The Chosen One: A Reylo Story

Chapter 13: Welcome to the New Age

The sky is grey and thick with clouds that threaten rain.

The city is eerily quiet. Rey's never heard a city as large as Coronet this quiet before. The bustling urban hum has been replaced by doleful music in the distance, the shuffling of feet, and the occasional whimper or sniffle. It's all the more remarkable given how many are here.

Thousands of mourners. Tens of thousands. Rey looks down the sloping hill to her right. The calm water of the bay in the distance reflects the grey of the sky. The funeral procession has begun far away, slowly ascending up the gentle curve of the thoroughfare. The street is framed by a thick layer of black dots mixed with the glow of candles on either side. It will be a while before the procession makes its way up here. Rey's only a quarter mile away from the Pantheon to the left where New Republic senators line the lowermost steps with bowed heads, hands clasped before them. There's an opening between them where the procession will make its way up through the twisting, ivory columns that buttress the wide, circular overhang. There, Leia will be read her last rites according to the custom of her home planet of Alderaan. Then she will be taken away and cremated, ashes scattered here, in her husband's home planet of Corellia.

Rey's throat tightens and she looks down, fixating on the shoes of the man standing in front of her. She concentrates on the image, trying to control her emotions... but a tear slips from the corner of her eye and down her cheek. She feels Ben squeeze her hand. She squeezes back and brings her other hand up to wipe her tear away. Irenie looks up at her with a mixture of curiosity and concern. The girl doesn't see Rey much, and she certainly never sees her like this.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She wants to be strong for Ben, strong like his mother.

But she can't get rid of that hollow feeling in her chest.

Leia was her champion. Her mentor. Her sage. Her benefactor. She has no idea how she's going to do this without her.

The last three years have not gone the way Rey expected, in more ways than one. There were consequences to what she did that day on Mustafar that she did not anticipate. She didn't consider how others in the galaxy would react to an abrupt influx of Force-sensitive beings. It's not like Force-sensitives now outnumber everyone else. Not even close. According to the data she's collected so far, about 1% of the galaxy is now Force sensitive. A significant increase from the old days, but not an unmanageable one.

Unfortunately, there are several powerful people in the galaxy who disagree. Powerful people with powerful friends in government. Understandably, the Senate is keen on reestablishing a humane sense of order across the systems under its protection. That means eliminating even the slightest threats to peace. The senators of this New Republic lived through the rise and fall of the First Order, right on the heels of the Empire. They are determined never to let it happen again. It's an admirable goal... but fear can sometimes cause people to go to extreme lengths to protect what they love. The Senate has been abuzz with talk of legislation to deal with the "Force use problem," especially in the past year.

Rey was not at all prepared to play a game of politics. But Leia? Oh Leia... What that woman could accomplish in a room of warring senators is nothing short of extraordinary.

Leia swooped in and rescued Rey. There's really no other way to put it.

After Mustafar, she had no one to help her navigate this New Age of the Force. It was hard. She isn't meant to do this alone. But Ben... she quickly realized she'd overestimated his willingness to lead with her.

For a moment, Rey pauses her thoughts and clears her mind. She lets herself be still and open.

It's as she expected. Ben's lost in his own thoughts. Too preoccupied to be sensitive to hers. Since they learned how to control the bond, it's gotten easier to stay out of one another's heads. Thankfully. They can't read the other's thoughts without making a conscious effort, which, these days, is something they both avoid. However, they can still involuntarily feel the other's emotions sometimes, especially if the emotion is strong. Like now. She feels his numbness... he's still in shock. Leia wasn't ill or unwell. No one had any reason to believe that she wouldn't live another ten years at least. The doctors say she had a brain aneurism. It came out of nowhere.