Leia Organa sat in a chair and looked out of the window. She did not
like the hustle and bustle on Coruscant. Lost in thought, she stroked
her round belly. The child she was carrying was in turmoil. She smiled
as she felt it kicking. Her unborn son was a very lively boy.
She spoke to her unborn son, whom they would name Ben after Ben Kenobi, in a gentle voice.
“Hey, little one, don’t be so rough.” Leia stroked
her belly again to reassure Ben. “You have your father's
temper.”
She
smiled softly, remembering the first time she had met Han. It had not
been love at first sight on either side. But now they were married and
she was expecting their first child, a child who, according to her
brother, would be strong in the Force, strong like his uncle, his late
grandfather Anakin Skywalker and herself. But she had always refused to
train as a Jedi when her brother asked her to. Now her son would learn
the ways of the Force and be one of those who rebuilt the Jedi Order.
It seemed as if Ben did not like his mother’s thoughts, because he kicked again.
“Ouch, calm down, Ben. Act like a prince and not a nerf herder.”
Her
expression was suddenly shadowed with sadness as she thought of the
annihilation of Alderaan. Some still called her Princess Leia Organa,
but she was a princess without a planet to rule in the future. There was
no future, and her son would be the prince of a world that existed only
in memory.
She sighed, stood up and took a tiny holoprojector from a
shelf. Leia activated the device gently. It contained her most precious
possession, a hologram of her deceased adoptive parents. Even after
decades, it still hurt to see the smiles of those who had passed on
forever. They would never meet her grandson, never hold Ben in their
arms and never sing him lullabies. Ben was suddenly calm in her belly,
as if he knew that he should not disturb his mother’s grief.
Leia
deactivated the holoprojector and put it back on the shelf. She sat
down in the chair again. She knew full well that her brother was
projecting all his hopes for the Jedi Order into the child she was
carrying.
Leia was not sure if her son would be able to fulfill the great expectations, but it seemed that it would be his destiny to
complete what his uncle had started.
