Chapter 8

"Leia?" Rey cleared her throat as she approached the strategy meeting.

Leia looked over at her, bemused by the interruption. "What can I do for you, Rey?"

Rey glanced quickly at Poe, who shook his head slightly, then back at Leia. "There's a matter I need to discuss with you." Rey looked again at Poe who widened his eyes and subtly shook his head again. "It's important."

Leia looked between them, then back at Rey. "Alright." She turned to the rest of the team. "Would you please excuse me?"

As the rest of the team vacated the room, Leia gestured towards one of the chairs. "Please sit down."

Rey sat, putting her new saber on the table and trying her best not to fidget. Leia looked at her expectantly, as Rey took a deep breath.

"We have a plan for taking down the First Order and rescuing Ben." Leia raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth but Rey rushed on. "I know what you're going to say. That it's too dangerous. But I heard back from the Queen today and she's willing to help. The First Order continues to question her daily on our whereabouts so we can't just sit here. They aren't going to leave until they have us, so we might as well do something."

Leia regarded Rey for a moment before, much to Rey's surprise, she nodded. "Ok then. What's this plan involve?"

Rey blinked at her, nonplussed. "That's it?"

Leia shrugged. "You're right. The First Order isn't going to leave, so we might as well do something. I was just trying to hatch a plan with the rest of our leaders. So let's hear this plan of yours."

Rey sputtered in surprise. "But…you said you wouldn't risk the rest of us to save Ben."

Leia sighed. "And that's still true. I love my son, and I desperately want him back, but as much as I would like to, I am unwilling to trade his life for those of the entire resistance. It would be selfish, the cost too high, no matter my feelings. But you're right. We have to do something about the First Order."

Rey considered Leia a moment. "If we do this, if we get Ben back, what happens to him?"

Leia sighed heavily and then shrugged. "I don't know. I will do my best to ensure his safety, but it's out of my hands."

Rey shook her head. "How can it be out of your hands?"

Leia looked at Rey, amusement shining through the sadness. "I'm not empress of the galaxy, nor do I wish to be. If we defeat the First Order, then we will again try to rebuild a republic. I hope to be involved in that, but it would be up to them to decide what to do with Ben." She put a hand over Rey's. "I will do everything in my power to save him, but I can't guarantee his safety, as much as I want to. I've wanted nothing more than to shield my son from the darkness from the first moment I felt it warring for him. I did what I thought was best for my son and it ended in disaster. I can only do so much." She let go of Rey's hand and looked down. "I was so certain of the good left in him that I sent Han to his death."

Rey shook her head vigorously. "That wasn't your fault. Ben was blinded by Snoke. It doesn't excuse what he did, but he's freed himself from Snoke's grasp." She put her hand over Leia's. "I believe there is good in Ben Solo still. He just needs us to believe in him…He needs you to believe in him."

An idea sparked in Rey's mind and she squeezed Leia's hand. "Would you…would you like to see him again?"

Leia looked up sharply, hope and panic in her eyes. "Through your connection?"

Rey swallowed. "Yes…You should know, he's been injured. Hux has been torturing him. He…he blinded him, but he can see us – or at least me - through the bond."

Leia pressed her lips together and nodded, swallowing thickly. "I understand."

Rey gave her a long look, hoping this was a good idea, before she closed her eyes and searched for the thread that connected her to Kylo. She found it easily this time, immediately tugging on it. When she opened her eyes, Kylo was before her, still obviously chained. She heard both of them inhale sharply.

"Ben," Rey started, glancing at Leia, before looking back at him. "Can you see her?"

Kylo quickly glanced at Leia and then back at Rey, nodding as his adam's apple bobbed.

Rey looked over at Leia who sat frozen with her hand over her mouth, her eyes shining. Wanting to allow them a moment to themselves, Rey backed away and sat down at the far end of the room.

Kylo's heart was racing as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him. He glanced down, ashamed to be found chained and maimed.

"Hello…Leia," he rasped.

There was a moment of silence before she replied. "Mother."

Kylo looked up at her tone. "What?"

He watched her take a deep breath, removing the hand that had been covering her mouth and putting it over her heart. "Call me Mother," she clarified.

He regarded her a moment, bitterness seeping into his heart. "Are you though?" When she gave him a confused look he added, "My mother?"

Leia left her seat immediately and rushed over, kneeling before him. "Yes," she breathed. "I've never stopped being your mother. I…" she swallowed thickly. "I have hoped I might see you again for many years."

She started to reach out for him, but stopped when he widened his eyes in warning. He glanced away, swallowing thickly. "If that were true, you never would have sent me away."

Leia shook her head vigorously. "No. I didn't want to send you away. I thought you needed training. I thought that Luke…" she trailed off, closing her eyes. "I was wrong." She looked at Kylo again. "Your father and I were wrong. We never should have sent you away. We should have been there for you."

Kylo's breath rate increased as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him.

Leia, her eyes never leaving his, slowly reached out a hand to cup his cheek, her eyes filling with tears as she touched him. "My boy," she whispered. "What have they done to you?"

Kylo swallowed, attempting to keep a tight hold on his bitterness, to tamp down the hope he felt stirring. "I heard you." Leia frowned, shaking her head in confusion. "I heard you and Han talking about me when you thought I couldn't hear. I know you didn't want me, that you thought I was bad."

Leia shook her head. "No. We were worried about you. You had a power your father and I didn't know how to manage. That's why we sent you to Luke. So that he could help you, save you from the dark side." She looked at him a long moment, while he tried to digest this information. "Clearly it was a mistake."

Kylo wrenched his head away from her touch. "Was it? I'm the strongest force user in the galaxy."

Leia shook her head. "You would always have been that. But if we hadn't sent you away then Snoke wouldn't have had a chance to get his claws in you."

Kylo regarded her. "Snoke taught me about the true source of my power." He continued on when he saw her confusion. "Darth Vader is the grandfather you kept from me. Our family arose from the dark side. I was destined for this." He hissed the last at her.

Leia sighed shakily, a guilty expression on her face. "Darth Vader - Anakin Skywalker - was a Jedi before he succumbed to the dark side. Our family is strong in the force, but you were not destined for the dark side. You're not a Sith."

Kylo held his head up. "You're right. I'm more." Having had enough of his little family reunion, Kylo severed the bond, giving Rey a warning glance as he did so.

Rey rushed over to Leia, who had sunk to the floor after the connection was severed. Putting a hand on her shoulder she asked "Are you all right?"

Leia nodded, eyes closed. Swallowing, she opened her eyes and gave Rey a watery smile. "Honestly, it went better than I expected. Ben…" she sighed. "Ben was never an easy child. Always overly emotional and a terrible sleeper. I sensed the darkness warring for him before he was even born. Han…Han loved Ben and Ben worshipped his father, but eventually he was simply too much for us. We sent him away out of love, a hope that what had happened with Anakin Skywalker wouldn't happen with Ben. But in retrospect it was the worst decision we could have made. I wish I could go back, to make sure Ben knew how much his father and I loved him…" Leia trailed off.

Rey gave her a hopeful smile. "We're going to get him back. I promise."

Leia swallowed, nodding before seeming to put her feelings aside, resuming the General Organa façade. "So, tell me this plan of yours."

Rey took a deep breath. "It's almost surely suicide and if we fail, you'll lose your best fighters."

Leia smiled. "Those are always the best plans."

Rey returned her smile. "It begins with the Queen requesting an audience with Hux."

"If anyone has any doubts, now's the time to voice them." Poe looked around their small group. They each shook their head.

"We're with you, Poe," said Finn, Rose nodding by his side.

Poe held up his hands. "This one is all Rey's idea. So remember that if things go south, you can blame her." Poe winked at her.

Rey let out a shaky breath. "Ok. Is everyone confident what their role is?"

Rose put a hand on Rey's arm, giving her a reassuring smile. "We've got this."

Rey returned her smile and then turned to Poe. "Is Chewbacca in position?"

Poe nodded. "I saw the smoke rising right before we got here. He's in position with the Naboo infantry, ready to fight when the time comes." Poe let out a breath. "I can't believe you convinced the Queen to help us."

Rey swallowed. "I just wish we had more than just Naboo helping…"

Poe shook his head. "After all the months of doors in our faces, what you've done is amazing." He opened his mouth to say more, but then held up a hand. They all listened, hearing the sounds of an approaching ship. "Alright. It's now or never…"

They quickly got into position, each hiding behind a pillar as the First Order ship approached and landed outside the Palace walls. Rey inhaled slowly, trying to calm her racing heart. This was their last ditch effort to defeat the First Order and get Kylo back. If they failed, the Resistance was truly ended. Swallowing down thoughts of failure, she dared peek around her pillar, glad for the darkness that shielded her and her comrades from view. She watched as several stormtroopers exited the craft, Hux in the middle of them. Two sentries stood outside the ship. Rey was unsure how many more, if any, were stationed on the inside of the ship. She hoped there were at least 2 more or they would have to get creative.

They waited as Hux was greeted by the Queen and walked inside.

Then they waited until the palace around them became silent.

Then they waited some more.

Finally, after what had been at least twenty agonizing minutes, Rey looked at Poe and nodded. Poe signaled to Finn and Rose and the four of them crept around either side of the ship. They were careful to keep their footsteps light. The less noise they made, the higher their chances of success. Rey and Poe crept around one side while Finn and Rose crept around the other. When they got close to the exit, almost on top of the sentries, Poe pulled out a small blaster. Aiming carefully, Rey holding her breath, Poe shot a single round. Almost at the same time they heard another round. Both sentries dropped to the ground.

The four of them quickly grabbed the troopers and dragged them onto the ship. When they met with no resistance on board, Rey looked at Poe. He shook his head once. "Well, I guess now we get creative." He pointed to the troopers. "You guys get to stripping them of their armor. I'm going to have a look around this ship."

Rey, Finn, and Rose got to stripping the armor off the troopers. When Finn removed the helmet off the first one, he stared at it. "I never thought I'd have to wear this again."

Rose, grabbed his arm. "Hey. It's just for a little while." She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "And this time you'll be wearing it to save people. Not hurt them."

Finn swallowed and nodded, setting the helmet aside and continuing to remove the armor. Once they were done the three of them looked at each other. Rey nodded to the both of them. "You should wear it. I'll find somewhere to hide."

"What about Poe?" Finn asked.

"Way ahead of you," Poe said, sneaking up on them, wearing a flight captain's uniform. "Guess I can check off another First Order ship off my list of fantasy ships to fly."

Rey smiled at him and then nodded to Rose and Finn. "Ok, you two get dressed and get back out there before Hux returns. Poe and I will go stash these two somewhere."

They were too heavy for Rey to lift, so Poe threw one of the men over his shoulder while Rey scouted ahead for him. Peaking out the back exit she saw the coast was clear and waved Poe out. He quickly ran back towards the darkness, returning less than a minute later and repeating it all over again with the other trooper and the ship's pilot.

Just as he was returning, Finn and Rose, who looked a little conspicuously short, took their positions on either side of the exit. Poe ran up to the front and Rey began looking for a good place to hide. Before she found one, Finn hissed that Hux was returning. Rey's heart sped up as she frantically began pulling at any and everything that could be a door, drawer, or closet. Just as she began hearing the sound of boots on pavement she finally had some luck, opening what appeared to be a small utility closet. There was barely enough room for her to fit. Luckily she had experience fitting into small spaces. Closing the door behind her she waited, hardly daring to breathe once the sounds of boots entered the ship.

She heard the troopers take position as Hux barked out orders to return to their Star Destroyer. The ship shuddered as the engines started and Rey nearly fell into the door, losing her balance as the ship lifted off the ground.

"Did you hear that?"

Rey closed her eyes and held her breath as the stormtrooper addressed his comrade.

"No," came the reply. "What'd you hear?"

"It sounded like something falling in the utility closet."

Rey began feeling faint, praying they wouldn't open the door and discover her.

The second stormtrooper replied, "It was probably just something loose hitting the door on takeoff. I wouldn't worry about it."

There was a pause before the first trooper spoke again. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Rey's breath whooshed out of her, making her thankful for the rushing noise as they left the atmosphere. She was lightheaded now, but clung to one of the utility boxes, her knuckles white.

The ride to the star destroyer felt long as Rey kept her ears perked for signs that her comrades had been discovered. Her legs began cramping up, making the ride that much more difficult. But again Rey was no stranger to discomfort and willed her mind to concentrate on other things.

After what seemed like an eternity, she felt the ship slowing down, a clear sign they were nearly there. Only then did it occur to her that she had no idea how she was going to sneak off the ship in the middle of a busy hangar. One problem at a time, she thought to herself. First she needed to wait until they landed and the ship emptied.

When they landed Rey was ready, gripping the box so hard her hands ached. But at least this time she didn't bump into the wall. She waited as the telltale sounds of the ship being vacated filtered in to her.

"Will that be all, sir?" It sounded like Poe and Rey again held her breath. So far as she knew Hux had never seen Poe in person, but that didn't mean he wouldn't recognize his voice.

"Yes, that will be all." Hux sounded irritated and distracted.

Rey jumped when she heard a small rap of knuckles on her door as boots passed by. It must be Poe, signaling to her as he headed out to find Finn and Rose.

Rey continued to hold her breath as the ship emptied. She was trying to figure out a plan for getting off the ship when suddenly the door opened. Unexpected as it was, she fell forward, falling face first onto the deck of the ship. She scrambled to grab the light saber off her belt, but before she could she was hauled upright by her arms.

"Sir!" yelled one of the troopers. "We found someone hiding in the utility closet."

Rey squinted, her eyes adjusting to the brightness, as Hux walked over. When he realized who she was, he smirked. "Ah yes. This must be the real reason the Queen called me down for such a pointless meeting." He grabbed Rey's chin, forcing her to look at him. "You are no doubt here to rescue my favorite prisoner."

Rey glared at him, but didn't respond.

Hux let go of her and turned to the stormtroopers.

"Take her to a cell. My esteemed prisoner will no doubt be very interested to hear that the lady of his," Hux sneered, "affections has come to rescue him." He looked back at Rey, leering at her. "And failed." He grabbed her face again. "I should thank you for providing me just the thing to truly break him."

Letting go of her, Hux walked off the ship, yelling over his shoulder, "Take her away. And make sure you relieve her of that primitive weapon of hers. We can't have her getting any ideas of escape in her head." Hux turned around and addressed her again. "And rest assured that the people of Naboo will suffer sufficiently to make up for their very obvious betrayal of my trust."

Rey wrestled her arms, trying to free at least one to fight back, but the two trooper's grip on her was too firm and before she could stop them they had relieved her of her lightsaber.

"Let's go," the taller one said as they both dragged her off the ship.

A/N: As always, thanks so much for reading. I do apologize that my updates take so long. This spring has been...difficult. I'm really hoping this month to update more frequently, hopefully once a week. Fingers crossed! Please let me know what you think of the fic. All reviews appreciated. Thanks!