Between Two Suns

Chapter 2 (Admiration.)

"Even the force will not make an enemy of me."

Had those words really come from her own mouth? It sounded so strange, and her tone rang in nothing but hateful venom as she recalled the words. She felt it was spoken from a place of truth though; Ben was out there, and the force was stringing her along, and the feeling of this only brought on more rage with the energy that flowed around her.

Rey shook her head as she loaded the rest of her belongings onto the Falcon, sighing as she remembered her interaction with Master Luke. The entire experience made her head throb, but she felt more alive, more awake than she had in the past two to three weeks since the events on Exegol.

After Ben's... death...

She gulped, hating to think of it in such a final way...

But after his body slowly vanished, she had been held up by so much hope that he was okay, sensing that it felt so differently from Luke's passing. With her Master, it felt as though he was part of the force, at peace without a physical presence.

The moment Ben passed, she assumed she'd feel the same way, but she felt him out there, waiting for her, looking for her... It filled her with so much hope, so much that she returned to the Resistance base for a quick moment, only to ensure everyone was okay, and indulge in a comforting and relieving hug with Poe and Finn.

It wasn't her intention to leave them so soon, and to leave them without a goodbye, but with Ben's force signature calling her so vividly, she took off the moment she could break away from the pack unnoticed, and in Luke's ship.

Across the stars, across the galaxy, she flew wherever his ghost lead her, where his force signature hinted to its belonging, to where she could hear his soothing voice whisper her name, and in the end, it turned into nothing but an empty void, always disappearing when she thought she was close to its owner

Feeling defeated, she returned to the Resistance base to re-group.

With another shake of her head, Rey remembered the few days after her venture, when she returned back to her friends, and told Finn and Poe of her need to go to Tatooine to bury Luke and Leia's sabers, and secretly decided to use that time to feel out the force for any trace of Ben.

"We need you here." Poe said, his tone soft and disappointed.

When Rey glanced at him, he seemed almost desperate for her presence there, and she was reminded that his new rank as General over the Resistance was still new to him, and he was working to build his own team, just as Leia had done.

She began to feel her stomach twist and turn with guilt, knowing that she shouldn't really leave them during a time where they were rebuilding and healing, but she asked herself, what can she really do when she was also broken herself?

Finn looked to the ground, his energy also shouting waves of disappointment at Rey, who tried her best not to take it personally as Poe continued.

"The war may be over, but there's still work to be done, just this morning we got word of First Order stragglers trying to rebuild their own base!" Poe exclaimed, his desperation causing him to grow loud.

Rey smiled as best she could to her friends, who now both faced her with concerned and expectant looks.

"This is not the end, this is not final. I will be back, this I promise you both." Rey softly told them before looking away in hopes of finding the right words. "I have to lay Luke and Leia's sabers to rest. They deserve at least that."