It's a very long chapter ! I hope you will enjoy it !
PART II
Four months later
Planet Malachor - Outer Rim:
Elias was standing on the huge balcony overlooking the plain. The wind had calmed down and the muffled light of the setting sun colored the rocky landscape with ocher and brown. Half-collapsed monoliths were lying on the black heath in front of him. Between the stone blocks, petrified human silhouettes with grotesque postures cast their gloomy shadows over the remains of an ancient battlefield. Nature had recovered its rights, even though the vegetation consisted of only a few rickety bushes and rare climbing plants winding on the old columns.
The blond knight looked at the hundred or so workers working below the gigantic pyramid.
He had ordered that the temple, partially destroyed for several decades, be rebuilt and as the work was coming to an end, he was more than satisfied. The building had regained its former prestige and the New Sith Order was finally reborn. Footsteps sounding behind him suddenly drew him from his contemplation. Armitage Hux, attired in his impeccable uniform, was crossing the hall to join him on the terrace.
"Welcome to Malachor, General! To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"
The smile on his lips evaporated when Elias saw the scowling face of the soldier.
"Another attack from the Resistance," Hux hissed. "They destroyed the complex on Diyu that was supposed to supply the generators for our new weapons."
"I thought we had reached an agreement with the Hutts," the knight replied. "This planet is in their space. It was their responsibility to protect it. We pay them handsomely for that!"
"I told you that we could not trust those criminals. Allying ourselves with them was not a good idea. They are anything but reliable. All that interests them is making a profit and expanding their hold on the Mid Rim systems."
"'Allies' is a big word, Hux. They simply provide us with slaves to rebuild our fleet and the mercenaries and spies we need to find Kylo Ren. WE have control over the planets of the Mid Rim."
The soldier tensed.
"It's been months since Ren escaped. Who knows where he could be now? We have searched all the places where he might have taken refuge, but it will be impossible to find him if we don't place a clear price on his head!"
"Don' be stupid, Hux!" Elias barked. "As far as everyone else knows, Kylo must still be our Supreme Leader. If our officers and our troops continue to perform as they should, it's because they believe that he is still in charge. His reputation and the fear he inspires throughout the galaxy are our most valuable assets. Can you imagine what would happen if people learn that Darth Vader's grandson has failed the First Order? And that reminds me: what about the stormtroopers who witnessed his escape in the throne room?"
"The problem has been solved," Hux answered. "The mental reconditioning worked perfectly, I made sure of it myself. On the other hand, your visits on the annexed planets, helmeted and dressed like him, may be working for the moment, but what will happen if the truth gets out?"
"And whose fault is that, Hux? It was your stupidity that allowed Ren to escape on that shuttle!"
"How could I have guessed that he had planned a way to escape from the Finalizer and that our hyperspace tracker would still be out of order?"
"You made the huge mistake of underestimating him. He had an excellent teacher in the person of Snoke. All your loyal minions spying on each of his deeds and actions were not even able to discover that he had had this rescue ship installed, and that he had transferred funds from the accounts on Coruscant! He escaped with a real fortune! He might be able to hide for years without being found."
"Maybe he joined the Resistance?" Hux suggested.
"You're joking, right ? He probably hates them more than he hates us, and I doubt he would be welcomed there with open arms. No. He's hiding somewhere like a rat. We must absolutely find him and eliminate him once and for all."
A gleam of satisfaction glowed in Hux's eyes.
"You said you saw him badly wounded in the throne room. Is it possible he might not have survived?"
"If only …" Elias stared at the burning horizon.
"Listen," Hux added, "we have tripled the number of ships in our fleet, and eight new destroyers are now operational. Viri Pax has replaced Phasma at the head of the trooper training program. Sylla is in charge of negotiations with both the Hutts and our various supporters, and I must admit that she excels in this area. Naboo is totally paralyzed by the increased surveillance that we impose on them and can no longer support the Resistance. Our domination grows a little more each day. The First Order is about to regain the power and prestige it had under Snoke's reign."
Elias turned to him again.
"Our collaboration seems more fruitful than you expected, does it not?"
The soldier weighed each of his words.
Was it a trick question?
Prudence and submission ...
"It was my duty to inform you of Kylo Ren's traitorous actions. But now that you are the Supreme Leader of the First Order, I want you to know that I fully agree with your methods and decisions."
The dark knight smiled, but Armitage knew very well that he had not been fooled. Elias Ren was the undisputed king of hypocrisy, and Hux's insincere words seemed to amuse him.
"You and I have more in common than you thought, General. We are both hungry for power, and we want to see order and discipline reign in the galaxy through force. But you're right, I'm the leader of the First Order now, and I will reward your loyalty."
Hux continued to play his double-sided game. "I am also delighted that your comrades have accepted your new position without any problem."
Elias began to inspect his hands and readjust his gloves one after the other.
"Indeed. I also became the new Master of the Knights of Ren. They will do what I tell them to do. You manage our armed forces and eradicate the Resistance; I'll take care of the rest …"
A ten-year-old boy wearing a black tunic suddenly appeared on the threshold of the balcony. Elias's face lit up and, with a nod, he invited the child to speak.
"My Lord, the great room is ready."
"Excellent! Hux, I will finally be able to show you our beautiful facilities. I hope you are an architecture lover. This new Sith temple is absolutely grandiose."
The soldier was wary for a moment, watching the boy leave where he had come from.
"One of your new disciples?" he dared to ask without much enthusiasm.
"Yes. Having Viri in charge of the stormtrooper program has the advantage of allowing us to detect Force-sensitive elements that we will then train on the Dark Side."
Armitage displayed an unwilling smile and followed the knight.
Elias had decided to rebuild the Sith Order and the military was worried about it. Hux knew very well that for now, the big blond needed him to lead the First Order's army. But once the Resistance was eliminated, the general, despite Elias's honeyed words, had no idea what his future would be. He never thought that one day he'd come to miss Snoke's former apprentice. Kylo was much easier to understand, in the end. The new Supreme Leader was, without a doubt, infinitely more treacherous and Machiavellian than Ren, and it would be much more difficult for Armitage to get rid of him and his little clique. And besides, as if to prove him right, Elias suddenly turned around and announced:
"On reflection, Hux, I think we must give a good lesson to the Naboo people. Why waste time and energy spying on them, when we know very well that these renegades have always supported the Resistance, and will continue to support it? Send all our available destroyers and the necessary troops to the Chommell System. I want this planet under our control within two standard days."
OooooO
Rebel Base Haven-Planet Arbra:
Poe disembarked first. Leia was waiting for him outside the hangar and greeted him with a relieved smile.
"Mission accomplished, Captain?" she asked.
But the pilot seemed upset.
"We recovered the information and destroyed our target on Diyu. Everything went as planned ... with a few exceptions," he added before turning his head to glare at Rey and Finn coming down from the carrier's ramp.
Leia's scowled.
"Dameron, what…"
But Leia did not have time to continue. Poe moved around her and strode away.
"Poe!" she called, but the pilot had already left the hangar.
Rey and Finn arrived in front of the general, displaying frustrated faces too.
"If the mission is a success, why are you all so unhappy?" Leia asked them reproachfully.
Rey kept her eyes on her boots and, without a word, took the same path as Poe. Finn called her name and was about to follow her when Leia grabbed his arm to hold him back.
"Will someone please tell me what happened?" she questioned with a stern look.
The young man grimaced before answering.
"To make a long story short, Rey and Poe had a little divergence of opinion during the mission. Rey wanted us to blow up the last building in the complex because their weapons were stored there. Poe felt it was too dangerous, and maybe also said a couple of things that did not please Rey."
Leia rolled her eyes.
"Come on! I thought everything was okay between them! I feel like I'm dealing with a bunch of kids who bicker constantly over nothing!"
Finn bowed his head just like a little boy scolded by his mother.
"I'll talk to Dameron. You talk to Rey," Leia ordered, giving the young man a pat on the shoulder.
OoooooO
Finn was walking with a determined step down the hallway to the scavenger's room, when he suddenly heard a cheerful voice calling out to him. He turned to discover a little woman with a big smile running towards him. She threw herself into his arms and the young man almost fell back under the impact.
"You're back!" Rose exclaimed, hugging him hard.
She huddled her face in the crook of his neck, and Finn let out a mischievous laugh.
"Hi, you!"
Without giving him time to breathe, Rose hitched herself up on tiptoe and captured the young man's lips eagerly. Finn allowed himself to be carried away by the little tornado-brunette and received the kiss with delight. When they were both running out of oxygen, he pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes.
"I missed you," he murmured.
"I missed you too," Rose said, rubbing the tip of her nose against his. "How did the mission go? Tell me!"
"Very well," Finn replied, "except that I still have to mediate between Poe and Rey."
Rose gave him a sympathetic look.
It had now been three weeks since the young people had declared their love for one another — which had outright delighted all members of the base, who'd wondered when the two lovebirds would finally take the plunge.
"They are both equally stubborn!" the technician sighed.
"I have to go talk to Rey. This time, their little altercation on Diyu nearly got us killed."
"Ok, go," Rose encouraged him, kissing his cheek. "I'll wait for you in the refectory."
As she walked away, Finn did not miss the pert smile she threw at him before disappearing around the corner.
OooooO
The spare parts of Luke's lightsaber were spread on the table, and the sacred Jedi texts all open and scattered near her on the bed. Rey had read and re-read them hundreds of times. She now knew them all by heart. The young woman stared at the different components with an empty gaze as her fingers massaged her temples with a mechanical gesture.
She could not do it. It was useless to persist. She had tried again and again since Leia had given her the crystals but something was preventing her from succeeding.
She had always been able to fix any machine with an ease that she could not explain. It was as if she could perfectly visualize every microchip in her mind, as if she knew instinctively what wires to connect or which circuits to reconnect — she now knew that it was her ability to manipulate the Force which was largely responsible for her skills.
But here… Nothing.
She wanted to send everything flying through the room. If Luke had been with her, he would certainly have scorned her for giving up. But damn it, why couldn't she manage to put the pieces of this saber back together? Despite all her efforts, she still failed to merge her energy with that of the crystals to allow the components to assemble properly, as advocated by the sacred texts.
Completely discouraged, she let out a spiteful grunt and left her cabin. She paced the corridors of the base and headed for the exit. She needed fresh air, to feel the wind on her face and the warm sun on her skin.
When she was finally outside, she walked a few minutes among the trees to reach the small promontory she loved so much. She had found this peaceful place during her solo wanderings in the heart of the forest. Arriving at the destination, the young woman sat cross-legged on the edge of the rocky precipice overlooking the green velvet of the canopy. She tried to calm her breath by inhaling and exhaling deeply in the soft evening air. Her eyes caught the horizon. Unlike the island on which Luke Skywalker had exiled himself, those that made up the liveable space on the planet Arbra were much larger. Rey could not even distinguish what was at the end of the vast expanse of vegetation.
She had discovered so much in a short time: the snow on Starkiller, green forests here and on Takodana, the ocean on Ahch-To. Green and blue had become her favorite colors.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. It became easier now to perceive the energy of each living being around her. She was able to do it at each meditation session. She could feel the movements of the sap, going up along the thousands of tree trunks in front of her, the multitude of insects teeming in the heart of the underworld, and the predators hunting in the forest.
The Force, all around her. And the Force vibrating inside her body as well.
"This force is not exclusive to the Jedi," Luke had told her during his first lesson on Ahch-To. And he was right. Everyone could find in his or her heart the courage and determination to fight for a better future and to perform miracles.
So what was she supposed to do now?
The Resistance was counting on her to walk in the footsteps of Skywalker. She had inherited the title of "the Last Jedi."
By all the stars of the galaxy ...
She was just beginning to master all her powers and did not understand half of the things written in the sacred texts! She absolutely did not feel worthy to be compared, even from afar, to the famous knights of the millennium-old Order.
His consciousness drifted to the west ... and towards the concert of beating hearts inside the base. New recruits had joined the ranks, and in four months the number of rebels on Arbra had increased fivefold. Of course, the numbers were not yet sufficient to launch large-scale offensives as they had in the past, but they'd led some successful sabotage missions against the First Order. Several other bases had been created and the fleet was being reconstituted little by little in the underground factories, thanks to the secret financing of their allies. Their network of informants was back in place and the majority of Leia's supporters had resumed contact. Everything was going pretty well for now.
Except for her.
It all started four months ago. Finn's report of their mission on Hoth had plunged the Resistance into the deepest circumspection. Rey and he had come upon Kylo Ren, alone and badly injured in the middle of the infirmary. They had tried to neutralize him but the Supreme Leader had unfortunately managed to escape.
Even Leia could not, this time, completely mask her astonishment. A strange glow had kindled in her dark eyes. Rey had recognized a mixture of anxiety and ... hope?
Questions and hypotheses abounded: had Kylo Ren faced a mutiny? Did his generals turn against him when they discovered that he had killed Snoke? Who was leading the enemy faction now? Hux? Another general even more ruthlessly ambitious?
Leia had tried to calm everyone down by saying they had to wait for confirmation that things had changed in the First Order. And so the Resistance had lived in anxious expectation during the days that followed.
Until they watched the first video.
The broadcast of the propaganda messages had begun exactly one week after the unexpected meeting of Finn and Rey with Kylo on Hoth. In each of them, the Supreme Leader's appearance was systematically staged, more charismatic and ruthless than ever, directing his troops to annex ever more planets or to execute ever more opponents in cold blood. Each time he appeared masked and without his lightsaber. Rey had repeatedly expressed her skepticism about these videos, but when this was met repeatedly by scandalized or suspicious looks, she quickly stopped arguing.
Likewise, Finn's incessant questions about her lack of reaction on Hoth had become unbearable. He also must have told others, because Poe and Rose had come to her to ask why she had not lifted a finger to prevent Ren from escaping. It was time to tell them everything, and so she did: the Force bond, the conflict she had felt deep in the soul of Leia's son, and her attempt to bring him back to the Light. Well, almost everything: she had not told them about Kylo's proposal to rule the galaxy with him.
To say that they had reacted very badly to all these revelations was an understatement. Poe had gone into a tantrum. He'd screamed, gesturing wildly, and accused her of putting the entire Resistance in danger.
"And Leia knew?" he had exclaimed, horrified. In fact, this was what had bothered Poe off most of all: Leia had not seen fit to share this vital information with him, and his pride had been hurt.
But Poe's scarred pride was nothing compared to Finn's reaction. The young man had lowered his eyes, unable to look at her any longer, and Rey felt like her heart had been ripped out, thrown to the ground, and stomped on.
Rose, just like Poe, had not hesitated to express all her resentment aloud: "That's why you were on the Supremacy? To try to bring him back to the Light side? What were you hoping for? He has clearly showed that he wants nothing to do with the Resistance, and only wants to exterminate all opponents of the First Order! I think it's proof enough to show that there's no redemption for him!"
Poe then took over to continue the firing session. "Rey, the Resistance owes you a lot. You saved us all on Crait and I can never thank you enough for that! I don't understand much about all these stories about the Force, the Jedi, the Dark Side, but all I know is that this guy is evil! And you know it as well as we do! He killed Han! He caused the death of so many brave soldiers whom I had the honor to count among my friends! He almost killed Leia when he shot the Raddus! He must be taken down! I hope you agree with that!"
Her throat tight, Rey could only nod her head silently in the face of Poe's overwhelming words. But the young woman had made one last attempt to explain herself: "If he had to flee the First Order, then maybe…"
Finn had risen and left the room. Rose had followed him without a glance for her. Poe had been the last to leave but he exclaimed before crossing the door: "Maybe what? Should we have pity on him? Do you think he felt sorry for the villagers on Tuanul? That he felt pity for the miners on Hays Minor? That he had pity on all the innocents he's massacred throughout the galaxy?! If you're right, and he fled the First Order, all I wish for him is that he disappear and never come back, because we'll be ruthless too."
Now, the sun was setting and a cool evening wind had risen. Rey slowly opened her eyes and let all the noise in her head dissipate completely. Although her spirit had calmed down since then, the memories were still painful.
She had apologized to Finn a hundred times, and a few days after her confession he had come knocking on her door to forgive her. Reconciling with Rose had been a little more difficult. After two long weeks of oppressive silence, the technician had finally started talking to her again. As for Poe, he continued, even today, to regularly express his dissatisfaction and concern about the possibility that the link between Rey and Kylo Ren was not permanently broken. She knew that Leia and the pilot had had a heated discussion about her, but she had not had the opportunity to attend the confrontation.
The young woman shuddered, while in the distance a flight of white birds crossed the purple and gold sky. She was following their fine, graceful silhouettes drifting towards the sunset when she heard footsteps behind her. Someone was coming up along the little path. She turned her head and saw Finn hesitating to join her at the edge of the cliff.
"Kaydel told me that you left the base, so I thought you would be here. Can I sit with you?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Of course," the young woman replied with a polite smile.
The ex-stormtrooper sat next to her and the two young people stared at the landscape for a long time without speaking. The birds disappeared on the horizon.
"Did Poe send you?" Rey finally asked.
"Why do you say that? Don't I have the right to come and chat with my best friend?"
"Ok. Poe sent you …" Rey repeated, but this time with a hard and vindictive tone. "Listen, if he still has a problem with me, he needs to come and settle it with me directly! You do not need to play the go-between."
"He only wants the best for us here."
The young woman let out a sarcastic snort and silence fell for a moment before Finn decided to restart the conversation.
"Rey, you know you can talk to me, don't you?"
The scavenger turned her head towards him, her big sad eyes looking at him. The former stormtrooper felt his heart melt a little more.
"I know …" she sighed. "I'm just upset with Poe."
"I've only been here for two minutes and you're already lying to me," the young man replied.
"I swear, I…"
"I don't think Poe's been your major cause for concern since we came back from Hoth," the ex-stormtrooper interrupted her.
This time the young woman looked down.
"It's him, Kylo Ren." Finn paused as if to give even more seriousness to these words. "You wince every time a holomessage shows him in full-force demonstration - no pun intended."
Rey remained silent.
"Please, tell me Rey ... What's happening to you?"
No answer.
"Rey …" Finn insisted.
The comlinks of the two young people vibrated synchronously.
"Captain Dameron, Lieutenant Nell, Rey and Finn. You are urgently requested at the command post."
"They're waiting for us." Rey jumped up, secretly blessing Kaydel's intervention.
Finn watched his friend run down the path. He got up in turn, swallowed a curse and started running after her.
Oooooooo
On the holocom, Kylo Ren's black, masked figure contrasted as usual with the white armor of the stormtrooper squad standing at attention behind him. Their weapons were pointed at a dozen high-ranking officers of the Naboo army, kneeling in front of them. Queen Megarana, on the left, was flanked by an escort of foot soldiers. Two large rivers of tears were flowing down her white-painted cheeks. The Master of the knights of Ren approached and stared at her haughtily.
The young woman looked tiny next to the gigantic dark man, but she stood there as if made of marble, eyes staring straight ahead, as the synthetic voice spoke to her: "You are defeated. This planet is now under the control of the First Order. Kneel down in front of your Supreme Leader."
Megarana did not move at all. Then the masked knight raised his arm to her, his hand outstretched, and the young woman's face began to crumple. She shook, and her legs bent irresistibly until her knees touched the ground.
"You bastard …" One of the high-ranking Naboo had screamed at the Supreme Leader.
Without giving him time to finish, he turned his arm towards him and tightened his fingers. The man began to suffocate and a few seconds later, he collapsed dead in front of his paralyzed counterparts.
A voice-over then announced the total and definitive annexation of Naboo and extolled the omnipotence of the First Order.
Leia asked Kaydel to cut the video. Everyone around the holocom seemed shocked. Poe was the first to break the heavy silence that had settled in the room.
"It's impossible, how could they take control of Naboo so fast?"
But no one seemed to have the answer.
"Leman Drill was not on the video," Larma d'Acy noticed.
Poe felt a cold, muffled rage mount in him, gradually replacing the stupor of the last minutes. He knew from the moment the words crossed the barrier of his lips that he was going to regret having said them.
"Do you still think it's not Kylo Ren behind this mask?"
He had just spoken to Rey. The young woman kept her eyes fixed on the screen. She didn't have the courage to answer — not after what they'd just seen.
"Poe …" Finn scolded.
The pilot sighed and raised his hands in front of him with silent apologies. He then watched Leia's reaction. The general was alarmingly pale. Poe was upset to see her looking more and more stricken every time she had to witness the implacable cruelty of her son.
"Our informants say that the Supreme Leader never moves without the knights of Ren now," Lieutenant Dezel said.
Sighs of consternation arose among the members of the assembly. It was hard enough to fight Kylo Ren alone. But flanked by four other proficient Force users, it became a lot more complicated.
"Oh Maker…" Leia sighed, stepping back to sit on the chair behind her.
Chewie, leaning against a wall in the back of the room, threw out a grumbling growl.
The general had always made a point of being strong and determined in front of her men. She was supposed to be the rock on which everyone could rely. Never falter, hold on, no matter what. But apparently she was failing, in light of the worried looks the audience was giving her. She felt so old now ... Old and helpless.
Poe had taken a step towards her, and before he could take a second, she said: "We cannot do anything for them in the current state of things. Just pray that as many people as possible were able to leave the planet and find a safe haven — I'm thinking mostly of Leman Drill. He holds too much sensitive intel about us. Megarana does not know anything. She didn't want to be informed of the details of our agreements for safety's sake, and I salute her foresight. As for communications with our other allies, we will continue to use our encrypted channel and verify that it has not been hacked every six hours. I want someone to stay tuned in case Leman Drill, or anyone else who has escaped Naboo, can contact us."
"Unless the emissary is dead too," Cova Nell murmured.
Leia suddenly closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the pommel of her cane.
"General, are you all right?" asked Poe, who was now close to her.
"I'm fine, Dameron," she said, gesturing with her hand. "We need to inform Menken Jas, Girden A'Min and the other emissaries. We must send them a message urgently."
"I'll do it, General," Kaydel nodded. "By the way, we have finished decrypting the data that the alpha team collected in the Diyu complex."
"Brief us then, lieutenant," Leia asked.
Kaydel Ko Connix cleared her throat before starting.
"The First Order is building new weapons drawing their energy from kyber crystals apparently combined with an unknown mineral. The generators made in the complex were intended for them. Reports and internal communications records mention a slave delivery scheduled to take place in three days from various planets in Hutt space. It seems that the First Order has reached an agreement guaranteeing them free movement in the area controlled by those dirty brigands."
A hubbub arose around the table.
"Goodness! It's awful!" C-3PO exclaimed, unable to remain silent any longer.
"We must learn more about these weapons and do everything possible to prevent their construction," Leia said. "We must also tell all our contacts that they must keep us informed of any event taking place on the Hutt-controlled planets and …"
The rebel leader didn't finish her sentence. She tilted forward and caught herself at the last moment on the edge of the holocom.
"General!" shouted several rebels.
Poe rushed forward at the same time as Chewie to support her.
"It's nothing ... I ... I …" Leia stammered in a weak voice. Her legs weren't supporting her anymore.
"BB-8, go quickly to inform the infirmary!" C-3PO ordered.
Chewie carried Leia in his arms in the wake of the little white and orange droid.
"The meeting is over!" Poe yelled as he rushed down the corridor alongside d'Acy and C-3PO.
The whole room was in turmoil. Rey wanted to go out, but Finn blocked the way.
"It's better to let them take care of her for now," the former stormtrooper said.
The young woman wanted to protest but finally nodded and whispered in a shaking voice, "I hope she'll be ok" when Finn took her hand in his.
OooooO
Rey could hardly stand to wait an hour before she made her way down to the infirmary. In the corridor, she met Poe. His worried face had the scavenger imagining the worst.
"How is she?" she hastened to ask.
"She left the infirmary to return to her room. Mirzin says she just needs rest," Dameron sighed.
Rey knew that Leia was more than a superior for him. General Organa was more than that for every individual here, including herself. So she laid her hand on Poe's arm. The pilot looked up at her with kindness. He knew that their quarrel had to stop now.
"I'm going to talk to Mirzin," Rey announced before squeezing his arm a little more, and Poe accepted her implicit offer to finally bury the hatchet.
When the young woman arrived in Leia's room, the door was open and she saw that the blond nurse had placed a glass of water on the bedside table before turning down the light. The leader of the rebels was fast asleep and Rey stayed behind the threshold waiting for Mirzin to join her.
"She is very tired, physically and emotionally," the nurse told her. "Ever since the attack on the Raddus and her brief stay in space, I've been observing her closely. But you know her, 'ease off' is not part of her vocabulary. But she is no longer twenty ... What her son has been doing for months at the head of the First Order is affecting her so much, more than she wants to show. Not to mention the repercussions of Han and Luke's deaths."
Rey's stomach tightened. Mirzin gave her a sad smile and then walked past her to disappear down the hall, leaving the young woman alone and hesitating in front of the open door. Finally, she decided to enter and stole in to sit at Leia's bedside. She remained motionless for a few minutes, silently contemplating her friend's calm breathing. She was the closest thing that Rey had to a mother. She admired her, respected her and could not imagine the Resistance without her. Yet the young woman also knew that General Organa was not immortal.
Rey noticed that Leia was holding a small digital tablet in her hand. She gently removed the object from her fingers and looked at the screen.
There was a picture of Luke, in his thirties, standing near the Falcon with Han Solo and Chewie.
She scrolled through the other photos.
Leia and her brother sitting on a bench in a beautiful garden.
The general, smiling alongside a tall woman with purple hair.
The next one showed a very pregnant Leia. Han was kissing her cheek and his hand was resting on her round belly. They were both so young.
Rey felt tears come to her eyes.
She continued, and her hands began to shake when she saw Leia holding a beautiful baby with pink cheeks and chubby hands. His head was covered with fine black hair and he was looking at his mother with big curious eyes.
But it was the next picture that finally managed to make the tears spill out and run down over her cheeks: a toddler boy sat on Han Solo's lap, posed proudly in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. His ears were a little too big, and his childish face was adorned with a bright, carefree smile.
Rey had to put a hand on her mouth to suppress a sob. She placed the tablet on the chair and left the room in silence to return to her quarters.
OooooO
Ever since their meeting on Hoth, Rey had been unable to drive out of her mind the image of Ben, cornered and bleeding profusely on the frozen ground.
What was he doing there? Why was he hurt? Who attacked him? Was she right to think that Hux was responsible for all this?
All these questions had been swirling around in her head for the past four months.
No wonder Ben was aware of the location of former rebel bases. He was the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo. All his childhood, he had been lulled to sleep by bedtime stories of his parents' and uncle's adventures.
She almost wanted the Force to connect them again, just to get answers. But the Force remained deaf to her supplications, and the link stayed silent.
And yet, despite what had happened between them and despite what she still felt today, she should convinced herself, once and for all, that Kylo Ren, was the enemy to shoot down now.
Except she could not do it. She was unable to repress the guilty desire she felt every time she thought of his penetrating eyes devouring her through the veil of his dark locks.
She often dreamed of the shape of his face, the outline of his full lips and the plethora of moles drawing constellations on his cheek around his scar.
His deep voice had made her shiver at each meeting.
The sight of his strong, smooth torso had inflamed her cheeks on Ahch-To. When he had appeared half-naked in front of her, she'd just had time to realize that a gentle heat was building in her core before being assaulted by shame and remorse.
A tear slid down her temple again to get lost in her loose hair, and she sighed loudly.
The day had been long. She was tired.
Lying on her bunk, she wiped her eyes to drive away the tears and fatigue. Memories had left her no respite today.
Where was Ben now? What was he doing ?
Rey began to inhale and then slowly exhale, and after a few minutes, the atmosphere in her room changed suddenly. She sat bolt upright at the realization.
Her ears began to buzz slightly and she felt a familiar vibration right in her spinal cord. She had experienced it several times, on Luke's island... Her gaze went immediately to the left, and all of a sudden, he appeared.
Ben.
She stopped breathing. Besides, it seemed that all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. She did not even dare to move for fear that the massive figure would evaporate. She watched him silently.
Like her, he was visibly shocked to see her again.
His hair was longer, his skin tanner than in her memories. He was wearing a white linen tunic with an unbuttoned collar. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his forearms, and he was sitting on the other side of the table in the center of the room. The dark circles under his eyes had disappeared and his scar was now a thin line marring his cheek. He had a two or three days' stubble, making his face less hard, less imperious ...
He remained as rigid as she was and stared at her in amazement. Their unexpected connection had obviously disturbed him from what he was doing.
Rey looked down and saw that he was holding a screwdriver in his left hand and a sort of star-shaped metal piece in the right one. She noticed the strange symbol engraved on one of the faces of the object: a rhombus with a five-pointed star at its center. A trace of grease stained his forehead. He was fixing something.
He was fixing something ...
Rey's mind began to spin at full speed.
The supreme leader of the first order did not make his own repairs. The supreme leader of the First Order possessed a whole swarm of technicians and mechanics to do it on the Finalizer. And above all, the Supreme Leader of the First Order spent most of his time in the cold and dark rooms of his destroyer, far from the sunlight, and he never wore white.
She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Too many things wanted to spill out at once.
Ben's breathing had accelerated. He could not take his eyes off Rey's face and gave the impression of contemplating a heavenly apparition. When she saw him take a deep breath, apparently preparing to be the first to speak, he suddenly turned his head to one side, frowned, and grumbled:
"Jawi nakmar tedo!"
He had just spoken to someone she did not see in a language unknown to her.
Then, he nodded and turned his attention back to her, apparently annoyed that she had witnessed the scene.
Then, still without a word, Rey slowly got up and walked around the table to approach him. She did not realize she was reaching her hand slightly in his direction. Her fingers were only a few inches from his arm when the connection suddenly broke.
The young woman was once again alone in the middle of the room.
Like a mirage in the middle of the desert, the body of Leia's son had disappeared, and Rey was overwhelmed by the unpleasant feeling of having lost a small part of herself.
OooooO
Rey was still struggling to calm the wave of excitement that had not left her since the connection. She had just spent an hour on the machine room console rummaging through the technical inventories of the parts suppliers, and she had finally found what she was looking for. The star-shaped piece she saw in Ben's hand was a moisture vaporizer connector. The young woman was familiar with these devices, having seen them scattered around Niima outpost. The star symbol corresponded to the manufacturer's logo. This one supplied only the planets of the Outer Rim. She then tumbled into the small break room like a tornado.
"C-3PO! I need you!" she exclaimed, stopping neatly in front of the golden robot that was as usual in full conversation with R2-D2.
"Oh, oh, but of course Miss Rey! How can I help you?"
"You're a protocol droid, right? You've been programmed to know hundreds of languages."
"I have! In fact, I have mastered more than six million forms of communication and …"
"Ok listen! Can you tell me what 'Jawi nakmar tedo' means?"
"Nothing easier ! It means 'I'll take the three connectors.'"
"Connectors," Rey repeated, looking satisfied.
It was hardly possible. She still could not believe it.
"C-3PO, what language is it?" she continued with haste.
R2-D2 turned his head and answered in place of his companion.
"Bip bup dip dap tutudud!"
"So now you are the specialist in linguistics?" exclaimed C-3PO.
"Bib tup dip wiz bup beep!"
"How is this language familiar to you? As far as I know, you do not have a translator built into ..."
"C-3PO! Please!" the scavenger cut him off, unable to restrain her eagerness any longer.
"Forgive me Miss Rey ... This dialect is used by the Jawa people who live on a planet of the Outer Rim called Tatooine."
OooooO