At long last, Ben could see, and hear, the two Weequays chit chatting loudly by the entrance of the labyrinth. Behind him, Rey was dragging a huge piece of scrap metal loaded with a variety of items they found through their plundering on top of the labyrinth's walls. Hopefully these items would satisfy their agreement with Grodo, provide the supplies they need to build their new lightsabers, and, if they were really lucky, have some extra credits left over. It was a lot to hope for, but hope was all they had.
Behind Rey, a small parade of sentient species had congregated, eager to be free from the labyrinth's confinements. After they found their kyber crystals, Rey and Ben had spent the rest of the day scavenging, exploring different areas of the labyrinth as they progressed with their hunt of carelessly discarded resources. The nexu had wandered off the first time they returned to the surface of the labyrinth, but it didn't take long for it to find them again. This time, with his hands free, it charged and ran straight through Ben's lightsaber. The aroma from the nexu's freshly sliced flesh was quite pungent as it quickly manifested throughout their maze, making its death well-known to anyone in the vicinity. That's when two curious Ithorians timidly emerged. At first, the Ithorians kept a safe distance from Rey and Ben. When it became apparent the humans knew what they were doing, their party continued to gradually expand. How long had these sentients been stuck in the labyrinth? Ben didn't know and it was one of the last things on his mind; he had to stay focused on helping Rey, though her unusual behavior was puzzling him.
Since they found their crystals, she seemed off. Distracted. When Ben tried questioning her to figure out what was wrong, Rey gave short, curt answers in response. He kept pushing, hoping she'd willingly open up to him, but instead he got the opposite reaction as she became more irritated, insisting she was ok when she clearly wasn't. It was all so strange. The crystal hunting was her idea, so he thought she'd be more relieved that they found them rather easily. Instead she seemed to be more anxious than before.
"Oh, ho, look who it is?"
"You made it! And you brought a… crew?"
"Where did they all come from?"
"That's obvious. The labyrinth."
"That's not what I meant. Did you know how many were in there?"
"I did not. Maybe we should create a search party. If they need us to get out, we'd get more business."
"Oh, ho! Now that's a good idea!"
Ben didn't acknowledge either of the inattentive Weequays as they excitedly continued their conversation while he and the others exited the maze. The party behind them dispersed in various directions, while Rey ran ahead, dragging their treasures behind her. Ben rolled his eyes as he followed close behind.
"Grodo!" she called. Grodo gave her a little wave.
"I'm still here, and so is your ship, just as you left it! Ooo, what have we here?" Rey whacked his greedy hand as Grodo recoiled from reaching for one of the items. "Hey!"
"No touching. I'm going to do a thorough check of the ship first."
"You still have my pyronium?"
Rey pulled it out of her pocket. "I do, but it stays with me until I'm done. I'm going to look over the outside before it gets dark. Ben, do you mind staying with Grodo?"
"You're talking to me again?" Rey gave him a dangerous look, clearly unpleased. "Fine. But you're going to talk to me when you're done."
"Fine." Rey got on her hands and knees and went under the ship in a huff.
"Trouble in paradise?" Unamused, Ben glared at Grodo who simply shrugged. "Just asking. Anyways, what she's doing is a waste of time. But whatever makes her happy and reassured on Grodo's honesty is fine with me."
"What do you mean by 'waste of time'? And since when have Weequays been known to be honest?"
"Weequays are always honest. We just might… forget bits of information here and there. It's your own fault if you come to the wrong conclusions. As for the girl, I knew who she was right away. I saw the lightsaber. Jedi are very rare these days, and a scavenger Jedi, even rarer."
"If you knew who she was, why did you try giving her that bondite locket?"
"Like I said, it was a test."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Why would Grodo lie? Now you… I'm not sure about you." He glanced towards Ben's lightsaber. "You are also a Jedi, no?"
"Not quite."
"Ah. First Order?"
"Not all lightsaber owners were part of the First Order or the Resistance."
"That is true. They could also be in hiding, like Skywalker. Or dead. Or both."
Before Ben could respond, Rey popped out from the side of the ship. "The ship looks good so far. Now to check the inside."
"You're not a very trusting girl, are you?"
"I was a scavenger on Jakuu. What do you think?"
"I think if you were more trusting, you'd be dead."
"Exactly." Rey climbed into the ship where BB-8 greeted her with a series of delighted beeps. "I missed you, too," she said as she gently patted the Astromech before disappearing into the bowls of the ship.
"I get the feeling I would not want to be on her bad side."
"You're finally right about something."
"Hey! I take offense to that. Grodo is right about a lot of things!"
"Comrade!" interrupted one of the two Weequays, who were clearly done with their labyrinth guarding duties.
"Friends!" The three Weequays patted each other on the backs.
"Did you lose anyone today?"
"Nah, business was slow. But that guy," he pointed towards Ben, "came out with several sentients who had gotten lost."
"Though we can't feel sorry for anyone who turns down our services. They had their chance."
"But what about those two Both…"
"Don't go there."
"But we have a new plan! Instead of providing our excellent guiding services through the labyrinth, we will provide our excellence guiding services to get them out!"
"They are always so eager to enter on their own, poo pooing us, saying they're not going to pay for a guide, but then they get lost."
"That's when we'll come in to save them!"
"For a small fee, of course."
"Hard to refuse when you could be trapped forever."
"Easy way to earn credits!"
"That's an excellent idea!" said Grodo.
"Come, join us for some drinks, and we can tell you more."
"I have to stay here just a bit longer." The ship's engines started to rev up, but then quickly shut down. "But not too much longer."
"Grodo!" Rey shouted, as she came off the ship, arms folded. "Everything looks good, but our fuel tank seems to be empty. Care to explain yourself?"
"So much for being trustworthy," mumbled Ben.
"Grodo is trustworthy! You never asked if I emptied your fuel tank so you wouldn't take off and leave Grodo with nothing. You don't trust me, Grodo doesn't trust you either."
"I want our fuel!" Rey demanded.
"You'll get it, but in the morning. The market is closed for the night so we'll speak to my dear friend, Rotta, tomorrow. Rotta will give you the best offers, guaranteed! If you have the right amount of credits we agreed to, we'll make our exchanges then. For now, you are staying here. No sneaking off without paying." He wagged a finger at Rey. There was no use arguing; they each had things the other wanted and there was nothing they could do about it tonight.
Grodo turned towards his comrades, but as they started to leave he stopped abruptly and pointed towards the sky. "See that bright star there? Do you know what it is?" Rey stepped down and looked up to where Grodo was pointing.
"No, I don't."
"That star was Ilum. They call it Solo, named after a famous smuggler who died on Ilum before it blew up. Interesting, no?"
Neither responded. Ben could hear the Weequays shuffle away as he kept his eyes attached to the star above. He couldn't pull his gaze away from it, even though it reminded him of the his dreadful transgression. His father had given him life, and in mere seconds he took his father's life away with little hesitation. All that was left were his memories, and now this star. Solo…
"Ben?" He released his gaze from Solo and turned to Rey. "You're right, we do need to talk." Ben nodded while Rey took a deep breath. "You know how I told you that I have trouble sleeping because I have bad dreams?"
"Yes."
"Well, my dreams are usually 'what if' scenarios. Like, what if I joined forces with you when you first offered on Ilum? Or what if I took your hand the times you reached out to me? Usually after I've embraced the dark side, I'm… happy."
"Happy?"
"Yeah, not what you'd expect. I think it's because I finally feel like someone and not just some girl barely getting by on Jakuu. I have all of this new, raw power, and I can use it any way I want to. It isn't until my friends are all dead, many by my own hands, that I start to realize what I've become. Then I'm filled with all of this torment and grief because I can't undo what I've done. Even after I wake up, I'm shaking and struggling to catch my breath. It always takes me a few moments to realize it was just a dream."
Ben wasn't sure how to respond to that. Maybe she needed a hug and some comforting? He took a step closer to her and she responded with a large step back. Nope, no hugs.
"I'm glad you're telling me this, but I sense there's more."
"There is. When we found our crystals, you said you felt like the Force was pulling us together."
"Right, and I thought you said you felt it, too?"
"I did. I do. But then you said the Force had plans for us, that it wanted us together. Like it's part of our destiny."
"Right, that's because it is."
Rey shook her head. "Then why?"
"Why wha…"
"Why did you break into my mind? Why did you invade my personal thoughts and then use them against me? Why did you tell me I was nobody, that I was nothing? If this whole time you thought the Force was trying to bring us together, why did you work so hard to hurt me, to bring me down? And I don't want to hear it was because of the dark side, or because you wanted to find Luke Skywalker. There were alternatives, but you chose me. The nightmares… I can't make them stop. I've tried. So why… why did you want me to join you and the dark side so badly?" All of that anger Rey had been storing inside for so long exploded out all at once, like a detonator that had just been activated. It could not be contained.
Ben reached for her hand, but as soon as his fingers touched her skin, she recoiled. He watched her helplessly; there was nothing he could do or say that would undo the damage he had inflicted on her.
"I did it because I wanted power. I wanted control. And it infuriated me that I couldn't control you." He could feel his voice cracking; her pain and suffering was invading him as well. "My peers looked down upon me, Snoke looked down upon on me. No matter how hard I tired, I could never be seen as an equal. As much as I hate saying it …" He paused. He knew he had to be honest with her, but it was going to be harrowing to do so. Though he suspected she knew the truth already, hearing the words out loud would make them all the more real. "The truth is… belittling you made me feel better about myself. It felt good to know there was actually someone who had untamed power similar to my own but was still inferior to me. It was finally my turn to be the superior one. That is why I became obsessed in getting you to join me and to embrace the dark side. I wanted you convinced that you needed me as much as I wanted you. That way, I wouldn't be alone anymore, and I'd still be in control.
"It was selfish and cruel, I know. Like I said, I had feelings for you, but I didn't fully understand them until I ridded myself of Kylo Ren. I can't tell you how much I regret the things that I have done, especially what I've done to you. I'm sorry, Rey. I am so…sorry!" Now he was breaking down. He felt pathetic, but like Rey, he had an array of emotions inside of him that were ready to burst out, and burst they did.
Neither one looked at the other while they released all of the negative energy they had allowed to well up inside of them; it was long overdue.
"Um, excuse me?" squeaked a Twi'lek, one of their followers from the labyrinth. "Am I interrupting?" She was, but it was a needed distraction.
"No," said Rey, as she wiped her face with her sleeve. "What can we do for you?"
"Oh, nothing for me. You've done enough. There's a group of us staying the night as we have work to do when the markets upon in the morning. We have gathered together the provisions we have left and we are making a little meal. We would love for you to join us, as a token of gratitude for freeing us from the labyrinth. It isn't much, but it's all we have to offer."
"I would love to join you," said Rey.
"As would I, if that's all right…" He glanced nervously at Rey, wondering if she'd prefer to go alone.
"We'll be right there, we just need a moment. Thank you."
"No, thank you!" The Twi'lek left, visibly pleased with herself.
Once she was out of earshot, Rey was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. "I know that must have been hard for to say. It seems like we have a lot in common. We were both lonely and we didn't want to feel insignificant, like we were nobodies, anymore. Our solutions were just…different."
"Different is an understatement."
Rey chuckled. "True, but I do feel much better getting everything out in the open."
"Same. Rey, I really am so…" Rey took ahold of his hand, stopping him.
"I know. I'm just… scared."
"Me, too."
"You are?"
"Of course I am! I'm scared of hurting you again. Or worse, losing you. I really don't want you to be afraid of me anymore."
"I don't want to be afraid either. But like we've said before, it will take time."
"Yes, time." They smiled at each other; a much better change from their prior sentiments.
"Shall we put the things we found on the ship and join the others for some food?"
Rey grinned. "That sounds perfect!"
