A/N: My apologies for this terribly long delay. 2021 did not start very well for me, and between health and work problems I didn't have time to write. I still can't promise a regular posting pace, only that I plan to finish this fanfiction, no matter what. I've already written the next 2 chapters in advance, I'll just have to translate them. Thanks again to those who are still here.
Chapter 32
Ohma D'un. Two days later.
"How dare you!"
Finn gasped at the sound of Poe's angry outburst. With his hand hanging in the air, he had pulled himself together just in time to knock on the General's office door.
"It's you who are finished if you join them! Don't make the mistake of thinking that we'll spare you when the fighting starts again!"
Whoever he was talking to, the discussion had obviously taken a dramatic turn. Finn closed his eyes under the feelings of fear and anger that emanated from the room and which he felt through the Force. He could hear Kaydel's whispers, trying to soothe Poe, but failing.
"You will regret this, Governor. Sooner or later you will regret it. The New Order will betray you, they will kill you. All of them."
So these were the Governors of Denon. Their defection from the UGS was hardly surprising, Finn mused bitterly. It was even strange that they had remained loyal to them for so long. But their position at the head of the main Merchant Guilds made them prime targets for the New Order, and these people were not fighters. So they opted to protect their own skins. And in these uncertain times, who could blame them?
Using the Force, he projected his consciousness and was able to take in the scene that was unfolding without even seeing it.
He could feel Poe's anger, Kaydel's resignation, as if they were his own. Their situation was becoming more and more desperate, and very soon the sad possibility of their departure from Ohma D'un would come true. Escape, Finn corrected himself mentally, not departure. The Resistance was about to become clandestine again. Already their allies were leaving them, and some of their members were deserting.
"Over sixteen thousand ships came to help us on Exegol, and now a year later they're surrendering to the enemy, I can't believe it…"
"They think they're facing the same enemy all over again. Nobody wants to fight forever, Poe. They favor peace over fighting."
"But at what cost?"
"Their lives, for the most part. If you think the New Order will give them any choice but to surrender."
"Cowards. All of them."
Finn realized he'd chosen the wrong moment, and turning around he sped down the corridor towards the exit. He couldn't tell Poe what he had done two days earlier. The General had too much on his mind right now, and this news would end him.
Finn could still hear Poe, strictly forbidding him to contact their exiled friend. But he didn't understand that it was their only chance to make it. It hadn't taken Finn long to make his decision, to disobey.
He had waited until nightfall to isolate himself in one of the communication rooms – most of which were empty now with the defection of many members.
Rey and Ben had responded almost immediately to his desperate call. He hadn't needed the Force to sense Ben's displeasure. He had ignored his harsh remarks and simply explained the situation to Rey. She wanted to come back, that was obvious. If Finn was convinced he had made the right decision then, the last few days had only reinforced it.
Disobeying an official order from the General hadn't seemed so bad at the time, wasn't he also a co-General after all? Poe might not agree with him at first, but he would eventually see the wisdom of his initiative. After all, fighters like Ben and Rey would always be an asset if – as they suspected – battles were coming.
The announcement of the Eghalists joining the New Order had precipitated the deterioration of their situation, and news was pouring in from all corners of the Galaxy, more disturbing than ever.
They needed hope. They needed their Jedi.
Finn had imagined he would have to argue to convince them, but he was relieved by Rey's enthusiasm. Ben had been very quiet, but Finn knew he would follow her no matter what. He was expecting them back any day now.
As he walked through the base, he looked at the many buildings that towered over him. He would miss Ohma D'un terribly. This place was the closest thing he had ever seen to a home. And for someone who had been torn from his family and forced into the army, it was quite something.
When he arrived at his quarters, he was relieved to find Jannah there. The young woman had made no comment after he had explained what he had done, but he had felt her disapproval to the depths of his soul. If she had kept his secret, she had kept insisting that he reveal it to Poe.
"How did it go?" she asked him, seeing the miserable look on his face.
"I couldn't…"
"Finn!"
"He has a lot of things to deal with, I don't want to worry him unnecessarily…"
"Unnecessarily? Ben and Rey are going to be here any minute, and this is what you call unnecessary?"
"I'm not sure that warning him beforehand will make any difference. What's done is done."
"Not warning him will only make things worse. What do you expect? That he welcomes her and Ben with open arms and prepares a welcome banquet for them?"
"Of course not. Or maybe yes, something like that. I was hoping he'd forget all about it when he saw her again. I miss her so much … and I know he does too."
Jannah's gaze softened and she stroked his cheek for a moment.
"We all miss her. Poe only wants to protect her. You have to tell him Finn!"
"I know, I know, and…"
A short alarm sounded and they turned abruptly. Someone was asking to enter his chambers. Finn approached and activated the outside camera to see the hallway.
Poe was standing in front of his door. Poe and four soldiers.
Finn smiled sadly at Jannah.
"Well, it looks like he already knows."
/
/
Sorgan. The day before.
"That's enough Luke, you're doing it again!"
"Rey, you have to listen to me…"
"No, you listen to me! I asked you to help me defeat this threat, I'm lost, but I certainly didn't ask you for a lecture!"
Rey abruptly got up from her crouched position and started pacing, still feeling the gaze of her old mentor's ghost on her.
"And it's definitely help I'm giving you, but you're not paying attention."
"I asked you how to face their hatred and fear. And all you do is talk to me about Ben!"
"These dreams you two have," he continued. "They are not ordinary, the Force is sending you warnings and you are ignoring them!"
"They're just that, dreams! There is a real threat, and that's what we need to focus on!"
"Do not underestimate the Force. You and Ben…"
He fell silent as she glared at him, daring him to continue. He let a few moments pass before resuming.
"You'll lose your way. You are turning your back on the Light."
She laughed unkindly. How could he think such a thing? After all she and Ben had been through?
She couldn't help but be hurt by the old Jedi's words. She could feel the disappointment in his voice, the judgment in his rebuke. She refused to feel ashamed, but she couldn't help it.
"What's wrong with what we're doing? We love each other…"
"Too much passion, too much attachment. It's not…"
"You're too locked into your old Jedi ways of life! After all, your sister was married and had a child, did you give her the same speech? Why isn't she here anyway?"
"She's busy trying to get to Ben. We are trying to help you both! You have to listen to reason!"
Rey took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure.
"Luke… For the first time in my life, I'm happy, and at peace."
"At peace?" he exclaimed incredulously. "You think this is peace ? That the galaxy is at peace right now? You've been hiding and running away from your responsibilities, that's not what I call peace!"
"You mean exactly as you did?" she retorted.
"Precisely. That is the role of masters, to prevent their disciples from making the same mistakes. Remember what you told me when you came to rescue me from my exile. The galaxy needs you. They need you. They need a legend. But you've strayed from that path."
Once again, she laughed, only to have it die in her throat as she realized what he was asking of her. Shame made her look down at the realization of what she really was.
"I can't be this. Not anymore. I'm not a Skywalker, I'm not a legend. I am Rey Palpatine, the Emperor's granddaughter. They hate me, you have no idea what that's like."
"I'm Darth Vader's son, you're right, I have no idea how you feel."
"It's not the same…"
"Rey, you are a Jedi. That is a fact that neither your blood nor your lineage will ever change."
"So maybe I don't want to be one! I never asked that! I never ask to be chosen!"
"You are forgetting where you belong in…"
"But don't you understand? For the first time in my life, I am exactly where I belong!"
"It's not safe Rey… You and Ben, the power of your bond, of your attachment, it echoes in the Force, it will consume you, it will lead you straight to the dark side…"
"What do you know about it? You've lived your whole life alone, you have no idea what it's like to love! Ben is everything to me, the Force itself brought us together and you're asking me to give up on him, the person who makes me happiest? How can you do that?"
"It's not what I'm saying…"
"Rey, it's okay."
Ben had just appeared to her right without her hearing him coming, and she gasped as he took her hand. She seemed to regain her composure, and with surprise she looked at the burning trees all around them. She, who had been in complete control of her powers lately, had just snapped without even realizing it. But Luke had pushed her to the limit. She had asked him for advice on these Eghalists and the situation with the New Order. How could she defuse these conflicts? How could she address their fear? But the old Jedi had given her a very different speech instead.
Her old mentor walked towards them, not taking his eyes off Ben. Even though Ben couldn't see his uncle, he could definitely feel his presence through their bond.
"Leave her alone, Luke," he growled in the wrong direction.
A flash of sadness passed through the old man's eyes as his nephew addressed him angrily.
"I'm not trying to separate you, I'm asking you to be careful. You ignore the warnings of the Force, but sooner or later you will be confronted with them. Your passion and attachment will cloud your judgment. It will lead you to the dark side, and it will be your undoing. Don't let fear win. Don't let them hate the Force."
"Rey," he continued after a moment. "Tell Ben I'm sorry."
And with his last words, she felt him disappear. She did not convey her last wish to Ben, she was far too angry for that. Instead she gave a big blow to a nearby tree. The trunk, already weakened by her power, shattered under the impact.
"Rey?"
She ignored him, and without bothering to grab her saber, she threw her lightning bolts against the trees again. They shot up into the sky, lapping at the foliage before heading for the clouds.
"Rey!" exclaimed Ben, grabbing her by the waist.
She struggled for a moment, elbowing him in the stomach, but he didn't let go.
"Calm down!"
She ended up stopping stirring before abandoning herself to his embrace. He seized the opportunity to make her turn in his arms, and held her tightly against him.
"It's all right," he repeated.
I'm here.
His words which usually calmed her, irritated her all the more. She ended up leaving his arms, and began to pace around him.
"He's right, that's what upsets me the most. I abandoned them all, I was only thinking about myself."
"We are being hunted, we went into exile to protect them, how can you think you abandoned them?"
"You don't understand… What I did…"
"You mean when you acted like a human being and allowed yourself to be happy? You're right, that makes you a horrible person!"
"Stop it," she warned him.
"The Jedi didn't have all the answers, let alone Luke."
"Because you do?"
"No, but I don't pretend otherwise."
"Luke thinks that what we have will make us turn to the dark side. Why? How is what we're doing wrong?"
"Because the dark side feeds on emotions. Are emotions bad? No. Intentions are. The dark side exacerbates them, which is why it's so easy to get lost in it."
"I don't feel like receiving a lesson right now."
He fell silent with a frown. Rey felt bad about her reaction, but she was lost in the confusion her former mentor had created. She was relieved that he didn't press her further, though; Ben was the last person she wanted to argue with. With a look of disgust, she contemplated the chaos she had created.
She needed to deal with her anger in a more reasonable and healthy way.
She closed her eyes, and pondered her emotions. Anger indeed. Yes, a lot of anger. Fear too. Fear of not being strong enough, fear of having failed, fear of losing those she loved. Him, most of all.
She turned to Ben, who was still silent behind her. She slowly approached him, and put her hands on his chest. Then she spread abruptly his tunic, almost tearing the fabric before plunging her mouth on his skin. He let her do it one moment, before feeling her going down on his belly, towards his hips.
He stopped her abruptly, and wanted to make her stand up, but she refused and pushed him back against a tree trunk that was lying on the ground after she had cut half of it. Ben lost his balance and caught himself just in time by sitting on it, while Rey positioned herself between his legs. She kissed him for a long time before resuming her descent on his chest.
"What are you doing?" he whispered.
"I'm upset."
"I can see that."
"Are you afraid that I would hurt you?"
No, he answered in the bond. Never.
Good.
She began to undo his belt, still sprinkling his skin with kisses.
"Rey…"
Ben, is he right? Am I becoming a bad person? Am I losing myself?
Let me get lost with you.
/
/
Rey placed her hands on his chest to steady herself as she threw her head back and gave herself over to pleasure. With her eyes closed, she slowed from time to time to kiss him before resuming the frenzied rhythm she had established while riding him.
Ben, on the other hand, was trying not to close them in order to contemplate her. The glare of the setting sun and whose rays entered their room didn't render it easy, though. Arching and stretching, Rey kept moving lasciviously to get more and more pleasure, and every time she bent over enough, her face let the sun shine through and blinded Ben.
Even at a time like this, he couldn't help but see some irony in it. It had always been like that between them, she dazzled him, she was too bright for him. He could never join her, the Light would never accept him completely. It had never done so.
But suddenly Rey straightened up and her face shielded between the sun and his eyes. Though it was backlit, he didn't miss the radiant smile she gave him.
She was the epitome of balance in his eyes.
He could feel the Light enveloping her entire being, shining all around her, but she was much so much more than that. She had been touched by the dark side, she had tasted it, she had pushed it away easily, but she was not pure light.
So much passion, so much love, so much longing, so much buried anger, she could never have been a Jedi of the Old Order. She was too lively for their detachment, too passionate for their selflessness, she was … like him. A fact that pleased him more than anything.
Ben had always felt too much. The love for his parents, the sadness at their absence, the fear and anger caused by those voices in his head, Ben had always been filled with emotions, and no one, especially not Luke, had been able to contain them.
Rey's fingers clung more fiercely to his skin, clawing at his muscles and pulling him out of his thoughts, he felt her contract as she reached the height of her pleasure.
He turned her over under him to hold her against him while she started to tremble. He did not delay to join her in the ecstasy and their shouts mingled while echoing in the room.
Afterwards, and while they both recovered their breath, Rey tried to get up, but her arms gave out and she fell down at once, exhausted from their lovemaking.
She started to laugh and decided to lie down again, before kissing him with passion, telling him that she wasn't done with him. He closed his eyes and abandoned himself to the untiring desire of the young woman.
No, really, she was no Jedi, and he loved her so much for that.
/
/
Despite his exhaustion, Ben couldn't rest. Rey's ability to fall asleep under any circumstances made him terribly jealous.
Lulled by his caresses, she had slumbered in a few minutes, while he had found himself watching her breathe. Usually it didn't bother him, he liked these moments when her features relaxed, she always seemed more at peace when she slept, but tonight he was the one who was struggling to calm down.
He straightened up for a moment, but the sleeping form of the young woman protested, before emitting a small snore.
Lying in their bed, Rey was clinging tightly to his waist and preventing him from moving, making sleep even harder to achieve. He absentmindedly stroked her back, causing her to shiver slightly. As he ran his fingers over her ribs, he once again noticed that she seemed much healthier since their escape from the Resistance, and that delighted him.
Gone were the days when her bones protruded from the years of starvation she had endured. He himself had regained all the weight he had lost during his forced captivity.
Thinking back to the Resistance jails made him realize that he definitely couldn't sleep at night, he was too preoccupied.
So, he tenderly released himself from Rey's grip, ignoring the small moans of protest she made, then put on his clothes. He contemplated her again for a moment, suddenly filled with a burst of love for her that left him wavering, then headed for the exit.
For someone who had always lived alone, he was quickly surprised to have found his feet with the young woman. She was stubborn, annoying, and he was not much better. But she was as affectionate, and at least as dependent as he was. Together, they had built a balance that made them happy.
Knowing that this balance was about to collapse filled him with dread.
He couldn't even blame her. He had kept her away from her friends for her own protection for months now, it was more than legitimate that she wanted to go back to them, although he wished their moments of paradise had been longer. But in a few hours they would be leaving Sorgan, never to return, it seemed.
Not that he hadn't already thought about it, deep down he had always known that his happiness at her side was not meant to last. People such as him did not have the right. But he had thought he could protect her as long as possible.
She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve to be hunted, hated and feared for the rest of her life, Ben had to do something. Even if it meant risking his own life.
Lit dimly by a distant moon, he crossed the distance between their home and the ship in which they had come six months before, hands in pockets and mind racing. In the middle of the forest that surrounded their camps, Ben felt assailed on all sides. Luke's rebuke echoed in his head. Although his uncle remained invisible to him, he hadn't missed the conversation Rey and the old Jedi had had because of the bond he shared with her.
He couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy at the fact that his uncle didn't even bother to appear to him. He had heard the apology he had asked Rey to deliver.
Apology, what did Luke want to apologize for, Ben chuckled inwardly.
For trying to kill him? For abandoning him? His uncle had a lot to apologize for.
But Ben didn't hate him as much as he hated himself. Not anymore anyway. There was a time when his hatred for the old Jedi had surpassed his hatred for Snoke or himself, but their fight on Crait and his sacrifice had lessened that feeling. Kind of.
Ben still didn't know what he would do when his uncle finally appeared to him. If he ever did, that is. He wished he could have seen his mother in that moment. She would have known what to do, she would have known how to help him. Why had no one in his family ever been there for him when he needed them?
All Rey had to do was sit down and call them and the ghosts of the past would come to her. But all Ben got was silence. He had tried many times, even tried to call other Jedi. They all remained silent. This only made him feel worse and more guilty. He was clearly not worthy of their teachings.
In rage and frustration, he kicked a rock and it was thrown against the ship's hull. The animals in the vicinity fell silent at once. The metal echoed for a long moment in the stillness of the night before the sounds of nature resumed.
He hesitated for a moment before entering the dusty cockpit of the ship.
Add to his anger Finn's request that they return and the heated arguments it had generated between him and Rey, and Ben found himself at a dead end. Their bubble of happiness, so precious to him, had finally burst. He didn't know yet what the repercussions would be, but he was sure of one thing. Rey wanted to go home.
He was against it, of course. He didn't want to be anywhere near the Resistance for the rest of his life. The prospect of returning to a cell after months of freedom with the woman he loved, terrified him.
But could he keep her away from the people she loved forever? Could he even do that? Could he keep her away for her own protection?
Selfishly, that was his dearest wish, but even he wasn't that possessive. He could never hurt her that way. He imagined that she had not forgotten the reproaches from which her friends had failed to protect her. He remembered it as if it were yesterday, and his blood still boiled when he thought about it.
Rey accepted it. All she could think about were her friends. Her family.
That was where their similarities in the face of loneliness ended. Ben had done everything he could to deny his family, since he was not up to their standards, he had preferred to distance himself from them.
Rey had waited all her life to find one. She would have accepted more than insults to return to them.
Thinking about the wound that she would never heal from, gave Ben the courage to face what was happening in the Galaxy and what they had left behind. He did what both of them had always refused to do: he used one of the datapads and connected to the holonet.
It took a few minutes for the device to reach the network, proof of their distance from civilization, then at last the virtual space that linked the Galaxy between its different systems was loaded. In front of him, numerous news reports were displayed, each one more alarming than the other. He browsed through the headlines, some of which echoed the news that Finn had sent them from time to time.
The Galaxy seemed to be in turmoil, at least as much as under the Empire or the violent grip of the First Order.
Whether that was good or bad, Ben wasn't sure. What he was sure of, however, was that the people, deprived of some form of authority, were scrambling to find one.
He didn't have long to browse before he came across articles mentioning him, or Rey. He didn't care what people thought of him, but not of her. He had to know, he had to see what was threatening her. As he filtered through the articles linked to her name, Ben swore. She was everywhere.
Rey Palpatine.
The impostor.
Death to the last Jedi.
The shocking, hateful words flashed before his eyes, and his knuckles turned pale as he crushed the small device in his grip. How could they think that? She wasn't this woman he didn't recognize the description of, she wasn't this monster they both depicted and feared.
As he moved from one article to another, his navigation stopped when he recognized two very familiar faces. His own and Rey's, with a faraway look for her, while he wore his most scowling Supreme Leader expression.
The words "to be captured alive" and two huge amounts of money completed the picture. Who could have raised those kinds of funds, he wondered.
The bounty hunter who had attacked the village was just the first of many to come. Sooner or later they would be found, perhaps they were already being actively hunted.
It wouldn't be long before they would endanger anyone who hid them and helped them. And he knew that Rey would never accept that. To a lesser extent it bothered him too, but he was far more committed to her protection.
He owed it to her. She was the reason for his survival, his happiness. She was the most important person to him, the only one who had believed in him. She had given him everything, she had given up everything for him. That she was now suffering from this injustice made him sick. Now he had to think of a way to protect her, even if it meant turning himself in, or making a deal with those who threatened them. Ben would never let anything happen to her.
Rey's arrival made him put his thoughts in order. He barely turned off the datapad before she wrapped her arms around him tenderly. He threw his head back and closed his eyes in contentment.
"Is everything all right?" she asked.
Even though he hid his thoughts from her, he couldn't keep the sadness and worry from floating through the bond. He didn't answer, but swung the pilot's seat around to snuggle up to her. Rubbing his head against her belly, he relaxed as he inhaled the scent of her warm, sweet skin. She had apparently just taken a shower.
They stayed that way for a moment before Rey broke the silence and asked him about the worries that had kept him awake.
"I know what you're thinking. But we can't hide forever. We have to go."
"I think I'd rather take our chances in exile than surrender to the Resistance."
"Surrender? Ben, what are you talking about?"
He sighed again and held her tighter to him, so much that he wasn't sure she could hear his words, so he preferred to speak in his mind.
I won't let you go alone, but… I don't want to go back to jail. Not again…
At his words, she pulled away from his embrace and stared at him.
"You will not be a prisoner, never again! I won't let them, you hear me?"
"Rey, how do you think we'll be received?" Ben answered patiently. "We're fugitives. You deserted the Resistance, and if they forgive you for that, I doubt they'll be so generous to me. I was a prisoner and I ran away! No matter what Finn says, he won't be able to stop…"
"I know you're afraid something will happen, she cut him off, but do you remember? Whatever happens, we'll face it. Together. But we can't ignore what's going on anymore, we've put aside our responsibilities for too long."
She leaned in to kiss him, but Ben gently pushed her away. He looked at her carefully, analyzing the thoughts she was struggling to filter out. And after a moment, he managed to figure out what she was implying.
"It's because of Luke, isn't it?"
"What?"
"The reason you want to go back so badly is because of what Luke told you."
"No… Of… Of course not!"
"You let him sow doubt in your mind!"
"Luke had nothing to do with it, we have to go help them, it's the right thing to do!"
"We don't owe them anything. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, Rey!"
"I don't want to have this discussion again, we have to go back! We can't turn our backs on those who need us anymore!"
They glared at each other, both not wanting to give in. Rey was the first to look away, but it was to come closer and he let her when she took his face in her hands.
"Please," she whispered, kissing his temples, his forehead, then his nose.
Ben closed his eyes under her caresses and sighed with fatigue.
"Why?"
She didn't need to put into words what she was feeling, or maybe she just couldn't.
Instead, she opened her mind completely to him and he began to brush past her thoughts.
Her doubts about who she was, the shame that her altercation with Luke had caused, the joy of hearing her best friend ask for her help, the relief of knowing that somehow they needed her. That despite everything, she still had a use, that she was not nothing. While everyone seemed to hate her in the Galaxy, she was happy to know that there were still people who believed in her.
It pained him that after all this time at his side, his love was not enough for her, he would have liked to be the only one to make her happy.
That she only needed him.
But that wasn't the case.
So Ben gave up. After all, when had he ever been able to refuse her anything?
She welcomed his acceptance with enthusiasm and let go of his face to throw herself at his neck. Suddenly overwhelmed by the fatigue that had finally caught up with him, he lifted her and led them back to their bed. This decision cost him more than he would have recognized, but the smile which she now carried put some balm on his disappointment. So maybe, he thought, maybe in the end, everything would turn out just as she had predicted.
/
/
Rey was running, Ben's hand clasping hers.
His long legs allowed him to cover a great distance as she struggled to keep up the pace. Her heart was protesting the effort, too, but they both knew they mustn't stop.
For they were being chased. Something terrible was hunting them.
It was pitch black in front of them, the only source of light came from behind them. A light too bright and blinding for Rey to see what they were running from.
Ben continued to lead them, as if he knew where they were, or at least where they needed to go. Suddenly he drew his lightsaber, and the usually reassuring blue light strangely lit up his face. The blade slammed into an obstacle, and they jumped over the debris before resuming their mad race.
Their enemies were getting closer and closer, she could hear them. Shouts, threats, shots.
Blood pounding at her temples, adrenaline burning in her muscles, Rey was at the end of her rope.
Suddenly, Ben's grip on her hand tightened and she narrowly avoided falling as he pulled them up against a wall. Using the Force, they climbed up the surface, the stone providing a firm grip.
When he reached the top, Ben pulled her up sharply and made them run again.
The darkness seemed to be fading, or perhaps Rey's eyes had finally grown accustomed to it, as she began to make out their surroundings.
They were about fifty feet up on a platform and hundreds more stretched as far as the eye could see. She could not linger in contemplation, for Ben continued to drag them along at full speed. Then he stopped at the edge of a platform.
The void stretched out before them, and she could hear a waterway swarming ferociously at their feet.
Why had he stopped? she wondered. Their enemies were still chasing them. They were going to catch them!
"BEN," Rey shouted as she saw shapes spring up and surround them.
She pulled her hand away to make him move, but Ben remained frozen. They were now surrounded.
"Ben…" she begged him.
Finally, he turned and let go of her hand to caress her face. She didn't have time to react, because he immediately pushed her away.
Rey opened her eyes suddenly. Fear was choking her. She felt herself falling, falling into the void and the darkness. She was alone. Yet someone was screaming next to her. It took her a few seconds to realize that they were her own screams. That she was no longer falling, but was against a soft, warm surface. Powerful holds held her in place and kept her from sinking.
"I' m here. I'm here. It's okay," whispered a deep voice in her ear.
She continued to scream until her voice died in her throat.
"Ben…"
Finally, she realized she was safe, secure in the arms of the man she loved and trusted. The man who had made her fall in her nightmare. He helped her to get up and wiped on her cheeks the tears that had flowed. Rey breathed deeply several times before succeeding in recovering her spirits.
It was only a nightmare, she repeated to herself. A nightmare like any other. It didn't mean anything.
"This is a bad idea," Ben said abruptly, snapping her out of her thoughts. He had probably heard her thoughts in the bond. "We should leave this planet and hide in an even more remote location. Instead, we will just…"
She put a trembling hand against his mouth, silencing him at once.
"We've been having these dreams for months, it's nothing. Nothing will happen to us. You said it yourself, Ben. You're here. It's all right."
"I don't…"
"Trust me."
She didn't give him time to answer and made him lie back down. Rey was still shaking as she snuggled into his arms.
A few hours later, as the sun was just rising, Ben left to pick up supplies in the village, so they would have something to eat for their long journey. Rey took one last look around the hangar to make sure they hadn't left anything behind.
She would have lied if she had said she was happy to leave. The excitement and joy of seeing her friends again couldn't fill the emptiness she felt as she left the first place she had ever felt truly at home. Thinking about her friends gave her an idea and she reached for her comlink.
As she spoke into the device, she couldn't help but notice the current date on the ship's dashboard. A year earlier she had climbed into Luke Skywalker's X-Wing and flown to Exegol alone. Towards her destiny, towards her death that she had thought inevitable.
She was flying again today, but this time she was not alone.
Ben stood motionless in front of the old hangar they had put back together. She knew how difficult what she was asking of him was. And she felt terrible about it, but she thought she was doing the right thing. When it would all be over, they would come back to this place. She was sure of that.
She left the ship to join him, but he did not react to her presence.
"We will come back, she promised him, taking his hand in hers."
He squeezed it and smiled at her, but his smile didn't reach his eyes and she knew he didn't believe it for a second.
"What were you doing?" Ben asked, glancing at the comlink in her hand.
"I was calling Finn. But he didn't answer, so I left a message."
Ben nodded and in silence they headed back to the ship to finish preparing for their departure.
When the last bag was loaded, she joined him in the cockpit and put the comlink back in one of her bags then buckled her seatbelt as Ben started the engines. The ship lifted off and they both looked at their home one last time before flying off to their destiny.
/
/
Ohma D'un. General's office.
"Finn, it's Rey. We are leaving Sorgan. We'll be there in a couple of days. Give my regards to everyone, I look forward to seeing you all again. '
"You can't imagine my surprise, Finn, when I got that message earlier. Because after forbidding you to contact her, I dared to hope that you didn't disobey. Didn't you?'
Finn didn't answer, but the glance he gave Jannah did not go unnoticed. The General sighed and held his head in his hands.
"So you did disobey my orders."
"Poe… I…"
"We've discussed this. You insisted, and I gave you an order."
"Poe, he meant no harm, we…"
The General raised his hand to silence Jannah and a terrifying silence fell over the office. Finn looked down at the shame he felt. He had made a mistake and regretted it, he maintained he had made the right decision, but he never imagined he would see the look of cold anger and disappointment in his friend's eyes.
"Finn, you're demoted."
"Wha… WHAT?" cried Jannah, Rose and Connix in unison.
"You're no longer co-General of the Resistance. I need someone I can trust. Someone who will back me up and not question my orders behind my back."
The realization hit him like a sledgehammer to the skull. Why couldn't Poe see that he had been right? Why couldn't he understand that he had done this for the Resistance?
"I did what you were all too cowardly to do! We need Rey! And as crazy as it sounds, we need Ben! We won't win on our own!"
"I'll let you explain that to our men then. We already lost their trust when you let them go, I won't lose it again when they show up."
"Poe, Finn, let's try to calm down," Connix tried to interject. "We've all been on edge lately, so making hasty decisions like demoting Finn won't do us any good."
"I don't care about the title," Finn exclaimed.
"You're going to contact Rey immediately and tell her not to come and go back into hiding."
"You do it!" Finn exclaimed. "I'll let you explain to her that you don't want to see her again!"
"That has nothing to do with it and you know it! I want to protect her!"
"By treating her like a criminal! By sending her into hiding like she's responsible for what happens to her!"
"She is his granddaughter! We are on the brink of war with the Eghalists and the New Order with only a handful of allies, we will probably die!"
"So why does it matter if she comes back?"
"I don't want to lose the last of our forces! I don't want them to ask us to hand her over again!"
"You have lost hope, you think we have already lost."
"Do not bring this bullshit hope here, it's not going to make us win!"
"Don't bother, if you think that, then they've already won."
/
/
Sorgan borders, Outer Rim.
"So?" shouted Ben from the cockpit.
Entangled into cables and trying to breathe despite the foul-smelling smoke coming from the hatch she was in, Rey didn't answer right away.
"Rey?"
They had only been off the planet for a few minutes when their ship began to lurch as light speed was activated. While Ben tried to hold their course, Rey had gone to see what was going on. She quickly realized what the problem was. And her inability to fix it.
REY!
"Yes!"
She jumped out of the hatch and joined him in the cockpit with an annoyed gait.
"The hyperdrive motivators are dead."
"Damn."
"Indeed."
"Can't you do something?"
Although Rey considered herself a good mechanic, she was unfortunately not a miracle worker. And fixing the damaged parts of their ship did require a miracle in this case.
"Not without spare parts."
"What happened?"
At his question she looked away so he wouldn't see her shameful look. Rey knew exactly what had happened.
The meltdown she had had when they arrived on Sorgan. The meltdown that had nearly killed them had damaged the ship. They had been very lucky that the sublight engines had held and not exploded once the ship was flying.
If Ben understood her silence, he made no comment and she was thankful for it.
"We still have enough to travel a day, maybe two if I don't push the engines too hard, but we'll have to find a place to get it fixed soon."
"What do you think of this?" Rey asked her, handing him one of the datapads displaying a map of the system.
"Trask?
'You know it?"
"It's a moon harbor. Quite nasty."
"Perfect then."
"You must be joking. It's a place full of bounty hunters and thugs of all kinds!"
"It'll be easier to blend in."
"I don't like this."
She sighed loudly as she handed him the datapad and challenged him to come up with a new solution. Reluctantly Ben had no choice but to admit she was right.
If they returned to Sorgan, they might never be able to get their ship off the ground again, making an emergency escape impossible. And Ben wasn't willing to consider that.
So he entered the moon's coordinates, restarted the engines and prayed to the Force that they would arrive safely.
Yet at a reasonable distance, it took them all day to reach the planet. Ben landed them in a huge fishing port in the middle of crowded docks. To his relief, they didn't have to walk long before they found a repair shop.
Rey let him start negotiating the repairs their ship needed and she took the opportunity to walk around outside. The night was about to fall, and dense, gray clouds hid any trace of the sun or sky. A fine rain was pouring and its splashing was covered by the sounds of sailors and ships landing or taking off.
Rey approached the dock where theirs was resting and was delighted to see the sea. Ben had explained to her that the estuary city was surrounded by it and that many canals ran through the city.
The wind and weather made it agitated and a wave higher than the others drenched Rey with salt spray. The smell tingled in her nostrils, reminding her of Ach-To, although here there was also a stench of fuel oil and fish of questionable freshness. After spending months in the quiet nature of Sorgan, a clandestine fishing port was intimidating but secretly delighted her.
Ben, on the other hand, was very tense, she could feel him using the Force at every chance to spot any threat, and she felt bad once again for demanding this of him. Not wanting to worry him any further, she stayed within his sight, safely tucked into the poncho that covered her face.
No really, she said to herself, all was going to be fine.
In a few hours she would be reunited with her friends, together they would plan a strategy against the New Order and the Eghalists, and they would win. She would be able to prove to everyone that she was not a monster. The Jedi would no longer be hated. She and Ben would be free.
A vibration in her pocket snapped her out of her reverie.
Her comlink was ringing and buzzing. A strange intuition told her not to answer. Ohma D'un's signature was flashing on the dial, and though she didn't know why, she sensed it wasn't good news. And indeed, when the message arrived a few minutes after the call, the knowledge that she had been right hit her like a rock in the gut.
Her friends didn't want her and Ben to come back. It was too dangerous. They might get captured or worse. They would be fine without them. Poe ended the message by saying that he missed her.
Her dreams faded for good as her friend's words continued to play in her head. They didn't want her back. They didn't want to see her again. They thought she would put them in danger. Because she was dangerous. They had turned a blind eye to her actions for too long and now they couldn't anymore. But then, why had they asked her to come in the first place?
Disappointment gripped her throat painfully and she struggled to swallow a sob.
She tried to control her distress so Ben wouldn't notice. No way was he going to find out. He would jump at the chance to go into exile again and Rey would never see her friends again. And she had to face them, she had to prove to them that she was not a threat, she had to help them.
She had to…
"Is something wrong?" Ben asked her as he joined her.
She immediately put the device back in her pocket.
"No."
He watched her for a long time, his dark eyes scanning her and giving her the impression of being exposed. If she usually appreciated that he read in her as in an open book, in this moment it terrified her. When she thought she was unmasked, Ben finally nodded and put an arm around her shoulders.
"They'll need an hour or so."
"How did you pay them?"
"A little persuasion."
"I see."
"No complaints? No 'you shouldn't have Ben'," he teased gently.
"We're past that."
They waited huddled together near the ship, trying not to draw attention to themselves. The night and the passers-by too busy to look for who was hiding under their hoods didn't calm Ben, though, whose impatience and concern were gradually building.
With the repairs taking longer than the mechanics had said, Rey could feel him growing more tense every minute. She didn't feel like trying to calm him down, however, because her mind was consumed with something else.
Something was calling her. A tenuous, but persistent presence resonated within her.
A current in the Force that she wanted to answer, even though she didn't know where it was.
She waited a moment longer before the call became even more insistent, and this time even Ben seemed to react. In one motion, they both turned their heads to where the presence seemed to be coming from.
"Did you feel that?" she asked.
"Yes, it's probably nothing."
"I feel like I've felt that before."
She untied herself from his arms and began to move forward, closing her eyes to let the Force guide her. The presence responded and she felt she had to move forward.
Rey, Ben growled in her mind. Come back …
Ben! Those are kybers!
What are you talking about?
Just listen!
She was now convinced that the calls echoing through the Force and into her were indeed coming from Kyber crystals. Ben had to admit she was right, but for some reason he didn't seem as enthusiastic as she was.
We have to go!
This is ridiculous, we already have sabers, new kybers won't do us any good, we might get noticed!
You've been complaining about using your mother's for months, I don't want to use Luke's either, Ben we could build new sabers!
Why couldn't he understand that? Both of them had changed so much, in the Force, in their relationship, in themselves, they were not the same people anymore. These sabers belonged to loved ones, but they didn't fit them. Not anymore.
Though reticent, Ben couldn't argue with this point. She continued to walk forward and he joined her with some reluctance.
All right, let's go take a look. But hurry!
Like two stealthy shadows, they moved through the docks towards the city, hidden by the darkness of the night.
/
/
Trask Docks, Kol Iben System.
A heavily armed man wearing an armor reflecting the lights of the docks, walked with a determined pace.
He seemed to know the place perfectly and easily navigated between the various fishermen's stalls, the moored ships and the few sailors still working at this late hour. He was heading towards the main inn of the port when he stopped abruptly.
A little further on, near a crossroads, were two hooded figures. One small and the other huge. They stood close together, and while the smaller figure led the way, the larger one glanced nervously from left to right, as if expecting to be attacked.
The man hesitated for a moment to follow these two shady individuals, but he had just come back from a long trip in hyperspace, and was dying for a drink. So he took one last look at the figures as they turned into an adjacent street before heading back to the promise of a hot meal and a good drink.
He entered the inn by tapping the door with his shoulder. The doors opened suddenly and the sound of the shock resounded for a moment despite the chatter of the establishment.
Crowded, the place was buzzing with life, the various tables were all full and lit by probes that flew around and above the customers. The man walked among beings of all species and origins, his Beskar armor glinting under the probes. He seemed to be looking for someone, though it would have been hard to tell, for his face was hidden beneath a helmet of the same precious metal. A Mandalorian helmet.
"Opar! Come here!"
The so-called Opar, growled angrily. He couldn't stand being called like that.
Not because he didn't like his name, on the contrary, he was very proud of it. He had taken it from his adoptive father when the latter died. The life of a bounty hunter was often short and hectic, especially when you specialized in tracking down Jedi, as the job demanded. So the day the man who had taught him everything failed to return from a mission, he fully adopted his name and took over. From the precepts of life and Mandalorian culture, to how to track down and ruthlessly destroy an enemy. And Opar had become very good at it.
So no, he didn't like being called that as if he was just a droid or a nobody. He was Opar, a Mandalorian bounty hunter, a tracker of Force-sensitive beings.
For good measure, he fired one of the darts contained in his wrist guards into the throat of the lout. The Klatoonian fell dead on the spot, tongue hanging out, and a look of perpetual surprise on his face.
No one seemed to pay any attention to the corpse that slipped from his chair, this kind of accident was commonplace here.
Opar, who preferred to act alone, was never at odds with a crowd that praised his exploits, and he was beginning to gain a certain notoriety among the other bounty hunters of the Guild. A fact that his father would not have appreciated, but times had changed.
He sat down in the only free chair and motioned for a drink to be brought to him. One of the waiters, a Mon Calamari, complied and even offered him a big bowl of steaming chowder. The sight of his armor always struck fear into people, and this offering was an implicit request for him not to make a fuss.
He made himself comfortable as he roughly dropped his boots on the table and looked at the other guests at the table one by one. Two Quarrens, three Klatoonians, a Rhodian and a human, were looking at him with undisguised curiosity. Like all Mandalorians, Opar rarely took off his helmet.
But he was not one of the extremists who never showed their faces to anyone. So, after keeping his audience waiting for a while, he finally took it off and started to eat his meal.
They waited a few more minutes before asking him questions.
Where did he come from? What was going on in the Hutt Empire? Was he working for the Eghalists? Was he on a mission now? And most importantly, did he have work for them? He laughed at this last question. He was working alone. He didn't need anyone, and especially not since he had acquired an object that made his job much easier. Under the pressure of their questions, he finally took it out of one of his bags.
"What is this?" asked the Rhodian.
"That's, my fortune guaranteed."
"A detector," grumbled one of the Quarrens, taking it in his webbed hands.
"Not just any detector," retorted Opar, snatching it from him.
"Where did you get it?"
"I bought it from a former imperialist. He used to work for the Emperor's Inquisitors. When I saw it, I knew right away that it would be useful. And I wasn't wrong. I am never wrong."
"But what does it detect?"
"Force-sensitive beings."
Whispers followed his statement, and Opar put the device back in the middle of the table for them to admire. The two Thaissen crystals that lit up in the presence of those he was tracking seemed to be off at the moment. But Opar had seen them glow before, and he loved this moment, when he felt his prey nearby.
"And it works?"
"You bet it does. See these sensors? They show the sensitivity level. Just last week, I made ten thousand credits finding a stable boy on Canto Bight."
This time the audience was impressed and encouraged him to continue his stories. Opar was served again. Two drinks, then a third, then more. He lost track after the fifteenth, the fatigue of long travel and the drinks quickly clouding his mind.
His stomach contracted and he went out to throw up his bowl of chowder and all the drinks of the evening. The fresh, salty air of the docks did him good and calmed his nausea somewhat. He was about to return when a movement on his left made him turn around and he grabbed his blaster by reflex.
He immediately recognized the figures he had seen earlier in the evening. The small one was still walking ahead, but the second figure finally caught up with her and held her close, and they resumed their walk.
This time Opar was determined to follow them when the doors of the inn opened with a bang. The Rhodian shouted at him to come back.
When he turned around, the silhouettes had disappeared. He grunted in annoyance at having missed them and then resolved to return to the inn. He was surprised to see such a fuss among the guests.
The warm and festive atmosphere seemed to be over, and a great uproar reigned. He followed his companion, brutally pushing away all the drunken onlookers on his way until he reached his table where he understood what was happening.
Where he had left it before leaving to vomit, his detector seemed to be out of order, it was vibrating, bouncing around and emitting a very unpleasant shrill whistle.
At the sight of the frantic machine and the troop of customers of the inn agglutinated all around, he became irritated, all traces of alcohol seemed to have left his body. He pushed back a woman who was about to take it, and dryly shouted at his companions.
"What the hell did you do?"
"Nothing…"
"It started hissing by itself, we…"
"Shut up."
Operating the various mechanisms, he quickly came to the conclusion that the device was working perfectly. But he had never seen such a flashing in the crystals.
If they usually flickered in the presence of a Force Sensitive, they were now emitting a light so bright it almost blinded him.
Alternating between blue and red and finally turning white, he found himself hypnotized by the device that had made his fortune since he bought it.
For this frenzy of the detector could only mean one thing.
Opar raised his head and smiled, the men stepped back and frowned at his evil look.
"Jedi."
A/N: The character Opar is a small tribute to my brother. He has been reading and supporting me with this fanfiction since the beginning. He wrote one himself so I wanted to pay him a little tribute by including one of his characters in it. There will be another one later. Thanks again lil' Bro.