The Daughter of Reylo

The Third (29)

Rey picked up a blaster. It wasn't ideal, not compared to her lightsaber, but it would do. It was cool, in her hand, the trigger taunting her finger.

Ben had his own lightsaber. He'd tried, multiple times, to offer it to his wife, but she'd refused. It didn't belong to her. It wouldn't feel right, Rey said.

"Let's go save the universe."

"I love you." He kissed her nose, and she melted into his touch.

Over a decade without the love of your life, and when you're finally reunited, it's for less than a month. All she wanted was to be with him, and Padme, left alone in a home. None of this Jedi business. None of this First Order business. None of it. Just... them.

No, no, that would happen. Just after this final battle, everything would fall into place. She could start training new Jedi. Ben would find them a home, move in with Padme. After this final battle.

But there was this feeling. This bad feeling, it seemed to hang over them like a blanket. It ate away, hung in the air, ready to attack.

"Something very bad has happened." She whispered into his chest.

"I feel it too. Do you think it's her?"

"I wish I could convince myself it was something else." Her voice was dry. She squeezed her arms around him once more, before pulling away. "Let's go. No point putting this off."

-

Floating through nothing. Drifting through the endless darkness. They knew. They knew that there's a hole in their stomach, they knew they were dying, they knew, they knew, yet they couldn't believe it.

But when they looked down to their shirt, there was nothing. The shirt that Padme gave them. So kind, so loving.

"I love her," they opened their mouth to speak, they heard the words, but they didn't come from their mouth. The words... they just existed.

Doe listened to the words, echoing in the empty space.

"Get a medic. Make sure it stays unconscious." They vaguely recognized it as the red-haired man. The strange ginger man. These words also seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

"As for you. They'll live, and now you follow me."

"You're sure? You're sure they'll be alright?" Padme. So... sad.

"Yes. Now come," the voice paused, "we have work to do."

And the nothing grew quiet once more. Doe couldn't help but look around, just one more time. No floor, no wall, nothing. Just... them... and the voices.

-

"Where are you taking me?"

"You're proficient in lightsaber use, correct?" he ignored her words.

"No." He held her wrist, and pulled her down the twisting corridors.

"Then you will learn." He led her through a door. "And the force?"

"It's in there, but I can't control it." Another training room, like the one she'd arrived in. "It's hardly contained."

No point in deceiving him. Might as well tell him the truth- he'd find out eventually. And he'd die, very soon. That was in Hir Ren's plan, right? Or was it just Snoke?

"Release it." He put her in the middle of the room. "Unleash your access to the force. The power that you've inherited from your father, use it. Let it go- control it later."

"Do you have any idea what you're talking about?"

"Just do it!"

And she almost didn't want to. But the opportunity... it was right there. Nobody she could hurt- this man would hardly be a loss.

So she did. The block; the wall; the shield she'd set up in her head- she took it down.

And how relieving it was. It's like a drowning man coming up for air. He feels the oxygen returning to his fingertips. The weight of a thousand worlds have been lifted off of his chest. He's free.

"I'm free." She looked to the man, only to find him sprawled on the floor. Any and all equipment was thrown across the room. Padme stood alone in the center of it all.

"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. You are just what I need. Oh, Snoke is going to love this!" He picked himself up, smoothing out his black uniform.

"With enough time, you will excel in your control." The man walked out of the room without another word.

And Padme stood, stunned. She wiggled her fingers, looking to them. She could hardly believe the power that flowed through them- hardly understand it. Her Skywalker side, as well as her mother's side... all within her. There, at her fingertips.

And then they crossed her mind. Where were they taken? With that hole in their stomach... barely alive. This was the only way to save them.

"We start your training immediately." Hir Ren came through the doors, her dark cape flowing behind her. "It'll take at least three years. You don't leave the ship until you're done. Come."

"I'm to be stuck on this ship for three years. What about the battle? My parents? Doe? Three years?"

"It will make sense in a little while. Now come on."

She held her hand out. The ginger man must have been watching, otherwise she would continue talking about their plan. As soon as their hands connected, they were off. They went into the deepest part of the ship, where Hir Ren began teaching. And Padme began learning.

It's all for the plan, right?
-

He was on her heels. She led them around the forest that had become painfully familiar. They ducked behind a tree, narrowly avoiding the white-clad enemy soldiers.

And then they were off again. She held tightly to the blaster strapped onto her waist, and he held the sheathed saber. Their necklaces bounced against their chests, reminding them of who held the third.

Then, finally, they reached the clearing- and there was the ship. It was surrounded by those soldiers, swarming with them.

And so they began infiltration- planning on taking out one general at a time.