Daylight

77. Frozen

Running towards the man that saved our lives, I could feel the force pulling me another way, towards the vast desert that sat in the distance. The Forbidden Valley's rocky terrain covered every part of the distance, but it was as if I could see past it. Not realizing Monroe's hand was wrapped around my wrist until I felt him halt, too. He watched me with concerned eyes. Allowing myself to transfer what I was feeling, his eyes narrowed, and he shook his head once. Out of warning, and we knew why. No matter where I was, Canto Bight or here, those cave of names always called to me. I could hear Monroe's mind screaming at me. We had no time for this, but if anything, it was the right time for this. Not once did I hear them when I was little. I grew up in this desert, played in the sands, climbed the treacherous mountains-but not once did I ever hear the callings, the sirens of the caves.

It's too dangerous. Monroe spoke through my mind.

This is the first I've heard them.

Ren knows about those caves, Mar. It'll be the first place he looks. He warned.

He doesn't know where they are, Mon.

He'll have ways to find it, Mar. No one knows where he is. He could be in the crowds right now, with his Knights.

"What if it's the reason why Hope came here? Monroe, she came here two months ago. If those sirens can call to me, then maybe she can hear them too. I want to know why they're calling now." I was sure by now of how I sounded, like a plea. Shaking his head and looking towards our friends that raced further away from us, I could tell he was fighting with himself. Protect me or defy me.

"Monroe, stop fighting that-"

"You're the only family I have left." I heard him speak lowly as the threat to spill tears came from his eyes. Though not bonded by blood, I fought against myself too. Everything I've done for the past year has relied on two goals: to save Ben and to find Hope. With either of them, he couldn't lose me.

"Amara! Monroe!" We both heard Finn and Rey call out as we both shook our heads, releasing the urge to fight the other. Running through the remainder of the crowds, both of us were helped inside a massive moving machine.

"Leia had sent me a transmission." The man spoke as we crowded inside the tiny space the machine held for us. With Monroe on edge, almost hanging out, I kept hold onto his waist as I snaked my arm around him, feeling the warmth of his body. Finn held onto me as he asked the man how he found us. With the removal of his helmet, my eyes widened at the familiar face I had only seen once before.

"Wookiees stand out in crowds." Chewie's happiness was something nice to feel as he stepped forward to hug Han Solo's righthand man, Lando Calrissian.

"It is an honor General," Finn spoke with admiration as Rey hushed C-3PO about how we knew who Lando was. With one look at me, his eyes softened as everyone turned their heads at me.

"I heard you took on the title of Jedi Master now. That's good, following in your mother's footsteps. But with you here, and with them, I can only guess why you've come this far. You wish to get to Exegol." We all nodded our heads. As he sat down to show us what the Sith Wayfinder looked like, now matching the drawings my father had drawn, he explained to us about them.

Unfortunately, because my father was a Sith, I knew only two were made. I knew now, Kylo had one of them. I zoned out when I heard him speaking about a Jedi Hunter when the calling could be heard as the wind blew inside. Squatting down to see the desert floor and the Aki-Aki shuffling their feet, I couldn't see much in the way of Stormtroopers. But as I watched the sand blow around, flying around like dust, it was as if the sand was whistling at me. Feeling a weight on my shoulders, I knew it was Monroe warning me again as I focused on the dancing sands outside.

"We need to get to that ship. Search it again." I heard Rey as my mind was dropped out from my zone out space, and I looked up at her. But with her answer came the whirring sound of familiar engines in the distance. Looking beneath the curtain covering us from the whirling dust outside, First Order TIE Fighters plummeted from the skies.

"I got a bad feeling about this," Lando spoke lowly as I reminisced the thought of Han saying it.

"Where's the ship?" Poe asked as Monroe was the one to speak up.

"Out past the canyon. Lurch Canyon." He spoke casually as Rey nodded but what caught my attention was how his mind had settled on something.

"We need to split up. The First Order's after Amara and Rey-" Monroe started to say as Poe and Finn protested against it. Unlike them, Rey fell in the middle, as if caught between right and wrong. She looked at me.

"He'll find you."

"Either him or his Knights. Look, when I connected with Ren a little bit ago, he said he was hunting for you, not me. If anything, he'll send his Knights after me since I can barely take them on. You need to find that ship, Rey."

"And Mara and I need to find something else."

"What the hell could be more important than this!?" Poe screeched as we turned to him.

"Hope," Rey said behind me as Poe's angered expression fell. With Chewie, the first to leave, followed by Poe and Finn, Monroe came next to help the droids out as Rey and I were left to see Lando.

"Leia needs pilots, Lando," I spoke softly, hoping he would understand.

"My flying days are long gone. But do me a favor- give Leia my love." He said with a warm smile as he looked to Rey and then me. Rey said her comment about giving that love to Leia herself, and before I could leave, Lando stopped me.

"You have the power to protect only one person right now, Mara."

"That doesn't make one more important than the other, Lando. My father once saved you and my mother-"

"And with it, he nearly lost his life. Are you ready to handle a weight so heavy?" I nodded at his question. He asked me why.