As usual, Rey got up early the next morning and trained with Luke until the early afternoon. Since Luke had taken her the previous month to extract her own Kyber crystal and had shown her how to construct her lightsaber around it, the majority of the day's training session was spent dueling with the sabers.
At the end of the day's training, when both Luke and Rey were heaving for breath and covered in sweat, Luke disengaged his saber and nodded towards her.
"You're a natural with that. A talented fighter. You know, I remember your grandfather had told me he'd dueled with a staff before. I guess that form of fighting is in your genes," he said, smiling admiringly at her.
Rey smiled back, eyeing the glowing yellow ends of her saber.
She loved hearing Luke's stories of Ben Kenobi, even though his time with him had been so brief. She wished Luke had as much to say of her own parents, about which he had told her surprisingly little. She knew her father had been a Jedi and a skilled pilot, and had fought alongside Kes Dameron, Poe's father. But Luke didn't ever seem to have much to say about her mother.
"Your parents and grandfather would be proud of you, Rey," Luke said. "You were born to be a Jedi."
Rey laughed softly. "We'll see," she said, she said, her smile fading as she hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed when he found out she would be sneaking off the planet to try and save Jess and BB-8. She disengaged her saber as she followed Luke out of the forest clearing.
….
After she had taken a quick shower at her house, Rey changed into her grey vest, arm wraps, and pants, the same clothes she'd worn when she'd first gone to see Luke. After quickly fixing her hair into her usual three buns, she headed straight for the main Organa base to search for Poe and Finn.
She searched behind the base where the pilots' accommodations were, but she didn't see either of them. Have they already left? She wondered, suddenly alarmed.
She came to the base's large tarmac, and she jogged along the middle of the lines of the X-wing starfighters. Rey tried to repress the memory of when she'd been running after Ben many months ago, as he'd lifted up from the tarmac in Poe's X-wing along with BB-8.
As she reached the middle of the tarmac, she saw the familiar form of a brown-haired man crouched under an X-wing a few yards ahead of her. "Poe!" She called, jogging towards him.
He turned and rose out from under the ship, smiling brightly at her as she approached. "Rey," He greeted, wiping the grease and soot from his face. "Where's the fire?" He teased, chuckling at her haste.
"Poe, I need to talk to you—" she began, looking around them to make sure they were alone. "I know about Jess, that she was captured by the Empire."
Poe raised his eyebrows. "How...did you—"
"I listened in on the meeting last night," Rey interrupted. "I heard everything. You and Finn planning on going to rescue her, right?" She asked, lowering her voice.
Poe's brows rose again as he studied her face, clearly taken aback. "Well...yeah," he admitted, craning his head.
"You need to fill me in, I'm coming with you," Rey said matter-of-factly.
"Rey, it's too dangerous," he said, shaking his head. "We're taking a small squadron out, but—you need to stay here, to train with Luke."
Rey shook her head. "I'm not letting you and Finn go without me. I'm a Jedi, Poe, I can help if there's trouble."
Poe shook his head again, looking at her concernedly. "It's way too much of a risk, Rey, I can't let you be put in danger like that."
"I can handle myself just fine," Rey said defensively, exasperated at people always wanting to protect her. "You don't need to worry about me. I can protect myself," she said, gesturing down to the lightsaber hilt at her belt.
Poe's eyes remained on the hilt of her saber as he seemed to consider. He sighed, his eyes raising to hers, and Rey sensed that he didn't want to argue with her. They both turned as they heard approaching footsteps. Rey smiled as she saw Finn approaching, but he looked serious, and she knew he was worried about Jess.
"What's going on?" Finn asked, raising his eyebrows as he looked between them.
"Rey knows everything," Poe said to Finn as he joined them, throwing his hands into the air. "She overhead the meeting last night."
Finn raised his eyebrows as he turned to Rey. "You did?" He smiled briefly at her. "You sneaky Jedi," he teased, knocking her in the arm.
Rey cleared her throat, looking between the two of them. "I talked to Leia last night, after the meeting," she said, and the two men's heads perked up.
"What? About this?" Finn asked, confused.
"Leia guessed what you and the other pilots were going to do, that you wouldn't listen to Luke. She advised us to visit Maz, she could lend us a larger ship."
Poe raised his eyebrows, folding his arms as he thought. "I guess we'd have to, to bring Jess home. The only freight ships we have here are much slower than a one-manned X-wing. But...that means we'd have to leave here much sooner."
"When were you planning on leaving?" Rey asked, keeping her voice quiet as she glanced around them.
Poe hesitated, and Rey she grew impatient, considering breaking into his mind to get out the answer.
"Tonight," Finn answered for him.
Poe stared at Rey a moment, his face dropping slightly. "But if we're making a detour to Takodana, we need to leave well before then—within the next few hours."
Rey thought for a moment. "What if we all split up?" The men appeared confused at her suggestion. "No, really, think about it: some of us can go ahead in the X-wings to find the Empire shuttle, and the other half can go to Takodana to get the freight ship and then meet up with the others."
Finn nodded. "It makes sense," he said, rubbing his face as he thought. "It'll probably take some time to find the shuttle anyways, since we can't track Jess's ship anymore. The people on the shuttle either destroyed its tracking system or the ship itself," he said, his voice wavering. He lowered his head slightly in obvious dejection, and Rey rubbed his shoulder reassuringly.
"If we're doing that, I'll lead the group of pilots to the Empire shuttle, I expect we'll run into trouble with those two TIEs that were spotted with it," Poe said. "You two can take the other group to Takodana."
Rey straightened, her brows furrowing as she looked up at Poe. "I'll go with you, with the group heading to the Empire shuttle," she protested.
Poe shook his head. "Rey, I'm not letting you do that," he said, concern in his voice.
"It's not your choice to make, Poe," she said firmly. "Besides, you'll need me to track down the shuttle. You forget that I can sense—" she cut herself off, unsure of whether to say 'Kylo Ren' or Ben's real name.
Poe sighed, tilting his head as his gaze dropped to the ground for a few moments. "You're right," he said, nodding, his eyes rising back up to meet hers. "I guess I can't make you stay, can I?" He asked with a pensive half-smile.
Rey shook her head slowly. She then turned to Finn, who had grown quiet. She sensed his distress over Jess, and she moved towards him, wrapping her arms around him in an attempt to comfort him. He sighed as he accepted her hug.
"It's okay, Finn. We'll find her, I promise," Rey said. As she pulled away, she turned her eyes back to Poe's. "We'll find BB-8 too," she said determinedly. Poe didn't tend to show much emotion over the loss of his droid and friend, but Rey knew he was still upset. "We'll get them both back," she said, but her voice wavered slightly as she couldn't help but wonder if she would be able to bring Ben home as well.
Poe nodded solemnly, biting his lip. "I need to tell the others," he said, beginning to walk away. "I'll see you both back here in a few hours."
"We'll see you then," Rey said, turning back to comfort Finn. She turned back over her shoulder as she heard Poe calling back to her.
"Rey, you can you fly one of these, right?" He asked as he walked backwards, gesturing towards the X-wings lined on either side of him.
Rey narrowed her eyes, giving him a soft smile as she reflected. If Ben had been able to fly an X-wing, then I should be able to, since our skills seem to transfer through our Force bond, she thought. "I can fly anything," Rey called back to him, raising her head, and Poe smiled across at her, beaming.
….
Rey sat at the table across from Finn in her small house, trying to clear her mind and calm herself. What if we don't make it in time to save Jess? She worried. She looked across at Finn, who was staring solemnly through the window at their side. What if we do?
Rey's thoughts shifted back to Ben, remembering the first kiss they'd shared by the fire in their makeshift house on Drecenia. Her hand instinctively rose her to mouth as she remembered the feeling of his lips on hers, soft and inviting. She traced her finger over her lower lip as the memories flooded back to her. What if I run into him?
Rey thought of Leia last night, how she'd assumed that Rey would want to go with Finn and Poe to rescue Jess and BB-8. Remembering the knowing smile on Leia's face, she realized that Leia knew she would want to go with them not just for Jess and BB-8, but for the potential to reunite with Ben.
"Are you worried?" Finn asked, studying her face. Rey jolted, having been lost in her thoughts, and she sighed.
"Yes, but not for reasons that you'd think," she admitted. He nodded, catching her drift. Rey always felt that Finn was the only one she could ever confide her secrets in. Though Leia was understanding and treated her nearly as a daughter, Rey always refrained from revealing very much about her time with Ben, afraid Leia would repeat her stories to Luke. Rey worried that if Luke realized how emotionally attached she was to Ben, he would give up training her as a Jedi.
"I know you can't communicate with him, but you still sense him, don't you?" Finn asked.
Rey nodded. "I do. I always sense him. I feel that he's very far away now, but...his presence is always with me," she said.
"Do you sense...do you think he could be—" Finn began.
"A Sith?" Rey answered, and Finn lowered his brows, nodding slowly.
Rey shifted her gaze, taking in a deep breath through her nose. She closed her eyes, feeling the Force around and within her, latching onto Ben's presence that always remained a part of her. The connection she sensed from his end felt distinctly heavy, and had felt increasingly so over the past few months. Yet there was something else there, a slight otherness, a lightness. Just as she herself always felt a pull to the Dark through her connection to Ben, Rey knew that he conversely always felt a pull to the Light through his connection with her.
Rey opened her eyes, meeting Finn's. "I don't," she finally said, her voice firm. "I know you don't understand, but there is light in him...there always will be."
"But what will happen if you find him?" Finn asked, raising an eyebrow in wary concern.
Realizing it was nearing their time to meet Poe and the other pilots back at the tarmac, Rey rose from the small table. She met Finn's nervous eyes with assurity. "I will find him," she concluded. "And I'll bring him back home with the others."
Finn's eyes dropped from hers as his mouth formed a flat, dissenting line.
….
Tense and exasperated, Kylo stood in the pouring rain, his boots sinking into the thick mud below. He sensed his Knights standing around him at the ready, waiting for any other signs of danger. He did not sense Nodin, and a faint sense of relief flooded through him.
Through the dark screen of the mask, Kylo's heart skipped a beat as he saw Rey standing across from him, her eyes wide as she stared back. She was shivering, whether from the cold or from fear, Kylo was not sure.
Suddenly, a body rose from the ground between them, and Rey stumbled to the ground. The man was poised to strike Rey, his mallet raised over his head, but Kylo leapt forward, simultaneously grabbing the man's wrist and shoving his saber through the center of his back. Kylo watched as the man dropped to the ground. His face swivelled back to Rey, who had risen to her feet. She remained in place before him, frozen in obvious horror.
Rey, Kylo urged, moving towards her with purpose, but Rey quickly retreated. His boots sloshed heavily through the mud as he pursued her, confused by her distrust. Rey!
There was a crashing sound, and Kylo was no longer in the rain. He was swirling in a dark grey haze, being pulled away from Rey, and he tried to reach out for her, to protect her. The crashing sounded again.
Kylo jolted awake in his bed, sweat streaming down from his hairline as he panted to catch his breath. He pressed a hand to his head, sliding away the hair that stuck to his slick forehead.
He jolted again again the sound of a metallic thud against his chamber door, and he sighed in relief, realizing that BB-8 was rolling against his door to wake him up. Kylo motioned his hand upwards and the door lifted with the force.
BB-8 rolled quickly to his bedside, bleeping hastily.
"A transmission?" Kylo asked, rubbing his heavy eyelids. "From who?"
The droid beeped in response.
Kylo sighed. "Great." He got out of his bed and pulled a shirt on before making his way to the front of the ship to answer the transmission, BB-8 following closely behind.
As he entered the pilot's section of the ship, the several commanders at the control board silently bowed their heads towards him before speeding out of the room. Kylo moved forward to the controls and switched the ship's transmission intercom on. Grand Admiral Thrawn began speaking without any form of greeting."Ren, what have you gotten from the Organa pilot?"
Kylo flinched at the sound of his former last name. He scowled down at the intercom. "Nothing. She is not informed of the Order's methods of production," he answered.
"Nothing?" Admiral Thrawn sighed. "That is unfortunate, for her sake," he said in his usual calm, accented voice. "Bring her to the base at Quarus for further interrogation. We may come up with other information to extract from her. She is not to be executed just yet."
"That was my plan," Kylo said. "We have discarded her X-wing, there are tracking devices in its system."
"Good," Thrawn said. "I shall reach Quarus in a week's time, though I expect you should be reaching the planet within the next day or two."
"Yes," Kylo answered.
"Until then," Thrawn said, and cut off the transmission.
BB-8 wavered in place at Kylo's side, bleeping nervously. Kylo looked down at the droid.
"We have to bring her to Quarus," he told the droid. "We can't 'just let her go.'"
BB-8 beeped and trilled in response, circling to the front of Kylo.
"Then we will have to plan for her release on the planet. If we let her go from our shuttle, it will be too obvious that she was allowed to escape. For your sake and mine, we have to take her there," Kylo answered.
The droid beeped and rolled forward, gently bumping into Kylo's shins as it stared up at him. Kylo looked away, trying not to allow it to persuade him. He backed away from the droid before looking at it again. "Fine," he muttered.
BB-8 beeped in delight, and it followed Kylo as he headed towards the interrogation chamber. Before he opened to the door to the chamber, however, he hesitated, debating going back to his room to get his mask. BB-8 bleeped questioningly, and Kylo glanced down at him. "Stay out here," he told the droid, but his tone was gentle.
Grinding his jaw, Kylo was apprehensive to approach the prisoner without his mask. As he lifted the door with the Force, he moved casually into the room, meeting the wary, enervated eyes of Jess Testor.
Jess shrunk back further into the metal chair as she studied his face. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Both of them knew that she didn't need to speak for him to know what she was thinking.
Kylo's eyes drifted from hers as he moved to the side of her chair.
She shivered as he neared her, and Kylo read in her thoughts that she assumed he was approaching to finish her off. She craned her face away from him.
"Please, I swear, I don't know anything—"
"I know," Kylo said flatly, leaning down. He pressed a switch on the side of the chair and her restraints immediately popped open.
Jess remained frozen in place, staring at him in shock as he backed away from the chair. "Wha—what?" She asked, cautiously leaning her head forward.
"You don't have to stay in the chair," Kylo said, careful to keep his voice stony. "Follow me." He moved to the open door of the chamber, waiting.
Jess stared a him a moment longer before moving, not trusting him in the slightest. "W-where are we going?" She asked shakily. She slowly peeled herself from the chair, standing in front of it as she stared across at him apprehensively.
"Follow me, or I'll have you strapped back into that thing," Kylo threatened, and he turned out of the room. He looked back over his shoulder and saw Jess slowly turning out of the room, her eyes dropping at the sound of beeping at her feet.
"BB-8?!" She exclaimed, and she leaned down, placing her hands on the droid as it bleeped happily.
Kylo turned towards Jess and stared at her. Catching his ill-tempered gaze, she leapt back up to her feet, ignoring the droid. Kylo turned and continued down the hallway, and she slowly followed him, keeping her distance. They passed several stormtroopers, who all straightened themselves as Kylo walked past them.
Kylo led her to a small, empty bed chamber at the back of the ship, and he remained next to its entrance, nodding towards it. "You'll stay in here," he said, and she nodded feebly, ducking quickly past him into the small room. Kylo shut the door with the Force, and and he headed back to his own room, hoping to escape from his troglodytic reality, to have more dreams and visions of Rey.