APOLOGIES TO READERS OF THE FIRST CHAPTER, AS I WENT OVER IT I HAD DISCOVERED GRAMMARTICAL ERRORS OR IN NATIVES TERMS ''F*CKUPS'' .HOPEFULLY CHAPTER ONE DIDN'T PUT ANY ONE OFF WITH THE EXCESSIVE THOUGHT DIALOGUE. .. THAT BEING SAID LET US DELVE DEEPER DOWN INTO THE STORY.
. CHAPTER 2
IT'S NOT SO BAD
[Two and a half weeks after TLJ]….
The resistance was in a bad state, like the worst state of states a resistance has ever been in. Not even the resistance of Vader's era had suffered a loss of this magnitude.
'I mean there's basically only what 15-16 of us left in the galaxy' Rey thought to herself.
It took the resistance a while to reach Ach To, multiple zoning in and out of systems to lose any First Order troops following them, it was first considered as a waste of fuel but they needed to be cautious, they needed to trend softly. The multiple time zones also meant that they reached Ach To almost half a month later.
The first priority of the Resistance as soon as they had arrived on Ach To was to carry out a respectful farewell to the man that saved the galaxy once upon a time. A man whose myth fueled the hearts of the resistance members, motivating them to become the people they were today, people who were still alive because of him. Sure they were only a handful of them but there was still resistance and that's what mattered.
She remembered what Poe told everyone when they were all sulking in their own self-pity, it went along the lines of, 'We are the spark the galaxy needs, the spark that needs to stay alive to light the flames that will burn the First Order down''. As cliché as it sounded, it was what they needed to hear, they needed hope.
Later in the evening….
There was a heavy silence hanging in the atmosphere, a terrible silence that was welcomed by the silent mourners that were the resistance. The rain and random rumbling of lightning and thunder were the only sounds that broke the silence. They shed tears not for the death of a hero but for victory of his life, a legacy that spanned two galactic wars where he fell from grace, got sidetracked for a while and rose to the occasion, twice. The resistance fighters had gathered around in a circle where the Great Tree used to stand.
The crowd quietly observed the caretakers as they presented Luke Skywalkers robes and staff to the resistance leader; General Leia Organa.
They walked towards Leia in a slow and respectful manner, Rey shifted her vision to General Organa and she saw a broken woman a woman who had in a sense lost her whole family.
Fate had not been kind to her for she had lost her husband, her planet, her son and now her dear brother.
Leia's eyes were red from all the tears she was shedding, she had put a trembling hand over her mouth and began to sob uncontrollably. It was wasn't the neutral, self-controlled woman they were used to seeing but hey she's human, everyone's got someone to lose, it's what makes wars hard and warriors harder, knowing that if they slip up…..She stopped her train of thoughts and focused on the task at hand, the funeral.
''I wonder what Han would say to comfort General Leia right now'', Rey pondered.
Rey, Finn, Poe, Rose, Jessica and Lieutenant Connix stood by General Organa's side as the caretakers presented the garments they bowed respectfully to the former princess of Alderaan.
Everyone then followed her up the island where they arrived at the cave where light side of the force resided on the island. They [the caretakers] had built a small mound in the middle of the cavern for the funeral service. There was no body to perform a burial with so they simply burned the garments and scattered the ashes into the sea. After a short service and benediction, they each paid their final respects and presented their condolences to the former senator. The resistance had a short meal before retiring for the day, normal procedures would follow the next morning.
Rey wanted to console the general but thought better of it, she looked like she wasn't in the mood for a personal conversation on family matters with someone she had just met.
Rey had retired to one of the huts that resided on the island. As soon as she entered she jumped on the makeshift bed and welcomed its comfort and shut her eyes hoping sleep would lull her away from reality.
Her mind however didn't drift off to sleep as easily as she thought it would. Instead her thoughts drifted to the events that occurred seemingly hours ago. 'Ben' she thought as she remember the rough feeling of his palm when they had briefly touched. His birth name rolled so naturally off her tongue rather contrary to the venomous tone she spat out when addressing the other guy; Kylo Ren.
'I wonder what would have happened if I went with him, if I had pressed him harder, I could have done something more to convince him' she thought.
A loud crack of lightening snapped her back to reality. It was then that she felt a disturbance in the back of her mind, she felt raw power bursting into blackness of her subconscious followed by a tingling sensation, something like razor sharp claws gentling tracing itself on the back of her mind. Someone was calling from the other side.
She opened her eyes as remembered what their force bond felt like, it was him again, trying to reach her. She pushed him out of her mind before he could slip in under her guard, she succeeded.
She didn't have long to recuperate when another mental assault came, this one being more powerful than the previous one as she felt her mental wall fall.
She breathed out in disappointed manner and felt their force bond link their minds as their conscious and thoughts melded together.
She looked up to see him standing in the far corner, in the darkness observing her like how a predator would stalk a prey before striking the kill move.
.He stepped forward and halted as the shining light revealed the left side of his face.
Rey showed a calm demeanor trying to look as uninterested as possible. As if everything was normal and it was a normal Monday night and not like how a normal sane woman would act when the galaxy's most egoistic sociopath was standing right there, in her fucking corner.
''Why'' he said in an almost torn dare she think desperate way.
She observed his black attire that was missing a cloak, his disheveled hair, and his dark eye that wore the scar she had given him on Starkiller base.
Instead of answering him she closed her eyes and pretended that she was trying to meditate like she had not heard a thing.
''Maybe he'll go away'' she thought.
''Answer me'', he shouted, luckily the rain was still pouring heavily so chances someone would hear him were slim..
Rey continued to ignore him and put on a face of pure enlightenment as if her meditation had reached a nirvana state of some sort.
''Say something, why won't you answer me'', he ignited his lightsaber in frustration and swirled around to slash a strike on the wall. His saber left a deep red gash on the rock wall.
''What would you have me say huh? Why can't you just leave me alone'' Rey screamed at Ren as she got on her feet.
Ren turned around and spoke ''Why did you reject me, I could have taught you so much, we would have been unstoppable, we could've built a whole new universe togather'' He rambled as he stood there with a tight grip on his lightsaber as a strike of lightning briefly illuminated his corner..
''How about you huh, why didn't you leave with me, you killed Snoke, and all the guards while you defended me, clearly all traits of the lightside and yet you chose that meaningless throne over your family', she shot back and got on her feet. Ren didn't say anything as he stared her down with his dark gaze so she continued.
''You have a mother who prays every night for your return, a uncle who had hope for your turn too, as well as your father who even in the face of certain death pleaded for you to come home but you threw that away too'' she finished with a angry tone.
''They held me back they'll do the same for you, let it all go, we don't need anything or anyone, just us, we can be something greater'' he finished in a soft tone as he trended slightly forward.
She looked at him with suspicious eyes as when he said 'us' and shifted backwards.
''She doesn't trust me'' he thought.
It was then that he stepped out of the darkness, fully revealing himself to her before deactivating his lightsaber and putting it back on his belt.
She took in his appearance, his scarred face looked dangerous when his eyebrows scrunched. He was breathing heavily as it appeared to be difficult for him to move in her presence. He had slowly moved towards her until he was just inches from her. His face softened when she actually saw her face to face, she looked so serene in the light. He looked down at her with his wide brown eyes. His ungloved hands cautiously shifted and reached for hers, yearning their soft, pure texture despite her torrential upbringing.
Rey felt his emotions and thoughts turning her resistance into a big puddle of nothing. She visibly startled and moved away before things got out of hand or before some idiot walked in unannounced and got the wrong idea.
''It's too late Ben, you've chosen your path, I've chosen mine and I see now that it won't change anytime in the near future' Rey said with finality as she turned around. She knew there was no convincing him to change but she wondered why it seemed to hurt her when she said those words.
Ren visibly shuddered at the rejection and looked at the ground looking for something to convince her with. He looked up with a burning gaze and a dark grimace even with her back turned Rey could still feel the electricity and power of his emotions.
''They failed me when I needed them most, they'll fail you too''. He said in a raspy, desperate tone.
''No Ben, they didn't fail you, you failed them''.
You could take a lightsaber and literally cut the tension in the room as she felt it skyrocket after she said those words.
The lightning seemed to grow in its intensity and shook the very foundations of the hut.
''Was that supposed to be some sort of insult'' he remarked venomously.
''No, Kylo Ren that was goodbye'', she uttered softly.
As those words echoed in the air she felt Ben's frantic thoughts whiz through their force bond. She felt betrayal, anger, pain, disappointment, sadness, then everything ceased as she felt red boiling hate in its purest form.
Rey felt his presence fade before she pounced onto a pillow to clutch and cuddle. She felt hot streams of tears slide down her golden face, her heart torn, fearing that she had destroyed the remaining remnants of Ben Solo.
She turned around to see the red gash Kylo Ren had left in his wake, its glowing gashes illuminating the dark corner that was now empty.
THE NEXT MORNING….
Slumber did not come easy for Rey, Kylo's force assault left her mental state drained she was lucky however that there was no missions for the time being.
She had a few more hours to herself before Finn made it his life mission to find her.
''I swear I need to get that guy a hobby'' Rey grinned.
Her memories of the previous night replayed itself and instantly blew her light moment into oblivion. She never so much agony in one day, it was scorching her nerve endings.
''I need some meditation,'' Rey thought.
As Rey was meditating she reminisced on some of their training lessons her master had taught her during their short time together. How she felt when she reached for the force the first time around on that cliff.
It was then that that her train of thoughts diverted to the ancient texts she had 'borrowed' when she left the island the first time around.
''They might contain some useful information '' Rey thought to herself.
Rey opened up the bag she put them in and began searching for some sort of useful practice to aid her in her time of need.
Living on Jakku meant she was surrounded by illiterates and would probably grow up to be one as well. Well luckily her stay with that 'disgusting lump of life she would not name ever again' had proved useful. To ensure she didn't accidently disassemble an active reactor and blow herself and the whole sector into non-existence or bring him a ticking time bomb/warhead of some kind, he taught her how to read and write as well as how to count.
As she skimmed through the chapters of the first few books all talking about principles concerning Jedi knights, the law of Chasity, the construction of a lightsaber, training of younglings and so on… that's when she stopped at a particular topic in the third book. Her search proved fruitful when she discovered notes on the force ghosts.
''Well it's worth a shot I got nothing else to do''. Rey thought as she entered into a deep state of meditation just as the book had described.
She called out to Luke through the force just as the book stated, hoping the Jedi master would appear and share his wisdom as to how to proceed from the mess the resistance were in, the mess she was in.
She could feel a presence, a faint buildup of some kind behind some sort of barrier, like a person forming him/herself behind a door. She pushed harder through the force reaching out, she began to visibly sweat, and her mind was under lots of emotional stress.
As she meditated she began to wonder what he would say, like how disappointing his reunion with Ben ended or how 'un-grand his funeral had been' or maybe something like a cool entrance like which he totally owns and utters the words 'hello my young padawan'' in a booming godly voice while smoldering.
''Did you think it was necessary to burn my favorite cloak, did you know how long it took to knit the thing and don't get started on how hard it was obtaining the wool ohhh you'll never hear the end of that.', someone whined as that someone had also interrupted her meditation.
Rey grinned as she remembered the owner of that whiny voice; Luke Freaking Skywalker.
HEHE HEY YOU THANKS FOR READING THIS CHAPTER REALLY APPRECIATE THE TIME YOU TOOK TO READ THIS STUFF, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO THROW OUT SOME POINTERS, A FEW CURSES HAS NEVER HURT WHEN YOU STARTING OUT YOU KNOW, ANYWAY THANKS AGAIN….
-DOU MOCE TOKA-