Halo

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A/N-thank you very much for the kind reviews.

Chapter Fifty-Seven-The Price of a Mother's Love

"Ben."

Ben felt the tightness in his throat as soon as his mother spoke his name. He stood, rigid as a winded man. It was only his strength of will that kept him from gasping. Only through his parted lips he drew tiny breaths as he tried to control his breathing. He would not show weakness in front of Leia Organa.

"I know I am the last person you wanted to see…" Leia tried again.

"You said it." Ben cut in scathingly as he finally regained use of his vocal cords.

"What are you doing here, Leia?" Han demanded. He shot Lando an angry glare. "I can't believe you'd ambush us like this. Some friend!"

"Ah, don't involve me in your marital discord!" Lando replied testily. "I'm friends with both of you."

"But you did involve yourself by luring us here under false pretences." Han argued.

"Don't blame Lando, Han." Leia cut in. "He was doing me a favour."

"Don't defend him, sweetheart. Just don't!" Han raised his forefinger at her in frustration as he felt his temper rising.

"Dad." Ben gripped Han's shoulder in an effort to calm his father down. Even though he shared Han's budding frustration, he had learned from past experience it was a pointless exercise when dealing with his mother. "Maybe you should get some air." He suggested.

"Yeah." Han muttered as he rubbed a hand over his face. "I'll be back in a minute." He avoided looking in his estranged wife's direction again as he exited the treadable.

"I'll go talk to him." Lando said as he made to follow his friend outside.

"I doubt he's in the mood to speak to you right now." Ben reminded Calrissian pointedly. His mother's unexpected appearance had soured his joyful reunion with his surrogate uncle.

"I'll make him listen." Lando wasn't fazed in the slightest. "And I suggest you do the same. I didn't invite you all here to hurt any of you. Just listen to what your mother has to say before you make any judgements." He advised before disappearing outside.

Chewie gave Leia a long look before following after Lando. He knew what Han was like when he was feeling betrayed. There was a good chance he was going to have to pull him off Lando if things got too heated between them. This left Ben and Rey alone with Leia with little BB-8 as their silent witness.

Leia Organa Solo-once a senator, a princes and leader of the Rebel Alliance, now in her later years a General of the Resistance-had never lost her regal bearing. She had aged, Ben could see that, but somehow the deep lines on her face had increased her majesty. She stood before him, observing him with a quiet authority that was unnerving.

"What do you want, General Organa?" He asked flatly. "I thought we had said all we needed to say during our last meeting."

"Ben." Leia said gravely. The way she said his name made Ben feel like a teenage boy again-young, awkward and gauche-in front of his august parent. It irritated the hell out of him that his mother could still make him feel like an overgrown boy. "Circumstances have changed." Her brown eyes lost their harshness, becoming rounder, glossier. "The Resistance needs…." She paused as if giving herself a second to rethink her choice of words. "I need your help. Both of you." Her words drew Rey into the inner circle of her pleading gaze.

Ben's long fingers found their way around Rey's as he sought reassurance from her. He felt her thumb brush against his palm and this simple touch allowed him a semblance of calm. "Rey already gave you her answer. It was no." He replied evenly. He was surprised at the steadiness of his tone as he responded to her ridiculous request. Rey's calming influence had everything to do with that.

"This is unrelated to our last discussion." Leia responded fervently. Her eyes were locked on his face. "I said this involves both of you."

"You want my help?" Ben questioned incredulously. "You must really be desperate."

"Ben, stop being so flippant." Leia remonstrated with him as she let her impatience slip through. "What is happening in the galaxy right now Is bigger than either you or I. We need to put aside our differences and work together."

"There is no way I will work with you. Not in this lifetime, General Organa." Ben stated adamantly. "We are done here. Rey, lets go."

Rey had stayed quiet during the confrontation between mother and son. She felt it wasn't her place to intervene. She thought it wise to let Ben handle this himself without her interference. She had already made her position clear to the Resistance General the last time they had spoken to each other when Leia had asked her to act as a poster girl for the Resistance. As Ben had already reminded his mother, her answer had been a resounding no.

When Ben shut his mother down, the resulting silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground. The silence was like a gaping void, poisonous in its nothingness, cruelly underscoring how vapid their conversation had become. It was only when they got ready to exit the treadable that Leia broke it.

"Do you always let my son speak for you?" The barb was aimed in Rey's direction. "Do you have no voice of your own?"

Rey felt Ben's fingers tighten around hers in anger but he made sure not to show it on his face. He regarded his mother with indifference, knowing she had said the words to provoke a reaction out of Rey. "I have no influence over Rey. She makes her own choices. Always has."

The tension was high, Leia knew she should inject love instead of anger, give her son an olive branch instead of hostility, but she had never found it easy with Ben. His indifference and arrogant rejection of her offer made the urge to smack him down to regain the upper hand all the more potent. It was just an endless cycle of push and pull. Instead it took all of Leia's courage to suppress her irritation with him and try a different approach. She softened her eyes and held out her hand toward him. "I'm sorry….to both of you." She apologised with as much sincerity as she could muster. "I shouldn't have said that." She directed her gaze toward Ben. "I know you doubt it's the truth, but I love you, Ben. I love you now and I always will. I'll walk away if you need time to cool down, but if you'll allow me to talk, I think once you've heard what I have to say you will stand with me."

As he made his way out of the treadable into the open air, Ben's mind was a jumble of thoughts. His mother's words fragmented until they became nothing but splinters of words and droplets of silence spun into a kaleidoscopic mishmash of confusion. Somehow the emperor had returned. A mysterious broadcast had been spread across the galaxy presumably from the dead Emperor Palpatine promising revenge. His mother had sent agents to gather intelligence on the broadcast. A spy within the First Order had confirmed their worst fears, the Emperor had indeed returned from the dead and was allied with the First Order.

"Only together can we defeat Darth Sidious, Ben. Luke is gone and you and Rey are our last hope." Leia had dropped her guard completely as she pleaded her case with him. "Please." She had added, holding out her hand toward him. "Join me."

Ben hadn't been able to take Leia's hand. Not in that moment. It was just too much. He was being used again. His mother only needed him now because she felt powerless against the new threat. There is all the difference in the world between asking for help without exploiting the person for your own personal gain and deceiving yourself that they are the same. That's exactly what she was doing, but she refused, or was too blind to see how manipulative she was being.

It was like Snoke all over again. That bastard had manipulated him into believing so many things that now he didn't know how to differentiate reality anymore. How could he be sure now? How was it possible to distinguish the truth between all the lies and manipulations?

"Ben." Rey's gentle voice cut through all the confusion inside his head.

"I don't know what to do, Rey. She keeps tearing me apart. I want to be free of this pain. Help me." Ben's voice was filled with torment.

Rey felt an urge to do something, to comfort him, but also herself. In a moment she rose on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his, she felt his body loosen and hands touch her shoulders. They hovered right there, quite soundless for so long, simply feeling each other's presence. Ben's heart skipped a beat when her hands found their way to his face, she cradled it lovingly, bringing his mouth back to hers. She kissed him, it was a full on, open mouthed kiss. She was taking control and he loved it. He loved the way her small body melted into his. He held her tighter and tighter until she was the first to break away after what seemed like ages. He saw a determined resolve in her eyes he had never seen before.

"She is not the one in control here, Ben. We are. If she wants our help then we set the terms and conditions. We owe her nothing more than we are prepared to give." She stated firmly.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.