AN: Your responses make me smile! I'm glad you like Eloriah, because I love her! Anyway, the chapter we've all been waiting for- you can probably guess what it is, based on the title! Lots of Love!
She can feel Leia waiting on the landing strip, waiting. She recognizes her force signature very well from feeling it in Ben's head. She gently tries to smooth out her daughter's dark hair, hoping she'll make a good impression on her grandmother.
"Calm down, Rey. My sister is going to be so happy to see her, no matter what her hair looks like." Luke chuckles, and Rey nods. The ship lands smoothly, and She hears Chewy lumber up behind her and let out a low growl.
"No, I'm fine, I'm going to hand her to Leia." Rey laughs, and Chewy lets out a chuckle. "Really?"
"What did he say?" Eloriah asks.
"When Ben was born, Han was too nervous to hold him, so Leia handed him to Chewy." Rey laughs, and wookie runs his giant hand over the baby's head while letting out a low murmur. "I know. I wish Han could be here too. And Ben would want that too. You know that, don't you?" The wookie doesn't say anything, but Rey knows from the look in his black eyes that he knows.
"Ready?" Luke asks, and Rey nods while letting out a trembling breath.
"Now, Eloriah, don't be offended if no one pays you much attention. Gemma there is sort of a base wide curiosity." Poe teases, and she laughs.
"That's no problem, trust me. I'm sure showing up in a First Order med uniform would draw...not the sort of attention I'd like." Poe looks at her thoughtfully, and then shrugs out of his jacket and drapes it over her shoulders, effectively concealing the first order insignia.
"There we go. Not a trace of it." Poe says, and Rey smiles at him.
"Still handing out jackets left and right?" She asks, and he rolls his eyes. "Half of the resistance budget goes to new jackets for Commander Dameron."
"Still so funny. So funny." Poe huffs, glancing slyly at Eloriah as he rubs a hand over the back of his neck. Rey grins, and fusses a bit more with her daughters hair.
"Alright. I guess we can't delay it anymore." She says, and Chewy opens the ramp. The last time she'd made a walk like this, things had been different. She'd been pregnant, she'd been afraid, she'd had no way to know how people would react. Now she had a beautiful daughter in her arms, and she knew how excited the people she loved were to meet her. She was still afraid, very afraid, but not for herself or her child. No, this time she was terrified for Ben. Leia is standing very close to the ramp, like she ran up to wait there as soon as they'd landed. Rey almost runs to her, and holds out the little girl. Leia takes her into her arms at once, a massive grin blooming on her lips.
"Oh look at you, little Gemma!" The general says, bending down to smell her head. "My dear, sweet little girl...I've been waiting such a long time to meet you." Rey's hand flies to her mouth as she watches the first meeting between Grandmother and Granddaughter. She focuses on the image of it through her tears, determined to memorize every second of it to show Ben later on. She knows he'll want to see it.
"This is grandma Leia, Gemma. You know her- I told you all about her." Rey says softly, and Leia raises a hand to touch Rey's face.
"Thank you." Leia says, and Rey sees tears in her eyes, the eyes that are exactly like her daughter's. "Why don't we go to my quarters. We have a lot to catch up on."
"Yes." Rey nods, and resists the urge to grab her daughter up in her arms again. She wants her close, but she senses that Leia needs her more for the moment.
"We'll debrief soon. I'll com all of you when it's time. Rose and Finn too." Leia says, answering Rey's unasked question.
"Very good General." Poe nods. "Oh, um, this is Eloriah, she's the nurse you told us about. Should I get her settled?"
"Of course; Rose already volunteered to share her quarters." Leia says, and Poe nods. "Come on Rey." Leia inclines her head towards the door. As they walk, Rey is hyper aware of the eyes of pilots and engineers on the trio of women, their thoughts so loud Rey can hear them without even trying.
"I've never seen the General so happy."
"So that's Kylo Ren's daughter. Huh, doesn't look like theirs any monster in her."
"Can't believe that the Jedi reproduced with that bastard. Probably forced her-"
Rey's hands are shaking, and she wants to grab the unsuspecting pilot by the shoulders and shake him fiercely to defend Ben. Leia seems to sense this, and puts her hand on Rey's arm, almost dragging her along. She does her best to actively block the thoughts as they continue. She knows she can't take any more thoughts like that. Once in Leia's room, the General gestures for her to take a seat, and then does the same, her eyes still trained on the baby in her arms.
"She's beautiful, Rey. So beautiful." Leia says.
"Is it vain if I say that I know?" Rey asks, and Leia laughs.
"No, not vain, realistic, in this case." Leia nods, grinning again as the baby grabs onto her finger. "Ben looked almost just like this when he was a baby. But she has your beauty. Ben was just, all his father, except his eyes. Those were always mine."
"I'd always been hoping that they'd have your eyes. I was so happy when she opened her eyes; I knew then that she was supposed to be Gemma." Rey grins. "Thank you, for letting me use it."
"It's perfect for her. She's so obviously Gemma Solo." Leia leans back in her chair, and finally tears her gaze away from the baby, turning it to the mother. "I know that you love Ben."
"Yes, I do."
"You brought him back."
"No. I mean, Maybe. But I think that he was...he was never really lost to the darkness. There was always too much light. Snoke knew it too. He...he would hurt him so much, for such a long time." Rey shakes her head. "And I think that Gemma did more to bring him back than I did."
"I don't know about that. When he came into my head across the bond for the first time in a decade, and you were with him...I'd never heard him so at peace. That was because of you, Rey. You brought my son the peace that I never could." Leia shakes her head slightly. "And I heard the two of you, after Gemma was born, when you said you loved him, when you were desperate to keep him with you. All I ever wanted was for him to have that in his life. Someone who really loved him."
"I know that you love him too." Rey says. "Regardless of the pain he's caused...I don't think I really understood that until Gemma was born. Looking at her face...I know there is nothing she could ever do that would make me stop loving her."
"That's what it means to be a mother." Leia smiles fondly at her.
"He is really, truly sorry for what he's done, Leia. I know that he is."
"So do I." She nods, still rocking her granddaughter slowly back and forth in her arms. "I never thought I'd have this...A quiet moment with a grandchild in my arms, with a good woman who my son loves. Han would be...he'd be so happy. And I'm so glad, that his sacrifice wasn't in vain. I told him to bring our son home...and damned if he didn't."
"I love that Gemma has you, and Luke, and everyone else. A family. A real family. The thing I wanted more than anything, that I never thought I'd have. But here I am, with a family of my own. I almost don't believe it." Rey shakes her head.
"Well, you'd better believe it." Leia smiles at her. "Because you're as much a part of this family as any of the rest of us."
"You have no idea how much that means to me." Rey sighs, smiling so broadly it almost hurts. "I just wish...I wish that Ben was here with us."
"So do I. I've been waiting almost fifteen years to be able to hug that boy, and welcome him home. But I can wait a little while longer." Leia says.
"I have to start training again, right away." Rey says suddenly. "I'm giving him two months to get this done on his own, and then I'm going after him, wherever he is."
"I'd argue with you, but I know that there's no reasoning with what the heart tells us. I only hope you'll remember to put Gemma first. If Han and I had remembered that more when Ben was a baby...well…"
"You can't blame yourself, Leia. Snoke was poisoning him from the very beginning. He tried to get to Gemma, but I knew what I was looking for to protect her. But I almost couldn't...That's why I have to go help Ben, if he needs me. We have to do what's best for our daughter. And they only way she'll ever be truly safe is if Snoke is gone."
"You're right, of course. The only way any children, anyone in the galaxy will be truly safe is if Snoke is gone. And that's that."