Author's Note: Happy Birthday Evi!
Chapter 9
Rey's mind raced, trying to figure how best to escape. She allowed the two stormtroopers to take her off the ship and through the hangar bay, figuring it was the best way of getting through it.
One of the troopers seemed to be leading, having a better idea of where they were headed. Rey had just decided she would let the pair of them drag her all the way to her cell, since it would likely be closest to where they were keeping Kylo, when she was suddenly jerked out of the hallway into a small room.
"Hey! What – " Rey stopped when both troopers let her go, pulled off their helmets, and Rey found herself face to face with Finn and Rose.
Rey looked between them, a relieved smile on her face. "What are you doing here? I thought you got off to meet Poe."
"I figured out where you hid when that stormtrooper heard a noise," Finn answered. "I figured the best way for you to get out of the hangar bay was for us to pretend to drag you out."
Rey smiled at both of them. "Thank you." She took a large breath and sighed. "Now I suppose we should get back to it."
Finn nodded. "We'll meet Poe back at the rendezvous point." He nodded at Rose. "Ready?"
She nodded back and then turned to Rey, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Good luck."
Rey swallowed. "You as well."
Finn and Rose both turned, put their helmets back on, and walked quickly out.
Rey moderated her breathing, trying to calm her nerves, and peeked around the corner. She seemed to be in a largely unoccupied corridor. She stepped back and closed her eyes, concentrating on the force and feeling for the people around her. After a moment she sensed several force signatures not too far from where she was currently at. Opening her eyes, she walked quickly out of the room and then stopped, her breath catching.
A sense of déjà vu overwhelmed her as she recognized the empty corridor from the vision she had seen on Takodana all those months ago. She felt the force hum within her as a sense of destiny filled every pore.
The sound of footsteps behind her snapped her out of her reverie and propelled her forward. Her heart was now racing not because of nerves, but because of excitement. She had little idea why the force had shown her those things in her vision, but now felt certain that she was on the right path.
She rounded the corner quickly, following the force signatures and trying to stay ahead of whoever was following behind her. She took the lack of shouting as a sign that they hadn't yet seen her.
Rounding another corner she pressed herself into a small niche and pulled out her light saber, ready to activate it if the need arose. The footsteps, however, passed by and continued on. She let out a breath, slowly lowering her unignited saber, and peeking her head around the niche.
Seeing no one, she continued on, sensing she was close. As she reached the end of the corridor she heard talking and stopped at the corner's edge. She quickly looked around the corner and saw two stormtroopers standing by a doorway.
Swallowing, she ignited her new saber staff, its light jagged from the fractured crystal halves. She whirled out from her corner and ran down the short hallway towards the surprised stormtroopers. They raised their blasters and began shooting. She deflected the blasts with the ends of her lightsaber as she ran. When she reached them she swung her saber swiftly, taking down both stormtroopers with ease.
Breathing heavily, she looked around, fearing they had been heard. Silence greeted her. Not wasting any more time she opened the door and walked through into what was surely a cell block. Before she could look around, she realized that each door was being guarded by a stormtrooper, all of whom raised their weapons in unison and began firing.
Rey felt the force rise up within her, feeling as if time had slowed. She stalked forward, spinning her saber staff to ward off each blast and sending it back where it came from. The guards appeared scared of her, walking backwards as she walked forwards, and continued to shoot, shouting orders at each other. Without fully realizing what her own intentions were, she quickly lowered her lightsaber and held up a hand, halting all the blaster bolts where they stood.
There was a moment of pure silence as Rey concentrated on keeping the blaster bolts steady, sensing that the troopers were too stunned to move. Once again feeling the force swell within her, she sent a sudden push, forcing the bolts back towards the troopers and hitting them all. They all dropped in unison and Rey, hand still outstretched, breathed heavily, feeling slightly weary from the effort.
Shaking herself, realizing none of those were likely killing blows, she quickly lowered her hand and concentrated on finding whichever cell held Kylo. She frowned when she realized how many force signatures there were in this cell block, before she honed in on the one she was looking for and hurried to it.
The encounter with his mother had left Kylo feeling shaken and angry. This was the first time he had spoken to her in many years. He didn't like the obvious aging he had seen, and struggled to keep a tight rein his emotions. She had seemed remorseful and sad about the past, which contradicted everything he had believed about his parents.
Kylo stewed in his raging emotions until he heard a commotion outside. His breath hitched when he managed to sense who was on the other side. So she had indeed come for him. His already turbulent emotions swelled and threatened to overwhelm him. He forced himself to concentrate on the present, and wondered if she was alone as he heard the frightened shouting outside his door. After a moment everything went silent and his heart caught in his throat. Surely she had not been hurt. Surely he would have sensed it.
He strained his ears, trying to hear what had happened, when he heard a loud bang close by and felt the air stir as the door to his cell opened.
"Ben," he heard her breathe.
Kylo's breath whooshed out in relief. Wishing he could see her, he felt for the thread within him. He found it quickly and tugged. Rey popped into sight in front of him, her eyes wide with surprise.
"I needed to see you," he said simply.
She swallowed and nodded, rushing over to him. He felt more than saw her tug on his restraints and the collar on his neck. She chewed her lip as she thought and his eyes watched the movement. He swallowed as his breathing became shallow and he unconsciously licked his own lips. Her eyes snapped to his and he saw red creeping up her face as she grappled with embarrassment and uncertainty. He forgot how easily unguarded emotions could be sensed.
A moment of silence passed between them before he asked, "Do you have a lightsaber with you?"
Rey merely breathed rapidly a moment before shaking herself and nodding. He saw her reach down and grab the saber attached to her side. It was an interesting design, seeming to have openings on both ends rather than one, and had hand guards similar to his own saber. When she ignited it, he stared in surprise. It was a staff design, but the saber itself was like his own, the light jagged on both ends, seeming unstable, though it was blue in color rather than red.
"How – " he started to ask.
She looked down at it. "I made it from the broken halves of my former saber."
He looked up at her and said in a low voice. "You mean the one that belongs to me?"
She frowned at him. "We don't have time for this. Hold still." He watched her raise the staff and slice downward, hitting the chain on his right side. It fell off and as he flexed his wrist she broke the other chain holding him. His arms ached as he brought them both down, rubbing his wrists to regain feeling.
"What are we going to do about that?"
He looked up and saw Rey pointing to the collar around his neck. He reached up and felt around, but there was no obvious locking mechanism. Holding her eyes he replied. "There's only one thing you can do. Use the saber to slice it off."
She shook her head. "No. What if I slice off your head instead?"
He swallowed. "That's a risk we'll have to take. I can't very well leave with it still attached. They could turn it on at any time and I would be on the floor."
Rey frowned, obviously thinking, before nodding slowly. "Fine…hold very still. I'm going to do this slowly…it will likely be painful."
Kylo nodded his head once. "Do it."
He opted to close his eyes, listening to the sound of the unstable lightsaber as it got close to him. His heart raced and he struggled to moderate his breathing. He felt the sparks hit his neck and struggled not to flinch. Heat began rising on one side of his neck. His breathing became rapid as he realized Rey was trying to melt the collar off his neck. The burning sensation increased and despite his best efforts he grunted in pain.
The pain receded as Rey removed the saber and asked, "Do you want me to stop?"
"No." It cost all of his concentration to say the word, but he reminded himself it had to be done. After a moment of hesitation, Rey again brought the saber slowly towards his neck.
"I'm over halfway through. When I get close I'm going to see if I can break it manually."
"Just do it," Kylo said through gritted teeth as the burning in his neck grew stronger. Time seemed to stand still as he worked to remain still through the pain. Finally, he sensed Rey stand back and opened his eyes. Without waiting for her to do it, Kylo reached up and pulled with all his strength, using the force to reinforce his hands. The collar snapped free and Kylo breathed a sigh of relief.
He stared down at it a moment before letting it drop and getting shakily to his feet. His hands gripped the wall, everything dark except for the woman in front of him. She stared at him, an unreadable expression on her face.
Without thinking Kylo grabbed either side of her face and leaned down, pressing his lips against hers. She gasped in surprise against his mouth her hands flying up to his wrists. After a moment, however, she relaxed, her hands sliding up his arms and down to his sides. He breathed out in relief, now moving his mouth against hers. He broke this kiss to kiss first one side of her mouth, then the other, tilting his head back and forth with each kiss.
"I'm not sure now's the best time for that."
Breaking apart with a gasp, he and Rey both turned towards the voice and found his uncle, a blue halo around him, looking at them with an eyebrow raised. Rey began to step back but Kylo tightened his hands on her face and spat at his uncle, "What are you doing here?"
It was only after he said this that he realized he could see his surroundings. He supposed it was due to his hands on Rey's face. He felt her fingers trying to pull him away, but he flexed his fingers, keeping a firm hold on her.
He uncle gave him an even look. "I came to help you."
Kylo scoffed, anger flaring in his chest. "Since when have you ever helped me?"
"Ben," Luke began, walking towards them, "I've always wanted to help you."
"Is that why you tried to kill me?" Kylo sneered. "To help me?"
Luke sighed. "As I said before, I failed you. I let a moment of weakness forever ruin you."
Kylo let go of Rey's face finally, grabbing her hand instead, and turning fully around to face his uncle. He suspected he could see Luke through the bond without touching Rey, but he wished to see his surroundings. He didn't trust Luke, even if he was only a ghost.
"It was that moment of weakness that gave me the strength I have today." He sneered at his uncle. "Maybe I should be thanking you for setting me on my true path."
Luke shook his head. "Your true path is to stop the darkness, not embrace it."
"Is that why everyone kept my heritage – our heritage – away from me? To fabricate this lie that we arose from the light?" Kylo recalled the words of Lor San Tekka all those months ago.
"Our heritage is that of the Jedi," Luke began.
Kylo cut him off. "Liar!" He pulled Rey with him as he walked towards the ghost of Luke bringing his face within inches of his uncle's. "My grandfather - your father - was the greatest Sith of his time."
"And before that," Luke replied evenly, "he was one of the greatest Jedi of his time. Darth Vader did not start as a Sith. He became one when he let the dark side of the force into his life, when he rebelled against the rules and way of life of the Jedi and married my mother."
Kylo barked a laugh. "Yes, without which, neither of us would be here. The rules of the Jedi were foolish and archaic and they were wiped out because of it."
"I agree," Luke replied.
Kylo pulled back in surprise, too stunned to reply.
"The Jedi hubris led to their downfall. They were so sure in their ability to sense the darkness that they let one of their own slip into darkness right before their eyes." He glanced at Rey and then back at Kylo. "I never said the Jedi were perfect, but the Sith were responsible for the enslavement and terrorizing of the galaxy."
"Ben," Rey said softly. Kylo looked down at her, feeling tilted off his axis by his uncle's admission. "There is another way. The force isn't only about light and dark, it's about balance." She glanced over at Luke, whose eyebrows were raised at her. Taking a deep breath she looked between them. "I took the ancient Jedi texts from Ach-to when I left. I've spent most of my time translating the text on how to create light sabers, but when that frustrated me I translated other areas. The Jedi order was not founded harnessing only the light side of the force. It was about balance between the light and the dark." She looked at Kylo then, squeezing his hand. "Snoke was right. I arose in the light to counteract your darkness. But we both have free will. We can choose who we are, separate and…" she paused, glancing back towards Luke. "And together."
Kylo's heart sped up as her eyes returned to his. Did she just say that they had a future together? His mind raced, thinking of the possibilities of their being together, and he tried to keep it in check. He wanted to ask her to clarify what she meant, but not in front of his uncle.
Kylo glanced back towards Luke. "What do you want from me?" He asked the question simply, feeling discombobulated, unsteady, and unsure what was happening.
"I understand if you never forgive me," Luke replied. "I was foolish to ever think of harming you, regardless of what I saw. But you have a choice now, Ben. You can continue down the path of darkness, or you can help stop that darkness from spreading through the galaxy."
Kylo breathed rapidly, his heart beating so heavily he felt each beat reverberate within his chest.
Before he could work his mind through the choice before him, he heard the sounds of shouting and footsteps headed in their direction. He looked quickly at Rey, seeing that she heard them as well.
"We have to leave," she said to him. "You'll have to help me fight the guards."
He shook his head. "How can I do that when I can only see while holding your hand?"
Rey looked at him, mirroring his confusion. They both heard a sigh and turned to find Luke shaking his head.
"Have neither of you learned anything? The force isn't about what you can see."
Kylo's eyes widened as he realized Luke meant he would have to rely solely on his force ability. He looked between Rey and Luke, panic threatening as the sound of stormtroopers grew nearer. "I…I don't have a light saber."
"Oh!" Rey let go of his hand suddenly, his surroundings going black again, only Rey and his uncle visible. "I can help with that." She held her light saber in both her palms, as if offering it to him, and touched a button he hadn't noticed before. The saber broke cleanly in half and she grasped both halves, holding one out to him.
In a daze he grabbed one it. It felt strange to him, unlike his own saber, and yet also felt right. The weight was different than he was used to, but the hand guards gave him the illusion he was using his own saber.
Hearing the shouting nearly at their door he turned back towards Luke, only to find him gone. He glanced at Rey, who shrugged in response. She came to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, igniting her end of the saber. He faced front, concentrating on the force around him. Sensing the bodies headed their way, he ignited his own half of the saber and prepared to fight.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews are always appreciated!
