A/N: Day eleven. There's a funny meme out there with Luke and Han in the Falcon and Luke says, "Vader's on that ship!" Han answers, "How do you know?" and Luke says, "I hear his theme music." All humor aside, I figure that's sort of what it's like, if you translated a person's Force signature into music.
Also, I switch point of view by section because I couldn't make up my mind who should be the point of view character. So you get all of them!
Kes
Kes was finishing up polishing the drinking glasses when he noticed Armitage's head pop up. His son and son-in-law were at the table, datapads in front of them. (He'd never seen Poe with his nose stuck to a screen as much as he had in the last couple days. It was weird, despite the explanation about the Force-training.) Kes kept a watchful eye on body language from both of them and Armitage's was saying 'alert'.
Hux looked around the room, scanned out the windows as far as he could see from his seat, and met Kes' eyes. "I don't hear anything," Armitage said.
"Me, neither," Kes said. He'd been listening, too, but it was quiet aside from the normal nature sounds outside.
Poe looked up – at his husband then his father – and said, "That's them – Kylo Ren, Rey, the rest."
"You hear their ship?" Armitage asked.
Poe shook his head and powered off the datapad. "Nope. That's their presence in the Force. But it's kind of obvious. This is about when they said they'd be here."
Armitage asked, "Did you really feel your father the other day when we were out running, then? I thought you were joking."
Poe shrugged. "I don't know. Go with your gut. Felt like Dad; it was him. Of course, it was his aircar, so who else would it be?"
Kes asked, "You can feel them? Up there?" He pointed skyward. "Luke was able to do that. That's a real power."
"Yeah," Poe nodded. "I think that's what I'm feeling."
"With the Force?" Kes remained amazed that his son of all people in the galaxy had turned up with this ability. That he'd chosen someone to marry who also had it was just more of the same – the Force had willed it. But he was still getting his mind around Poe having it, especially when he had yet to do anything Kes could detect with it. It wasn't that he didn't believe them – he just hadn't seen anything to believe.
Poe leaned forward in Kes' direction. "Let me tell you about this, because I felt it a while back and I didn't know what I was feeling. Back when I was on Jakku, that village, Tuanul?" Kes nodded. "So I'm there. A couple troop transports are on the ground, stormtroopers all over the place, blasters are firing, things are on fire, people are yelling. And then-" Poe put his hands vertically in front of his face like a heads-up display and turned, both hands and face, swiveling to the side.
"Something was coming," Poe continued, looking back, but leaving his hands up for a few more moments. "Someone was coming. I knew it. All I could see was smoke. There were a hundred other things literally screaming for my attention, but there I was looking up at the night sky because I knew something was about to happen. I stopped firing. I just stood there like an idiot until that imperial command shuttle came cutting through the dark. It was Kylo Ren."
Poe raised a finger, pointing upwards. "I felt him, before I saw him, before I heard him. I didn't know it then, but that's what was going on. Just like I feel them now. I've been on missions with them for most of the last year. I know that feeling. I don't know how to describe it, but I know it." Poe looked to Armitage. "And you know it, too. What were you looking around trying to hear just a minute ago?"
Speaking of the sound, Kes could finally hear the distant rumble and whine of the Falcon's engines as it was making its approach. He smiled a little. It was the first evidence he had aside from Poe and Hux claiming they could read each other's minds that the Force was in play. Even if, as Poe had said, it was about the time the ship was supposed to arrive.
"I don't know." Armitage's voice was small and Kes noticed he deflected the subject immediately off himself. "They have the Force, but your father doesn't. You think you felt him the other day?"
Poe shrugged. "I don't know. Like I said – it's an obvious guess. But I'm trying to pay more attention to those feelings. Rey and Kylo should be able to give us better answers."
Kes nodded to them. "You guys go on out and see them. I'll wrap up in here. Let you get your hellos out of the way before I come out." Plus, he didn't want his spotty, hard-water stained glasses to be noticed by newcomers. He had one or two more to polish.
BB-8
BB-8 waited impatiently at the top of the Falcon's ramp. The moment it extended, he roll-skidded down it, falling from the end before it had hit the ground. The dirt was forgiving, especially compared to his hardened exterior plating. BB-8 whirled rapidly toward Poe, who leapt forward in similar enthusiasm.
BB-8 repeated Poe's designation several times, along with alert tones and requests for priority. Poe was grinning as he went to a knee and ran his hands over the droid's body. Poe pushed BB from one side to the other. BB-8 compensated and made excited beeps. Many droids disliked handling by bio-units because it never resulted in anything good – power was used, any damage taken was usually unaddressed. But that was not the case with Poe and BB-8.
"Hey, buddy! How are you doing?"
BB-8 told him he was doing well in quick chirps and modulated tones. When Poe hadn't been working on whatever starfighter he was assigned to, he worked with BB-8, learning how he functioned and installing whatever modifications BB-8 asked for. Despite the opinions of the overwhelming majority of droids, BB-8 knew that some bio-units were friendly.
Rey among them. She came down the ramp behind him, followed by Kylo Ren. Poe gave BB-8 a parting pat and rose to greet Rey, giving her a hug and swinging her around. Kylo, coming down behind her, had to side-step her feet to avoid getting whacked. He moved off to the side where he could watch from a safe distance. BB-8 rolled excitedly around them, making more alert tones mixed with jubilant whistles.
Hux
Poe ran ahead to meet his droid, while Hux moved more sedately. If he was seeing it correctly, the freighter showed signs of recent refitting and refurbishments – not in the last few days because he could see water marks and … was that mold? on it, but in the last few months. The Resistance had ended up with a lot of older, reconditioned ships after he'd closed the throttle on their ability to get new ones. According to Kes, this one had some family history for Kylo, being 'Solo's old freighter'.
Hux moved to Kylo's side with a steady pace, falling neatly into place exactly even with him, as close as he could approximate for the distance he should be at for proper formation. Not that Hux had drilled formation since his academy days, but some kind of formal presentation or public ceremony required it almost monthly in the Order. It was a comforting familiarity to stand at parade rest next to a fellow officer.
He shot Kylo's midsection a glance, making sure Kylo knew what he was doing. There was no shift in Kylo's stance, no turning toward him as if to speak. They stood side by side, erect and still, watching as Poe and Rey exchanged excited greetings like they hadn't seen each other less than two weeks earlier.
May we speak this way? Hux projected carefully, trying to keep his thoughts focused to Ren and Ren alone.
Yes. Kylo's expression didn't change. He continued to watch Rey and Poe.
It was a relief. I'm … very glad you're here. I've been very isolated. Thank you for coming. He tried not to effuse like the desperate weakling he felt like and instead give only the appearance of an appropriate level of gratitude, but that was harder to control in mental contact than in verbal.
Lonely?
Yes! I miss the Order. I miss seeing people I know. I miss the routine and being in my own room and having a shift schedule. I miss the smell of the air and smooth floors and it never raining. People call me by my first name here all the time! I have no rank. I don't matter to anyone other than Poe and Kes!
Kylo's lips pressed together to keep his face straight. Hux saw the amusement in his mind, though. It was not mocking. Kylo thought (rather than projecting or thinking to himself) through his own period of adjustment after leaving the Order. Interestingly, Poe had had a role in that, too. Those bits caught Hux's attention. Kylo let him look at them in more detail.
It was odd (and calming) to have the ability for once to do that – to reach out in return and assert a mental wish rather than being a continually passive object for the other's observation. He'd never done this to Ren – looked back into his mind instead of just being looked at. He'd never been able to. He was careful and tried to be polite. Ren was patient and pleased by the turnaround.
In response, Hux thought (aping what Kylo had done and remembering this as something Snoke had used occasionally) about what Poe had shown him of Rey and how Poe intentionally modeled his 'handling' of Hux after his perceptions of how she'd been there for Kylo. He tried to share it as Ren was doing, giving the entire memory rather than an internal monologue or narrating it.
Kylo gently intertwined their different thoughts, showing Hux how to put them together into one single concept of being assisted through transition, that Kylo understood Hux's feeling of instability and how it probably reflected in moods and indecisiveness, in an increased desire for connection, and how it enhanced feelings of fear and insecurity. He might feel like a desperate weakling, but that was normal and it would pass. Seeing it so carefully put gave Hux a strange empathy for his own situation. He'd understood it before, but it was vastly reassuring to have someone else corroborate his emotions.
He loves me, and I him, Hux thought, but there have been times when I want to go back to a thing that's not there for me anymore. I am unhappy with myself for even wanting it.
Snoke.
And there it was. Hux dropped his chin. His mental landscape was quiet, aside from a surprise that Kylo would be so direct and accurate in putting his finger on it exactly. Only someone else who had spent years under the thumb of that monster could understand the shadow that cast on a soul.
The knights of Ren (Hux wasn't sure if they were still called this) had come down the ramp.
Hugs? Poe asked in his mind, looking at him with concern from the other side of the four.
Hux's attention was arrested by the sight of the knights whom he'd never seen without helmets. He tried not to stare too conspicuously, surprised to see two of them weren't human. Hux considered shutting Poe out, or brushing him off ('I'm fine-ing' him, as Kes would say), but did neither. Ren and I have things to talk about.
Are you okay? Poe's eyes shifted to Kylo and an uncertain protectiveness rose in Poe. He'd felt Hux's sudden dip in mood, the darkness, the preoccupation, and probably the surprise. Obviously, he wasn't sure what was going on.
Yes. Hux infused a definiteness to that, then ended the mental line to Poe so he couldn't ask more questions. He glanced aside at Ren. Verbally, he said, "We'll talk about that later." Kylo nodded once.
Poe
Poe left the house with Hux, but Hux's strides were slow and his head up like he was conducting an inspection of the ship. He probably was. The expression on his face showed he found the vessel wanting. Poe didn't bother to check his thoughts, as the ramp was already coming down and BB-8 was hurrying out. Grinning, Poe ran forward. BB-8 made a quick circle around him, beeping happy greetings. Poe went to a knee and played with him, batting him back and forth and running his hands over BB-8's structure.
"Hey, buddy! How are you doing?"
BB-8 answered with an enthusiastic summary of his status (all good) and then paused to swivel and regard Rey as she came down the ramp. Poe stood and scooped her up with abandon. He swung her around to hear her squeal of delight before dropping her back to the ground. Kylo Ren skirted the two of them to go stand at one side. Poe's focus remained on Rey (and on not tripping over BB-8, who was running circles around them).
"How was the trip?" Poe asked. "Dagobah, wasn't it?"
"Oh! It was amazing! It's a swamp!" She said this with the cheer and delight that only someone who grew up in a desert would show. He could feel her emotions, he realized. They buzzed through her, reinforcing what he was already seeing in her expression.
"Wow, I can feel you," Poe said, marveling. "That's new."
BB-8 made disparaging noises about the mucky ground on Dagobah and how he had to spend most of his time on the ship.
"Yeah, really?" Poe grinned down at the droid. "I'll bet that was a mess." Looking back to Rey, he said, "You've gone from one swamp to another, you know? Half of Yavin IV is swamp! We should take you on a tour."
"I'd love that!" Rey looked past him with big eyes. "But first, that? Oh my. You grew up here?"
Poe looked over his shoulder at the huge tree looming over the place. And there was something 'looming' about it, something he hadn't felt from it before. "Yeah, yeah. Not sure … it feels a little weird right now." He wasn't sure what to make of that, so he looked back to Rey. "It wasn't always that big, of course. It was a sapling when I was a kid. But you grew up on Jakku. I flew over that. You had star destroyers just lying out there!"
"Dead hulks!" Rey dismissed. "That's alive. Even the one on Ahch-To didn't feel this … vibrant. Young."
Behind her, the four knights of Ren were on the ramp. Poe, Rey, and BB-8 moved out of the way to give them room. Steel and Nera were dressed the same as the last time Poe had seen them, in black and grey, but he didn't know the other two. One was a green-scaled Trandoshan in unrelieved black and the other was a human woman in standard Jedi beige and brown. Kylo was in dark shades of brown and Rey in greys and white.
All six of them looked up at the tree, or what they could see of it over the top of Kes' house, which was most of it. Poe felt a deep stir of fear and unease from Hux. The knights were standing between where Poe and Rey stood to one side of the ramp and Kylo and Hux were on the other. For the first time, Poe noticed the parade rest of the two men and that they were saying nothing to anyone. Kylo's eyes were on Rey. Hux's were unfocused. He was looking down and might have been paler than usual.
Hugs? Poe asked mentally. The knights were saying things to each other and he didn't think Hux would hear him if he spoke.
Hux lifted his head to see him and stared at the knights as though he'd never seen them before. He thought to Poe tersely, Ren and I have things to talk about.
Are you okay? Poe's eyes shifted to Kylo. Poe had been working very hard since he'd found he had to Force to deal with Hux as carefully as possible. Kylo probably didn't have the same caution. Poe wanted to involve himself, even though he didn't think it was the right thing to do.
Yes. Hux infused a definiteness to that and shut the door mentally on Poe's connection. Poe saw him say something quiet to Kylo, who nodded once.
"Is everything okay?" Rey asked from next to him. She touched his forearm.
Poe had nearly forgotten her, assuming she was still staring off at the uneti tree. "It's fine, I guess." He paused to consider his own feelings. "I think I might be jealous." That Hux was talking to someone else mentally, that Hux preferred talking to that other mentally, that Hux wasn't including Poe in the conversation despite everything Poe had tried to do for him – it was all very irritating, surprisingly so.
"Yeah," she said softly so it wouldn't carry. "You are."
Poe laughed out loud as he thought about the situation. "That is totally irrational." Hux was leading Kylo around the house to the tree. The knights followed. All six of them moved enough in step to remind Poe of their shared six years of background. Poe found himself jealous of that, too. Rey, Poe, and BB-8 lingered at the ramp. "Kriff. I need to get over myself." He looked at Rey. "I have really tried to change who I am as a person, but every now and then something happens to remind me that I'm still that same guy from the Battle of Crait."
Rey slipped her hand into his and held it firmly, looking up at him with a simple, confident smile.
Her faith in him was palpable. He drew in a breath and let it out. "Come on. Let's go see the tree."
Caspire
Do you feel that? she asked Rey. Kylo was piloting and often grumpy about being interrupted during that. Rey was more easy-going. Even if Caspire had only known her for a week or two now, she was fitting seamlessly into the group. It helped that Steel and Nera (along with Kylo) had spent most of the last year with her.
Rey extended her mental senses in the direction Casp was pointing and saw the vague, blurred presence in the Force. Yes, I do. Do you think that's it?
Yes, I think it is. It was resolving, clarifying in her mind as Kylo brought the Falcon out of the upper atmosphere and down on approach.
Tark and Steel were chattering in the background about the weather, but Nera joined Rey and Caspire mentally. The three of them admired the uneti tree as its Force signature became clear. They were coming in for landing. Kylo peeked in briefly at their mental landscape looking for alarm or danger. Seeing none, he went back to managing touchdown.
That's definitely a vergence, Rey said.
Caspire agreed. A living one. By which she meant it was a creature that served as the nexus in the Force, though the reasons for this were unclear. Sometimes it meant the creature had a great destiny. At others, it meant they possessed great power in the Force. Or in the tree's case, maybe it was just sitting at the location of a natural upwelling of Force energy. Did you see this at the wedding?
No, Rey said. The wedding didn't happen here, but nearby. I didn't come here. They mentioned the tree, but not that it was anything more than a tree. The one on Ahch-To had a presence, but it wasn't alive. It just housed the books. There wasn't any special reason why I'd be looking.
Nera offered, Tree. Growth. Life. Marriage. Union. Fertility?
Hux and Poe are both male, Rey thought as they landed. They haven't said anything about children. I think it's a little early. But he said there was an awakening. What if the tree wasn't awake either until last week?
Young power. Power not based on age anyway, Nera thought.
What if it was the catalyst for their bond? Caspire wondered. You said Snoke did the initial bridge for you and Kylo. What if it bridged Hux and Poe?
Snoke said he did the initial bridge. I'm not sure he was telling the truth. Rey moved from the co-pilot's chair back to the ramp down. BB-8 was already there, rolling back and forth impatiently. "Are you looking forward to seeing Poe again?" she asked him. He trilled excitedly and she laughed as she hit the button to extend the ramp. The droid raced down before it was finished.
Caspire moved up behind Rey. Maybe best if you go next. Familiar faces and all that. Rey nodded and headed down. Kylo sidled past Casp to follow her.
"Smells good," Tark said from behind her.
Next to him, Steel sniffed audibly. "Doesn't smell like swamp, I'll give you that."
I want to see it, Nera said mentally. Go now.
Knowing Nera would set off without waiting if they didn't follow her direction, Caspire started down the ramp. The other three knights came with her. At the bottom, Kylo had gone to the side to stand with the former general/grand marshal/whatever of the First Order. Rey and the droid were to the other side with Poe. Caspire had been shown holos of him, but she hardly looked. Direct line of sight had intensified the glorious presence they had walked into. It was intentionally, threateningly, enhancing its presence in their direction as a show of force. She only had eyes for the tree.
"Size," Nera said. "Display."
"Yep," Steel agreed. "That's a big. And it wants us to know it."
"That speaks to fear," Tark said. "Why do you think that is?"
Caspire treated his question as rhetorical. She said, "The Living Force incarnate. It's so different from the temple on Dagobah. There is no balance. It's just life."
Hugs?, Poe projected, along with some worry. The knights ignored him. One thing about mental contact was that it was usually clear who someone was trying to talk to, even if they were blasting everyone in the area with the message. Caspire had thought the man's name was Hux. That was what Rey and Kylo called him.
"There should be a temple here," Tark said.
"What if there already is?" Casp offered back.
Are you okay? Poe's crosstalk cut through their minds again. There was something unspoken about Kylo in Poe's general broadcast – some pointed concern or suspicion about him. Whatever response he was getting from Hux or Kylo, if any, was being communicated more precisely. They heard nothing of it.
"Temple guardians," Nera said after a pause to see if Poe would continue. When he didn't, she went on, "Bound and present already now. Maybe, children that none is good warden?"
"Yes, that would make sense," Caspire responded. She glanced over as Rey and Poe talked. A nervous, irritated energy was coming off him. She pinged Kylo's mind much as he'd done earlier checking for signs of alarm. He seemed as calm and centered as he had been for the last week that she'd seen him. She let go of her worry then. What would be, would be.
In the other direction, Hux said, "Let's go have a closer look." Kylo walked beside Hux with a careful, measured stride. Caspire recognized it immediately and copied it, sending a mental signal to the others to fall in line. They did, walking together to form two lines of three each, in step with one another. The sound of Rey and Poe's feet behind them was out of sync, along with the whirring of the droid. But that was okay.
