The Pivotal Moment

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A/N-thank you for the awesome reviews!

Chapter Twenty-Four-Voe

Luke had been drafted into the meeting with Leia and the other members of the resistance. Ben and Rey were glad of the breather as they tried to absorb everything that Luke had told them. Both of them were feeling the tension, the overwhelming stress of what was going to happen next. Rey was suffering the most. In this universe Ben had a whole network of people supporting him, but all she had was Ben himself. Even though his family had been completely accepting of her, she wondered whether they would feel that way once they found out the truth of her familial connections. It made her afraid, and this fear communicated itself to Ben.

"You're not alone." Ben told her as he drew her toward him. Rey rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Rey." He whispered her name like a prayer as he gently trailed his fingers along the curve of her spine in a soothing motion.

Even with Ben's tender ministrations the stress continued to spread through Rey's mind like ink on paper. She took in deep, ragged breaths as she tried to fight her rising panic.

"Rey, I'm right here with you." Ben reminded her again when he felt the tenseness in her muscles that made her more like a mannequin then a woman of flesh and bone. He empathized with how she was feeling but he had learned the only way out is to remove yourself from things that scare you, to find a place where you can reclaim your mind. Rey had taught him that. Now she needed to learn to do it for herself. "Let's get out of here." He said, taking her hand.

"Where are we going to go?" Rey asked in confusion.

"I'm going to take you to our safe place." Ben smiled at her tenderly as a dawning realization crossed her face.

"The Falcon." Rey murmured as she let him help her to rise.

"Yeah." Ben held tightly to her hand as he took the lead and led her off the Raddus. But unfortunately, they didn't get far. The meeting seemed to be over. As soon as he and Rey reached the end of the ramp, a swarm of people, some of the same ones who had claimed his attention when they had first arrived on D'Qar, surrounded Ben in an eager attempt to get a piece of him. Rey lost her hold on Ben's hand and found herself pushed to one side. She was once again on the outskirts.

"Did you expect anything else?"

Rey whirled around at the sound of the voice. It belonged to a male and was strikingly familiar. "Poe?" She said, staring at him in surprise.

"Ah, my reputation precedes me." Poe boasted, his brown eyes twinkling in amusement. "You're the girl Finn was telling me about."

Rey glanced around for Finn. He was nowhere in sight. She guessed he was still with Leia and Luke; he certainly wasn't amongst Ben's fan club. Rey returned her attention to Poe, trying her best to dampen her enthusiasm at seeing him again. This guy didn't know who she was here, they weren't friends. She was a stranger to him.

"You okay?" Poe asked, frowning slightly. "You look a bit peaky."

"I'm fine." Rey said quickly.

"Are you sure?" Poe checked. His face was full of concern as he brushed his fingers through his wavy hair. "You should get something to eat. I doubt flyboy over there has even considered that you might be hungry. He's easily distracted, especially by a pretty face." He motioned toward the crowd surrounding Ben.

Rey blanched when she turned in Ben's direction to find a particularly striking female standing right at the head of the group. She was leaning close to Ben, whispering something in his ear. Even though Rey could feel through their bond that Ben was struggling with all this unwanted attention and something else she couldn't decipher, it hurt to see him fawned over by another girl. Especially a girl as stunning as that one-her white hair was pulled back from her face in a thick braid, her flawless brown skin had the hue of dark roast coffee beans, falling smoothly over a bone structure that Rey could only envy.

"That's Voe." Poe didn't bother hiding his sarcasm. "One of Luke's apprentices. She's the head cheerleader of Solo's fan club. Just ignore her. Voe likes to show off."

Voe? Where had she heard that name before? Rey certainly didn't recognize the girl but her name was familiar. She tuned Poe out as she concentrated on her force bond with Ben. It was only when she opened herself up to it completely that she felt his dread pushing against her like an invisible gale. She tried to see his face above the bobbing heads of his admirers, and when she did get a brief glimpse, she saw that his teeth were locked tight together. He was barely holding on.

Rey left Poe and pushed herself into the group, rudely elbowing some of them out of her way in her desperation to get to Ben. He was about to lose it, and she had to reach him before he exploded. With sheer force of will she made it through the throng. As soon as Ben saw her, he shoved Voe to one side and rushed over to Rey, pulling her against him, his muscled arms winding around her in a tight bear hug. Rey could tell by his taut face and muscles that he was reliving some kind of painful memory and it had to do with that girl, Voe. The crowd had gone quiet now as they watched in stunned silence as Rey carefully guided Ben away from them in the direction of the Falcon.

"Hey, what's going on?" Poe's confused voice came from behind them.

Rey felt irritation wash over. Why couldn't everyone just leave them alone! She needed to get Ben to a safe place. And the only safe place right now was the Falcon. He was seriously about to lose it.

"We're fine." Rey called over her shoulder as she steered Ben toward the ship.

"You don't look fine." Poe wasn't giving up. He darted in front of them, stopping Rey and Ben in their tracks. "What's wrong with you, Solo?" He demanded curtly.

From the unsympathetic tone in Poe's voice, Rey got the feeling that he wasn't Ben's biggest fan. He hadn't been part of the group that was fawning all over Ben. And he called Ben 'Solo' and not by his first name.

"Nothing's wrong!" Ben said through gritted teeth. "Just leave us alone!"

Poe's eyes narrowed. "Finn said there was something off with you. But I can't see anything different. You're still the arrogant hotshot! That arrogance is gonna cost us all one day."

"Can you please just give us some space?" Rey cut in desperately.

"No can do, darlin'" Poe said stubbornly. "I wouldn't hitch your star to his. He'll only disappoint you."

The dread crept over Rey like an icy chill, numbing her brain. The dread was emanating from Ben. In this frozen state of mind, she felt unable to do anything. Whatever painful memory that Voe woman had dredged up had pulled Ben straight back into the darkness of his past. A confrontation between him and Poe was imminent.

"I'm giving you one last warning to back off." Ben snapped at Poe.

"What if I don't?" Poe challenged him.

Rey knew there was no avoiding it. Ben's lightsaber appeared in his hand before she could even blink. "Ben, no!" She cried through their force bond. "Stop!"

"I've got your back, Ben." Voe appeared and took a defensive stance beside Ben, her own yellow saber activated and ready.

Seeing Voe beside him seemed to send Ben reeling. His blue lightsaber fell from nerveless fingers and clattered noisily to the floor. Rey quickly scooped it up and hid it underneath her belt. She saw Voe shut her own blade down as she stared at Ben in confusion. In the distance she noticed Ben's admirers looking in their direction uneasily.

"Hey, there's nothing to see here!" Finn appeared out of the throng and ordered them to disperse. He marched up to Poe and glared at him. "What do you think you're doing, Dameron?" He demanded under his breath. "I said keep an eye on the scavenger, not wind Ben up."

Poe matched Finn's glare. "It's not the girl you need to worry about. Its him." He sneered before stalking off toward the Raddus.

Finn frowned as his gaze settled on Ben. Ben was barely aware of him or anything else. Rey saw Voe reaching out to Ben with her hand, but he deflected it as if her very presence pained him.

"What is wrong with you, Ben?" Voe faltered. "Finn, do you know something?" She implored.

"Go and find Skywalker, Voe." Finn ordered her.

Voe opened her mouth to protest, but then seemed to think better of it. She hurried away, glancing over her shoulder at Ben often as she did so.

"I don't know what the hell you've done to him, scavenger." Finn said brutally. "But I'm not letting it continue." He approached her, his expression stern and forbidding. It was only then that Rey noticed the cuffs he was holding. Finn was going to arrest her.

"No!" Ben seemed to come back to life. His arm shot out; the fingers on his left hand extended. He used the force to blast Finn backwards. Finn rose up in the air, his arms flailing madly as he tried to control his flight. He landed heavily a few feet away, completely winded. "Rey, run!" Ben grabbed her hand, towing her with him as he raced toward the opened ramp of the Falcon.


The same dread as before crept down Rey's spine like a careful spider leaving a trail of silk. Her stomach was full of lead; her feet set in concrete as Ben practically dragged her up the ramp after him. He closed it after them, pushing her into the co-pilots seat as he began to power the Falcon up. Rey's mind was empty, all she could do was join him in his mad flight, and pray that things fell into place as they made their escape.


Ben was acting on auto-pilot as he punched in some co-ordinates and the Falcon jumped into hyperspace. He fell backwards in his seat, closing his eyes, his breaths coming in short, ragged bursts. Seeing Voe again-so vital, so alive-had sent him spiraling back into the darkest parts of his past. The dread he felt upon seeing her face had squeezed all the air out of his lungs. The irony of seeing her flirt with him, when the girl he knew hated his guts, wasn't lost on him. The Voe from his world had been an ambitious and aggressive Jedi who was jealous of his ease with mastering the Force. Voe would become angry and ashamed about her inability to best him, things that Jedi were not meant to get angry about. She was a fiery and impulsive Jedi who tended to instigate fights.

Voe was returning from a mission with her fellow Jedi, Tai and Hennix, the night Luke's jedi temple was razed down to the ground. After landing their starship, Verity, Voe found that she was unable to sense anyone on the ground. However, Tai was able to sense the presence of Ben. When Ben crossed paths with them, he tried to tell them that his uncle had tried to kill him in his sleep and that he believed the other Jedi were now dead. Due to Voe's animosity toward him, she did not believe him. Despite Tai attempting to act as peacemaker, Voe and Hennix drew their lightsabers. Voe was the first to attack, but Ben froze her in mid-air, before throwing her into Hennix.

Ben had escaped in his starship the Grimtaash, but Voe and the others pursued him in their own starship, Verity. The pursuit led to another confrontation on Elphrona. When they caught up with Ben, they engaged in another lightsaber duel. Ben fled on top of a high rock. Giving chase, Voe used her Force powers to Force jump after Ben. Unable to keep up with Voe, Hennix urged her to stop and think but she was determined to pursue Ben. When Voe denounced Ben as a murderer, an enraged Ben Force pushed her. However, he was soon overwhelmed with guilt and tried to pull her to safety but lost his grip.

"Ben." Rey closed her hand over his, shocking him back into the moment. He opened his eyes to find her gazing at him in anguish. She had been a witness inside his head as he relieved the horrifying memory of Voe's death.

"I couldn't…she was right there…" Ben wished he could put his darkest memories in a garbage compactor where they belonged and forget. Or better yet bury them deep underground. But his brain seemed hardwired to torture him to relive the bad stuff over and over again. He thought he had things under control, but seeing Voe again, had brought it rising to the surface. Luke attacking him in his sleep had been the catalyst that sent him down a dark and dangerous path and that girl was part of it. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. "We had to get out. I couldn't stay there. I'm not the hero they think I am. They would have worked out I was a fraud. I couldn't stand it anymore. And when Finn had the audacity to try and arrest you…" His jaw tightened. "We're better off on our own, Rey." He ended firmly.

Rey hated that he was beating himself up about something in his past he had no control over at the time. She was annoyed at herself for not recognizing who Voe was before it all spiraled out of control. She had seen glimpses of the girl in Ben's memories before, but had been too consumed with stupid jealousy to see what was right in front of her eyes. "What now?" She asked, sighing.

Ben looked at her bleakly. "I don't know." He admitted roughly. "I just don't know."

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review!