*peaks from around a wall* Oh hi. Long time no see. *avoids the thrown fruits*
I KNOW. SIX MONTHS. HOW COULD I?
I'm an asshole, I'm aware. I started to wrap this up around one of the last weeks of Spring semester and then I went home and had everything jampacked into two months of summer and then Fall semester started and I turned 21 (does that mean I'm adulting better now? OF COURSE NOT), and then when I decided I REALLY needed to finish this, what little I had typed couldn't be found (I think I typed it up on which deletes documents after like.. a month?) and that just made me angry so I put it off for another month and then Xfinity is being really bitchy and wasn't letting me watch TFA and yeah.. excuses...
WELL GUESS WHAT? THIS ASSHOLE'S BACK.
And finishing this shit. Although I'm still iffy about where to end this. Where TFA ends? I suppose so. I could write more, but I don't really know what I'd write so if you have suggestions, feel free to Review with them.
But hey, one nice thing about deleting my chapter? It's better than it was, that's for sure.
Enjoy, nerds, and I'll have the last (?) chapter up soonish. Not promising anything, of course, but it's coming.
#BlameXfinity
~TheObsessory
To The Stars and Back
Chapter 22; Takodana
A Fanfiction written by TheObsessory
"No!"
I shot up, wakened from my slumber by the movement of the bed and a yell that arose from the body next to me.
In the growing light of the morning, I could see Poe's shirt blotched with sweat, beads of the liquid dripping from the edge of his hair to trail down to join the stains.
Poe.
I breathed a sigh of relief, despite the fear in his eyes. He was back and safe and alive. But tortured. I could only guess it was a cruel nightmare reminiscent of his torturing he awoke from so urgently. He flinched back from the reach of my hand, and although it pained me to see him this way, I knew it wasn't meant personally.
I slowly sat up, pushing myself up to the top of the bed. I sat on his pillow with my legs crossed in front of me, placing my hands gently on his shoulders. The muscles stiffened momentarily, but when I did not remove them a whispered soft words into his ear, they relaxed, and he allowed me to pull him backwards, resting his upper back against my chest and the back of his head between my shoulder and neck.
I pushed my cheek gently against his, continuing in my soft speech. My arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders, one of his own shaking hands grasping my own.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." I whispered, a few tears watering my eyes. He was terrified. Someone had done such horrible things to him, not just physically, but mentally as well. They had done something to him that a stitch could not close. That a bandage could not cover. That an ointment could not soothe. And who knew how long it would take to heal? "I'm sorry I don't know how to help you."
"Just hold me." He murmured back, his voice stronger than he appeared, "I'll be fine."
I kissed his cheek gently, the grown out stubble scratching at the sensitive skin of my lips. But it just made me all the more glad that he was here.
Both of our devices beeped simultaneously, and Poe was back to his usual work persona. Pulling away from my embrace, he scanned the screen, reading the words with such an urgency, I was worried he might miss some information.
When he looked back up, a gleeful smirk was pushing his cheeks up and there were tears in his eyes.
"They've found BB-8."
I sat up straight, a million questions rolling through my mind.
"On Takodana. They're sending a party there to get him right now. Both you and I are in the line-up if we're well enough. Sid?"
"As if you need to ask me. I think it's you we should be wondering about." I responded, an eyebrow raised.
"I'm fine." My questioning gaze was unsure of that, "Honest. Besides, I need to see this out. I got him into this mess."
"Alright. Then let's go get him."
I began to gather my belongings together to go get ready in my own room when Poe pulled me towards him, his lips seizing mine in a kiss that left me lightheaded.
"You'll marry me, won't you?" He whispered against my lips when we parted for air.
"Well you didn't wait all this time for me to say no, did you?" I chuckled, my fingers playing with the hair at the base of his neck.
"As soon as possible?"
"Poe, one day at a time. What's the rush? I'm not going anywhere, neither are our father's or Cerys. And with the Resistance and all this fighting-"
"As soon as possible." This time it was a demand, not a question.
I could only guess why he didn't want to wait. Perhaps it was the wasted years? Or perhaps he was afraid. Afraid of what may happen should the Resistance fail in retrieving BB-8. Afraid of what may happen when we are unable to find Luke, to find our hope. Afraid of me dying? Afraid of him-?
"Alright." I pushed such thoughts away. And with a gentle peck to his forehead, I left to prepare.
"Come on BB-5, we haven't got much longer. They're going to leave without us whether we want them to or not." Despite only having a couple of hours of sleep under my belt, I was ready to jump back into the fight.
I paused in my adjusting of my bright orange jumpsuit, watching Poe as he hurried around his own ship, calling commands to the temporary droid he had borrowed in the absence of BB-8. Though I worried for him, I knew that when he put his mind to it, there would be no stopping him, and he was determined to get his little droid back.
And that was when I began to hear the screams and calls of my fellow pilots and other members of the Resistance. But upon glancing around, I saw everyone's eyes locked to the skies in horror. Looking up, I saw what had prompted the screams: a bright red beam was making it's way slowly across the sky, it's path set as it flew in a straight line. Although we were on the outer rim of the galaxy, the red beam was still very clear against the blue of the sky.
It seemed to take ages, but at the same time, only seconds, to reach its destination and explode, and although I was unsure where exactly that was, I heard a nearby pilot whisper it.
"Hosnian Prime."
The air in my lungs left, I felt as though someone had run at me full force and knocked every ounce of breath clean out of me. I took a few steps forward, my knees weak and my body unresponsive as though I was in an unruly dream. It had to be a dream.
The moment I could stand no longer, Poe caught me in his arms, his own face lost in the confusion of the moment. Did he know his father was there? That Cerys-
Just the thought of her name caused a scream to escape my lips. I struggled against Poe's strong arms holding me in place.
"Let go of me!" I screamed, thrashing back and forth, "We have to get her!"
The floodgates were broken as the tears began, my pulling and hitting at Poe began to weaken as the sobs overtook me.
"Sid, can you feel anything?"
I struggled to understand his words as I tried to breathe, as I tried to stay awake, to fight the lightheadedness that confused my mind.
He took my cheeks in either hand, forcing me to look at him.
"Can you feel anything?" He repeated slowly, "You knew. You knew when my mother was in danger and you knew when I was in danger, so answer me this: were Cerys and my father in danger?"
I shook my head, unable to force words from my lips.
"Then they're safe." He breathed, his fingers tracing my cheeks to catch any falling tears.
"You can't know that." I gasped, "I don't know-"
"Don't doubt yourself." He was stern now, his brown eyes fierce, "You haven't been wrong once. Come on, we've got to get to Takodana before any more lives are lost."
Despite my fear and the tears that still refused to stop, Poe's belief that what I was feeling, or in this case, not feeling, kept me going. I mindlessly readied my ship next to my squadron. I knew it was dangerous to not have my thoughts solely on the work in front of me, but it was no use. I couldn't shake the fact that, despite Poe was most undoubtedly right about my feelings, Cerys was not here and I had no idea where she was or what her condition was.
We jumped into lightspeed once we cleared D'qar, and I was given a moment to drop everything and breathe.
And as I sat there, thinking about my sister and Kes, willing anything to give me a sign, nothing came to me. No good, no bad. Maybe that was my sign. Poe was right. I had to focus on what we were doing now. I couldn't let the First Order hurt anyone else. Not ever again.
We came out of lightspeed just outside of Takodana. It was in that moment I realized I had never been here before. The planet looked lush and green, covered in lakes and tropical jungles. It was hard to believe anything evil could even touch this planet.
We entered the atmosphere near to where Maz Katana's outpost was located, racing over a small lake toward the battle.
TIE fighters littered the air, and little white specs covered the ground, scattering this way and that as we arrived.
"Go straight at 'em, don't let these thugs scare you!" Poe's voice jumped over the radio, calming my nerves.
"Copy that." Jessika Pava's voice crackled next, followed by Snap's, "We're with you, Poe"
I began my pursuit of the TIE's, taking all my anger- anger that I hadn't realized that was boiling in my veins -out on them. I made sure my radio was muted as I began to curse at each and every TIE I blew from the sky, cursing them for causing the galaxy so much pain, for hurting my family, for causing me to worry about them.
Poe, of course, didn't mute his mic and couldn't contain his joy as he raced across the sky, shooting TIE after TIE into scrap metal.
The battle only lasted a mere few minutes, as the First Order hadn't planned on our being there. They soon began to recall troops from the ground as we were busy eliminating TIEs, and as quickly as we had arrived, they disappeared, leaving Maz Katana's outpost a pile of rubble.
We stuck around as some ground troops landed to pick up any survivors and check the perimeter in case any Storm Troopers hadn't fled, and of course, pick up BB-8, but once again we were on our way home.
I was one of the first to land, and greeted Poe as he climbed out of his X-wing, helmet still snug on his head.
"You were fantastic." I said with a light smile, the back of my mind still searching for anything on Cerys.
Poe pulled his helmet off, his hair sticking up in wild places as he glanced my way, but before any words could be exchanged, a blip from the ground caught both of our attentions.
"BB-8, my buddy!" Poe crouched before the dirty droid, looking over the bumps he now sported, "It's so good to see you."
BB-8 beeped in response, getting straight to the point.
"Finn saved you?" I could only guess that Finn was the Stormtrooper that had helped him escape, "Where is he?"
BB-8's little head swiveled to the side and both Poe and I glanced over to see a tall, dark skinned man with a very confused expression on his face and Poe's jacket on his back.
Before I could say anything, the two of them were rushing toward each other and once they met, embraced.
I allowed them a moment to catch up, slowly walking over as the conversation was ending with Poe's, "You're a good man, Finn."
"I think it's safe to say you're the one who saved Poe?"
Poe turned to stand by Finn's side, his hand on his shoulder. The darker man glanced to Poe before look back toward me with a nod.
I quickly wrapped my arms around him in a hug, "I owe you everything."
After a few awkward moments of keeping his arms outstretched, Finn's arms wrapped around me as well for a quick squeeze.
When I pulled back, I took Poe's hand in mine and flashed him a smile.
"Sidra? Sid!"
My heartbeat stopped as I turned and saw my sister, whole and unhurt, a few paces off, Kes and our father not too far behind.
I released Poe's hand and began to run straight for her, unable to suppress the happy tears that leaked from my eyes. Cerys began to run as well and we crashed into each other, our arms instinctively wrapping around each other and pulling us closer together.
I could say no words as I was overwhelmed with emotion, and choked at the knot in my throat, hardly able to breathe.
"I'm fine, Sid!" Cerys's voice was raw with emotion, "Stop crying."
I held her tightly and sobbed, swinging her back and forth.
"How?" I was finally able to speak, despite the knot that refused to leave.
"I don't know." Cerys gasped back, "Something just felt… wrong."
I pulled away from her, studying her face. So my sister had this knowledge as well.
"Just… you're never allowed to leave my sight again, you hear me?" I laughed, the tears still streaming, as I ran my hand through what little hair she hadn't cut off.
"Oh stop your crying. I'm fine, Poe's alive. Everything is fine." Cerys swatted my hand away playfully before drying her cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket.
"Everything's not fine." Finn spoke up from where he stood, BB-8 at his feet, a serious look to his dark eyes, "I need your help."
Woo, that was a quick chapter. And like I could kill off Cerys and Kes? Like Poe needs any more stress...
I dunno, people always play Poe off as having no problems after the torture but like ? He just had someone probe his mind? His deepest, darkest secrets were unearthed with a flick of a finger. That'd be enough to torment any one, I feel.
Anyway, expect the last (?) chapter soon. Maybe I'll end off with the wedding...
WE'LL SEE.
Bye nerds.
Till next time.
~TheObsessory
