Chapter 25
The beeping of the ship's exit from hyperspace woke Rey. She blinked a few times as she found her bearings. She was on a small ship with Ben, and they had been on their way to Ilum to find a Kyber crystal for her new lightsaber. If luck was with her, she would find two and create a staff instead of a sword. The jedi texts all showed the same boring lightsaber design, but if Ben could have a lightsaber with cross guards, she saw no reason she could not alter the design to create a staff if she had the crystals for it.
Rey wondered what Ben would think of it. He had expressed doubt that she would find even one intact crystal, let alone two.
Rey sat up and looked to the other bunk, expecting to see Ben, but it was empty. She reached out into the force and found him in the pilot's seat with Growlie. She smiled at that. She knew since Ahch-To that Ben had good inside him, but she had never expected it to manifest in such sweet and simple ways.
Her outfit from yesterday was clean and folded neatly at the foot of her bed. Ben must have washed and dried it while she slept. She didn't even realize this little ship had laundry facilities. She would have to explore it fully later. It was entirely different from the battleships she had studied and scavenged on Jakku, and she was eager to learn more about it.
Rey grabbed her freshly cleaned underwear and one of the warmer-looking combat outfits before disappearing into the refresher. She dressed quickly and efficiently, though she blushed at the memory of standing there the night before with Ben's shirt on and staring at the lingerie that had been too large to stay on her. Would she have done things differently had she known what would happen?
The memory of his incredibly smooth hands on her made her dizzy with the blood rushing to her face. That had definitely been unplanned. She gazed at her own coarse hands, callused from too many years working in harsh conditions without any sort of skin care. She had seen a bottle of lotion used once by a visiting historian curious about the ruins. The historian had laughed at her when she asked what it was for, explained when he realized her question was sincere, and shoved her away when she asked if she might use some for her own hands.
Ben hadn't seemed to mind her rough skin, but she did wish it were as smooth as his. "I wonder," she said out loud and began digging through the small cabinet in the refresher. Sure enough, there were a number of bottles and ointments provided in there, including several types of lotions. Rey laughed in delight. She couldn't believe her luck.
Rey pulled each one out and opened them. They had slightly different smells, all appealing in different ways. She could just use all of them, but it seemed excessive. Then she noticed that one lotion was labelled 'rose'. She grinned at the familiar name and put the others away before squeezing out the rose lotion. The scent reminded her of the flowers she had collected on Jakku.
Rey rubbed the lotion into the skin of her hands, but though they felt smoother, they were still very rough, so she used more.
Are you dressed? Rey heard Ben ask in her head. We've arrived at Ilum, but we only have a few hours of daylight for the part of the planet most likely to have intact Kyber crystals.
Rey nodded before she remembered he couldn't see her. I'm dressed. I'm just putting some lotion on my hands before we go. She paused, just then considering that she hadn't asked first. Would he mind?
Rey tried to put the bottle of lotion away, but it slipped right out of her hands when she picked it up. She tried again with the same results. Frowning at both the lotion and her hands, she used the force to complete the task and stood up. She felt Ben's presence on the other side of the door and pressed the button to slide it open with the force, no longer trusting her own hands.
Ben was dressed in thick layers and had a scarf, hat, and gloves in his hands. Before Rey said anything, he wrapped the scarf around her neck, expertly tucked it in, pulled the hat over her head, then glanced at her hands to put the gloves on, and stopped.
They both stared at her hands quietly, and Rey realized the lotion was a thick layer on top of her skin.
"You never used lotion before," Ben said quietly. Rey slowly shook her head. "We'll need to remove the excess." He put the gloves in a pocket, grabbed a hand towel, and gently but firmly rubbed the excess lotion from Rey's hands.
After most of the lotion was off her hands, Ben put the hand towel down, took his own gloves off, and then rubbed his own hands against hers, absorbing the last of the excess lotion into his own skin. She bit her lip, feeling the difference yet again between the texture of his hands and her own. She felt dumb, coarse, and, even worse, wasteful. "I'm sorry," she whispered. When he raised his eyebrows at her, she added, "For using too much."
The corner of Ben's mouth curled up. "When I was a child, I once got into my mother's collection of creams and lotions following a bath and came out covered so thickly that even Chewie couldn't get a grip on me at first, and then he smelled of the lotions for weeks. Han laughed himself hoarse when he found out what happened."
Rey smiled at that. "I wanted my hands to be smooth like yours," she said.
Ben brought her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "You don't have to change, but there are facilities that can smooth out calluses. Mother used them before. We can visit them, if you like."
Rey nodded, and Ben released her hands, handing her the gloves he had brought for her and putting his own back on. "Ilum is not a forgiving place. We need to move quickly."
They went to the cockpit and strapped in for the flight to the planet surface. Ilum was a broken world with lava showing in deep gashes in the earth and ice everywhere else. "How do you know where to land?" she asked.
"There are some intact crystal caves that Skywalker brought us to when he deemed us ready to build our first lightsabers."
Rey studied Ben. "Is your current lightsaber your second one then?" The teachings said that Kyber crystals only turned red when overpowered by the dark side, and she couldn't imagine that Luke had allowed Ben to do that.
"No, my current lightsaber was originally blue, and the cracks small enough that it did not then require the cross guards. It became red and unstable when I overpowered the crystal after I left the academy. Pure kyber crystals resist use by the dark side."
Rey gave a small smile at that. "You didn't have any problem using my blade during our battle with Snoke and the guard."
Ben smiled. "It seems I have embraced my own conflict as well, but you forget that blade also belonged to me."
They reached the surface with a smooth landing despite a harsh gusting wind and heavy snowfall. Ben put on a cloth mask and goggles to protect his face and handed her a second set along with a thick jacket.
"How do I know what to look for?" Rey asked as they got ready to head out.
"Trust the force. The crystals are alive in their way, and the one meant for you will sing to you."
Rey frowned, thinking back on the two crystal pieces from the broken lightsaber. She had imagined them calling to her at times, but the lightsaber had always called to her. It didn't necessarily mean they were meant for her. Besides, they were no longer whole. She shook her head to clear it.
The ramp opened up, and Ben and Rey joined hands on reflex to brace each other as they were blasted with snow and wind. They climbed down the ramp, and the ramp closed behind them. Ben lead her through the snow into the side of a mountain and then into a dark cave. He pulled out a stick from one of his pockets, fiddled with it, and a bright light came from it, illuminating the cave they stood in. It lead to many other caverns, and Rey had flashbacks of when she first explored a Star Destroyer, back before she had found the schematics that taught her how to navigate them.
Reach into the force. Where is it leading you? Ben said into her mind.
Rey reached out with the force, sensing the cold, abused world beneath her, the volcanic wounds exploding lava onto the ice, but the force drew her immediately back to Ben. Or perhaps she was simply focusing on Ben. She hesitated in her uncertainty. Would he be upset if he thought she weren't focusing properly? Still, that's all she could feel as she cleared her mind and tried to connect with the life around her. The force is leading me to you. She said.
Ben turned to look at her. She couldn't see his expression through the protective gear. Are you sure?
I think so. Are you looking too? She said.
Ben shook his head. I shouldn't need to, I… That's strange. I do feel something pulling me. He started walking towards a cavern on the left, and Rey followed him.
They went through many caverns. Some had snow, some had hanging stalactites and towering stalagmites, some had ice, but all had deep gouging wounds in them, as if machines had come in here and scraped up the walls at some point.
Finally, Ben stopped and stared at a spot high up. Would you levitate me? I need to get up there.
Rey used the force to lift him even as she wondered to both herself and to him. Why can't we levitate ourselves?
No idea. Ben quickly responded. A little more to the left, please.
Rey adjusted him. If we can levitate each other, could we make each other fly as a team?
Ben plucked something out from the roof of the cavern and stared at it quietly. Bring me down. She returned him carefully to stand in front of her. He held out a yellow crystal to her. Do you hear it?
Rey shook her head, and Ben looked sharply at the crystal. Is it meant for you? She asked.
Reach out again, see if you feel anything drawing you.
Rey complied, and now she felt drawn towards the way they came. She started walking, and Ben followed with the light. The tug she felt brought them back into the snow, and though she did not see it right away, to the ship.
I don't understand. Ben said.
Rey thought back to the broken crystals. I think I might. Can broken crystals still be used to build lightsabers?
He opened the ramp to the ship, and they climbed aboard as the ramp closed. Ben went to the ship's dashboard and pressed some buttons, and Rey felt hot air blow out the ventilation system. He took off his mask and goggles and stared at Rey. "You mean the crystals from the broken lightsaber."
"That lightsaber has always called to me. I found it in Maz's castle. When I touched it, I saw visions… so many visions, including you," Rey said. "I didn't realize what any of it meant."
"Rey," Ben said carefully and stepped closer to her. "You can't heal a kyber crystal that's been broken in two. It's not possible."
Rey thought back to her vision of her staff. "I'm not sure I'm meant to. The sword… it's not my weapon of choice. On Jakku, I fought with a wooden staff. I think I'm meant to create a lightsaber staff… with two blades and the handle in the middle."
Ben's eyes widened. "Like Darth Maul."
"Who?" Rey asked.
Ben waved his hand as if to dismiss the topic. "A lightsaber staff might be possible. The size of the crystals can impact the strength of the blade, but if the force is telling you to use the broken pieces, than we should trust it."
"And did the force tell you to forge a new lightsaber?" Rey asked, thinking of what he found in the caverns.
Ben pulled out the yellow kyber crystal from the cave and studied it. He frowned and put it away in a pocket. "Let's leave the surface before we're caught night-side. We'll decide what to do next once we're back in orbit."
Thank you so much for the input on the ratings. I will keep it T, even though we might miss out on some fun character/relationship development in the process. I don't want to alienate people who trusted this would be within their comfort zone to the end. For those who would welcome an M fanfic from me, I already have plans to write an M reylo fanfic following the completion of this one.
As for this chapter, my inner editor is fussing at me for keeping the lotion scene in, because it's not plot-necessary and it's pretty silly, but my outer editor is reminding me that this is meant to be a fun fanfiction instead of a serious work, and since it's fun, I should leave it in.
Please review!