Chapter Three
Rey hadn't exactly lied to Finn. She'd gone to bed. Curled up under the thin blanket, huddled in the little corner she'd staked out as her own in what appeared to have been a cafeteria of sorts, Rey lay awake. Every muscle in her body screamed for sleep. Thoughts drifted through her head at a light speed, however. She listened to the muffled conversations, snoring, shuffling, whimpering, and other noises of life in a room with 17 other people. Though it'd been less than a month since she left Jakku - gods, was it really only a month? - she'd forgotten the cold of the desert at night. The generators were cranking and spitting out warm air, and really in a room with 17 other bodies, you'd think it'd be too warm for comfort. She shivered. After tossing around for the better part of an hour, Rey threw her blankets off and hauled herself to her feet. She grabbed her staff that leaned against the wall next to her pallet, and picked her way through mostly still bodies, some awake and turning to her as she moved to the exit.
"Rey!" Ilica sat up, black hair sticking up at odd angles. "Where are you going?" She whispered.
"I left something on the Falcon. I'll be right back." Rey said, flashing a brief smile.
The halls of the old bunker were quiet, occasionally knocking or ringing with the tinny sound of old metal shifting. The single bulbs that hung from the ceiling every few meters cast a strange half light over the walkway, illuminating the numerous compartments in the walls that had once been used to hide weapons for a quick coup.
She walked silently, nodding and smiling to the officers stationed as guards. At the entrance to the bunker, Chewie sat on a crate at a makeshift table, several playing cards in his large paws. On the opposite side, C'ai drew a card from the deck and chortled, laying down a flush. Chewie let out a dejected wail. Rey smiled at both of them, her hand lifting briefly to squeeze Chewie's shoulder as she passed. Chewie grunted inquiringly at her.
"Just to the Falcon. I need some fresh air." Rey replied. Chewie trilled a warning to her. "Yes, I'll watch out for them."
The door slid up and then closed behind her. Outside was a sea of blackness, the stars the only light, and very little at that. The air was colder, but cleaner. Looking around, waiting for her eyes to acclimate to the darkness, Rey listened for predatory animals. In the distance she heard the wailing howl of an creature either becoming dinner or having lost its own meal. A large insect scurried centimeters from her feet, but not venomous. Hearing and seeing nothing of note near her, she walked carefully to the Falcon, easily avoiding the small burrows in the ground that contained the nasty arachs. They were not known to come out at night, unless disturbed.
When the door closed behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was alone. And Rey thought that if the loneliness wouldn't go away, she'd rather feel it without an audience. The porgs that had made the ship their new home chirped in their nests. Rey wondered how long it would take before the crew broke down and ate them. She hoped they wouldn't. She found out the hard way that humans couldn't digest the little creatures very well. Besides, at this point in their journey, it would feel a little like cannibalism. The little creatures were pests, but friendly ones. She walked to the lounge and pulled open a heavy drawer. The books she'd stolen from the island were still nestled in their hiding place. Behind them, rolled in a scarf, were the two halves of the lightsaber. She took it out, unwrapping it carefully. Torn apart by light and dark. A legacy object that held no value of its own now.
A new resolve filled her. She was going to fix it, somehow. A Jedi heirloom. Maybe the books she took would have some answers? She flipped on the bright overhead light, pulled her hair up out of her face, and sat down to begin the work.
It was nearly morning when the floor began to tilt around her. At first she mistook it for exhaustion, but the tingle of electricity along her skin, raising hairs and chill bumps, made her realize she wasn't as alone as she thought.
He stood in the middle of the room, large and overbearing. His saber was drawn, and clearly he was preparing to fight.
"Show yourself, old man!" Kylo growled. Rey waited, her body stiff with muscles tensed so tight breathing became difficult. She couldn't see his surroundings, as usual, but it was clear whomever he was challenging would not make an appearance. "Coward," he muttered, and retracted the saber. Rey released a small breath, and Kylo went very still. He turned very slowly to stare at her. She expected him to charge her, throw something at her, or even try to choke her from across the galaxy. He did none of those things. She could feel the heaviness in the air between them. They had not - connected - since Crait. She waited for him to say something. Again, nothing. She needed noise. The silence between them was too full.
"Who are you talking to?" Rey asked. She tried to keep her voice neutral. Before their last connection on the island, Rey would have been sure he couldn't hurt her through their Force connection. But then they'd touched hands. Actually touched each other. She remembered the barest glide of his fingers against her own, the overwhelming feeling of solidarity, of sureness, of rightness. Here and now, that confidence was gone, replaced by the knowledge that he could strike her down with anything in his hand.
His left eye twitched, but other than that, his normally expressive face remained impassive. Like a wall built up around his heart and mind.
"Why are you here?" he asked her.
"You know I can't control this, any more than you can," she replied. Rey was annoyed, tired beyond what she previously thought her body could handle, and not ready for this confrontation. "I'd think the new Supreme Leader could have figured out a way to sever a connection his dead master created. Or are you too busy ruling a galaxy you've murdered?" As soon as the words were out, she regretted them. Not for what they were. They were the truth, and he deserved them. She worried he would snap. She had no weapon that could counter any attack he would lay against her. As she feared, he stepped into her space, his face no longer devoid of emotion. The hatred in his eyes was clear as the day dawning outside. He knelt in front of her, an arm's reach away.
"And how's life with the defeated dregs of the galaxy?" Kylo asked softly, a malicious undercurrent rising to cloud the air between them. He looked her up and down, no doubt taking in the pallor of her skin, her greasy, messy hair. The evidence of exhaustion and hunger. "Ah, I see it's treating you well." He stood again, looming over her. She met his glare with her own, her jaw clenching. After a moment, he walked away, moving with an almost animal grace. He opened a door, though to where, she couldn't see. "I expect you gone by the time I'm out of the 'fresher."
Rey heard the door slam, and he disappeared. After a moment, she heard the water running. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. She read that sometime during the night in one of the texts she took from the temple on Ahch-to. I am one with the Force, Rey thought. I am one with the Force.
The clanging of large foot falls in the hallway startled her out of the forced meditation. Finn came to an abrupt halt when he saw her on the floor.
"Rey, are you ok?" He rushed to kneel in front of her, hands going to her arms, as though she might be injured. Rey frowned. Had he somehow seen Kylo? "I've been looking for you everywhere!"
"Finn, I'm fine." Rey unfolded her legs, finding them unpleasantly stiff and sore from being in the same position for so long. Finn pulled her to her feet. She froze when she saw the look in his eyes. "What's wrong, what's going on?"
"Poe's back." Finn said.
"Already? I thought he'd be here tonight?"
"Rey, be honest with me now." Finn said. He hadn't let go of her hands. Rey felt the first tendrils of fear curl around her stomach. She hadn't told anyone of her connection to Kylo. Only Luke had known, and he was dead. "What happened on Snoke's ship?" Confusion washed over her. She had also neglected to tell anyone of her massively stupid miscalculation. That particular humiliation and - yes - heartbreak was not something she wanted to relive. Chewie had seemed to understand, and hadn't felt it necessary to divulge the information either.
"Finn, I-"
"Rey, how did you kill Snoke?" Finn demanded. His eyes were wild, a grin splitting his face. He wasn't angry. He was gleeful. "And why didn't you tell us?"
Rey was at a loss. She had no words. As it happened, they weren't necessary, because she wouldn't have been able to speak if she wanted to. Finn pulled her behind him as they raced from the Falcon back to the bunker. Once inside, the entire Resistance, gathered in the hangar, erupted into raucous cheers and applause.
Rey looked around the room warily, as everyone crowded her, patting her back. She had never in her life been embraced by so many people. Poe reached for her and lifted her into a hug so tight she squeaked, and then planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek. He grasped her hand and lifted her arm into the air.
"To the hero of the Resistance!" he shouted. The roar of the mob - her friends, truly - was deafening. Rey thought she was going to pass out. Her head was spinning, and her vision went a little blurry at the edges. If it weren't for Poe on one side and Finn on the other holding her up, she would have fallen.
"Give her some room. Let her breathe." Leia's kind, but authoritative voice broke through the clamor. More claps on the back, both her hands squeezed, and could she have them back now, please? Leia stepped forward, taking Rey's arm gently. The general turned to address her people.
"This is a great victory in our fight against the First Order." Leia said. Rey swayed a little on her feet, but Leia was stronger than she looked, holding on to Rey's arm with one hand and gripping her waist with the other, all the while not giving away that she was supporting the taller woman. "We'll celebrate now. And then we plan. Our numbers right now are tiny, and our next move is crucial." There were enthusiastic nods. Leia could have told everyone to go collect Bantha druk, and they'd eagerly gather their shovels. "Commander Dameron, I believe I heard you mention something about getting your hands on some Chadian rum?"
Poe grinned.
"Everyone may have a drink." Leia said, holding up one finger. "One drink. And then back to work." She smiled, and the relieved laughter and cheers continued. She pulled Rey out of the crowd, and they made their way to the vacated supply room. Leia closed the door behind them. Rey collapsed onto a pile of broken down crates and linens. She leaned forward and put her head into her hands.
You have no place in this story. You come from nothing. You're nothing.
And yet he'd thrown her head first into the melee of the galaxy. So now she was something. And like everything else she'd pretended to be, the stories she made up about her life, it was a lie.
She was bone weary, but her heart was racing. She was dimly aware of Leia pulling up a chair and sitting in front of her. The general took Rey's hands firmly in her own, pulling them away from her face. Rey stared at her, eyes glassy and resigned.
"Rey, why didn't you tell us - why didn't you tell me that you went to Snoke's ship?" Leia asked. Her voice was gentle but firm. And then it happened. The truth came out, all of it. Well, almost all of it. Luke's refusal to come to their aid, to teach her, what she found on the island. Rey knew her face was bright red when she explained in clinical terms her connection with Kylo. After a moment, warring with herself, Rey did not divulge her most recent encounter. At the end, she couldn't look Leia in the eyes. Her own closed, and in some way she felt relief that it was all out now. She waited for the judgment to come, for her sentence to be leveled.
Leia stood up and paced slowly about the room. She gripped the back of the chair tightly, staring into a distance Rey could only speculate was as dark and bleak as her own feelings right now.
"Ben." Leia whispered. "My son, he felt, he feels, he -" Leia stopped and swiveled in Rey's direction. "Does he know where we are?" She then looked around the room frantically. "Force, is he here, now?"
"No! No he doesn't know where we are." Rey said. "He can't read my mind, and I would never tell him. And no, he's not here. " Rey wiped aching hands over her eyes. "It's ok. I'll go. I understand that I'm a liability, now." Rey tried to stand up, failed. Gods help her, she was just too tired. She would go, but in a few minutes. After she got her feet under her.
Leia snorted, the sound surprising and very un-general like to Rey's mind.
"Don't be stupid. You're not going anywhere." Oh. So, she was to be a prisoner then. Leia must have understood how that sounded. "No, no. I mean, I'm not exiling you, Rey. For one, I trust you. Two, the First Order has a bounty on your head. I've no intention of sending an innocent woman - one who's done so much for - for me and mine - to a certain death." Rey gaped at the general, exhaustion temporarily abated.
"He put a bounty on me?" she almost shouted. Leia raised one brow. Rey shook her head. "I'm going to kill him," she murmured.
"Yes, my son has inspired that idea in many people for many years - since he was a child. Get in line."
"You're not sending me away?" Rey asked, feeling very small.
"No. This connection - as you call it - was forged between the two of you before we landed on this Force-abandoned planet. If my son, if Kylo Ren wanted our location, wanted to hunt us down here, you and I wouldn't be having this conversation right now." Rey nodded. "The First Order likely believes us to be effectively dead. Not worth their time at the moment. And Ben-" Leia paused, and Rey knew she was in dire need of sleep because she could have sworn Leia actually smiled. A real one. Straight to the eyes. And then it was gone. Leia sat down in front of Rey again, taking both her hands.
"Rey, can you do this?" Leia asked her. Rey frowned.
"Do what?"
"Can you be what everyone out there believes you to be?" Leia urged her. "You found Luke Skywalker. You liberated the last remaining members of the Resistance. You are powerful in the Force." She squeezed Rey's hands. "You could have killed Snoke. You are a Resistance hero. Can you - will you stand as one?"
"You want me to own this? You want me to let people believe I'm something, someone I'm not?" Rey asked. Leia shook her head.
"I want you to believe in what and who you are, and let others believe the same. Be the hero we need and the inspiration they want. Rey," Leia's hold on her hands was almost painful. "You are our hope right now. You are. They - and the rest of the galaxy - believe in what you can do. If they believe that, then they can believe in us."
Rey thought about what Leia was asking of her. It really wasn't so different from what she was already, was it? She fought with and for the Resistance. A month ago, she didn't realize there was a Resistance, or really what they were resisting. Jakku was nowhere, and the people who eked out a meager life in its unforgiving desert were nobodies. Kylo had been cruel, but he wasn't wrong. Survival was what mattered. The First Order, the Empire, the Resistance, the Rebellion, they were people, and actions, and events that had little effect on the brutal lives of people unlucky enough to live there. Now, she was in the midst of it all. She had a purpose that meant more than ripping parts from dead machines to be traded for powdered food. Maz had told her her belonging was ahead of her. Maybe this was it?
"I, I can't -" Rey sighed, giving in. "I can't think straight right now," she admitted. Leia nodded.
"It's ok, Rey." Leia pulled her up into a tight hug. "Go. Have some rum. I'm serious!" Leia said at Rey's face. "It will help you sleep. And we can talk more tomorrow." Rey nodded and trudged back to the celebrations.
Leia watched her go, her hands clenching and unclenching. The spark she'd thought was dead was now a raging fire. The Resistance had sympathizers. Once word reached them of the Jedi in their midst, they would become allies. She was sure of it. They needed a myth come to life again, a legend walking among them. And Ben. Leia wiped away her tears impatiently. Ben wasn't gone. Force only knew how, but her son was alive. General Leia Organa was hopeful as she hadn't been for weeks.
Seyla Ren's shuttle landed on the swampy, sticky planet of Thrace. The moment she she stepped out, her boots squelching in the mud, she began to question her life choices. Not really. It was all part of the game, wasn't it? Sure, she was traipsing around a dead planet, looking for an Empire engineer at the command of the First Order's most powerful general. It beat groveling in the mud, at the feet of a pretentious Jedi with an over-developed sense of personal purity. Word of Luke's death, though not exactly at Kylo's hands, had made her nothing short of gleeful. Old monk had it coming. Granted, she was none too tearful over Snoke's death, either. A sentiment she was more than certain Kylo shared. Once the little human rebel girl was captured, Seyla would be sure to congratulate and thank her before the execution.
Up ahead, Seyla saw the cylindrical, rusted power silos. Well, that was certainly surprising. She hadn't expected the traders on Shil to be so honest. People tended to say whatever they thought you wanted to hear when enough pain was delivered. Never stopped her though. She ignited her saber, and plunged ahead, hacking down tree branches and snarled vines in her way. She gracefully stepped over and around the roots and rocks that impeded the path. She slowed to a stop in the small clearing, the silos looming overhead.
Eighteen armed men and women emerged from the complex, their blasters pointed at Seyla.
"I'm looking for Chandra Lekk Masra." Seyla called out. "I think she's been expecting me."
"And why would Dr. Lekk Masra play host to a Twi'lek Sith?" One of the smaller guards asked. It took Seyla a minute to process what he'd said. Then she doubled over in laughter.
"The Sith are dead, little man. Get your head out of the holodramas."
Without further warning, the guards began to fire upon her. Seyla leaped in the air, her saber flying and deflecting each bolt of energy. She spun off the trees, which moments later were decimated by the guns. Gaining ground quickly, moving to the side, forwards, backwards, then again, she cut down all but one of the guards. The last kept firing, each blast sent off in another direction. She grasped his throat in her hands and lifted him off the ground.
"I'm looking for Chandra Lekk Masra." Seyla repeated, smiling. Nothing got her blood pumping faster than a fight. It was better than sex.
"You've found her."
Seyla turned her head toward the new voice. With a twist of her wrist, she snapped the guard's neck and let him drop to the ground. She retracted her saber and clipped it to her belt. Chandra Lekk Masra looked like an average female human, if aged. Seyla stood in front of her, looking down.
"You were right." The doctor said. "I've been expecting you." She turned around and headed back into the complex. Seyla followed on her heels.
A/N - Another update! So soon! Just kidding. Like I said, I've had the first few chapters written. It's the formatting that's taking forever for me, for some reason, and I simply have no patience. But, thanks for reading! Thoughts?