"Come back ..."

A child's voice. Her voice calling for her parents as they sold her to Unkar Plutt. Ben's voice, calling for his parents after they left him with his uncle Luke Skywalker.

A child... a crying child in the arms of Ben Solo … a little girl in miniature Jedi robes … being held tenderly … being carried away … being taken away from her mother …

Away from Kyla.

"No!" Kyla woke up, snatching her light saber up from its place at her bedside. "NooOOOooo!"

"You'll need to get a handle on that if you're ever going to share a bed with Ben. You could wind up a widow by mistake."

Leia Organa.

Shimmering with blue light, a Force Ghost. Kyla had heard of such things from Father, but she had never thought she would see one herself. She was amazed; she had no idea that Leia Organa had the knowledge to surpass death.

"Ben and I aren't married." She's wearing black sleeping pants and top … it's comfortable and allows her the freedom of movement to protect herself. "We will never be married."

"The future is always in motion." Leia looked younger than she had when she died. A woman only slightly older than Kyla herself. "Rey ..."

"My name is Kyla Ren."

"It is now. You were a girl named Rey once. It's amazing the things that you learn when you're dead." Luke's lips twitched. "You know, you could have just as easily been on the side of the Resistance as the First Order … and Ben could be where you are now."

"The Resistance favors anarchy and chaos. I would never with such fools. The galaxy needs a new order. I was born to bring that order." She sneered at him. "And Ben had his chance to rule at my side. There are things that matter to him- power isn't one of them." And neither am I or our child.

"You wrong him. You and that child are the most important things in the Galaxy to him."

"If that were the case, he would be here now."

Leia's lips twitched. "Or you could have gone with him."

Kyla blinked. "And leave the Galaxy in Hux's hands? He doesn't have the temperament to do what has to be done."

Leia smirked. Kyla found that rather aggravating. "I recall similar conversations I had with my husband. He didn't want to be tied down to one world. He helped the Rebellion, helped defeat the Empire, and once that was done he was ready to get back to his old life. He didn't understand why I was so certain that my place was in the New Republic Senate. Neither of us knew how to find a compromise we both could live with- so Han was gone more than he was there, and I juggled my life as a Senator with being Ben's full time mother." She sighed. "Not so successfully as it turned out."

"You sent him to Luke Skywalker."

"I did. And that was the second biggest mistake of my life."

"What was the first?"

"Not telling Han what our son was going through." Leia looked away. "I thought he wouldn't understand. He was never comfortable with the Force … with Ben's connection to it. He was at his happiest when he could pretend that Ben just a normal kid. I thought if he knew that he would do something rash ..."

"He would have gone after Father." Kyla doesn't understand how she knew this, but she was certain of it. Han Solo was a man who had committed suicide rather than allow himself to be used as a hostage for his son's behavior.

"Yes. He and Chewie and who knows who else would have gone after Snoke hellbent for leather, and we would have had our war with the First Order years earlier than we actually did." Leia looks down at her now-youthful hands. "And who knows? Perhaps things would have turned out for the better."

Kyla growled. "That is doubtful." She went over to her kitchenette and poured herself a cup of caf.

"Because Snoke- excuse me, your 'father's' little First Order would not have been strong enough to survive such early intervention?"

"The First Order is strong. Father made it so."

Leia laughed. "You're defending the man you murdered."

Kyla whipped her head around to glare at the Force Ghost. If Leia Organa had been alive she would not have lived to take another breath. "Ben Solo killed Supreme Leader Snoke."

"I know the true story." Leia waved a hand. "Don't worry. I'm dead, so it's not like I can tell anyone else." She paused. "And I wouldn't even if I could."

Kyla frowned.

"Oh don't get me wrong. You raped my son. My husband is dead because you tried to use him to enslave my son. Directly and indirectly, you are responsible for the deaths of dozens- hundreds of people who shared my cause. You stood by as Hux and your father ordered the destruction of the Hosnia System. Billions of people died and you did nothing. I haven't forgotten that, Kyla Ren. I haven't forgiven you. I could have watched you die without shedding a tear. But I can't now."

"Because Ben loves me?" She wanted to hear that again. Even if Ben wouldn't say it to her directly, she wanted it affirmed by someone other than herself.

"Because you are carrying my grandchild."

"My daughter." Kyla touched her stomach. "Ben told me had a vision of our daughter."

"As you just did." Leia smiled … but it was not a particularly pleasant smile.

"Yes ..."

"You think you're going to leave her an Empire to inherit."

"She will be safe. No power in the Galaxy will be able to hurt her. I'll see to that- no matter what it takes."

Leia smiled. "That won't happen."

"Is this where you tell me how your precious Resistance will stop me?" Kyla resisted the urge to sneer.

"Oh no. That is by no means certain. Your daughter though …her fate ..."

"What have you seen?!" Kyla stared at the old-young woman. "Tell me!"

"She will not follow your path, Kyla Ren. Your daughter will be a Jedi. Build your Empire if you can- but she will tear it down. In the end, as you did with Snoke, you will have to choose- between power and love."

"You're a liar. My daughter will not become a Jedi. I won't let that happen. Ben wouldn't let that happen. You said it yourself, the future is always in motion. You're lying."

"I can't kill you, Kyla Ren. I can't hurt you physically. But I can tell you what I have seen- what Luke Skywalker has seen- your daughter will be a Jedi. Whatever legacy you hope to give her, she will choose another. She will leave you- like your parents, like Ben- she will leave you behind …."

"No!"

Kyla bolted upright in her bed.

"It was a dream," she murmured to herself. "Just a dream. That's all ..."

But as she laid her head down, as she tried to go back to sleep, she could still hear Leia's voice whispering in the back of her mind. "She will leave you- like your parents, like Ben- she will leave you behind ..."

Author's Note: And back from Nanowrimo. I do believe that it's canon enough that Leia has a real problem forgiving those who wronged her. So, yeah. I think even as a Force Ghost this is something that Leia might very well do.