IN MY DREAMS [A POE DAMERON X READER STORY] [BOOKS 1-3]

chapter thirteen

You could remember all of it. Every moment of your life was yours once again, and in the solitude of your living quarters, you were forced to relive them again and again. At first you were grateful to have these colorful memories once more. They were alive and real. But the sweetness of them slowly faded away, and the panicked understanding of your impending death replaced it.

You would never see your mother or father again. Your brother and your uncle were killed in the attack on the Jedi temple. Someone --- Kylo Ren, maybe --- had slaughtered every single student except for you. And then he stole you away.

Why had you been spared? Out of all of the students, out of all your family there, you were the sole survivor.

What a horrendous weight to be on your shoulders.

No one came to your room to retrieve you. The stormtroopers that stood outside the locked door refused to speak to you. You backed away from your door, pondering what to do next. It was a miracle they hadn't killed you yet. Maybe Kylo Ren was waiting for a perfect opportunity. Maybe he was dealing with Poe first.

Your heart clenched at the thought of losing the pilot you'd barely begun to remember. Desperately, you tried to search for him through the Force, to feel his light. You couldn't find him. It seemed futile to believe that he escaped a second time, especially without your help, but you didn't want to believe that he had been killed. All you could think of was how warm he was. How he made you feel at home before you even knew what home was.

The emptiness inside of you brought you to your knees. You sunk so low beneath the surface that you stared ahead, feeling nothing yet feeling everything at the same time. A thousand wishes, dreams, feelings, wants, needs, and emotions swirled inside of you, causing you to go numb, making you believe that maybe everything was over. Maybe it was. Maybe these were your final moments.

But even if that were true, even if Poe was gone, he wasn't all that you had. Your mother and father were alive. They had to be. Leia Organa and Han Solo. General Organa, of the Resistance base. You had heard about her in passing but had never dreamed that she would be your mother. But now that you knew, you felt as if you had always known.

You got up on your feet. With one glance around your room, you located your lightsaber on your vanity. Looking at it made you freeze up. Who was foolish enough to leave this for you? Surely they knew what you would do if you were armed. As you picked it up off the vanity, you knew that it was Kylo Ren who had left it there for you.

If a fight was what he wanted, then that was what he would get.

An old Jedi mind trick was your ticket to getting past the two stormtroopers standing guard at your door. Much to your surprise, no other form of barrier held you back from walking out into the corridors of the base. You examined your surroundings as you marched on, letting your hate and anger be your guide. They would lead you to your Master.

But, like a breeze, a sense of change met your consciousness. You paused halfway down a corridor --- one full of storage rooms and void of any other life --- and you could feel someone else nearby. Someone strong in the Force. Someone that felt like family.

You turned on your heels and headed back. You passed your room again and walked to the nearest elevator. The elevator brought you to the level that contained all of the prison cells. Whoever you were sensing, they were on this floor.

You didn't have to search to know which door contained the prisoner. As you stepped in front of the door and unlocked it, you took a single step forward, only to meet the eyes of a young girl, several years younger than you. She looked shocked and scared and she raised the blaster she was holding, and you grabbed her hands and locked them in place in front of her.

"Wait," you pleaded. "I mean you no harm."

"Mean me no harm?" she repeated. "Yet you charge at me with a lightsaber!"

You glanced down at the weapon in your hand and pulled away. "No, I... who are you?"

She held up the blaster and pointed it at you. "You know who I am. That dreadful Kylo Ren sent you in here to torture me next. It won't work. You're afraid just as he was. I can sense it."

You raised your hands. "Yes," you whispered. "Yes, I am afraid. Terribly so. But not for the reason you think."

Her eyebrows furrowed slowly as she lowered her blaster. As you looked at her, and she stared at you, an understanding settled. Both of you understood one another as two victims of Kylo Ren, both desperately wishing to escape and go back to the arms of whoever you belong with.

You could sense it. He was searching for her. This girl was on the forefront of his mind. His mind was so focused on her that you weren't even in danger. He hadn't even thought to look at you. She was a threat and he knew it. 

Every part of you was saying go with her, but someone else was slowly coming into your focus. Suddenly, you couldn't feel Kylo Ren or even the girl in front of you. The person you could feel was undoubtedly your father. Right here on base. 

Why was he here? 

"Go," you said to the girl. "Quickly now, before he finds you." 

She stared at you, blinking slowly in surprise, lowering her weapon further. You didn't fear her using it against you as you spun and hurried down the corridor. She went the opposite way. Although your focus never left the familiar comfort and warmth of your father, you could hear Kylo Ren's shout of anger as he unleashed his wrath only a few halls away. 

You left the inside of the base and escaped to the brisk cold. The snow crunched under your boots and each step made you break through the icy slush knee-deep. You pressed on, using every muscle in your body to drag you closer and closer. You were so desperate to see your father and you knew he was probably just as desperate to see you. 

He must have come to save you. That was the only thing that made sense. Somehow, remembering your past must've called to him. He was here for you and you were finally going to be able to go home. You just needed to find him.

It didn't take you long to locate him. He was on the east side of the base. You ran back through a pair of doors that were propped open. A small slab of grate overlooked a very red area you had never explored. You were sprinting across it by the time you finally reached him, and when you did, your hands grabbed the railing in front of you with all of your might, your stomach pressed against the bar, and there he was. Standing on a bridge far below you, overlooking complete darkness a hundred feet below.

Standing directly in front of your Master, Kylo Ren.