Chapter Text
With the old woman walking off, and the dual suns setting in the horizon, Rey let out a soft gasp as tears began to trickle down her cheeks. She was alone, finally alone. Her duty as a fighter, a ray of hope, the last Jedi, it was over, and now she could finally mourn. Her knees buckled beneath her and she fell to the ground, hands digging in to the warm Tatooine sand as silent tears flowed in a torrent, collecting along her jaw and dropping to the sand. She couldn’t get the image of his smile out of her head. The smile of a man, not a scared boy in over his head, tempted by the dark, but a man. A man who finally knew his place in the galaxy, his place with the light, and his place at her side. That smile of pure happiness as he felt the first pieces of warmth from another being in so long. He’d been in pain, so much pain from Sidious’ attack, from his fall. She had sensed the gravity of his injuries, and yet he’d smiled, knowing he was laying down his life for her. He’d known, they both had, that despite everything, they’d loved each other all along.
Rey looked at her trembling palm, wishing deep inside that she had taken his hand long ago, because when he’d had the courage to make right his mistakes, and she’d had the courage to show him love despite them, it had been fleeting. Those few moments spent in eachothers arms, holding each other for the first time, kissing each other for the first time, would now be some of the happiest and most painful memories of her life. How cruel life had been to make them one soul, divided by two bodies, only to have that other piece of her torn away, leaving a hole she knew would never close.
“Ben…” She whispered softly on the breeze. “Where are you? Find me. Please.” She’d seen Luke. She’d seen Leia. But she had yet to see him. Why hadn’t he come to her. There was too much left unsaid.
Suddenly the sound of a speeder racing towards her made her stand. She rigorously wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and adjusted the bag slung around her shoulders.
Chewbacca pulled up in front of her, waving his hands and calling out with annoyance.
Rey hopped on the back of the speeder, behind him. “I’m sorry Chewie, I forgot I still had the credits with me.”
Chewie grumbling, before racing back towards Mos Eisley.
Rey sniffled, resting her cheek against the fur of his back, looking up at the dazzling hues of the setting sky. “That’s fine, I’ll just pay the repairman when we get to the cantina.”
***
Rey took a seat at the cantina bar, eyes scanning the crowd for the mechanic she’d hired to finish off some final repairs for the Falcon before their flight to Taris. Chewie had returned to the ship where Finn waited, leaving her to pay the mechanic.
She sighed, unable to spot the Mon Calamari mechanic, and turned to the bartender to order herself a drink. The air was heavy with smoke as the Devaronian bartender slipped her a glass of blue milk. In the far corner of the room a small band played. Voices rose and fell as all manner of species drank, danced, and gambled.
“On Lothal? No, no, that Jedi Temple sunk into the sands long ago. Don’t bother going, you won’t find what you’re looking for.”
That name, it sounded familiar, as if she’d heard of the Jedi temple of Lothal before. Somewhere. Rey turned to see two figures in dark hoods speaking next to her. She couldn't help herself and turned to them, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear but -”
“Hey girl, mind your own business. Eavesdropping gets people killed in this place.” The figure threw back their hood to reveal an elderly man with long white hair scowling at her. The other figure quickly scurried off, much to the old man's exasperation. “Now look what you did. You cost me a client.”
Rey scooted closer to the man, staring at the wrinkles on his bearded face curiously, “What would someone want with an old Jedi Temple?”
The man pursed his lips, looking back at her with narrow eyes before letting out a sigh and extending his hand expectantly.
Rey rolled her eyes, pulling out some credits from her bag and handing them over to the man, his face lighting up. “Usually it’s kyber crystals, that’s what that guy wanted, but in the empires hayday, they really wanted that temple, and I mean, occupy the planet and try to take the whole temple type wanting it. Rumour had it the Jedi had time portals in there.” The man shrugged, taking a sip of his purple drink. “I don’t really believe that stuff myself but-”
Before the man could finish Rey had raced out of the cantina.
***
“That mechanic was garbage,” Finn smiled, popping his head out from one of the control vents on the floor as Rey raced aboard the Falcon. “You could have done a better job.” She sped past him in to a small cargo hold at the far end of the ship. He watched, straining his neck, as she dropped to her knees, pulling out one of the worn and aged Jedi texts and flipping through the pages frantically. “Hey what’s going on? Are we still doing that transport run on Taris?”
She stopped flipping, her hand skimming a set of pages with urgency before suddenly stopping. “No! We’re going to Ahch-To!”
Chewie poked his head out of the ships cockpit, yelling out a confused cry.
Finn hopped out of the vent with a raised brow. “Chewie’s right. Why Ahch-To? What about bringing these ship parts to Taris for Poe?”
Rey shook her head, getting to her feet, the text stretched out in her hands as her eyes continued to gloss over the pages. “No, we have to go to Ahch-To. Now. I need to get to that temple.” She shut the book, racing towards the cockpit.
Finn followed her as she took a seat next to Chewie, setting the text down next to her before frantically flipping the controls and preparing the ship for take off. He crouched down beside her seat, hand resting on the co-pilot's chair. “Wait a minute. You said when you returned to the island you found it burnt.”
Slowly the ship began to ascend over the port, their Mon Calamari mechanic waving his fist angrily at them from docking bay 94.
The corner of Rey's lips twitched slightly, threatening a smile. The smile of relief as she caught his eye after returning from Exogol had been the last smile he’d seen flashed across her face. Since that day, a week ago, she hadn’t been the same. Something had happened on Exogol that she wouldn’t discuss, but he knew, whatever it was, that it had changed her.
She leaned across Chewie, unhappy with his pace, and began flipping controls on his side of the ship's control panel, much to his displeasure. “There was another temple. I think. Inside the island. It called to me once but showed me nothing, only myself. I need to try again. I need to go back.”
Finn took a seat behind her, strapping himself in for their jump to hyperspace. “What’s there?”
Slowly she pulled the lever, watching as thousands of stars passed by in streaks. “Hope.”