… and for a moment, Kylo Ren’s universe stopped.
Her eyes sought his in those last moments, the fire behind them fading fast. Kylo swore he would never again watch as someone he loved died and this turned out to be just one more in a litany of promises he could not keep. Catching her before she could fall, he cradled her gently as he lowered them both to the floor.
“Mom? Oh Force! Mom, I didn’t mean for this to happen. I-I told them not to harm you and-“ Torn between the bitter smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and the horror of the smoking blaster wound in the center of her chest, his vision blurred with unshed tears.
“Ben?” She whispered. He swallowed the knot of two decades of guilt forming in the back of his throat, managing only a trembling nod in response. “I always knew I would see you again before the end, I just didn’t think you would take it so literally.”
Marveling at how the biting wit he remembered from childhood didn’t desert her, even now, the regret that bound tightly around his soul spilled out in incoherent apologies. “I am so sorry about-about Dad and Luke and-“
“I forgive you. I forgive you for everything. It was my fault sending you away to Luke and telling your father to bring you back. I forgave you a long time ago and one day I hope you can forgive me too.” Kylo rushed to interject, but Leia’s faint voice pressed on. “But we can talk about that later. Right now, I am just so… tired,” she mumbled, her eyes half-lidded as she fought for consciousness. “Stay with me until I fall asleep?”
“Of course, Mom. Of course.” Unbidden, a melody rose to his lips from a time when the woman in his arms was the one who cradled him. “Mirrorbright, shines the moon, its glow as soft as an ember,” Kylo’s voice stumbling and cracking over the words. Her eyes fluttered closed, ragged breathing becoming shallow and irregular. An incoherent jumble of memories flashed through his mind and stung at the corners of his eyes.
“When the moon is mirrorbright, take this time to remember.” He was ten years old, clinging to his mother’s waist as the engines of his uncle Luke’s transport screamed to life.
“Those you have loved but are gone-“ A calloused hand cupped his jaw as a shocked but familiar face glowed red from the saber in his hands.
“Those who kept you so safe and warm,” The Wookie’s roars mixed with the boy’s own laughter at being thrown up into the air and caught again. The giant’s warm fur tickled his arms, only adding to the hilarity.
“The mirrorbright moon lets you see,” His thumb froze over the trigger of the Tie Silencer’s weapons array. He could feel her presence on the bridge burning like a beacon in the force.
“Those who have ceased to be,” The Jedi’s rare smile shined over his nephew as the boy levitates the pebbles strewn around him, lost in meditation.
“Mirrorbright shines the moon, as fires die to their embers,” A child’s pleading scream echoed through the smoldering remains of the Jedi temple, forcing the young man to remind himself yet again that it was a small sacrifice to insure the fate of the galaxy.
“Those you loved are with you still—” A small hand reached to meet his own, the guttering firelight rendering their surroundings into a deep bas relief.
“The moon will help you remember.” The warm, familiar presence in the force flickered out and her heaving, injured chest stilled. Tears silently ran down the scar bisecting his cheek.
