#this is why we were at ren faire an hour before you. because we blew up the car when google maps said to

[yrieso]

@jdc1717

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “The Final Word”

Well, we made it to the finale, everyone, and if you're reading this it seems you've survived the watching of it too. Barely. To say that some questionable choices were made across these 20 minutes is... an understatement.

But before we delve into the episode, I want you to cast your mind back to November 7th, 2020. A horrible year that heralded a horrible RWBY volume. There, coming off the shaky writing of Volume 7, I posed a number of questions and concerns that the show needed to tackle, with the promise that we would return to these expectations in four months time. Now, here we are! Let's refresh everyone's memory, yeah?

Taken directly from that recap, what RWBY promised us, through various teasers and Q&As, included:

Emphasis on Ruby’s leadership and how Summer’s death has impacted her

Insight into Ren and Nora’s flaws

May Merigold will supposedly have a larger part

More information about The Long Memory (Ozpin’s cane)

Theme of the volume is that you can respect someone but that doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with them

Very short timeline (supposedly just two days)

Yang in particular is very suspicious and distrustful

And you know what? They did all this. In the spirit of being fair and honest to this show, RWBY succeeded in delivering on everything they promised... it was just our foolishness that expected that these ideas would be delivered well. Ruby's leadership took center stage in the form of her hiding for multiple episodes and then others telling her she's still The Best before the plot dropped a solution into her lap... one she could have used at any point prior to this. Summer's death certainly has an impact, though it's an impact born of a crazy reveal that Summer likely isn't dead, but turned into a horrifying grimm monster. Ren and Nora both delve into their flaws, but heaven forbid either grow from that reflection. Ren learns that if he pushes past his primary flaw of keeping his emotions buried and actually expresses his doubts for once, he'll be yelled at and ignored until he admits how wrong he was. The "real" flaw is being a bad friend, with "bad friend" equaling "Not agreeing with Ruby 100%." Meanwhile, Nora considers that maybe she shouldn't rush in recklessly and hit things with her hammer... which is why she rushes in recklessly, hits something with her hammer, gets grievously injured, and is told that this is just who she truly is. No growth there, not unless we count her sudden desire to figure out who she is without Ren... but that exploration hasn't started yet. Too bad she wasn't the teammate separated at the end of the volume!

Meanwhile, May did indeed have a larger role to play, one I quite liked, it's just that this role — like all the others — inevitably circled back to realizing how wonderful Ruby is. May challenges Ruby to make a decision, but instead of being the catalyst for Ruby's growth, May becomes another forgotten side character who does a sudden about-turn regarding her perspective, leaving the group with the contradictory message that Ruby is actually doing her best, she's just a kid, no need to try any harder... everyone who claimed otherwise up until now was mistaken. May is another Cordovin. She's another Qrow. She's another Maria.

Fun fact: we don't even know if Maria is alive right now. That's how little she means to the show!

Actually, wait... anyone remember this nonsense from Volume 7? 

I was too lazy to change the date.

Moving on, Ozpin's cane turned out to be a stakes obliterating bomb that came out of nowhere, makes no sense logistically — how do battles store energy that only hurts grimm? — yet nevertheless seems to have killed Hazel? It's a disaster of unanswered questions. Similar to the disaster of our two day timeline when, I'm fairly sure, we've had an unnatural number of sunrises and sunsets. I'll have to take a look back at the volume as a whole now that it's complete to be sure of that though. As for our themes... did we really explore the idea of respecting someone even if you disagree with them? Because Ironwood wasn't shown any respect. Ren wasn't shown respect. I think the closest we got was Oscar calmly validating Yang's worry about getting buddy-buddy with Emerald, but the whole point there was that Yang was wrong. She wasn't wrong, but that's what the text would have you believe. She is indeed "very suspicious and distrustful," but that's hardly unjustified in these circumstances. I'm still boggling at the fact that it took the group three volumes for forgive Ozpin, even while he was actively working to assist them, yet I-helped-destroy-Beacon-and-tried-to-kill-everyone-you-love Emerald is the group's new BFF after she... ran away with Oscar? She didn't save him, she just went along for the ride. At the very least we might have gotten a scene where Penny was like, "Hey, why are you all laughing with the woman who just tried to kill my dad?"

But oh yeah, the story doesn't remember Pietro exists either. His daughter is DEAD and he hasn't been on screen since Episode Five, let alone there when she passes.

I had my own list going in, including such expectations as "Ozpin bb you got done dirty please acknowledge this" and "Queer baiting, queer baiting… you’re on thin ice at this point, RWBY. Just skate on over to the queer snack bar before you fall straight into the lake." Obviously these needs were not met.

So what, given this mess of expectations, did we end up with?

Our finale — for some reason — breaks the one word title trend with "The Final Word." It's an expression that refers to the final word in an argument or a discussion, the idea of winning by making a last, devastating point. It can also refer to making the final decision on something, which is the best way I'm able to apply the title to this episode (outside of any “final” comparisons). Penny's death is certainly all about choice and making some kind of decision... but on the whole, this title doesn't feel like it fits well. Not like "Worthy" or "Creation" or "Risk." The two latter titles had obvious connections to the episode in question through dialogue and plot, while the former was a deliberate callback to Watts' speech. "The Final Word" feels... less obvious in what it’s trying to say.

That's a minor nitpick though. Let's get into the meat of the episode.

We open on the grimm whale still disappearing, which is weird. I get that it's massively bigger than any other grimm we've seen, but they all turned to dust near instantaneously and it's been, what? At least an hour since Oscar blew it up? Likely longer when we factor in their walk back to the manor, the fight with Ironwood, fixing Penny, and this entire evacuation. It certainly makes for a nice visual, but like so many details in RWBY, it raises unnecessary questions along the way.

The important bit though is that amidst the whale carcass a blob of evil is swirling about. Salem, obviously. 

She’s not reforming in time to actually do anything though, don't worry.

Instead, we cut to the Ironwood vs. Winter fight and there's at least some dialogue this time. Ironwood yells that he's sacrificed everything to keep Remnant safe. Winter yells back that he actually sacrificed everyone else. Obviously, Ironwood should be called out for things like, you know, his unprompted murders, but instead they have Winter listing stuff that she was never shown to have a problem with before. The embargo? "Squeezed Mantle until it broke?" She, as Ironwood's second hand, understood and supported both the decision to close the border and the need to collect resources for a plan designed to take out Salem. I hate that no only did she turn without an ounce of hesitation or grief, but now they're having her act as if Ironwood forced these decisions on everyone, rather than everyone supporting him through them. We all remember Volume 7 when Ruby pressured him to finish Amity, right? And in trust RWBY fashion, most of these words are meaningless. Mantle "broke"? What does that mean? The class disparity did not come about through Ironwood: that's been in the works for generations. The lack of resources made things harder, yes, but when they were reclaimed by Robyn nothing improved. Watts is the one who turned off the heat and Salem attacked Atlas, leaving Mantle alone. Now, all the citizens have escaped through magical portals. So how is Mantle "broken" exactly? More importantly, why is Winter upset over this vague, nonsensical dilemma when she could be yelling about Ironwood wanting to bomb Mantle?

Again: this woman watched Ironwood shoot the councilman, shrugged, and continued to believe in him up until she realized his bomb threat was real. That was one of the main reasons why I thought the councilman might be alive, with Ironwood only shooting a warning shot past him. Because this is how you react to a good person unexpectedly killing someone else

whereas this is what we got from Winter and Harriet.

Hell, Weiss has more of a reaction to Yang telling Ruby things aren't super great right now.

So either Ironwood didn't do something that bad, thereby justifying these tame reactions (unlikely, given where his character ended up), or we should believe based on the animation that everyone was super chill with him killing an unarmed civilian. Which is then directly contradicted when they're like, "You're going to shoot Marrow? Bomb a city?? How could you do such horrible things??? 😲" Friends, buddies, fictional pals... you already watched him murder a dude.

The point is, there's a lot for Winter to be upset about, but she's not upset about that. There's a lot that Winter herself believed in, but the writing has forgotten that. This entire arc went off the rails a volume ago.

Also, why is Ironwood fighting with that giant gun? This is his final battle, presumably ever, and he's wielding this awkward, sluggish weapon we saw him randomly pick up two episodes ago? Let him use his regular guns! Give us a fantastic battle like he had with Watts! Instead, RWBY's final showdown consists of him using this no-name weapon as a unwieldy club in some of the most boring choreography we've seen to date. It doesn't help that this fight needs to share time with three others. Instead of an epic showdown, we're given glimpses of the battle before continually cutting away from it. 

During that first cut we return to the Team RWBY battle where Penny, doing her best to stay out of Cinder's reach, is whisked away on Weiss' wasp.

Too bad she didn't do that for Yang...

Jaune and Nora watch this horror unfold until Jaune says, "Priority one!" and they split. Except... what is priority one exactly? Helping the civilians? I guess, because they don't enter the fight until the very end of it, when everyone else seems to have made it to Vacuo. And you know what, I like that. For once it feels like the group — or at least the B Team — is acting like huntsmen, putting the needs of the people over their own, personal desires. I'm sure Nora wants to help the group after Yang's (presumed) demise and that Jaune would like nothing more than to get his hands on Cinder, but they put those grievances aside to do the work they signed up for. Good job!

My only real gripe is that we don't really see this struggling in the animation, I'm just assuming it's there. In particular, there's a moment when Jaune sends Nora through the portal for reinforcements — not knowing they can't return — and they seem a little too jovial when, by this point, three friends have died.

There's letting your cast be supportive, and then there's having them ignore that three teammates have perished in an abyss. It really doesn't help to sell the idea that Yang, Ruby, and Blake are in any danger here.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Penny tells Weiss that since Cinder is really just after the Maiden powers, she can buy the rest of the group time to escape. Weiss, obviously, isn't fond of this idea... and then the both of them are blasted off the wasp by Cinder's fire. Which they deserve, frankly. They're just having this casual conversation about sacrifice while in the middle of a battle. Did they somehow forget that Cinder can fly too?

Note that multiple attacks from Cinder, another blast, and a hard landing on the pathway gives their auras a knock, but doesn't break them. The primary defense for Yang's aura shattering in a single, simple hit was that everyone is exhausted and running on little to no power... yet here the rest of the cast is, tanking multiple hits as we've come to expect. There is no explanation for Yang's defeat except that the writers chose to ignore the rules of their world for a dramatic death scene... even though that drama was erased a week later as half our team falls into the void too.

We'll get to that though. For now, Cinder corrects Penny's belief with "I want it all" and proceeds to try to finish them off, only for Blake to arrive, having made her choice from last episode about who to help. It's a legitimately nice attack, but I happened to pause at the bEST MOMENT

Anyway.

We leave that fight to return to Qrow and Harriet who have, off screen, started an entirely different battle. What I mean is, last we saw Qrow had broken through the windshield of the airship, roughly pinned Harriet, and was taunting her about getting the fight she wanted. Now, suddenly, he's going “You’re making a mistake, Harriet, what happened to Clover—” as if he's been trying to talk her down this whole time. It's jarring, especially when we consider that Qrow had a volume long "kill Ironwood" arc that was dropped because... Robyn reminded him that murder is bad? RWBY feels like a storytelling pinball machine. Characters bounce from one personality to the next, one perspective and another, round and round until you don't know where they'll end up.

Harriet screams for Qrow to just shut up already and honestly? Same. I love Qrow, he's one of my favorites, but I can't deny that he's been done dirty like so many others since Volume 6. I love who Qrow was, not the mess RWBY has created the last few years.

Time to delve back into fic after recapping!

Sadly though, this strange dialogue wasn't the only "wtf" moment. Harriet is still trying to drop the bomb — which is its own mess of confusing motivations — when Vine and Elm show up on Harriet's ship. Elm begs Harriet not to do this "because you’re our friend!”

Am I glad that they finally acknowledged that the Ace Ops have always been friends? Sure, but why did we spend two volumes claiming otherwise? They were friends, a fantastic team, then Harriet announces that's a lie and we get a bunch of "Team RWBY is superior because they're actually friends" messages. Except this entire time we're still watching the Ace Ops be kind and playful with one another. But they're not friends, the story says. Not friends as they fight these battles. Not friends as they grieve for Clover. Definitely not friends as they react in horror at Ironwood nearly shooting Marrow. No, there's nothing there... until Elm claims there is! Then Harriet reacts in shock. I have friends?

Except Elm was labeled the one "just following orders" by Yang. Elm is the one who shook off Vine after the whale exploded. This isn't the story of one character, Harriet, thinking she was alone and then realizing that people do care for her, this is a story that, seemingly at random, had this group being BFFs or acting like they hated each other — and at each point the visuals are contradicted by the story's message. When they act like friends, we're told they're not friends. When they don't act like friends, we're told they really have been this whole time. I mean, do any of them even care that Marrow teamed up with Qrow and Robyn to take them out five minutes ago? All three were going along with Ironwood's scheme until they were physically stopped, but now Elm is convinced this is a bad decision she needs to talk Harriet down from with the power of friendship?

None of these characters are characters, they're just slapped together reactions based on whatever the plot needs. Who is Elm? I've got no clue. Her personality changes every episode.

Also, love that Qrow moves to stop the bomb from dropping and Harriet screams at him to "Get out of the way!" rather than just... attacking him? She even throws her hands out like she's having a temper tantrum. This feels like schoolyard bickering, not a life or death struggle.

Even though, you know, the audience is aware that the people of Mantle have already been evacuated and Qrow's group is aware that Atlas is falling on top of Mantle as they speak, so... why does the bomb matter? It's going to, what? Destroy the city thirty seconds before Atlas does? Oh no, the horror.

Things then, if you can believe it, get even worse. The bomb is still about to drop, so instead of doing anything to stop it — I mean seriously, we know it takes four people to shoulder the bomb's weight, but you're telling me Qrow and a reformed Harriet can't snag it in a pinch? — Qrow sits there, looks at Clover's pin... and the bomb careens towards the side of the airship instead, stopping.

Because I guess Qrow has good luck now? Or always did and somehow never noticed it? Or his semblance evolved?? Again, we don't know, but it's a bad moment any way you slice it, imo. Qrow has always been defined as the guy with a bad luck semblance and, much like Penny's android struggles, the allure was in watching him overcome those challenges, not having the show erase the challenge entirely. Especially when we don't even understand how it was erased. Qrow just... stops drinking, stops caring for Ironwood, stops wanting to kill Ironwood, stops causing bad luck, I guess. RWBY takes major character traits and flips them off like a light switch, leaving the audience with no emotional tether. We didn't watch Qrow overcome his drinking, or realize he can't bear to kill Ironwood, or discover a way to live life with the horrible hand he was dealt, he just blinks one day and those things are gone. Why? No one is sure. Not even the writers, I'd wager, because otherwise they would have written explanations into the text.

Many in the fandom insist that any basic information provided by the story amounts to "hand holding" when in fact there is a massive difference between the sort of unnecessary exposition that bogs down a tale, and having facts enough for the audience in its entirety to be on the same page about what is actually happening. For example, recently someone argued strongly that the "Penny is human" take is incorrect because Penny isn't human, she has an inhuman body made entirely of aura... yet where in the world does this exist in the story? Ambrosius may have been unsure about what Penny would be prior to removing her robotic parts, but that ambiguity is gone once her body forms, the equivalent of worrying about that gun only for a flag with 'BANG' to appear instead of a bullet. Worrying about something doesn't mean that something actually occurred. Penny appears human, expresses human sentiments, and then, this episode, dies as a human. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck and succumbs to the mortal peril that all ducks face... it's probably a duck. As I said in a recent ask, I implore the fandom to stop writing RWBY's scripts for them. Or rather, do so in some amazing fanfics. Don't do it on critical posts as a means of insisting that your revision is canon.

So Qrow has good luck now, maybe, but this character change doesn't amount to anything because Watts remotely starts the bomb's countdown.

At least he’s entertaining and competent. We had that for a time. 

Back to the main battle, Neo is kicking Ruby's ass. Why? Because there's no consistency in power levels in this show. The ancient woman who hasn't fought in decades dances circles around Neo, highlighting how weak she supposedly is, yet now Neo dances circles around our main character. None of us should expect fights to follow the logic of the world, only what drama the plot wants to stir up. Ruby is eventually knocked down from a hard hit — yet her aura's intact! — and is saved at the last second by Weiss tossing Neo into one of the portals. 

Far more of a problem than the power leveling is that Ruby gives no indication here that Neo just murdered her sister. Again, that's what the characters are meant to believe, yet Ruby is as stoic as she would be fighting a bunch of White Fang grunts. If you showed this scene to a RWBY fan on its own and asked, "What do you think happened prior to this?" the answer would be, "Uh... nothing? Ruby is just fighting Neo like she did on the airship in Volume 3." Nothing about this scene — from dialogue to animation — sells the idea that Ruby just lost the person most important to her in the world.

When we do finally mention Yang, it's Weiss who goes, “Come on, we have to do this for Yang” and the delivery is... meh. Honestly, I normally don't pay much attention to the voice acting, but I had a problem with most of Weiss' lines this episode. The "Leave her alone!" during this fight and later a "Get back!" as she attacks Cinder both fell really flat for me. Given the devastation and charged emotion that's supposed to be here, we can't give her anything better than generic cries that, again, she’d throw at any grunt? In that later scene the animation absolutely helps sell Weiss' distress, but the dialogue is common and the delivery has no emotional punch, leaving it feeling like Yang is just hanging out in Vacuo and they promised they'd beat the baddies before catching up with her. No one but Blake is acting like Yang died.

In fact, we see more emotion from Ruby when Weiss shoves her back, taking the brunt of Cinder's blast.

Weiss' aura breaks, not that that's a danger or anything. Everyone falls before they're injured, Winter gets the Maiden powers, Ren barely has to fight. Losing aura in this show used to be a moment of peril, where just last volume Winter was bruised, bleeding, and now needs an assistive device because she had to continue a battle with no aura. Now it's a joke. Aura breaks left and right across the volume with no repercussions attached to that.

We see a bit of the Blake and Penny vs. Cinder fight where Cinder blasts Blake off the edge. Penny rushes after her because at least one character remembered that they can fly.

Ruby, meanwhile, remembers that she can fly when it benefits her. After getting hit down onto a lower level and watching Crescent Rose plummet, she taunts Neo into an attack with a move that's actually quite good. I like the confidence with which Ruby riles her up and I like the strategy of darting behind Neo to knock her off the path instead. “Whatever you wanted, I hope it was worth it."

The only thing I don't like is that this speed and ingenuity had to disappear to justify Yang falling.

Cinder breaks Ruby's aura from behind though, sending her over too and grabbing onto Neo's leg. In an obvious moment born of the trope, it looks as if Cinder is reaching to help Neo, only for her to snag the Relic instead. “You should have never threatened me," she tells Neo and to Ruby: "you should have never been born.” 

Love that they erased all that cool growth from last episode! And by "love" I mean "hate." As I said last recap, I'm not going to pretend that Cinder's character isn't riddled with problems, but realizing she was stronger by teaming up with Neo and Watts was one of the best things they've ever done for her. It made Cinder dangerous again and showed Watts' speech having a clear impact. It also made her more entertaining, creating a new dynamic among the three villains. Now though, Cinder is just... Cinder. The same boring, stupid Cinder we've had since Volume 4. She betrays Neo and then later betrays Watts.

So Cinder kicks Neo and Ruby both over the edge because why would we want to make her interesting? Neo falls, but Ruby has friends there to catch her! Unlike Yang. Jk. Weiss’ aura is gone and Blake actually tried both times, so major kudos for her. Using momentum supplied by Penny, she snags Ruby and hooks her weapon into one of the pathways... only for Cinder to cut the ribbon. Both plummet and once again Penny has a more believable reaction to all this, just like she did last week

Speaking of reactions, does anyone else find it weird that Cinder finally succeeded in killing Ruby and... doesn’t seem to care? 

No? Just me? 

At least we get that good animation with Weiss I was talking about before, even if the dialogue is lacking. I love that she snagged Blake's weapon and uses it to try and take out Cinder, shaking the whole time. Those are some great details. 

Back to the bomb, Qrow is trying to escape, but Harriet says there isn't enough time to get out of the blast range. "I've killed us all." Vine has the solution though, using his semblance to wrap up the airship, thus containing the blast when it goes off. His final words are to reassure Elm that he can give his life, "if it means saving all of my friends." Just in case you missed the part about the Ace Ops being super close this whole time. Even though they also weren’t. Trying to eat your cake too, RWBY? 

Frankly, I didn't feel much of anything during this scene, not when Vine made the sacrifice, nor when Elm and Harriet look on sadly while Robyn pilots them away (that's her contribution this episode). 

All I can say is, good on RWBY for not killing one of the three dark skinned characters, or just murdering the Ace Ops as a whole. What the story is going to do with them though, who knows.

Jaune and Nora have that ‘You can do it!’ moment after three of their friends have presumably been killed. I swear, about 80% of Jaune's scenes do not work tonally and oh boy, things only get worse from here.

First though, I like his entrance. He slams into the fight against Cinder and lines up with Penny and Weiss, who is still dual-wielding her and Blake's weapons. That's an epic shot.  

It looks as if they stand a decent chance against Cinder — Weiss' lost aura notwithstanding — except then Cinder's arm starts going crazy and she gleefully announces that Salem has returned.

Working on a time limit now, Cinder unleashes a volley of attacks that Penny steps in to protect the other two from. It's here that Cinder grabs hold with her grimm arm.

It's here that Penny dies. Again.

For the third time.

Friends, I am tired. This moment honestly deserves the most epic of rants, but that, in turn, requires energy. Energy? In this economy? Ha! That's hilarious. Taking this seriously though, the problem here can — as usual — be boiled down to a single question: What was the point?

Penny died in a horrible attack that shook the cast and audience both to their core.

That emotional impact was erased through her resurrection.

The resurrection did not create a new emotional impact for our heroes to grapple with.

Penny is given the Maiden powers, solidifying the fact that she's always been a "real girl."

That lesson was erased when the story decided to make her human for unexplained reasons (because no, she never needed to be human to survive the virus).

Penny then dies, passing the power to Winter... who was set to get the power in the first place.

We have, once again, come full circle. You can take Penny out of the story and nothing changes. Does Ruby lose any lessons or emotional growth? No. Does anyone survive who would have otherwise died? No. Does her getting the powers lead to someone unexpected snagging them upon her death? No. Penny's existence was filler. She was put in the story to take up time and, that done, was removed from the story once again. It's a choice that wouldn't be half as horrible if that filler hadn't done so much damage along the way.

First is the obvious: that Penny didn't deserve this. As a character, she didn't deserve to be brought back just to be killed off again, seemingly without narrative purpose, serving only to draw in viewers who RT knew loved the character. Second, keeping her in the story led to her entire arc unraveling. Initially, Penny died as an android in the world's eyes, but those who actually knew her — Ruby and Pietro — mourned the girl she really was. Now we have this horrible message that being a machine isn't real enough, so she has to die as a human being. It's a disservice to her character and, as an allegory for many minorities, downright insulting to the audience. Third, this offensive 'better to die as a human than live as a robot' message is wrapped up in the claim that Penny finally gets to choose something — “Let me choose this one thing. Trust me” — but she already did that when she chose to take the Maiden powers. We already had the better written version of this last volume!

And the fourth issue...well.  

Fourth and fifth are the real kickers. Fourth is that Penny's death was an assisted suicide. She explicitly asks Jaune to kill her so she can ensure she's thinking of the right person when she passes (never mind that her thoughts would probably be on Jaune while this is happening) and that's... pretty horrible. Look, I'm no purist. I like a great deal of dark, gritty stories whose plot exists to make us uncomfortable. That's a valuable emotion that fiction can generate. The problem is not that RWBY is tackling a sensitive topic, but that they aren’t tackling it well. Yes, they put in a content warning and (from what I've heard) a suicide helpline as well, but providing the already necessary resources is not the same thing as writing that kind of scene with respect and care. All of the above tells us that, no matter what RT may have intended, that respect and care weren't communicated to the audience. Like Yang, they didn't even bother to keep Penny's death within the rules of their world. Jaune is right there ready to heal her and Penny says no, there's supposedly not time.

Um... since when?

Jaune's aura boost is instantaneous. The second he amplifies aura is the same second the healing starts and their talk could have been spent saving Penny. There was certainly time to save Weiss in Volume 5. To have a character go, 'Nah, it's too late' when the solution is right there is the ultimate cop-out. Suddenly announcing that the solution will no longer work For Reasons is not a legitimate limitation and it's made doubly insulting that RT didn't simply use the limitations already available to them. Jaune has been running low on aura since the whale. He then expended a great deal of aura boosting Penny to keep the virus in check. Every other ally has had their aura broken in this fight so, there. That's your solution. Have Jaune take a few hard hits from Cinder, his aura breaks, and then when Penny is mortally wounded he no longer has a semblance to heal her. It's that easy! Yet instead they had Penny reject help so that she could ask to die. That's what's offensive here.

Finally, reason number five... why is this moment given to Jaune? That's another easy solution: Jaune has gone through the portal and can't get back to heal Penny. There. Done. But logistics aside, this scene should have gone to any other character. Who is Jaune to Penny? Or Penny to Jaune? No one! They don't have a relationship. I get that the writers didn't want any of the girls at her side because then it would be hard to justify Penny not passing the power to them (which I get: making one team member a Maiden changes the show drastically), but you know who should be there instead of Jaune?

Pietro.

Pietro, who built Penny as a weapon and who was never given the chance to apologize for that. Pietro, who told Ruby he could only rebuild her once more, setting up an expectation that he'd sacrifice himself for his daughter (despite the complicated racial issues that would bring up). Pietro, who watched Penny plummet and has no idea what happened to her, let alone that she's been made into a human girl. Pietro should have been at her side, saying goodbye to his child and helping her complete her last wish.

And it would be so very easy to pull off. All it takes is a single line where Penny remembers that her father exists, asking Ruby to ensure a portal opens up in Amity. There's a quick reunion along the pathways before Cinder attacks. We hear a cry of despair as Penny falls and she looks, seeing her father racing towards her, though she thought he'd already made it out. There, you’re done. We open ourselves up to a lot of attacks whenever we say, "Why didn't RWBY just do ____?" because those who vehemently defend the writing like to go, "Oh, you think you could write RWBY better?" and no, I don't. I struggle with long-form storytelling and massive casts. I don't think I could do justice to the sort of show RWBY wants to be, but I do think I'm a decent enough writer to spot when there are major problems like this. The question of "Why doesn't Penny remember that her beloved dad exists?" and "Why, out of that massive cast, is Jaune the one to do this deed?" are both things that a newbie writer can spot, and a sometimes okay writer can figure out how to fix them both simultaneously. A good writer will start thinking about themes — what might it mean for Pietro to kill the creation he made? — and a great writer will find a way to pull that off without having that insulting, discomforting feeling pop up. At this point, our RWBY crew feels less like new writers making mistakes (because they're not new, not at all), but rather just writers who haven't bothered to learn from their mistakes after eight years. That's a lot harder to watch.

Because putting Jaune here doesn't just mess with RWBY's internal rules (not using his semblance) and it's not just useless in terms of Penny's development (she doesn't know him outside of "dude who boosted my aura for an hour"), but it also falls back into a pattern I thought RWBY had finally broken from: making Jaune the story's emotional center. This is not the JAUNE show. It's the RWBY show. Yet here, once again, we have Jaune in the spotlight. Why, after a whole volume of Ruby avoiding making decisions, does Jaune finally make the hard call? Why, after a scene where Penny asked Ruby to kill her, does Jaune do that deed? Why, after a divisive arc where all the grief for Pyrrha went to Jaune, is Jaune now set to shoulder the grief of Penny? At least Jaune had a relationship with Pyrrha, even if Nora and Ren did too. Yet with Penny he seems to be there solely because the writers can't bear to keep him out of that center spot for long. All of Team JNOR make it through to Vacuo... except Jaune. Jaune falls into the abyss too because, if the show goes this route, we apparently can’t have a volume just about Team RWBY, the main characters. The main characters are separated from the rest of the team and it's Jaune, not Oscar and Ozpin with a connection to the lore, not Nora or Ren whose development now hinges on them learning who they are without the other, it's Jaune who follows the title characters into a new dimension. 

The issue is not whether Jaune deserves to grieve over the truly traumatic thing he just did now that he’s done it. He obviously does. The issue is the writers setting up a scenario where Jaune is situated to do that emotional work in the first place. 

I like Jaune as a character. I don't like how the writing uses him as a character. RWBY is built on the idea that these four girls are the heroes of this tale, not the expected blond, blue-eyed, sword wielding guy we’ve seen in so many other stories. So why does that guy get the most important scene of the finale? Yes, Jaune had much less screen time this volume than he did in the past, that’s a good thing given the number of important characters RWBY has to balance, but that hasn't erased the problem of him being given significant moments that should be going to title characters. Does Ruby’s team rescue Oscar and take on Salem? No, Jaune's team does. Does Ruby's team save Penny? No, Jaune's semblance keeps her grounded and then holds the virus off. Not everything is a problem — we've also got good choices like having Ruby defeat the Hound and Ruby's team take on Cinder for the majority of the fight — but that doesn't erase that Penny’s death wasn’t something Jaune should have been a part of. Not unless he was going to heal her. Doing better than they have in the past doesn't mean that RT isn't still slipping when it comes to giving him undeserved focus.

They took one of the most controversial characters, controversial because of how much emotional focus he's gotten in the past, and had him help a fan favorite commit suicide while he cried about it, showing more emotion for a near stranger than our title character showed for her sister. This is a character who, up until two or three episodes ago, had no connection to the victim and still has no reason to thematically be the one committing this act. That is why the fandom goes, “The crew loves Jaune and does everything they can to put him in the center of the action.” Ruby, as main character and Penny’s first friend, is the obvious choice here. Pietro, as Penny's father, would be a good choice too. Hell, Nora is a better option given their moment in the Schnee manor this volume. Or Winter given their moments in Volume 7! Have her escape Ironwood, find Penny, receive the powers, and then finish him off. Literally anyone would be better than Jaune, not because Jaune is a bad character, but because Jaune has no emotional stakes here and putting him in a position where he could heal Penny but doesn’t is massively stupid. No one should be surprised that a lot of the fandom is upset about this. It was one hell of a reach to give him this moment and, since Jaune's problem has always been getting too much screen time and emotional nuance compared to our main cast, it's no wonder this act brought up a lot of bad memories. RT fell back into an old pattern after two volumes of improvement and they did so at the worst possible time. 

The tl;dr is that Penny's third death is a writing travesty, just like her second. I shouldn't be surprised, given that this is the same volume that tortured a kid and the only thing they did with it was have him blindly trust his torturer... yet I find myself surprised nonetheless. Because Penny had such potential as an android Maiden and, as much as I personally hated it, potential as a former android learning to be human too. But why explore any of that when you can kill her off instead? Again.

As a final, far smaller note about this scene, we have the continuing problem of what purpose Cinder's arm is serving. If everyone recalls, its threat comes primarily from the fact that she can "siphon off" power from other Maidens.

She did it to Penny during the Amity battle and now she does it again, a great deal of green energy absorbed into Cinder. So what's left to give to Winter? Why doesn't Cinder become noticeably stronger with each successful theft? Like so much else in RWBY, we're told it exists without actually seeing the impact of that. Winter isn't a weaker Maiden for having lost power and Cinder isn't a stronger Maiden for having snagged it. It's just.. there, hanging out and looking vaguely menacing, I guess.

Outside of this unnatural not-transfer, we get to see how the power normally passes as Penny meets with Winter in some in-between place. It's a soft, heartfelt scene... with the exception that Winter says, “You were always the real Maiden at heart. I was just the machine. Just following orders."

I don't know how any viewer can doubt that RT now believes machinery = evil. Penny's machine body is magicked away so she can be a real-real girl. Yang announces that the arm she worked hard to make a part of herself is just "extra." The man with half a metal body is made this volume's villain and losing his second arm is, by the authors' own admission, a symbol of his lost humanity. Mercury with two metal legs remains a bad guy while Emerald and Hazel are hastily redeemed. Tyrian with his cybernetic tail is the most devoted crazy of the bunch. Maria, blind and in need of assistive lenses, is so forgotten by the story she was left in the tundra nine episode ago and won't be mentioned again until next volume (if then). Pietro, the guy in the wheelchair, is forgotten too, despite it being his daughter who dies on screen.

Now Winter, also bearing an assistive device, says that she's the real "machine" here and tells Penny, now human, that she was always the "real Maiden." I don't know what happened to make RT do a 180 lately, but the disability rep is no longer what it was.

Penny reassures Winter that she'll always be a part of her and then passes on, for good this time.

The rest of the episode feels lackluster, if I'm being honest. Images of Cinder beating Weiss are intercut with Ironwood beating Winter, getting her to a point where her aura breaks. 

But then the powers appear and, as we'd expect, she easily turns the tide. 

Gorgeous animation there. 

But RT once again rewrites earlier scenes by having Ironwood claim that the "destiny" he chose for Winter has finally arrived — isn't that Cinder's MO? — and Winter shoots back that he chose nothing, this was a "gift." Except, it was never about destiny or orders? This was why Weiss' anger in Volume 7 was ridiculous. She acted like Ironwood forced Winter to accept the powers and Winter told her point blank she chose this. Ironwood didn't decide anything, he offered and Winter chose... kind of like how Penny is choosing now. I hate how nearly all of Ironwood's character has been ignored or, during times like this, outright lied about to make him seem super duper evil. He tried to bomb a city! You don't need to make him seem evil anymore, that job is done! Like their sudden change regarding disability, RT now seems to be allergic to nuance. Heaven forbid Ironwood be allowed to have valid points like he did in Volume 3. No, if you've got an antagonist every single thing they've ever said must be twisted into a display of their evilness.

Unless you're Hazel, who Oscar trusts for #reasons. Unless you're Emerald, who the group immediately embraces. Unless you're Cinder, who gets to cry on a rooftop and secures the trust of her allies long enough to betray them again.

But Ironwood? Nah, screw that guy.

Salt aside, the fight is pretty boring. Winter literally just throws up a wall of ice and Ironwood's blast rebounds, taking him out.

Winter flies through the portal and we return to Jaune. His sword is broken by Cinder, so weapons should be quite the problem in Volume 9. 

There's a bit of sword vs. sword Maiden battling — this episode really pulled heavily from both Volume 3 and 5's finales — before Cinder gets smart again and attacks Weiss, currently trying to escape with Jaune. Weiss goes right off the edge and Winter isn't able to reach her in time. That's the entirety of Team RWBY, lost to the magical void.

Kudos to Winter's VA and the writing here though. This feels like an appropriate reaction to losing a sister. Screaming, sobbing, falling to her knees and beating the floor... Ruby, take notes.

A roar sounds through all the portals though, the sort of roar a pissed off witch might give. Jaune convinces Winter they need to leave Cinder behind, but before they can escape Cinder... makes a new wish?

Look, it works on all the major fronts. Cinder has the staff, check. We've basically established that Ambrosius can make an unlimited number of things per era, check. We know the previous thing disappears when a new wish is made, check. My only question is the timing. In all honesty, I'll have to re-watch the scene to be sure, but at the time it felt like the portals began disappearing almost the second Cinder left. Did she really have time to summon Ambrosius, deal with his explanatory nonsense, and get him to make a new wish without any fiddly concerns? Sure, fire is just fire, but it still felt like way too much happening too fast off screen.

Either way, the portals are gone and Winter makes it through in time, but Jaune does not. He falls through the void along with Team RWBY. And Neo.

Neo is the only addition I'm looking forward to here.

We get a few shots of our other characters as Winter arrives, saving the day by taking her grief out on the grimm. So glad something came of Ren breaking his aura again! Maybe they'll be more fighting at the beginning of Volume 9? If we see any of this group outside of 9's finale. My worst fear right now is that we'll spend an entire season away from the main action — remember how I said it would be stupid for Team RWBY to go on a side adventure while Salem is attacking the world? — and when they return there will have been some major time skip. Salem has destroyed most of Remnant, only pockets of survivors remain, it's all dark and dystopian... and oh look, every bit of character development happened off screen. How did Nora discover who she is without Ren? She did it while Team RWBY was gone. That merge we've been teasing for five years? That happened while you were gone too and, btw, Ozpin has ceased to exist. So sad, right? Not that anyone will actually mourn. Just take comfort in the fact that his last line was an "Oh no" about Ambrosius and his last major scene was apologizing for how the group treated him. Emerald's redemption? Off screen. Winter's grief? Off screen. Any and every one of these challenging beats to tackle can be waved away with, "We went through that arc while you were lost in the magical realm. Just get to know our new, improved selves now!"

Please, oh writing gods, don't let that happen.

Though I do worry because my last prediction came true.

But we all knew we’d end up here. My current theory? The portal should still be open at the vault. Winter will fight Ironwood, escape through it, and it will close right before he escapes too. He’ll fall with Atlas and everyone will act as if it’s some beautiful, poetic justice for him to perish with the city. 

Ironwood didn't make a break for the portal — too busy being unconscious — but we got everything else. Winter left him, he falls with Atlas, and this is some poetic justice, I guess. Really, it's just an undignified death. I'd hoped for a sympathetic kill, something that showed the characters still cared about him even if they knew Ironwood had to be stopped. Baring that, I'd hoped for an epic battle that took him out with style. Instead, no one even bothers to kill him. Ironwood is now beneath the entire cast, not even worth finishing off. Winter casually tosses his blast back at him and leaves. Cinder throws out a "that's checkmate" and leaves. I don't think Salem even looks at him. Ironwood (presumably) dies with no one and nothing, just a casualty of the city Team RWBY made fall. And I say "presumably" because the audience isn't even given the satisfaction of being sure he's passed on. Like Hazel, Ironwood's death is this weird, ambiguous moment that, based on the other character reactions, isn’t meant to be ambiguous. Is he dead? Most likely. Is it possible, based on what we've seen, that he'll pop up two volumes later like

Yes and, memes aside, that sucks. I don't want to be wondering for the next couple years if Ironwood survived and if they'll bring him back just to drag his character through the mud again. Move on.

But no, we don't even get that.

I've spoken at great deal about Ironwood both in these recaps and on my blog more generally. Last week, I said I'd covered it all and there was no need to rehash it all again. I stand by that, so let me just conclude this travesty with a final note: if your bad guy's final moment is using the last of his strength to point a gun at the actual villain of this story, and you don't realize the problem of how this image contrasts everything else the story has insisted about his character? … I just don't know what to do with that.

Oh, actually, final-final note: Ironwood’s semblance is officially a Schrodinger's semblance. It is both canonical and noncanonical simultaneously. Wooo. 

Cinder tells Salem she used her wish to "add more flames to the first of Atlas" and we cut to Watts, trapped in a roaring fire, unsuccessfully trying to break his way out. Wow, I hate that too! Next to Tyrian, Watts was our last remaining, entertaining villain. He carried a lot of the last two volumes and, I had hoped, was going to add some bright spots to the coming volumes as well. Apparently not.

Just another waste.

In addition to this casual, second murder of her ally, Cinder successfully convinces Salem that Neo killed Ruby and Ruby used the Lamp's last question, but she's back in her good graces since she snagged the Relics anyway. “You’ve done well, Cinder. Our work here is done" and they leave, blasting off like a less cool Team Rocket as Atlas plummets into Mantle.

Let's spend a second to tally things up then, shall we? What happens if Ruby, instead of throwing a moral fit, says, "You're right and we never should have lied to you, or betrayed you. But we want to help now. You get the Relics and the Maiden to safety in Atlas, if you can, we'll defend the people of Mantle"?

Well, they can still tell the world about Salem and call for help, much more easily now since Ironwood would likely just give them the code rather than them needing to spend an episode stealing it.

The Staff at least may not have ended up in Salem's hands and the group could have actually focused on getting the Lamp back (also solved if they'd been smart and just put it in the vault to begin with).

Mantle would still have been safe because Salem was never interested in Mantle to begin with.

Atlas wouldn't have fallen.

Ironwood wouldn't have died.

Penny wouldn't have died.

Even Vine wouldn't have died!

Our heroes unambiguously made the situation worse. Rather than banding together with their allies to fight the real enemy, Salem, they pushed until they made enemies of Ironwood and the Ace Ops both. Then they asked for help — which a pinch of logic said would never arrive — and twiddled their thumbs waiting for it. When it was clear none would come they...did nothing. They sat around, upset that the people were in danger, but not willing to do anything about it. It's only when one of their own, Penny, is threatened that they kick into high gear, hitting on a solution that they could have posed to Ironwood from the very start if no one liked the fly away plan. Yet instead of taking a few minutes to brainstorm other ideas — doing anything other than denouncing Ironwood to the rest of the group and attacking the Ace Ops — they spent two days sitting around, fixing minor messes they’d helped to create, then rushed through the portal plan, messing up the wish and stranding an entire kingdom in a sandstorm, with only Winter now to protect them from grimm.

Fantastically done, team. 

The villains won, yes, but not because the villains were smart and compelling. Watts' hack on Penny and the heat petered out to nothing and Salem... well, she sat around for the whole volume, expending energy only to torture Oscar and try to (unsuccessfully) stop some escapees. Neo and, miraculously, Cinder did the most damage, but only in the final hour, with this "damage" being that our characters fall into a void that we now know looks remarkably like a paradise! Everything bad that happened was a result of our heroes being stupid and stubborn. That's a compelling story to tell... but RT isn't trying to tell it. Our heroes caused so much damage, yet that damage goes unacknowledged — or worse, ignored into silence like with Ren — and everything else is waved away with the magic wand the series claims isn't there. The cold doesn't kill anyone. Oscar has no problems walking off the torture. Nora hops back out of bed. Ruby one-shots the Hound. The civilians lost to the void must have survived too. The entire kingdom successfully makes it to Vacuo... unless you count the massive army we never saw making use of the portals, but who cares about them, right?

The villains won, there was indeed something resembling consequences, but none of it was emotionally satisfying. Not even when the series tries so hard to insist that emotion is there.

Qrow watches Atlas fall, mouthing Ruby and Yang's names, but it's too little, too late. Where was this care for his nieces when he was obsessed with killing Ironwood? When did they care about him? Was it when Ruby shrugged at his arrest, when neither cared that he was missing, or when they were designing an escape plan that didn't include putting a portal where Qrow could reach? RWBY markets itself around the found family-ness of its cast, but they're done a poor job in recent volumes (not others) of convincing me that most of these characters care for one another. We went from Ruby denouncing all adults, to Ruby pulling an Ozpin with Ironwood, to Ruby watching blandly as her sister falls to her presumed death. This is my hero? This is the simple soul we're supposed to rally behind? Ruby doesn't feel like a character who cares about other people anymore and, given that she leads the charge, neither do most of her friends. Or, when that emotion appears, it's jarring and undeserved. Jaune cries over Penny's death? That's tonally and characteristically backwards.

This volume was the culmination of so many mistakes over the past two years. No, Covid couldn't have made things any easier for the crew — the fact that they got a volume out at all is amazing — but the pandemic isn't to blame for the problems in the story. These seeds have existed since Volume 5, with some (like Jaune) going back even farther. I don't think we're ever going to get that flawed, but emotionally fulfilling RWBY back. The show has dug too deep and unless it somehow manages to create a clean slate — those time travel ideas get more and more alluring! — there's nothing they can do but keep on digging. At this point, I can only hope that the series does wrap up within the next two volumes, rather than dragging RWBY to a Supernatural-esque length.

Our final shot of the episode proper feels fitting for what this volume has been. Atlas and Mantle flood rather than exploding, something that makes a certain amount of sense, sure, but definitely wasn't what I was expecting. And after all these shocking images — Penny dying, the grimm attacking, our main characters disappearing in a puff of gold dust — we end it all with bits of random debris. It's strange and underwhelming. Out of everything you could have done with the options you had, you choose to do this?

Of course, RWBY always has an after-credits scene (RIP Raven's, still amounting to nothing). Here, the sounds of water return to show us a beach. Crescent Rose imbedded in the sand, mirroring its classic pose in the snow.  

There's a tree. It's a very different kind of tree from what we saw in Volume 6, but the height and shape is nevertheless reminiscent of Light's domain.

A tree of life, anyone? After all, the group has fallen into a dimension created by a Relic, the gift of Light himself. It certainly seems as if RWBY is heading towards another encounter with the Gods, though what that will look like and how narratively satisfying it will be remains to be seen.

As for our bingo board, RWBY certainly pulled its weight! Only three squares got gold stars: Watts and Jacques didn't manage another team up because both are dead, Oscar didn't apologize for getting shot because he was too busy being tortured, and Qrow didn't drink likely because he didn't have access to any alcohol across the whole volume. Can't say that's a stellar result. The final image is something to behold though lol.

What a mess.

And on that less than exciting note... we’re done. This has been the volume of desertion, with a large number of fans telling me that they will no longer watch RWBY, but baring something entirely unexpected in my future, I'll be back next volume, for whatever that's worth. It never ceases to amaze me that even one person would give these nonsense recaps the time of day, so in all seriousness: thank you for reading. You rock.

Now go forth and fill the hiatus with great RWBY content!

✌️

[starcrossedkaiju]

Kingslayer AU: Chapter 13

I have nothing to say about this one, other than this marks the spot where shit stops hitting the fan and gets more interesting :)

A disorienting strip of light permeated the closet after however many hours Scott had spent sleeplessly waiting for the next day to dawn.

The door was swung open harshly and both of his arms were yanked up so he was standing. There was no room to stumble while his wrists were tied behind his back, awkwardly manhandling his injured shoulder. Etho and Skiz dragged him up a flight of stairs and into blinding sunlight. His heels dragged in the dirt until they hit a stone platform, where he was slammed to the floor.

Scott looked up and behind where he’d been dropped.

Every pair of eyes that belonged to Dogwarts stared back. Even Big B was there, sitting in a hastily assembled set of bleachers behind Ren.

Ren’s hair was held away from his face in a sloppy ponytail. He was wearing his sunglasses, behind which his brow was wrinkled together. Ren looked as if he were barely containing his rage, white knuckling the podium in front of him.

Scott pushed himself upwards awkwardly, kneeling in front of what he assumed was his jury.

Scanning the faces, he was Tango and Impulse sitting on opposite sides of the bleachers. They both looked nauseous.

Another minute of silence followed, the only movement in the crowd was Ren’s left ear twitching like it always seemed to do when he was agitated or upset.

The silence in the air strung out for just a bit too long. Impulse’s eye fluttered with anxiety, then he stood up.

“I think we should at least attempt-“ he didn’t get to finish his sentence. Again, he was interrupted.

Ren stood up quickly, his chair flew to the ground and he slammed his hands on his podium.

“No! We all agree on what to do here,” Ren shouted. His glasses slipped down his nose and Scott met his eyes again. Just as they were on that night so many months ago.

“I think we need to consider our options better,” Impulse pointed, a visible sweat was present near his hairline.

“Options? Are you out of your mind?” Etho piped up. Leaving his spot next to Joel and stomping to the bottom of the bleachers, crossing his arms.

“I am just as much a part of this as you are,” Impulse jumped down to meet him, “I am allowed to speak my mind. That is what we are here to do!”

Scott felt like he’d shrunk to the size of lint again. He cringed at Impulse’s ‘I am just as much a part of this as you are’, there were certainly layers to that statement.

“Quiet!” Ren turned around and yelled at them, “I’ve already made up my mind,” he said.

“He’s a spy and a murderer. We will punish him as such,” he turned back to Scott. Pushing his glasses back up.

“Ren, don’t you think we should do this in a way that benefits us all?” Joel’s hand raised, his eyes shifted around nervously.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Ren’s shoulders slumped with annoyance.

“Killing him here won’t bring Jimmy back,” Joel said plainly.

“It wouldn’t be fair,” Impulse added. Almost a plea.

“You think I give a fuck?” Ren asked. It was rhetorical, Scott didn’t know why he was even entertaining them. His mind had been made days ago.

“You should! You should give a fuck! Killing people is not the way to get what you want. We will never have peace if this is the standard,” Impulse yelled now as well. Anger was obvious on his face. Scott wished he wouldn’t be so transparent with his distaste for the Red King.

“Oh! That’s funny, how about you tell him that!” Ren motioned furiously towards Scott.

“Martyn is our friend. He wouldn’t want this.”

Ren’s hands flew to the other’s throat, and Scott was briefly afraid he was about to strangle him, but he didn’t. He took the front of Impulse’s shirt in his fist and lifted him to his eye level, being a bit taller.

“Don’t you dare bring him into this,” he said through his teeth, then pushed Impulse away.

“We’re done here,” Ren’s voice shook, barely.

“Ren, stop. You aren’t thinking straight right now,” Joel had run down the bleachers. Standing in between Scott and the Red King, but he was simply pushed aside.

Ren took the sleeve of Scott’s shirt and forced him out of his crouch, so he was kneeling. Scott didn’t dare look at his face, his head was turned anywhere but.

“Tango!” Ren pointed, “you come down here with us,” he ordered.

Tango was a statue. Frozen, white knuckling the front of his seat. He was so pale he could have been dead. Still, he stood up. Clearly doing his best not to fall over while descending the steps.

The sight of him made Scott’s stomach flip over, and he didn’t know why until he realized this was the first time he had seen Tango afraid.

“You have the steadiest hands,” Ren said when Tango reached them. It was ironic in the moment because Tango’s hands had never been less.

Seemingly at the same time, Scott and Tango were both aware of what he was called upon to do.

“Ren-“ Tango stammered, but he found himself holding a sharpened axe. He stared at it as if someone had just handed him a dead animal.

Ren had retreated back to his position on the podium. Ready to give the order.

Tears dripped down Scott’s nose. He stared holes into the ground before squeezing his eyes shut. He felt Tango stand beside him, and he wondered if Tango was actually going to do it.

Only for a moment, when Ren nodded, was he absolutely convinced that he was about to die.

Scott’s entire body seized up, and his vision became full of spots. Maybe if he fainted now it would hurt less.

The blade didn’t come though. Scott had opened his eyes for only a moment when the hairs on the back of his neck were raised by the axe passing by only inches behind him. His mind went completely blank. Did Tango miss?

The axe had plunged into the ground, and suddenly Scott found that his hands were no longer bound together. There was no time to contemplate his release.

Tango’s gloved fingers curled around his uninjured hand, and he was on his feet before he could even let go of his baited breath. Running.

Down the hill in Dogwarts, then clear out the doors, a chorus of screams rang out behind them, but neither Scott nor Tango’s step faltered. In fact, Tango only seemed to run faster.

He was shouting it, “Run! Run!” his voice was strained. As if he was commanding himself not to stop as well.

Somewhere past the tree line Scott made the mistake of looking behind them. He caught a glimpse of several people pursuing them; but only a glimpse, because he tripped and nearly fell over.

His iron grip on Tango’s hand wavered, but the other just pulled him back, screaming at him not to let go. It was terrifying. Adrenaline pumped through every inch of Scott’s body as they blew through undergrowth that would be a pain to trek through under normal circumstances.

An abrupt end to the trees doused them in pure sunlight. Scott blinked to readjust and was met with a blank horizon. The red streaks of the World Border were faintly veiled by the clear blue distance. He realized they had come upon a cliff.

Tango didn’t stop running though.

They were going to jump.

Scott felt the color drain from his face.

“Can you swim?” Tango asked, still shouting.

He didn’t wait for an answer. The end of the land was upon them, the large image of a deep blue river met them once they approached the drop, and without a hint of hesitation, they jumped.

Scott’s hand slipped from the other’s grip. Suspended in air for what felt like forever, like slow motion, the white rapids of the water came closer and closer. Scott squeezed his eyes shut and brought all his limbs into a straight line, readying his feet to hit the water.

Two large splashes, one right after the other. Tango hit the water first, then Scott. The current swept them up immediately. Slower from the season, but fast enough to whisk them away before anyone on land would be able to find them.

The smear of air bubbles made by their bodies hitting the water disappeared into the running water.

[ericsonclan]

The Color of Inspiration

Summary: Sophie is struggling with artist's block and doesn't know what to do when suddenly Marlon helps inspire her.

Word Count: 1868

Read on AO3:

Sophie glanced down at her blank canvas. This was stupid. Her brain was stupid. Sophie knew what she wanted to make, she wanted to create a painting for Renata. It wasn’t for some special friendiversary or her birthday. Sophie wanted to make her best friend a gift because she felt like it.

She knew that Renata would be happy with any sort of painting or gift that Sophie made but still for some reason she was having artist’s block. Her mind spun with countless ideas and yet none of them inspired her. None felt like the piece she wanted to make in this moment. With a frustrated groan Sophie took off her baseball cap and ran a hand through her hair.

“Come on, brain. We gotta come up with something great here!” The redhead tapped her knuckles against her head in hopes of waking up her brain. “It's just you and me and the paint cans,” Sophie sighed when she was still stuck. This sucked. All she wanted to do was paint something for her friend but no, her brain had to be a jerk.

Sophie turned her cap around and stuck it back on her head. With a frown she rested her chin on her two fists as she glared at the large blank canvas. “You could share some ideas too y’know,” Sophie grumbled to the canvas but it remained silent. “Heh, figures,” She blew some air up to get a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. The redhead was completely lost in her own thoughts and annoyance at this artist’s block, so much so that she nearly jumped in the air when the door to the backyard opened. Looking back, her eyes immediately sparkled when she saw Marlon.

Her boyfriend strolled up, a warm smile pulling on the corners of his lips as soon as he spotted Sophie. “Hey there, Soph. Tenn let me in and told me you’d be back here. I thought I’d surprise you with a date but it looks like you’re busy.” Marlon walked forward and stood beside the open paint cans. His eyes looked down at the blank canvas then at the paintbrush that Sophie picked up and was now spinning in between her fingers. “Got another commission to do? Did Lou put you to the task of painting a portrait of Clem now?” Marlon gave a smile towards his girlfriend who chuckled.

“Heya, Mar! Nah, surprisingly I have no commissions right now. This is actually a painting for Ren,” Sophie explained and made the paintbrush twirl around her fingers on one hand before transferring it to the other.

Marlon’s eyes grew large at her words. “Shit! Did I forget her birthday? I thought it wasn’t until November,”

“It is. This is just a gift because I felt like it,” Sophie noticed Marlon’s shoulders relax and she couldn’t help but smile up reassuringly at him before taking his hand. “Babe, I would’ve warned you if you were about to miss a birthday.”

“I know, babe, it’s just I panic sometimes,” Marlon awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“I think it's sweet that you care so much,” Sophie kissed his hand which made Marlon blush. He looked at Sophie and the two locked eyes for a moment.

“So, did you just start?” Marlon noticed the small frown appear on his girlfriend’s lips and his nose scrunched up in confusion. Had his question caused that?

“No, I’ve been staring at this stupid canvas for over an hour. I guess you could say that artist’s block and my brain have become very good friends again,” Sophie crossed her arms and sighed.

Marlon wanted to give the perfect words, the ones that would magically get rid of this artist’s block and make that frown on Sophie’s face turn upside down. His hand slipped down and brushed into one of the open cans. He was so focused on his girlfriend though that he didn’t seem to notice the blue paint on his fingertips when he reached up and placed his hand on his chin. Marlon made a loud thinking sound without realizing it, causing Sophie to look up at him. A snort from Sophie made Marlon glance over and raise an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just think your new beard is very hot,” Sophie’s words confused Marlon. He didn’t have a beard. His eyes scanned the area, looking for a mirror of some sort to check out his face but there was none. He opted to grab his phone and that's when he noticed the blue paint on his fingers. Marlon gave a small groan which made Sophie laugh louder.

Soon a chuckle escaped Marlon’s lips. “Thanks for the compliment. I always wanted a blue beard.”

“Good to know,” Sophie jumped up and gave Marlon a quick kiss. Marlon was shocked for a moment before he stole a kiss from Sophie who deepened it. He awkwardly tried to make sure his hand didn’t get paint on Sophie’s face or clothes as the kiss continued.

Sophie pulled back with a playful smile before her eyes flickered with inspiration. “That's it! That’s what I’m going to paint!” She scampered over towards the paint cans.

“What? A kiss?” Marlon asked and leaned over to see what Sophie was doing.

“Good guess, babe, but nope! I’m gonna fingerpaint this art! I have no idea what the piece will look like or what it will be until I finish! It’s perfect!” Sophie beamed and moved the paint cans of red, green, blue and yellow over towards the canvas. This was the perfect type of painting for Renata. It was the right balance of chaos and order.

“Ooo! That sounds fun! Would it be alright, that is...” Marlon scratched the back of his neck with his paint-free hand. “Could I help?”

Sophie looked up at her boyfriend, her fingers covered in different colored paints. “Yes! I would love that! You probably should take off your jacket though. Art can be messy.” Sophie returned her attention to the canvas and began to brush her fingers against it. Soon yellow, red and blue covered a small portion of the canvas.

Marlon shifted off his jacket and tossed it on a chair. It was a good thing he had brought an old shirt in case some paint got on it. He quickly coated his fingers in yellow and green paint and began to paint beside Sophie. The two smiled and laughed happily as they spread the paint across the canvas. Minutes passed and they continued to paint, jumping over each other to reach different spots and complimenting each other’s artistic abilities. Sophie’s warm laughter made Marlon’s heart grow all warm and fuzzy and a mischievous idea entered his mind.

“Hey, Snickerdoodle,” Marlon’s voice made Sophie look over and she noticed his playful smirk. Before she had a chance to react Marlon booped her nose with blue paint. “Gotcha!” He planted a kiss on her cheek then gave a smug smile.

“Oh, so we’re playing that way, Marlon Davis,” The fact that Sophie had used his full name made Marlon know she meant business. This would be war. “Watch out, Mars Bar! You wouldn’t want your beard to be lonely!” Sophie lunged forward and pressed her thumbs coated with red paint under Marlon’s nose and ran them across his face, giving the ends little twirls. She scrambled on her feet and giggled. “Just need white and then you’ill look like America!”

“Hey, get back here, you sneaky little- What does that even mean?” Marlon chased after Sophie and waited for the perfect opportunity. “Gotcha!” He spread yellow and green paint across Sophie’s face as he swiped out.

Sophie quickly backstepped with a laugh and was on the move again, this time with the white paint. Coating her fingers with paint, Sophie charged forward. Her feet danced around Marlon and she sprinkled his face with some more paint.

“Well played, Soph, but I’m gonna win!” Marlon declared proudly and got his second batch of paint. With some fast footwork he gave Sophie a yellow and blue paint mustache.

“Mar, I have a serious question,” Sophie’s tone made Marlon stop his onslaught of paint combat.

“What?” “Are those pants important?”

The question made Marlon scrunch up his nose. “No? Why?”

“Secret! Which I reveal riiiightttt...” Sophie ran fast, slid behind Marlon and whacked her hands on his butt. “Now!”

Marlon yelped and jumped for a second while Sophie sprinted away, glancing back at the green and white handprints on Marlon’s back pockets. Marlon turned sharply on his heel and was off like a shot after Sophie. “I’m warning you, Sophie. I’m gonna getcha!” Marlon reached out for Sophie’s waist and began to tickle her. Her white painting shirt was slowly growing colorful.

Sophie wheezed from laughter, tears pricking her eyes. “That’s a sneaky trick, Mar!” She devolved into another fit of laughter and Marlon began to laugh as well. His arms suddenly wrapped around Sophie’s waist and he lifted her up in the air, spinning her around again and again.

“Everything is fair in love and paint wars!” Marlon spun once more before starting to get dizzy and the pair ended up tumbling to the ground. They rolled around on the grass for a moment then halted. The two of them laughed happily and Marlon began to get up when he noticed that his lips were hovering above Sophie’s. The two looked into each other’s eyes then down at their lips. Sophie’s hands reached up and she pulled Marlon into a kiss.

The kiss made Sophie’s heart soar in happiness and based on the fact that Marlon deepened it she knew he felt the same way. After a few moments they pulled back and Marlon rolled over to lay down next to Sophie. Both of them caught their breaths before glancing over and laughing. Marlon’s hand reached out and his fingers slowly intertwined with Sophie’s.

“Let’s call that a draw,” Marlon glanced over at Sophie who gave a bright smile.

“Deal! Y’know, I think we made some pretty good art today,” She motioned over with her head towards the canvas that stood out proudly, decorated with various colors of paint. Even though it wasn’t finished yet it already felt like a piece of art that held the spirit of Renata.

“I think it looks great,” Marlon gave Sophie’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Before you finish up the painting, you wanna just lay here for a bit? Maybe look at the clouds,”

Sophie leaned over and kissed his cheek, making sure to dodge the paint splotches. “I’d love that,” Sophie shuffled over closer to her boyfriend and the two soon got lost in the fun of making the most wild declarations on what the clouds looked like.

Sophie gave a happy sigh of relief as she listened to Marlon, her eyes focused on his smile. She had been able to get past her artist’s block today and it was all thanks to Marlon. Well, him and the paint cans. She really was grateful and she had even gotten a paint battle out of it. It had definitely turned out to be a wild, fun afternoon.

[sushigirlali]

94: “ We can’t go in there… ” + Reylo

Prompt: “We can’t go in there…”

Pairing: Rey x Kylo Ren/Ben Solo [Reylo][ReyBen]

Continuity: Post TLJ

Rating: T

A/N: This one-shot is dedicated to mywifey grlie-girl ❤️💙 I actually wrote the ending first as a short drabble andwasn’t intending to do more, but then a fic bug got into my head and here weare XD Enjoy!

Master list –> AO3 | ff.net | Tumblr 

——————

For: @grlie-girl

Love: sushigirlali

LuminousBeings Are We

——————

“Rey, we can’t go in there…”

“Why not?”

“Because we have no ideawhat kind of condition the Empire left the temple in,” Finn said pointedly. “Weshould do some recon first, make sure it’s safe. I bet Rose could rig the Falcon’ssensors to check for explosives. Knowing her, it would only take a few hours.”

“Finn, I grew up takingImperial technology apart, surely—”

“Scavenging wreckedstarships isn’t the same thing and you know it,” he admonished. “Luke said mostof the Jedi temples were booby-trapped after the purge to eliminate any strayslooking for sanctuary.”

“I know what MasterSkywalker said, but that was over fifty years ago!” she challenged.

“We should still becareful,” he reiterated.

Rey blew out a breath.“Are you really going to try and stop me?”

“Are you really going to ignoreeverything I’ve just said?”

“It’s not that I don’t understandwhere you’re coming from, Finn, I do, but we’re running out of time. We stillhaven’t found a way to shield against hyperspace tracking, so the First Ordercould catch up with us any minute,” Rey reasoned. “You know B—Kylo isn’t goingto stop until he gets what he wants.”

The determination on Finn’s facegradually faded as he realized that she wasn’t going to budge. “At least let BBrun a scan on the entrance,” he implored. “Do that and I’ll stop nagging you.”

“Promise?” she grinned, liftingher communicator to her mouth. “BB-8? I need your help.” 

——————

Once the rocky outcrop was deemed safe,Rey moved past Finn and the droid to inspect the intricately carved entryway.There didn’t appear to be a locking mechanism of any kind, but then the ancientJedi probably hadn’t needed one. What wasthat like, I wonder? To be so sure of your superiority that you didn’t evenbother to lock the front door?

“That’s not fair, Rey,” Lukechided as he blinked into existence beside her. “Whatever their faults, theJedi were guardians of peace and justice for over a thousand generations. Theydeserve your respect.”

Rey glanced at the faint blueoutline of her master. “Weren’t you the one who said they were hypocritical failures?”

“Did I? Well, nobody’s perfect,”he shrugged.

You’dknow, shethought, rolling her eyes.

Whateverhappened to respecting your elders? Luke sighed. Padawans thesedays…

“Stay out of my head,” she glared.

“Stop leaving yourself open,” hecountered. “You need to be mindful of your thoughts, Rey, especially now. I wouldn’tbe surprised if Ben—”

“Don’t say his name,” she cut himoff, stiffly turning away to scrutinize the symbols stamped into the massive stonedoor. It would take a while to decipher them even with Luke’s assistance, butRey was feeling reckless. “I think all we have to do is push, Finn. Care togive me a hand?”

“Is, uh, that what Luke said weshould do?” Finn asked, skirting around the spot she’d been staring at.

“I didn’t ask him,” Rey saidabsently, bracing her shoulder against the left side of the door. “Push onthree.”

“Hey, wait!” Finn scrambled to getin position.

“Ready? One, two, three!” The doorgave easily under their weight, creaking open to reveal a long marble hallway. Theivory walls contrasted sharply with the onyx floor and ceiling, making it seemlike the hallway went on forever before tapering off into shadow.

“Whoa!” Finn exclaimed, lookingboth fascinated and fearful. “Do you think it’s safe?”

What laid beyond the eerie passagewas anyone’s guess, but she wasn’t afraid. “Only one way to find out.” Reyflipped on the penlight attached to her mask and stepped over the threshold. Achorus of voices called out her name in protest, but she ignored them, moving forwarduntil her slight form was swallowed by darkness.

——————

Ten minutes later, Rey regrettedstorming into the temple without consulting her friends first. With only asliver of light to lead the way, it was impossible to see more than a few feetin front of her, forcing her to measure her pace. I’m sure Rose would’ve lent me some gear if I’d bothered to ask, butthe moment Luke mentioned Ben, I just…

The memory of his face, pale andpleading, had haunted her dreams over the last twelve months. Refusing hisoutstretched hand had been the most difficult decision of her life, but he’dleft her few alternatives. It wasn’t fairof him to ask me to choose, but then, I suppose I could say the same of myself.

Still, for a few precious moments,Rey had thought that she’d finally found theone. Someone who understood her, whotrusted her, who…loved her. Not just for her mystical abilities or practicalskills, but for her, for Rey, the lonely scavenger from Jakku.

“This is not going to go the wayyou think,” Luke had warned her, but she’d been so sure of her vision thatBen’s ultimatum had completely…

Oh! Ican see light ahead! Shakingoff her sorrow, Rey shot towards the end of the hall. The shape of a dooremerged a few steps later, outlined by a soft white glow. Every path has an end, she mused, remembering the cave on Ahch-To. Thank the stars.

Skidding to a halt in front of theplain wooden door, she carefully clutched the dull silver nob and twisted itopen. “Oh!” To her surprise, the small circular space was drab and nearly empty;the only thing of note being a raised stone dais in the center of the room.

Hmm,what’s that? Some kind of artifact? Cautiously moving inside, Rey eyed the dark gray granite boxsitting atop the pulpit. Interestingly, the lid was imprinted with the mark ofthe Jedi. “Finn?” she spoke into her communicator.

“Rey! Are you alright?” heresponded at once.

She smiled at his concern. “I’mfine.”

“Are you sure, I can—”

“I found something,” sheinterjected, heading him off.

“A crystal?” he said excitedly.

“I think so. I found a smallcontainer embossed with the Jedi crest. I haven’t opened it yet, though.”

“Do you think it’s safe?”

Goodquestion. Reyclosed her eyes, reaching out to the Force as she focused on the box before her.There was definitely something inside, something powerful, but she didn’t getthe impression that the item was dangerous. “Seems safe,” she relayed, tryingto sound certain for her friend’s sake. “I’m going to leave my com open. Wishme luck.”

“Rey…”

Gingerly touching the top of thebox, she was thrilled when it didn’t immediately explode in her hands. Okay. So far so good. Now, finish it.Taking a deep breath, Rey slowly lifted the heavy lid away. “Finn, you’re notgoing to believe this,” she said, sagging in relief when a large colorlesscrystal came into view.

“We hit another dead end?” he saidtentatively.

“No, dummy!” Rey shouted intriumph. “We did it!”

“We did?!” he laughed at herenthusiasm. “That’s amazing! Now get back here! We’re running out of time,remember?”

“You got it,” she promised, settingthe cover aside. “I’m just going to check it out and then—”

“Stop! Don’t move!”

Rey froze, startled by the roughcommand. “Ben?” she gaped. It had been over a year, but she’d recognize hisdeep voice anywhere.

“Where are you?” Ben Solo demanded,sliding into focus before her.

“N—none of your business!” she stammered,taking in his haggard appearance. Oh, Ben,you look terrible.

“You’re in danger,” he saidfrankly, “of course it’s my business.”

“Since when?!” Rey battled back.“I’ve been in worse situations than this since the last time we met and younever—”

“Ah, Rey?” Finn piped up. “What’sgoing on? Who are you talking to?”

Oh,shit. Reymotioned for Ben to be quiet. “Uh, nothing, Finn! Just talking to myself.” Rey scowledat as Ben’s lips twitched in amusement, slamming the cover back on the box. “I’mcoming back now.”

“Okay, Rey,” Finn replied, lettingher off the hook for now. “See you soon.”

Turning off her communicator, Rey placeda possessive hand on top of the stone box. “Are you here to stop me from takingthis kyber crystal?” she inquired suspiciously. “Because you’re a little late.And incorporeal.”

“I don’t care about the crystal,”Ben said dismissively.

“Then why?”

“I already told you,” he said,coming closer, “I’m here because you’re in danger.”

“How would you know?” she hissed,not backing down. “After all this time, you’ve got some nerve trying to—oh!”

She quieted as he hesitantlyreached out and caressed the brown leather armband encircling her right bicep.“You covered it.”

“Well, I…” she flushed. “I didn’twant anyone asking questions.”

“You didn’t want a reminder, youmean.” Ben looked away, absently touching his own scar. His expression made herheart clench.

“Stop it! You can’t—you can’t justshow up out of the blue and try to make me feel guilty for—”

“That’s not why I’m here,” hereiterated, dropping his hand. “I’m only trying to protect you. Leave the boxand go.”

“I knew it!” Rey cried. “You dowant the crystal for yourself!”

“No, I do not!” he denied. “I’mtelling you, something doesn’t feel right about—Rey, no!”

But she wasn’t listening. I’ve searched too far for too long. I’m notgiving this up. Snatching the rare resource off the pedestal, she was inthe process of shoving it into her bag when the floor suddenly gave way.“Ahhhhh! Ben!” she screamed, falling several stories into a dark pit hidden belowthe chamber.

“Rey!” he yelled, jumping throughthe hole after her. He landed heavily at her side, thrown off balance by thethirty-foot drop. “Rey, are you—oh, Force!”

“Ben!” she gasped, lying flat onher back and buried up to the neck in rubble. “Help…Ben…hit my head…goingto…pass out…Ben…”

“Rey? Rey!”

——————

“Ouch…” Rey gradually lifted herthrobbing head, feeling sluggish and disoriented. “What—where? Ben?”

“Lie still,” he demanded roughly,cradling her battered body to his chest.

“You’re alright,” she sighed,rubbing her cheek against the soft fabric of his shirt. They were sitting onthe hard ground under a rocky overhang, protecting them from the harsh middaysun. Ben’s black cloak is going to getfilthy, she thought idly.

“I’m—? Of course, I’m alright!”Ben said incredulously. “You’re the one who nearly broke your neck!”

“Hey!” she slapped his arm. “Notso loud.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled, smoothing hersoft sable hair away from her bruised cheek, “but you scared the hell out ofme.”

“I did?” Rey gazed up at himcuriously. “I can’t quite remember…”

“You were inside a Jedi temple,searching for a kyber crystal to replace the one that we…well, when you grabbedit, the floor collapsed and you fell.” He paused, appearing anguished. “Ithought you were dead for a moment there, but you’d only fainted.”

“You saved me, didn’t you, Ben?”she smiled, eyes bright. “You pulled me out somehow.”

“Well…yes,” he said gently. “I’mnot exactly sure how our bond works, but I was able to—”

“Hey, Rey? Excuse me. Hi. What’sgoing on here, exactly?” Finn cut in.

Rey peered around, only justrealizing that her friends were crowded nearby. They must think I’m crazy, talking to myself like this. “I, uh, hadan accident inside the temple, so I’m feeling pretty dizzy. In fact, I’m noteven sure what I’m saying right now, so, um…feel free to ignore everything Ijust said!”

“Really, Rey?” Poe slanted her alook.

“What?” she said nervously. “Nothing…weirdhappened, or anything. Just an accident, I swear!”

“Care to explain why you’resitting in Kylo Ren’s lap, then?” Poe said pointedly.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Wait, areyou saying you can see him?! How—owww!” Rey held her aching skull between herhands. “Can we do this later?” she said weakly. “I think I might have aconcussion.”

“But what about him?” Poe saidindigently. “We can’t just allow him to—”

“Leave her alone,” Ben growled.“She’s hurt, or can’t you see that.”

“And how do we know that you’renot the cause of it?” Poe charged. “Are we supposed to just take your word forit, Supreme Leader Ren?”

“Oh, come on, Poe, look at her,”Rose intreated. “Does she look afraid of him?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean—”

“Poe, that’s enough,” Finn saidseriously. “You gave me a chance when you had every reason not to. We at leastowe Rey that much. If she wants him here, he stays.”

“Ah, hell, why do you always haveto ruin my fun?” Poe grinned. “But you’re the one who’s going to have to keepan eye on him, okay? We don’t even know if he’s ship-trained yet.”

“I’m not a pet, Dameron,” Bendeadpanned.

“No?” Poe glanced between him andRey. “You sure about that?”

Ben glowered at the commander, butdidn’t contradict him.

“Stop playing with him, Poe,” Reysaid sleepily. “Ben’s staying.”

A dozen emotions flew across Ben’swane face at her words, the most prominent of which was fear.

“You are staying, right?” she said,suddenly more alert. “Ben?”

“I…yes, I’m staying,” he promisedat last.

“Well, there you have it!” Roselinked her arms through Finn and Poe’s. “Come on, laserbrains, we need to getthe Captain’s quarters ready for Rey—Poe don’t give me that look—so she has somewherequiet to recover.” Rose turned to Ben. “Carry her to the Falcon, will you? I want to make sure nothing’s broken.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he answeredautomatically.

“Ma’am, huh?” Rose whistled,dragging the boys with her. “I think I like him already.”

——————

Once they were alone, Rey ran herfingertips over the scar adorning his pale cheek. “Are you really here? Or am Idreaming?”

“I’m here,” Ben confirmed, meltinginto her touch. “I had to set you down for a moment to explain what happened toyour friends and they could see me even then.”

“And they didn’t try to attackyou?”

“No, they did,” he smirked, “butnone of them are Force-sensitive, so it wasn’t really a fair fight.”

“Ben, what’d you do?!”

“Nothing,” he assured her. “Justlocked them in place so that I could explain myself.”

“And the crystal?”

“I grabbed it for you.”

“Thank you, Ben.” Rey twirled asilky lock of his dark hair around her finger, overcome with emotion. “How isthis possible?” she wondered.

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe I could be of someassistance?” Luke said, materializing close by.

“Uncle,” Ben acknowledged stonily.

“Nephew,” Luke smiled slightly.“You look like hell.”

“So do you, old man,” Ben repliedwithout heat.

“Rey has a way of keeping me on mytoes, even in this form.”

“I know what you mean.”

“Have we finally found some commonground, then?” Luke said hopefully.

Ben’s shoulders slumped as if agreat weight had been lifted off them. “I suppose we have.” He indicated forLuke to join them.

The legendary Jedi Master satcross-legged across from them, his ghostly figure making no impact on the dustyground. “I believe your bond is responsible for this miracle. When Ben felt thedanger you were courting, he immediately projected himself to your location.But unlike previous connections, he was driven by the desire to protect you morethan mere curiosity.”

“Does that make a difference?” Reyasked.

“Yes. As with anything, intentionis everything,” Luke said sagely. “Courage, fear, love, hate…the feelings behindyour actions always matter. And when a Force-user feels something powerfullyenough, anything is possible.”

“So the fact that he’s here now,in the flesh…” Rey looked at Ben with her heart in her eyes.

“It means that I love you,” Benwhispered.

“Even after all thistime?”

“Yes,” he admitted, asawed by the revelation as Rey.

“You balance each other, and byextension the Force, I can see that now,” Luke said wistfully. “The two of you,together, united…you can bring the galaxy back from the brink.”

“Is that so?” Rey pressed herforehead to her equal’s. “What do you say, Ben? Want to save the galaxy withme?”

“Not really, no.” He chuckled when sheslapped his arm again. “Truth be told, I’d rather run away with you than fightany more battles, but I have a feeling you’ll be able to talk me into it.”

And she did.

——————

Five years later…

——————

“Rey, we can’t go in there…”

“Why not?”

“Because we’ve been inseveral times already and promised to let Finn and Rose figure it out,” Bensaid simply.

“What if they need ourhelp?” Rey said worriedly.

“They don’t,” he assuredher.

“How do you know?” shefrowned. “Rose is really small; she could get hurt.”

“Is she? It’s hard to tellwhenever she starts waving that vicious stun baton around,” he laughed. “Trustme, sweetheart, Rose has got this handled.”

“Well, what about Finn?”

“He fought me andsurvived,” Ben reminded her, tone tinted with respect, “so I think he canhandle giving Grey a bath.”

“But, still…” she said,wincing in discomfort.

Feeling the twinge throughtheir bond, Ben lifted a wide palm to massage the back of his wife’s neck. “Rey,if we’re ever going to take that honeymoon, we need to give our friends thebenefit of the doubt during this trial run. If we can’t trust them to watch ourson for two days, I don’t really see how we could leave him for two weeks.”

“I know, you’re right,”Rey sighed, leaning into his touch, “I’m just being ridiculous.”

“You’re not beingridiculous,” he chided, curling his free arm around her slim waist. “We’re bothnovices here, okay? We’ll figure it out together. All of us.”

“Alright,” she conceded, turningin his hold and pressing her cheek against his heart. “I love you, Ben.”

“I love you too,” hereturned, staring bemusedly at the closed door behind her; Finn and Rose hadstarted speaking in the silliest of baby voices. “Besides, what are the oddsthat Grey figures out how to tap into the Force while we’re gone anyway?”

“Oh, Ben!” Rey stiffened.“I hadn’t even thought of—Mmm!”

Anticipating her reaction,Ben captured her lips in a searing kiss. Don’tthink, just feel.

Rey sank into his warmembrace without protest. No fair, shegroaned, merging her mind with his, allowing his unwavering belief in theirfamily to relieve her baseless fears and bring balance to her errant emotions. But don’t you dare stop.

Never, sweetheart.

Light. Darkness. Abalance. The Force hummed contentedly between them, knowing that the future ofthe galaxy had been secured at last. 

-FIN-

——————

A/N: I wanted to tap intothat period of time in your early 20s where everyone around you keeps treatingyou like a kid despite the fact that you’re legally an adult. As a result, Reyended up kinda moody in the beginning of this fic XD But I’m satisfied when howit turned out! Please review!