As the last embers of the Rebellion begin to fade, Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) and the brave, budding Jedi Rey continue to wrestle with their mysterious connection. Rey remains disgusted by Kylo Ren's murder and darkness, but holds hope that Ben Solo will e...
Their final morning together found them huddled into each other, surrounded with blankets in the corner of the hut. They were only just awake, and procrastinating. Rey smelled his hair, vaguely salty, mingling with the unique musk of his skin. Ben was tracing her body with his hands again, especially some of the very soft, tender places he may have forgotten, like the back of her knee and the inside of her elbow and the very edge of her ear. And he kissed her ear.
At length, wakefulness descended, and Ben couldn't bear the rising melancholy. Without a word, he kissed Rey once, lingering at her mouth, and then rose from the floor, wrapped in a blanket, and walked to his hut. Rey didn't stop him. It was time.
The shoddy door Luke had installed screeched open to reveal Ben's Sith garb sitting on the bed stone in a neatly-folded pile. The rips he had made in his shirt had been mended. The hole his mother's finger had burned had been darned. On the floor, his armor lay waiting for him; clean, and stacked with care. The patch over the hole in his armor was discreet. Tossing the blanket aside, Ben took a breath and robed himself.
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With every piece, his convictions were coming back to him. His mind started to maneuver all the lies and cleverness he would have to weave to secure his station as supreme leader. It was strange having to remind himself of who he had been. A difficult task indeed to convince himself he was ever going to be as he once was.
To her great surprise, Rey was visited by two caretakers bearing the clothes she had arrived in, now mended and clean of blood. The Lanai women spoke to her kindly (though Rey didn't understand them). So pleased to be absolved of her blundering, Rey hugged them both. As if she had nearly forgotten, one of the caretakers stopped Rey on her way out the door. There in her hands was Kylo Ren's lightsaber, with the top three openings burned out, and no crystal inside--just as Ben had described. Rey started to understand from their gesticulating that they hoped, as she had access to the force and Ben did not, perhaps Rey could make use of it. Rey just thanked them again, and said her goodbyes.
Dressed as he was, Ben couldn't make eye contact with any caretakers on the way out. He was resolute in his gait and did not look back. Not even to see if Rey was behind him. The wind over the island picked up and became cold. Clouds gathered, and as Ben came to the cockpit of the shuttle and warmed up the engines, a clap of thunder sounded. Rain poured out of the distended clouds, and another flicker of lightning cast a long shadow over his shoulder. He turned to see Rey, bundled in Leia's dark coat. She flipped a switch and the ramp closed behind her. The air pressure adjusted, and all sounds of nature were swallowed in sterile silence, replaced with flickering lights and beeping monitors.
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