A/N - Welcome back to the story!
ldsrsc - I guess we'll just have to see what happens!
Luna - No problem! Writing is the only thing keeping me sane during quarantine!
canadice - I'm so happy to hear it! Hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Guest - Faking their deaths, now that's an idea! Guess we'll just have to see what they decide to do!
KyloRen'sgirl213 - Thank you! I hope you like this update!
Rey's head was down, her lightsaber discreetly tucked on the back of her belt and covered by the gray cloak. It billowed around her ankles, blowing back to allow the rain to wet the bottom of her pants. She was grateful for the cover it provided from the surprisingly chilly rain. She stood at the top of the hill, staring down at the town that rolled out before her.
It was beautiful, deadly, and far too close to the palace for her liking. A palace that she could see the gleaming top of as it rose out from behind another hill. Ben moved closer to her, but now that they were surrounded by Resistance fighters he was attempting to keep his distance from her as they pretended to be nothing more than two Jedi who fought together on occasion.
Poe and Rose stood beside her, the hoods of their cloaks pulled up. Finn was also wearing the cloak but the hood was tossed back, and rain trickled down his face. He was still handsome, but Rey was acutely reminded of the fact that the boy she had once known was gone.
He looked older, wiser than his young years. He was only a couple years older than her, but there were lines around his eyes and the corners of his pinched mouth. Seeming to sense her attention, he turned to her and offered a small smile.
Ben stepped in front of her, drawing her attention away from Finn. For a moment his hands fisted in impotence as he grappled with his urge to protest her decision.
They had slowly begun moving their Resistance ground troops onto the surface of the planet that was the stronghold of the First Order, with the majority of their spacecraft stationed on a nearby moon. Now, Rey was accompanying her friends on a mission to map out the best plan of attack, and Ben was not happy about it.
"Make sure your face stays covered." His frustration was obvious as his hand twitched toward her. Rey's face was already covered by the hood, but she adjusted it again to try to ease the tension she felt running high in him. It did little good. "If anything goes wrong…"
"I'll be fine. I'm fast, you know that."
"Yes, but you have a habit of throwing yourself into danger to protect others. You need to run if something goes wrong, and I mean it."
She bristled at his commanding tone, but he was frightened and arguing with him about it would get her nowhere. He would force her to stay with him if she pushed him; she was a little surprised he had relented to begin with.
Then, not seeming to care about the others, he pulled her hood tighter, his hands hesitating on the edges as he held it for a moment.
"Don't do anything stupid."
Frustration filled her. She ached to touch him, to reassure him that she would be fine and that she wasn't doing this to be reckless. She wouldn't do anything to damage their cause, but she would be helpful down there. That's why she was going.
She wasn't the girl who had nothing to live for anymore. Even if she had to give Ben up for the good of the galaxy, there was still plenty to live for, and she hoped she'd be around to see it all.
Her fingers clenched as she restrained herself from grasping his hands.
"I promise I won't."
He pulled on the hood again and walked away. Rey watched him for a longing moment, before she turned back to her friends.
"Let's go," Poe said.
She chanced a glance over her shoulder at Ben. He was watching her intently, his arms folded over his chest as Leia stepped beside him. She didn't look back as they began to pick their way down the hill, moving at a diagonal angle to the town below.
Rey struggled to keep her balance as wet leaves slipped and slid beneath her beaten shoes. She was relieved when they made it to the road, even though she felt exposed and vulnerable. They received a few questioning glances as they moved past but the gray cloaks they wore were commonplace here, as were random people moving through in search of food or employment.
Rey fell into step beside Finn as they wound through the town, taking in as many details as they could. The homes were not as opulent or fancy as the ones within the palace walls but they gleamed with the rain beading off of them. Their paint was fresh and their porches were decorated with more furniture than she'd owned in her entire life. Flowers, like she'd seen in the palace, flowed over people's walkways, their petals shining from the drops of rain.
She kept her head down so no one could see her revulsion. She was supposed to be in awe of the esteemed First Order personnel who lived here, not plotting their demise as she shuffled down the dirt road that was slowly turning to muck.
They reached the end of the main road and began to move through the more narrow side roads. The homes were smaller here, but they were just as nicely maintained.
"Why haven't we seen any troopers?" Rey asked.
"It's so close to the palace they don't fear anything. I'm sure there are some posted here but the weather has probably driven them inside," Finn answered.
Rey's heart began to hammer and she shrank deeper into her cloak as they moved even closer to the palace that had nearly destroyed her and Finn. It was situated on a mountain, tucked behind the hills and valleys that rolled through this area. She knew they weren't going to get much closer, but she couldn't stop the foreboding that pulsed through her.
To her surprise, Finn seized hold of her hand. Though they had been trying to repair their fractured friendship, things had still been uncomfortably awkward between them more often than not. But now his hand wrapped around hers, squeezing tight as they stopped to stare at the place where they had been imprisoned.
The golden gates gleamed; even in the dim light of the murky day they shined from the hours spent polishing them. Though the top spires of the palace were visible above the homes and the hills, the main bulk of the massive building was obscured. She knew it well though, she would never forget it, and she would be back within its massive walls again soon if everything went well.
In the meantime, she would need to reign in her abhorrence for the place if she was going to be of any use.
Finn's hand was sweaty in hers as small tremors rocked through him. She wanted to tell him it was okay, but it wasn't, and she didn't want to lie to him. It would be a long time, if ever, before he got over what was done to him.
As they watched, stormtroopers appeared. They marched across the front of the gates before disappearing from view once more. Goosebumps broke out on her arms and it had nothing to do with the chill in the air. After a minute or so the guards moved back across the front of the gates.
"We should get moving," Rose said.
She fell in beside her friends again as they moved further through the town. She could practically see the gears turning through Poe's head as he mapped out the roads, and plotted the best ways to move through the buildings and streets with all of their troops. They were all here to take in as much of the details as possible, but Poe would be the one that remembered the most, the one that would see things the rest of them didn't and recall it far more vividly.
They arrived at the edge of the town. The road continued onward, winding up another hill before dipping from sight and reappearing again near the palace gates. Rey had seen enough. She didn't want to be any closer to that place than she had to be.
"Let's go back."
The road was becoming muddier as they wound their way back through the town. The rain was picking up a steadier flow that was starting to creep its way through the cloak to wet her clothes and skin. Her hair was beginning to cling to the back of her neck, tickling her skin. She wanted out of here, away from this oppressive place that she could practically feel draining the life from her.
They passed more people as they hurried through the town, but no one paid them much attention. Bending her head lower, she kept her gaze focused on her feet. She was so intent on getting free of this town that she wasn't expecting it when someone grabbed hold of her arm, halting her abruptly as she was pulled sharply around.
"It is you!" A voice accused.
Rey had only a moment to get her bearings before someone seized hold of her hood and ripped it back. A sharp gasp escaped her and she scrambled to pull it back up, feeling exposed and stunned by the sudden assault.
And then she saw her attacker.
"Hux," She breathed, horrified and staggered by the sight of the man who had taken such cruel pleasure in abusing her while she'd been in the palace.
"I knew it was you," Hux sneered, his face twisting with disgust as his hand squeezed her arm tightly. Hux thrust his face into Rey's, so close that their noses were almost touching. "Snoke has been looking for you, bitch. He sensed you the moment you and that bastard Ren landed on this planet."
"Let go of me!" Rey snapped, as anger completely replaced any shock she felt.
Hux only tightened his grip, as he whistled for the troopers.
Terror filled Rey, and reacting on instinct alone she fisted her hand and drove it straight into Hux's nose. It was something she'd itched to do since she'd been a prisoner, but she felt no satisfaction as blood spurted forth and he groaned in pain. He finally released Rey as his hands flew to his brutalized nose and he staggered back.
"Run!" Rey shouted as a horde of stormtroopers began to speed toward them, blasters at the ready. She bolted down the road, shedding the cumbersome cloak as she ran.
It was a mess, it was all a mess. The muddy road hindered their progress. It tired them out quickly and made it difficult to get any real speed up. There was still too far to go; they would never reach the safety of the woods if they didn't do something.
She'd promised Ben she wouldn't do anything stupid, but she'd never expected that they would be discovered.
Rey broke away from the others, turning back to face the stormtroopers and drawing her lightsaber.
"Rey!" Poe barked.
"Keep going!" She yelled at him. The troopers were closer than she had realized and there were more of them than she had expected.
Her heart sank.
Nevertheless, she cut through the first wave of troopers, deflecting their blaster shots with her saber and sending them flying through the air with the Force.
But there were too many of them. As she turned to flee, she realized that they had her surrounded. They had stopped firing, but were all aiming their blasters at her from a considerable distance.
The stormtroopers parted as Hux emerged, wiping the blood from his nose with a gloved hand.
"Well, look what I have here," Hux sneered. "Looks like I'll finally get to see just what it was that Ren saw in you."
A/N - Uh oh.
As always, please leave a review with your thoughts, suggestions, and predictions, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
~ Elizabeth (FanOfDeliciousFlavour)