"Rey is where?"
"Jakku."
Poe sputtered and looked back and forth from Leia to Finn in utter disbelief.
"I sent her there for a specific mission. She is far safer there than on this ship right now."
"Yes… Okay. I just," Poe brow had furrowed and he rubbed his temples, "Why is she there alone? Without a beacon?"
Finn sat very still beside Poe. He had expelled his frustrations earlier after Rey's departure, waking the entire ship with ease.
"Poe. No one knows she is there but us. We have her coordinates, she's not going anywhere else. There's no need for a beacon. We will return for her at the end of her mission."
"But Finn or I could have gone with her—"
Leia gave Poe a hard look. "You or Finn joining her would only draw unnecessary attention. Neither of you are exactly covert. She knows how to keep herself hidden there."
Leia took a deep breath and let it out. She spoke with more gentleness now.
"Sending her away at this time was the best move. We must stop on Kashyyyk soon. Chewie will try to negotiate with the Wookies to join the Resistance. We are also in desperate need of more fuel.
"While we are there only Chewie will leave the Falcon. We are to remain inside until the negotiations have finished. The Wookies were allies in the past, but that doesn't change the fact that the galaxy is on edge looking for us. More importantly, they are looking for her. Having her with us would only put her at a greater risk."
"You could have sent her anywhere else," Finn said coldly. "There are countless other planets with ship graveyards. But now she is back on that hopeless planet alone."
Leia sighed deeply. "I realize the two of you care for her, and you worry. I care for her too." When looked up she wore a small smile. "She is stronger than all of us could possibly comprehend. You have to believe that she can handle this."
"Now," Leia's tone shifted into something more business like, "I implore the two of you to ready the ship for landing— and to trust your General."
Leia turned and left the rear cargo hold. Finn and Poe watched her leave in silence before shifting in the small space to face one another. They knew they both were thinking the same thing.
"Poe. If these next few weeks pass and she's still there I am leaving to get her."
Poe smirked and slapped a hand on Finn's shoulder.
"Not if I beat you to it buddy."
Rey scaled the inside of The Ravager with intent. She occasionally became distracted by smaller pieces that she would have scavenged in the past for portions and had to restrain herself from snatching them. Old habits were hard to break.
Leia had sent her with a list of parts to watch for, specifically parts for shield generators. Apparently even the dated parts from the decaying ships would provide an extra layer of camouflage at a distance from the First Order's tracking. Also the trades on the parts for shield generators had increased in security. Transports did not need shields, only war ships did.
There was a good chance the part hadn't been previously scavenged, the part in it's entirety was far too large and heavy to move with even five able bodies, but Rey could lift it easily with the Force.
Her feet hit the faded durasteel of the eroded platform of the Ravager. The last time she had scavenged from the ship had been over half a year ago. She did not find much success, only three small parts after an entire day of searching. Good for only a quarter portion.
Rey clutched her stomach. She would have to eat soon. Leia had given her three weeks of rations to ensure she would not go hungry. Knowing that she had plenty of food at home to return to made the situation much less depressing.
She approached a wall covered with dented panels. She reached her hand out and with a slight twitch of her wrist one of the panels crunched in on itself at the corners, and Rey cast it to the side and slowly lowered it into the platform. When she looked into the hole she had created she could see a narrow maintenance tunnel amidst thousands of little wires and keyboards. She brought out a small lantern from her satchel and crept further into the ship.
A week had passed since she landed on Jakku, and she had already scavenged what she could from the Indicator: a few parts from a main shield generator that could be repurposed for smaller fighter ships and war transports, several power cells, tractor beam laser projector barrels, and an overwhelming amount of atmosphere ducts. Leia thought it best to make a drop off point where Rey could dump all of the parts and an ally would come to get them. Rey had wanted to protest but knew better. It was common knowledge across the galaxy that she had murdered Supreme Leader Snoke. The bounty the First Order had to offer continued to grow each day that she evaded capture, and Leia believed it was only a matter of time before greediness would overtake even trusted loyalties to the Resistance.
Rey would watch from a distance every couple days as strange ships landed by the pile of parts she had collected. She had seen multiple species come and go, never anyone she recognized.
Her attempts to distract herself from her isolation only succeeded during the day while she was scavenging. She dreaded going back to the AT-AT each night where she knew there was nothing to steal her attention away from her bleak reality. The first couple nights she couldn't sleep at all. The grief she felt from the familiarity of the routine encompassed her and in the hours before dawn she couldn't help but think she had returned to Jakku forever. The Resistance would forget about her. She would be left to once again stare into the blinding sky for a ship that would never come.
It was during those painful nights that she couldn't help but think of her parents. She knew Kylo had not lied to her in the throne room. It was a truth she had always known, but never wanted to face. In that moment, for a brief few seconds he empathized with her despair. She could feel him in her mind, relaying to her how much he understood and allowing her to pour out her sorrow into him. For those few seconds he had listened and he had truly cared. She wondered where her parents were buried, and if she could ever find the forgotten graves.
She advanced through the passageway in the Ravager, drawing closer to what she hoped to find. Then she saw it. The local shield generator sat in front of her, completely untouched. She let out a small cry of excitement before she set to work opening up the passageway. This generator could shield a new rebel command ship. The loss of the Raddus had hit Leia particularly hard, Rey felt happy to potentially bring them one step closer to completing it.
She stepped back from the generator and extended her hand once again, this time balling her fingers to make a fist. She jerked her fist up and the generator detached from the remains of the ship with a loud crack. She stepped backwards through the opening and floated the generator out onto the platform, setting it down with a gentle thud.
She let out a sigh of relief and wiped a bead of sweat at her forehead. She was done for the day.
As she made her way to the drop off point she let her thoughts drift aimlessly to Kylo. She initially felt apprehensive after their most recent encounter. His sudden appearance flustered her; their last meeting had revealed so much more about him—and she hated the compassion she felt. It had to be a scheme of his to make himself more and more vulnerable to her. In the past she had thought this vulnerability was Ben Solo trying to claw his way out from the facade that was Kylo Ren. He had just tried to manipulate her into joining him at the end. Did he really think she could be that easily swayed? Their overwhelmingly confusing and emotional connection transcended her rational thoughts time and time again. The bond she felt with him felt far more powerful than what she felt with Finn or Leia. More powerful than her loyalty to the Resistance. She swallowed nervously. Even so, that didn't mean she was going to drop everything to join him. He had acted selfishly, their partnership was all he needed and he mistakenly assumed it was all she needed as well. She shook her head. She had thought about this too many times.
When he appeared to her suddenly in the AT-AT he had seen her in firelight, it didn't take a genius to know that she had left the Falcon. She realized with a jolt that she had the machine part clasped in her hand and she subtly moved it behind her back while his eyes rested on her face. She blocked off her mind as he attempted to probe into it. Surely he didn't know where she was. He had guarded himself as well, she had no way to read him.
After a few days had passed since their connection Rey forced herself to feel at ease. He would have come already.
She placed the generator and several smaller parts down for pickup and moved to a secluded spot where she could watch her findings be carried away.
Rey looked up into the sky, and then out into the wide expanse of sand that seemed to stretch into infinity. She thought of her parents again. There was no way she could find their graves. The reality of that depressed her. She needed a chance to mourn them so she could attempt to let them go.
Struck by inspiration, she gathered a few rocks that lay around her. She would have to make her own memorial.
Kylo frowned as he approached Jakku. It really was an awful looking planet, even from space. He prepared the transport for landing. He had visited Jakku a handful of times with his father, the memories that flashed through his head made the planet seem even uglier. The Niima Outpost was home to smugglers of all species, and Han Solo never tired of making deals.
He set some coordinates just beyond the outpost and began to descend. When the ship touched ground, the sand seemed to swallow it. Kylo promptly removed his cape and his cowl. He remembered the heat, and he hated it.
He begrudgingly stepped out of the transport into the blaze and waited for his eyes to adjust to the brightness. Late afternoon had set in. He reached out with the force in an attempt to locate her, a familiar internal warmth enveloped him confirming that he had come to the right planet.
Once he had a sense of which direction to go, he went back in the ship and ascended again. He knew it was only a matter of time before she noticed his presence on Jakku. He had to tread carefully.
Hux seemed suspicious of his sudden mysterious trip, but didn't press him. Kylo went to great lengths to ensure the transport wouldn't be tracked. He passed over another sizable dune and he felt the force buzz loudly at the sight of an overturned AT-AT. Judging from the look and wear of it, it came from the Empire. He stopped the ship at once and chose to land in a discreet location where he wouldn't be easily noticed.
He left the ship and trudged through the sand. He was relieved to feel the air had become somewhat cooler, it combatted the growing heat inside of him. He decided to bring his lightsaber with him, not that he planned on using it. She was always the one who attacked first and if he needed to defend himself he would be prepared.
Suddenly he felt a little stupid. He didn't have any specific plan to convince her to join him. He already knew no matter what he said to her here that she would refuse him again. But he had needed to come anyways. He had acted on yet another weakness. He stopped in the sand for a moment to quell his irritation.
She had hesitated on the Supremacy. She had considered it for at least a moment. The seed had been planted. If he could manage to water it there was a chance. A feeling of emptiness washed over him at the memory of her rejection. The wound still hadn't healed. Kylo didn't think it ever would until she decided to take his hand.
He continued to walk. He reached the top of the dune overlooking the AT-AT and he saw her.
She kneeled on the sand in front of two mounds of rocks. With every step he took towards her he felt her anguish growing through their bond. He realized she was mourning her parents. He stopped his advance and watched her.
Her head twitched in his direction. When she saw him she jumped up and he saw her hand immediately clutch at her side for a lightsaber that didn't exist. She had no weapon on her. She looked petrified at the sight of him in the flesh.
"What— where—"
"I'm surprised you didn't feel me coming."
Rey shook her head quickly, he saw the wetness on her face. She had been weeping.
"I was a little occupied." She brushed herself off lightly and rubbed the tears from her cheeks. She regained her composure and stood defiantly. "And what might you be doing here? Where's the rest of your gang?"
Kylo's mouth rolled over on itself before he spoke. "You know why I'm here."
She raised her chin loftily. "Well my answer is still no! What did you expect to hear? You came all this way to hear what you already knew I would say!"
"You're right."
Now she seemed confused. She searched his mind, and he let her. She had to trust that he wouldn't hurt her.
"You saw the part. That's how you found me?"
"Not entirely. You didn't exactly hide your feelings from me. I felt the same feelings in your memories of growing up here." He shrugged, "It was a lucky guess."
"If you knew where I was from the beginning why did it take you so long to come here?"
He cocked his head, "I am the Supreme Leader of the First Order. I had other things to do."
She scoffed and looked away from him. Kylo took a moment to properly look at her. Her hair hung down freely and framed her round face. She was dressed in similar rags that he first met her in, these looked far dirtier. It was obvious she was working hard. Her skin was caked in a layer of dirt that hid her subtle freckles. He traveled down her body and remembered how small she was compared to him. Her delicate hands trembled slightly by her thighs. He looked back at her face, and felt a knot tightening in his stomach.
The darkness had started to fall. He could barely see her. He stepped closer and felt his heart pound faster. Suddenly it made sense why she had come to Jakku.
"The Resistance sent you here to scavenge from the ship graveyard for a new fleet….She sent you away, just as she sent me away."
She locked onto his eyes again. Concern radiated from her as she struggled to keep herself irate. "No. No it's not like that."
"They sent you back to the place of your nightmares— and for what? So they could use you."
"The Resistance is not using me! Leia is not using me! I came here of my own choice! I chose to help them! It was a selfless act. Something I know you wouldn't understand."
"No." Kylo looked at her intensely. The thought of the Resistance—his mother sending her back here infuriated him. "You barely had a choice. You had no desire to return here."
He covered his face with a gloved hand, his frustration growing rapidly. "You know it is pointless. No matter how many parts you scavenge for ships, the ships will get destroyed again and again. The war will drag on forever. You will come back here again and again. Why do you continue to lie to yourself?"
"No you're wrong!" She yelled. "The Resistance is only growing stronger! I came here because we are desperate right now! All of our fleet was destroyed thanks to you!"
Kylo scowled at her and stepped closer. She was within arms reach now, his voice was barely louder than a whisper. "I did what I had to do. The war should have ended that day."
"As long as I'm alive the war will never be over." Her voice had dropped lower to match his, "I know you won't kill me."
Their words lingered in the air around them as they stared at each other disdainfully. Neither of them spoke for what seemed like forever.
Kylo spoke first, with a hardness that rounded each of his words. "The Resistance are not heroes. They murder just as The First Order murders. They are just as ruthless in their attempt to gain power. Neither winning nor losing will save the galaxy. Light cannot exist without darkness. And dark cannot exist without light. So no, I won't kill you. Because that will accomplish nothing. I know you know the truth."
Rey's lips pursed together. He searched her mind quickly before she could block him out.
"You believe me. You agree with me." He reached out to her with a gloved hand. "You can't deny me forever."
She hated him in that moment. She shook her head. "I can't do this right now."
He balled his hand into a fist and slowly let it fall down to his side. He wanted to shake her. He wanted to scream at her. He took a deep breath and willed himself to stay calm.
"This conversation isn't over." He turned from her and walked away. Her eyes remained on him until he disappeared over the dune.
