A Force Like No Other (A Star Wars Cinderella Story) (REYLO)

Chapter 8

After a little bit of a long walk, Jade finally arrived at the opening of the forest. Upon entering, she felt a calming energy radiating from the environment. From the all the trees, the grass, the flowers, the sun, and even the light breeze. It wasn't too hot or too cold, it was just right for a perfect spring day on Naboo. Jade loved coming here because it was a place where she could feel more at ease. It helped get rid of all of the stress that her stepfamily has put on her over the last few years. She kept walking deeper into the forest until she reached the place where she trained most of the time.

Jade placed her bag and staff down by a tall tree and took off her hood. She started to warm up with her lightsaber, just to get her blood flowing. She swung the lightsaber around and used the trees as targets to strike, without actually chopping them down (refer to Rey's training on Ahch-To in TLJ). After her warmup, Jade pulled out two training droids (the one that Luke uses in a New Hope) and activated them. Then she did the unthinkable, something that she has never done before. To challenge herself, Jade took a piece of cloth and wrapped it around her eyes, blindfolding herself. She was going to deflect gunshots blindfolded. For the most part, Jade was doing well. She sensed when and where the droids were shooting from with the force and with that, she used her lightsaber to deflect the shots and her agility to dodge them. She even used the force to stop the shots from coming at her. This was until something kicked Jade's legs causing her to fall to the ground, laying flat on her stomach.

Jade's lightsaber deactivated as she took off her blindfold and reached for the gun in her holster. She then turned around to point the gun at the thing that knocked her down. She was about to pull the trigger with no hesitation until a small orange and white astromech droid peeked out from behind the bush. Jade sighed with relief and put the gun away. She walked toward the droid; but it backed away. Jade sensed that it was scared. Jade sighed saying, "Look, I'm sorry for almost killing you; but from my perspective, it was for self-defense. Also, I was blindfolded so don't assume anything else." The droid beeped in defeat. "It's okay, I won't hurt you" Jade said, sticking her hand out. As the little droid rolled over to her, Jade noticed that it's antenna was bent. "Your antennas bent" she said as the droid lowered its head and Jade proceeded to fix it.

"Where do you come from" Jade asked the small droid. The droid beeped the response to that question. "Classified, really. Me too, big secret" said Jade. "I'm BB-8. What's your name" he beeped. "Hi BB-8, I'm Jade" she said smiling.

Meanwhile...

Ben arrived to the opening of the forest, hoping to find BB-8 for his friend, Poe. He searched and searched; but he couldn't find him. So, he rode his orbak deeper into the forest. As Ben travelled deeper and deeper, he started to hear noises only a droid would make. "That's got to be BB-8" he thought. However he sensed something else. Ben felt a disturbance in the force, it felt like the presence of a force sensitive being. Whoever it was, they were really strong with the force. He never felt anything like it, a force like no other. As he got closer, he spotted BB-8 with a girl. She was petite and looked to be wearing a brown and blue outfit with a navy blue hooded cape. Ben felt that the force was strong with her. So to avoid being seen, he hid behind the bushes so she wouldn't see him.

"What are you doing here" BB-8 asked. "You see, I'm a Jedi and I come here to train to become better. Well even though I know everything that there is to know about the Jedi and the force. I had a great teacher; but I like to challenge myself" Jade said. BB-8 beeped with confusion. "Would you like to see" Jade asked him. The droid nodded and beeped with excitement. "Ok" Jade replied. Ben heard everything that was going on and decided to peek through the bushes to see what this girl was capable of.

Jade pushed the button that activated the training droids and four of them popped out from Jade's bag. "4 to 1, I like those odds" Jade said with a smirk on her face as she ignited her lightsaber. She started to blindfold herself once again. Ben saw this and liked the amount of determination and fearlessness this girl had, yet he also thought that she was crazy to do this blindfolded. The droids started firing at Jade and she deflected every single one of the shots, using the force to guide her. Ben was impressed with what he saw. After a little while, Jade was starting to feel fatigued and all of a sudden, a droid shot her in the arm, causing her drop her weapon and scream out in pain. She had enough of this. Jade stuck out her hand and force froze the four shots that were coming at her. Ben and BB-8 looked on with anticipation wanting to see what would happen next. Jade then made a fist, using the force to send the gunshots back at the droids, causing four mini explosions. Pieces of debris flew everywhere, which caused Ben to take cover and shield himself from the falling debris. Ben then looked back at her with a look of disbelief. "What the hell" he mumbled. He was shocked and now he felt scared to even approach her.

Jade took off her blindfold and looked around at the mess she made. "I didn't think that I would really be able to pull this off" Jade said in shock. She picked up her lightsaber and attached it to her belt and grabbed her bottle of water. "Who's your master" Jade asked BB-8. "His name is Poe Dameron" the droid beeped. "Well if Poe doesn't come and get you soon, then I'm going to have to return you to him myself. Do you know where he would be" Jade looked at BB-8. "At the palace" he beeped in response. "Seriously? Great, those palace gates are never open. There's no way that I'm going to be able to get you back in there. I'm sorry, but I can't. I'm just not the right person for the job" Jade said as she sat under a tree and was now frustrated. BB-8 beeped in disappointment.

"Well your lucky to have someone who loves and cares about you. I had that once, not anymore" Jade said with her knees pulled to her stomach and her head hanging low. "What happened" BB-8 beeped. "My mother died when I was 8" Jade started to cry, yet continued. "Then 3 years ago, I met Maz Kanata. My dad remarried and all of the sudden I had a stepmother and two stepsisters. Shortly after, my father died and my stepmother dismissed Maz. She was the only friend that I ever had and she helped me get through so much. I then started my Jedi training and my master treated me as one of his own; but after my training was complete I never saw him again. Now, my stepfamily treats me horribly. They abused me, they get me to do their dirty work."

Ben felt sympathy for this girl. He wanted to help her; but he didn't know how. BB-8 rolled to Jade trying to comfort her, as she felt vulnerable. Jade continued on by saying "It's just that everything that I ever had was taken away from me. I lost everything and now I have nothing left to lose. Hell, I don't even know what love is anymore. I'd never felt so alone."

"You're not alone"