It was very late. A small lamp provided just enough glow to light up the small corner where Leia sat at her desk. Her long hair was loose and she was in her night robes, an endless amount of documents and folders stacked in front of her. She sighed, leaning back in her chair, exhausted from the never ending work load. The floor creaked.
Leia turned around in her chair as she noticed the small boy who had crept up behind her. “Ben?” she spoke. She sat her pen on the desk, frowning when he wouldn’t meet her gaze. Instead he looked down at his feet, at the floor, awkward as he stood before her, tiny hands at his side. “Ben, you’re supposed to be in bed,” she scolded, “Mom’s still got a lot of work to do.” Leia was frustrated. The boy had been in a bad mood all day. It was hard, feeling like a single parent when Han wasn’t around, not that he was ever fully involved anyways. It irritated her sometimes. And Ben had thrown such a horrible tantrum earlier in the day over something so small. She was at the end of her patience.
The child rubbed the back of his arm against his nose and face, sniffling as he still wouldn’t look at her. “Ben?” she asked again, her expression and voice slowly changing from irritation to concern.
The boy looked up then and she saw his face, his nose and eyes pink, swollen. Dried tears stained his red cheeks as he bit his lip to keep from crying. Leia forgot everything in that instant, dropping out of her chair and kneeling in front of him. Nothing else mattered now but her son. “Oh, sweetie,” she spoke gently, taking the frightened child into her arms.
It was his nightmares again. Leia just knew it. It caused him not only emotional torment, but physical. It was awful. But there was little she could do every time it happened. It pained her to see her baby boy like this, sometimes for nights on end. But all she could do was be with him, hold him in her arms and tell him that everything would be all right.
Leia placed a hand over his heart, feeling it beat rapidly. “Sweetie, it’s ok.” she breathed, attempting to calm him with her soothing tone. She placed her other hand behind his neck and shoulders, pulling him into her.
“Mommy…” he choked, unable to hold back his tears any longer. He grasped onto her tightly, completely falling into her embrace. His body became wracked with sobs.
Leia pressed her forehead to his, her fingers gently stroking his soft skin and dark curls. “It’s all right, sweetheart. I’m right here.” she spoke assuredly.
“I miss Dad,” he managed to say through his cries.
“Oh Ben,” Leia was fighting back the tears herself now as she could feel his pain through the force, through their bond as mother and child. His grief resembled her own.
“I know sweetie,” she bit her lip, “I know.”
Graphite, Ink & Watercolor Drawing.
Also, I’m sorry for the angst. But if you do have a mother, go hug her and tell her that you love her. Not everyone is so blessed in this manner. Appreciate what you have, because you’ll regret these missed opportunities when they’re gone.
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