Let the past die

"Do you really believe she's ready?"

The whisper pierces the haze of her slumbering mind.

"Yes," another voice sighs.

"She never had to face such Darkness before, how do you know she has what it takes to withstand the Call?"

"Why do you think I agreed to send her to him? He needed her Light, and she needed his Darkness. Two pieces of a puzzle coming together in a perfect fit."

There's a shuffling of feet in the dark room, as the hushed voices drag her slowly back to reality. A reality that Rey doesn't want to face.

"She's stronger than we think. She can do it."

"You know, he'll skin me alive if something happens to her. If what you say is true, then Snoke must want her pretty badly."

"Snoke wants them both," says the graveled voice which Rey gradually recognizes as Luke's. "But he's only a pawn. There is greater Darkness hidden behind him, and I have unfinished business with it."

"Won't you be joining us on the Supremacy?"

"No."

"Master Skywalker, we can't…"

"You're ready. You are all ready. Eliminate Snoke. Take down the Knights. Ben and the Republic fleet will handle the rest."

There's a whooshing of a door, and a patch of light falls on the floor next to her bed. She blinks drowsily at it. The two figures have paused by the entrance, two shadows against the blinding light. Another sigh comes from Luke, and a lifelong tiredness fills the room.

"We must trust in the Force. All of us," he says after a moment's pause. "Now come... Let her get some rest. She needs it."

The door shuts, the light disappears, and so do the whispering voices. Rey closes her eyes and falls back into a blissful slumber, retracting from the world and its responsibilities. A world that feels empty.

A world where he is no longer in it.

It's her first time in days that Rey sets foot outside of her hut at the Jedi Academy, and it feels as if she has fallen off the face of the galaxy for eons. Her bare feet hurt on the graveled pavement, and the sun stings her eyes, despite shielding them with her hand from the relentless rays. Sweat is trickling down her back, wisps of hair are stuck on her forehead and the nape of her neck, and she realizes that she misses Coruscant's winter with a vengeance.

The humidity of this planet is simply absurd.

Rey takes a few hesitant steps towards the plush, green meadow that stretches in front of the Massassi Temple. The heady scents of the jungle and wet earth envelope her, and a light breeze attempts to ruffle her hair. It's one of those days that makes one feel great to have a heartbeat in their chest and air filling their lungs. Being happy to be alive.

She swats at an insect buzzing close to her ear.

Rey feels indifferent.

Her cramping stomach protests once more at the lack of food. She has barely nibbled on the meager servings that were brought to her by younger padawans, tip toeing around her crouched form in the darkness of her hut, and eyeing her curiously, but warily nonetheless. She didn't want to frighten them, so she would pretend to sleep while they went about their business, placing food on her table and filling her mug with fresh water.

She wants to say it feels good to be back, to see her friends and return to the simple and serene life of the Jedi. But the truth is, she's not that person anymore.

She no longer belongs here.

"Ι thought you'd never come out of that hut."

Rey swirls to see Finn standing behind her, with a backpack full of tools on the verge of ripping through the ragged old fabric. He is looking at her a bit guarded, dressed in a second hand outfit that stretches around his biceps and torso.

"What are you doing here?"

Her guess is that he's been hanging around this place a bit too long. She's surprised, but strangely relieved to see her newest friend in this part of the galaxy. There's a simplicity about him, and a naive impulsiveness that remind her too much of herself. Or at least, the Rey she once recognized as herself.

It's the reason she got along with him so quickly when they first met in Chandrila. In Ben's house...

"Oh, doing some dirty work as usual," he says in good humor, but she catches on to the snarkiness hidden behind it. She can't forget that he was working sanitation when he was part of the First Order. "Dameron and I just came back from the Outer Rim, where we met up with a smuggler that has agreed to sneak the Jedi onto the Supremacy. With Han Solo not around anymore, there aren't many options."

If Han Solo were alive, Ben wouldn't be too happy about seeing his father get involved in such a mission. In fact, he would be very, very mad. She can't help wonder briefly how much Ben is involved in the plotting. If he's in close contact with the Jedi, or if there's a chance he might stop by to talk to Luke…

She bites at a hangnail on her thumb.

No.

Rey forces her thoughts to a stop. She can't go down that road. She simply can't allow herself to think of him so much. Or hope that she will see him so soon after their separation. Everything is too recent and raw, and the emotions that flood through her at the mere thought of him are almost debilitating.

She squints at the burning sun, hoping her stinging eyes won't betray her.

"So who's this smuggler that has agreed to put his head on the line?" She can't say she's come across plenty of those. Rey's voice wavers a bit, but she hides it with by clearing her throat.

Finn studies her, curious and a little concerned. "You probably don't know him. His name is Lando Calrissian, and Luke doesn't seem very happy about working with him."

Rey mulls over the name a bit, shutting her eyes at the bright sun. Gods... She misses him so much. Will it always feel this way?

"Nope, never heard of him either," she says, trying to focus on the present. Only it's so damn hard. "Who knows what kind of a scoundrel that is." She sincerely hopes he doesn't double cross them and sell them over to the First Order in exchange for a pocketful of credits.

Finn pulls up the strap of his heavy backpack that's sliding down his shoulder.

"Yeah, he started laughing when Poe told him Luke was asking for his help, and said something about not offering his ship for the job. I didn't quite get that. But he agreed at the end, so now we have our smuggler, and some pirate named Maz Kanata will be our codebreaker to help us aboard the Supremacy and...oh, you don't know her? Well, I heard she's a pirate. Or an ex-pirate. So we're definitely in good hands there," he snorts.

Rey can't say he seems to be very fond of Luke's choices, and neither is she, but it would be a shame to make Finn feel any more distraught than he already looks. So she nods in agreement.

"Care to walk with me? I'm on my way to check if Poe needs any help repairing his ship. He's been hidden in its belly all morning, and I'm starting to get worried," he huffs, tugging on the strap again.

Rey figures there's no harm there. Better than turning around and heading back to bed.

She must get out of that bed.

"Sure. Here, let me help you with that," she offers, pointing at the overflowing backpack.

But he shakes his head nobley. "That's too heavy for you."

"I'm a Jedi. I use the Force to…"

"Nah, I've got it. It's no big deal."

His shirt is drenched in sweat, and she doesn't need the Force to see his exertion, but he wants to impress her for some reason, so she decides to let him do just that.

"Alright then," she smiles at him - her first smile in days - "Lead the way."

He beams back at her, this white, sincere, toothy grin that somehow lifts the melancholy that has settled inside her. Just a bit. There's a reason why she liked Finn so much.

"Will do. But first, let's get some food inside you. You look like a hibernating bursa that crawled out of its cave."

The next few days blend together in a frenzy of vigorous training and attack simulations, long meetings and meticulous planning about the Jedi mission aboard the Supremacy. All their scheming has to be carefully coordinated with the Republic fleet in the upcoming battle against the First Order.

Rey does her best to follow along.

The Republic's Central Intelligence and Coruscant's Ministry of Defense have initially spoken of a possible meeting ground between the two opposing fleets in the Bright Jewel System, that stands between what used to be Starkiller base and the Core. It's crucial for the Republic Fleet to intercept the First Order before it enters the Core, where far too many casualties would take place, and plenty of opportunities would rise for their opponents to conquer or annihilate important key planets.

"Kuat just released the new ships to the Republic. They are in orbit around Coruscant as we speak. Ben will be the one leading them into battle."

Rey feels Luke's blue gaze on her, as they walk side by side down the dark, damp corridors of the Academy, and towards the lecturing room of the youngest padawans. Rey holds the teaching datapads closer to her hammering chest, trying not to show the turmoil within her at the mention of Ben's name. Or the fact that he will be joining the battle and setting his life in danger.

Her longing stretches in the Force, searching for her missing half as if she is somehow connected to him. As if she could possibly find him anywhere in the universe just by following an imaginary thread that pulses with the beat of her heart. Throbbing like an open wound or tickling like a feather.

Warming her in her lonely nights - like his body did pressed to hers.

"Will all the Republic Fleet take position at the Bright Jewel System?" she asks, trying to shift the attention away from her.

He looks away. "Most of it, yes. At the planet of Ord Mantell."

"Will the Chiss join, too?" The name tastes bitter in her mouth.

"Not yet. The plan is for them to be smuggled amidst the space battle, and tip the outcome in favor of the Republic."

"Smuggled?" Rey scoffs. "How can a whole fleet be…"

"There's an old smuggling route in that system, Burke's Trailing, that will provide an undetected way for the Chiss to enter the battle. It's also the route Lando will use to get you kids close to the Supremacy."

"So is what Nyxx said really true?" Rey halts in the middle of the dark corridor. Her raised voice bounces off the ancient stone walls. "You won't be joining us in the mission?"

There's an unease in the Force, almost a premonition. Rey feels that she won't be seeing her Master again if he goes his own way.

Another loss.

One more loved one that she will have to say goodbye to.

Luke Skywalker stops as well, and regards her with that gaze. That intense gaze that reads her like an open book.

"It's not my path. And destiny is hard to escape," he answers softly. In understanding. "But it doesn't prevent us from making the best decisions we can with the choices at hand."

Rey nods, looking away and wiping at an errant tear. She feels like she owes her Master an explanation. That she owes him the truth about why Ben means so much to her, and how hard it is to go on without him.

She hasn't seen Ben in nearly two weeks. Nor heard his deep voice, or felt the demand of his touch. Her daily life has become so grey. Plain and unfulfilling.

The days now drag, while whole months before just flew.

"Ben and I…"

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to share," he cuts her off with a light shake of his head. "Leia and I are grateful to you. You have been his savior in more ways than you can imagine."

Rey feels that familiar tightening of her throat at his words.

"I'm so afraid for him," she admits, her worry for Ben nearly choking her. "Now more than ever."

"Why?"

"I'm afraid he'll fall back to his old ways, that he will forget what it felt like to care for someone and…"

"You're afraid he'll forget you."

Rey blinks stupidly at him, feeling her cheeks burn. "I… No. It's not that, precisely. It's…"

Luke chuckles heartily. She can see his shoulder shake from his good-natured laugh, and she can't help but feel like she's nine again. That he will pat her back condescendingly, because she can't use the Force to lift the pebbles at her feet.

"Have faith in the love you two share. It's because of that love that his fate has been altered. Who knows what would have happened to him if you hadn't come into his life at the time you did." Skywalker lifts an eyebrow in challenge. "He might have become a Dark Knight himself under Snoke's influence. Or killed innocents and sacrificed his loved ones to the Dark Side. Who knows?"

Luke winks at her frowning face. Her Master is not making much sense, she thinks. He probably spent too much time meditating under that gamoa tree, and the pollen is getting his reality a little mixed up. Or perhaps he had a little too much of his stash of Corellian whiskey. Whichever.

Rey tries not to spend too much time contemplating on what might have been. There's no point now.

"Will I see him again?'

"Oh, you most certainly will, kid," he chuckles again, but his blue eyes are starting to sparkle under the dim light. "And when you do, tell him I'll see him around, too."

Rey nods again.

Definitely the Corellian whiskey, she concludes. Master Skywalker sounds almost delusional. Not to mention he never allows his emotions to overcome him.

"So when do we leave for Ord Mantell, Master Skywalker?"

"Soon. Very soon..." he mutters, lost in his thoughts for a moment or two, before he suddenly turns away and resumes his walking. "Come on," he calls to her over his shoulder. "What are you waiting for? Those kids need someone to teach them how to lift pebbles."

She hurries to catch up with him.

It turns out to be sooner than expected, as Rey is awakened in the middle of the night by Nyxx.

"Get ready," he urges her. "The First Order is already dropping out of hyperspace inside the Core. They have completely bypassed the Bright Jewel System."

"What?" she croaks in alarm, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Nyxx hands her the saberstaff first, in a white-knuckled grip. "Get up. Chances are there's going to be an attack on Coruscant first. We're leaving now!"

It's a race against time to get to the Core. To get to Ben. When Lando's ship drops out of hyperspace the space battle is already raging hot.

The Supremacy looms over Coruscant - a vulture over its prey. Dreadnoughts and Deathstars surround the First Order flagship, swallowing up the blackness of space, along with zooming Tie fighters and Republic X-wings, laser beams and ion torpedoes, as the Republic Fleet stands its ground over the Capital planet.

The First Order has not managed to approach the surface yet for an invasion.

Rey looks out the transparisteel window at the sea of twinkling lights on the surface of Coruscant, knowing that if she closes her eyes, she can still find her way to the estate, blindly. Find her way to him.

Her breath mists on the glass.

Their ship shakes from the first direct hit.

"We might be late to the party, but that doesn't mean we ain't dancing," Lando declares from the cockpit with a yell of excitement. "Buckle up everyone! This rustbucket is about to learn some new moves."

There's an exchange of concerned looks amongst the seated Jedi and the select unit of Republic soldiers that will be part of the infiltration, and Nyxx next to her rolls his eyes. Rey continues to look out the window.

"If you scratch this rustbucket, you're buying me a new one."

"Relax, Maz…" Lando winks at the ancient creature glaring at him through her bottle thick lenses. "The ship is full of Jedi, what could possibly go wrong?"

"I hope you're not counting on them for help."

"I'm sure they'll use their mumbo jumbo if things go south."

Maz Kanata swirls in her seat. "For your information, that's not how the Force works! So if you're not sure how to fly this ship, then hand it over to someone who does."

"Are you doubting my skills?"

She leans towards him, magnifying her lenses. "When was the last time you had your eyes checked out?"

Lando chuckles under the woman's scolding gaze, while squeezing the ship between two Star Destroyers. The Supremacy fills the cockpit's view, dark and imposing, and silence falls uncomfortably all around.

"Alright," says Maz, logging her computer into the ship's systems. "We have to make this rustbucket register as a First Order supply freighter. Let's get to it."

Focus.

The heat is unbearable, scorching her tears and burning her lungs. Angry flames are licking at Tie Fighters strapped to the walls, and a grey fog of smoke is stretching over the enormous main hangar bay of the Supremacy. Lazer beams of red and green and blue cut through the air, and bodies are piling up on the black floor, dressed either in head to toe white armor or the grey enhanced uniform of the Republic. And amongst them all, beige cloaks, marking the place where a few of her friends are currently lying dead.

Rey coughs, ricocheting laser beams back to the Stormtroopers firing at her team.

"We have to take control of the main hangar bay!" Nyxx bellows a few feet away from her, bringing a Knight to his knees. "Raya, get your ass on the control tower and take kriffin' control of it, already! We need to open it to our incoming troops!"

"She won't make the jump. They'll shoot her down," Rey yells over the commotion.

"We have to get closer!"

A Gorilla Walker screeches in the background, crashing down on the one next to it, and bringing about a sickening domino effect of crunching metal and duraglass. A battalion of Stormtroopers is crushed under the weight.

Aryn.

She thinks in the haze of battle. Their friend finally did it. She wants to rejoice at his accomplishment, but there is no time to spare. No time to take a breath. She runs her saber through a Troopers chest and kicks the body away.

And then she sees him.

The Dark Knight coming at her through the smoke, with his crimson blade lit. Rey hesitates for a moment before switching her initial Ataru form into Juyo.

Skywalker would kill her if he knew.

Barely any Jedi know how to use it, nowadays.

Their blades sizzle when they come in contact for the first time, and Rey recognizes the Knight looming over her. She knows him. She has fought him before.

She can do this.

She twirls to the side and brings the other end of her saberstaff to his leg. He deflects it easily and answers with a powerful strike of his own. Their blades cross again and again, in a quick succession of moves, deflecting and attacking at equal measure, with no winner or loser to mark the end of their duel.

Rey begins to doubt her choice of combat form.

Her body aches, and her muscles are cramping from exertion, and she is so tired she can feel the Force slipping from her fingertips at times. Rey grits her teeth at it all. At the piercing cries of pain and the screeching of metal that hurt her ears. At the taste of blood and smoke on the back of her throat that make her nauseous. At the stinging of her eyes. At the quiver in the Force with each death that takes place.

Focus.

A voice dictates inside her.

The Dark Knight begins to pant. A first sign of weakness.

"Jedi," he snarls through his mask. Their sabers cross in front of their chests, and his onyx armor glows in the red and blue of their beams as he looms over her. "Your Governor is not here to save you this time."

He chuckles, the mechanical, distorted sound prickling her skin.

Rey clenches her teeth. She has to keep him talking.

"What a shame... He would love to sizzle your ass again with some lightning," she grits at the Dark Knight, ducking away from his slash.

But he grasps her with the Force, and drags her down on the ground. The back of her head hits the floor and her saberstaff slips away from her hand.

He nails her with his heavy boot pressed on her chest.

Again...

Rey stretches her fingers towards her saber, keeping her gaze set on the black pits of his mask, where his eyes are hidden. He revels in the moment, enjoys it a bit too much.

Focus.

The Knight lifts his sword, ready to pierce it through her chest. "I will tell your Governor as I slice his throat, how good you felt when I fucked you on the floor of the hangar bay, amidst your dead friends."

She curls her fingertips.

The Knight roars in pain, collapsing to the ground, as her saber flies through the air and cuts right through his legs. She hops on to her feet, with her saberstaff at hand, delivering the final blow by chopping off his head.

"Arrogant bastard..." she spits blood to the side. He talked too much.

Rey stands over his decapitated body, allowing herself to feel just a little triumphant. She takes a look around, wiping at the sweat on her brow. The Strormtrooper numbers are waning considerably. The Knights are practically wiped out. And Raya is about to make the jump to the control tower.

Outside, in the glittering black space, brand new Republic ships are taking position. Their powerful shields bounce off all ion torpedoes effortlessly from their hull, as they fall into place for an attack. Rey knows they are practically indestructible. She knows this because she has watched them in the making, right at his side

In the front line, their flagship appears, the Whisper.

Her heart hammers at the sight of it. Her mind reels over the probabilities.

Ben is here.

Part of her wishes that he could witness her victory over the Knight that had been after him for so long. Perhaps he'd frown at her, scold her that pride is a path to the dark side, and that his baby girl needs to be careful. But perhaps he would wrap his hands around her - so large and warm and possessive - and pull her against his body for a hungry kiss.

Gods, she misses the softness of his lips.

"Shit..." Nyxx mutters next to her, interrupting her reverie. "We're screwed."

Rey looks at him curiously, because he's obviously completely clueless as to who is out there.

But Nyxx is not looking at the ships. The hangar bay's doors have opened wide, and fresh First Order troops are storming the grounds in their polished white armor and F-11D blaster rifles.

"We can still take them," she protests. "We're so close to opening the main hangar to the Republic Fleet. It's right outside!" Rey believes they can do it. They can complete the mission.

Ben's right there!

But their opponents are too many. In a matter of seconds the enormous hangar bay is filled with Stormtroopers, aiming their blasters at her team. To say that they are outnumbered would be an understatement.

Nyxx disengages his lightsaber and lowers it, signaling for their team to do the same. Rey reluctantly powers down her saberstaff as well.

A man approaches them, heels clicking in satisfaction against the floor.

He's dressed in an impeccable black coat, and his red, slicked back hair glistens under the hangar's light. A high ranking officer, no doubt. A General, from what Rey concludes by the insignia on his shoulders. He comes to stand in front of the Jedi, regarding them with the most sour expression Rey has ever seen on a man's face.

"On your knees," he dictates.

Her friends are shoved and forced to the ground. A Stormtrooper pushes her between the shoulderblades, snapping at her to do as she's told. But Rey ignores him. She is too mad. Furious at the sudden turn of events.

They were so close.

"Rey," Nyxx hisses through clenched teeth. "Do as he says, don't do anything dumb."

The General comes to stand before her, setting his icy gaze on her. Before she can read his intent, there's a stinging slap across her face that nearly knocks her from her feet.

"I said on your knees, filthy Jedi scum!"

Rey grits her teeth. In the blink of an eye, she snatches his blaster with the Force and sets it on his temple.

"You don't get to order me to do anything."

She licks at the drop of blood on her lip as numerous blasters snap in her direction. The buzz in the air lets her know that they are charged to kill. She wants nothing more than to blow the General's obnoxious frown from his face, but Nyxx glares at her, shaking his head. Rey knows he's right. She knows she should put the weapon down. That she is putting their lives in danger.

But they were so damn close.

"Such strength!" A voice suddenly booms in the hangar.

The hairs on her skin stand on end.

A chuckle follows, deep and self indulgent, and a strange power crawls in the Force, chilling her blood. Rey glances worriedly at her friends. There's a shadow on their faces, a fear that wasn't there before.

The First Order troops part way.

When the creature appears, Rey knows immediately who she's up against. And how could she not? She has seen that grotesque face in far too many nightmares. Nightmares that have haunted the boy in the Academy, and the man she has vowed to protect.

She never thought she would be the one to face him.

Fear grips her chest.

The Stormtroopers, she notices, give him a wide berth, but his own Praetorian guards, in their red armor, remain at his creature has the audacity to wear a golden robe into battle, as if he has just stepped out of his bedchambers and his lewd ministrations. Rey is surprised he doesn't have a Twi'lek chained to him in his wake.

Snoke's eyes narrow in on her as if he's known her all his life.

"This is what I call the spirit of a true Jedi!"

Not a single breath can be heard in the endless hangar bay. Nor a single twitch of unease from the Force spreads from the creature like a dark haze, turning everything into stone.

"I see Skywalker has taught you well. But pull that trigger, and all your friends will die," he drawls, bemused.

Rey blinks away righteous tears of anger and clenches her jaw. Her hand drops.

The General steps back quickly with a beat red face, tugging on the lapels of his coat to collect himself. But Snoke doesn't spare him a single glance. All his attention is focused on her.

Rey tries to shake the uncanny haze from her mind.

"The Jedi I have been waiting for, delivered at my doorstep," he says, in a voice that reverberates down to the bolts of the ship. "How convenient…"

Images flood her mind, dark and sinister, revealing power she could never imagine. A woman stares at her, with a white face carved of stone hidden under her black hood, and a double-edged red saber unfolds in her hands.

Kira…

The whispers are back again.

Let yourself go. Give in to the power of the Dark side.

Rey staggers, clutching at her head. Cold sweat breaks down her back.

"I have waited for my apprentice for far too long," Snoke's voice resounds in the hangar, breaking off the ominous vision. But its shadows still lurk in the outskirts of her mind, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Focus!

The voice that calls within her demands to be heard, and Rey no longer has the power to resist. There's a familiarity about it, a warmth and longing that makes her feel like it's her only hope. She reaches out into the Force. Something pulses, feels and breathes as if it's a living entity, and her heart flutters from the overwhelming sensation. Rey wants to sob from joy.

Because she knows. She knows she is not alone, here at the end of it all.

Rey snaps her eyes to Snoke and clenches her fists. She can feel the shadows screech and writhe in the periphery of her mind.

"I have waited for his Darkness to lead him to me. But I assumed wrongly. He had been following the Light," Snoke continues, unaware of the uprising inside her. "Come closer, child."

Rey refuses to move a single inch.

"Closer, I say." he snarls.

"You underestimate him. And me. And that will be your downfall," she declares.

Snoke chuckles again, but there's no amusement in it.

The creature extends his hand suddenly, and she is hauled to it, feet dragging against the floor, forced to suspend a mere breath away from it. She can see every wrinkle and crevice of his mauled face, and feel the ice of his gaze cut right through her.

"You foolish child! Now that the Light has come to me, he is not wise enough to resist the bait. You are here, and his ships are aligned outside."

Pressure builds on her temples and Rey scrambles to raise her walls. She can hear herself whimper.

"And now," he breathes, "...you will give me Kylo Ren."

He tosses her in the air, like a ragged doll, and pushes into her mind. Slides bony fingers through the opening of her thoughts, attempting to rip them down their seams. The invasion is powerful, forcing itself crudely inside her and tearing everything in its path.

"Bring him to me..."

Rey screams.

She screams like she has never screamed before, the searing pain too unbearable for her to hold inside. She is somehow aware that she is floating, her feet no longer touching the ground as the creature rips its way inside her.

Is this what you've felt all your life?

Her question directed at him wails in the outskirts of her awareness.

Is this what your nightmares were made of?

Rey struggles with all that she has, fighting to keep the creature away. But it searches for something inside her with vehemence, and she is powerless to stop it.

A roar joins her voice, and she sees herself kneeling on the ground and clutching at the sides of her head. The floor is no longer black, but a pale grey, and there are computer terminals blinking in her periphery.

"Sir?" A voice pleads. "Sir, are you ok? Someone call the medics!"

Leather gloves are clutching her face, tugging on her black hair. Coruscant's black armor is covering her torso. And pain. So much pain reflecting her own - a lifelong hatred and wrath that eats at her bones.

Push him out!

A thought pleads.

Get him out Rey, please…

And Rey suddenly knows. From the tips of her numbing fingers to the beat of her straining heart, she knows that she can do this.

Ben is part of her. He is inside her.

She gathers the pain. Every stinging tendril of it - coiling and tightening and wrapping it around the Force - and when she can no longer bear it...

She releases it.

Lightning fills the hangar bay and crackles down its walls. It pierces the air.

Everything goes dark.

"Rey…" A voice reaches for her. "Rey, you need to wake up. Come on!"

It takes enormous effort to drag herself to consciousness. Her eyelids are heavy and her body feels as if it's been hit by an asteroid, scattering in every corner of the galaxy.

"Come on Rey…" the voice urges. "We need to get out of here. The ship is collapsing in on itself."

But the timbre is wrong, and it lacks the husky gravity that would pull her from her sleep. Rey wants to turn to her side and brush it away, but a hand shakes her roughly and she is jostled awake.

Green eyes meet hers, and her heart falls.

"What happened?"

"I don't know who taught you these tricks, but next time you decide to call on Force lightning I would appreciate it if I weren't around. You burned the ass out of that old creep and destabilized some shit down in the engine room. Everyone is running for their lives! Now come on…" Nyxx extends his hand to hers. "We need to find Lando and his bucket of bolts and get the hell outta here."

"Where are the others?"

"Clearing the way for us to get there."

"Clearing the...what does that mean?"

"It means we're running late," he growls impatiently. "Now, come on! Get movin'!"

Rey grasps his hand and pulls herself up. Her brain feels a little sluggish, and the tips of her fingers and toes feel a little tingly, but other than that she feels like she's good to go.

The ship groans as if in agreement. The emergency lights are on, bathing the immense hangar bay in shadows of red, and blaring alarms resonate from the walls. Tie fighters zoom over their head and disappear in space. They dash for the exit, jumping and stumbling over bodies and debris, slipping on residue of ash, oil and engine fuel that cover the once immaculate floor. Rey tries not to think of the blood that has also been spilled in battle. But like Nyxx said, no one is making an effort to stop them. Stormtroopers, technicians and all remaining First Order personnel are pushing through the doors, nearly running her to the ground in their rush to abandon ship.

Alarms continue to wail down the dark corridors.

"This way!" Nyxx pants, tugging her around a corner. She can't say he has the keenest sense of direction, but at this point who is she to doubt. These darned First Order corridors all look exactly the same.

They twist and turn endlessly in this maze of black steel and flickering lights as the ground shakes under their feet. Stormtroopers and personnel continue to stumble on them.

Rey can't help wonder the extent of damage that the alleged Force lightning did to a ship of this magnitude. Or the power that was hidden behind it.

And she can't stop her thoughts from reaching out to him once again. His voice had rung so clear in her mind. The pain that he was in had become hers to bear. She can't wrap her mind over what their connection is. What it means.

They are rushing by transparisteel windows, and Rey slows down at the dreadful sight she sees outside. The battle is at its peak. The blackness of space is on fire, as wrecked ships collide with one another and debris floats aimlessly between the ones that still stand. In front of her a Star Destroyer is being relentlessly bombarded by two Chiss battleships, and to her left the hull of a Republic ship has just been breached by a Dreadnought, emptying its insides into the dead of space.

Rey feels her heart constrict, and she approaches the window almost in a daze. The reflection of a pale face appears.

Only it's not hers. It belongs to a man.

He stares back at her as if she's some wild spirit that has sprung from the depths of a myth. And he looks like a Dark Prince, clad in his black armor and solemn frown - bound by his responsibilities. He takes a step forward and extends his fingers, almost as if he can touch her through the glass that separates them.

A sadness crosses his features, shadowing his initial surprise. He stares hungrily at her, as if she can disappear from him in the span of a heartbeat. As if she is a mirage, or a ghost. A figment of his imagination. As if she's not truly there.

Rey wants to run to him.

She wants to cross the battle and glittering space and throw her arms around him. To feel the strength of his body and smell the scent of his skin.

She lifts her fingers instead, brings them slowly forth to touch the glass.

All falls silent. No more alarms or panicked voices, no groaning of metal or explosions going off. Nothing remains but their ragged breathing as their fingers approach. As they touch, one finger at a time, across time and space.

Rey should feel the cold window, but it's not there. Soft, warm fingertips press against her own. Her breath hitches, and she lifts her stinging eyes only to see that Ben is looking at her through his own well of tears.

The universes suspends, ceases to turn.

Run, my love.

His hushed whisper spreads like wildfire inside her, and a tear falls down her cheek.

His fingertips turn to glass.

Rey is left staring at her reflection, just as a door slams shut in her mind.

The alarms return. And so does the quaking ground and flickering red lights - the disintegrating ship.

A hand grabs her shoulder and tugs for her to move.

Rey obliges, gathering her bleeding heart.

The Supremacy is destroyed, and its debris orbits Coruscant for months after the battle. The remaining First Order ships have either surrendered or disappeared into the Unknown Regions. The Chiss monitor their movements, and the Republic breathes a sigh of relief.

The Darkness hovering over the galaxy recedes mysteriously a little while after the battle as well, and Luke Skywalker disappears without a trace.

But Rey knows. All his padawans and Jedi Knights - his students - know that he is not gone. Not really. His presence in the Force is as strong as ever, but somehow different. As if it's everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Nyxx tells them not to grieve. He tells them that his legend lives forever.

Rey finds it hard to fall back to the life she once had. Yavin ΙV and the Academy are too small to contain her restlessness. So when one day she informs Nyxx that she'll be joining Aryn and Kohl in a quest for old Jedi holocrons in the Outer Rim, he reluctantly allows her to go.

Rey finds reasons not to return to the Academy after that. Sometimes it's easier to make it through life when there is no time to stop and think. So Rey travels. She wanders the galaxy, hopping from one mission to the next, until the planets blend with one another and her days get mixed up with her nights.

Sometimes she meets with her friend Finn, other times she drops by Chandrila for a quick visit to Leia Organa. She never comes across him, and never asks about him either. Almost as if they have perfected the art of avoiding each other.

But she does on occasion see him on a news report or interview, or in some fancy charity event with his stunning wife by his side, while Rey watches the holonet feed from some dingy bar in the Western Regions. She allows herself to linger on his melancholy for a few moments before looking away.

But it's on those occasions that she seeks out company the most. Rey tries not to think about the motives behind her actions. A couple of times she even stays for a while, thinking that maybe the man laying next to her can mean something more.

But she leaves them all in the end.

There's simply no room in her heart for anyone else but him.

The door never opens again. She hovers around it sometimes, scratching at its surface and reaching to feel the presence on the other side. Sometimes it throbs and bleeds like herself, but most times it remains quiet. Out of reach.

Time, they say, heals all wounds.

Rey wonders if it will ever heal hers.

Weeks have turned into months. Months have turned into years.

And Rey still yearns for the boy with the soft brown eyes, and the man whose lips set fire to her skin. Sometimes she even dreams of him. And those dreams feel so painfully real that she wishes there was a way for her to never fall asleep again.

Because Rey can't forget him. No matter how much she tries, she just can't do it.

And right when she finally decides that enough is enough, that she needs to let the past die and find a way to move on, life chooses to grace her with the most treacherous emotion.

Hope.

Author's note: Yes, there is a long time jump between the destruction of the Supremacy and the next chapter. I'd say about two years. I know that a lot of you won't be happy with Rey's evolvement as a character, but I guess she couldn't hold on to the child within her forever. And don't forget that her wandering the galaxy and occasional seeking of company was her own way of trying to kill the past, despite the promise she had made. Would any of us have done any different?

Music selection for this chapter "Roads untraveled" by Linkin Park.

On a lighter note... WE HAVE TROS COMING OUR WAY! Be ready my friends. It's happening!