The Light is Coming | Kylo Ren

Chapter XXXIII

The planet of Ajan Kloss came into view as the trio had returned from Pasaana. Rey was silent the entire flight, Poe was focused on piloting... whereas Finn worried about his other half. He could feel her disturbance. The aching pain within her heart. He tried to remind her that it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't seem to agree.

Waiting for the ramp to lower as the three stood before it, Poe exited, followed by Finn as Rey stood still. Turning over as he reached the end, Finn looked up, "Rey?"

Blinking, turning her focus towards Finn, she sucked in a deep breath before following him into the cave of the base. Poe had found Leia and pulled her to a side, recapping all that had happened. "It isn't the First Order. It didn't seem like it. Though they were there, they were clearly after us... After Rey and Finn."

Listening to Poe as he continued on, Leia's focus shifted towards Rey. She stood in silence the whole time, lost in a weary gaze. She could feel her unease, the way she was in the back rather than front and center as she always was. "Thank you, Poe," Leia nodded her head as he had finished. "We will discuss this, but first, may I have a moment alone with Rey?"

"Right," Poe nodded, stepping away as Finn soon followed, only to look at Rey, then Leia, before walking away.

Eyeing Finn, studying the way his shoulders had dropped as he left the area, Leia looked back at Rey. "He cares a great deal about you."

Lifting her eyes to meet Leia's, Rey nodded. "He does."

Studying her face, Leia reached over and gently held Rey's chin. "What is bothering you, dear Rey?"

Gulping, Rey felt her bottom lip quiver as she felt tears well up in her eyes. "I killed her..." her voice came out as a whisper.

"Killed who?" Leia asked as she lowered her hand to Rey's shoulder.

"Chi..." hearing Rey's voice crack, Leia blinked. "I killed her... I was overwhelmed and she came to help me but they took her. As they did... I tried keeping the ship from leaving but instead— instead I made it explode. It... it was like lightening left my fingertips.

"I saw it explode... I saw it... burn into flames..." Rey trembled. "I then... I then saw Kylo Ren. He was there... behind me. From afar, watching. He... he looked furious. He looked as if he was going to murder me..."

Feeling her eyes widen at the thought that her Ben was there in that moment, Leia connected the dots. Chi and Kylo... Chi and her son... There was more between the two than she thought.

Suddenly... she felt the darkness. It was radiating from Rey. Surrounding her. It was only felt once before... a long time ago. Looking at Rey and eyeing her, Leia felt the energy around her and recognized it. It all started to make sense.

"You can't blame yourself," Leia said. "You can't blame yourself for something that wasn't in your control..." cupping Rey's cheek, Leia nodded. "You had no intentions to hurt or kill her. You wanted to save her. Please... remember that."

Looking down and feeling tears drip down as her bottom lip quivered, Leia wrapped her arms around Rey's trembling body before caressing the back of her head. Sobbing as she brought her face into her shoulder, Rey's cries echoed as Leia held her close.

Landing the TIE Fighter in the distance as voices and footsteps came her way, Chi hopped out snd lifted her hands in defense. "It's me!" She called out, letting them know she wasn't of the First Order.

"What are you doing in a TIE?" An officer asked as Chi sighed.

"A rather hectic mission... I had to take what I could find. Don't worry, I disabled the tracker." Thinking about her last moments with Kylo as he, himself, disabled the tracker, Chi took in a deep breath.