27 || sos received

"THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE."

STAR KILLER BASE, FIRST ORDER

There was a cool sort of calm that washed the entire scene as Kyra closed her eyes.

A feeling that she could rest, that her job had been finished seemed to overwhelm her. The base would be destroyed, she had saved two of her friends, one from being captured and manipulated by Ren, the other from a life that he didn't want to live. She had saved lives- doing the very opposite thing that she had been taught to do.

Maybe it was her time. Maybe everything that she had fought for, all of those years being forced to kill for the First Order, had led to this. She had saved the lives of everyone on Sorgan that still remained under the First Order's rule, and she had saved Han.

A man that she almost considered a father.

If she had saved the lives of so many, maybe it was a sign from whatever powers that were in the galaxy that it was her time. Maybe Kyra would finally be able to rest after all the years of tortured nightmares and horrendous acts that she had to commit in the name of a cause she never wanted to be a part of.

"But you can't rest, Kai Azura." A voice brought Kyra out of her thoughts, the young woman opening her eyes to find herself not where she had fallen to the ground. It was a place that seemed to mimic the home planet Sorgan that she knew so well in the back of her mind, fuzzy in memory but the feeling of home still there all the same. A soft sense of darkness washed over the small village, the stars of the galaxy above twinkling brightly in the sky.

In that moment, Kyra was left utterly speechless. Her mother, the one that she had just found out so much about, was standing in front of her, much younger in nature than how Kyra imagined her. As soon as she tried to open her mouth to speak, the young woman found that there were no words to describe the feeling that she had in the bottom of her heart.

There was a feeling of warm contact on her face as her mother rushed towards where Kyra laid on the ground, the woman carefully bending down to cup her hands around her face. "There is much more for you to do in this life yet. Don't give up just now." Her mother whispered, her head declining so that their foreheads touched, a sign of her motherly love.

"But-"

"What have I told you?" Kyra's mother looked straight into her daughter's eyes, seeing the familiar look of an irritated love rise in her eyes. "There are no buts. You're my daughter, and you have to listen to what I tell you. Besides, you have to fight for another person now." She smiled a knowing grin, her daughter realizing what her mother was implying. "Go find your pilot again. Go find your happy ending the way that I never could with your father."

Kyra, feeling her mother's contact with her slip away, grasped for her mother's hand, trying to find the right words to say, the right thing to be able to tell her. Reaching out to look at her mother, who had stood up to look down upon her, Kyra finally found the right words to say. "Mom-"

"I know." Alora spoke, her smile reflecting the love she had for her daughter as her eyes reflected the galaxy of stars that was above them in the quiet night of the Sorganian village that the two of them were in. "I know, Kai."

The next thing that Kyra knew, there was a bright white light reflecting off of every surface that she could see. Her eyes were half open, dazedly taking in her surroundings through a blurred sort of camera lens. The familiar sense of warmth that came like second nature, a good indicator that her "powers" were back, rushed back into her as her eyes opened, the sights around her feeling strange as she looked at them. Everything around her seemed to feel like an out of body experience, like a dream that she shouldn't be living.

Three blurry figures seemed to walk towards her, Kyra not being able to recognize them as they came into view, the bright light that was bathing over all of them making it hard to distinguish who was who. Their voices seemed to somewhat blur together as well, Kyra barely able to distinguish who came out of the ship that was in front of them.

"Fox, you can take the kid back onto the ship. I'm sure you're going to know how to help her out with whatever the hell happened here." A voice Kyra could make out as Han directed, seeing him gesture far off to where he saw Rey and Finn in the snow. "Chewie and I will handle Rey and Finn."

The next thing that Kyra could remember was Fox bending down to look at Kyra, the young man giving a small sigh as he assessed how bad the fight had been on Kyra. He noticed that there seemed to be bruises forming around her neck, and that her ear had some blood crusted on the inside, but nothing too major. "Oh, Princess." He sighed, placing his hands in the snow and picking up Kyra to make sure that he could bring her back up to the ship. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Get me out of here?" Kyra faintly whispered, Fox looking down at her in shock when he saw her eyes faintly open, her friend shaking his head as he continued to carry her towards the ship. "I want to get off this stupid planet." Kyra grumbled, her words melding together as she spoke, her eyes squeezing shut as they walked towards the Falcon, the bright light too much for her to handle.

"I can do that." Fox chuckled, looking down at his best friend in his arms as he walked closer to the ramp of the Falcon, ensuring her safety. Giving one look behind him, Fox saw Han and Chewie, who were accompanied by Rey and Finn ( who was being carried in Chewie's arms ), coming closer to him. "I can do that for you, Kyra."

They were all safe, and there was nothing to worry about now.

The ride home on the Falcon was one that was rather chaotic yet quiet at the same time. Once on board the ship, Fox made sure that Kyra was settled safely in the booth where the chess set was inside of the Falcon, giving her medical supplies once she was aware enough of her situation to fix herself up, Rey sitting beside her. The two women sat and helped bandage each other up, a silent pact of helping each other after the fight the both of them had witnessed going unsaid between the two.

Finn had been tenderly placed in the circle where Kyra had attended to Chewie what felt like a lifetime ago, Kyra trying to help his wounds as much as she possibly could before turning her attention to Rey and herself. It killed her to have one of her friends just sitting there, helpless, because she wasn't quick enough to act.

But the past was in the past. Whatever had happened during that battle had happened, and there was no taking back all of the decisions that all of them had made. Kyra knew why Finn had acted in that moment- because she would've probably been dead at this very moment if he didn't. She still hated him for being so rash in the meantime.

Fox had sat up front in the Falcon with Chewie and Han for a couple of minutes before wandering to the back, seeing Kyra and Rey help each other with their wounds and injuries. "You know, you two did it." He cleared his throat when he entered the main room, attracting their attention. "As we jumped to lightspeed, that planet was blown to smithereens."

"Good." Kyra muttered, wrapping Rey's arm with a bandage tightly, trying to seal the wound off from any outside harm. She hadn't seen the way the young scavenger had fought off Kylo Ren, but she assumed whatever battle had ensued after she had passed out, it had been an intense one. "I always hated that scum of a planet anyways."

"Here's to hoping Kylo Ren died on that planet." Rey agreed, holding the lightsaber that she had used in the duel in her right hand as Kyra tended to her injuries. The young woman had already helped bandage up Kyra in the places that she wanted to be helped with, and she assumed that Fox would help her with the rest later down the line.

"And Hux." Fox agreed, leaning up against one of the walls that led into the hallway from the main area of the Falcon. "It would be a great day for everyone in the galaxy if the two of them were mysteriously found dead after the destruction of Star Killer Base."

"Not to mention Deftrine." Kyra added, getting a small grunt of approval from Fox, the two of them thinking about the evil doctor that had been a part of their daily schedule for the many years that they had spent together. "I would actually be happy if I never heard a peep about him again." Finishing the wrapping on Rey's arm, she carefully patted the site of the wound. "You're all set, Rey."

With a small smile, Rey turned back around to face Kyra, the lightsaber still gripped in her hand. "Thanks, Kyra." She weighed the saber in her hands for a couple of moments, trying to decide what to do with it before she handed it out to Kyra. "Here."

"What?" Kyra stared down at the weapon in shock, not understanding why the young woman would want to give the weapon back. "No. From what you told me about your escape from the First Order and your battle with Kylo Ren-"

"Kyra, there's something in the lightsaber that calls to you. More so than it does to me. While I might have the Force strong inside of me, it calls to you. Something deep inside it- deeper than whatever connection it has with me- wants you to wield it." Rey pressed the lightsaber into Kyra's hands, wrapping Kyra's fingers carefully around the hilt of the weapon. "Besides, it looks a lot cooler when you wield it anyways."

There was a small smile that was exchanged between the two of them, a small yet somewhat visible sisterhood growing between the two of them, getting stronger with every second. "Thanks." Kyra looked down at the weapon, her thumb stroking over the cold metal of the hilt.

Clearing his throat again, Fox pointed at the lightsaber. "You two really need to give me an explanation on whatever the hell happened while I was away. I send you a distress signal- what, maybe three or four days ago, and then the next time I see you, you're wielding a lightsaber?"

Giving a laugh, Kyra placed a piece of her hair behind her ear, placing the lightsaber hilt on the table. "If you want to know about the saber, a woman named Maz Kanata gave it to me. She said something about me being a part of a bloodline the reason I can wield it. I don't know- I didn't question it at the time. We were trying to run from a First Order ambush, and I didn't think to ask any questions. I still don't understand how I'm able to wield such a weapon when we've known from past encounters that normally weapons of this caliber stop when they're wielded around me."

The three people in the room stared at the lightsaber for a moment, all of them curious as to the secrets that it held. It just seemed to sit there in the silence, allowing for no explanations to be offered. Just the silence and mystery of the saber.

"In terms of everything else, well, it's a long story on how we got here." Kyra chuckled, rubbing the back of her head with a wince. Her head was still sore from where Ren had flung her back against a tree, and she could tell that Rey's head was hurting her as well, the young woman giving a wince every once in a while when she moved her head too abruptly. "Maybe it'd be better to give the condensed version."

It took Kyra and Rey tag-teaming the explanation of their adventures for the two of them to get the story across to Fox, the young man absorbing all of the information in a matter of a couple of minutes. He still couldn't fully understand the extent of everything going on- the map to Luke Skywalker, the Force, and all of the crazy things that had happened to his best friend, the stormtrooper that had defected with her, and the young scavenger that he saw before him. 

"You're all safe now." Fox simply said after the two had explained their journey, walking over from where he stood in the hallway to slide into the booth where Kyra and Rey sat, choosing to sit on the opposite side of Kyra, who was now squashed in the middle of her two friends. "We might be a little worse for wear, but we did what we set out to do."

Turning his attention to Kyra, he gave her a small smile. "You were able to rescue me from the First Order and blow that stupid base to kingdom come after you basically bested Kylo Ren, the man that we've all feared for years."

"And you, Rey-" He stopped, looking at the young woman beside Kyra with a proud sense of admiration. "You were able to escape the First Order all on your own, and then you defeated Kylo Ren in battle. You showed the entire galaxy something that they hadn't seen in years."

"What would that be?" Rey asked the young man, confused as to what he would mean by whatever he was implying, Sure, she had defeated Kylo Ren, but that was after Kyra had made him vulnerable during their fight and after Finn had tired him out.

"There's hope for the Jedi and the light side of the Force to return again." Fox reached out his hand, being careful to mind the lightsaber on the middle of the chess table as he gave Rey's hand a squeeze. "You showed the entire galaxy that there's now a reason to fight back, now more than ever before."

Han, who had been standing in the doorway of the main room of the Falcon, cleared his throat, making his presence known inside of the room. "The kid's right." He agreed with Fox, giving a respectful nod over to the former stormtrooper. "All of you just gave the galaxy a ton of hope that the First Order can be defeated. And you saved my life."

There was a pause as Han looked directly into Kyra's eyes, the young woman seeing the grateful glint that was in his eyes. "I don't-" Han paused, struggling for the words that he was about to say. "I don't think I would've made it out alive. I had this delusion in my head that I could bring my son back. You showed me that he wasn't the young man I remembered. In fact, he's far from it. I almost let my delusions blind me to the fact that he would've probably killed me if I had confronted him. So, thank you." His voice cracked a little at the end, a sense of saddened pride obvious as he looked down at Kyra.

It was almost like he saw her as his surrogate daughter, although considering everything that he knew about the young girl, she was technically his niece. All technicalities aside, Han knew one thing after that day- he would protect the young woman with his life if he ever had to again.

Giving the man a small smile, Kyra dipped her head at the smuggler. "I wasn't about to not get you back home to General Organa. The two of you have some unfinished business with each other, and I wasn't about to not let that business be resolved." She laughed, her chuckles hidden as she ducked her head, trying to regain her composure again. "Besides, I figured the two of you would want to be around to find Luke together. Have a grand reunion that all of you have imagined."

Trying to mask his somewhat shock at how casually Kyra stated that fact, naive to the fact that she was, in fact, the lineage to the said man that they were trying to find, Han just nodded, clearing his throat again. "Well, I was supposed to come back here to tell you all that we're jumping out of lightspeed. We're going to be back on the Resistance base in a couple of minutes, so- prepare yourselves." He gestured at the three of them, hinting to Kyra that she should probably prepare to introduce her two new friends to the Resistance when she arrived.

As soon as Han told the group that they were arriving back upon base, Kyra's heart immediately started to race again. There was something unexplainable inside of her excited for their return, excited for the ability to return back to the Resistance base.

As she sat in the booth, Fox right next to her as they landed steadily onto base, Kyra gave a quick glance over to her friend, who smiled softly at her. Reaching over the chess table, he handed the lightsaber that she had placed on the board back to her, the woman quickly securing it on her belt as the Falcon's engine jolted off.

Sliding out of the booth, following Han, who was already lowering the ramp down to rejoin the rest of the Resistance, Kyra waited for Fox and Rey to join her. There was a moment in which Kyra realized something, a smile growing on her face as she was reminded of one very, very important fact.

She would finally be able to finish that conversation with Poe.

<~•~>

hello there :)

welcome to your regularly scheduled update for this week 🤪🤪

ahaha and I thought that I wouldn't be able to do it !

okay anyways, this chapter was falling action and it was a pain in the ass to write, but somehow I pulled it out of my brain and here it is!!

we are down to the final three chapters, and we've officially hit falling action! wooohoo!

it's crazy to think that we're almost done with this crazy adventure of my first star wars book, and I'm really grateful to all of you for following me on this journey

okay so I'm going to attempt ( I'm saying ATTEMPT ) to try and go back to the Monday-Thursday updating schedule because this book is going to be done by the start of June ( or the very beginning at least, because if I update on Thursday and then Monday, and then Thursday, I'll be done with this book by the first week of June! )

idk, this is all very very very tentative, and I'm going to shameless plug again, if you want to follow my wp insta @findtheforce.wp it'll allow you to get the latest news on what I'm doing with this account and writing! (if you don't have a wp insta and you want to follow me, just dm me and say that you're someone from here so I know, text me your favorite fruit or something idk )

alright, I think that's everything, thank you guys for reading, and I will see you guys on Thursday hopefully!