1/1/2
She should be asleep.
Everything in Rey's body is screaming at her to roll back over, scoot in closer to Kylo, snuggle up to the warm, gently shifting lump of him under their nice, soft blankets, and go the fuck back to sleep.
It should be easy; she's warm, and soft, and sleepy, and quiet, and safe, and nothing to do for hours, and…
Her brain, on the other hand, is, for no reason she can ascertain, AWAKE!
Really awake.
Disconcertingly awake.
It's been… she glances at the chronometer… seven hours since they got home. Her body is tired. Her muscles are sore, and that's mind-boggling because it's not like she was doing anything hard. Other than, apparently, just standing or sitting around for hours on end, socializing, is hard.
Kylo is not awake. He's crashed out next to her, still smelling, very faintly, of last night's coffee and cologne. His eyes are flickering a bit behind their lids, and he's dreaming. So, he's very much not awake, at all.
He still curls around her, angling a bit so his mouth is on her shoulder, and she can feel the soft, easy brush of his breath on her skin.
She shifts a bit, carefully, feeling… right… That's why she's awake. Yes, she is tired and sore from too much standing around. Yes, there's a dull all-over sense of too much. And yes, all of that is annoying enough to have blurred the edge of the thing that's actually causing the problem. Namely, the bra she doesn't know how to get out of is poking her in the hip and armpits and it's really starting to hurt.
The closures are in the back. She knows Tasha spent… it felt like a long time, hooking them up and into place. There's a bow in the front, and ribbons lacing up, so… she unknots the bow, and gives everything a tug, and that at least lets her breathe a little easier, but it's still made to keep her posture nice and straight, so it's still poking her in the armpit and hip.
She sighs, shifts around some, tries to fall back to sleep, but it's there, nagging at her, annoying her.
Fuck it. She figures that if she rolls onto her stomach, she'll be able to get access to her back, and then somehow, she'll just… Use the Force or something, to make the damn thing come off, and that'll be that.
Step One: Roll Over, works perfectly.
Step Two: Do literally anything else is a massive fail because as soon as she's on her belly, Kylo follows her, snuggling in deep, arm thrown over her shoulders, leg across her hip and thigh, pinning her to the bed.
Unless she's going to wake him up, she's going nowhere.
She's thinking about it. Debating it. On her belly, she's stretched out, so it's not poking her as much. She could… maybe… She slows her breath down, and tries to focus on sleepy thoughts and feelings but as she's doing that, she notices that the weight of Kylo's arm is a bit less on her shoulders, and his lips, which had been just sitting against her shoulder, are definitely kissing, in an utterly unfocused, and potentially still asleep sort of way.
You awake?
No. Kiss, kiss, lick, kiss. That arm that lifted up for a moment just resettled itself on her butt, fingers curled around her hip, pulling her onto her side and snugging her butt right against his pelvis.
And she can feel exactly why he's done that. He's hot and hard behind her, and being rocked gently against her rear. Part of you is.
That part doesn't need to sleep. He's nuzzling the back of her neck, and his hand has wandered to cup her maomao, very gently, very relaxed, barely rocking the heel of his palm against her jewel.
He's breathing soft and easy, and she can feel the tired clinging to him, feel it behind her eyelids, too, and apparently enough of her annoyance at the bra is leaking through, because she feels his hands move, and then there's a sound, a… she doesn't know what that sound is, but she's got the feeling that her bra is not suppose to make that sound, but right now she doesn't care because he just gave it a hard pull, and she's free, and it's thwaping against the wall to fall to the floor.
"Thank you."
"Nmnr."
He's still behind her, so she can't see him, but she's fairly sure he didn't actually open his mouth to respond to that.
She settles back into him, feeling his lips on her shoulder and neck, and his body wrapped around hers. Comfortable again, feeling warm from his skin, and warm from his touch, her mind starts to wander a bit.
Dreaming. She half thinks, half dreams at him.
Mmmm…
Images start to dance behind her eyelids. Them, the night before, instead of standing in line forever, they've snuck off. The party is still on, a rumble of voices and intents behind them, but they're off, hidden from direct view, for a moment, as long as no one rounds the corner, or peeks behind the curtains.
Your dream?
His hand shifts a bit in response to that, one of his fingers slipping between her lips, seeking out her pearl. He's not moving much, any friction she's getting is coming from the slow roll of her own hips, but he's giving her something to rub against.
And lighting up her mind with the dream.
They don't have long. They've been looking at each other all night, playing with words and thoughts, but people keep watching. Expecting them to talk or listen. Finally, finally they've got a minute, or three, maybe five, but not longer than that.
And maybe less, if anyone turns that corner… The Master and his Lady, in public, together. The gossip would be scandalous.
He's behind her, kissing her shoulder and neck, hands on her breasts, trailing down, to her hips, pulling her skirts up.
She's reaching behind her, finding the zip on his trousers, feeling him hot and proud behind her, eager as she undoes the zipper and pulls him out.
His hands move fast, pulling up layer after layer of her skirt, each layer of fine silk trying to slow them down by attempting to slither out of his grasp. Finally he's got them all up, wrapped around his fist, pinned to her belly.
The air of the Supremacy is cool on her bottom, and his shaft is hot, and a little shift, an arc of her hips, real and fantasy, and he's slipping into her. In the dream, she stifles her groan by pulling his face to hers for a deep kiss.
In bed, they're mostly asleep, and whatever noises they make are muffled by sleep-slack lips.
In the dream, they have to go fast, anyone could walk over, anyone could see. She's facing the wall, and he's right behind her, hunched against her back, so they wouldn't see much, but anyone old enough to go to the party is old enough to recognize what they're up to. No one moves like that unless they're fucking.
In bed… Maybe they're moving, maybe not. The dream's doing most of the work, now.
In the dream… They've got to be quiet. The corner is blind, not silent. The party is whirling away on the other side of the curtain. And it's so difficult. He's slipping against her sweet and deep, and she's rocking her hips back, more friction, faster, deeper, lighting them both up. His hand on her belly keeps her pinned to him, keeps her hips at the right angle, so his body is just sweet, sweet, sweet pressure against hers and he drops that hand a bit lower, uncaring if her wet skin might leave a mark on the hem of her dress, or more likely, caring, because he likes the idea of it, knowing it's there, able to see it the rest of the night. He presses the palm of his hand, through the silks, against her delta, giving her more to rub against.
And she's rubbing, almost there, chasing her pleasure and his. She pulls his free hand to her mouth, sucks his index and middle finger keep from making noise, and that jerks the speed of his hips up, makes him hotter, harder.
She sucks again, arching back against him, and he's cursing in her mind, a litany of Fuck Rey! FUCK! Gods, love! FUCK!
His face is tight, hips and thighs, tight, body holding onto the edge with his fingernails, trying not to fall over until she does, but he's so close, and any little thing could put him over right now.
She rides him, rides of the feel of it through him, the hot, hard, heavy aching/yearn/need of his shaft in her, and her back arches as she's grinding against his hand. So… so… close. Just… She can feel the tingles about to start, and they both stiffen, hearing footsteps and voices, and they've got to be quiet, got to be still, they're going to get caught, but it feels so damn good, and they can't stop, not for anything, it's just too good.
She's breathing hard, heart galloping, and he's dropped her skirt, not caring if it gets dirty, hand fully under it, fingers on her pearl, steady, focused, fast, circling just the way she likes it.
He shifts his hand from her face to the wall, more stability, leaning into it, pushing further into her, moving faster.
She's half-turned, biting his arm, because her lips alone can't keep her moans muffled, and his head is buried in her hair, lips against her neck, as he's thrashing against, her, so deep and so fast, and just… almost…
Not…
Quite…
They're hanging there, moving fast and frantic in the dream, stuck, footsteps getting closer, bodies aching, almost able to taste the spurt that's coming but not able to reach it.
It's dream sex, and it feels amazing, both of them are more turned on, closer to spurting without spurting than they've ever been. Their brains are eager and active and wanting. But their bodies aren't moving, so Rey can't quite get over the line, and Kylo's just about killing himself to stay on the right side of it, because he knows he can topple like this, but he doesn't want to, not until she's quivering on him.
Finally, he pulls his real body awake enough to make his actual fingers move, just enough to give her some actual friction, and in a heartbeat she's quivering and shuddering against him. Her body, her real body rippling over his which is more than he needed. Dream him can feel the vibration of her voice through his sleeve, and her body clenching against his as he snaps his hips burying his shaft deep, deep into her. And he's gone, twitching, spurting from his toes to his eyelashes and everywhere in between, shouting against her shoulder, and both of them are very content.
And very, deeply, asleep.
Three hours later, they wake up again, significantly less tired, and stickier.
Shower. Breakfast. Not much to do right now. They knew it'd be a late night, so Rey didn't schedule anything for the morning, and Kylo's got nothing until the First Year Speech, and after that, more parties, though these are significantly less formal. The D, E, and F decks will all be open to the celebration, and everyone who's off-duty is invited to join in.
So, that's what they'll do. Go to each deck, walk around, share the party, talk to people, be approachable.
But that's later, now, they're just milling around. Resting. He's reading and re-reading his speech, practicing it in their bed. She's tidying up, and sees what Kylo did to her bra. It's not ripped, but the hooks and eyes that closed the back are bent out of shape.
He looks mildly chagrined about that, but mostly because he didn't really get to see her in it.
Looking at it he asks, "Do you have another major getting ready session?"
"No. A minor one. Hair and 'subtle' makeup. I'm not sure what that is. Clothing I can put on myself. Tasha says the whole thing should take about half an hour. You?"
He rolls his eyes. "I have permission to get ready in my own rooms, today." He thinks about that, too. "Did you have fun with Rose, yesterday?"
She shrugs, and flops onto the bed next to him. "Maybe. Some parts were… I don't know… Odd. 'How'd you two meet?' He kidnapped me. Cue the wincing. 'Where are you from?' Jakku. 'Don't say that! They'll think you had him blow it up."
"More wincing?" Kylo asks.
"More wincing. Watching Mirina order Rose and Finn to start attending these things and watching our backs was interesting."
Kylo thinks about it for a moment. "Would they?"
"I don't know. Rose and I are going to talk more. She, on her own, might. With Finn…"
"No." His voice is flat as he says it.
"Yeah. Poe maybe."
Kylo sniggers a little at that. "There's an image." Though as he thinks about it, he's realizing that Poe likely would be good at something like that. A few more years of growing up time, and Jacen likely would, too. Actually… a few more years, and Jacen would likely make an immensely talented spy.
"Planning ahead?" Rey can feel his mind spinning.
"Maybe. We'll have to see if something like that interest him."
"Something like…" She draws out the particulars of what he's thinking.
"Give him to Jon, stick an Ensign's uniform on him. He'd look the right general age, and no one pays much attention to people with that low of a rank. He could just go, listen, and… occasionally suggest to people to just keep talking about whatever it is."
She touches the pendent on her chest. "The Order of the Maji. Is that what I'm doing here, training the Maji Knights?"
Kylo shrugs. "If they want to be? The Jedi didn't have a choice about serving the Republic. The Maji… They can join the Order or not as they see fit."
She rolls onto her belly, looking at him. "The Order and The Maji?"
He puts the datapad to the side, and pulls her to him. "Realistically, yes. But as long as it's you and me in charge, it's The Order of The Maji. Maybe one day I'll hand this over to someone else, and it'll be The Order again, or maybe another Maji will replace me and keep it up. And one day you'll pass this on, and maybe that person won't have much use for whomever's in charge of the Order, and they'll split, but as long as it's us…"
She nods to that. Then sighs a bit. "You're not going to make them join us, will you?"
He scoffs. "No. But I have a feeling some will. He taps his own Maji token. As soon as I start wearing this openly, others will follow. Last night… You could see it, some of them are interested. Some of them may be interested in the philosophy. Some'll join for favor." He looks around at their cottage, and the bits of the Lirium he can glimpse through the one way window glass. "I don't want them coming here. Jon, or the Kinears maybe. I'll port them over, so they can't get there on their own, but…"
They can both imagine Lirium flooded with favor seekers and hangers on. Neither of them likes it.
"You think, instead of scouring the galaxy looking for people to recruit, I may be able to convince Poe to spend at least a few days a week on the Supremacy, and doing it there?" Kylo asks.
"You can ask. We've still got the same problem we had before. I can take maybe two more kids before I just can't take more of them, so… If he wants to do some sort of outreach for adults, or… Something like that… I'd be fine with it. Start… I don't know, the Second Church of the Maji, on the Supremacy or something like that. I could see that."
Kylo can sort of see that, too. "I told Jon, that after today was done, and likely after tomorrow and the day after, too, we'd sit down. You and I, him, Poe, the Kinears, Threepio, the Ticos if they'd consent to attend, Schiff and his wife maybe… Did you feel like she was part of his team, or more a hanger on?"
"I didn't pay much attention to her."
"I didn't either. And if she managed to spend eight hours next to us without either of us really noticing her, that means we should probably be paying attention to her."
Rey sighs. "Probably. So, you want all of us to get together…"
"Yeah, and start talking about what the Order of the Maji is, where we're going, why. An image of the balance, of how we're getting there, not just from my mind or yours."
He can feel her not say it. "Go ahead."
"If your Mom would sit in…"
That gets a sigh, too. "I'm wary of taking the advice of the person who lost the war."
"You're wary of seeing her again, and you know it."
He rolls his eyes at that. She's not wrong. She's the one who spent hours holding him after the last time they saw each other, so she's especiallynot wrong in this case.
But he isn't, either. Leia was dark. She could see the problems. She could destroy. She could lend her fire and anger to tearing down injustice, and she was good at it. But he feels like he's got all the dark they could possibly need for this project. He's not sure there's anything she can bring to the table that he can't.
He looks at himself, in bed, lying next to Rey, and can feel it. Feel his mother, her dark, and the light she was supposed to be building with.
She could imagine a better world, but her light… Her light wasn't strong enough to build it. Because her partner in the light ran away to build a school for Jedi, instead of joining her and securing the political platform they needed to thrive on. And, while he may be swayable on Leia joining the party, he'd much prefer Luke wasn't around.
Rey follows that thought. "Maybe." And again, she looks out to the settlement around them. "Would you call this running away?"
"I don't want to. This is… important. I can feel that. It needs to happen, but…" He bites his lip. "My stuff needs to happen, too. All of this. It's supposed to go together. You and I, together. I can't do this without you, and I don't think you can do this without me. You feel it, right?"
She kisses him. "I feel it."
His hand trails down her side. "That's probably why we're lovers and not siblings. It's keeping us attached to each other in a way we just wouldn't be if we were siblings. They didn't see each other for years at a time, and I don't think I can go more than a few days without seeing you.
She kisses him again. "Lucky for you, I'm not going anywhere." She glances at the chronometer. "Except the Supremacy, because we're getting close to time to get ready again."
Getting ready with each other is nice. Granted, he thinks the hair/cosmetics droids look silly. They're hovering over Rey doing something to her hair and face. He certainly doesn't mind the results, though.
Rey rolls her eyes at that. "Do men do this?"
He sighs, eyeing it, and then glancing in the mirror next to their bed. It's abundantly clear he's tired. "If you so much as breathe a hint of that to Jon, he'll have me sitting in front of one of those things every damn day."
"If I have to do it…"
He eyes it, wondering… "Do you think it's got something like the color of my skin?" It's got her skin tone matched perfect, and something on her cheeks and lips, and right now, she looks like all she's been doing is lazing around in warm sunshine after a lot of happy fucking. She's rested and glowing, and… yes, he doesn't mind seeing this on her, at all.
"Wait, you might…" She'd been teasing him, not expecting him to actually do something about it.
"You look better without the black circles under your eyes from staying up late last night. I probably would, too, and they're going to broadcast this, and then we've got more parties, so… It's probably useful to not look tired…" He's talking himself into it. "So… It doesn't hurt, right?" It's doing something to her eyelashes, and he's not sure about that. Very not sure that he can stay still with something that close to his eyeball, touching him.
She's being very still, probably because of whatever it's doing to her lashes. Making them darker and longer, apparently. "It doesn't hurt. And I think it's supposed to be able to color match your skin."
Kylo glances in the mirror again, and he thinks about how many cameras are going to be on him in less than an hour. "So, sure, I'll give it a shot. There's time to wash it off if it's awful."
It's not awful. At all. Other than it kept trying to cover the scar and most of his moles. It took some fiddling to get it to stop that, but once it knew what it was supposed to do…the results are… Pretty good, actually. He doesn't look like he stayed up all night the night before. And the damn thing is significantly better at dealing with his hair than he is. It's pulled back tidy and sleek much faster than he can do it.
"It feels weird. Like my face is…not mine."
Rey's nodding along at that, as she slips into her outfit for this. Since today is about him with The Order, as opposed to yesterday where he was The Order, he's in his Command Blacks, making it clear that he's one of them. And she's putting on her own version of that. The hiyanfu is snug around her waist, falling to her thighs, and the pattern is light pinks and greens. It's soft and pretty, and her hair is up, but she's not covered in swirly silks and glittering jems.
The only jewelry she's wearing are the two pieces she intends to never take off again. Her marriage band and the mark of the Order of the Maji.
C8 taps on the door before entering. "Good, you're almost ready. Lt. Colonel Frakes will be here shortly."
"Okay," Kylo says.
Jon doesn't say anything about the makeup to Kylo but he does nod with approval, and then says to Rey, "If I thought I could have gotten him to do that, I would have tried yesterday."
Rey smirks, a bit.
Kylo rolls his eyes before saying, "Yesterday, I didn't look like I'd been up all night the night before."
Ten minutes to go. They're in the same chamber he was in this time last year. Overlooking a lot more people, spread out in uncountable numbers, waiting, for him… Them.
It's different. This time, they're faces. Millions, literally, of faces waiting. Some of them still have Stormtrooper armor, especially the ones who aren't normally stationed on the Supremacy, but these days, unless they're fighting, most of his people are bare-faced.
Next year, save his security people, (who hopefully won't need armor) all of them will be bare-faced for this. Allowing everyone to see them, allowing their own, personal selves to attach to the Order.
Seeing all of them, kilometer after kilometer of them, spread out around the stage… Both of them are getting nervous.
Kylo steps to Rey, turns her so she's not looking at them, and rests his forehead against hers. Giving and taking comfort. He's balanced on a moment between his own jitteriness, because he is feeling that high buzz of nervous that goes with things like this, and her own, deeper, sharper fear of the changes that are coming, and the sense, deep in both of them, that this is right and necessary. But right doesn't mean easy or fearless.
For a moment, they just breathe. He can feel her hand in his, and a sense of feel it and let it flow.
Let it pass through you.
Advice from Luke? she thinks.
A long time ago.
And here, now?
He breathes again, his hand in hers, his forehead on hers, in and out. Together, they find the balance point.
Her voice in his mind. It's not calm, not peaceful, but aware and centered, stable, excited, active, but with purpose.
He nods, and passes the feeling back to her. Ready to move when the time is right, but it's not right, not yet. He's felt this before, in his fight, in the moments where he's been able to slow time down between heartbeats, hyper aware of everything around him, looking for the edge to sneak his blade into.
She feels that, adds an image of him, one he obviously could not see, because it's him, waiting a beat, two, for the next strike against the Praetorian Guard.
"Different sort of battle," he says, using his voice this time.
She'd nod, but that would mean moving her head, so she just squeezes his hand.
And for a moment, they wait, like that, balanced, with each other.
They jerk a little, when they hear a voice, Leia's voice, say, to Rey, "I may have been wrong. This is how you thought it would work out, didn't you?"
Rey feels Kylo drawing closer to her, stiffening, wrapping his arm around her, and she's not sure if he's protecting her or himself. Likely a bit of both.
It's clear though, from the half-smile on her face, the Leia doesn't mean any harm.
Rey thinks back, remembering being on the beach, at Lirium, alone with Leia, the warmth of Kylo's body cooling quickly on her back, and the smell of him still on her skin. Leia telling her that it wasn't going to go the way she thought it would, and that she was so in love. Unspoken, but indicated, that she wasn't seeing reality, because of said love.
For a heartbeat, she wonders what glorious futures Leia dreamed of with Han, futures that never did, and never could, happen.
Rey wraps an arm around Kylo's waist, and gives him a little squeeze. "It's not how I thought it'd work out." Her finger touches his marriage band. "It's better."
Leia smiles. She's looking at both of them, seeing them together for the first time. Her appraising look gets Kylo to speak.
"Mom…" Kylo's voice is tight, and it's clear from the look on his face that he's feeling delicately balanced enough right now, so he'd really appreciate not having his heart ripped out right this particular second.
"I'm not here to rain on you. We're not going to fight… I didn't do this enough before, but…" Now Leia looks a little nervous. "Encouragement. You were named for a last hope in a dark time, and I know that name… didn't work for you… Probably because it got muddied up with too many other things, but when you get out there, and give that speech, you're going to give a lot of people hope.
"And you asked once, what Ben was supposed to be… And… before everything else, before you were born, before… all of it, Ben was hope. Hope for a future better than the present he was born in and the past that created him. And I thought you'd… like to hear me say it, that you're doing good. That you're giving people hope. That this matters."
He's squeezing Rey's hand so hard it's starting to hurt, but she doesn't poke him, or make him stop, because she can feel that right now is what he considers a really bad time to break down crying, and this is what's keeping him from doing that.
He nods, chewing on his lip, voice gravelly, and says, "Thanks, Mom."
Leia leans up to kiss his cheek, and of course he can't feel it, but his eyes close and he shudders a bit. Then Leia's gone, and he's standing there with Rey, both of them quiet and a bit shocked. His hand slowly loosens from hers, and she says to him, "After. There'll be time after for that."
He nods, still chewing on his lip.
Jon knocks on the door. "Five minutes."
Rey shakes her hands, jittering with them, feeling a buzz of electricity, and her doing it, giving movent to that feeling breaks through him, and he starts to jump up and down, like her, doing something physical and active, just to get it out.
That lasts a minute, and then they're both feeling a little more settled.
He takes her hand in his, and looks at the door. "Ready?"
She nods. "Yeah, I am. Let's go."
"We'll be a little early."
She shrugs. "So what? I'm ready to move now, and you are, too."
And they are, so they do, and amazingly enough, no one seems to care if they move from one waiting area to another one a few minutes ahead of schedule.
This time last year, he was the only one up on this stage.
This time he's not alone. Jon chose not to be up here. He's still preferring to fly under-the-scanners, though after last night, more people have noticed him, so his under-the-scanners days are numbered and that number is dropping.
Rey's here, though, at his left. Kinear and Schiff are here, behind and to his right. Next year, he's sure there'll be more of them. More trusted seconds and thirds in command. More alliances and allies he'll wish to honor or highlight.
He can feel Rey's a little fidgety, still not exactly sure why she's here. Not sure what she adds to this. He flashes her the sense of him squeezing her hand, and thinks At the very least, you make me feel less nervous about doing things like this.
That gets a little mental smirk out of her. And at most?
At most, it's about time they know their queen. At most, maybe one day you'll decide to stand up here with something of your own to say. At most, Mistress Rey of the Maji, you get to spread the balance, faster and farther than you ever dreamed of.
She smiles at him. Go give your speech.
He settles himself in front of the podium and into the feel of it, a waiting breath, reading the crowd, they're eager and content, approving, a little bored, looking forward to getting to the fun stuff.
Probably as good as he could hope for.
He gives Rey another little mental hand squeeze and feels her squeeze back, and then takes one more breath before starting to speak.
"It's the most dangerous idea in the galaxy, and we're living it. No one, no matter how high born, or how low, no matter how light or dark, wealthy or poor, need ever kneel before a leader not of their choosing.
"Power doesn't come from the biggest gun or the fastest ships. It doesn't come from magic or faith. It's not about fear or sweet words.
"Power, real power, comes from accord. It comes from people, millions and billions of them deciding to put their will to a task and doing it.
"This time last year, there were 2.3 million of us, moving together to a joined future, to a better galaxy.
"As of today, there are six million, one hundred and eleven thousand, four hundred and nineteen of us. And we are growing, fast. We are here because we want to be, because we chose to work with each other for this.
"We are here to overthrow the idea that people are subjects, servants, things to be played with, moved around like pieces on a board. We're here to flood the galaxy with the idea that everyone has a destiny of their own making, of their own chosing, and everyone has full rights to do what they need to do to get there.
"My recruiting stations are spreading. Eventually, every major city in the galaxy will have one, and from there…
"Five years. That's all it takes. Five years service buys anyone in the galaxy perfect freedom. Join me and stay with me, or do your five and go wherever you like, be whatever, whoever you like. Five years gets you mobility. It gets you the ability to conceive a better life and move to it. Five years gets you a voice. It gets you the power to spread the idea of that better life around. It gives you the ability to give that better life to your children.
"It's all anyone needs. Just the chance to reach out and grab your future, your destiny.
"And I stand here, today, with the rest of the Order, and promise that chance is there. Reach out for us, and we will come. It will take time, but eventually, anyone, anywhere, who wants to burn their past, start over fresh, and embrace their future will have a home with us.
"And from there… The only thing between you and your dreams is the effort you're willing to put into it.
"From there, the idea will spread, that the only thing of any real value in this galaxy is people. Minerals, energy, tools, equipment, land, space… all of it is useless without people.
"And from there…" He smiles at this. "From there, every system will understand, that if it wants to keep people, it's got to create governments worthy of them.
"Like I said, it's the most dangerous idea in the galaxy. No one, ever, anywhere, need kneel before a leader not of their choosing. No one need exist and bear it. A better life is out there, waiting, and anyone who wishes can reach for it. And if your current leaders won't give you the chance at it, I will.
"We're changing the galaxy. We're changing the rules of the game. And we're doing it one person, one family at a time.
"This is a job that will never be done, but the value comes from doing it, from spreading this idea, from granting as many people as we can get the ability to make their own decisions, chose their own lives, and offer them control of their own futures.
"In the last year our numbers more than doubled. This year, they'll likely triple. And we will continue to grow. We will spread throughout the galaxy. Lighting it on fire with our ideas.
"In six years, there should be close to a hundred million of us in the Order.
"In six years we should have close to twenty million citizens, and in six years all twenty million of you will have your vote. You'll chose your representatives, and from there, we'll start making plans for what we're going to do, beyond expand this idea through the entirety of the stars.
"To the other systems out there, to the political powers that be, I have one thing to say, 'Do better.' Offer your people a better deal than I do, and you'll never have anything to fear from me.
"To every person out there, everyone who can hear my voice, everyone who can catch a whisper of a rumor of what I'm doing, look around. Do you have the life you want? Can you get to where you need to be? If not, I'm here, and five years with me will get you what you need to go where you want to be.
Kylo extends his hand. "If you want a better life, a better galaxy, come join me."
And again, he feels the power of it, the force of his people, millions of them in this ship alone, thrumming with approval. Cheering. Him, his plans, themselves, each other, feeling like there's nothing at all, they can't do.
The galaxy, the universe, is theirs for the shaping, and they're going to make it into something bold and beautiful.
He didn't plan it. Not this part. He knew he was going to reach out, but… But it's right. He turns to her, hand outstretched, this time in joy, not despair.
She's looking up at him, from his hand to his eyes, and he sees the smile light her gaze first, before it touches her lips.
He feels Rey's hand in his, her fingers twining with his, and he grins down at her.
He can remember reaching a hand out to her, in a burning throne room, begging her to join him, offering her his everything. He remembers the feel of that moment, of his universe on fire, and hers spinning out of control, and the future leaking away from them.
She touches him now, stepping closer, her hand in his, her fingers on his, and a promise made long ago in glimpses of the future is here, now, real.
She smiles at him, also feeling that moment more than two years past. Seeing his eyes, burning and desperate before, wide and triumphant now.
She squeezes his hand again, smiling still, looking up at him, and thinks, Yes.
His breath catches in his chest, this is real and now, and they're going to do it.
He rubs his lips together, nods quickly, decides decorum be damned, pulls her to him in a sweeping kiss, and thinks Yes back at her as both of them feel the combined approving amusement of millions of minds sweep over them at this display of affection.
The galaxy is theirs, and it's time to move forward in it, together.
Notes:
And, once again, we'll leave them there, hovering at the end of another book of their story, poised to move onto the next.
Is there a next? Yes. As a lot of you have remarked, I write fast. That said, I don't write *that* fast. In order to do my nifty twice weekly update schedule, and make art (the AO3 version of the story is illustrated!), I need a good long head start.
Right now, Book Three of the Tao of the Force-verse, Public/Private, is about 150 pages long. I'll hopefully have it close to 300-400, with every major chapter planned out and at least sketched, before I start posting again round about Christmas-time. (Merry Christmas to us! After all, if Disney won't give us a new movie this year, I might as well get another book into play. :)
What's coming up next? Rey and Kylo moving from being Rey and Kylo to the Master and the Mistress of the Order of the Maji. Learning how to be public figures. Figuring out what the hell they're actually doing with this Order of the Maji thing. In this installment, we followed Dark Order and Light Maji as they both continued to balance and find something to do with themselves. In the next installment we're going to expand outward, more time with Light Order (Jon) and Dark Maji (Poe). More time with what the balance is and means and does and how it's seen outside of just Kylo and Rey. We're going to play with our teenage Maji, see them exploring their wider worlds and selves. And of course, we've got Rose and Finn, and the concept of dark and light neutral, and what they're up to, and how they fit into the idea of balance. And, also, of course, of course, we've got wily old people who've seen it all, done most of it, and are hatching plans within plans within plans. And, because I'm a romantic at heart, we'll wrap all of that together, all of this learning, and politics, and being, and loving. All of the identity and figuring out where Rey and Kylo end, and the Master and the Mistress begin, into, not just one, but TWO weddings.
Yeah, that's right, I'm gonna give you two weddings. A public one, and a private one. A wedding for Rey and Kylo, and an affairs of state, formal, gala for the Master and the Mistress.
So, take this as your save the date card, because soon, you'll get a note in your inbox saying you are cordially invited to share in the wedding of Kylo and Rey Ren.
Follow me here, or keep track of me on twitter (at KerylRaist), tumblr (kerylraist dot tumblr dot c o m) or ko-fi (kofi dot com / kerylraist) or the blog (kerylraist dot wordpress dot com). I'll periodically post bits and pieces online, sneak peeks, behind the scenes bits, what sort of art stuff I'm doing, and whatnot.
When I'm ready to go live, I will update this story one last time with a "new stuff coming soon" post.
Until then, I've loved writing this, love you guys for reading it, had a blast with all of your comments, and I'll see you soon!
Keryl