Force Destiny

Ending the Bond

Rey didn't need to avoid her friends when they returned to the temple; they all kept their distance from her. As she walked past them in the corridors, she sensed their fear and heard their harsh whispers. She felt even more lonely than she had before. Kylo's emotions were volatile on the other side of the bond in a way she had not felt since Crait, but her connection to him was soothing. He was there; he understood this alienation and solitude.

The more she thought about him, the less she feared he was the temptation to the dark side as Luke had feared. No, not when he was the one pushing her from the darkness. Underneath the mask others saw, she knew the truth – she had from the beginning, and it scared him. She had felt his powerful light, she knew the real Ben Solo that no one else was privy to. He was the only one who told her the truth, who understood her, who knew who she was under her mask.

He just happened to be the most incorrigible and frustrating person in the entire galaxy. Every time she thought he was finally accepting the light, he would become unpredictable as ever – or perhaps predictable from her perspective – and would disappoint her again.

He had, however, never pretended to be more than he was, never promised more than he had to give, never attempted to hide his faults. And he held her to the same expectations. He only wanted her to be her, even if that made her his enemy. Except, she wasn't so certain she saw them as enemies anymore. Her only certainty was that their connection was complicated and confusing. She didn't know when it happened; the bond's one constant was that they were always pitted against each other, arguing their sides, yet somehow over those arguments, she had only thought of him when her life was in peril. Even when he was angry with her, he feared for her life, he saved her, willing to exchange his own in the process. That wasn't the behavior of an enemy, either.

A golden protocol droid interrupted her thoughts. "Miss Rey, it is I, See-Threepio, human-cyborg relations. Princess Leia has presently requested your company."

Rey knew it was time to talk to Leia. In hindsight, she knew she should have talked to her from the beginning. Rose and Kylo were right: Leia likely suspected she'd been hiding something all along. Leia knew she lied, but how much she knew, Rey wasn't certain. Did she know about the Supremacy? Did she know about the bond? What would she do when she knew the truth? Rey had kept the connection she had with her son, their enemy, a secret from her. Rey had lied to the mother of her bondmate, but she had still lied for her. Leia had saved her life. Why?

Maybe it wasn't for her, maybe it was for Kylo. Maybe she had the same hope Rey did - if Kylo was willing to commit treason to protect them, he was not the man he was on Starkiller or Crait, he could come home to them... to her. Rey had to bring Kylo home for his mother. If not in person, then through the bond. The past didn't matter, Rey knew he would want to see his dying mother after he begged Leia so desperately to save her.

Threepio had given her the perfect opportunity to sit down with Leia, but Rey wasn't ready. She needed to talk to Ben first, he needed to be there to help explain it to his mother. If she opened a connection with Leia in the room without forewarning, she doubted he would react favorably. Rey smiled politely at the protocol droid. "Please tell the general that I am exhausted and heading to my room to rest, but I will see her first thing in the morning."

"I will, indeed, Miss Rey," Threepio responded.

As he sauntered away, Rey let her curiosity get the best of her. "Threepio, do you remember Ben?"

The droid turned. "Are you speaking of Ben Kenobi?"

"No, Ben Solo," she whispered, fearful of those who might have overheard.

"Ah, yes," the protocol droid said, clearly not understanding her desire for a clandestine conversation. "Of course, Master Ben."

"Can you tell me about him?"