Chapter Forty: Cataalda Base: Separation
"Finn..." Rey pulled herself out of Ben's arms and rose to her feet. She looked at Finn's hand, twitching over his blaster. She held out her hands, trying to calm him. "I didn't want you to find out like this."
"You didn't want me to find out at all!" Finn snapped.
Ben got up. He looked between Finn and Rey. "Maybe I should go."
"You should," Finn snarled. "You should leave right now. This base... This planet. No one wants you here, Ren."
Rey reached out and grabbed Ben's hand, squeezing it tightly. She felt him immediately relax with her touch. "I do."
Finn's expression just became darker at Rey's pronouncement and her move to touch Ben. "Yeah, well, right now I'm not too sure about your judgment." He turned to stalk off.
Rey felt helpless as he left. She looked to Ben, hoping for some guidance. Ben jerked his chin towards where Finn had gone. "Go after him. He's your friend."
She gave Ben a grateful smile before racing after Finn. Underbrush crunched under her feet and she shoved branches out of her way, keeping her on a direct path to him. "Finn, you have to stop! Just talk to me."
"How long?" Finn demanded, whirling around to face Rey. The disgust and disappointment on his face pained Rey. She wasn't surprised that he was acting this way. No, she knew he would. That was why she was keeping her relationship with Ben from him.
"It's complicated." Rey grimaced as the words left her lips. It sounded pathetic to her ears. It was clear from the look on Finn's face he was no more impressed by the statement than she was.
He nodded slowly. "Complicated. You were kissing the man who nearly killed me. He cut open my back. He tortured Poe for information. He tortured you for information. He killed Han. He helped the First Order destroy the Hosnian System."
Rey opened her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to say anything in her defense. She knew everything Ben had done as Kylo Ren. The rational part of her mind still told herself how wrong their relationship was. The person she'd been only a few months before would've been horrified by her choice to be with someone like Ben.
But that didn't change the way she felt about him.
"Again... How long has it been going on?"
"Since Tatooine," Rey admitted. She didn't want to lie to Finn. She sighed, shaking her head. She didn't know if that was entirely the truth. Yes, that had been when they'd first kissed, but hadn't things really been going on long before that? Since the moment they'd touched hands through the Force on Ahch-to?
"Tatooine?" Finn repeated. "So basically the moment you saw him again after he nearly killed us all on Crait. That's great. That's just... Great. Rey, he's a psychotic murderer."
"He's changed," Rey insisted. "You've seen it. He's been here for weeks now. You know Ben isn't the same person as Kylo Ren."
Finn shook his head savagely. "No! He's exactly the same person as Kylo Ren. Ben Solo is Kylo Ren. Always has been. I've never forgotten who he was. What he's done. You and General Organa and Major Syndulla are trying to hide it from everyone, because you know he hasn't changed."
Rey didn't agree with Finn. Ben had changed. But she understood why he felt that way. Even if he had changed, there were horrible things he'd done as Kylo Ren. Finn had every right to mistrust him. Everyone else would feel the same. That was why they were keeping it from him. Still, being confronted by her friend made Rey's aggressive side kick in. She grit her teeth. "Is that all this is about?"
"What else would it be about?" Finn snapped.
"I don't know..." Rey cocked her head to the side. "Maybe it's about jealousy?"
Finn's expression darkened. Rey didn't know if she'd ever seen him look so angry. It was a tranquil fury that chilled her to the very bone. "This has nothing to do with you. You're so full of yourself to even think that. Get over yourself. I'm with Rose. I'm happy with Rose. And anything that I might have felt for you at one time..." He shook his head. "I don't think I knew who you were really were. If you'd allow yourself to be touched by that thing. What does that make you?"
"I'm your friend," Rey replied.
Finn glared at her. "I don't even know if you're that. If you were my friend, you would see what he's done to me, to the people I care about. My friend would care ." Finn let out a hollow laugh. "But no. You don't care, do you? You care about him. That's all you care about. That's all you've cared about for a long time. I knew it . I knew there was something different about you. I didn't want to admit it, but... I knew it. I told myself that you wouldn't be different when you came back from your Jedi training. But you were. And you've changed into someone..." He took a step back. "You've changed into someone I don't want to be around."
"Finn..." Rey stepped towards him.
Finn held up his hands. "Stay away from me, Rey. Right now... I can't even look at you."
She watched helplessly as Finn turned away from her and strode back to the base. Part of her was desperate to go after him. She wanted to find a way to explain to him what had happened. But she knew in her heart that nothing was going to change Finn's mind. She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath.
After a long moment, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Wordlessly, she turned to Ben. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him lift her up to press her to him. She breathed in his scent and took comfort in his presence.
Finn might judge her for her decisions, but she couldn't see how they could be wrong as she felt the warmth of Ben against her. The only thing in the world she'd ever been sure about was the man holding her. The path she was on was always going to lead to him.
Leia wanted to throw something. It was lucky there was nothing on hand for her to whip at the holoprojector, or else the maintenance crew would've had a hell of a clean up. As it was, she was having trouble keeping her Force powers under control to not fry the thing.
"Everything all right, Leia?" Lando asked as he sauntered into the room. "I thought the repairs on Skywalker were going well."
Leia shook her head, grimacing as she continued to glower at the holoprojector. "It's not the Skywalker. That's going fine. We've gotten some news in. Something came over the DarkNet. Lieutenant Connix, can you get Major Syndulla for me?"
Kaydel nodded and ran off to retrieve Kaila. Leia turned her attention to Lando. She sighed deeply. "This isn't good, Lando."
"What's going on?" Lando asked. He sat down next to Leia. "Skywalker will be up and running in a few days. Rose said that she's nearly got Black Squadron back in working order. It'll be the best fleet anyone's got left to fight against the First Order."
"That's still not as good as we had before," Leia replied. "Lando, we've been fighting this same battle for sixty years. Every time we think we've done some good- that maybe we're a little closer to winning- The Empire comes back again. That's who the First Order is. Same group, different name. Maybe we're never going to be able to beat them. Not really. Darth Sidious broke the galaxy. We might not be able to fix it."
"I never thought I'd hear you say that." Lando took Leia's hands. "You're the one who is always saying hope is like the sun. So it's night right now... All we have to do is hold out until daybreak. And it will come eventually."
"I've been trying to think that." Leia looked down at Lando's hands holding hers. He was all that was left. Him and Chewbacca and the droids. Everyone else she had fought with during the Galactic Civil War were either dead or who knew where in the Unknown Region.
"Things have gotten better," Lando pointed out. "Look at Ben. Just a few months ago he was the strongest asset the First Order had. Now he's here."
"He's a maintenance worker here," Leia pointed out. "He's so afraid of touching what made him an asset to the First Order, he wants to play around with ships."
"Thankfully he's really good at doing that." Lando put a comforting arm around Leia. "He and Rose are almost single-handedly responsible for fixing up Black Squadron. Some of those T-65s flew on Hoth. But they've got them as close to T-85s as still exist in the galaxy. And we're getting more and more people every day. People who know what the First Order are planning to do."
"Not as many as you think..." Leia sighed.
The door to the War Room opened and Kaila entered, accompanied by Poe. Leia pulled away from Lando and stood up. "Major Syndulla, thank you for coming. Commander Dameron, I'm glad you came with her. You should see this too."
"What's going on?" Kaila asked. "Lieutenant Connix didn't tell me. I'm not in trouble, am I?"
"We're all in trouble," Leia replied. She went to the holoprojector. "A message came over the DarkNet. It wasn't exactly the message I was looking for. It was from the Governor of Lothal."
"What?" Kaila's jaw dropped.
Poe's eyes widened. "Why would he be sending a message over the DarkNet?"
"See for yourself." Leia pressed a button and began to replay the message. A handsome young man with vivid green hair appeared in the holo.
"The wars that have consumed the galaxy for the past sixty years have ravaged our galaxy. And the ones who pay the price for these wars are the small systems. We are tired of suffering under leaders we did not elect, in battles we did not want. Attached to this holo are a list of planets. We are declaring our independence from both the First Order and the remnants of the New Republic. We will no longer pay the price for your wars. Any attempt to breach our systems will be met with swift and fierce retaliation. The Coalition of Freed Planets will support no leaders but their own."
Kaila groaned. "Oh Jai..."
She leaned against Poe for support. He seemed a bit surprised by the move, hesitantly patting her on the shoulder. Leia wasn't sure why he was so uncertain of comforting his lover.
"I don't understand," Kaydel said. "Lothal is a tiny system. It's not strategically important. Why does it matter so much?"
"Major Syndulla is close to the governor, Kaydel," Poe explained. "They're twins."
"Oh. Oh..." Kaydel looked at the holo. "I never would have..."
"Yeah, there's not much of a family resemblance," Kaila sighed. "He takes after my dad. I'm also not a complete and utter idiot ." She turned to Leia. "Permission to take the Ghost to Lothal to smack some sense into him?"
"I admire the sentiment and I'm not sure I disagree with you, but we can't intimidate people into joining our cause... Even if they are family."
Kaila sighed, nodding her head. "All right... Permission to leave in the middle of the night against orders and without your knowledge?"
Leia nodded. "Be careful, Major. He did state very clearly that he would attack any ship that came into the system."
"You know the Ghost has always been good at getting around blockades... Especially on Lothal." She shrugged slightly. "Besides, he doesn't know I'm flying for the Rebellion. He'll probably think I'm coming to borrow money again."
"You borrow money from your brother?" Poe snickered.
Kaila scowled. "Being a Jedi doesn't exactly pay for fuel. I'll be back in a few days, General."
Kaila turned and left. Poe looked to Leia.
Leia smiled, shaking her head. "I'm not going to wait for you to ask for permission. I already know you're going with her."
Poe grinned and ran after her. Leia sank back down into her chair. She looked to Lando. Lando shook his head. "Now I get it. How many systems have joined the Coalition?"
"Too many," Leia replied. "And a lot of planets I was holding out hope for. More and more people are getting sick of the fighting. If someone who was as loyal as Jacen Syndulla is leading a charge against us? That sun might be farther away than you think."