"Destiny"

By EsmeAmelia

AN: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 21

Rianna awoke a short time later. She pushed herself to sit up and stretched her arms behind her back, letting out a groan. Her eyes blinked slowly, revealing that Han was still sleeping, which brought her supposed pregnancy back to her mind. Almost immediately, she concentrated her Force senses on her womb, once more feeling that alien and yet familiar presence. Something was there, that much was certain, but whether or not it was actually a baby wasn't yet confirmed.

The sunlight pouring in the window made her squint. Where were the others? They were likely still at the picnic . . . at least she thought they were. She unwillingly found herself imagining Aramita at the door, waiting for her daughter to come out. Quickly her Force senses shot out, searching for her mother but finding nothing. It was probably safe to leave . . . assuming Aramita wasn't shielding her presence.

With only the slightest bit of hesitance, she grasped her crutch and slowly inched herself to her feet. She began hobbling towards the door, pausing for a moment when Han mumbled something in his sleep, praying that he wouldn't wake up and approach her about her pregnancy, but he made no more sound after that, so she continued on, using the Force to seek out Aramita and still finding nothing.

No one was in the living room, which made her realize that she wasn't sure exactly where she was going. She wasn't going back to the picnic – that much was certain – but where else could she go? Her hand unconsciously went to her stomach, once more feeling for signs of a baby even though she knew they wouldn't come this early. Suppose she wasn't pregnant after all? This suddenly made her realize that she wanted to know for sure before she told Luke anything.

But how could she find out for sure? There certainly wouldn't be any pregnancy tests to be found. Maybe someone else with the Force could sense the baby as well? Immediately she thought of Aramita, which made her want to hit herself. She would not go to Aramita for help.

But there was another member of the family who was Force-sensitive. Would she be able to tell whether or not Rianna was pregnant?

There was only one way to find out.

- - - - - - - - - -

Rianna hid behind a tree, shielding her presence from the others, peeking through the branches at the picnic. Her lips curved downward in disgust at the sight of Aramita chatting leisurely with Luke as if they were the best of friends. Why was he so open with his future mother-in-law. Couldn't he see that she wasn't right in the head?

The former queen sighed. Her future husband was open by nature – that was one of the reasons why she loved him. If he weren't open, she might be lost to the dark side now. But still . . . did he have to be so open with Aramita when he knew that his fiancee was uncomfortable with her?

Rianna breathed deeply, staring at Leia, concentrating on her, imagining her soul escaping the confines of her body and joining with Leia's. Leia, come to the tree. She breathed again, completely filling her lungs and then completely emptying them. Don't tell anyone what you're doing, just come to the tree.

For a moment she thought she wasn't doing it right, but then Leia slowly, awkwardly began getting up.

"Leia, do you need any help?" Roh asked.

"No, no, I'm fine," answered Leia, heading somewhat unevenly towards the tree where Rianna was hiding. Rianna felt her heart increase its beating speed, as if it was afraid of knowing for certain, afraid of confirmation that there actually was a baby growing in her womb.

"Rianna, what's wrong?" Leia asked the instant she was safely behind the tree.

Rianna gulped, suddenly embarrassed to be revealing her problem to a mother of three. "Leia . . . I need your help."

"With what?"

Rianna swallowed, putting her hand on her stomach. "I think I might be . . ."

Either Leia read her future sister-in-law's concern through the Force or she simply guessed. Whichever case it was, her eyes widened as she placed her hand next to Rianna's, pressing her fingers in one at a time, as if testing the softness of her belly. A tiny smile formed on her face as she concentrated on her future sister-in-law's womb.

"This feels like when I was pregnant . . ." the princess muttered after a few moments. "A little soul, still developing its body and yet already detectable by the Force."

Rianna knew perfectly well what that meant, yet something still compelled her to ask the question. "So I really am . . . you're sure about this, right?"

Leia looked back up at her sister-in-law, smiling widely and confidently, as if she were willing to stake her life on Rianna's pregnancy. "Congratulations Rianna, you're going to be a mother."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Luke?"

The word slipped out of Rianna's mouth without any preparation. The family was getting ready for bed; the room was lit up only by a single candle on each of the six nightstands. Luke was already settled in under the covers, but he perked up when he heard his fiancee address him. "What is it, honey?" he said in a relaxed tone.

Rianna gulped, her Force senses once more brushing the little life inside her. Her eyes darted around, able to see very little of the others, yet feeling the weight of their eyes nonetheless. Without meaning to, she had gone and told everyone else about her pregnancy before she told Luke. What was he going to think of her when he found out about that?

"Luke . . ." she whispered, ". . . I have something to tell you . . . something important."

Luke was smiling up at her. "What?"

Rianna carefully sat down on the foot of his bed, hearing all the other mattresses creak in anticipation. Even Chewie was holding his breath – Rianna reasoned that Han must have told his copilot the news. Promising not to tell Luke didn't mean the former smuggler wouldn't tell others.

She would have to deal with him later.

Luke sat up, gazing in awe at his fiancee. "Come on, what is it?"

Two words. Why was it so hard to utter two words? She glanced to the side, where Padme was sitting on the edge of her own bed. The former senator gave a small nod of encouragement, urging her future daughter-in-law on.

Rianna slowly turned back to face Luke, whose smile hadn't faded. "Luke . . ." She swallowed, attempting to moisten her suddenly dry throat. "Luke . . ." She leaned forward, staring at his eyes. " . . . I'm pregnant."

For a few long seconds it seemed as though he hadn't heard her. He remained staring ahead as if she wasn't there at all, scarcely blinking, scarcely breathing, taking at least a full minute to focus once more on his fiancee's face.

"Y-you're . . . you're . . ." he stuttered.

He couldn't finish his sentence before the full impact of her news came crashing down on him. His real hand instantly reached over to her stomach, pressing on her skin with the same intensity Leia had this afternoon. Rianna felt his presence inside her womb, brushing the unborn baby with fatherly tenderness, as if he needed to feel the baby for himself in order to realize it was real.

"We're gonna have a baby . . ." he whispered, slowly looking up at his fiancee. "We're . . . we're gonna have a baby . . ."

Rianna slowly nodded. "Yes Luke . . . we're going to have a baby." Somehow saying "have a baby" instead of "pregnant" made it feel more real, more intimate, more like there was someone inside her instead of something.

Without warning, Luke let out a loud whoop and tackled her in a hug so forceful that they fell backwards onto the mattress. He laughed so long and so loud that Rianna almost worried that he would lose his voice. She heard the others squealing in delight, pretending that they didn't already know, yet she sensed that already knowing didn't reduce the thrill for any of them.

"We're having a baby," Luke repeated in a maniacally happy voice. "We're having a baby, we're having a baby, we're having a baby!!"

Suddenly Padme was on the bed next to them, patting them both on the shoulders. "I'm so proud of you both," she said, barely able to keep her voice calm.

"Congrats kid," Han called from his own bed. "You're gonna make a great dad."

Now Chewie was on the bed as well. Before Rianna could register what was happening, the Wookiee was squeezing her and Luke in one of his overly-tight hugs, roaring out his congratulations. In another second or two she felt Leia embracing her chest with her one good arm. She was certain that if Han could walk he'd be joining the group hug as well, but he was doing his part by whooping loudly. The notion of family seemed to be penetrating her soul, telling her that this was where she belonged, in this family.

Her family.

She didn't know there was someone listening outside the bedroom door, shielding away her presence, feeling neglected and alone.