Chapter 2: The Scavenger

Rey was shaken from what she had witnessed. In her mind, she saw what she most feared when she finally allowed herself to be reconnected with the force in a week.

It drove her in agony having the force at times connect them. Kylo Ren would stare at her, she would stare back. He would watch her as she trained. Sometimes she would pay attention as Kylo Ren shouted at someone she couldn't see, but she expected them to be a general or some other lowly First Order member.

It was beyond pathetic to watch as Kylo Ren sulked most of the time, looking at her as if she was the one who hurt him. She closed the door on him, hoping he got the message. But no, he was just sad and miserable and it just drove her up the walls. And feeling it between their bond wore down on her. It stalled her training at times. She was mad at herself for getting her hopes up in the throne room of the Supremacy. How Rey begged him not to give in to power, his strong lust for power.

Their last force conversation was her breaking point.

"Rey," he called out to her, a first in many months.

She looked up from her task, staring at the broken lightsaber in her grip. Pages of the ancient Jedi textbooks were laid out on her cot, barely decipherable and worn from the ages.

Pooling over her legs was the same grey robes she had found in that box along with Luke's lightsaber, the very one she was trying to repair. Sometimes she felt Kylo Ren's eyes staring at her clothes, and then a hint of amusement on his mouth like he was internally laughing at some joke. It shouldn't be amusing to him now, especially since she wore the same robes all the way to the Supremacy.

"I'd rather not talk, Kylo Ren," she said, abrupt and not willing to deal with him currently, or really deal with him at any point.

"You need a new piece for the hilt, it's too damaged," he said as the tool in her hand slipped out of the socket of the metal pieces. "It won't protect your hand properly even if you get it to work."

She glared at him, feeling like she was being talked down to, even though his tone remained ever gentle and soft to her ears. "Just because you're the Supreme Leader doesn't mean you can tell me what can and cannot work. I will get this lightsaber to function."

"Why are you trying to repair it?" he questioned, his smooth voice shaking through her. Her breath stalled as she thought of an answer and he continued to speak. "Why won't you let the past go? Why replicate Luke's saber? Why even bother fixing it at all?"

"You said it was yours once," she huffed. "I would think the great Kylo Ren, heir to Vader's great legacy would be happy I was repairing the lightsaber that you and I destroyed. For someone who wants to destroy the past, you cling to it so badly. The saber is not for anyone except…" she set it down, not willing to finish the sentence.

"Except?"

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight tears.

Ben Solo. She was repairing it to give to Ben Solo.

He swallowed, knowing he wouldn't get the answer unless he pushed, and he didn't want another repeat of what happened in the throne room months ago. "If you're so insistent on making a lightsaber, I don't think Skywalker's fits you."

Rey's eyes snapped open. She had to hold back a sniffle to coherently speak without letting him know she was about to cry seconds ago. "What?"

"You fight with a staff, using both ends right?" Kylo Ren noted, carrying the same curious tone that he had when their force connection first happened. "Then… I suggest looking to an older style of lightsaber to construct, as I did."

The connection ended. Rey still had Luke's lightsaber in her hand. She glared at it, her tears clouding her vision.

She failed to understand even to this day why he begged her so much to join him, to rule the galaxy. He was likely relentless in trying to find the Resistance, and she knew it was to find her, possibly beg her again. Whatever, she wasn't his. No amount of convincing would work.

Ben Solo was trapped in the darkness, locked away by Kylo Ren.

In her frustration she threw the lightsaber at the wall, her blurry vision struggling to look at the Jedi pages she saved.

At some point in the night, she decided to do what Luke had done because she couldn't just stand to look at Kylo Ren anymore, a reminder that she was truly, utterly alone, and the force would do anything but listen to her wishes.

However, Leia noticed even though her powers and attunement to the force aren't quite as strong as Rey's or Kylo's.

"Rey," Leia said to her as she pretended to meditate on a rock. Their current rebel base was in the dense forests of Ajan Kloss, and strangely, it has been their home for the past few months. Somehow the First Order had not found them, not that anyone was complaining really. It gave them time to regroup and receive supplies.

Rey even went on some supply runs of her own in the Falcon.

Leia asked a question she didn't want to answer. "You've gone silent in the force."

Rey could explain it, maybe. Maybe. It was complicated with how Leia was the mother of Ben Solo.

Only Ben Solo. Not Kylo Ren.

Rey breathed in and out. "It's…" How would she explain? She couldn't put it into proper words, so all she managed to squeak out was "It hurts."

Leia nodded. Rey looked at the general with tears. Leia opened her arms and Rey embraced her. "I was so sure," she choked out against Leia's shoulder. "I felt the conflict and I saw his future…" Her words drifted off, the memories of her force visions flooding back to her like a freezing rain pounding her shoulders. The warm reality she saw was now drowned in harsh cold. Ben Solo stood by his mother, by Rey, by the Resistance, sharing smiles. She was in his arms, safe and secure, loved unconditionally.

Leia was her only other comfort now and it was very little compensation.

"I got my hopes up that Kylo Ren would turn and he didn't and he asked me to join him," Rey continued, tears still dripping down her cheeks. "I know you said there's hope and that Luke believed he would turn but it's been so long now and nothing has changed."

Leia pulled back and gave her a smile. "I think things have."

Rey sniffled. "How?"

"Allow yourself to reconnect with the force, Rey. It may offer you answers."

The general walked away, leaving the young Jedi to reflect on her words.

Rey looked down at her belt. The lightsaber that once belonged to Luke, to Anakin Skywalker was fully repaired, but she didn't need it anymore, not once she finished constructing her own.

Sitting back down and breathing in and out, she allowed herself to call out to the force. And the force responded in kind.

To Rey's dismay, the force opened their connection immediately and before her was Kylo Ren, glaring at someone with his lightsaber ignited and illuminating his face with a menacing red glow.

Rey only watched the scene unfold, not actively participating; hearing his words as he fought back whatever was attacking him. Then he ran and the force closed their connection.

She had no idea how to take that, other than he was in a battle and he was retreating. He had confessed that he was the one who killed Snoke, which meant he was possibly wanted for treason.

Supreme Leader Kylo Ren was on the run from his own military.

Rey walked back to her tent as daylight fell, and contemplated about what it all meant now. If Kylo Ren no longer held power, then who did?

A restless sleep overtook her.

Answers came with the sound of hurried footsteps and the clicking of blasters.

Rey's eyes snapped open and she reached for the repaired lightsaber by her cot and ran outside. Resistance members scattered about.

"What's going on?" Rey said out loud, hoping to get the attention of anyone who was willing to explain anything.

To her relief, Rose Tico ran up to her, panic on her dirty face. She must have been working on a ship of some sort before the commotion started. "The First Order is attacking us."

"After months of nothing? How did they find us?" Rey questioned.

"That's what Poe is baffled about. Hurry, they're landing."

Rey followed Rose to the command center where General Leia, Poe Dameron, and Finn were standing around a map of the area they occupied.

"How many are attacking?" Leia asked.

"Only two divisions worth or so," Poe explained, pulling up the holographic map before them.

Rey spoke up before she could stop herself. "Any Silencers?"

Poe shook his head, confirming possibly Rey's suspicions. "None."

Leia looked at Rey with a curious eye. "Poe you have permission to proceed as see fit. We won't need a retreat, not yet, unless we got a dreadnought on us. Finn, mobilize our ground forces in case they decided to land."

Poe and Finn nodded. "Yes General."

Rose stepped up to Leia. "Need me to check our supplies for our ships?"

"If you can," Leia said. Rose saluted.

The three left the room, leaving Leia and Rey alone for a few brief moments before chaos reached them. "Rey, is there something you need to tell me?" Leia said.

Rey steeled herself to speak her thoughts but the moment didn't allow her words as they were already interrupted by C3PO. "Princess! I regret to inform you that there are ships landing as we speak."

Leia sighed. "Then, ready yourself, Rey. Are you able to fight?"

Rey nodded with her, brushing her fingers over her lightsaber on her belt. "Yes."

"May the force be with you."

Rey made her way outside, listening for the sounds of blasters firing and Resistance members shouting for backup or landing. Walking into the woods following the sounds of ships flying overhead, she sensed something in the force.

Another force-sensitive, one she didn't recognize, was nearby. She chased the source of the sensitivity and found a figure dressed in black. The person was around her height, maybe even shorter, and they had a red lightsaber in their hands.

Rey braced herself by pulling out her own saber and igniting it. "Who are you?" she demanded to the figure.

"Ap'lek Ren," a feminine voice spoke through the distorted translator of the helm she wore. "I am here for the last Jedi."

Rey braced herself, her brows tight. So now she faced other Knights of Ren. "Why?"

"Because the Master," Ap'lek Ren said with much venom. "Is weak. And we seek another."

Something in Rey broke at that moment. The mere mention, the suggestion of their leader sent her into fury. Anger shook her fists, her shoulders, her jaw. She charged forward at Ap'lek Ren, immediately shoving the knight on the defensive. Rey had no poise. No grace in each movement. It wasn't a dance like she had in the forest of Starkiller Base with Kylo Ren himself.

This was raw. Uncontained. Her muscles sang with each swing and push of her lightsaber.

Ap'lek Ren took steps back, only blocking or parrying each blow from Rey's lightsaber. It was clear from how Ap'lek was unsteady that she didn't expect Rey's rage. Lifting her red saber up, Ap'lek sliced at the tree by them.

Rey stopped her assault to see the tall tree falling on her and she moved it aside with the force. The trunk landed behind her and she stalked forward towards her target, lifting her hand up and freezing Ap'lek in place with the force.

Something vibrated in the force. It was different. It was pulling. It was the same sensation she felt on Ach-To when she sought answers. It was what swirled around Kylo Ren. It was a comforting feeling to Rey, as much as it pained her to be reminded that Kylo Ren was still alive while Ben Solo suffocated.

And it was helping her keep the Knight of Ren in front of her in place.

Ap'lek couldn't even struggle against the vice-grip of the force. Immobilized completely, the red lightsaber fell out of her clutch and onto the jungle floor.

Rey glared at the Knight. "What do you want?" she demanded.

Ap'lek breathed heavily through her mask. "We need a new leader. A new master. One who is so strong in their convictions."

Rey tilted her head. "So why are you here? Attacking the Resistance?"

"Our new Supreme Leader demanded it, as we suggested it first."

New. Kylo Ren wasn't leading anymore. The force connection showed him being overthrown to her.

"I sense the darkness in you, you're using it to chain me right here," Ap'lek continued. "We seek out the dark side of the force. It is not inherently evil. It just is. Think about it, Rey of Jakku. The longer you hold me here the more you slip down farther."

Rey had enough. She was suddenly reminded of how the dark side was a slippery slope to something dangerous. She loosened her grip on the Knight of Ren and stepped back. Ap'lek gasped for air as she stood up, reaching for her lightsaber only to be greeted with a blue beam of light at her throat.

Of course, the scavenger had one more demand. "Where is Kylo Ren?" Rey spat, pulling the red lightsaber to her free grip and deactivating it.

"The irony of you not knowing where our former master is," Ap'lek retorted, not giving her anything else to work with.

"Rey!" Finn's voice called behind her.

She turned her head and that allowed Ap'lek to grab her lightsaber and slice a tree, almost landing on Rey herself. Rey cut the trunk in mid-air with her own saber and turned back around to see the Knight of Ren had fled.

"They're retreating," Poe's voice followed Finn's.

Rey gritted her teeth as she walked over to Finn and Poe. They looked rather ruffled with their clothes covered in dirt and sweat, but no injuries on their persons.

"Who was that Rey?" Finn questioned, his tone half concerned and half angered.

Rey deactivated her saber finally and put it on her belt. "A Knight of Ren. Ap'lek."

Poe furrowed his brows. "Another one?"

Rey tilted her head to the commander. "There were two?"

"Yes, among a bunch of stormtroopers there was a man in black demanding where the last Jedi was."

She bit her lip in thought. This was too much. Too much. The thrill, the comfort the darkness gave her, the ache for the man hidden in Kylo Ren, the Knights of Ren wanting her to join them. Too much.

Without a word she began walking off into the forest. Finn reached out for her asking where she was going.

"I need to be alone," she said in a monotone voice. "Tell General Leia that the First Order is under new leadership."

She was always alone. Always.

Leia watched the holographic map flicker. Connix and the other leaders, including Finn and Poe and the droids stared at her in the dead silent room, waiting for her reaction to the news.

"Whoever is leading the First Order is not going to stop with this skirmish," Leia declared. "The previous leader either didn't find us or didn't want to destroy us."

She knew that her son had a change of heart. Leia held that hope with her even when all seemed lost. Losing Ben and Han, finally getting Han back, then losing him at the hands of Kylo Ren, it hurt. It was hard to lead with the pain crushing her shoulders. But she knew, she knew that something had changed ever since Crait. That little spark or light Rey saw once still lingered and grown into something more.

Reality reminded Leia that the light in Ben Solo came with consequences.

Kylo Ren being overthrown meant that he was the only line of defense between the Resistance and the First Order.

"We must prepare to move at a moment's notice. When the First Order strikes again, they will not be small skirmishes like this. We need to get in on the inside beforehand."

Poe stepped up to the plate. "General we got someone who can help us. A deflector trooper like Finn."

Finn nodded. "She's injured in the fighting but she was in my squad and surrendered. Once she's out of medical we might have something to get the upper hand on the First Order."

Leia nodded. "Good. Lieutenant Connix, send out messages to our allies to see what information they might have on the new Supreme Leader."

Connix nodded. "Yes General."

BB-8 bumped Poe's leg as the meeting adjourned. Poe sighed, knowing what the little droid was begging for. His answer would be unsatisfactory. He crouched down to the droid's level. "Sorry BB, Rey said she needed to be alone."

BB-8 was definitely not approving of the vague answer, beeping quickly and harshly in response.

Poe shrugged, not sure how else to comfort his disgruntled droid. "Yeah I know she's always alone, but right now she looked on edge and we got to respect her space."

BB-8 beeped sadly back.

"I know buddy. I know."

Rose walked into the room after most of the leadership walked out. "Where's Rey?" she questioned Poe.

Poe stood back up properly. "She's out in the jungle."

"Alone?" Rose said, her lips falling into a frown. "Again?"

"Yeah. Again."

Leia couldn't help but listen in, her concern for Rey growing and growing with each moment. Her isolation reminded her of another's isolation. Even now, just like back then, Leia had no idea how to properly deal with it, nip the problem in the bud. She tried going to Rey many times, and it concerned her most with her sudden lack of presence in the force.

Now Rey had reconnected and put herself in isolation again.

Leia ran a single hand down her temple, leaning against the table with the holographic map still flickering.

She wished she could talk to Ben, wherever he should be.

But what words would she be able to say to her son, who lingered in darkness for so long, who killed his own father, who once months ago wanted the Resistance crushed in his fist?

I'm blown away by the response to my very short first chapter. Thank you all for the follows and reviews! It means so much to me.

Next update probably won't be for a bit because Kingdom Hearts 3: Re:Mind is coming and that will consume my life (and hopefully ease the pain of having my OTPs torn apart asdfghjkl)

Funny enough for all my love of angst I haven't actually written a character falling from grace like this before haha.

maushaushase: Thank you so much! I hope this update is satisfying.