Disclaimer: Neocolai does not own Star Wars or anything related thereof.

From a young age, Leia had cared for abandoned critters. On Alderaan it was kits and starlings (to her father's eternal chagrin, as the fur was a disaster for formal attire). She even rescued a fish once. It thrived for three weeks before flopping onto its belly because the bathtub lacked sufficient salt. Most insects were too crawly to bring into the house, but many a caterpillar birthed its wings under Leia's watchful eye.

After Alderaan was destroyed, she floundered. Lost. Heartbroken. Hating the Empire. It was easy to latch onto her natural instincts. So she adopted the scruffy nerfherder and the farmboy from Tatooine. One was arrogant, the other nursing a homeschool crush, and more than once Leia voted with R2-D2 to jettison them both onto the nearest asteroid. But they did her proud, her two boys, and both became dearer than friends.

Once her son was born, Leia's mothering tuned instinctively. Ben was hers – body and soul – birthed from her and loved with all her heart. He was a strange child; cold and insensitive, yet craving her attentions whenever they were offered. He was nothing like his father, or his uncle. He was just… Ben. Leia sheltered him, suffocated him in fresh water like the fish on Alderaan, until he burst free and shattered the heart that had held him close.

He was her son. But she was no longer his mother.

Aching, tired, wondering when Alderaan and the dark side and loss itself would leave her alone, Leia thought she was finished with children. Her son was gone. She didn't want anyone else but him.

Then that rattling little tooka of a BB unit started bugging the other pilots, and Leia followed it to the hank of dark hair and veiled eyes that radiated to her, he understands. Poe Dameron. Burgeoning pilot, friend of droids, role-model of countless soldiers and pilots. He looked like the kid that could go anywhere he wanted with just a smile, but Leia recognized that distance he concealed in those dark, blithe eyes. Orphan.

He needed someone to take him under her wing. Leia had lost a son. It seemed natural.

She coached Poe's training, raising him to the heights where his raw talent could flourish. She met him after his squadron returned from a covert operation in a cloudburst, blankets and hot caf nursing the heart that had still yearned for a mother. In turn Poe urged her away from the scanners during the sleepless nights, promising her that Han could look after himself, and a warm cup of chocolate would surely help her sleep. One morning before he left for a mission, he kissed her cheek for good luck. Leia scolded him, criticizing his recklessness, and he laughed.

"I'll be fine, Mother."

The comment was flung in tease, but the word solaced Leia's heart more than memories of the Alderaan sun. It was then that she realized she was already mothering Poe. He knew it; accepted it; welcomed her.

She was a mother again, but oh how she wished she could introduce Ben to his brother.

Rey and Finn came together, but it was Rey who latched onto Leia's affections. (Leia might have forced the adoption whether Rey liked her or not.) Of course Leia recognized her. There was no mistaking the determined chin and fierce defiance. The piloting skills and affinity with the Force only confirmed her belonging. Han must have recognized it, too.

When he was lost, both Rey and Leia were left alone.

So she held the girl; the piece of Ben that no one else could recognize; the faithfulness and courage and starved affection that she had vainly sought in her son. Rey had already accepted Han as her father-figure. She was drawn immediately to Leia. She belonged.

It wasn't easy for Rey to understand comfort – Jakku had deprived her for too long – but the occasional hug, a book to practice with, a bursting pack of sweet and salty snacks for travel, and as much sweet, cold tea as she could drink assured her that no matter what the future held, she had a mother waiting for her at home.

It was a short while after Rey's return that Leia realized she had neglected one more: Finn, the brave stormtrooper who had rescued both of her strays. He wasn't like Poe or Rey. Independent yet reliant, level-headed yet antsy, acting in charge even while he guessed his own intentions last minute; he was a boy in a leather jacket. A young man who had sacrificed his command for a stranger. Somehow, that reckless pilot and his desert scavenger friend had unspokenly proclaimed Finn as one of their own.

Watching pilot and stormtrooper greet Rey on the landing platform, the three shoving each other until Rey looped an arm around each of her friends, Leia pardoned her own negligence and made a decision.

Her two strays had already chosen their littermate.

She would be a poor mother if she didn't take in their brother.