Chapter Text
Tempus Fugit - Time Flies
The note arrived three days before Shara Skywalker’s first birthday.
Rey had just arrived home from a long night sitting vigil at the bedside of a dying man. Kicked by a horse, the bleeding was too extensive, too deep for Rey to do anything but ease the pain and help him into the next world. So she’d brewed the herbs and sat with his family until he took his last breath near dawn. She’d refused her typical fee, the least she could do when she’d been so useless to the family.
So it was with a heavy heart that she opened the door to the happy screams of her boys, Han and Luke barreling into her before she even made it in the house. She hugged them each in turn, listening as Han told her about the bird he saw and Luke showed off a new, rather impressive scrape on his knee.
By the time she rose from the crouch, her spirits went with her, only to find Poe hovering behind them, his mouth a tense line even as he handed Shara over to say hello.
Rey distracted herself by kissing her chubby cheeks, much to her youngest’s amusement. The sweet baby giggles did wonders to help sooth Rey’s frayed soul after the long night. All too soon, Shara was wiggling, itching to be let down to toddle after her brothers. She wasn’t the best walker yet, but she gave it her all, unstable legs sending her careening after Luke, Han following behind her like a little nursemaid.
Poe’s face had slid into a more normal expression by the time Rey stepped into his open arms. So much so that she could almost convince herself that she’d imagined the earlier tension had it not been present in every muscle as he held her close. Even his kiss was tentative, more of a formality than a true hello.
“Your mother sent a messenger.”
Rey stiffened in his arms.
It felt like she’d been waiting for those words for seven years now. Not that her mother didn’t send word often, but never had one of her letters been accompanied by her official seal. The seal of the Roman Empire.
She took the letter from Poe, cracking the seal without fanfare. Better to know than to wonder.
Once, twice, thrice, she read the slightly shaking papyrus, finally loosing a heavy breath.
Poe had been quiet thus far, always the more patient of the two. But even his nerves got the better of him as he asked, “What does it say?”
“It’s time to make good on our promises. She’ll be here on Shara’s birthday to discuss.”
There it was. Something like relief coursed through her.
Rey had spent years here, on borrowed time, waiting for the axe to drop. It had loomed, just out of sight, but always in the back of her mind. And now the waiting was over.
Though it seemed no such relief came to Poe.
“Poe, are you all right?” No answer, but his dark eyes betrayed a bone deep terror barely leashed. She tried again, one hand coming up to touch his stubbled cheek. “Poe?”
This happened from time to time, when the horrors from his time in the capital or Tivoli became too much. When he’d wake up screaming, reaching for shackles that were no longer there or attempting to wash away blood that had long since stopped staining his hands.
All it took was a few breaths and those dark eyes would clear, coming back to her as he did now.
“It’s not enough time,” he said, blinking his eyes, willing them to focus.
“It will never be enough time. She gave us seven years. That’s far longer than we’d hoped for.” She ran a hand through his curls, longer than she’d ever seen them. He’d have to cut them close before they left for the capital. According to the current customs, long hair was for barbarians, not the husband of the Augusta.
“Shara won’t even remember this place.”
“I doubt Han or Luke will either. Not once they’re spoiled rotten in the palace.”
Poe flinched at that.
“Hey,” she said, realizing what had just come out of her mouth. “They’ve got us to look out for them. We’re not going to let them become the monsters Ben and I were.”
That got Poe’s attention. “Do not put yourself into the same lot as Ben,” he practically growled. “You are nothing like that man.”
While she appreciated the solidarity, Rey knew the truth. How easy it would be to fall into those old habits now that they were going back into that viper’s nest. But she couldn’t tell Poe that, not when he was already terrified.
“We’ll figure it out,” she said instead, running a hand over his cheek. “We always do.”
A little more than seven years since she’d last stepped foot into this palace and nothing had changed at all.
They arrived in Rome that afternoon to the fanfare typical of the capital city, her mother sending half a legion - complete with chariots and troupes of dancers and even a group of gladiators in misguided homage to Poe - to escort them to the palace. It was all a little much, what with the three children in various states of meltdown and the adults caked in road dirt not far behind. A little warning would have been nice. But Rey did her duty, waving to the gathered crowds, keeping her head high, trying to look as regal and imperious as possible.
She’d forgotten how much work this all was. After they fled Rome all those years ago, it was just easier for Leia to make annual visits to see the children, even after Ben was gone, than to drag everyone into Rome. So it made some sense when she realized that Poe had never walked these halls, seen the place where she grew up. Thinking back, they had spent all their time together either at parties or holed up at the Ludus Magnus. As such, Poe and Kes were trailing behind on the tour provided by the housekeeper, mouths agape at the splendor adorning the walls.
Leia may have been progressive as far as the Empire was concerned, but like her father, she still had a taste for the finer things in life.
The palace was a testament to Anakin Skywalker’s opulence, every inch covered in the marble and gold stolen during his conquests. Mosaics lined the walls, broken only by the statues interspersed through the halls. Even the floors were inlaid with intricate patterns and precious metal, polished to shine daily by the staff.
As they walked through room after room of it, she wondered if it ever bothered her mother to live amongst this much misbegotten grandeur. Though none of it had even registered with Rey until she met Poe, her mother had been the one to urge her to look around, see the world how it really was. So how could she stand it, knowing how it came into their possession?
To Poe and Kes, the little house they’d shared in the countryside had been the height of luxury, far larger and nicer than the farm Poe had grown up on. To her mother, it was little more than a hovel. Rey doubted Leia would deign to keep her horses in some place so small.
And this was just the family wing.
“There you are!” Leia’s voice echoed off the stone. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t meet you when you arrived.”
Rey had been shocked to see her mother when she came for Shara’s birthday last month. Wrinkles dominated her once-youthful face, hair going from greying to firmly grey in barely the space of a year. While she still walked straight and proud, there was a heaviness to the way that she carried herself that Rey hadn’t noticed the last time she came to visit.
It was those changes, more than anything else, that had confirmed what her mother’s letter told her: it was far past time for Rey to come home.
She strode forward to embrace her mother, the woman looking nothing short of regal in her purple stolla.
“Hi, Mum,” said Rey, bending over slightly to wrap her arms around her mother. The Augusta’s height still shocked her. Nothing so fierce had any right to be that short.
“How was the journey? Not too perilous, I hope.”
Rey huffed out a laugh. “I wish perilous was an exaggeration. But such is the life of a mother of three. I swear there were nothing but tears for the entire three hours.”
Leia’s tinkling laugh echoed through the hall. “I remember those days well. You and Ben terrorizing each other until everyone - myself included - was crying.” There was an awkward pause, no love lost for Ben Skywalker in this particular group. Leia changed tacks. “Speaking of, where are those babies? I have hugs to give.”
Hearing that, both boys ran forward with a scream of “Grandmother!” that Rey was pretty sure shook the windows.
Once they were both hugged (and Rey had helped her mother back into a standing position), Leia turned to the baby in Poe’s arms. Shara went willingly over to her, though the look on her face left Rey wondering how long she’d last before a total meltdown.
“I’ll take it from here, Octavia,” Leia said, dismissing the housekeeper. The woman was off with a bow. “So, where did she leave off? Has she shown you the kitchens, yet?”
She took them through the kitchens and into a library, Poe and Rey shooting glances at each other all the while. It was only a matter of time with Shara. Though Leia surprised them all with how good she was with the little girl, quickly distracting her every time she started to fuss. Sometimes Rey forgot that she had done this all before.
“Kes, we’ve selected these rooms for you.” Leia stopped outside a well-appointed suite, bouncing Shara slightly on her hip when the girl started to whine. “I hope they are to your liking.”
Kes’s eyes were wide as he took in the rooms, a small living area connected to a bedroom and bathing chamber. Though it was modest in palace terms, Rey knew that his room at their house had barely been a tenth of the size.
“Yes, Augusta. Most definitely to my liking.” Kes couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
“Perfect, then we’ll leave you to settle in. Your trunks should be brought up shortly.”
They left Kes blinking in the doorway as they made their way down another hallway and up a set of stairs before Leia brought them into a gigantic sitting room. The boys were off exploring as soon as they entered, chasing each other from one room to another.
“The nursery is downstairs, but I wanted to show you your rooms first-”
Rey cut her mother off. “Mother, we talked about this. Poe and I want the children close, not in a nursery halfway across the palace.”
“But this suite isn’t set up for them. The nursery has everything they’ll need, plus rooms for a nursemaid and tutors. You’ll be cramped in here.”
Rey took a look around the suite, noting at least five separate rooms, not including two additional bathing chambers and the master bedroom. “Mother, this is larger than our enitre house back in Collatia.”
“It’s just not done, Rey.” There was the stubborn woman she’d grown up with. “The children need their own space and so do you.”
“It’s not negotiable.”
Leia gave in with a huff. “Fine, spit in the face of tradition. I don’t see what’s so wrong with it, it was perfectly fine for you and your brother.”
“And look how that turned out.” The words were out of Rey’s mouth before she could even think about it, her mother’s face crumpling. “Shit, I’m sorry, Mum. I wasn’t thinking.”
But the damage was already done. “I’ll let you guys get settled. Dinner will be at 8.” Leia handed Shara back to Rey, making her way toward the door. “I’ll send someone up with cots for them until we can convert one of the rooms.” She paused at the threshold, turning back toward Rey. “For what it’s worth, I doubt sleeping between your father and I would have fixed whatever was broken inside Ben. But that’s just my opinion.”
And with that parting shot, she was gone.
Rey released a shaky breath, tears threatening at her eyes. Poe’s hand was a welcome warmth on her back.
“Give it a few hours, she’ll cool down,” he said, pressing a soft kiss on her cheek. “You both will.”
Rey nodded.
A scream from one of the inner rooms was followed by the sound of crying, bringing their attention back to the present.
Poe was already striding toward the source of the noise. “I’ve got them. You guys go rest before dinner.”
Left in the quiet of the main room, Rey took a moment to look around.
Seven years and she was right back where she started. Living in luxury at the cost of the people of the Empire. Fighting with her mother. Banging her head against the wall at the bureaucracy of it all. It was like she’d never left. Only now, she had the added complication of her own children in the mix.
She looked down at Shara, now dozing on her shoulder. Now that was as good a reason as any to take on the role she’d been born for. To ensure that her children and their children after wouldn’t have to live in a world where the rich enslaved the poor, or men like their father wouldn’t be forced to fight to the death thanks to their religion. For her kids, she could do it.
With a soft kiss to her daughter’s curls, Rey went off in search of the bedroom. She’d need all the strength she could muster in the coming days.