*I found this picture on the internet, and I can’t find the original person who drew it to give source credit. If you know the person or source, please let me know so I can give credit – above art clip not mine.
I’m still on a Tumblr & AO3 writing/reading hiatus until January 2019. However…
I do want to support people who are creating content and tagging me for stuff, so as I can on the weekends, I’ll reblog stuff I’ve been tagged on or seen up date during the week. And I may fill my queue so you’ll see this and other posts reblogged, but it won’t mean I’m checking Tumblr.
I’m going to continue to work on my story, The Hypnotist, but at my own pace during the next couple of months and it will take a backseat to friends, exercise, and holiday stuff.
I’ll let you in on a secret…the friends I’ve made on here, the chats I’ve had with people and hearing about the marriages, babies, new locations, struggles, triumphs, and real adventures are more important to me than “Reylo.”
Shine on, beautiful friends! Enjoy your holidays and the lovely months of November and December before they are gone.
I’ll be back in January to participate more.
Have a lovely holiday season, beautiful friend, and thank you for all you do!
The newest chapter to my Reylo fanfic (rated T). If you want to check out the previous chapters, here’s the link to AO3!
The forest is alive with sound.
The
staccato call of two long-necked birds, flitting from tree to tree. The
chirping of insects, rising and falling in a kind of song. The rustling of animals
as they scurry by, foraging for food.
Rey
stalks through the woods, the earth crunching under her boots, moist soil
covered by a bed of dead leaves, twigs, rocks, and all manner of flora.
Her
eyes are sharp and observant, taking in the sights and sounds, both enjoying them
and assessing them, filtering everything she sees through a checklist in her
mind.
It’s thick here. The trees are full and
close together, the ground covered with brush and vines.
It’s not ideal.
On
the one hand, they’ll have more cover. On the other, it will slow them down,
make it easier for the slavers to catch up to them and more likely that someone
will get lost.
The
target for this rescue is fifty, more if they can. Fifty people, tired and
underfed, trekking through the forest at first light. They’ll be scared, on
edge, moving through unfamiliar surroundings.
It
would be better if there more space between trees, less brush to push through.
They’d move more quickly and in a larger pack, reduce the chance of someone getting
separated.
Rey
can only hope that someone else finds a thinner area of the forest, anything
more open than this. She’s got four other scouts out here. Surely one of them will find a better route.
But
she can’t count on it. For all she knows, this is the thinnest area of the forest. She needs to keep her focus, keep
imagining the escape in her mind, what they’d need to watch out for.
She
reaches for the navigational device in her pouch, checking the distance to their
rendezvous point.
Three and quarter miles to go. Close to
halfway.
She
looks up and around as she tucks the device back in the pouch, searching for a
distinctive marker or any sign that this part of the forest is different than
where she started.
But there’s nothing.
It
seems like the same mass of trees, so high and thick with verdure they blot out
most of the sky, the light trickling through only in thin streams.
Rey
sighs and returns her gaze forward, brushing past a layer of vines hanging from
a branch above. Suddenly, she starts to slow, squinting.
She
can’t tell for sure, but it seems to get brighter not far ahead. Much brighter, as if the forest abruptly
ends. Maybe it opens into a field…?
She
picks up her pace, brushing away greenery as she weaves between the trees, her
pulse quickening in anticipation. She hops over a log, eyes trained forward,
eager to make out what she’s seeing.
She slows as she gets closer, her heart
sinking as the view gradually comes into focus.
That’s an open space alright. But it’s no
field.
It’s a ravine.
Her
pace tapers to a trudge as she approaches the edge of an abrupt drop, at least
thirty feet deep. She halts, sighing heavily as she takes in the scene.
The
ravine is wide, so wide that even the tallest tree in the forest couldn’t bridge
the gap. It stretches on indefinitely to the left and to the mountain on the
right. It’s covered in green, vines crawling up the steep sides, curling around
roots jutting out of the earth. Under any other circumstance, she might think
it was beautiful.
But right now, it’s death knell.
No.
This won’t work.
They
can’t take the rescues this way. In fact, depending on how far the ravine goes,
they might just have to rethink their whole strategy for this one…
Rey
crosses her arms as she mulls over this unpleasant development. She lets out a
puff of air, examining the ravine closely, reluctant to give up just yet.
If
it’s as long as it appears to be, perhaps there’s a bridge somewhere. Then
again, if there is, that’s the first place the slavers will go when they
realize a chunk of their property is missing. In fact, she wouldn’t be
surprised if they have someone guarding the bridge, keeping an eye out for
thieves and escapees.
She purses her lips, thinking.
What about the mountain?
She twists to the right.
It’s
not far, a little over mile by the looks of it. There could be a path along the
side or even a tunnel. It’s worth a look.
Rey
turns away from the ravine, walking back into the forest a few feet, then
changing direction. She stalks towards the mountain, tepidly hopeful she’ll
find a way to make this work.
And
yet, she has a gut feeling this is a lost cause. Try as she might, she can’t
imagine a way through or around the mountain that wouldn’t pose considerable
danger to their rescues. They need a straight shot, something quick and less
complicated.
She
walks forward briskly but less purposefully than before, slowly accepting the
reality of the situation, that it all depends on what the other scouts find.
She begins to observe the forest more for its beauty than its potential as an
escape route, noting all kinds of plants she’s never seen before, many of them
brilliant colors, a deep red, a bright yellow.
Before
long her mind begins to drift, her surroundings fading to the background as her
thoughts meander down a familiar path, almost involuntarily, like on autopilot.
She
just can’t stop thinking about it. She can hardly pass an idle minute without
going back to it, running through the scenes in her mind.
There’s still so much to process.
They’d
talked for hours. Hours. Though the
night and into the morning, only stopping because both of them could hardly
keep their eyes open. They cried together, laughed together, worried together.
They shared stories, fears, hopes, dreams.
Rey
pictures the woman’s face in her mind, her bright eyes, that crinkle just under
them, her features animated with emotion, sometimes soft and sad, other times
sharp and focused.
It’s strange to think that it wasn’t too
long ago that Rey thought of her as “the General.”
Now,
she’s Leia. She’s not some tall, imposing figure but a human being, just as
fragile and vulnerable as she is resilient and strong.
Rey
was surprised to find out exactly how human Leia really is. The woman always
seems like steel in public, so confident and decisive, like she’s never
second-guessed herself a day in her life.
But, of course, she has.
Leia
doubts. She worries. She feels just as lost and lonely as Rey does sometimes,
disconnected from everyone around her by lifetime of extremes— legendary
victories offset by the darkest tragedies. She defeated the Empire but lost her
home. She created a new order only to watch her son rip it all to shreds.
And she carries it all alone, pondering it
secretly in her heart.
Leia
needed this. She needed it just as much as Rey did, maybe more so. She needed
to connect with someone she can’t hide from, someone who has an inkling of what
it’s like to hope even in the most desperate situations, to love even through the
bitterest differences.
At
this, the conversation replays in Rey’s mind, the one she keeps going back to. Out
of hours upon hours of revelation, encouragement, and advise, this is what she
remembers the most, the thing that lingers.
“Do you think it’s wrong?” Rey had asked
tentatively. “To love him? To just want to be with him, in spite of
everything?” She tensed, bracing herself for an answer she didn’t want to hear.
But Leia surprised her.
“Rey…”
She’d scoffed softly, leaning in closer. “I’ve spent a lifetime loving people I
deeply disagree with on both a personal and ideological level. It’s not wrong.”
She shook her head firmly. “You can’t help who you love. And you can’t help but
be drawn to the ones you love, to want be with them even when there’s so much that
divides you. In fact…” She leaned back as her voice trailed off, her eyes
growing dark with thought.
“Sometimes
I wonder…” She mused. “I wonder if opposites attract for a reason. Maybe it’s
the universe’s way of finding balance.”
“What do you mean?” Rey asked eagerly.
Leia
didn’t answer straight away but instead looked to the floor, mulling over the
question. When she finally spoke, her voice was distant, her gaze soft and
faraway.
“It’s
the easiest thing, you know.” She tilted her head back. “To see the opposing side
as the villain, as something so wrong it’s beyond comprehension why anyone would
ever think that way. And when you see people like that, you don’t engage with
them. Why would you? Even just talking to them, entertaining their ideas, feels
like a violation of your values. But…”
Leia looked at Rey as she articulated the word.
“When
you add love to the equation, things are different. You’re willing to listen.
You’re willing to consider the other’s perspective, to try to understand why
they believe what they believe, why they do what they do. And then, as time
passes, as the love grows, what once seemed just wrong looks more… complex.” Leia chose the word carefully,
drawing it out. Then she smiled to herself. “That’s when you really start to
change.”
Rey
remembers how her heart fluttered at this, how it seemed to be exactly the
answer she was looking for, what she needed to hear more than anything.
But then Leia abruptly sat up, reacting to
Rey’s emotions, her eyes wide and urgent.
“That’s
not to say love can mend all differences,” she added hastily. “I’m sorry to
tell you that it can’t.” She shook her head. “Sometimes people don’t change.
And there are some divisions that are truly irreconcilable.” She leaned in
close, her gaze kind but with an undertone of pain.
“Rey,”
she started gently. “I’m sure you know how I happy I’ve been to hear what
you’ve told me today. I-” Her voice suddenly broke. “I haven’t felt this kind
of hope in a long time.” She couldn’t
contain her smile as she spoke, her eyes glistening with tears. But in the next
instant her face fell, suddenly growing solemn. “But based on everything I’ve
heard, it’s important that you…” She gulped. “And I… prepare for the possibility that things may not turn out the
way we want them to.”
Rey’s
heart drops at the memory of Leia’s warning, the uncomfortable truth hitting
her just as heavily now as it did then. She absently brushes past the vines in
front of her, feeling that tension well inside, an agonizing frustration that’s
all too familiar.
She’d
thought for sure that talking with Leia would help her see things more clearly.
And it did, in some respects. Yet she still feels hopelessly unclear on the one thing she wants to know more than
anything.
How is she supposed to handle this mess?
She
can’t control how she feels. She wants him so
badly, more and more every time she sees him. But how can she give into her
desire when he still expects her to be something she’s not? How can she let
herself be vulnerable with him when he’s still the Supreme Leader of the First
Order?
Even Leia didn’t have answers to these
questions.
“I
can’t tell you what to do, Rey.” She’d shook her head firmly. “To be honest, I’m
not even sure there’s a right thing to do, at least not in an objective sense.
But I can give you some perspective.”
“So,
what would you do?” Rey leaned
forward intently. “In a situation like this?” Leia sighed as she looked up to
the ceiling.
“I
don’t know,” she said quietly. “I hope…”
she tilted her head, “that I’d be open to listening, to seeking a middle
ground. But I also hope that I wouldn’t compromise my core values, that I’d
stand firm on the things that matter most. And regardless of what choice I
made, whether I gave into my feelings or not, I hope I’d be honest with myself
about why I made that choice.” At this, Leia glanced at Rey, narrowing her eyes.
“What?” Rey asked defensively. Leia pursed
her lips.
“I
think…” She began cautiously, “that you have very good reason for being wary of this relationship. But I also
think, maybe…” She paused as if
considering whether or not to continue. “That there’s another reason you’re not
giving in to what you feel, perhaps a reason you’re not entirely aware of…?”
She raised an eyebrow. Rey looked back, guarded, but said nothing.
“Tell
me,” Leia continued with a steady gaze. “Is this your first time being in
love?” Rey answered with a short nod. Leia nodded back in response, then
clasped her hands in her lap. “Is it like you thought it would be?”
At this, Rey looked away, suddenly finding
it difficult to maintain eye contact.
“It’s…” She gulped. “Different. More
complicated, I guess.”
“How?” Leia probed.
“It’s
just…” Rey struggled to find the right words. “I never realized… I didn’t
expect…” She tensed, her gaze still fixed on the floor. “It would scare me,”
she finished in a low voice.
“Why does it scare you?” Leia asked
quietly.
“Because.” Rey abruptly snapped her head
up. “I never thought I’d fall in love with the Supreme Leader of the First Order.”
“And
if he weren’t the Supreme Leader,” Leia responded without skipping a beat. “If
he were just an average person, you wouldn’t feel this way, you wouldn’t feel
scared?” Rey looked away again.
“I…” She squirmed. “I’m not sure.”
“Can you,” Leia asked tentatively, “think
of a reason why you might be?” Rey shrugged.
“I
don’t know,” she mumbled. “I guess… I guess maybe… I’d still worry…” She let
her voice trail off, unsure how to finish. Leia waited patiently, never pushing
her once. “I might still worry about getting hurt,” she finally whispered.
“Rey.”
She looked up and was met by dark eyes brimming with compassion.
“I’ve
been around for a few years now,” Leia started with a wry smile. “And I’ve been
in love more than once. I’m sorry to tell you… I got hurt every time. In fact,
I don’t know a single person who’s fallen in love and not gotten hurt. Even in the strongest relationships I know, people
still get hurt sometimes. It’s just part of being in love.” Rey’s heart sunk as
she heard this.
“But that’s not the only part.” Leia leaned
in closer, eyes bright with intensity. “The thing that makes love so scary,
that causes you to get hurt, is the exact
same thing that makes love so precious, that bonds people together in the
most meaningful way imaginable.”
“What thing?” Rey whispered.
“Opening
your heart,” Leia answered. “Letting yourself be utterly vulnerable, more vulnerable than you’ll ever be.” Rey
gulped, surprised to feel tears pushing at the backs of her eyes.
“Rey,”
Leia said her name tenderly, lifting a hand to her face. “I don’t know if it’s
right for you to give in to what you feel for my son. But I do know that you
shouldn’t let fear make your choice for you.” At this, a few tears escaped down
Rey’s cheeks. “Being in love is a wonderful thing,” Leia beamed. “And I want you to experience it one day, all of it, whether it’s with my son or
someone else.”
As
these words echo in Rey’s mind, she starts to slow without realizing it, soon
halting outright, standing silently in the middle of the forest. She looks
down, but doesn’t really see the ground below. She’s lost in her thoughts, the
memory of Leia’s hand on her cheek, the strength of her emotions as she spoke—
her confidence, her compassion, her hope.
Rey
lets herself linger there, linger in that moment and everything it made her
feel. Warm. Connected. Terrified. Ashamed. Uncertain.
As she does, she can’t stop the thought
from crossing her mind.
Sometimes she misses her life on Jakku.
She
never thought in a million years
she’d ever think such a thing. She was so lonely there. So desperate for
companionship, for love. All she ever wanted was to belong with someone.
But
she never realized what that would feel like, all the complicated emotions, how
hard it would be.
Lately,
she’s imagined going back in time, coming face to face with her former self so
she can urge her to enjoy her simple life while she can, embrace the monotony,
the boredom, the comforting regularity.
Get up. Scavenge. Trade. Eat. Imagine.
Sleep. Do it all again the next day.
No
galactic wars to worry about. No Force. No bond. No Ben. No grand destiny
looming vaguely overhead. Just survival, pure and simple.
“Force users, they’re so arrogant. They think this war is all about them.”
Rey and Kylo Ren – two halves of the same protagonist. But if they’re both right, then who is wrong?
What if the face of true evil wears an entirely different kind of mask? What if it’s something with impossibly deep roots – a corruption so insidious, it could hide itself in plain sight? What if it’s the very same military industrial complex needed to fight this war in the first place?
What if it’s simply… greed?
War is a Machine, internally combusting and turning itself over. Is balancing the Force enough to stop it?
Is saving what we love even enough?
Doesn’t mean they’re not going to try…
Rating and Tags: Fandom: Star Wars (Post TLJ) Canon Compliant Chapter Rating: GA, Teen & Up (eventual smut will be in a separate piece) Relationships Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) / Rey, Finn / Rose Tico Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Eventual Romance, Sexual Tension, Redeemed Ben Solo, Plot Driven, Adventure, Episode IX
“There’s ghosts out there, girl… Old ones. Angry ones. Dark ones. And they remember…"
Would you like for me to tag you in future updates? I’m beyond thrilled to do so – just give me a holler and I’ll slap you on the list in a very sexy-yet-consensual sort of way!
Catching up to where I need to be!!! Crested over 7200 words tonight!!!! Naturally this chapter isn’t ready for release yet either, LOL, because the plot bunnies keep leading me forward to nooks and crannies that hide between the major plot points I’d hoped to cover in a single chapter. I have a WHOLE section of dialogue I wrote between two characters that I was hoping to get into release two chapters ago, but we just aren’t there yet. It’s amazing how much I *think* I can fit into a single chapter until I start writing and find out…. NOPE!!! LOL!
But Chapter 17: The Temple (Part Two) of The Machine is coming along VERY nicely. This has been a fantastic chapter to write so far. And I’m also GREATLY looking forward to stuff I have planned for chapters 18 and 19… and ultimately on into 20.
And by 18,19, and 20, I really mean 18 through probably 33, let’s be real here, LOL.
They had shared their first kiss on Takodana, in a forest very similar to the one in which he’d once taken her captive. Rey shifted weakly, trying to put some distance between their naked bodies.
“That was a mistake,” she replied.
“Really?” he asked, his chuckle only prolonging itself as he splayed the long fingers resting on her abdomen, pulling her closer against the proof of her irritating twitching, hard against her lower back. “Was Coruscant a mistake, too?”
p.s: if anyone would like to be notified via tag on here when the end updates, leave your username/aye/whatever below and I’ll add you to my smol update list, seeing as AO3 has been rather unreliable.
Here it is: the 5th issue of Reylos to reblog! This callout is starting from zero again! All these fics are from either new or old authors, all under or around 250 kudos!
Spread positivity: give the post a reblog, leave kudos and comments for these new authors/new fics!! ❤️
Disclaimer: I only included the fics listed in my callout post!!
Vespaer's Dark Side 