The Sands of Jakku

Rey's Word

Poe didn't say much as he and Rey made it to where his strange ship awaited them in the hangar. He was opposed to this mission, but he didn't disobey direct orders from General Organa.

If General Organa was willing to let Rey do this, then he was as well.

"Thank you for this, Poe," Rey said. Poe almost snorted. She thought he had a choice in the matter. If he had gotten his way, she would be back with Finn and Obi-Wan in the hospital wing. Or better yet, she would have never gone to the palace at all.

He had been there that night to obtain that lamp for the Resistance. If only he had found it sooner, this whole situation could have been avoided.

"I'm serious," Rey continued. "Thank you."

Poe hummed noncommittally and continued through the hangar. Rey followed closely behind him, keeping up as best she could with Poe's strides.

There were more ships than just his in the hangar. But from the look of it, his was the only one that ran. The rest were the same as the great metal beasts in the desert of Jakku: scrap for someone to scavenge.

Poe's ship hovered above the floor. It looked like a long bed of sheet metal, but it was one of the sturdiest things Rey had ever ridden on.

She stood beside it, watching Poe climb onto his ship and sit down, accessing the controls that hovered above the machine itself, projecting themselves as orange and blue light. The entire ship was nothing short of magic in Rey's eyes. Especially when they started flying.

Poe steered them out of the hangar and out to the open sand. There was nothing around them for miles as far as Rey could see. Even the long-dead mechanical beasts were absent from this part of the desert.

Rey watched the desert sprawl out before them like an ocean. The sand blew in the wind behind them, forming new hills and dunes like it was alive.

Poe was livid: more than livid, he was terrified . If anything happened to Rey, it would destroy Finn. And here he was flying her right back into the proverbial belly of the beast.

He took a turn too fast, making his already unsettled stomach lurch. He heard Rey gasp softly. And he knew, he knew that he didn't have a good feeling about this.

How dare she put him in the middle of something so important. She was so adamant about saving this man. This heartless royal who had slaughtered thousands for his own personal gain. Here she was, her skin pale, her legs shaky, her voice hoarse, on her way to rescue him.

The palace was 40 clicks west of the Resistance base. Poe already knew the entire ride was going to be tense and silent. Nothing he could do or say now would make a difference in how this would play out.

*

Rey watched the desert in silence, tense and waiting. Small structures appeared on the fringes of the direction they were flying in, and she knew they were getting closer to the palace.

She felt the dread rising in her stomach at the thought of seeing Kylo again. He probably thought she left him. No doubt that was what Hux told him when he and Phasma had returned from the Oasis.

Like all the other suitors before her. She had left him.

She felt Poe watching her out of the corner of his eye as the first of the palace's towers began to show over the horizon. She knew she was tense, she knew she looked pale, and sick, and however else she could possibly look bad. But this was something she needed to do.

The palace loomed closer in the distance. The entire structure pulled itself over the horizon,the heat around it shimmering like a mirage.

Rey's chest clenched, her stomach dropped, and her palms itched.