Star Wars: A dyad in the Force Chapter 73: Family Moments, a star wars fanfic

Warning: Major Spoilers of TRoS.

Note: This is a Reylo FanFiction (slow-burn)

「PART III」

「Act 73: Family Moments」

Galactic City, Coruscant 38ABY

Ben had got his emotional hurricane in full force today. He was joking and light on the surface, but deep down, everything was a holy mess. The trial was over; Rey, Luke, his friends, and he were now roaming the Galactic city streets, observing the little shops around the market. They had split into small groups, everyone talking to someone: in the middle Poe and Finn, Jannah and Lando, the droids and Chewie. In the background, Ben and Luke were following, and in front of them was the real madness, Dark Rey and Rey.

Solo's eyes would fall against Rey wanting to pull her into his vortex, and, with each jibe, she felt the winds clipping her core. And as tempting as it was to jump in, to take up the thrill of the challenge, standing next to Dark Rey had killed the mood, and Rey felt tired by her emotions. A few moments ago, when she showed up outside of the courtroom wanting to talk with her, Rey almost fled. Although she had no reason any longer to be terrified of the clone, merely standing there and talking to her as if they knew each other for years, it didn't make any sense.

She wore a royal silk robe, grey and black, made of soft, satiny fabric, long and loose. A semicircular, high collar made of silk-like materials headed the ankle-length robe. She walked as lightly as an acrobat. A puff of wind swept through her long hair before it slipped into the small alleys of the market. Her height was taller than Rey since she was wearing heels, and she had finally pulled herself out of her thoughts and spoke.

"Rey," her clone said calmly, "You don't have to be afraid of me."

She didn't want to admit that she was terrified of her, so instead, she said, "Why are you helping us..." she corrected herself, "Why are you helping Ben? Why are you acting as you care about the Galaxy, about the ... me?"

Dark Rey took it in a slower stride. "Another life called to me; Palpatine wanted a vessel to return to this world. Dalkor wanted a tool to destroy the Galaxy. I didn't want either of that."

"How did you know?" Rey finally started talking with her overcoming the awkwardness between them.

"A feeling. A Vision," she smirked, and her teeth were revealed, but they weren't pointed, "Nothing of those. There were no secrets; I was created to be Palpatine's back plan. I agreed. But as the years passed and I slowly read and visited planets, I realized that the Emperor and Delkor would be the doom of the Galaxy. They didn't want to rule, but to destroy."

"And you decided to take over?" Rey pressed.

"I treasured life and the Galaxy, Rey," she responded, "I'm not corrupted in the ways you believed me to be. I'm not innocent, I am cruel, and you can add a few more negatives, but nothing like the Sith Lord."

"I don't remember you that way, " Rey answered, "In Kef Bir, you showed your true colors, you fought against us; how are you any different?"

The clone smirked at her reaction. "I only advised you: 'Not to be afraid of who you are?'"

"You attacked me, and you scared the hell out of me!" Rey stated loudly, and the rest heard her.

"I admit my methods were a bit pushy, but it was you who freaked out," she said, lifting her gown to avoid stepping on it. "But now that isn't important any longer."

Rey didn't understand how or why the clone was interested in her. "What do you want?"

"Truce," Dark responded, "In a way, we are family Rey, and I don't want to be on bad terms with my only family member and our only Jedi."

Rey almost laughed in irony, "You should have known better; you can't simply show up one day and name yourself family. It doesn't work that way!" she clarified.

"I don't know how family relationships work; I wasn't as lucky as you in my friendships," she said.

"Yet, you tried to interfere in mine!" Rey attacked her.

"Oh, right, Ben," the clone acknowledged. "Still jealous about that?"

"Keep your dirty hands off, Ben," Rey shouted, winning the attention of everyone. "He is mine!"

The clone chuckled. "You have already warned me about that, and Rey, I just was bored and toyed with both of you; there was nothing there."

Rey paused to consider how childish she was today and then looked at her. "What do you want?"

"Not what I want," the clone corrected her, "what I hoped for!"

"What's that?"

"For you to consider training a new generation of Jedi and pass down that only an understanding of the balance within can lead to peace and justice in the galaxy." the clone explained.

That wasn't the answer that Rey awaited. She froze and looked at the clone, "You want me to train a new Jedi Order?"

"Not a Jedi Order," she said. "I want you to start an academy, where force-sensitive adults can be trained, as Jedi or simply as Force users. I am not asking you to do this alone. It will be a lifelong project; Luke will aid you, your friends,... We don't need a Jedi Order, but we need the new generation to understand the Force."

"And you want me simply to leave everything behind and end up here in Coruscant training the new generation," Rey said, ready to start an argument with her.

"I don't want the academy to be built in Coruscant, Rey, it will be Tatooine," the clone smirked, "And to be more precise, where Luke's old home was!"

"Why, Tatooine?" Rey questioned, "There so many better options, not the place where Luke's adopted family was burned..."

The clone observed Rey with an open mouth, as Rey had not yet linked the dots, and she had to interrupt her. "Rey, We selected Tatooine because Ben would be there, and he will be aiding you!"

"Whose we?"

"Luke and I," the clone answered, "Senators and a bunch of people I had to speak with to start such an enormous project."

And then it hit her, her brain finally worked, and she grabbed Dark Rey's arm in bewilderment, "You," she mumbled speechlessly, "You already knew... you?"

"Rey politics is a scary field," she admitted. "Of course I've known; Luke came and found me a few months ago, first to make sure if I wasn't a threat to the Galaxy, and secondly with a plan. Ben's trial was his idea. Ben would never rest until he would go through a trial, and the people wanted someone to blame. I liked the idea, it would offer me more votes, but we didn't want the last Skywalker to be executed or in prison. Even if Ben himself disagrees with it, he still is an important part of the Galaxy. That's how I chose the senators that would vote with me for Ben's verdict. We had two votes,... Anyway, you don't need to know the details. What will you do?"

Rey appeared, amused, "Accept the offer!"

"Good!" said the clone. "We will keep you up to date, and there will be a lot of work; the academy will include libraries, medical units, gardens; you will build a new world. As for the force-sensitive children, I already spoke with Finn and Jannah, and we have built a refuge for Force-sensitive youth to live the life they never had. It will be for children and teens below 18 to have a home to return. We choose Endor's moon, things are still under discussion, but I believe that Finn will inform you. The Resistance in Ajan Kloss remains, with General Poe Dameron, you boy asked this as a personal favor."

"Wait," Rey looked at her "Ben knew about all this?"

"No, he didn't," the clone revealed, "As long he signed the contracts, and he was given instruction, we met briefly. He thanked me and asked me about you,"

"About me?" Rey titled her head, "Why would he ask you about me?"

"Because we are related, I don't know, ask him about the details," Dark Rey said, "Anyway, my point is, I have updated him about the running projects; the rest is up to you."

Rey sighed and looked at the clone, "You know, I hate you, but maybe you aren't as bad as I thought you were!"

"Good!" the clone smiled. "Now tell me about..."

Rey and her clone went on talking; meanwhile, a similar discussion was taking place at the end of the group. Ben had finally given in and decided to address Luke, talk to him after so long and stop being stubborn and childish; after all, it was thanks to Luke; he was now standing there and didn't end up dead or in some prison.

"You know, kid," Luke said, his voice smug, "You are lucky; most worked in your favor."

Ben arched an eyebrow as his stare dropped on Luke; Ben sensed a haunting breeze chilling him, his connection with Rey open, and he was aware of it. "Leave me alone," Ben complained, not wanting to speak to Luke.

"I can't," Luke pressed. "I left you once, but not any longer."

"How long are you planning to hunt me down?" Ben quizzed, "How long, Luke? You can't change the past like I can't. We have both to live with the consequences."

"I know what you're saying, Ben!" Luke said that a lot back then; it was obnoxious and completely unhelpful and made Ben angry "Your master promised you to help you not to fall in the Dark Side, but he was the one who aided in your fall. I'm sorry, Ben!"

"It's too late now, Luke," Ben said as he looked in front of him, his friends, Rey chattering in a blissful way, "And you aren't my master anymore, I am done with Masters, the Jedi, the Sith, everything."

"Are you sure?" Luke wondered, "You have changed Ben, you care now, you..."

"Don't," his voice cracked. "I don't want to hear it, Luke; thank you for showing up in my trial and speaking for my behalf, but that doesn't mean that I forgave you, that I forgot! You were, and you can be the greatest Jedi master of the Galaxy, but not to me."

Luke faced Ben to hide his sadness; Ben was right; Luke couldn't change the past, but he wanted to change the future. "Ben, we can fight about the past and mistrust each other, or we can let it rest and start anew. You are the only family I have left, and I don't want to witness you suffering any longer." Luke said, "I always believed there was darkness in you; that's why I took you away from Leia and Han. I tried to push you away, to keep you in order, believing the old ways of the Jedi might aid you. I was wrong."

"You were," Ben admitted, "I was only a confused child, who found out that was something wrong with me the night that you took me. It had to be so bad because neither my mother nor my father ever came to visit me. But I had you Luke, and believed in you, that you would help me. Your ways were harsh, but I honestly thought you knew what you were doing. I didn't mind being ignored by the others; I accepted that I would not see my parents ever again; I agreed to fight the dark voices that torture me to follow them because I had you."

"And I failed you," Luke sighed. "I failed you by thinking you were already turned to the Dark Side and failed by almost killing you that night. That pain that I created in Ben, I want to ease it."

"Don't flatter yourself, old man," Ben's voice came strong now. "I had lived all my life through pain and torture, since the day you took me from home. It wasn't your doing; I know that. But you took away from me the last hope that I saw in you, as Han and Leia had given up on me, I thought I could trust you!"

"And I tried to kill you," Luke repeated, shaking his head, recalling his actions.

"No, it started before that," Ben pressed.

"Before?" Luke quizzed.

There was a small pause, and Ben almost smirked, hearing Rey loudly and clearly saying: 'He is mine.' It took him a moment to answer Luke, "I found the letters Luke, the one you were supposed to send to Leia." Ben said, "I heard Leia's thoughts about her monstrous son. Han..." he took a deep breath, "ignored me fully, not a thought nothing...You trying to kill me was the last betrayal from the Skywalkers."

Luke was speechless now; he didn't know that young Ben had heard them that night arguing, that he believed that he was harmful to the bone; that's why his parents avoided him. "Everything you thought was wrong. Leia agreed with me, to take you away and train you, only because she had seen the vision. Han never agreed. He wanted you back; he wanted to come and see you. That's the reason they fought; that is the reason they separated. Han loved you; you were his world. Your mother loved you too, but Leia could be cold if needed. Han... well, Han was Han about it."

Ben's shoulders were slumped and his eyes cast down in a mournful gaze. His mouth was set in a semi-pout. He kicked a stone along the sidewalk with the side of his boots, taking in Luke's words, which made his sadness grow. "Then you are saying Han cared all along, I killed the only person..." Ben paused, gazing at Luke, broken now like he was looking at him when he was a child.

"Ben," Luke continued, "Your parents loved you, Leia forgave you, and Han forgave you. It's time to forgive yourself and continue your path."

"How would you know that Han forgave me," Ben argued, "I don't deserve to be forgiven."

"He has," Luke assured him, "How and why I can't say!"

"Talking in riddles, as always," Ben scoffed. "But don't keep your hopes up; I'll continue living, but I'll not forgive myself. Not in this lifetime or another can I redeem my wrongdoings, and I can live with it. I don't have any path to follow, only to stand next to the people that have been along the way, I slowly found myself, and you are not one of them."

Luke smirked, "I don't want to be, remember, I'm always around to hunt you?"

Ben's lips curved upwards at the threat. "You are welcome to keep hunting me..." he paused while listening to Rey once more, and then turned and looked at Luke. "You knew about the project in Tatooine?"

Luke nodded, "The new academy, yes, what about it?"

"And you are fine with it," Ben asked, "It could remind you of painful memories!"

"Careful Ben, or you might sound like you care!" Luke teased him, "Yes, I'm fine with it. And you, do you enjoy the sand?"

Ben's pride was wounded, but he seemed not to care, "A bad habit!" he said, "I hate the sand, but there would be more important things to keep me there."

"Rey?"

Ben smirked, "The verdict, and then Rey!"

"And the kids," Luke pressed, enjoying watching Ben's blushed cheeks, "You have a lot catching up to do!"

Ben glared at him while Luke tooled with Ben a little longer, but then he nodded, "We have!"

"Treat her right, kid!" Luke added. And both of them continued talking as they followed behind the rest.

「Upcoming Chapter: Act Seventy - Four」

Okay, guys, that's all. I hope you enjoyed reading the 73rd chapter.

Thank you all so much! Stay awesome! Stay sweet!

And be nice to each other, see you soon, in the next chapter!

Feel free to Review and Follow the story!

Feedback is always appreciated!

stepankahanusova86: Dark Rey was a character written not to be liked, but she is good at her job. Tattoine is a sandy planet, but it has fewer criminals; Ben hates sand. But there is another reason I choose it, as you already read above. ^_^