Forever Indebted

bonded as one

A week had passed since her last interaction with the voice in her head. Rey finally had some uninterrupted thoughts. This past week has been rather busy for the ex-scavenger. She'd put her skills to the test and found an old speeder, with nothing better to do with her time, Rey took it upon herself to see if she could make it work again.

It was a heap of junk, probably from before the times of the empire. She couldn't imagine the last time this speeder ran. Rey had been avoiding going into the town since she arrived on Tatooine, not wanting to deal with the endless stares and quiet conversation about the girl living at the abandoned Skywalker home.

She donned a large hooded poncho looking item of clothing to protect her face from the sun and also the wondering eyes. She moved about the town as if she knew where she was going, not wanting to ask anyone for directions. Turning corners and slipping down alleyways until she came across what looked like a junk shop, to her relief it was run by droids. Rey wasn't ready for one on one contact with people.

Listing off the items she required the droids were quick to gather supplies. The currency used on Tatooine was Peggat though she knew credits were still accepted at a higher cost. Rey handed over the amount of credits required for the parts she needed. Gathering them into a sack she found on the falcon she was quick to scurry away, not wanting to endure more conversation then needed.

Weaving her way back through the alleyways, Rey came out at what you would call the 'busy' part of town. Creatures of different species roamed around talking amongst one another, the odd human in amongst the crowds. Quietly slipping through a group of 3 people Rey came to a halt when she caught some words of their conversation.

"The gang is just getting worse." One man said under his breath, "They captured the family who live by me because they had no Peggat to surrender in the raids. No ones seen them since." Rey listened a little while longer picking up information that could be valuable to Poe and the resistance.

She was quick to dash away before people starting thinking of her as suspicious. After the long gruelling walk back to the homestead Rey quickly made her way into the falcon. Slumping down on the captains seat in the cockpit she set all the details to get in contact with the resistance. It didn't take long until they made contact with her.

"REYYYYYYYY!!" Poe, Rose and Finn all greeted her with beaming smiles. "Keeping your desert tan I see." Rose joked along, Rey couldn't help the little chuckled that escaped her lips.

"What's taken you so long to get in contact, we've missed these chats. Is there something wrong with your transmitter?" Poe sounded like a concerned parents whose first born had recently moved out.

"It's okay Poe, its working fine. I've missed talking to you guys as well, I've just been a little preoccupied since getting here." It wasn't a total lie but it sounds better then 'Hey guys, sorry I've been m.i.a. I've been having nightmares every night, losing control, crying a lot oh and there's this evil voice that keeps speaking to me' but these are things no one needs to know.

"Preoccupied on that awful planet, what could you possibly be busy with?" Finn was always harsh towards desert planets, never understanding their appeal.

"Well because you asked, I found an old speeder so I'm trying to rebuild it. It's probably a good 50 years old so its proving difficult. Actually its why I got in contact with you guys." Rey said to the holograms.

"You want us to send you parts or something?" Poe asked sounding a little confused.

"No actually I think I have all the parts I need. I was in town and heard a conversation amongst some locals. They were saying the Ankor gang has worsened here, tightening their grip over the civilians. One man mentioned they've been capturing people who haven't been surrendering money during raids. I- I think its time the resistance stepped in and brought some peace and stability to the planet." Rey would hate to see this planet desiccated into nothing by these gangsters.

"Do you have any suggestions on how we could try negotiate with these criminals?" Rose asked, hoping Rey would have some tips.

"Do you think these criminals would be willing to negotiate?!" Finn snapped, "No way! Our best bet is to take them all out at once, fire on their base so there is no chance anyone would survive." Rey couldn't believe she heard those words come out of Finns mouth.

She was dumbstruck, shaking her head she responded to that terrible idea. "Finn that's a terrible idea! Their 'base' in located right in the centre of town. You have no idea how many innocent people you would kill in the process. Are you even thinking straight?"

"Are you even thinking straight?" Finn spat back, "We've needed your help here but no you had to go 'take some time for yourself'! Do you even know how selfish that is? We lost so many resistance troops that day, did you see us running away after it was over. You should've been happy, Kylo Ren was killed that day. The galaxy was free of his grip-"

This pushed Rey over the edge. "How dare you! How dare you compare the lose of some people you didn't even know to the loss I faced. Troops are replaceable, Ben isn't!"

"Oh come on Rey, do you really believe he would ever be Ben Solo again. That thing was evil and he deserved to die after everything he had done." Finn couldn't believe how delusional Rey was being.

"That 'thing' was my other half. Our lifeforces bonded as one. A power like life itself. I loved Ben Solo and I would kill you if it meant he was here with me." The words came out like venom, Rey couldn't control them.

Everyone's eyes snapped open in complete disbelief at what they just heard. Finn looked like he'd just been stabbed in the back, in a way he had been. In that moment Rey had no idea what had overcome her.

"Finn... I-I'm so sorr-" the transmission cut off before she could finish what she was saying. Rising slowly from the chair, Rey stumbled out of the falcon back towards the underground home.

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This chapter is a little bit longer than previous ones. Hope y'all like it!