Epilogue Part Two: Forever
Disclaimer: I own nothing here, but you were my ... I loved you!
AN: OMG you guys! I finished this monster! This concludes at least 1 year and 7 months of my free time!
My eternal thanks to on Youtube, for making such comprehensive, irrefutable Reylo videos. Those videos alone are what spurred me into writing this story, so go watch them if you haven't already!
on Youtube have been such an amazing and positive influence on me in my journey to finish this story. They really helped me understand the characters better and inspired me when I was so close to giving up on the story. Also a lot of ideas and concepts in this story came directly inspired from them. Seriously, go watch their content, they will make you laugh, they will make you cry, they will prepare you for TROS. :)
The following lyrics are what inspired the story's title: by
Bright yet favorable sunlight graced Thune city's bustling marketplace as Rey perused some of the many booths. She looked at the various wares for sale without any real interest. Her main objective being that her young family would finally have the opportunity to stretch their legs and get some fresh air after a long ride in the .
Species from all over the galaxy mingled and roved around her in an almost dizzying mass, but she felt no sense of danger here. Just a bit of chaos, which was normal when so many people were concentrated in a single area. She stayed alert, but relaxed. A glance to where she had left her husband and two sons reassured her that Ben remained just as aware of things.
Two sons. She blinked, counting heads again. There was Ben, yes, her tower of a man clad in black, and one of their boys stood beside him, but where was the second? She was only mildly concerned, of course. The twins were seven years old now and were already exceptionally proficient at wielding their training sabers should they need to defend themselves.
She noted Ben's line of sight as he spoke something she couldn't hear for the distance between them and the din of the crowd. But there, not even twenty feet away from him, their second son was standing at a vendor booth that appeared to be selling various types of confections and pastries.
Rey moved to join her husband, noting how he was warily watching the crowd, or perhaps an individual, as if he had noticed something odd. She caught his eye with an inquiring look but he merely shook his head.
Drawing beside him, she curled one arm around his waist and he received her distractedly, his attention still on the crowd. Rey smiled down at their second-born and the one dressed in an all white outfit, much like her own Jedi-themed robes.
He, like his brother, had a head full of untamed black hair that flared around his face and covered his ears, attributes that both boys had naturally inherited from their father. And although Rey adored that genetic trait, she was rather proud of those intelligent hazel eyes shining back at her.
With her other hand Rey gave the boy's messy black mane an affectionate ruffle, resulting in a childish giggle and a delighted grin from him. "And just what has so excited, Obi?" She asked him, using his nickname as she always did. Only invoking when she meant business, which was rare since he was the more docile of the two.
"Ani is buying us some yummy pastries called buttersweet puffs!" Obi-Wan replied enthusiastically, though he frowned when he struggled to articulate his following sentence. "Dad says its a com-com-ody!"
"," Ben corrected lightly, and although his attention was still elsewhere, he gave Rey a rueful glance. "They were originally sold only on Hosnian Prime... Mother was especially fond of them."
Rey nodded her understanding. Her smile saddened as she watched Obi-Wan turn to wait for his brother with keen expectation, oblivious to his parents' weighty exchange. She wasn't inclined to share the harsh reality of a planet's destruction with their young sons just yet. Let them learn to pronounce commodity first.
She watched with a mixture of trepidation and pride as Anakin, her firstborn and the more outgoing of the two finally procured a box of the sweets. Unlike his brother, he wore an entirely black outfit like his father. Although she and Ben had long since been able to differentiate between the two boys by a single glance, due to specific facial expressions and posture alone, Rey had an inexplicable penchant for dressing them in opposite colors.
A sudden spike in the Force threw all of Rey's senses into overdrive as Ben lunged forward, barking so loudly that everyone within the immediate area flinched. ", drop!"
Rey found herself watching in something of slow motion. Anakin had been proudly marching back to them with his prize in hand when something seemed to catch his eye in the crowd. Then, as if he were locked on to a target like a Nexu on its prey, he swerved to run after it, unaware of the giant, hairy monstrosity that was lumbering along nearby.
Even as Rey moved a mere step behind Ben, her subconscious managed to put a name to the big alien; a Bethany, known for their great size and strength and lacking any natural sense of reasonableness.
Ben's warning reached the boy an instant too late. The Bethany stumbled right into him, causing them both to stagger and drop whatever they carried respectively; Anakin's box of sweets and the alien his mug of some sort of drink.
Before Rey and Ben could reach their wayward son, the situation had escalated as if in a single, drawn out instant. Anakin released a whine of sadness for his ruined parcel but made an attempt to apologize, only to get cut off as the Bethany smacked him across the face and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him a good five feet off the ground. "You brat! Look what you made me do!"