Chapter Five
Poe had firmly grasped Rey by the waist, and was helping her walk a straight line to the cot-filled hangar.
"Just in here—there're two cots on the end. We won't wake anyone over here." Poe helped Rey down onto the cot, where she sat for a moment. Her head was fuzzy and she swayed with exhaustion and drunkenness.
"Poe," she whispered. Rey reached out, and brazenly grabbed Poe's hand. He sat on the cot in front of her. Their knees nearly touched.
"Yes, Rey?" Poe held her hand, biting back the temptation to brush the skin of her hand with his thumb.
"Why are you being so nice to me?"
Poe hesitated a moment. "You and Finn are good people. I owe you."
Rey gave Poe a studied glance in the near-dark hangar, the only light being the glow from the entrance. It wasn't the debt, she told herself.
As if shocked out of her stupor, Rey realized she had grabbed Poe's hand, a gesture she had much disdain for in the past, and let it go. Shaking herself mentally, she lay back on the cot. She closed her eyes and wished for sleep. Poe stared for a few moments at Rey, who was most likely half asleep already, her hair a mess and her feet dangling off the side of the cot. Smiling, he removed his jacket, and followed Rey's example, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Chewbacca's low growl resonated in her ears, pulling her from her sleep. At first, he tried coaxing her awake gently, but his growls became more and more insistent.
Rey's eyes felt like they were welded shut. It was Chewie shaking her shoulder that got her to wake up fully, but with a more-than-mild headache. "What, what's happened?" She was sitting halfway up now.
Chewie rumbled a few words at her, and this set Rey to getting herself hastily ready. "I'll be there in a minute," she said, tying her hair into its first knot. She looked around herself as she continued to fasten her hair. She was on a cot—the only occupied cot in the whole hangar. Not good, she thought to herself.
At first she couldn't quite recall how she'd gotten to the cot, but within a moment, she recalled that Poe had seen her back to her cot, taking the empty one beside her. She squeezed her eyes shut with embarrassment at the flood of images of herself from the night before. She hoped that she hadn't made too much of a fool of herself, drinking what ever jet fuel those hot-shot pilots passed off as alcohol, but she didn't have the time to think it over.
With her hair neatly but quickly done up, she reached for her vest and threw it on over her tunic. Finally, she snatched her bag, opening it to confirm that Luke's lightsaber was still there.
Within two minutes, Rey was rushing into the control room of the Resistance base. People were muttering orders and coordinates into headsets, others were staring at schematics and holo-displays. General Organa stood stoically, her hand resting on a mid-sized box on the holo-display table in front of her. The same box that Rey had transported from Naboo. Rey focused on it briefly before her attention was drawn to what everyone in the room was looking at.
A holo-projection of an elderly woman was speaking, and wrapping up her transmission.
"… therefore the base transition must be moved up, all troops, supplies and equipment dismantled and be en route to the next location within the next twelve hours. Await coordinates. Good luck."
Her image scrambled into static, and then she was gone.
"Mon Mothma has given us twelve hours," Leia warned the inhabitants of the room. "Let's not waste them." She left it at that, knowing that no one in the room needed orders. No one, except for Rey.
She turned on Rey, and approached her intently. She took both of Rey's hands in hers.
"You must go. Chewie has the Falcon ready, and the ship has been stocked. The coordinates have been uploaded directly to the Falcon. The only people who have the coordinates are myself, Commander Dameron and Admiral Akbar." She paused, reading the shocked expression on Rey's face. "I had hoped it wouldn't be this soon, but we have inside information that the First Order means to make an attack on D'Qar tomorrow. If we are to find Luke, you must leave within the hour. Chewie knows what to do to find the location of our base when you return."
Rey's mouth felt as if she'd been walking on the sands of Jakku for days with no water. She swallowed, and shook her head. "I won't know what to say to him." She didn't mean Chewbacca.
Leia's face contorted briefly in sorrow. "You'll know, when the words come to you. But for my part, I hope he knows… tell him how sorry Han and I were. The most important thing, Rey, is that you get him here to us. We must try again. Luke and I. And now you."
"Try…" Rey swallowed and shook her head. "Try what?"
"To rebuild the Jedi Order, of course."
Rey felt her jaw hang open slightly. She knew they needed Luke, but she hadn't thought that far ahead. She thought maybe he might just be a fighter, but she knew what a naïve thought that was. She knew that this was what the Resistance truly needed from Luke Skywalker. Still, she had no time to communicate her fears to the General, and nodded.
"Do I have time to see Finn?"
"Do what you will with your time, but be on the tarmac in an hour. I will be there to see you off."
Without another word, Rey turned, and walked as fast as she could to the medical wing. Looking around, watching doctors and nurses pack supplies in metal crates, Rey found Finn, looking equally distressed.
They'd moved him to a seated position, no doubt preemptively because of the sudden move. He looked heavily medicated, but still alert, looking for Rey. When his eyes met her, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Rey," Finn called. Rey was at his side instantly. Not wishing to jostle him about, Rey knelt and took his hand in hers. She was amazed at how quickly she'd gotten comfortable with holding Finn's hand.
"I have to go," she said, solemnly. She avoided his eyes.
"I know." Finn squeezed her hand.
"I will come back for you," she assured him.
"I know," Finn repeated. "So… Luke Skywalker, huh?"
"I can't believe he exists. I can't believe this is happening, Finn."
"Tell me about it. I was just a number a few days ago." Finn shook his head, wincing as he did so.
Rey eyed him with concern. "How long has it been since they medicated you?"
"It's about that time," Finn sighed.
Rey waved Doctor Kalonia over to Finn's side, and Finn was quickly given his last shot before he would be prepared for the move.
In the moments before Finn sunk too deeply into his medicated twilight, Rey kissed him on the cheek and repeated her promise.
Rey steadily made her journey onto the tarmac. She had helped Chewie with some last minute crate loading in one of the hangars, and had secured her own meager belongings. All that really mattered was the lightsaber, but still she slung her staff over her shoulder. Feeling its weight, she realized that she probably didn't need it, as she had the most sophisticated weapon in the galaxy in her bag, but still she felt it would not be right to claim ownership of it. It had called to her, flown right into her hand, not Kylo Ren's.
No, it was Luke's, until he said otherwise.
A crowd had gathered outside the Millenium Falcon. Rey was surprised, but touched nonetheless. They had taken a moment out of their last-minute evacuation to see her off.
Leia stood in front of her, hugged her goodbye, and sent her off with a few parting words.
"Rey?"
She turned. "May the Force be with you."
Chills ran down her spine. She'd only heard that phrase in stories. But she felt like she remembered it from a time before stories. It made no sense to her, but still she nodded and walked to the Falcon.
As she neared the ramp, she heard her name called behind her. Rey turned, looking into Poe Dameron's eyes as he approached her. He neared her at a jogging pace, and slowed to a halt. They stood silently for a moment, both of them unsure what to say.
"You feeling okay?" Poe asked, ignoring the urgent movements around them.
"Yeah," Rey said with a sigh and a half smile. "Thanks. For getting me to a cot safely."
"Yeah, it looked like you needed some help. Bet they don't have that stuff on Jakku, do they?"
"Was it that obvious?" Rey asked, her face growing hot, but smiling nonetheless.
Poe flashed his boyish grin. "Just a little bit," he said, his eyes narrowed in his smile.
"Well," Rey said, readjusting her staff on her shoulder. "I suppose I'll see you at the next base… or the base after that. Which ever comes first."
"Don't be nervous," Poe said. "My mother knew Luke… he was a good man. I know that if anyone is going to get to him, it's you."
"I just hope you're right. And I hope that it's not too late. For the Resistance."
"As long as there's light, Rey," Poe took Rey's hand gently in his, "we've got a chance."
Rey nodded knowingly, giving Poe's hand a gentle squeeze in return. Poe moved his thumb gently on the back of her fingers before letting her hand go. The gesture was small, but left a pulling sensation in Rey's chest. She took a breath to shake herself. She turned and began to walk towards where R2-D2 and Chewie were waiting by the ramp to the Millenium Falcon. Before boarding, Rey turned and left Poe with one more parting remark.
"Save a little bit of fun for us, alright Commander?"
"Somehow I don't think that will be a problem, Rey," Poe smiled, and raced off towards his X-wing. He and Snap were to escort the Falcon out of orbit and make sure that they made it into hyperspace without any issue.
Rey sighed, and cast one more glance over the Resistance fighters, and the beautiful landscape of D'Qar before closing the ramp to the Millenium Falcon, and taking her place as captain.
AN: I took a bit of time to really think about where I want the story to go, and I've come up with quite a few things that I'm excited to put into place. I can't wait to get your take on it, so I hope to update more soon. As always, thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites!