Meant To Be »Reylo

| Part Eleven |

     “Say it again, but slower this time.” Leia is looking between the four of us with an expression of hope mixed with frustration at our lousy explanation skills. All four of us have just tried to quickly explain everything just reviewed in the small hut- apparently, it was extremely confusing. I take a deep breath, and look between Finn, Ben, and a scrawny boy named Riley who was also present during the interrogation. They all prod me forward with their wide eyes, and I start again-

     “Every single stormtrooper in the First Order Army is an individual human being. Somehow, we’ve managed to lose sight of that for generations. Just because all of them have the same face does not mean they deserve to be meaningless, expendable pawns in a sick war they have no choice in.”

     Leia looks to me, intrigued. The plan must make plenty more sense now that all four of us aren’t trying to gush it out of our lungs, loud and fast. 

     “Finn realized this, and he joined our cause because it offered him a chance of freedom. Why can’t we extend that offer to all of the stormtroopers, give them something they’ll actually want to fight for?”

     Leia crosses her arms and dawns a look of deep thought across her features. “Are you sure this will go the way you think?” She asks after a few moments of consideration. Her eyes flicker between us, taking in our hopeful and impatient expressions. “You bring up a fair point, don’t get me wrong,” she continues, seeing our faces drop, “but the stormtrooper program does an impeccable job of snuffing personal feelings out of all its soldiers. Finn is one out of the hundreds of thousands of warriors who have no emotional imbalance pressuring them into doing what’s right. They’re simply mindless drones. However,” she adds, “it’s worth a try.”

—————♱—————

     “Finn? Are you alright?” I ask suddenly, looking to my closest friend with alarm. I’m now outside of the Falcon, loitering on the ground below, waiting for its return from a flight. Resistance fighters work fast- already, we’ve sent the Falcon out to ex-rebel bases and gathered previous supplies. We’ve managed to recover fourteen x-wing fighters, scattered across the Outer Rim, and flown them back to our quickly growing base on Dagobah. However, Finn has jumped out of the x-wing he piloted back to our base with a look of distress. “I had a vision,” Finn says in a panicked whisper. 

     “That’s AMAZING!” I exclaim- and quickly tone down my voice as I get glares from the exhausted resistance fighters. “What was it about?” I murmur back, tilting my head so my voice doesn’t carry out. “There’s no time,” he insists, and grabs my hand. “I have to check something first.”

     We twist through the growing settlement of the Resistance base, turning to avoid growing structures that will eventually house the larger of the people dedicated to our cause. Eventually we come to the makeshift medical wing, situated right outside the Falcon’s temporary area. “Rose?!” Finn exclaims, running into the average-sized hut with excitement. And then a wiry, black-haired girl emerges from inside, rubbing her eyes with clammy palms. “Where am I?”

—————♱—————

     “It’s nice to meet you,” I say softly, careful not to speak too loudly around the seemingly fragile girl known as Rose Tico. Ben nods at her in agreement with me- he saw the two of us running and followed us. Rose’s just been engulfed in an everlasting hug and a hurried explanation by Finn, and seems slightly overwhelmed with everyone looking at her with so much excitement. “You too,” she responds politely, and then, “can somebody please tell me why Kylo Ren, apprentice to the SUPREME LEADER, is currently not only aware of our whereabouts, but STANDING ON REBEL GROUND?!” She suddenly snarls, breaking her façade of exhaustion to launch herself at Ben with menace.