AN: For those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you all had a great time with a safe celebration with family and friends. For those of you who don't, I hope you had a good day. This next chapter is an emotional one so hopefully it makes up for not posting in a few days. Happy Reading!
After the friends had finished eating, Kat sent Rose out to start looking at the specs with the rest of the team. She would be able to shift through the files and then move onto the next console fine. They had been working like that for a bit until Rose came running in. "Kat, it's Leia. You need to come now."
Fear coursed through her as she scrambled to get up. "Where is she?"
"Connix took her to her quarters. Something's going on in the Force."
With that Kat took off running. Her heart clenched as dread began to seep in. This couldn't be it. Leia wouldn't leave her. She never did. She was the one person who never abandoned her. She fought to come back when the First Order shot at the bridge. This wasn't happening.
"Mom," Kat said as she came to stand in front of Leia. "Mom, what's going on?"
Leia's far-off look refocused onto her daughter but Kat could tell she was still somewhere else. "It's our last chance to bring your brother home. It's the only way." She held out a hand which Kat easily took.
"What are you talking about? There has to be another way. You don't have to do, whatever it is you're doing."
Leia caressed Kat's cheek and gave her a soft, motherly smile. "Come sit with me. I've almost done it."
Kat helped Leia to her bed, ignoring the tears falling down her cheeks. "What are you sending him?"
"Love, forgiveness, my apology, and a reminder that he still has a place and someone to come back to." She gave as pointed of a look as she could give but it still packed its full punch. "Promise you'll look after him."
She nodded. "I will but you know, you didn't have to go through all of this just to make sure I would."
"Oh, hush, child." Her smile didn't quite make it to her eyes. "I'm trying to have a serious moment. Pass on my motherly wisdom and all that."
Kat gave her a watery smile and squeezed Leia's hand, to tell her to continue.
"I love you both, more than I was able to tell you or perhaps even show you. Some of my favorite memories are of being a mother to you two. You tell him that I love him and I've forgiven him, okay? And that he has to listen to his big sister."
Kat laughed and nodded. "He's going to love hearing that last part."
Leia just smiled. "You're going to be alright after I'm gone."
She let out a muffled sob. "No, I'm not. How am I supposed to go on without you? I'm not ready to take this on."
"Oh, Katerina, you are more than ready. You will take on my role as General and Dameron will be by your side." She squeezed her daughter's hand. "I'm glad you two finally figured things out. The galaxy isn't going to be prepared for you." She smiled again, lifting Kat's hand to her lips. Her eyes fluttered closed just as she lightly pressed a kiss to her daughter's hand before her hand went limp.
"No." Tears were falling at full force now. "Mom?" Her voice cracked as she brought a hand up to caress Leia's cheek but when there was no movement it just hit home what Kat already knew. No longer being able to keep her cries silent, she laid her head on Leia's stomach, sobs tearing through her body as she mourned the mother she knew the longest. She had been orphaned once more and all she had left of her family was a brother who felt so far out of reach.
R2-D2, who had been close by, whined softly making Kat look up. "Oh, Artoo." She sniffled. The droid rolled around to her and Kat wrapped her arms around one of the droids she had known all her life.
After a few moments, she let go and stood so she could drape a sheet over Leia. "Will you go ask Maz to gather everyone here? I've got an announcement to make." Her voice cracked once more as she asked the astromech droid to fetch everyone.
Rose ran the moment she heard Artoo's message to Maz, immediately engulfing her friend into a hug. "I'm so sorry. What do you need?"
Kat held onto her friend tightly as a few more sobs wracked through her body. "I need you here with me as I make the announcement."
"Of course. Anything you need." Rose squeezed her.
As if on cue Maz spoke up, alerting both women to hers and the rest of the Resistance's presence. "General, we're all here."
Kat sniffled and wiped her tears as she pulled away from Rose. She nodded her thanks towards Maz and stepped forward to address the Resistance. "During this fight, we have lost many but today is an especially hard loss. Leia Organa is no longer with us. She fought her entire life for what was right and led us all to where we are today about to face our biggest battle yet. I hope to be half the General she was. We will continue forward for those who cannot fight against the First Order but we will also continue in the light and the hope, the legacy that Leia leaves behind." She wiped some more tears away before continuing. "We will take a few moments of silence to honor her but then we need to bring the Falcon back home so we can get to Exegol and finish this once and for all."
She felt the cold metal of Artoo nudge her hand. She smiled down at the droid who led her back to Leia's bedside. D'Acy and Maz each hugged her, telling her how proud Leia would be which made Kat cry even more. Rose took Kat's hand and squeezed it, reminding her that she wasn't alone.
The sound of the command center chiming broke things up. Kat looked towards it, prepared to go when D'Acy told her to stay. The rest of the group dispersed then, going back to preparations.
"I need to go back out there," Kat whispered. "Have you gotten any new information?" She turned to ask Rose.
"Not anything that we didn't know before. I just know those ships inside and out now."
Kat nodded. "Good. We'll need that for our plan of attack." She let out a sigh, wiping away her tears once more. "Alright, back out there I go."
"The Falcon will be returning soon. They said they had a dire message for the General." D'Acy informed Kat once she got to the command center.
"Did you tell them?"
The other woman shook her head. "I figured I would tell them when they got here."
Kat nodded. "So what has your team been working on?"
D'Acy soon explained what the ground control had been working on in regards to the Destroyer specs. How they could attack against the First Order's communication and how that could assist with the Navy. "Kat, I also would like for you to think about promoting someone else for the military side of things. I think I'd rather finish my time with the Resistance at the command center, be the commander directly under you."
"Oh. You sure? I was planning on bringing you to General as well."
D'Acy smiled and squeezed Kat's arm. "I appreciate it, General but it's what I want. I'm starting to get a bit too old to lead the army out into a battle."
"Then you'll be in control of the commands center." Kat smiled back.
The two women continued working in silence as the Falcon returned. The older of the two went to go greet them as Kat stayed behind, working with Connix to finalize details.
At the sound of a Wookiee cry, Kat whipped her head towards the sound. It was a few moments but she soon saw Chewbacca running towards Leia's quarters. She was so focused on the Wookiee that she didn't even notice Poe jogging towards her until she was swept up in his arms.
They stumbled briefly from the force of the embrace and Kat's unpreparedness but that didn't stop the tears from falling again. The familiar warmth, his familiar scent, and just the overall feeling of safety being in his arms made her start crying all over again. "She's gone Poe, she's really gone."
"I know, Kat, I know. I'm so sorry." He held her as tight as he could, ignoring the ache and pull of his injured arm as tears rolled down his own cheeks. Leia meant so much to so many and he would always be grateful for her recruiting him, making him want to do better, be better, and teaching him how to be the leader he wanted to be.
They stayed like that for a few moments longer, holding each other as they mourned the loss of Leia. Kat pulled away first, moving to wipe her tears but Poe batted her hand away and did so himself, swiping his thumbs gently across her cheeks. "I really hate to bring on bad news." He told her softly.
"Then let me go first. You're now the General of the Naval Fleet. Congratulations. I'd promote Snap and Rose to Commander if I were you."
"Wait, what?"
"I'm General now, taking over for Leia and I can't do this without you so congrats you're now a General and we need to have someone for the military side of things, D'Acy is wanting to only be over ground control."
Poe slowly nodded. "I think I know just the right person but Kat, Rey took off alone. We don't know how to get to Exegol."
Kat let out a sigh. "Then we start to prepare to protect the planets that the First Order doesn't have control over. My guess is Chandrilla would be its first target."
Rose came running over then, holding out the commlink that Kat had told her to get rid of a while ago. "I'm glad I held onto it." She said as she held it out towards her friend.
Kat gently took the commlink, staring at it in awe. "If you'll excuse me. Oh, and Rose? Congrats you're now a Commander."
Once she was in her own quarters, she answered the comm. "Ben?" Her voice cracked.
"Hey, Kat." His voice made her drop down to her bed. It sounded as broken as she felt.
In those two words, it reminded her of when he first left to join the First Order. She rushed home from a night out with friends in Hanna City at the news of her uncle's burning Jedi Temple. She found Ben hiding in the shadows just outside of their family home. She had been so relieved to see him.
This time however things were a bit reversed. Instead of the initial relief, she felt all those years ago, nerves were swirling around her. She didn't know who her brother was, especially after that night where he tried to recruit her to come with him. Now was she supposed to try and recruit him to come home? That's certainly what Leia wanted.
"She's gone, Ben. They're both gone." Her voice cracked as she tried to keep it together. She couldn't let him see her be so vulnerable, not anymore. He had hurt her, betrayed her.
"I know. And I'm so sorry that I've taken them both. I'm sorry for everything. I thought I couldn't come back."
"You could always come back. You can still come back. That's what they wanted. What she wanted. Her best memories were when she got to be a mom. She loves you and forgives you."
Ben ran a hand through his hair, trying for just a split second to take the emotions turmoiling in his head. He was grateful that Kat wasn't here to see this but even still a flash of longing and innocence appeared for the broken metal of the crashed Death Star to see. "What about you? Is that what you want?"
Kat let out a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't know. I don't know who you are anymore, Ben. You've done some kriffing awful things."
The memory of him leaving that very first night flashed across her mind. She had needed him to stay so badly to the point she had cried in the yard after he left. He had been one of the only people in her life that she had trusted with everything. He had helped her transition into her new family. He had cheered her up whenever she got upset or calmed her down when she got angry. They used to be such a unit. She didn't need him like she used to but that didn't mean she didn't miss him like crazy.
"I miss you though. I miss my brother. So come back? I want you here. We'll figure the rest out when this is all over."
There was a strangled noise on the commlink somewhere mixed with relief, a sob, and laughter. "I have something I must do first but I will. I'll come back home, Kat."
"Good." She sniffled, wiping her tears. "Be safe and I'll see you soon."