《Spark of Hope》Chapter II
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Rey was woken this time by BB-8 beeping. It felt like she had just laid down too, before the little orange-and-white ball became her alarm clock. His beeps weren't frantic like they were in danger, so she didn't jump up—she instead curled into her pillow.
His beeps grew frustrated, and he rammed into her bed. "Rey, wake up!" he beeped.
"Just a bit longer, BB-8. Please."
"No! We're almost to Akiva!"
"Chewie can handle the landing on his own," she stated.
"The General has asked for you!"
There was no refusing General Leia Organa—not going would be disobeying her orders. Rey groaned as she pushed herself up out of bed and swung her feet out.
Seeing her now awake, his beeps turned happy, and he rolled around impatiently. She shook her head as she got up: the General probably just asked the droid to get her, but knowing BB-8, he takes jobs too seriously. She bet that was due to Poe's influence.
Rey hurried to get ready, anyway; once finished, BB-8 joyfully beeped and spun out of her room to lead her. She obediently followed him through the Falcon's curving corridors. Noise filled the usually quiet passageways with the Resistance survivors now awake and roaming. They all acknowledged her when she passed, which she returned, but the simple nods meant so much more—they saw her as the Jedi who could tip the odds in the favor of the Resistance. Talk about pressure.
When they came on to the spot where Kylo Ren had appeared last night, Rey stopped to consider the wall. No one—that she knew of—could establish a connection between them, so why was the Force doing it? And she also thought about his reaction to learning Master Luke was dead: he didn't seem happy; he actually looked... sad.
"I didn't know walls could do that."
Rey jumped at Poe's voice; she turned to find him looking at her knowingly.
"Do what?" she asked.
"Make someone solemn and look at it softly." His eyes turned to the wall. "No offense, it's a nice wall, but it's boring. There's nothing special about it." Poe looked back at her. "So, what's it to you? What do you see that I don't?"
She scrambled for an answer. "It's... hard to explain."
"So, a Jedi thing?"
That was a good assumption than trying to explain Kylo Ren being in the Millennium Falcon even when he's on the other side of the Galaxy, and her not raising the alarm at the sight of their enemy. "Yes."
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"And you were just talking to the wall last night?"
"In a way."
He looked skeptical.
BB-8 came rolling back to them, fussing at Rey for falling behind and boasting to Poe about getting her.
"I see that, Buddy; good job."
His droid proceeded to inform him that they were headed to see the General.
"Can I accompany you?" he asked.
BB-8 stuck out his lighter and lit it, looking like a 'thumbs up', pulling out a smile from her and Poe. Finn taught him that, and he tends to use it a lot. Rey thinks it's because he likes the smiles he receives since his little action is so human.
The best fighter pilot in the Resistance talked with her as they followed the droid rolling ahead of them. His conversations avoided asking her about 'the wall' incident, but she felt that he just held back his curiosity. She didn't have to look into his mind to know that he had figured she lied. Polite.
It didn't take too much longer to reach General Organa sitting in the Main Hold. Ever since she almost died from being sucked out into space, Leia Organa Solo has used a cane to get around. She looks frail and tired now, not as strong or as in command. Her husband's death by her son's hand has worn on her, and this constant fighting and running from the First Order hasn't helped any either.
She looked over at their approach and gave a smile. BB-8 announced to her that he had successfully retrieved Rey.
"Thank you very much, BB-8. Now, may I speak with Rey alone?"
"That's our cue," Poe said. "General. Rey."
He leaned in to whisper. "Don't get hypnotized by these walls." He gave her a charming smile, then called BB-8 to follow him. The droid twittered in farewell, then rolled after his master.
"Come sit with me, Rey," Leia began.
She silently walked over and sat at the table, wondering what this was about. Poe didn't tell the General about her acting strange last night, did he? If so, she better come up with a better excuse than 'a Jedi thing'. Leia Organa Solo was also a Skywalker, so she was Force Sensitive like her twin brother. She would know Rey was lying in an instant, and she didn't know how the General would react at hearing that she had been talking with her son...
"There are so many memories in this place," she began, looking around.
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Rey smiled. "I'm sure mine aren't greater than yours."
The General chuckled. "I'm not so sure they are. Escaping from three rathtars, Kanjiklub, and the Guavian Death Gang at the same time sounds exciting; most of my experiences involved arguments.
"I want to ask you something." She balanced her cane against the seat and leaned over to pick up something with both hands. Leia put the dark brown bag on the table, opened the flap to pull out some books, then turned to her. "I know what these are, for I can feel the power within the pages. I want to know how you came by them."
Rey just stared in shock at the Sacred Jedi Texts. The last she saw them was back on Ahch-To, in a tree close to the ruins of the Jedi Temple Luke lived by.
"You found these on the ship?"
Leia nodded.
Rey touched them to confirm that they were real. "I have no idea how they got here; I didn't take them."
"So, Luke had them," the General stated.
It was her turn to nod. Hope rose in her heart: she did not know how to train herself, but now with these in her possession, she had a starting point. Rey turned to the older woman. "Thank you for finding them, General; now I can teach myself what Master Luke didn't."
She looked back down at the books; a somber thought hit her, and she ran a finger down the spines. "It's the only thing I have left from him, now that his lightsaber is broken."
"Rey," Leia began to make her look at her. "Luke told me something that I think you need to hear. I was talking about losing hope for Ben, and he said that 'no one is ever truly gone'."
She touched her hand. "You've told me how you thought you could turn him by going to Snoke's ship. You believe you failed, but I don't. He may not have turned to the Light, but he did turn on Snoke. That's a start.
"You somehow got to him, in a way that neither his uncle nor his father could. I feel his presence more when you're around. You have created a bond with him—the bond that will bring him back. I know it."
The way she said it had Rey thinking Leia knew about her conflicting emotions on Ben—knew something that she hadn't truly acknowledged yet as a possibility. Rey came close to confessing that the bond she mentioned wasn't just figurative, but literal too, when a Resistance Lieutenant walked in.
"General, we have come out of lightspeed and are now approaching the capital, Myrra."
"Very good. Rey and I will be the first out when we land; the senator will wish to meet us. You are dismissed."
The woman bowed her head, then left.
Leia pushed herself to her feet with the use of her cane. "Come, Rey, by the time we reach the boarding ramp, we will be landing. I'm not as quick as I used to be."
She put the books back into the bag and stood while slipping it onto her shoulder.
"Promise me this, Rey," the General suddenly began and turned to her. "Don't give up on Ben. He doesn't need someone else letting him down, like his family did."
She held the General's eyes. "I promise."
Like Leia guessed, when they stopped at the closed boarding ramp, the Millennium Falcon thudded loudly as they landed. Air hissed as the boarding ramp lowered; once fully down, the General and Rey made their way out.
The bright sun blinded them for only a moment; when their eyes adjusted, they saw the sprawling city of Myrra nestled within the dense jungle-planet of Akiva. Because of the jungles, the planet was extremely rainy and hot.
On the landing pad were four forms: one a male Besalisk—a brown humanoid with four arms—a male and female Koorivar—reptilian-looking with a large cranial horn and as tall as the female human beside them. All were finely dressed in flowing robes, but the woman had a royal bearing. Rey felt that she was the senator.
Leia headed straight for her, and Rey followed; the four received them with smiles and bows.
"General Organa," the female human greeted with her rich and naturally curled way of speaking.
"Senator Stasimo. This is Rey, the last Jedi."
Her eyes turned to hers. "Our spark of hope. You are most welcomed."
"General," she began, looking back at Leia. "Do any of your Resistance fighters require immediate attention?"
With her nod and mention of Rose Tico, the Besalisk gestured to a clique of people waiting within the Akiva palace, and they all went up into the Millennium Falcon.
As soon as he disappeared with the healers, the senator gestured toward the palace. "Then, come. While your fighters are led to their rooms, we will speak in the War Room."
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