It was a busy weekend... Here is the next installment though!
Chapter 4
In the calm night, dozens of Rebels moved in a quiet cluster through the meadows of Naboo, all dressed in their best clothing. Some wore patched jackets and trousers, others wore garments seemingly never worn. Rey wore a midnight blue shirt and matching trousers, a black stripe running down either leg, a sign of her flying prowess given to her by a pilot from Corellia. As a final touch, she wrapped her white scarf around her shoulders and crossed across her stomach, the overhanging ends tucked into her belt along with the wilting daffodil. Finn wore his best clean white shirt and dark trousers, along with his customary brown jacket. Others wore ceremonial dress from their home worlds; gowns and feather jackets, leather, and plain homespun. Regardless of the person, only the best for their fallen general was put forward.
Standing as tall as her emotions would permit, Rey walked through the grass beside the thawed wooden sarcophagus, Poe on the other side, tears sliding down her cheeks. Behind her, Finn followed in procession with Kaydel Connix, C-3PO at the rear. The sarcophagus was elevated above the soft soil, carried by four moving droids of Rose's design that fit perfectly within a ready-go bag along with a remote control. When she could see clearly enough, Rey saw the crowd move with them, some with eyes as wet as her own. As one, they moved towards the pyre that had been assembled, Rose standing next to it, lamenting over her perfect design.
It was a plain, solid wood table, built to hold and burn all at once. Not a single nail had been used to assemble it, Rose had particularly stressed that point. It had been carved according to a rudimentary design of interlocking joints. The pyre assembled relatively quickly, but the mourners took their time carving messages expressing their love and sorrow for General Organa into the soft wood, waiting for night to fall.
Two torches were posted on either side of the table, one at the head and one at the foot, their flames burning tall in the windless night. The Nabooans provided straw and a type of sweet oil that had been poured over the table and the straw, a type of solution that would burn slowly and hotly so that they would not have to worry about running out of fuel before the cremation process could be completed. They had even been kind enough to allow the burn site to be situated a fair distance away from the ships, beside a babbling ravine that provided the perfect mourning music for the ragtag bunch.
Rey gasped when blinked and saw the torches, a feeling of comfort settling over her and seeping into the pit of her stomach. She looked to her right and left, searching amongst the crowd.
This isn't supposed to happen, She chided herself. Fire isn't comfortable, I'm supposed to be mourning!
She forced her face forward towards the pyre, the familiar itch to head off towards the call of an unknown direction tugging at her. It came from beyond the pyre, off to the distant waterfalls beyond the darkened meadow. The looming darkness called out to her, just like it always did. Rey shook her head and slowed with Poe to the designated halting point, Rose quickly wiping her face with her sleeve to perform the next part.
They stopped, but the moving droids did not. They propelled the sarcophagus forward, sliding it onto the pyre where the two droids at the front slid towards the back as soon as the head of the wooden box touched the surface, allowing the two at the back to move around and push until the sarcophagus rested peacefully upon it's destination. There was a pause in the procession, a moment for the crowd to shuffle in it's half moon to stand where they might see the service of a final farewell to General Organa.
Poe stepped forward, striding ceremoniously to the pyre, and grazed his hand over the wooden surface. "You're home, Leia." He breathed.
He faced the crowd, his brown jacket gleaming softly in the torchlight. He inhaled and looked away, eyes glittering with tears. He opened his mouth to speak, and suddenly Rey was far away. Well, not that far; apparently, she was still on Naboo. Children were playing in a darkened tree, its leaves hauntingly silent as they climbed and laughed. The moon beamed over the rooftops and through the branches and long leaves of the garden plants, but it couldn't illuminate the children's active bodies, or most of their faces. Rey turned suddenly, the children had gone completely except for one. A little boy with fluffy dark hair and plump lips waited for her, pointing down an avenue topped by arching bridges and golden gates.
"Rey," Finn's voice hissed, yanking Rey to the present.
Rey stopped, eyes darting to her for a second before realizing that she had moved almost adjacent to Poe, causing him to halt his somber speech to look at her.
The Force called to her again, once more from the dark meadow. She turned and gasped, eyes widening. "Ben!"
Poe whirled around, his eyes equally wide. "Oh no!" He called, his eyes wide as he too saw that tall silhouette of a man dressed entirely in black.
He shot his arm out across Rey's stomach and pushed her back, the Rebels gasping and crying out to the sight of Kylo Ren and two guards standing on either side of him.
"Wait!" Rey cried, moving Poe's arm.
"We have a ceasefire agreement!" Poe shouted, trying to catch Rey as she moved towards the pyre.
Rey ignored him, her eyes focused on Kylo. In the dim light, he reached up to his belt, and removed his silver lightsaber. Her muscles wanted to flinch back, jump into a fighting stance and be ready for anything. But, her feelings were calm, and she watched him lift the silver handle, turn his upper body, and handed it to the guard on his right before stepping forward, alone.
"You're here," Rey called, watching his face illuminate in the orange of the firelight.
"We had a deal," Poe warned, standing next to Rey.
Kylo nodded, "The ceasefire began the moment you entered Naboo airspace, you have time." His eyes flicked to Rey for a second, then returned to Poe, "Besides, she wanted me here."
Rey could feel Poe turn towards her with a face that clearly read, "And how would he of all people know that?"
"Yes," Rey told them both, turning to Poe. "It was Leia's final wish to have her son light the pyre." She looked at Kylo, "There's two torches. And, she wasn't one for opulent words on her behalf."
Kylo smirked, "That's true."
Poe turned looked between the two of them, then nodded at last. "Alright, for Leia's sake."
Rey smiled, then stepped away from the pyre and men, watching as they moved, one set of eyes glued to the man across from him, the other admiring the final resting place of his mother. Kylo lifted a hand, and caressed the head of the sarcophagus.
"Mama," He breathed, staring down at the soft wood.
He returned his hand to his side and turned to Poe, waiting. Carefully, Poe bent at the knees and took the cooler handle of the torch, Kylo following suit. Both men stood suddenly, pulling from the grass flickering orange torches like scalding lilies. In somber movement, they turned the dancing heads towards the straw bundles, and watched with the mourning crowd as the flickering fingers touched the dry yellow, burning it. They moved with their torches, ensuring that all the straw caught flame, then slammed their torches into the ground, stepping back.
It hit Rey the moment she saw the fire close around the sarcophagus. That stern woman who could be both intimidating and mothering within the scope of snapping fingers, was gone. Her kind, rasping voice. Her brown eyes that saw everything and could say so much more than her sometimes harsh words, would never look upon Rey again and glitter in a kind of secret joke shared only between the two of them. Rey shivered, her tears hiccupping to the surface. The only mother she had ever known was gone to a burst of light as bright and as hot as the Jakku sun.
Kylo shifted his weight, his entire body illuminated by the bonfire before him. He stared, almost unblinking at the sight of his mother's sarcophagus engulfed into flame. Rey touched the Force, searching for his feelings. He was powerfully sad, the emotion sinking into her limbs and relaxing her body so much that her tears spilled, rushing towards the grass beneath her. She inhaled, and slid to her knees, the sight of him leaving her as her fingers splayed onto the dark green. She knew, like she knew touch and the smell of burning pine, that Kylo wanted to break down, to lament the passing of his mother. But he stood, stoic and proud, arms held to his sides and fists clenched. And so, she would weep for him.
"You alright?" Finn's voice whispered into Rey's ear. He smelled of salt, and when she turned to him, she saw his face was downcast, and sopping wet.
Rey nodded. "I'll be fine," She sobbed.
For what seemed like an eternity, the crowd stood, crying and lamenting the loss of their beloved Leia. The scent of pine and spices perfumed around them, small signals to the medical team the progress of the burn. Some mourners, tall aliens with bright red skin and bucked teeth, came forth with prayers written onto parchment papers and tossed them onto the pyre. But mostly, the crowd held each other as they cried, rocking from side to side in the windless night. It was only when they were certain that the body had caught fire and was successfully burning that anything worthy of note happened.
Kylo shifted his weight once again, this time towards his guards, reminding the crowd that they had not turned to statues in the wait. The one who had his lightsaber, procured the silver handle from the pitch black and knelt on one knee, offering it to his master with absolute reverence. Kylo moved and took it, casting one look back to Poe who had moved forward once more, leaving his post beside Kaydel Connix to the position of warning. Kylo turned back to him, and jutted his chin at him in acknowledgement.
Poe nodded, taking two steps back. Kylo turned his back to them, and sauntered off, one of his guards walking one step behind him, the other walking backwards, his covered head twitching from left to right as they moved.
Poe looked around at the Rebels as they watched the pyre finish burning. He opened his mouth, the warning words of staying close and keeping vigilant bubbled to his lips, but burst with one sweep of his eyes at the people before him. Of them all, one was definitely missing.
"Where's Rey?"
SWSWSW
Rey walked through the streets of Naboo, admiring how beautiful the sandstone looked in the moonlight spilling over with plants and sleeping flowers in muted colors everywhere she looked. The sounds of her footsteps echoed in the emptiness, almost a dancing beat. Apartments lined the streets, each one dotted with some sort of greenery and vibrant colors: reds, blues, purples, even pinks. She inhaled, the scent of lilac, honeysuckle, and roses filling her with peace. In all her time with the Resistance, she had never seen a more beautiful planet than this one and with each step was beginning to doubt she ever would again.
She turned the corner and saw a garden plot area, one hauntingly similar to the vision she had before the ceremony. She looked left, and saw down a long, walled avenue, a gate left partially open, the moon making it appear silver. Rey walked towards it, her footsteps faltering under the sound of her heartbeat booming in her chest. She pushed the gate open completely, the bolts creaking against her spine as it wailed down the avenue. She took one step and immediately felt the Force sweep over her like a tidal wave, sudden and unwelcome.
The moon brightened to sunlight and she blinked, hearing birds echo around her. Rey walked further into the courtyard, seeing flowers in their flowerbeds sway brightly in vibrant colors of red and yellow. In the center, a tree as tall as she was grew in a circular plot, filled with white flowers. Rey dared to take a step near the tree, wondering if she could take a flower with her to the "other" side when a young General Organa emerged from a corridor with a letter in hand.
Rey gasped, the emotion of sorrow, joy, and love jamming into her throat until she almost choked. Leia looked absolutely beautiful in a gown of blue and white, her thick brown hair draped in braids around her ears and down her back, but her face was pinched with concern, and she rubbed her finger across her lips as she read. She looked up suddenly, the sounds of a laughing child coming from behind Rey and her face completely changed. Rey turned and saw a little boy with black hair and warm brown eyes come running into the courtyard, a toy spaceship in hand.
"Ben," Rey breathed, the aching pressure in her chest stinging her eyes.
Ben ran to his mother, wrapping his arms around her in an awkward hug. Rey grabbed her throat when she realized that Ben's scooping hug was a practiced delicacy given to his pregnant mother.
"Hey kid, take it easy on your mother!"
Rey whirled around, the tightness becoming more unbearable as a young Han Solo followed his son, a smile highlighting his entire face. He swaggered to them, wrapping his arm around Leia's back as she folded the letter with one hand and slid it behind her to be tucked away into her belt. As a family, they looked over Ben's toy spaceship as he held it up to Leia, Han moving his arm around his wife's shoulders, their words lost to Rey's ears. Han shifted his weight the moment Ben turned away, looking back to where Rey stood with a longing that Rey could feel to her toes: the longing to answer some distant call. Then, Han turned and caught Leia's attention and motioned towards the exit. Leia's face changed, she was saddened.
Ben didn't notice, however. All his attention was directed towards the toy in his hands, his smile bright. Han leaned away from his family, taking a step back and shrugging an excuse. Ben looked up, his joy falling as he flinched forward, his precious toy lowering to his side. Leia forced a smile and she knelt before her son, pulling his attention away from Han and back to the half fallen toy. Ben looked over her shoulder to see his father's back turning to him, but turned to his mother at her urging. The little boy swallowed hard and forced a smile for his mother, the light gone from his eyes.
The sun faded and the image changed. Instead of Leia and her little boy, Rey saw Ben Solo a man standing before a taller tree, his back to her. His guards were nowhere to be seen, and he had removed his black cloak so that he stood before her in his purest form; the way she knew him. He turned his head, fully aware that she was watching him.
"This was the last place where we were together as a family," He told her.
"You lived here?" Rey asked, looking around at the surrounding apartments, the realization dawning that this area was a private home rather than an apartment block.
"Yes," Ben answered, lifting his chin to admire the lovely compound. "It was my mother's vacation home, an inheritance from my grandmother, the former Queen Amidala. We used to come here to get away."
Rey came closer, then swallowed. "What happened? After the day you showed me?"
Ben peered up at the tree beside him. "I waited for my father to come home each time he left. Days, weeks, months. Then one day, my mother told me that I didn't have to wait anymore. Han would come to be with me when he felt like it, or when cargo needed to be delivered near where we were. She was angry when she said it."
Rey's feelings were not eased. "What did you do, Ben?"
He turned, facing her. His face was calm, but his feelings were greatly pained. "I heard the midwives say that there was nothing like a baby bringing everyone together. It was true, for a time. But he always went away. My sister didn't do her job, in my sight. I choked her until she turned blue. It was the first time I showed anyone else that I had control of the Force. My mother brought her back, but kept me away from her. Not like my sister would come near me on her own after that, anyways. Shortly afterwards, Uncle Luke showed up to take me away from them. That was when I began to hear Snoke's voice in my dreams. For years, he spoke to me, comforted me. Until I was his unyielding puppet." He looked away. "Now I'm all alone in the galaxy."
"You're not alone, Ben!" Rey argued, stepping closer to him.
"Oh no?" He asked, stepping towards her, "You wouldn't come even though I saw you standing by my side when it mattered."
"You asked me to join the Dark Side with you," Rey reminded him.
"I asked you to come with me! Not the Dark Side!" Ben shouted, his deep voice echoing in the stillness. His chest heaved several pulses, his eyes unrelenting. "I wanted you because I know you felt the same type of loneliness as I do!"
Rey watched him, this man that glowered before her. He wasn't an enemy, he was a man who had had his heart broken too many times before by the people he treasured the most.
She swallowed, "What you ask me to do is impossible, Ben. You're asking me to leave everything and everyone I know and love."
"Forget the past," Ben breathed.
Rey cut him off, "Have you?"
She stepped towards him, so close that she could reach out and caress his face if she wanted to. "If you've forgotten that your father abandoned you, your uncle your hero tried to kill you, and your master manipulated you, how can you still be this angry?"
Ben looked away, a tremor running through him. He was conflicted, they both knew it.
"Come with me, Ben."
He looked up suddenly, eyes searching her face. Rey could feel him manipulating the Force to feel for the truth. She let him, knowing that her offer was genuine.
"We could leave here tonight," She continued. "You and I, alone. No First Order, no Resistance. We could jump into the Falcon and fly-"
"Did you send the dreams?"
Rey leaned away, frowning. "The dreams?"
"The dreams," Ben told her firmly, then looked away, "The ones where we are…"
"Kissing fervently in a pool of water?" Rey finished, raising her eyebrows. His cheeks flushed ever so slightly at the mention of such intimacy. "No. Not in a thousand years. You didn't either?"
"No, not at all." He dared to peek at her as he said it. "I thought it was you."
She suppressed her embarrassed laugh with one thought, "No, because that would mean that I sent the dream where-"
"Where I kill you." Ben concluded, nodding slowly and looking at her. "You couldn't have sent that. It's too vivid. I wake up frightened every time."
"So do I," She confessed, her mind rudely reminding her of that lightsaber battle, their faces screwed with intense hatred, until her face rounded with permanent shock. Rey shook her head, "Who else is out there that can manipulate the Force to bring us together? Snoke brought us together once before, but he's dead." From the recesses of her mind, two words popped up, Isn't he?
"I don't know," Ben replied. "It is bizarre for me, too."
"But, we're always together." Rey pointed out, her voice soft. "Our dreams, and in moments like these." She looked to his lips, plump and sealed hovering over her. "Ben," She whispered, leaning close. He leaned closer, too, his Adam's apple bobbing as he studied her face. His hands flinched forward so that their knuckles brushed against each other.
Suddenly, Ben stepped around her, hitting her with his elbow. "The First Order has given you twenty-four hours peace," He whirled around to her and growled, "We will not be granting you a second more."
Rey watched him march away, her shoulders shaking. She swiped at her eyes before the tears had a chance to fall.
SWSWSW~~
Rey stretched, feeling her arms pop. She longed to go to bed if only for the hope of leaving a bad day behind her, but knew, as she knew all too well as of late, that she ran the risk of an inappropriate dream.
"Rey!" A voice hissed, prompting her to turn. Finn trotted towards her, looking around to his left and his right. "Where were you?" He whispered, taking her arm and guiding her to the shadow of a ship.
Rey inhaled, knowing that she would have to tell someone. "I met with Ben, he wanted to talk."
Finn frowned, "Ben…?" His face alighted with alarm, "B-Kylo Ren? You met with him, alone?"
Rey pulled her arm from his grip. "Yes, he said he would honor the ceasefire and he did!"
"Poe is pissed with you right now!" Finn hissed, looking once more over his shoulder.
"What did I do?" Rey demanded, fear filling her chest.
A voice whispered behind them, "You spoke with the First Order without telling me and then spoke with Supreme Leader Ren."
Finn's jaw clenched as Rey gasped. Together, they turned towards the ship to find Poe Dameron squatting in front of them, looking from one timid face to the other.
"Hey Poe," Finn told him, voice shaking to normal. "I-I was just telling Rey that you were looking for her."
"Well, now you found me." Poe replied, then turned on Rey. "Rey, a word."
Rey looked back to Finn who offered her a shrug of sympathy before stepping away. She sighed as she walked up the ramp to Poe's ship, watching him rise to full height before leading her to the ship's bridge, heels clicking on the dusty floor. He opened the door, poking his head in and looking around before pulling his body in and waiting for Rey to enter so that he could close the door.
Rey inhaled, "Before you begin, let me just explain-"
"Please, do!" Poe exclaimed, shutting the door. "You cut a deal with the First Order and didn't tell me about it! You met with Kylo Ren, here, tonight, and didn't tell anyone about it! Please, tell me something, Rey!"
"Ben and I have a connection," Rey told him.
"It's 'Ben' now?" Poe scoffed moving from his post at the door to sit on a control board.
"We have a connection through the Force," Rey growled, "We don't know why or how to stop it. Obviously, if we could end it, we would. I have tried, and I know he has as well, but the more we try to sever our connection, the stronger it becomes."
Poe lifted his eyebrows, not impressed. "And what do you guys talk about?"
Rey looked to the bay windows, seeing the small figures of the rebels as they huddled together and mourned their great general, their lamps dotted against the black. "We haven't spoken in some time."
"Just to arrange ceasefires and secret rendezvous?"
She turned back to Poe, "He had to be told."
"Oh, he did?"
"He's her son, Poe. He felt the disturbance in the Force when she died, and then when I was informed of her passing. I know because I felt it. He called to me before the ceremony, he just wanted to talk to me in person and so we met."
Poe nodded and set his jaw. "This is what I hate about getting promoted," He breathed. "Rey, you are not authorized to organize anything as big as this. I should have been consulted before I left my best ships alone while my chain of command gathered together in one place. You have something going on with someone, that's your affair, but when it affects the fleet, I need to be made aware of it. Got it?"
Rey frowned, "Wait, the ships were left unguarded?"
"Yes," Poe told her, "Everyone who had a connection with General Organa came to pay final tribute to her-"
"The ships were unguarded!" Rey cried, flying from him to the main control board.
Poe lifted his arms in askance, but followed Rey, watching her switch on the panel to power up the ship. She had not even tapped the light to the fuel tank when the panel washed in blinking red and showed a blueprint of the ship with a blood red fuel tank area.
"We've sustained damage," Rey breathed, eyes widening and frigid dread filling her entire body.
"While we've been parked here," Poe added, eyes growing equally robust. "The fuel tanks!"
Poe bolted, a flash of brown and black as Rey ducked underneath the control panel for a secured flashlight before shooting off herself. She skidded down the ramp nearly slipping on the wet grass as she turned the corner. She turned on the flashlight, a bright bluish white thing that fit perfectly on the palm of her hand.
"Poe?" She called, her feet squelching as she moved around the back of the ship.
"Under here!" His voice called back, the muffled sound coming from under the ship.
Rey dropped to her knees and sent the beam of light at him, dwarfing the small pen light that he kept with him at all times. The grass he laid upon had an odor to it, something akin to fuel, but not the full stomach wrenching stink that Rey could recognize in death as well as in life.
"What's going on?" Finn's voice asked, prompting Rey to look at him.
"This tank's been cut with a laser." Poe determined, shimmying towards Rey and Finn. Rey moved out of his way, but saw with her own experienced eyes that he was coated in jet fuel. "First Order bastards didn't honor the ceasefire."
"Tanks like this could not be emptied so quickly from the time they left the funeral," Rey told them. "And I'm sure you sent people to watch them once you knew they were here. This must have been done as soon as we landed. They were waiting for us."
"The only ones who were here were the Naboo landing crew," Finn reminded them. "And I was in the Falcon, I would have seen or heard anything else."
Poe touched the brown liquid coating his jacket and pants and held his fingers to his nose, sniffing deeply. "I've seen this before, it's a powder. Spread it anywhere, it masks the smell. Sells cheap, we used to buy it when we had a base near here. They must have spread it to mask the smell of the jet fuel."
"The white powder on our shoes," Rey muttered, looking down at her feet. It had been replaced, now. Now it was brown liquid with only the slightest hint of white powder on the very top of her shoes.
"We are deep into First Order territory," Finn warned. Rey looked up, seeing his chest beginning to heave. "We only have twenty four hours to be here before all hell breaks loose again."
"That means we have to get these ships repaired and refueled before then!" Rey panicked, suddenly realizing the depths of her sin.
"Finn, get a message to the rebels in the area," Poe commanded, "Tell them we need to evacuate yesterday; our ships the better. Use whatever methods of communication you can."
Finn nodded, taking off at full speed but slipping face-first onto the spilled fuel. He lifted his hand to his face, seeing his skin a full shade darker even at this distance. He looked back at the ships.
"Oh no." He breathed. One spark, and the ships would burn… and the heat would set off their ammunition.
He scrambled to his feet, careful not to fall again, and made his way towards civilization begging the Force that some sort of communication was available to him.
Rey turned to Poe as he steadied himself onto his feet. "Rey, you, me, and the droids are going to find whatever we can to patch these holes as much as we can. But first, we need to scramble the troops. If we can't fix these ships, we can't let the First Order get the data on where we've been hiding."
Rey nodded, sliding to her feet. If we get caught, She thought, I will never be able to forgive myself if Poe doesn't shoot me first.
Thank you to those of you who have reviewed. Your reviews keep me going and keep me on my toes, so needless to say:
PLEASE REVIEW!