Star Wars: A New Beginning (Reylo Paring)

Chapter 13: The Storm

Everything came back slowly to Rey as her eyes opened to the sight of familiar grey stone. Except it was no longer the smooth and untouched floor of the monastery. Bits of broken rock littered her view as she laid there. The wall several feet in front of her was blown up, a gaping hole was ripped through it. She began to rise, her muscles and head screamed at the movement. Rey rested her weight on an arm that was extended behind her. She winced as her other hand gravitated to the sharp pain that radiated from the side of her skull. Her fingertips were met with dried blood that was caked in her hair. Her hand dropped down to her side, putting the rest of her weight onto it. Rey panned her head, taking in the destroyed building. Walls were covered in scorch marks from blasters while others were completely gone. Corpses laid strewn across the floor of the main corridor. Their bodies, rigid and covered in rubble. Some of the bodies were mangled and bloody, it was a sickening thing to behold.

Her hand dropped from her sore wound, using it to push off the ground. She grimaced at the pain of her muscles screaming at her as she used their strength to pick herself up from the ground. Rey looked down at her clothes, she was covered in dust and dirt. She patted her clothes off before she looked up from herself. It saddened her to see such an ancient, holy place of the Lanai to be desecrated. The dead littered the main floor of the monastery. Sorrow for the death of Resistance fighters panged her heart as she stood there, taking in all the carnage. Among the dead were bodies that were most certainly not Resistance troops. They all wore different styles of clothes, clad in leather, or metal breastplates, no two mysterious corpses looked the same. Some were human, some were Quarren, while others were Twi'leks.

Rey walked forward, stepping over a disfigured body of a Resistance fighter, trying hard not to look into any of their lifeless eyes. She came upon a human body and knelt before it. Their cause of death was quite obvious looking at them. The man's eyes had a faraway look in them. His mouth cemented open. His head sported a blaster wound on his forehead; it burrowed deep into the flesh and bone. Dried blood stuck to the cold flesh, frozen in place where it had poured out from the gaping hole. Her gaze shifted down to the exposed skin of the man's neck. It was branded with black and red ink. The tattoo depicted four circles overlapping each other encased in a hexagon. Rey immediately knew what these people belonged to. They were cutthroats, bounty hunters hired to track down the Resistance.

The young Jedi shot up to her feet, now frantically looking for Leia, her friends, Ben, anyone, but they were not there. Panic now rooted itself deep within her. Had the First Order hired the bounty hunters? Most importantly, the question that blared in the forefront of her mind was, Where is Ben? From what she could see, no Leia, Ben, or her friends laid amongst the dead. Rey closed her eyes, reaching out through the Force, trying to find the bridge that connected her to Ben Solo. She stood there for a moment, trying to push the confusion and worry away from her mind.

Nothing. No semblance of their bond was present. Tears welled up in her eyes, just on the verge of slipping over her waterline. Her worst fear took over her thoughts. He was dead. That was the only explanation for the connection being severed so abruptly. It was just gone. Disappeared into thin air. She couldn't feel him anymore. Ben Solo's heavy presence had vanished; she felt empty and carved out. His absence left her feeling lost, confused, numb. The tears no longer threatened to fall as they began to slip silently from her eyes. The warm moisture fell on her expressionless face. Her chest was a gaping hole where her heart once beat with ferocity. Now it was still and simply broken into pieces. The air in her lungs turned toxic, she choked and heaved for air. As if the weight of her reality hit her, anguished wails escaped her that sounded throughout the corridor.

Rey went limp, landing on her knees before she let herself hit the floor. Her world was cold, devoid of any meaning. All that could be, ripped away from her against her will. She had never experienced a loss like this. So empty in all its glory. Sudden loss. Sudden pain. Sudden numbness. Since the day the Force awoke within her, Ben Solo and Rey were always meant to be together. She wished now that she had not been so stubborn in accepting her fate. Because then she would have spent that time with him instead of fighting him tooth and nail. Her arm rose to her chest as her hand bunched up the material of her shirt. Rey's chest felt as if something was stuck there with a heavy weight. Her sobs couldn't make it better. Beating her chest couldn't dislodge it. Her tears couldn't wash it away.