Halo
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to their respective owners.
A/N-thank you very much for the kind reviews on the last chapter.
Chapter Eight-First Connection
Rey was desperate to know what was going on, but she kept her promise and stayed hidden in the compartment under the floor with BB-8. She did her best to ignore the sounds of battle going on up above and focused her attention on the small droid instead.
"He'll come back for us, BB-8. You don't need to worry." Rey said aloud for her benefit as much as the droid's.
BB-8's dome head swivelled back as he looked up at her. He emitted a series of beeps and whistles in his binary language. Rey smiled weakly at his attempt to comfort her. In their short acquaintance she had already become attached to the jittery little astromech.
"I'm going to miss you, BB-8." She said as she hunkered down and began to fiddle with the aerial on top of his head again. BB-8 let out a despondent whistle. "I'm sorry, but after I'm sure that you've made it safely to the Resistance base, then I'll be going back home."
BB-8's dome head drooped in disappointment. Rey gently ran her fingers across the little droid's head in a gesture of affection as her melancholy surrounded her like a cloak. She tried to shake it off, but it clung to her like a tight shroud. Her mood ricocheted between low and lower and her mind became clouded with grey at the thought of returning to her old life on Jakku. She knew she had to. It wasn't a choice. She had already been away for far too long. What if she had missed her parents in her absence?
Suddenly all sounds of fighting ceased. Rey tensed, rising slowly as she looked up at the tiny rays of light filtering through the gaps in the metal flooring above her head. Her breath seemed to stutter in her lungs before she released it. Only returning to normal when the panel was yanked up and the tall Wookie's hairy face appeared in her line of sight.
"Is…is everyone okay?" Rey asked cautiously. She couldn't quite quell the slight disappointment that it was Chewbacca who had come to fetch her and not Ben like he'd promised.
Chewie answered in his native dialect- Shyriiwook. Rey had learned enough of the language to understand the basics. She smiled in relief when he told her that the others were perfectly fine. The monstrous rathtars had been culled and the gangs had dispersed, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be back. Han had decided to abandon the Eravana and make their escape on the Falcon. Rey hastily lifted BB-8 and passed him to Chewbacca, before taking the Wookie's hand herself as he assisted her out of the underground compartment.
As Rey climbed into the Falcon's cockpit, she heard bickering. She found Han in the pilot's seat, with Kylo acting as co-pilot. They were preparing the ship for launch, but something was wrong with the ignition line and it was stopping them from jumping straight into hyperspace. The two of them were arguing about it.
"Nothing changes with this old piece of junk. Whenever you're in dire straits it always lets you down." Kylo complained as he ripped open the console with his bare hands and pulled out a tangle of wires.
"Hey!" Han protested at the mess his son was making. "Do not disrespect the Falcon. She's gotten me out of tighter spots then this one." He yelled. "You're forgetting that she made the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs."
"Are you still peddling that old lie?" Kylo growled as he shot his father an exasperated glare. Chewie roared his agreement and Han scowled over his shoulder at his first mate.
The Falcon shuddered, nearly causing Rey to lose her footing. She grabbed the back of the co-pilots chair to steady herself. "It's probably the modifications Plutt made to it…and I didn't get to fix the propulsion system, remember." She reminded Kylo.
"Kriffing hell, I forgot about that." Kylo muttered.
"Well it's a pretty big thing to forget about, don't you think?" Han exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.
"I'll sort it." Kylo muttered irritably as he swung out of the co-pilots chair and stormed out of the cockpit.
"You better go help him." Han ordered an amused Chewie. "You know how chaotic he can be. Do you remember when he was five and stowed away on the ship when we went to smuggle those rare butterflies?"
The amusement quickly faded from Chewbacca's dark eyes as he hastily followed in Kylo's wake, roaring for him to wait. Confused, Rey sank into the vacated co-pilot's seat and looked questioningly at Han. "What happened?"
Han shook his head, a rare smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He flicked a few switches. "Ben loved the Falcon. He was always begging to come with me on my missions when he was little." A wistful expression crossed his face as he checked the navigational controls.
As Rey listened to Han speak, she absently took the wires that Kylo had left dangling from the console and began to work on them. An image of a young boy appeared in her mind; his pale face peeking out from underneath a thatch of thick black hair. He was clinging to Han's leg, begging him not to go as tears rolled down his cheeks. The image seemed so real that it made Rey gasp. She knew she hadn't been the one that had conjured it into her mind, it felt like the image was coming from someone else's memory. As soon as that thought entered her mind the image of the bereft little boy vanished.
"He stowed away." Han continued, unaware of Rey's silent distress. "Chewie and I were halfway to our destination when we realised, we were leaking fuel. We went to look for the source, only to find Ben had beaten us to it." He shook his head at the memory. "The silly boy had my toolbox open and was trying to fix the problem using a lighter to see what he was doing. If we hadn't caught him when we did, he would have blown the whole ship to kingdom come."
Rey didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the story. She twisted the wires together and suddenly the console lit up like stars on a clear night. Han grinned as he turned to face her. "What did you do?"
"I bypassed the compressor." Rey said in wonder, a big smile lighting up her face. "It must have been putting too much stress on the hyperdrive."
"Well done. You sure know your stuff!" Han praised her as he punched the controls and sent the Millennium Falcon careering into hyperspace.
Han left a delighted Rey piloting the Falcon with Chewie. She was still bursting with pride at her achievement, the praise from an experienced pilot like Solo only heightening her joy. "She's a clever girl that one." Han said as he sat in the common room with his son, playing a game of Dejarik.
"All self-taught." Kylo moved one of the holographic creatures across the circular board and watched with satisfaction as it used its heavy club to batter Han's creature over the head.
Han huffed an impatient breath as his countermove failed to make up for his former mistake. He switched off the game before his son could declare himself victorious.
"You always were a sore loser." Kylo pointed out easily as he stretched his long legs in front of him.
Han regarded Kylo thoughtfully. Since jumping into hyperspace, they had been busy fixing the propulsion system. When they had sorted out that problem, they had quickly found another. There was an electrical overload and a coolant leak. They had managed to transfer auxiliary power to the second tank, but they needed to stop soon and make urgent repairs. It had forced them to change course from the Ileenium system to Takadona instead, where Han intended to enlist the help of Maz Kanata, a pirate and collector who had operated a pirate castle on the planet for a thousand years.
"What are you planning on doing, Ben?" Han asked eventually.
Kylo felt a heavy gloom settle on his shoulders. It seeped into his pores, travelling to his heart which beat more morosely. His eyes became unfocused as he brooded. "I don't know."
"What about the girl?" Han persisted.
Kylo's eyes flicked to the ladder leading up to the cockpit. He could hear the gentle cadence of Rey's voice as she spoke with Chewie. Occasionally there was a low whistle from BB-8 as the little droid tried to join in the conversation. He'd felt lost for so long it's what he was used to, like a person who gets used to being beat and accepts that this is their life now. It's not that he liked the feeling, quite the opposite. There's nothing lonelier, nothing that brings more desolation to the soul.
"She wants to go back to Jakku." He said dully.
"What the hell for?" Han was genuinely confused.
"That's not my story to tell." Kylo ran his fingers through the midnight strands of his hair, suddenly feeling restless.
Han didn't probe any further. He could already see the tension building in his son and didn't want to risk pushing him away by saying the wrong thing. "You know you could always just ride along with me and Chewie for a while until you figure out what you want to do next. I could always use a second mate-the girl too, if she wants." He offered casually.
"Second mate?" Kylo asked sardonically.
"Alright first mate. Just don't tell Chewie." Han waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.
"I'll think about it."
"You do that." Han said gruffly as he rose to his feet. "Anyway, you better prepare yourself, we're nearly at Takodana. Let's hope Maz has a contact that can get this droid the rest of the way to the Resistance."
When Rey reached the bottom of the Falcon's ramp, she halted, her hazel eyes alight with wonder. She was taken aback by the by the lush green world that reminded her of the planets she saw in her dreams as a child, having never known that there was so much green in the entire galaxy. She gazed at the stunning vista spreading out in front of her, drinking in as much of the scenery as she could. The landscape was utterly alien to her, but so beautiful. The birdsong was like music to her ears and as she filled her lungs with the fresh air, she couldn't contain her happiness. This place was like a dream come true.
Kylo, standing a little to her right, watched her everchanging expressions with something akin to reverence. She was glowing, the way the sheer awe of her surroundings made her eyes shine with such brilliance. It was captivating. Her innocent pleasure at the smallest things was so endearing and he longed to probe her mind, to share second hand the feeling of experiencing something new. In his eagerness he accidentally skimmed the edges of her consciousness and his mind was suddenly filled with a thousand heady images of the breathtakingly beautiful landscape in front of him. It had such a vibrancy, such a richness to the tone and colours, that he instantly knew that Rey's imagination was adding its own touches to the stunning panoramic view in front of them as she committed as much of the scene as she could into her memory.
For a minute a he forgot himself and the Force unexpectedly bridged their minds, binding them. Rey suddenly became aware of other thoughts that weren't hers spilling into her mind. She drew in a sharp breath and jerked her head around, her confused gaze landing on a visibly shaken Kylo. He immediately realised his mistake and cut off the connection.
"What was….?" Rey faltered.
"We should move." Kylo quickly cut her off as he avoided looking at her directly. He had inadvertently invaded her privacy and felt ashamed. He marched off before she could ask anymore questions, leaving her staring after him in confusion.
A/N-thanks for reading. Please review!