"Only in the darkness can you see stars."
-
It has been six years since Ben Solo succumbed to his fate and betrayed the Jedi Order after being seduced by the Dark Side. With the aid of his immense power, the First Order has cast a shadow over the g...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Once the escape pod is intercepted by the Millenium Falcon, I bound after Rey towards the cockpit. I focus on the back of her head, her brown hair swaying with each footstep, so I won't think of everything I've walked away from. Of the burst of joy unlike anything I'd felt before at the moment those cinnamon eyes had opened, when I thought I'd lost them forever. It hadn't even been an hour.
Stars, the void in my mind where his heartbeat had always resided began to throb. It hadn't even been an hour.
You and I, Lya.
I squeeze my eyes shut. I do not regret what I did. There is not an ounce of regret in my heart. But that doesn't mean it hasn't shattered beyond repair. Just as I'm about to sink to my knees, crushed beneath the weight of it all, when I'm broken from my thoughts by the growl of my name called in Shyriiwook. I open my eyes, a faint smile gracing my lips.
"Chewie," I sigh, feeling a little warmer at the sight of one of my longest friends. Someone I'd almost seen as an uncle due to his fun visits alongside Han at the Jedi Academy. I place my hand on his furry shoulder in greeting, because I'm unable to hug him while he's in the pilot seat, though more than anything, I could really use one of his hugs right now.
I glance out the windshield to see us soaring towards a white planet, several screeching First Order ships hot on our heels. Chewie calls out to order the pair of us to decide who will take gunner and who will take co-pilot. I look to Rey and she quickly chooses gunner, then turns and surprises me by gently taking my hand.
"We're glad to have you with us, you know," she mumbles kindly, before a smile like pure sunshine lights her face. I can't help but mirror the expression, despite the throbbing in my ribs and soul.
"Thank you," I whisper. She nods once and squeezes my hand, then disappears from the cockpit to take up the gunner position below the ship. I sink into the seat beside Chewie and take a deep breath before I clutch the controls.
-
We're over the surface of Crait, scanning for lifeforms and awaiting the First Order's inevitable attack on the remnants of the Resistance, whom Rey said would be landing here any moment now, when I spot a black mass disrupting the layers of white salt, the ground beneath it as red as if it had begun to bleed.
"Circle back, Chewie. What's this mass?" I ask, squinting to decipher its origin.
"It definitely looks like a ship," Rey supplies over the intercom, and I mutter my agreement. Chewie obeys, and we circle the Falcon around, closing in on the space to get a better look. I gasp.
"It's an escape pod. Probably from the First Order fleet," I voice, furrowing my eyebrows. I'd thought Rey and I had taken one of the last escape pod when we'd fleed The Supremacy, leaving B-...leaving...
I shake my head. Now is absolutely not the time to dwell on it.
Chewie growls that he's scanning for lifeforms, while I continue watching for movement. Just as he confirms sensing one lifeform, I see a head of umber hair poke out from the hatch.
