[ Finding them wasn't going to be easy, but Rey's honesty made it easier, and for all the exasperation that came with knowing how long she'd kept the secret, both Luke and Leia were grateful for the eventual outcome. In sharp contrast to Kylo Ren's silence to his master, Rey confessed to hers readily once they had made their way to a new base in the ashes of a Rebel Alliance base on Yavin IV—Poe's suggestion.
As soon as he realized that there was no keeping her from it, Luke taught her what he had been holding back, including how to block the darkness out of her mind like Ben Solo had never been able to with Snoke. Practicing, Luke warned, meant coaxing him to her, but Rey was fearless and persistent.
For a while, she could simply feel him probing, become more aware of it while she was training. Once she was certain his presence was gone, she would alert Luke, and they would begin again with mental training. Then, she began reaching out to him to coax him into meeting her on equal footing in this mess of a connection they'd forged with one another, too strong to be ignored with even a billion billion stars between them. And she'd cut him short, or he'd beat her to the punch, but she'd get practice either way—as much prying past his barriers as setting up her own.
From then, he senses her only when he wants her to, and in the days leading up to the assault, Luke doesn't want her to allow it—so she stonewalls him. Nothing but a frozen vacuum greets him when he grabs for her mentally—as promised, she provides him fewer opportunities. Fewer ways to reach for what she had once freely been willing to offer.
Leia is the one who decides it ought to be Corellia, for the importance it holds to their family, and she decides it on the same night that she insists Rey call her Leia now—they are equals, Leia tells her. Rey is a Jedi knight, not a Resistance lieutenant, and Leia can remember the stories from her father of the dangers that come with mixing politics and the Force. They must remain separate and cooperative, or they too will fall prey to the Dark Side. (Rey still sometimes scoffs at the notion; there is only one Force. Dark and Light always coexist, always balance one another—you can't have one without the other, she tries to tell Luke, and he gets that same worried look in his eye that kept him from completing her training months ago.)
Rey does not take the title of General, as Obi Wan once did. She does not go charging with a fleet of soldiers at her back, or even another Jedi at her side—she goes in alone, and with one purpose: to make good on a promise.
Air strikes distract them long enough for her to get on the ground. Chewie and Finn busy themselves making for Hux, ready to cut the head off the snake and tear down the organization that enslaved Finn for most of his life, that stole his childhood and his family and any chance for normalcy, but Rey goes for another head.
She defends herself from him, putting up a cold void that keeps him from sensing her coming until she wants him to, until it's too late to keep her from the battle. Then, the floodgates open, and —
A surge of anticipation races through her veins when he calls out for her, his voice booming through her mind so keenly that it may as well have resonated in her ears. The light glints off his mask as he turns toward her, and she raises her lightsaber into a guarding position across her chest, ready for the clash when he rushes her.
There is no clang when pure energy meets its like, but the blades sing all the same and purple highlights the atmosphere between them, casting a glow over their dance that is both warm and cool in equal measure. When he sees her now, Rey wears the leather skirts and dark robes of a Jedi knight, those that he had never properly earned before defecting, those that Luke would not confer to him, and her eyes are weathered with resolve. ]
You've gotten slow. [ She boasts the surety in her skill of the Skywalker whose saber she has inherited—not Luke, but his father. Deflecting his swing with a heavy shove, she crouches to avoid a following hack, then brings her saber up in a flourish to try an upward cross-slash against his back. ] Accept that you can't win this. [ Surrender and sabotage are their best options—the Resistance is a blip beside the monolith of the First Order. This surprise attack is as much a hail mary pass as it is a siege. ]
writes a page and a half of politics and training context i'm so sorry
As soon as he realized that there was no keeping her from it, Luke taught her what he had been holding back, including how to block the darkness out of her mind like Ben Solo had never been able to with Snoke. Practicing, Luke warned, meant coaxing him to her, but Rey was fearless and persistent.
For a while, she could simply feel him probing, become more aware of it while she was training. Once she was certain his presence was gone, she would alert Luke, and they would begin again with mental training. Then, she began reaching out to him to coax him into meeting her on equal footing in this mess of a connection they'd forged with one another, too strong to be ignored with even a billion billion stars between them. And she'd cut him short, or he'd beat her to the punch, but she'd get practice either way—as much prying past his barriers as setting up her own.
From then, he senses her only when he wants her to, and in the days leading up to the assault, Luke doesn't want her to allow it—so she stonewalls him. Nothing but a frozen vacuum greets him when he grabs for her mentally—as promised, she provides him fewer opportunities. Fewer ways to reach for what she had once freely been willing to offer.
Leia is the one who decides it ought to be Corellia, for the importance it holds to their family, and she decides it on the same night that she insists Rey call her Leia now—they are equals, Leia tells her. Rey is a Jedi knight, not a Resistance lieutenant, and Leia can remember the stories from her father of the dangers that come with mixing politics and the Force. They must remain separate and cooperative, or they too will fall prey to the Dark Side. (Rey still sometimes scoffs at the notion; there is only one Force. Dark and Light always coexist, always balance one another—you can't have one without the other, she tries to tell Luke, and he gets that same worried look in his eye that kept him from completing her training months ago.)
Rey does not take the title of General, as Obi Wan once did. She does not go charging with a fleet of soldiers at her back, or even another Jedi at her side—she goes in alone, and with one purpose: to make good on a promise.
Air strikes distract them long enough for her to get on the ground. Chewie and Finn busy themselves making for Hux, ready to cut the head off the snake and tear down the organization that enslaved Finn for most of his life, that stole his childhood and his family and any chance for normalcy, but Rey goes for another head.
She defends herself from him, putting up a cold void that keeps him from sensing her coming until she wants him to, until it's too late to keep her from the battle. Then, the floodgates open, and —
A surge of anticipation races through her veins when he calls out for her, his voice booming through her mind so keenly that it may as well have resonated in her ears. The light glints off his mask as he turns toward her, and she raises her lightsaber into a guarding position across her chest, ready for the clash when he rushes her.
There is no clang when pure energy meets its like, but the blades sing all the same and purple highlights the atmosphere between them, casting a glow over their dance that is both warm and cool in equal measure. When he sees her now, Rey wears the leather skirts and dark robes of a Jedi knight, those that he had never properly earned before defecting, those that Luke would not confer to him, and her eyes are weathered with resolve. ]
You've gotten slow. [ She boasts the surety in her skill of the Skywalker whose saber she has inherited—not Luke, but his father. Deflecting his swing with a heavy shove, she crouches to avoid a following hack, then brings her saber up in a flourish to try an upward cross-slash against his back. ] Accept that you can't win this. [ Surrender and sabotage are their best options—the Resistance is a blip beside the monolith of the First Order. This surprise attack is as much a hail mary pass as it is a siege. ]