Chapter 7: Love Makes a Family

The moon was high in the sky, and the only sounds that could be heard was the chirping of the Porgs and the lowing of the Thala-Sirens. Three-year-old Kira Rey Solo was nestled under the sheets of her trundle bed. Her father had built it himself, after she had grown too big to fit in the bassinet that once rocked her to sleep. Kira could hear the even breathing of her father now, as he slumbered and dreamed in the big bed just above her. After one particularly pronounced breath, Kira heard him murmur:

"Rey..." Kira knew that her Daddy dreamed of her mother a lot. The mother for whom she and her father left flowers, at her gravesite on the tallest hill of the island. The mother for whom she was partially named. The mother she had never known. Only recently had her father told her that her mother, a beautiful Jedi, had passed away just after Kira was born. He had not given any details beyond that; it was the one story her father could not bring himself to tell. And from the pain it still seemed to cause him, Kira knew better than to ask. But perhaps, once she was older, he would explain it all to her.

That was a common refrain in her still-young life. She observed and helped her father in his work, rebuilding the Grey Jedi Academy, finding and training young Padawans. But even the smallest students were all older than her by a good few years at least. Ben had always promised to teach her in the ways of the Force, the Force that flowed through her veins, but when she was old enough.

"Soon, my greatest treasure, my most wonderful gift," he would tell her. "Very soon."

Kira was no Grey Jedi, and the Force was still new to her. But she could sense that her father dreamed of her mother, and that it brought him sadness and pining. Gently, she clambered into the big bed beside him and nestled against the rise and fall of his chest, hearing his heartbeat.

"Kira... Kira..."

At first, Kira thought that she had inserted her presence into her father's dreams through the Force, and that it was he who spoke her name. But, no, the voice was older. She raised her head slightly, peering into the darkness of the little hut she and her father shared.

"Here I am," she said in a tiny voice.

"Kira... Kira..." And with the voice, an ethereal blue light suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere, casting a dim, warm glow in the hut. Ben stirred against his little girl, but did not wake.

Kira peered at the strange intruder before her. He had a scruffy beard, like the jolly space elf she used to hear of in stories around Yuletide. But unlike that legend, this one was donned in what looked like Jedi robes. Jedi robes like the ones that her Daddy wore in his work, and that hung in his closet. The spirit's face was wrinkly and yet kind, as he beamed a warm smile down at her.

"Peace, young one. I only wish you greetings."

Kira slipped quietly from the big bed and toddled over to the spirit. A Force Ghost. She had heard her father once tell about them to his Padawans. But she never thought one would visit her. "Who are you?"

The spirit smiled. "Someone who shares your blood, great-niece. I am Luke Skywalker. Your father is my nephew. And I knew your mother."

Kira's eyes shone in wonderment. "You knew my mother?"

"Yes, Kira. You have her eyes. And your presence in the Force is much like hers: warm and good and pure. Let not your heart be heavy. She is with the Force, and the Force is all around us. She is here, with you, though you might not see her. And I know for a fact your mother loves you. She loves you very much."

Kira stared. Luke Skywalker... the legend... the Jedi Master who all her Daddy's students talked about with baited breath and wide gazes... was her... father's uncle?

Luke smiled, reading her thoughts. "And your great-uncle, child. You come from a great bloodline and a prized family. Royalty within the Force. Both the Light and Dark Side are with you in perfect balance. Your parents embodied the balance of the Force, and your conception has been the final realization of the galaxy's grand designs. You, the Balance of the Force Made Flesh. Our family's legacy, our history, spans both the Light and the Dark, Sith and the Jedi. And now, we will introduce the Grey Jedi, an avatar of the Living, Unifying Force forevermore. You might feel eager to embrace this mantle now, but patience, my descendant. In time, you shall. And you will succeed where your ancestors failed - Vader and others. In time, you shall take your rightful place within the Force."

Kira's eyes filled with tears. "Master Skywalker... all I want is to make my parents proud. My family proud."

Luke nodded his head in understanding. "I know you do, little one. And you do. I am already proud of you. And so is your mother. Our family is proud of you. They are all around you in the Netherworld of the Force... and also around you here in the galaxy, across the stars." The Jedi Master's gaze fell on his nephew, asleep in the bed. "Take care of your father, young Kira. Your presence, your very existence, means more to him than you can possibly imagine. You are each other's saving grace. Stay together and love each other. It will only help the Force to maintain the Balance it has sought for so long. And now I must go and join our brethren. But remember: I shall be with you. Always..."

And Luke's blue form faded away. But one residual of his visit remained on the wind, echoing as Kira snuggled up back into her bed next to her father:

Always...

And as Kira nestled back into his side on the big bed, Ben Solo dreamed...

He was leaning against the entrance of their little stone hut, watching his wife and the love of his life rock their little girl to sleep. Nestled against her breast, the baby squealed and swatted a chubby little hand at her mother.

"Kira!" Rey trilled out a laugh. "Calm yourself..." And Ben could sense her sending soothing thoughts into the infant's head through the Force. "It's time to go to sleep..." Rey nestled Kira into the bassinet at the foot of their bed. The Jedi Master then placed a sweet kiss on Kira's forehead. "Sweet dreams, my angel," she cooed.

Rey's nightgown swished around her ankles as she sashayed over to the king-sized bed and pulled back the coverlet, clambering in. Ben slowly followed suit, sliding in the other side. Her back to him, Rey sensed the mattress sink as her husband joined her.

"Good night," she sighed happily. But Ben was not ready to go to sleep. Not by a long shot. Leaning over her, he waited until she turned her face up to acknowledge him, and he planted a chaste kiss on her lips. "Hmm," Rey purred in delight, her kissed lips curving up into a smile. Ben could feel through the Force that she was pleased, and was open to another.

The couple kissed again, just as sweetly, but with a little more passion. Ben now pulled Rey closer and deepened a third kiss, rolling himself over so that Rey was fully on her back and he was straddling her. Ben's hands cupped his wife's breasts, kneading and squeezing the tender flesh as his lips mouthed down her neck. Rey squirmed underneath Ben with joy, but when he sent a love bite into her neck and thrusted his rapidly-swelling erection against her pelvis, she gasped.

"The... the baby..."

"She sleeps through anything, just like her mother," Ben snarled, his eyes black with lust. "I want to make love to the sexiest woman in the galaxy... Rey..."

"Ben..." Rey moaned, snapping her hips up to meet his. Tenderly kissing, Rey allowed Ben to undress her of her nightgown, even as she went to work on divesting him of his sleep pants. Husband and wife began to make sweet love...

The scene shifted. Kira was now shrieking with delight and bouncing in a high chair, as Rey tried in vain to feed her.

"Eat up, my little princess! Yum, yum!" Kira just twisted her mouth away from the spoon and laughed harder. Rey frowned, puzzled by her daughter's reticent eating habits. Ben now passed by, pressing a kiss to his wife's forehead.

"She inherited your appetite, my love. Doesn't need much for energy. Don't feel bad."

Rey swatted at him with a smirk, before apologetically pulling Ben's face down to hers for a long, sensuous kiss.

The scene shifted once more. This time, the Solo family was on the grassy hills on Ahch-To, on a sunny, beautiful spring day. Ben was grasping Kira's arms so that she could stand up on her wobbly, toddler legs. A few feet away, in a light and airy sundress, Rey gave Kira a beaming smile of encouragement and held out her arms wide to the little girl.

"Come on, sweetie! Come to Mama!"

Ben tentatively let go of Kira as she began to take unsteady steps towards her mother. One strong step, then a second... a third... a teetering fourth, and then a bobbling, lunging fifth as she tumbled into Rey's embrace. Rey picked Kira up with a squeal and cuddled the child close.

"You did it, baby! Mama is so proud of you!"

Ben laughed as he enveloped his girls in a bigger hug, beaming down with pride at his family.

When Ben stirred awake, he was relieved to find his bed full with Kira under the crook of his arm. But all the same, he was crestfallen that Rey was not snuggled up with them, and never would be.

It was a peaceful night on the island planet of Ahch-To. The winds were unusually gentle this evening, and no rainy squalls were to be had, as Ben Solo ate a meager dinner with his five-year-old daughter, Kira Rey Solo. The older Padawans were already in bed in the other huts ringing the Academy, obeying a strict curfew, especially during the winter months.

"You almost finished, baby?" Ben asked his daughter.

"Yes, Daddy," she chirped.

"Good girl." Ben reached across the table to brush a strand of her long chestnut-brown hair from her face. His paw of a hand lingered against her cheek, as he beamed at her with deep love. The sheer power of his affection for this little perfect creature was almost overwhelming, a wave that hit him all at once, almost as if he was discovering it for the first time. He turned his face away, his eyes welling up with tears that he did not want his daughter to see, his throat clogging up with a sob that he fought to tamper down. It was hard to believe that he had once wished for a son, as he thought back to that moment when Rey had first told him she was pregnant, that she was carrying his baby. The memory of their arguing over preferences for their child's gender made him smile sadly now, even as he felt a pang of regret at his own stance. How foolish he had been! Now, he could not imagine not parenting this little girl, not having Kira in his life. Thank the Maker your mama gave you to me, left you here with me... he thought. Losing Rey had left him very vulnerable to being sucked back into the Dark Side's web, and without Kira... Ben felt he would have definitely toppled over its edge, with no hope of returning this time. If he could not have his precious Rey, he at least had a piece of her to remember her by. A piece of them... each of them. Though in his opinion, Kira resembled her mother much more than she did him, and this notion made him swellingly proud, almost smug.

All at once, there was a knock on the hut's wooden door. Ben frowned. "Now, who could that be?... If it's Temiri with a false alarm guard report again..." Temiri, one of the younger Padawans, often took guard duty on the evening shift, meditating and keeping a look-out for unwelcome aircraft, up on the high ridge where, Ben had learned, his wife had sliced a rock in half with Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber.

But instead, Ben opened the door to find a group of two men, one woman and a Wookie on his doorstep. Upon seeing him, they raised bottles of champagne and other consumable contraband with a cheer. "Hey!"

Poe Dameron's face fell once he saw the blank, surprised one Ben sent back at him. "You forgot," he guessed. It was a statement, not a question.

And indeed he had. Tonight was Ben's 35th birthday. Poe had sent him a hologram offering to throw the young Solo a party weeks ago. Between caring for his daughter and teaching his Padawans, the Grey Jedi Master had let thought of the celebration fall completely out of his head. Giving his friends a soft smile, Ben jerked his head back towards the hut. "Come on in," he murmured quietly.

Kira was happy to see her Uncles Poe, Finn and Chewie, and her Auntie Rose. The little girl happily waved a carrot around. "Daddy is having me eat all my vegetables!" she reported to her relatives. Then she held the carrot stick out to Rose. "Try this one, Auntie," she offered. "It's yummy!"

The group stayed up, talking and laughing about old times. Many of these stories - which came with sad sighs and wistful smiles - revolved around Rey, which Kira eagerly sat through, wanting to hear every little detail about her mother. At last, the little girl yawned.

"Bedtime, young lady," Ben ordered. Kira got up and circled the table, kissing each of her family members.

"Goodnight, Uncle Finn."

"Goodnight, mini-Rey."

"Goodnight, Uncle Poe."

"Goodnight, my darling."

"Goodnight, Uncle Chewie."

"RAWWR!"

"Goodnight, Auntie Rose."

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight, Daddy."

"Goodnight, baby."

And Kira scampered off to bed. Ben watched her go with a tender smile. "Her mother could be docile when she wanted to be too, Maker rest her soul."

The adults stayed up and continued to chat and celebrate. Outside the warm glows of the hut, none of them were aware that someone was watching them. A spirit, a Force Ghost, looking down on them proudly.

"I love my little family," Rey sighed happily, content to know that they all were safe, and that Kira was being raised by people who loved her, who loved her just as much as Rey did.

"Yeah, you sure built up a motley crew for yourself, sweetheart."

Rey turned back to see the spirit of Han Solo watching the scene with her. He still maintained his classic persona that had made him a legend in his own right when he was alive: gruff, but lovably so. And despite his insistence, once upon a time, that the Jedi and the Force were nothing more than a hokey religion, his son's, wife's and brother-in-law's connections to the energy field had gradually made him rethink his views. Rey recalled his words to her on the Falcon, the first time they met: Crazy thing is, it's true. All of it. The Force. The Dark Side. The Jedi. They're real. Yes, even Han Solo had been made to concede that there indeed existed a higher power. So much so, that when Luke had once offered to help his old friend become one with the Force, Han had actually jumped at the chance. A wise decision, on his part, as he could still remain with his family, even after death. It was a rarity, for non-Force-sensitive beings to attain immortality, resurrection, in the world beyond, but Han had spent a lifetime proving himself worthy - warts and all. Marrying into a prominent Jedi family had only helped. Upon becoming one with the Force, Rey had been overjoyed to see the Falcon's greatest pilot. Reuniting with him, she confessed that she had carried Ben Solo's baby and brought forth for Han a grandchild. And also voiced her belief that she felt herself as good as a Solo, as good as family, in her eyes. At least, if Han and Leia would have her. She needn't have doubted that they would.

The old smuggler now gave a smirk and a jerk of his head. "Come, my daughter. Leia is waiting for us."

And together, father-in-law and daughter-in-law went back into the Netherworld of the Force to join the rest of the Skywalker-Solo family.