General Organa watched her son walk around the hologram of the planet Byss. He was wearing a Resistance uniform and he exuded quiet confidence and the general couldn't help thinking that this was how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to be here, with her, leading the Resistance for the fight of peace and freedom. Her and him and…Han.
She pushed that thought out of her mind. She was still having trouble coming to terms with Han's death. She was still coming to terms with a lot of things. Her method of coping with it all was to put on a show a strength. She did it with Alderaan. She did it with Ben. She can do it with Han.
"The First Order haven't made contact with me since the destruction of Starkiller base." He started. "They do not know that I have defected to the Resistance." There was a murmur of approval through the crowd.
"You want to go in as Kylo Ren?" Finn asked. "What are you going to do, just walk in?"
"Essentially." Ben shrugged. "The only one who wouldn't be able to sense my allegiance would be Snoke, but by the time I got to him, I would be deep in the heart of Byss and would be able to shut down the shields. At that point, a detachment of the Republic fleet could cause a diversion and I can redirect the security enough that Poe can get his team in to level it to the ground."
A bunch of the Resistance fighters high-fived each other and Leia could see the familiar expressions of excitement on their faces. Excitement for battle. Flight lust. However, from the higher-ranking officials, there was a grumble of disproval.
Honnix, one of the lieutenants made his way to the middle. "How do we know that this isn't a scheme for you to double-cross us?"
Leia could see Ben play with the cuts from the cuffs that were on his wrists earlier. Pressure made him anxious and anxiety made his temper explode. It was a habit that he's had since he was a little boy. "I'm hoping that with this mission I could earn the Resistance's trust and we can stop Snoke once and for all."
"What about the girl?" Finn asked.
Ben's eyes flashed with concern. "What about her?"
"Will they be able to extract from her your new allegiance with us?"
Leia could see Ben think about that, his jaw set. "No. She's too strong for their interrogation tactics."
"It seems a little fishy to all of a sudden have a Resistance attack right after Kylo Ren rejoins their ranks." One of the pilots piped up as he leaned casually on the railing. "Do you think they'll figure it out?"
Ben pressed his mouth into a hard line and his eyebrows knitted together. He was foreseeing the disproval he would get with his next statement. "Well, I was thinking I would show up with a prisoner, that way the Resistance has cause to attack and it wouldn't seem so coincidental."
"Prisoner?"
"Mom, could you get in touch with Uncle Luke?"
Rey sat with her legs curled underneath her and her eyes closed. With her hands clasped just so in her lap, she listened to the sound of the ocean off the coast of the island she was sitting on while she dug around in the Force.
Her brow furrowed. Meditation was probably the hardest thing for her to do, as her attention was always wanted to dart all over the place, with her being on a planet made out of the most water she's ever seen in her entire life, and her lessons with Master Luke, and combat training with Master Anakin's lightsaber. But she fought the urge to open her eyes and instead opened herself up to the will of the Force.
She inhaled deeply and exhaled, reaching and touching. She found General Organa's presence in the Force. She was used to touching her as she was so familiar and so very much like Master Luke's, just weaker. But there was something else too. Something familiar…
Her eyes snapped open and she jumped to her feet, scanning the outcroppings of rocks for Master Luke. Panic seized her chest and she ran, jumping from ledge to ledge until she found him sitting in the shade, pushing gears back together. "Master Luke, I feel Kylo Ren's presence in the Force and it's really close to General Organa." She said in one breath.
Master Luke always took about a half-second to process Rey's words before he spoke. He didn't even look up from the device he was working on. "Did you feel the Light or the Dark?"
"I don't know what you mean." She shook her head. "I just felt him."
"Close your eyes and feel again and then tell me if it's the Light or the Dark."
Rey was a little puzzled why her master didn't show any signs of concern that the most lethal being in the galaxy was probably on the same planet as his sister and only family, but she did what she was told. With a big inhale and exhale, she felt with her fingers in the Force General Organa's weak presence and then she found Kylo Ren's.
"Enter his mind."
"But, Master-,"
"Enter his mind. I know you can do it." Master Luke insisted.
Rey pierced the mind of Kylo Ren. Flashes of images of a thin girl with white, white hair around Rey's age filled Rey's mind. Images of a Resistance base. Images of Finn with his gun pointed towards him. Images of his mother. As Rey moved around in Ren's mind, she could feel something different. There was healing here. "I feel the Light." She opened her eyes and rejoined her Master on their island.
"Good, Rey. Did you feel the connection?"
"The girl with the white hair?"
"Aurelia."
"She did…something. Healing?"
Master Luke shrugged and finally looked up, his bright blue eyes flashing mysteriously at Rey. "Something like that."
"Kylo Ren has deserted the Dark Side?" She crouched down next to the old man, waiting for her next lesson in the strange ways of the Force.
He sighed and looked sad. "Yes, thanks to Aurelia's healing, he understands his offenses and has suppressed his rage that feeds into the Dark Side power. He is strong now against the seductions of the Dark Side. But, he will never be able to completely come back to the Light."
"Why is that?"
"Guilt." Master Luke said. "His understanding has made him feel his guilt, therefore he is plagued with pain and will never be free of the bindings that that part of the Force holds."
Rey looked at the grass and thought about this for a moment. It must've been so hard to have a permanent darkness pervading the inner corners of one's being."What's going to happen, then?"
Luke's eyes went back to flashing with a smile. "I bet we should start heading to Onderon."