End of the Beginning (A New Hope Series)

Chapter Three - Renewal

Rey. Rey heard a voice. Someone was calling her name. Rey blinked and looked around, uncertain of where she was. What had happened? She was still in the Sith temple, but she was not there physically. Rey couldn't feel... anything. Not the wind that echoed through the cave, not the cold of the darkness, and not the pain of the wounds her body had sustained. Rey lifted her hands to eye level and examined her skin. Where once there had been wounds, her skin was now unblemished and glowed with a slight blue hue. Rey lifted a hand to her head. No longer did she long for rest, for she was not tired. She felt no more pain or exhaustion, but rather, she felt renewed. She felt... peace. It was odd. She couldn't quite describe it, but there was some type of... beauty in it.

With a frail breath, Rey looked down at her broken body and gasped. She pressed her fingertips to her mouth and a sob escaped her lips. The relief began to fade and Rey felt overwhelming sorrow. Sorrow because she had not lived a full life. Sorrow because she would not live to rejoice in this victory with her friends. And sorrow because she never got the opportunity to have a family of her own with the man she loved. Ben. He was alive. That was all that mattered now. Rey sighed. She may not have lived a full life, but she had lived a happy one, for what little time she had in the end. Rey had friends and family who loved her. Her parents had loved her. Rey once again looked down at her physical form, now glad to be free of the pain. To be free of the burden that had once laid on her shoulders. The emperor was dead, the Sith were gone, and Rey could now rest in peace.

Rey. The voice called again. Rey turned away from her body and looked up. She saw a man, surrounded by a blue haze similar to her own. He smiled gently and held out a hand to her. "It's time to come home, Rey." He said gently. Rey's eyes widened and she gasped, lifting a hand to cover her mouth. Rey felt tears enter her gaze and she let out a small whimper. She stared at the man, unable to believe her eyes. Rey stepped forward slowly, reaching out and gingerly brushed her fingers against his. Rey gasped. She could feel him. It wasn't like when she was alive. If she'd tried to touch Luke's ghost, her hand would pass right through him. But now, Rey could interact with a being of the Force. Rey had known that she had died, but this only confirmed it.

She looked back at her body once more and choked on a sob, letting the tears fall. Was she ready to leave her life in the land of the living behind? Could she truly say goodbye to everything she'd fought so hard to protect? Could she forget about those whom she'd come to care so dearly about and let them go? And even then, could she truly be at peace with the short life she had lived? Could she accept what little happiness she had been given in her living life and move on the the afterlife? So many questions ran through her head and Rey gasped. The intake of oxygen was not needed, she didn't truly need to breath at all, but Rey was not accustomed to a life beyond the living.

Rey let out a shallow breath and turned back to the man. "Dad?" Rey asked in a whimper. The man nodded. "Dad!" Rey cried, collapsing in his arms. "I'm here Rey. I'm here." His deep voice calmed her and Rey trembled. "Oh father, I waited so long. So long to meet you..." Rey said between sobs. Her breath was short and she choked on her whimpers. "I know, Rey. I'm so sorry." He said, stroking her hair and wrapping his arms around her back to hold her close. The joy she felt upon meeting her father sank in, and Rey buried her face in his shoulder. There was still sorrow in the embrace, for Rey could not feel his warmth or finally know the smell of her father's clothes, but the good outweighed the bad. Rey sighed, finally feeling safe in her father's embrace. She'd finally found the belonging she'd sought her entire life.

When her father finally pulled away from Rey's embrace, he placed a hand on her cheek so that he could look at her. Rey met his eye and tried to keep her voice steady. "Mother?" She asked, fearing she already knew the answer. His eyes scanned her face and Rey saw tears enter his gaze. "Oh Rey, your mother wasn't Force sensitive. She can't be here with us now." Her father said, his eyes, Rey's eyes, full of sorrow. He brushed her hair away from her face so that he could look her in the eye. "But she loved you so much Rey." Rey smiled sadly and her father let out a short breath. "You've grown so much. My beautiful, beautiful little girl." He said, pulling her close once more. Rey saw his tears fall but could not feel them as they splashed onto her shoulder. She shuddered slightly as she too let the tears fall and they streamed down her face.