FicWad

She adjusted the goggles on her eyes as sand whipped by like a sharp caress. It was a familiar sensation, having felt the small stings of a sandstorm many times on Jakku. She tightened the cloth mask protecting her nose and mouth, smirking all the while. “Well come on! You aren’t going to let a little sand stop you!” She yelled over the roar of the sandstorm.

Finn turned around, seeing nothing but a darkness as the sandstorm blocked the sun. He could hear the faint calls of comrades seeking shelter. He grumbled under his breath. “This was a terrible idea before, and it’s even worse now!” He yelled at Rey clutching her lightsaber in his hands.

“Finn! It’s perfect now. I literally can’t see what’s coming. Trust me!” She laughed, closing her eyes and waiting for him to start.

“I’m going to slice off a finger!” Finn grumbled, flicking the lightsaber to life under his sweaty palms. He could hear her just in front of him, and see her outline very faintly against the darkened day.

“I’d like to see you try!” She waited, feeling out with her mind, touching her surrounding with the force. Suddenly she felt it, the lightsaber coming at her with full force, aimed at her left thigh. Before it could make contact she froze it in place. “Ha!” She called over at Finn, grinning ear to ear. She let go of the lightsaber, and felt as he retracted it. He was trying to trick her, he sent it flying from the left, then changed course and headed for her right shoulder. Again she stopped it before it could make contact, though this time she felt the faint heat of the lightsaber burning her tunic.

“How the heck are you doing that!” Finn laughed, relieved he hadn’t hurt her yet.

“Well come on! Don’t give up that easy!” Rey chuckled.

Finn began a full on attack, hacking wildly into the air before him, not truly seeing her. Every time the lightsaber came close enough to burn her clothing it stopped, and he would retract it back only to attack again.

All her concentration was being channeled into the force, into testing the limits of her capabilities. She wasn’t aware just how guarded she had been until a deep voice dulled the sound of the storm as it reverberated across her temples.

“Funny how fate would have it. The Jedi will die where their decline started.”

A shock ran through her whole body, and for a split moment she was paralyzed.

The lightsaber came whirling towards her face.
She couldn’t gather the concentration again to stop it so she threw herself back, falling against the hard sand on her side.

“Ben! Stop! Please listen! I can explained! I don’t want to have to…” Her thoughts projected out across the stars but she felt it before she could finish, he’d closed himself off the moment her mind sought his, the moment he felt the green glow of her mental signature register his words. Before she felt his presence leave altogether she caught a glimpse. Blood.

She’d seen it before.

“Rey! Are you alright? I think I’ve lost you.” Finn called, breaking her thoughts.

“Right here!” She yelled jumping to her feet and finding him. She gently grabbed hold of his arm, chuckling at the small jolt it gave him. “Come on, I give up, let’s go inside.” She led him through the storm back to the base, smiling to herself as he kept tripping in the sand.

She felt out with her hands, feeling the crumbled walls of the outer base that had been destroyed during the Battle of Yavin. There was a small hole acting as a discreet entrance located between two fallen pillars. She slipped in, pulling Finn along.

Rey paused just far enough in that they were out of reach of the torrent of sand that was blowing into the entrance. She pulled off the goggles and mask, unable to take the butterflies in the pit of her stomach fighting to get out. Finn followed her lead and took his gear off too, and his brown leather jacket, shaking it off of all the sand that had collected inside. He muttered something about hating sand under his breath.

“Finn, I have a confession.”

The two sat in a small plateau of the dug out cave under the rubble of the old base that led down to the tunnels of the current base. There wasn’t enough room to stand, only crawl, at this entrance.

“I’ve got a confession too” He gulped, avoiding eye contact. A sweat broke out on his brow. “But you go first.”

Rey looked down at her hands as she sat cross legged in the small alcove. “I’ve made contact with Kylo Ren again. Or I guess I should say, he’s made contact with me.” She clenched her fists and shut her eyes.

“What? Like now? What did he say?” Finn shuffled closer, throwing his jacket back on. Although the heat was just barely bearable out above, down below within the ground, it was much cooler.

“No, it started three days ago. He was showing me flashes of carnage, of blood and battle, of mangled parts and explosions. Then he spoke, today. I was worried. I was trying to stay concentrated, but Finn,” She placed an arm on his shoulder, hanging her head, “I think I let him find us again.” She was ashamed of her weakness, of the link, of the jeopardy she was putting them all in by simply being there.

The walls of the tunnel shook, sending small bits of dirt raining down on them.

“Hey now!” Finn yelled, holding her face between his hands. “Calm down. It’ll be fine. We’ll tell General Organa and go from there alright?”

Rey nodded her head, not truly believing what he had said. He hadn’t seen. What he had shown her had haunted her dreams, replacing his face.

Finn led the way through the winding tunnel they had to crawl through on hands and knees. Finally they popped out into the hidden landing bay. Above them were the bays doors, masked by sand. Inside was a flurry of activity as pilots tended to their ships. In a corner a circle of combatants practiced melee weapons with each other. Small groups sat with each other eating, others polishing their blasters. The whole landing bay was packed with bodies as the last of their known allies had arrived that morning. They were four hundred strong, with allies hailing from all corners of the galaxy, able to easily slip by the iron fist of the First Order since it became distracted by its own internal issues following the death of Snok.

Rey followed Finn as he dodged and grinned, and smiled and waved. She was dragging her feet all the while, feeling as if she was a smile child about to be reprimanded, and feeling still the in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong.

Suddenly a small group of familiar faces rushed up to her.

“Are we training today Rey?” Asked one of the humans, a young stowaway from Naboo. He was clutching one of the sacred texts she’d managed to steal from Ahch-To.

“Maybe later” She half smiled, before pretending to be very serious, wagging her finger at them, “don’t forget to read the last half of that volume! And if you do, I’ll let you all take turns with my lightsaber again, we can work on making new ones after that”

They all laughed, nodding and running off to train amongst themselves.

As soon as she had arrived to join the others on Tatooine, Leia had tasked her with training a small group of force sensitive individuals found amongst their allies. Rey had come to find that teaching came naturally to her, and that sharing the power and skills of the force was not only a calling to her, but that it was, somehow, strengthening her powers, bringing her more in tune than ever before. Everyone was on edge for the impending battle that had no date, so was Rey, training hours on end with her group of apprentices, trying with everything she had to prepare them. To not fail them.

She sighed watching them run off before running to catch up with Finn.

“Hey what was the confession you had?” She said as she joined his side keeping up with his brisk pace.

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, looking around so no one was within ear shot, then he leaned in to Reys left ear. “I think I’m in love with Rose.” He whispered, his cheeks turning crimson with blush.

Rey flashed a toothy grin, throwing an arm around his shoulder and pulling him along. “And you’re only now figuring this out?” She laughed.

Finn scratched the back of his head, “Well yeah, I guess so” He laughed, relief in his voice. “Can you help me figure out how to tell her later?

Rey smirked, “Of course”

The two found General Organa in a small room, clutching her cane and looking over a hologram of what looked to be battle plans. She turned the projecting device off as soon as they entered, a strained smile on her aged lips. She wasn’t the young princess anymore, and the stress of being one of the sole leaders of the resistance was weighing on her. Yet her hope never faded. Everything she had done her whole life was built on hope.

“What can I do for you two?” She pulled out a chair and slowly took a seat, beckoning for Rey and Finn to take the chairs opposite her.

The two sat down, worry spreading like the horizon over Rey’s features. She didn't know how to start.

Finn gave her a nudge with his elbow.

She sighed. “Kylo Ren made contact with me a few days ago. Ever since he’s been showing me images of destruction on some battlefield. Today he spoke.” She paused, remember what she had seen, remembering his voice. Suddenly a nagging feeling started gnawing at the back of her mind. She dismissed it and continued. “He said something about the Jedi dying at the place their decline started. He wouldn’t hear me out any of the times. I, I’m not sure what to make of it all, but I sense he knows I’m on Tatooine.”

“Hmm” Organa pondered Rey’s word for a moment. “I had a feeling he would join. I thought perhaps it would be too ambitious.” She looked off, eyes sparkling around the edges as she held back tears, her face slightly contoured with pain.

“Join what?” Finn asked confused, leaning in across the table.

General Organa looked out at the rooms entrance, making sure no curious ears were present before turning back to Finn and Rey. “The First Order is coming here, we aren’t sure when, but we intercepted intelligence that leads us to believe they know we are on Tatooine. They are preparing for battle, and so have we, but we aren’t sure of the exact day. We are prepared though, and are waiting for them to arrive. We will stand our ground here on Tatooine.” Organa let out a deep, heavy sigh, “And now it would seem Ben is coming too. Whether to reclaim his army, stop us, or both, I am not sure.”

Rey raised her hand to her mouth in shock. Although she wasn’t surprised he would do such a thing, what she hadn’t expected was how soon. How soon she would have to face him. And it would, have to be her, the task could be allotted to no other.

“Rey,” the words pulled her out of her thoughts, “Tell me, was there anything specific in these images he showed you?” Organa asked.

“There were bodies and blood everywhere. I didn't see any fighting, just the dead, their blood mixing with rain as it pelted down in torrents.” It came back, that nagging feeling, a feeling telling her there was something else to know.

General Organa’s head perked up. “Rain?”

Rey nodded, confused.

“It rains on Tatooine once about every hundred years. Rey tell me more, what did the ground look like? Was it sandy or muddy?” Her eyes were alight with interest.

Rey pursed her lips trying to remember. “Muddy, definitely muddy. Why?”

Organa leaned back in her chair, “That’s it, that’s how we’ll know. The rain.” She smiled to herself before turning back to the two. “The tunnels of this base lead down into a canyon. We planned on making that our battleground. The canyon is large enough for combat, but not big enough to allow them to use Walkers. The canyon floor is mud, not sand, because a small river flows through once a year, that, that right there is how we know what you saw is Tatooine. And the rain, the rain is when we’ll know they are coming.”

Finn cracked a smile, he slapped Rey on the back, “Woooohooo! We’ll be ready for them as soon as we see some clouds!” He rubbed his hands together with glee, practically bouncing in his seat.

General Organa reached across the table, taking hold of Rey’s hand, “Thank you. Truly. This will help us prepare. We can now pinpoint more easily when they’ll arrive.”

When I’ll have to kill him, Rey thought, giving the general a half smile before retracting her hand and hastily retreating the room.

Suddenly she paused in the shadows of the corridor.

She’d seen it before.

That’s what was scratching to be realized, she’d seen almost the same images before. On Takodana, in the basement of Maz’s cantina, long ago, when she’d touched Luke’s lightsaber, she had a vision.

The vision, as if fresh, returned to her.

She lay on her knees in the mudd, a deluge pouring down all around her, an enemy raised their weapon to strike her down, when suddenly a red lightsaber appeared through their stomach, slicing upward through them as they yelled in agony. The body dropped to the ground with a thud and she jumped to her feet in shock and confusion. Bodies lay strewn around her and before her was Kylo Ren, his hulking frame covered in armour, the dark irises of his eyes hidden by a familiar mask, red lightsaber in hand, he was flanked by five soldiers. He rushed towards her, when suddenly the vision disappeared.

She braced her hands on her knees which threatened to buckle.

There was never any hope of saving him was there. The force had shown her that.

It had been hopeless.

It was all for nothing.

Had she truly seen what was being shown to her she could have spared herself from all that had recently transpired. Her hate could have fuelled her, spurred her on to do what she would need to do in the coming days.

But how could she now strike down someone she, despite everything, still loved.

*

They had finally been coming to him, visions of battle. He couldn’t yet discern who would come out victorious. Even the faces of the fallen were a blur to him, yet he saw that losses would be great on all sides, except his own small army. He had seen blood gushing from a wound on General Hux’s neck. His hopes were high.

But lying on his back on the large stone slab situated on the outcropping of the Jedi temple, hair blowing in the breeze of the clear night sky, a final vision had come to him.

Rain pelted the soft features of her face, streaking down her cheek, mixing with blood from a superficial cut on her temple. Her eyes looked into his soul with pleading, as she shook her head weakly, mouthing his name with the last of her strength. Her body was shutting down. He could see it, almost as if time had slowed, eyes losing their glimmer, skin turning colorless, chest rising and falling with her last breath.

His own breath caught in his throat as he recalled the vision.

The night was silent except for the deep inhales of his strained breath and the crashing of waves against the cliffs edges below. His cloak blew beneath him in the breeze.

He reached up slowly, fingertips tracing a line down the scar on his cheek.

She had been right.

Firelight dancing in silhouettes across her face, she had spoken the truth. He would destroy all those who had loved him.

His father.

Luke.

And her.