Ajan Kloss

Rey travels to Coruscant with Finn, Chewie, and Threepio to meet with a potential student while anticipating the birth of her first child.

ORIGINALLY POSTED AUGUST 27, 2020

“You know I can do this by myself, right?”

Rey looked at Finn and gave him a soft smile. “Of course, I do.”

“But you’re still going to insist on going, aren’t you?” Finn stood looking at her with his arms crossed, a frown on his face.

“Finn, you know I like to meet them face to face myself,” Rey told him patiently. “It has nothing to do with your judgement or ability to read them.” They were standing in Rey’s ‘classroom,’ a small area in one of the clearings just outside the perimeters of the Resistance base on Ajan Kloss that had been covered to protect Rey’s students from the frequent downpours.

It was raining at that moment, and Rey had been organizing the several books and datapads that her students frequently used when she taught in here when Finn had found her a few minutes before. Now she was doing her best to prevent an argument with her best friend. The last thing she needed right now was for him to feel unwanted or unneeded; she was already having those issues with her husband. “I do need you there with me, though,” she added as she went back to her organizing.

Just that morning, a message had arrived from an acquaintance of Poe’s from Coruscant. Apparently, a middle-class family there had been trying to reach the Resistance for a while, hoping their message would eventually reach ‘The Jedi Rey.’ Their daughter, the message read, was having difficulties in school, and she had recently been suspended for ‘performing magic’ in class. Her parents had long suspected she was a Force user, and now they were convinced of it. The girl, who was only six years old, needed a teacher who knew how to handle her.

Rey had dealt with messages like this off and on since the Battle of Exegol. She tried to visit the children in question as often as she could to evaluate them. More often than not, if they had any Force sensitivity at all, their abilities were minimal, and Rey had to tell their families that they weren’t candidates for Jedi training. It wasn’t an easy decision on her part; she would take them all if she could, but that just wasn’t possible.

Finn came with her on most of those trips, and he had learned how she evaluated potential students. Like her, he could sense whether or not they had any sensitivity at all, and the testing pattern Rey used from there to gauge how much was easy to follow. Rey knew without a shadow of a doubt that Finn could visit the girl and would make the right decision about her future, but Rey always wanted to meet them herself. Not to mention she wanted to meet their parents or guardians, because understanding how they were raised was important for her future lessons with them. Were they loved? Respected? Feared? Had they grown up in poverty or had they never known hardship? Did they have friends? Pets? Had they had appropriate schooling for their age and species? Finn knew all this, and yet he had spent the last ten minutes trying to talk her out of going. And she knew why.

“So, you don’t trust me by myself, is that what it is?” Finn was giving her that look, the one that reminded her of a lost puppy.

Exasperated, Rey exclaimed, “Finn, I’m pregnant, not an invalid!”

Rey had had a very easy pregnancy. She had had very minimal morning sickness, had never missed a day of classes since she had returned from her honeymoon six months previously, and had felt as fit and healthy as she ever had despite her expanding waistline. What she wasn’t going to admit to Finn was that in the last week or so she had been finding it difficult to sleep, as no position was comfortable, she had felt her center of balance shift considerably, her feet ached constantly, and she needed to pee a whole lot more often.

Finn held up his hands in surrender at her assertion. “I know! I know!” he told her. “But, Rey, come on! You’re almost due!”

“I’ve got three weeks before she’s due,” Rey told him firmly. “This trip won’t even take three days.”

“It’s Coruscant,” Finn told her. He wasn’t giving up, yet. “You’ve never been to Coruscant before, have you?”

Rey grimaced. “No,” she answered. “I’ve never wanted to go to Coruscant.”

“Understandable,” Finn replied. He paused and leaned toward her. In a dramatic whisper, he told her, “You’ll hate it.”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, it’s a good thing we’re just going to meet this girl and her family and then leave. I won’t have time to hate it.”

Finn sighed and dropped his head. “Okay, okay,” he conceded. “Do you want Threepio along in case they don’t speak Basic?”

Rey nodded. “Yes. And Chewie is happy to take us on the Falcon.” She grinned at Finn’s frown. “I know you wanted to take your ship, but Rose told me she might need it to get some supplies for the Fathiers on Kergans.”

“Why didn’t she tell me?” Finn demanded.

“Probably because you were too busy conspiring with my husband on how to keep me from going to Coruscant,” Rey told him with a grin. “You two haven’t figured out how to keep secrets from your wives, yet, have you?”

Finn shook his head, but a grin of his own slowly spread across his face. “I guess not.” He rolled his eyes. “And I guess that’s a good thing, huh?”

“Yes,” Rey leaned into him and whispered dramatically. “Yes, it is.”

******

Rey was late getting home that night, as she had helped Chewie prep the Falcon after dinner and had lost track of the time. When she arrived at her apartment, she almost felt like she was sleepwalking. Oh, how she hoped she would be able to sleep tonight. She rubbed her belly and sent that thought through the Force to her child, not sure if the baby girl would understand it or not.

As she entered the apartment, the first thing she heard was her husband’s hallikset, and this didn’t surprise her. He had been messing around with it almost every evening for the last couple of weeks, writing a new song. It was his stress relief, he told her. As she closed and locked the door behind her and stepped out of her boots, she heard the repetitive chords coming from the bedroom. As late as it was, she knew he was just waiting for her to get home.

She made her way toward the bedroom’s open door, and as she did so the hallikset changed from what had been a warm up to a steady melody. Rey slowed down, not wanting to disturb her husband as he appeared to be testing out the song in its entirety. She saw BB-8 first, and his head swiveled her way immediately. She put her index finger up to her lips, indicating she wanted him to remain silent. He focused on her for a moment, then turned his head back to his master, who had begun singing. As she neared the door, she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed, chest and feet bare, hallikset balanced on his knee, the neck in his left hand, the fingers of his right plucking the strings expertly.

When she had first gotten to know Poe Dameron, she had learned that he loved to play the hallikset, and he had often entertained his friends around the campfire at night singing old battle songs from the Rebellion days and funny story songs from the Old Republic. It wasn’t until they had become engaged to be married that she had taken note that more and more of the songs he sang were songs he had felt a personal connection to or had written himself. It was also around that time she had realized how personal those songs had become to her, as well, and she noticed how much attention he paid her while he sang. She had since become almost possessive of Poe’s singing voice, which not only soothed her like nothing else could, but had become her own personal aphrodisiac. Now, she was very much aware that she had become the first human audience for this new song, so she stopped in the doorway of the bedroom and leaned against the frame, watching him with adoration.

He never looked up from his playing, his focus intent on the hallikset and the words he was singing, but she knew that he knew she was there. She felt the sorrowfulness and wistfulness of the words, but also felt the underlying hope they conveyed. The belief that all would be well if only your partner trusted and believed as you did. She watched the emotion on his face and let that and the music fill her heart. She felt the baby do a bit of a spin in her belly and reached out with her mind, feeling a joyful response in return. She smiled softly. Baby was enjoying the music, too.

The end of the song came too soon, but the words made her smile. So much hope. Always with Poe there was hope. The hallikset fell silent, and for a moment there was no sound. Poe raised his eyes and looked at her, waiting. She took a deep breath. “Well, if I wasn’t already pregnant, I would be now,” she said wryly.

Poe’s startled laughter made her smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” he told her, grinning.

BB-8 beeped a question at them, head swiveling back and forth between his people. He didn’t understand what Rey meant.

“And you don’t need to, BB-8,” Rey told him fondly. “I’m in for the night. You can go charge, now.”

The ball droid tootled his approval and made his way out of the bedroom to his charging station. As he passed by, Rey leaned a bit to the side and let her hand hover over him so his antenna touched her as he rolled by. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever believe she would become so attached to a machine. She looked over at Poe, who had noticed her action and smiled. But then the smile faded and he focused on her searchingly.

“So, you’re going to Coruscant.” It wasn’t a question.

She nodded firmly. “Yep,” she said, stepping further into the room. “I’ll be back before you know it,” she said breezily. At his dark look, she added, “Chewie and Finn will both be with me. Stop worrying.”

He sighed and set the hallikset up against the wall next to the bed, reaching out a hand toward her. As she stepped to him and took his hand, he said, “It’s my job to worry.” He spread his legs and pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her waist and laying his head on her stomach. She buried her fingers in his thick hair, playing with the curls that inevitably appeared whenever he delayed getting it cut.

“Well, I wish you wouldn’t do it so much,” Rey informed him softly. “It will age you too fast, and you’re already way older than I am.”

She heard him snort. “Don’t remind me,” he said into her belly. He lifted his head and pushed her back a bit, closing his legs and pulling her down so she sat on his lap. “I just wish it wasn’t Coruscant.”

She put her arm around his shoulders and looked at him questioningly. “What is it about Coruscant that has you and Finn both up in arms?” She knew it was a heavily populated planet that was essentially one large city, and that alone scared her. But Finn and Poe had been to large cities before; they had no reason to be nervous about too many people like she did.

Poe looked at her. “After the Rebel Alliance won the war back in the day, after the Empire fell, the New Republic decided not to establish its capital there, feeling that twenty years under the Empire had pretty much ruined the thriving environment of Coruscant.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they were right. But choosing Hosnian Prime to be their capital sent Coruscant into a tailspin that they never recovered from. It’s not that the planet didn’t have its criminal elements before, but now it’s almost as if it’s run by mob bosses and crime syndicates.” He sighed. “It’s not the safest of planets.”

“Is any planet really safe?” Rey asked.

“Just stay close to Finn and Chewie, okay?”

“You could always come along,” Rey told him softly. Hopefully.

“Hamil Clutch is coming here tomorrow,” was Poe’s response.

“Clutch is coming here?” Hamil Clutch was the Prime Minister of Yavin IV, Poe’s home planet. Not that there was a huge population on Yavin IV, but there were enough settlements now that a government had been formed several years ago. “That’s a good thing, right?” Rey asked. Poe had made a formal request to the PM recently to establish a new Resistance base on Yavin IV, in the remains of the Massassi Temple where the Rebel Alliance had once been based. The very base a young Luke Skywalker had set out from on his way to destroying the first Death Star so long ago.

“I hope so,” Poe said. “I think he wants to see how we run things here, to make sure we’re organized and formal and not going to ‘desecrate’ the old base. It’s kind of an important site for the locals.” He should know. He had grown up not far away and had spent more than one camping trip exploring the hangers and tunnels of the old Rebel base.

“Well then he’s bound to be impressed,” Rey told him. She was extraordinarily proud of all that Poe had done with the Resistance since the Battle of Exegol. He was making sure this militia started by Leia Organa years ago was living up to the reputation it had earned at that battle. His ‘army’ was well organized and efficient, without being too stuffy and ceremonial.

They sat quietly for a moment, comfortable in their silence. Then Poe quietly asked, “What can I do to help you sleep tonight?”

Rey sighed. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “I try not to wake you.”

“It’s okay,” he told her, squeezing her with his arm. “Just tell me how to help.”

“Well, it’s your daughter’s fault,“ she said with a small smile. “Whenever I find a comfortable position, she moves and makes it uncomfortable.” She wiggled a bit on his lap. “And she’s constantly pressing on my bladder!” she said in frustration, grinning at him.

“I’d tell her to behave, but I already know she’s not gonna listen to me,” he grinned back. “I have heard of a special technique that is supposed to help rock babies to sleep while they’re still in the womb,” he told her, eyeing her with feigned innocence.

“Oh, really?” Rey said with a raised eyebrow. “And what is this technique?”

Poe dipped his head and started kissing her neck right under her jaw, caressing it with his tongue.

“Oh!” Rey breathed. “That technique. Yes, I’ve heard it’s quite effective.”

Poe hummed in agreement and brought up his hand, unbuttoning the top of her tunic.

Rey brought her own hand up to his head, running her fingers through his hair again.

Once he had enough buttons undone, Poe slipped his hand under the material and gently cupped her bare breast. She shivered at the touch. Since she had become pregnant, not only had her rather small breasts temporarily increased in size (she had cleavage now!), but they had become exceptionally sensitive and tender. Poe had somehow found a way to touch her that was gentle enough to not make her hurt while still providing immense pleasure. She deliberately clenched her fingers in his hair, demanding more, and he responded by moving his lips downward, eventually letting his mouth take over from his hand. Her responding moan was inelegant to say the least, but she didn’t care.

Poe suddenly shifted her and twisted to the side, allowing her to slide off of his lap and onto the bed. While she settled into a comfortable position, he continued to remove the rest of her clothing, carefully placing her lightsaber on the bedside table. “Poe, I need to shower,” she began to plead. She had been out and about all day in the Ajan Kloss heat and humidity and she knew he had already cleaned up for the evening.

“Later,” he told her, his voice rough. Then he proceeded to make love to her with the same intensity and focus he had used while playing the hallikset earlier. And just like that instrument, Rey’s body responded to his skillful hands and sang.

******

Do you want to hear the song Poe is singing? Well, it sounds something like this. Almost exactly like this, actually.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDMXMfA2gfc&list=PLp_n7H8ieRJQoQWV_KRLLf6nYnMf7vrMd

******

Rey settled in the pilot’s seat of the Millennium Falcon, almost giddy with joy, not only because she was at the controls of her favorite ship again, but because she finally felt rested and ready for whatever lay ahead. Poe’s ‘technique’ had indeed worked, as relaxed and sated she had drifted off almost immediately afterward and didn’t wake until dawn. Of course, by then she not only had to use the fresher right away, but was more than ready for the shower that he had refused to let her take the night before. She smiled to herself as Finn and Threepio settled into the seats behind her, Threepio chattering away as usual, Finn responding to him only occasionally.

When Chewie slid in next to her, she pulled her mind away from the memory of last night and focused on the now. She started programing the nav computer to cough up the coordinates for Coruscant. Chewie mumbled to get her attention and she looked up and out the cockpit window. Her husband stood not far away, legs spread, hands on his hips, a frown on his face, BB-8 at his side. She sighed and wondered, not for the first time, if she should listen to his intuition. They both knew full well that Poe had no Force sensitivity, but that didn’t mean that his warrior instincts, honed from years of getting himself into and out of dangerous situations, weren’t valid.

She brought up her hand, kissed her palm, made a fist, and pretended to ‘throw’ the kiss toward him. She saw his expression soften as he brought up his hand and ‘caught’ the kiss, then brought that hand to his heart. It was an action Poe had initiated shortly after they married, the first time he had headed back to Naboo after their wedding; she had been amazingly depressed, on the verge of tears, and his movement from the cockpit of his X-wing had made her smile. Now it was a tradition whenever one had to go somewhere without the other. She smiled at him and told herself everything would be okay. No more than three days and she would be back here on Ajan Kloss, and she had no plans to go anywhere else until after the baby was born.

She glanced at Chewie who was watching her quietly, his blue eyes showing wisdom and understanding. He growled at her: “I’ve got you.”

Rey nodded. “Let’s do this.” With a comfortableness that spoke of more than a few take offs together in this ship, they directed the Falcon upward with its repulsors until they had cleared the trees, then sent it forward and angled it toward the stars. Within minutes they left the atmosphere and entered hyperspace.

Coruscant wasn’t too horribly far from Ajan Kloss, but the hyperspace jump was long enough that the four of them were able to sit together in the hold and go over their plan for the visit ahead.

“I have the address for the Bernardini’s home,” Finn said. “It’s on the third level, so not too far down, in District 111 and shouldn’t be hard to find if we dock at Newton.”

Chewie grumbled at him, reminding him of the Feider Market that wasn’t too far from Newton and would probably be crazy busy at mid-day, when they were scheduled to arrive.

“Is that still there?” Finn asked. He hadn’t been to Coruscant since his time as a stormtrooper, but Chewie had visited just a few months ago, assisting a group of Wookiee families that had lived on Coruscant since the fall of the Empire back to Kashyyyk; even they had determined that Coruscant was no longer a pleasant place to live.

Chewie nodded and told them that the Market was even crazier than it had been before the New Republic had taken control of the galaxy, and it wasn’t just an outdoor venue for people to sell merchandise and food anymore, but a place where many of the smaller criminal elements on the planet met and made their deals.

“Great,” Finn said, sarcasm heavy in his voice. “So, let’s try and avoid it, shall we?”

Rey listened to them converse back and forth, impressed with how well Finn was keeping up with Chewie, as he was still having issues with understanding Shyriiwook; it wasn’t exactly an easy language to learn. Poe and Fin had both tried hard to pick it up after Crait, when Chewie and the Falcon became an official and much welcome addition to the Resistance. She was very glad both Chewie and Finn had experience with Coruscant, because she felt she would become easily overwhelmed if she had to do this by herself.

“What’s the family’s name again?” she asked.

“Bernadini,” Finn answered. “The little girl’s name is Talia. They’re human and from what I gather the family has been on Coruscant since the days of the Old Republic. I know some old Coruscanti families are convinced they can trace their lineage back all the way to humankind’s beginning.”

Rey had heard such stories, but she was only concerned with Talia. “Do you know if they have any other Force users in the family?”

He shrugged. “Not that I know of.”

All too soon, they arrived. Rey brought the Falcon out of hyperspace and felt a bit of a shock when she saw the planet for the first time. Even the dark side was lit up with artificial light almost in its entirety. Every bit of the planet was covered with unnatural structures, with only one mountain range untouched by development. Even the various lakes and rivers had residences and businesses built around them and even in some cases in them; not all sentient species in the galaxy were land based.

Finn was right. Rey hated it. While she had grown up on a so-called barren desert planet, it had still been full of life if one knew where to look for it. Sentient life existed but was at the mercy of the natural forces of the planet. Here on Coruscant, there was very little of anything natural left.

She contacted flight control and was given a detailed route down to the surface and their assigned landing pad, for which Rey was extremely grateful; there was no way a person could fly through this mess without assistance, she didn’t care how good a pilot they were. Feeling incredibly on edge, Rey landed the Falcon as smoothly as possible, touching down with barely a discernable bump, then took a deep breath and tried to relax her cramped hands; she had been holding the controls just a little too tight. Chewie was watching her with amusement. “You could have let me land, you know,” he grumbled.

“I’ll let you get us out of here,” Rey responded.

“Oh, my,” Threepio exclaimed as they started out, leaving the Falcon and heading into the city to find transport. “It’s been years since I’ve been here.” He looked around curiously. “It hasn’t changed a bit.” Soon, they were in a hovercab that took them speeding into the skylanes.

Rey was already being affected by the overpowering feeling of this place, with the Force presence of trillions of lifeforms demanding attention in her brain. How in the world had the Jedi based themselves here, she wondered? Maybe that was why Sideous had so easily snuck under their radar. They couldn’t focus on any one being in this chaos. Immediately, she dismissed that thought. No, it was only because she wasn’t used to it. She needed to teach herself to block out all the unnecessary noise in her head. She closed her eyes and opened herself up to the Force, letting it guide her on how to handle the anxiety she was feeling. She felt the chaos inside settle, but at the same time her head began to hurt. She started to search further out, knowing what the growing headache meant, and wanting to find the cause as soon as possible. She promptly drew back, dismayed to find the source… everywhere. She looked at Finn, who as usual could sense her unease.

“What is it?” he asked quietly.

“There is too much Dark energy here, Finn,” she told him with a frown. “I haven’t felt this much Darkness since Exegol.”

******

“We need to leave,” Finn said, his voice hard. “We need to get back to the Falcon. Now.”

“Finn, wait,” Rey protested. She directed her attention to the droid driving the cab. “How far are we from our destination?”

“Destination is less than 500 yards ahead,” the mechanical being told her.

Rey looked at Finn with pleading eyes. “We’re almost there,” she told him. “Finn, if this little girl is indeed a Force user, then we need to get her away from this place! We can’t turn back now!”

Finn looked at Chewie, who was also looking concerned. Chewie growled softly. “She’s the boss.” He wasn’t happy, but could they really force her to go back?

Finn sighed and looked back at Rey. He nodded sharply and Rey turned her focus back on where they were going. The cab had left the skylane and was dipping down into one of the many canyons that the decades of building upward had created. It didn’t drop too far down before it turned into a rather large opening built into the wall of the structure. It set down in front of an iron gate, with what looked like a garden behind it. The four passengers looked at each other and stepped out. The hovercab immediately shot away; there were more passengers to attend to.

They walked up to the gate where Finn found a comm button. He pressed it and a mechanical voice answered almost immediately. “Purpose of your visit?”

“Is this the Bernadini residence?” Finn asked.

“Affirmative.”

“We are here to speak with Talia.”

“Name?”

Rey stepped forward. “Rey Skywalker and companions.”

There was a long pause, then the gate swung open. “Proceed.”

Giving each other wary glances, the four of them stepped through the gate and into the garden. As they walked along the paved path, Rey took note that while the property had probably once been immaculate and a sign of significant wealth, the area was now showing signs of neglect and age. Most of the plants were unkempt and quite a few were dying. The building they were heading toward was also showing signs of wear.

A man exited the building and started walking quickly toward them. He was short and stocky, with neatly trimmed grey hair surrounding a balding head and a well-maintained beard to match. He looked anxious and a bit fearful as he headed their way.

“Jedi Skywalker?” he said, his voice matching his anxious expression. He walked up to Rey, eyeing the others with distrust. “You came?”

“Are you Talia’s father?” Rey asked. She opened up her senses toward him, trying to determine why he was so apprehensive.

“Yes, yes,” he said, nodding. “I am Uli Bernadini.” He looked back at the house. “We didn’t think you were coming. We had hoped…” he stopped short and looked back at her. “My daughter is sick. The medicine we give her makes her very tired. I apologize as we didn’t know you were coming.”

“We only got your message yesterday,” she told him. “And I never give notice about when I’m coming; I like to see the children as they are normally.”

He laughed, but it was a sad sound. “I wish you could see Talia as she normally is. I’m afraid my daughter isn’t herself right now.”

Rey was silent for a moment. She could feel the unease from her companions. “I’d still like to meet her,” she said softly. Something was indeed wrong here, but Rey wasn’t going to abandon the child until she knew for sure what was going on.

She saw Bernadini glance down at her swollen abdomen, then back up to her face. The fear in his eyes was unmistakable, but what was causing it? Her? Or something else? “Of course,” he told her. “Please, this way.” He gestured toward the house and started to lead them toward it.

He opened the front door and ushered them inside. “What a lovely residence,” Threepio exclaimed as he came in, and Rey had to admit it was a nice home. Clean, orderly, roomy and bright. She sensed it was a happy home, except… not at the moment. Fear and frustration permeated the place and Rey kept her hand close to her lightsaber, ready for anything.

Bernadini closed the door behind them, then passed them and headed toward a door to the left of the front room they had entered. “Please, this way.”

They followed him into a room that was darker than the previous one, shades covering the windows and the lights dimmed. A woman with long dark hair streaked with grey turned toward them as they entered. She, like the man, looked afraid and nervous. Behind her, lying on a chaise, was a little red-haired girl. Bernadini gestured to the woman. “My wife, Elora,” he said. “Elora, this is the Jedi Skywalker and her companions.”

Rey gestured behind her. “Finn Tico, Chewbacca, and C-3PO.”

Elora nodded at them. “Welcome.” Her voice was tight but not unpleasant.

“Thank you,” Rey said softly, putting a bit of the Force into the words, hoping to instill some level of relaxation into the woman. Then she focused on the child. “This is Talia?”

Elora moved aside and looked down at the girl. “Yes,” she said in a whisper. “She is ill.”

Rey moved toward the girl. “What is wrong with her? Did she catch a virus?” She wasn’t too worried about getting something contagious from the child, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

“No,” Talia’s father said. “It’s a sickness of the mind.”

Rey gave him a sharp look. “What do you mean?”

“We think that after they sent her away from the school that she tried to close herself off from that which makes her different. It changed her.”

Rey felt her throat tighten at his words. “How?” she asked. “How did it change her?”

Her mother spoke. “She became more agitated. More aggressive.” The woman refused to look Rey in the eye. “We have to sedate her.”

Rey almost believed them. She wanted to believe them. But something wasn’t right about their story. A six-year-old girl with no training would have no clue how to ‘close herself off’ from the Force. She stepped up to the chaise and squatted down next to Talia. The little girl reacted by opening her eyes suddenly, startled. Her bright green eyes were unfocused, and they were red rimmed and swollen, as if she had been doing a lot of crying. She blinked several times, trying to concentrate her gaze on Rey.

“Hello, Talia,” Rey said softly. “I’m Rey.”

“Help,” the little girl whispered. Rey drew back slightly and looked up at the child’s mother, who was now wiping tears from her own face.

She looked back at the child. “How?” she demanded. “How can I help?”

“She needs more Millaflower,” Uli answered. “It relaxes and soothes her,” he said. “We have been out of it for a while. I need to get to the market and buy some, but I didn’t want to leave my wife and daughter alone.” He looked at them questioningly. “Now that you’re here, maybe I can get some?”

Chewie growled and Finn asked, “How long will you be gone?”

Uli shrugged. “It depends. The market is very busy this time of day and it may be hard to find what I want. I know of a couple of venders that have sold it in the past, so I’ll try them first, of course.” He looked at Finn. “If I had someone to help me, I would greatly appreciate it.”

Finn looked at Rey. “Is it the only thing that helps her?” Rey asked Uli.

The man nodded. “Unless you and your magic can do anything?”

Since Rey didn’t know exactly what the problem was, she had to shake her head. “I can stay with her. Try to work with her. But I’m afraid whatever is wrong with her is beyond my capabilities to help.” She looked at Finn. “It’s up to you.”

“We’d get back here faster if I help him look,” Finn said. “As long as Chewie is with you and you both stay inside, I don’t see a problem.”

“Neither do I,” Rey admitted grudgingly. Chewie moaned. It was obvious he wasn’t comfortable splitting up, and Rey actually agreed with him, but if they could stabilize the girl and get answers, then maybe they could get out of here faster. “Do it.”

Finn looked at Uli. “Let’s go!”

Uli nodded and looked at his wife. She sniffled and nodded at him. Some silent message passed between them, and Rey was aware of it, but she let it go. They were tired, scared, and confused. They were obviously distraught over their daughter and Rey wasn’t going to accuse them of anything nefarious. Not yet.

She watched as Finn headed out the door with Uli. “Stay in contact,” she called out. Finn raised his hand to acknowledge her and then he was gone.

Rey turned back toward the girl. “Talia,” she said softly. “I’m going to do something that might frighten you a bit. But you don’t need to be frightened. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She wasn’t sure the girl even understood her, but it didn’t matter. The child was so weak she would not be able to fight even if she wanted to. Rey closed her eyes and drew in the Force around her. She could still feel the darkness, but it wasn’t any stronger here than it had been outside. She kept up her barriers, ignoring the dull ache in her head that would most likely remain until she left this wicked world. She pushed into the girl’s mind, gently and without rushing. She pushed back Talia’s natural barriers, barriers just like the ones she had learned to re-enforce on the fly in her not-so-distant past in another wicked place called Starkiller Base. She now drilled her students on how to use these barriers frequently; having your mind probed forcefully wasn’t a pleasant experience. Because she knew what it felt like, she was extremely careful with this little girl. This was not something she had ever thought she would do, but she felt it was a necessary evil today.

She began to pick through Talia’s thoughts and memories. What she saw confused her. And scared her. Darkness. That was a given. The Dark Side was everywhere in the child’s psyche. A face. Not one of her parents. Older. Wrinkled and worn. Somehow familiar. It wasn’t just the Dark Side affecting this girl. Someone was controlling it. Tendrils of darkness floated about like smoke. She pushed them away with her wall of light, then began plowing through all of it with that same light, chasing it out. Forcing it out. She heard Talia start to whimper. She heard her mother gasp, “What are you doing?!” She heard Chewie trying to soothe the woman, and Threepio’s sudden “Oh, my!”

Rey’s eyes opened and she looked down at Talia, who was looking at her with clarity for the first time. The child started to smile, but then her eyes widened with fear. “Look out!”

Rey stood and turned, her hand going for her lightsaber as she saw Chewie crumple to the ground. Lightsaber in hand, she felt the dart hit her neck before she could ignite it. She immediately drew on the Force to try and block whatever substance had just been injected into her, but the energy she needed was still focused on Talia, and it wasn’t getting to where Rey needed it fast enough. “No!” she gasped as she felt the sedative take effect. “Shaina!” she cried as she fell.

The last thing she heard was Talia’s mother scream.

******

Panic hit Finn hard, like a punch in the stomach. “Rey!” Then it was gone.

Uli Bernadini looked over at him as he sat in the driver’s seat of the older model speeder they were using to get to the market. “What is wrong?”

Finn looked at him. “My friend, Rey. Something happened.” He reached out, hoping and praying his connection to her would tell him what had made her panic so suddenly. But he couldn’t find her. That wasn’t right. They weren’t that far away from the house, yet. He had been able to feel Rey’s presence in the Force from much longer distances in the past; it was a testament to their bond, which had been forged one fateful day on Jakku more than two years ago. “We need to go back,” he told Bernadini.

“What?” the older man said. “But we’re nearly there!”

“We need to go back, now!” Finn argued. “Something is wrong at your house!” he added, making it personal. “Your wife and daughter could be in danger!”

The fear in the man’s eyes increased and he gave a sharp nod. It wasn’t easy to pull out of the skylane and it took even more time to work their way safely into another one heading back from where they had come from. Soon, they dipped down toward the Bernadini residence and Uli pulled the speeder up to the gate. Finn jumped out before the machine had even made a full stop, still trying to connect with Rey. He halted sharply at the gate, which was closed. He waited impatiently for Uli to get there and punch in the code to enter, then he ran, his heart already racing madly.

He bolted into the house and made a beeline for the second room. Immediately he saw Chewie lying prone on the ground. His eyes scanned the room. Elora was in a chair next to her daughter, her face in her hands, weeping. Talia was sitting up, but she was huddled in the back corner of the chaise, hugging her knees to her chest, her face pale. She was rocking herself back and forth.

“Master Finn!” Threepio called from the far-right side of the room. “Thank the Maker you’re here!” Finn looked over at the droid, who had some kind of restraining bolt on his chest and was standing like a statue, obviously unable to move. But he could still speak. “They took Mistress Rey! And I think they killed poor Chewbacca!”

Finn rushed to Chewie’s side and dropped down next to the Wookiee. He searched for a pulse, burrowing his hand into Chewie’s thick pelt, and finally found it. He also noticed the Wookiee’s chest rising and falling regularly. Not dead. Just drugged.

Finn stood and turned toward the Bernadinis. Uli had made his way over to his wife and was standing with his hand on her shoulder, looking at Finn fearfully.

“This was planned!” Finn snarled. “This was a trap of some kind, wasn’t it?” He stalked toward the couple. “Who was here? Who took Rey?”

Elora started weeping again, but Finn felt no sympathy for her. Uli straightened his spine and looked at Finn. “He did this to our daughter. He told us he would never let her go if we didn’t continue to ask for the Jedi to come here. He was killing her!” His voice was rough, and Finn heard the absolute fear in it. “We hoped Skywalker wouldn’t come while at the same time we prayed she would. Our Talia was suffering!”

Finn continued glowering at them, his temper seething. He might empathize with them. Later. For now, he wanted only one thing. “Who?” he demanded again. “Who is doing this?”

Uli took a deep breath. “His name is Yarow Rumam,” the man said softly. “He was a Republic senator who represented Coruscant. He disappeared after Hosnian Prime was destroyed. Everyone believed he had died in that tragedy.” He took another breath. “He arrived here not long after I sent the first message to the Resistance about Talia.” He shook his head. “He had always been curious about her, as if he knew what she was.”

“So, you knew him?” Finn asked. “Before the Hosnian System was destroyed?”

Uli nodded. “I was a regional senator here on Coruscant up until recently. I worked with him several times.” He looked at Finn with scared, sad eyes. “He was the one who found Talia for us.”

“Found her? What do you mean?”

“She’s adopted,” Elora said softly. “We can’t have children of our own. Rumam had contacts and put us in touch with her real mother, who wanted to give her up.” She looked at Finn imploringly. “She came to us as a newborn. She belongs with us.” While she spoke, she reached over toward her daughter. Though Talia still looked terrified, she reached out and took her mother’s hand. Her green eyes bored into Finn’s, begging for help.

“Do you know where he might have taken Rey?” Finn asked the couple, still looking at Talia. He could feel the Force in her gaze. It was very strong for one so young.

Both Uli and his wife shook their heads. “He let Talia go,” Elora whispered. “He’s gone.”

“That doesn’t mean he won’t be back,” Finn argued. “If he’s after Rey for what she is, a Jedi, then Talia’s talents will eventually draw him back here, too.”

“I don’t think it’s Rey he wants,” Uli said softly.

Finn looked at him, confused for a moment. Realization came to him in a dreadful rush.

“The baby?”

******

Rey’s first thought as she fought to regain consciousness was about her baby. Instinctively, she reached for her child through the Force. And found… nothing.

The panic that flooded through her woke her up completely, and her eyes shot open. She scanned the room she was in quickly, determining she was alone, then looked at her belly. Just then, her little girl kicked, and then moved some more. Rey felt her panic ease as she was physically reassured of her child’s wellbeing, but confusion filled her at the same time because she sensed nothing. Not from her baby. Not from any other being nearby. Not from the trillions of beings on the planet she knew she must still be on. Nothing.

The panic began to quicken again. This was what it must feel like to go blind, she thought. Though Rey had had no knowledge of the Force or of what she was capable of while growing up on Jakku, she had always had it. Her abilities, both physical and mental, had been heightened from the time she was a child and been as much a part of her as breathing; she had only recognized them as something special and different from others when she met her match in Kylo Ren. It was as if he had turned a light on in her soul, illuminating the power inside her. Now, for the first time in her life, it was gone.

How?

She looked about the room she was in. It was dark, with only a small overhead light above her and two large, vertical panels emitting a bluish glow and standing about 6 feet tall on either side of her. While they weren’t that bright, they were humming with energy, and the sound made her head hurt in a similar way that Dark Side energy did. She looked down at her abdomen again, still relieved to feel the baby moving; she was probably agitated. Because her mother was agitated? Or because she also felt the loss of the Force and the connection she shared with her mother through it? Rey looked at the simple ropes that tied her arms to the chair and felt similar ties on her legs. Had she had the Force at her disposal, escape would have been simple. But now, she was truly a captive.

Once more, she felt the panic creep in and she began to start some basic breathing exercises, helping to get her heart rate down. She didn’t know who had done this. She didn’t know if Chewie was also a captive or dead. She didn’t know what had happened to Threepio or Talia. But she did know two things: She must not show fear and she must not let them know Finn could use the Force. If anyone could help her now, it was him.

As long as Uli Bernadini hadn’t already killed him.

Stop! Breathe. Think positive. Think of Poe. No! Don’t think of Poe. You don’t need to think about how if something should happen to you or the baby, he will never get over it. But he always has hope. He never gives up. Think of that.

A door behind her opened suddenly. She took a deep breath and composed herself. Three human men walked around behind the panels and moved in front of her, facing her. Two were young, tall, good looking. She recognized one of them. Darius Meechum. An actor, famous for some sensational holodramas. Rey had only ever seen one, but several young women (and some men) she worked with thought he was the bees-knees. Rey had never understood why. But then, she was married to a handsome real-life hero, and no fake holo hero was going to compare to him. The other young man looked as if he could be a holo star, too, but she didn’t recognize him.

The third man was obviously the one in charge. He was far older and his lined face showed his age, but his eyes were still bright and intelligent. His face was the one she remembered from her exploration of Talia’s mind. He was the one who had put the darkness in the girl’s psyche. She knew him, but she couldn’t place where.

She looked at them silently, assessing them as best she could with her limited abilities. The two younger men looked at the older one, waiting to follow his lead, she thought. But the old man just stared back at her for a long time. Rey stayed silent.

Finally, the man smiled and looked at his companions. “Look at her!” he said. “So stoic! Even as frail as she is, she refuses to be the first to give in.” The other men laughed. Rey eyed them, letting the anger she was feeling come to the fore, but not letting it control her. The Force had taught her how to do that; it didn’t matter that she couldn’t use it right now.

“Who is Shaina?” the old man asked. “You called out for Shaina before you fell.”

Rey stayed silent.

He tilted his head, then asked, “How do you like being mortal?”

Rey finally decided to respond. “I’ve always been mortal,“ she said softly. “I’ve faced death many times. Never have I thought I could cheat it.” She glanced at the panels, still buzzing away. “I’m assuming these are why you think you have me trapped?”

“Think, my dear?” he replied. “I don’t think. I know. And yes, these unique instruments were invented many years ago by the most brilliant man this galaxy has ever known. They deaden the Force. Amazing, aren’t they?” He frowned. “Sadly, he couldn’t seem to make them larger than this and still work, so they are only effective in small areas like this.” He sighed. “It would have made Order 66 so much easier.” Again, he smiled at the other men. “Of course, it worked well enough, didn’t it?”

Rey had tried not to show any reaction to the words she was hearing, but she couldn’t help it. “Order 66? You mean..?”

The old man nodded. “Yes, these magnificent machines were invented by your grandfather.”

Rey snorted. “Sidious, you mean? I long ago refused to acknowledge him as family.”

“Oh, I know,” the man said softly, his voice smooth but still carrying venom. “I was there.”

Rey felt her heart start racing at his words. Not possible, she thought. They all died. All those beings in the temple had died. Hadn’t they?

The man stared at her, a smirk on his face. “You’re thinking we were all destroyed, aren’t you?” He shook his head. “I don’t need the Force to read your expression. There were thousands of the Sith Eternal there that day, and you think your actions killed us all?”

She stayed silent. When she had left the Sith Citadel that day, she had been completely unaware whether any of them had survived. Ben Solo had died in her arms after giving his life for hers, and her friends, including her future husband, were still fighting above her in the skies above Exegol, having been joined by thousands of beings from all over the galaxy, determined to ensure evil would be defeated. She really hadn’t cared about what she left behind. She had just wanted out.

She glanced at the two younger men. “And are these two lucky survivors as well?” she asked sarcastically.

“These men are my apprentices,” the old one said.

Rey laughed. “Apprentices? To what? An old Sith Loyalist whose leader is long dead?” She was taking a chance here, but even without the Force, she felt it was the right direction to go. “You aren’t a Sith. In fact, I’ll bet you that little girl you were torturing has more affinity with the Force than you’ll ever have.”

Judging by his expression, she had struck a nerve. After what she had seen in Talia’s mind, she had no doubt this man could control the Force to an extent, but probably not much more than Finn could. Some Force users could strike a match. Others could start the forest on fire. “I’m sure messing with the mind of a helpless six-year-old made you feel powerful,” she continued. “Turn off these machines,” she whispered. “Let’s see how strong you really are.”

The two ‘apprentices’ made aggressive moves toward her, but the old man held up his hand. “No,” he told them. “She’s trying to get us riled on purpose. Don’t let her get to you.” He took a step closer. “It doesn’t matter how much control of the Force I have,” he told her softly. “It only matters how much of the Force I can control through others.” He glanced down at her abdomen. “If I train them from birth, I will have my very own Sith army in no time.”

Rey felt the blood drain from her face. “Over my dead body.”

“If you insist.” He smirked again, then backed away. Motioning to his two men, the three of them left the room.

Rey closed her eyes, willing the tears forming in them away. She tried pushing past the pain in her head, tried pushing past the unnatural barrier that prevented her from feeling the Force. It was no use. She opened her eyes and let the tears fall. “Finn. Please. Find us.”

******

Finn worked at prying the restraining bolt off of Threepio’s chest, and heard Chewie grunt behind him. He was starting to wake up. The bolt finally popped off.

“Oh, thank you, Master Finn,” Threepio gushed.

“Find the comm station and contact the Resistance,” Finn told him. “Tell them it’s a Code Red. Don’t give any other information.” That alone should bring the cavalry.

“Yes, Master Finn,” Threepio replied and turned toward the other room where they both knew the comm system for the house was.

Finn turned toward Chewie, who was just sitting up from his prone position on the floor. He was holding his head and groaning.

“Chewie!” Finn said. “How are you doing?” He squatted down next to the Wookiee. Chewie’s blurry eyes tried to focus on him, then they suddenly went wide.

With a roar, the Wookiee jumped onto his feet, swaying a bit, eyes searching the room.

“She’s gone,” Finn told him, standing as well. “Some Coruscanti Senator took her.”

Chewie roared again, and Finn felt very glad the Wookiee considered him a friend at that moment. He saw the Bernadinis flinch out of the corner of his eye. All except Talia. She was staring at the Wookiee with wonder in her eyes.

“The message has been sent and has been validated by the Resistance,” Threepio said as he returned from the other room.

Chewie looked at Finn. “I can’t feel her, Chewie,” he explained. “I don’t know how to find her. We need help.”

Chewie growled again, turning toward the Bernadinis. “I’ll find her.”

Finn grabbed his arm lightly. “They don’t know anything other than who took her,” he explained. “The man is the one who has been torturing their little girl. She was the lure for this trap.” Chewie looked at Talia, then turned to Finn again. “We think whoever he is wants the baby.”

The rage in the Wookiee’s eyes was unmistakable.

Finn suddenly had a thought. He turned to the golden droid who had remained silent while Chewie had raged. “Threepio, was he alone?”

“Oh, no, sir!” Threepio exclaimed. “I’m actually glad you asked that. Both Darius Meechum and Tetran Cowall were with him!”

Finn frowned. “The holo-actors?”

“Yes!” Threepio exclaimed. “I was rather shocked to see them myself.”

“Henchmen,” Uli Bernadini said, a growl in his voice. “They make money hand and fist making their silly holo-dramas, and then give it all to their secret club. They act as Rumam’s bodyguards when they’re not preening in front of cameras.”

“And what exactly is their ‘secret club’?” Finn asked.

Uli shrugged. “I do not know what they call themselves.”

“If I may, sir,” Threepio interjected. “The men had a hex charm insignia on their jackets.”

Chewie’s growl was low and menacing.

Finn felt like growling along with him. “Sith?!” He rubbed his face with his hands, and felt like screaming into them, but held it back. “Okay, we can work with this. Threepio, is there any way you can tell me if there are any Sith Temples on Coruscant and where they’re located?”

“Well, Artoo would be better suited for that job,” Threepio started to say, but when Chewie turned his glower toward him, he amended, “but I think I can probably do a search manually through the Bernadini’s server.” He looked at the couple hopefully.

They stared back at him, not really comprehending what was going on. But Talia had been following the conversation intently. She jumped up from the chaise and made her way toward the droid. “I can show you,” she said softly and took the droid’s hand, leading him back into the other room where the main computer server was.

Chewie growled that they needed to get back to the Falcon and get more weapons. He had not brought his bowcaster along and Finn only had one blaster. Finn looked at the Bernadinis. “We’re going to need your speeder.”

Uli nodded. “Of course,” he said. “If you think you can truly find your friend, you can use anything you need.”

“Chewie,” Finn looked at the Wookie. “As soon as Threepio gets that information, we’ll head back to the Falcon and…”

“I’ve got it!” Threepio sang from the other room. They both followed his voice, only to find the little girl sitting at the computer with Threepio standing behind her. “Well, actually, she got it,” Threepio said, a bit more subdued.

On the screen in front of Talia was a list of what were claimed as ‘abandoned Sith Temples.’ There were over 30 of them. “Are there any close to us?” Finn asked.

Typing slowly, the little red-haired girl made her query. Three names popped up on the screen. “These are the ones that are within 10 kilometers,” Threepio stated.

Uli Bernadini and his wife had followed them into the room and Uli, seeing the names, shook his head. He pointed to the name at the top. “That’s not a Sith Temple,” he scoffed. “That’s the headquarters for the Mecrosa Order. They’re harmless.”

Finn looked at him. “Any celebrities in that Order?” he asked.

Uli looked startled, then nodded slowly. “Celebrities. Politicians. Wealthy Elite of Coruscant.” His eyes were wide.

“You?” Finn asked, his voice hard.

Uli shook his head. “My family has not been associated with it for generations. I had always assumed we were not wealthy enough.”

Finn looked at the screen again. The Temple in question sat on the edge of an abandoned air field, one built over 50 years ago for use during the Clone Wars. It was just too convenient. He closed his eyes and focused on the Force once more, trying to connect with Rey or at least sense some echo of her presence. He didn’t feel anything immediately, but when he opened his eyes again, he knew. “She’s there. She has to be.” He looked at Chewie. The Wookiee shrugged. It wasn’t like they had any other options.

“Then let’s go.”

******

Two other men came into the room shortly after her kidnapper had left. They were older than the two actors, faces hardened, and they were heavily armed. The real muscle, she thought to herself. They untied her and while one took her arm and pulled her up out of the chair, leading her out of the room, the other took a hold of one of the Force blocking panels and pushed it along on wheels behind them, ensuring it stayed close to her. She gave a brief thought to fighting them. Even without the Force, she was very adept at self-defense, but she was also aware that her balance was off due to the baby, and the thought of risking her daughter in a physical confrontation did not sit well with her, either. She would bide her time, sure she would either get her opportunity later or that Finn would show up with help. They lead her to a tiny fresher, for which she was extremely grateful, then offered her some bread and water. She ate, knowing now they were not going to harm her; not until the baby was safely delivered, anyway. Afterwards, they lead her back to the chair and tied her up again. She glared at them, keeping her muscles tense in hope that when she relaxed them later the ropes would be loose. But they knew what they were doing. After they left, she worked at the ropes anyway, knowing it was no use, but since she couldn’t do anything else but worry, she might as well keep herself busy. She felt more than a little disgusted about being put back in the uncomfortable chair; her back was already hurting like the blazes from the forced position, and she was so very tired.

Eventually, despite not being able to lay down or even rest her head, she dozed off. Her dreams were disjointed and filled with anxiety. She saw Ben watching her, compassion and adoration in his eyes, only it wasn’t Ben, because he had the scar that she had given him on Starkiller still on his face. That scar had disappeared when she had healed him on Kef Bir. Then the man looking at her was Poe, only there was no affection in his eyes. Only anger and disappointment that she hadn’t listened to him and gone to Coruscant, risking herself and their child. She tried to call out to him, but he turned away from her. Then Finn was there, calling her name, scared and frantic, standing over Chewie’s body.

She jerked awake, her conscious brain already telling her it was a dream, not a vision; she couldn’t have visions without the Force. She was breathing hard and trembling nonetheless. Her eyes focused in the dim room, and she realized the old man was there with her, sitting in another chair and watching her silently. She shifted as much as the ropes allowed in the chair, trying to find some comfort for herself and the baby, eyeing him. Though she couldn’t see them, she knew the two ‘apprentices’ must be behind her somewhere.

“Who are you?” she asked quietly. She would take whatever information she could right now. Knowledge was power.

He stared at her quietly for a while. “My name is Yarow Rumam,” he finally told her. “I was a senator for the New Republic. Now I am the Grand Master of the Mecrosa Order.”

Rey heard soft shuffling coming from behind her. Rey recognized the name from one of the Sacred texts she had acquired from Ahch-To. She nodded. “If memory serves,” she replied, “the Mecrosa Order were once Sith assassins.” She tilted her head at him. “I’m guessing not many people here on Coruscant know that?”

“I’m impressed,” Rumam said. “And you are correct. As criminally crowded as Coruscant is, even they would not look kindly on the Sith.”

Rey let her curiosity flow. “I’ve seen you before, but I can’t place where.” She waited, knowing Rumam’s ego wouldn’t let him pass up an opportunity to tell Rey something she couldn’t remember.

“The Supremacy,” he told her smugly.

Rey looked back in her memory. She hadn’t been on the Supremacy long, and most of that time had been in Snoke’s throne room. But she did remember passing several officers and troopers as she had been led from the hanger bay to Snoke… and one man in civilian clothing. “You must have gotten lucky there, too,” she told him. “Seeing as it was destroyed not long after I arrived.”

“Along with Snoke,” he growled. “You left quite a path of destruction behind you back then.” His smirk was long gone.

“Oh, I wasn’t to blame for either of those incidents,” she told him with a small smile. “The Resistance destroyed the Supremacy. And Kylo Ren destroyed Snoke.”

Rumam frowned. “Ren?”

“He told everyone I had done it, didn’t he?” She shook her head. “He was just super pissed I had refused his offer to join him in ruling the First Order. Men have fragile egos, don’t they?” She looked at the senator with innocent eyes.

She could see Rumam seething, but then he glanced at her belly. “You’re due soon, are you not?” He stood suddenly, glaring down at her. “We may just induce you sooner rather than later, so I can shut your smart mouth for good.” With that, he stalked past her, and she heard the others follow him out.

She smiled softly when the baby kicked a bit. “No worries. Your Uncle Finn will be here before that happens,” she told her. She adjusted her position again, trying to stretch her sore back. “I hope.”

******

Uli’s speeder was old and not very fast, but it served its purpose, getting Finn, Chewie, and Threepio back to the Falcon. Once there, Finn and Chewie set out to choose their weapons from among the rather eclectic armory that had once belonged to Han Solo; Chewie and Rey had added to it within the last couple of years, of course. Soon, the two were ready. “Threepio, stay here,” Finn told the protocol droid. “When the Resistance gets here, direct them to that temple. If we find out that’s not where we need to be, I’ll notify you.”

“I will certainly do so, Master Finn,” Threepio responded, relief that he wasn’t required to come along evident in his voice. “Please bring back Mistress Rey!”

“We will,” Finn said with assurance.

They climbed into the speeder, Chewie at the controls, and they headed out, quickly entering one of the major skylanes that would take them close to the old air field. Once near, they dropped out and found the skies around the wide-open area almost devoid of traffic. It was a pleasant surprise, but Finn knew it probably wasn’t a coincidence that they had chosen an old temple off the beaten track.

They could see the temple on the north side of the field. It looked small and unintimidating sitting next to the 2 square kilometer open area, but as they got closer Finn could feel how powerful it really was. The Dark Side that Rey had felt easily upon her arrival to Coruscant was finally making itself known to Finn. The whole area was saturated with it.

Chewie pulled up to the front of the building and they both took note of the handful of speeders parked off to the side, most very expensive models, some with droid drivers waiting patiently for their masters to come out. Finn shook his head. “Evil cult disguised as a rich boys club,” he groused.

Chewie grumbled a question.

“No, I still don’t sense her,” Finn told him. “But she has to be here, don’t you think?”

Chewie looked at him with worry and moaned.

“No!” Finn argued. “She can’t be dead. I would have for sure felt that.” He already knew what that felt like, as a matter of fact. Chewie had been with him when he had felt Rey die on Exegol. He had let everyone believe that he had been mistaken when Rey had shown up in Luke’s X-wing later, but when Rey had taken the time to explain what exactly had happened after the Emperor’s defeat, Poe and Chewie had both realized that Finn had not been wrong after all.

Chewie stopped the speeder and the two got out and walked to the front door. Though armed to the teeth, they had both secured their weapons in a way that made them not so obvious; they didn’t need to get the full attention of any security right away. Finn pressed the comm button on the door, and a TT-8L gatekeeper droid popped out to greet them.

“Password?” it demanded in Basic.

Finn tilted his head at it. “I just learned that Tetran Cowall is here. I’m a huge fan!” he gushed. “Is there any way I could get an autograph?”

The electronic eyeball zoomed in on him, then swung around to face Chewie, who was doing his best to look innocent, then back to Finn. “Wait here,” it told them, then disappeared back into its hole.

Finn and Chewie looked at each other. “Well, that’s better the being told to sod off,” Finn shrugged.

Suddenly, the door opened and a young woman with pale blonde hair looked out. She seemed ill at ease, but her voice held some level of confidence. “I’m sorry, Mr. Cowall doesn’t greet fans at his private club. You’ll have to wait until his next formal appearance at the Dragon Wing next week.” Finn assumed the Dragon Wing was a nightclub or other entertainment venue.

“But we’ll be gone by next week,” Finn whined.

Chewie nodded and stepped to the side slightly, facing Finn, grumbling at him and waving his arms in consternation.

“I know, I know!” Finn responded. “I’ll guess we’ll just have to…”

Chewie turned suddenly, plucked the woman out of the doorway, and set her as gently as possible to the side.

“…move you out of the way,” Finn finished, dodging in the now clear doorway. Chewie ducked in behind him, ignoring the wailing coming from the woman behind them.

“No! You can’t go in there!”

An alarm sounded almost immediately, but they pushed forward, bringing their weapons to bear. Finn reached out into the Force as much as he could. Still no Rey. But, wait! While the whole atmosphere of the building was riddled with the Dark Side, there was one spot that was… empty. It was like a giant hole in the middle of space. He looked at Chewie. “This way!” Chewie didn’t argue as Finn headed in the direction of the anomaly.

The had rounded two corners on their journey when the first security guards found them. It was quite obvious nothing like this had ever happened here before, and they were completely unprepared. They were young, inexperienced, and Finn felt a bit guilty as he and Chewie took them out without any difficulty, but when he noticed the Sith Eternal crest on the sleeves of their uniforms, his remorse eased. He moved forward, Chewie watching his back. These newbie Sith wannabes stood no chance against a former First Order stormtrooper and a battle hardened Wookiee.

Finn kept following his senses to the empty area and he finally led Chewie to a locked door. They could hear shouting throughout the building, now. Everyone knew what was going on, and eventually they would organize themselves better and put up more of a fight. But Finn was sure they had reached their goal. With one shot, he blasted the door open and stepped in. The nothingness he had felt was here. In front of him was a large chair facing away from the door. Two glowing, tall panels stood on either side of the chair, and though he couldn’t see around the high back of it, he knew who was sitting in it. He quickly rounded it, and smiled broadly at what he saw.

“It’s about damn time,” Rey told him, grinning.

“Aw, you have no idea!” Finn responded.

Chewie roared and ran around the chair, trying to hug Rey and untie her at the same time, telling her all they had done to get here and that it was Finn and the little girl Talia that had done most of the work. “Of course, they did,” Rey said with a smile.

Shaking his head, Finn noticed something on the table next to the door they had just used and rushed to grab it before any more security showed up. He brought it to Rey as she stood on trembling legs, shaking her arms and hands to get circulation back into them.

She took the lightsaber gratefully. “Thank you,” she told him, giving him a quick hug. “Asses knew I couldn’t get to it, even when it was that close.” She stepped back and ignited the yellow blade. “That’s about to change.” With two quick strokes, she sliced the two blue panels in half. Finn felt the Force return immediately. Rey grinned and took a deep breath. “That’s better,” she said. “Now, let’s get out of here.”

******

Rey’s relief at the arrival of her friends was extraordinary, but her relief at getting the Force back was even more so. She could see again. And while she was truthful in her statement about wanting to get out of there, she knew there was something she had to do first. She led Finn and Chewie into the hall outside the room she had been kept, lightsaber before her. Finn nudged her and nodded down toward the right, and she knew that was the direction they had come from. However, Rey knew she needed to go left.

“I need to say goodbye to my host, first,” she told them wryly. “You can come if you want. I’m sure he’d love to meet you.” She didn’t even try to hold back her sarcasm. She was starting to sound more and more like Poe, she thought.

“Hell, I’d love to meet him, too,” Finn said darkly, and Chewie echoed his sentiment.

With a grim smile, Rey led the way down the corridor to the left. The few security they came upon may have been better prepared now than they were when Finn and Chewie first broke into the place, but they were still not prepared for a Jedi. Finn and Chewie both stood back and let her breeze through them with ease. The tight confines of the hallways only made it easier for Rey to cut through them, and it didn’t take long for the survivors to figure out it was suicide to try and stop her; they dropped their weapons and ran.

Rey turned another corner and entered a large room with a long table in the center. Several men, all human, were standing on the far side of the table, watching the door Rey entered through with trepidation. Rey recognized the two actors/apprentices among the group. She stood there, Finn and Chewie coming in behind her and flanking her, watching them with amusement. She drew in the Force around her, filtering out the darkness, and looked at them individually. Finally, she said, “Leave. Now.” Without any hesitation, they scattered.

Finn leaned in to her. “You’re letting them go?”

“Not a one of them has any Force sensitivity,” she explained. “They’re just puny men with big egos. As annoying as that is, it’s not worth a death sentence.”

She looked at the one man that remained. The only one who wasn’t scared of her. The only one who should have been.

Rumam looked at Finn and Chewie. “Another Force user?” he said, not really asking a question. “And a Wookiee, naturally Force sensitive. I had hoped I had killed the Wookiee. I had no idea I had to worry about the traitor.”

Rey smiled. “I know,” she told him. “I was counting on that.”

They stared at each other for a long time. Rey could feel both of her friends tensing up behind her, but she remained calm. Her tired legs, her full bladder, her aching back… none of it mattered right now. This man had to die, but she wasn’t going to execute him.

That wasn’t the Jedi way.

With an abruptness that made both Finn and Chewie jump, Rumam sent a virbroblade hurling toward Rey, then brought up a blaster with a quickness that belied his age. Rey sent the blade flying off to the side with a swipe of the Force while both Chewie and Finn fired their weapons. Neither would know whose shot had been the one to kill the pseudo-Sith, and that was the way it should be.

Rey sighed and closed down her lightsaber. She wasn’t worried about anyone else in the temple. In fact, she could sense very few people left.

Suddenly, she was alerted to something else far more important. She turned and looked at Finn, who was just holstering his blaster. “You called in the Resistance, didn’t you?”

Finn looked a bit embarrassed. “Well, I had to. I couldn’t feel you anywhere and I sure as heck wasn’t going to trust the locals to help.” He gave her a side-long look. “Why?”

Rey returned the look. “Poe’s here. And he’s not happy.”

As she headed out of the room, she saw Chewie and Finn give each other a look. “We are so dead,” Finn mumbled.

Rey laughed as she led them back through the corridors they had come through. “Why do you say that?” she asked. “I’m the one who made all the bad decisions,” she said. “The only choice you made on your own was to rescue me. If he’s going to be mad at anyone, it’s going to be me.” She frowned as she remembered her half-dream from earlier.

They came to the exit just in time to see the last of the speeders zooming away from the temple, with some people on foot racing off across the landing field, not willing to wait for public transportation to come and get them.

Finn looked back at the temple. “Should we do something about this place?” he asked.

Chewie was all for burning it to the ground.

Rey shook her head. “It’s not like there aren’t places like this scattered all over Coruscant,” she said. “Burning it won’t get rid of the Dark Side energy imbued in this place.”

Suddenly a tremendous roar shook the ground they were standing on and three X-Wing fighters shot by overhead. Rey watched as they flew upward, the two on the side peeling off and continuing their circuit of the area, having already flown through the mess of traffic that was Coruscant’s atmosphere (without assistance, she was sure) to get to this calm area. The third looped up and around, spinning back toward the temple. Rey started to run forward, watching as it decreased its speed significantly on its decent, heading right for her. The landing gear deployed at the last minute and Rey stopped sharply just as the X-Wing touched down not 20 yards in front of her. She waited, breathing hard, tears forming in her eyes. Damn hormones, she thought to herself.

Then the canopy was up and Poe jumped out without removing his helmet or gloves. He stalked toward her, taking off the helmet and dropping it on the concrete landing field. His gloves followed. Rey was vaguely aware of BB-8 rolling along behind him. She let the tears fall as she threw herself into his arms.

“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry. You were right. I should have listened to you, Poe!” Arms tight around his neck, she gripped the flight suit over his shoulders as if she was never going to let go. “I should have listened to you.”

He stayed silent, just holding her.

Rey felt Chewie and Finn come up behind her and heard BB-8 settle himself at their feet. She sniffled and moved back, scared to look Poe in the eye. When she did, the tears she saw there made her cry even harder. “Stop,” he whispered, bringing his forehead in to touch hers. He brought a hand up to wipe her tears. “It’s okay.”

She took a deep breath. Where was the confident Jedi that just wiped out a Sith temple, she wondered? When she looked at her husband again, his eyes were soft and adoring, nothing like the eyes she had seen in her dream from earlier. Any anger he had felt was long gone.

Poe looked past her at Finn. “So, want to tell me what the hell happened here?”

“Well, we found the little girl and her family,” Finn started.

Chewie continued, explaining how the little girl was being manipulated by a Dark Force user, a Sith.

“He used Talia’s family to get me out of the house, then he and his cronies drugged both Chewie and Rey and they took her,” Finn went on.

Chewie added that they wanted the baby.

Rey finally interrupted. “But Finn and Talia figured out where I was and he and Chewie came and rescued me.”

Poe stood there, looking from one to the other in confusion. “I know there’s a lot more to this, but I think it can wait.” He looked past them toward the temple. “Where’s Goldenrod?”

Rey had to smile at Poe’s nickname for C-3PO. Ever since he found out that’s what Han had called the droid, he had started using it, too.

“He’s babysitting the Falcon,” Finn told him.

“And the wannabe Sith?”

“Dead,” Rey announced.

“Good,” Poe said. “Any others we need to worry about?”

Rey thought for a moment. “There may be other survivors, but I highly doubt we’ll need to worry about them.” She paused. “Not for a long while, anyway.”

“So, we can go home now?” Poe asked. He still had an arm around her, and she wondered if he would be able to let her go long enough for them to get home.

“Yes, please,” Finn said. He looked exhausted.

“We have to set things up with Talia’s family, first,” Rey told them.

They all looked at her with disbelief.

“What?” she queried. “She helped save my life. And she’s tremendously gifted. I’m not leaving her here.”

Poe sighed. “Okay, but you guys get back to the Falcon, first,” he said. “I’ll meet you there and come with you to speak with this girl and her family.”

Rey smiled. “That sounds perfect,” she told him.

He looked at her intently, then he placed the hand not wrapped around her shoulders on her belly and kissed her. She heard Finn and Chewie mumble and wander off toward the speeder. “Just take your time,” Finn called out. “We’ll wait!”

******

It was decided that Talia would come with both of her parents in a few days time, allowing them to settle things on Coruscant first. Not only were they not willing to let Talia go by herself, but they were more than happy to leave Coruscant behind them. Rey was very okay with this decision, even if both Finn and Chewie were still more than a little upset at being deceived by the family on their arrival. It wasn’t until they were back in the Falcon and getting directions from flight control on how to get off world safely (Poe and his pilots hadn’t needed help; people got out of the way when they saw X-Wings coming) that Rey began to suspect something was wrong.

Or right, she thought. Her back pain had become more intense, and the spasms seemed to be inching around toward her abdomen. About mid-way between Coruscant and Ajan Kloss, Rey felt her water break, and realized that she had been having contractions, not back spasms. She had been in labor since before Finn and Chewie had found her! She tried to stay relaxed, listening to the chatter between Finn and Threepio, but Finn kept looking at her oddly. Chewie also seemed to realize something was off with her.

“Rey?” Finn finally asked.

“Can we make sure medical is ready when we get on the ground?” she asked them softly. A contraction stronger than any yet hit her just then and she winced.

Finn started to panic. “Geez! Is it the baby? Is something wrong with the baby?”

Rey grabbed his arm. “It’s okay, Finn. It’s just labor. I don’t feel anything wrong. It’s normal!” She hoped, anyway. She’d never done this before.

Chewie growled at her to get back to the hold and lay down on the bunk, that he could bring the Falcon in just fine by himself. Rey didn’t argue.

Finn and Threepio followed her back, and Finn wouldn’t leave her alone. He found as many pillows and blankets as he could so she would be comfortable. He offered her water, food, wanted to know if she would like some music. She finally rolled her eyes at him. “Just sit down and talk to me,” she demanded. “Distract me.”

But Finn’s distractions only worked so much. The contractions got stronger and they got closer together. The pain was as intense as any she had ever felt before, and it was frightening. She wanted to push, but she was scared to. Finally, she felt the Falcon land. Finn stood. “Let’s get you to medical,” he told her.

She shook her head. “That’s not gonna happen,” she gasped. “Get them here. She’s coming!” She clenched her teeth as another contraction slammed into her. “And get Poe!” she screamed as Finn ran for the hatch.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the baby. She was scared, and Rey didn’t blame her. The tiny body inside her was being pushed and pulled and shoved out into a world she had no understanding of. Rey tried to comfort her, trying to let her know that they would finally meet each other face to face soon. She felt the fear ease, but Rey’s pain continued. She jumped when she felt hands on her shoulders and opened her eyes to find Poe there, still in his flight suit, fear in his eyes.

Casey Goethe, one of their medics, was also there. “Everybody out!” she shouted, and Rey realized a small crowd of people had gathered on the Falcon. Chewie and Finn pushed them back out the door, giving one last look toward her. “Poe, help me, please,” Casey asked as she began to pull off Rey’s boots and started working on her trousers. Poe helped, holding on to Rey to support her and then helping to cover her with one of the blankets Finn had given her on the journey. Casey examined her. “Dang, girl,” she said with a smile. “You’re crowning already!”

“What’s that mean?” Poe asked nervously.

“That means you need to sit your ass down behind your lady so she can brace off of you and push your baby out,” Casey told him, winking at Rey.

Poe did as instructed, sitting behind Rey so that she sat between his legs, her back against his chest. Casey positioned herself in front of them, between Rey’s knees. She looked at them both. “Okay, I’m ready to catch her,” she grinned.

Rey laughed, but then gasped as another contraction hit. “Push, Rey!” Casey told her. “Push!”

Rey obeyed as best she could, but she was already so tired. She braced her hands on Poe’s upright knees and pushed her head back onto his shoulder. He gently gripped her elbows and started whispering encouraging words into her ear.

“Again!” Casey told her. “Push!”

“Come on, Mesh’la,” Poe said. “This should be a piece of cake for a Jedi.” He smiled as she slapped his knee weakly with her hand. “Push, baby.”

Rey cried out as she pushed one last time, feeling amazing relief as her tiny daughter finally slid into the world. As promised, Casey caught her, working immediately to make sure the infant’s nose and mouth were clear and that she was breathing. It didn’t take long for the baby girl to start making herself known, crying out with almost as much force as her mother had. Casey smiled and brought the baby, who had a full head of dark hair just like her father, up to Rey’s chest. Rey grasped her, awe filling her as she took hold of this tiny bit of life she and Poe had created.

The baby stopped wailing and looked up at her mother and father, eyes yet unfocused, but still seeming to know who they were. Poe brought his hand around to touch her, his breathing rough. Rey looked over at him and saw the same look of awe on his face that she felt. She smiled at him and he smiled back, then they both looked down at the baby, who was now holding one of Rey’s fingers in one hand and one of Poe’s in the other.

“Welcome to Ajan Kloss, Shaina.”

******

The End