Chapter Text
Rey stood down the stairs from the entrance of the mausoleum.
Emerald carpets led from inside the monumental doors and hundreds of lengths across an old stone bridge surrounded by one of the great lakes of Naboo.
The views were stunning
She wished to herself that she was enjoying their beauty at any other time.
Down the aisle of the bridge, it is littered with grand emerald pavilions, and gold pillars more magnificent than any Rey had ever seen.
Hundreds of mourners gathered by boat and land, surrounding the elegant spread on both sides and lit the darkened skies with candlelight.
Rey peered down the length of the aisle. The crowd was filled with unfamiliar faces, standing with their heads bowed over someone they may never have met.
Few would know her by her true title, most would know the lie -
This gathering was to be kept as a secret out of the ears of any first order sympathizers.
The queen of Naboo offered silence to a small group just looking to bury a general on her mother's home planet since her own had been destroyed.
To most people here she was not Princess and General Leia Organa Skywalker Solo - A woman worth every title. But a distant relative to the current queen.... just another soul.
They would never know.
Rey turned around to meet a hand on her shoulder.
Finn nodded to her as if asking if she was okay.
She could do nothing more but force a small smile and turn back to the ceremony. Finn couldn’t expect any other reaction from her – the past few weeks had been rough. The resistance was down to a dozen fighters, and still, no one had answered their call for help.
Some governments ignored them entirely, as to not get caught in the wrath of the first order, others offered only a night of shelter before they were shuffled back into the cold to find resources to feed their dying cause.
Leia’s condition had just gotten worse over time. Her body had been deprived of oxygen too long, and it had shown. She forgot simple things like the names of some of her closest friends. Her hands would shake constantly, and most days she was too ill to leave her chambers. Luckily she had gone in her sleep.
Peaceful.
Rey had felt it, and Luke visited in her dreams to confirm.
Finn himself knows the pain. Rose had still not awoken from her coma. Finn hardly left her side. It reminded Rey much of when she and Finn were in the same position.
The music began to play signaling the start of the funeral procession.
Almost as if on the signal the air around Rey changed. Whenever she felt lost or alone, it was like she was in a tight ship pod breathing artificial air – and she had become all too familiar with it
Rey took a deep breath and turned her head, expecting to meet the casket down a way of the aisle, but her breath caught as she peered down to see that the once emerald carpets had turned a violent red.
Rey whipped around to find Finn but instead found the pristine white armor of a stormtrooper.
Rey gaped and stepped forward in astoundment. How had she not felt them coming?
All worried thoughts whipped across her mind. An attack on a peaceful planet during a funeral? Someone must have leaked information to the First Order.
Rey was prepared to grab her saber from her hilt when she made eye contact with a familiar face standing under the opening of the grand mausoleum.
The face she knew all too well. The face that haunted her worst nightmares and enlightened her most peaceful dreams.
"Ben" she whispered.
His eyes widened at the site of her as if he had not expected to see her here.
Rey broke the eye contact to look around. She was no longer on Naboo… but standing on a First Order Ship, in a newly polished throne room much like that of Snoke’s.
Blinding lights reflected down on a large ship deck with sleek black flooring. Along the length of the floor lay a bright red carpet running identical to the one on Naboo, but instead of mourners in candlelight there stood first order officers standing in perfect unison.
The beautifully carved doors vanished before her eyes and were replaced by a large red drape with a sixteen pillared star, cascading down a wall and ending at the seat of a throne.
In front of the gathering stood Ren,
dressed in formal robes preparing to receive his new title.
Supreme Leader.