Hey, everyone. I'm sorry for the delay. If you're in the Discord group, then you were already aware. If not, then the reason why I couldn't publish the new chapter yesterday as planned was because my crazy teacher asked for a long homework in a day. I was busy with schoolwork, so I wrote the chapter just now. If the quality isn't as good as the previous chapters, I'm sorry. I hope you understand.

Anyway, sorry for the delay and enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 190

3 months later

The Rebels were on the planet Sullust. Operation Ringbreaker was taking place. Another fight between the Rebels and the Imperials.

"Operation Ringbreaker has been vetted by Alliance Intelligence. It's goal is to shut down of the naval shipyards at Kuat." Gial Ackbar's voice was heard in the radio.

Laetitia, Luke, Ahsoka, Rex and Chewie were on the Millennium Falcon. When Leah and the others came up with the plan to rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt, Lando returned the ship. On her orders, he stayed on Tatooine to gather intel. He even joined Jabba's guards to know every detail of his castle.

Everything was almost ready, but Leah decided to wait for the right opportunity to strike. Jabba wasn't going to kill Han, seeing that he kept him frozen. And Leah wanted to wait till it was only her in her. She couldn't risk her child's safety.

She was now in her 7th month of pregnancy. It was getting harder to hide it very well. She only wore black clothes that were very loose. She couldn't afford to wear tight clothes and let everyone know about her daughter. That way, Palpatine and Vader would find out as well, and that was the last thing she needed.

"What of the reports of the Rebel fleet massing near Sullust?"

"It is of no concern."

Leah suddenly heard her father's voice in the Force, talking to Sidious. Ever since the Cloud City, when she accidentally opened their broken connection, she was able to hear his thoughts ... Which weren't pretty. She was conflicted enough. She didn't need to hear every single thought of her Sith father.

She just winced in pain as she tried to sit straight. She felt like something was wrong ... Not with the mission, but with the ... baby. Leah was in pain. Too much pain. But that was normal, right? It wasn't ... happening. It couldn't ... not at a time like this.

"You alright? You've been wincing for a while." Luke asked in concern as he walked closer to his sister.

Before Leah could answer, Ahsoka dropped the tablet she was holding and ran to Leah. Was what she was thinking really happening?! It made Leah freak out a bit. Ahsoka, as always, was overreacting.

"Wait, how long is 'a while'?" She asked.

"Uh ... about ... 4 hours?" Leah stuttered, using her high-pitch voice.

"What?!" Ahsoka shrieked, shocked to hear that.

Luke was completely confused of what was happening. Rex and Chewie walked to them, wanting to know what was going on. Was something wrong with Leah or the baby? Why was Ahsoka so worried and freaked out?

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it's too soon. I'm barely in my 7th month." Leah said as she winced in pain.

"Sorry to break it to you, Tiny Ti, but the baby has other plans." Ahsoka softly smiled.

"Wait, what's happening?" Luke asked in confusion.

"Yeah, I would like to know, too." Rex agreed as Chewie roared with them.

"Your sister is in labor." Ahsoka bluntly said.

Everyone had to stop themselves to fall to the ground from shock. They knew it would happen, but actually happening ... And like Leah said, wasn't that too soon? Besides, the baby chose the worst time to come out!

"Of course my niece decides to join us when we're on a mission. She is too much like her mother already." Luke snipped.

Leah groaned loudly in response. That was not a compliment.

Rex and Luke helped Laetitia lie down on a sofa in the main room of the Millennium Falcon. It was the closest thing they had to a bed. The worse thing was that they actually needed 3PO's help. He would know exactly how childbirth worked, which was more than any of them.

"Well, I'm no doctor, but I can feel that the baby is in perfect position. You're not feeling any pain yet, so I guess you're good for now? Like 3 centimetres dilated, I don't know." Ahsoka said as she took a closer look to her friend.

Between all of them, aside from Leah who wouldn't look at herself, she was the only one with healing skills and experience. She would know a bit of what to do. When she heard that, Leah sighed as she struggled to stand up.

"Whoa! Where do you think you're going, my very pregnant sister?" Luke asked.

"I'm not the type of person to read those baby books, not that I had the time even if I wanted to, but I remember from Master Shaak Ti and the Jedi Temple that 3 centimetres means that I've got around the amount of time for 3 landings before the help arrived. So I have about that time till I'm having this baby." Leah explained, muttering quietly as she tried to remember the faint memories of the past.

Everyone exchanged a look in shock and disbelief. How could she compare this to that?!

"I don't think it's a good idea to base your childbirth on landing time." Rex pointed out.

"Wait, she actually makes sense." Luke blurted out.

"Do not encourage her, Skywalker!" Ahsoka hissed to him.

"We have bigger problems. I need to go take a look at the Falcon, and you guys need to figure out a way to get the communications back online. It won't be long before the Imps find us. We need to get out of here before then." Leah demanded confidently, doing her best to not break down.

Laetitia didn't wait around for any of them to oppose to the idea and just left to see what was wrong with the Falcon. It was suddenly acting up. She had a hard time breathing as she was in too much pain, but she did her best to remain calm. No good would come out of her freaking out.

Once she took a look at the wires and systems in the Falcon, Leah realized immediately that the situation was a lot worse than she thought. Not only were they trapped, but they were also running out of oxygen. She threw a wrench in anger. Today was definitely not her day, but it was supposed to be her daughter's birthday, so ... what was happening?

"You know, Han may be unavailable at the moment, but if he were here, he'd say 'you break it, you buy it, Princess'." Ahsoka stated as she walked closer to Leah.

Leah didn't want to be reminded of Han at that moment. She was already emotional enough and on the verge of breaking down. She really couldn't handle it.

"Don't remind me. Besides, we're not in a position to slow down. We're stuck here without oxygen. We may not have enough time to wait for the Imperials to pass through us. I'm thinki... Ow." She couldn't finish what she was saying she suddenly felt pain in the lower part of her stomach.

"That a contraction?" Ahsoka asked.

"Uh huh." Leah numbly replied as she stiffened to pull herself together.

"I'm missing something. There has to be something to help us fix the damned ship and get out of here."

"Leah, take a deep breath."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. You just walked away from Luke and Rex, ensuring them that everything would be okay. Take a minute to let yourself believe that, too. We may not have enough time, but we're not in that much of a hurry yet." Ahsoka said to make her feel better.

"Yeah ..." Leah simply breathed out. She was in both mental and physical pain. It was getting too much for her to handle.

"I'm gonna be a terrible mother." She suddenly cried out.

"I haven't even delivered, and I'm already failing her. I'm forcing her to live a miserable life as my child."

Ahsoka smiled as she leaned against the wall. She knew exactly where she was coming from. She understood ... as much as she could. She could never fully understand how Leah felt in the moments in her life, but she did her best to cheer her up.

"You see, that, right there, tells me that you're gonna be an amazing mother. Because you're feeling guilty for your child's safety. Bad parents don't feel guilty. They either don't care or justify their mistakes with excuses of 'protecting' their children. And no, I am not talking about Anakin. It's just a fact." She said before Leah could snap at her.

"She can't be born into a tomb. She doesn't deserve this. She has to survive." Leah firmly said, begging the Force to allow her child to have a normal life.

"She will, because she has the Skywalker and Palpatine genetics together. That kid's a miracle." Ahsoka softly stated.

"I'm serious. I need your word ... If it comes down to me or her, you'll choose her."

"Leah ..."

"Please." She pleaded.

Ahsoka didn't say anything and just looked down to take a moment to actually think about what she was asking before promising it. She understood where she was coming from ... which was exactly why she could never deny it.

"Okay ... It's definitely not going to happen, but I promise." She swore, which Leah nodded in appreciation.

"Okay, ow! That one hurt." She chuckled in pain.

"Contractions less than a minute apart. We gotta go find some place to lay down." Ahsoka quickly said as she helped Leah walk.

"I'm having this baby?!" She groaned loudly.

"You're having this baby!" Ahsoka corrected her with the enthusiasm she should have.

"Ah ... Whoa! What was that?"

Leah and Ahsoka both stared at each other when the Falcon moved abruptly They had a bad feeling about this. Their bad feeling was confirmed when Luke and BB-8 ran towards them, both of them in a hurry and nervous.

"Guys! The Empire found us!" He shouted.

"What?!" Ahsoka yelped.

"Oh, God." Leah groaned in desperation.

"What do we do?!"

"The communications?" She asked.

"Rex is working on them."

"Tell him to leave 'em for now. Luke, grab Rex and go man the guns. Both of them 'cause we need all the defense and offense against them. Ahsoka, you and ... ow ... You and Chewie try to fix the Falcon. It's very important to speed things up. And Beep, R2 ... work on the damn communication." Leah gasped at the end from pain.

"Who's gonna fly the ship?" Luke asked.

"Who's gonna be with you?!" Ahsoka shouted.

"Me, and me." Leah simply said.

Luke and Ahsoka both opened their mouths to say something. Even BB-8 looked like he was ready to complain about that. But Leah firmly put her hand in the air to stop all of them.

"I'll be fine. I've gone through a lot of crap in my life. Childbirth's nothing."

After a few hours, everything was quiet. They finally fixed the Falcon, communicated with the Rebellion, got away from the Imperials, and ... a new member joined them. She absolutely chose some time to join their team, but she was welcome.

Laetitia was sitting on her bed in the room that used to be hers. She wanted to feel safe, and it was basically the only place in the Falcon that had an actual bed she could rest on. She held her baby in her arms. She didn't want to let her go ever .. but did she have an actual choice in the matter?

She just stared at her newly-born daughter. She hadn't fully grown since she was born 2 month early, but she was healthy. There were no doctors around, but Leah and Ahsoka, along with Luke, confirmed it in the Force.

Her blue eyes reminded Leah of Thexan so much. They were filled with innocence and kindness. But the chocolate brown hair was definitely like her mother's. That baby was the perfect combination of both families.

"She's really beautiful, Tiny Ti." Ahsoka mused as she glanced at the mother and daughter.

Leah smiled as she looked back at her daughter.

"I wish Mina were here. She'll be jumping up in the air when she sees her new little sister."

She knew Ahsoka said that out of happiness, but Leah grew a dark expression on her face. Ahsoka frowned in confusion and alarm. What happened?

"What's wrong?" She finally asked.

"I'm just thinking." Leah quietly said as she put the baby down on the bed.

"About what?"

Leah sighed as she rested her head against the wall behind her. Ahsoka could hear the shake in her breath. She was sure that she was this close to crying. Which made her even more confused.

"Growing up in Tatooine with uncle Kit, I didn't know my real parents. Or I thought I didn't. I had no memories, thanks to the 'ginger-haired man who left me and sent me on my way to Corellia'." Leah ironically started in tiredness.

"Obi-wan." Ahsoka stated in confusion.

"Yeah. I mean, it wasn't that bad. That's how I met Han. And I found bigger things to hate him for ..." She trailed off as she remembered how everything went down between her and Obi-wan.

"I always wondered 'what parents would allow their child to be lost and feel unwanted?'. I had no memories of them, but I hated them. I hated my parents for making me go through what I did. When I got my memories back, I hated that I hated them. I hated myself for hating them." She repeated herself sadly in guilt and shame for feeling that way.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I hated them even more. I was basically a parent. I couldn't imagine how they thought fighting in a war and bringing peace to the Galaxy was more important than their own child. They sacrificed their lives and their children's lives to save the Galaxy ... But now, when I look at her ... I actually understand them ... They were right." Leah quietly said.

Ahsoka almost jumped out of her seat when she realized what she saying. What she was going to do. She was thinking of giving up her child. To give her away to protect her ... To leave her with Arcann Palpatine. Now it made sense why she kept him alive, but what was happening?

Why?

"A kid should know her mother." Ahsoka firmly tried to change her mind with a few words, which made Leah sigh in pain.

"And she will ... but knowing what she'll go through, when she finds out who her parents are, who her grandfathers are, how her uncle killed her father ... It kills me. The thought alone gives more pain than death. I hate Obi-wan even more because he made me relive every single painful once more. I felt broken all over again, and I didn't have time to deal with it because it was already done. So all I had was frustration and anger." She explained sadly.

"Knowing about my parentage, my powers, the evil deeds my father did to protect me, how everyone, who loves me, come to regret it ... No child should ever have to carry that burden. I mean, look around you! She wasn't even born when her crazy uncle killed her father on our wedding day. Her grandfather literally froze away my best friend because he wanted to 'have' me. Her other grandfather would definitely want to kill her when he finds out she exists because she is his blood, and more powerful than him." Leah strongly said, being sure that she needed to keep the child hidden from her grandfathers.

"For all the frustration I have against Obi-wan, I am glad that that was the biggest issue I had in my life. For 6 years at least. The best thing he gave me was that second chance, to be happy and free." She sadly let a tear fall from her eye.

"The best gift I can give my daughter is the one thing I never had ... Childhood. I have to keep her from the craziness of my world as far as possible and for as long as possible. I have to keep her from me as far as possible and for as long as possible." She closed her eyes at the last word to stop herself from crying or changing her mind.

Ahsoka didn't say anything and just looked at her friend. She ... While she was sad that it had to come to it, she also knew that it was the only option she had to protect her child. Her situation was completely different than anyone else's. No one would ever understand the sacrifices she had to make to protect her family/

"I can't imagine a greater sacrifice." She finally said.

Leah smiled sadly as she glanced at her daughter, who was beautifully sleeping. She looked to be peaceful dreaming whatever she was dreaming. Leah wanted to keep it that way.

"Isn't that what parenthood supposed to be ... Do anything to make sure your child is happy and safe? ... I may suck at parenting, but ... I do know what I should sacrifice to keep."

Done :)

Whoo! This was an intense chapter! What did you guys think of it? Welcome the newest member of our story and the littlest Skywalker! In the next chapter, we will see Laetitia bring her daughter to the man she hates the most. She hates him, but ... what other choice does she have?