"I didn't expect the old man to know what a Sith was," Ben grumbled as they left the Senate building behind and went to descend deeper into the endless reach that was Hosnian Prime. "Then again, I guess it isn't really possible for us to keep your identity secret forever."
"I'm not going to conquer the galaxy and proclaim myself Empress, Ben," Harry said irritably. "and just because my eyes glow and I can do magic with my emotional state doesn't mean I'm a murderous psychopath either. I have no identity here, so at the very least if I keep throwing aliases around, who the bloody hell is ever going to peg down my true name?"
"Fair point," Ben said, rubbing his jaw.
"How far down is this area we're supposed to go to?" Rey asked.
"Senator Kayseri said it was attached to a pub on Level 115," Ben replied, looking at the data that the Senator had given them. "There's a few ways we could approach this. If we give them too much time, they could kill his great-granddaughter."
"I figure I could disillusion us, we could do some quick recon, and then we could… just take the girl? I don't know, I don't really do strategy when it comes to running head first into stupid missions," Harry replied with a snort. "Hermione would tell me that my impulsive behaviour might get me killed, but Ron used to say that it was an instinct that saved our arses more than once."
"It's not a terrible idea," Ben murmured. "It just depends on if they've got any Force sensitives… and if you can sufficiently mask your thermal signature. I don't know if they have anything that's heat-seeking."
"We may need some alternative plans," Harry said wryly. "I have a few other tricks up my sleeve, though, they might work?"
"It's a shame we're wasting our time on these vermin," Ben grumbled. "Unlimited power, reduced to… head-hunting."
"Don't say it like that," Harry groused.
"Say it like what?" Ben challenged.
"Unlimited power. The way you said that. It may be something we're born with, but that doesn't mean it isn't something to be treated with the proper respect."
"What difference does it make? What else could there be– power is all that there is in the galaxy. Only the weak would not try to seek it out."
Before he could take another step, he found himself being seized by Harry's iron grip and shoved up against a nearby wall, and her blazing eyes mere inches from his own. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, Solo. Do you think that ultimate power is all there is in the universe? What would you do with it if you had it?"
"Do away with all wars. No more fighting. Get rid of those whose only agenda is to seed mistrust and disinformation across the galaxy. Create a home for every race across the galaxy so there are no more wars over territory-" Ben attempted to explain only to be stopped as Harry shook him.
"How do you intend to enforce it?" Harry growled. "Do you intend to kill anybody who disagrees? Was all that not what the Empire's ambition was? To enforce galactic order and peace? How many people died for such a vision?"
"Alderaan was a brutal atrocity, I won't deny that," Ben murmured. "But at the same end, there is so much in this galaxy that must be torn down and reconstructed."
"It isn't your place to decide that," Harry argued, letting the younger man go and stepping back from him, a disgusted look on her face.
Her disgusted face softened, and she sighed. After a silent moment, she spoke again.
"Take it from me, Ben. You can try to cut the cancerous tumours out of the very rotted heart of everything, but… no matter how much you try, you can never get them all. Those you miss will just fester and come back worse than ever before. You have to ask yourself this: is it worth becoming as bad as those who've come before, or surrendering yourself to the role you've fashioned for yourself?"
"Is that why you Fell?" Ben asked carefully, his eyes not leaving hers.
"I suppose it was," Harry murmured with a quirked eyebrow. "That's why you should listen to me."
"Don't you enjoy the feeling of unrestrained power? The Dark Side flowing through you?" Ben asked incredulously.
"I wake up every morning wishing that I had gotten aboard that train," Harry responded. "I'd been given the choice, you know. I died a hero's death, and I had been given the choice to board the train to the afterlife, to rejoin my mother and my father and my grandparents, and all the martyrs of the Battle, but… I didn't. I came back. I was consumed with this burning desire to end him. To destroy him so that there wouldn't be any more orphans. I won, but I've felt hollow ever since."
She took in a deep breath. "Yes, I can feel that power, Ben. I've felt it for years," she acknowledged, her burning eyes turning towards the heavens. "Knowing that I hold within my hands the ability to reshape whole worlds, extinguish lives in an instant, but I have more scars than I care to count, fought more than I should have at my age, and I am not so easily led anymore. A true measure of power is knowing how and when it is appropriate to use it."
She sighed and pulled her hood back up. "You'll learn with time, Ben," she said softly.
"Harry," Rey murmured, coming to her girlfriend's side. "Are you going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine, Rey. I just… need to let go of some really stupid shit," Harry responded gently. "Let's go find these kidnappers so I can cut loose on them and not on someone who doesn't deserve it."
…
The pub itself was a seedy little thing in a rundown part of one of the lower levels. Harry's lip curled in disdain as she looked upon it.
"It reminds me of one of the seedier places in Knockturn Alley," she murmured. "They may as well hang a bit fat sign out front that says 'Seedy Villain Bar! Please knock for expedient murder service!' or something."
"You would be surprised just how obvious some people are when they're in the business of bounty-hunting," Rey commented with an amused snort.
"All the easier to pick them off," Harry said darkly, making a gesture with her hand. A silky grey outer robe appeared in her hands and she draped it around her shoulders, causing her to fade from sight.
"What the kriff," Ben said in awe.
"Invisibility cloak," Harry said lightly. "Here's the strategy, kids. I'm going to go in and retrieve the child. Once I've got her, I'm going to go for full shock and awe. I want you two ready to attack as soon as you see the sign."
"What's the sign?" Rey asked.
"You'll know it when you see it," Harry said darkly. "Just keep an eye out for it."
Harry moved forward, wand in hand. She had learned some of the very interesting uses for her father's old cloak thanks to Hermione's research, and it provided ample ability for her to sneak around undetected. Casting some dampening spells on her boots, she moved around the side of the building to where the kitchens for the bar were located. The back door was open while a couple of red-skinned aliens were dumping garbage into a nearby trash chute.
Slipping past them, Harry immediately cast a hominem revelio as she stalked silently through the kitchen. Her magic told her that there were a great number of people in this building– all of them hostile beings. Ah-ha, there.
In the downstairs office with two men was the little girl. Narrowing her eyes, she thought about the best insertion plan– which was to say there was no good solution. The room itself had one entrance, via a heavily guarded stairwell. Anybody that went into the room would be obvious– alerting the men to her presence wouldn't do because they could probably kill the little girl before she could get to her.
Hmm.
She had an idea.
…
Sneaking through the bar was strenuous work, particularly when on more than one occassion she had to thread the needle between more than one person. She couldn't inconspicuously cast a long-range sleeping spell over so many people, particularly if one or more of them was resistant to suggestion, but a smaller range one on the two men…
Well, she had a pretty good chance of it working.
Glancing down the stairwell, she noticed that two more men stood guard outside of the room, acting as bouncers for their boss' office.
In order to make them leave, she tossed a confundus at the two men, along with an incontinence spell. As soon as both realized that their bladders were on the brink of failing, they quickly abandoned their post in haste to find the loo. Harry barely restrained a snicker under her breath as she moved towards the door. Pressing her ear up against it, she heard the two men conversing about the situation.
"I'm tellin' you, I don't think the old man's gonna pay"
"He doesn't hafta pay. We just wait until we hear from Bo-Katan, and then we kill the little brat. The goal isn't to intimidate, the goal's to make a Force-damned example."
Harry raised her eyebrow. What was with these Death-named cult people and their stupid desire to kill indiscriminately with no goals?
Sighing to herself, she jabbed her wand tip to the gap under the door and cast a silent powerful sleeping spell. After a few seconds, she vanished the door, revealing three unconscious people laying out in the room. Two older men, and one little girl.
Quickly walking over to the girl, Harry vanished her bonds and quickly transfigured her down into something she could easily carry with her– a small charm which she stuck to her necklace. Turning to the two men, she knew what would be best.
With two flashes of green light, both men would never wake again. Good riddance to a pair of kidnapping scumbags. She idly wondered if her willingness to take a life these days was a bad sign. Then again: this universe seemed to already brand her a Dark One, so what was the harm just this once?
Sighing to herself, she waved her hand lazily and allowed her music player to fall into her hands. Somehow, music helped numb the moral implications of the things she did. After her whole life of fighting and strife, she seemed to only be good at killing now.
A song that predated her by a good half-decade played in her ears as she reached to her hip and drew out her laser sword. With a press of a button, the crimson blade sprang out and thrummed with pleasure. The Resurrection Stone seemed to shiver in anticipation of the bloodbath to come.
Stalking up the stairs, Harry twirled her wand and blasted a spell that completely fried electronics. That should alert Rey and Ben. The entire bar was plunged into total darkness, with only her crimson blade illuminating the room. There was a beat of silence before a grin crossed Harry's face.
And all hell broke loose.
The operatic rock filled her ears and nourished her soul as the cacophony of death and magic swirled around her in a turbulent storm. With a mixture of her sword hacking and slashing and some well-placed spells, the thugs began to fall one by one by her hand.
She blasted two men through the front door of the pub, and was soon joined in the fray by Rey and Ben who began to carve through the mass of enemies as well. The numbers began to thin heavily, and ultimately, one survivor remained.
He shook in fear as Harry approached him, her lasersword aimed right at his throat.
"Please don't kill me," he pleaded. "I'll do whatever you want. Just please don't kill me."
"I won't kill you," Harry said, frowning underneath her concealing hood, her eyes narrowed. "It would be such a waste. I want you to go back to the people who hired you to kidnap a child, and tell them what has happened here– and why they should be very afraid."
She disabled her lightsword with a snapping hiss, and snatched the man's blaster off the floor. She pressed magic into it, and watched as it turned bright red hot before melting into a puddle of uselessness. Turning on her heel, she stalked out of the bar, her two friends flanking her.
"I have never seen such a beautiful, terrible thing in my life," Ben murmured in awe.
"Are you okay, Harry?"
"No. Let's go collect our prize," Harry murmured. "Old man owes us."
…
Luke Skywalker sighed and gently lifted a cup of bantha milk to his lips and took a small drink. Frankly, some days he felt even older than he actually was. He certainly hadn't been aging very well, all things considered. Grey hairs in his mid-30s, turning from what many in the Galactic press called "the twink-master of the Jedi Order" (much to Luke's own consternation and Leia's eternal amusement) into "oh look another old, smelly guy in robes with a scraggly beard, how typical of the Jedi".
To make matters worse, The Force seemed to grow more and more lethargic by the year. The darkness was pressing in from somewhere, rooting and growing in his nephew and some of his young trainees. He knew that the dam had to burst at some point, and he wasn't sure how the Jedi Order would survive yet another knock-down drag out fight with the Sith.
That was, until the Force seemed to cheer and celebrate the arrival of something new.
The Dark was even more omnipresent than it had ever been, but it didn't feel like Sidious… instead, it felt like Father in his final moments. Cleansing, cooling, protecting. It was a shift in the current of the Force that had left Luke perplexed and concerned– and it had coincided with his nephew going pure comm-silent, ignoring his numerous calls and summons.
As he sat and ruminated, he felt the sense of one of his senior acolytes approaching. Turning his chair to face the door, he set his drink down and waved the door to open. The startled bespecked face of Kaylee Onega stood in the doorway, clutching a datapad in her hands.
"Master Skywalker," she breathed. "There's something here you should see."
She quickly crossed the room and handed Luke the datapad. Luke pressed a few buttons, and a holographic camera footage began to play. Luke watched in curiosity and a form of mounting concern as a crimson lightsaber wielding person nearly single-handedly carved their way through dozens of armed criminals.
"This was caught on the monitoring cameras that the Planetary Defense Force had installed on the lower levels of Hosnian Prime. Police reported a disturbance at one of the seedier pubs on the lower levels, and discovered some findings that they thought were in our purview. Additional footage spotted them also at the Senate hall and at the spaceport."
She swallowed a gulp of air. "One of the three has been positively identified as, ah, Acolyte Solo."
"Ben, what have you gotten yourself into?" Luke asked wryly, scratching his beard. "Thank you, Acolyte Onega. I believe we may need to investigate to see what threat this new force poses to us. If you'll excuse me, I need to contact my sister and brother-in-law to inform them that their son may be in danger."
Kaylee quickly left, leaving Luke alone again. He closed his eyes and tried to reach into the Force for advice– but found nothing in the churning waves of the galaxy. Sighing to himself, he pulled out his comm and dialed Leia.
"Farmboy," Leia said warmly. "How nice of you to call me. What's wrong?"
"Leia… something's going on. Are you near the Hosnian system?"
"No," Leia said, shaking her head. "Why?"
"One of my acolytes just showed me some footage. Someone with a crimson lightsaber brutally decimating a den of bounty hunters, leaving but a sole survivor… and Ben was helping them."
Leia scowled. "Kriffing Sith hells."
"I'm going to do what I can to bring Ben back to the Praxeum. I just… wanted to make you aware of what's going on."
"I appreciate it," Leia muttered, rubbing her head. "I guess I should call his father, as much as I don't feel like it."
"Would you rather me do it?" Luke asked, stroking his beard much like his first Jedi master did in times of great consternation.
"No, it's… it's better if I do it," Leia commented, her frown deepening. "Though… I wonder, Luke. Is it typical of Sith Lords to indiscriminately cull violent bounty hunters?"
"Not typical, no," Luke said lightly. "This is what's confusing. I believe that the group the Sith Lord targeted was responsible for a recent kidnapping. I believe that the Sith Lord… might have actually been saving someone."
"Sith Lords don't save people," Leia said flatly.
"Precisely why the Force seems unsettled around this Sith Lord," Luke replied, snorting in amusement. "I will need to meditate on it some more. I think I may also send some of my apprentices to track Ben and see if we can get a good look at this Sith Lord."
"Be careful," Leia said gently. "You don't need to have more medical problems because of angry Sith Lords."
"Sith Lords are my specialty, dear sister," Luke quipped, grinning like a madman.
…
"I think that went rather well," Harry commented dryly as she propped her feet up in the crew compartment of The Marauder, a brand new ship that had been sitting in drydock on Hosnian Prime, registered to one Ms. Teri Riddle ("mystery riddle", Harry mused, finally realizing why Sirius loved puns so god damn much) as a personal transport and freighter ship. Of course, the ship lacked any military armaments at all, but the good Senator had been most willing to provide a contact sheet of people who could do some outfitting for them.
"My uncle and the Jedi probably know of your existence now," Ben said, frowning. "Too many cameras on Hosnian Prime to not make yourself noticed."
"I don't care," Harry said happily. "Once we outfit the Marauder with some cannons and that sort of thing, we'll be in the perfect position to do what the three of us wanted to do to begin with. Find Rey's parents, find my godfather, and help you figure out the meaning of this Dark Side nonsense."
"What if my Uncle and his Jedi try to stop us?" Ben asked.
"They can try, I guess, but I doubt it'll end well for them," Harry murmured. "The better I get with this lasersword thing, the worse it'll go for them."
"Don't underestimate the Jedi," Ben warned.
"I'm not underestimating anyone. I'm just not going to sit in fear of people of what might happen. I've been burned far too many times by my own fear of the uncertain. Never again," Harry practically spat, irritably rubbing her face. "How close are we to Geonosis?"
"Another couple hours," Rey called from the cockpit.
"So, tell me more about that Dark Side research project your Dark Side Master guy was having you do," Harry said with a raised eyebrow.
"Hunting Sith artefacts has become difficult since the end of the Clone Wars," Ben said, sitting across from Harry. "The Emperor, Palpatine, was a Sith Lord in his own right and wanted to covet all the Sith relics in the galaxy. He and his men, including my grandfather, looted artefacts from every inch of the galaxy they could touch. My master and I wanted to find Palpatine's collection, but nobody knows where it is."
"It isn't somewhere obvious, like one of his homes?"
"No, only a few Sith artefacts were ever recovered from Palpatine's palace or his Naboo estate. The Jedi have been searching for his collection since, and my master wanted to recover the contents for his own use."
"What do you intend to do if you find the collection?" Harry asked, eyebrow raised.
"You're the Sith Master, not me," Ben said defensively. "It is your decision on what we do with the collection of artefacts. Some of them might have use, some of them are probably just useless, cursed objects."
"Sounds like quintessential dark wizard bullshit," Harry murmured. "Alright. So, any leads on that front?"
"Just before I found you and Rey, I encountered an archeologist on Jakku who had some interesting information. Enough that my master wanted to know more. Of course, I had originally intended to provide that information to him, but… my mistress, you are far more worthy of the information than he ever would be."
"Don't call me that," Harry hissed. "I had enough of that from an overexcitable house elf."
"You are the master of the Dark Side, should I not give you your proper title?" Ben asked curiously. "At least when we are doing official business. How about 'my Lady' instead?"
"Do Sith have nobility titles?" Harry asked, amused.
"The title of Darth, typically. My grandfather was Darth Vader and his master was Darth Sidious. I don't know the whole philosophy behind it because Snoke never explained it, and Uncle didn't know himself. I'm hoping if he find Palpatine's collection, it will include the history of the Sith."
"The Sith, they were… important, yeah?" Harry asked. "If the Jedi have existed in the galaxy for thousands of years, the Sith do as well, right?"
"Correct," Ben said with a nod.
"Then shouldn't there be ruins of the old Sith? Like, perhaps planets where they conquered and ruled from?"
Ben blinked. "Moraband! Kriff, how could I completely forget about that,"
"Moraband?"
"A planet in the galactic northeast. It's a closed system– the Jedi and Republic dislike people visiting it. Uncle once told me that the planet is practically bathed in the Dark Side. It's probably one of the Sith worlds of some kind?"
"Do you want to go there?" Harry asked. "Once we finish on Geonosis, we'll need to stop back on Takodana, but then we can go anywhere we want."
"We need to stop on Tatooine first," Ben said evenly. "It's in a neighboring system to Geonosis, if you don't mind a small detour?"
"Sure," Harry replied, shrugging. "If it reveals useful information, why not."
…
Harry stood behind Rey as she tersely negotiated with the engineering administrator of Geonosis. The sleezy human was trying to practically fleece them with extremely outdated military armaments.
"These weapons pre-date the Clone Wars," Rey pointed out with a sneer. "For the amount of money that is being paid, the Senator would be very displeased at the quality of this arrangement."
"Recent political issues have increased the price of military hardware," the man responded, shrugging theatrically. "This is all we can give you at the price agreed."
Rey narrowed her eyes, and snarled. "You will give us the agreed upon armaments, and you will discount us for such a terrible attempt at ripping us off," she said murderously.
The man was silent for a moment, but the telltale glaze that crossed his eyes, and the unfocused look revealed more than mere words could. "I will give you the agreed upon armaments. For a discount. This way, please."
Harry gently rested her hand on Rey's shoulder. "Good work. I think you just used a confundus charm, or an imperius… or whatever the Jedi equivalent is. Ben?"
"Force suggestion. My uncle and his original master, my namesake, were masters at such things," he murmured.
"Could that be why my parents sold me to Unkar? Because I'm a Force-sensitive?" Rey asked.
"I don't think that's necessarily the reason why," Ben said softly. "Frankly, there are many reasons they could've done it, the most likely of which was that they were in debt and sold you to pay that debt, or get money to pay off that debt. Believe me, you could have had much worse… like being sold to the Hutts."
Rey looked revolted.
"I'm still new to all this. What's… the Hutts?" Harry asked, curiously.
"The Hutts are a group of criminal gangsters from Nal Hutta," Ben explained. "They are the largest organization to traffic in slaves and other illegal things. They are largely untouchable by the Republic because of their wealth. My mother killed Jabba the Hutt, their leader, during the Civil War. Choked him to death with her chains."
"She was a slave?" Harry asked, shocked.
"Only temporarily. My father owed him money and… was captured by some bounty hunters, the whole story is kind of not something they talk about. Uncle Luke and Mom went to rescue him, but… unfortunately, were captured by Jabba's men. My mother was to become a pleasure girl, while my Uncle and father were to be fed to a sarlacc. They ended up killing Jabba and his men and escaped with their lives."
"Ah," Harry murmured. "We'll need to pay Nal Hutta a visit, then."
"Harry?" Rey asked.
"Slavery must be destroyed," she hissed. "No matter the cost."
The armaments that they ended up being shown after Rey's rather forceful suggestion (ha, Harry was getting better at puns) seemed to mollify her shorter girlfriend's sensibilities.
"These are much newer. They're not brand new– but they're at least still within their service window."
"Yeah, these serial numbers say this stuff was manufactured about fifteen years ago," Rey commented. "Still well within service life."
"What's the normal service life of stuff like this?" Harry asked.
"About thirty years for small craft armaments. Both the Empire and New Republic wanted to be sure that their craft would be durable enough to last the long-haul," Ben explained. "That, and budgetary shortfalls meant that people like Mom had to make the appeal for longer-lasting military materials."
"Makes sense," Harry murmured. "Is it reliable?"
"As reliable as something like this can get," Rey said. "As long as I get schematics, I should be able to keep it maintained long-term… and when the parts run out and we can't keep it running, we can sell it for scrap and get something better later."
"You're the expert engineer here," Harry said with a snort. "I'm just a pretty face and some big muscle."
"What does that make me?" Ben asked, eyebrows raised.
"Comedic relief," Harry quipped, grinning at the younger man.
"Oh, fuck off," Ben groused. "I am not the comedic relief."
"I'm kidding," Harry deadpanned. She glanced over at Rey and the Geonosian engineer. "How long is installing this stuff on the Marauder gonna take?"
"Not long at all once the droids get started," Rey said reassuringly. "Couple hours, tops."
"You'll check to make sure nothing's out of place, right?" Harry asked, narrowing her eyes in distrust at the engineer who was barking orders at some astromech droids. "The last thing we need is to let ourselves get worked over by a 'mechanical accident'."
"Harry, darling," Rey said. "Let me do what I do best, okay?"
…
Once the Geonosians had fitted their ship with military armaments (and Rey had checked it over for sabotage; Harry's paranoia wouldn't permit them to take off in it without a thorough inspection), they took off and set an immediate course for Tatooine. It wouldn't be a long trip, but Harry decided that the time was best spent in the company of her girlfriend.
"I should start teaching you about magic," Harry hummed as the door to their quarters closed. "If you want to learn, of course."
"I could give it a try. You and Ben think I have a sensitivity for this kind of thing?" Rey asked curiously as she practically flopped down onto the bed.
"You've definitely been doing accidental magic. You bent the will of that engineer on Geonosis like it was nothing," Harry commented. "You might find mind magic an easier thing to manage than other forms of magic, but we can always see exactly what you're capable of later."
Rey sighed. "I don't know. What the various hells would I ever do with all that sort of power? I'm good with my hands, Harry. I… the most I've ever really done in this kind of way is swing around a staff to defend myself."
"You'll learn as much as you want, and if there's stuff you'd just rather leave alone, you can. Trust me, I'm not gonna make you sit through a few hours of Potions or anything if you'd rather focus on practicals. I'm barely qualified to teach anybody anything, but… I know enough."
Harry noticed the doubtful look on Rey's face and gently moved over to the bed and kissed her forehead. "Don't stress about it right now. Give it time, you'll either come to understand this stuff and will enjoy learning it, or you won't and we can never do it again. It's all a matter of you being willing to give it a proper shot."
"Of course I'll try it, but… I don't want to be a Jedi," Rey said softly.
"Who said you had to become a Jedi?" Harry asked, eyebrow raised. "I'm certainly not becoming one. You've heard Ben. I've fallen, whatever that means. I'm Dark, supposedly part of an evil shadowy organization of murderous bad guys. Believe me, you can stay by my side as long as you want, and if you ever want to leave, you just gotta tell me and we can make arrangements to take you somewhere safe and all that sort of thing."
"I am not going anywhere, Harry," Rey protested. "Don't you dare think about unloading me somewhere."
"I wouldn't do it, just saying you can if you want," Harry clarified, chuckling.
"Once I… find out more about my parents and where I come from, I think. Right now I just… I don't know who I'm supposed to be. I was a scrap collector on Jakku, and now suddenly the galaxy is within reach and there's people out there who know me and… I don't know what or who they are."
"We'll figure it all out, love," Harry said soothingly. "Just give it time."
"I'm sorry," Rey murmured.
"Sorry about what?" Harry asked.
"Dumping all my anxieties out on you," Rey said, burrowing herself deeper into Harry's strong arms. "You have enough on your mind without me being like this."
"I don't mind. Honestly, it's kind of a relief? To know that there's someone else out there as damaged as I feel half the time," Harry said lightly. "Plus, as bad as things were before, I… I mean, they're sort of pointless to carry on about now, aren't they? I can't exactly go back."
She sighed. "Honestly, the things that are bothering me aren't… really tangible, I guess. I mean, yes, Sirius is still on my mind and until I know what happened to him, it won't stop bothering me, but the night terrors and stuff, they're… mostly subconscious, intangible bits of the past that I don't know if I'll ever get over. It was war, Rey… but even the things I went through were only a fraction of the greater nightmare that everyone suffered through."
"Well, as much as you want to help me with all my problems, I want to help you with yours," Rey said. "Okay?"
"You're amazing," Harry said happily. "I'm glad I dropped in on you like that. I don't know what I'd be doing if I'd dropped in somewhere else."
"You'd have done fine," Rey reassured her girlfriend. "You probably weren't in that much danger against Unkar and his men, if I'm honest."
"I always find a way to put myself into danger," Harry commented, stretching her arms out to the point where her joints were audibly popping. "It's sort of my MO. At least now I'm big enough that trouble thinks twice before trying to start off with me, you should've seen it when I was a scrawny little git."
"You were…? I don't believe it," Rey said disbelievingly.
"Like I said, nutrient potions, magical healing and liberal application of certain potions can do a lot of really crazy things to your body. In a matter of… oh, bloody hell, a year or two, I went from being short and sticky to being… like this. The healers told me I'd grow tits, but they didn't explain that there might be… other side-effects of the combination of things I was on, like shooting up an entire foot taller."
"I'm certainly not complaining," Rey said happily. "I'm sure you were pretty when you were small, but you're drop-dead gorgeous like this."
"Thanks, love," Harry said with a snort. "You know, I'm kind of terrible at this sort of thing. Flirting, being cutesy."
"You don't have to be good at it," Rey responded. "I can't say I'm particularly great at it either."
"We're perfect together," Harry deadpanned. "It's almost like I'm the captain of the ship bearing the Lost and Damned. Between you, me and Ben, we've got enough angst in our lives to fill books. Who'll be the next person we conscript onto our merry galley? Maybe I should just start belting Penzance or Pinafore for dramatic effect."
"Penzance? Pinafore?"
"Opera from back home," Harry responded with a shudder. "Bad opera at that. Don't ask."
"I had a couple holos worth of opera back in the day," Rey commented. "I was never that impressed with it."
"There are some good operas. Just… not those," Harry quipped with a grimace.
