The Broken Ones | REYLO [Complete]

18. Walk the Line

If any of you have seen the animated show Star Wars: Resistance, you'll recognize a lot of this next part. Canonically it took place about 6 months before The Force Awakens, but for the purpose of carrying my storyline I've changed it up a bit. Hope you like it. :)

--REY--

A couple hours into our journey, Finn falls asleep, snoring loudly with his mouth wide open. It's irritating Ben to no end, much to my amusement. Poe and I have kept our comm link up so we can chat and keep each other awake. Somehow we've gotten to the topic of our lives before the Resistance.

"I don't remember my life before Jakku," I say, brows furrowed in concentration. "Sometimes, though, I can see brief flashes of something. Like I'm sitting through memories with the Force. I didn't know I could do that before Luke. He taught me so much about myself. I don't know how I'll ever repay him." I pull my legs up into the plush seat of the cruiser's cockpit. Ben glances over and stares at my feet, then glares up at me, and I know what he's thinking. The exact same thing his father would've said: Get your damn feet off that seat before I take 'em off myself.

"Did I ever tell you I knew Luke before all this?" Poe asks, and I turn my attention away from the burning gaze of Ben Solo. And no, I didn't move my feet.

"You knew Luke? How?"

Poe laughs at the excitement in my voice. "Well, I didn't, really. My parents did. They fought in the Battle of Endor, helped take down the Empire. I was only two years old when it happened. They never told me how they actually met Luke; all I know is we had this tree outside the house where I grew up. Mom told me the tree was Force-sensitive, and it was a gift from Luke Skywalker. I thought she was lying about both things, but now I know she was telling the truth about one, at least. Still don't get how a tree can use the Force." He's quiet for a few moments, and I can practically hear the memories playing back in his mind.

"And I thought I was old," Ben mutters under his breath. I narrow my eyes at him and the corner of his mouth ticks up.

"Sorry, what? I can't hear you over the volume of your hair," Poe shoots back. I bite the inside of my lip to keep from laughing. Force knows I don't need to be making Kylo Ren angry in a confined space. Ben rolls his eyes and looks away, going back to feigning disinterest in our conversation so he can eavesdrop in peace.

"Anyway," I drawl, "Poe, tell me about where you grew up. I love to hear about planets other than Jakku."

"I was born and raised on Yavin 4," Poe answered, both pride and sadness in his voice. "It was beautiful. Hot and steamy, yeah, but sometimes...sometimes just looking out a window could take your breath away."

The tension in my shoulders loosens as I lean my head back and close my eyes, picturing baby Poe running around the jungle, pretending to be a big soldier. "It sounds wonderful."

"It was. You would've loved it." Poe pauses for a moment. "I didn't see my parents much when I was a kid, they were so busy. But somehow my mom found time to teach me to fly. She was a Rebel pilot, too, like my dad. She had this old A-wing interceptor that the Rebellion gave to her when she left the service. Six years old, flying a ship like that. Can you imagine?" Poe laughs.

"Explains why you're the best pilot in the Resistance," Ben says mockingly.

"I'm sorry, Ben, was I talking to you? No." The pilot huffs. "Anyway, we had a great thing going for a couple years. The war was over, I had both my parents at home...but my mom," he takes a deep breath, "she, uh...she got sick. Pretty quick. Died before we had time to come to terms with her illness."

I swallow the lump in my throat and glance at Ben, whose eyes are showing more emotion than I've ever seen. Maybe he's finally feeling guilty about killing his father. He knows what it feels like to lose a parent. "Poe, you don't have to keep talking. I can't imagine how much it hurts."