#aureyla is pronounced with a silent u btw!!!

[falllpoutboy]

fuck it. rey organa solo

or how this scene in the rise of skywalker should’ve went. 

Her training was vigorous and longer than she would’ve liked, but it kept Rey focussed and balanced and she knew deep down that it was necessary. When the battle droids stopped firing, only then was Rey able to slow down into a light jog and then stop altogether. She turned off Luke’s newly fixed lightsaber and turned back into the clearing where General Leia was waiting.

The tropical jungle planet of Ajan Kloss was the Resistants new base, and while it had been a year since they had landed there shortly after the massacre on Crait, Rey still found herself marvelling the beautiful scenery around her. Thoughts about Crait and what happened there began to creep back into her mind, and Rey’s mood soured instantly. She kept replaying it in her head and going over each situation in her head, trying to think about what she could’ve differently. If I hadn’t wasted time with Kylo, I could’ve saved more. I could’ve helped The Resistance. I could’ve saved Luke…

However, deep in her distressing thoughts, she didn’t even realize she had made it back to the clearing. She nearly walked right into the General!

“Whoa, hold on Rey, are you alright?” Leia asked and jolsted Rey out of her trance. Knowing that she should be mindful of her thoughts, Rey shook her head and reassured her. But Leia knew better.

“You’re thinking about it again, aren’t you? Crait. Luke. Kylo…” Leia correctly guessed and Rey knew it was because of her force sensitivity and their bond with each other. When Rey started with Leia, their Force bond was immediately strong and it grew with every session, trial and lesson. Like her bond with Finn, it was ever-present and calming, non-pervasive and genuine, so unlike her unnatural bond with Kylo.

“Yes… I am,” Rey admitted. “How can I not think about it?” 

“It makes you feel low.” Leia surmised again and Rey nods.

“More than just feeling low, but like a failure,” Rey confesses and Kylo’s nasty remarks come to her mind again. You come from nothing, you’re nothing….

“Oh Rey…”Leia sighs and guides her to sit down. “I know that feeling all too well. When the Empire destroyed Alderaan for my lie, I couldn’t help but think of all the ways it could’ve happened. Millions of my people’s lives would have been spared  if I had done something different. Eventually, after my grief passed, I could only come to the conclusion that they were going to use Alderaan as a demonstration of the first Death Star’s might to the rest of the galaxy, no matter what I could’ve said or done. What matters is what we do afterwards to make it was all worth it, to do better and learn from our mistakes and to keep pushing forward,” Leia affirms and she stares into the distance. “It’s a lesson I’ve learned and still am learning today…”

For a few moments, Rey quietly absorbs the General’s words and wisdom. It comforts her but there was still something she’ll never get over…

“There’s still something bothering you?” Leia inquires and Rey slowly nods.

“Before I joined you all on Crait, you know how I went to confront Kylo on Snoke’s ship,” Rey recounted and Leia nods quickly. “When he rejected my help to turn him, he also made an offer in turn for me to join the First Order and become his apprentice to the dark side. He said that I come from nothing, and that I am nothing.... But not to him,” Rey finished bitterly. Suddenly, Leia’s grip on her hand tightened  and her expression hardened as turned to face Rey.

“Kylo lied to you, Rey. You’re not nothing and you don’t come from nothing.”

“Yes, and he said my parents sold me off for drinking money and that they were nothing.”

“He lied again. I have something very important I’ve been wanting to tell you for some time now, I thought I’d never had the time to, with how busy we’ve been, but truthfully, I’ve been putting it off. I thought if I told you after the war was over you’d understand but its pastime you’d know now. Ben is not Han and I’s only child. We wanted to wait a bit until we had another but then, a bit turned out to be almost 10 years. A daughter was born to us and we named her after my mother, Breha Organa’s mother, Aureyla. But we all called you “Rey” for short. I knew Ben was being corrupted from the darkside since before he was born and when you were only two years old, he had inadvertently hurt you with his abilities. So Han, Luke and I decided to take precautions and enrolled him full time as Luke’s padawan in his new Jedi academy and we hid you away, on Lah’mu, away from the dark influence preying on both of Anakin Skywalker’s descendants. We placed you under the care of the locals and we visited you ever moon cycle, sometimes twice. But we were wrong to have thought you’re identity would stay undiscovered. I guess the Lah-mui saw the famed Rebellion generals Han Solo and Leia Organa too frequently visiting the little girl and put together the pieces,” Leia’s voice breaks and a tear slips down her cheek, but she continues. “When you were just one moon shy of six years old, a few drunk locals took you from your caregivers to Jakku and sold you for drinking money. Greed can be as dangerous of a vice as the dark side is.”

Rey could hardly believe what she was hearing. She wouldn’t have believed what was she heard if it was said by just anybody, having been trained to recognize deceit through the Force, but Rey senses through her bond with Leia that every word she said was true. Every cell within her pulsed and sang with the new revelation, the truth. Finally, finally.

“I… so you’re my…. My mum,” Rey stammered out and General Leia, her kriffing mum, shyly smiles and nods. “If you’re my mum… then Ben is….”

“Your older brother, yes.”

“And Han was my… is my…” Just saying Han’s name made Rey’s heart clench and tears spring to her eyes. The image of his death still burned in her mind and knowing that it was her brother killed their father pushed the tears out. “Did he even recognize me a year ago?”

“He did and when you were taken, we planned to tell you as soon as you were rescued. As the years passed and we still couldn’t find you, Han lost hope the most although I tried reassured him that I knew you were still alive due to our force bond. Your disappearance coupled with Ben succumbing to the darkside and Luke’s exile painfully pushed him back into smuggling and we separated. Please understand that I never game up hope for you, but the First Order rose so quickly and Luke’s disappearance also made it so much more difficult for me to find you. For fourteen years, not a day went by without me thinking about you, Rey.” At that, they both stood up and met in the middle for a bone-crushing hug.

It could’ve been minutes, hours or a few days but time didn’t matter to Rey now, not when she was wrapped in the warm embrace of her mother. Their force bond was so palpable and enrapturing, it filled them with such a feeling of content and happiness, so much that Rey never wished for it to end. Then something dawned on her.

“Wait,” she sniffled, still slightly crying. “You and Han being my parents must mean that Luke is my…”

“Uncle.” A voice Rey never thought she’d hear again sounded from behind her and she gasped when she turned around. It was Luke, but not quite Luke. He wore the Jedi robes she last saw him in but his visage was tinged with an outwardly blue glow and he was nearly transparent. This was the corporeal Force spirit one could project after they’ve died, Rey knew from reading the Jedi texts she took from Ahch-to. 

“So you recognized me too, huh?” Rey questioned, curious to know why he lied to her as well.

“I knew…. But I didn’t care,” Luke admitted, almost shamefully. “I couldn’t make myself care. Then, I asked who you are to see if you even knew but you didn’t, so I didn’t care. I’m sorry I died without having properly greeted my niece and for not treating her with the respect she deserves. And for not being the teacher I should’ve been.”

His sincere apology touched Rey deeply and she smiled at her uncle. She knew now the reason for his indifference and could not hold it against him now. “I forgive you. And I’m sorry for attacking you that night.”

“All is forgiven,” Luke reassured her and he smiled gratefully. “I know this is all coming as a shock to you, I thought my parents were nobodies too until I got a rude awakening.”

“Luke, you can’t hold that against me forever,” another voice chimed in and Rey and Leia whirled around to see what it was. Another force spirit had appeared, a man older than Rey but younger than Luke and Leia, dressed in Jedi robes with shoulder length hair and bore a strong resemblance to Luke and Leia, even herself. 

“Father,” Luke greeted warmly and walked around to him.

“Anakin,” Leia acknowledged him but stayed close to Rey. Father… Anakin… Skywalker. My grandfather.

“All of our family’s problems seems to just repeat themselves,” Luke mused and then remembered himself. “Father, this is Aureyla, Leia and Han’s daughter. She wields our lightsaber now.”

Rey didn’t think she’d be making introductions to the notorious Darth Vader when she woke up earlier, but here she was. A lame “Hi” was all she could manage to say.

“From what Luke has told me, you’re strong in the ways of the Force. As strong or even stronger than me. Rey, you could be the one to bring balance once and for all and destroy the Sith foever. But you will be tempted and tested,” Anakin firmly stated. “Don’t fall victim to the dark side as your brother did, try to overcome it with everything you have.”

“A thousand generations live in you now…. But this is your fight,” Luke adds. However, Rey still has one more inquiry to make.

“What about Ben? I know he’s been seduced to the dark-side and has chosen it over and over, but what if there’s still a chance he could be saved,” Rey asks and her relatives look uncertain. “I don’t know if I can kill my brother knowing there’s a chance he could change.”

An uneasy silence falls over then and then Anakin speaks up. “You’ll do what feels right. Your instincts and feelings will guide you towards the answer. You can make your choice to save him, whilst Kylo can choose to continue his path and ignore any other options. You’ll know what to do then.”

The unspoken words were there, plain as day: If he won’t make the choice to join you and save himself, kill him or let him die. It left a bad taste in her mouth but Rey knew she would have to make the hard decision herself when the time again. Her father’s death flashes before her eyes again and Rey knew Kylo would have at least that to answer for. She nods grimly.

“I wish we all could’ve been a family together, Rey laments and Anakin’s eyes soften. “There’s so much I want to know about you all.”

“We’ll be with you Rey. Soon, after this is over, we’ll appear to you and we’ll talk about whatever you’d like,” Luke consoles her.

“May the Force be with you,” Anakin proclaims and they suddenly depart with a soft fade. Taking their advice and wisdom to heart and mind, Rey looks to her mother with resolve. 

“Let’s go Mum, we’ve got a war to win.”