Force Destiny

Rey After Crait

The hum of the sublight engines of the Millennium Falcon as it navigated hyperspace was a constant reminder of what the Resistance was escaping from. The remaining survivors celebrated their narrow victory, choosing to temporarily overlook the desolate circumstances that held them all prisoner. Escape would only ever be temporary as the First Order's grasp twisted perpetually farther into the galaxy.

Rey sat quietly in self-imposed isolation, reanalyzing each detail of the events aboard the Supremacy in aching litany. The two broken halves of Luke's lightsaber lay cold and lifeless in her trembling hands. Upon her return to the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca's wise words – advice she imagined had once been uttered by her hero Han Solo – helped her focus on the dire situation on Crait. Now her friends were safe, however, and she had nothing but time to agonize over her failure in the throne room.

Snoke had created a bridge between their minds; that was her only certainty. Had he manipulated their joint visions? Had the vile creature manipulated it to draw her into a trap? Or was that a lie? Had Kylo had created it himself? Had he been manipulating her through the bond since the moment it first opened? You'll bring Luke Skywalker to me, he had said in their first connection. After he realized his Force trickery wouldn't produce the desired results, had he employed another method? Either way, she had been foolish enough to fall for it.

Rey had unwisely believed Kylo had turned when he killed Snoke. She had felt the connection between them when they fought the guard together. Her mistake was trusting him. She had begged him not to turn back to the darkness – not to turn his back on her – but he wouldn't listen, because he didn't care. She had been naïve, believing in the vision, that the light she had felt in him was enough. It was all a lie.

Kylo's singular mission from the moment she first met him was to find Luke. The touch of his hands, the words he knew she longed to hear, the softness of his voice – it was a trap to gain access to her knowledge of the map. And by crossing the galaxy in hope of saving him, she had given him exactly what he needed. If Luke hadn't given his life confronting his nephew to save the Resistance, then Kylo would have found him. He would never have chosen her, because she was nothing to him.

In the throne room, she had believed as he lay unconscious that her failure stemmed from not anticipating the strength of the hold the darkness had over him. His actions on Crait proved her wrong. Not only had he stood by as their ships were destroyed, but he actively chose to kill them all. If her vision had been real, he would have turned; he would have helped them end the war. He chose to double down on his evil instead.

Shutting that door – on him, their bond, and her hope in him – had been more difficult than she had ever anticipated, but it changed nothing. There was no saving him. The more the day's events replayed in her mind, the more she felt certain of it. Even if she could turn him, she didn't want to try anymore. The misery she felt in her failure wasn't worth it. She had never needed anyone; she certainly didn't need him, and the Resistance didn't need him to win the war. Leia had said that they had everything they needed to win, and Rey believed her because she had hope. Rey didn't hate him for behaving like the monster he had become. She wasn't angry at him, but with herself for believing him. Ben or Kylo, she had to forget him. All that mattered was that the good side prevailed. The fate of the galaxy hung in the balance; the Resistance had to win the war.

If we have to go through him to do it, so be it. He chose this path.

Rey tried her best to suppress the conflict tearing her insides to shreds as she watched Leia address the remaining survivors. The woman had survived the loss of her parents, her entire planet, her husband and her twin brother. Her son had betrayed her in the worst imaginable way, and he was all but lost to her. Yet Leia stayed strong; she smiled, her eyes were filled with hope.

Rey was in no mood to celebrate, however. While the others were distracted by reliving their harrowing escape, she silently slipped away before the tears in her eyes would betray her. The others were ignorant of the secrets behind those tears, and she intended to keep it that way. She wandered the rounded halls of Han's ship, the echoes of memories still imprinted on the walls. If she listened hard enough, she could almost hear the ghosts of happier times. Kylo had wandered those same steps as a young boy before he threw it all away.

Why? Why would you turn your back on everything I have ever wanted? I saw you on the floor on Crait. I saw the remorse in your eyes. Have you finally realized – too late – what you have done? Or do you only regret that we escaped? Who are you, truly?

As she rounded a corridor, she jerked to a stop as the galaxy dropped away from under her. The peripheral sound faded away, and there was a sharp tug at the base of her neck. She felt that stomach-churning rippling of his presence in the Force.

No, please don't do this, she begged the universe. This was supposed to be over! You can't do this to me again! The Force did not answer, save for the buzzing of energy around her, like electricity in the air. Rey stared at the floor of the corridor, noticing that it gave way to a smooth black surface that didn't belong on the Millennium Falcon. She couldn't bring herself to meet the eyes of the man she knew would be there; she couldn't confirm her worst fears.

"I am Kylo Ren," a voice said in the space between them. It sounded nothing like the one that had promised she wasn't alone. "I am the Supreme Leader. I will destroy the Jedi and the Resistance. I will bring order to the galaxy."

Reluctantly, Rey raised her eyes from the floor.