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Rey sighed aloud in the shuttle as the last moments of her solitary life flashed before her eyes. Rolling her shoulders to release the pressure lining every tense muscle, she allowed herself to reminisce over the last 48 hours.
--48 Hours Ago--
Rey sat in the empty conference room reading and re-reading the three lines of text from the ancient Jedi tomes. Every flicker of her eyes across the words reverberated deep into her soul causing her heart to ache and her skin to feel slightly aflame. She tried her best to discern whether she was comprehending the words or if she was hoping for their meaning. She was so engrossed in her task that she never heard as her friend, Rose Tico, entered the room until her voice startled her, “This is where you’ve been. I was trying to find you for half an hour. The General asked me to fetch you”.
“Sorry, Rose. I – I have been trying to figure out this passage. It seems simple enough, but at the same time it’s like...like I’m missing something.” Rey said turning back towards the text.
“What does it say?” Rose asked.
Sighing heavily, Rey began to read aloud “Those bonded in and by the force are bonded for eternity. Their coupling is deemed sacred, immutable, and connubial. They are and will forevermore be a whole and a testament to the force itself”. When she stopped Rey looked up and saw a curious expression pasted on Rose’s face. Casting the force towards her friend she felt delight wafting off her. Rey couldn’t help but quirk her eyebrow up as she watched as Rose’s mouth curled into a small smirk.
“It’s about soulmates.” Rose says as though it was simple.
“What?! I’m not sure about that.” Rey says
“Wedding vows?” Rose replies smiling wider.
“Really, Rose? I’m being serious, it's like its right there but--” Rey says squinting harder at the words as if they would magically provide their meaning.
“You really are clueless about relationships you know that.” Rose jokes, “We have to go the General anyway let's ask her”.
“I’m not about to bother General Organa with this. Like I said its simple, I’ll figure it out” Rey answers standing up, stretching, and walking towards Rose. Rose instantly started making comparisons to fables of love, loss, and happily ever after.
Rose and Rey entered the small officers lounge, or at least that’s what they call the smallest conference room nearest the mess hall, to see General Organa sipping her afternoon tea. “You wanted to see me, General?” Rey said bumping her hips to Rose, who was whispering soulmates over and over near her ear.
“Yes. I am expecting to meet with Poe and Finn in about twenty minutes and thought you’d want to be in the meeting seeing as the intel is about Kylo Ren”, The General says, noticing Rose’s blush and attempt to stop her laughter, “however, if you and Rose are in the middle of something important”.
“No” Rey says glaring slightly at Rose.
“Actually, General maybe you can help us-” Rose starts
“I can figure it out” Rey blurts out towards Rose.
“There is nothing to figure out. You just don’t like the answer” Rose replies snappily.
“Ladies, I am willing to help wherever I can” Leia says to stop any potential conflict.
Rey sighs, shakes her head, and sits down across from Leia. She motions for Rose to talk with her hand and the smallest of eye rolls. “Okay, so Rey was reading from those Jedi books and found a passage about soulmates and doesn’t want to accept that it is about soulmates” Rose says.
“What’s the passage?” Leia asks as she feels the force slowly wrap around her in anticipation. She felt the importance of the words and took more interest in Rey’s face. She could feel the nervousness and pain from the girl as Rose brings up the words from the book. What she couldn’t comprehend was why.
Repeating the words from the book from memory, Rey could feel her chest tighten just a little more and the feeling of heat rise across her body. Knowing that there was nothing for her to fear Rey took a deep breath in once the words finished and sought the force for more calm. She wasn’t sure why she felt panic building inside of her while hearing those words now, but she felt them as much as she felt the steel of the chair, she was seated in.
“It’s about a dyad”, Leia answered as if it was a known idea, “but the idea of soulmates would be similar. It is two people who share one soul because the force bound them together that way. Another way to explain it would be two people married in the force.”
“Married?!” Rey shouts.
“Told ya .” Rose says smugly sitting down finally.
Leia laughs at the look of surprise on Rey’s face and happiness on Rose’s. “Yes, married. The passage pretty much states their marital union is blessed and protected throughout time. A dyad was supposed to have gifts from the force like no other. For example, sense or see one another from worlds apart, feel instantly and deeply connected to the point where they can forecast what the other would do before they do it, but the part I like best—they make each other feel complete. The Jedi were not exactly fans of that concept, specifically given they believed that one had to cast aside attachments to keep oneself from falling to darkness. If I recall correctly the Sith were not exactly fans of the concept either given that they believe that one must sacrifice what it holds most sacred to ascend further into darkness. If a Sith fails to do so, then they can return to the light and their lives are thereby forfeit ”.
“You mean they could be killed if someone found out.” Rose summarized
“Yes. The Sith and Jedi were at one time very...strict about their dogma. I imagine that there may have been a time where any persons identified as a part of a dyad were killed”. Leia informed the girls. “I guess the writer wanted the reader to feel...hopeful about the union though, they essentially described it as indestructible”.
“How so?” Rose asks.
“’Immutable’ it means unchanged. The writer wanted the reader to know that no matter what happened that they are never alone” Leia smiles softly thinking of the beauty of it.
“Beautiful” Rose sighs
Leia giggles softly from their shared thought and glances at Rey who has tears running down her face silently , “Rey”. Rose watches as her friend blinked rapidly and tears streamed down her face. She jumped from her chair and touched Rey’s hand, who didn’t even flinch as if she didn’t feel her friend’s touch. “Rey” Leia repeated.
“That was our promise” Rey whispered closing her eyes completely.
“What?” Rose asks looking over towards Leia.
“What promise?” Leia asks feeling the force radiate stronger in the room.
“My promise to Ben”, Rey said words thick with tears. She started shaking her head and before she realized it spilled the secrets that she held inside of her for three months. She told Leia how she felt awe when he took his helmet off in the interrogation room and that even though she should have been entirely afraid that her heart felt comforted. She told her how good it felt to mark him like a prize during their fight. She told her how the force connected them time and time again while she was on Luke’s island. She sobbed as she told them how he comforted her from the water and how his very touch was like coming home. She could barely speak from her tears when she told Leia that Snoke made him watch as he tortured her, asked him to kill her, and him choosing to protect her- a nobody. She didn’t think she would ever breathe again normally as she cried about them arguing, his denying her request to save the people she loved, and worse—when he told her that she was everything to him but still choose power over her. Her daily pain knowing she left him there alone. Rey cried so hard, she didn’t feel Poe and Finn entering the room nor them standing still in the doorway covered in rage and sorrow. She didn’t feel Rose holding onto her as though she could anchor her very soul to the room with her embrace. She couldn’t feel the sympathy from Leia as she realized that Rey too lost her husband to war.
As Rey calmed from Rose’s soothing touches, Poe and Finn decided to walk further into the room shutting the door behind them, “So I guess our intel has more merit than we thought” Poe says glancing over to Rey whose eyes remained on the floor. Poe then begins to explain that information obtained by a spy within the First Order suggested that some of the older officers are considering a vote against Kylo Ren for his obsession with the Jedi girl. The intel claimed that when the Order gains information on the Resistance, specifically possible bases, that he asks if Rey is known to be there. If the information suggests that she is not present or hasn’t been seen, then he denies their request to annihilate the base and/or any parties residing there. The spy even reported that once they said yes just to send troops to the planet and he denied the request for scouting and invasion and went himself. Poe noted that if the officers can get enough ‘votes’ then they could legally execute him or invalidate his claim as supreme leader causing Rey to finally look up.
“That bothers you”, Finn says softly, “After everything he did...the thought that he could be killed bothers you”. Rey looked at her first friend and watched as his anger slowly showed across his face. “You love him that much Rey?” He asked. Rey could feel the sadness and anger coming from him as he waited for her answer, but she knew she couldn’t lie. She also knew she could speak so she nodded and looked back at the floor. She heard him scoff and Poe move closer to him. Rey could hear them whispering near one another.
“He’s not sending anyone after us.” Rose informs them. She waited for them all to look at her and repeated her words, “He hasn’t sent anyone after us.”
“What’s your point?” Poe asked just a little irritated.
“That’s what she asked him for. She asked him for our lives”, emboldened Rose stands up and looks at General Organa, “She left him there to save us”. Leia watched as Rey looked up confused, but motioned for Rose to continue. The force hummed in agreement.
“Okay, so if you two are soulmates--” Rose begins
“I wouldn’t go that far” Finn interjects
“Shut it”, she orders pointing her finger towards Finn, “You two are soulmates. A dyad. You’re married by the force. He’s looking for you. He’s looking for her. She’s kept this inside for months- Months!- and is obviously hurting. He has to be falling apart.”
“Why should we care if Kylo Ren falls apart? He’s a kriffing psychopath, he wasn’t that far off to being with” Poe says snarkly .
“Did he ask you for anything?” Ignoring Poe, Rose asks Rey as she kneels before her. “Rey, did he ask you for anything?”
“To be by his side...to stay”, Rey answers feeling the tears returning to her eyes, “He...he pleaded with me to stay”. Rey covered her face with her hands as her tears started to fall again.
“Okay. So how do we do that?” Rose asks looking around the room to her friends. “How do we give them...No, how do we repair a marriage that the force itself made?”.
“Why would we do that? I would say get her a kriffing divorce!” Finn shouts
“Because that’s how we win. We save what we love”, Rose states with finality, “So I’m asking again, how do we fix their marriage?”
“We send her back.” Leia answers boldly while the force cheered.
--Now--
Rey completed the landing sequence as the shuttle touched down in the Star Destroyer’s hanger. Steeling herself, she typed in a few keys effectively deleting all travel coordinates from the ship’s mainframe. Sighing once again, Rey stood up from the pilot’s seat, smoothing the white crepe fabric framing her slender body and began her trek towards the back of the ship. On her way she picked up the beautifully written words of her general, folded neatly into its envelope, as well as the small black box in her left hand. Pressing the button for the ramp to descend, she ran the fingers of her right hand against lightsaber hooked to her waist. Her ears registered the sounds of stormtrooper armor moving about. The sound reminded her why she was doing this- Why she was submitting to the will of the force. Lifting her head up, pushing her shoulders back, Rey of Jakku exited her shuttle. Stomping down the ramp, she watched as stormtroopers aimed their blasters. She watched her other half’s left eye twitch with nervous energy at her descent.
“Turning yourself in for your crimes, I am truly surprised rebel scum” Hux sarcastically spat from his position left of his Supreme Leader, “I look forward to your execution”. Waiting for Ren to give the order to arrest her.
“There will be no execution, General. What happened upon the Supremacy was justified by law.” Rey spoke clearly without taking her eyes from Ren’s face. She watched as his deep brown eyes took in every detail of her face and felt the muscles in her body relax with every flicker. She could even feel small tendrils of the force running around her mind as he gently probed to find her intent. Tightening on her walls just a little, Rey prepared herself for what she had to do.
“The assassination-” Hux began but was interrupted by Rey’s hard glance to him and her voice stopping his rant.
“As I said General Hux”, Rey snapped with a tone that emphasized her dislike of the man standing near her, “the death of your former leader was justified by law. First Order law to be exact.”
“First order law does not pardon assassination of our members, rat” Hux raged, stepping towards her.
“No, but FOL code 1183.36.1 grants connubial parties to defend one another against harm even against superiors without fear of retribution nor trial. So, as I said before, Snoke’s demise upon my lightsaber was justified by your law. As that was the case, I highly suggest you watch your tongue as my spouse is not known for controlling his temper as it relates to me either .” Rey states turning back towards Ren and letting down her mental guards. She let Ben see her shock when finding out what their connection meant in the Jedi text, the tearfulness of his mother after she knew her son was granted eternal love and companionship by the Force itself, Rose forcing her to try on several white dresses held in storage, her quick learning of First Order Codes to ‘protect herself’ when separated from Ben, her sorrow for leaving her friends, and her fear that he would not accept her after she left him wounded and unconscious on the Supremacy.
Accepting all that she showed him, Ren joked “Your temper is worse than mine, sweetheart”, smirking slightly.
“And yet, you continue to push my buttons.” She replied with a smile knowing that he understood that she needed him to be Ben for her in that moment. Lifting her hand up, she hands him the envelope containing his mother’s words.
“What is it?” Ben asked taking the envelope from her hands.
“My sentencing letter from the Resistance”, She replied while feeling their audience eyes snap sharply to the couple, “It appears that my refusal to end your life, no matter how often you push me towards it, is considered treason in the eyes of your mother and the resistance therefore I’ve been exiled to ‘attend to my monster’ according to Poe.”
“And here I was believing that Dameron was a moron” He replied smugly.
“Don’t start.” She says rolling her eyes
“The box?” He asks biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
“Oh”, Rey says looking down at the box in her hand, “Your grandparents rings. I was kindly chastised for our prior union and informed that I needed to tell you that ‘you know better, Ben’ whatever that means”. Shoving the box into his chest, Ren grasped her hand tightly with his at his chest.
“And the legal lesson on my order?” He asks, wrapping his larger gloved fingers around the hand that stayed on his chest.
“Finn.” She whispers.
“So, I have the traitor to thank for you not ending back in the Outer Rim and at the mercy of a bounty hunter” The words at my order implied but smartly withheld. He says as she rolls her eyes and nods. “I guess he’s not an idiot”.
“Don’t start” She warns.
“I haven’t...yet.” He states with a smirk and a wink.
“Ben” She warns again.
“I love the dress.” Ben says obviously looking her over while still holding her hand to his chest. Thoughts of how to rip the dress from her body later flitting through his mind and straight to hers.
“If you even consider ruining this dress...” Rey starts and stops as she notices they are still in the hanger with their audience. She feels her face heating up and knows that a blush is spreading across her face and neck. At this, Ben loses the internal battle waging inside of him and begins to laugh aloud. The shock of it’s very sound sending pulses of amusement, surprise, and fear from stormtroopers and Hux alike, causing Rey to snatch her hand away and swat at his arm. Lifting her dress up slightly, Rey starts to walk away towards the nearest corridor, Ben’s laughter following her.
“You don’t even know which way to go” Ben says loudly in-between chuckles.
Rey turns around abruptly, points her finger and states “I may want you alive in this life Ben Solo but if you keep it up, I will give Hux permission to shoot you”.
“You would never.” Ben says as he starts to stride towards her.
“Our marriage is eternal...I’d just see you in our next life” She shrugs, turns back and walks off, leaving a surprised Ben Solo left to lengthen his stride to catch up to his blushing bride.