Force Dyad
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A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.
Chapter Sixty-Five-Reunion
At the Resistance base on D'Qar, Leia bent double and let out a pained gasp the instant her brother passed. She reached out tentatively, searching for his Force signature, not wanting to believe what her instincts were telling her was only too true. Luke was gone-the twin brother she'd only come to know in adulthood-had left this plane of existence, and now she was very much alone. There was no one else she could rely on. No one like her brother. She had been holding onto hope for so long that he would return and fight the good fight with her once again.
Now that hope was lost…forever.
Pacing the length of her quarters, she caught a glimpse of herself in a length of polished metal. She looked tired. Old. Worn out. Since her son had left in less then amicable circumstances to find Luke, she had been reflecting a lot on her relationship with him, about his early childhood before he went to train under Luke, this inevitably led to her thoughts about her own childhood on Alderaan. Her home world, now many years gone, reduced to ashes.
And her own father had been party to it. The usual bitterness took hold of her as she thought about Anakin Skywalker, or Darth Vader, as he eventually became. He had not only destroyed her home world, and robbed her of any chance of knowing her birth mother because of his actions, the legacy he had left behind had also poisoned her relationship with her son. She had named Ben after Old Ben Kenobi-the name was meant to represent hope-but ultimately, she had fallen foul of own fears that Ben would follow in Anakin's footsteps. Only too late had she learned that was not the case. It was Snoke, always hiding in the shadows, determined to seduce her son to the dark side, and manipulating her perception of her only child. The darkness she had mistook for Ben's own was being projected by Snoke.
And now it was all falling apart again. Poe Dameron's reckless actions had put them all in jeopardy. His capture by the First Order and subsequent interrogation, had not only revealed the location of their base, but had also provided the enemy with the partial fragment of the map leading to Luke's location. After recovering the rest of the map from the archives of the empire and matching it with the partial fragment recovered from Poe, it had led them straight to her brother and resulted in his ultimate demise.
After learning of Dameron's capture, Leia had hastily sent a rescue team to infiltrate the First Order's command ship-the Resurgent class Star Destroyer-the Finalizer-where Poe was imprisoned. The rescue team had been led by Han, with a hand-picked team he had chosen himself-Chewbacca, Rose Tico and Armitage Hux amongst them. It was only by sheer luck that they had been successful in their mission, and managed to rescue Poe and return to the base with only a minimal loss of life.
Now they were being forced to evacuate.
Leia had ridden the wave of grief many, many times during her lifetime. She'd always had a strong will to overcome it, to carry on regardless, while she mourned in private for those she had lost. But losing Luke was different, it was like she had lost a part of herself. He was her twin. Her grief was absolute, and it hurt. It hurt more than she had the will to address.
Leia caught another glimpse of herself in the same length of polished metal. She wore a dark vest over a simple blue-grey jumpsuit that was devoid of any indication of rank. The colour of her boots matched her vest. Her long hair, more grey than brown, was swept up in a circular braid at the back of her head. She hardly recognised herself. Where was the young slip of a girl she used to be-the confident young princess was now transformed into this…. a tired, war hardened General.
A buzzer indicated that someone was requesting entrance to her quarters. Leia quickly hid her emotions behind a stoical mask as the doors slid open revealing Captain Snap Wexley and an attendant droid on the other side. "I'm sorry to disturb you, General." Snap apologised. "We've just received this transmission from the Millennium Falcon." He passed her a hard copy.
Leia didn't respond, but instead studied the readout. It was short and to the point, lacking any descriptive detail, rather like Ben's usual taciturn style when he was forced to interact with her, even if through a missive. "Has General Solo seen this?" She asked.
Snap winced slightly. "Yes. The information arrived coded and encrypted. General Solo was there when it arrived at the workstation. When it was decrypted, and reduced to a comprehensible hard copy, he read it and then asked me to immediately transport it to you."
"He didn't think to bring it to me himself?" Leia's tone was bitter as she asked the rhetorical question. She didn't expect a response from Captain Wexley. Her marital troubles were an open secret on the base.
Ever since Ben had told her and Han about Snoke-coupled with her revelation that she and Luke already knew- her relationship with her husband had slowly crumbled under the weight of all the secrets she had been keeping from him. The trust was gone, and since Ben had left, the atmosphere between them remained frosty at best.
Snap was clearly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um…General Solo left to rendezvous with the Millennium Falcon."
Leia's expression tightened. She fixed Wexley with a gaze that would have withered the less resilient. "I see. Is that all?"
"Yes, General." Snap murmured, before beating a hasty retreat.
After Wexley left, Leia went in search of her personal envoy, Korr Sella. She found her in the main hangar. The young woman wore her hair back in a severe bun and her dark green uniform contrasted notably with the general's more subdued attire, as did the badge that identified her as a commander.
"Once the base is properly evacuated, you and I will be leaving for the Senate right away."
Korr Sella looked confused for a moment. "I thought you had gone with General Solo to rendezvous with the Millennium Falcon."
"How do you know about that?" Leia demanded forcefully. "That information was encrypted."
Two bright spots of red appeared on Kor Sella's cheeks. She became flustered. "Commander Dameron may have mentioned it to me in passing – "
"Dameron no longer holds that rank. He has been demoted as you very well know. I would be very careful of any future interactions you have with him; Poe can be very charming when he wants to be, but only when it benefits him."
"But you've always held him such high regard, General. His recent actions, while reckless, were done for the best of intentions." Kor Sella argued.
"You have a thing for Dameron." Leia guessed.
"We're mere acquaintances." Kor Sella denied, but again, her blush showed the truth.
Leia sighed irritably. Her personal envy was usually such a level headed woman. Poe must have worked overtime to seduce her. She wondered how long he had been monitoring the encrypted transmissions since his return. There was little time to concern herself with him now, she would deal with him later.
"As I said before, we will be heading to the Senate. Its time they took action against the First Order. The longer they bicker and delay, the stronger the Order becomes." She leaned toward the other woman when she noticed her expression turn uneasy. "Do you question my orders? If the Senate fail to take action soon, the Order will have grown so strong the Senate will be unable to do anything."
Kor Sella indicated her understanding, but she still looked concerned. "With all respect, General, do you think the senators will listen? And is it wise for you to attend in person. I worry that even if you manage to deliver your speech, you might not get out of the Hosnian system alive. You've already had attempts made on your life. Is it really worth the risk? I'll make sure the Resistance get the hearing we deserve. May I request that Commander…I mean…. Poe Dameron be the pilot to accompany me on this – "
"Request denied." Leia cut in sharply. "Captain Wexley will suffice."
Deflated, the emissary had no choice but to concede to her General's wishes. "Of course." She mumbled in defeat. She dreaded telling Poe that she had been unsuccessful in persuading Leia Organa to place her confidence in him again so soon. It seemed his quest to regain the General's trust wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
Han and Chewbacca were waiting for the Millennium Falcon as it touched down on D'Qar, settling into a vacant space between the remaining X-wings which hadn't evacuated yet. Even before the boarding ramp hit the ground, Han and Chewbacca were running up it, the tall Wookie outpacing his human friend, as he swept the exhausted figures of Ben and Rey up into a gigantic bear hug.
Han was soon beseeching the emotional Wookie for squeezing the life out of them, before quickly doing the same himself when Chewie finally let them go. First Han embraced Rey, his moist eyes blinking rapidly as he hugged her tightly. "It's so good to see you, kid." He said huskily.
"Did you get our message?" Rey asked, her eyes smarting with tears. "Luke…he…"
"I know, kid. I know." Han squeezed her again, before letting go and reaching out to his son. He regarded Ben, moving close enough so he could reach up and touch his face.
Ben's eyes were wary, but still showed the vulnerable boy underneath. "Dad." He said, his breath hitching in his throat.
Han's craggy features were suspended between grief and joy at his son's return against all the odds. Seconds passed, his brain taking Ben in, struggling to comprehend that he was really there in front of him. Then Han did what Ben had longed for all his life, he drew him into a loving embrace just like he had Rey, and whispered. "Welcome back, son."
A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.