looked like that giving her a little toy star fighter that looked just like the one Poe was talking about.
"Sonnel worked for Solo on the racing circuit for a little while before joining the General's senatorial staff." Poe said gently. "You certainly would have known her before…"
Poe paused, unsure what to say next, and Rey smiled reassuringly at him. "Before my brother turned evil and stole my life away from me."
"Yeah." Poe said gently as he reached for Rey's hand and held it tightly in his own. "That."
They listened to the rest of the race, cheering on Sonnel as if the race was happening live. They listened to the first stage of a Sabers run, and then Finn asked for clarification on something the announcer said and Poe looked at him with wide disbelieving eyes. He then spent the next hour introducing Finn and Rey to some of his favorite music, including the singer the racing announcer had mentioned. At one point Poe pulls Rey to her feet and shows her how to dance until they hear a commotion in the corridor outside and rush to the door to see what's going on. They watch in various stages confusion and amusement as Calrissian and Chewie come stumbling out of the General's quarters. When they're spotted the two clearly intoxicated men stumbled towards them.
"Han and Leia are my oldest and dearest friends." Lando says as he pokes Poe in the chest. "And that's there little girl." He slurs as he points at Rey. "I will freeze you in carbonate, boy." Chewie roars, hiccups, and roars again. Lando pokes at Finn and then jerks his thumb at the Wookie. "He says he'll tear your arms off."
"Um, what?" Finn replies, confused. Chewie roars again, spraying them with spittle. "Ok, ok, arms off, I get it."
Rey watches as the two men nod firmly and then start staggering down the hall. "What the hell was that?"
"Funny as hell?" Poe replies, laughing.
The next morning Rey makes her way over to her mothers' quarters and leaves herself in. There are empty bottles and glasses all over the low table and end tables by the sitting area and Rey just shakes her head and chuckles. Then she calls out, loudly, "Mother? Ammy?"
There's a soft moan from the bedroom followed by a much louder moan, so Rey headed towards the doorway. She remembers Poe's teasing from the night before and stops short of going into the room. But she is close enough to the door, kept open by what looked like her mother's boot, to hear Amilyn's voice. "Leia, my love, are you trying to Force choke our child?"
Leia's response was muffled.
Amilyn laughed softly. "Leia, stop trying to Force choke our child. It might actually work."
Rey laughed, and then suddenly stopped. Leia couldn't actually Force choke could she? Deciding to take pity on her mothers Rey walked away from the door and across the room to make them some caf and breakfast. When the door chime sounded Rey once again called out louder than she needed to, "I'll get it."
From the bedroom Leia muttered something about disrespectful children.
Rey was laughing as she opened the door to find her uncle.
Luke held up a couple medical packets and a bottle of orange liquid. "I figured your mothers would need this."
"You don't look any worse for wear." Rey said as she allowed her uncle in.
"Old Jedi trick I learned from Obi Wan's journals." Luke explained. "Jedi were expected to respect cultural practices of the worlds they were on, but they also needed to keep their wits about them. So they had a way of damping the effects of intoxicants."
"Which is a good thing." Leia said as she finally came out of the bedroom in a robe, her hair down, her eyes pinched from the pounding headache she was suffering. "The last time you got drunk you made some ridiculous bet with Mara about stealing a star destroyer and painting it blue and white to match R2."
Luke tensed when Leia said the name Mara and when she realized she'd said it Leia tensed as well. Rey wanted to ask who Mara was but her mother's and uncle's reaction told her that was not a good idea. She stood there watching the twins look at each other, Leia silently apologizing. Luke shook his head and smiled reassuringly. He poured some of the orange stuff into a cup and handed to his sister as well as one of the medical packets. "That should help."
"Thank you." Leia said as she accepted his offering.
The family shared breakfast together and then Luke invited Amilyn to come meditate with him and Rey. "I'd ask you to come along but I know you hate mediation."
"I don't hate it." Leia argued. "I'm just not good at it. You three go do your thing. I need to reach out to some people."
Amilyn frowned a little. "You gave everyone the day off, Leia."
"If I don't reach out to Greer she's going to have a stroke." Leia replied as she squeezed Amilyn's hand. "Come find me when you've finished, love. We'll explore a bit."
Rey brightened a bit as she reported, "I remember her, kind of, vugily. Greer, I mean. I remember she gave me a toy ship."
Leia smiled a huge smile. With each recovered memory, more and more of Breha was returned to them. Not that she didn't love Rey just the way she was, and would love her even if she never remembered being Breha, but Leia wouldn't lie to herself. She wanted Rey to remember how much she had been loved and wanted, to make up for all the years she thought she wasn't. "She did, it was one of your favorites. I still have it."
"You do?" Rey replied with surprise.
Leia nodded. "I kept a lot of your favorite things. Ben's too. They're in a safe place. Maybe I'll send for them."
"I think that's a lovely idea." Amilyn said brightly.
Rey nodded her agreement. "I'd like to remember more."
"You will Rey." Luke reassured. "No need to rush it, it'll come, just be patient."
