Lillibet - A Star Wars story

Battle Royal

Lillibet ran outside but Kylo and the young Jedi were no longer where she had left them. It was all over now, there was peace. She couldn't let them duel any longer. She started searching around as spaceships landed on the ground in silence, giving the atmosphere a blue feeling. It was over, there was peace. Why was everything so lugubrious? Why was the wind heavy as if it knew something? A secret. An omen.

She let the Force guide her, take her where she needed to be. Where she ended up wasn't in front of the combatants though, but rather in front of General Hux. Maybe the Force knew where she truly needed to be better than she did.

She opened her mouth to say something, but Hux cut her off with a kiss. Lillibet shook her head and pulled away.

"There's no time for kisses now, Armie."

Hux's eyebrows were raised like they were electrocuted. "Shh! Don't call me that!" he said in a loud whisper, his eyes running right and left, trying to catch anyone who could have heard her.

"I'm sorry, but..."

Lillibet started looking around. Kylo and the Jedi still hadn't shown up, and she grew more worried by each passing second. Once the idea that something terrible had happened got in her head, it didn't go away.

"You've done it, my love!" His smile was brighter than ever. "You've really done it. Won the war without too many losses. I doubted it was possible."

"Say, did your gaze catch Kylo anywhere while you were in the air?"

The General's face darkened. "What do you mean? Where is he?"

"Hux, do you think I would ask you if I knew?" She started walking up and down, her hand slipping over her lightsaber, just in case. "He... he was dueling with that boy. The Jedi. And now they're gone."

Her walk came into an abrupt halt, as Hux's strong arms blocked her way. "If anything happens to the boy... that could change everything." The skin of his face was more pale than usual. "That could mess with our negotiations, our victory. " He lowered his arms again and shook his head as many times as necessary in order to look certain. "You have to find them."

He needn't say it twice; Lillibet was already gone. The red lightsaber left her side and was secured into her tight grip as she started running around again. This time she didn't think too much about where she was heading. But then again, it wasn't completely left to fate; there was a reason she was running in that particular path. She didn't know it, she didn't search for it. But there was.

The way her breathing was almost nonexistent was especially peculiar. Because it wasn't due to her running. It was just a strange feeling that had covered her from head to toe, about the state she would find the pair. And it was strange because no matter the outcome, she shouldn't be caring that much. What did she care if the boy was dead? He tried to kill her on Pamarthe a thousand times. What did she care if the Supreme Leader was dead? The mutual hatred they bared was enough to make them want to kill each other with their own hands. Yet the voice inside her head kept wishing for both of them to be alive when she found them.

And her prayers were heard. At first, she could only hear the humming of the ignited lightsabers. They sounded calm, frozen. They weren't moving around or being in touch with anything else. Then, she saw the light. The brightness was particularly recognizable, due to the darkness that the sunset brought to the scenery. And then, she saw them.

Her fingers moved instantly and lit her saber, withought giving her time to think it through. The sound of it being ignited made the boy look at her. But Kylo didn't move.

They were standing on some ruins of an ancient building on a hill. Next to them: emptiness. Death. But it didn't look like they were fighting. Just... standing there. With their sabers in front of them, both of them defensive without either of them being offensive. Blood was oozing from Kylo's left arm, from a wound that streched from his shoulder to his elbow, and dropping on the dry soil. The young Jedi looked unharmed. But if you stared at their faces, their eyes, for as long as Lillibet did, you would get the feeling that the boy was the one in danger, not Kylo. A blueish sun was setting behind them, making the sweat on thier foreheads shine, the tears on their cheeks glow. 

"Kylo..." the tone of her voice was as calm as the colors of the sky, as wild as the raging wind. 

The Supreme Leader shook his head. His hand moved slightly, making his saber roll in a circle. His eyes didn't leave the boy's for a second to look at her. Lillibet sighed and switched off her lightsaber.

"It's over. General Hux is talking to the Resistence as we speak. The war is over." She paused as she saw no reaction from either of them. "Kylo... Come on, let's go." 

"It's over... when I say it is," he hissed. 

Lillibet took a step forward. And just like that, the moment she broke free from her immobility, so did they. Kylo's feet left the ground altogether, as he jumped forward, forcing tiny rubbles to fly to every direction. Every single muscle on his body flexed, while he raised his red lightsaber high above his head with both of his arms. The wind blew his dark hair back, making it flip and wave. Also his black cape. He got higher, and higher, as if gravity couldn't get a hold of him, and an appalling cry left his lungs to become one with the wind. 

Kylo, no!

The young Jedi raised his lightsaber before his face to protect himself. It wasn't just Kylo striking down at him; it was nature itself. The air, the ground, the Force. But right before the two blades, the green and the red, touched, they were pushed away again. Kylo truely defined the laws of nature, as he started flying back up into the sky. And the boy followed him with an abrupt traction that knocked the air out of his lungs. Both sabers were lowered in a way that looked like their holders had no power over them anymore. Their arms reached forward, adown, while the rest of them was sucked the other way. They closed their eyes at the same time, awaiting the collision of their bodies with the rocks that laid all over. Lillibet was pushed backwards too, by an invisible thrust that covered her torso. Her feet, still gued on the ground, slided on the slippery surfarce of the stone beneath them.

Did she do that? Or was it one of the two? Perhaps it was a combination of all three, trying to force each other to go a certain way. As they hit the ground, both lightsabers switched off and escaped their grips. Kylo started tumbling down the ruins, barely keeping himself from falling over the cliff. The boy fell flat, didn't move, didn't flinch. For a moment Lillibet thought he were unconscious, if not dead, but then she felt his thoughts. She didn't run to either of them. How would she decide?

"Stop it," she yelled. 

Kylo brushed his hair away from his face and turned to look at her. His eyes immediately swifted to the Jedi on the ground, still motionless. With trembling arms and legs, he raised himself on his knees. There was blood coming out of his mouth and the scar on his face, as it had opened up again.  His skin looked like a smeared canvas, with red, black, brown, pink hues. He slowly raised his arm towards his fallen lightsaber that sat far away, on  some a little green plants. 

Lillibet gulped, tried to move, but couldn't. She wasn't sure whether that was due to Kylo using the Force on her, or just her not being strong enough. Neither emotionally nor physically. 

"Kylo, don't do this..." she pleaded.

The crossed lightsaber moved; quavered. But stayed put.

"Ben..."

He shut his eyes intensely, as if shutting away the sound of a calm voice, his true name, peace. And suddenly, the lightsaber moved. It flew away from the rock and took the path towards Kylo's extended arm. It twisted, and turned, and wriggled. And then, it was ignited. 

His eyes opened wide again, as the burning blade pierced his palm, sliced his arm, penetrated his chest. 

"Noo!"

His lips parted as he gasped in an attempt for one last breath. His eyes flickered in terror; true terror. Never had they looked at anything like that before. But now they were staring at the red blade. The same one that had murdered his father, in such a similar way. With the minute strength and in the rapid moment he had left before everything going black, he turned his head, ever so slightly. His gaze touched the young Jedi that was still lying on the ruins unmoving, not with aggression, nor hatred. It touched him gently. But the boy wasn't unconscious at all. He might not had moved physically, but the way his eyes were wide open and staring at Kylo with a fiery look, proved he had moved with the Force. 

The last thing Kylo did before falling over the cliff, was bring tears in his eyes.