Will of the Many~ Poe Dameron

Going Home

Not all love is gentle. Sometimes it's gritty and dirty and possessive, sometimes it's not supposed to be careful or soft at all. Sometimes it feels like teeth...

- Azra T.

Serena's left hand stretched out in front of her as her Force wrapped around Rey's lightsaber and locked it in place. When she was relatively defenseless, Serena struck out with her own lightsaber. As it came dangerously close to Rey's cheek, she lifted her own hand to stop it. Her Force hummed as it caught Serena's lightsaber mere centimeters from her cheek. Her hold was weak, and with slight pressure Serena could have broken through it.  

"Good!" Serena dropped her hold on Rey's lightsaber. As she did, Rey followed suit and the two backed up to start over. "You're getting quicker at that." She noted. "That's great."

"I-" Rey's shoulders went slack. Her lightsaber died as it hung loosely in her palm. "I can barely fight with a lightsaber, how am I supposed to use the Force too?" Her question was laced with deep exhaustion and made Serena kill her own blade.

"Practice," She told her simply. "It took me years and years of working through it to understand my strength."

"I don't have years!" Rey's voice strained as she yelled.

Serena licked her lips as she gave a nod. "I know that, but you have Leia to teach you everything that Luke knew. And I'm here to keep sparring with you so you can try to hone your skills. You have people who are trying to help you, Rey. I never said it would be easy, and in a perfect world you would have years to train, but you don't-" She shook her head. "This is what you have. So you have to push yourself and you have to try as hard as you can every day."

"I just-" Rey gave a hopeless shrug of her shoulders. "Why can't it be you? Kylo Ren is obviously scared of you, and you are so incredible and powerful." She lifted a hand towards Serena. "You could kill him if you wanted-"

"I don't want to," Serena hissed at her. Rey's eyes widened at the harsh tone. The red that flushed her cheeks slowly faded to a stark white. "I have known him for more than half of my life. I can't-" Serena let out a strangled breath. "I don't want to," She said again. "I know you may hate him, and part of me does too... but not all of me does."

An understanding seeped into Rey's green eyes. They darkened to match the green of the deep forest around them.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget who he was before all of this." Rey apologized. "You knew him for most of your life as Ben."

Serena's eyes widened as she turned quickly to make sure no one was around to hear them. Their secluded arena was great to practice, but it also granted privacy. 

When she was sure the coast was clear she looked back at Rey. "How do you know that? How do you know the name Ben?" Her question came off more guarded than she intended, but she had been practicing with Rey everyday for a month straight and she had just found out the new information. 

Rey's shoulders dropped again as her eyes softened. "I saw it, we touched hands and I saw him the night he became Kylo Ren. I saw everything from that night..."

A startled breath passed through Serena's lips at the thought of someone else seeing her most horrible night. 

"I know who he is... who his family is. I know what you two had together. He was your friend."

"He..." Serena tilted her chin up as her eyes fluttered. "Was my best friend." She corrected. "For fourteen years."

Rey nodded in true understanding. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have suggested it."