AN: Last chapter! Thanks to everyone who read and favorited this story!

"The Pull to the Dark"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 21

Ben helped the droids clean the baby, cut her umbilical, and give her an examination. Though she was a month early, she seemed to be healthy and have no abnormalities. Once they were finished, Ben wrapped her up in a periwinkle blanket and handed her to Ara.

"Here she is, our Hanna," murmured Ben.

Ara sucked in her breath as she took the baby into her arms. "Hey there, Hanna-nanna, I'm your mommy." A tear streamed down her cheek. "You're so beautiful, so beautiful . . ."

Ben reached over and rubbed his daughter's pudgy little cheek, touching her as a father, not a doctor. "Hi Hanna, I'm your daddy." His own eyes filled with tears, blurring his sight and meaning he had to wipe his eyes before he could get a good look at his daughter. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

The baby blinked up at him, giving him fleeting glances at her light blue eyes. He ran his finger through the damp little tuft of dark hair that he had seen so many times in his dreams, but unlike in his dreams, this time he didn't feel anything out to get her.

"She looks like her mommy," Ben murmured.

"Oh? I think she looks like her daddy," said Ara. She leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Ben . . . she said Snoke was still alive in the physical world . . . does that mean he could still try to get her? Or other children we might have?"

Ben swallowed. During Ara's labor, he had intentionally refrained from bringing Snoke up and hoped that no one else would, but now that the labor was over, he didn't have the excuse of not wanting to increase her stress. "I don't know," he admitted.

Hanna gave a tiny squeal, maybe because she didn't want to hear about Snoke or maybe because she was just hungry. Ara chose to interpret that as her being hungry and discreetly pulled down the strap of her hospital gown so Hanna could drink. "Come on Hanna-nanna, time for some yummy milk."

At first Hanna just looked at her mother's nipple as if unsure what it was for, but then as Ara nudged it gently towards her mouth, she figured out what to do and started drinking.

"Look how her cheeks puff up," Ara cooed. "Isn't she cute?"

Ben couldn't stop himself from smiling at his daughter's little cheeks puffing in and out as she drank. "I think it will take me a while to get used to how cute she is."

They watched their daughter nurse for a few minutes, not speaking, content to just admire their daughter, but even watching Hanna nurse couldn't completely banish Snoke from their minds.

"If she could kill him in her mind once, maybe she could do it again if he were to try again," Ara said.

"I hope," said Ben, once again stroking his daughter's hair. "And if he does try again, he'll have to get through all of us."

"That should terrify him," said Ara.

. . .

Ara didn't want her extended family watching her give birth, and they respected her wishes of course, but damn, it was stressful. Han would say this was the most stressed-out he'd been since Ben was born, but they'd driven Snoke away not once but twice, so this couldn't really be put in the same category. Still, sitting in the Temple's entrance hall and waiting for news wasn't Han's idea of fun, especially when just hours ago, he had woken up from a shared dream in which they had to fight an evil psycho out to take over the galaxy.

Was it over now?

He swallowed, gripping Leia's hand with his good hand, which she squeezed back, giving him a reassuring look. She had promised that the senate would make finding Snoke and defeating the First Order their top priority, but would the senate listen? He glanced at his broken wrist – maybe he should present that as evidence.

"You may come in now."

The medical droid interrupted his thoughts. Immediately he flew to his feet, ignoring the cracks in his joints, though everyone else rushed to their feet as well. "Is the baby here?" he exclaimed. "Is everyone okay?"

"Both the baby and her parents are in good health," said the droid. "You may go see them now, after you sanitize your hands, of course."

Leia grinned at her husband, again squeezing his uninjured hand. "Come on, let's go meet our granddaughter properly."

. . .

Han gulped as he and the others entered the medical ward. Ara was sitting up in bed, talking to her parents on the comm – with a bundle in her arms. He wondered if maybe he shouldn't be looking at the bundle yet when Ara was still talking to her parents, so instead, he wrapped his good arm around his son.

"Well, I see you survived," Han said, patting Ben's shoulder. "How does it feel to be a dad?"

"Honestly, I'm still processing it," said Ben.

"Yeah, I remember that," said Han. "After all those months of preparation, you can't believe your baby's actually here and even though you had all those months, you feel like you didn't prepare enough." He patted Ben's shoulder again. "But hey, I'm here to give you Daddy advice whenever you need it."

"Thanks."

"Yes Mom, we'll definitely be visiting you soon," Ara was saying. "Anyway, I'm gonna have to let you go – I think Hanna's other grandparents want to meet her too."

Ben grinned at Han as Ara and her parents said goodbye. "Well, it's time."

Han, Ben, Leia, Luke, Rey, and Chewie all gathered around the bed, gazing down at the tiny bundle. "Everyone, meet Hanna," Ara said, gently peeling a corner of the blanket away from the baby's face. "Hanna, this is your family."

A chorus of "awwww" went through the family. Han felt his heart lifting at the sight of those little eyes that seemed to be astonished at what she was seeing. His eyes started welling up, briefly flashing him back to the day Ben was born, when he'd held his little son for the first time and his mind was in a whirl at the very idea that the baby was here, that he could see his son after so many months of imagining him, that he really was a father.

"She's beautiful," Rey murmured, reaching down and touching the baby's little head. "Hello Hanna, I'm your cousin Rey. Maybe I'll teach you about the Force someday."

"If she wants to be trained as a Jedi," said Luke.

"I didn't say train her as a Jedi, I said teach her about the Force," said Rey.

"Yes," said Ben, "there's a difference."

Ara held up her hand. "Okay, okay, there will be plenty of time to discuss the Force later. For now, who wants to hold her first?"

Ben glanced over at Han. "Well, I would say that her namesake should hold her first, but . . ."

Han knew what his son was getting at. "But it might be difficult for her namesake to hold her right now," he said, holding up his broken wrist. "Well, small price to pay to save her soul, so why doesn't her grandma hold her?"

"Yes," said Leia, "why doesn't her grandma hold her?"

Ben gently lifted his daughter out of Ara's arms and placed her in Leia's. The grandmother just smiled down at her new granddaughter for several seconds before she said, "Hello there, Hanna, I'm your grandma. I know you don't remember what you did when our minds were all connected, but I'm so very proud of you – and I'm also proud of your daddy, of course." She tilted her arms a tiny bit to give Han a good look at the baby. "And this is your grandpa. He can be crazy and irritating, but he's got a beautiful heart under it all. There's a reason why you're named after him."

Han stroked the baby's cheek with his good hand. "Hey there, sweetie. I can't wait to take you for rides on the Falcon when you're big enough. In fact, I'll teach you to fly her too. I'll spoil you so rotten that I'll get in trouble with your parents."

Leia grinned at her husband. "We're grandparents."

"Yeah," Han said in amazement, "we're grandparents."

. . .

Eventually the family left so the new parents could get some much-needed rest. Little Hanna had fallen asleep in the bassinette that the droids set up for her and right now, as the sun was setting, Ben just gazed at her, watching her little chest rise and fall, marveling at how tightly she shut her eyes, admiring her tiny hands, her tiny nose, everything about her, really.

Then he felt his wife's arm wrapping around him.

"Isn't she amazing?" Ara murmured.

"Yes," said Ben, wrapping his own arm around her, "but didn't you want to get some sleep?"

"I wanted another look at her first," said Ara. "Just to make sure that she's real."

Ben felt a smile creep across his face. "She's real, all right. We might not ever get used to it, but she's real."

"And she's got such a great daddy," said Ara, resting her head on his shoulder. "How many other fathers go into shared dreams to save their kids when they're still in utero?" She yawned. "All right, I'm ready for sleep without creepy shared dreams now. How about you?"

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep, but I'll come to bed with you and see."

After the new parents got into bed, it didn't take Ara long to fall asleep, but Ben lay in silence for a while afterwards, just lingering in his wife and daughter's presence in the Force. "Such a great daddy," Ara had said in such confidence, but Ben still didn't know how well he would live up to that statement. Hanna's entire life was in front of them now and there were a million different directions it could go.

"I love you, Hanna," he whispered, sending his words through the Force to his daughter even though she wouldn't understand them yet. Even if she didn't understand the words, she might feel the emotion behind them. "We're all here for you, sweetheart. Always."

Eventually he drifted off to sleep, and for the first time in a while, he had peaceful dreams.

THE END