Rebel

Chapter 15

A soft chirping greeted my ears as I opened my eyes, I was about to move when I felt a weight on my chest. I looked down, Rey had curled into my side, her head was on my chest, and her arm was thrown over my stomach. I looked around, and saw a few of the orange and black creatures had found our blankets as a nice shelter, one was sleeping by my feet and another was on my stomach. As I watched Rey she stirred, she moved her hand and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
    "Morning." I said softly, she looked up at me, still tired.
    "Hi." She mumbled, closing her eyes again, her eyes snapped open and quickly became more alert, quickly shifting away from me, "I'm so sorry. I-"
    "Rey, I don't mind." I said with a smile, "It's fine." She nodded slightly, and shifted back towards me slightly.
    "Okay."
    "And look," I said gesturing with my head to the creatures, "we made friends!" She gave a smile.
    "Of course you did, you're like a mini heater!" She laughed, curling back into my side as an example. I laughed along with her, the creature on my stomach woke up, looking at me with sleepy eyes, Rey raised her hand and the creature let Rey pet it, giving a small purr of content. We laid there for a bit as the sky slowly lit up with color. The clouds reflected pink and orange before the horizon lit up with orange and yellow hues, the colors gave way to red as the sun rose, and then faded back to blue as the sun rose about the horizon. I looked over as Rey pushed herself up, stretching.
    "Where are you going?" I questioned.
    "I'm going to follow Master Skywalker." She responded, I frowned and she noticed, "What?" She questioned.
    "Why follow him? His mind is set. He won't change." I say, getting up, I set the small creature that was laying on my stomach on my shoulder. The one by my feet chirps at me, I pick it up and it nestles into my jacket, only its head poking out.
    "I think it will. Besides, you changed." Rey said confidently. I gave a sad smile.
    "Okay." I didn't want her to get hurt. I changed because what the First Order taught me was wrong. What they did was wrong. Skywalker thought he was right, and he seemed stubborn, "How about I make breakfast before you go?" I questioned, and Rey lit up at that.
"Really?!" I nodded, and she gave a smile, it quickly turned into a smirk.
"Are Stormtroopers any good at making breakfast?" She teased, and I gave a mock glare.
"Oh, ha ha." I said sarcastically. "I've had plenty of practice, thank you very much." We folded up the blankets and headed into the Falcon to make a quick breakfast. I grabbed out a pan and some eggs from the cabinet and conservator. I cooked the eggs, adding some spices we picked up from Bakura. Toast popped from the therma-slice, and Rey set it on the table after buttering it. I smiled as I remembered the first time Rey had had buttered toast, her face lit up with joy at the flavor. I set the eggs down on the table, and walk to the captain's quarters to find Chewie. He sat on Han's old bed with his head down. "Chewie," I murmured softly, going to sit beside the Wookie. I wrapped my arms around him, and he let out a soft whine. He leaned into my hug, and I comforted him, stroking his fur gently. I thought of all the things that Chewie had been through, and he had always had Han by his side. To lose him so suddenly, and then be thrust onto another mission left no time to grieve, but Chewie had feelings, and emotions tend to catch up. A few minutes later Chewie lifted his head, giving a small thanks to me, he stood, his head almost brushing the ceiling. "Breakfast is ready." I say, and he nods, following me out to eat. The food sat on the table as Chewie and I walked into the room. I smiled at Rey as we sat and idly talked as we ate.
——
    "What are you going to do?" Rey asked as we were washing up the dishes we had used for our breakfast. She stood in the small kitchenette in the Falcon, scrubbing dishes in soapy water. I shrugged from where I was drying the dishes.
    "I'll explore the island, see what there is to see." Rey nodded, turning back to the dishes.
    "Can I ask you a question?" She said breaking me out from my thoughts.
    "Sure?" I responded, questioning what she would ask me.
    "What did you find out that made you leave the First Order?" My hands tensed on the dish towel I was holding, "You don't have to answer." Rey said quickly, noticing my silence.
    "No," I said, giving a slight pause, "I should tell you." I took a deep breath, I hadn't really thought about it, not with everything going on. But I need to tell someone, "I guess I shouldn't really be sad, I never knew my parents, the First Order came into the village I was born in, the people were loyal to the First Order, they didn't have much choice from what I can tell. The First Order slaughtered them all. I couldn't figure out why. General Hux took me, put me into the Stormtrooper program, I moved up quickly, and was transferred to an experimental program, Shadow Stromtroopers." I paused, taking a breath, Rey had stopped washing dishes and now had her attention fully focused on me. I leaned against the counter by the sink as I continued on with my story, "It was an experiment in the time of the Empire, and few people knew we continued it in the First Order. We were an elite group of Stormtroopers, trained in stealth and infiltration. We'd go in small groups on missions, that's when I met Kai and Erik. We quickly climbed the ranks together, a few months later, we were separated. Moved to different groups, they shut down the Shadow Stormtroopers program, and we were sent into different squads. Luckily we still shared a barracks room." Rey made a face from where she was sitting, I gave a soft laugh, glad for the slight lightening of the mood, "Don't make that face. Kai and Erik are like my brothers." I finished drying the dish I was working on, putting it away, and fully turning towards Rey, "I was walking the halls, stopped by a file room to pick up something for an officer before my debriefing..." Rey looked at me sadly, "I found everything out. That may not seem like enough of a reason to leave all I'd ever known, but I knew they were wrong. I felt it. The file was just the last step to leaving. Then I took my mission and booked it, and I met you." The creature on my shoulder that I had forgotten about suddenly dove off and into the basin of water. I gave a small noise of surprise as water splashed up onto me, I let my sadness fade away, what had happened was in the past. All I could do now, is make sure the First Order couldn't hurt anyone else, "It sure knows how to change the mood." I laughed, I shook off the soap that had splashed on me. The creature stuck its head above the water again and swam around, I let it be as Rey and I finished drying and putting away the dishes. When I heard a small chirp from the sink, I walked over, the creature looked up at me, and splashed its little wings. "Are you done playing?" I asked it, I heard laughing behind me, I turned towards Rey.
    "It can't understand you." She said through giggles, I shrugged, who knew how intelligent this creature could be, this world was uncharted, little was known about any of its inhabitants.
    "Maybe it can. At least to some extent." The creature chirped at me again, I put the towel I was holding over my shoulder, "Okay, okay. I'll get you out." I said as I picked up the little creature and drained the sink, running water I washed all of the soap off of the little guy, I grabbed the towel off my shoulder and dried the creature off. It was adorable, its fur proofed up and it was just a little ball of fuzz. The one in my jacket decided to make an appearance, I caught it before it made it's flying leap into the sink. "You can have your turn later." I told it, handing it to Rey who cuddled it in her arms. The one I had dried off made its way back onto my shoulder, and sat there, it gave a chirp and snuggled into my neck. Rey handed the other creature back to me, it decided to jump into my blaster holder, luckily there was nothing in it, as the creature landed, it looked up at me with golden eyes. "Heading off?" I asked looking up as Rey grabbed her staff. She nodded, grabbing her bag. I walked over to her as we walked down the halls.
    "I'm sure Luke will be up by now."
    "Well," I started, walking down the hall, we paused as Rey fixed a small blinking light in the Falcon, "good luck." I walked with her to the base of the stairs. "Meet you back here for dinner?" I questioned, she nodded, turning and walking up the stairs, "Don't let that old man get you down!" I called after her, she turned around and stuck her tongue out at me.
    "See you later!" I heard her call back, I smiled and looked at the creatures, "Where should we go first?" I questioned, the creatures gave a chirp in response.
——
    The sun was a quarter way in the sky, I had gone back to an overlook of the sea, the grassy hill gave way to a cliff, the sea crashing into the rocks below, I sat on the edge, my feet swinging below me. I didn't fear falling, I felt calm. I heard footsteps beside me, I turned slightly as Ashoka stood beside me. "Follow me." Ashoka said, turning away. I got up and followed her silently, "I see you've made some friends." Ashoka said, talking about the creatures.
    "Yeah. We slept under the stars, and these two decided I was warm."
    "Master Yoda would tell me to tell you the Jedi cannot have attachments, that they are forbidden."
    "What do you think?" I asked, and Ashoka thought about it for a minute.
    "Love makes us who we are, it makes us stronger. To suppress those feelings, hiding them, can turn us into something we're not. It can lead us down a dark path of destruction. There is no light without darkness." I nodded.
    "I never said anything about love." I said, hoping I wasn't blushing. Ashoka gave me a look.
    "Maybe not now." She said with a flicker of knowing in her eyes.
    "What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned. Ashoka didn't respond as she stopped walking.
    "We're here." Ashoka said, I stopped behind her, looking at the place we stopped. The grass stopped growing, revealing a circle of stone in the ground, the stone was decorated with intricate carvings. "The old Jedi language." Ashoka said when she noticed me studying the carvings. "Sit," she said, gesturing to one of the stones in the circle. She sat crispy  on the other stone, her hands clasped lightly together in her lap, I followed her pose. "You have a rare Force ability called psychometry. It used to be more common in the Old Republic, but the time of the Jedi has passed. It could be quite overwhelming to the Jedi who had it." I frowned.
    "Well then, how do I control it?" I asked, and Ashoka gave a slight smile.
    "Many Jedi possessing psychometry found meditation to be quite useful to relax and manage their thoughts. Meditation was very common for the Jedi, although I remember as a Padawan I was never able to sit still." Ashoka smiled fondly as she shared the memory.
    "How do you know all of this?" I asked.
    "I was a rebellious apprentice, and had to spend a lot of my time in the library to try and 'calm my rambunctious spirit'" at that sentence Ashoka imitated someone, probably a Jedi.
    "Well, did it work?" I asked, and Ashoka gave a laugh.
    "No, not really. But I learned much when my attention wasn't elsewhere. The other Jedi also have that they taught me. Like my Great Grandmaster Qui-Gon who taught me how to appear as a Force ghost." She gestured to her blue hued form, "And look, I've gotten us completely off track." She laughed, and I saw a flicker of what she was like as her younger self. "Right. Meditation, a common practice among Jedi used to release and gain energy through the Force." She shifted slightly on the rock she was sitting on. I furrowed my brow in thought.
    "Can you feel that rock?" I questioned.
    "You're not going to get me off track again but yes. I can feel this rock. It's very uncomfortable. Now close your eyes." She said, closing her own, I watched her for a moment, waiting to see what she would say next, "Close them." She said without opening her own eyes. I quickly closed my eyes, a light blush rising to my face out of embarrassment. "Good. Breathe. Let your body relax." I take a deep breath, and let it out. I tried to think about what Ashoka had said, but found it difficult to relax. "Don't think about it." Ashoka advised, and I gave a light scoff.
"That seems contradictory." I said, and there was a rustle that I identified as Ashoka getting up, I felt her hands take mine and place them on the rock beside me.
"The Force is everywhere. It connects us all, and flows through us. It connects you to the rock you're sitting on, and the rock to the ground." As Ashoka spoke I felt my body relax of its own accord, "Feel the connection. Let it flow through you. Feel the Force around you." Ashoka says, her voice echoes, I can hear her all around me. The island around me flows with life. Each part it's own star of light. Some shone brighter than others, and a picture blooms in my mind, I see the island, "The Force is the balance, it is everywhere." Flowers grow from the dirt, pushing up as green stems and blooming with life. I see the life of the island, "It is the balance between life and death. The dark and the light." I see the death of the island's life, but from the death comes new life. "Find the balance." I'm at peace. The wind blows softly around me, the Force flowing through me, connecting to the world around me. I stiffen as something cold brushes against my mind. Something dark. "Focus Alex." I hear Ashoka's voice, but it's quieter, farther away. The darkness looms, covering the light, extinguishing it. "Alex, find the balance." I struggle against the dark as I hear Ashoka's voice grow more concerned, but it's far away. Pulling me down. So far away. "Alex!" The darkness was all around, sounding me. Choking me. I couldn't breathe.
    "Kill him, do it now." A dark voice echoed. I shook my head as a blurred scene appeared in my mind. A blurred figure with dark hair stood in front of a kneeling man with grey-white hair. The dark haired figure held two glowing lights crossed at the man's neck, one blue, and one red. Lightsabers.
    "I shouldn't. It's not the Jedi way." Another voice, lighter, but tainted by darkness, and fear.
    "Do it." The dark voice said sharply. The scene disappeared into darkness as screams echoed. Pain lanced though my body and I was snapped back to reality. Ashoka's face came into focus, her eyes filled with concern. I sat up slowly, and realized I had been laying on the ground. I leaned against the rock and slowed my racing heart.
    "What was that?" I breathed out, echoes of pain flickering though my body.
    "The dark side of the Force it was, called to you did it not?" Master Yoda said, I turned my head slightly and saw him sitting on a rock.
    "It hurt. There were voices, screams." I said, shaking my head. Yoda frowned, giving a small hmph of thought. "If that is what the dark side is, I want no part of it." I said. Yoda tapped his cane against the ground.
    "Another force at play there must be. Find this out I will." Master Yoda said, turning to Ashoka, "Continue to teach her you will. Connect with the Force she must." Ashoka nodded. Master Yoda turned back towards me, "Careful with yourself you must be, push yourself too far, you must not." I nodded, and Master Yoda disappeared. Ashoka turned to me.
    "Take it easy, we'll start again tomorrow." She said, she turned as if to walk away but I reached out a hand and she stopped.
    "What if I'm strong enough?" My voice rang out, it sounded scared, like a lost child. She turned towards me with a soft voice.
    "You are."
    "But..." I took a breath, "if I'm not? It was so easy for the darkness to pull me down. I couldn't do anything!" I exclaimed, and Ashoka knelt in front of me. I looked down at my hands. I couldn't hurt anyone I cared about. Rey's face flashed through my mind and I shook my head. Especially not her.
    "Believe it or not, my master struggled like you did with the dark side." I looked back up at Ashoka.
    "What happened?" I asked, almost scared to hear the answer.
    "I won't lie, he did turn to the dark side." My hopes plummeted, and Ashoka must have seen it in my eyes as she tilted my head back up to look at her, "But, his son saved him in the end. Yes he did turn for a while, but he did the right thing in the end. He was a good man." Doubt weighed itself on my mind but Ashoka's words lifted some of it away.
    "Snips, you're not giving me the credit I deserve!" I heard a voice call, it sounded as though it was behind Ashoka, and she turned, looking at someone I couldn't see.
"Tell that to Obi-Wan!" She called back and then turned back to me with a light smile on her face. She nodded as she saw that I would be okay with her leaving and she spoke again.
    "Take it easy Alex." I nodded and her form faded away.I took a few minutes to gather my thoughts, before standing and walking along the hills. How was the Resistance doing? Were we spending too much time here? Should I be trying to convince Skywalker to come back with us more? Questions plagued my mind, as I walked aimlessly. I headed back to the Falcon, having decided that I would try to fix the communicator so we could talk to the Resistance. I walked up the old ship's ramp, greeting Chewie before heading to the communication set up by the holotable. I fiddled with the wiring, R2 came in at some point, giving his suggestions.
——
    I sat back in the chair letting out a sigh. No luck, communications still weren't responding. R2 chirped a string of binary form beside me. "Oh really, you think it's broken? I didn't think of that." I said sarcastically, responding to his binary. I ran a hand over my face as R2 gave another series of beeps and whistles. "You might be right." I said, sitting up in the chair, R2 suggesting looking in Skywalker's hut for any equipment that could be used to fix the communications was the first useful thing he had said in awhile. R2 let out a happy warble at my response. I got up from the chair and walked out of the Falcon. A few minutes later I was in front of Skywalker's hut. I knocked, and after hearing nothing I pushed the door open. Surprisingly it had been fixed from when Chewie knocked it down. My gaze traveled over the sparse belongings. Robes laid folded neatly on one shelf, and an intricate compass sat beside it. Nothing for communications. However, an old wrench that sat on the small stone table caught my eye. Something drew me towards it, I reached my hand out, brushing the cool surface. My vision turned black. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply. It would do no good for me to panic, and as Ashoka had said they were merely past events. There was nothing bad. I opened my eyes and immediately regretted my thoughts as I was thrust into the memory. Luke stood before a sleeping Kylo Ren- no Ben Solo-, lightsaber raised, I saw the conflict in his eyes. He moved to turn it off, and Kylo woke up, looking towards Luke with fear in his eyes. He reached a hand out, grabbing his own saber with the force, igniting it to protect himself. He raised a hand behind Skywalker, using the Force as Luke's eyes widened. "No!" He yelled as the building collapsed around him, burying him. The scene changed, a building was burning, flames raged and smoke filled the air. I looked around, bodies littered the ground, burns covering their bodies. Lightsaber burns. I realized they had burns, but what killed them was the burning heat of a lightsaber. They were children. Kylo Ren had killed them. Their eyes stared lifeless into the flames. I spun around as a hand stuck above a collapsed building, metal. It was Luke. He pushed his way out of the collapsed hut. I could feel his pain though the Force. He regretted what had happened. He had failed him. He collapsed to his knees beside R2-D2, putting a hand on the astromechs head. Blackness again, the darkness pressing in around me, I couldn't breathe. Suddenly the darkness was gone, I fell to my knees gasping for air back in Luke's hut. After gathering my breath, I grabbed that corner of the table and pulled myself up. I exited the hut quickly going to find the old Jedi. Anger flashed through me, as I thought of the events. It was his fault. But he regretted it. A small voice told me. He started it, he put those events in motion. I reached out through the Force, searching for the absent force signature. The voice of reason faded to whitenoise. I didn't realize the darkness was taking hold again. There. I let my feet carry me to the hillside Luke was on, I stormed up the steps, as he turned, looking at me with surprise.
"Here to call me a coward again?" He asked, with a cold gaze. I shook my head.
"No. Because I know. I know what you did. You started this. You were the one to push Kylo Ren to the dark side." I said vehemently. Shook colored his features as he took a step back. "You tried to kill him. You caused this." His eyes glinted with anger. "You-" with a hiss a lightsaber ignited, pointed at my throat, I could feel the heat of the blade as the plasma burned dangerously close to my skin.
    "You have no idea what happened." Luke said harshly, his eyes ablaze. I was shocked by the sudden and powerful force presence that appeared.
    "I do. I know what happened." I said bitterly, "I know what you did. I know what Ben did." My anger faded away as if it was only a storm passing. It wasn't entirely his fault. He regretted it. He tried to stop it. My head cleared and I shook off the darknesses claws that had enveloped my actions. Get a hold of yourself. Don't let anger cloud your judgement. It won't do any good. Luke did everything he could. His voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
    "How?" He questioned, not believing me.
    "When I touch things, I see things, the past." I said, tears rose to my eyes, I remembered the pain, the destruction. "When I touched you I saw everything, you, the temple, Ben."
    "No." Luke whispered, "That ability is long gone." I shook my head, tears fell down my face. Phantoms of the First Order's cold metal walls and faceless officers flitted through my head. All the destruction they caused. All the pain.
    "I wish that was true. I was captured by the First Order after defecting. I was brought into an interrogation room." Luke shook his head, his hands shook as I continued, lightsaber wavering, "I felt everything that had happened there, all the pain." My hands shook and I wrapped them around myself as I tried to push away those memories. All the pain that had happened there. The death. Luke's lightsaber dropped to the ground, deactivated.
    "I'm sorry." He whispered, "I'm sorry." I smiled through my tears. He never meant to hurt anyone. He thought he was protecting them. I know that now.
    "I know." Luke looked at me for a long moment.
    "Come on. I want to introduce you to someone." Luke said, leading me into the village. We walked into a large hut at the center of the village, the Caretakers were inside, all of them talked to one another, not really paying us any mind. An older Caretaker sat on a raised platform by the brazier that lit the room and cooked something atop of it. Luke walked up to the raised platform and bowed slightly to the Caretaker sitting atop the platform. "Greetings Grandmother." He said, in a different language. I frowned, not recognizing it but understanding it.
    "Jedi. Who is this that you bring with you?" She questioned, the conversations around us quieted, clearly this 'Grandmother' was important.
    "This is my..." Luke trailed off, trying to find the word. I stepped forward, giving a bow as Luke had.
    "I'm trying to get him to talk to my friend who needs his help, well, everyone in the galaxy needs his help but I figured we'd start small." Luke nodded, giving me a slight glare.
    "Right." He said, the fire was the only sound in the hut now as everyone was listening to our conversation.
    "I hope I'm not intruding." I said, smiling softly, 'Grandmother' gave me a smile and then turned to Luke with a firm frown.
    "You need to talk to her friend. She-" Grandmother gestured to me, looking for my name.
    "Alex." I supplied, she nodded in thanks.
    "Alex, shouldn't have to get you to help them! It's your duty as a Jedi!" She shook a finger at Luke, who almost looked guilty. "Now, she is welcome to stay. She seems strong, and will be good help. But you must go and see her friend!" Luke let out a long sigh, but Grandmother gave no room for argument.
    "I'll see." He then turned to me, "But I make no promises." He then stormed out of the hut, and the Caretakers looked at me for a long second before returning to their conversations. Grandmother gave a hmph, and I turned back to her. I half felt bad for breaking up the moment with Luke up, but he needed to speak with Rey.
    "He is stubborn." She said to herself, then turned towards me, "I am the matriarch of this village, you may stay here as long as you respect our home."
    "I do have two companions, one stays on the ship, but the other is the friend I was talking about."
    "They are also welcome. The same rules apply to them." I nodded gratefully.
    "Thank you." She nodded, waving a three fingered blue-grey scaled hand.
    "One of my daughters can show you to a hut." As she spoke another Caretaker came up, Grandmother put a hand on her shoulder, speaking to her quietly, the daughter nodded and gave me a smile. Grandmother turned back to me,
"Sleep well, when you have time you are welcome to help in the village." She said with a nod. Her daughter leads me out of the main hut and into the village, the beginning of the sunset casts a warm light on the village. She showed me to a hut and said goodnight before leaving. I decided to head down to the Falcon after a small debate with myself. I was exhausted but didn't want to leave Rey and Chewie wondering where I was. So I walked down out of the village quietly and down to the Falcon.
——
Rey and I laid outside again, the sun was casting a beautiful array of colors as we watched the water. My arm was under Rey's head, and she was curled into me, looking out at the water. "I never knew there was this much water in the galaxy." Rey says, I glance at her awed face.
    "When all of this is over, I'll take you to Batuu. It's beautiful, it was a hotspot for travel, but when Hyperspace came around it quieted down. Now it's mostly just farmers, there is a smuggling outpost though." Rey turns to me, an amused smile on her face.
    "How do you know so much? Surely the First Order didn't teach you about this?"
    "No," I laugh, shaking my head, "No, I learned this on my own, mostly on missions, they took me to lots of different planets, Batuu was one of them, an ex-imperial was there, the First Order needed him. I visited Batuu often though. I would love to go back. Visit all of the planets, not as a stormtrooper. Just as me." Rey smiles, snuggling closer to me as we watch the sunset. "What's your favorite color?" I asked, I wanted to know more about her, from the time we met, it was a rush to get intel to the Resistance, destroy Starkiller base, and find a supposedly unfindable Jedi. There hadn't been much time to just get to know each other, as much time that had been spent on the Falcon in hyperspace, that time was mostly filled with fixing the problems of the old Corrilen freighter. Even during breakfasts, it was spent talking about plans for the day, and about the Resistance.
"Green. All my life on Jakku, I didn't know there was that much green when we went to Takkondoa. When we got there..." she trailed off. I gave a light chuckle, she hit my chest gently, "You're laughing at me!" I shook my head.
"I'm not." I said, still chuckling, "I promise." Rey gave a small huff and drew away from me, "Aw." I complained reaching back for her, "I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you. Don't be mad." I looked at her with pleading eyes. She gave in and came back to me.
"You were laughing at me." She said after a minute or two of silence.
"Only a little. I think it's cute, that's why it's your favorite color." She pondered that for a minute. We watched as the sun disappeared over the horizon, the stars appeared in the sky, shining brightly.
"What's your favorite color?" She asked, I thought for a minute.
"Blue." I said, "Not light blue, a deep blue, like the night sky."
"Oh." Rey says softly. I shifted slightly, throwing the blanket all the way over us. The air had grown chilly, but it was still nice to sleep outside. I debated on whether or not to tell her what I found out about Skywalker. I decided against it, it was his story to tell. He needed to tell Rey himself.
"I met other Jedi today." I commented, then quickly added, "Ghosts, Force ghosts."
"And?" Rey asked, encouraging me to say more, I moved again, there had been a rock digging into my back. As nice as it was to sleep outside, I was definitely going to use the hut the Caretakers let me borrow tomorrow.
"They're teaching me, apparently I have an ability called psychometry. It's an..." I trailed off for the right word, "echo in the Force of sorts, it lets me see the past of some objects."
"That seems like a lot to handle." Rey commented softly, "With the Force that I have, its..."
"Overwhelming? Terrifying?" I saw the slight nod Rey gave out of the corner of my eye, "Yeah. It seems that this would all be easier if we didn't have this... power. No," I pause, "That's not the right word."
"It's a tool as much as we are an instrument to the Force." Rey said, and I nodded.
"People thought that the Jedi were all so great, and that it was amazing to have the Force, but the responsibility, the danger that it puts them in, no one really thinks about that. Only the good parts." Rey reached out and grabbed my hand, interlacing our fingers. I studied our hands with a light blush on my face. I wasn't complaining though.
"Yes, the Jedi weren't all good, but they were just people. People who can make wrong choices and decisions. And so are we. We can only do our best." Rey said, "I'm willing to try that, as long as you are here." She turned to look at me, a light smile on her face, "Are you?"
"Always for you scavenger." I said and smiled back at her. Rey rested her head back on the crook of my neck, "Always ones for deep late night conversations aren't we?" I joked, and I felt Rey laughing against me.
"Yes, yes we are. Now, we should probably get some sleep." She said, still laughing slightly.
"But I'm not tired." I whined, burying my face into Rey's hair. "Your hair smells nice." I mumbled.
"What?" Rey said, my face heated up, I did not realize I said that out loud.
"Nothing, goodnight." I said.
"Oh, now she says she's tired." Rey teased me, to which I gave no response. Until she started tickling my side. "I know you're not asleep." She said, I squirmed away.
"Stop it!" I whispered, "I'm sleeping!"
"Tell me what you said." Rey said, continue to tickle me, I laughed, finally giving in.
"Fine! I said your hair smelled nice!" I said between bouts of laughter. The tickles stopped.
"Really?" Rey said, I looked at her.
"Yeah. It smells like wildflowers or something. Off handed comment I know." I said, Rey smiled.
"You're sweet."
"I know." I said with a quirked smile. Suddenly a bright light shone on us, I shielded my eyes and turned over, a light from the Falcon shined on us, and Chewie's roars came over the speakers. Go to bed, was his general message, conveyed through long roars and growls, in his mind, we were his cubs, and needed to be looked after. Including making sure we slept. "Thank you Chewie, going to bed now!" I called back, and the light turned off. I turned back over and wrapped my arms around Rey. "Okay?" I asked her quietly. I didn't want to do anything that would make her uncomfortable.
"Okay." She responded, "Sweet dreams." I smiled, and tightened my arms around her in response. Sleep came quickly, and with pleasant dreams of wildflowers and sunshine.
——