Thanks for all of the reviews! I feel good knowing everyone seems to be enjoying the story. I've read every single one and translated some,which was awesome, and I'm glad those who are reading are loving it so far! I'm going to try and do a few more updates this week, so fingers crossed that works out!
"You must use the Force." Master Luke's voice echoed throughout the catacombs located under the Rebel base. They were working on Force training; more specifically, the ability to located a person without seeing them or hearing them. Sensing them accurately. For some Force sensitive users it came easily. For others, like Rey, it was extremely difficult.
It wasn't that she was incapable of detecting someone's essence. She could do that with no problem. It was the ability to pinpoint their precise location that gave her pause. Master Luke had the ability to not only locate a specific person that might have been on a different planet, but also the ability to determine what section of the planet, how far from the nearest city and even the type of terrain the person was near. And that was all from a different planet. His skills were magnificent and Rey often wished she could find herself more like him.
Instead, she constantly second guessed herself, relying too much on the sounds in the cavern, Master Luke's voice as it echoed off the granite walls and even the shadows that seemed to bounce around her line of sight. He could find someone from planets away and she could not even find him in one small cavern. It was quite maddening.
They had been down there for hours with only a lantern to provide light. Rey was becoming increasingly frustrated with herself, only wanting to throw a temper tantrum and storm off into the base above. The chill in the catacombs gave Rey shivers as it pressed cool air along her sweaty skin, heightening her discomfort.
"Stop." Master Luke called out, appearing in front of her face a moment later. His eyes seemed almost disappointed as they shone in the lantern's glow. Rey immediately felt ashamed of herself. Luke was like family and knowing that she had let down one of the only people in her life, well, it was awful. Why was she such a failure?
Rey wanted to cry, to throw herself onto the ground and wail at her woes. Instead, she shut her eyes for a brief moment and blocked out the weird feelings that seemed to be coursing through her so often as of late. What was wrong with her?
"You're distracted. This exercise calls for patience, as do many of the sessions to become a Jedi." Luke adjusted the belt of his robes, his lightsaber moving lightly along his hip.
Rey huffed in frustration. "I am trying. But it's impossible!" Rey stomped her foot and crossed her arms, rubbing the cold skin with her palms. She tried her best to ignore the twitch of Luke's lips as he attempted to remain somber. Before long he was smiling happily at her.
"You remind me of a younger version of myself. When I first began training with Master Yoda, I got so irritated with his wishes and commands. I still don't understand how carrying him in a knapsack on my back was a training exercise to become a Jedi Master."
"You won't make me do that, will you?" Rey winced thinking about carrying someone twice her size.
"Oh no. Yoda was extremely more mischievous than I could ever be. Well. Slightly more mischievous. We'll see."
Rey sighed, rubbing her hands along her lower back. She must have been standing hunched over for the past few hours. Every time she straightened her back she felt intense pain, almost as if she had pulled a muscle. No way she was carrying Master Luke anywhere.
"When do you think I can begin to craft my own lightsaber?" Ever since her nightmare with Kylo, Rey kept envisioning the weapon in her hands, wielded by only her. It was almost euphoric, knowing that one day the blade in her mind would be hers and hers alone.
Rey couldn't wait for that day to come to pass.
"You still have much to learn, Rey. Much about crafting your own lightsaber is about your completeness with the Force. If you craft a saber before your training is complete, or nearly complete, you run the risk of destroying a crystal, which is hard to find, or the lightsaber itself being incomplete as it is a reflection on your balance and oneness with the Force."
"Is that why Kylo Ren's blade is so different than yours?"
"It's hard to say," Master Luke walked leisurely about the cavern, Rey following in his footsteps. "It could be a few things. Some believe it was forged with a cracked crystal, thus causing his saber to flicker and crackle as its seems unpredictable. They think that his lightsaber is faulty on purpose, that it makes him more menacing."
Rey nodded her head. It made sense, if she was looking at it through Kylo's sick sense of mind. "What is the other theory?"
"That his lightsaber is as unpredictable as his hold on the Force." Rey stopped walking, letting her Master move ahead of her and out of the cave entrance. Could that really be why his saber was imperfect? Because his hold on the Force was also imperfect? But what did that mean? Perhaps it was because he was always conflicted on which side to join, on what called to him in the most desperate of times.
He was always at war with the Light. Rey had felt it, she knew. His hold on the dark had become more and more tenuous during their time together, almost as if he was inexplicably drawn to the Light, as if he should have always been there.
Then again, he did say it was her influence that made him crave the light side of the Force, even though he truly wanted to belong to the dark side.
Rey didn't think she would ever understand his reasoning, and as for the last time she had encountered Kylo, she knew he might have been well and truly lost to her.
"Rey?" Master Luke appeared at the entrance, staring down at her fondly from his superior height.
"I'm coming, Master." Rey left her thoughts behind her in the cave, following Master Luke out into the suns embrace.
"Are you feeling better, Rey?" Poe asked as they bumped into one another in the dining hall. Rey smiled happily at her friend. It had been well over two weeks since she'd gotten sick in front of him, but that very day he'd gone on a mission for the Rebellion and had only gotten back that afternoon.
"Yes. It must have just been something I ate, was all. Was your mission successful?"
"Always," Poe smirked, taking his tray of food and leading her over to the table Finn was currently occupying. He sat down next to Finn, tray on the table to free up his hands. He rubbed Finn's shoulders, startling her friend. "Hiya, buddy. Miss me?" Poe waggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Rey's own eyebrows to shoot up in bewilderment. Especially as Finn choked on a bite of bread he had in his mouth. Rey couldn't discern whether it was from Poe's waggling eyebrows or his tone, which clearly indicated that Finn should have definitely been missing the pilot.
"You know I did," Finn whispered out in between coughing fits. His attention moved to Rey and his gaze softened at her. Ever since Jakku and everything they had faced together, the two were bonded in a way that could never be broken. They had trusted each other, when they had scarcely given another living soul the opportunity and they had grown as friends and partners. Finn was Rey's best friend and she was glad she had been back long enough to realize how much she needed him, especially after everything with Kylo.
Rey had been worried at first, that Finn might judge her or speak harshly. Instead, he had openly embraced her when she confessed her love of the man beneath the mask. How he had made her feel, how they saw into each other and knew each other. They were one, even if it was only for a short time. Finn had held her and made her feel less awful for loving someone so cruel. So evil. Finn had been there for her, even knowing that Kylo Ren had almost killed him when they had battled with lightsabers, Finn clearly trying to protect Rey from the Knight. Finn had sat by her side, held her when she wanted to cry but did not and he comforted her because he was her friend and he loved her.
Finn had been the person to give her the boost she needed to leave Jakku and he had also been her companion when she needed to talk to someone about training, weapons or even to just wind down and rest. Rey believed they had formed a bond almost as strong as the one she believed tethered her and Kylo together.
"Aaaaaand Rey is lying to you. She's been sick a few more times since you left, but she refuses to go to Medical." Rey rolled her eyes. Hadn't she just been thinking about how he always had her back? Poe shot a worried glance in her direction, but Rey waved it off, breaking off a piece of her roll and eying the former Stormtrooper mischievously.
Rey tossed a piece of bread at him, something that only a year ago would have never occurred to her, not ever. Food was always so precious and hard to come by.
"I feel fine," she reiterated. When the both men continued to stare, obviously worried for her wellbeing, Rey sighed. "It's very odd. I mean, sometimes I get sick but immediately after I feel completely healthy. And I'm still eating and drinking plenty of fluids. I don't feel tired or drained." Although the past week she had felt more and more tired after her practices with Master Luke, but it was probably due to using the Force so much. She was trying her best to be better than ever, to be stronger. It made sense that she would feel tired after her training lessons.
"Actually, you've been eating a lot more than you usually do, which is saying something,"Finn pointed out, in between bites of his potatoes.
"Speak for yourself." Rey snapped back at the same time Poe asked, "What are you saying?"
"That she eats enough for two people every single meal, and now she's eating even more. I don't know how she isn't as big as freighter by now." Finn joked at her, elbowing Poe to get in on the festivities. Instead, Poe had a frozen look on his face, staring at Rey with wide eyes. Finn turned his full attention on the pilot, a confused look on his face. "Poe? What's the matter with you?"
"Rey, I really think you should go to Medical." Poe whispered, leaning across the table to afford them more intimacy. "I think I know what's wrong with you."
Rey rolled her eyes. "Like I've been saying, I'm fine. There is nothing wrong with me."
"If you don't submit yourself to Medical, then I will take my suspicions to Jedi Skywalker and General Organa." Rey felt a darkening in her mind and the spoon in her hand bent, almost on its own, although she knew her anger was bending the metal. He was going to go to General Organ and Master Luke and tell them something he couldn't even be bothered to tell her?
"You can't be serious. What do you think is wrong with me?"
"I don't want to say."
"But you're perfectly fine spreading rumors about me to our superiors."
"Yes, as I believe it concerns them." Concerned them how? What was he implying? Actually, Rey didn't care what was he implying. She didn't need to sit here and listen to him act high and mighty, as if he were better than her.
"You're out of your mind." Rey hissed at him, standing abruptly and departing the dining hall. She was so worked up, a few lights shattered overhead as she walked by, startling those who passed by in the hall. She could practically feel their eyes on her as the glass cracked where they stepped.
With the exertion of energy, Rey suddenly felt exhausted. Perhaps she should take another nap before dinner? It would be her fourth nap of the week, but Rey was working hard with Master Luke. It made sense that being drained emotionally could make her physically tired. Besides, she was fine.
Even if she was beginning to suspect she wasn't.
"Are you aware of what you're implying, especially to me?" General Organa sat in the conference room with Poe Dameron, a pained expression on her face. Her brother, Luke, sat next to her, a strong grip on her hand as she tried to cover the shaking in her limbs. The possibility that Rey could be carrying her grandchild was overwhelming. But ultimately, someone else's suspicions meant nothing unless a pregnancy was confirmed. If it wasn't confirmed, General Organa would go about her business, helping to defeat The First Order. She couldn't allow herself to become distracted by such accusations, especially as they were unfounded.
Granted, when the girl, Rey had come back to them, she had been heartbroken. But that didn't mean anything concrete.
It was all speculation.
"I am aware of what I'm implying. In fact, I am stating it. Rey is pregnant and I believe the father is Kylo Ren."
"Rey has been slightly off since her return, but that can be attributed to many things." Master Luke said, his hand never leaving his sisters. "But to suggest that a child was to be born of two Force users, especially those on opposite sides of the Force, could make life difficult for Rey. It could make others fear her, fear what was inside of her. If there is anything." But he had felt something peculiar from his Padawan... Something different. "Not to mention, if word spread of this and Kylo Ren were to find out, or Snoke, it could spell disaster. There has never been a child born to two Force wielders. A child like that would be potentially the most powerful being to ever take hold of the Force. Snoke wouldn't pass up the opportunity to target Rey or to use Kylo Ren to do it."
"We need to protect her and my grandchild from both of them." General Organa stood, taking back all of her earlier speculation. She felt Luke's resolve through the Force, he knew something. And Leia knew Luke was seldom wrong. They needed to protect Rey, but first they needed to confirm the pregnancy. "Where is she?"
Luke paused for a moment, almost lost in thought. "She is resting in her quarters. She seems so tired. So exhausted."
"Let me go to her. She was alone for so long on Jakku, maybe she doesn't understand what is actually happening to her." Both men nodded in agreement. "Thank you for bringing this to our attention, but tell no one else of your suspicions. Not even your friend Finn. No one will no about this but us and Rey." It was the only way to keep them all safe.
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