55. Chapter 55
Snoke is dead, but so is Finn. So is Chewbacca. So are Kess and Gun and hundreds of others. Kylo kisses her like he’s dying, too, and she clings to him, feels his heart beating, digging her fingers into his arms. She pushes herself into his mind to find and destroy the lingering barbs left over from Snoke’s control.
You came back to me , she whispers, and he wraps around her, flooding their connection with his remorse, his fear that he could have killed her, his misery at the loss of their friends. They grieve together and weep for what could be moments or hours. She can taste his blood, her tears, mingling on her tongue as he pulls away from her and the outside world comes rushing back.
He cups her chin in his dirty, bloodstained hands, his red-rimmed eyes empty, and runs a thumb over her cracked lips. There is nothing to say. Behind her, Master Skywalker’s bright, strong presence draws closer. She doesn’t turn, can’t look away from Kylo or she’ll see the bodies, and she needs just another moment to stitch herself together before she can face it all. Kylo squeezes his eyes shut as she takes his hand and his Adam’s apple bobs as he gulps in air. Their connection is aflame and it hurts , the only solace for their agony that they are alive and can mourn as one.
The broken ground behind them crunches. At last Kylo looks away, releasing her face as he looks up to Master Skywalker. “We did it.”
“You did.” Skywalker’s robes are torn and his mechanical hand is sparking. He looks so much older . The light in his piercing eyes has dimmed and there’s a slant to Luke’s shoulders that wasn’t there before.
Freed from Kylo’s gaze, Rey turns and finds Gun’s sprawled form. Gun was precious, a friend to Kylo when he needed it most, the first new person Kylo had ever really trusted. She should have hugged Gun, thanked him, when they were still on the shuttle. A puddle of scarlet has grown around his head. Kylo follows her line of sight and sobs again, dropping her hands to stumble over, falling to his knees at the dead man’s side. Rey turns away, unable to watch. She looks back to Master Skywalker before the anger and misery can overtake her again. “What do we do now?”
“We see what’s left.” Luke reaches out for her with his flesh hand. His warm glow dampens the pain in her heart and her awareness of the wider Force trickles back as the shock wears off. Together, they cast their consciousnesses out, searching for the lights of their surviving allies. There are so few. An X-Wing roars overhead, Poe or another pilot come to see what’s happened. The life inside the ship is a welcome respite from the death on the ground. Then one light, bright but fading, flickers across her consciousness as they sweep the canyon and Rey gasps, tears her hand free from Luke’s grip, and runs.
Every muscle screams as she scrambles to the tumbled scree of the landslide. He’s under there and she must get to him out. She couldn’t save Chewie and she couldn’t save Kess and she couldn’t save Gun, but Finn is alive and she’s going to get him back. Ignoring her shaking arms as she climbs over the larger rocks at the bottom of the fall, Rey reaches for the fraying thread of Finn’s mind. He’s unconscious, barely breathing, and his heartbeat is fluttering weakly. She plunges her hands into the dirt and rubble where she feels him, digging and clawing, adrenaline and hope numbing the pain of scraped knuckles and broken nails. Luke and Kylo shout in the distance, excited and eager as the boulders behind her grate against each other, but she doesn’t look up.
“Finn!” She sobs, choking on the clouds of dust, and keeps digging. “Finn, I’m coming!” He can’t hear her, but it’s important that he knows he’s not alone, not left behind or forgotten.
Orange flashes in the corner of her eye and Poe is at her side, throwing off his helmet, grabbing rocks and tossing them away, his desperation matching hers. Luke hefts the last huge stone away and the scree shifts. Rey’s heart leaps into her mouth - He’ll be crushed! Before the thought has finished forming, Kylo’s control tightens and the ground freezes in place.
Still holding the weight off Finn’s buried body, Kylo and Skywalker race up, vaulting over the remaining fragments. “Stand back!” Luke calls, and Poe’s arms tangle around her as they stumble away. In synchronized motions, Kylo and Luke scoop the earth away while maintaining the bubble of air around Finn underground.
The crushed barrel of his cannon comes into view first, orange starbird warped and scratched, as another X-Wing shoots overhead. Then an armored hand, clenched around the stock of the cannon. Poe cries out and they scramble forward again, unearthing Finn’s arm, his shoulder, his dented helmet. The armor over his torso is still smoking and though it protected the man inside, Finn’s chest is burned raw. Poe removes Finn’s helmet while Rey and Kylo dig the rest of his body out, lifting him up so he lies flat.
Finn is terribly, awfully still after he is freed, his head lolling in Poe’s lap as the weeping pilot leans over him. One of Finn’s ankles sticks out at an odd angle, his face is red from a gash on his scalp, and one of his arms is broken, but the chest wound is worse. Luke drops down next to him, settling on to his heels as he slips into meditation and hovers his hands over the red mess of Finn’s chest. The Force surges around Rey and the hair on the back of her neck prickles as Luke sends power into the wound and it begins to close, muscle and flesh growing until it’s almost entirely skinned over. The light inside him steadies, and Luke sits back as Finn pulls in a deep breath. His eyes fly open and Poe swoops in to kiss his bloody mouth.
Rey sobs again, catching Finn’s hand in hers as Poe breaks the kiss to laugh and clap Skywalker on the shoulders. Kylo grips Finn’s unbroken shoulder and his ecstatic joy makes their connection flare.
“Tell me we won.” Finn’s eyes are bleary and unfocused, but he’s smiling, surrounded by his favorite people.
Kylo nods. “We did, buddy. Snoke is dead.”
They get Finn to his one good foot, leaning him heavily against Poe’s shoulder, as Snap Wexley, his hair matted with sweat, comes jogging up. “It’s all over down at the landing site. Everyone’s ordered back to the Finalizer for medical attention. We’ve got shuttles waiting for you, but we can’t land any closer. We’ll need to carry whoever can’t walk.” He turns away to herd the surviving Groundies down to the shuttle. There are so few of them left now that it doesn’t take long.
The ache in Rey’s chest, temporarily soothed by Finn’s recovery, comes back redoubled as Finn takes in the devastation. Rey and Poe help him stumble down the hill and Kylo trudges back to Gun. I’m not leaving him here. Someone needs to take Kess. I can’t carry them both . Skywalker can’t have heard his demand, but he moves off towards Kess’s body just the same.
Finn chokes as he watches Kylo lean down. “Gun’s dead?”
Kylo hefts the man’s body across his shoulders. He doesn’t balk at the weight, the pressure on his wounded side. I have to bring him home.
Then Finn’s hand clenches tight on Rey’s. “Where’s Kess?” No one answers, and Poe looks to Rey for confirmation of his fears. Rey just nods and points to Master Skywalker, who has lifted Kess in his arms and carries her silently down the canyon. Finn lets out a strangled wail and presses his face into Poe’s shoulder. “ This is winning?”
Snap pilots them back to the landing zone. Finn, Poe, Skywalker, Kylo, Rey, and four battered Groundies. They’re all that’s left. Kess and Gun are laid out on the floor with respect, eyes closed and arms at their sides. Kylo speaks to the Groundies in a quiet voice Rey can’t catch, and they all stand together, arms around each other’s shoulders. Poe and Finn walk over to join them and Rey follows, adding her arms to the hug, and they stay together, holding each other tight, until the ship shudders to a stop.
As soon as they land, two medics rush onboard. One moves the Groundies to another shuttle bound for the Finalizer and the other stays with Finn, who, even after Skywalker’s healing, needs immediate medical attention. Once he’s seen Finn tended to, Kylo goes with the Groundies to make sure they’re properly transferred to another officer’s care before searching the ground for the body he needs to see. When he finds it, it’s as though Chewbacca is dying all over again. Rey’s heart breaks once more as she and Poe stand hand in hand next to Finn, watching Kylo fall to his knees.
The pain is too much to bear and Rey sinks down on the shuttle floor as her legs give out. Poe sits with her, rubbing her shoulders, stroking her back, whispering wordless comfort into her hair. The darkness doesn’t come. Instead, the aching, echoing void in Kylo’s heart opens as he sits in the mud and sobs. Skywalker kneels beside Chewbacca’s corpse across from his nephew, crying as he closes Chewie’s eyes. Then Kylo leans in, pressing his forehead to Luke’s, and Luke’s hand comes up to rest at the back of Kylo’s neck. They mourn together and their Force signatures mingle, pulsing with pain. Then they stand, bearing the huge, furry body between them into the shuttle to lay him next to Gun. Someone finds a tarp in the storage compartment and Kylo carefully tucks it around his dead friends with shaking hands.
Luke sighs and wipes his eyes. “I’ll stay here to coordinate the last of the cleanup and extraction, then I’ll follow you back to D’Qar. Try to get some rest if you can.” He looks down at the tarp that covers their fallen comrades and his lips twist. “Tell Leia I’ll be there as soon as possible.”
The hours on the shuttle pass in silence. Finn, still drowsy and unstable after his time underground, falls asleep quickly, and Poe drops off soon after, Finn’s head pillowed in his lap, his arm and ankle encased in bacta pods. Rey finds some patches for Kylo’s injuries but he refuses them and she doesn’t want them either. Instead, she spreads them over Finn’s still pink chest, across Poe’s torn hands, careful not to wake them. Then she sits with her back to Kylo’s chest as he leans against the shuttle wall and they try to meditate for the rest of the trip. The loss is less overwhelming there, in their heads among the too-still, too-quiet stars. Something about that is wrong. Rey wants to hurt. There’s something real about pain and she isn’t ready to let it go yet. Eventually they fall asleep, and when the shuttle lands on D’Qar, Snap has to come and wake them up. His touch is gentle on her shoulders, and he smiles as she blinks herself into wakefulness.
“We’re home, Rey.”
She manages a tiny smile in return, but it doesn’t feel like home anymore. Not when Chewie will never come back, not when Kess’s office will stand cold and vacant, not when Gun and the Groundies won’t ever jostle her in the line for dinner again. It’s empty, and so is she.
General Organa is waiting for them in the twilight and Rey throws herself into Leia’s open arms without a word. Poe clambers down from the shuttle, bearing Finn’s weight, and they give lackluster salutes to the General before being surrounded by medical teams and hustled inside the base. Kylo hangs back, closer to the body of his uncle than to his mother, but their connection carries Leia’s grief, the comfort she offers, and the light she brings fights against the cold, dark misery. Rey funnels it into him and he accepts what she offers. “We killed Snoke, but we lost-” Rey chokes on the thought and her voice fails.
“There are no winners in war.” Leia releases the hug and touches Rey’s cheek. “There are only survivors.” The General smiles at her son over Rey’s shoulder. “You’ve done so much. Try to rest, if you can. We’ll talk in the morning.”
There’s no rest to be found in her room. They shower mechanically, scrubbing off the blood and the mud and the sweat, regenerative compounds in the water smoothing away minor bruises and cuts. The food she’s squirreled away under the bed frame is tasteless in their mouths. After moving the seedlings into a neat line against the wall, Rey climbs onto the cleared desk to stare out at the landing zone. Light flickers, shadows shifting as another shuttle circles, darkness reasserting itself as the transports land to unload the living and the dead. Kylo sits with his arm around her shoulders, his cheek against her hair, and they don’t speak. They just exist. Tears come, sometimes at a sudden flare of unwanted memory, sometimes at nothing at all. They sit in silence until the sun rises, bright and fierce and golden. Only then does she stand and draw Kylo back to the rumpled nest in the corner for a few painless, dreamless hours of exhausted sleep.
Kylo is awake when she opens her eyes to early afternoon sunlight, and their bond resonates with his grief. She cradles his head against her chest and presses kisses to his brow. He isn’t crying - it’s as if they’ve both run out of tears, the pool of their sorrow dried and cracked like a dead oasis. Her stomach rumbles. There are things to be done, even if all she want to do is stay in bed, so she rises, pulling Kylo to his feet. She checks him over again, peeling open bacta patches hidden in her desk to cover the scabbing wounds on his shoulder and leg.
Kylo rubs his eyes and yawns hugely. “I need caf.” It’s the first thing he’s said aloud since they entered her room, and it makes her smile.
They dress and make their way through the quiet hallways to the cafeteria. Upon entering the lunchroom, she thinks this was a mistake. It’s too empty. The cafeteria should be full of people, bustling and elbowing and shouting to friends at this time of day. Her steps echo against the unoccupied chairs and tables and all she can consider eating is the pink fruit she loves most. She grabs two of them while Kylo foregoes food in favor of caf and leads her over to where Finn and Poe sit, heads bent together over their table.
Everything is too loud in the oppressive silence. The clatter of Kylo’s cup on the table when he sets it down across from them is like blaster fire, and she flinches at the screech of the chair’s legs against the duracrete floor as she pulls it out. The couple looks up at them, offering small, tired smiles of greeting. As she sits, she reaches over to rub Finn’s shoulder. “How are you?”
Finn catches her fingers and rests their hands together on the table. “Better. Master Skywalker saved my life, and a night in a bacta tank healed me up nice. Doctor Kalonia let me out this morning.”
Rolling his head from one shoulder to the other, Poe stretches. “My neck was screwed up this morning from sleeping in one of those med bay chairs, but I wasn’t about to leave him floating there alone.” Finn squeezes Poe’s shoulder, rubbing circles into the muscles with his thumb. Poe sighs, his eyes falling closed in a moment of pleasure before looking back at Kylo and Rey. “Glad to see you’re up and around. We weren’t going to bother you, but we were getting worried.”
She squeezes Finn’s hand as Kylo peels the pink fruit for her. Rey tries to smile as she eats it, tries to enjoy the bright burst of flavor and sweetness, but it's wrong in her mouth and she can’t eat more than a bite. Finn runs his thumb along the back of her knuckles and she notices his untouched plate of food, Poe’s barely nibbled sandwich. The concern in their eyes mingles with Kylo’s despair as he scans the empty room, lingering on the table where the Groundies used to play cards.
Suddenly she’s so terribly, awfully, selfishly grateful to the Exes, the Resistance people, Gun and Kess and Chewie. A dam breaks and all the boxes spring open at once. Rey buries her face in her hands, chest heaving as she sucks in breaths until she can regain some semblance of control. Kylo’s rubs a steady path across her back and Finn’s fingers are warm and reassuring where he cups her elbow. When her breathing settles, Kylo kisses her cheek, lips soft and warm and alive .
“We spoke with General Organa and Admiral Statura this morning.” Finn volunteers as he takes both her hands in his. “Poe and I are being assigned to the Finalizer in two week’s time .” His eyes flick to Kylo before continuing. “ We’ll take the the Exes, the two hundred or so who survived, and use them as our base crew. You’re more than welcome to come with us.”
Rey freezes, her fingers clenching around Finn’s as Kylo’s hand at her back stills. She can’t, she won’t , stay in this ghost haunted military base without Finn, without Poe. She contemplates what it would be like to live with them on the giant war machine before second-hand memories of Kylo’s miserable, angry time on the ship assert themselves. That makes up her mind. We can’t stay here. I don’t want this.
Better to leave. Kylo agrees, palm sliding from her back to her free hand as he addresses Finn. “You’ll do a great job on Finalizer . You’re the better leader.” He says with such honest sincerity that Finn tries to protest. “You’ll do amazing things with the Exes, Captain.” The corners of Kylo’s mouth turn up as he uses the title, but they fall again just as quick. “Just promise-” his voice cracks and a bitter wave of self-loathing washes across their bond as Kylo looks down. “Just promise you’ll take better care of them than I did.”
Even injured, Finn is a powerful man. He launches himself around the table, grabbing Kylo by the front of his shirt, and yanks him to his feet. “Don’t you fucking say that, Kylo!” Then he’s hugging Kylo with a ferocity that makes the wounds on his back and shoulders scream. “Don’t you dare! You fought harder than anyone for those guys.” Kylo hugs Finn back, fingers digging into the old leather jacket, and Rey’s jaw aches as he clenches his teeth against the tears. “You guys killed Snoke, buddy. You did it. They would be so proud of you.” Finn squeezes Kylo so tight his back pops before releasing him to hold him by the shoulders. “You can stay. We can stick with Kess’s plan and do this together.” He looks to Rey, radiating such kindness, such compassion and understanding. “But if you want to go, then don’t feel like you’re leaving them, or me, behind.” Poe nods, reaching across to touch Rey’s arm. “We’re going to be okay. Not today, not tomorrow, but someday, we’ll all be okay.”
Rey swallows as she stands and pulls Finn in for a hug. He reaches up to cradle her head and they breathe together, nose to nose, forehead to forehead. They aren’t leaving each other. They’ll never leave each other, not really. “Thank you.”
Poe stands, too, kissing Finn’s cheek when he and Rey break apart. “General Organa’s going to make you her new orator if you keep giving speeches like that.” Kylo chuckles. “Speaking of the General, she asked us to send you her way when we saw you.”
Rey takes Kylo’s hand as Poe and Finn say their goodbyes and head off. Then they are alone.
Kylo answers her unspoken worry with grim determination. “You don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be here. We’ll figure it out.” She holds his palm against her cheek with both hands in a moment of shared pain and conviction before she turns her head to kiss his fingertips.
“Let’s see what the General wants.” She phrases it as a suggestion and Kylo doesn’t fight it. Neither of them have much fight left.
Leia’s office door is closed, but Rey knocks and it slides open to reveal a haggard Admiral Statura. The fierce, determined glint in his eye is gone and his shoulders hunch inwards. He’s aged ten years overnight. She and Kylo aren’t the only ones mourning today. “Admiral, may we come in?”
Statura steps back to let them in. “We were expecting you.” The Admiral extends a hand to Kylo, and the wave of shock through their connection is cut off by the rising lump in his throat.
“Admiral, I-” Kylo begins, taking Statura’s hand.
Statura cuts him off, catching Rey’s eyes as he speaks. “Master Skywalker arrived late last night and gave us a full report. You both did a fine job. Congratulations.”
He releases Kylo and rubs his eyes. Kylo gestures to touch the man’s arm, but thinks better of it. “Admiral, I couldn’t- Kess was-”
“Captain Kess was an outstanding officer who died on the field of battle furthering the aims of the Resistance and the Republic.” Statura states in tight, clipped syllables as he straightens his shoulders. “She will be honored and missed.” The Admiral moves to stand behind the General. “Sit, please.”
As she settles into her chair, Leia meets Rey’s eyes and the words tumble out before she can stop them. “We can’t stay, Leia. I just…” She shakes her head, clearing her thoughts. “I resign, General Organa.”
Leia smiles her soft, sad smile. “I understand.”
Kylo rests his hand on hers. “Please accept mine as well, Admiral Statura.” His face is tense with concern. “This… none of this works without Kess. I can’t stay. Neither of us can. Finn will do a good job without me. You should have complete confidence in him.”
“I do.” The Admiral pauses, adjusts his cuffs, and then his face settles into a determined calm. “I’ll ask Doctor Kalonia to remove your tracker immediately. Report to the med-bay when you’re done here.” He frowns, deep lines carving across his face as Kylo and Rey both open their mouths in surprise. “Zesha wanted it.”
Leia blinks and tries to smile at her son as Kylo tries and fails to articulate a response beyond his thanks. “There will be a memorial service tomorrow night. The bodies of those who were returned to us have been cremated,” her voice breaks, “and will be interred with full honors.”
No one speaks for a moment, and the gaping chasm yawns again in both Rey and Kylo’s hearts before Statura masters himself and continues. “Thanks to your efforts, we have both Hux and Phasma in custody for interrogation. They will be detained until the last First Order bases are cleared out and the war can officially be declared over. Then they will be chipped and sent into exile.” He smiles. “The Finalizer will be an enormous asset in bringing this conflict to a swift, decisive end.”
“You both deserve recognition for that, and for your actions taken on Ebra.” Leia picks up the thread of conversation until Kylo cuts in.
“No medals.” Kylo’s tone leaves no room for discussion. “The Republic always gives out medals, but we don’t want them. We just want to go.”
Leia’s nods. “No medals.” She glances out the window, down to the landing pads. “Luke brought the Falcon back. It’s yours now, if you want it.” Turning back, Leia’s focuses on her son’s face, tracing the line of his nose, his lips, before settling on his eyes. “Your father left it to Chewbacca, and Chewbacca left it to you.”
Kylo’s heart leaps into his throat and his fingers tighten around Rey’s. His mind races, and hers runs with it. There are so many emotions tied up in the ship, not all of them good, but it could be their home. It should be . It’s engraved with the memories of his family, his childhood, her budding friendship with Finn, her brief time with Han and Chewie. It was his home once, the first place she’d felt like part of a family. She wants to carry those memories, that part of Han and Leia and Luke and Chewie with them wherever they go. They can fix it up together, make it theirs. Make it good.
“Alright,” He decides, interlacing their fingers and nodding. “We’ll take it.”
Leia blinks hard and smiles, “The memorial service is at sunset tomorrow.” She stands and they follow her to their feet.
The leaders exchange a quick glance and then Statura nods. “That will be all. Thank you both for your service.”
Kylo opens his mouth, then closes it and takes the dismissal. As he moves to open the door, Leia reaches out to him, almost brushing his sleeve with her fingertips. “You’ll always be welcome here. You can come back whenever you like.”
Rey reaches up, takes Leia’s hand in hers, linking mother and son. The Force flows through them all, bright and warm like the morning sun.
“I know.”
The rest of the day passes like a dream. Kalonia removes the chip from Kylo’s arm without fuss. Rey picks up the tiny, bloody transmitter, rolls it between her fingers, holds it up to the light, and wonders how something so small could have meant so much. Then she tosses it back into the metal dish and they leave the med-bay without a word. They walk the grounds of the base one last time as evening falls, then their grumbling stomachs force them back into the joyless cafeteria. They eat on Kylo’s bunk in his empty room. His roommates have moved into Finn’s new quarters to enjoy the space before they are posted to Finalizer . After they eat, she crawls into Kylo’s lap and kisses him. They find the fire in their connection, the joy of being together and safe , and when they move, naked and sweaty, the merging of their minds is the first thing in days that makes her feel alive.
Kylo’s books, a change of clothes, and his saber are the only things he takes when they leave his room for the last time the next morning. They pack her clothes, her cache of food, and her plants into the same bag, carefully balancing the pots on top as she ties it shut. Then there’s nothing more for them to do except to fall back into the nest on her floor, exchanging soft, comforting touches as the sun crosses the sky. They meditate together, feeling through the Force as life begins to trickle back through into the halls as the work teams return from Ebra and daily routines are resumed. Then the shadows lengthen and Rey slings their bag over her shoulder. Kylo looks around the room again, heaves a sigh, and they walk outside.
A low stage has been erected by the old tree in front of the base. The ground has been cleared and a small metal bowl holding oil and a steady yellow flame nestles in the tree’s gnarled roots. They nod and exchange brief greetings with the other Resistance members as they line up and take a candle when directed. Then they gather in front of the stage, standing shoulder to shoulder with Finn and Poe.
As true dusk falls, Luke and Leia break from the crowd, climbing up to the platform. The twins are dressed in white, and the crowd falls silent as Leia comes to the front of the stage.
“I once thought that all victories were cause for celebration. That success always brings joy, that happiness comes at the end of the fight.” Luke raises his flesh hand and rests it on his sister’s shoulder when she pauses. “I was wrong. There are no winners in war. There are only those left alive, those who survived and who must carry on where the fallen cannot. Not all those we lost died on the battlefield yesterday. Some died long ago, before we even knew there was a still war left to win.”
Kylo’s hand tightens on Rey’s.
“Some died far away, unnoticed and unmourned. Some were killed without cause, guilty of nothing more than living in the wrong star system, or for being a friend to those in need. Some died in reconditioning facilities, killed for resisting other’s control, for daring to make their own choices. We will remember them all.”
The General continues, speaking about the success of the mission aboard the Finalizer, the fight above Ebra. Poe stiffens beside Finn as Leia reads off the names of the dead pilots blown out of the sky. She speaks of the Resistance forces who died fighting the 'Troopers at the landing site on Ebra and Rey's head is full of pain and screaming. She tastes blood in her mouth but Finn rubs her back as Kylo pulls her close, taking her candle to hold both in his hand as he rests his chin in her hair.
Leia chokes as she speaks about Chewbacca's death, and Luke takes over for her as Kylo's arms tighten around Rey's shoulders and he stifles a sob. "Chewbacca was a hero. He was my brother, and nothing will fill the space he left in my heart. He died protecting those he loved, those he trusted and cared for. My only solace is knowing that he would have given up his life a hundred times again to keep us safe." Hot tears roll down Rey's cheeks as Chewie's last thoughts flash through her mind again and Kylo cries silently above her. Leia regains her voice and declares, “We will remember him.”
Then Leia eulogizes Kess and the Exes. Rey finds Statura off to the side, standing straight and tall, a proper Admiral despite his pain. As Leia speaks about the Captain, Rey realizes that she never truly got to know Kess. She left her family when she was thirteen to join the Resistance. They tried to turn her away, but she was too stubborn to leave. Her work with Kylo and the Exes was only the most recent success in her storied career. "Zesha Kess was a talented leader, a great mentor, and a devoted friend. She died of wounds sustained while single-handedly battling two Knights of Ren. We will remember her."
Kylo releases Rey as attention is drawn to him and Finn when the General praises their leadership, their work with the Exes under Kess, and then she moves on to Gun and the Groundies. Only five of Kylo's men survived the fight. None of them escaped the battle unscathed. One is missing a leg, another an eye, but they stand proud as Gun is memorialized. Leia details the life that was stolen from him and the other Exes, how they grew up without families, knowing nothing but the First Order. She speaks how Gun protected his people on Oplovis, how he and Kylo saved the Groundies on Capza, how his friendship and determination gained him a family within the Resistance. Rey wonders why the General didn't ask Kylo to speak for Gun, and Kylo answers the question before she can whisper it aloud. I couldn't. He’s torn open, his breath coming shallowly as he struggles to control himself. I can't. It's too soon. It's too much.
Leia’s voice is fierce and strong as she declares, "Lieutenant Gun was killed by Supreme Leader Snoke after a prolonged battle wherein he fought with bravery, honor, and strength. We will remember him."
There is a pause and Luke walks down to the flaming metal bowl before Leia starts again. “I did not know Gun well, but during one of my few conversations with the Lieutenant, he told me that the best part of life with the Resistance was the freedom to choose.” She breathes out and her eyes sweep the crowd, encompassing them all in her gaze. “We have, all of us, chosen to be here. We have come from across the galaxy and we have chosen to work together. Together, we killed Snoke.” A few people raise their voices in agreement. “Together, we will clean up what is left of the First Order.” A ragged cheer goes up from the crowd. “Together, we will end this war and bring peace to the galaxy at last.” Beside her, Poe and Finn raise their fists and roar with the rest, but Rey and Kylo stay silent. As the noise quiets, Leia continues. “It is our choices that make us who we are, and it is our choices that have made us victorious. I chose to mourn my friends, my comrades, and I chose to celebrate their lives.” Candle alight, Luke remounts the stage and crosses to Leia, tipping the flame to the candle in Leia’s hand. “Please, join with me as we carry these flames in memory of the light their lives brought to us.”
Leia finishes her speech as illumination spreads through the crowd, wicks igniting as the flame is passed from hand to hand. A moment of respectful silence hangs in the air before singing starts, a beautiful song that twists and lilts, sad and soft and joyous all at once. Rey closes her eyes, trying to make out the words of the song, before Kylo plants a quick kiss on her cheek and she looks at him again. His face, lit from below by the candle he holds, is dry now. He takes her candle as his voice sounds in her mind.
Let’s go.
Looping an arm around each of their necks, Rey pulls Finn and Poe down for a crushing hug, words catching in her throat. “This isn’t goodbye.” she promises, her voice soft and urgent under the song.
Finn looks good, right, in his new olive uniform as he rests a hand on her hair and kisses her cheek. “Come find us on Finalizer . We’ll be hard to miss.” Kylo eases the bag from where it hangs over her arm and slings it over his shoulder, reaching to grip first Finn and then Poe’s arms, giving them quick emotion-heavy nods that they return.
“Take care of yourselves. Don’t forget to comm us!” Poe leans in to kiss her cheek, his lips warm. Rey smiles up at him and then there’s nothing left to do but slip into the shadows as they wave.
Her heart speeds up as they make their way to the landing strip where the Falcon waits, dark and empty. The ramp squeals as she pushes the button to lower it and the interior lights flick on, one by one, until the ship blazes. She looks back to Kylo, their connection fizzing with his excitement and apprehension, then she climbs aboard. He follows, close on her heels, and they beeline for the cockpit. Her fingers dance over the controls as the ramp locks in place behind Kylo and he takes the co-pilot’s seat. He steadies himself, staring down at the console in awe before beginning the launch sequence.
The twin engines rumble to life, casting brilliant blue light down the runway. The trees flicker in the shadows cast by the ignition and across the base she feels Luke and Leia’s attentions settle on them. Kylo glances back over his shoulder as though expecting someone else to be joining them in the living quarters. Rey takes his hand and together they initiate the launch. The Falcon jolts, lunging up into the sky, and they both close their eyes, settling for a quick moment into their own silent space before opening them to the bright stars around the ship. They glitter and shine, a billion possibilities, a billion choices waiting to be made.
Kylo’s hand is steady, fingers squeezing around hers, the connection alive and singing. “Where do you want to go?”
Rey turns away from the endless space in front of them and kisses him, soft and warm and finally, finally free .
“Anywhere.”