The Pull to the Light

Chapter XXV

Chiara woke up before Ben and took the time to admire his entirely bare body. She had seen him shirtless before, but that did not make his muscular chest any less enticing. But as he too began to wake, she averted her gaze so he would not catch her staring.

"You were keeping a very watchful eye on me," Chiara teased, kissing his cheek as he adjusted to his surroundings after waking up.

"I would have felt if you got up from bed to go on a murderous rampage in the middle of the night," Ben defended in mock offense.

She let out a laugh, "You'd be dead before you could do anything with the amount of time it takes for you to get up."

"Hey!" Ben interjected, playfully slapping Chiara, causing her to laugh and roll over on top on him. Ben's low, masculine laugh added to hers, gazing at her gorgeous body on top of him, his eyes full of love.

Suddenly he seized laughing and turned serious as he muttered, "Han Solo." Chiara's brow furrowed, curious as to what made Ben change so suddenly. Before she could ask, however, Ben slid her off of him and slipped out of bed, "Get dressed and pack your things, the Resistance is going to attack. I will have a ship prepared for you to bring you to safety, I don't want you to be injured in this battle. Your time to serve the First Order will come but it isn't today."

"Where will you be?" She asked, sliding out of bed and starting to get redressed.

"I have to deal with the enemy. Now go get ready and when you are done head down to the main hangar, there should be a ship waiting for you with a stormtrooper on guard." With that, Ben slipped on his mask and began out of the room, leaving Chiara in confusion.

What is wrong with him? She wondered, tying her hair back and heading into her room. And why did he mention his father?

The answer to that question hit her like a brick and she needed to grab onto the wall to support herself. Ben was going to kill his father- No, Kylo Ren was going to murder Han Solo.

Chiara quickly threw everything she owned back into her bag then sprinted into Ben's room to pack some clothes for him as well. She couldn't resist adding a few books, ones that she hadn't yet had the chance to read.

As she ran down the hallways to the hangar to secure their luggage on board, she could hear the first bombing of the Resistance planes. Inside the base there was anarchy, pilots running to their TIE fighters in order to engage the Resistance fighters in dog fights and officers rushing to their stations to help defend against the attack.

Chiara found her ship waiting for her, just as Ben had promised, and quickly boarded. The stormtrooper who had posed as the ship's guard, followed her into the body of the aircraft but Chiara quickly dismissed him.

"I can pilot this thing, you need to go help defend against the Resistance, they need all the men they can get!" She cried out, trying to get the stormtrooper to leave her alone.

"But Lord Ren said-" he started to argue but was interrupted by an impatient Chiara.

"Plans have changed, the Resistance has dispatched more troops than we had thought. You need to go and help out, I can handle myself!"

"Yes, ma'am," the trooper nodded, turning and heading back out into the anarchy.

As soon as she knew that he was gone, Chiara snuck out of the ship and focused on Ben's force signature. She located it across the base, in the oscillator. There was another presence as well; the presence of Han Solo.

•

Kylo Ren turned as he heard his named called out. He had just ordered the squadron of stormtroopers that he had brought with him to search the oscillator to find the ones from the Resistance who had infiltrated the base.

"Han Solo, I've been waiting for this day for a long time," Kylo spoke in his robotic voice as he turned to face his father.

"Take off that mask, you don't need it," Han spoke, stepping towards him on the bridge.

"What do you think you'll see if I do?" Kylo responded, wondering how idiotic this man was. Why would someone approach a man who was willing and able to kill him?

"The face of my son."

There was a moment of silence before Kylo removed his mask and shook his head, "You're son is dead. He was weak and foolish like his father, so I destroyed him."

"That's what Snoke wants you to believe but it isn't true. My son is alive," Han didn't back down, continuing his approach.

"No, the Supreme Leader is wise," Kylo replied, trying to convince himself of this rather than his father. But inside the light he felt was overwhelming.

"Snoke is using you for your power! Once he gets what he wants, he'll crush you! You know it's true."

"It's too late," Kylo spoke, his voice full of regret.

"No, it's not. Leave here with me, come home. We miss you."

Tear threatened to fall from Kylo's dark eyes, "I'm being torn apart, I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?"

Above, Rey and Finn rushed in, just in time to see Han nod, "Yes, anything."

Kylo dropped his helmet and unhooked his lightsaber from his belt, holding it out for Han to take. Han obliged, his fingers wrapping around the cold, metal handle. In the distance, the light of the sun faded; Starkiller Base's weapon charging for use against the Resistance.

...

You all know what happens now! I forgot my headphones today and it was a sad day 😭 also I'm stuck at school until 8pm for musical rehearsal! And to parallel my pain, have this nice, happy chapter!