Rey was asleep. Half medically induced, but asleep.
The medication gave her weird dreams. New dreams, unlike like the ones she had on Jakku. It wasn't the usual dream of her parents- or at least who she thought and grew to know as her parents. She dreamt of a cloaked figure. Cloaked in mystery. Standing solemnly along a cliff side, looking longingly at the magnificent view they'd grown accustomed to.
Rey, herself, was there too, but then again, she wasn't. From where she was standing, she was on Jakku, yet had this clear view of the green planet where the person stood. It was as though both planets had been sliced in half and stuck together, with Rey on the Jakku side and the mysterious hooded figure on the other.
She tried to walk over to the person, but her feet wouldn't move. She looked down, startled to see her left foot engulfed in sand up to her ankle- the same ankle that she sprained. Surprisingly, she didn't struggle to dig it out. She was mesmerized by the hooded figure.
She could hear someone talking, too. But she wasn't able to deduce whether it was someone in her dream or someone in the real world. She had always been a light sleeper- a survival mechanism she'd developed on Jakku.
What happened to you? She heard someone say. The voice was farmiliar, yet she couldn't place it. It was a man's voice.
Why Jakku? Why Unkar Plutt?
What did this person know about her?
Why a scavenger?
Was this person mocking her?
She was good with tones- vocal changes in someone's voice. That was also something she'd picked up on Jakku. This person wasn't mocking her, but was asking a legitimate question. They sounded sad.
Why has this happened?
Their tone sounded like they actually cared, but they might have just been pretending. But something was different. Rey could feel something subconsciously.
She could feel how they felt. She could feel their sadness.
Her dream was confusing her. She could no longer tell whether what she was hearing was part of her dream or of the real world. She didn't know what to think anymore, and her head knew that too. It was telling her to wake up. Wake up, Rey, wake up.
Her head got clearer. She began to hear those mind-numbing beeping monitors again. She opened her eyes to the blinding white lights, only catching a fuzzy glimpse of someone rushing out of her room. She blinked, trying to focus her eyes as she saw Finn come back into her room.
"Finn," she said hoarsely.
"Yeah, I'm here," he answered, smiling, coming to a halt beside her bed, glad to see her awake again.
"Who was that?" She asked, weakly pointing towards the door.
"Luke Skywalker," Finn said.
Rey sighed. "How long was he here?" She asked again.
"Not very long," Finn started. "He sat down for a minute while I went to the bathroom, but when I came back, he was leaving," Finn said, shrugging.
Rey huffed slowly. She closed her eyes tiredly. This was only the second time she had woken up, and she still had a very limited knowledge of what was going on with her and around her.
For the first time since waking up, Rey took a look around. She saw Finn, kneeling beside her bed. She looked to the machines, to the large window- which she could not see out of, unfortunately. She looked down to the foot of her bed, where she could see the chair that Luke was sitting in, and the thick bandages weighing her foot down, pushed out from underneath the thin blanket loosely draped over her. She couldn't feel any pain in her ankle, but that might have just been medication talking. She looked up to her hands, where on her right wrist, an IV stuck in her skin. It was something she didn't recognize. She looked at it confusingly.
"What's this?" She asked, holding up her wrist curiously.
Finn didn't really want to tell her, for he was unsure of how she would react. He contemplated telling her what happened. All of this stuff is probably so new to her.
"It's an, uh, I- IV," Finn told her, stuttering nervously.
"What's an IV for?" She questioned again.
"It's for when someone is sick and they need fluids," Finn said. "For when they can't take them theirselves."
Rey knew what that meant. She hung her head low.
"Oh," she mumbled. "So I'm sick?"
Finn nodded his head slowly. "You're very sick, but it's easily fixed," he finished with an assuring smile.
Rey nodded. She didn't know what to think of her prognosis. It worried her, that she was so sick, because she'd never been really sick before. She'd gotten a cold or the flu on Jakku before, but that she could treat herself. Right now, she was really sick, and how she was treated was out of her control- something she was not used to.
Reaching up to scratch her cheek, Rey was met with something sticky- the sticky tape that held the feeding tube in place. She felt along the tube, following it to her nose and back behind her ear where it mingled into a mess of other cords that went to the different machines.
"And what's this?" She asked, voice cracking a bit. All of these machines and cords were new and overwhelming to her.
"It's a feeding tube," Finn began. "Because you couldn't feed yourself. Wouldn't, apparently," he said, his tone tinged slightly with anger.
Rey knew what Finn was getting at. He was mad at her for not eating when she should have. She hung her head in shame again. All of this was too overwhelming for her. Being stuck in a hospital bed, attatched to machines and cords, unable to eat or drink on her own (for the time being), and having Finn mad at her. She started to tear up.
"Oh, Rey," Finn said, his voice shaky. "Why couldn't you have just taken care of yourself?" Rey looked up to meet Finn's eyes. He stared back into her glassy eyes. He looked at her with a look not of anger, but of somewhat sadness and regret. Rey closed her eyes, spilling over with tears. She looked down to her hands.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm just so confused."
Rey didn't like to cry in front of people. She wasn't used to showing emotion. But, for some reason, she didn't seem to mind it this time. Maybe it was because she didn't really realize what she was doing, maybe it was because of Finn. Rey was surprised to see Finn's hand reach over and take up hers. She looked up at him. He looked at her warmly, his look of sadness and regret had vanished and his words free of angry undertones.
"It's alright, just don't do it again."
Kylo Ren and General Hux came to a halt outside of a set of large, magnificent black doors. There was no sign around, but the both knew where they were. They were the only two people on the ship who knew how to get there, and what was inside.
Supreme Leader Snoke's chambers.
Kylo Ren breathed deeply in excitement. Finally, this moment had come. He looked to his right where Hux stood. Hux turned to look at Kylo aswell, whom to his surprise, was smiling.
"Shall we?" Kylo Ren asked. Hux smiled back and nodded, and together, they pushed the doors open, only to be met with a wall of cold air and pitch black darkness. The light from the hallway cast long, mysterious shadows of Hux and Kylo's silhouettes across the floor.
They continued to walk forward, the doors closing behind them with a loud bang that echoed throughout the chamber. Slowly, dull torches lit up around them. Starting from the opposite end of the chamber, they began to illuminate these giant pillars and pedestals that held artifacts from around the galaxy.
The last torches to ignite were at the very end of the gigantic chamber. Slowly, Hux and Kylo saw the outline of a large throne come to view. In that throne sat a thin, scarred, tall figure, wrapped in a cloak. No hologram this time. The real thing.
Snoke.
Kylo and Hux stepped forward onto a pedestal, where they each bowed onto one knee formally, as they would when in the actual presence of such an important being. Slowly, they rose to face Snoke.
Kylo Ren could barely stand still. His legs were shaking and he was swaying slightly, but he managed to contain himself. He had been waiting for so long and was so exhilarated to finally see Snoke. He was struggling to even keep a straight face!
"Kylo Ren," Snoke bellowed. He began to rise, struggling to stand up fully, revealing his full height. Kylo Ren hadn't seen him in so long, it was weird for him to see him not 30 feet tall. In reality, he was only 8 foot, which is still very tall compared to the two average sized humans.
"You look well, Supreme Leader," Kylo replied, face burning nervously.
"As do you," Snoke said, motioning towards Kylo Ren by extending one of his grotesque, boney hands. "You are recovering well."
"Yes, Supreme Leader." Kylo answered.
General Hux stood tall next to Kylo, waiting for his praise too. As the conversation continued between Snoke and Kylo, Hux grew impatient. He coughed and cleared his throat awkwardly, but to no avail.
Is this what I get? He asked himself. I watched over Kylo Ren for you, and brought him to you. What do I get?
"Thank you General," Snoke said, "I would like to talk with Ren for a moment," dismissing the General with a wave of his hand.
General Hux held his head high and veered on his heels.
Nothing, apparently, he said vainly in his head. He stormed off, boots clicking rhythmically in normal Hux-like fashion.
Snoke watched cautiously to wait specifically until Hux was gone. As the doors closed boomingly, he sat down on his throne, looking at Kylo Ren, eyes drilling into his head.
"Ren," Snoke said quietly.
"Yes?"
"I assume you have heard about Skywalker?" He asked.
"Yes," Kylo Ren answered, drawing out the "s" angrily. He gritted his teeth as he spoke. "He is now in Resistance custody."
"Our chances of getting to him directly- unnoticed- are slim."
Kylo nodded.
"So the Resistance must be destroyed," Snoke ambled.
Kylo Ren stiffened. He blinked, dumbfounded. Destroy the Resistance?
Destroying the Resistance did come with its benefits. He could get rid of everything his father left behind, and with that, most memories of his childhood, too. He could get rid of their arch-enemies in one fell swoop. He could get rid of the traitor, FN-2187. He could get rid of Luke Skywalker.
But it also came with its downside. The Millenium Falcon, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, all happy memories. His mother- the only person who he still cared for- all gone.
And then there was the girl. She was a whole different story.
He felt something, as soon as he found her in that forest. Though at that time he wasn't so sure, the interrogation confirmed what he thought, and it triggered something that he hadn't felt in a long time. Something he didn't want to talk about. Think about. He knew who she was. He remembered her.
Kira.
Did she remember him?
How did she end up where she did?
He had so many questions- which he was determined to get answers to. She couldn't be killed. Not at the moment. She could be useful, later on.
"No," Kylo Ren said unknowingly loud.
"What did you say?" Supreme Leader Snoke questioned bitterly. Enraged that someone had contradicted him, Snoke stood up to strike Kylo Ren. Realizing that he had said it out loud, Kylo tried to reestablish himself.
"I- I mean, not yet," he stuttered defensively. "We..." He paused, thinking of something not-dumb to say. "We need to wait until the right time."
Snoke thought about it, going quiet for a moment. Finally, he asked Kylo Ren what he thought.
"And what do you suppose we do?" He bellowed.
"Espionage," Kylo Ren suggested. It was the only thing he could think of that didn't involve killing people- yet.
Snoke got quiet again, thinking.
"Mhm," he said, nodding. "Yes. Send in a spy, learn their ways, and when the time comes, execute everything they've come to," he finished, sitting down with a demonic, echoing laugh.
Kylo Ren smiled vaguely, anxiously. He really did not like the thought of destroying the Resistance. He didn't want to destroy the Reistance. He had unfinished business. Unanswered questions. He knew there would be questions he never knew he wanted the answer to, or needed an answer to.