"Four more days," Rey says to Ben as they haul their findings towards Prana's goons. They've been scavenging for weeks. "I'm sure it'll be fixed by then."
"I hope so, because if the First Order finds us first..." The past few weeks, he's felt more like Ben. He doesn't want to be swayed into becoming Kylo Ren again. But what if he can't resist it?
You're so weak.
But she's not, and she's helping him because, inexplicably, she cares.
The man who with the silver skin picks apart what they've brought. Concealed inside Rey's robes are several more parts that they need to repair the ship.
"You don't need to search me," Rey tells him sweetly.
"We don't need to search her," the man announces. "Here is-"
A face Ben's never seen but prayed to often appears, off towards the edge of the swamp. Dressed in Jedi robes, a young Darth Vader stares at his grandson.
"Grandfather?" Ben steps towards the apparition.
"Who's he talking to?" snarls the metal man.
Anakin Skywalker slips back among the trees. Ben runs towards it.
"Come back here!"
"Ben!"
"Get him!"
"Ben!"
He trips over a tree root, chin slamming into the ground. He spits out blood and cranes his neck. "Grandfather?"
The man he's always wanted to see, the man he's spent so many years trying to emulate, rises before him. Does he want me to turn back to the Dark Side? Trepidation bites at his fingers.
"Ben Solo," whispers his grandfather. He looks young, and whole. With this face, there's no need for a mask.
Ben tries to think of what to say. His mind feels strangely blank, as if his thoughts have been tied up.
"These are your first steps," the man says. Not Darth Vader. Anakin Skywalker.
Horror grips Ben, squeezing him tighter than that serpent. Sentiment ruined what Darth Vader spent his whole life fighting for, Snoke had told him.
But now, looking into his grandfather's actual face, Ben knows it saved him. His stomach twists and his muscles coil as shame threatens to split him apart.
Anakin reaches out, hand hovering over his cheekbone. Just like Father.
"Where have you been?" Ben manages to eke out.
"I've always been here," Anakin replies, and, as the Light engulfs him and Anakin vanishes, Ben understands.
Hands grab him, hauling him up. A fist lands in his stomach. Fingers tear at his hair and boots kick at his knees as Ben is dragged out of the swamp, past Rey, who wears a look of absolute horror.
"Into the sarlacc pit for you," rasps the silver man.
No. A cold, slimy sensation slips over him. Not when I'm so close. Not after Grandfather finally woke him up and he feels alive and like there's a new hope.
"Please don't!" Rey cries.
"A sarlacc pit? Truly?" King Prana's voice, disdainful and cruel, fills the air. A low hiss sounds, and Ben sees another serpent, just as green and thick as the one in the forest, lick its lips.
"He tried to run away," insists the silver man.
"They are the best scavengers we've had in years. Do you know how much profit they're bringing me?"
"I can't do it without him," Rey confirms.
"I might be able to buy more rathtars, after Han Solo failed me!" hisses King Prana. The serpent rises.
Father. Ben's heart constricts.
"But he tried to escape!"
"No!" Ben protests. "I saw-I saw something-"
King Prana cackles. "He might be crazy, but he does good work." He waves a hand, and the serpent slips back to the floor. "Thirty lashes."
YOU ARE READING
•LEGACY - A Reylo Story•
Fanfic*WRITTEN PRE-TROS, POST TLJ* When a ship crashes near the Resistance base, Finn and Poe are shocked to discover Kylo Ren. What does he want? And where is Rey? And as for Kylo, he must decide how much he can trust them with what he knows about Snoke...
