Saving the Monster

Chapter 66

Bodies littered the ground, mostly First Order Stormtroopers. Lando stopped to retrieve a blaster from a dead trooper, his cane lodged under one arm.

They carried on through the trees, following the sound of gunfire.

Whoosh!

Gunfire hit a tree, narrowly missing Rey. Instinctively Rey and Ben turned, deflecting the blasts with their sabers as Lando opened fire.  When the trees were quiet again they pressed on. 

They were almost out of the patch of woodland now and beyond the trees they could see a fierce battle raging.  Ben stopped Rey and Lando and they ducked down amongst the ferns. 

Masses of stormtroopers, their shiny white armour glinting in the sun, were firing furiously at resistance fighters.  Rey recognised faces, Rose, Connix......Finn!  They were all there amongst the resistance members who were being slaughtered, and something inside Rey just broke. 

She took off running suddenly, not even thinking, out into the open, her saber drawn, cutting down stormtroopers as she went.

"Rey no! Lando stay here" Ben cried, chasing after her, his own saber drawn, slicing through the opposition as he pursued her. Rey didn't stop, she couldn't, she wouldn't let her friends die like this.

Ben, still following her was using the force to throw troopers aside, but it was slowing him down. She was far ahead now, still running, still twirling her saber furiously, bright streaks of blue light marking the path she took.

Rey was almost at her friends. Rose was crouched behind a rock, firing furiously at the seemingly endless array of troops and weapons that marched from the trees. Connix was throwing grenades to take out the remaining walkers and AT-AT that the resistance had been unable to take out from their surprise air strikes. Finn was out in the open, battling furiously with a laser axe that he must have taken from a fallen trooper.

Rey could see that he was struggling, could see the sweat beaded on his face, his teeth gritted with the effort of wielding such a weapon against such an onslaught. She had to help him, she had to help all of them.

Rey swung, knocking the trooper with whom Finn was fighting onto his back and suddenly Finn noticed her and in that moment he smiled broadly at her, something he hadn't done for a very long time, and nodded. Another trooper next to them fell then in a shower of red. It was Ben, working with them, cutting a path through the troops. Again and again they swung out, sometimes with their sabers and sometimes with the force, alongside Finn, Rose and Connix, all barriers gone, all prejudices gone, just a combined effort. And it was working.

Eventually the troops stopped coming. Finn dropped the axe and bent at the waist, his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Rey struggled to catch her own breath as she looked around herself at the bodies. It had been a bloody and brutal fight but all of her friends here in the clearing had made it.

Rose ran up to Finn and hugged him and they kissed. Connix hugged Rey, whispering her apologies and then Rose did the same. No one hugged Ben and he stood awkwardly to one side, his hair messy, damp with sweat, a smear of blood on his cheek.

Rey walked up to him and embraced him, her hands pulling his head down to her shoulder, kissing his damp hair, "I love you" she whispered in his ear. She heard him let out a soft breath and his face raised so that he was looking in her eyes,

"I love you too" he whispered, his hand wiping mud from her face.

"Break it up you two, this might not be over",  Lando said, walking out of the trees, leaning on his cane.

Rey pulled away from Ben and nodded at Lando.  He was right, there could be more troops and besides they had to find Poe, Zorri, Chewbacca and all the other resistance survivors before they celebrated a victory of any sort.

"Rey?"

It was Finn, his eyes wide and vulnerable, not looking at Ben, only her.  "Can we talk, I'll make it fast?"

Rey glanced at Lando who shrugged and then at Ben who acted as if he hadn't heard and began collecting blasters from the bodies on the ground, handing them out to Lando, Rose and Connix, both girls taking them quickly, avoiding Bens eyes.

"You two take a minute then, we'll head on, clear the way" Lando said, checking out the blaster Ben had given him. 

Ben glanced back at Rey once as he, Lando, Rose and Connix left and Rey raised her hand and smiled.  "What do you see in him?  Seriously now."  Finn asked as he watched Rey.

Rey sighed, unsure of how to answer that without putting anymore strain on their already struggling relationship.

When she didn't answer right away Finn sighed, "Never mind.  Look I just wanted to say that I love you, that I'm sorry, that although I don't understand, and probably never will, I want to try and accept your decision to be with him.  Rey...I...what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to lose you, you're too important"

Rey had been listening with tears blurring her eyesight.  She loved Finn too, he was like a brother to her and just knowing that she had his support, his blessing, meant the world to her.  They hugged then, both patting each other on the back, both weeping silently.

When they finally pulled apart  Finn was smiling, "Come on lets....."

Finn never got to finish his sentence, because at that very moment a blaster bolt shot through his chest.