Chapter III: Next in Command
They were seven hours away from Gôhn when a transmission was received. Chewbacca woke Poe up, who then immediately left the lounge space to inform Leia, not even glancing at Finn, awake, carefully avoiding looking at him, and Rey sleeping with a frown.
When Poe reached Leia's bunk and gently caressed her shoulder to wake her up, she didn't respond. He tenderly turned her over and called out her name. Her eyes were closed; she looked peaceful.
He didn't hear any breathing.
His heart abruptly thumping, he raised his voice. Nothing. He started to tremble. He grabbed her left wrist. She was cold, but not rigid. He took her pulse. He didn't find it. He tried again.
There was no pulse.
The world fell silent; he was deafened.
She looked asleep.
Someone pushed him back. Distant shouts.
No. Not now.
He couldn't speak.
He couldn't look away from Leia's face as a young fighter tried to revive her. Then Kalonia came in and examined her too quickly. She didn't do anything. He searched the medic's eyes and for the first time in the fourteen years he had known her, he saw fear in them. He looked back at Leia. He was been stared at; people were waiting for him to say something, to react, to give orders, but he didn't look away from Leia. He couldn't.
He couldn't speak.
Kalonia said something and suddenly he was alone in the small triple bunk space.
Alone with Leia's body.
His face was wet.
Rey woke up with a faint gasp. Flashes of Ben's soft eyes, Snoke's body falling with a thud and, oddly, Leia's content smile were the only remnants of her nightmare.
There were shouts. She sat up, like a fox detecting danger, and bolted towards them, only to bump into an old man in tears.
She understood then.
Leia.
No. Not now.
The news spread like fire. In an instant, the tight passageway was crowded. Everyone was gasping or crying. The loss was shattering. She felt an over-powering need to be held by Finn. She barely had time to turn on her heels when she was engulfed in his arms. After a moment, he spoke.
"I'm here. It's gonna be okay."
It was only then that Rey burst into tears.
Alone in bed, her son felt it.
He didn't have any visible reaction. It was like a cold wave washing over his heart, but his heart was already cold. He blinked and gulped, and that was it; at least he tried to convince himself.
He turned on his side. There was an odd relief too. He would never have to do it himself.
You're a monster.
He couldn't shake Rey out, her words, the look on her face when she had shut him away.
You're still holding on! Let go!, he repeated to himself for the thousandth time.
No matter how many times he tried, he couldn't. Never completely.
And now the scavenger obsessed him, more than ever.
Having just been freed from Snoke and failed to turn Rey, he finally had what he'd desired and what he knew he deserved: unlimited power and definitive solitude.
No. I'll get her back. I'll make her pay. I'll make her mine.
Brushing aside the weakness he had felt rising in his chest upon Leia's death, he focused back on his plan to catch Rey again, and destroy them all.
"Where's Poe?" Finn asked.
A pause.
"With her", Rey answered in a faint voice.
Another pause.
"Someone go tell him there's no time for mourning. He's next in command. A leader doesn't stop to mourn."
Everyone turned and stared at whoever had the nerve to cut through the woeful silence like that. It was a boy, not looking older than fifteen.
"You do realize who you're talking about, right?" Finn snapped back.
"The General didn't stop to mourn Han Solo. I didn't stop to mourn my dad. He was on one of the transports."
Finn's mouth opened, but he didn't find anything to respond to that.
"He's right."
Everyone started.
"We received a transmission moments ago", Poe went on, passing them all amidst dead silence, then disappearing into the cockpit.
Suddenly, Rey realized that she hadn't seen Chewbacca. No growl could be heard from the cockpit, but she knew he was there.
They all looked at the door, waiting.