Hi again! Thanks to the amazing people who reviewed the first chapter, I can't tell you how grateful I am and how much I adore reading any comments I get. Originally this was just supposed to be a one-shot, but now I'm kind of curious to see how far I can take it. I'm thinking of also trying to add flashbacks of how they got to this point. So, if you're enjoying and want me to keep going, just let me know :D Thanks again and please review!

Present Day

The small homestead sat quiet and alone at the bottom of a green and rocky hill. It was a primitive thing, made of the same grey stone that covered the entire area and seeming to almost disappear into the craggy landscape. A thin trail of smoke wound up from its single chimney stack, visible only for a few moments before it merged seamlessly into the grey skies above. Looking down at the humble, timeworn house she knew that she had finally found a home for herself, one that meant so much more to her than some old piece of imperial garbage left to rot in the Jakku sun. The three of them hadn't been there long, not even a year, but to her this place was everything.

Ben was sat on top of the hill, right on the very edge. When they'd first arrived on the planet, a choice that had been made by desperate fugitives whose first child was ready to be born, she had often found him sat just like this. Her heart would always jump in fear seeing him so close to the edge. But as they'd grown closer and the arguments had come less often and less fiercely, she'd learned that this tiny slice of danger was his way of centring himself. He had too much energy to just… sit. He needed something to focus on and it was unfortunate for her that it just happened to be meditating while sitting mere inches from a cliff edge.

She moved as close to him as she was willing to with her young child in her arms and stood, admiring the view. From this hill she could see for miles around. The ocean stretched away from the bottom of the cliff, it's waves crashing brutally against the rocks. The sky was grey and filled with clouds, but on good days it was as blue as the sky on Jakku, only without the accompanying deadly heat. There were few inhabitants here, mostly other humans who knew to keep their business to themselves, and those who did lived far enough away that it had been months since they'd last seen anyone. This planet may not have been their first choice for a home, but they had become happy here.

Ben slowly opened his eyes and stood, moving away slightly from the edge. He found it hard enough to concentrate on his meditation as it was, but it always became even more so when his family's intense force signatures were nearby. Not that he would ever complain, he found more serenity with them than he ever could through meditation. It was only when his senses began to prickle, as they'd been doing for several days now, that he found he needed the solace of the cliffside. It usually meant that something was out of balance in his small world.

He moved to stand in front of her, and she automatically handed the sleepy child over into his arms. The young boy barely stirred, his eyes drifting closed as he snuggled into his father's strong chest. They knew that despite having only recently woken up, it would still be a while before the child was ready to interact with the world. Rey stroked her hand across her son's back. He was so like his father, from his looks right down to his personality. It worried Rey at times, when she felt flashes of the darkness hovering at the edges of her family.

'How much easier is this whole parenting thing when he's sleeping?' She joked. A small smile spread across Ben's face, once a rarity but becoming increasingly common as the years went by.

'Maybe he just has too much of his mother in him. I'm sure if he'd been born a full-blooded Solo then he'd cause no trouble at all.' He replied. He had such a morbid sense of humour, but it still made Rey grin straight back at him.

'And how are you this morning?' She asked, knowing that something was bothering him if he was meditating here.

It had always been difficult for him to express his emotions and feelings in words, they were too violent and erratic. Instead, he opened his side of the bond to her, allowing her to feel that sense of unease that had once again been bothering him since he had woken up.

'What do you think it could be?' she asked quietly, trying not to wake her son.

'I don't know, hopefully nothing. It doesn't feel bad exactly, just…' His voice trailed off as he tried to find the words.

'Wrong?'

'Yes.' He pulled her closer with one hand on her waist, his lips meeting hers. It was a gentle kiss, with their son caught comfortably between their bodies, as his lips moved languorously over hers. After a moment, their lips parted, their breathing slightly heavier and their foreheads pressed together. He loved this woman. Their relationship had not always been easy, they had fought hard in the beginning and lightsabers had been lit on more than one occasion. But although they did not always agree, or even agree often, he never doubted the depth to which she knew him, understood him. She understood him even when he could barely understand himself.

'We should still be prepared though. Is the ship ready?' He asked.

'It should be, but we can check on it when we get back.' They had been either running or hiding for so long now that they had learned to always have an escape route mapped out.

'Good, I won't let what happened last time happen again, Rey. I swear it.'

'I know, Ben. I…' Both their gazes suddenly shot skywards. Something was coming close. Both their lightsabers were back at the house, and with a quick glance to one another they bolted down the gravel path that cut up the mountain. Ben was careful not to jostle the boy too much, but he still gave a small whimper as the bumpy ride woke him. They had almost made it to the house when suddenly Ben stopped, halted by a force he recognised only too well. He knew exactly who it was that was in the ship above them and he wouldn't need his lightsaber to face them. He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning back his head and allowing their presence to wash over him. A sharp pain bolted through his chest, they had been found by the one person that he could not fight and who he had hoped never to see again.

'We won't be needing our sabers.' He said.

'I know.' Clearly, she had felt it too. He knew that he shouldn't be surprised given how close she'd said they had felt in their few moments together at the resistance base. Guilt hovered at the edge of his conscience as he remembered the event that had forever connected the two women in grief, but he pushed it violently away. It would serve no purpose here to allow himself to be weakened by any residual guilt he still felt, especially when he could also feel his anger rising. It was a much more powerful emotion to have in his arsenal.

He had no weapon in his hand, yet his stance was defensive. He silently handed the boy over to his mother.

'Take him inside, Rey'

'Ben,'

'I won't argue with you. Inside, now' She stepped forward, taking his arm and squeezing it gently. A promise that she would listen to him for now, but if she sensed anything happening she would be at his side.

It took a few moments of tense waiting before the shuttle broke through the thick cloud cover, but when it did they could see that in calling it a 'shuttle' they were being charitable. It was an odd blend of parts, taken from whatever ships they could be scavenged from at last minute. He could sense the sole person on board as clearly as if they were stood right in front of him.

It finally touched down on the surface of the planet, clouds of steam billowing from it. The mighty hull door opened, and the ramp extended, the steam momentarily obscuring the identity of the person within and projecting an eerie silhouette into the air. The figure began walking towards him. It had been more than fifteen years since he'd last seen her and, in his opinion, it was still not long enough to prepare him for seeing her again. Leia.

She was shorter than he remembered, her stature and walking cane creating a much less imposing figure than she'd been in his youth. Her clothes were still regal, as was her bearing, but it was clear to all that as hard as she may fight it, her age was beginning to catch up with her. But there was a reason that Ben had sensed her arrival for so long and from so far away. Her presence in the force still shined like a beacon of light, almost blinding to someone as inclined to the dark as he was. She stopped just before him.

'General.' He spoke through gritted teeth.

'Ben.' Leia took in the sight of her now grown up son. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been an awkward teenager, still growing into himself and his powers. Now here he was. She knew that he'd done terrible things since he'd left her all those years ago, but when she looked at him and saw Han's eyes staring back at her, it was as if, for a second, all the hurt and pain he'd caused her just disappeared.

'How did you find us?' Clearly his sentimentality didn't extend as far as hers. She remained silent for a moment, her face stony. This was the only reason he had allowed to land on the planet and speak to him, he needed to know who it was that had given away their location to their enemies. Rey would ask him to show them mercy, but he knew that when he found them he would take his lightsaber and cut them down where they stood. Years away from the dark influence of Snoke had calmed him somewhat, but he would never be a merciful man.

'We need you and Rey…' She tried to steer the conversation back to where she wanted it to go.

'How?'

'Ben, I need you to listen, please. I wouldn't have come here if it wasn't urgent' Ben began pressing his mind against the defences of Leia's. He knew she could feel him; she may not have trained as a Jedi, but he had never questioned how much raw potential the General held. Rey would no doubt have something to say later about such a casual use of his darker powers, she never had understood the occasional necessity of entering a weaker mind. But this was no weaker mind. The General's walls held firm against his pushing and Ben quickly realised that he would get no answers this way, at least not without inflicting pain. Rey would see that as unnecessary.

He straightened as his mind pulled back, 'You are not welcome here, General. Get back in your ship and leave.'

'The resistance needs you, Ben. I need you' His anger flew through him and he was powerless to stop it, coursing through every nerve ending in his body. He could feel the fire spreading through his mind, taking over his senses. His mouth twisted into a sneer, his eyebrows moving low over his eyes as they narrowed in her direction. His body crouched almost imperceptibly, a natural defence mechanism. Rey flinched as the wildness of his anger cut through the bond, taking a long breath to calm her own emotions before placing the sleeping child in his crib and running outside to its father.

'You need me?' He hissed, 'That's what you have to say to me? That you need me!' Leia wouldn't back down, she had come here barely expecting her son to even allow her to land, so that he would see her and speak to her ignited hope within her chest.

But his anger would not be stopped, 'And where were you when I needed you? I spent years with that monster's voice in my head, twisting my thoughts. From the moment I was born he was there. And you did nothing!'

Rey had reached his side, grasping tightly on his arm to hold him back as he had inched closer and closer to his mother, 'Ben, please… stop.'

Leia had barely moved at the force of his anger, only her face betrayed her emotions as she tried to reason with her son. They needed him and Rey too much for her to leave without even the hope that they would help, 'We thought we were doing the right thing for you, Ben, I swear. I felt Snoke even before you were born, and I knew he would try to manipulate you, to take you away from us. I thought I could shield you from Snoke's influence, but I didn't realise how strong he was.'

'You knew about him?'

'I was trying to keep things from your father, I didn't think he would understand and he would only have made it harder for you. It was when I realised that I couldn't protect you myself that I sent you to Luke. It was a last resort, Ben. I never wanted you to leave!'

He scoffed at her, his face still twisted into a sneer, 'You're still lying to yourself. You never sent me away for my own good, you were never trying to protect me. You only wanted to protect Han from me. You sent me away so that he would never have to deal with me or my abilities. You had a choice between him and me, and you chose him'

'No, I… I didn't.'

Ben suddenly straightened. Rey could feel his intentions flowing through the bond, as if his actions and his words were becoming her own. She had become adept at locking him out of her mind when she needed to, but when his anger took over like this she was powerless to his strength. His words were aimed to inflict maximum damage on his mother, he wanted her to feel as guilty for her failures as he felt about his own,

'Luke never told you what happened that night, did he? The night I destroyed his temple?'

'What?'

'He feared me, just as you feared me. He didn't want to protect me either, he wanted to protect his glorious legacy from me. You two were always so similar, always playing the heroes. And then one night I woke up to find him standing over me. His face…' Ben's breath caught for a second. The face of his uncle haunted him even now, 'he had his lightsaber in his hand, ready to kill me as I slept'

'He wouldn't…'

'He did' Ben hissed.

Leia looked to Rey, disbelief painted on her face, 'Rey?'

She didn't want to be the one to say it, but she owed Ben this, 'I'm sorry Leia, it's true. Luke told me himself' Rey knew there was more to the story than either of them were saying, like how badly Luke had come to regret his momentary lapse in judgement. But when it came to this chapter of the Skywalker Saga, Rey was unwilling to be kind to her master's memory. He had almost killed Ben- his student, his own nephew! He had created Kylo Ren, and Rey would never forgive him that.

'Ben, I… I'm sorry. But it's different now, we…'

A strong cry called out from the house behind them. They all turned, and Rey raced toward the noise. Ben heard his mother's breath catch behind him. She had felt his son, his distress at his father's uncontrollable anger, then waking to find his parents nowhere in sight echoing through the force. Ben was not surprised. In truth, he was more shocked that she had not noticed him earlier. His force signature was so strong, and he burned so brightly, that Ben was certain that under less stressful circumstances she'd have felt his power before she had even landed.

'Is that…? Is that your son?'

The moments stretched between them. He had never wanted her to find out about this. Regardless of how this conversation played out now he knew they would need to leave this planet. Rey would be devastated, this had been their son's first home, but they couldn't stay if the resistance knew that there was now a third powerful force user here.

Leia leaned around her son to look behind him. Rey was walking towards them slowly, comforting the child in her arms. He was still sniffling a little, a tiny hand rubbing at his eyes, hair rumpled from sleep and his head resting against his mother's shoulder. She stopped beside Ben, a small smile gracing her face. It may not have been under the most ideal of circumstances, but for just a few moments this legendary family that she had both inherited and helped to extend, was together.

'Rey, go back inside.' But of course, she wouldn't listen to him.

Ben could see the tears in Leia's eyes that were threatening to spill over. She reached a hand out as if to touch the child. He subconsciously moved his body so that he had almost placed himself completely between the General and his family. Her hand stopped mid-air, her fingers closing tightly into her palm. It was a petty use of his powers, but he didn't want her touching his son. He would not allow her the chance to hurt him too. He let her go and her hand dropped morosely to her side.

She took a breath, steeling herself before looking up, directly into the onyx eyes of her son, 'You cannot keep running forever, Ben. The ways of the force may be a mystery to someone untrained like me, but you knew it would never just leave you in peace. You're both too powerful for that. And now your son…' her eyes flicked back to her grandson's dark hair, his dark eyes, so like his father, 'It was not difficult to find you both, and if I could do it then so could others. I came here for your help. If you do not wish to help for my sake, I understand. But if you will not fight for me then do it for your son. Once they learn of him, they will come for him.'

Ben leaned forward, directly into the General's face. His own still painted with his fury and mistrust. She could feel it radiating from in waves, rippling out through the force. For a moment the darkness that surrounded her was almost suffocating.

'You need to leave… now', he hissed, before turning on his heel and storming back to the house. Trying to manipulate him using his son was exactly the kind of tactic he would expect from the legendary resistance General. She was NOT his mother, and she had no right to demand his help.

Leia turned instead to the young woman left behind, 'Rey, please. Speak to him'

'I can try, but you know he holds no love for the resistance.'

'You mean he holds no love for me.' She countered, her smile forced and pained, 'You must know how close the war is to your doorstep. This place is isolated, but you cannot have been completely closed off from the rest of the galaxy. I know you've been listening to the rumours, you wouldn't just shut yourself away; it would leave you too vulnerable. You aren't like that, either of you.'

'What can I say, scavenger instincts', Rey responded, smiling lightly, 'I know what's coming. But I also know that three years ago, Ben chose to leave it all behind, and I know how much re-joining this war could cost him. I can try to convince him to help you, but I will not make this choice for him.'

'Then would you consider re-joining the resistance?' Maybe if she had been asked that before, even just a year ago, her answer might have been different, but now the resistance, the war, was just a far-off memory for her.

'Not without him. I'm sorry, Leia, but I have others to think of now'

'I understand.' Leia's hand reached out once again to her grandson. With no one around this time to stay her hand, she began stroking through his thick, black hair where it curled slightly above his ear. His eyes were trained on her, mistrustful around this stranger yet feeling comforted that her presence in the force felt so similar to that of his father. He looked just like Ben, it was startling to see the resemblance. It made her heart twinge with regret. She had lost her own child, sending him away when she should have kept him close to her. Maybe he had been right, maybe she had done so to make things easier for Han… or maybe she had done so in the vain hope of protecting him... Or maybe her reasoning just no longer mattered. She had lost him and with him she had lost this family he had created for himself, before she could even have the chance to know them.

'You know, he looks just like Ben did at this age. He's wonderful, Rey, truly. He'll grow to be a strong one, I can tell.' Rey knew that the General was being kind, but she still felt a pang of fear at the thought of her strong son one day being forced into their war.

She could also feel the General's emotions in the air, mixing with her own; they were filled with pain, and longing, but more than anything else they were filled with hope. Rey had never known Leia to not feel like hope,

'His name's Anakin.' Leia's eyes widened at Rey's revelation. After so many years fighting and surviving it took a great deal to truly shock her, but hearing that name after so long certainly did. Rey smiled slightly as she remembered having almost the exact same reaction when Ben had originally suggested the name,

They were sitting in the cockpit of their small craft, the lights of hyperspace painting the edges of their cabin a pale blue. Rey tried to massage away a headache that had been forming at her temples; the constant running was beginning to stretch her nerves thin. 'How about Anakin?', he said quietly, distracted by the readings on the screen in front of him.

'Anakin? As in Darth Vader, Anakin?' Her eyes widened, and her eyebrows shot upwards towards her hairline. Had he really just suggested naming their child after a Sith Lord?

'He was considered a Republic hero before he turned, you know. I thought you might like that.' His sarcastic tone told her exactly what he thought of her belief in democracy and the ideals of the Republic.

'For someone so desperate to forget the past, Ben, you seem strangely determined to remember certain parts of it.'

She could admit now that that had been a cheap shot, but their earlier relationship had been turbulent even at the best of times. Their morals and ideals were so different and there had certainly been moments when she regretted reaching out to him, rather than leaving him behind in Snoke's ravaged throne room. But not anymore; her home, her family, her entire existence revolved around him and Anakin.

'An interesting choice. I hope it's a name he can live up to.'

'So do I' Rey could see the pain in Leia's eyes just as clearly as she had felt it. When they were on the resistance base she had been kind to her, even though her husband had just been killed and Rey knew that she was partly to blame. She also knew that it was Leia who had authorised Finn and Han to go to Starkiller to rescue her, despite the obvious risks the mission had entailed. She wouldn't be able to face herself if she let her leave here with nothing. She gripped the older woman's hand tightly in her own, 'I will try Leia.'

Leia nodded in return, 'Thank you, for helping him. I know… it couldn't have been easy to stay with him after everything that happened'

'It wasn't', Rey admitted, 'But I don't think we could have avoided this destiny, even if we'd wanted to'. Leia nodded solemnly, before throwing her arms around them both. It was not the sort of dignified action that Rey had come to expect from the older woman, but rather the actions of a woman who had spent too long alone and without her family.

'Take care of him for me, Rey', she whispered, 'He needs you.' She let go of Rey slowly, trying to make the embrace last as long as she could. She did not know when she would next get the chance to be with her family or if they would even be safe anymore. She had felt echoes through the force, something dark was coming towards them, and it scared Leia to know that they could all once again be directly in the line of fire.