Surprise!
Chapter 25
Ahch-To
Forge Island
Rey awoke in Ben's arms, feeling his breath come warm on her neck. She looked around, hearing the soft patter of rain on the sail canvas that he had stretched over the boat to give them shelter.
"Are you awake?" He breathed, his arm shaking gently around her middle.
She moaned as she turned, the small of her back sore. He peered at her, his look soft, yet concerned. There was a line beneath either eye, and he still wore his boots. Rey swallowed.
"You didn't sleep," She told him.
He shook his head, "I was feeling for that vein of the Dark Side. Whoever it was knew what they were doing."
She smiled into his throat. "It's too easy for me," Her eyes met his, "All anyone needs to show me is my parents. What if they show me you, too?"
Ben lifted his hand and pressed his thumb between her eyebrows. "You're still learning, Rey. But, I agree, it's time you graduated to the next level."
SWSWSW
It took Rey a month to make her lightsaber. On the island, deep within a cave that used only lamps to light the way, Ben showed Rey how to properly shave the crystals until their raw, concentrated power could emit the sharpest laser beam. That was the simplest task, because next came the metal that contained said laser beams.
The island was well stocked with materials, save proper tools that they brought with them. The metal that was perfect for lightsabers had been horded there for some time, meaning that Rey only needed to clean it from years of disuse before sliding it into the forge, heating it, and using the tools to curve and seal within it the active crystal. Rey even commented how it seemed like the Jedi of Ahch-To simply got up and moved one day, leaving behind perfect metals and even some (Ben called them worthless) Kyber crystals. Throughout it all, Ben stood behind her, gently guiding her in how to fulfill her vision of the perfect lightsaber.
The process took time, first in shaving then in the heating. Rey would have liked to have worked from sun up to sun down like she used to do on Jakku, but the Force had other plans. After three days of shaving the crystal, Rey straightened beside Ben, his breathing halting in a gasp.
"Go," He told her, his eyes fixed to nothing at all in front of him. "Obey the Force."
Rey obeyed, leaving the darkness of the cave to blink into the dim sunlight, the smell of rain threatening a downpour later. She moved away from the opening and sat, legs crossed, and closed her eyes.
It was a simple calling, a noteworthy appeal to her, but she lingered within it, hearing the Force speak to her. When it faded, she returned to Ben, a different image of her lightsaber in her mind. The one she had dreamed about had been vivid, or so she thought. Now, the dream seemed an abstract image, and the Force's call to her a more defined drawing. Almost like a blueprint. For days, the Force called to her as they worked, and each time, Ben let her go without hesitation. He didn't continue on her lightsaber without her, but rather he dropped down to the same position of meditation and felt the Force surge around him, waiting for his wife to return.
At night, they returned to the boat and fell into each other's arms. At first, they made love, savoring the absolute aloneness of the island, heating the frigid boat as they moved. But, as the calls of the Force became more frequent, they simply kissed and held each other tightly, burrowing beneath warm blankets and placed rocks heated by the forge at their feet. They couldn't explain their decision if an outsider knew enough to ask, but it was simply a feeling. A knowing. They couldn't consummate on this island, even if the Porgs were the only residents.
After some time had passed, Ben commanded Rey set down her screwdriver and step aside. He picked up the lightsaber and held it lengthwise up to his nose, eyeing the straightened edge, and nodded.
"There," He said, handing it to her. "You've made your first lightsaber. Now, you can make another one if you lose or break it."
Rey smiled to herself, holding the long piece of silver in her hands. She wasn't done yet, they both knew that, but knowing she could defend herself at any time against any enemy with a similar weapon, that was knowledge that she could take with her anywhere she went.
SW
Rey held two lightsabers in her hands, admiring them. One was finer than the other, less scratched, but that didn't matter. Only she would hold it, really. She inhaled, Moment of truth, she thought. She turned them upside down, revealing two, matching secure toggles, and pressed them together. With a twist and a secure click, their bottoms fit together and when she moved her hands to the buttons to ignite them, savoring the feel of the cool metal on her fingers. Two straight beams of ivory white shot out beside her, sturdy and waiting, humming in wait of her next move. The metal didn't burn, and the grips she had built in promised to remain true. She was ready.
She looked up and saw Ben take a step back, his eyes widening with pure interest.
"White," He breathed, his deep monotone catching in the wind. "Control and focus, non-labelled. A perfect fit, my darling."
He reached up and unfastened his lightsaber, the wicked crimson spitting and humming loudly in revolt of her pure white blades. He twirled his lightsaber around him, a challenge. Rey twirled her staff blades in a similar manner, planting it on her side, the warmth of the beams heating her legs, her knees bent and ready for his next move.
Or so she thought.
At once, Ben shot out his hand and she gasped, seeing in her mind's eye the both of them making love in their hut of Jedi Temple Island. She could even smell his breath as he neared climax… she shoved the sight out of her mind, whirling around instead to look for him. He had gone, leaving her standing alone on the island.
She doused her staff, the Force tingling around her. This was a test, a new lesson to learn now that she had the proper tools to proceed. Rey moved forward, casting a glance at the cave and feeling for his presence.
Ben's presence was completely hidden from the Force. That familiar verdant green hue that he emitted was gone. She whirled around, blinking.
"Ben?"
The wind whipped around her, bringing with it a thousand hisses, a thousand different voices. She spun, looking towards those voices that seemed most familiar.
Unkar Plutt croaking, "One quarter portion,"
General Organa cooing, "Hope is like the sun,"
Ben urging, "Let the past die,"
So many voices, each one thrusting into her whatever feeling she received when she first heard those words. Disdain, hope, fear… all at once.
Rey plopped down to the rock, willing herself to silence them. The grass growing in front of her.
"I'm going to be needing a copilot…"
The chaos of the tide.
"Such spunk. Look here, now. The entire Resistance, those transports. Soon they will all be gone. For you, all is lost."
The life of the Porgs.
"Na-uh. There's only one person in the galaxy that can do that. Let's hear it for Captain Rey!"
The darkness of the caves cut from the water.
"Balance," Rey whispered.
Her double bladed staff was on before her eyes were opened, Ben's face in front of her before she realized she was standing. They fought, Ben throwing at her Dark Side energy after Dark Side energy. Rey shook off each one, though it hurt her more and more. It was a deeply physical thing to combat this energy, on top of keeping her limbs attached from his flying lightsaber.
At one instant, he pushed her back and stepped away from her, their fight moving them closer and closer to the cave where the forge cooled.
"Always find the balance, Rey," He told her, turning off his lightsaber. "No matter what comes at you. If you're standing alone, or if you're by my side, always find it."
He looked to the mouth of the cave, then back at her. "Go in."
Those two words. She knew nearly every inch of that cave having spent hours down there. But once he added those two words, Rey felt fear channel through her veins. She swallowed, and doused her lightsaber, looking from him to the cave, then back again.
She lifted her foot and placed it in front of her. Her heart thrummed in her ears as she passed him, her thumb dancing upon her lightsaber. She stepped down, feeling the darkness twinge around her as she descended. Something had come upon the island, something she had been too naïve to realize, and Ben far too experienced to ignore. The further she stepped into the cave, the more she felt it; the darkness had become alive. One look back, that's all she allowed herself, one look back to her husband, then proceeded further.
It was the forge she remembered. The fire pit that fed into the stone machine, the stone shelves that held tools and work space. The dirt floor that dusted her shoes. But, it held within it a wickedness, a hair raising silent scream that she couldn't name. It wasn't the Force warning her of danger, it was… something else.
Rey lifted her lightsaber, hands finding the ignition buttons, waiting, listening. Suddenly, a figure moved towards the rear of the cave. Rey dug her feet into the ground, there was only one entrance, and she had used it.
SW
Ben wanted to pace, wanted to do anything but wait to see what version of his wife would emerge. He whirled towards the entrance in time to see her ivory blades ignite.
"Ben, wait."
He whirled around again, his heart skipping a beat.
Luke Skywalker stood before him, cast in the same ghostly hue as his grandfather had been. He was just as Ben remembered him, with a trim beard, lazy condescending eyes, and hair that threatened to get up and wave at any given moment.
"This is your lesson," Luke told him, his voice soft. "Every teacher's greatest fear is letting their student go for the first time."
"She's not just my student," Ben snarled.
Luke cocked his head to the right, "True. But you weren't instructing her as a husband when you told her to go down there alone, were you?"
Ben hesitated, yearning to give the cave one last glance.
"Right, you were, Ben Solo," A scratchy, milky voice told him.
Ben looked around and saw, much to his heart's jolting discomfort, a dwarfed green alien with ears that pointed straight out on either side of his head, sitting on a rock near Luke's image. At once, Ben fell to his knee and bowed his head.
"Master Yoda," He marveled.
"Ah, respect, you have learned well. Good storytelling, you did, Luke."
"Oh great, one thing." Luke sighed.
Yoda made a noise of agreement, then turned back to Ben. "Right, you were, too, Ben Solo."
Ben lifted his head, his eyes meeting the bulbous, kind eyes set in the oblong head. "When?" He asked.
"When vowed, you did, to destroy Rey." He lifted his neck in a small gesture of pleasure.
Ben, however, felt his stomach fall from his body. "No, no, I couldn't destroy Rey. Please, tell me that I didn't…" He looked over his shoulder to the entrance of the cave, straining his ears to hear for her.
He turned back to the sound of the dwarfed alien laughing at him. "Young one, good, destruction can be." He stood from his rock and walked to him, using a cane about the size of Ben's forearm. "What did you tell Finn, when first you began training him? Hmm?"
"I had to make him stop thinking of himself as a Stormtrooper, and start thinking as a Jedi." Ben answered, taking small glances at Yoda's appearance, willing himself to commit the legendary Master to memory.
"But not do the same to Rey, why didn't you? Hmm?" His head bobbled again. "Think not that your wife sees beyond of Jakku. A scavenger, she still believes herself to be. A fighter, for sure, but a Jedi, she thinks not."
A pang of guilt shivered through Ben's core. He hadn't entirely thought of that.
"Good, destruction can be." Yoda repeated. "When balanced with life in equal measure. When broken, a seed is, can a harvest grow."
Ben swallowed, then looked up. "What's your point?"
"Let Rey be broken," Luke told him. "That way a new Jedi can emerge."
"Indeed," Yoda agreed. "From you both, life will come. From your teaching, a new knight will emerge." He pointed one of three thick fingers fitted with a talon at Ben's chest.
Ben leaned back, the words bubbling forth, "A knight of light? Or of darkness?"
Silence whipped through the two phantom Masters. Then, Master Yoda answered, "That question, only Rey can answer."
SW
Rey stared at the figure as it waltzed around the forge. It stood tall, and was dressed entirely in black. Everything in her knowledge told her that this figure was Kylo Ren, but her feelings within the Force told her otherwise. This was something more familiar.
From it's side, a lightsaber was lifted by a black gloved hand, and a wicked, crimson beam shot forth. It faced her, revealing a mask of matte black with no distinguishing marks upon it. No Face, the Force called it. No name, no one. Even it's armor was nicely designed, but solid black to match the mask.
Rey ignited her lightsaber, the twin ivory blades halting No Face where it stood. From it's side, it withdrew a second, equal lightsaber and connected it to it's preexisting one. Rey lowered her chin, Snoke's horrid words echoing in her mind:
"Darkness rises, and light to meet it."
They fought. Rey moved her staff about her body in a calculated swirl, but No Face met each blow, each stroke. No Face quickly disassembled it's lightsaber, nearly catching Rey off guard if she hadn't done likewise and stepped back. She gasped, her nose throbbing from the feel of the heat that nearly sliced her in half.
She twirled her lightsabers in both hands, watching No Face do likewise. We can do this for hours, Rey thought. He's that good.
She inhaled, and closed her eyes, feeling the Force ebb and flow around them. It was unlike anything she had ever felt. It was like a vein shifting blood from one part of a massive body to another. No Face stalked around her, waiting for her next move. But Rey didn't give it.
No Face stepped forward, both lightsabers extended. Rey parried them with a single sword. Her eyes flew open the moment her other lightsaber slashed No Face across the mask, sending it hurtling to the ground with a thunk!
Rey exhaled, and inhaled rapidly, the surging, thick, darkness evaporating around her. She doused her lightsabers and stared at the body of No Face, watching the smoke waft away from it's face.
Not it.
Her.
No Face was a woman.
No Face was Rey.
SW
Ben's eyes flew open at the feel of a hand upon his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Rey standing beside him, a slight smile upon her cheeks.
"Hey Ben," She said. Her voice was tired and the small wisps of hair that curled at the nape of her neck stuck to her with sweat. She had been fighting.
He scrambled to his feet, longing with every inch of his being to pull her into his chest until she squirmed to get away. But, he didn't. There was something still to be done.
He looked over her shoulder, and nodded to them.
"Look," He told her.
Hesitant, she obeyed, then gasped as she turned full around.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben's namesake, stood beside Anakin Skywalker and his son Luke, Yoda beneath them all. They stood, waiting patiently as Ben moved around her and inhaled.
"Rey," He began, butterflies erupting in his stomach. She turned to look at him, her eyes dancing with excitement. "Kneel with me," He told her.
In one, fluid movement, Rey sank to one knee alongside Ben, turning their attentions to Master Yoda who stepped forward.
"Rey Kenobi-Solo," He began, regarding her with bluish, kind eyes. "Hold out your lightsaber."
Nervously, Rey reached to her sides and connected her lightsaber before holding it out to him.
"Know you what this is?" He gestured with one of his claws.
Rey nodded. "Yes… Master."
"Know you what it can do?"
Again, Rey nodded. "Yes, Master."
"Who taught you?"
"My master, Ben Solo, grandson of… actually, I don't know if he had a name other than Darth Vader."
Anakin stepped forward, a playful smirk on his lips. "Anakin Skywalker."
Rey looked quickly from him to Master Yoda, "Ben Solo, grandson of Anakin Skywalker."
"Then know you well, the teachings of the Force."
Rey hesitated, looking from the squat alien to the lightsaber she presented. She nodded, "Yes, Master."
"Unsheathe, do not without reason. Use, do not, without valor." Master Yoda looked up and closed his eyes, "Continue, I cannot. The ways of the Jedi, are no more."
Rey flinched forward, but halted at one look from Luke.
Master Yoda continued as though he hadn't noticed anything. "Continue, Ben Solo."
Ben rose, the butterflies falling away as he stood before his wife. Don't fall, he commanded himself. Don't stand inside one of the ghosts, either.
"Rey Kenobi-Solo, from this moment, you are no longer a scavenger from Jakku. You have a name, and your path has been laid before you." He inhaled, the gravitas of the words exciting him for a moment. "May the Force guide you in the ways of the light. May the Force be there to help you defend the innocent for the powers of darkness. May the Force… be with you. Rise, Rey, Jedi Knight."
She smiled before she stood, clutching her lightsaber to her chest. She looked at him, her eyes moving from his eyes to her lips, then to his eyes again.
Ben mashed his lips as he stepped aside, letting Obi-Wan step forward. His eyes, once probably brown but now a warm blue, glittered just like Rey's did. He lifted his eyebrows for a moment, then lifted his hand and brought it across her cheek, the vapors running through her like a freezing wave.
"And there's so you can remember it."
SWSWSW
Airspace Over Hydok Planetary Systems
Dreadnought Tarpeian
Finn crept down the hallway with Rose, blasters at the ready. They had been expected to have lightsabers, but that was yet another disappointment their former close comrades would have to live with. Rose turned to Finn, halting him and the Rebels that moved behind them. The Force zinged around them, cautioning of what lied just beyond the corridor blast doors. Finn signaled to the Rebels behind him, sending them to the walls for cover.
He looked back at Rose, seeing her stare into absolute nothingness, feeling for a definition of the Force's call. He gave a delicate whistle, capturing her attention.
She looked up, and shook her head, confused.
He closed his eyes, feeling for the strain himself. She was right to feel confused. Fear and confidence, danger, and nerves all balled into one. What was happening?
He opened his eyes and she lifted her shoulders.
There was only one way to find out.
Finn extended his hand toward the blast doors, and closed his eyes. The door shivered, until it opened slowly, revealing three Stormtrooper officers kneeling before a herd of anxiously shifting subordinates.
"Heads up!" A Stormtrooper shouted, fanning out the herd so that their blasters pointed down the freshly opened corridor.
Finn lifted his blaster, the Force directing his fingers.
"Wait!" The middle Stormtrooper called, her voice muffled. Slowly, she stepped forward, her nerves rising with every second that passed. She holstered her weapon, and took a deep inhale before lifting her helmet off.
Finn tightened his grip on his blaster. It would be just like the First Order to take advantage like this.
"Are you him?" The green eyed woman asked, her ponytail falling over her pristine white armor. "The one who escaped? Are you him?"
"Who are you?" Rose demanded, eyeing her with the same distrust as Finn. "Why are those officers tied up?" She gestured with her blaster to the officers.
"Shoot them!" An officer shouted.
A Stormtrooper closest to them, thrust his leg back and kicked the officer, issuing a hasty "shut up!"
"Are you him?" The Unmasked Trooper asked again, her face alighting with hope. "We heard stories about him. He came back disguised as an officer, he killed Phasma, he fought Ren. Is it you? Are you…" She inhaled, then whispered with upmost reverence, "FN-2187?"
Finn lowered his blaster to his stomach. "My name is Finn, now."
She let out an exited gasp, tears dotting the corners of her eyes. "I call myself 'Hope.'"
At once, Hope whirled around to her comrades, crying cheerfully, "It's him! The One Who Escaped! It's FN-2187!"
An officer let out a groan as the Stormtroopers lowered their weapons and unmasked themselves. Different faces, different voices, but all smiled and moved towards Finn in delighted shock that he would be there before them.
"What is this place?" Rose asked, lowering her blaster to her waist.
Hope, an arm's length away from Finn, barely turned her head to address her. "The Dreadnought Tarpeian. Disciplinary ship."
It hit Finn harder than falling off a cliff. "Of course!" He exclaimed, looking at Rose. "I knew I recognized the name!"
"Discipline for what?" A Rebel asked, the rest of them moving forward cautiously.
"Where are they?" Finn asked Hope, extending his hand for Rose.
"This way," Hope told him, tears rolling down her cheeks and into her smile.
She led them down a corridor, her movement almost dancelike. She tapped an access code and opened a door that emitted a large blast of hot air at them. Finn clutched Rose's hand, her grip tightening as well at the feeling that came from the room. Hope stepped through, gesturing with an excited hand that they should follow.
It was an observation deck to an armor factory. The workers were to make the armor plating for Stormtroopers, hammering and shaping endlessly. The workers themselves were muscled and lean, not from the long hours -although that would certainly be a factor- but from the fact that this was one of the places where Stormtroopers who did not fulfill Reconditioning protocols were sent.
The only difference that Finn could see from these workers and the tales of the slave ships that worked them was that two of the five overseers that were supposed to be watching them were bleeding on the floor, two more were kneeling before three burly men with iron rods for weapons, and one was locked in a cage away from the rioting prisoners.
"Tarpeian Rebels!" Hope screeched, scaring Finn. "He's here! FN-2187! He's rescued us!"
A roar thundered through the room, the prisoners throwing up their hands and hugging each other, ignoring the sweltering heat and grime that coated them in their happiness.
Finn looked at Rose, pride swelling though he knew he shouldn't show it.
She smirked at him, "I always knew you were a hero."
He smiled at her, even as Hope danced around the observation deck chanting, "Finn! Finn! Finn!"
Then, the Force dropped, and the fires that warmed the factory extinguished in a cold, quick whoosh!
"What is it?" Rose asked, her voice dropping as Finn looked away from her.
The Force called to them, echoing in their ears the faint words:
"Fire on the Tarpeian! Spring the trap! Spring the trap!"
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