Star Wars One Shots

Building a Saber

Rey stared at the two halves on the ancient weapon sitting on her desk. Months passed and she hadn't put much thought into how it might be repaired. Instead, she merely stared at the broken Kyber crystal, amazed that she and Ben had the strength to tear it apart. As she stared, she didn't turn as she felt a familiar presence behind her.

"I need a lightsaber," she said simply.

Ben walked around to face her. "You have one. I could show you how to mend it."

Rey shook her head. "That lightsaber was Luke's and Anakin's before him. I need one that's my own." She scrunched up her eyebrows as she met Ben's eyes. "Where do I get one, though?"

Ben smirked, and his eyes gleamed. "You can't just get a lightsaber. You have to make one."

"Right." Rey nodded. "How do I make one?"

"Close your eyes."

Rey raised an eyebrow skeptically, and Ben raised his hands in defense. "I'm not going to try anything. Just close your eyes."

Sighing, Rey let her eyes drift shut, all too aware of Ben's presence as he paced around her.

"You've held a saber before. You know what the crystal feels likes, the energy it sends out. Reach out an find that same energy. Find one that calls to you."

Under Ben's guiding voice, Rey reached out with her mind. She reached farther than the planet, farther than the system she was in. She reached farther than she knew the galaxy even stretched. Finally she took in a sharp breath as she felt the familiar call. She followed it in her mind and saw a planet clear before her.

"You can open your eyes now," Ben said softly.

"I felt it," Rey said, a smile on her lips as her eyelids fluttered open. Ben was standing in front of her, looking down with what was almost a smile. "What now?"

"Go find it."

"Now?"

Ben raised an eyebrow. "If not now, when?"

Rey nodded slowly. "You're right." She spun around her room, looking for her bag of scrap metal and grabbed it off the floor near her bed. She headed for the door, grabbing her staff but paused to turn back and lock eyes with Ben once more. "Thank you."

He inclined his head. "You're welcome. Good luck."

*****

The planet was called Ilum Rey later found out. She took BB-8 and an x-wing and set off almost immediately, following the pull to the crystal. BB-8 had beeped in her ear the whole time, wanting to know where they were headed, but Rey didn't have an answer. Even once she arrived at the icy planet, she didn't know what to expect. The planet was empty, dead. 

Leaving BB-8 behind with the ship, she headed deep into the caves of the planet, the call of the crystal coming from deep below. Where once the caves had held an abundance of crystals, Rey saw it had been ransacked and destroyed.

She wandered through the caves for over an hour before reaching a section of the cave that had been blocked off by a cave in. A part of the planet that remained untouched still. Reaching out with the force, Rey moved the rocks to make an opening, taking care not to make another rock slide.

She took in a sharp breath as she entered the hidden cavern of the cave. Glowing Kyber crystals covered the walls, the ceiling, and part of the floor. But which one was the one for Rey? She moved to the center of it all and sat crossed legged on the floor. The call of the crystal was great, and she reached out, pulling it to her.

When she opened her eyes, a pulsing crystal laid on the ground in front of her. She shrugged her bag off her shoulder and dumped all the pieces on the ground, including her staff which she'd taken apart. With all of her material spread out in front of her, Rey set to work, trying to maneuver the metal in a way that resembled a saber.

"Stop that."

Rey looked up into Ben's eyes who was kneeling opposite her. She frowned. "Don't act like you know what I'm doing. I know you can only see me."

"I can see what's in your hands." He nodded to the piece of her staff she held. "You're trying to manually build a lightsaber."

"Maybe I am." Rey shrugged. "I've got it handled."

"You can't build a saber like it's a regular machine. It's a delicate process." He frowned. "I told you to stop."

Rey took  in a sharp breath when his hand reached out a grabbed hers, causing her to drop what used to be her staff. Ben's brown eyes bored into hers.

"You have to use the force," he said softly. "Because if you make one wrong move, that crystal could blow you and this whole place up."

He released her hand, and Rey nodded finding it hard to breathe. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to take a deep breath. This was a job she needed to be calm and focused for, and if she didn't look at him, she could almost forget Ben was there.

She reached out with the force, and all of the pieces flew together, organizing themselves in the right order along with the crystal. When she opened her eyes, a weapon sat before her. She grabbed it in her hands, testing out its feel.

Ben peered at it curiously. "You made a staff."

"Not just any staff," Rey said standing up. A green blade ignited at the end of her weapon. "A lightsaber pike." She twirled it around, pointing it at imaginary adversaries. "I read about it in the Jedi text. It was meant to be a light side users version of a double-sided blade. It seemed like the best fit for me since I already know how to fight with a staff."

"Hm." Ben reached out a hand. "May I see it?"

Rey raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "You want me to hand over my weapon?"

He sighed. "What's the worst that can happen? I can't take it with me now can I?"

Rather reluctantly, Rey handed over her pike. Ben took it in his hands, twirling it like he always did with his own saber. Rey watched carefully as he ran through several drills with it.

Once done, he nodded to Rey, a gleam in his eye. "I like this weapon."

"Too bad it's mine," Rey said with an antagonistic smirk.

Ben wore a matching smirk, though. "Too bad I'm on the side that doesn't care too much about rules. I could just steal it."

"You could." Rey nodded, but her face gave way to a smile. "That would require you to come to our base, though. And last time I checked, you don't know where that is."

Ben took a step towards her. "I'll get the truth out of you one day."

"What?" Rey raised an eyebrow. "You don't believe that Resistance is hiding an entire army on Jakku?"

"Not in the slightest."

Rey laughed. "Good. Shows you're smart." She took a step closer to him and extended a hand. "I am going to need my saber back, though."

"Why?" Ben raised an eyebrow. "So you can train to defeat me the next time we meet?"

"Who says we'll be fighting the next time we meet?"

"We'll see." Ben gave the saber back, his hands lingering on Rey's.

"Ben," she started, but then he was gone, the force cutting their conversation short.

After taking a deep breath, she forced herself to smile. She achieved what she came to the planet for, and now she was able to leave with a weapon unlike anything anyone had ever seen. As she made her way back to BB-8 and the ship, she could only imagine what Finn and Poe's reactions would be. Her pike would serve her well in the coming fight.