Chapter 32

Rey didn't take off her helmet until Ben's shuttle was deep in hyperspace. Up until now she thought she herself was the best pilot she had ever seen, but after seeing Ben take off and punch in hyperspace coordinates as fast as he did, she realized she still had much to learn. Thanks to him and the guard they were now free. They had to stop thinking of the past and start worrying about the immediate future.

"Where do we go?"

"I am unsure. We need to meet up with my Knights, to redirect us onto the right path. We will need a rendezvous, somewhere the First Order doesn't know."

Rey thought for a moment and knew what she must do. She sighed.

"Luke's island. The first jedi temple, from back when they practiced both light and dark to maintain the balance of the universe. I sense that Luke has left, leaving it vacant for us to use."

Rey punched in the coordinates. She than gestured backwards, referring to the young guard sitting in the main compartment of the ship on the other side of the cockpit door.

"I sense awakening force abilities inside of her, not unlike how I was only a week ago. She seems so lost and confused, and yet she helped us."

"I also sense a familial bond about her, I can't quite explain it, but I feel connected to her, but a very different connection than the one that seems to have brought us together. I have to work in here for a few minutes, and than I'll activate the autopilot, but for right now I think you should speak to her. She seems to relate with you far more."

Rey nodded than stood. She left the incredibly small cockpit and entered the main compartment. FN-2509 had removed her helmet and was starring at it, it was clear to Rey that the shock of her actions were just now being realized.

"I killed a fellow guard, and I did nothing to help defeat the man who killed the Supreme Leader who was my sole purpose, and yet I feel no guilt for him because he was a monster. Why haven't I felt this way before, why couldn't I see the evil of my own home?"

Rey walked over to the girl who was only a few years younger than her.

"I can not give you full answers, the truth of who you are is a journey you must take alone, but I do know that there is something special inside of you, something me, Ben, you, and I regret to say it but Snoke all share. Have you ever heard of the force, or the jedi?"

"I don't know about the force you speak, but once when I was a little girl, I did hear the tale of the Jedi Luke Skywalker from another cadet who had been recruited, not born, into the First Order. Until today I would have said he was something that the cadet had made up, but I heard Snoke ask for him, I saw Snoke use his powers on you, and I saw Ben lift the debris off my body. But I am not sure if I believe that I have that power."

A small smile crossed Rey's lips.

"Sit with me."

Rey sat, and the crimson armoured girl sat in front of her.

"You said your designation was FN-2509, would you like me to call you something else?"

"Yes, but I know no other names, other than yours and my former superior officers."

"Would you like me to suggest one?"

"Please."

Rey thought for a moment. The first letters of the numbers were a good place to start, two, five, zero which could also be an o, and nine.

"Well the letters t, f, o, and n come to mind. There was an old scavenger woman on my planet that was kind to me as a young child who called herself Tiffony. What do you think of that name, the spelling of it you can decide on your own?"

"I like that very much. I would like to incorporate the FN as well; I was thinking Fen?"

Rey held out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you Tiffony Fen."

"It's nice to meet you as well Rey Thaney, but didn't the Supreme Leader address you as Kira Kenobi?"

Rey sighed; it was time to start her lesson. The lesson Luke had taught her only days prior.

"That is a long story, one I do not yet know enough to tell, but you say you do not believe yourself to hold anything special within you, no matter what you are wrong. I want you to close your eyes and breath. I want you to hear your breath and mine, can you do that?"

"Yes."

"Now, reach out with your feelings, can you hear Ben's breath?"

"Yes! How can I do that?"

"The living force connects every living thing, everything has it, but some have the ability to manipulate it. Can you sense anything else?"

"I can sense his sadness, he is guilty, and in mourning. He is also nervous-"

"Wait, are you sensing his feelings?"

"I think so, they are projecting really strong. He is unsure of himself and his own feelings, he is afraid of-"

"Maybe not dip into people's heads just yet, is there anything else you can feel. Just breathe."

"I sense three bright lights, they are singing songs, songs I don't understand. One is by your side, and two are in different compartments in this shuttle. There is one more thing, one more person breathing."

"There is no one else on board?"

"There is about to be."

Ben had exited the cockpit.

"One of my Knights are coming aboard. Rey, that panel, lift it."

Rey removed a floor panel in front of her, revealing a pressurized hatch. The ship suddenly lurched, the feeling of another ship connecting with the shuttle. After a minute the hatch opened, and a man climbed out. He was maybe five years older than Ben, and although he seemed human, there was some potentially unhuman traits about him. His recently shaved hair was green, despite his eyebrows and eyelashes being blonde, and the tips of his slightly pointed ears also had green hues.

Ben offered him a hand, the Knight took it, and Ben lifted him out.

"It's good to see you Spector, I'm grateful that you are safe."

"It wasn't easy to escape that ship, but it's good to see you again old friend, even better to hear that we are leaving the absolute darkness behind, it was changing you into something none of us could recognize."

Ben closed the hatch, and than pressed a few buttons which caused a sound that could only be Spector's ship detaching. Ben than put the panel back and stood next to Spector.

"Introductions are in order. This is Spector Ren, and this is Rey and-"

"Tiffony, Tiffony Fen."

"It nice to meet you ladies, but if you don't mind, I do not feel like socializing right now. Kylo, do mind if I take the pilot seat."

"Go ahead, coordinates are already punched in, just go to light speed."

"Do you mind if I join you Spector, I have never seen hyperspace before. I won't say a word."

Spector simply responded with one word.

"Ok."

Soon the two were in the cockpit, and the door closed. Moments later Rey could feel the rustle that meant they had entered hyperspace. This was the first time they had been truly alone together since her hut, and neither knew exactly how they felt about that.

"I have something that is rightfully yours."

Ben walked behind where she sat, Rey turned to see that he was opening multiple compartments, she rose and stood beside him. The first thing he revealed to her was her staff, her trusted weapon that had enabled her to survive Jakku's harsh population and fauna.

"I am grateful that you had the foresight to keep this safe."

"That wasn't all that was in your pod, I'm not exactly sure what these are."

For a moment Rey believed sone of the island's porgs had somehow stowed away but than she remembered one of the first things she had done when she arrived on Ahch-To.

"The original Jedi Texts."

"Unbelievable, you really did go to the first jedi temple. But I'm not sure how useful those books will be with the path we're on."

"Not necessarily. From what Luke told me about the temple, and from what I learned about it myself, is that the original Jedi practiced balancing themselves and the force around them, they did not just use the light. They recognized that both are needed for balance in nature and the cosmos. I think the Sith and Jedi the galaxy knew derived from this unified source, the island and these texts could teach us exactly what we need to restore the balance once and for all."

"This will take a great deal of time, and it will not be easy, that is why you will need this."

The final drawer revealed a lightsaber with an interesting shape, it's handle was made up of several black cylindrical grooves. The colour scheme was of a silvery metal, black, and a small golden component near where the blade ignites. What Rey noticed most of all however was, although she could hear the crystal inside, it did not sing to her like Luke's did.

"Who's was this?"

"This lightsaber belonged to your grandfather, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Even before I left Luke's temple, I searched for force artifacts. This I can say sadly that I did not obtain peacefully, but the Tehar raid seemed necessary at the time, and something good did come out of it. When I picked up this blade for the first time it showed me a vision of you. Now I return it to you."

Rey did not need to think about this offer for long, the blade did not resonate with her, and she was not ready to accept a blade that had cost people their lives to obtain.

"The gesture is appreciated, but Luke's lightsaber calls to my, touching it awoke the force inside me with a vision. I would rather use the remains of it to construct my own."

At hearing that she would not be taking the blade, Ben seemed relieved.

"You want it?"

"It's not exactly that I want it, it's more along the line that I do not wish to give it away. My cross-guarded lightsaber's bleeding kyber crystal never resonated with me, I had come across it during my Knights first crusade for force artifacts and used it to power my newly constructed lightsaber. But even from Tehar's atmosphere I could sense Kenobi's crystal speaking to me, and when I picked it up, I too had that vision of you."

A small amount of red emerged from both their faces.

"I think I am going to use the parts of Luke's saber and incorporate them with my staff to convert it into a double-bladed weapon. I've already mastered the symmetrical fighting style, and it would be easier to continue using it."

"Good. I am going to use Kenobi's blade to repair my own."

Using the force, Ben disassembled the broken pieces of his blade, as well as all of Kenobi's. Rey watched so she could repeat the process. As she watched him work, a question entered her mind, and despite not wishing to disturb him, she felt compelled to ask.

"Does 'Kylo' have any significant meaning to you?"

"Yes."

His eyes remained closed, still focusing on his weapon.

"What does it mean?"

"It is the ancient Alderaanian word for 'Prince.' Since the planet does not exist anymore my mother never became Queen, and I am a prince of only a thousand people who had been off world at the time, and their descendants. When I first took the name, like all the rest of my Knights, it represented a part of who I am, but now it represents darkness."

"That may be, but I think if you still plan on leading the Knights you should still use that name, you can't run away from your darkness, you just have to accept it and try and be better."

"Be better..."