Cold Embrace - A Star Wars Fan Fiction

Motherhood

The sun had set over the peaceful, beautiful world of Chandrila. The sprawling, bustling capital of the New Republic, where mere hours earlier there had been ships coming and going, businessmen rushing to and fro, and speeders whizzing by every window, was now at rest. The city slept, its population recovering from the day's hardships, and waiting for what tomorrow would bring. The city slept, but not Princess Leia.

She sat at her desk, tablet in hand, exhausted. She knew it wasn't healthy to be working into early hours, but these reports for Mon Mothma weren't going to write themselves. Building a republic was busy work, she knew that, and even royalty like herself had to do their bit to ensure things ran smoothly. As she buried her head in her desk, she suddenly heard a noise coming from down the hallway. She let out a slight sigh, before rising up and heading towards its source. She already knew what it was, and it wasn't her husband snoring.

This was what separated her from the rest of the New Republic elite. Sure, they were on an equal footing in terms of status, they all had their own positions to uphold, but she was the only one with a baby to deal with.

Now, any sane mother knows the difficulties of raising a child, from the moment they enter your life they become your whole world, and occupy your every moment, but try having all that to deal with, and the responsibility of building up a galaxy-wide democracy from scratch! Things were tough for her at the moment, and her husband wasn't making things any easier.

She made her way down the hall to a small metal door. In the current technological age, it was one of the few doors on the planet to have a physical handle that one could turn to open, but she liked it like that, it made things a little more cosy, more intimate, it also helped with subtlety. She tentatively opened it just over an inch, just enough to see through, without disturbing anyone. She peered through the crack in the door, and her heart was put at ease. There, lying fast asleep in his crib, was her beautiful baby, Ben Solo. She opened the door a little further, and tiptoed in. Much to her surprise, everything was as it should be. He was away in dreamland, and all was peaceful and quiet. She ran her hand over his tiny tummy, and kissed his smooth forehead.

Seeing that everything was fine, she crept out of the room, and gently closed the door behind her. She then went and peered into the other room on the opposite side of the hall. Her husband was snoring like a hutt. How anyone could hope to get a wink of sleep through that was anyone's guess. She shut the door, and went back to her work.

She sat back at her desk, and tried to carry on with her work, but as she did, she suddenly felt a strange feeling wash over her, one that she couldn't quite place. She had come to accept by now that she shared the gifts of her brother, and though she had yet to learn to use them, she could often feel a strange power growing within her, guiding her mind. The Force was telling her something, was it good or bad? She couldn't say, but one thing was certain, something was coming. She closed her eyes, and thought about what Luke had told her, 'clear your mind,' 'reach out with your feelings.' She tried to listen to the Force, understand what it was saying. As her mind was chasing a dream world, Morpheus finally took her, and she fell into the cool, soothing pool of sleep.

It was a sleep she would need, for her instincts were correct. Something was coming, it was only a matter of time.