Daylight

78. Better Run

A's/N: the song fits with the scene towards the end when Amara up against Ren's TIE Fighter. BTW, I love SUPERM!

Extending the wings that our speeder apparently had attached, we flew through the canyons easily as we made our way down towards the desert floor, and in the distance, we spotted Occhi's forsaken ship. Sitting high atop a ridge, we forced the speeder to the ground long enough to see Rey's and Poe's speeders get shot at by a...flying Stormtrooper? Looking back at Monroe, who gave me the weirdest look, like he hadn't seen that either, we got closer by the time Rey and everyone had begun sinking in quicksand. Trying to break the fall, we had to get to them. I told Monroe to angle the speeder sideways as I grabbed a heavy rock from the ground and chucked it towards the Stormtrooper, smacking him hard in the chest as Rey shot at his blaster. As everyone began to shoot at the Trooper, someone hit his jetpack as he flew towards the rocky mountains in the distance, an explosion followed. With the Stormtrooper dead and gone, I glanced down the moment Poe yelled about what they landed in as everyone began to sink quicker than expected.

"Sinking fields! Try to grab something!" Rey shouted as I ordered Monroe to lower the speeder but felt a magnetic pull.

With it, our speeder began to drop as Monroe forced upwards, despite my shouts. Trying to grab onto Poe, I gripped the edge of the railing that began to crack under the pressure as he tried to reach for me. BB-8 chirped like crazy as Chewie and C-3PO had difficultly standing up. Feeling Monroe pull up at an angle, I screamed for Poe as he sunk through the sands first. With Poe the first to go, Monroe tried to race towards Finn to grab his hand as he flailed them in the air as I went for Rey. But we failed as they slipped through, the sinking field growing quiet. Calling each of their names one by one, we heard nothing as I screamed in anger, fighting the urge to jump in as Monroe pulled me with force away from the edge of our speeder.

Screaming for my friends and fighting against him, Monroe shook me with anger in his tone as he yelled for me to stop and shut up. As I did, I heard faint chirping...underground. Looking at him with wide eyes and the thought of jumping in like it wasn't quicksand and just water, Monroe spoke one word before I was jumping off. Using the force to hurl me down faster, I landed in the stronghold of someone's arms and looked to see it was Poe...well, Poe's angry face. Giving him a slight look of pride, he helped me stand as Monroe dropped to the ground, too, as we both helped him stand. C-3PO was twice as relieved to see us alive but wondered how we got down so fast compared to everyone else.

"The force, how else?" Monroe spoke back to the golden droid as he seemed surprised by his answer.

"I can't believe how reckless you are, Amara. Why would you do that?" Poe questioned as I sensed something about him that seemed brotherly. He acted like Stefan as I gave him a half-smile.

"I won't abandon my friends, so deal with it. Besides, you gain two extra Jedi." I half laughed at my comment as he sighed out in annoyance as C-3PO asked if this place was the afterlife. I huffed at his comment, especially after the vision I had foreseen.

"Any chance you can not joke about that right now?" Monroe muttered as his eyes widened at the question that spilled from his mouth. He earned a slap from me as Poe and Rey gave me a strange look. I shrugged at them.

"Which way is out?" Poe asked as Rey stepped forward long enough to think about igniting her lightsaber as she, Monroe, and I did in unison. With the mixture of blue, red, and violet colors, we made a mixture of colors on the walls as Poe tried to be cool with his tiny flashlight that gave off nothing compared to the three Jedi.

"We need to hurry," Rey asked as I tapped her shoulder to the back hallway behind the droids.

With Rey and I leading, there's nothing that could go wrong. My mind went elsewhere about the tunnels as they fought about keeping secrets, though I kept the biggest one of all. Entering into an underground cavern, Poe shined the flashlight towards the ceiling as everything made me curious.

"I do not want to know what made these tunnels," Poe said as we walked with him as I had a hunch of what did. Hopefully, we won't get the chance to meet the creature I thought of as Monroe pulled at my jacket sleeve. Feeling his curiosity about something in front of the group, he pointed as we heard someone ask what it was.

"It's an old speeder," I spoke lowly as I felt Rey's eyes on me as our sabers illuminated the structure. And damn, was it old. Hearing them speak about a driver, BB-8 mentioned he was dead as I nodded to address his answer, Poe following along with the comment.

"Mara, it's a Hex charm," Monroe spoke as Poe, and I turned to the speeder to see the Sith emblem. Knowing we hadn't seen one since my father spoke about them in a lesson years ago, we listened closely as everyone began to connect the puzzle of how Ochi's ship got here, and maybe, he never left.

"The same thing happened to us as it happened to him," Poe said as Finn followed with the question of how Ochi got out.

But something told me, deep down, he didn't. Approaching Rey as she walked away from the group, I stepped over a fallen rock and looked to where she was looking. And it looked like I was correct as bones from a body, long since decay, laid on the floor atop an old fabric that was worn from age. I heard Chewie groan as Monroe silenced him, a thought in his head wandering around a creature large enough to eat humans and aliens.

"I don't like bones," Poe said in unison with Monroe as I leaned down carefully to examine them, Poe's hand on my shoulder for caution. Feeling the dark side of the force circling an object, I leaned back long enough as Rey asked what it was. Picking it up carefully, I swallowed the lump in my throat as Monroe's eyes narrowed at the object. A distant memory in Rey's mind made her see something cruel and dark.

"There's writing on it," Poe said as I angled the object towards Rey's saber. The golden droid offered to translate it, but something in my mind said otherwise.

"The location of the Wayfinder has been inscribed on this dagger. It's the clue that Master Luke was looking for." The droid said, but as I pulled it from his hands, I could see that C-3PO couldn't translate any of it.

He wasn't programmed to read anything revolving around the Ancient Sith texts. Luckily, I could as Monroe gave me a harsh glare under the red light of his saber, unknown to our friends around us, as they bickered with the droid. Feeling something move behind the golden droid, I held in the scream in my throat as the sand serpent that I hadn't seen since I was a kid made its presence known. It snarled at us, but something about it caught my eyes as I looked towards Rey, all of us ready to defend, and glanced down at Poe's gun. Thinking the same, she brought her hand to the top of Poe's gun and forced him to drop it at his side as Rey nodded for me to push forward, despite the efforts to halt. Giving my saber to Rey, she grasped it tightly as I inched my way forward, slowly but with caution.

Sensing the desert near where we stood, I approached the serpent carefully as it hissed and growled at me, coming forward. Moving to the left and showing its teeth, I calmed everything around me, which included the power within the force. I tried to give off the sense of meaning the serpent no harm. Hissing and growling to alarm the vicinity of its body to me, I halted but slightly as it made everyone tense behind me. Remembering back to how gentle I always was around creatures, big or small, I remembered those creatures' various things. Most of them were hurt in some way, so I figured, maybe this one was too. Otherwise, I wouldn't be this close to it. Looking down, I could see I was right. It was badly injured as I felt remorse for it, a deep frown settling on my face. Stepping over with no fear, I overheard Poe say something about blasting it.

"Don't blast it," Finn spoke back as their whispers were loud in this tunnel. Keeping its eyes on me, I brought my hands up to show I had nothing in them to harm it. I just had the intention to help it.

"It's okay," I spoke softly, as a healing angel would.

Dropping down to lower my body from its presence, it growled softly as my sight never left it. Placing a hand back behind me, I felt its scales on the tips of my fingers as I used the force to heal him. Just by the feel of his body pulsating under my skin, it was working as the wound began to come together, like magic. When I could feel he was completely healed, the serpent moaned, as if relieved from the pain it was in for so long. It made a small smile appear on my face as the eyes of a pained creature blinked at me. Chittering at me softly, I nodded my head, understanding its kindness as a thank you. Dropping its head in my outstretched hand for a second, he began to unwind his body around me as I pulled my body inward, giving him space.

"Now that's something new," Poe said as he helped me stand with Monroe on my other side as the sun shown through a hole in the wall.

"You just have to heal every creature, don't you?" Monroe asked in a joking matter as I chuckled under my breath. Grabbing the dagger, I looked towards Chewie and placed it carefully in his paws.

"Do not lose that Chewie!" I shouted at him as he groaned but placed it carefully in his satchel.



Watching the gang as they climbed the rocky terrain slowly to get to Ochi's abandoned ship, I sat this one out as Monroe refused to leave my side, like always as he sat next to me. I kept feeling the palm of my hand I used to heal the serpent, tracing the skin lines in circles. I could feel his worry for me, the strength to keep going as he nudged my shoulder.

"I'm fine, dude." I laughed as he did too, but he knew better. He knew everything about me, even when I hated he did.

"You always get tired after transferring."

"It was a small amount."

"It doesn't matter, Mar. You need as much strength to go against Ren, and possibly, the Knights." Looking up from my hand, I looked to the left, out into the distance. I sensed nothing. I noticed Monroe did the same for the right. When he looked at me, I raised a brow, questioning if he felt anything. He returned with a simple head shake.

"I don't understand. The minute we're alone, we can sense them, clearly. But now-"

"It's as if they vanished from the desert and the force. Yeah, I know." And it was terrifying both of us as Poe complained about getting a better droid to help translate the dagger, which gave Monroe a loud thought about why I wouldn't do it.

"They don't know." I gave a simple answer back as I picked my body up from the boulder I sat on and turned on the balls of my feet to face him. I think this was the first time Monroe sat cross-legged.

"I don't understand-"

"They don't know my dad was Vader's Shadow," I muttered as he finally got what I meant and nodded. Now he understood as I angled my head in a way to get the kinks out. 

"Let me guess; you're afraid they'll see you differently? Obviously, they care enough; otherwise, why let you join them on this mission to locate Exegol? Mar, you just freaking jumped into sinking fields and healed a sand serpent to help them! Why would you doubt them-"

"Still a Gray Jedi here." I pointed to myself as I circled a finger around the fake halo I never wore as he laughed loudly and obnoxiously.

"Not from where I'm sitting. Amara, you've always been more than that, with or without a stupid title." He laughed while giving me a genuine smile as his charming side came through. Kicking sand towards his feet, he picked up a pebble and threw it at my body. I let it hit me with ease as we both laughed, for real—something we hadn't done together in so long.

My smile dropped the second I felt something in the distance. Looking towards the direction, whatever it was, it was coming fast and strong. I knew it only meant one thing, one person. Kylo Ren. I heard Monroe say my name at least a hundred times as I began to walk out towards the middle of the desert. I could hear everyone yelling at me to come back. Poe worried about me the most as he asked Monroe what was going on and why I was out here. Ignoring them, I kept walking away, further and further, until my friends were almost specks.

I could feel Ren. Anger. Frustration. Hatred for someone, me, or Hope, or both. Pushing and pulling at me for anything. He was getting closer, coming faster and with it, the urge to give him everything. Well, almost. Forcing myself to open my mind up, I let him see where I was, show him I was alone, curious to see him do anything in return. I felt like, even though I couldn't visibly see him, I could sense his eyes on me. But it wasn't the only thing I sensed. Turning my head back around, I could see black masses huddling together near where they were in Ochi's ship. Two Knights of Ren stood not very far from where Monroe was as I mentally told him to stay with Rey. Seeing into my mind of who the Knights were, Monroe's mind became dark, a cloud blocking out the sun in seconds.

Turning my head back to the attention of the dark mass coming towards me, I felt him even more than usual. Feeling the sun's rays on my back, the leather fabric heated up quickly as the sun felt warm, in a good way. It was the only thing that kept me calm against the force of nature coming towards me. Feeling the vibration of his TIE Fighter, lowering itself to the ground, I stood tall, filled with pride I hadn't felt in a while as I readied myself to defend anyone. With the thought of daylight passing through my mind, I allowed him to feel it: the light and its warmth. The strength I have had since coming here. My home gave me power, of Light and Dark. My friends, the people I've protected the past year, gave me power. I let Ren feel almost everything as his ship came into a clear view on the horizon. Hope was my light, and he was my heart, two things I had left to fight for.

I could feel his conflict—the very image of Han Solo clouding his mind, filling him with agony. I wanted him to stop in seconds, race towards his ship, overflow him with love and understanding, but he was still lost and filled with darkness. Too much of it clouded his mind, his judgment...his heart was blacker than the force surrounding him. I was sure Palpatine said something to him as the speeder raced faster, almost blurring into the desert behind him. Something must've gone wrong as I saw nothing but red in his mind, anger and hate overthrowing the rest of his emotions. The pain he suddenly felt was too great to stay composed as I summoned my lightsaber, ignited it, and with it, I could tell he hit the throttle. I tried to reach him in his mind as I connected with him for the first time in forever.

Don't do this, Ben. I spoke through our bond, but nothing came from it—just a cloud of red.

Please, Ben, I pleaded this time as I showed him in our connection. I wanted him to stop, to think before he acted on anger, on darkness. But still, nothing came as he got closer than ever. Feeling a presence behind me, I knew it was Hope as she placed a hand on my back.

"Use the other ones. Show him where you truly stand." That was all she said as I felt my saber deactivate and be dropped inside my boot. In my hands, my parents' sabers appeared one heavier than the other but both equal in power. Both the Light and the Dark Sides of the Force. Igniting them at once, red and blue came into view as I felt something twitch in the force on Ben's side. He sensed something from me, possibly Hope. But when she vanished behind me, so did the feeling he got as it was replaced with anger towards Hope. I smirked.

Don't be angry at her. She's done nothing to you, Ben. Not yet, at least. I thought with a sinking feeling that maybe joking with him wasn't the best thing as I feigned a frown. I did figure if Hope was here physically, she'd tell him off real quick or worse. Punch him as I did. I chuckled at the memory that appeared in my head. By now, I didn't try to hide my thoughts from Ben, only because he was so close, but also, he was losing himself.

He was too close now as I readied my next move. It would take a fucking miracle for it to work as I siphoned the force around me, building up the strength to gain momentum to jump. Unlike others, I didn't need a running start. I knew the power I had, the strength I had to do anything. I never once believed anything came naturally to me. And this was the perfect example of me trying. Bringing up the two ignited sabers, it felt weird to use two colors, two sabers, but that didn't mean I wasn't trained to fight with them. It had just been too long since I needed the reason to. But it seemed Ben knew how to bring out everything for us. Hm, that's a first again.
Feeling his determination towards taking me down, I smirked as I waited for him to be closer, and with it, I could now see his face. And he could see mine. Our expressions the same for once. For the first time, we stood on common ground, but I wouldn't be for long.

"Now or Never, right?" I spoke aloud and mentally said to him as I leaped at the right time, angling my body in the perfect aerial arc as I used both sabers to slash harshly into the wing support. 

The metal cracked loudly, a loud screech bursting my eardrums as the embers burned my sleeves. A cloud of dust moved up from the sands below, creating a small dust storm as I landed gracefully on the desert floor. Watching the fighter ship wobble in the air with only one support wing, his ship plummeted to the ground, bursting into flames and dark smoke. The remaining ball that encased him fell in a ditch as it stilled. I tried to calm my breathing, itching to race over to him, to see if he was okay. I worried about his life for a second. Deactivating the sabers in my hands, I kept them at my side. I couldn't help the moment a song popped into my head, thinking of Monroe singing it. I laughed breathlessly.

"I'm the one, better run. If you're with it, then you're done, done done." I sang lightly as I placed the sabers in their own holsters on the belts around my thighs as I sensed my friends in danger.

"Dark cloud blocking out the sun. I ain't scared, got me feeling numb."