She felt Amilyn's death much like she had Han's; like a dagger to the heart.

But it wasn't in vain: the rest of the shuttles were able to make it down to Crait. She reached through the Force for Ben- to see if he could find some way to call off the First Order. To see if he was still alive. Instead … instead she felt ...

She felt the white hot anger of Ben over's Rey's refusal to join him.

The fury surprised her. She had felt Ben's anguish, his guilt- his desperation over doing the acts that his role as Kylo Ren demanded from him while trying to retain his own conscience and sense of self. But at his heart, she had always felt his loyalty- his love- for her.

Not any longer.

Rey had obliterated any other loyalties in Ben's heart. Whatever connection he had felt for Snoke- for her- was as nothing compared to that girl. He would burn the Galaxy down for her.

And she had refused him.

She had left him.

She had left him to return to the Resistance- to return to Leia.

The thought came at her like a physical blow: I won't let you have her, Mother. I won't let you twist her like you did me. I'm coming, Mother. I'm coming for your Resistance- for you.

This isn't you, Ben, Leia pleaded desperately.

It is me, Mother. You made me a monster. You made me a monster, but I'm not your monster any longer. I'm Rey's. And I'll protect her against anything- even if she hates me forever for it.

He slammed the connection shut.

Leia reached out again and again, but her son did not respond. "We have to call on our allies for help," she told the other Resistance members. "It's now or never."

Everything she had done. Every sacrifice she had made. Her son. Han. Amilyn. They had all been for the greater good of the Galaxy. Now it was time for the Galaxy to heed her call – to save those who had been fighting for their freedom.

Surely the Force was with her …

She watched Poe and the others prepare themselves for a hopeless fight. There had been a time when she would have been with them- but she was too old, too weak, too injured, to be part of that fight. She could only watch.

Ben … no Kylo... was out there with his army. He would destroy the Resistance if help did not come. He would kill them all- and Leia did not know which she would be worse for her in that case; survival or captivity.

The Millennium Falcon arrived with weapons blazing, and Leia could not repress a sad smile. It almost made her think that Han was aboard- but, no.

Han was gone.

TIE Fighters moved into position and chased the Falcon off the battlefield. The rest of Kylo's army began attacking the fragile speeders that were the Resistance's only hope.

Allies.

Where were her allies? Where were the men and women who had once sworn to fight for her if the need ever arose? Where had they gone?

When the First Order's monster weapon blasted through the gates of the Resistance's last stronghold, Leia sighed.

No one was coming.

"We fought to the end, but the Galaxy has lost its hope. The spark is out."

And as if to rebuke her, a familiar footstep sounded as a figure stepped out of the shadows.

"Luke," she whispered.

He stood in front of her and looked at her with faded blue eyes. Did he know? Had he come here to judge her for her actions- to punish her for Ben, for Han- for all the lives that had been taken because she had deemed it necessary

"I know what you're going to say," she whispered. "I changed my hair."

"It's nice that way." He stared at her long enough to allow her to imagine all sorts of horrors. "Leia, I'm sorry."

"I know." Leia sighed with relief. She might die, but at least she would not die with her brother hating her. "I'm just glad you're here at the end."

"I'm here to face him, Leia- but I can't save him."

"I know." Ben was gone now. She had promised herself there would be a way for her son to come home- for the sacrifices she made- that he made- to be rewarded. Now she knew the truth. "I know that my son is gone."

"No one's ever really gone," Luke told her, and he kissed her forehead.

They stared at each other for another moment.

Luke pressed something into her hands and then walked towards the breached gates. She knew that he would buy whatever time he could for them. Not for someone to help them- for a chance for them to escape to fight another day.

And he left behind Han's golden dice in her hands.

He would not be coming back. None of them would. Not Han. Not Luke. Not even her poor lost tormented Ben.

Leia was alone.

She watched the others- looking for a way out. She tried to reach out to the Force, but the conflict between Ben and Luke was shredding her focus.

It was Poe who spotted the last vulptice. "Come on," he said.

As one, the Resistance turned to Leia. "What are you looking at me for?" she snapped. "Follow him!"

The way was closed, of course … the escape the creatures used being too small for any Resistance member to use.

Leia gathered her strength to try again. If only she could move the rocks enough …

But no.

Someone else was doing that.

The girl.

Leia fought down her anger- and fear. Ben had not told the girl about how she had guided him. Rey would be an ally- and a weapon against the First Order.

Against Ben.

They boarded the ship. The entire Resistance- what was left of it- could now travel in the Falcon.

Leia sighed.

She felt Luke's passing like a last whisper of faded youth.

She saw Rey close the hatch to the Falcon. She sensed her sadness. Her determination.

She cared for Ben.

Was that going to be a strength or a weakness? Leia wasn't sure.

"Luke Skywalker is gone," Rey whispered. "Kylo is stronge than ever. How can we go on? How can we win this fight?"

Leia smiled and embraced the girl. "We have what we need."

She had what she needed. A powerful Force user with an emotional connection to her enemy.

Just the way it had all started before.

Leia looked at the rest of the Resistance. They had stood with her until the end. They were hers now- a dedicated corps of believers that would not challenge her again. She would build a new Rebellion out of them. An army to oppose the First Order.

To oppose Kylo Ren.

"Excuse me, Rey," Leia said, embracing the girl once more. "I need to go to the refresher."

"Of course." Rey nodded at her. Leia could already see bonds of trust and affection growing in the girl's eyes. She was like a young bird, eager to impress on a parental figure.

Leia smiled at the girl again and made her way to the tiny refresher in the Falcon. She opened the tap and washed her face with some of the water and looked into the mirror.

Her eyes were golden with the Dark Side of the Force.

Of course.

This was the final sacrifice that she was to make for the Galaxy. She had used her son. She would use Rey. She would burn as many lives as it took to bring peace to the Galaxy- her peace.

The Galaxy needed guidance- her guidance.

It was her destiny.

And if victory required her to join with the Dark Side, that was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

She was the Chosen One now. Perhaps she had been the Chosen One all along.

Leia closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, her eyes were normal once more.

Leia smiled.

And she began to plan …

Author's Note: So this story came about for a couple reasons. One, in The Force Awakens novelization, Leia says that she knew that Snoke had been influencing Ben since childhood. She also said that she had not told Han about it because she didn't think he would be able to handle it. I can't really imagine Han- or Leia- for that matter allowing anyone to play mind games with their son. I would have fully expected Han and Leia to hop into the Falcon and then proceed to utterly destroy Snoke for trying to corrupt their son.

That didn't happen. Maybe there was a reason for it.

The other thing that gave me the idea for this fic is that Ben's bond with Rey forms during the time that Leia is in a coma. The Kylo Ren we meet then isn't a monster- he seems to feel remorse, and he comes to care for Rey. It's only after Snoke is gone- and coincidentally after Leia is awake again- that he loses it and makes his "You're nothing" speech to Rey. He just seems to fall apart then.

So the idea came to me … what if Leia had been using Ben as a means towards dealing with Snoke? Would she do that sort of thing? Would she sacrifice her son for the good of the Galaxy?

In the current canon, I think there's a credible argument she would.

And as the road to Hell is paved with good intentions … I could see Leia falling to the Dark Side without even realizing it. Each step- each sacrifice- seemed necessary. And it's only at the end that she realizes what she has done and what she has become.

And then she accepts it.