My apologies for the late post. Tendonitis is a beast when it decides to flare up. Also, I'd like to thank everyone for reading and/or leaving a review. I greatly appreciate it and hope to keep you all entertained. A special thanks to Darksidefan5 for their awesome Beta skills, and helping work through a few plot items.
Now, I'd like to take a moment and say something.
I recently received a PM (not posting their ID name here for security reasons) from a disgruntled person about my Star Wars story. This person not only verbally attacked my story for not being a "Reylo" fic and for me not being a "Reylo" fan, but also verbally threatened my life because of it. Now, I know a lot of us are fans, and that we love our fandom with great passion. However, as a life-long fan of the Star Wars Universe, I do not appreciate those fans who attack their fellow fan members because of differences in opinion on their fanfiction story plots. Nor do I appreciate those who attack the writers, producers, directors, or actors/actresses because of their dislikes with the movies, book series, etc. It's okay to have different opinions, but it is not okay to verbally attack or threaten people.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, but Disney and George Lucas do. Though I do enjoy playing in their sandbox.
Kenobi's old homestead…
It's been three days since Poe had arrived to spend some time with Rey. While most of their time is spent together, it is mainly as they go about their own business. Rey continues with her training and practices her saber forms, while Poe creates drills for the new pilots back at base
On the third morning, Poe finds himself awake earlier than normal. He's lying on his back with Rey tucked against his left side, his left arm practically holding her almost naked form against his. Knowing how rare it is to be awake before Rey, he allows himself to leisurely study and memorize every detail of her. In his observations, Poe's mind drifts to how they came to be like this.
Last night, the pair of them had ventured further than they've ever gone before; though he was hesitant to take it further than their typical cuddling and kissing. Yet Rey pushed for it to go farther till they were left in just their small clothes and nothing else. However, when he'd begun to gently pull down the last remaining article of clothing that separated them from becoming one, he'd noticed Rey's body was stiff with tension. Not wanting to push Rey into doing something she'd regret in the morning, Poe had decided to end it there for the night. However, they didn't fall asleep till a few hours later, after having shared some stories from their childhoods.
A gentle sigh from Rey brings Poe back into the present, and he watches as she snuggles deeper in to his side. Who would have thought that the young woman would be so cuddly in her sleep while being abhorrent towards physical touches when awake?
Poe can feel his mother's ring dig into him from where it sits against Rey's breast bone, and he leans in to press a kiss to her forehead. Just as his lips press against her skin, the sound of heavy banging echoes throughout the home. Moving with speed, Poe reaches for his blaster which he'd been leaving next to the sleeping pallet after what happened that first night.
"Poe?" Rey calls out, having been startled not just by his knee-jerk reaction of sitting up, but by the sound as well.
"Stay here." Poe states, pulling on his sleep shorts. "I'll check it out."
With his blaster in hand, Poe cautiously makes his way into the main living area of the homestead.
As Rey watches him head out into the living area, she gets up as well and begins putting on her sand colored clothes that she'd wore back on Jakku. When she's halfway through pulling her knee length pants on, she hears Finn and Rose's hurried voices from the living area. Holding the gray gauze wrappings in her hands, Rey is just about to call out a greeting to her friends when the feeling of being watched washes over her.
Spinning around, Rey scours the room with critical eyes in an attempt to find a possible culprit. When that fails, Rey reaches out with the Force to find it. This causes the sensation to retreat, and Rey isn't willing to give it a chance to escape her finding the source. However, her search is interrupted by Poe.
"We have to go." He says, rushing into the room. He notices that Rey hasn't said anything nor moved since he entered. "Rey? You alright?"
"Huh?" Rey replies, realizing that Poe asked her a question. "What?"
"You alright?" he asks again, grabbing the duffel bag which has his clothes in it.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What's going on?"
"We need to leave." Poe states, pulling out a white shirt and brown pants.
While changing, Poe continues to speak to Rey. "A First Order Destroyer entered the system and is on its way here. Leia has issued evacuation orders for everyone. I'd recommend you only pack what you'll be needing."
Rey nods in agreement and heads out into the living area.
"We need to move quickly. Is there anything I can help you with?" Rose asks Rey, handing her friend an empty satchel.
"I have a few things down in the cellar that I want to take with me."
"Lead the way."
Rose follows Rey down into the cellar through a trap door in the small kitchen area's floor.
While the girls are down there, Finn waits patiently by the front door with a blaster rifle in hand. He doesn't have to wait long for Poe to reemerge from the back. One of his eyebrows raises in surprise at seeing the overfilled duffel bag hanging on the pilots' shoulder.
"Didn't realize you had so many clothes." Finn states half-teasing, half-serious.
"I packed a few of Rey's outfits, and the two blankets she's become quite attached to." Poe replies.
"Look man, it's not my business what the two of you get up to when you're alone together, but-"
The sound of an approaching TIE fighter interrupts Finn's attempt at giving Poe the 'hurt her and I hurt you' threat. Both men look at each other before barreling back towards the open hatch door to the cellar. Finn jumps down into the lower level of the home, followed immediately by Poe before the whole structure begins to shake.
"Take cover!" Poe shouts as he hurls himself, and his overstuffed bag, towards where the two women are.
All four huddle near the closest corner before the sound of the stone structure above them takes damage from the TIE fighter's weapons. The barrage ends as quick as it came, and the four of them quickly hurry out of the damaged home through the secondary entrance to the lower level from the surface.
"We need to get back now!" Finn shouts, pulling a coughing Rose as he starts to run.
"Rey!" Poe calls out, turning around to see that Rey is staring at the now heavily damaged place she had called home. "Rey! Let's go!"
Releasing a heavy sigh, Rey turns away from the smoldering structure, secures a hard-shell pack to her back, and starts to run. Poe sticks close to her side as they run, and he reaches into an outer pocket of his bag. It's a feat in of itself that Poe is able to get into the pocket and pull something out.
"You'll be needing this." He shouts to Rey before tossing the item to her. "You can't be a Jedi without a lightsaber."
Rey tightens her grip to the weapon and gives him a brief smile. The sound of the TIE fighter returning causes Rey to look over her shoulder, which Poe mimics.
"Oh kriff." Poe mutters out, knowing that they are sitting womp-rats as they run across the sand.
As the TIE begins shooting at them, a familiar ship screams across the sky and begins engaging the TIE.
"Yeah!" Finn calls out, having slowed down upon seeing the Falcon take on the fighter. Yet, he knows that they aren't out of danger yet, and the sound of several more TIEs reminds him of this fact.
"They've left without us!" Rose cries out, pointing up at several ships that are now racing up into the atmosphere.
"No, they haven't!" Finn replies, pointing towards the approaching Y-wing and ARC-170 starfighter.
Not wasting a single moment, the four of them hurry towards the two ships as they land.
"Finn. Rose. Take the Y-wing. Rey and I will take the ARC." Poe commands, taking hold of Rey's hand to pull her with him to the fighter.
He keeps hold of Rey's hand till they reach the fighter. Then he lets go of her hand so that he can toss his bag into the open cockpit.
"Take the co-pilot seat, Rey."
"Right."
Rey uses the Force to assist both her and Poe into climbing up to reach the cockpits. Before settling herself into the co-pilot's seat, she shrugs off her pack and sets it on the floor. Then she climbs in and quickly straps herself in as the canopy of the cockpit closes. Then she puts on the communications headset.
"Poe?"
"I'm here. Artoo, did Leia give you the coordinates to our next base?"
The droid replies with an affirmative. BB-8, in the gunner's cockpit at the back of the ARC, lets Poe know that Finn and Rose are now airborne within the Y-Wing.
"That's good, buddy." Poe replies while flying the old but newly retro-fitted fighter away from the surface. "Rey, we've got inbound fighters approaching."
"Copy that." Rey begins charging up the forward guns before firing off several shots at the enemy fighters.
While Rey and BB-8 are occupied with shooting, Poe concentrates on flying the ship and isn't happy with how slow the steering responds. Hearing BB-8's warning of approaching missiles, Poe tries banking to the right, but lets out a shout in frustration as the ship slowly turns.
"Poe!" Rey shouts as the missiles get closer.
"I know! The kriffing thing can't turn worth a damn! Just hold tight, I'm going to try something."
Poe attempts to out maneuver the missiles, but one of them strikes the wing on the port side. Half of the wing is gone, and controlling the ship becomes even more difficult for Poe.
"Poe, we have more inbound!" Rey calls out, removing her hands from weapons control and takes hold of the secondary flight controls. "We aren't going to last much longer if we can't enter hyperspace."
Poe looks at the small radar panel and sees that a lot of the enemy fighters are now headed towards them. Majority of the Resistance ships have already gone into hyperspace, including their two friends in the Y-wing.
"Artoo, can you input the coordinates into the navi-computer but include several jumps between us and our destination?"
Artoo gives Poe an affirmative, and begins inputting the necessary information.
As they wait for Artoo to complete his computations, Rey and Poe fly the damaged fighter as best they can. Yet they aren't able to keep the ship from taking even more damage, and one of the engines fails after being heavily grazed.
"We've lost the starboard engine." Rey says, unsure as to what they should do now. "There's no way we can get into hyperspace."
With no way to fix their ship, or escape, all they can do is keep firing their weapons at incoming swarm of TIEs.
Poe tries to think of a way for them to escape, but every idea comes to the same two conclusions. Capture or Death. He isn't too keen on the first option, but the second option isn't fair to Rey. If he was by himself, he'd try to take out as many fighters as he could while sending himself on a collision course for the destroyer, but he isn't.
Rey can sense Poe's frustration at the two options available to them, and is shocked by Poe's resolution that he'd rather die than be captured. Yet his feelings for her has him accepting their capture, and his resolve sacrifice himself if it means she has a chance to be free. She's never had someone as close to her as Poe is, and the idea of him trying to protect her isn't well received. Yet there is one option which they haven't tried yet, and Rey isn't sure if it'd work.
"Poe." Rey softly says through the headset. "There may be a way."
"A way? A way for what?" Poe asks, still trying to figure out how he's going to get them out of this no-win situation.
"If I turn myself over to-"
"Oh, hell no! Rey, you are not doing that, you hear me!" Poe shouts over their headsets, followed by several agreeing beeps from BB-8 and Artoo.
"Poe, it may be the only choice we have."
"No! I am not agreeing with you on this, and neither are the droids. We have other options."
Suddenly a red colored Star Destroyer comes out of hyperspace and begins firing on the First Order's destroyer.
"It's the Errant Venture. Poe-"
"I see her!" Poe replies, trying in vain to maneuver towards the friendly ship.
Just as sudden as the Errant Venture showed up, two more large ships appear behind the First Order's destroyer and begin to open fire upon the ship as well. This causes several of the oncoming TIEs to change course and attack the three ships.
"ARC-170. Dameron, do you read me?" the familiar voice of Booster Terrik comes over the comm-channel.
"I hear you, Terrik. Nice of you to drop by."
"Leia sent a distress call out over my private frequency. It seems we arrived just in time. Looks like your fighter sustained heavy damage. Will you be needing assistance on getting it into the docking bay?" Terrik asks, proceeded by him giving orders to his crew to focus their weapons primarily on the First Order ship.
"We're dead in the water with our starboard engine no longer functioning. Any attempt to reach you could cause our fighter to blow." Rey replies, not giving Poe a chance to respond.
"Sen- out...you. Hold tight-" Terrik tells them before the channel goes silent.
Poe tries several times to raise Terrik over the comm-channel, but he doesn't get any reply. However, he's pleased to see that several ships fly out of the Errant Venture's docking bay, and begin to engage the TIEs. Keeping his fighter pointed towards the Errant Venture, Poe comes to the realization that these same ships are providing cover for them. They don't have to wait long till a VCX-starfighter comes around their ship and shoots a tow cable at nose of the ARC.
"Looks like we're getting a tow." Poe states, letting out a sigh.
"I can see that." Rey replies.
The pair are quiet for the short ride to the Errant Venture. The tow cable detaches from the VCX and the pair pilot their barely functioning fighter into the docking bay of the Star Destroyer. Very carefully, and with some assistance from members of Terrik's crew, they are able to land the ARC fighter inside.
Opening up their canopies, Rey and Poe quickly put on their bags and begin helping the two droids out of their places. They are joined by four others who had brought an inclined ladder to help remove the droids.
Once everyone has come down from the ARC fighter, a familiar face heads towards them.
"Maz!" Poe gives a wave as he calls out to her.
"Poe Dameron," Maz says as she comes closer to him. "it is good to see you. Though I wish it was under better circumstances."
"I agree." Poe states, bending down to allow Maz to pull him into a friendly hug. "Where is Terrik? We need to borrow a ship to rendezvous with Leia and the rest of the Resistance."
"I know of a ship." Maz states, releasing Poe from their friendly hug and then pulling Rey into one as well. "Rey, it is good to see you as well."
"You too, Maz." Rey says with a smile.
"So, where's the ship?"
"Patience, Dameron, or I'll force you to ask Terrik for a lift." Maz gives Poe a pointed look before her attention is drawn to the new lightsaber hanging at Rey's waist. "So, she really did give it to you."
Rey looks down at where the lightsaber is. "She did."
"Jacen would've been proud that you have taken it on as your own." Maz tells Rey, then turns to look at Poe. "Now let me get you to a ship."
Maz begins walking across the docking bay, and every-so-often they feel the floor beneath their feet shutter from enemy fire. Reaching the other side, they work their way through the maze of several other ships before coming to a stop.
"Is that a…?" Poe asks in awe as he runs up to the ship and heads inside.
"It is. One of the last ever made." Maz calls out her reply with a grin. "It was scavenged from a canyon near an Imperial research facility on Eadu. I bought it off of a fellow smuggler. Finding replacement parts were nearly impossible; so, I began modifying what I could on this beauty."
Maz walks up to the UT-600 U-wing and places a hand gently upon the hull. "He wouldn't have wanted her to rust away on that horrible planet."
"Who?" Rey asks, wondering what all the fuss is about over the U-wing.
"Andor. The Cassian Andor. Dad told me about him." Poe says, standing in the entry way of the ship with a childish smile on his face. "Story goes that the ship had crashed landed while he was on a secret assignment for the Rebellion. So, he stole an Imperial shuttle which he, Jyn Erso, and several others commandeered to gain access to the Imperial records citadel on Scarif. He was known as one of the Rebellion's greatest spies, and is one of the many heroes whose sacrifice made it possible for the Death Star Plans to reach the Rebellion."
"He was good at what he did, and he died fighting in what he believed in. Take the ship with you. At least she'll be in good hands with the Resistance." Maz states before walking away.
"Are you sure?" Poe shouts.
"Take her before I change my mind, Dameron!" Maz yells back, still walking away.
Rey senses that there is more to it than the Resistance needing another ship, but she can't get a read on Maz. It's like she's built a wall up within the Force, and no amount of prodding from Rey is going to have her open up. So, Rey heads into the ship, passing Poe as she does so.
He must have noticed something was wrong, because he takes hold of her hand. "Something wrong, love?"
"I don't think so."
"You sure?"
"Poe."
"Alright. Alright. Let's get going. Artoo is all set and gave the navi-computer the coordinates for the rendezvous point. And BB-8 somehow managed to get into the cockpit. Doesn't want us to be without him I suppose."
Poe reaches over to the wall and presses a few buttons on the panel for the door to close. From there, Poe and Rey head up to the cockpit and begin the start-up procedures.
"About earlier. Rey, I'm-"
"Poe, don't apologize if you're not going to mean it." Rey states, not wanting to argue with Poe. "You wanted to protect me by sacrificing yourself. I don't need anyone doing that for me. I can handle and protect myself just fine."
"Okay." Poe doesn't say anything else, and allows the silence to build between them.
With the engines warmed up and ready to go, the pair carefully maneuver the ship out of the hanger bay. Neither one is surprised to see that the fight is still going on between the First Order and Terrik's people. Keeping clear from the fighting, they send the ship into hyperspace.
Aboard the Finalizer…
Having discovered too late that his general had already sent one of their ships to attack the Resistance, on Tatooine, Kylo Ren destroyed one of the conference rooms. With small clouds of smoke drifting out behind him, Kylo leaves the room and heads down the corridor towards his personal rooms.
"My lord."
Kylo Ren stops walking and turns around to see one of his Knights, Zekk, approaching him. Then the man bows before him.
"You have news?"
"I do, my lord." Zekk looks up from his kneeling position, but he doesn't receive any permission to rise. "General Hux was able to contact the Harbinger. The campaign on Tatooine was unable to proceed. It would appear that several smugglers took up arms against us. Among them being Booster Terrik, Calrissian, and Mirax Horn."
Kylo can feel Zekk's hesitation on saying more, and he can feel his anger rising even more. "And?"
"The Harbinger received heavy damage and had to escape."
"Were they able to track where the Resistance was headed?"
"No, my lord. The ships all scattered in many directions, and no one knows which of the four transport ships is their lead ship. However, there was one ship that went into hyperspace during the battle."
"What kind of ship?"
"An old Rebellion U-wing."
Kylo is quick with his next command, "Track the ship. Personally. Do not return until you have found where the Resistance is hiding."
"Very well, my lord." Zekk bows his head before standing up and leaves to begin his assignment.
Kylo Ren waits till the man has disappeared around the corner before continuing on to his quarters. It doesn't take him long to get there; and once he is inside, Kylo tries to reach out to Rey through their bond. But the Force draws him elsewhere instead.
Opening his eyes, Kylo finds himself standing in a jungle on some unknown planet. Realizing this isn't where he's supposed to be, he attempts to break the connection but is unable to do so.
"You do not look like one who would be lost."
Kylo whips around. He sees a man, holding a staff, leaning against one of the thick jungle trees.
"Yet the Force flows dark around you." The man says, cocking his head a little as if to listen to someone speaking to him. Then his gives a scowl. "You are not welcome here. Leave."
The man turns and begins walking away, using his staff as a walking stick.
"Why should I leave?" Kylo Ren calls out, following after the man. "You are the one trespassing. How are you doing this in the Force? Answer me!"
As the man moves faster, Kylo Ren has to jog to try and catch up with the man. However, as he goes to follow the man around one of the trees, he finds out that the man has vanished. This confuses Kylo Ren, and he begins looks around him for any sign of the man, but there's nothing there.
"You don't follow directions very well, do you?"
Once again, Kylo has to turn around to see the man and finds himself almost face-to-face with him.
"I'm the one who gives orders here!" Kylo shouts at the man.
"No, you are not." The man states before knocking Kylo to the ground with his staff, holding the tip of it against Kylo's neck. "You have blood on your hands. Those you have killed follow you everywhere you go, yet you refuse to give them rest. Give them peace. If you hadn't fallen so far into the Dark, you could have been so much more than what you are now."
Before Kylo Ren can give any response or do anything to knock the man away, the scenery around them dissolves to reveal a lush green meadow. In the distance, Kylo can hear Rey's voice talking before the sound of her laughter fills the air. Turning his head towards the sound, Kylo Ren is surprised to see himself and Rey lying together upon a deep violet blanket. This confuses Kylo and when he turns back to look up at the man with the staff, he is surprised to find that the man has left.
Getting up off of the grass, Kylo turns to look back over to where Rey and he are. However, it isn't him lying with his head in her lap, but the Resistance pilot. This causes a surge of jealousy to flood his body and he takes hold of his lightsaber.
"You love her, but she doesn't return it."
Looking over to his left, Kylo's eyes grow big as he sees a young boy standing next to him. What startles Kylo the most is that the child's hazel eyes seem very familiar to him.
"You have to let her go. This is her path now. It could have been your path too if you didn't fall to the dark side." The boy tells him.
The scenery dissolves, as the boy before Kylo can say or do anything to try and stop it. Once again, Kylo finds himself standing within a forest. Standing several yards away is the same boy who'd spoken to him. Slowly Kylo walks towards the boy, only to stop when he sees Poe and Rey run towards the child. All three of them turn towards where he is standing, and suddenly his voice echoes out.
"You're mine!"
Yet Kylo himself doesn't say it, which confuses him at first. Then to his utter surprise a spectral form of himself steps out from where he is standing, and charges towards the pilot, Rey, and the child. The boy's eyes lock on to his own dark eyes.
"He's coming. Save me." The boy's voice echoes out inside of Kylo's mind before sudden pain surges into his head, causing Kylo to close his eyes.
When Kylo opens his eyes again, he finds himself curled up on the floor of his room. His hands clutching at his head and his eyes begin to fill with tears. Even his breathing is labored, as if he is having a panic attack.
'What the kriff was that?' Kylo thinks to himself as he begins working on calming his body by using the Force.
What Kylo doesn't notice, nor senses, is the slowly disappearing apparition of his uncle, Luke Skywalker, is standing in the far corner.
Mandalore…
A group of children are running around, playing tag with a white and sea green R-9 astromech droid, in the courtyard of a single-story home. Sitting on a bench by the main door of the home, is a woman in her mid-thirties with brown hair and brandy colored eyes. She lets out a few chuckles at the antics of the children and the droid.
"I can't tell who's having more fun. The kids or Rowdy?"
The woman smiles and turns her head to look at the man who's come to join her on the bench. The man sits leans over and gently gives the woman a kiss. Then he places a hand over her large, rounded belly and receives a kick.
"I haven't forgotten about you, little one." The man coos, leaning down to place a kiss at the apex of the woman's belly.
"Only another two months, two weeks, and one day till I give this one the evacuation notice. Not a day later."
The man chuckles before sitting up to look at the woman. "You wouldn't do that to our child, Jaina."
"Watch me, Kyp. Sora came out three days early. Then I had to be induced for Jace to be born. He was two weeks late! If this one is anything like its brother, then I am not going to wait around for it to take its sweet old time getting here."
Kyp lets out a bark of laughter at Jaina. "You still insist on calling our child an it?"
"I've told you before, I want to be surprised. You ruined it for me with Sora and Jace. Humor me for this one." Jaina demands, giving Kyp a scowl that would make her father proud.
Raising his hands in defeat, Kyp gives Jaina a roguish smirk before wrapping his arms around her. He places a kiss in her hair before turning to watch the group of playing children. His green eyes close in contentment as he feels one of Jaina's hands comb through his chestnut brown hair, which has several gray strands mixed in.
"Do you have to be all mushy? It's gross." A girl of nine standard years states, standing before the cuddling adults. Her brandy brown eyes critically studying her parents.
"It is what adults do when they're near the one they love, Sora." Kyp replies, removing his arms from around Jaina.
"Well I won't when I grow up." Sora confidently tells her father.
"Oh, you won't have to worry about that. You're not allowed to date till your old and wrinkly." Kyp teases, reaching out to pull his daughter to him. Then he begins to tickle her and keeps up with his teasing of her.
Jaina laughs as she watches her partner and their daughter. Though Sora inherited several things from Jaina, she'd also inherited Kyp's cunningness and off-the-wall sense of humor. Sora is also a Force-Sensitive and seems to have an affinity with animals. Something Jaina remembers her twin, Jacen, having as well.
"Mom. Dad." The young voice of a small child calls out.
Kyp, Sora, and Jaina look at the newcomer standing before them. With green eyes and brown wavy hair is a boy of four standard years of age. On his young face is a very serious look that no four-year-old should have.
"What is it, Jace?" Jaina asks, dread starting to seep into her veins.
"The galaxy needs us. Rey and Poe need us."
Reviews are welcomed, loved, and cherished. But don't attack the writer.
Selene