Restoration of Light (Star Wars/Kylo Fanfic)

Chapter XXII: Hope

"Rebellions are built on hope." ~ Jyn Erso

Hugo only visited Azalea's cell once more that evening in order to bring her and Topher a tray of bread, water and hot soup. Azalea examined and tasted all of her foods carefully, as well as Topher's, and when she decided that they were not tampered with, they ate. When she believed it was night - which was only an estimate because there were no windows - she and Topher laid down in an attempt at some rest. Water dripped from the ceiling at a steady pace, informing Azalea that it must be raining outside. She rolled around on the cold slab for what seemed like hours before finally falling asleep.

With sleep came nightmares, horrible images and distortions of the memory of the day Hugo had tricked her worse than ever before. He made her think that if she would only give him what he wanted, he would leave her and Jatú alone forever, so she did. For ten seconds, she allowed him to kiss her, at the time thinking that it was only ten seconds of torture in order to gain freedom from the torment of him and his followers for eternity. When the ten seconds was up , she pushed him away with tears running down her cheeks. She ran from him and turned a corner to see Jatú in a horrid state, and Hugo's minions slinking away. He had taken with the intention of never giving back.

Azalea was disgusted with him, but somehow more disgusted with herself for allowing him to take advantage of her and never seeing the trickery behind his empty promise. From that day on, she had vowed that she would never let herself be tricked in such a vile way again.

Azalea awoke with water on her cheeks. Tears, she realized, rubbing them away, imagining that she was also rubbing away the feeling of his hands on her face. Ever since she had returned to Naboo, she had some kind of dream, memory or nightmare every night, but she didn't understand why.

With a stretch, Azalea grunted at her sore stomach and turned around to check on Topher who, to her relief, was still asleep. The more he slept, the more he could dwell in his dreams instead of this lightless place. Azalea had thought and thought in attempt to come up with an escape plan, but she was uncharacteristically void of ideas, and eventually she gave in to the thought that at this point, relying on the feeling that Kylo was searching for her would have to supply enough hope for the both of them. Closing her eyes, she wished that she could teleport Topher out of here and back home. Azalea pulled the Illustria stone out from its hiding place underneath her shirt collar and held it tightly in her fist.

"Please help me save him." She whispered, putting all of her longing into her words and reaching out to her enemy for help. With a sigh, she was about to tuck the crystal underneath her shirt once more when a barely audible humming sound made her stop. She glanced down at the stone and studied it carefully with wonder, waiting for the strange glow to appear.

After a few minutes of staring at it, she sighed and tucked it back under her shirt when the stone stayed dark and she heard the door at the top of the stairs creak open. This was the first time that the crystal had emitted its soothing hum without the soft light accompanying it, and Azalea was perplexed. She stood as the footsteps grew closer and waited for Hugo to come into view. Breathing deeply, she reminded herself why she was here.

Don't let fear control you.

Sure enough, he appeared from the stairwell and glanced at Topher's sleeping form before stalking toward Azalea's cell. Carefully, he unlocked the cell and opened the door slowly. It seemed he was trying to avoid waking the sleeping boy. He lifted a hand and beckoned Azalea forward with one slim finger, moving to the side to give her space to exit the cell.

Hesitantly, she cast one last look at Topher and complied. She hoped that he wouldn't be worried if he woke and she wasn't there. As she walked through the open door, Hugo's fingers brushed lightly against her lower back. Azalea attempted to shove his hand away, but Hugo grabbed her wrist and pushed her, face first, into the stone wall. He pulled both of her arms behind her and tied her hands. Tightly secured ropes bound her wrists, chaffing them as she shifted and turned around.

Reaching over his shoulder, Hugo pulled a blaster from around his back. Azalea straightened and concealed her discomfort as he gestured to the stairs. She lifted her eyes and walked with stubborn dignity. Poised, even with her hands tied behind her back.

***** Poe

Midday heat rose from the ground and shone down from the sun overhead, unhindered by a single cloud. The sky was beautifully clear. Commotion weaved its way all through the Resistance base as everyone made preparations and chattered on about the soon coming arrivals, they would be landing any minute now.

Poe was making some final tweaks to his X-Wing after the battle of Cyrillia. His attention shifted when a loud squawk sounded and was soon followed by a gust of wind as Karé landed her Serahfi among the ships, a short distance away from Poe. It was an astonishing creature with light brown feathers all over, with the underside of its wings and a streak that started at its beak and ran all the way over its head and down its back being the exception. They shared the same snowy shade of pure white that graced its beak, and every feather gave a soft shimmer in the sunlight.

"What... what is that thing?! It's incredible!" Poe laughed and looked down to where Finn stood, mouth agape.

"I'm sure Karé would let you ride him if you asked nicely." Finn shook his head quickly.

"No. Nuh-uh."

"Come on-"

"Nope. That is your gig. I'm not going anywhere near it." Poe finished up and climbed down from his ship to join him and BB-8 on the ground.

"That little beauty is called a Serahfi. It came back with us from Cyrillia. Karé took such a liking to the birds that the chief decided to send her home with one. He wanted to do something to say thank you I guess, so he made her a master." They looked on as Karé tossed a chunk of raw meat into the air and the bird snatched it and threw its head back, chomping it down. She then stroked its neck before making her way towards them. She and the bird fit perfectly together, Poe thought as her short blond hair was ruffled by the slight breeze.

"Captain." She acknowledged Poe before turning to his friend. "Finn, how are you feeling?"

"Way better, Miss Renegade fixed me up." Karé nodded and Finn cleared his throat. "I see you have a new friend." Pride glinted in Karé's eyes and she smiled.

"His name is Mele-Raza. It means song of hope." A smirk lifted the corner of her mouth. "Well, hope for us, bad news for the First Order." Poe chuckled and smacked Finn on the back of his shoulder. Suddenly, BB-8 started beeping an alarm-like sound and rolled back and forth. The three of them looked down at the droid and Poe squatted down to its level.

"What is it buddy?" BB-8 beeped excitedly and sped straight past him. They all glanced in the direction he was rolling off to, and when they looked up the reason was clear.

There in the sky, heading toward the landing pads was the Millennium Falcon.

"Rey."

Poe looked back and smiled when he saw Finn's whole face light up and Jess jogging their way. Everyone around the base had their focus on the sky now, and Poe's grin widened as Jess planted a soft kiss on his cheek and intertwined their hands. With a sigh, she leaned against him and looked on expectantly as the legendary ship prepared to land, voicing what Poe had been thinking since the moment he heard Rey and Luke were coming back.

"Hope."