Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts. This chapter was fun to write because we get to see what's up with Finn, Poe, and the rest. Please let me know what you think.
Part II: CHAPTER 4—Brothers and Sisters
Finn woke to a glaring white light in his face. Was he dead? The last thing he remembered was Kylo Ren slicing into him with his lightsaber. And Rey—where was Rey?
Finn tried to sit up, only to find something heavy pressing down on his chest. "Easy tiger," a familiar voice cautioned him.
The light faded a bit, or Finn's eyes just got used to it. He saw that he was in some kind of medical facility, and Poe was sitting beside him, anxiously trying not to look anxious.
"She's just on a little trip," Poe assured Finn.
That sentence didn't compute. "What?"
"Your girlfriend? You were shouting her name."
Finn could feel his face getting warm. He hadn't meant that to be out loud. "Where is she?" he asked. Since his feelings were so obvious, there was no need to hide them, though he should have corrected Poe's assumption that they were a couple.
"The general sent her to find Luke. Artoo finally woke up, and he had the rest of the map. I think it was all part of the plan."
"Artoo? What plan?"
"You've got a lot of catching up to do, buddy. But the general wants to congratulate you and give you a medal and stuff."
Finn frowned. He knew Poe was speaking Basic, but he didn't understand any of it. "Why?"
Poe looked down at Finn in disbelief. "Because you saved pretty much everyone by taking down those shields."
"I had help. You blew the base?"
"I had help too. But yeah, we did it. No telling how many First Order officers escaped."
Finn suddenly remembered something very important. "Solo…"
Poe nodded solemnly. "The general wants to hold off the funeral until Luke can be here. Assuming Rey can convince him to come back. She could be pretty persuasive if I remember right."
"Wait, you know her? I thought you'd never met her."
"Like I said, lots of catching up. First things, though." Poe stood and walked across the room. "You feel like eating anything?"
Finn managed to sit halfway up and look around the room. His back ached, but it didn't feel too bad unless he moved. Poe brought over a tray and set it on the table next to Finn. The strangeness of all of this was starting to settle in. But he was definitely hungry.
"Don't you have better things to do?" Finn asked as he reached for the first edible-looking item.
Poe took his seat again. "They said you'd be waking up soon, and I thought it'd be better if someone you knew were here. Since that's pretty much just me, well…"
"But the First Order—they'll regroup. We need—"
"One thing at a time, Finn. The general's already working on it with her staff."
"She has a staff?"
"Who do you think all those people were?"
"Are you on her staff?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Oh, Captain Rex wants to meet you too."
"Who's he?"
Poe smiled. "I think you'll like him."
~oOo~
Rex watched the princess from behind his viewscreen. He knew she could sense his observation. He had learned a long time ago he couldn't hide anything from her. She had told him to stop worrying, but that wasn't going to happen. It was one thing to be estranged from her husband but quite another to know he was dead. At the hands of their son, no less. Rex had been rethinking his views on betrayal and could no longer consider Anakin Skywalker the epitome of the word.
Leia wouldn't talk about it, of course. She had made that very clear as soon as Rex was aware of what transpired on Starkiller Base. The whole staff had heard the story from Rey. Her halting, tear-filled tale made Rex want to comfort her, but she had no idea who he was. And it wasn't his place to inform her of her parentage. She would find out soon enough, if Cody was still with Luke.
That didn't stop Rex from seeing his brother in the eyes of his niece. It seemed like a lifetime since he'd seen Cody—a lifetime for their kind anyway. As far as Rex knew, they were the last of the clones unless others had found a way to stall their rapid aging process. Of course, that backfired a bit. At 66 years old, Rex still looked younger than the princess whom he had watched grow up. He tried not to think about how everyone he cared about was going to die sooner or later. At least Rey might outlive him.
"You're getting maudlin again," Leia said without looking up at Rex.
"I don't know what that means," he replied. Technically, it was true, but from the context, he understood what she meant.
"You're thinking about death and looking back on the past in an overly sentimental way."
"You know I don't like it when you try to read my mind."
"You know I don't have to try."
"You can be happy it was my death I was thinking about."
Leia smiled sadly. "You're never going to die, Rex. I won't let you."
"Yes, your Highness."
"When are you going to stop calling me that?"
"When you stop being so bossy."
"I am your boss."
"And I wouldn't have it any other way."
Their conversations always went like this. They teased and joked about serious things until they were forced to discuss the real matter at hand. But this time, Rex decided to give her a break. He switched off his screen and walked across the room to where Leia was sitting. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
"You'll always be my princess," he said.
~oOo~
12 BBY
A repeated signal tone awakened Rex very early. He glanced at the chronometer on the wall—05:30. He should have been expecting this.
Groaning loudly to himself, he climbed out of bed and pulled on his clothes before responding to the unceasing calls for attention.
The princess stood outside his door with an impatient glare. "You said we'd go shooting before morning meal," she reminded him tersely. "You promised."
Rex cleared his throat. "Your Highness—"
"No excuses. Let's go."
"Can I put on my boots first?"
Leia looked like she was thinking hard about it before she finally conceded and followed Rex back into his room. She sat on the edge of the bed as he pulled on his shoes. He noticed she had even remembered her coat, and made a mental note to add a few layers before they went out into the cold Alderaan morning.
"You know, the sun doesn't rise for another half hour?" Rex asked as he finished putting on his shoes and went to the closet for a coat.
"I knew it would take a while to get out there," she replied, sounding much older than her seven years.
"You remember not to tell your mother about this?"
"That's why we're going early." Leia nodded. "So no one will notice."
"Right. You don't want me to lose my job, do you?"
"They'd never fire you. You're practically family." She spoke with such certainty that Rex didn't bother to argue with her.
It wasn't as if he would go away if they did fire him. He had made a promise to her father—her real father. And even though Anakin was long dead, Rex would hold himself to the vow he made to protect Leia. That was why he got up before dawn and headed out into the cold with her. She needed to know how to protect herself in an increasingly dangerous galaxy. After his mission to Kamino that took him away from the princess for far too long, he had become more proactive about these things.
As they hiked up the icy hillside surrounding the castle, Rex expected to hear complaints about aching feet any time now. He remembered similar marches, leading his men into all manner of dangerous situations. Some of them complained more than the little girl. She didn't say a word the whole time.
Finally, they reached a wide, flat space with ample targets to choose from. Rex drew his DC-17 hand blasters. "Remember what I told you about guns?" he asked, looking down at Leia.
"Very dangerous," she said, somewhat out of breath. "Not toys. Always loaded. Never point at someone you don't want to kill."
She had a good memory.
Rex handed her one of the guns. "All right, I want you to aim at that boulder. There's gonna be some recoil, so be ready for it."
Leia took the pistol in both hands and held it in front of her, careful not to point it at Rex or her feet. She aimed with her right eye, squeezing the left one closed. He'd have to teach her to aim with both eyes open later. She trained the blaster on the boulder and fired. The recoil caused her to lean back and the shot was wide.
"What do you need to do now?" Rex asked.
Leia frowned at the gun as if it had betrayed her. "Correct for recoil," she said.
Rex nodded. "Try again."
On her second try, Leia hit the side of the boulder, and a chunk of it shattered, leaving a much smaller target.
"Good," Rex said. "Now try getting a kill shot."
Leia still wasn't pleased with her work. Rex knew she wouldn't be happy until she could hit a nerf's eye from a moving speeder. That was why he knew she was ready to learn. She would put the same effort into it as she did with everything else. She reminded him of her father that way, except she was more focused, more disciplined, and less concerned with showing off.
Leia's third attempt overcorrected and went wide right. The jagged piece of boulder still stood. That was the goal for this morning. She wouldn't give up until the rock was a pile of dust.
~oOo~
Finn was up and dressed when Poe's comlink chirped. He seemed surprised when he answered the call.
"You're needed in the hangar bay," a crackly voice said.
"Probably just a damage report," Poe said. "You want to come along."
"Sure," Finn replied, reaching for his jacket before he remembered it had a gaping hole in the back. "Not like I got anything better to do."
"We'll meet with the general and Captain Rex later," Poe said as the walked out into the corridor. "I know they were in meetings all this morning."
"Why are we still here?" Finn asked looking around the familiar base.
"What do you mean?"
"D'Qar. The First Order knows we're here. They could attack."
"The First Order is running scared. We've got time before they try coming after us. By then, we'll have moved somewhere else."
Finn would have thought the sooner they moved on, the better, but he wasn't really experienced with these things. His training was limited to following orders like every other Stormtrooper.
When they entered the hangar, there was no one waiting for them, but a ship was coming in to dock. It didn't look anything like the rest of the Resistance ships, so Finn figured this must by why they called Poe. The thought that it might be Luke crossed Finn's mind, but if so, the Millennium Falcon should be somewhere around too.
Poe frowned as the ship touched down. Finn wasn't sure he'd ever seen his friend anything but happy.
"You're really serious about your ships," Finn said.
"Huh?" Poe turned his head as if he'd forgotten Finn was there.
Finn gestured at the ship. "Is it that bad?"
Poe returned to glaring at the modest craft. "The pilot has no style."
Normally, a statement like that would be said humorously, but there wasn't even a hint of joking in Poe's voice.
The ship finished landing, and the pilot came down the small ramp. It was a woman with black hair, but the rest of her was covered by a bulky jacket, scarf, and goggles.
"Old girlfriend?" Finn guessed.
"Ew, no," Poe replied.
When she pulled down the scarf and goggles from her face, Finn realized who she was. They had the same tanned skin and brown eyes.
"You could be twins," Finn said.
"Don't say that," Poe grumbled. Since when did he grumble?
"Poe," the woman said curtly.
"Cass," Poe replied in the same tone.
"Who's your boyfriend?" She nodded toward Finn.
"Unfortunately Finn is already smitten with the long lost Kenobi."
"I'm what? Who?" Finn wasn't sure if he should be offended.
"He doesn't know?" Cass raised her eyebrows.
"She doesn't even know. Or didn't until very recently."
"What is going on?" Finn demanded.
"Rey is the granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Try to keep up."
"Wait, wasn't he some kind of rebel general?"
"He was a Jedi Master," Cass corrected. "One of two who survived the Purge. His daughter trained with Luke Skywalker, and she is Kira-Rey's mother."
Finn frowned. This was a lot to take in. He felt like he hardly knew Rey, but she didn't even know these things about herself.
Cass put her hands on her hips, and as she did, her jacket rose up enough for Finn to see the hilt of a lightsaber hanging from her belt. How the hell did she get that?
~oOo~
21 ABY
Feet pounded on the jungle floor, and frantic breaths filled the silences between each boot's fall. Cass drew on the Force to give her speed and stamina. She was almost out of strength. When the fight started, she knew she was no match for any of them. She wasn't as strong in the Force as her friends—enemies now. Her lightsaber had been destroyed in the battle. The one that beat against her hip now reminded her of its owner—reminded her not to give up. She tried to hear his voice, somewhere deep in the Force. But her emotions were too chaotic. She couldn't focus.
When she reached the homestead, everything was in flames except the ship which was hovering just above the treetops. Those bastards. The ship descended, and Cass expected this to be the end. They'd killed her family, they would kill her now too. She just wished Ben had done it himself.
When the landing gear settled and the hatch opened, Cass' anger turned to relief. "Poe!" she screamed his name and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She'd never get used to him being so tall.
He was stiff in her arms, and she pulled back, seeing that his gaze was fixed on the smoldering dwelling. No one could still be alive in there.
"Poe, we have to go," Cass said, shaking his shoulders. "I need you to fly this thing."
"Can't…" Poe didn't move. "Dad…"
Cass grabbed both of his shoulders and forced him to look at her. "Dad's dead. They're all dead. We have to go."
She dragged him into the ship behind her and pushed him toward the cockpit. He seemed to revive after that. Sitting at the controls always brought out his uncanny skills. He flew low over the jungle back toward the old base Master Luke had turned into his academy.
"What are you doing—we need to get out of here!" Cass demanded.
"Might be survivors," Poe replied numbly.
"There aren't," Cass said.
"You know that? For sure?"
She didn't. She was focusing on her fear. Exactly what she'd always been taught not to do. She closed her eyes and reached out through the Force.
"The lake," she said, eyes snapping open. "There's someone by the lake… It's the Kenobis."
Poe turned the ship in that direction, accelerating faster than Cass was really comfortable with. She tried to focus on the Force presence of their friends. She directed Poe to the far side of the lake near an outcropping of rocks that held many unexplored caves. Cass hoped they wouldn't have to go in there.
Her wishes were answered as she headed down the ramp to the damp ground. A bulky figure came out of one of the cave openings. As he came closer, Cass recognized Cody carrying a small bundle that created the illusion of bulk. Cass looked behind him, expecting to see another person.
"Where's…?"
Cody shook his head as he met Cass' gaze. "I don't know," he said. His precious cargo didn't stir.
Cass led the way back to the ship and told Poe to take off again. "Where was she last?" she asked Cody as they sat in the back of the cockpit.
"At the base," he said. "The academy."
Poe didn't have to be told. He took off back toward the old rebel base. Cass hoped their detour to the lake hadn't lost them too much time. She reached out with her feelings and sensed something, someone still hanging on.
"Fly over the top," she told her brother.
As the academy came in view, Cass could see that she was right. Standing at the pinnacle of the structure was a lone figure. The glow of red lightsabers inched up the walls toward the prey.
"Open the hatch, and fly low." Cass got out of her seat and headed back to intercept the straggler.
The wind whipped her hair as she gripped the hydraulics to steady herself. She reached out her hand and pulled her master into the ship. She sent one word through the Force: Go!
Poe wouldn't hear her, but the girl would.
Luke was quiet as they sped off toward the atmosphere. He didn't seem injured or even out of breath, but he didn't say a word as they walked back to the cockpit. When he saw Cody and the child in his arms, he seemed relieved at least.
"Is this everyone?" he asked.
Cody looked at him with a question in his eyes he couldn't give words to. Cass felt his agony at the thought, the same pain she was feeling for her own family and the one she loved.
"It would seem so," Luke answered his own question. "The academy was overrun. I don't think anyone else got out."
A sudden, earsplitting cry filled the cabin. Kira-Rey lunged out of her father's arms and climbed over the ship controls to the window and began pounding her little fists against the glass. She didn't stop screaming, even when Cody pulled her down from the control panel. Poe ducked so she wouldn't hit his head with her flailing feet.
Luke reached out and touched the girl's head, and she instantly fell asleep. Cody gave him a frustrated look but didn't say anything. He carried his daughter out of the cockpit toward the small sleeping quarters.
Luke sat down in one of the passenger seats and seemed to deflate. Cass wanted to say something comforting, something that would take away the guilt he was surely feeling over the massacre down on the moon. She took the copilot's seat next to her brother and stared through the window. The gas giant of Yavin loomed before them for a moment before they entered hyperspace.
They Jedi Academy was no more. Luke, Cass, and Kira-Rey were they only ones left. Ben and his followers had joined the dark side. Nothing would ever be the same again.
~oOo~
Cass walked through the corridors like she owned the place. Behind her, Finn followed alongside Poe. Whatever had caused the coldness between them was still unclear. There seemed to be a lot of nonverbal cues which Finn's anti-social upbringing left him oblivious to. Or maybe it was a sibling thing. Finn always kind of wished for a brother or sister. Some of the other Stormtroopers treated each other that way, but never him. He was always on the outside. It seemed he always would be.
They reached the room where Finn had first met General Organa and helped plan the attack on Starkiller Base. At the time, he had been so focused on saving Rey that nothing else mattered. The thought of being a hero never entered his mind. Perhaps it was silly, but a part of him believed that if he saved her from the First Order, maybe Rey would run away with him. And even if she didn't, he couldn't have lived with himself if he hadn't done everything possible to save her from the terrible fate that awaited her. Now she was off becoming a Jedi, and he was here not knowing what to do with himself.
When the three of them walked into the room, Finn noticed the general and another man he thought he'd seen before. He had a scar on his right temple and closely shaved blonde hair.
"Uncle Rex!" Cass exclaimed, moving toward the man and hugging him enthusiastically. The contrast between this and her greeting of her brother was overwhelming.
The man—Captain Rex—seemed equally glad to see Cass and asked her all about what she'd been doing lately. Finn wasn't listening to the whole conversation. He was watching Poe whose gaze was fixed with dissatisfaction on the interaction.
The general came over to Finn and reached for his hand. "So good to see you well," she said earnestly.
Finn gripped her hand in return, bowing his head slightly toward her. "I'm sorry about…"
Leia nodded, giving him no reason to continue. "We are all very grateful for your service to the Resistance."
Finn shook his head. "I didn't even mean to save anyone but Rey."
"The most heroic acts are sometimes accidental."
"But I lied to you."
"And normally I'd be angry, but your actions as well as those of your friends have saved us all."
"Not—not Han. I'm sorry; if I'd told the truth he'd still be here."
"If you had told the truth, none of us would still be here." She shook her head as if trying to convince herself of something. "No, I'm the one who asked him to talk to Ben. I thought my son was still alive in there."
"What happened to him?"
Leia turned halfway toward Captain Rex and Cass, indicating the conversation was over. "I'd like you to meet someone," she said, keeping her emotions in check.
Finn felt terrible for bringing up such painful memories and resolved not to mention it again.
Cass turned to Leia and hugged her as well. "I'm sorry I wasn't here," she said.
Leia brushed it off. "You're here now. Maybe you'll stay awhile this time."
Cass gave no assurances, but she didn't argue either.
Leia then motioned to Rex. "Captain Rex, meet Finn."
Rex stepped forward and reached out his hand, catching Finn's in a strong grip. "Thank you," he said, with greater emotion than Finn would have expected.
Finny tried to think of something appropriate to say, but nothing came to him. "I didn't do much," he finally replied.
Rex looked surprised. "You brought our girl back to us," he said.
Now it was Finn's turn to be surprised. "Rey? How do you…?"
Rex smiled. "She's my brother's daughter. Now that she's found that out for herself, there's no harm in telling you."
It was all a little much for one day. "Wait, so how are you their uncle too?" Finn gestured to Cass and Poe.
"Honorary," Cass said. "We spent some time here after…"
"After Ben went crazy," Poe filled in nonchalantly. "We lived on Yavin 4 where the academy was."
Finn noticed that Cass bristled more at Poe's attitude than Leia did.
"You were a student there?" Finn asked Cass, trying to avoid the unpleasant conversation.
Cass started at him in shock. "How did you…?"
"Your lightsaber. I wondered where you got it. I thought all the Jedi were killed?"
"I'm not much of a Jedi. My training ended when the academy was destroyed. Aside from Master Luke and Kira-Rey, no other Force sensitive people made it out."
"How does Rey not remember all that?"
"We suspect it was the trauma," Leia said. "Seeing what she saw at only six years old can do a lot of damage. It might be better that she doesn't remember."
Rex got a dark look in his eyes but didn't say anything. If Finn had to guess what he was thinking, it might have had something to do with how Rey remembering her family might not have been such a bad thing.
