Notes: Thanks again to the readers/reviewers!
Strap in, we're going on an emotional rollercoaster ride!
This will be my last update until after the New Year.
I'll be going home for Christmas.
If anyone is interested, you can follow me on Tumblr ashleyn7790.
Luke closed his eyes as he called upon the force. He was forced to confront his biggest failure, his padawan, his nephew. Kylo Ren twirled the saber to limber up his stiff wrists, waiting for Skywalker's move. "You don't have to do this, Ben. You can come home. Your mother forgives you, she still loves you," Luke tried earnestly. Kylo narrowed his eyes, "Enough, Skywalker, this ends now." He began slowly advancing, feeling the force tremble around him. Rey turned as she heard Chewbacca's shuttle take off, silently hoping that Hux would be alright. I'll be with you soon, she thought. She turned her face back to the standoff, Finn giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. Kylo Ren was watching her with fire in his eyes.
"Rey," he spat. Finn moved closer to her, placing an arm protectively around her shoulders. "Traitor, you die next," Kylo said, as he pointed his saber at him. Kylo bounded over to Luke, lightsaber raised high above his head, as he brought it down in a hacking motion. Luke met his saber with his own, attempting to stay on the defense. He had no desire to hurt him. Perhaps if he could disarm him, he could will him unconscious and bring him back with him. But as he looked at the man, teeth clenched and darkness swirling about him, he realized Ben was a lost cause. Kylo pushed hard with his saber causing Luke to stumble back a bit. Luke regained his balance before launching into a series of attacks. Kylo fought him blow for blow, seemingly even matched.
Luke reached out for Rey through the force, "Get aboard the ship padawan, I will follow." Rey nodded, and touched Finn's side. He glanced at her as she motioned towards the ship. They turned together to hurry to the Falcon. Ren saw them and threw every bit of the force he could into a powerful strike. Luke fell backwards, barely catching himself as he crashed hard into the floor. Rey glanced back and saw Kylo raising his saber to deliver the final blow. "Noooo!" She screamed. She ran out from under Finn's arm, and thrust her hand out, using the force to disarm Ren. "Rey!" Finn yelled. "Get Luke," she cried. She continued using the force to push Ren back. He scrambled, unable to stay standing, as he tried to call his lightsaber. Rey stopped the saber from flying back into his hand. It was stuck in the air, shaking violently, as the fought each other.
Finn slid onto the floor next to Luke, and placed his arm around his shoulder as he hoisted him up. Luke still disoriented, tried to steady himself. He started dragging him back to the Falcon. "Come on, Rey," he pleaded. She looked back at him and saw him pulling Luke up the ramp. She continued to hold the saber suspended in the air, as she pushed him back further. He growled in frustration, still attempting to call the saber to him. "Fight me," he yelled, his eyes wild. She began backing towards the ship. He was gaining an edge in their battle, as she grew tired from the exertion. She was mere feet from the ramp, Finn waiting for her, arm outstretched. She used one more powerful force push while simultaneously releasing his saber, knocking Kylo Ren completely off balance. He fell hard, as the saber flew past him and smacked into the wall.
She ran up the ship's ramp, Finn grabbing her arm and smacking the ramp's closing mechanism. They ran to the cockpit and quickly began to take off. Kylo righted himself and called his saber, as he ran towards the Falcon. Rey jammed the thrust, shooting them out of the bay. Kylo howled as he watched the Falcon receding from his view, eyes wide in raging disbelief. His chest heaved as he fell to his knees. His master would not forgive him for his failure this time.
"Finn to Black Leader, Finn to Black Leader! We've got our girl!" Finn shouted excitedly into the comm. "Black Leader here, alright! Let's go home!" Poe shouted. The X-wings led the Falcon under the Finalizer, taking out the turboblasters as they made their escape. "Get ready to make the jump," Poe ordered. Rey punched in the hyperdrive coordinates for D'Qar, "Falcon ready," she confirmed. They listened as the rest of the X-wing pilots confirmed their hyperdrives were at the ready. "Clearance for lightspeed granted." They made the jump as one, leaving behind a badly disabled Finalizer and a humiliated Kylo Ren.
D'Qar
The Falcon glided effortlessly into D'Qar's atmosphere. Rey was abuzz with anticipation, eager to get to Hux, her knuckles white as she gripped the controls. Finn watched her closely, "Hey Rey, why was Hux with you anyway?" She looked at him surprised. She hadn't counted on having this conversation so soon. Luke slowly lumbered over to them. "Perhaps we should wait to hear what happened until we see Leia," he suggested. Rey looked up at her master thankfully. He placed a hand along her cheek, "It's good to have you back padawan." She smiled at him with tears in her eyes. They were more than master and apprentice. Luke was like the father she never had, and she like a daughter. A sense of calm filled her as he winked down at her, patting and releasing her cheek. She smiled to herself, eager to return to her training. First, she had to see Hux.
She landed the Falcon outside of the rebel base's hanger. They began to descend down the ramp and were met with a small welcome party, cheering erupting from the group as she made her way to them. Leia had tears in her eyes as Rey ran to her and embraced her. The General hugged her back tightly, "Oh Rey, I'm so glad you are here and safe." She pushed Rey to arm's length and looked her over. "We'll talk soon," she said. Poe and BB-8 were next to Leia. "There she is," Poe smiled as he pulled her into him. "Thank you, Poe," she said. "You know, if it wasn't for that guy over there we might not have gotten to you." Poe whispered in her ear. They turned as one to look over at Finn who smiled back at them. BB-8 beeped and chirped happily up at Rey. She knelt down, "Hello Beebee-Ate." The little droid whirred and buzzed at her chidingly. "I know, I will try to be more careful next time." He beeped once more and spun excitedly. She smiled at him as she rose to her feet. She noticed Poe had moved over to Finn and had placed an arm around his shoulders. They looked at her and shrugged in unison before laughing. She smiled broadly, happy to see the two of them had shared their feelings for one another.
She remembered how worried Poe had been when the Falcon had landed after the destruction of Starkiller Base. Chewbacca had carried Finn down the landing, careful not to jostle him, as the med droids and medics came rushing forward with an emergency medical table. Poe had run to his side hand clasping his shoulder, biting back tears. He had looked back to Rey for reassurance, and all she could do was smile weakly and nod. She heard him yelling at Finn, "Stay with me buddy! You're going to make it."
She broke from her reverie as Luke grabbed her elbow and began moving her towards the base. She was always amazed by how big it actually was. Only a portion of it was above ground, the rest running deep into the planet. It was hot and humid outside, but in here cool air flooded the corridors. It reminded her of the Finalizer, of their room. They continued down towards the medical wing. Luke pressed the access pad and they walked in as the door opened for them. Rows of white curtains lined the room. Rey realized that most of the women from the Finalizer were here. Luke let go of her arm, "I'll wait for you here," he reassured her. She smiled at him, and nervously reached out with her senses. She felt Hux's life signature, relieved by its strength, at the end of the row.
She walked down at a brisk pace, stopping as she heard someone call her name. She poked her head into one of the curtained areas. Ylenia sat on the med table looking over at her. She outstretched her arms to Rey, who came in and hugged her. "Thank you, Rey." Ylenia choked through tears. "I hardly did anything," Rey replied. "If you hadn't of come back for us, we'd still be there. We'd still be trapped. You've given us all a chance to go home." She pushed Rey back and smiled at her. "They've promised us a look at their databases to try to help us find our families." "That's wonderful," Rey said happily. She hugged Ylenia once more before excusing herself, and continuing down the row.
She was standing at the last curtained area. Taking a deep breath, she pulled back the curtain and entered. Hux was lying on the med table. Naked from the waist up, he was covered in bacta patches and gauze. She stifled a sob, as she came further into the makeshift room. A medic was there checking Hux's vitals. "You must be Rey," he smiled kindly at her. "Yes, how is he?" "A broken nose, a few broken ribs, quite a bit of bruising, but he should make a full recovery. He'll be fitted today for a mechano-arm" She sagged with relief. "How long will he need to be here?" "Probably a week or two, then after that he can be released. He'll have to take it easy for a month or so while the ribs heal. I'll leave you two alone." "Thank you," she said.
She moved to his bedside. His red hair had flopped down onto his face; she moved it gingerly out of the way. Pulling the only chair over to the side of his bed, she fell into it exhausted. She reached forward and grabbed his hand, bringing it gently to her lips. She looked up, surprised to find him watching her out of his good eye. "Ello Rey," he whispered. She smiled, tears brimming her eyes. She kissed his hand again as they began to fall. He reached his hand up, wincing as he did, to wipe the tears with the pad of his thumb. "You should rest," she insisted. He nodded. "Is it true?" he asked quietly. She wanted to ask what he meant, but skimmed his mind instead. There a memory was of Kylo Ren, He kicked him hard in the ribs, and Hux curled into fetal position to try to minimize the damage and pain. "Traitor," Kylo hissed. "Let Rey see what she has chosen. A man who can't defend or protect her, who could never save her."
Rey pulled out of the memory, staring at Hux for a long time, searching her feelings. "I don't know what love is or how it's supposed to feel, but I think I do." She answered honestly. He tried to smile, his face too swollen. "I know I do," he asserted, "You saved me, Rey. Not just then, but when you first landed in my room. All my life I've done what was expected of me. You appeared and turned that whole notion upside down. I like order and predictability, but with you I have none of that. I finally know what it's like to feel alive. I can't thank you enough for it." Tears streamed down her face as she smiled up at him. She had been alone her whole life. Now she had him and their baby. Her heart felt as though it would burst. She pushed all of those feelings into his mind, and he sighed contentedly as his eyes began to close. "Rest now," she said softly. She stood and gently placed a kiss on his lips. His breathing deepened as he fell asleep.
She made her way back to Luke, who stood with his eyes closed leaning against the wall. "Thank you," she said to him. "You're welcome, padawan," he smiled, his eyes crinkling, "There's one more thing we need to do here." She looked at him curiously. He brought her to an unused curtained room. "What're we doing?" "We need to check on your baby," he supplied. Oh, she thought, glancing down to her stomach. "I'll fetch a medic. Wait here." She sat on the med table, her feet dangling off of it. Luke reentered with a female medic. "Hello," she said warmly, "My name is Larissa, and you must be Rey." Rey nodded to her. "I hear you are expecting. How long were you on board the Finalizer?" "About a month," Rey responded. "How did they test you?" "With a blood test." "Ah, so I'm going to say you are about two weeks pregnant. There won't be anything to hear yet and not much to see, but we could do an internal exam and ultrasound to check everything out." Luke blushed crimson and coughed, "I'll be just outside," quickly exiting the room. Rey smiled, "Whatever you need to do."
She emerged from the room a while later. Luke looked up at her expectantly. "Everything is ok. I need to come back down to have an ultrasound in a month and a half. She gave me some vita packs till then." "That's good to hear. I'd like to begin your training in the meantime. We will take it easy." Rey smiled broadly, "Yes master!" "Right, let's go eat," he suggested.
They made their way to the mess hall. Grabbing their trays, they walked back to an empty table and ate in relative silence. "When you are finished, I'll show you to your room. We'll speak with Leia tomorrow, and perhaps train in the afternoon. You can see Hux whenever you'd like and we'll plan around that." "Thank you," she said. He smiled as he downed the last of his blue milk.
They walked down a passageway to a block of rooms. Luke stopped in front of one and asked her to press the keypad. She did and the door opened. The room was huge with a big round window looking out at the jungle. The furniture was sparse, but there was a nice sized bed. She looked at it longingly. Luke chuckled, "Goodnight, Rey. We'll start tomorrow. You'll know where to find me." She turned towards him and hugged him tightly, "Thank you, master." He patted her hair, released her and made his way out, the door closing behind him. She walked over to the refresher, placing the bag of vita packs on the counter next to the sink. She stripped off the white dress and threw it in the waste bin. That's enough of that, she thought. She turned the knobs on the refresher and stepped in, relishing in the warmth of the water. She washed with the soaps and hair products that had been placed in her room. Grabbing a towel off of the rack, she exited and shut off the shower. She brushed her teeth and hair, before walking out into the room and falling onto the bed. She pulled the covers up around herself and quickly fell into troubled sleep.