The Marriage Rites of the Jedi [closed to niteofren]

[girlandherstaff]

There is a level of awareness that Rey has regarding her lack of guilt for stealing the sacred Jedi Texts from their generations old home on the island. That being said, it's often dulled by the knowledge of Master Skywalker's insistence that there was no more need for the Jedi when she knew that there was, or at least was incredibly sure that there was.

She had made an attempt or two to read through the old texts, but they were not exactly what could be called page turners, and the heavy going dry information was made only worse by the fact that age had dulled the appearance of the text, making it hard to make out what was actually written. That was the main reason she was so sure she had gotten it wrong. After all, everyone knew that the Jedi never married, so why would there be mention of marriage rites in theirs texts?

But they were there and that sinking feeling in her stomach made it clear to her that no, she wasn't misreading. If this was right...

Did he know? He had read these, hadn't he? Or, at least the Histories? Could that be why he made that offer?

Rey had thought that reading the texts would help clear her confusion, but now she felt more confused than ever

Comments

[girlandherstaff]

She can't help but stare at him. He has to know, doesn't he, about what telling Leia will mean. About what she'll have to tell Leia

"...Ben..."

[niteofren]

He looks in her eyes. He hasn't really thought about whether anyone else knows about them before. Now that he is, he finds he wants his mother to know.

"Please..."

[girlandherstaff]

She stares back. If this is really what he wants...

She nods.

"Okay."

[niteofren]

He hangs his head and nods. It's what he wants.

"Thank you."

[girlandherstaff]

"She'll come looking for you."

They knew what Leia was like, after all. If she thought there was a chance for getting her son away from the First Order, she would take it.

[niteofren]

"Don't let her. Rey, I can only do so much to protect her."

He did know what his mother was like. It was a foolish risk but one he needed to take.

[girlandherstaff]

"It's not like there's a whole lot I can do to stop her."

But she would try, of course she would. This was just a situation that none of them needed to be in. Her hand still rested on the book and she curled her fingers into the pages.

"It's like the galaxy is set against us."

She wasn't entirely sure who she meant by us, but the sentiment felt right.

[niteofren]

"The Force is strong in my family," he mused. "But I don't think it particularly liked us. I don't think it ever has."

[girlandherstaff]

"...That's a depressing outlook." She can't help the comment. It just feels oddly... wrong? She's not sure why she can say that though. So, wisely, she doesn't

[niteofren]

"Maybe," he admitted, turning away. "Did Skywalker tell you anything about my family's history?"

[girlandherstaff]

Rey stared, wondering what this was supposed to be about. "No," she said, "nothing more than the time he helped to bring Vader back to the Light."

[niteofren]

He let out a bitter laugh. "Of course that's all the old fool said," he sneered. "Grandfather left to become a Jedi when he was nine. He started having visions of her ten years later. The Jedi wouldn't let him do a thing about it. He finally went with Grandmother to check her without telling anyone. He got there just in time for her to die in his arms. He could have stopped it if it weren't for the Jedi. Or if the Force had bothered sending the visions to someone who would have been allowed to save her. The same thing happened with Grandmother. He asked for help. The Jedi were useless. She died while he was trying to find a way to save her."

[girlandherstaff]

"That's awful." It was the only word that really fit. "But... did Luke even know those stories?" She had been of the ... Well, she thought that everything about who Vader was before he was Vader was somehow gone. Looked like she was wrong.

[niteofren]

"Probably." If he sounded like an emo teenager, that was just Rey's imagination. A Supreme Leader never sulked. "He knew a lot more than he ever admitted. As did my mother."

[girlandherstaff]

"...They didn't tell you, did they?" It was the strong feeling she was getting, from his attitude. A sense that something had been with-held from him for far too long.

[niteofren]

He shook his head firmly. "They told me nothing. I found out from the news with everyone else."

He shuddered. It had been cruel. For the first time, he discovered Snoke was telling the truth. He'd started listening after that. It had been his only way to avoid another nasty surprise.

[girlandherstaff]

"That's..." she shook her head, unable to express her thoughts on it properly. How could they have kept something so important from him? Maybe out of fear? Worry that he could end up worried that he would follow in his grandfather's footsteps? Well, that ironically happened...

"There's no good reason to not tell you."

[niteofren]

He shrugged. "Tell them that."

He sighed. "Apparently, they didn't see a reason not to lie about it even though it effected me as much as them."

[girlandherstaff]

"I don't think Leia would be appreciative of me pulling her up on something I'm not supposed to know about," Rey pointed out, her voice sounding slightly tired. It had been a long day.

[niteofren]

"I didn't mean..." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. But it's probably why... I found out right before Skywalker..."

[girlandherstaff]

"...Oh," Rey's regretted the gibe immediately, her face falling. "I still can't believe," she stopped, realising that it would be obvious. No one would believe it, that was probably part of the entire problem. It was easier to think Ben had always been this way, than to think that someone had made the choice for him.

"If it helps? I smacked Luke with my staff."

[niteofren]

"You hit him..." He stared at her, mouth hanging slightly open. "You. You hit/I> him."

He shook his head, still processing her admission. "Nobody does that. Not even Mom and Dad."

[girlandherstaff]

"I don't like people making choices for others," she said simply. "He had acted like yours was made when it wasn't. He didn't have the right to do that." There was a shrug as if to ask what else she could have done. It didn't seem enough, when she thought on it, even if Ben had chosen to stay there after everything. It still felt like Luke needed to know - somehow - that his action was having more repercussions than he might have thought.

"You need to make your own choices," Rey said, "no one else should make them for you."

[niteofren]

"There was no choice," he admitted. "I was just trying to understand. I wanted to know why, to make sense of it all. I wanted to ask Mom if we were still royalty to the people who survived from Alderaan."

[girlandherstaff]

That was another moment of reality catching up with Rey.

"...I'd forgotten."