Force Destiny

Complications

Rey flipped through the pages of Luke's text as she made her way down the corridor. The thoughts in her head were loud and conflicting, and unfortunately, the words on the page were not an adequate distraction. Spending hours in the forest after the connection closed, she couldn't focus on anything but what Kylo had done. He had been angry before, but he had never hurt her like that. If he had been attempting to sever the bond, it hadn't been successful. She could still feel his energy, his agitation; the bond was still intact.

She only glanced up from the text as she heard boots echoing down the hall. Finn had a pack slung over his shoulder and a blaster on his hip. After her disturbing vision, the sight of her friend alive was always a relief, but the thought that his life was still in danger terrified her. They needed to talk after their confrontation in the forest, she needed to tell him the truth. Rey smiled at him as he approached, but it faded as he stared past her, around her, anywhere but in her eyes. As she drew closer, her stomach dropped in anticipation. She purposely blocked his path, forcing him to look at her.

"What, Rey?" he sighed. His body was turned away from her, prepared for a quick escape. She knew the tension between them was as toxic to him as it was to her. But she saw no weakness on his hardened features – something she was unaccustomed to observing in her best friend. "Well, did you kill him yet?"

Rey should have expected it after his ultimatum in the forest, but nothing could soften the blow of her best friend asking her to kill her bondmate. She couldn't explain that pain to him. To the Resistance, she had no reason to trust Kylo and every reason to kill him. But she couldn't. No matter how profoundly he disappointed her by choosing to command the First Order, she couldn't do it. It was more than just weakness; she couldn't allow her friends to do it, either. Though it was terrifying to admit, even after what he had done, her bond with Kylo meant something to her.

Please don't do this. Please don't make me choose.

She shook her head dejectedly. "No, but I..."

"Then I've said my piece, and there is nothing more to say," Finn replied curtly. His eyes were unyielding, and she saw little of the man who was the closest thing to family that she had. He attempted to step around her, but she blocked him again.

"Where are you going?" Her tone was plaintive, shuddering with desperation. She felt like she was losing him, and it was all her fault because she refused to choose. Her heart ached with the familiarity of being left behind by someone she loved. She couldn't stand him leaving, especially not when he was angry with her.

"We are heading off-world," he replied quickly. "We need to meet with... our allies, Rey. Leia believes if we go to them in person, they may be able to help with ships. We're stuck on a planet with few supplies, no fighters, and barely enough people to call this a Resistance. We have no chance against the First Order without them."

"You're taking the Falcon." It was an observation, not a question. She knew the light freighter was not hers, but she had begun to feel a possessiveness toward the old thing. It had been Han's, it was her last connection to Luke, and eventually Leia as well. She had imagined herself and Chewbacca bringing Kylo home in it one day. Even if the Resistance could never trust him, even if they hated him, she had to believe that they would never allow Leia's son to die. That meant she only had two more days to convince him to come home. And Rey wasn't delusional enough this time to believe it would be easy. What if she needed to go to him again? It was how she imagined bringing him home. She needed the Falcon.

"Yes. It's the only ship we have," he whispered. She knew that the Resistance needed allies. Finn was right that they had little chance to stand against the First Order on their own. But that would only bring them closer to a confrontation with the First Order. With Kylo on the opposite side of the war, it was something she couldn't bear imagining. This forced her to acknowledge that she would have to make a choice she was thus far unwilling to make.