Work Text:
Hera took a deep breath before making the call.
At one time not very long ago, she considered it a hard decision to call her father. Back then, neither of them had spoken to the other for well over ten years, but it was no surprise that their relationship was strained long before then.
After the mission to capture the cruiser-carrier over Ryloth, the two of them managed to mend their bond and had even been working together these last few years, but even then, Hera and Cham found themselves too busy with their work to know every little thing that had been going on in one another's lives.
It had been weeks since the liberation over Lothal changed everything. So much had happened, so much was lost, something new had been gained, and Hera planned to tell her father about it all, but as the call connected across the vast distance of space between them, she felt her reserve falter.
The holo of him emerged and she watched guilt stricken as he greeted her with the tip of his right lek, a small smile unable to remain hidden as it flashed quickly at the corner of his lip.
“Hera!” He said, his face visibly brightening. “I am pleased to hear from you.”
“Hello father,” she said, forcing herself to try and match his enthusiasm. “It’s been a while since we last talked.”
He held a fist in the air, a revered gleam in his eyes. “Ah yes, there is no rest for those of us with something to fight for, and fight we have.”
“Us too,” Hera nodded in agreement as her eyes darted to the corner of the table. She shot her gaze back to him and added, “I’ve recently been appointed to General, you know.”
“Your rank is a sign of your growth.” Cham smiled. “I applaud your promotion, daughter.”
That was about as happy as he could get for such news, and Hera took what she could get. Cham would rather she have been a general in the Free Ryloth Movement, but he now knew the Rebellion was an alternative that was better than nothing at all.
Well, that was one piece of news she could cross off her list, Hera thought. Out of everything she had to tell him, it was the easiest one to say out loud, but it was also the one that meant the absolute least to her.
She’d received the promotion about a week after freeing Lothal, but the title was just an empty praise. Being a general wouldn’t bring Kanan back or Ezra home, and it certainly wouldn’t help her in the months to come. It had been two additional weeks since then and the crew spent an entire week searching the galaxy, but there had been no sign of Ezra. It was another week after that, before anyone realized that the Empire wasn’t planning on coming back to Lothal anytime soon, and Hera was currently on her way back to Rebel Command to give her official report on what happened.
She swallowed back the thought and resisted the urge to rub at her stomach. Her holo only showed from about her chest up of course, but she didn’t want to take the chance at revealing anything about it to her father just yet.
“I’ll be sure to continue leading the Rebellion until the galaxy is free again,” she said.
“I know you will,” he replied, the smile faltering. “When that happens, I do hope you will return to us one day.”
Hera frowned.
“Not that I mean to pressure you, Hera.” He said suddenly. “I just meant—”
“That’s okay Father,” she said, her false smile returning. “That’s actually what I was hoping to talk to you about.”
He only stared into the holo, a concerned frown spreading to his face. He wasn’t the best at reading people’s emotions, especially those of his daughter, but even Cham could tell when something was bothering her.
“What is it, child?”
Hera laughed and shook her head.
“I was…" She paused. "I was just hoping to come visit Ryloth before returning to the fleet.”
Cham smiled, his pointed teeth gleaming with excitement.
“Well, I would like that very much!”
“Then I’ll be arriving shortly,” she said, committing herself to the lie now. “Should I know anything before entering the system?”
“No.” He waved at the air. “The skies have been clear for the last six rotations. I will send coordinates to our base now. We have been retaking the neighboring villages in the name of Ryloth, so there are many more places for you to land safely with your crew.”
“That’s good to hear.” She tilted her head. She couldn’t bear to tell him that she was coming alone.
She thought that she could do this over the holo, but Hera realized now that this was something she needed to reveal in person, face to face. Somehow that made things easier to script out in her head. She could definitely tell him her news if he was standing right in front of her.
“Ka’ta sama,” he said, his lek bidding her a farewell.
“Ka’ta tisla,” she said in return and shut off the holo.
The room went dark and she slid to the floor with a groan. She didn’t mean for it to happen like this. She was supposed to be returning to the fleet to make her report and request a little more leave time in order to watch over Lothal. So far, the Rebel Alliance has been more than complimentary about her absence. With Grand Admiral Thrawn out of the picture, and the Empire’s forces depleted by an entire planet's worth of troopers, she could probably spend a few more weeks on Lothal to make sure their sacrifices actually stuck. Hera couldn’t let everything they did be for nothing, not when it had cost them so much.
Still, reports had been popping up all over the system that other Imperial forces were being pulled out and shipped elsewhere, many to parts unknown. The Empire was reeling back for something big, and Hera knew that it was for something stronger than just tending to their wounds over Lothal. They needed troops for something, but what, Hera couldn’t yet know.
Virtually no one had heard about what happened on Lothal unless they were high up in the ranks, and even then all they gathered were rumors. The Empire was keeping the entire thing covered up, and not a trace of it was revealed to the public. If one measly planet was free, what would stop others from rebelling against the Empire in the same way? Of course they would want to keep the whole thing a secret. In fact, it was like there was no Imperial presence on Lothal to begin with. There was no Agent Kallus turned Fulcrum for the Rebellion, no Grand Admiral Thrawn who was lost in the line of duty, no soldiers that could tell the tale of the great defeat. There was just nothing.
As such, she figured Ryloth hadn’t heard about it yet either.
Hera rubbed her stomach freely now and took a deep breath.
“Buh Wah Ber Bu—” Chopper came in and alerted Hera that they’d be out of hyperspace soon, before seeing her on the floor and beeping at her in concern. “Wah Ber? Bah Wah Wer Buh Ber?”
“I couldn’t tell him,” she said with a scoff. “Actually, you’d better reroute our navigation systems, Chopper. We’re heading to Ryloth.”
“Buh Ber Bah Wah Wer?” the droid complained.
“I’m sure.” She nodded. “I have to tell him in person. It’s— It’s better this way.”
Chopper buzzed an “okay” that sounded like the binary equivalent of an eye roll before patting her hand empathetically.
“Thanks buddy.” She rose and they made their way to the cockpit. “Hopefully the other generals will be as understanding about it as you when they hear that we're going to be a few days late on that report.”
Chopper voiced his doubts.
"You and me both, buddy," she said. "You and me both."
After rescheduling her visit to the main fleet, Hera landed the Ghost and stepped out into the fields of Tann where she took in a deep inhale of the thin, dry Ryloth air. There was a light breeze today, not too hot, not a lot of dust flying through the wind. It was good weather, the kind that brought back happy memories of playing outside as a child.
“Loryara favna!”
Hera turned as the small group approached her, Gobi meeting her at the ramp to take her hand and greet her properly as the other two trailed up behind her.
“Gobi, Numa,” Hera waved, looking up as she met eyes with the green-skinned man beside them.
“Goll?” She squinted. “Is that really you?”
He laughed and nodded as he stepped closer.
“Little one!” He smiled, arms outstretched. “It has been quite a long time!”
He was perhaps the tallest and most muscular Twi’lek that Hera had ever met, and the years had done nothing to change that in him. When she was a child, Goll would pick her up and carry her around on his shoulders so she could pretend to be flying starships, and with his height, it wasn’t something that was all that hard to imagine back then. Hera always thought there was something superhuman about him, something permanent, like he would be able to stay and protect them forever. Then one day he left to lead another division of her father’s rebellion across world and Hera hadn’t seen him since.
She accepted the hug and was instantly suffocated beneath the large man’s embrace.
“Goll!” She gasped for air as he released his grip. “It’s so good to see you again!”
“Look at how you’ve grown!” He said. “Why, you look just like your mother.”
She smiled at that as he rubbed her arm and patted it consolingly.
Goll and her mother grew up together, and had been friends for many years before her death. Hera saw their connection in the unique Naboo-grass green color of his skin that was common in their particular clan. It was a much livelier color than her yellowed-down flesh, and much like the weather, it brought back pleasant memories of Hera’s childhood.
“Thank you everyone for meeting me out here, but—” She looked around unsurprised as she asked. “Where is my father?”
“You know Cham,” Gobi said. “He is always so busy.”
Goll patted her shoulder again and pointed to the horizon. “We received word that a battalion of stormtroopers were seen marching into the Tulara Ravine,” he said. “These are the last of the reinforcements that guard the maze from us, and their numbers have severely dropped in these last few rotations.”
“But, wouldn’t that take them right back to Tann Province?” Hera questioned. “Which is still under Imperial control, isn’t it?”
“For now,” Gobi gleamed. “Cham is working to remedy that as we speak.”
“Shouldn’t the troopers be spreading out to recapture the surrounding villages? Father told me that you’ve been making steady progress in taking them back from the Empire.”
“There has been an odd shift in the Empire’s routine,” Numa said. “Cham can explain it to you more. He is waiting for you back at the camp, and he has a plan to sever the reinforcements and retake your home.”
“What’s left of it anyway,” Hera murmured. “Alright. Lead me to him. I can’t wait to see where the new base is this time.”
She marched down the platform, passing them as Chopper rolled along at her heels. As she did, Numa got a concerned look on her face and looked from Hera to her ship and back.
“Where is the rest of your crew?” She asked.
“Yes, Cham was planning on having you assist us in the battle,” Gobi added.
Numa slapped him on the arm, as that was obviously not the reason she asked, and this was also not the time nor the place to let Hera in on that little detail.
“Oh he was, was he?” Her brow rose, turning her back to them so they couldn’t read her face. She tried not to let herself sound hurt, which only made her voice turn into a sour, angry sound when it left her lips. “Well, sorry to disappoint him, but it's just me and Chopper today.” She motioned for them and kept heading straight. “Let’s get going. It’ll be night soon and if we’re going through with whatever this plan is, we had better let my father know about the change so he can adjust his troop placement.”
The three looked to each other with concern, Numa still glowering at Gobi who gave her a guilty shrug in return, before they followed after her a moment later.
When they reached the entrance to the cave, Hera instantly remembered the pattern of the tunneling system and the way it connected everything below ground. She spent a lot of time running around in tunnels just like these after losing her mother. For the most part, Hera went where her father did, and since he was always fighting for Ryloth, they were always on the move.
She saw him sitting cross-legged on the ground above a makeshift map drawn into the dirt. His head was low, lekku twitching slightly as he went over strategies in his head, a finger rubbing his chin as he mumbled to himself under his breath.
This was a normal position for him, Hera remembered, and she cleared her throat to break his concentration.
“Father.”
Cham looked up from his maps and shot her a grin.
“Ah, Hera! Loryara favna sama!”
He stood and greeted her with a hug before falling back down and motioning her to take a seat beside him.
“It’s good to be home,” she lied, not even pausing for pleasantries when she knew her father would be too distracted with his ploys to care about such things. “What’s this I hear of stormtroopers in the Tulara Ravine?”
Without missing a beat, he snapped down at the map in order to explain it to her.
“For days we have been herding soldiers from surrounding villages,” He pointed to the makeshift map as he spoke, small pebbles representing soldiers as tiny knives stabbed into the cool cave dirt represented the neighboring villages that Hera recognized. “What is left of their forces should all be regrouping to the Tann Province where we hope to take them out in one swift movement.”
“Interesting,” Hera studied. “But won’t the number of soldiers increase the risk for failure?”
“Normally yes,” Cham said. “But lately, the Imperials have been retreating, their numbers decreasing as more and more are being shipped back to their Star Destroyers and sent away.”
“They’re recoiling?” Hera guessed. “Even this far out?”
“What do you mean?”
“I was hoping to tell you about that,” she said. “We drove the Imperial presence from Lothal and freed the planet.”
He let a breath fall out of him.
“Well, that is great news!” He grabbed her shoulder. “I know how important that mission was to you, Hera.”
“Yeah,” she said, considering telling him the whole story, but instead sticking close to topic. There were too many listening ears around. She wanted to tell him in private, so for now bits and pieces of the story would have to do. “Well, after we did, the stormtroopers on Lothal pulled a similar stunt. I also have inside sources telling me that they’re retreating on a lot of other planets too.”
“Almost like they are gathering for some larger attack?” Cham contemplated. "Much like we are."
“That’s what I thought too,” Hera said. “But a lot of people think it is just to spread their troops to more necessary locations.”
“The Empire is not so short on people my daughter,” he said. “No, if they are suddenly collecting soldiers elsewhere, I can assure you that the rest of us will not like it when they come back.”
She nodded and stared down at the map, a dread growing inside her as she thought about what the Empire was up to.
She thought that by the time she had a family of her own— if she had one— then the galaxy would be safe by then. Now, the clock was running out and she didn’t know what horrors awaited them in the future. Would her baby be safe in this galaxy with the Empire still running around? Would any of them be safe if they didn't succeed in stopping their tyranny?
Cham studied her a moment and blinked, looking up and around behind her as he only noticed that scrappy orange astromech parked in the corner, but nobody else.
“A moment, daughter,” he paused. “Where is the rest of your crew? Have you come here alone?”
Numa, Gobi, Goll, and anyone else within earshot looked to one another as if they were waiting for Cham to notice and make the comment.
“I did,” she replied. “Aside from Chopper.” She knew her father wouldn’t count him as an organic number, but she felt obligated to at least remind him of her droid’s presence.
Cham smiled softly, and tilted her chin upwards with his finger.
“Do not fret, child,” he said. “They are welcome here anytime. This plan will work without Jedi, as most all of our strategies do.”
“So I’ve heard,” she said, her voice humming in aggravation that Cham was unable to detect. She supposed him still wanting her to fight with them, even without Jedi, was a great compliment to her skills, but Hera couldn’t help but be angry that he’d roped her into another mission and just assumed she’d go along with it.
She would of course, but she was still mad about it.
He might reconsider if she would just work up the nerve to tell him her news. Hera wanted to so badly and all she thought to do was to just scream it out. She wanted to go back to the Ghost and show him their family kalikori, tell him everything Kanan did for her. She wanted to do a lot of things, but despite her better judgement, she held it in, and simply nodded down at the map.
“Alright,” she said. “So where do we start?”
Cham smiled and looked to the others in the huddle as he drew into the dirt with the tip of his knife.
“Listen well everyone. Here is the plan.”
Chopper had already powered down for the night. He was just as used to this routine in the tunnels as Hera was. If she wasn’t careful, she’d wonder if anything she did off Ryloth actually happened. It was so easy to slip back to her roots. She thought about it for a moment and frowned as she thought suddenly about Kanan, about their time together, all her memories shared with him, with Zeb, Sabine, and Ezra. She thought about them every single day and each time she did, the pit feeling of loss crept back into her chest. Of course she couldn’t forget those things. They were far too painful to forget.
Hera touched the small hole in the cave wall where she’d be bunking for the night. She always liked camping out in the cave walls and slept in a similar state in her cabin aboard the Ghost . It only had a top bunk, as she had turned the bottom one into a wall to hold her workshop tools and related tech. She slept high above the ground, a curtain canopy over it, just like in these caves. They always made her feel secure, made her feel like a seedling ready to pop out of the ground as a fresh new sort of thing to the world.
Did she used to compare herself to a sleeping vegetable? Hera thought with a laugh.
She shook the realization out of her head. The mind of a child was truly a remarkable thing. She wondered what kind of mind this one growing inside her might have.
Hera pulled herself up and felt the strain in her throat before the nausea kicked violently up her esophagus. She put her hand on her mouth and swallowed it back, but ran quickly outside, far enough that her retching wouldn’t echo throughout the cave walls.
Hera threw up behind the spiral rocks near the entrance and leaned against them when she had finished.
“I thought morning sickness was just supposed to be in the morning,” she grumbled, rubbing her stomach as she hoped this new wave of nausea wouldn’t get any worse in the next few months.
Maybe she shouldn’t be going on this mission in the morning? Hera wondered. Of course, the women of Ryloth often did as much work as they normally did whether they were with child or not. Hera remembered her father in a panic as her mother saddled a Blurg and readied herself to join the battle with the rest of the clan. She was not held back by her newly rounded stomach, nor her fits of vomiting as the little boy within her started to grow.
Hera laughed at the memory. It was the first time that she’d seen her father look so vulnerable and shocked. A close second would have to be his reaction to her blowing up their home, but that was a different kind of shock for him. She'd forgotten that he could show emotions like that, forgot that he had more another setting that wasn’t the heroic leader and serious minded general. It had been a long time since she’d seen those other emotions. A long time.
Hera kicked dirt over her vomit and groaned before heading back inside. The night air felt good on her skin, but if she was going to help in the ambush of the maze tomorrow, she needed all the rest she could get. She would have to tell her father about Kanan and the baby sooner or later. This ambush had better be successful because if she was going to do this, she wanted her father’s undivided attention. For once in her life, she wanted to be all that was on his mind, just for a few minutes, just for this.
Admittedly, Hera did enjoy fighting alongside her people again. When she was on Ryloth, she wasn’t just a pretty face, wasn’t just a bauble to outside eyes, a token that many wanted to hold like an accessory on their arms. Here she was just another face, one of a set of warriors, not of aliens. Here, she didn’t feel the slightest bit different than anyone else around her. She felt at home. This wasn't the kind of home that made her happy, but it was a nice change of pace regardless.
Hera also enjoyed working together with her father again. She missed that. They were always a good team, but she quickly remembered that it got old quickly when all Cham wanted to do was fight for Ryloth. It was an exhausting cycle, but one she knew well.
She smiled.
When Hera had first met Kanan, all she wanted to do was help other planets fight through their Imperial occupation. Later, all she wanted was to fight for the Rebellion. She suddenly realized just how much she and her father had in common. That must have really bothered Kanan for those first couple of years. Though she wasn’t half as bad as Cham was, she didn’t make a lot of time for anything else in her life besides fighting the Empire. She rubbed her belly and was grateful that she at least made a little time in her life for other things while she could.
It was all so fragile after all.
Tomorrow. She thought with a confident nod. She would sit her father down and talk to him tomorrow, no matter what it took.
When morning hit, the Rylothian rebels were already camped out at the ridge of the Tulara Ravine. Hera watched the sun rise over Ryloth as the plan was officially put into motion.
Cham lowered his macrobinoculars and motioned with his hand to split into the designated parties. Silently, the Twi’leks all did as they were told, hurrying into position as the stormtroopers and their Walkers stomped back the way they had come when they first started their patrol. They should be swapping out the night patrol for a fresh pair of day troops. It wasn't much, but removing a tired platoon of soldiers was still removing blasters from their end goal up ahead.
Cham nodded to Hera, and she held firm on her blaster.
"Now Chop," she said.
Chopper waited alongside her, a blaster of his own in his pincer. He connected the comm link to Numa and as soon as she received the message, she snuck to a lower ledge, flashing the signal to Gobi who waited, hidden in the rocks across the canyon.
As soon as he saw the little flash, he tossed his rocket launcher over his shoulder and took careful steady aim. If he missed this shot, it would all be over. He squeezed the trigger and felt the huge weapon recoil as the whistle of the rocket split the silence in two. The echoing *BOOM!* felled the Walker, a direct hit, and as it crashed to the ground, it managed to take two of the stormtroopers along with it.
“It’s the resistance!” One of them yelled.
“Get to cover!” Another shouted.
“We’re surrounded!”
Twi’leks slid down the walls of the Tulara Ravine as the canyon lit up with speckled colors of each of their vibrantly colored flesh. As the troopers remained distracted, firing only occasionally as they were too awestruck to do much else, Cham and Hera came crashing in through the mouth of the maze, their battalion atop Blurgs as their blaster fire mowed down their opponents.
Once the canyon was taken, the army moved to the gates of the Tann Province, and the troopers didn’t know what hit them.
As the army of Cham’s soldiers hit them from the front and both sides, Goll’s team deployed as a final wave of power from the rear and took back the estate from the bottom up, using the tunnelling system to break in and retake the Syndulla household while Cham’s forces acted as a distraction.
It was an amazing battle, and just like that, it was finally over.
The hot noontime sun beat across the dirt now as the remaining Imperials were restrained in the center of the courtyard.
The Captain who had acted as the replacement for Slavin, was the last to be dragged out of the estate. For the life of Cham, he could not remember this one's name, but knew that he kept himself so heavily defended in fear of what the resistance might do to him, that he hardly ever made an appearance, not even to gloat. The cowering man was forcefully tossed at the feet of his adversary and immediately started to beg for his own life.
"Please don't kill me! Don't Kill me!"
As he begged for his life, pleading loudly for mercy, Cham winced and felt an intense flurry of pity arise for the small man who cowered at his boots.
“A real leader cares more about the lives of his men, over that of his own.” He motioned for two of his men and spat into the dirt at the now demoted Captain's feet. “Get them out of my sight.”
They were drug away in shame as the Twi’leks let out an uproar of cheers and applause.
Tann Province was theirs once more.
Hera smiled and looked to her father, her voice yelling so as to be heard over the thunderous crowd. “You did it!”
“No,” he said, shouting. “We did it.” He held his fist in the air and the cheering grew louder.
With this last spot captured, Ryloth was now free of Imperial occupation, and Cham’s lifelong goal of peace for his people, was finally a reality.
He shouted to them in Ryl and they cheered some more as the day had been won for all of Ryloth.
Hera landed the Ghost in the center courtyard of Tann Province, the people still clapping as she exited the platform with Chopper. They were making repairs to the entrance and walls, something Hera was sure they would stop clapping about if they remembered how she was the one who made them.
As she clutched her satchel close to her, she looked and noticed that the grounded Y-Wing by the door was missing.
“He actually removed it?” Hera chuckled. She figured he just had it moved somewhere else, but it was a nice touch, something that meant more to Chopper than her father probably realized. "How about that?"
As they made their way past the wreckage of her entry way and over to his office, Chopper patted her leg and she nodded.
“I’m going to tell him. I promise.”
Chopper nodded and left her to do her thing as she snuck through the door and was relieved to see him standing inside alone.
“Oh Hera?” He turned, his attention glued to their old family portrait. There were blaster burns around Cham’s face, no doubt Captain Slavin had obviously done a lot of target practice on it during his stay here. Fortunately Hera’s mother’s face was untouched, as was her own, but Hera cared less about that fact.
“Hello father,” she said, smiling as she watched him musing over the picture. She was happy that it survived all the wreckage of her and Chopper’s detonation to it all those months ago.
“It feels good—” Cham smiled, rubbing his hand along the mosaic tiles of his former love’s face. "Being back here."
“I always liked this office,” Hera smiled. “I liked watching you work.”
Cham grinned.
“I know.” He said, pointing. “You would fall asleep in that corner after just a few hours of watching me.” He snapped, trying to remember. “You had a tooka doll, oh— what was its name?”
“Bibfort?” She chuckled. “I forgot all about that.”
“Ah, yes,” Cham sighed and frowned. “It was lost when—”
He froze, his thoughts trailing off as his hand returned to her mother's face.
“I know.” Hera stepped closer to him, her fingers reaching out, but pulling back in before he noticed the attempt at consolation. “We lost a lot in that fight.”
Cham looked back to their family portrait and placed a hand on his daughter’s shoulder.
“She would be proud of us, I think?”
“I think so too,” Hera smiled.
He patted her hand and then moved for the door.
Hera took a step out to stop him. It was now or never.
“Father!” she blurted.
He stopped and turned to her.
“Yes?”
Hera reached into her bag and pulled out the kalikori.
“Is that?” His eyes widened as he stepped in and took the art piece from her, smiling with soft chuckles added into his breathing. “I don’t believe it. Where in Faho’s name did you manage to find this? I thought it lost for—”
His smile vanished when he saw the addition she had made to it and his fingers jumped away from the piece as he set the kalikori gently atop his desk. He turned to face her, his movements slow, his eyes a deep, sorrowful red, and his long lekku now sagging low and joyless as his finger rose to chest level and stayed there while his mind and mouth fought to make words appear before him.
Giving up on that, Cham shut his eyes tightly and only opened them back when he was looking to the ground.
“When?” was all he could say.
“It’s almost been four weeks,” she said.
Cham’s eyes crinkled tighter as he slammed his fist through the open air, his voice still a gentle whisper of breathless disbelief.
“Why did you wait so long to tell me?” He asked, his hand lifted, rubbing at his face as he came to the realization. “All this time— And all I did was talk about myself, about what I was doing.” He held the space between his forehead now and shook his head. “Of course you would not come back to Ryloth just to—” He turned back to his desk and touched the kalikori. “Oh, Hera…” His shoulders fell and he turned his ear to face her. “What happened on Lothal?”
Hera took in a breath to tell him the whole story, only to hear the air quiver in her throat. Hot tears stained her face and she touched them with her glove, pulling back in surprise to see her fingertips were actually wet. She was already crying, but didn’t understand how it happened. She promised herself that she wouldn’t cry in front of her father, not again. Not since…
She heard the blubber leave her lips before she could stop it, and froze there helplessly as her father noticed the sound in an instant.
Cham’s head flicked around quickly to see her standing there, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist, her skin growing darker, face creasing in on itself as her green eyes glistened with freshly made tears. Even now, she tried not to cry in front of him, but Cham could see that all of his daughter's pain was about to be set free.
She choked out a sob and Cham didn’t even realize that he had gone from one side of the room to the other until he already held his daughter in his arms.
Hera cried into his chest, her sobs loud, heavy, and full of pent up remorse. She thought she was over the crying, but it turned out she still had tears left to shed after all, and they came back in abundance.
She had only cried like this one other time in her life, and it was on the day when Cham had come home alone to tell her that her mother had been lost to them in the battle to save the Tann Province gates from infiltration. She was too shocked to cry at that instant, and it did not happen until many hours had passed. She remembered that they sat together in his office, each too hurt to do anything else, the silence deafening before finally, her walls crumbled and just like now, all of the sadness that she kept bottled up inside her came pouring out like a broken reservoir.
Cham stroked her lekku and rubbed the small of her back, the same comfort he’d once shown her as a child. She was his child after all, and the only one he had left. No matter how old she grew, that fact would never change in Cham’s eyes.
Hera took a breath and told him everything. At one point in her story, she'd noticed her voice had slipped back into her native accent, revealing the final stage of her open vulnerability that she was sharing with her dad. Her arms were wrapped snuggly below her father’s. It had been so long since he’d held her like this, so long since she’d hugged him and not let go after only a few seconds. She missed this too.
She told him about her capture, about Kanan’s sacrifice atop the fuel supply, about the liberation of that one small planet, and about what Ezra had also done to keep his homeworld safe. She told him about the weeks afterwards when they removed the remaining Imperials, the weeks spent looking for Ezra, the time spent cleaning up Lothal, the feeling that if they looked away for even a moment then it might all disappear and go back to the way it was before they saved everyone.
Cham listened well, even as Hera told him about all of her regrets concerning Kanan. The things she'd told him, the things she hadn't told him. How he was gone forever and she would never get that chance to tell him thank you for making her life better, or hold him in her arms again.
“I understand this pain well...” Cham spoke in a hushed whisper, his hand still stroking her lekku as his body seemed to loosen with the pain and sadness of old memories.
“Does it ever go away?” She asked, her voice quiet just the same.
He shook his head, burying it into hers.
“No,” he said. “But it is okay to cry, love.”
Hera nodded and took the moment to finally tell him what she’d been leading up to this whole time.
“When I added Kanan to our Kalikori," she said. "I hoped to honor him as a member of our family...”
“You don’t have to explain yourself eswo sama,” he said. “I agree wholeheartedly with your decision. He would have made a fine husband, and had already done more than enough to prove his worth to this clan.” He let his chin fall on her temple as he squeezed her tighter. "He was a good man, and like the Jedi before him, an honorable warrior."
As a child, her father had often made hidden remarks about continuing the Syndulla bloodline through Hera’s future children. He never tried to force her into dating or pressure her into commiting to that position, but Hera knew that it was something he always secretly wished for. She was only fourteen when she left, so Cham wasn’t ready to give Hera away to another man to begin with, and by the time he met Kanan, Cham was happy just seeing his daughter with someone she cared about, even if his hopes at grandchildren were now a one in a million shot. Not impossible, but unlikely at best.
“That isn’t the only reason I added him to the kalikori, Father,” she said slowly, swallowing hard as soon as the words were finally out of her mouth.
The slow, rhythmic strokes of comfort stopped quickly as Hera felt Cham’s body tense up. His hands found their way to her shoulders and he tilted her apart from him far enough that his eyes, now bright and orange again looked to her with contemplation, his face studying hers as his gaze rocked back and forth across the features of her face.
“You—” He started, the word caught in his throat. “And he—”
She nodded.
“The Syndulla bloodline won’t be ending with me,” she said, taking his hand in hers as the tears came flooding back. Only now they were happy, hopeful tears, the kind that cherished new life and the promising future that lay ahead.
Cham’s breath left him audibly as he took a step backward. Hera almost thought he might actually be about to faint, when he fell forward into her and wrapped Hera in the biggest, warmest hug that he’d ever given her. She hid her wet eyes in his neck, breathing happily through the next wave of sobs that struck her.
Maybe it was the baby causing her to make all of these tears? She thought. She normally wasn't so quick to cry in times like these.
Suddenly, she felt something wet dripping down her neck and pulled back slowly to see the stream of slow, silent tears welling up in her father’s own eyes, staining the orange skin beneath his cheeks into dark streaks rolling down his long face.
He smiled at her, and she smiled back before he cradled behind her head and pulled her back into his embrace. Cham whispered something in Ryl that could hopefully convey the amount of joy he felt inside him, but instead only found himself holding his daughter tighter.
She thought the moment would never end, but she felt a shift in him as he pushed her backwards and shook her shoulders, that shocked and worried expression she’d seen all those years ago now returning to his face.
“And you let me take you into battle, child!?” He exclaimed. “When you were with child yourself?” He rubbed his face, cackling like a mad man as he paced in circles near his desk. “My child is with child,” he muttered repeatedly.
“Are you going to be alright, Father?” Hera inched, wiping the last of her tears away as now she was far more worried about her father’s health, both mental and otherwise.
“Fine?” He repeated, still chuckling. “Fine, I am going to be just fine!” He took a breath and the seriousness she knew so well returned within seconds. “My grandchild will have Ryloth to visit now that we have secured the Tann Province once more.” He smiled and said the words again as though the first time wasn’t enough. “My grandchild.”
"I know," she smiled. "I'm grateful for that."
He hugged Hera again and asked, “I don’t suppose you would consider staying here and raising the child among your family?”
She smiled. He knew her well, and as such, he already knew the answer.
“The Rebellion still needs me,” she said. “I want to be sure this baby grows up in a free galaxy.”
Cham frowned, but with a calm understanding in his eyes as he nodded down at her with acceptance.
“You are a Syndulla,” he said. “When we put our minds to something, then there is nothing we cannot accomplish!”
Hera smiled and took his hand.
“Vatak’ultuka,” she said, grinning. It was a phrase that she'd learned from him as a child. Fight on tomorrow. It was a warrior thing, and something he often told to the other freedom fighters before and after every battle.
Cham rocked her hand gently and nodded.
“Vatak’ultuka,” he replied. “You are always welcome here, love. Never forget that.”
She nodded and Cham rubbed a final tear off her cheek.
“Now come!” He said suddenly. “Once we tell the rest of the clan, we will hold a massive party to celebrate!”
“I know how you love your parties.” she smiled. “Alright, let’s go.”
“Your Rebellion will not miss their great General for another rotation, will they?” Cham teased.
“I think they’ll manage for one more day...” Hera smirked and shot him a look. “Especially if you’re planning on making Gruuvan Shaal.”
Cham laughed.
“For you, my daughter, I might just be able to make that happen.”