- Rey -
"You need a teacher," he says. "I can show you the ways of the Force."
Locked in battle, light sabers yielded between us. The blue reflects in my eyes, the red in his eyes. His eyes. . . so like Han's, yet so empty and cold. Hollow. The years spent relishing in the Dark side has emptied him of any light.
The ways of the Force. The words echo in my mind. This is the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, sister of Luke Skywalker. The Force is within him, but I know that it is somehow within me, too. I know what I can do, I can call deep inside me and touch that power. If I call to it hard enough, like I did when held captive in that interrogation room, there's no limit to what I can do. But maybe there are limits. Limits I can't pass unless I have someone to teach me. And he's one of the last.
One of the last people to hone the Force. If I kill him now, that's one less person. What if the Resistance never finds Luke Skywalker? Who would teach me, who knows so much of the Force and its teachings unlike the man in front of me?
This is Han Solo's son, I think. The son who killed Han without blinking. A soulless creature. Who could murder their father in cold blood? Han, he wasn't a bad man. He wasn't the villain in anyone's life, but perhaps to Kylo Ren he was. I recall the conversation between father and son. Han wanted so badly to turn his son back to the Light, to fix the broken pieces within him and bring him home.
Home.
He's so lucky to have a home. Jakku wasn't as much a home for me as just a place to wait the return of whoever left me behind. I can't help but feel guilty at the thought of having to kill Kylo. Like all Han did to see his son again gone to waste. Han just wanted to see his son home safe again.
And maybe I can still do that.
Staring up at him, his teeth gritted as he holds his stance. Behind me I feel the cliff begin to give way. The planet is further collapsing, and we don't have long, but. . .
I close my eyes, focusing, reaching deep inside me until I can feel it, feel the Force within, and I can so clearly grasp it that it's almost as if I'm holding it in my hands. It's delicate but strong, something that the weak couldn't handle because of the power it contains. Focus, Rey, I can hear the voice inside my head, leading me forward, showing me the way to grabbing hold.
"Argh!" I shove forward, jumping off the side just as the gaping line across the snowbank swallows more and more of the ground beneath out feet. Kylo turns, his light saber twirling in his hand. I lunge forward and our weapons clash, the buzzing noise it makes already familiar to my ears. We clash four more times before I'm able to sweep under and slash his leg, some of the black fabric from his coat fluttering to the ground, a stark contrast to the white around us.
He drops to his knees, then he falls to his elbows, panting heavily. I circle around him, teeth gritted, also breathing heavily. I'm surprised when he rises and strikes out against me. I let out a small scream as I block his lightsaber from hitting me. But he doesn't stand a chance as I bring my lightsaber up and feel the shock go through my arms as it brushes across his face. His body drops to the ground all too fast, and I panic as I begin to think I might have killed him, until I see the unsteady rise and fall of his chest.
My moment of guilty triumph is interrupted as the ground begins to quake beneath me and the ground between me and Kylo breaks apart. I don't think before I lunge and land right beside him. I drop my saber beside me and turn around as the other side moves further and further into the distance.
Turning back around, I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. I open them to find the unconscious Kylo Ren beneath me. Force, what have I done? How is anyone supposed to find me in this collapsing planet? And Finn. . . ?
"No!" I jump to my feet and glance into the abyss before me. Finn, on the other side, injured and alone. I hadn't even thought about him, and, oh, Force, what if he. . . My thoughts trail off as I stare down into the darkness. No, no, no. I can't think about this. I shake my head, turning around and dropping to my knees. My face falls into my hands and I tremble. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Pushing all thoughts of Finn's fate out of my mind, I try to stay focused on the task at hand. Alone with Kylo Ren, a planet crumbling around me, we're both very much dead unless by some miracle we can escape. But just staring at him I know he's too much weight for me to pull by myself. I close my eyes and take steady even breaths.
"Ren!" A voice, in the distance, one that's unfamiliar. I quickly reach for my - Luke's - saber and jump to my feet. The blue rod of light shoots out of the cannon. Footsteps tread through the ever-deepening snow and soon there appears a ginger-haired man and behind him a small band of stormtroopers. As soon as they spot me their guns pull up and all aim at me. The man who I believe is the leader stops just as suddenly, his eyes roving from me to Kylo, still unconscious on the ground. The young man's eyes fall on me once again and they narrow. "You," he spits.
"Don't come any closer!" I shout at them, raising the lightsaber as I lodge myself between them and Kylo Ren. I gulp heavily, taking few steps back. My steps leave imprints in the snow, and now that I finally take that into account, I feel the chill rise from my feet. A shiver runs down my spine. I glance down at Kylo Ren before positioning my body into a defensive stance. "He's losing blood fast, and he doesn't have long, so I propose you don't touch me, or it's all over."
The orange-haired man growls, and I feel fear creep up through me as he takes strong, long-legged strides toward me, his hands curled into fists underneath his leather gloves. I stumble back, lifting up my arms, ready for another fight. But his journey over to what I think is to strangle me is short-lived as an arm shoots out and grabs his booted leg.
"You. . . don't. . . touch her," Kylo Ren murmurs, his eyes barely opened to slits. Blood continues to pour from his several wounds, and it's as if I can hear the clock ticking for him. His eyes meet mine for a moment before he nods off again.
The man signals forward the stormtroopers, and I watch as four step forward, scoop him up, and begin to lug him away. Another trooper comes forward and snatches up the red lightsaber, eyeing me warily.
I step forward, hand reaching out. "Wait, where are you taking-"
The man steps in front of me, his body completely blocking my view as the stormtroopers disappear with Kylo cradled between them. A few remain, sights still aimed on me. I glare up at the guy before me.
"Where are they taking him?" I ask again.
"That, I'm afraid, is classified information."
I glance around his shoulder, desperate for possibly my last glance at Han Solo's son before they drag me Force knows where and probably kill me for doing what I did. But it's too late, Kylo already disappearing in the falling snow and dust that is rising with the fall of the planet.
I lean back to glare up into the face of the ginger-haired man, noticing for the first time that his eyes are blue and he is, in fact, quite handsome. "Who the hell are you, anyway?" I snap at him.
"My name is General Hux," he says, and I am under strict orders to bring you with me."
"By who?" I query, narrowing my eyes.
"No one of importance to you," he answers icily. "Now, hurry," he hisses. The man snatches my arm and tugs me along beside me as we make our way out of the dense forest, the air heavy with snow and fog and the ashes as more and more ground seems to crumble away behind us. I stumble along, fumbling with my hands as I attach Luke's lightsaber to my belt. The stomtroopers stay back a few steps, blasters still aimed at me, as if I'm a threat in such a weakened state.
As we reach the edge of the treeline, I see bright lights and then the command shuttle that awaits us. Kylo Ren is nowhere to be found, and I don't know why but I panic at the thought of being alone with anyone else when he's not around. Not that he's so trustworthy either but. . .
Our paces quicken the closer we get to the command shuttle and as General Hux boards the landing strip, I halt. "Wait!" I say, grabbing him my the arm. His body reacts and stiffens at my touch and I quickly release him, and he does the same to me. I can still feel his hand on my forearm, knowing by tomorrow I'll have a prominent bruise there.
"What?" he says, clearly on his last thread of patience. His eyes scan the horizon, the planet going up in flames. I can only hope that Finn and the rest got out all right.
"Will he be okay?" I ask.
"Who? Kylo Ren?" The general glances over his shoulder as a few stormtroopers signal for us to board. He scowls at me. "He won't be if you don't board the shuttle. We have to hurry and get him to medical. There's no telling the damage you and your little friend have done."
I think back to the blood soaking into the snow and the flash of blue as the lightsaber streaked across Kylo Ren's face. And maybe it's that image that makes me unquestionably follow Hux aboard the command shuttle, and watch in utter silence as the bay door closes soundlessly behind me, the planet and my friends disappearing as the door seals shut.
I take a deep breath as General Hux mutters to me, "Welcome aboard, Rey."