Across The Stars // Star Wars (Sequels)

✰Chapter 48✰

She shakes her head, swallowing thickly, although her throat feels dry. "I don't think she wants to talk to me right now," she mutters, wrapping her arms around herself as she sits down.

"You have to tell her, Rey," he tells her softly. 

She almost invisibly nods. "I know." 

Poe gets up and crouches in front of Raven, placing a gentle hand on her knee. Her eyes snap up and meet his. He discovers nothing but pure terror in them. "You have to fight it, Rave. You can't give in to it," he tells her. 

She starts shaking her head. "I-I can't st-stop it," she stammers. Her throat feels dry as she speaks.

"Yes, you can. You're stronger than this," he says, tightly gripping her hand. 

Her eyes travel to Rey. "She killed Chewie," she says through gritted teeth, feeling the anger boil inside her. It makes her skin crawl and her stomach twist into knots.

"She didn't mean to." 

"You don't know that." 

"Yes, I do. And you do too. Rey would never intentionally hurt someone. This isn't you." Poe tries to catch her gaze. "Hey, look at me." 

She slowly drags her gaze from Rey and instead of looking at Poe, she squeezes her eyes shut. The anger, the grief, it overflows her mind. A dark mist swirls around her head, making it impossible for her to focus. She can feel herself slipping closer and closer to the Dark, but she can't stop herself. It calls her name, promising relief from the grief weighing her down.

"Rave? Hey. Raven, don't you dare." Poe grips her arms and she opens her eyes again, looking straight into his. "You're not giving in. Fight it." 

"Chewie was the only thing I had left of Dad," she whispers, her voice breaking. "And now he's gone." 

"I know, I know. I'm so sorry, Rave, I really am." He pulls her in for a hug. 

Instead of pulling away as the Dark Side tells her to do, she leans into him and draws any form of energy she can from the Light Side. She buries her face in his shoulder and slowly but surely, her heartbeat slows down and her thoughts stop swirling. Rey's presence, however, feels more out of balance than ever.

Over his shoulder, Raven's eyes find Rey. She feels guilt building up inside her. Both for not telling Rey about her heritage and for thinking of her the way she does. Everything would be so much easier if she knew about the power inside of her. 

Poe draws back from the hug, offering Raven a soft smile which she can't reciprocate, but he doesn't mind. He tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. BB-8 rolls up to the pair, beeping gently. "I'm okay, buddy," Raven says quietly and he nestles himself against her. She can't help but smile, tracing a hand over his head. He purrs contentedly. 

Poe smiles at the two before getting up to join the other three passengers. "We've only got eight hours left," he says. "So, what are we gonna do?"

"What can we do? We gotta go back to base," Finn says.

"We don't have time to go back. We are not giving up," Poe shoots back. "If we do that, Chewie died for nothing." 

"Poe, Chewie had the dagger." 

"Well, then we gotta find another way." 

"Well, there isn't. That was the only clue to the Wayfinder thing and it's gone." 

"So true," C-3PO speaks up from his spot on the corner. "The inscription lives only in my memory now." 

Raven, along with the others, looks up. "You memorised the inscription of the dagger?" she asks him.

"Yes, Mistress Solo," he chimes. "But the translation from a forbidden language cannot be retrieved. That is short of a complete redacted memory bypass." 

"A complete what?" Finn questions.

"It's a terribly dangerous and sinful act performed on unwitting droids by dregs and criminals," the droid explains.

"Let's do that," Finn says, pointing at 3PO.

"I know a black market droidsmith," Poe adds.

"Black market droidsmith?" 3PO exclaims.

"But he's on Kijimi," Poe sighs, throwing his head back.

"What's wrong with Kijimi?" Raven asks softly, pushing herself to her feet. She pulls Poe's jacket that she stole from him back on Ajan Kloss tighter around herself.

"I had a little... bad luck on Kijimi," he replies. 

"But if this mission fails, it's all been for nothing," she says, taking ahold of his hand. "All we've done, all this time." 

Finn rises to his feet. "We're all in this," he says. He turns to Rey. "Until the end." 

Raven sighs softly to herself before reaching out a hand to her Padawan. Rey's eyes widen before taking Raven's hand in hers, letting her pull her to her feet. "For Chewie," Raven says, nodding assuringly. 

Finn holds up his hand to Poe, but he just rolls his eyes. "Hands?" he asks.

"Hands," Finn confirms. Poe chuckles, taking his hand. 3PO waddles up to the group and excitedly takes Rey's and Finn's hands in his own. 

"Kijimi," Poe calls before heading to the cockpit of Ochi's ship. Raven sinks into one of the seats, resting her head against the wall behind her to try and calm her Force energy. 

"Master?" she hears Rey's timid voice and she opens her eyes again. "Can I speak with you?" 

She feels the hint of a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. "Of course," she says, patting the spot beside her. Rey's lips curl into a thin smile, sitting down beside Raven. 

"I had a vision," she starts, nervously fraying the end of the linen wrapped around her arm. "I saw the throne of the Sith."

"What about it?" Raven asks, turning toward her. 

"I think it was a vision of the near future. I saw who was on it," she says. She knows Raven can see right through her, especially in this state, so she doesn't even try to hide her thoughts and emotions. "It was Ren, me, and you were there too." 

Raven nods. "I know, I saw it too," she says. Rey's eyes grow slightly bigger. "It was only a fraction of a second, and I thought I was imagining things, but once I figured out you saw it too, I knew it had to be true." 

"Why was I there? I understand Ren and I partially understand why you were there, but why me?" Rey asks and Raven hears the frustration in her voice. Even after all this training, Rey remains an impatient and quick-tempered person who can't stand not knowing things, especially when it revolves around her.

Raven swallows thickly, wondering if she should say anything. "Rey, there are things you don't know and I'm not sure I understand for that matter. There is a power inside of you that neither of us really understands. I felt it on Jakku, on Snoke's ship, and just now. You are more connected to the Force than you realise, and I need you to focus on the Light," she says, carefully voicing her thoughts. "And that's all I can tell you right now. I'm sorry." 

Rey's eyes avert to the ground as she nods almost invisibly. "Yes, Master," she whispers.

The girls' eyes turn up when BB-8 approaches, followed by a smaller white and green droid that is covered in rust and cob webs. "Hello," it greets them. Rey reaches down, but it quickly backs away. "No, thank you." 

BB-8 chirps softly. "Looks like someone treated him badly," Rey says. "It's all right. You're with us now."