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

[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."

[niteofren]

"Most people do."

He shrugged. By now, it was mostly just something he'd lost. He doubted anyone from Alderaan would accept him after Starkiller.

"They just skip to Jedi Killer even though that's..." He sighed. "I'm not. Not like they think, anyway."

[girlandherstaff]

"...Luke said," and then she stopped. "What happened that night? After... that?"

[niteofren]

"It was the middle of the night and I'd just torn down a building." He sighed heavily. It was something he mostly tried not to remember. "It was chaos. No one knew what had happened at first. After what we found out about Grandfather earlier that week... We fought. And then everyone who was left went with me to Snoke."

[girlandherstaff]

Rey breathed out, giving a slow nod. She had begin to think it might have been something like that. Which meant...

"So the Knights. They're the other students?" What were they like, she wondered.

[niteofren]

He nodded. "Most of them. Not everyone made it out. There were a couple who thought he was right."

[girlandherstaff]

"Were... were they friends?" Of yours, she wants to add but isn't sure whether or not it would be too probing.

[niteofren]

"Not close friends."

He turned away. "We didn't hate each other. At least not before we found out..."

[girlandherstaff]

"...What about the Knights?" She was hoping. Please, let him have someone. She needed him to not be alone right now.

[niteofren]

"They're..." He hesitated. "We were friends. They're loyal to me, not Snoke. But I haven't seen them in long time."

[girlandherstaff]

"Where are they?" It felt like a valid question. She had heard - she thinks, maybe she pulled it from his mind - of the Knights of Ren and had yet to see them. It would be interesting, now. If they were loyal to Ben, how would they view her? Positively or otherwise?

[niteofren]

"They're in the Unknown Regions," he said quietly. "Searching for relics of other Force traditions."

[girlandherstaff]

She nodded again, taking this in. He had sent them away. Did that mean he hadn't completely trusted Snoke? Or had he done it under orders from that being? Both were equally possible in this case. She glanced back over.

"What do they know? About... this?"

[niteofren]

"They don't know anything yet," he said. "I am almost certain Hux has people monitoring all communications within the First Order."