Rey was ready to give him an earful but those words all died when she saw him. He looked up and she understood he wanted her voice to be soft. She walked over to where he was sitting. He opened the blanket so she could see.
“Oh Ben, she’s beautiful.”
He smiled at her praise. “She is an adorable little usurper.”
“Usurper?”
“Alderaani rules of succession prefer girls over boys. Which is why my mother went to Alderaan and my uncle to Tatooine. Technically I am now a regent until she turns sixteen.”
Both sobered and he struggled to contain his composure. Rey leaned over and kissed the top of his head, “We are all going to miss her.”
“She loved me.” He sobbed, letting Rey pull his head into her chest, “Oh Rey, she loved me.”
Rey cradled his head in her hands, letting him cry. No longer the brand new fierce Supreme Leader of the First Order, but a boy who had just lost his mother.
*
It was stressful cementing his position, he kept Hanna secluded with no less than three knights with her. Only the medical officer who attended the birth was allowed to attend to her medical needs which were few, she was a healthy baby.
But the evenings were for them alone. He took responsibility for feeding her, changing her, letting her sleep in his arms while he ate dinner and worked on conquering the paperwork that followed the changeover.
He found himself singing songs, giving her a softer version of his day. Keeping the First Order together was turning out to be a nasty vicious task and Kylo wondered why there was very little Resistance interference. That worried him until he remembered they had not had their sharpest tactician for months now.
Rey sat beside Kylo as he gave Hanna a bottle. “You seem tense.” She said.
“I expect the Diaspora to make a demand for her custody. People in the know, know where I am.”
“It’s not like you put your face on the money.”
“See this nose? No.” He said, checking on the formula level while Rey chuckled as she leaned on his shoulder.
“You don’t want to give her up.”
He pulled the empty bottle away, laid Hanna on his unoccupied shoulder and gently began patting her back. “No, I don’t. I don’t know that I can give her the life she deserves. She needs a proper education, surrounded by people who don’t see he as an inconvenience or a potential pawn.”
“No one can understand her like you. You love her. It’s obvious.” She said when he opened his mouth to protest. She softened her stern words with a kiss on the cheek. “She needs her family, not a group of strangers, even those that care.”
Kylo looked at Rey. “I think you are a bit biased there, scavenger.”
She tugged playfully on his hair, “Perhaps.”
*
He was on his way out of the throne room for the day when Hux came toward him. “Leader Ren, there is a private vessel with a passenger requesting a personal audience with Princess Hanna. I’ve told them to standby.”
Very few people knew Hanna was onboard, and they were sworn to secrecy. Kylo frowned, he had sent out the bare minimum announcement after Hanna’s birth, but left no hint where the Regent Prince and the Princess were. “Let them land, and have their passenger informed that I will be with her shortly.”
If Hux wondered how Kylo knew the passenger was a she, he kept that curiosity to himself.
Kylo looked up as Kuruk escorted Winter into his private chamber. She sent a sideways glance at the knight and Kylo said, “I keep no secrets from them.”
Winter walked over and took the chair that Kylo slid over to her and sat in it. “I volunteered for this, because something told me that you would not see any of the others.”
“You are a woman of consummate wisdom.” He frowned when she held out a pad that he knew had documents on it. He had Hanna in one arm and a bottle in the other so he reached out with the force and tried to take the pad but Winter refused to let it go. “I am trying to take it.”
“Then do so.”
Kylo frowned, “I don’t have a free hand, she can’t hold her head or the bottle yet, why are you not letting go?” then he realized and stopped trying to grab it, then stopped to soothe Hanna who felt his disquiet. “Testing me? Because I won’t like the document?”
“You were always a bright boy, Ben.”
He only huffed as he repositioned Hanna. Finally using an actual hand to take the document from her. He read it with an increasing level of distress. “They demand? Vicrul!” A middle-aged woman dashed forward and took Hanna from him so he could turn and face Winter. “They demand.” He got up so he could pace the floor. He panted and clenched and unclenched his fists.
Winter watched and waited as he did this. “They fear for her life.”
He waved a hand at Vicrul and Kuruk, “She has some of the fiercest bodyguards.”
“They feel you are the threat. Look at you now…”
“Trying to calm down here. Handed her off the second I felt my temper flare up.” He said as he paced.
“We are trying to do what’s right for her.”
He paused and closed his eyes, reaching out, knowing his sister relied on him. He knew he could set up a secret channel and give orders from afar, guiding her from afar, but he would not be present every day. He had never felt calmer when retiring to his rooms to have Hanna coo a greeting at him, playfully grab at his nose and he knew if he let his hair grow that she would grab that too. He realized he loved her, and that his life would be empty without her.
“Rey of Jakku.”
Winter looked blank, “Pardon me?”
“I will release custody of her only to Rey of Jakku.”
“Your uncle…”
“No.”
“And your alternate choice?”
“Chewbacca of Kashyyyk. But I will know if someone tries to pass over Rey.”
Winter knew he was throwing out impossible choices on purpose. A beep alerted her and he picked up two dinner trays and placed them on the table. “Join me for dinner?”
The spent a pleasant meal, Winter getting to hold Hanna, who fussed and cried when Winter tried to put her down. Kylo had to step in and get her to settle.
Winter paused before letting Kuruk escort her back to the ship, “They may agree, they may not. I just want you to know, I am on your side. Please take care of her.”
“I will, I promised my mother.” They shared an embrace.
“When Master Luke gets mad he really gets mad.”
Kylo looked up as Rey appeared. “Was he huffing every other word? Or was he was actually shouting?” he patted the space on the bed next to him, “And why was he mad?”
Rey settled next to him, “When some document was drawn up he was named as a guardian of Hanna, without being consulted. He was apparently fine with me and Chewie being named as alternate guardians and the people who drew up the document seem to have a problem with me and Chewie. That’s about the time he did get a bit shouty.”
“They pissed off a Jedi Master, just think about it.”
*
Four years later…
Kylo entered his rooms, ditched his outer garments, secured his lightsaber. He walked through the rooms following the sound of singing, then paused and called out, “Where’s my little princess?”
“Ky!” Hanna jumped to her feet and ran to be scooped up by her brother to be swung around.
“Did you have a good day?”
“More fun than you did.”
“I have no doubt about that.”
The evening went the usual way, dinner, lessons, a bath, then a story at bedtime. He took his bath, settled in, snuggled with Rey for a while and was about to drift off when something warned him. He got up and quickly took out the man who had entered the outer room. He gave the order, “Disperse.”
Hanna yawned as Kylo woke her up, “Ky?”
“Up! Get dressed. We have to run, remember what we practiced?”
“Okay.”
He grabbed their bag, his lightsaber and the now dressed Hanna. “Remember, do exactly as I tell you.”
“Yes Ky.”
Rey waited as the ramshackle on purpose craft landed on the landing platform in the trees. She smiled and ran up to the man and child who disembarked, “Ben!”
“Rey.” He greeted, then leaned in and they kissed.
“Are we safe yet?” Hanna asked.
“We’re among friends,”
There was some controversy about him even knowing about the Republic base he had landed at, and he agreed to a debriefing. He spotted a group of children and paused to ack the docent if he could leave Hannah there. The docent readily agreed and He steered his sister to the perimeter.
”Hanna, these are Other Children. Play nicely and remember what you’ve been taught.”
“Of course we’ll stay with you.”
“She lives in a cave in the wall.”
“There’s a rope.” Rey said.
“You want to take a child across that?”
“She’s got quite a grip, it’s a short swing and we’ll be fine.”
They had dinner together and Rey felt a warmth in her center as she and Hanna chatted over dinner. Ben sat and made a few encouraging comments.
They had been there a few days waiting for Luke to join them.
Ben and Rey were coming back from a run when a man tackled Ben. They struggled over the knife then the man began choking.
Ben managed to throw the man off and rolled clear. “Let him go!”
Rey gave Hanna a firm shake and the girl slumped and the man collapsed.
“But he was hurting Ky!”
Luke reached out his hands and Hanna took them. “Did your brother teach you how to do that?”
Hanna shook her head. “He’s always said I was supposed to let him or the others protect me. But it was only my brother there and none of the others and the man had a knife! Ky said knifes were dangerous.”
“Is that all he said was dangerous?”
“Oh don’t ask it that way.” Ben muttered.
Hanna answered Luke ticking off items on her fingers, “Knifes, blasters, lightsabers, General Hux, other idiots, eating utensils, improperly chewed food, airlocks, deep space, orbital space, angry Wookies…”
Luke tried several times to stop the listing finally Ben said, firmly, “That’s enough Princess.”
“Okay,”
Ben caught Luke’s face, “What?”
Hanna’s favorite hobby was to move around the base asking people if they knew her mother and then asking to hear everything about her.
Ben entered the bedroom and smiled. Rey was in their bed, Hanna curled up alongside her. He tipped his head feeling the whisper of his mother’s presence. “I’m so proud of you for the way you have taken care of your sister. Letting yourself love Rey the way she deserves. Now, get off your ass and marry that woman.” Ben only shook his head, then daintily slid into the bed behind Rey.
Re: FILL - Re: gen. Leia's pregnant - pt 2
*
Rey was ready to give him an earful but those words all died when she saw him. He looked up and she understood he wanted her voice to be soft. She walked over to where he was sitting. He opened the blanket so she could see.
“Oh Ben, she’s beautiful.”
He smiled at her praise. “She is an adorable little usurper.”
“Usurper?”
“Alderaani rules of succession prefer girls over boys. Which is why my mother went to Alderaan and my uncle to Tatooine. Technically I am now a regent until she turns sixteen.”
Both sobered and he struggled to contain his composure. Rey leaned over and kissed the top of his head, “We are all going to miss her.”
“She loved me.” He sobbed, letting Rey pull his head into her chest, “Oh Rey, she loved me.”
Rey cradled his head in her hands, letting him cry. No longer the brand new fierce Supreme Leader of the First Order, but a boy who had just lost his mother.
*
It was stressful cementing his position, he kept Hanna secluded with no less than three knights with her. Only the medical officer who attended the birth was allowed to attend to her medical needs which were few, she was a healthy baby.
But the evenings were for them alone. He took responsibility for feeding her, changing her, letting her sleep in his arms while he ate dinner and worked on conquering the paperwork that followed the changeover.
He found himself singing songs, giving her a softer version of his day. Keeping the First Order together was turning out to be a nasty vicious task and Kylo wondered why there was very little Resistance interference. That worried him until he remembered they had not had their sharpest tactician for months now.
Rey sat beside Kylo as he gave Hanna a bottle. “You seem tense.” She said.
“I expect the Diaspora to make a demand for her custody. People in the know, know where I am.”
“It’s not like you put your face on the money.”
“See this nose? No.” He said, checking on the formula level while Rey chuckled as she leaned on his shoulder.
“You don’t want to give her up.”
He pulled the empty bottle away, laid Hanna on his unoccupied shoulder and gently began patting her back. “No, I don’t. I don’t know that I can give her the life she deserves. She needs a proper education, surrounded by people who don’t see he as an inconvenience or a potential pawn.”
“No one can understand her like you. You love her. It’s obvious.” She said when he opened his mouth to protest. She softened her stern words with a kiss on the cheek. “She needs her family, not a group of strangers, even those that care.”
Kylo looked at Rey. “I think you are a bit biased there, scavenger.”
She tugged playfully on his hair, “Perhaps.”
*
He was on his way out of the throne room for the day when Hux came toward him. “Leader Ren, there is a private vessel with a passenger requesting a personal audience with Princess Hanna. I’ve told them to standby.”
Very few people knew Hanna was onboard, and they were sworn to secrecy. Kylo frowned, he had sent out the bare minimum announcement after Hanna’s birth, but left no hint where the Regent Prince and the Princess were. “Let them land, and have their passenger informed that I will be with her shortly.”
If Hux wondered how Kylo knew the passenger was a she, he kept that curiosity to himself.
Kylo looked up as Kuruk escorted Winter into his private chamber. She sent a sideways glance at the knight and Kylo said, “I keep no secrets from them.”
Winter walked over and took the chair that Kylo slid over to her and sat in it. “I volunteered for this, because something told me that you would not see any of the others.”
“You are a woman of consummate wisdom.” He frowned when she held out a pad that he knew had documents on it. He had Hanna in one arm and a bottle in the other so he reached out with the force and tried to take the pad but Winter refused to let it go. “I am trying to take it.”
“Then do so.”
Kylo frowned, “I don’t have a free hand, she can’t hold her head or the bottle yet, why are you not letting go?” then he realized and stopped trying to grab it, then stopped to soothe Hanna who felt his disquiet. “Testing me? Because I won’t like the document?”
“You were always a bright boy, Ben.”
He only huffed as he repositioned Hanna. Finally using an actual hand to take the document from her. He read it with an increasing level of distress. “They demand? Vicrul!” A middle-aged woman dashed forward and took Hanna from him so he could turn and face Winter. “They demand.” He got up so he could pace the floor. He panted and clenched and unclenched his fists.
Winter watched and waited as he did this. “They fear for her life.”
He waved a hand at Vicrul and Kuruk, “She has some of the fiercest bodyguards.”
“They feel you are the threat. Look at you now…”
“Trying to calm down here. Handed her off the second I felt my temper flare up.” He said as he paced.
“We are trying to do what’s right for her.”
He paused and closed his eyes, reaching out, knowing his sister relied on him. He knew he could set up a secret channel and give orders from afar, guiding her from afar, but he would not be present every day. He had never felt calmer when retiring to his rooms to have Hanna coo a greeting at him, playfully grab at his nose and he knew if he let his hair grow that she would grab that too. He realized he loved her, and that his life would be empty without her.
“Rey of Jakku.”
Winter looked blank, “Pardon me?”
“I will release custody of her only to Rey of Jakku.”
“Your uncle…”
“No.”
“And your alternate choice?”
“Chewbacca of Kashyyyk. But I will know if someone tries to pass over Rey.”
Winter knew he was throwing out impossible choices on purpose. A beep alerted her and he picked up two dinner trays and placed them on the table. “Join me for dinner?”
The spent a pleasant meal, Winter getting to hold Hanna, who fussed and cried when Winter tried to put her down. Kylo had to step in and get her to settle.
Winter paused before letting Kuruk escort her back to the ship, “They may agree, they may not. I just want you to know, I am on your side. Please take care of her.”
“I will, I promised my mother.” They shared an embrace.
“When Master Luke gets mad he really gets mad.”
Kylo looked up as Rey appeared. “Was he huffing every other word? Or was he was actually shouting?” he patted the space on the bed next to him, “And why was he mad?”
Rey settled next to him, “When some document was drawn up he was named as a guardian of Hanna, without being consulted. He was apparently fine with me and Chewie being named as alternate guardians and the people who drew up the document seem to have a problem with me and Chewie. That’s about the time he did get a bit shouty.”
“They pissed off a Jedi Master, just think about it.”
*
Four years later…
Kylo entered his rooms, ditched his outer garments, secured his lightsaber. He walked through the rooms following the sound of singing, then paused and called out, “Where’s my little princess?”
“Ky!” Hanna jumped to her feet and ran to be scooped up by her brother to be swung around.
“Did you have a good day?”
“More fun than you did.”
“I have no doubt about that.”
The evening went the usual way, dinner, lessons, a bath, then a story at bedtime. He took his bath, settled in, snuggled with Rey for a while and was about to drift off when something warned him. He got up and quickly took out the man who had entered the outer room. He gave the order, “Disperse.”
Hanna yawned as Kylo woke her up, “Ky?”
“Up! Get dressed. We have to run, remember what we practiced?”
“Okay.”
He grabbed their bag, his lightsaber and the now dressed Hanna. “Remember, do exactly as I tell you.”
“Yes Ky.”
Rey waited as the ramshackle on purpose craft landed on the landing platform in the trees. She smiled and ran up to the man and child who disembarked, “Ben!”
“Rey.” He greeted, then leaned in and they kissed.
“Are we safe yet?” Hanna asked.
“We’re among friends,”
There was some controversy about him even knowing about the Republic base he had landed at, and he agreed to a debriefing. He spotted a group of children and paused to ack the docent if he could leave Hannah there. The docent readily agreed and He steered his sister to the perimeter.
”Hanna, these are Other Children. Play nicely and remember what you’ve been taught.”
“Of course we’ll stay with you.”
“She lives in a cave in the wall.”
“There’s a rope.” Rey said.
“You want to take a child across that?”
“She’s got quite a grip, it’s a short swing and we’ll be fine.”
They had dinner together and Rey felt a warmth in her center as she and Hanna chatted over dinner. Ben sat and made a few encouraging comments.
They had been there a few days waiting for Luke to join them.
Ben and Rey were coming back from a run when a man tackled Ben. They struggled over the knife then the man began choking.
Ben managed to throw the man off and rolled clear. “Let him go!”
Rey gave Hanna a firm shake and the girl slumped and the man collapsed.
“But he was hurting Ky!”
Luke reached out his hands and Hanna took them. “Did your brother teach you how to do that?”
Hanna shook her head. “He’s always said I was supposed to let him or the others protect me. But it was only my brother there and none of the others and the man had a knife! Ky said knifes were dangerous.”
“Is that all he said was dangerous?”
“Oh don’t ask it that way.” Ben muttered.
Hanna answered Luke ticking off items on her fingers, “Knifes, blasters, lightsabers, General Hux, other idiots, eating utensils, improperly chewed food, airlocks, deep space, orbital space, angry Wookies…”
Luke tried several times to stop the listing finally Ben said, firmly, “That’s enough Princess.”
“Okay,”
Ben caught Luke’s face, “What?”
Hanna’s favorite hobby was to move around the base asking people if they knew her mother and then asking to hear everything about her.
Ben entered the bedroom and smiled. Rey was in their bed, Hanna curled up alongside her. He tipped his head feeling the whisper of his mother’s presence. “I’m so proud of you for the way you have taken care of your sister. Letting yourself love Rey the way she deserves. Now, get off your ass and marry that woman.” Ben only shook his head, then daintily slid into the bed behind Rey.