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"Dyad's Blessing, Dyad's Curse"

Chapter 55

As soon as Jannah told Chewie she was Lando's lost daughter, the Wookiee swept her off her feet, squeezing her in a hug so tight she wondered if it would crush her ribs and screaming happily in his language. While Lando and Rose laughed, she thought she heard some of the other hotel lobby patrons groaning, making her almost wish they had been in a less public place when they shared the news with Chewie.

"What's he saying?" Jannah asked Lando when Chewie finally put her down.

"That you've grown into a lovely young woman," said Lando. "And Han would be so proud of you being part of our family."

Our family. The words made her shudder as Chewie went on to ruffle Rose's hair.

"He says you're part of the family too, Rose," Lando translated.

A cute blush filled Rose's cheeks. "I'm honored, thank you."

Jannah gulped. "Well, if I'm part of the family, I guess I should try to learn the Wookiee language, shouldn't I?"

"Only if you want," said Lando. "For now, I can translate for ya." His eyes still glistened as he rubbed his daughter's shoulder – in fact, Jannah didn't think they had dried since this morning. "You're here," he murmured, "you're really here. Sorry, I just . . . I'm still processing it, you know?"

"I am too," said Jannah, giving her father a small smile. Family. The word still sent shivers through her body.

"Well," said Lando, "how about we go out to eat tonight and get to know each other better?" He looked at Rose and then Chewie. "You two could come too if you want."

"I'd love to," Rose said as Chewie was growling what Jannah assumed was an affirmative.

Jannah felt her smile growing more relaxed. "All right," she said. "It looks like we're all going out tonight."

. . .

"WHAT?"

Rey expected Poe to react like that, which was the reason she'd invited Finn and Poe to her room to present the request instead of presenting it during a meeting. "Listen, I know it sounds crazy," she said, "but these kids, they could be prisoners of the First Order or . . ."

"Or stormtroopers-in-training," Finn muttered, his eyes slowly widening as he leaned forward in his chair. "Teth was abandoned. Felucia was abandoned. What if they were brought to Geonosis or whatever planet this was in your vision?"

"Even if they were," Poe said, flopping back on the bed next to Rey and running his hand over his forehead, "that doesn't mean we have to take Ben on a mission to rescue them!"

"Do the remnants of the First Order know that Ben's defected?" Rey asked.

"Has he defected?" Poe exclaimed. "What proof to we have there? He's sent us on wild bantha chases to abandoned bases . . ."

"He saved Rey's life," Finn interrupted.

Poe groaned, gazing at the ceiling as if he'd find the answer there. "Okay, yes, he did that, but Rey, are you sure you're not letting your feelings for him cloud your judgment?"

An awkward silence filled the room, during which Rey felt her stomach jumping. Was Poe right? "All right," she finally said in a soft, careful voice, "yes, I have feelings for him, I won't deny it anymore." She swallowed, feeling Finn's hurt gaze on her. "But this isn't about that. You two haven't felt how much he's suffering like I have. The horrors he's committed – he can never take them back."

"That still doesn't mean we should take him with us," said Poe.

"I'm getting there," said Rey. "If the remaining First Order officers don't know he's defected, he could act as a double agent – pretend he's still Supreme Leader and order the children moved."

"So we let him go on his merry way back to the First Order?" Finn exclaimed.

"No," said Rey. "Not alone. I would watch him. I'd guard him on the way to Geonosis – he could be kept in one of the Falcon's cabins or something and not allowed to leave – and I'd guard him when we got there. I could pretend to be his prisoner or something."

"And then you could easily find yourself his real prisoner," groaned Poe. "Forgive me if I don't think this plan is very smart."

Rey leaned over Poe's prone body, staring into his eyes. "You're worried about more people dying." It wasn't a question. "I can sense it. If Ben acts as a double agent, we could maybe rescue the children without more people dying."

Poe let out a long sigh, closing his eyes and leaning as far back as the pillow allowed him. "I guess we could bring it up at tomorrow's meeting, but I doubt the majority would vote for it."

"You're sure you can guard him, Rey?" Finn asked.

"Yes," said Rey, looking up at Finn, "and I'm sure Rey will agree to it."

Finn blinked at her several times before she realized what she'd done. "I'm sorry," she gasped out. "I meant . . ."

"I know what you meant," said Finn. "but if this does get approved, let's just hope that doesn't happen when Ben's pretending to be Supreme Leader."

. . .

Lando took Jannah, Rose, and Chewie to a high-level Coruscant restaurant that specialized in Corellian food ("It makes me think of Han," Lando had said). Though Jannah had no familiarity with Corellian food, the meaty stew she'd ordered was spicy and flavorful. She also found herself frequently gazing up through the transparasteel domed ceiling at the dark sky, letting her head sway to the gentle music the Mon Calamari keyboardist was playing.

Lando showed Jannah and Rose several holorecordings of Jannah (or should she call herself Ava now? She still wasn't sure about that.) when she was a baby: sleeping in a crib, crawling for the first time, playing with baby toys.

And Ben Solo playing with her.

Ben and baby Ava playing in the sand together, Ben blowing bubbles and making Ava giggle as she tried to catch them, Ben trying to teach Ava to say his name. There were plenty of holos of Ben's parents holding Ava and playing with her as well.

"They loved you," Lando said. "In another world where you hadn't been taken . . ."

Jannah gulped, her throat suddenly dry. "Leia Organa and Han Solo . . . they could have been like an aunt and uncle. And their son . . ."

Her father gave her a sad smile. "He loved you so much. For a brief, wonderful time, I think you were like the little sister he never had."

Jannah suddenly found herself taking a long gulp of cold water as Rose patted her back. Chewie roared something she couldn't understand, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to understand. Was he saying she should go visit him in prison and welcome him as a big brother?

"I don't . . ." she finally said, ". . . I don't think I can talk to him right now. I'm sorry, but even though he technically wasn't in charge of the stormtrooper program, he still did nothing to stop it." She felt her eyes welling up, but she couldn't do anything to stop it. "If he really thought of me as a little sister, then why didn't he try to put an end to the child kidnappings when he knew what they did to me?"

Lando's eyes lowered, gazing down at his food. "I don't know. There's a lot about him I don't know now. Even though he's renounced the dark side, it's still hard to come to terms with everything."

Now Rose was massaging her girlfriend's shoulder. "Jannah, you don't have to think of him as a brother or anything. You don't even have to see him."

Jannah ran her hand over her eyes, taking a few calming breaths. "What if I don't know what I want to do yet?"

Lando smiled at his daughter – this time a warm, fatherly smile. "That's perfectly okay too."