Just a bit of a heads up, you guys, I'll be more focused on posting on AO3 than FanFiction. Don't worry, though. Any story on FanFiction will be posted... When I get motivated, after how my job is going.
Another wave of scratchy sensation left through Rey's dry throat and irritated lungs.
She sat on a rock, staring down at the grass beneath her feet. She shivers from the cool, night air, but doesn't bother to get up and head into the Resistance transport or the Millennium Falcon to seek shelter. Even when she feels so tired and wants to sleep, she can't bring herself to move.
Not after hearing Kalonia giving her the unfortunate news that'll be keeping her up for weeks, if possible.
Rose, who was with her when the doctor gave her the gruesome news, offered to stay with her, but the nineteen year-old declined her offer and suggested she goes back to Finn. She knows that her friend would need his girlfriend to be there for him, when Kalonia joins their group and tells everybody the news about her health.
And, after hearing how some of the Resistance Members truly view her and felt about her, she wasn't in the least curious as to hear what their thoughts about her dying are.
...Yes... Kalonia had told her that she's dying. Yet, she doesn't know how long she may have.
Of course, if they were to go to a specialized hospital, that are equipped with their state of the art machines, she would be cured. But, they didn't have much credits on them right now and would have to go to Maz for help, as soon as their ships have refueled and are capable to sneak past the enemy. And even if they could afford to get her administered into the best hospital in the galaxy, they wouldn't help her and, instead, would inform the First Order that their Most Wanted target is in their facility.
Plus, once the healers learn on how she gained Silicosis and the physical state of her health is, there's a chance that they won't help a sand rat of Jakku and would let her die; with the reputation Jakku had, before the First Order took it for themselves, those who would even stay on that barren wasteland for a day or two might as well be accused on being a thief, smuggler or even a murderer. And as a scavenger of Jakku, makes her just as guilty as being any of the three categories.
She coughed into her hand, again, wincing from the ache in her stomach, growling for food and pain.
Before Rose went and got her, she ended up puking up the blade of grass she forced herself to eat. It left a terrible aftertaste in her mouth, and only cause a cramping sensation to take place in her belly.
She faintly hears yelling going on from the transport. No doubt, they were angered to hear that their 'Last Jedi' is very sick, and is now useless to be of us to them.
...She faintly caught the word 'Troq' be carried in the wind... She knows they're right to call her as such.
In her lap, her lightstaff sat, waiting to be used and tested out... Most likely, to never be used by her in battle, now that she's broken.
She remembered how she didn't want to hold it, after it gave her disturbing and painful visions from Maz's Castle. Now, with Luke gone, she never wanted to part from it.
...Yet, she knew that it isn't hers to keep, even when she rebuilt it into her version of a weapon to use. It rightfully belongs to Leia, despite having her own lightsaber.
And, with her no longer being of use to the Resistance, Rey will have to return the weapon to the general/princess.
She thought about her late-temporary teacher. Missing him, dearly, despite how their parting went and how he lied to her on a few occasion on Ahch-To.
'How did Luke do it?' She pondered, looking up at the dark-sky of night. 'Before he vanished, how was he able to handle the burden on being the Last Jedi and training a new generation of Jedi, on his own*?'
Then, an immediate thought came to mind.
'If there are others out there who are Force-sensitive, will I have to find them and train them? -She looked over towards the Resistance transport, making her feel cold with dread.- ...Will Leia send me off to go look for them, so that they can be trained to become weapons and/or soldiers to the Resistance and fight in a war that they shouldn't have to be part of?'
Her stomach didn't sit well to the thought of innocent individuals, children, taken from their family and home, forced into a life they never asked to be thrust into, all to be in a never-ending war that's been going on for generations after generations.
After reading the Jedi Text that she took with her, before leaving Ahch-To, learning the history of the Jedi in the past from the hologram in the Millennium Falcon... And seeing some of his memories from when he was being trained by his uncle, does she understand why Luke told her that the Jedi Order needed to end.
But, of course, she has to believe in the stories and tales on how the Jedis are the Guardians of the Galaxy and, under Leia's orders, force that responsibility back on her twin brother when all he wanted was to be just a myth and die on Ahch-To.
"You don't need Luke Skywalker. You think what? I'm gonna walk out with a laser sword and face down the whole First Order? What did you think was going to happen here? You think that I came to the most unfindable place in the galaxy for no reason at all?"
'He looked so tired.' She thought, recalling his weary appearance after getting Chewie to help her get him out of his hut. 'As if the title was still weighing him down, even after he vanished, but is unable to sleep... Oh, Master Skywalker. If I'd bother to see how much having the title of Last Jedi took its toll on you that you would distance yourself from your sister, perhaps I would've been more open minded to what you were trying to make me see.'
"And this is the lesson. That Force does not belong to the Jedi. To say that if the Jedi die, the light dies, is vanity."
She recalls one of his lessons he wanted her to see why the Jedi Order is wrong, on how there's a balance all around her and inside of her, before the Dark Cave called out to her.
He was making a point as to why they, the Resistance, or the whole galaxy didn't need to bring the Jedi Order back, when the Force will work its way to bring balance to all.
...Basically, even if all the Jedi were to die out and the First Order, even the Sith, itself, were to continue on, the Force will have a new generation to become Force-Sensitive... Future users of its powers.
She didn't realize it until now, but she, herself, is living proof to that fact; nearly seven years after Kylo Ren took a handful of his other students and the others died, Luke went into hiding and there hadn't been any sign of him or anybody who appear to be Force-Sensitive, until she found Beebee-Ate and was dragged into the war. Despite she always felt there was something inside of her, for as long as she could remember, it wasn't until she was thirteen that she believe there's something off with her.
The day, after she-...
'No!'
She shook her head, not wanting to think about that day. One of the few that she doesn't want to think, yet still lingers in the back of her mind.
Rey crossed her arms over her stomach, her hands clenching over the leather-straps around her wrists... Hiding what she carried, since the first time she-...
She shivered.
"Are you serious?! Get it through your head! They abandoned you, sold you as Plutt's slave to die on this dustball of a planet! They're not coming back, ever! When are you going to accept that, Rey?! They never even wanted you to begin with! You were nothing but a Troq, and that's what you'll ever be to them and anybody here! It's time to stop lying to yourself, and get on with your life!"
She'll never forget the words, the voice that told her those words, before she made the biggest mistake of her life and caused the voice of the one person, who she called Big Sister, to leave her. Abandon her, like her parents.
...Like the Resistance, who never intended to accept her as anything, other than a tool for their benefit.
As the voices continue, Rey decided to use the Force to help her be able to hear what they were saying form a distance. She read, through the Jedi Text, on how to use Theran Force-Listening and, with Leia's help on Ajan Kloss, she was able to do so with four days.
...Though, now, as she listens in, Rey wished that she didn't master this technique.
"No! We can't have that! She needs to fight! We need her to still be of use, and you just told us that she can't fight, anymore?!"
"I didn't say that. All I'm saying, because of the status of her lungs and the ailment her body had suffered in the years on Jakku, it would be in her best interest and for the sake of her health that she no longer be involve in the battle ."
"Her health? Who cares about her health?! The First Order is getting stronger, and we're barely getting on by! We need her to do her part, and bring them down !"
"Rey's wellbeing is worth more than this war! How dare you say, otherwise!"
"She's our friend! She should mean more than this!"
"Does that include our goal on ridding the galaxy of Kylo Ren and the First Order?! Our cause?! What many of our friends, our family sacrificed their lives for?! That sand rat of Jakku is worth throwing away all our hard work?!"
"She isn't a sand rat! How dare you disrespect her?!"
"She's a scavenger of Jakku. She still reeks of that desert wasteland! And now, she can't fight, because she inhaled too much dust and sand?! Pathetic! "
"Didn't you nerf-herders saw what Dr. Kalonia showed us on the hologram?! It's the Silica that caused the scarring in her lungs! How could you be so cruel to her?! She's our friend, and she's dying!"
What was said next, felt like she was stabbed in the heat by a lightsaber.
"Like we said, before, she's not our friend! She isn't even an actual Member of the Resistance! She's just a nobody from Kriffing Jakku! A Troq, that brings nothing but death and destruction! She caused all of this to happen: Half of our fighters killed at Starkiller, Han Solo's death, forced to abandon our base on D'Qar, more than half of our fleet killed in our attempt to flee, Crait, Luke Skywalker's death, the attack on Ajan Kloss, many of our allies killed, taken as slaves to the First Order or even abandoning us to save themselves! All of that is HER fault! She's supposed to bring us hope, but has brought us nothing but despair! She's a Jedi, the Last Jedi! Her life doesn't matter and will never matter, so long as she performs her task as a Jedi! Like Luke Skywalker did! If she can't fulfill her duty, then it's best if we save ourselves, while we still have the chance! And if she dies as a result from her disease... Then, it be best if she gets on with it and die!"
Rey stopped using her power, no longer able to handle hearing the conversation. Tears came to her eyes and they made streaks down both side of her face. She made no move to wipe them.
She knew that they, at least a handful of them, would se all of their misfortune is her fault.
...And she agrees with their claim. To every single word they say.
There's no one to blame, but her.
She failed Han Solo. She failed Luke Skywalker. She failed Leia... She failed the whole galaxy.
She curled in on herself, trembling from the pressure pressing against her chest. Both her hands came to hold both side of her head, clenching her eyes shut.
"Pathetic girl."
"Sand rat!"
"Waste of space."
"Go curl in a hole and Kriffing die!"
"Bastard Child!"
"Foolish child."
"Plutt's little Pet."
Their words continued to echo in her head. Her breathing became raspy, and it was getting harder to breathe.
"Worthless Child."
"Do you cry for mommy and daddy, who aren't coming back for you? Suck it up, Brat!"
"You're not wanted. You're never going to be wanted."
"They're dead, you Stupid Girl! They're never going to come back! You're Plutt's property and that's what you'll always be, until the day you die!"
"Get it through your head, and accept that they're dead!"
More tears continued to leak through her eyes, as her breathe quickened for breath.
"You're a Troq, and that's what you'll ever going to be!"
"Nobody wants you, and nobody is ever going to want you!"
"You're better off dead! Go get yourself killed, and end your empty existence!"
"Go away."
"You have no part in this story. You weren't even supposed to exist. You came from nothing. You're nothing."
Rey couldn't stop the voices. They continued to spill over her, like an ocean has engulfed her and is drowning her.
"Die!"
"Kill yourself!"
"Cursed Troq, go die!"
"Jakku whore! DIE!"
"KILL YOURSELF!"
"You'll never belong! You're nothing! Nothing, but a sand rat scavenger of Jakku! Rey of Nowhere! No name! No family! Rey of NOTHING!"
"KILL YOURSELF!"
A hand touched her right-shoulder, startling her from the voices in her head.
It was Leia.
The general appeared calm, but her eyes held great concern for three nineteen year-old.
"Rey," she said. "Are you all right?"
Like a scared child, Rey wanted to launch herself on the fifty-four year-old woman. To cry out her fears, anguish and sorrow from hearing the hurtful words of the Resistance and voices from the past... To finally seek comfort of a parental individual she lacked in her life.
Instead, Rey pushed back her feelings. She has to keep herself in check. To pot aside her emotions and attachments.
Like the Jedi everybody expects her to be.
The urge to cough came, irritating her lungs and turning her head to avoiding near Leia.
"...I'm fine," she forced out.
Leia knew she's lying, but can't see what's going on in Rey's mind when the girl put up a block. Even though exhausted, Rey's mental-strength is still very strong.
The general didn't bother to pry. She'll wait until Rey's ready to share her feelings.
"If you're certain..."
The two women sat on the rock, one staring up at the sky, looking at the moon, while the other fidget in her spot, a bit uncomfortable and uncertain if she should say something or stay quiet.
After fifteen minutes of silence, Leia broke the silence.
"You didn't eat your ration." She stated, keeping her eyes on the moon above them. "Rose is going to take your meals to the Falcon; I reckon you would prefer sleeping there with Chewie, and Chewie could use the company."
Rey knew what she was doing; Chewie threatened to force feed her if she tries to avoid eating when they return from their mission, after refusing to eat on the fourth day of no eating. Before the incident on Ajan Kloss, she wouldn't have any problem with cleaning her plate, now that she can eat more food than rationing her portions on Jakku. But, now, just the thought of food, makes her feel sick all the time, and not because of the on and off fever that keeps coming and going.
That, and the numerous occasion of feeling food grind against her lungs, causing her to cough and at times make her feel as if she's choking, and constant upset stomach, more or less is the reason why she avoids eating.
She doesn't mind going to sleep in the Falcon; Chewie is the only company that doesn't make her feel stressed, pressured or anxious on what's been going on... And, after hearing what was said in the transport, it was pretty clear that her presence would bring nothing but negativity and hostility from those who view her as the cause for their downfall.
"Even though Chewie has some of his Porgs to keep him company, I think he could use a break on having to keep them from tearing up the ship on his own." She replied. If she's lucky, she'll be able to give most of her rations to the little guys and give her friends false joy that she's starting to get better, as soon as Chewie has his back turned and is asleep.
After Crait, the Wookiee had decided to keep the little stowaways that snuck onto the Falcon on Ahch-To, as they helped keep him distracted from being alone on the ship that's home to him and... Han Solo. Of course, they still continue to drive him up the wall from constantly tearing into the ship and messing with the wires or to build their own nests to sleep.
Luckily for him, Rey was there to help him with their mess and prevent them from destroying their-... His ship.
The nineteen year-old has no right to claim the ship as hers. The Millennium Falcon belongs to Chewie.
Though, by right of inheritance, it should be-... Ben Organa-Solo's.
Her body quivered from even thinking of the name of Leia and Han Solo's son... Of Kylo Ren.
He's the enemy. He's no longer Ben Solo. He no longer has any ties to his parents, and has no rights to what they possess to be his.
...He's no longer the man she thought she saw him to be, from either through the 'bond' they have or the premonition the Force, itself, showed her when they touched hands.
She's convinced that the bond they thought they had wasn't real to begin with, and that it's from Snoke's doing when he revealed to bridging their minds. Even with him dead, the connection is still there and Kylo Ren had been using the bond to get in contact with her.
...To this day, Rey hadn't told anybody about the 'bond', and now, she's afraid to reveal it to the others and be viewed as some kind of traitor for keeping secrets.
"Rey?" Leia, sensing her unease and anxiety, pulled her out from her thoughts and gently turned her face to stare into her eyed. "What's troubling you?"
She didn't want to reveal her weakness, her fear that keeps plaguing her mind and haunts her in her sleep. To prove more on how unfit, unworthy, she is to the title of Last Jedi everybody labels her to be.
Yet, Rey knew she owes her general her devotion and loyalty. And, as her apprentice, she mustn't keep any secrets from her teacher. Even, if that secret is of her son.
She sighed heavily, closed her tired, hazel eyes, before she got herself to talk.
"...General Organa-"
Leia held up a hand, citing her off.
"Rey, enough with the formality." She gently ordered her. "Please, call me by my birth name. You became very dear to me, the moment we finally met on D'Qar. To both me, and Han."
A stab to the heart coursed through Rey's chest from the mentioning of her late-husband. She wished she was given more time to get to know Han, when he was still alive. Perhaps, if she had accepted his offer to work with him and Chewie-...
...If she hadn't ran off, when the First Order came to Takodana, and gotten captured. Maybe, she would've had more time with the smuggler.
To finally know what it's like to have the father she longed, craved to have in her life, when hers handed her off like looted parts in exchange for drinking money and a ship off of a barren wasteland.
Rey knew, there and then, she has to tell Leia. She owes it to her teacher. And she owe it to Han, to tell his wife what she kept from her for months.
"...Leia... There's something you need to know. Something that I should've told you, months ago." She started, needing her to know that this was important.
The fifty-four year-old general gave Rey her undivided attention, nodding her head to say what's on her mind.
Rey took in a deep breath, coughed into her hand from the nagging cough build up in her lungs, and started.
"On the day I was taken by B-... Kylo Ren, I woke up from being put to sleep by his use of the Force. When I woke up, I was strapped to a chair, in an Interrogation Room. He was there, waiting for me to wake up. I don't know why he didn't force the information on me when I was unconscious, but he did used his Mind Probe on me to look through my memories. What he didn't expected to happen, which I didn't realize until later, was for me to resist him and search his emotions with his own ability. Apparently, that was the first time that I used the Force."
Leia did know that Rey didn't allow her son or Snoke to see the map through her memories to find her brother, but had know idea that she resisted Ben's Mind Probe and used it on him, long before she was trained to learning the Force.
Rey looked a bit nervous on continuing her story.
"I, also, figured out how to use the Mind Trick ability, while looking through his memories, which I used to get a Stormtrooper to release me from my restraints and allow me to escape the room. And when I fought Kylo Ren, I used it again, to figure out how wield a lightsaber. Though, honestly, it was more of sheer luck that I even won that fight and was able to escape, before the Starkiller exploded."
Leia seemed you have mixed feelings to Rey's account of the event on Starkiller. While she seemed very proud of Rey on how she fought her first battle and very much relieved to hear how she escaped, she did seem a bit disproved of her leaving her son, bleeding and alone on a self-destructing Base-Planet.
Even though Kylo Ren is the enemy to the Resistance, he's still her son. He's still Ben Solo.
Rey seemed upset to see the disapproval look on the general's face, which made her feel hurt, but pushed past it and continued to speak.
"...Then, while I was on Ahch-To, on the morning when Luke was going to teach me the three lessons, I woke up feeling something different. It was so strange, Leia. Sounded like some form of a humming sound, almost like a crackling purr of a creature I never heard of, before. Next thing I know, one moment I see nothing within my hut... And the next moment I knew, I saw him. Kylo Ren. He was in my hut, Leia, staring right at me."
The fifty-four year-old general was completely taken back by the news, in total disbelief and in awe.
"How is that possible?" She asked, completely confused. "I sensed my son, saw his own ship, while we were under attacked and tried to outrun them by lightspeed."
Rey rubbed both her arms, trying to keep warm from the combination of the shivers in her body and the cool wind.
"I didn't know until later, but apparently we formed a bond with each other. Though, later on, we both learned that it was falsely made but Snoke, himself." She explained, still hurt to learn that the bond she and Be-... No, Kylo Ren had, was a lie. "For a moment, we only just stared of each other. He seemed just as stunned and confused as I was, as to how and why we were there, in my hut. Luckily, I reacted quickly and grabbed for the NN-14 blaster pistol Han gave me and fired. However, just as the blast was about a hit him, he vanished before my eyes and the blast ended up shooting through the wall. Even though he was out of my hut, I instantly dreaded that he somehow escaped and was going to find out where I was and find Master Skywalker. the moment I left my hut, the humming came back and, when I turned around, I saw him, again. He tried to use the Force Mind Trick to have me bring Master Skywalker to him, but it seems to not work when we only see each other through the bond and not in the same place. I couldn't see where he was, like he couldn't see my surrounding, which was a good thing, because he didn't see Master Skywalker come in and see the blast I made in my hut. -A small, yet light chuckle left her. A small-smile appeared on her face, sad but still a smile.- The Lanais, the natives of Ahch-To, the Caregivers as Master Skywalker would call them, weren't very happy that I made a hole in their home... That, and I may or may not caused a rock to roll down a hill and destroy their wheelbarrow, the precise moment they walked underneath its path."
It had been so long since she laughed. Let alone, smiled a non-forced smile, since Ajan Kloss... Since Takodana.
The bubbling in her chest continued a bit. Then, once again, the coughing overpowered the laughter and Rey slightly hunched over to into both hands.
...And, in-between the coughing, she continued to laugh.
Leia was a bit uncomfortable and somewhat nervous that the nineteen year-old was laughing while in a small coughing fit, as she laid a hand on the girl's back. She then noticed tears sitting at the corner of her eyes and, at first, believed it's caused by the coughing making it difficult for her to breathe.
When she felt her shoulders shrugging underneath her touch and the coughing dying down, the laughter shifted into choked up sobs.
The mother in her took over, fretting over the girl she welcomed into her group... And into her heart.
"Rey?"
As soon as she said her name, Rey stood up. Her laughter, long gone, and despair and aggravating pain took over.
"I was a fool, Leia!" She yelled, beginning to pace around. "I encountered him three more times, while staying on Ahch-To, and never told your brother I've been encountering him! I thought I knew all that I needed to know about Kylo Ren, but on the last meeting, we touched hands through the Force! We, actually, made physical contact with each other, our hands touched, and I saw many of his memories of his past, especially the night he became Kylo Ren! The night your brother tried to kill him, while he was asleep!"
Even when Rey told her months ago that Luke hid the truth on what happened that night at the Jedi Temple from her and Han, Leia Yale founded horrifyingly shocking that her own brother would try and kill her son, his own nephew. Another terrible reminder to add to her many mistakes on how she and Han failed their son and turned to these Dark Side.
"He barged into my hut and witnessed us connecting to each other, interrupting our moment to see each other's entire memories! But, Leia, I was certain that I saw it! The Force, itself, showed me that if I go to him, Kylo Ren would turn! I saw him turning against Snoke! it was just a glimpse, but it was clear and solid! -She laid a hand over her chest, exactly where her heart was banging heavily, as she started to gasp small pant for air from her yelling.- I felt it! I was totally convinced, through our bond, that he would turn away from the Dark and come back the Light! That I would be able to bring them back to you!"
She wanted Leia to know how much she had hoped. How much she did, in fact, cared for her son, even after all that he's done: Followed Snoke's orders to kill innocent civilians, spreading fear throughout the galaxy... Killing Han Solo, his own father. The fall of the Resistance.
Rey wanted Leia to know she truly wanted to help free her son from being Kylo Ren and become Ben Solo, again... To bring her son back to her.
"It wasn't until I went to the Supremacy, by my own volition, cuffed by specially-made handcuffs that blocks my ability to feel and/or use the Force, that when I met Snoke, he revealed that he was the one who had us see each other! He revealed that he bridged our minds, sensed weakness through Kylo Ren and knew I was too gullible enough to go to him!"
Tears ran down her face, but she made no move to wipe them. Her general needs to see how weak she is. How exhausted she's become... How broken she truly was.
"I don't know what to do, Leia!" She sobbed in with the nagging cough, but still continued to pace. "I know you, the rest of the Resistance-... Kriff! The entire galaxy, are counting on me to carry on what your brother left behind to defeat Kylo Ren and the First Order! And I'm doing all that I can, despite my weakened health and a nobody that came from Jakku, to get better at becoming the Last Jedi! But-...!"
Rey has to take a pause, running her hands through her hair, clenching tightly to her head. She feels pressure building up in her chest, as if her heart and lungs after caught in a Force Choke and the air was being replaced with lead and sand.
It was becoming too much for her to bear, alone. And, in the back of her mind and the depths of her soul, she knew that she's feeling her general, her teacher... Somebody she reviews as a mother, when her own mother abandon her for over fourteen years, after she sold her for drinking money.
...When she didn't have any sort of parental figure to care for her, for as long as she could remember.
Taking deep breaths, while ignoring the pulsing pressure of pain building up in for lungs, Rey was able to calm herself down and gain control of her voice.
"...I don't think I can do it, Leia. -Her voice, now in a whisper, but Leia can still hear her.- ...I don't think I can go on with it. It feels like everything is falling apart all around me, and I can't fix this. I've never been strong in the beginning, and because of my disease, I'm never going to be strong enough to help defeat the First Order. Let alone, your son. Especially, since we're still connected and see each other through the bond. I block him out, every time he tries to make contact with me, but he continues to reach out to me, trying to find out where I am. He's so relentless on trying to find me, Leia, and is still set on having me by his side, despite that I refused to join him to become something to help his goal become a reality. Though, now I'm beginning to believe that I should've taken his offer, if it meant preventing all of this from happening."
Rey felt her feet getting sore, as they started to look a bit swollen. Another symptom to her Silicosis. She, also, noticed her lightstaff on the ground, mostly likely had fallen when she got up.
With a heavy sigh, and a small-cough leaving her lungs, she went for her weapon and, clipping it to get side, went back to the rock.
She hunched forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
"...I don't know what to do, anymore, Leia." She sighed, resting her head in both hands. "I caused all of this to happen, and I don't know how to fix it."
Automatically, her mind went back to the conversation she overheard the Resistance discussing over, as if reminding her that some of them don't want her around and how they believe she'll end up bringing them down if she remains with them.
And, recalling some of the voices in her head from her past that remains with her, both recent and years ago, have convinced her she's better off alone to suffer than being around other sins having them be put in danger.
But then, she should've already learned that lesson, after what happened to... Big Sister.
"I will never train another generation of Jedi. I came to this island to die. It's time for the Jedi to end."
She lifted her head, her eyes stared off to the view before her, her mind recalling what Luke had told her on Ahch-To. The first time he told her that the Jedi Order had to end.
...His reason to why he went to Ahch-To, and stayed hidden for over six years.
'...Maybe... I should, also...'
She didn't finish her sentence; she wanted to hear kind of advice Leia will give her, before she even considered-...
She turned to her teacher.
"Lei-"
"You formed a Force-Bond with my son?" The fifty-four year-old general cut her off. She sounded stunned... And hopeful.
Rey, seeing a shine in her brown-eyes, was surprised by the question; after her little breakdown, bringing up the weight she carried and revealing her vulnerable state, asking if she formed a supernatural bond with the enemy wasn't the first question Rey expected Leia to ask of her. Also, she just told her that the former Supreme Leader revealed to have made a false-bond between her and Kylo Ren. Did she forget that part, while Rey poured her heart out her inner turmoil and secret she kept from the Resistance?
At first, the nineteen year-old hesitated to answer. But then saw the urgency in the adult's gaze, and reminded herself that she has to tell her general the truth she hid from her. Though, a part of her was upset that Leia didn't ask if she okay or how long she felt this way.
Reluctantly, she nodded her head.
"Yes, but Snoke revealed that he bridged our mi-"
"And Ben's still making contact with you?"
Rey had to bite her tongue to not tell the fifty-four year-old that he isn't Ben, anymore, but pushed past the growing pressure of her stomach to answer.
"He does, still."
She soon found herself being gently, but firmly turned to face the middle-aged woman, both her shoulders in both hands.
There was a serious, hopeful look on the general's face... And it doesn't sit well with Rey, despite wanting to do all she could to please the woman who helped train her, allowed her to be with the Resistance.
Who showed her any kindness... Like a mother would, should, to their own child.
"Rey, you need to be honest with me, right now: When was the last time my son made contact with you?"
The girl swallowed down the lump in her throat, which felt scratchy and had to lower her head to cough into her hand. She didn't want to answer that question.
...To not tell her that Kylo Ren just contacted her, during her solo training session, when she was at her weakest and didn't shielded her mind.
Sensing her hesitation, Leia lowered her right-hand to grasp her left.
"...Rey." She whispered, voicing out deep urgency in her tone. "...Please..."
Rey lowered her head, looking off to her left and staring down at the grass.
"...Just recently," she revealed. "When I was training, earlier, I was too distract and my illness got the best of me, that I didn't think about shielding my mind and he appeared behind me, witnessing my weakened state." -She reached for her lightstaff, needing something to hold on to since she left her quarterstaff on the Falcon.- He can't see or hear my surroundings, so he doesn't know we're hiding on Sarvchi. So long the First Order aren't near the part of the Unknown Regions we're hiding in, we should have enough time to find a few new replacement parts for both the transport and Falcon, and find a new planet to take shelter on before we reach Takoda-"
"Rey..." Leia cut her off.
The nineteen year-old winced, keeping quiet, waiting for the yelling and the accusation of being an untrusting sand rat to come right out.
...What she didn't expected, was to be pulled in to a big, tight hug that, literally, took the breathe out of her. She winced and coughed into Leia's right-shoulder, but the middle-aged woman didn't care in the slightest.
When she was pulled back, Rey sees a big, bright smile on Leia's face.
"Rey! You're still in contact with my son! He's reaching out to you...! -Tears, happy tears, sat at the corner of Leia's eyes.-This is wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"
Rey didn't know how to respond to the positive, joyful reaction. And the way she just voiced out her response to her answer... It didn't feel right, at all.
"W-...What do you mean, Leia?" She questioned, like a child that didn't know what they did wrong and is scared to know the punishment.
Still with that smile and hopeful expression, Leia held her face in both hands, chuckling wholeheartedly.
"Dear child, you've given us a chance!" She cried, not caring of her happy tears running down her face.
...What she said next, had sealed Rey's fate.
"My son is still alive! You can reach out to him! You can bring him back to me and will turn back to Ben Solo! I will have my son, again!"
TBC
*: I know, in the comics, there were three other Jedi teachers helping Luke. but, in the movie, apparently he didn't have help and was the only one... Why did Disney have to make the movie different from the original storyline? At least we would know that there were a few other Jedi out there that, if Rey could find them after Luke's death, could've teach her about the Force and the past of the Jedi Order.
*:...I thought Ben was sixteen, seventeen at the oldest, when Luke tried to kill him... I just learned, and found the facts, that Ben was, actually, 23 years old. The comic made more sense to his age, when seeing what happened; the movie made him looked younger than 23, in my opinion.
*: I'm trying to find out what kind of handcuffs that were put on Rey, but I can't find the name.
R&R