AN: Surprise! I'm back!
To be honest I was starting to get worried that I wasn't going to get to continue this story, which is just heartbreaking for me. I hate leaving things uncompleted. I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in over a year. I actually had this chapter done around the same time as the last one, but because of all my homework and classes and I've been editing this for months.
Every time I would get ready to post this I could just hear my classmates criticisms about what's wrong with it and how it's not good enough. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I think that I've improved greatly because of all the workshopping I did the past year. But there comes a point where the editing has to stop and you have to say to yourself that it's ready, and while there may be some problems that are too small to notice at the moment, that will be the case with everything that you write. There's never such a thing as too much editing, in fact editing is something that never actually ends, but there comes a point where enough is enough.
Anyway, on a more personal note, college has been good so far. I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't hell at some points, but I always feel that way about school to begin with. If I had one complaint it would be the fact that I have to take art studios in order to graduate which isn't fun for someone who can't draw and is surrounded by an entire school of people who can because it's their majors. But I digress, if I start talking about it I'll never stop.
While I normally do review responses, I'm going to leave them out for just this one chapter since it's been so long since I updated it. But I do read them and I'm extremely grateful for all of the love and support that this story has gotten and I can't express how grateful I am to have you guys following me and this piece. Getting notifications about new story and author follows is always the best part of my day and it makes me feel so happy that people actually enjoy my work. You guys are the best and I love you all, whether you were following for the beginning or just discovered it, I welcome you back with open wookie arms.
You probably want to get back into it though, huh? Well go right ahead, I'm done blabbing. :)
Chapter 41
Rey had left the hangar and was making her way towards the bridge. She told Austin to meet up with her and Hux when he was finished putting Kylo's helmet in her room. Before she left Jack quickly put a bacta patch on her arm and told her to come see him if it was causing her any pain or if it needed further treatment. She could already feel the patch's effects working on her wound, she doubted that she needed stitches or anything.
As she walked down the halls she tried her best not to think about Kylo and his current state. The thought of him just lying motionless in the medbay sent chills down her spine. She made a point that once she ate and saw her friends that she would head down to him immediately.
It wasn't long before she had the entrance to the bridge in her sights, and as she entered she saw the red haired figure of Hux looming over one of the control panels. He heard her footsteps and looked up. Rey thought she saw small signs of a smirk begin to form, but they disappeared when he saw that Kylo wasn't with her. Rey had stopped walking and waited for him to move from his position to approach her. Hux said, "I take it that we were victorious?"
"Yes General, we won. I have the wounded and dead count right here. I looked at it, we lost quite a few men, but our survivors outnumber our losses." She handed him the datapad and he quickly looked over it before his gaze returned to her.
"Looks like you took quite a beating. Nevertheless I am impressed."
"Really?"
"Yes, I am. I never thought that you could handle something like this. I half expected you to come out more injured than you are now, or worse."
"Do you have that little faith in me Hux?"
"I used to, now I see that you're quite as capable as your master, perhaps even more so."
Rey could feel heat beginning to rise on her cheeks. "Thank you. I think that's the first time I ever heard you give a compliment."
"Don't get used to it. Speaking of your master, where's Ren?"
Rey took a deep breath before answering to settle her nerves, the image of Kylo still fresh in her mind. Rey replied, "He got hit by a sniper and is severely injured. One of the blood vessels leading to his heart tore up and he's unconscious. We were lucky to get him back here in enough time, but as of now his fate is uncertain. He's currently in the medbay."
"I see, I'm sure you did all you could. We can only hope that he recovers quickly, he's bounced back from many injuries before, he can do it again," Hux said reassuringly.
Rey saw the side of his mouth go up ever so slightly in a small smile, he was attempting to comfort her. "Thank you, Hux, and I hope you're right. But I must say, I'm shocked to hear you say such kind words about him."
"I'd never say them to his face, and it's true that he can get under my skin quite often. But I've come to accept and embrace our little rivalry. You on the other hand are different, I can't believe I'm admitting this but, I'm actually starting to warm up to you."
"Really? That's so unlike you."
Hux looked away from Rey and quickly said, "Yeah well, nobody needs to know about it."
A smirk appeared on her face as she looked at him. "Of course, we can't ruin your reputation. Even though I desperately want to tell someone that Hux has a soft spot for me," Rey said sarcastically.
"You let that slip and Snoke will be the least of your worries," Hux threatened.
"Speaking of Snoke, do we go inform him now or do we need to do something else? I'm kind of new to all of this."
"You will need to eventually file a report on what happened and what you did, but that can wait until you get settled in and clean yourself up. You're a mess."
"Hey, you try fighting a ton of rebels, who by the way somehow managed to steal our stored weapons."
"What! How is that possible?" exclaimed Hux.
Rey calmly said, "I don't know. We only found out when they brought out the tank."
"They used a tank?! The Supreme Leader will not be happy about this."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Just figured you should know about it. So now what?"
"Now we go talk to Snoke."
"I hope you mean the both of us, because I am terrified of going to see him alone, even if he is a hologram."
"Of course I mean the both of us, I wouldn't send you in there all by yourself, you've barely even spoken to him as it is."
"Good, so do we go now or are we just going to keep standing here and do nothing?"
Hux replied with a hint of his usual snark, "Yes, we can go." He motioned for her to head towards the exit, but just before she could leave the bridge she saw Austin come running up to her.
"AU, glad you could make it."
"Sorry I'm late Commander. General. What did I miss?"
Rey lightheartedly said, "Oh nothing much. We're just on our way to see Snoke."
"Alright. General, is there anything that you need from me?" asked Austin.
"Other than your report, no. Rey told me everything I need to know for now, you may leave."
"Yes sir." He nodded his head at Rey and left the bridge.
"Now then, if there aren't going to be any more interruptions, I suggest we leave immediately," Hux said. Rey nodded her head in understanding and the two left the bridge and went for the transmission room.
The two were completely silent the whole way there, not wanting to express their fears for how Snoke would react to their information, whether good or bad. It wasn't long before they saw the door and Hux put his arm out to stop Rey, he turned to face her and said, "Alright, when Snoke appears you immediately kneel until he says otherwise. Let me do the talking first. I'm sure that he's going to want to hear from you, but wait until he's speaking to you, don't butt in. Other than that you should be fine."
"Okay, I hope this goes well."
"These meetings usually do, unless we lose to the enemy."
"Right." Hux began to turn away but she felt that she needed to get something off her chest. "Hux?"
"Yes?" he impatiently replied.
"I'm sorry about Starkiller Base. I'm sure that you were punished severely for that."
"I was. But why are you apologizing?"
"Because I sort of helped a little bit in blowing it up. It wasn't much really, all I really did was mess with a couple of circuits. But either way I feel guilty about it since my allegiance changed."
"There's no need for you to feel guilty, I don't blame you for it. But if it makes you feel any better, I accept your apology," Hux said sincerely.
"Thank you." She offered a small smile and one corner of his mouth slightly turned up in response.
"Are you ready to go in?"
"Yeah, I'm ready." Hux turned around and the two entered the dark room. As they approached the center they both knelt and waited for the hologram to be turned on. The large image of Snoke appeared in front of them within seconds.
Rey felt herself freeze up when she heard his voice. "Well, well, well. I wasn't expecting to hear from you for quite some time General. The two of you may stand." Rey and Hux did as they were told and looked directly up at the giant image in front of them. "General Hux, how did we do?"
"We managed to defeat the rebels Supreme Leader. We had quite a few losses, but the remaining troops outnumber them greatly. We will not be hearing about any rebels on Coruscant anymore, they're all dead."
"That's exactly what I like to hear."
"But there was a slight problem."
"And what kind of problem was it General? It better not be anything severe for your sake," Snoke threatened.
Hux replied with a small quiver in his voice, "Well, the rebels somehow managed to get in our storage units there and managed to steal several blasters and a tank."
"I see. Then increase security and resupply what was missing, otherwise there shouldn't be anymore problems."
"Yes, Supreme Leader."
Snoke then shifted his gaze to Rey, who felt colder all of a sudden. "Rey, what is the status of the accused force users?"
Rey replied with as much confidence as she could muster, "They turned out to be fakes Supreme Leader, they are alive and are being contained. They are no threat to us."
"Good, good. Well done young one. You served us well, I'm very impressed on how far you've come."
"Thank you Supreme Leader."
"I couldn't help but notice that my apprentice is not with you. Where is Kylo Ren?"
"He was injured during battle Supreme Leader, he's currently in the medbay."
"How injured is he?"
"One of his blood vessels leading to his heart tore up when he was hit by a sniper. He lost a lot of blood and is unconscious, his fate is uncertain. We were lucky to get him back here alive."
"Very well. Until he is healed or if he dies, you will now take over his duties."
Rey's eyes widened and her heart quickened. Panic stricken she said, "Sir, with all do respect, I haven't even completed my training yet. I don't know how to operate within the military, I'm still learning what my role is. I can't possibly take over Kylo's position, I don't even know how to use the Dark Side yet."
"Tell me Rey, in battle did you ever get so angry at the enemy that you let it fuel you and the force? Did it make you stronger?"
"Well, yes. It happened a few times actually. Why is that important?"
"Because that is the Dark Side. You were able to channel your anger and hatred and use it to your advantage. You were using the Dark Side without even realizing it. Of course you need to learn how to properly use it, but that can wait. For now you are the new Kylo Ren."
"But sir, I still don't even fully understand what Kylo does, how am I supposed to do it on my own?"
"General Hux will teach you all you need to know. In the meantime I want you to interrogate those prisoners and get any information out of them you can. If there's a chance that more events like this will happen across the galaxy, I want to know about it."
"Yes, Supreme Leader. Is there anything else?"
"For now, no. When you've completed your task I'll assign you another one."
"Yes, Supreme Leader. I'll try not to let you down."
"I have a feeling that you will be a success among the First Order, but only time will tell." The image disappeared, signaling the end of the meeting.
Rey turned to Hux and her face was completely shocked. "Did that really just happen? Tell me that didn't just happen."
"It did, you are now taking over all of Ren's duties."
"But I don't even know what they are. Hux, I can't do this, I'm not ready for it."
"Relax. I'll teach you everything that you need to know about Ren's duties and the inner workings of the Order. For now, why don't you go relax and clean up. We'll start tomorrow morning."
"Thank you Hux, you're going to save me."
"Either way I have to do it, it's an order."
"Right. So, I'll see you tomorrow morning on the bridge?"
"Yes, I want to get as much material in as possible."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll see you then."
"Have a nice evening." Rey gave a quick nod and left the chamber to go to her room. It was only now that she was beginning to realize how exhausted she was, all of the adrenaline had disappeared and she felt as if she could lay down and instantly fall asleep.
Once she reached her room she saw that there were quite a few stormtroopers standing outside of it. She rubbed her eyes to get a better look at them and saw that they were none other than her friends. Rey began to shout, "Larry, Blake, Rex, Bandit!" The troopers heard their names and immediately turned around to face her. Smiles spread around all their faces as she approached them.
"Rey!" they exclaimed in unison. All four of them encased her in a group hug before they all hugged her individually.
"I'm so happy to see you guys! It feels like I've been gone forever."
Larry replied, "We're happy to see you too! We were beginning to get worried when we didn't see you or Austin."
"Sorry about that, I was with Hux and Snoke. And Austin's fine, he's probably getting cleaned up and filing his report."
"Well that's good to hear. So how did it go? Tell us everything," he said eagerly.
"I will. Just give me a few minutes to get clean, I want to wash all of this dirt and dust off."
"Yeah sure, take your time. We're not going anywhere."
"Thanks guys. I'll be right back." With that Rey quickly ducked into her room and let the door close behind her. She let out a sigh of relief, seeing her friends faces really made her feel better about everything that happened recently. She looked around her room and saw that it was exactly as she left it, with the exception of Kylo's helmet being on her nightstand.
She walked over to it and gently placed her hand on top of it, she made a note to clean it before Kylo woke up. She removed her hand from the helmet and unclipped both her lightsaber and Kylo's. She placed them next to his helmet and began to make her way towards the refresher. She quickly undressed and went in the shower, the hot water feeling really good against her skin. She could've stayed in there forever, but she knew that her friends were waiting and began to clean herself.
When she got out of the shower she went to her closet and took out a new set of clothes that looked more casual, knowing that she wouldn't be doing anything else important today. She changed into her clothes and dried her hair, replacing her lightsaber on her belt when she was done. Before she left she called for a droid to come take her clothes and to have them washed. A pile was beginning to form in the refresher and she wanted to get everything back in her closet.
When she left the room she saw that her friends were leaning up against the wall waiting for her. When they saw her come out they immediately went up to her. Bandit nudged her as he gave a smirk and said, "You clean up good Rey."
"Thanks. How about we hit the cafeteria, I'm starving."
"You read my mind, let's go." The group made their way towards the cafeteria and they were anything but quiet. When they got their food they all sat down at their usual table and Rey wasted no time in digging into the food in front of her.
When she managed to slow herself down, Blake thought it was a good time to get the dirt out of her. "So Rey, you ready to tell us what happened?"
"Oh yeah. Well for starters, we won." Her friends took a moment to high-five one another and celebrate a First Order victory. Once they died down Rey told them everything that happened with extreme detail, careful not to leave anything out. They were all on the edge of their seats, waiting to hear what happened next.
When she got to the part about the sniper Rey stopped herself and her face fell. Rex noticed and gently put his hand on her arm. "Rey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's just."
"Just what?"
"It's getting harder and harder for me to tell this part."
"What happened?"
"Kylo got hit with a sniper." All of their mouths dropped open in shock. They weren't expecting to hear that.
"What happened to him? Is he alright?"
"No, he's not. One of the blood vessels leading to his heart tore open. They're not sure if he's going to make it."
"Oh Rey, I'm so sorry. We all are." Tears began to stream down her face and she rested her head on Rex's shoulder.
"I don't know what I'm going to do. You have no idea how hard it is for me not to break down whenever I think about it." Rex wrapped his arm around her shoulder and everyone else came around towards her to comfort her as well.
Nobody moved until Rey began to wipe away the tears and sat upright again. When she gave a weak smile to them, they all smiled back and went back to their seats. When she regained her composure she told them the rest of the story. They were all impressed with how she managed to finish off the rebels, and they didn't hold back in praising her.
Rey wasn't sure if she wanted to tell them about her new position yet, so she kept quiet and finished the rest of her food. The group stayed there for hours and acted as if nothing had happened the whole day.
After awhile Blake noticed that Rey had a worried look on her face and he had a feeling that it wasn't Kylo related. "Is there something on your mind Rey?" he asked.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just something that Snoke told me."
"You know you can tell us anything."
"I know. I'm just still trying to process it."
"Well why don't you tell us and we can help you."
"Alright. Snoke gave me Kylo's position until he's healed. I'm to take over all of his responsibilities."
"Woah, that's huge."
"I know. Hux is supposed to help me, but this is something that I know that I'm not ready for."
"Well we'll be here to help you through it, no matter what."
"Thanks Blake. I don't know what I would do without you guys." The group remained there for a couple more minutes until they heard footsteps approaching. They looked up and saw that Austin was heading straight towards them, but his face was stone cold. He said, "Rey, I need you to come with me. Now."
"Austin, what's wrong?"
"It's Ren, the medics are asking for you."
"What? Is he alright?" she asked with panic in her voice.
"I don't know. They're in the middle of the procedure but something's going on and they need you. That's all that Jack told me."
"He better not be dying otherwise those medics will not want to be near me."
"I don't know, but you need to come now." Rey turned to the others and their expressions had all changed to ones of fear and worry.
"Will you guys come with me? I need all the support I can get." They all nodded their heads and the group went towards the medbay. They were practically sprinting down the halls, anyone that was in their way quickly got out of it before they got trampled.
It seemed like it would take forever to get to the medbay, but Rey couldn't shake the thought of Kylo dying out of her mind. She knew that she wasn't going to get any sleep that night. When the group finally reached their destination Austin directed them to the operating room.
They could all see through the glass and Rey gasped at the sight before her. There were surgeons on all sides of him and blood was all over them. But what was worse was that Kylo was completely out of control. He was twitching and spazzing to the point where they needed to hold him down with their whole bodies. Rey felt Larry's hand on her shoulder as he tried to steady her as she began to feel faint.
She turned to Austin, her face completely horror-stricken. "What are they doing to him? What's going on?"
"I don't know. All of a sudden he just started acting like this with no warning. They can't sedate him because they're afraid that the dose will be too strong and kill him in this state."
"Why do they need me?"
Jack's voice was the one to answer her question as he entered the room. "Because we need you to calm him down."
"How?"
"By doing what you did on the ship when I was treating him. If we don't finish the procedure soon he's going to die."
"What if it doesn't work?"
"Then we're out of options. Please Rey, he needs you." She took one last look at Kylo and sighed, she wasn't going to let him die like this.
"Alright. I'll do it."
"Thank you."
"Just tell me when to stop." Jack nodded his head and Rey began to close her eyes, focusing hard on her breathing as she entered their connection. She could feel all of his pain and suffering and it caused her heart to ache. His presence was barely there, it was as if he was slipping away.
Rey did what she did before and began to talk to him. "Kylo, if you're there I need you to listen to me. Your pain is causing you to spazz out violently and what makes it worse is that you're in the middle of a procedure. You need to calm down and let the medics finish otherwise you're going to die. Just breathe and relax, I'm right here and I'm not going to leave. Please stop, I'm not going to have you die, I can't lose you."
Rey repeatedly told him to calm down and to listen to her voice. She couldn't tell if it was working, but judging by Jack's relieved tone of voice, she guessed that it was. Sweat was beginning to drip down her forehead as the strain from keeping their connection linked was beginning to take a toll on her.
She remained that way for what felt like forever until she heard Jack's voice. "They're done Rey, you can stop now." Rey left the connection and opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing and she almost fell backwards from exhaustion, she'd never had to keep the connection going that long, it took a lot out of her.
Her gaze landed on Kylo and she saw that the medics were starting to clean him up. She looked at Jack with a worried expression. "Is he going to be alright?"
"He's going to be just fine. They're going to put him in a bacta tank so the wound can heal a little faster. The only downside is that they don't know when he's going to wake up."
"Really? He's not going to stay that way is he?"
"No. He's going to wake up eventually, we just don't know when. It could be days or it could be weeks. All we can do now is wait."
"I understand. Am I allowed to visit him?"
"Yes, but I suggest that you do it tomorrow. They're putting him in the bacta tank overnight."
"Okay. Thank the surgeons for me Jack, let them know that I appreciate everything that they've done."
"I will. Now it's getting late, I suggest you go rest."
"Alright." She turned to her friends and saw that they were smiling at her. "You guys want to walk me back to my room?"
Bandit smirked at her as he cocked his head. "Of course, we don't need you passing out in the halls. Come on." The group left the medbay and slowly made their way towards Rey's room. She still had a headache and all she wanted to do was lay down.
When they reached her room she hugged all of them and thanked them for all of their support. When they all said goodnight they went their separate ways and Rey went inside her room. She quickly changed into her sleepwear and immediately crashed onto her pulled the covers over her and reached for her nightstand, grabbing Kylo's lightsaber. She closely examined it and played with it in her hand before setting it back down on the nightstand. Knowing that Kylo was going to live lifted a huge weight off of her shoulders that she didn't know had been there.
She shifted in her bed so that she was looking out of her window, seeing all of the twinkling stars lighting up the darkness of space. She traced the stars with her eyes, a pastime that she used to love doing as a child on Jakku to help her fall asleep. As she traced she saw that one of the shapes looked a lot like Kylo's helmet and she smiled. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, ready for whatever the next day would bring.
AN: Well I hoped that this chapter was worth the wait. And don't worry I'm already working on the next one, but I'm not sure when it will be up. But I promise that it won't be another year long wait. Please feel free to leave a review, I'm always happy to read them and to see what you guys think.
If you're wondering how I felt about Rise of Skywalker, I liked it. It did have a few issues but overall I enjoyed watching it and think that it's a good edition to the saga. However, I don't like the ending one bit. Kylo dying was a stupid decision, in my opinion he's one of the best characters of the franchise because of his character development and entire story alone. Having someone whose been mentally tormented and manipulated his entire life and feeling as if nobody cares or understands him, and then Rey coming along and showing that she does care and that he might finally be happy for once in his life but then he dies seconds after without saying a word to her is just cruel. It pisses me off so much that they just killed him off like that. While yes he can finally be at peace, I highly doubt that dying would be what his version of peace is, or even what he wanted for that matter. And I didn't like the whole Rey Skywalker thing. I understand why they did it and what it symbolizes, but I feel like it completely undermines the reveal of her being a Palpatine and the amount of emphasis that the films kept putting about how badly she wanted to know who her family was.
On a much lighter note, Clone Wars season 7 is in a few weeks! I missed this show so damn much. I can't wait to see Maul, Rex, Ahsoka, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and hopefully Hondo and Bane again. They're like my family.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please feel free to leave a review. Or even a PM if you want to, I do check and respond to them, so if you ever want to talk about the story in more detail or just Star Wars or other fandoms in general feel free to do so.
May the force be with you.