Chewie carries Poe down the ramp, Poe scowling and making all sorts of disgusted faces at Finn over the Wookiee's shoulder.
"Poe, you got injured during a mission. This should be a moment of pride," Luke says.
"I want to walk," Poe grumbles.
Angry, BB-8 bleeps something that shuts Poe up.
Finn heads down the ramp as General Organa stops fussing over Poe and marches up it herself to slap her brother across the face.
"Nice to see you too, Leia," gasps Luke, clutching his cheek.
She embraces him. "Don't you ever leave again. The Resistance needs you. The galaxy needs you."
"I'm so sorry," Luke says softly.
"What even was so important about the temple?" Leia demands.
Luke grins. "I learned a lot of wisdom from a lot of ghosts."
Leia's face flushes scarlet. "So you abandoned the living for the dead?"
"We'll talk later," Luke says, noticing Finn. Finn immediately brushes imaginary dust off his jacket as Leia storms away.
"Well, I never-Master Luke! It is so good to see you!" gushes C-3PO, tottering past Finn towards his former master, if Finn remembers correctly.
"Is it true, kid?" asks Admiral Ackbar, clapping a hand on Finn's shoulder. "Did he get away with the latest apprentice?"
Finn nods. "Rey."
"It's time we thought about taking more serious measures," Ackbar says. "He may be her son, but he's a monster now."
/////
Rey hikes across the sands, Ben by her side. She's forgotten how brutal the sun feels on Jakku, the way it broils her skin and sucks the moisture from her eyes. When they pass an all too familiar downed AT-AT, Rey gestures to it. "That's where I lived."
"Do you want to stop?" Ben asks.
She shakes her head.
When they arrive at Niima Outpost, Rey smiles. "This is where Finn and I met. BB-8 told me he'd stolen Poe's jacket. I knocked him to the ground with my staff." Which she wishes she had with her.
You have a lightsaber, she reminds herself. It's a better weapon. Infinitely.
"Did you make the staff yourself?" Ben questions.
She nods, and he gazes at her in awe.
"I made everything myself. No one else was going to help me."
"Rey!" a voice snarls.
Unkar Plutt, now armless and still as hideous as ever, totters towards her. "This is the girl who stole my ship!" Spittle flies from his lips.
Ben ignites his lightsaber. Unkar Plutt freezes.
"I have questions for you, this time," Rey informs him.
Plutt's eyes run up and down her body. "I'm not answering any-"
"Yes," Ben snaps, the lightsaber sizzling inches away from Plutt's skin. "You are."
"Who the blazes are you?" Plutt grunts.
"No one," Rey interjects. "Except someone who happens to be very skilled with the Force."
"That mumbo-jumbo?" he scoffs.
"At my word he'll dig into your mind. It hurts, I assure you." Ben glances at her in alarm. It's a bluff, she tells him.
YOU ARE READING
•LEGACY - A Reylo Story•
Fanfiction*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...
