The Solo family didn't wish to be away from their current Resistance base for long, but they agreed to rest one night on the planet where Rey had the ultrasound. Seeing as how they weren't familiar with many Resistance members at the base, they tried to keep to themselves for the remainder of the day, joining with others only to eat dinner in the mess hall. Even then, the family received a few stares. The gazes were not intended to be rude, but when a family includes General Organa's redeemed son and a Force-sensitive woman who trained temporarily under the legendary Luke Skywalker, they were bound to receive at least some attention. At first these prolonged glances had been harrowing for both Ben and Rey when they re-joined the Resistance, but they'd grown accustomed to it over time. Cela, on the other hand, was not yet old enough to notice all the stares, and instead enjoyed a meal that had deviated from the norm. After all, every cook on a base had different recipes!
All the commotion from the day's events had tired Rey, so shortly after they finished their meals she retired early to their sleeping quarters.
"Are you feeling okay?" Ben asked.
"I am," Rey said, "It's just been a long day for someone, you know, in my condition,"
"Do you need anything?"
"No thank you," Rey smiled. "Cela seemed interested in the base though. If you want to give her a tour of the facilities I'm sure she'd love it,"
"You sure?"
"Of course," Rey gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll keep the bed warm for you until then,"
Rey wasn't sure how much time passed after she lay down, but when she opened her eyes again the light was almost non-existent. Only the last remaining tendrils of sun seeped through the window, casting shadows across the room.
As if one queue, Rey felt the opposite end of the bed sag slightly under suddenly applied weight.
"Ready to call it a day?" Rey turned over but was surprised to find that Ben wasn't laying on her other side. Propping herself up on her elbows, she looked at the doorway to find the door at the exact same angle as she left it.
Nobody had come in, and nobody had left.
Wary, Rey lay back down, only to be overcome with the sensation that she was not alone. Opening her eyes again, Rey now found herself face to face with the Darkness in the form of Snoke.
Instinct taking over, Rey called upon the Force, catching her lightsaber as she ignited and slashed it through the being standing by the side of her bed.
"A wasted effort," the Darkness/Snoke said as the green blade cut through the ethereal body like a ghost. "This body decayed on another world years ago; you should know that,"
Rey tightened her grip on the lightsaber, refusing to let her guard down.
"If you don't have a body," Rey reasoned, "Then you shouldn't be able to sit on a bed,"
"Ah," the Darkness gave a wicked grin, "But I am able to bend matter as the Dark side of the Force, am I not?"
Rey didn't understand. If the Darkness didn't need to be called upon by a Sith, why bother with the First Order and the remaining Knights of Ren? Unless, somehow, the Darkness was growing stronger. Was that how it was now able to take form and press upon objects?
"What do you want?" Rey asked. The Darkness hadn't manifested since Cela was a baby, and even then it was when Ben opened a Sith holocron.*
The Darkness stood up and walked towards the door, Snoke's gold robe trailing behind its heels. "I wanted to remind you not to be complacent," it said.
"How could I?" Rey challenged. "Everything that's happened within the last few months has been outside the realm of normal!"
"Perhaps," the Darkness said. "Or…perhaps you have been looking in the wrong places,"
Rey would not be taunted. She leapt over the bed and slashed again at the figure, but she may as well have been trying to attack mist. The Darkness drew out its hand and pushed Rey back onto the bed with sheer use of the Force, her lightsaber swinging onto the bed and charring the blankets in the process.
"Do not forget that until the child is born, you are connected to the Force in ways you were not before," The Darkness began to evaporate as it crossed the threshold to the room, "Which is more than can be said for some of your unborn child's brothers or sisters,"
Rey felt her breath catch in your throat. "What do you mean my child's brothers and sisters?" she asked, but the Darkness had already disappeared.
*See "The Reylo Chronicles: Aftermath" story "The Jedi Archives"
