Chapter 19 - Finding her place

Kylo and Captain Parlux were in their transport on the way to the Finalizer leaving the atmosphere of Inusagi. Kylo had just sent a parting message to Rey. I'll see you soon my love.

Kylo was about to engage the hyperdrive when he had a sinking feeling. His hand paused over the hyperdrive, and he looked back through the window that faced the planet.

"What's wrong my lord?" Captain Parlux asked.

He engaged the ships hover function instead. Suddenly, Kylo felt the tug of his bond to Rey. He pulled himself to her and saw her flat on her back with JK moving towards her.

He turned his head to see the exploded ship that was being consumed by flames and pieces that were now spread across the clearing. None of the storm troopers had survived the blast.

Kylo turned back to see JK pulling her to her feet. Kylo raced towards her with desperation. He reached out to grab Rey's arm, but his hand passed right through it. They both looked to the spot he should have been able to touch her, but couldn't.

Kylo saw Rey look towards JK who had grabbed her hand and was now pulling her into the opposite direction from him. He focused on returning to his ship.

When he was back in the pilot's seat, he looked at Captain Parlux who looked terrified.

"You turned into a ghost my lord," she croaked.

"Rey's ship exploded," he growled.

"Are...are they okay, my lord?" She exhaled.

"They survived the blast, but all the stormtroopers are dead," he barked. "Someone has targeted her again!" He slammed his fist on the chair beside him causing Captain Parlux to flinch and a large dent to appear.

"What do we do?" She asked with caution.

Kylo scrubbed his face with his hand. "Rey can't return to the Finalizer until we figure out who in the First Order is after her."

"How do you know it's someone in the First Order?" She inquired.

"Our side were the only people who knew that you were a decoy," he snarled. "Wait here."

Kylo concentrated on pulling himself back to Rey. He could see her sitting on the ground leaning against a boulder with her legs pulled up to her chest. JK was standing above her surveying the area.

"Someone in the First Order is targeting you," JK stated firmly.

Rey's gaze met Kylo's.

"It's not safe for me to return to the First Order," she uttered.

"Exactly," JK responded. "Where do we go?"

Kylo sighed. "Naboo."

"Naboo," she mirrored.

"We'll need a new transport then," JK replied.

Rey checked her breast pocket and dug out the communicator that linked back to Resistance. "I've got an idea."

Rey looked back at Kylo who nodded and focused on returning to his ship.

Captain Parlux was staring at Kylo in disbelief. "How do you do that?"

"It's the force," he absently responded and began clicking buttons on the control panel.

Rey's voice came through the speaker. "Solo to base."

Kylo transmitted the signal to the Resistance and then relayed the responses back to Rey's communicator by boosting the signal.

"Base to Solo… Go ahead." Came the reply from the Resistance.

"We've come into some trouble," Rey said. "We need an extraction."

Kylo looked up to see the Millennium Falcon flying ahead of his ship and descending through the atmosphere of Inusagi.

His attention was then drawn back to the speaker. "Way ahead of you Solo," came the male voice.

"What do you mean?" She sounded confused.

"Your rescuer should be there any second... he's tracking your communicator."

"Thanks…Solo out." Rey replied.

Kylo clicked a series of buttons to disengage the relay. "We need to get to the Finalizer now," he said.

Kylo engaged the hyperdrive. The stars began to streak before them, and the Finalizer came into view when they exited hyperspace. He transmitted the security code and radioed the bridge.

"Hux meet me in Bay 1," Kylo ordered.

"Of course, my lord," came Hux's curt reply.

"What would you like me to do?" Captain Parlux asked.

"Keep your eyes and ears open," he commanded. "Report to me anything you find."

"Yes, my lord," Captain Parlux replied.

Kylo swiftly parked the ship and began stomping down the ramp. Hux was standing at attention by the foot of the ramp.

"Welcome back my lord," Hux acknowledged him.

"Leave us," Kylo ordered.

Captain Parlux and many stormtroopers began to scurry in different directions away from them. Kylo started marching his way to the bridge. Hux had to swiftly turn and quicken his pace to keep up.

"I'm assuming you already know about the attempt on Rey again," Kylo growled.

"Yes, my lord," Hux answered. "I managed to track the signal and found it came from the Night Buzzard."

Kylo snapped his head towards Hux, but continued to march forward. "So, it is one of the Knights of Ren after Rey."

"Yes, there is currently a bounty on her too," Hux articulated with delight.

"Don't sound so happy," Kylo snarled.

"Our Empress is alive, and we now know who is after her," Hux countered. "I've sent out a bounty seeking information on their current location."

"Good," Kylo responded. "Once we know where they are, I'll handle it from there."

"Of course, my lord," Hux responded. "Has our Empress re-joined the Resistance?"

"The Resistance Wookie extracted her from Inusagi and they are headed this way now," Kylo responded.

They made it through the entrance to the bridge and Kylo charged forward to the people at the control panels.

Kylo could sense Rey and began searching the sky in her direction. He saw a flicker, but it blinked out of view.

"My Lord our sensors are picking up what could be a ship," a women's voice stated. "It's disappeared again, and nothing is visible on the sensors right now. It is possible they are cloaked."

"Ignore it," Kylo commanded.

"Wipe the signal from the computer," ordered Hux.

Kylo quickly looked towards Hux and then turned back to the window when he heard Rey's mind reach out.

Can you see me? She asked.

Kylo's responded back to her mind. I've instructed the crew to ignore your ship's faint beacon.

The Millennium Falcon flew past the Finalizer and began the decent through the atmosphere of Naboo.

Thank you, I'll see you later. Came Rey's thoughts.

Be safe, my love. He thought his reply.

Kylo sighed with relief when he felt Rey's signature relax.

He spun towards Hux. "I'll be in my quarters." Kylo turned on his heels and marched out of the bridge. I wonder why Hux is trying to protect Rey.

Rey landed the Millennium Falcon on the closest clearing near Varykino Villa. Due to the island's isolation, it was still a distance away from the residence and would still require a boat to get there.

Rey turned off the engine and swiveled to face Chewbacca. "Thanks for coming for me," she expressed.

"Grrrawwwhhh," came Chewbacca's reply. "Rrrraaawwwrrrr."

"I missed you too," Rey answered, and Chewbacca pulled her into an embrace. She lightly chuckled.

R2D2 was beeping at C3PO.

"You're confused with your old age," C3PO responded. "We didn't attend a wedding here."

Rey laughed. "You must be talking about Leia's parents," she specified.

R2D2 happily chirped.

Rey gestured to JK. "Everyone this is…" she paused to consider the answer…"Jack and he's my partner," she confidently stated.

They all turned to JK who flashed them a charming smile.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," C3PO replied. "I always thought something was going on between you and Kylo Ren."

Chewbacca added his own thoughts. "Rrrraaawwwrrrr."

Rey rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not trying to bring him back to the light side."

"Grrrawwwhhh," Chewbacca replied.

"Can we stop going on about what may or may not have happened between me and Kylo Ren?" Rey groaned. "Can we just get to this Villa?"

R2D2 beeped.

"Thank you," she sighed.

They all made their way out of the Millennium Falcon and walked down to the nearby docks. After they bartered with a ship captain, he agreed to transport them to the Villa's dock.

They were floating down the river on a small dingy, the impressive structure of the Villa came into view. It was cut into an impressively green hill with multiple curved structures.

Rey gasped. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

JK nodded. "It looks like it's isolated too, which will make it more secure."

The ship's captain pulled up to the dock and let them all off before sailing back away.

A silver protocol droid appeared at the top of the nearby stairs. "Welcome to Varykino Villa Mrs Solo. We've been expecting you."

"How do you know me?" Rey reacted with surprise.

"Our master, Ben Solo showed us a hologram of you," the droid responded.

C3PO stepped forward. "I am C3PO, what is your designation?"

"I am C4TR," the droid looked around. "Are all of these people friends my lady?"

Rey stepped forward. "They are."

"Well right this way," C4TR responded and disappeared back into the Villa.

"Grrrawwwhhh," Chewbacca expressed.

"I do hope they have some food inside. I'm starving too." Rey responded as she climbed the stairs ahead of them.

C4TR took them all on a tour of the facilities and assigned them each their own bedrooms for the night. Rey had been assigned the master suite which was over twice the size of the others. She'd been left alone to make herself comfortable while the kitchen prepared them some dinner.

Rey was walking through her bedroom and found herself opening a wardrobe. It was nearly the size of her bedroom inside. She carefully stepped in and saw garments lining the walls. On one side there was attire for her and on the other she could see clothing for her husband. She smiled to herself looking at the different shades of black and grey.

Her fingers trailed along the side of the fabrics pausing on the edge of a ballgown that looked familiar. She pulled the edge out, leaving it hanging still. She could see more of the detail and realised it was the ballgown from her vision of joining Kylo as the Empress. Of course, he already got that made up for me.

She spied a dark grey tunic and pants. She swiftly changed out of the scrubs she was still wearing and threw them in the corner.

She made her way over to the double glass doors that were on the other side of the room. She pushed the doors open and the breeze brushed against her face while she stepped out onto the balcony that overlooked the river.

She took a deep breath in of the crisp, fresh air.

It wasn't long before she was leaning against the marble balustrade that was held up by small intricately carved pillars. She was looking out over the river which was now being bathed in varying shades of pink, purple, orange and yellow. The sun was touching the edge of the river about to disappear. So, this is home.

She finally felt Kylo behind her. "This place is incredible," she uttered.

"I knew you'd love it," he responded. "I came here as a boy and always imagined I'd share it with my wife someday." He wrapped his arms around Rey.

Rey sighed and leaned back into him. "This day has been far too long."

"We've been on a couple of different planets today and the sunsets are not at the same times," he responded. "It's been more like a day and a half."

"It feels much longer than that," she replied.

"I'm glad I can finally touch you again...not feeling you in the clearing was strange," she stated and crinkled her nose.

"I considered why that was," he said.

She turned in his arms to face him.

"You weren't connected to the force properly," he continued. "I'm just glad that was only short lived."

Rey nodded and looked down. She traced her fingers along the edge of his hand. "I wish you were really here."

"In time my love," Kylo replied. "For now, let's just enjoy the sunset."

They both turned their heads back to watch the sun disappear. Rey leaned her head against his chest. They watched as the darkness slowly enveloped the sky and was replaced by twinkling stars. Three shining moons reflected light back to them from different positions in the sky.

Kylo looked down at Rey who was now only bathed in the moonlight.

Suddenly, there came a knock at the door.

Kylo rolled his eyes. "We're always getting interrupted," he groaned.

He let go of Rey and stepped back.

Rey lightly laughed. "Come in," Rey called out. She walked back into the light coming from her bedroom.

C4TR entered the room. "My lady, the meal for you and your companions is currently being served in the dining hall."

"Thank you C4TR, I'll join you shortly," Rey replied.

The droid bowed and left the room.

Rey turned back to Kylo. "I'm starved."

Kylo chuckled. "Go and eat." He walked closer to her, reaching out and tucking a lose hair behind her ear. "Call me if you need anything."

"Hopefully, I can enjoy a meal in peace for once," Rey shrugged.

"Well see," Kylo responded.