A short screenplay in the Star Wars universe, set not long after the events of The Last Jedi. For a better, more traditional, reading experience, find the PDF here.
INT. MILLENNIUM FALCON – MAIN HOLD – DAY
The main hold of the Millennium Falcon is a grey, compact, synthetically lit space – but oddly welcoming. Perhaps that’s thanks to the small gathering of people currently huddled there. Fighter pilot POE is the only one standing, as if he has just been addressing the crowd.
POE
Rey?
REY looks up sharply. Sat beside her is FINN. It’s clear to him, and everyone else, that she hasn’t been listening.
REY
Sorry, Poe. Could you repeat that?
POE
I was saying that you’ve had the most contact out of all of us with him. With Kylo Ren.
Poe looks apologetically in the direction of GENERAL ORGANA, sitting to one side, who offers no indication that any of his words have perturbed her.
POE (CONT’D)
(speaking again to Rey)
What exactly did he say to you on Snoke’s ship? Can you try and predict what his next move will be?
Rey appears to be deep in thought. A complex look, perhaps of frustration or confusion or anger, crosses her face. We flash back to —
INT. MILLENNIUM FALCON – MAIN HOLD – SOME TIME EARLIER
Rey is pacing back and forth with agitation, as if she wants to do something but cannot decide what. General Organa enters the hold with her hands clasped, the picture of composed regality. Rey sees her and stops in her tracks.
GENERAL ORGANA
Talk to me, Rey, if it helps.
Rey appears to be deciding what to say – if anything.
REY
I just feel… adrift.
GENERAL ORGANA
I know exactly what it’s like. I felt the same way when I was younger, and there was so much available to me, but so much of it seemed impossible.
General Organa takes a seat, and indicates for Rey to do the same. Rey sits beside her.
GENERAL ORGANA (CONT’D)
You might not want to hear it from an old crone like me, but all of this is a phase. It’s part of becoming who you must be. In time it will pass, as all things must.
General Organa takes Rey’s hand in her own. Rey looks surprised, then overwhelmed by emotion. She cannot find the words to express her thanks.
GENERAL ORGANA (CONT’D)
I don’t need you to tell me about my son. Not until you’re ready. And if that day never comes, then that will be fine too.
A stillness settles over them, as they both share something that doesn’t need to be voiced. They sit in peace like that for several moments, before we return to —
INT. MILLENNIUM FALCON – MAIN HOLD – DAY
Rey forces herself to her feet. She looks at the expectant faces gazing back at her, stubborn and resolute and keen. She is struck by how few of them there are left.
REY
I don’t want to overstate what I know. Really, it’s very little. But –
Without warning, all ambient sound drops away. Rey becomes aware of a shift in the reality around her. Unmistakeable. It’s happening again – her impossible connection with KYLO REN, who is now standing at the back of the hold and staring at her intently. He wasn’t there before.
Nobody else has reacted. Rey clears her throat and starts again. She is hyper-aware that Kylo Ren can hear her as well as see her.
REY (CONT’D)
What I can tell you about Kylo Ren… he’s still dedicated to the First Order, or at least his own vision of it. He had the opportunity to leave with me on Snoke’s ship but he didn’t take it.
Rey is trying hard not to look towards Kylo Ren. She can still see him in her peripheral vision, like a solid ghost.
REY (CONT’D)
I don’t know what his next move will be. But we can’t – I mean, we have no reason to expect him to act any differently than we’ve seen in the past.
Kylo Ren is moving closer towards Rey as she speaks, deftly sidestepping all the other people in the hold.
A RESISTANCE MEMBER speaks up suddenly.
RESISTANCE MEMBER
You both feel the force, don’t you, you and Kylo Ren? Can’t you, you know, sense him, or connect with him, or know how he’s feeling?
There is a smattering of laughter. At his side the man’s friend gives him a nudge in the ribs.
RESISTANCE MEMBER (CONT’D)
What? Isn’t that how it works?
Rey smiles despite herself, along with the rest of them. As she lets her guard down, she looks towards Kylo Ren – and it’s as if she’s been struck by a thunderbolt. He is smirking at her. She can feel the tension between them like lightning.
A voice brings Rey back from the precipice.
GENERAL ORGANA
Rey, maybe you could tell us what you remember Kylo saying to you.
Rey tears her eyes away from Kylo Ren and towards the General, whose face is guarded but also full of questions.
REY
(stammering)
I… yes.
Kylo Ren has halted his slow advance. Rey risks a glance at him, and she sees that his head is slung low. She can’t see his face.
GENERAL ORGANA
Are you alright, Rey? Do you need some time?
Rey realises that Kylo Ren can hear General Organa speaking. He can hear his mother.
REY
(quickly)
No.
(after a beat)
Kylo didn’t say much. He seemed more interested in erasing the past than moving beyond it.
Rey tries to keep her gaze from darting between mother and son. She’s very aware of eyes on her – Kylo Ren’s, General Organa’s, not to mention everyone else in the hold.
REY (CONT’D)
But despite all that, I think part of him still wants something different. If we want to bet on that… I can’t say.
Kylo Ren has started moving again. He edges past Poe, then General Organa – with only the most imperceptible of pauses – until he is nearly at Rey’s side.
To everyone else in the hold, it appears Rey is staring hard into the distance. But she is looking straight at Kylo Ren, only an arm’s width away.
REY (CONT’D)
(flustered)
He’s erratic. Dangerous.
Kylo Ren says nothing. He just stares back at her. Rey loses sight of everything else around her. She doesn’t know if he notices her trembling or her uneven breath. She doesn’t know if she sees pleasure or pain reflected in his eyes.
Then he turns and walks away, out of the hold and out of Rey’s vision.
All the ambient sound returns at once. Rey is still stood as Poe, the General and the others talk among themselves.
Rey’s heartbeat slowly returns to normal. She sits back down beside Finn, who looks concerned. She waves his words away before they come. He takes the hint, returning to the discussion that is taking place all around them.
Rey leans back and lets the voices of the others wash over her. She looks relieved, but somehow more anxious than ever. She realises the bond between her and Kylo Ren isn’t going away anytime soon. And she wonders how much more will be asked of her before this is all over.
