Reylo: Scenes from Episode 9
I.
Even rebels must sleep.
Outside a purple haze fades into indigo, then black. No stars are visible. The air is warm and moist, filtering in from the jungle. Vanilla and cedar sifting through the windows. Soldiers fall into their cots and the dreams that await them.
The halls of the base are silent. Most of the rooms here are empty, the bodies that gave them life burned on the battlefield. Here and there a warm glow from the cell inside – but mostly darkness. At the end of a corridor, far from the others, a childish whimper emanates. At first it is a low tremble, but in the absence of an answer it becomes a battle cry.
"Ben."
Rey rolls over in her sleep, throwing off the thin coverlet. Her skin is pink and pulsing.
"Ben."
She may have been anywhere. A cave, a forest. Someplace else entirely.
"Ben!"
Rey sits bolt upright, almost colliding with the figure of Kylo Ren at the foot of her cot. He is perfectly visible despite the low light, and even with her eyes closed she would have seen him clearly. Her panic halts as confusion sets in.
"What are you doing here?"
"You called me," he responds calmly. He meets her eyes without shame.
Rey becomes dimly aware that his name had been on her lips moments before. She can't remember why.
"And so you came?"
"Apparently."
She rises from her bed and looks about her carefully before turning back to face him. He shouldn't be here.
"I thought Snoke made the connection."
"As did I."
"But he's gone!"
"Yes."
At this Rey becomes angry. He's so difficult. He used to be so mesmerized by this connection, and now he accepts it without question. Through gritted teeth, she asks, "Then why are you here?"
He rolls his eyes up to look at her and spreads his hands. "I assure you that I had no choice in the matter."
An interesting development. "Nor did I."
Something like pride lingered in his eyes. "You were screaming for me when I arrived."
Damn. "How long were you sitting there?"
"Long enough." Kylo Ren stands up to join her, the bemused expression on his face replaced by something harder. "What did you see?"
What had she seen? She had no idea. A vague impression of fire, of death. It could have been the past, or the present.
"It doesn't matter." And it would be best not to tell him.
"I disagree," he intones.
Of course he did. "What difference would it make? You made your choice. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. You threw away the chance to stand together. To create something new."
His eyes widen, and for a moment Rey's hand twitches towards her belt where her lightsaber should be.
"That choice was yours," he spat. Kylo Ren's face shone with rage. All she feels from him is sadness. Wave upon wave of despair. She chokes on the tears that rush from her throat as he whips around.
"Will you be back?"
He looks back at her, small and bright as she faded from view. "I don't think I have a choice."
XXXXXXXXX
II.
They chose Soltan for its bare landscape. Nowhere to hide on this ball of rock. Each comes in a small fighter, for a single hour. A galactic ceasefire that bought no one the time they needed.
Without General Organa, with their forces utterly depleted, the Resistance had nothing to lose in negotiations. Perhaps in that crucial hour reinforcements would arrive, or someone would come up with a plan to save them. In the interim, Rey would speak for them.
Kylo Ren is here for her.
Two ships sink below the clouds in unison, landing on opposite sides of the plain. A moment's hesitation while each of them breathes deeply, readying themselves. And then they descend. Steady steps bring them to the middle.
"I am here to represent the Resistance," Rey announces clearly.
Kylo Ren merely stares.
"We wish to negotiate a ceasefire," she insists.
"You wish to run your lightsaber through me," he responds evenly.
Rey swallows and closes her eyes briefly. "I am not here for myself."
He considers her. There is little to be gained here – so few Resistance fighters remain that they could be picked off over the next week and no one would notice. But this hour gives him time.
"What is it you have to offer?"
"Our allegiance." She doesn't attempt to hide her derision.
"And?"
Her eyes flash dangerously at him. "What else do you want?"
"You know what I want."
Rey closes her eyes and swallows.
"You could still join me," Kylo Ren continues. "It's not too late. You could save your friends." Her eyes open. "You could save many of the things you hold dear. Think of what we could build."
She has. So many times, she questioned her decision. Perhaps she could have saved the Resistance. But she knew what Leia would say about the cost.
"Your mother would be so disappointed."
It was a step too far. His face crumples and he steps back. Somehow, he had been sure she couldn't hurt him again. How blind.
"Then there is nothing left to discuss." Kylo Ren begins to turn.
"How come it's always your choice?" she throws at him. "How come only you issue the ultimatums? Have you never considered that YOU might join ME?"
His eyebrow arches. He turns back. "Me? The Supreme Leader of the First Order? What can you possibly have to offer me?"
On an impulse, she grabs his gloved hand. "You won't be alone."
For a moment time seems to slow, and they are suspended. She had reached for him. And he could have remained there for an eternity.
"Ben."
Her voice brings him back. Without a word, he drops her hand and strides back to his ship. She is still watching him as he finds safety in the clouds.
XXXXXXXX
III.
Back at headquarters, Kylo Ren finds himself restless. He has taken to pacing the halls at all hours. Stormtroopers assiduously avoid him, though he no longer lashes out. He simply walks, as though looking for something. He can't shake the feeling that something is missing, something he cannot quite place.
Days pass, perhaps weeks. He has stopped tracking time, too distracted to give proper orders or create new battle plans. These he leaves to Hux, whose treachery grows more palpable by the hour. Kylo Ren is only mildly surprised to find himself uninterested in his general's backstabbing.
Early one morning he begins ransacking his quarters, looking for something to organize his mind, something to touch, something to fix. Briefly, Kylo Ren holds his mask, but finds that it brings him an almost physical pain. Behind his vast collection of black cloaks, he sees something else. A small wooden box, secreted away where he had hoped never to find it. With a ragged sigh, he opens it. His Jedi robes, and the lightsaber his Uncle Luke had helped him craft.
At one time these had brought him near to anguish. Now he looks at them with regret. There had been a great many problems with Jedi life, but after a turbulent boyhood, their practices had brought him peace. He had not realized what a treasure that was until it was gone.
He wonders…
Setting down the box, he sits cross-legged on the floor, stiff with injury and ill use. Nevertheless, he lays his palms lightly on his knees, as his uncle had shown him, and breathes deeply. The smell of the sea comes to him immediately, with such strength that he gasps. He is back. The only place that ever felt like a home. Like all of his homes, he was sure it had been lost. He closes his eyes and remembers the hard stone, the smell of wet earth and creeping plants. And when his eyes open, the twin suns are directly overhead, and the music of the waves reverberates below.
Kylo Ren tests a rusty smile. He reaches out with the Force, feels the life trembling around him. He is so small. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he hears Uncle Luke telling the students how large the universe is, and how each life is precious, yet destined to end. That everywhere death and life created balance. A balance that, once upon a time, he had been able to feel in his own body.
He felt her rather than saw her.
"Save me."
Rey would have cried, if she had any tears left. After witnessing so much destruction, she was hollow. This moment was one too many.
"I can't."
It's true – this is beyond her power to heal. Briefly, he had believed her capable of anything, an angel sent to bring him back. But some things could not be changed.
"Because it's too late for me." He had known for some time. When he had passed the mark was a matter for debate, but he is surely beyond redemption now.
Rey sits beside him, her legs arranged identically. She puts one hand on his knee, and the energy is nearly enough to break him. It has been a long time since he was touched.
"It's never too late." Rey clasps his hand. "You can come back with me."
But he can't hear her now. Her touch brings back too many memories, crushed under the weight of the Dark side. He feels his mother's kiss on his cheek, his uncle's arm around his shoulder. Unbidden, Han Solo's face swims into vision, his father's gruff hugs beneath a smile glowing with pride.
"I have nothing to come back for." Kylo Ren turns to face her. "Do you think they'll welcome me in? With open arms? Forgive the terrors I visited on their friends, their families…their children?"
Rey presses her lips together. She has thought of this herself, so many times. The logistics of it seem impossible, despite what her heart says.
"Not everyone. But enough. And they need you. They need your knowledge."
Kylo Ren scoffs. "I barely know what the First Order is doing anymore."
She brushes that aside. "Not that." She reconsiders. "Though that would help immensely. But Ben, somewhere in this galaxy there are people just like us. Those who can feel the Force. Those who can use it. And others who need their protection." She smiles, that childish smile that melts him. "You can teach them."
"Teach them the Dark side? Teach them murder, and hate, and anger? I don't think they'd thank me for it." Snoke's lessons echo through the back of his mind. Agony, a blistering pain through his body and his heart. Cold everywhere he turned.
"No." Impatient, Rey takes his cheek gently in her hand and stares into his eyes. "Teach them how to feel pain. Teach them how to walk through the fire and come out the other side. Teach them how to hurt without losing themselves." Her eyes plead with him. "I cannot imagine a more important lesson."
Pain. Yes. Pain he knows. Pain had brought him to Snoke, led him to the knights of Ren – had run a sword through his family.
He closes his eyes, and his voice is no more than a whisper. "My father loved me."
Rey gently folds his head into her arms. She was wrong. There were still more tears in her. She nods. "Yes. He did".
XXXXXXXX
Rey, BB-8, and Finn are the first to be gathered up. The stormtroopers wrestle them into a nearby room while they prepare to take the ship floor by floor. General Hux walks in with a manic grin.
Back onboard the First Order cruiser, Kylo Ren watches from the window of his throne room.
"The girl with the staff," Hux croons. "So glad we found you first. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren sends his regards, and a gift." He holds out his hand and reveals a necklace. A heavy metal chain holds a large, smooth black stone. "It belonged to the late Supreme Leader Snoke – the stone was forged from the lava at Darth Vader's palace. Kylo Ren wanted it close to your heart." Rey's arms are pinned to her side as Hux slips it onto her neck. "So pretty."
Kylo Ren looks down at the knife in his hand.
Rey feels the icy heaviness of the stone press onto her chest.
Hux's oily smile disappears, and he moves closer to Rey. "I want the location of your commander, young lady. Or things could get difficult for you."
Kylo Ren grabs a handful of his hair, and slices through it, just as Hux 's fist meets her cheek.
"Tell me what I need to know," he orders over Finn's protestations. Rey looks at him with hatred and loathing. He hits her again. The knife hacks through more black locks. Rey's breathing becomes labored. "Tell me!" Hux shouts. He knees her in the stomach and she doubles over. Again the knife slashes. Again. Again.
Rey slowly brings herself to a standing position. The look on her face is serene.
In his throne room, surrounded by his past, Kylo Ren closes his eyes and reaches through the Force. Rey's necklace vibrates ever so slightly. She puts her hand over it, just as a small crack opens in the back. A small, round chip falls into her hand.
"Where is your commander?" Hux says. At this he takes out a knife of his own. "Or do you need more persuasion?"
Rey shoots a meaningful look at Finn. He nods imperceptibly.
"Don't touch her!" Finn shouts, breaking lose from the storm troopers and making a break for Hux. In the moment of confusion, Rey places the chip in BB-8 and whispers, "Find Poe." Then she runs to aid Finn – in the chaos, BB-8 exits. He goes away from the stormtrooper perimeter, heads down a set of corridors, and finds his master in a closet.
"Hey buddy," Poe says. "You sit tight, we're gonna think of something."
BB-8 beeps.
"A chip?" Poe frowns. "What kind of chip?"
BB-8 beeps again. Poe's eyebrows shoot up, and a grin spreads over his face. "The command codes for the entire fleet?" BB-8 beeps in affirmation. Poe turns to Lieutenant Connix. "We're gonna stall these guys as long as we can. Send these out to our allies. Have them send the ships to a central location in every system, then lock them out of their systems. They'll be sitting porgs."
No one notices as a single ship leaves the First Order, and flies away.
XXXXXXXXX
IV.
Kylo Ren stands on the rock where his uncle once spoke to him, at the highest point of the temple at Ahch-To. His black cloak whips in the wind as the porgs and birds shout beneath. He closes his eyes. In his mind he sees the defeat of the First Order slowly carrying on. Their fleet wrecked or disbanded, their buildings seized by Republic guards. Stormtroopers being sent for re-education. The palace on Coruscant made into a parliament, with a new title: "The Leia Organa House of Representation." A small smile teases his lips. His help had been valuable, after all. This new world is emerging, as his dies away. It is enough.
He opens his eyes and catches the cord at his throat. The black cloak sails away into the distance, and Ben feels his old Jedi robes embrace him.
Ben Solo sits down to meditate. He feels his uncle's hand squeeze his shoulder, and reaches back to grab it in thanks. He had been taught had been the right lessons, after all.
The twin suns set slowly in front of him, dyeing the sky a phosphorescent pink. His solitude no longer feels empty, but comforting, secure. He feels at home in this place of peace. Perhaps someday, it will bustle with activity as it had when he was young.
Ben doesn't know how long Rey lingered before he felt her presence, so absorbed is he by his new home. But at last, as the sky relinquishes its last glow, he turns to see her waiting for him, a new light in her eyes.
They come to each other, and he kisses her as the stars emerge.