Halo
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to their respective owners.
A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly reviewed the last chapter.
Chapter Sixty-Reflecting
In Rey's sadness there was no past or future, just living by the moment. Isn't that what she had been doing all her life? Existing from day to day, from moment to moment until she had met Ben. It was only when he entered her life that it had taken on a whole meaning. Now, each fresh revelation about her past, and the Skywalkers part in it, just compounded her sorrow.
"So, they knew about me?" She asked Ben flatly.
"Only my mother can tell you that." Ben brushed her hair back from her shoulder and moved in close so she could feel his lean body pressed up against her.
Rey gratefully sank into his warmth and rested her head against his broad chest. "I'm so tired of all the lies and secrets." She confessed wearily. "I can't even summon up the energy to be angry anymore."
Ben admitted that he felt the same. Whether Rey's emotions were impacting his, he couldn't be sure. He knew in the past he knew his reaction would have been completely different-it didn't take much to provoke his anger-but now this newfound knowledge felt like another brick in the wall. It was pointless getting irate.
Rey sighed as she pulled away from Ben slightly and looked up at his handsome face. "So, what Lando is basically saying is that Luke sensed a great disturbance in the Force coming from the dark side and also the familiar presence of Emperor Palpatine." She mulled it over aloud to try to make sense of it.
"Lando was pretty drunk but that's the gist of it." Ben leaned in to caress her neck with his fingers, slow and gentle. "He began investigating this disturbance and recruited Lando to serve as partner and guide. Using Lando's underworld contacts, they investigated rumours of a Sith cultist assassin named Ochi of Bestoon who had become inebriated at a remote bar and bragged that he had found Old Ben Kenobi's lightsaber as well as a Sith wayfinder in one of the Emperor's vaults. They also learned that he was also hunting down a young couple who were carrying with them something immensely valuable. They didn't know who they were or what the thing of value was. Acting on this information, Skywalker and Lando tracked Ochi to Pasaana where they found his ship but no Ochi and according to Lando the trail went cold."
"And you're convinced that the couple are my parents and the thing of value was me." Rey finished for him.
"Its too coincidental to mean anything else. Plutt told us that your parents had been searching for Skywalker. The question is, did your father manage to keep that appointment with my uncle, or was he intercepted by this Ochi character."
"And the Emperor?"
Ben's eyes darkened. "I don't know. Lando said that Skywalker sensed the familiar presence of Sidious but he didn't say in what capacity. To my uncle's knowledge, the Emperor was dead. He was there when it happened. Any possibility that he could have survived must have unnerved him greatly. Maybe he deduced that it wasn't the emperor he was sensing but someone connected to him…I don't know." He shrugged. "I'm just surmising."
"Someone connected to him? You mean like a descendent?" Rey said in alarm.
"Like I said. I'm guessing." Ben stroked the side of her face lovingly as he spoke.
They gazed in each other's eyes longingly; not a word spoken by either of them. Rey was soon lost within the breathless paradise of Ben's dreamy eyes. His hands found their way to her hips, leaning her against his muscular body; as a result, she was weakened by his gentle seductive touch. Rey's breathing quickened, the intense rhythm of her heartbeat undergoing an irregular count, hammering quicker than a lightning bolt. She wanted his lips now; she wanted his kisses. Then Ben was cupping her face in his hands and giving her what he knew she wanted. It was in intimate moments like this that Rey was thankful he could read her mind.
The Resistance had established a base on the jungle moon Ajan Kloss. It contained two parts: A small landing zone for the Resistance's starfighters; and a natural cave used as a hangar for the Tantive IV. Both these sections were located in the Klosslands. Chewbacca steered the Falcon toward the Starfighter landing zone. This section of the base was used as a landing zone for the Resistance's starfighters. The Resistance attached sensor scattering nets to the tops of trees. These nets prevented the starfighters from being detected if the First Order ever scanned Ajan Kloss. Under these protective nets, the Resistance could land and repair the nine A-wings, six B-Wing Fighters, seven X-wings, seven Y-wings, and the troop transport Fortitude onto the surface of Ajan Kloss. A natural limestone cave close to the starfighter landing zone was used as a hangar for the Tantive IV, and the command centre for the Resistance. Because the base was still in its early stages of construction, General Leia Organa's command ship, the Tantive IV, also served as a generator, barracks, and a primary meeting spot. The command centre was on the left side of the cave, with the Tantive IV in the middle. There was also a small room that served as Organa's bedroom, while everyone else who wasn't on duty slept in the Tantive IV. The Resistance had also constructed a laser-cut trail, which led from the cave to the starfighter landing zone.
They purposely flew in under cover of darkness, intent on arriving at the base when fewer people were around. There was no welcoming committee, only a solitary figure waiting to greet them. Rey and Ben spotted General Organa as soon as they began to walk down the Falcon's ramp with BB-8 rolling behind them. Han and Lando were still sleeping off their drunken binge, while Chewbacca stayed behind to watch over them.
Ben and Rey tensed as soon as their eyes alighted on Organa, which she was very much aware. Leia approached them cautiously, her concerned gaze drinking in every aspect of the young couple-from their tightly entwined hands, to the way their eyes met, seeking reassurance from one another. It was obvious to Leia that their relationship had progressed even further since the last time they had spent any significant amount of time together.
"It's good to see you both." She said, giving them a welcoming smile. "I've had some refreshments laid out if you would care to join me for dinner? Where's Han and the others?"
Ben hid behind his usual air of indifference when he was around his mother. "They'll join us later." He didn't bother to elaborate. He didn't owe General Organa an explanation.
"I see." Leia's smile faltered at the brusqueness of her son's tone. She wasn't surprised that Han didn't want to be around her right now. Their last emotional encounter hadn't exactly gone well. Her face paled slightly at the memory of Han's last words to her- ""Anyway, it's not my forgiveness you should be seeking, is it?"
"You can dispense with the pleasantries, General Organa." Ben continued dryly, unaware of his mother's hidden feelings of trepidation. "We'd like to get straight down to business. Rey and I have a few questions to ask you, if you could show us to somewhere private."
Leia's pride took a hit at the way he was addressing her. She was doing her best to be as welcoming as possible but it seemed he was in no mood to reciprocate. As for Rey, she was regarding her with the same impassivity that her son was showing. Leia felt a flash of defiance rush through her veins at the way her attempts to behave in a polite and friendly way were being rebuffed. "Come this way." She said coolly as she took the lead and walked in the direction of her quarters on the Tantive IV.
As she always did when she was feeling overwhelmed, Leia reached for the pot of Caf' and poured herself a cup, not realising the caffeine stimulant always had the opposite effect to what she desired. Instead of calming her it made her more confrontational. And that was how she was feeling now as she held the cup defensively in front of her face, taking a sip now and again, while she listened to Ben outline what Lando had revealed to them the day before.
"No more lies, General Organa." Ben demanded. "What do you know? What did Skywalker tell you?"
Leia remembered the night in the rain on Anoat when she had experienced the gut-wrenching revelation about the way she had treated her son. She had given Ben only passive aggressive rage; she had withdrawn from him emotionally to punish him and in doing so became self-absorbed and cold. And despite what she had promised herself not to do, she was falling into the same trap again. The cup shook slightly in her grip as she tried to temper her feelings of regret and concentrate on what Ben was asking her, but the memory of her past anguish refused to leave and she stared up at him with haunted eyes.
Ben's own eyes flickered with confusion for a minute as he glanced to the side at Rey. She shrugged in response, clearly as bewildered as he was by the lack of response from the Resistance General. She decided to take over the conversation, softening her tone, hoping that might push Leia into revealing what they wanted to know. "Lando said that Luke confided in you. Please, its important you tell us what you know."
Waves of helplessness and anxiety caught Leia unaware. They must have been silently building up and gaining momentum while she was recalling the past. She felt the tears building in her eyes at Rey's mention of her brother. The grief at his passing was always just a heartbeat away. She remembered the last night of her Jedi training with Luke when she had experienced the dark Force vision that her Jedi path would lead to the death of her unborn son. This young woman's fate was entwined with Ben's, she was certain now that whatever peril awaited him, Rey was involved somehow. She took a deep breath, the tears threatening to spill. No, she couldn't, wouldn't cry. She couldn't show weakness. She had to hold them in. She must maintain the brave facade that she had been hiding behind her whole life.
Leia looked directly at Rey as she spoke, completely bypassing Ben. "I'll speak with you. Just you." She said.
A/N-thanks for reading!