Fandom Star Wars

[Lucyfer]

Kylo noticed his own datapad hadn’t beeped, just Paquin’s. Apparently the droid only saw fit to give the information to the one who asked directly about him being around. Kylo definitely did not like the droid. It didn’t cross his mind that this was, also, more normal. More typical of what he encountered.

“No,” Kylo answered for them both, “we’re done.” And he was, as he turned from the droid, back to the door, to at least get them outside of it, and let it whoosh behind him and Paquin. He glanced to her, “Could you forward the information on to me?” He supposed this was also a quick way to find out if their contact information for the new datapads was also, already, saved on their datapads, or if they were going to need to manually add that.

The droid already had it.

Why wouldn’t they?

Pryde seemed to be thinking of everything. “Once that’s done we can go to the showers.” They had clothes now. Clothing that was too close to a uniform, but also, too comfy. Kylo wasn’t sure how he’d feel about it. He wanted his armor.

Or perhaps new armor.

He’d have to talk to this Gideon about that, and see if he could get something improved. ‘With the red.’ He’d debate on that. But it could look quite…intimidating. It would speak a far better message than Snoke’s robes, anyways.

~***~

Luke nodded, taking in the information, though he was still fairly certain he might get lost at least once. If nothing else, he could still head back to his ship when this was all said and done.

He considered what Rey asked, and suggested, “If you want to go see him now, Rey, you can,” it wasn’t a suggestion. Not really. He wanted Rey to leave for a bit, now that he had Leia in a spot that was notably more private.

“Oh, uh, I was going to let him catch up a bit with Mira, first,” she didn’t feel she needed to hide that, but she realized after saying it, what Luke was really saying, “but I do need to go get some things from the ship,” she might want a change of clothes for the morning, right? “I’ll be back,” eventually.

She would move by Leia, but not without putting a hand to the woman’s upper arm and squeezing it, on the way out. Before leaving the twins alone, in a way that was likely too obvious for even Leia’s distracted mind to miss.

And Luke just made a sweeping gesture of the room, inviting Leia in, inviting her to take any place. Inviting her to stay. She’d been there, whenever he was hurt. Hoth. After his arm was cut off. He knew there were things they should at least…touch on, before this large meeting she had planned for tomorrow.

~***~

Mira chuckled a bit, wanted to protest the red, but wouldn’t. She knew what it was to want a saber that called to her. She’d kept her first, even after getting a red one. It had been safe on her ship, until that, of course, was destroyed. And she rather liked her purple one, but she intended to keep her – Kevan’s – red saber on hand. The trick aspect appealed, as did the thought of learning to dual-wield.

And the quiet message of the dark side it gave – if she was going to be Gray, she should embrace it, fully. Publicly.

But she listened to the story that Finn told of how the crystal had led them back to her room, “You probably shouldn’t trust things on Korriban,” Mira noted, as she picked up the astrium and held it in her hand. “There are such things as cursed items, and plenty are on Korriban. The Sith didn’t exactly like their knowledge to be taken.”

Selfish.

“Or else they wanted it taken only by the worthy,” Mira said, “this isn’t cursed, and the kyber isn’t, either. This is called astrium,” she held it up between them, “neither Jedi or Sith. It’s Zeffo,” a light smile, “Never anything Snoke cared about, but the Zeffo were an ancient civilization that vanished from the known galaxy. There’s been rumors they’re out, somewhere. I always hoped to find them, or at least, find where they ended up. Astriums are keys to Zeffo structures.”

She let it drop back into her lap, “I never did find it. I forgot I even had this.” She’d found it early, and nothing more. She’d tucked it away in her room and forgotten about it. “It might be useful, one day.”

But for now, she reached for one of the holocron, “These, however, will be much more useful now…but if we’re going to listen to Jedi and Sith talk on endlessly for a few hours while you work on channeling the Force to make them talk, we’re going to need ice cream. And I need a shower and something comfy to wear.” Perhaps she should have told Leia about that. Oh well. “And when we get through a few of these, I’ll help you with a lightsaber.”

That was bribery enough, right?

And distraction enough. Finn could probably call Mace while she was taking a shower, too. Time would zip by if he was busy with things.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Instinctively, Paquin thanked the droid again. Even with the attitude it gave them. Even though it was a droid just doing what it was programmed to do.

Kylo asked her to forward what she’d been sent to him, “Mhm,” she agreed, shuffling the things in her arms once again, the thought of using the Force escaping her. She’d never used it for little tasks before, she didn’t think about starting now, even if it would be good practice. “Done, I think.” His contact information had been in there, but not under his name, but his room number. While she was there, she changed his contact name. ‘Kylo’ with one of those little smiley faces beside it.

The ding of Kylo’s datapad confirmed it, and she moved on to the map again, locating the showers. She was anxious to feel clean again. She knew they wouldn’t have her usual products, she’d have to buy those, something her hair would suffer from temporarily. Unless the Final Order went that far, too. Which she would be creeped out by.

Paquin didn’t move to grab Kylo’s hand again as she began the trek to the showers. She couldn’t, really, with all the things in her arms, but she was content to walk alongside him.

It was fitting that the showers were situated in some halfway point between the laundry and their rooms. These bases were planned out well, not that Paquin expected anything less after all she’d seen. She was waiting for there to be something that was overlooked. Something to be normal.

-

Leia’s hand could only briefly pat Rey’s before the girl left, left her and Luke on their own. In private. That didn’t escape Leia. She stepped in to the offered space wordlessly, lowering herself onto one of the beds in the room, obviously not yet claimed by either of them. And she slumped.

And she let go.

In the privacy of the room and in the comforting presence of her brother, Leia let the tears that had burned at her eyes for hours and hours spill over. They were hot and came too fast for her to wipe them away. A sob wracked through her, a pained sound escaping her mouth, but she was quick to cover it with her hand. “I’m sorry, I…” Leia trailed off, voice muffled by her own hand.

She felt like she failed. She failed Ben. Mira, the galaxy. Herself. She couldn’t help her son the way he needed and now he was bent on plunging the galaxy into darkness. This wasn’t easy, like it was with Vader. Vader had never acted as her father, he’d only caused her pain. He may have killed Palpatine, but that didn’t erase anything he had or hadn’t done. But Ben? That was her kid, who she birthed, raised.

She took a deep breath.

She didn’t wipe her eyes, but she sniffled, leaning back. “Mira wants to bring Mace to the meeting.” Off topic. But Leia didn’t want to talk about Ben or Kylo or whatever. She wanted a distraction, until the tears stopped flowing.

-

Finn was endlessly intrigued by this Zeffo thing. An astrium, as Mira called it. A key, apparently. Why did that thing want him to find this? There had to be a reason, and Finn was convinced there had to be something that could help them with this. That could help them find what Mira had spent so long looking for. He’d make it useful, someday soon. He didn’t know much about the Zeffo, but he knew exactly who he could ask about it.

Ada.

Mira intended to turn the holocrons into a training lesson, it seemed, but Finn didn’t mind one bit. In fact, he was even excited for it. He didn’t know much about Sith or Jedi beyond common knowledge–despite his own father being a former Jedi, not that he’d known him. And to possibly get a lightsaber out of it, too? Finn was game and he took Mira’s bribery. A distraction for both of them.

He grinned. “C’mon. I’ll take care of the snacks while you shower. I’ll show you where,” in case she hadn’t been shown. He stood up, offering Mira one of his hands to help her up.

There was a knock on the door and Finn invited them in, figuring it would be Poe or Rey. But it was neither. It was one of the Resistance members, Finn was sure they worked with communications. “Hey, this stuff came for, uh, Vallens? I was told to bring it here.” They came bearing a garment bag, which Finn could imagine what was in that. Her fancy white getup.

They also held a small, flat box, Finn identified it as a datapad. Mira did destroy hers in Tarkin’s apartment, so that was understandable. There was an additional bag, an overnight one. Finn figured it probably held normal clothes or hygiene products, unaware that Mira hadn’t requested any of that stuff.

He just gestured to her, confirming that she was Vallens and these were her things.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo was easily balancing his own items with the Force, and so he did take out the datapad with greater ease than Paquin did, and glanced at how it showed up. Room number. He frowned at that, but was quick to change it – though he added no emojis, that language not exactly something he was ever versed in, despite Ariel and Kevan attempting to force it upon him, at times.

He put his datapad back into a pocket, just as they were reaching the showers. Close to the rooms. Close to the laundry room. This didn’t surprise him that much, really. He assumed the canteen would be close to their rooms, though not the same way as the showers. Likely down the hall, the other way.

“A meal after this?” It was his way of making sure that was the plan – and Paquin would wait for him.

It honestly wouldn’t surprise him if he took longer than Paquin. He also had a little more hope his personal preferences would be here, after all this. He couldn’t be certain, but he was hoping. His hair was in need of a deep conditioning after the sand. Or at least, he thought it was, and wanted it to undergo that.

The communal showers seemed empty right then, perhaps because the usual officers had just been kicked out of the area, or perhaps it just wasn’t the usual hour. Whatever the case, Kylo was glad for it, and the large stalls with locks, rather than mere curtains or something as equally pointless.

~***~

Luke knew that Leia would regroup. She would be strong again. She held it together through losing her parents, and her world, well enough to give medals to himself and Han. All the way through that, to where some had looked upon her as if she were an ice queen – though most with admiration for her strength.

Luke moved to sit besides her as she apologized.

Covered her mouth.

Tried to cover her sorrow with some talk of Mace. Some distraction. “Mm.” Mace. That would be…interesting. He understood why she might want Mace there. He understood some of the implications of being invited, beyond that Leia was hurt.

Leia could push on with distractions. Luke could even humor that.

He thought he could also manage her wrath, and her sorrow. He reached for one of her hands, and ignored the Mace comment. “It’s not all hopeless, Leia.” About Ben. Kylo. His experience with Vader, at least, gave him some shred of hope. Perhaps more than Kylo deserved -- but it was there. And Leia should hear that.

~***~

Mira nodded, appreciative of Finn offering to show her to where the showers were, and she took his hand to get up, releasing it once she was on her feet, and setting the astrium back in the drawer. No one was going to steal it, right?

Someone did come in before they left, and Mira glanced at what they had to offer, her brows knitting together as she saw how much they had. Nonetheless, she stepped forward to relieve them of it, and took a glance through it. “Thank you,” she said to the officer. They just gave a quick nod, a quick word, and then they were gone.

Fancy white outfit.

Datapad.

Overnight bag – and Mira almost laughed to see it. Her few things from the Order had only been hygienic in nature, and it seemed to all be in there, along with something that would pass as ‘comfy’, which she was fairly certain she didn’t own. The thought was both terribly amusing, and terribly warming, certain Hux had called for it to be sent to her. To make up for all that she had forgotten in the midst of this.

She set the datapad and white outfit on the cot, to be put up and looked over later. The other bag she’d take with her, so she’d have something to change into. “Okay, I’m ready now – also I got a favor to ask you while I’m in the shower, if you have time with the snack run,” Mira said, and would follow Finn, “Leia’s organizing a meeting tomorrow. I’d like Mace to be involved.” If he was willing. “Since…this is going to be shaping the future of the Force and its relation to politics,” if it was to have any relationship, “I think it’d be good to have him.”

He had a history, given the Jedi Council.

And he might not be on her side, but she didn’t think he was on Luke’s, either. Somehow, a three-way conversation seemed better than two-way.

 

[KyloGlenn]

“I could eat,” Paquin happily confirmed, shooting up a smile at him. Of course, she didn’t anticipate that he might take longer than her when showering, at least when it came down to the actual showering part, but she’d be fine with waiting either way. Showers were a personal time, and Paquin knew he had much to mull over. She had her datapad to keep her occupied if she found herself with extra time.

Paquin set down her collection of things on the counters across from the stalls, thinking it best to leave her datapad there, away from the water. And she noticed then, the bins that rested atop the counter. Four of them, each with a name. Her and Kylo’s included. Now it was officially creepy, but she felt too tired, too dirty to care.

At least her hair wouldn’t be condemned to frizz now that her things were available.

Paquin grabbed her bin and a towel in one arm. She wasn’t at all surprised by the red accents on the dark fabric. “Be careful around your wound,” she reminded him, her hand reaching up to touch his shoulder, her thumb fiddling with the fabric of his armor. “Take your time. I’ll be here,” she assured, squeezing his shoulder before her hand trailed off.

She picked a stall, kicking off her boots before she slipped in to finish undressing, both her clothes and the gauze around her abdomen, which she’d have to replace. But for the moment, she just placed them to rest over the door of the stall and turned the water on.

-

“Last I checked I changed the subject,” she grumbled when Luke ignored the comment, ignored her attempt to distract. It was a weak subject change, anyway, she’d fault herself with that one. She’d hoped Luke would humor her, but she supposed she forgot she was talking to her twin. Damn him.

His hand found hers and she brought her other one over to cover his, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” To talk about hope. She’d always had hope. She had hope all the way up until the moment her son tried to slice right through her with his lightsaber. Did she still have hope for Ben? She wanted to. But she couldn’t find it in the moment.

“I’m having a hard time seeing it, Luke.” It hurt her to admit that. She saw hope for the galaxy, of course. In Rey, Poe, Finn, Mira. What she and Luke and everything of the past would leave behind. She wanted to hope Kylo would make the right decision, but she couldn’t feel it anymore.

“He’s not Vader. I don’t know if that’s a good thing.” Was he better? Lighter? Or was he worse? Darker than they’d imagined?

“I don’t know how to reach him, how to get through to him. I just wish I could understand…,” She’d tried. With sending him to Luke. Trying to reach out to him through the Force. Asking Han. None of it worked and she didn’t understand why. What more was there to do?

-

Finn was a bit surprised by her request. “Are you sure you want him there?” He was a former Jedi, sure, he knew about all of this, but nowadays? He’d lived for years as a hermit and was rather grumpy. Finn wasn’t sure he’d have anything positive to offer, or anything progressive. He could see Mace arguing with Luke–probably didn’t help that Luke was a Skywalker. He could see him arguing with Mira, too.

He supposed it would be better than Mira and Luke going back and forth with him, Rey, Leia, and whoever else just sitting around.

“I’ll reach out to him while you shower. No guarantee he’ll answer,” being his son wasn’t a promise that his call would be picked up or his message would be answered.

Finn stopped at the door leading to the showers. One thing Finn had to adjust to was the showers. In the Order, they weren’t as...rowdy. And they were sleeker, even as a Stormtrooper he’d had more sense of privacy than here sometimes. The showers were almost always busy, but less so at night. She might’ve caught it at a decent time. If not, there were curtains.

Everyone just talked a lot in there.

“I’ll be back in my room by the time you’re done. And if I’m not, just wait for me.” He didn’t want Mira to get lost looking for him. “I think there’s a bowl of caf flavored ice cream waiting for you in the canteen. Don’t slip in there,” Finn teased.

“Finn!” His head turned as he heard his name, and saw Rey coming down the hall with her canvas bag in hand. ‘Perfect timing,’ he thought.

 

[Lucyfer]

Bins with their names was weird – but useful. Kylo was torn between being appreciative of the gesture, and bothered by it. ‘Why wasn’t Pryde General of the Order instead of Hux?’ He clearly knew what he was doing. And how to treat his betters.

Not to mention everything here did seem to be running efficiently. He definitely had everyone’s attention, and respect – even if they all offered to put aside his request at a word from Kylo.

He tried not to think about it, but it wouldn’t leave his mind as he grabbed the bin, intending to take his datapad in with him. He was certain there’d be an area to set the bin, and the datapad, where they wouldn’t get wet.

He paused after turning with Paquin’s touch, her reminder.

He sighed. Right. Wound. That would need to be wrapped again, wouldn’t it? He hadn’t brought gauze or considered that, but he nodded all the same. He wouldn’t intentionally irritate it any further. “I’ll try.”

And he let her take a stall first, before taking the one next to it, and slipping out of his boots, his clothes, and setting the bin and his new clothes, with his datapad, in a pile near the door, before stepping into the barely-separated area where the shower actually was…with his shampoo, conditioner, and much else.

Apparently, that information was as common knowledge as his measurements, and he was relieved to be able to set conditioner in his hair for a bit as he got around to washing his body – realizing he left the gauze on at that point and having to remove the wet bandages from around his chest while they stuck to him.

Oh well.

At least he was getting off all of the sand.

Or, most of it. All of it might not occur for a week.

~***~

It was, definitely, supposed to be Leia’s line, but Luke could tell that hope was going to be hard for her. Letting go likely felt easier. It would be a way for her to focus on what had to come, tomorrow – and the days beyond. To focus on a war, as if it were against someone like Wilhuff, Sheev, or even Vader. She certainly hadn’t had hope for Vader.

Luke would never fault her for that.

“He’s not Vader,” Luke agreed. He didn’t say that Kylo’s decision seemed more conscious, less manipulated. There had been manipulation, that was true – manipulation that took many individuals under Snoke’s wing, and crushed them – but Kylo broke that, of his own will. He broke that, and stepped up into the position of Supreme Leader.

It was not something that Luke thought Vader ever wanted.

Kylo was very much Leia’s son, in that respect. He had an idea. He had a plan. He wanted to see it through. Emotional ploys weren’t working with him. “I don’t know how to reach him, either,” Luke said. “He’s made his choices, but I don’t think it’s steeped in evil. I don’t think it’s steeped wholly in the dark.”

Luke didn’t feel that.

The thought of Kylo brought a chill, but not like Snoke. Kylo wasn’t devoid of the light.

“Even if he was…I wouldn’t say he was without hope.” Vader had been stepped in darkness, in anger, in pain, so thick it was hard to feel anything else, but Luke still hoped. Still felt for that light.

“We just don’t know enough. We don’t understand.” As she, herself, said. “Maybe we’ll know more, soon.”

When he started to make his moves. When they had more encounters with him. “He’s your son, Leia.” Which meant, he had her stubbornness.

~***~

“No,” Mira wasn’t sure. “But invite him anyways,” she’d rather regret having him there, instead of regret not having him there. At least she could say, she tried. She wanted to hear the other side. She wanted to see what they were going to try and do, and she wanted to see if there was any real room to work with them, or if they were just going to have to agree to a cease fire between their respective groups.

Even if Mira didn’t want the Jedi returning to the galaxy, at all.

Mira could hear some chatter floating out from within the showers and she mentally sighed. She could tolerate it, though. Get in, get out.

She just wanted to feel a bit cleaner.

She heard Rey, and grinned to Finn – although the thought of the caf ice cream might have encouraged her most of all, “I’ll see you soon,” she allowed, before dipping in and finding an empty stall, throwing the curtain across it.



Outside, Rey caught up with Finn, “How is…everything?” It was Rey’s way of asking if he had caught up with Mira. Obviously, she wasn’t presently interrupting him, but she didn’t know how long she might be able to hang around. How much time they had to catch up.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin relaxed the moment the water hit her skin, warm and refreshing all at once. She didn’t set to cleaning herself straight away, instead basking in the feeling of the water hitting her, watching the dirt and blood mingle with the water and disappear down the drain. She wanted to wash the day off of her, out of her mind.

She lathered shampoo into her hair, rinsing and slathering conditioner in its stead. As strange as it was that the Final Order had known and provided, down to the marshmallow scented exfoliator that she scrubbed her skin raw with, she was comforted by the familiar scents. She supposed she likely left something of hers on Kamino or with the Order, information the Final Order would have access to. Maybe it wasn’t so off.

She rinsed everything off of her, the water stinging the wounds she’d acquired over the day. She took a few good minutes to do so before she shut the water off. She could still hear the water running in Kylo’s stall. Paquin dried off, scrunched cream into her hair, and let her skin absorb her lotion. She realized as she went to put her clothes on that they didn’t have any gauze to replace the old. ‘Oh well.’ They’d just have to get some later. She wasn’t bleeding anymore, at least. She’d have to check on Kylo.

Paquin dressed, glad to be in something more comfortable. She gathered her things, neatly folding her dirty clothes and taking her things with her as she exited the stall. She discarded the clothes in the designated hamper, figuring it was okay if she never saw them again, considering they’d be getting new clothes, armor.

And she waited, as promised.

-

“It’s been years, Luke. If we haven’t been able to reach him then, haven’t been able to learn anything in that time, how...how do you think we’re going to learn anything now?” Leia was frustrated. She didn’t want to think about this. It would be easier to wage war against her own kid, accept all the atrocities he committed and would commit if she didn’t care, if she didn’t feel hope.

But she did care. She did hope and yearn

And now there was no barrier. There was no Snoke to tell him things or keep him away. He wasn’t a Sith. Maybe with the more he exposed himself, the better idea they had, but...if Han couldn’t get through to him, if she couldn’t get through to him, who could?

“I know he’s my son. That’s why I’m…” Scared? Resigned? She didn’t know. “That’s the worst damn part about it. I know how he thinks in that way,” that was the only way she knew how he thought. She felt that way, anyway. He was stubborn just like she was. He was chasing some idea he believed in, that he thought was right. He was committed, just as much as she was.

She’d given up everything she had for this. For the Rebellion, for the Resistance. She’d lost, she’d won. It cost her dearly, yet here she was.

“What would it take for Ben? For him to give it up?” Luke didn’t have the answers. The only thing she could think of was him realizing how wrong the things he was doing were, but...he thought they were necessary for the greater good. “I hate this. I hate not knowing.” She always had some clue of what to do, some way to go on. And now?

-

Finn did look after Mira as she retreated into the showers, a small smile on his face, even though it was followed by a sigh. He turned his attention back to Rey as she asked how everything was. “Could be better, could be worse,” he supposed that was a true enough answer. Mira’s situation could be worse. She could be exploding, or holding everything in. Suffering. And she could be better, as if none of this had happened. But it had.

“She’s cleaning up a bit, and then we’re gonna do a bit of training tonight. To distract her.” Finn didn’t think he needed to avoid anything with Rey. Mira liked her, he was fairly certain. And he trusted her. “C’mon, I’ve got a thing or two I’ve gotta do before Mira’s done and got a lot to catch you up on.” A lot to catch up on, and not nearly enough time as he needed to fully explain anything.

But getting started was better than nothing.

He wasn’t sure how much time Rey had either. So, he multitasked, leading them back to his room so he could get his datapad and message Mace. “I might make a lightsaber tonight. I stole a kyber crystal. And a bunch of holocrons and stuff, from Korriban, you saw those.” In the drawer Mira had when Rey had first shown up with Luke. He figured Luke was with Leia, probably dismissed Rey so they could talk.

“Oh, and I met my mom. A few times,” Finn added casually, as if it were no big deal. But yet, he bit his lip to stop his grin as he anticipated Rey’s reaction.

He wanted Ada to meet Rey, like she had Poe. He wanted her to meet all of his friends, be involved, because he knew she wanted to be.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo Ren managed not to agitate the wound to bleeding. He didn’t think that was possible with how closed up it was, but he’d done stranger things. He also wasn’t sure he got all the sand off him, but at least he felt cleaner when he finally washed the conditioner out in the too-cold water. But the cold was necessary, or so he’d always been told.

By his mom.

For conditioning.

He took a sharp breath, the air hanging with that sharp evergreen scent that reminded him both of Kashyyyk and not. It was something still sharper than Kashyyyk’s woods, but warmer than Hoth’s pines. It felt like it had been too long since he’d been properly clean. He knew it hadn’t, he knew he’d washed before now, but he hadn’t felt…settled.

He wasn’t fully settled now, but more than he had been. Now that Snoke wasn’t looming over his shoulder, and his every thought didn’t need to be guarded, it was easier to feel relaxed.

He stepped out, and didn’t bother towel-drying his hair – yet another thing his mother had always told him. Nothing that would damage his hair, was ever done. He would just let it drip dry – after hand-wringing it in the shower.

He did at least dry off the rest of his body, patting down the area around the wound. He didn’t immediately slip on a shirt, deciding it better to ask Paquin about the wound first, not at all considering she, also, hadn’t brought gauze. He was otherwise dressed, though.

He stepped out to see her waiting, on her datapad, “Paquin – does this need wrapped before I put anything on?” At least he was seeking advice?

~***~

‘It was years with Vader, too.’ Though, Vader hadn’t known for years that he had a son. Or a daughter. He hadn’t known Leia was his child when he tortured her and destroyed Alderaan. Still, it went to show that a simple thing, something they didn’t know, something Ben didn’t know, could change everything.

He wouldn’t remind Leia of Vader, though.

All he could do, was hold her.

“Because he’s acting on his own now, Leia,” Luke said, maintaining a calm that came with his years of instruction as a Jedi. But it wasn’t an emotionless calm. It was a compassionate one, one, admittedly, a much younger Luke wouldn’t have had. He’d be whining. Complaining this wasn’t fair. And Leia would be holding his hand and reassuring him. Patient. Calm.

He realized, then, how much he’d missed her…and how much they had changed. “He’s going to show us very soon what he’s trying to do, and what he wants, and we’re going to have to listen – both for his sake, and for the war.” Because to defeat their enemy, they had to know their enemy. They looked at Kylo, before, as a puppet of Snoke. Even Luke had, thinking of Snoke as the one to hide from.

All those thoughts shattered in front of them.

He was no Vader.

He was no puppet.

~***~

Rey followed along, listening to what Finn had to say. Apparently, Mira was actually teaching him – he was going to be learning the Force through the holocrons that evening. Distraction or not, it was good to hear that there was actually teaching going on. She had wondered, just a little, given it seemed they were always so busy.

Her entire time with Luke was just learning, it seemed. Learning, and hiding.

But now there wasn’t Snoke to hide from.

Her trajectory of thought changed. “Finn!” Rey reached to wrap both hands around his arm as he mentioned his mother, “That’s great!” Rey knew, now, she’d never meet her parents. They were dead. Her grandfather was a ghost, but he hadn’t come forward to speak to her, or to Luke, from what she knew. “What’s her name? What does she do? How did you meet?” She had a million questions…and from Finn’s smile, she knew they were all okay to ask.

It had gone well with his mother.

Which meant she also, likely, hadn’t given him up by choice.

‘Poor woman….’ But at least now, she was reunited, with a son who wanted her.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin easily took to having her own datapad again. She took a moment to commit the path to the canteen to her memory, but once she did that she started to search around the HoloNet for little things to personalize her room with. She never really did with the First Order, and never had the chance on Korriban. Aside from the dead plant. And it did cross her mind that now she had her own means of contact.

Maybe she could reach out, catch up with her friend like she had promised so long ago, when acquiring Gnaeus’s hand. Would that be safe? There was no Snoke to fear now…

She was hit with a waft of something woodsy, yet fresh, when Kylo stepped out of his stall. Her attention was drawn from where it was engrossed in her datapad by the smell and the voice that followed. “Hm? Oh,” Paquin’s eyes flickered down to his wound. It was a bit red, but wasn’t bleeding. “No, just be careful. Might be good to wrap it before bed, though.” Unrestricted movement could agitate it.

She wondered if she could get the medbay to send some gauze to their rooms so it would be there after they ate. So she dove back into her datapad, looking into her contacts. A choice between a person or a droid was offered, and she figured a droid could handle it.

“Kylo,” Paquin looked up again, “Thank you for asking, I'm glad you did.” She thought she ought to encourage it, if she wanted him to keep things in mind. The Knights had a horrible disregard for these things.

-

“I know what he’s going to do, what he wants,” he’d made it clear. He wanted one executive ruler and she knew what he’d do to get his way. He’d kill her. He’d kill innocent people. What, would he have another planet killer made to obliterate his enemies? It was what the Empire had done. It was what Snoke had tried. Only now Kylo could learn from all of them. Inflict his own cruelty. Because he wasn’t a puppet.

She wondered if he ever had been. She knew Snoke had his influence on her son, but how much of it really was Snoke? She was beginning to think that Han wasn’t Snoke’s doing either, but Kylo’s.

This wasn’t fair. Leia thought about it. She had always thought about it. Luke had been the one to complain about it, when they were younger, not her, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of it. Nothing in her life was fair, nor would it ever be. And she’d been okay with that, with the thought that she could make it fair for others. But now, now she wished she could have just a little taste of something easy, something right, something fair.

She wouldn’t get it.

She had to put the fact that Kylo was her enemy before the fact that he was her kid. Otherwise her emotions would get in the way. And emotions clearly didn’t work with Kylo. Leia looped her arms around her brother’s. She missed him, and she’d miss him when he inevitably disappeared with Rey again. “Why couldn’t you be the one with the messed up kid?” Leia only joked, of course. She wouldn’t want Luke to feel this. And she missed her messed up kid.

-

Finn did feel bad. He knew Rey wouldn’t get to meet her parents. She didn’t have a mom of her own to gush about, and she never would. And here he was, even though he’d been torn away from them, with his mom and his dad, as absent as Mace seemed to be. But he knew Rey didn’t think of it like that, with jealousy. She was happy for him, genuinely.

He only wanted to share his joy with her.

She asked so many questions, a mile a minute, but he didn’t get lost. He answered with as much excitement as she’d asked. “Her name is Ada Zain, she works for the Galactic Museum on Coruscant. Mira found my file from the Order and we kind of just...showed up at her apartment,” it did seem crazy, as he looked back on it. A couple people showing up and one claiming to be her kid that had been kidnapped by a wannabe Empire.

But she knew as soon as she opened that door

“She’s so great, Rey. You have to meet her, you’d love her.” She would, too. Ada was welcoming, kind. He could imagine Ada showing Rey some of his baby pictures. She’d get a kick out of that. “She’d love you, too.” Ada had liked Poe. Ada didn’t like Mira much, understandably so, but they got along.

They reached his room, and he squeezed one of Rey’s hands before he separated from her to find his datapad. “Oh, hey. We found some books on Korriban, but neither Mira or I know what language there in. Would you mind taking a look, seeing if it’s familiar?” He didn’t expect her to be fluent in it, but maybe she’d seen it before.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo accepted the advice, and turned back to the stall to pick up his shirt, and the rest of his things. He donned the shirt outside of the stall as she spoke a word of gratitude about seeking her advice, rather than just getting ready. It was unlike him – and he knew that – but he had no reason to think Paquin would restrain him unnecessarily.

He let out an agreeable hum, though. He didn’t want to draw attention to it.

With the shirt on, he lifted the other items, sticking the datapad into a pocket, and carrying the other items with the Force. “Okay, let’s drop things off, and find food,” he said, as he stepped away from his stall, prepared to leave.

He was certain he could at least lead back to the rooms, given the refreshers had been on the way to laundry and they just passed them by.

He did notice the hanging sweet scent now in the air once they left the refresher. He didn’t need to question it, though he was momentarily surprised by that – that the Final Order had her information when he didn’t think the Knights of Ren had it.

Then again, he really didn’t know.

Things happened so fast then, with Kevan turning traitor and then Hux kicking them from the Order.

“With all this talk of plant, I was expecting florals….” He found himself murmuring aloud.

~***~

Some things about Kylo’s next steps would be predictable. They knew he wanted to rule – they knew that he assumed he was right. What they didn’t fully know, was why. Not to the extent where they could understand him, or be understood by him.

That’s what Luke was hoping for. That the propaganda put out, would lead to those sorts of answers. They could figure out how to approach, then.

Maybe.

He allowed a wry smile to touch his lips as Leia asked him about children, “Because I became a Jedi Master, unlike my father,” his father had kids, after all, “I listened to Master Kenobi.” Not that there hadn’t been occasion, or thought, to set it aside, but after what happened with Vader, he considered that the Jedi might be on to something.

Perhaps he was wrong.

He didn’t know, and his smile faltered.

Still, he squeezed her hand, “Have hope, Leia. This is new for Ben, too. What we don’t understand, is going to be revealed to us. We have reason to hope that we’ll learn why he’s being so stubborn. Even you can change your mind…sometimes.”

~***~

Rey’s eyes went wide as Finn said he just showed up at her house, amazed that it worked. That this Ada Zain not only believed him, but accepted him in. “That’s amazing, Finn!” Was he Finn Zain now? “I want to meet her,” she nodded enthusiastically.

She had to be an interesting woman!

As soon as she could, she would have to. She wasn’t sure when that would be. She wasn’t sure now, what her schedule looked like, since Snoke was dead. That changed things. She and Luke hadn’t discussed just what that changed, though. Not yet.

At the offer of books, Rey did reach for them. She was familiar with plenty of languages, to some degree, thanks to Jakku, but the text of these were unfamiliar to her as she paged through the first one, then adjusted it to the bottom of the stack, and paged through the second. “Mm…I don’t think I do,” she said, shaking her head, “If you found them on Korriban…maybe this is Sith?”

Did Sith have a language? She didn’t know. “Maybe Luke would know.” Although, she wouldn’t just take them to him, not without permission, and so she did offer them back.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin fell into step with Kylo’s lead, she figured he could find the way back to their rooms easy enough. This place was planned well, almost grid-like. So she followed along, focusing her attention on copying Kylo–carrying her things with the Force. She thought she might do well to practice when she wasn’t overly emotional or in a dire situation. To actually have some sort of control over it.

Of course, her things didn’t hover more than a few inches above her hands, just in case.

She turned a bit pink at Kylo’s comment, she knew he meant her. She laughed a bit, “Sorry to disappoint.” Despite him not saying anything of the sort, she worried he didn’t like the scent she wore. A silly worry. “The kids–the younger troopers liked it.” Of course, Paquin had been using the same things for years before she worked for the Order, but it helped to, apparently, smell like candy. Sweet things.

Paquin’s attention refocused as she recognized their rooms. Now that she carried her things all the way back came her own final test for herself. Opening the door. One of her hands moved and carefully, slowly, the door began to open. But then Paquin’s excitement over her own little achievement won out, and the door whooshed open at an unfortunately fast speed.

‘Can’t win them all.’

-

Leia didn’t know the Force like Luke did. That’s why she’d sent Ben to him. The Jedi Order or anything like that, those were Luke’s things. Decisions on what the Jedi Order meant was left up to him, and she’d never tried to insert her own agenda into his business. But sometimes, she wished she’d said something. Something about the whole attachments thing. Something about him.

Leia loved Han. She loved the family they created, when it was together. And she wished Luke would have considered the same. At least considered if it was something he wanted, instead of listening to Old Ben. “Obi-Wan had a kid.” A grandkid, too. And he’d been a Jedi Master, even if all of the children things came after that.

Maybe it would’ve been best if none of them had kids.

Leia squeezed his hand back. “I’m trying Luke, I am.” She couldn’t give up on her kid, it was just hard to see any hope then. She’d get it together. She did crack a smile towards the end. “Sometimes,” she emphasized. “Thank you, Luke,” her tears had dried up, not for a lack of emotion but she just had none left to cry.

“At least...we might be getting something done tomorrow.” She hated waiting. She’d hate waiting for Kylo to act, to show them what his plans were. But at least she had tomorrow. The meeting, she hoped something good would come from it. And surely everything that came after it would keep her busy enough to keep her from dwelling. To keep her busy until something more happened.

Leia thumbed the picture in her other hand, over her son’s face. She put it away, for a while. It was hard to see.

-

Finn typed up a quick message to Mace, who he’d also have to mention to Rey, but that news wasn’t as exciting as Ada. Funny how a legendary Jedi wasn’t as exciting as his mother, but Finn couldn’t ignore his mom’s tense relationship with the man. Finn sent nothing more than what he had to. A hello, the necessary details about the meeting, a time and place, and a goodbye.

If Mace wanted to take advantage of that information, it was up to him. And he hoped Mace wouldn’t derail Mira, or even Luke’s goals. They’d see, though.

Rey didn’t know the language, but offered a suggestion. Sith, yeah, he figured that could make sense. Did that mean that the redhead knew it? Seemed like something a ginger would know…”Yeah, maybe.” Finn considered taking them to Luke, but he figured he’d investigate what he could, first. Given Mira’s relationship with Luke, Finn would make that his last option.

Of course, Finn didn’t know how long Luke would be around...how long Rey would be around.

“Thanks anyway, Rey.” He offered a smile, setting his datapad down. Maybe he’d get a response, maybe Mace would just show up tomorrow. Maybe neither. He did what Mira asked, anyway. Which reminded him. “Hey, you wanna come get some ice cream with me? I’m getting some for Mira and I’s...sleepover, I guess we can call it.” He was sure there’d be plenty for Rey, too, if she had some time.

Was there ice cream on Jakku? That would be the best place to have it, wouldn’t it?

-

Things had been awfully quiet without Mira around. Well, not quiet. Everything was a mess, but Hux had gone about it like it was his normal, tedious tasks, Mira not around to grace him with her presence. Though, that was a good thing. He needed to get used to it, needed to put space between them. After their moment on Coruscant and how...emotional he’d been after Korriban, there needed to be a line.

That thought nagged at the back of his mind, that and the exhaustion he felt. But yet, he stood on the bridge, overseeing operations and correcting his father’s wrong doings. Sending squadrons out to planets with the purpose of pillaging for things they didn’t need. Brendol had also sent a squadron to Arkanis, to serve as a personal guard. Hux didn’t doubt Brendol intended it to be his own.

He recalled that squadron.

“General Hux!” Hux’s attention was drawn to an officer as he hurried in. “General Hux! There’s a woman in the docking bay. She’s unsanctioned, we don’t know how she got here, but she knows the former Commandant is here. She’s saying she just wants to talk to him, but…”

Hux ignored the blatant security problem they apparently had, for the moment, “But?”

“She’s wielding a bit of a crude weapon. I don’t think her intention is to talk. What would you like us to do with her?” Execute her? Interrogate her?

Hux sighed, but he was intrigued. How did this woman get on in the first place? And why did she want to ‘talk’ with Brendol? Maybe she had information. “Take me to this woman.”

“Of course, sir.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo quickly shook his head, “No, it’s not—” he cut himself off from rambling. It wasn’t a disappointment. Just not what he expected. He had expected a lighter scent, but this was still pleasant. How could it not be? Though he could see her point. Children would likely like it. It amused him, a little, that it had even been a consideration.

Their rooms in sight, Kylo moved on to his, the door opening easily enough – Paquin was another story.

He turned his head as the door opened rapidly, and bit the inside of his cheek.

There was still much for Paquin to learn about the Force.

More training sessions were in order for her, and he wondered if perhaps he should try and get her familiar with the Medbay, and find out if they were involved in any of Snoke’s projects. They’d all considered that Paquin might concern herself with aspects she was familiar with – to see if she could bend the Force to her will in the realm of medicine.

He wouldn’t say that right then, or comment on her use of the Force. He’d just release his cheek, and step into his own room to put his things up…and then wait for her.

~***~

Obi-Wan did have a kid. Luke hadn’t known about that legacy for a while, so he almost considered that a moot point. He wouldn’t take that from Leia though. Just sighed, but allowed a small rumble of laughter. “So he did.”

And Rey.

At least Rey was on the right side of things. He hoped she would retain that Kenobi steadfastness…without all the loss that Kenobi experienced. That was his greatest tragedy, having everyone he loved, die.

Not even Luke suffered that.

Leia might have been able to relate, and certainly, Luke still thought she could have been a great Jedi. Perhaps even better than him.

Tomorrow would be…interesting. “What are you expecting from me?” He hadn’t been a part of this for a while. And never a politician.

~***~

Rey nodded, but her look was apologetic as she couldn’t offer any help with the books. No matter. She was certain Finn could – or Luke. Maybe Mace? Someone would.

Her face screwed up in amusement at what Finn had to say next, “Sleepover? I thought this was a very serious training session.”

Why didn’t she get ice cream with training sessions?

“…Do you think Mira would mind if I joined?” Or maybe Finn would mind. Would Luke be upset if she watched some holocrons and made sure Finn safely made a lightsaber? She didn’t think so. Maybe the Sith ones.

But ice cream!

Learning!

Finn!

~***~

Phasma had gone to the hangar where the woman was, holding a crude blade, and demanding to see Brendol. Not General Brendol Hux – no, she was looking for the Commandant, which was a rather curious thing.

More curious was that, what hair wasn’t gray, was red. ‘Relative?’ Phasma wondered if this was some sister, but she couldn’t recall Brendol having any living relatives other than, well…Hux.

Phasma continued forward as the woman was held back with blasters trained on her. “Stand down,” Phasma directed. She knew someone had been sent to speak to Hux about this, but she wanted to gather what she could before he arrived.

She was thin. Gaunt, almost.

The savagery in her face didn’t speak of the Commandant to Phasma at all. Not a relative, then. Not by blood. But her face was still quite familiar with its angles – angles Brendol might have had, if he ever knew when to set down a snack.

“Ma’am, if you want to convince us that you want to just talk to Commandant Hux, you will have to relinquish your hold on that…knife.” It wasn’t even an electroblade. Phasma was fairly certain she could find blades like that in the kitchen. “As it is, Commandant Hux is to have no visitors.”

“You will make an exception, Lieutenant-General,” well, at least she was well informed.

“I am afraid that would be overstepping my own boundaries to do so, but General Hux has been made aware of the situation. It may be better if I have the knife when he arrives. A show of good faith?” Phasma felt odd asking, and not just restraining the woman, or having her put in binders. Her knife wasn’t going to do anything to any of their armor. She wasn’t a threat.

But she was interesting.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin appreciated Kylo’s silence. She’d already cringed at herself, didn’t need Kylo to do it, too. But she continued on, letting her collection of things move ahead of her and into the room until they rested on the standard issue desk in the corner. Alongside the ring that she wasn’t quite sure why she’d taken. She could organize her things later, but for the moment…

Her stomach growled.

She wasn’t really hungry but she needed to eat something, she supposed. She exited her room to find Kylo already waiting for her. Paquin let the door close naturally behind her, figuring the earlier mess up was enough for the night. “You ready?” She asked, even though she already began to set off, having earlier memorized the way to the mess hall from the map. It was in the opposite direction of the laundry room. A few turns down some halls and they’d be there.

Paquin had things she was burning to ask Kylo, but she didn’t want to ruin the calm between them. “I wonder if they’re going to have my favorite snacks, too,” she muttered. She hoped not. That would be too much.

It was essentially empty, apart from a droid moving about and cleaning. The lights were a bit dim, not that Paquin minded. The light was supplemented by light shining in from a large viewport––moonlight. The base was built within a mountain, giving an overview of the wildlife surrounding it. “Oh,” Paquin cooed, looking back to Kylo, “Can we sit over there?” Of course, they had to get food first, which was the direction she began to head in, but she liked this amenity.

-

“I expect for you to not make me look bad,” Leia was joking, of course. Well, partly. She didn’t want him to make her regret bringing him into a meeting like this. If it were just Luke attending, she wouldn’t worry. It was Luke Skywalker after all, he was hard not to like. At least, now he wasn’t, now that he was older, wiser. He was a bit whiny when he was younger, but she loved him all the same.

But it wasn’t just going to be Luke at this meeting. It would be him, Mace, and Mira.

That could get messy.

“This isn’t just about a new arrangement for the Senate, but for your Jedi Order, and Mira’s Grey. I want you to be able to get out what you want to say, but it can’t get out of hand between any of you,” there was healthy debate, but at the end of the day, they needed an arrangement. Some sort of draft that they could present to the Senate that might actually be considered.

There was no time for arguing or troubled history.

-

Finn’s eyes rolled, playfully of course, at her mention of their very serious training session. He never claimed that, just that there would be a bit of training, and a bit of lightsaber making.

But Finn perked up at her question. “Are you kidding? Of course she wouldn’t!” Or maybe he was speaking for himself, but he didn’t think Mira would mind either, even if Rey did have some affiliation with Luke. Hell, if anything there was a chance to appreciate the opportunity of reaching out to Rey, teach her what Grey Jedi were all about. Not that he or Mira really knew.

Finn’s intention wasn’t to steal Luke’s student, nor persuade Rey to switch sides. Just excited by the chance of spending time with her, learning. Sharing the lightsaber experience. Mira might enjoy the additional company, too.

It would be fun!

He slung his arm around Rey’s shoulder, leading her out again. “What flavor are ya gonna get?”

-

Roisin Orla’s grip on her knife was tight, knuckles turning white, split wood from the handle digging into the skin of her palm. In truth, she hadn’t had a plan. Just...a determination and a rage. An opportunity to act. And after thirty-four years of watching, of silent loathing, that was all she needed.

She had no plan of giving up her knife, one that she’d stolen from the kitchen she worked in. Not even to the Lieutenant-General as she tried to persuade her that it was the way to convince them that she just wanted to talk to Brendol. Which they probably all knew that wasn’t what she wanted. But Roisin had her scripted response ready to go without actually listening to Phasma.

“I mean no disrespect, Lieutenant-General, but I need to ensure that I might have a discussion with that man,” she couldn’t hide the distaste in her tone, the disgust she had for Brendol Hux. “I mean no harm to anyone, I––General Hux?” The words finally registered in the wild woman, the angered furrow of her red eyebrows softened, and the grip on her knife loosened enough to let blood flow back into her hand. “He’s coming here?” To her?

Oh, she hadn’t thought of that. The fear of Brendol Hux, his threats of what he’d do if she tried to see the younger Hux, so ingrained in her that she didn’t consider it a possibility.

“He’s already here,” the General himself announced his presence as he passed the officer who had escorted him.

Eyes of green widened at the sight of him, “Armi–General Hux,” Hux caught the everso familiar accent, thick in her voice. It was an accent he’d spent his early years learning to disguise. She was from Arkanis.

Hux felt like he was looking in a mirror. A version of himself. If he were older, if he were a woman. Hux felt his chest tightening with an unknown emotion, brows knitting together in a way that was reflective of hers. There was a beat before he asked, “Who are you?”

 

[Lucyfer]

Naturally, Kylo gave a nod to signal his readiness, and again let Paquin take the lead in following the map on the datapad. It was useful. He could follow it on his own, he figured. He’d find out eventually, but if it was like the Order, everything should be straightforward anyways with little room to really get lost.

It was all straight lines.

“We’ll find out soon,” he noted. Did they know these things? He was pretty sure Snoke didn’t know his favorite snacks, let alone the First Order. It wasn’t on any questionnaires he recalled answering, anyways.

They entered the canteen and found it rather quiet, and dimly lit. Not unlit, no, but it was a calm atmosphere, rather than the hectic affairs of the Order. It seemed to encourage lingering with its viewports, and that, of all things, unnerved Kylo. He thought he would have preferred the flat metallic cafeterias of the Order with no viewports and all business.

But, then again, he was with Paquin.

If he had to suffer a beautiful view and lingering, he’d rather do it with her.

And he had wanted to linger, a bit. Ariel and Gnaeus weren’t around to get between them or tease them any. “Yes, we can sit there,” it would be good to get a look out at the world again, too.

Plus it felt secluded.

He knew he’d relax once he started to accept the oddity of the environment. Accept that, despite similarities, this was going to be different from the Order…and for the better. Like Creepy Yes-Man Alsen really wasn’t a bad thing.

So he went to get his own food, glancing over at all the fresh food that wasn’t just rations, or bars, or obviously dehydrated or unfrozen food. He wondered how much of it came from the planet, or from nearby ones.

At least it all looked good, and he threw on some sort of ‘fish steak’ before piling up greens on the side.

~***~

Luke lifted his brows in mock offense as he was told that he was expected to make sure Leia didn’t look bad. As if he would ever! Of course, he also knew he very well could if he engaged in petty squabbles with anyone – not just Mace or Mira.

He could feel the headache coming on for that.

He sighed. “I used to have plans,” he used to think he would get the Jedi up and running from his school, and then he could consider approaching the Senate to discuss the re-involvement of them. Now he wasn’t so sure. What space should they hold?

Should they hold a space at all? That was part of what led to all the chaos of the Clone Wars, and so, the Empire.

The Jedi had a place in the galaxy, of that much he remained certain, and he thought it should still be peacekeeping and protecting. That should work through the Senate…and yet, he wondered. Of course, operating outside of the bounds of the Senate would be just as difficult and just as frustrating.

What rules should apply? What shouldn’t?

“I’m going to need some painkillers for a headache tomorrow, I think.”

Likely, him and Leia, both.

~***~

Relief spread across Rey’s face as Finn encouraged her presence, and went so far as to sling an arm over her shoulders. She laughed a bit, knowing she’d still ask Mira if it was okay. Nonetheless, she was happy with the thought that at least Finn clearly wanted her there!

“I don’t know,” she said.

She never had much ice cream. “I’ve only had chocolate.” And only a couple times. Jakku weather practically demanded such things, and yet, they didn’t really have much for frozen storage. She certainly hadn’t owned a freezer, but now and then, some nice trader or scavenger would share.

“What flavors are there?” Of course, as she asked, they stepped into the kitchen area of the base, where a few people were working on actual meals.

“Hm?” The man who was there glanced up. “Flavors of what?”

“Ice cream!”

He laughed at the way Rey immediately spouted that answer, and he gestured to the large, walk-in freezer. Mostly for meats and other, essential items, but there were treats, too. “Well, I know we have caf, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, blumfruit, a salted dark chocolate, a toffee-fudge flavor, pistachio—”

“What’s pistachio?”

“Some sort of green nut – I don’t really like it. Anyways, just take a look – if you really want something, I’m sure we can put it on the list for our next shipment,” he winked. Sure it was a bit of frivolous spending, but it was also a good morale boost.

~***~

The surprise said enough to Phasma, as the stranger registered that General Hux was, in fact, aware of the situation – and there. Her surprise was obvious. So was the softening of her, and Phasma knew the second she saw that softening, who the woman was.

She did not say it, though.

She did give a visual command to one of the Troopers with an orange pauldron, and they signaled out to the others. Phasma wouldn’t clear the hangar, but she intended to lessen the presence of the Stormtroopers here. Of the Officers, as well.

All around them, many moved from their places, as Phasma stepped aside, out of the line of sight, and put herself in profile to the woman and her General.

And Roisin let her hand fall to her side, still holding the shiv, but refusing to hold it in a threatening manner anywhere near her son. Or directed at her son. How much he’d grown, from the infant she’d cradled in her arms, from the toddler who always wanted strawberry ice cream? He likely had no memory of these small things, but they were all she had.

Looking at him now, did not remind her of Brendol Hux, even if that was his name.

Not the name she gave him. She never would have called him Brendol and even thinking of it gave her the chills. “Roisin Orla, of Arkanis,” did she claim to be his mother, after waving a knife around on his ship? Somehow that seemed unfair to him.

She’d been away from her for so long. Did she have any right to call herself that, now of all times? When she had stayed out of his life? It felt wrong, no matter how her face started to burn. Hardened. “I need to see Commandant Brendol Hux.” She grasped at that determination again. “We have unfinished business to talk about.” At the end of a knife.

Phasma just silently looked to Hux.

A slight cant of her head.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin was giddy about his agreement to sit by the view and linger, but perhaps she was most excited by the food. She had to admit that the First Order’s food wasn’t horrible, it could’ve been worse. Part of it had to do with being stationed on a ship floating around space. But the food was often frozen or dried, and catered more towards those who ate meat, which she did not.

But there were options here. Not just one type of soup and an oat bar that she lived off of for so long. “Maybe this place isn’t all bad.” Well, it wasn’t bad. Just strange. “I could adjust to this.”

Paquin helped herself to a generous portion of pasta, something with pesto and little tomatoes. She slipped a slice of bread to the side of her plate. A lot of carbs, but after the day they’d had, she figured she deserved a pass on indulging a bit. She did find cups and water, too, and whether Kylo wanted some or not, she got him a cup, too. It was important to stay hydrated.

As they were the only ones there, they had their choice of prime seating. Paquin set her things down on the table, observing the view. “It seems they have a night cycle here,” she noted, since there was a night and a morning. She’d seen it on Starkiller, the lessened staff at night. But on the Finalizer, it was busy at all hours. Ships going in and out. There were times she’d worked through full days without even realizing it. “Or maybe there’s just not many people.”

But it seemed to be a large base. “Either way, I like the quiet.”

-

Leia thought the Jedi should have a place. Just like the Grey Jedi. She thought, just like anyone, Force-sensitives needed guidance. But options. One size didn’t fit all. Luke surely helped some of his kids before...but he couldn’t help everybody. He couldn’t help Ben, or Mira. Maybe if there had been something else for them, they’d have made better choices.

At least Mira began to make better choices, and would help others.

“You don’t have to have a plan. Just say what you feel, what your ideal situation would be. This is supposed to be a helpful meeting, we’ll figure it out.” All Leia knew was that she didn’t think the Jedi should have the same power they once did, as that all fell apart. There were a lot of issues with power outside of the Jedi, too. But the Jedi were needed, in some capacity. They’d figure it out, together. All of them. Even if she had to force them to.

She did snort at his mention of painkillers for a headache, “Welcome to my world, Luke,” she was pretty sure she had a constant migraine. “Don’t worry, I’ll have a bowl of painkillers. Like candy. Maybe an open bar, too.” That would be a great idea.

A bunch of hopefuls with different ideas trying to come up with a cohesive plan, all while drunk and hopped up on pain medicine.

-

Finn couldn’t believe she’d only ever had chocolate ice cream. Well, he did all things considering, but he didn’t think it was right! “C’mon, Rey, let’s explore a little.” Finn would get the caf for Mira, of course, but there were so many options for them to pick from, too. “Do you mind if we grab a few pints?” Finn asked the man, just to be sure. He himself could easily replace them if cost was a thing.

One thing Finn thought the Resistance needed was better funding...he was almost tempted to ask Hux about it. He’d managed to keep the Order well funded. But that was besides the point.
“Not at all, just leave some for the rest of us. Let me know if there’s anything else you two need.”

Finn rubbed his hands together in his scheming. “Pistachio,” Finn reached for it. “Is the way to go. I think you might like it,” it was green. Rey liked green. So why wouldn’t she like green ice cream? Well, he’d grab it and they could both try it. He’d add caf to the collection too, figuring that was a safe bet. Maybe Mira would share some with Rey. Of course, Finn was also aware Mira hadn’t officially okayed Rey hanging around but...why wouldn’t she?

If she didn’t, he’d just ask really hard.

“So far, my favorite is this brownie fudge stuff,” Finn had spent a lot of time trying different ice creams, too. He had more access to it in the Order, but the flavors were basic. Vanilla, chocolate, caf, strawberry. “But whatever you wanna try, there’s so much.” They could sit and waste time for hours, if they didn’t need to get back to Mira, eventually.

-

Her name was familiar. Everything about the woman was familiar, actually, but Hux did not have any memory of meeting her. But he knew her, he knew that he did. It felt like it was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t say it. There was a possibility that he couldn’t dare consider, couldn’t make it real. Nor could he allow himself to hope for it. In case he was wrong.

She didn’t introduce herself as his mother.

His mother had left him. That’s what his entirely trustworthy father had said. Hux may have looked like her...she seemed so familiar...but she wasn’t there for him.

“Unfinished business? You and hundreds of others, I’m sure.” At the end of a knife, no less.

Hux could’ve had her sent away. Send her back to Arkanis, or even have her executed for smuggling herself onto a First Order star destroyer, if he wanted to. But he didn’t want to do any of that. Briefly, his gaze flickered to Phasma, who looked at him with her head tilted, as if she could silently advise him. “Well, Roisin Orla of Arkanis, I might be inclined to allow you a visit,” if only because he wanted to see how his father reacted. That would be an answer enough for him.

“Of course, your...knife...will be confiscated if I choose to allow it.” Hux wasn’t sure why he kept his father alive. He could’ve killed him. Perhaps because there was still information to gather from him, or so Hux told himself. Roisin would probably be doing him a favor if he set her loose in his cell. “What is this unfinished business you must discuss with him?” For what reason would she want to shank him?

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo did not disagree with Paquin. They would all adjust to this, and as Supreme Leader, he would work to make it what he wanted. When he figured that out. He probably should want a lot of what it was, he was just unnerved by it after coming from such a resentful environment. Right now, it looked like they had things together here.

Meetings would be soon.

The Allegiant General was prepared to make plans for strikes.

Soon, things would fall into place. They wouldn’t act as cowardly as Snoke had done.

He took his seat across from Paquin, at the viewport, and glanced out at the moon. It was indeed night. He had gotten familiar with that on Starkiller, as well, but had spent more times on the ships than the base. It didn’t mean much to him any longer, but the view itself wasn’t…bad. He supposed it was nice to see nature, for once, and not stars, out a window. To know he was on solid ground, even if that ground could be destroyed beneath him.

He shook the thought away, and focused on Paquin, instead. “So do I,” he knew that, while, in theory he could work at nights, it wouldn’t be to the benefit of his plans to be awake when most of the others were asleep. This was a small reprieve. A small moment to take it all in.

A small moment for them, too.

“Paquin.”

He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, once he said her name.

But he knew he didn’t want to dwell on talking about the world, or this place. “What do you want?” He said, then clarified, “Moving forward…with us, with this Final Order, as well – what do you want?” It was all his – and all at once.

There was a lot to process, and the Knights would be his closest advisors, even if they weren’t exactly qualified for it. Pryde might be his most intelligent advisor, but he didn’t care about Pryde.

~***~

Luke Skywalker’s ideal situation was a one-size-fits-all for Force sensitives. A group where they were all united. Perhaps he needed more teachers, but, he didn’t think they needed to separate the dogma and understanding of the Force into so many groups. The Sith didn’t need to be around, that was for sure, and he wasn’t keen on this Gray Jedi business, either. “I don’t think anyone is going to like my ideal.”

He did smirk, a little, before he laughed at Leia’s obviously sarcastic suggestion, “You know, that might work.” Drugs and alcohol would at least open up some people. And get ideas out there, into the discussion.

“If there are any brawls, no one will feel any pain.”

And it might make some of them more receptive.

“I’m not actually encouraging this,” he said, but there was still a trace of a smile, a ghost of a laugh, that hadn’t been there in a long time. Something about Leia’s sarcasm spoke to the Leia he knew. The one who didn’t give up hope.

The one who was still in there, and would resurface in time. “We might need more guidance than you think, though.” What were they – a hermit, an ex-everything, and a fallen counsel member – plus padawans? Yeah, this wasn’t going to go over well.

~***~

Rey was giddy with the thought of all the ice cream. She looked over titles, over designs on the pints, “Oh, that looks good!” Rey said, upon spotting the fudge one that Finn claimed to like, before noticing something about cookie dough. “Wait, I thought it was bad to eat cookie dough?” She was still grabbing it.

She hadn’t had cookie dough. Just cookies. But she’d heard people speak of the decadence, and also, the unsafety, of cookie dough. Of course she was going to try cookie dough ice cream!

“And this!”

Something with fruits on it – it looked like some sort of purple fruit, swirled into a white ice cream, and it claimed to be Jogan Fruit. Rey never heard of it, but she was intent to try fruits in ice cream!

Rey would stop with that, though. That seemed like plenty to try, without completely decimating the Resistance stores. In fact, as she counted up what they had, she did flush a bit, wondering if it would really be okay. But she wasn’t going to ask, or take it back, just help with her load. “Now we just need some bowls, and spoons!” So they could at least portion it out a bit and not just be hogging pints. Hard to share the same flavor from a single pint.

~***~

‘Well, Roisin Orla of Arkanis….’

At the same time her hopes soared, the woman also felt crushed to hear her son refer to her by that. Of course, he had every right to. And he had no idea who she was to him. ‘And who are you? No one.’

Which was part of why she was there, of course. She hadn’t been allowed to be anyone to her son. She had let him go with false promises of Brendol ringing in her head.

She still wasn’t keen on letting go of the knife. She probably should have hid the knife. That would have helped her get a knife in to see Brendol. If no one knew she had one, they couldn’t take it away, but noooo.

Her jaw set. A minute twitch at the side gave away some of her frustration with the situation, and the question. She didn’t consciously notice that the area had cleared a bit, but she was aware that there were fewer eyes on her. Fewer on Hux himself, too. “General,” she said, “my discussion with Brendol Hux concerns you, and promises he made to me, about you, which he has consistently broken for 31 years.”

Three years she had him.

Three years and then he was taken from her, forever. And even then, it seemed like she’d barely had him. Brendol was always looming. No doubt he didn’t even let her son keep her last gift to him, a small ewok.

~***~

The eyepatch was removed for the shower, and Mira felt the maddening urge to try and open her eye underneath the steaming water without the weight of it reminding her not to. She couldn’t, of course. However it did make the shower less a place of relaxation and more of frustration since she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about it.

Or look for other scars.

Or try and feel those on her face.

Or try and feel out how her hair was going to fall when it was dry, and clean.

In a nutshell, it wasn’t as good an experience as Mira was hoping for, and when she finally left the shower she was only more bothered by it all, and spent too much time at the mirror, trying to get her hair right, without cutting it. At least she didn’t bring a lightsaber. She may have actually tried to do something with it, and then probably damaged her ear more.

In the end, she just braided it. All of it. One long plait braid with nothing held out for the smaller padawan braid, even if it felt wrong. She wanted that there. She wanted that strange little reminder to keep learning.

At least no strands were immediately falling out of the braid. That made it look normal. It really wasn’t as bad as she was making it out to be in her head.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin had wasted little time in digging into her food, more ravenous than she had realized. Her attention did, of course, focus on Kylo as he said her name. As he asked her what she wanted. She used the fact that she was mid chew as a moment to stall her answer. She swallowed as she thought, washing down with water. Her brows knit together. What did she want?

“I don’t know. I haven’t really...thought about it,” she admitted. She hadn’t thought ahead. So far, she felt like she’d just been along for a very wild ride. She’d gone with the flow because she supposed there wasn’t really any room for anything else. Her one want had been Kylo, and if she was honest she’d had very little expectations for their relationship in that aspect.

“All of this,” she gestured generally around them, and then between the two of them, “is new to me. This was not a position I’d ever thought I’d find myself in.” She was a medic. She was not a revolutionary, and she’d been content with that. With healing a person at a time, her little mark in the galaxy. But politics? She’d never formed strong opinions. War? If she was honest, she didn’t want it.

But she couldn’t say that. In that, she had no choice.

And having found kinship in the Knights? That she least expected, but welcomed nonetheless. “I suppose what I want should align with what you want.”

-

“Too late, I’ve already stocked the bar.” Talking to Luke made her feel better, in a way she had forgotten. It had been so long since they just sat together, just talked. Even before his academy was destroyed, they’d both been so preoccupied with their own lives, they hadn’t communicated as much as she’d have liked. That was probably the case with all her loved ones then, though.

“Oh, you need a lot of guidance. It’s just not in the Resistance budget.” This was going to be a mess, wasn’t it? She knew what Luke wanted greatly differed from what Mira wanted. Hux would take Mira’s side. The padawans would likely take their master’s side, but would perhaps be a bit more diplomatic. Mace? Who knows what he’d do. Tarkin? Again, who knew. Maybe he’d take sides, maybe he wouldn’t.

“We’ll all have to compromise, you know. I know...you want what you want. But I also know you’re capable of thinking about what’s best for everyone.” She’d done it. And she was notoriously stubborn, but she knew when decisions had to be made and when she had to fight them.

“And I swear if you don’t cooperate...,” if he didn’t try to be amicable, if none of them did...she’d go off. “I won’t invite you to these things anymore.” That too.

-

Finn was greatly amused by Rey’s enthusiasm for ice cream, watching fondly as she filled her hands with different flavors. Cookie dough, jogan fruit. Along with the collection he’d grabbed, he figured that would be more than enough for the three of them to try.

Bowls and spoons.

That he could do, he knew where they were. Three bowls, three spoons, and an ice cream scoop. They could wipe it off between ice creams. Which reminded him, napkins would be helpful. They needed something to drink, too, right? His list of things to gather grew long, but everything was easily stackable. Bowls, cups, spoons. And under his arm he tucked soda. He considered coffee for Mira, but...even if they did intend to stay up a bit late, he still wanted her to sleep.

“C’mon, let’s head back to my room before these start to melt,” and before Mira got back. Which made him think, would she know the way back? It was fairly simple, but he supposed he could go and check on her if she wasn’t back after they dropped off the stuff. There’d been an adequate amount of time for a shower, right? And if she needed help with something given her eye, or any other injuries…

Oh, he should have thought of that before. So when they got back to his room, he spoke up, “Hey, if you wanna check some of the stuff we found out, go ahead. Don’t go crazy on the ice cream though, I wanna see your reactions. I just gotta make sure Mira’s okay.”

-

“Concerns me?” Hux repeated, but there was no surprise in his voice. That alone should’ve confirmed who this woman was to him, but he had to find fault with it. Last time Hux checked, he was thirty-four. Not thirty-one. So clearly there was something off here. Right? Of course, Hux was not-so blissfully unaware of the fact that his mother had him for his first few years. He couldn’t have remembered that time.

And Brendol never reminded him. Brendol had told him his mother abandoned him. Even though Hux never really believed his father. It was apparent Brendol would do just about anything that would harm Hux, or anything that he might benefit from.

But yet, Hux needed to know.

“Broken promises are an unforgivable offense, aren’t they?” He humored her. “As I’m curious to what these promises are, I’ll allow a brief visitation.” Which of course he’d listen in on, watch because he needed to see his father’s reaction. Needed to hear of these promises. That would be his confirmation. Confirmation this was his mother. And perhaps, this was the mother who had truly abandoned him.

Or the mother that hadn’t.

Hux stepped forward, to which the few Stormtroopers that lingered around mirrored. He waved them off. She wasn’t going to use that knife on him, that was obvious. And if she did, she was stupid because she wouldn’t have made it out of the hangar alive. But she wouldn’t. And he held a gloved hand out, the crisp air stinging the flesh of his wrist that was exposed by the action. “No knife. It’s the only offer you’ll get. Otherwise you’ll be put on a shuttle back to Arkanis.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo took a sip of water as Paquin gathered her thoughts, but he didn’t start to eat as she tried to answer. He wasn’t so ravenous as, perhaps, he should be. He knew he needed to eat. That was about all that possessed him to get food. Likely while he also kept it on the lighter side. That, and habits.

Indulgence even in food was still rare.

Indulgence was rare, even if, in a way, he could now truly start to consider it – and consider if these things were actually indulgences or not. Like Paquin herself, and what they were starting.

For her part, she hadn’t seemed to think much on it, which wasn’t a surprise. Her life from the moment Mira found out what she was, had been a whirlwind. She was tossed out of the Order, forced into the Knights by that (even if she may have joined regardless), killed Kevan, went around to many planets, through a tomb, and much else.

She watched Snoke die.

She fought on Korriban and was nearly killed for it herself.

She hadn’t prepared for this life.

‘In an ideal world, we’d all align.’ His thoughts drifted to Leia. To Mira.

Their thoughts didn’t align with him. They all wanted the same thing: galactic peace. An end to war. How it was achieved, remained the part that was uncertain.

He considered asking Paquin what she thought he wanted, but somehow, that seemed dangerous after all that had happened. He let out a breath. A small smile. “I hope it will.” That much was certain. He hoped it would all align, for all of them. “That’s why I ask,” he said, “we’re…beginning, in a way. We have the foundation, but it feels like there’s more opportunity now.”

He was in charge, after all. There was a lot of opportunity.

He looked down at his fish and cut into it. “There’s room to grow.”

~***~

Luke’s smile remained through Leia’s comment of stocking the bar, and only tapered off with the rest of it. Yes, he was capable of compromise, on some things. And he knew that he had, somehow, messed up this Jedi thing in the first place, given the numerous students he had failed. The dead ones, and the remaining living ones.

He was trying to do better by Rey.

“Is that a promise, or a threat?” Luke couldn’t help but ask with Leia’s last statement of not inviting him to these things anymore.

Still, he would leave that rhetorical. “I know. And I’ll try, Leia,” he would, at least do that much. How well it would go, he couldn’t say. He didn’t imagine Mira wanted to bring back the Sith or anything like that, but he was still wary of anything, anyone, who was going to advocate for the Dark.

Especially under the guise of Balance.

Was that not how Snoke started, how he stole away Ceres and Ben?

~***~

Mira was not yet back when they returned to the room with their stash of goods. Rey wasn’t sure if that was good, or bad. Her showers were always quick, but she’d been taught to take quick showers. She wasn’t sure that was the same for Mira – she knew, now, that some people could spend an hour in a shower. Mira might be one of those.

She assumed Finn might know better, though, so she nodded. “I won’t!” She would refrain from trying any of the ice cream, although she would pour herself a drink while he was gone, and flip through the books – just in case there were pictures she might make sense out of.



For her part, Mira had finally decided this was the best she was going to be capable of without slicing her face off with a lightsaber. Or destroying the bathroom. She already watched one faucet bend in an abnormal fashion.

She was going to making a few stops at casinos in the near future for credits. But she bent the faucet back, as if that would cover the crime. Or the metal seam that bulged in an unseemly fashion.

Stepping out of the shower, she nearly bumped right into Finn. At least she avoided the door. “Oh.” There was a quick step back. Into the doorway. Damnit. “Sorry, I just finished.” Not quite the truth, but her hair was still wet, and would be for a while. She wasn’t planning to just dry it with the Force, even if she could.

~***~

Roisin did not want to relinquish the knife. That much was obvious, as her fingers clenched around it even tighter, knuckles going white, when her son stepped forward and promised this as the only offer she would get. She wanted to argue. However, she did not want to embarrass or challenge his authority, either.

Not when so much was changing in the Order.

Not after there was already a challenge to his authority.

So, her grip loosened. ‘You could tell him.’ He was going to listen in, after all. He had made that clear as he expressed his curiosity, and yet, she lifted her hand, and she dropped the knife into his hand, careful not to so much as touch the fabric of the glove in the gesture.

She was hardly deserving, and now she couldn’t make up for her sins of leaving him with such a wretched man. Yet, if he wanted the knife, if for some reason he wanted that son of a bitch left alive, then she would have to respect that. Whatever strange love her son harbored for Brendol, she had to respect.

She left him in that position, after all.

But her gaze regained some hardness after the knife was out of her hands, and fixed onto once-Armitage. “I would see him now. Please.”

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin thought she knew what Kylo wanted. At the end of this, he wanted harmony in the galaxy, despite his aggressive approach. She assumed that was just how he figured he had to get what he wanted, and Paquin had no place or experience to comment. That was what she’d thought to herself this entire time, anyway. But after Korriban, after he subverted her expectations with the Leia situation, the way he’d handled Hux...

And that jarring color his eyes had been, though Paquin had begun to wonder if she’d imagined that. She had been bleeding out after all. Still, the image was burned into her mind, as was the uncertainty it brought.

She didn’t know anything. She couldn’t be certain of anything.

His small smile won her attention. There were more opportunities, more room for growth. Much to his credit. He seemed to have a knack for creating opportunities. Like with Snoke. “You’ll have to ask me again, when I know more,” when she had time to think. And learn. “I suspect I’ll be learning much in the days to come, anyway.” They all would be. About Snoke, about the Final Order, about where to go from here. Paquin felt terribly underqualified for all of this. Ariel, Gnaeus, they likely had a better idea of all of this than her.

She pushed the food on her plate around at that thought. “Kylo, you introduced me as Ren. In the laundry room,” to the laundry droid…”Did you mean to? Or…” was it an accident? Or was it simply easier than saying Paquin Kent, who was still a Knight of Ren, just without the name? Not that he had to explain any of that to a droid. "We haven't talked about it before." Whether she'd earned it or not.

Perhaps that was a want, too.

-

Do or do not, there is no try. The sentiment rang in her head, but where had she heard it before? She shook it off.

Either way, she was content, for the moment, with Luke’s effort to try. That was all she could ask, until they all knew the true nature of the situation. It was all a matter of listening to each other and going from there. Which was actually a lot harder than it sounded. Leia sighed, hand patting Luke’s.

“You better.” It was a promise and a threat.

Leia rubbed her eyes with her free hand, letting it run over her hair. Her tears were long dry. She didn’t feel good. But she felt a tiny bit better, thanks to Luke. She stood from the cot, but didn’t move to leave yet. “You know...Snoke is gone. You, Rey, you two don’t have to hide from him anymore.” That’s why they’d both been acting as hermits, wasn’t it. “The only people you have to worry about are the Knights of Ren and you both might be safer with others.” If the Knights, all four, found just Luke and Rey? She’d worry.

“I know we’ll have to see how things go tomorrow. But I think you two have been on your own long enough.”

-

“Oh, you’re fine.” Finn assured her. “I didn’t mean to rush or anything, I just wanted to check on you. Make sure you could find your way back.” And make sure she hadn’t fallen in the shower or getting out of it. But Finn wasn’t about to say that to her. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, remind her of her unfortunate injuries. No, he was there to make her feel better. Distractions.

He didn’t peek beyond her, into the showers. He didn’t see the bent faucet or the bulging wall. Otherwise he would’ve added it to the list of things he’d mention for the budget.

He did notice her singular braid. Missing the thinner padawan braid she wore. He didn’t comment on it.

Finn backed away from the door to allow her a wide berth to step out. So she didn’t hit herself on the door again. “Rey and I got a bunch of ice cream flavors to try, caf included.” Finn offered, casually slipping in the fact that he was including Rey. Of course, he couldn’t just leave it at that. “Rey asked if she could join us tonight. I kind of already told her yes.” Mira couldn’t disappoint Rey, could she? Finn hoped not, anyway.

He’d feel bad.

He began to guide the way back, a slow enough pace for Mira to register things obstructing her path, but not slow enough for her to notice he was making a deal of it. She’d get the hang of it, he knew. It had only been a short while since she’d been wandering around with her eye. Though, he hoped she wouldn’t have to get too used to it. “I think her input could be useful, y’know?” And he wanted to hang out with her. Really, that was the reason.

Rey would be a good distraction, too!

-

Hux’s hands closed around the knife, passing it off to a nearby stormtrooper. “You can get it back before you leave.” If she really wanted it back. If he was honest, he’d probably be doing her a favor by shooting the pathetic thing out of an airlock. He supposed, as crude as it was, it would have definitely gotten the job done, anyway. A quick jab to an artery, it only took one.

Hux knew how easy it would be. And yet…

Hux was amused by the hardness of the woman. Her demand, even with the added please. “Very well then. Follow me.” He turned on his heels and led them through the hangar, through the base. His pace was not leisurely, but he did not move as swiftly as he would have, to accommodate what pace Roisin might favor. A silly thought, to accommodate the woman who had snuck aboard his ship, wielding a knife, in any way.

A stormtrooper commed ahead, to let the guards of the holding cells know to fit Brendol for a visitor. And that was much of the only verbal communication given. Hux had nothing substantial to say to this woman, and he was not one for small talk. He knew who she was, by name anyway. He knew how she got onto the ship, through the shuttle of troopers Brendol had sent to Arkanis. Had he intended to rule from Arkanis? How foolish of him to think he could maintain power in that way. What would Carise have said?

No matter.

Hux needed no map to move through the halls, well used to traversing them. Even to the cells. “You will have a guard in the room with you.” Hux informed, but didn’t specify for whose safety. Hers or Brendol’s. “If you’re attempting to give him a message, we will know.” Not that Hux thought that was what she was doing. She seemed to have a genuine contempt when she spoke of his father.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo would likely ask again. He would likely ask them all, again, if he did not get caught up in the process. There was much about what was left behind by Snoke to look into. There was the prophecy, as well.

Apparently, Snoke was not at the center of it.

Or if he was, the prophecy no longer mattered.

But Kylo liked to think that he wasn’t, and there was much more to learn about it.

He started to eat, even though she began to push her food around. He was a bit startled by her next question. Not abruptly, but he realized the impact of his statement before. He had known why he chose to do that. For one, it was easier – that couldn’t be denied.

Two, she deserved it.

Perhaps she didn’t earn it the traditional way – destroying ties, deepening the bond with the Knights, but Kylo didn’t think that was a good measure of things any longer. Cutting ties was clearly not enough. Mira and Kevan both left.

“I meant to do it,” he said. “Did I overstep? Do you not think of yourself as one of us?” Ariel and Gnaeus had clearly latched onto her. He didn’t think either one of them would begrudge Paquin the role, and if so, he supposed he could point out that she had lost much in joining them – her career, and much else.

Plenty of ties had been severed.

~***~

It was always going to be the Knights that found them.

Perhaps Snoke would have wanted them brought in alive, but Luke knew that in avoiding Snoke, they were avoiding Kylo and his knights.

The situation had changed only a little – Kylo Ren, certainly, would not spare him, and he was unlikely to spare Rey. It was also likely it would, in fact, be all four, and not one. Luke had been convinced with Snoke in charge that it would be one, or two.

Luke had liked those odds much better.

Kylo was not likely to send them out on individual missions any longer, for better or worse. That remained to be seen.

He sighed, though, at Leia’s point. “I know. I’m thinking about the next steps.” He knew that Rey would prefer to stay around her friends. To stay with the Resistance. How tomorrow went would go a long ways to seeing if Luke stayed.

There were many who didn’t want him there. “I know Rey would want to stay here. And I’m keeping that in mind, too.”

~***~

Finn was casual, but not subtle. The mixture of it was enough to bring a light smile to Mira’s lips as he spoke of Rey being there, and Rey wanting to join them. Would Luke call that corrupting his padawan? ‘Do you care?’ Not terribly, no. So, she nodded.

“I don’t mind Rey,” and she knew Finn adored Rey, in a way. Rey and Poe were the first people he met, in getting out of the Order, and he’d done much for both of them by now – and they, for him. She was willing to humor both of them, for Finn’s sake – though Rey was easier to humor.

“Just so long as she doesn’t eat my caf ice cream,” Mira wasn’t sharing.

As for her input, she supposed they would find out, but she wasn’t holding her breath. Still, it was another perspective, and she wouldn’t deny it. So when they reached the room and she saw Rey in there, sitting on the floor with a book splayed open, she was able to keep the smile on her face, and move a hand out as Rey started to rise.

“Finn already told me. Welcome to the Holocron study session,” Mira chuckled, “And eventual Finn Lightsaber session.”

Rey looked immediately relieved, and Mira went to find the caf ice cream.

She would happily overdose on caf ice cream.

~***~

Roisin could easily assume this was not normal. Even as she followed after General Hux, trailing a bit, looking around the ship. Around the world that he had built.

Cold, sterile.

Could he be much more than a copy of his father? ‘No, if he were like Brendol, then Brendol would be dead.’ And Brendol was not. Brendol was alive, when he deserved death.

Still, she took in his world. Took him in, a bit, as she followed. The black attire. The clean-cut. The way he was entirely covered. That pull of guilt came to her once more, that she had left him to this world, thinking it would be better for him – convinced it would be better for him, by that damnable man.

Bribed and threatened both.

She should have known Brendol was wrong, she saw enough go on at the Academy, heard enough rumors, heard of all the cadets that died….

She shook herself from those guilty thoughts as General Hux spoke again. So, she would get to be in the room with Brendol? She was half-expecting to talk to him through a cell. Well, at least she might be able to do something to Brendol to make her trip worth it, besides chew him out. She wasn’t sure a verbal lashing would really matter to that heartless man.

“Any message I have for him won’t be to his benefit.” She stated, as they came into hall of cells.

 

[KyloGlenn]

“No, no,” Paquin was quick to object. “I mean, no, you didn’t overstep. I do feel a part of you all,” and she really did. She adored them, like they were her family. Even when they were difficult. Which was often. “I just wasn’t sure if you felt I was. I don’t really fit the criteria.” There was a long list of things the Knights were that she simply wasn’t. It felt the only box she ticked off was the Force-sensitive one.

She supposed, in time, she could fit into some of it. Like being capable with the Force. Becoming a better warrior, which she’d need another lightsaber for. She couldn’t grow any taller, though. There seemed to be a bit of a height advantage amongst the rest of the Knights…

And some things she didn’t want to fit into.

“I like my name.” She stated it simply, but a bit suddenly. “I know I’m supposed to change it. But I like Paquin.” She liked the memories attached to it. The history behind it. The way the younger stormtroopers would always mispronounce it. And the nickname Ariel and Gnaeus had given her, Paq. She’d had nicknames, of course, but there was something heartwarming, something silly about it that she hadn’t experienced.

She liked the way Kylo said her name.

She stabbed some pieces of pasta, “I know my name is the least important aspect, in the scheme of things,” she waved it off. But it was the one she had the most control over. She ate her pasta.

-

Leia knew Snoke was a different sort of power to be feared. Physically, he may have lacked. But he was powerful in the Force. It was hard to run from him, to hide from him. He could reach across the galaxy to get what he was after. To her knowledge, her son didn’t have that power. But he was ferocious. And unforgiving.

He’d kill Luke.

He’d easily kill Rey, too. And despite Rey being young, strong, and having endless potential, Leia wasn’t sure if Kylo would give Rey an option after she’d beat him. Scarred his face.

Tomorrow wouldn’t come fast enough.

“I want you to stay, too. Keep that in mind.” Leia had no problem guilt tripping her brother, if she had too. What else did siblings do. “It’s getting late. You’ve been missing out on too much beauty rest, you’re getting old, Luke.” She teased. Of course, she knew that meant she was getting old, too. Twins and all.

Really, she was exhausted. She was tempted to spike a nighttime beverage and sleep through to the morning. She’d earned it, hadn’t she? “I’m sure Rey is with Finn,” it had been too long for Rey to be occupied with anything else. “Which is where you should let her be,” for the time, anyway. Rey needed to have her friends. Something constant and normal. “I’ll see you when I wake up.” No sooner, she hoped.

-

Finn was more than excited when Mira allowed Rey into their informal little lesson. He’d been fairly confident she’d be okay with it, if anything to spite Luke by having her around. But he never knew when Mira might throw a curveball. Luckily, there was no curving of ball this time around.

“Finn Lightsaber sounds pretty cool. Maybe that’ll be my last name.” He’d tell people he was born with it. Of course, now he had names to choose from, real family names. Windu or Zain.

Rey settled back into her spot on the floor and Finn moved into the room. “First order of business, ice cream.” Before any training could begin, they needed snacks. Finn followed Mira to the collection of ice cream, letting her have her caf. He wondered if he should even bother getting her a bowl or just hand her a spoon so she might consume the entire pint. He wouldn’t put it past her.

But he divided the bowls amongst them, a spoon each. The ice cream was soft enough to scoop at that point, and he divided the different flavors between the bowls, too. Mira could have the caf pint. He’d have to get some for Rey to try, later. He poured himself and Mira a cup of soda, given Rey had already had her own. Even if Mira didn’t seem like the soda type.

And then he settled on his bed, Rey on the floor. “So. How do we crack the holocrons open?” Finn didn’t actually know how. Press a button, maybe? Should he take notes?

-

“Somehow, I believe that.” Hux grumbled, mostly under his breath.

Hux paused in front of the cell in which housed his father, manned by two troopers. There were other prisoners in the hall, of course, though a bit distant from Brendol, And Brendol’s was the only one with guards. Not because he was concerned with the pudgy man breaking free himself, but rather someone else busting him out. Like that dreaded Terex. Or worse, another traitor amidst their ranks.

Not that anyone could get that far into the base.

Except Roisin.

“The stormtroopers are there for your convenience as well as Brendol’s. If there are issues, they will deal with it.” If Hux was honest, he wouldn’t mind seeing a bit of a scrap, with Brendol on the receiving end. By a woman, no less. Of course, his murder was reserved, not by Roisin. But anything else? Hux didn’t care. So long as Roisin wasn’t harmed by the dreadful man beyond the door.

Hux shifted to stand behind her as the door opened, because he needed to see Brendol’s face. His initial reaction. Hux nodded for the doors to be opened. In sat a disheveled Brendol Hux, shackled and sat in a hard metal chair in the middle of the room. One similar was sat across it at a distance, as was arranged for Roisin.

Brendol’s head lifted, a scowl on his face. “What’s the meaning of this, boy–oh?” There was recognition on his face, followed by a cocked brow. Amusement. So the kitchen whore was feeling brave, was she?

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo understood what Paquin meant. Likely, far more than she understood it. Mira and he had slain children, burned a Jedi temple to the ground, and that still wasn’t enough for Snoke. Mira had killed her parents, her sister. He had killed Han. He had slaughtered ewoks. The actions they had taken, to fit what Snoke wanted, had left their marks.

Made them Knights of Ren.

Even Ariel and Gnaeus had committed their fair share of what most would call atrocities, before they were given their new names, and their new lives – but then again, they all wanted to leave their old lives behind even before ending up amongst the Knights.

Would it be fair to ask Paquin to change her name entirely? It was what Snoke would have eventually demanded. ‘Snoke isn’t here any longer.’

“I like your name, as well,” Paquin. Kent was neutral. Ren, of course, he liked better. Paquin Ren tied her into that family. It was still an abandonment of sorts to just change a last name. His mother had never changed hers. Nor his father. They hadn’t abandoned themselves for each other. For a union.

“You can keep it.” He said, “I think…most of us didn’t want to keep our names. Or our old lives.” He never liked the name Ben.

Well, perhaps there had been a time. When his mother said it, with such adoration, when he was oblivious to all it meant. When she used to think of him as an angel, and he had no idea what it meant to be an angel. To be ‘her only hope’.

After that…no, he didn’t like it. He wanted to wash himself completely of the name ‘Ben’ and everything it meant to everyone. He didn’t want to be that.

Even if, that was exactly what he was trying to be. Just not their version of it.

~***~

Luke was aware that Leia wanted him to stay. It was as persuasive as his knowledge that Rey wanted to be with her friends. In a way, staying felt like admitting a form of defeat, and Luke knew he’d have to get over that bit of pride.

He’d made plenty of mistakes by now – what was one more?

Perhaps in the group, he could start to get it right.

Yoda had done much for him in isolation, but perhaps that wasn’t what the galaxy needed any longer. “Thanks, Leia,” he said sarcastically to her comment about beauty sleep and getting old. He wouldn’t toss it back at her. He probably looked rougher than her, anyways.

He definitely hadn’t had a good trim in a while.

“I will let her be with her friends,” Luke said. He wasn’t going to go stalk Rey down and insist that she go to bed when he did. That wasn’t fair to her. It wasn’t fair to him, either. “Good night, Leia,” it wouldn’t be a good night for either of them, but….

“Tomorrow will come.” A promise. Dawn would come. Hope would rise.

And things would change.

~***~

“I would feel rather odd calling you Padawan Lightsaber, though,” Mira chuckled as she took her seat on the cot once she had the pint of caf. She did, however, act like a civilized person and scoop it into a bowl. Most of it. She’d get to the rest, but the bowl could only hold so much.

She did give an odd look to the soda.

Maybe she’d try it, but soda was low on her list of drinks. She didn’t hate it. The bubbling of it was just weird to her, and always would be, since most of her life had been smooth drinks. Water, juice, milk, tea, caf – bubbles were weird.

Rey clearly did not care about the bubbles, and laughed a little at Finn’s obliviousness, before catching herself. It hadn’t been that long ago that she figured it out. “Sorry.”

Mira floated one of the square holocrons up at random, and brought it to hover in front of Finn. “You remember our meditation lesson?” They hadn’t really done much yet. “I want you to meditate. Feel the Force around you again, Finn.” Mira directed. “Once you’re settled, I want you to reach out to the holocron. Feel for it, and you’ll feel the puzzle.”

It wasn’t as simple as a button, but it was still a fairly simple puzzle.

He would find it, “Once you feel it, I want you to try and feel it out. Try to play with it, like a rubik’s cube. Gently, of course.”

~***~

Roisin didn’t sit.

It was a petty thing, but she liked being taller than the bound and disheveled man who thought he could intimidate her with that cocked brow and amused expression. No, marched right in, and went to the chair. Her fingers traced the back of it, wondering if it would be too heavy to pick up and use to bash his head in.

Probably.

She might still try it.

She wanted to punch him. Then, and there. However, that would end the conversation. Not that there needed to be a conversation. ‘Your SON wants him alive.’

Her fingers curled into the metal. Perhaps there did need to be a conversation. “You are the most despicable, vile, waste of nerf shit I have ever in my life met. Not even worth being fertilizer. I hope you know that, Brendol, although I think you do.” No, he didn’t, but, “with how you’ve let yourself go.”

He’d been handsome. Once. At least he looked filled out and not fat, once. When she'd been a stupid young woman and thought the uniform was attractive. “You don’t deserve the mercy you’re being shown right now, but since you have it, I expect answers from you.” ‘Or so help me I will use this chair to kill you.’

She, obviously, didn’t say that. Someone would take the chair from her. “You told me it was your son. You told me you would treat him like your son,” she stressed the ‘your’, as he had done, once upon a time. As he had done, to insist it would be okay. “You told me he would be safe! He would rise to greatness here! Why in all the Arkanian hells did you—would you—YOUR SON, BRENDOL!” She couldn’t even say it – couldn’t say ‘why would you try to kill your son’ – when it was still so damn impossible to wrap her head around it.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin was happy she got to keep her name. That Kylo liked it, too. “Thank you,” Her first name would stay the same. That meant something to her. “I’ll take Ren, if you’ll have me,” Kent held less attachment, she supposed. Last names were supposed to be the family name, weren’t they? She, her parents, they hadn’t been a family in years. Not since she’d joined the First Order.

The Knights of Ren were her family now, and she was happy with that. Of course, she’d ask Ariel and Gnaeus if they were okay with it. Even if, technically, Kylo could grant her the name. Their feelings meant much to her, as well.

Paquin did wonder what Ariel and Gnaeus’s previous lives were. Their names. She knew Kylo’s, where he’d come from. His name. Ben. She thought it was a sweet name, even though she didn’t know the connotations of it. But she would never call him that. He respected her choice of name, she’d respect his. “I like your names. I think they fit.” Not that it mattered what she thought.

She bit her lip, sighed. “I know you’re not the talking type,” it was hard not to address how his ‘old life’ had come back around. “And you don’t have to say anything. I won’t presume to know how you’re feeling, but it doesn’t escape me, the weight of your situation. You don’t...have to go through it alone.” Or silently. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to mess this up for us,” the little moment they were having. “I just...worry about you. Sometimes.”

A lot, actually.

-

Finn settled a playful glare in Rey’s direction. “You know, if I knew you were just going to laugh I wouldn’t have invited you.” Only, he hadn’t invited her, which was part of the fun. Of course, his words only divulged into a bit of laughter before he refocused his attention onto the floating square and Mira’s instructions.

He did remember the meditation lesson. He could meditate, he could reach out with the Force. He was getting pretty good at that. What threw him though was the puzzle. “Puzzle?” He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised that there was a puzzle to the holocrons. There was probably an intended audience, for both Sith and Jedi holocrons alike.

But that wasn’t what he had at hand. “I am pretty good at rubik’s cubes,” he mused. And he was. He’d tried to show Poe how to do one, once, but Poe had just peeled the stickers off. The gentle part, though, might've been the challenge. He hadn’t exactly worked on that sort of control, but he supposed gentle was in his Force nature.

Finn took a big scoop of ice cream and ate it before he set his bowl aside, centering himself. Focusing on the Force, reaching out. That was the easy part. The hard part was feeling around the holocron, moving it about and feeling the puzzle fall into place. It did feel like a puzzle, like he was trying to fit pieces together that weren’t supposed to fit together. Until...

There was a click, in the Force. And an audible one. Next thing he knew, his eyes opened to a blue figure flickering in front of them. “Hey! I did it!” He spoke over the voice in his excitement, not that it said much other than a greeting. It seemed like some sort of lesson guide. Fitting, wasn’t it? But what had the Knights been doing with it?

-

Roisin moved in, the door closing behind her and a white clad trooper, concealing the face of their son behind the door.

Brendol would admit he was a bit surprised by Roisin’s outburst, her anger. Entertained by it, too. She had been so easy. So easy to threaten, so easy to convince. Now there was a bit of fire to her. Though, Brendol knew she couldn’t touch him. That was reserved for Hux, who was too incapable to do anything. All she could do was yell at him. She sounded pathetic, silly, at that.

“It’s a little late to care for the boy now, isn’t it, Roisin? Don’t forget, you were the one who gave him up. It was your decision that left him in my care.” He had no problems twisting the situation on her.

Yes, she’d given him up. After Brendol had threatened her, persuaded her, all but forced her hand. But that didn’t serve his agenda now did it? He knew, under her anger, she had to harbor guilt. Because she so stupidly cared for Hux after all these years.

“And I did everything I said I would. I raised him, I gave him every opportunity for greatness that I could! I tried to make him strong. Look around you, look at this place! This is where I’ve gotten him!” Hux had risen to great power, all because of how Brendol had raised him, everything Brendol had given him. Every trial, every beating, it had all been done to turn Hux into a man.

And what did he get in return? Nothing. The brat stole the position that had belonged to him, then done nothing with it. “It’s not my fault he’s weak, foolish. He gets that from you.”

‘He gets that from you,’ that was the phrase Hux focused on, from where he’d taken up listening to the conversation. His blood boiled from everything Brendol claimed was his, but that was nothing in comparison to the confirmation his father had given in just one sentence.

 

[Lucyfer]

“Of course we’ll have you.” Kylo was certain neither Ariel or Gnaeus would claim otherwise. They seemed to adore Paquin just as well. There was the chance for jealousy, or bitterness…but he hoped against it. For once, hoped in favor of compassion. Of love.

Kylo wasn’t so sure how well any of their names fit, but they were how they knew each other. They’d become these people. Perhaps they ended up melding to the name, and what they wanted it to mean. What they thought it meant. Kylo had certainly tried to.

He was given a chance to start over – so of course, he was going to try and pick something he could start over as. That gave a direction, of sorts.

Still, it was…nice to have confirmation of it.

Even before she broached another matter. Or, tried to, anyways. He paused with fish speared on his fork as she tentatively began, noting he wasn’t much of a talker. He was expecting something of a direct question to follow, but it didn’t.

“You’re not messing up.”

And there were many things that weighed on him. He couldn’t have even begun to imagine which one, if there was one in particular, made Paquin worry. “I’ll be fine. We all will be.” Perhaps the obvious one was his mother.

But Paquin was right.

Opening on it, of his own will, wasn’t happening. Not directly. “It’s…frustrating that the war is going to have to go on, but I should have known that would happen. I was foolish to think otherwise.”

~***~

Mira and Rey both nodded as Finn questioned it. That wasn’t quite how Rey had felt it, but that made enough sense to her. Of course, she didn’t have a rubik’s cube to compare with. She had thought of it more as a complicated knot. Well, somewhat.

Luke hadn’t given her a difficult one to start with.

It seemed that the one Finn soon took control over, wasn’t going to be terribly difficult, either. Mira ate her ice cream, still keeping the cube aloft, until she was more or less certain of Finn’s grip on it. And he did have it, when she let it go.

Rey was just scooping pistachio ice cream into her bowl when the click happened. She looked up, and her eyes lit up with delight. “You did it!” Obviously, “I knew you could!” Button. Bah. They didn’t need any buttons!

Mira lifted a finger, and Rey quickly hushed, allowing the woman to elaborate.

“As my master created a new style of lightsaber combat, I’ve found a new way to look at the code, and ways this may help future Jedi. It doesn’t change it, not exactly, but offers another way of looking at it without the denial included.”

She outlined the traditional code, before elaborating.

“Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force.”

“Who is she?” Rey wondered.

Mira shook her head. She didn’t know. The woman hadn’t introduced herself, that she recalled. Finn might have talked over it.

She continued to speak, “The first my master has shown me better than anyone with his style. Emotion, yet peace. Vaapad is a very emotional form of lightsaber combat, but to use it, one has to also be at peace within, otherwise it’s easy to fall to the dark side and lose control of it – to kill, rather than disarm. It’s a very aggressive style that requires the strength of emotion, but the control of one who is at peace.”

“She couldn’t have been long before the end,” Mira noted, more to herself, not realizing immediately it was Mace’s padawan. Not realizing it was a Jedi Master. “Or else the Jedi hated this idea of the code so much.” An interesting one to preserve.


~***~

Roisin’s face heated as Brendol reminded her it was her decision. It was. She couldn’t deny that, even if he’d persuaded her, all but put a gun to her head, before soothing the threats with those nice promises. Oh, she felt the guilt for it. That would haunt her to the end of her days. “I never stopped caring for him.” She said through gritted teeth, “I was out of his life because you told me it was for the best, for him, and I was too stupid….”

Too stupid to realize otherwise.

Too afraid, with the Rebel Alliance bearing down.

Her son wouldn’t be safe, son of a Commandant, would he? Not on Arkanis, not when the rebels came….

Oh, what lies, what foolish lies. But he would be safe with Brendol, and she would be safe without him – without such ties. Just a kitchen worker. Nothing more.

Her gaze still hardened, even under the heat of both her embarrassment and her fury, as he claimed that Hux had gotten so far.

As he called her weak.

Well, she hadn’t really wanted to talk to him, had she? But she knew if she attempted to lift the chair, she’d just prove him right.

Weak.

“You’re the one shackles, Brendol. You’re the one who’s a prisoner of all this. Not your son.” Not HER son, she wanted to say, but the guilt…she still couldn’t claim that. Not really. “No one is coming to save you. The First Order isn’t with you. You’re the weak one. Weak of character, weak of temperament, weak self-control – weak control.” In general.

“I hope you live a very long life in these shackles, to see how far your son is going to get, without you.”

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin knew Kylo had much on his plate. Killing Snoke, becoming the Supreme Leader of this new Final Order. The rejection from both his mother and Mira. Not to mention the ensuing injuries. All in a few hours. That wasn’t easy, on anyone. Yet, Kylo managed to keep himself together, outwardly. Mostly.

He spoke of how frustrating it was, that war would have to go on, that he should have known what would happen. Paquin wondered if he was using it as a metaphor, a cover of what actually upset him. She wouldn’t pressure him into admitting whether that was the truth behind his words or not, but she did assume, just a bit, that he was. She’d take what she was given, because an indirect mention was probably the best she’d get from him.

She shook her head. “You weren’t foolish, Kylo. There was no way to anticipate how any of this would go. It’s not foolish to hope for…a certain outcome.” Paquin didn’t know Leia or Mira well, or really at all. Perhaps there was an anticipated reaction, but with all the unpredictable things that had happened, the unexpected still could have been a reality.

But it wasn’t. And Paquin couldn’t say she agreed with how it was handled, but that didn’t matter. “You keep saying you’ll be okay. I know you will, we all will. But it’s okay to...not be okay, too, sometimes.” Maybe she’d worry less, if she knew he wasn’t holding it in. Only, that wasn’t true because she knew Gnaeus wasn’t okay, Ariel wasn’t. And she still worried endlessly. Maybe worrying was just in her nature.

Still. He didn’t have to confide in her, but she hoped he’d express his feelings, even if it was private to him. She let her leg bump against his under the table, a little act of assurance.

-

Finn and Rey weren’t given any time to share in the excitement of his achievement, albeit a small one, before they were non-verbally shushed by Mira. Finn did suppose he ought to keep his focus on keeping the thing elevated, even though he did steal a spoonful or two of ice cream. He didn’t want it to melt before he ate it!

Finn didn’t know who she was, he was fairly certain he hadn’t spoken over her name. Maybe it was a holocron from a series and she’d said her name in a previous one? He didn’t know. “Is there any way to get...information off of this thing?” It was a device, wasn’t it? Was there some way to get a date or time of when it was recorded? Or by who? Somehow, Finn figured there was no way to get that information.

It would be so convenient if they could, though.

“She sounds kind of...Grey Jedi-ish.” Finn commented. Wasn’t there already a code for it, just a tad different from what this mystery woman had said? Finn needed to study it more, though there wasn’t much in the realm of Grey to study. And of course, Mira could always make it into what she wanted. Either way, that was probably why Mira said she wasn’t long before the end. The Jedi wouldn’t have preserved something like this.

“I wonder why the Knights had it,” it seemed Mira hadn’t seen it before, so he didn’t expect her to have an answer. “I thought they were wannabe Sith.” He almost said ‘you’ but Mira wasn’t a Knight anymore. He wouldn’t group her in with them.

“Didn’t Mace...develop Vaapad?” Finn did ask through a mouthful of ice cream, also not recognizing who the woman was. He knew a bit about what the forms were. They’d learned them as Stormtroopers, even if they couldn’t touch on the Force or lightsaber aspects of it. It went hand in hand with their Jedi-inspired training, and the forms didn’t only work with lightsabers. “Maybe we can ask him.”

-

“It was for the best. You just don’t appreciate the way I raised him.” Perhaps Brendol failed to raise him correctly, somewhere along the way the younger Hux had begun to lack. Or perhaps, it was just his genes. But Brendol should have been given credit for allowing the boy to have his name. Not just the last, but he was named after him. Now Brendol saw that as a mistake. Hux had never lived up to the name.

She tried to make herself feel better with her little comments.

Brendol’s jaw did set, his teeth did grind together in annoyance. Maybe they got to him a little.

Not that he’d ever admit that. Because they simply weren’t true. Right?

“That’s what you think, Roisin. I may be a prisoner now, but I won’t live the rest of my days in here. There are others who have as little faith in Brendol as I do. Even within the Order itself. I won’t be here long, I assure you.” Brendol wasn’t foolish enough to think Snoke’s replacement would send anyone for him, but there were other old Imperials. Their children. They’d find away.

“And now the boy will wage war against Kylo Ren for as long as he can, simply because he doesn’t like him. There are those who will grow tired of it when there are clearer, better options. Brendol is lost. Misguided,” He listened too much to that blonde woman, too. Not Phasma, though he listened much to her. But the dreadful failed Jedi, failed Knight. “He won’t make it nearly as far as you think he will. I won’t live long in these shackles,” he’d live beyond that.

 

[Lucyfer]

It was foolish.

Kylo may not have seen his mother in years, but he knew how she behaved. He knew how stubborn Leia was. He got his own stubbornness from her. Perhaps the only one he could have honestly hoped for, was Mira.

Mira had thought all of this, before, was wrong.

The New Republic, the Jedi…but now she was siding with it. It made no sense, and he was damn sure it wasn’t just Kevan’s death. Sure, they’d been close, but not that close.

He felt her nudge as she mentioned it was okay to not be okay. He scoffed at the idea. It sounded oxymoronic. “If it’s okay to not be okay, then isn’t one okay by default?” But he knew that wasn’t the case, as his gaze left hers, shifting to the other side, as if he’d see something more interesting out the viewport over there.

“There’s no point in dwelling on it.”

He had to accept it.

Accepting it was hard. Moving on, was hard.

But he had no alternatives. Time wasn’t going to stop, and what would he do with the emotions anyways? All he’d learned was to bottle it, and wait until an opportunity to explode. To destroy and wreak havoc with those emotions. It would come, sooner than later. This was war, after all.

~***~

Mira shook her head. “No, the only information is the recording,” so far as Mira knew, anyways. The Jedi revealed themselves, or did not, at their leisure. The same was true of the Sith. The Sith were usually a bit better at that. Their egos demanded their names be known.

Rey was already digging into a new pint to try another flavor – the one Finn liked, as Finn was questioning how the woman sounded, and about Mace’s style.

“He did,” Mira confirmed. Another thing she learned, more from the Order, the Knights, of all things, than Luke. “I wonder….” It would be interesting if this was his padawan. “We should show him. He might at least know, if it was near the end,” though she didn’t know how large the Jedi Order had truly been.

It was possible he’d have no idea.

The woman continued to speak a bit, elaborating on the Code as it was, and the Code as it could be. An interesting compromise, Mira thought. She was curious, if this was tied to Mace, how he might take to being part of an inspiration for it, through his style.

The holocron would end, with little else on it, and Mira would draw up a Sith one.

Maybe Luke would be angry.

That was too bad. Rey was at least distracted by ice cream. Somewhat. She was obviously tuning in, but her expressions were fun to take a peek at when she tried a new flavor. Her eyes lit up with such joy at the new tastes, and she tended to hum her delight.

She was still so innocent.

~***~

Brendol wasn’t too terribly hard to read. His dark amusement had turned, and she saw his annoyance, his anger. Anger had always been obvious. She’d touched a nerve, even if he tried to mask it. She felt some vindictive pride for that.

Oh, how she wanted to prove him right.

To prove he wouldn’t live long in those shackles, but he’d die slow. The chair was still an option, and Roisin battled with that thought, again.

But she didn’t.

Her grip relaxed. “You’re right on one thing. You won’t live long in those shackles, despite my hopes for your suffering.” It might not be here, but her son clearly had allies. Perhaps her son wouldn’t become a patricide – perhaps he was somehow better than that, despite who raised him, but he had allies.

Someone else might take it into their hands.

Or she might find a way to get her dagger, and actually sneak onto the ship, rather than making a fuss.

She let go of the chair, and she turned towards the white Stormtrooper. “I’m done. Unless you want to give me that blaster.”

Well, it was worth a shot, wasn’t it? Maybe she could snatch it on the way out….