Sorry about the wait for this chapter. Life got chaotic and well, shit happens. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it.
Big thanks to Darksidefan5 for being an awesome Beta.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, but George Lucas and Disney do. I just enjoy playing in the sandbox.
It's been three weeks since Rey and Poe had arrived on the medical installation on Polis Massa.
Poe had been removed from the Bacta tank after six days; and then he was sent to counseling to work on the psychological portion of the trauma. Each day Rey was at Poe's side, going as far as threatening the medics if they tried to have her removed. That first night, after Poe had woken up, they'd moved their beds together and refused to allow the droids to separate them.
On this particular night, they pair retreated to their room after having supper with their friends. Having changed into comfy sleep clothes, Rey had cuddled up beside Poe with her rounded belly propped up against his side.
"She won't die." Rey whispers out as Poe presses a gentle kiss to the crown of her head. "I won't allow it."
"You can't stop it, Rey." He mumbles out against her hair. "All we can do is hope that the Force has other plans for our daughter."
She takes hold of his hand, which had been lying against the bump of her abdomen. It was only this morning that Poe had felt their daughter move beneath his hand, and ever since then he's been wanting to feel it again. Yet, the baby hadn't really moved much since then.
"We don't know who the father is. You aren't her real father, Poe." Rey whispers out, burying her face into the soft cotton of his sleep shirt.
She can feel him let out a sigh, and the rumble of his chest when he speaks.
"We've talked about this, Rey. I'm her father regardless of how she came to be." Poe shifts himself a little so that he's looking right at her. "And I'd like her to have my name. You too."
Rey lets out a sigh, but Poe doesn't let that deter him.
"I'm serious, Rey." Poe reaches out and gently lifts her chin so that they are looking into each other's eyes. "I want to marry you and raise our daughter, together."
"Poe."
"And don't tell me that I don't know the risks to all of us once you have my name, Rey. Kylo Ren and the First Order would hunt us down, regardless. We're both at the top of their Most Wanted list."
"And what about the vision I told you about?"
"Forget the vision. Leia's even said that the future is uncertain and can always change."
Poe leans forwards, pressing a deep and meaningful kiss against Rey's lips. He knows that she's worried about the future. Hells, even he's worried about it; but that isn't going to stop him from living in the present. If anything, Rey's vision could be interpreted as a warning, which means they could try to keep it from happening. Or, it could be one of many different futures and now that they know about it, they can prepare for it. Keep their daughter from being killed by Ren and the First Order.
As he contemplates things, a gentle press against the hand on Rey's belly brings him out back.
"She did it again." Poe says with awe before shifting down his bed till he reaches his hand. "Hello, my little girl."
Again, he can feel not just one thump but two more thumps against his hand. This causes him to chuckle and being very careful, he lifts Rey's sleep shirt out of his way. He caresses and presses gentle kisses over the place where he felt the baby move.
Something deep down inside of him is still in disbelief that he's experiencing this. Finding a deep, meaningful love, or having a family of his own during a war. Sure, he was hoping to have these things, but after the war was won. Yet, life found a way to surprise him, and he wasn't about to squander this gift.
"I love you." He whispers against the soft skin that houses his child.
"She loves you too." Rey replies, having felt something akin to happiness echoing through the Force from the baby inside of her.
After pressing one last kiss to the swell, Poe moves back up the bed. He doesn't give Rey a chance to say anything else as he begins to show her just how much he loves her.
~~~SW~~~
In the early morning hours Leia is pulled out of her sleep by a niggling inside her head. At first, she tries to ignore it, categorizing the sensation as anxiousness to get the Resistance moving once again. She rolls to her side and draws the blanket back over her shoulder. Just as she's willing herself back into sleep, a very familiar Force signature rips open within the Force, and it causes Leia to bolt upright in her bed.
"Jaina."
Leia jumps out of bed and pulls on a burgundy robe. Quick feet have her moving out of her suite and down the corridors. She doesn't stop till she reaches the main landing bay's control room.
"Lady Organa," one of the alien techs says. "there is a ship requesting to land of unknown origins. They are requesting medical aid."
Leia looks over at the small amount of information that the ship's transponder has given out. No name, just a series of numbers. Numbers that Leia recognizes immediately.
"Let them land and have a medical team ready."
Without wasting a moment, Leia makes her over to the door that will open into the landing bay once the shields are raised up after the ship has landed. Her eyes focus on the silver yacht that once belonged to her friend, and sister-in-law, Mara Jade Skywalker. After Mara's death, Leia had believed that the ship was lost as well. However, seeing the ship and feeling her daughter's Force signature on board, Leia is starting to wonder what other misconceptions she's made.
Once the ship lands, the shields are raised back up and the landing bay is pressurized again. The airlock goes from red to green and the opens.
Not missing a beat, Leia hurries out onto the hard floor and watches as the main ramp lowers from the ship. Slowly, two people shuffle down the ramp; one is bent forwards while the other is trying to help them walk. Both of them are people that Leia knows very well.
"Jaina!" Leia calls out, reaching the bottom of the ramp at the same time as her daughter.
"Hey Mom." Jaina huffs out before trying to stifle a groan.
'She's alive… alive and pregnant." Runs through Leia's head as she wraps her arms around Jaina, tears filling her eyes at seeing that her daughter is alive.
"I hate to break this up, but we need to get Jaina to medical."
Releasing Jaina, Leia looks over at the man standing next to them. "Kyp."
"Leia." He says, quickly giving the older woman a bow with his greeting.
Leia glares at the man who she's known for several years, ever since Han saved him from the mines on Kessel. But it's the knowledge that this is the man who caused the destruction of a planet and countless other offenses which has Leia on edge.
Sensing the tension, Jaina lets out a hissing breath that draws the attention back to herself and her current situation.
"As much as I'd like to catch up, I have a child to evict from my body. Mom, if you could just…"
"Of course." Leia backs away from her daughter and allows the medical team to see to Jaina.
The medical team helps Jaina get settled on a hover-sled with Kyp's help. Just as the team begins to leave, Leia can't shake the feeling of being watched and turns back around towards the ship. Standing halfway up the ramp are two children. The girl looks to be around nine or ten standard years of age, while the boy next to her looks to be around four.
"Are you our grandmother? Granddad always said she looked like a queen." The young girl states before walking the rest of the way down the ramp. "I'm Sora and he's Jace."
Leia is surprised by the abruptness of which the girl is addressing her. Not only is this child claiming to be her grandchild, but that she knows of Han. Plus, Han had never said anything about running into Jaina, alive; nor that they had grandchildren. As if the girl can read her mind, Sora speaks to her again.
"Granddad was there when I was born, and he'd always visit with us at least once a year."
"Gave good presents too." The boy, Jace, says while pulling his hand away from his sister. He approaches Leia with a sad look upon his face. "Granddad is gone now."
"He's one with the Force now, Jace." Sora tells the boy, though she rolls her eyes in annoyance.
Seeing the sadness upon a face that looks like Han's, Leia kneels and tries to comfort the boy. No. Her grandson.
"Jace was it?" Leia watches as the little boy nods his head at her. "The dead never truly leave us. They become one with the Force and if you listen carefully, they will speak to you."
Leia extends a hand out for the boy to take but instead, the boy barrels into her. Not missing a beat, she wraps her arms around him. Through the Force, she feels the boy's sadness over losing Han and his fear for his mother's safety. Yet, beneath it all, there is something elusive that the boy is trying to keep hidden. None of this keeps Leia from wrapping her own Force presence around her grandson's, giving as much love and comfort she possibly can to him.
"Promise you won't go too?" Jace whimpers out from where he's hidden his face against Leia's chest. He receives a kiss in his hair from his grandmother in response.
Behind them, someone quickly approaches them.
Sora doesn't miss a beat with knowing exactly who it is. "Dad. Why aren't you with mom?"
Leia releases Jace and carefully rises so that she can turn around. Her grandson, however, refuses to let go of her hand.
"She's asking for your grandmother, and I am not about to argue with your mum while she's in labor." Kyp tells his daughter before looking over at Leia. "I take it they've introduced themselves to you?"
"They have. Although, I'd like the full story from both you and Jaina later. Where you've been and how is it I've become a grandmother?"
"Oh," Kyp says with some relief and some trepidation. "This isn't how Jaina and I wanted you to meet them. We were hoping to show up at your base like 'Surprise, you're a grandmother!' But it would appear that our third child wasn't going to let that happen."
"So I noticed. I expect to get the full and complete story from you and Jaina. Now, you said that Jaina was asking for me, Master Durron." Leia doesn't want to become side-tracked by Kyp if Jaina needs her.
"Yeah, she's rather insistent that you be there for this one's birth since you missed the previous two."
Leia does a quick look at Sora then at Jace, having to come to some terms that these two children are her grandchildren and who their father is. She can see a lot of Jaina and Kyp in Sora, not just in facial features but also with her Force signature. Jace, however, Leia sees more of a resemblance of Han in his face. Though he has Jaina's deep brown hair and Kyp's green eyes.
"Then let's go." Leia tells Kyp.
Kyp nods his head and calls Sora over to him before they leave the landing bay.
Arriving in medical, Kyp and Leia leave the two children under Snap and Karé's supervision; the pair having just finished with a post-mission check up. Leia vouched for the pair of pilots, and Kyp found it a bit hilarious that the couple were speechless at Leia's recruitment to watch the kids.
Entering Jaina's room, Leia isn't shocked to see her daughter cussing out the midwife droid.
"About kriffing time you showed up!" Jaina screeches out. "Sithspawn! Just as your kid and I both agreed it's time to evac, you had gone! You just up and left!"
Kyp doesn't make a reply and hurries over to Jaina's side. For all the times he's dealt with being on the receiving end of Jaina's temper, he knows to keep his mouth shut and not antagonize like he would in the past.
Leia approaches the other side of the bed and lets Jaina take hold of her hand. However, it isn't just a physical reassurance Jaina is seeking. Within the Force, Leia can feel her daughter drawing strength from her.
It doesn't take long for the healthy squalls of a baby fill the room.
"It's a boy." Kyp gleefully whispers before pressing a kiss to Jaina's cheek. "We have a son."
Jaina simply nods her head and reaches out to take the baby from the floating mid-wife droid.
As Jaina holds her son, Leia can feel Kyp's presence in the Force start to mask both Jaina and the baby's signatures. This catches Leia off guard and she isn't sure how he's doing this. She taps down her desire to ask Kyp about this because she doesn't want to interrupt the couple enjoying this time with their newborn son. However, Kyp must have sensed it and looks up at Leia.
'We'll explain later.' Is the impression Leia gets from him.
"Would you like to hold him, mom?" Jaina asks all of a sudden.
Leia looks down at her daughter and smiles. "Of course, I would."
In the morning, Rey lets out a moan as the baby within her starts wiggling around. She was hoping for a little more sleep, but it would appear that her daughter has other plans.
"Morning." Rey whispers out, pressing a hand against the decently sized baby bump. In response, she feels her daughter reach out to her through the Force.
Opening her eyes, Rey finds herself looking at the face of a little boy. She lets out a startled yelp which captures the attention of her partner.
"Rey! What is it?"
Poe runs out of the refresher with semi-dried hair, a towel over his shoulders and only a pair of boxers on. He comes to a stop when he sees that there is a boy kneeling on the bedside chair. He moves to Rey's beside and helps her to sit up, knowing that she's now having trouble sitting up in bed.
"Where did you go kid?" Snap's voice calls out before the door to the room opens. "Kid?"
The door to the room opens and draws everyone's attention to it.
"There you are." Snap says before realizing which room he's just entered. His face flushes a bit when he realizes just how undressed Poe is. "Commander."
"Who's this?" Rey asks, pulling Snap's attention away from Poe so that he can return to the refresher and finish dressing.
"Ah. Right, sorry. General Organa assigned me and Karé with keeping an eye on this one and his sister." Snap replies as he walks towards the chair.
"Who are you?" Rey asks, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. Something about this boy feels familiar, but she can't figure out why.
"Jace." The little boy replies, eyes fixated on Rey's bump.
"Jace who?"
"Jace Solo Durron!" An older man calls out from the open door.
Snap turns to look at the boy. "I think you're in trouble, little man."
And then the room got that much more crowded as the man entered.
The little boy looks over his shoulder. "Dad."
"My apologies." Kyp strides over to where his son is. "My son is a very precocious child. He's always getting into things he shouldn't be. Including sneaking into rooms."
"But dad," The boy, Jace, huffs out. "it's Rey. She's here."
Knowing that she never gave the boy her name, Rey is confused and curious. "How do you know my name?"
Jace looks back at Rey and then points at her protruding stomach. "She told me."
"What do you mean, 'she told you'?" Poe asks, making his way back over to Rey from leaving the refresher. Then he notices exactly who else is in the room and there is a combination of suspicion and joy at seeing the older man. "Kyp Durron. It's been a long time. Thought you were dead."
Kyp gives a smirk to the man. "Poe Dameron. You haven't changed much I see. Jaina will be happy to know that you're here."
"Jaina's here? Where?"
"Just on the other side of the medical wing. Though, I'd suggest visiting her later in the day. She gave birth to this guy's little brother earlier."
"She wha-" Poe begins before Rey places a hand on his shoulder.
"How did my daughter tell your son who I was?"
The whole room's attention is fixed on the child.
"She sings to me." Jace answers confidently.
"Jace," Kyp says slowly, moving to kneel next to the chair his son sits on. "we've discussed this."
"I know, dad, but she needs to be protected. She's special."
Kyp lets out a sigh and stands up. There really is nothing he can say to argue against what his son said. For even Kyp could feel the unborn child singing in the Force, even though her signature is mostly hidden by her mother's. He feels Rey's curiosity and confusion, along with Poe's hesitation, suspicion, and a strong will to protect the mother and child. This leaves Kyp with only one choice. And it's the choice that he was hoping he wouldn't have to do.
"Your child is special." Kyp states, now looking directly at Rey. "What do you remember of her conception?"
Her face heats, not out of shame or embarrassment, but because she doesn't truly know. "Nothing. I don't have any memories of how she was made."
"May I?" He holds out a hand towards Rey and can see her hesitation. "I need to see into your memories. Don't worry. Unlike Kylo Ren, I am skilled enough to not cause you harm."
As Rey slowly reaches out her hand, Poe isn't sure about all this. "Rey?"
"I need to know how this happened, Poe." Rey whispers out as she lets Kyp take her hand between both of his.
"You'll need to relax and open yourself with the Force for me." Kyp says reassuringly.
"You can trust my dad. He's the best at this." Jace quips before getting shushed by his father.
Rey allows herself to open, not just to the Force but also to Kyp. She feels not just his signature, but also the Force bonds that he has with his family. However, she can feel that he is also expending a lot of energy to tone down the brightness of each person. Almost as if he's trying to hide them.
'That's exactly what I'm trying to do, Rey.'
"Why?" She asks out loud.
'To protect them. There are many out there who would want to raise a child for evil. Especially one who is strong with the Force.'
Before Rey can ask anything further, images from Hapes start to flash in her minds' eye and one seems to have caught Kyp's attention. He focuses more intently on this image of Rey and Poe together. When pushes even harder into it, something within Rey's mind savagely pushes Kyp out of her mind.
Kyp shouts, having to take several steps back at how violent the Force shoved him out of Rey's mind. It also isn't helping that his head is now pounding, a symptom he's never experienced before from joining with someone's mind.
Rey, however, lets out a hiss and quickly brings on of her hands to rub against her forehead.
"Rey?" Poe rushes to her side, worry for her welfare being his top priority. "Are you all right?"
"Just give me a minute." She tries reaching out for the memory that Kyp had pulled forward. The dream she'd had back on Hapes. The one with her going to Poe's cell, of sharing a sacred moment between them. Yet something is trying to keep Rey from having complete focus on it.
"Rey? Love?" Poe whispers softly, taking hold of Rey's hand and pulling away from her forehead. He presses a gentle kiss against the knuckles while keeping a close eye on Rey.
Slowly, Rey opens her eyes and allows herself to be pulled into Poe's arms. "We're okay, Poe."
"Rey?"
Both Poe and Rey look over at the Jedi Master, wondering what the man is going to tell them.
"Someone has tampered with your mind. There is a very strong block around certain memories." Kyp watches the pair closely, noticing quickly how Poe flinches at the idea.
"So what does that mean?" Poe asks.
"I'm not sure, but I suggest we begin training you on shielding your mind from outside influences." He tells Rey. "I'm one of Skywalker's original students and a Master in my own right. I'm offering to train you to shield your mind, and other things if you wish." Kyp offers while letting Rey sense his trepidation and fear for not just her safety, but also of her unborn daughter's.
Rey isn't sure if she should trust the man in front of her, but something within the Force tells her that this man can help her.
"When do we start?"
Just to let you all know, I'm now posting this story and others over on Archive of Our Own/AO3. I'll still be posing over here as well, but I just figured I'd let you all know.
Reviews are welcomed, loved, and deeply cherished. Seriously, I love reading everyone's feedback.
Selene