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Rey stumbled over a rock in the dirt. After recovering her balance, she paused. An ominous feeling of dread crept up her spine.
"What is it?" Finn asked, fear dripping from his voice.
Rey shook her head at her friend and padawan-learner. "I don't know."
He hadn't wanted to come back to Exegol with her, Poe hadn't either, but honestly - she hadn't given either one of them much choice.
She'd had a feeling. A tug in the Force pulling her back to Exegol. She'd changed the coordinates in the hyperdrive, thanks to the Sith Wayfinder, without warning. She'd learned to rely upon her instincts over the years. They hadn't led her wrong.
Yet.
She swallowed hard as echoes of the past vibrated through the Force. She glanced down at the cause of her stumble and nudged it with the tip of her toe, turning it over. It wasn't a rock at all, it was a mask.
She felt drawn to the faded red and black Mandalorian mask. The urge to pick it up was overwhelming.
"No!" Finn yelled as she reached down to pick it up. "Don't touch - "
Klaxons sounded within her as her world shifted and she was beset with images from the past.
War.
Death.
Chaos.
Darkness.
So much darkness surrounded her.
It enveloped her.
It consumed her.
Rage and fury, like a raging storm so strong that she thought she would never feel peace again.
And then, nothing.
Like a void opened up beneath her and swept her away. Everything was gone. She forgot her name as it became lost to time.
Rey trembled as she stared at the broken mask that dangled from her fingers.
"Rey, drop it," Finn said urgently in a frightened voice. "Let it go. We don't need anything from it. It's...evil."
Rey scoffed at his suggestion. Evil. Objects weren't evil. How they are used, perhaps could be evil. But, an object itself - was just that...an object. This was a mask, and nothing more.
Right?
Then, why was she so tempted to pull it over her head and slip it on? Why did she feel as if it belonged to her? Belonged with her? That it had been waiting for her all along? If she put it on, she could bring peace to the galaxy.
Suddenly, Poe's voice broke through the fog joining Finn's, urging her to let it go.
Let it go.
Yes, wasn't that one of Master Luke's last lessons to her? To let go?
She gripped the mask, inhaling deeply.
She felt torn.
She wanted to keep it. Wear it. Use it.
She wanted to drop it. Smash it. Break it. Never see it again and be reminded of all the pain it had caused.
Her breath sucked in sharply at that thought.
This mask had seen countless death and slaughter.
And, darkness...so much darkness.
Nothing good could come from this mask.
She blinked as she let it fall from her grasp. "Let's go," she said, swallowing hard.
Poe nodded. "You got it."
She gave the mask a last lingering look before turning on her heel and heading back to the ship. She heard Finn's sigh of relief, then wailing in the Force as she walked away from the mask.
Back aboard the Millennium Falcon, she sat in quiet meditation. She focused on finding the light in this dark place.
"You alright?" Finn asked as he leaned against the doorframe.
Rey reached out through the Force, searching through the varying notes for the mask's haunting melody. It was weaker now, not as loud as it had been before.
"Yes," she said with a quick nod as she opened her eyes and smiled at her friend. "Thank you, Finn."
He returned her smile with one of his own before heading towards the cockpit.
She rose to follow but paused before the open loading ramp. The mask was still out there waiting. No, she thought. It must stay here where it belongs.
Finn and Poe were arguing, their light-hearted banter echoing through the Falcon, along with Chewie's soft roaring laughter, and the brightly trilling of the droids. The sound of it all filled her with light. It was time to go.