Wow, I finally finished this chapter. Phew! Sorry it took so long; originally it was going to have both Rey's and Kylo's POV of the same time duration, but as Rey's part started getting up to 10k words I thought it best to split the POVs into two separate chapters. So Kylo will be chapter 6 :)
Also, oops, I wrote 14k words.
Enjoy! ;)

A chapter in which Rey struggles with some things, friendships are further developed, and the plot starts picking up.

Chapter 5: The Shadow Before You

Rey opened her eyes slowly just as a dark figure by her bed disappeared. She touched her neck, feeling where the skin was cold compared to the rest of her heated body and shivered. Had the figure been a lingering part of her dream? Or had it been…?

She shut her eyes, hand falling to her side. The last vestiges of the connection whispered around her, telling her that the figure at her bedside had most definitely been Ben. She wished he'd woken her up, both to escape the nightmare she'd fallen into and to have the chance to talk. Most likely it would have ended in another argument, but at least she would feel whole again for a little while.

How long had he been watching her as she slept? It was a little disconcerting. Granted, she had watched him sleep once, but this was the second time she'd woken up to the ghostly feel of him touching her and she didn't quite know what to make of it. Couldn't quite interpret the second shiver that ran through her at the thought.

What if she'd woken up just thirty seconds earlier? Would he have just sat there silently looking at her—touching the scar on her neck—until the connection ended, or would he have said something?

Would he have tried to kiss me again?

The sudden thought came out of nowhere, and she covered her face with her hands as another sort of heat turned her skin flushed. What a ridiculous thing to think. She banished the whole idea of how soft and warm his lips might be from her mind and returned her hands to her sides. That was something she could not want.

She sighed, deciding to try and get back to sleep in spite of the buzzing beneath her skin and the strange pulsing warmth throughout her body. But after a moment of lying uncomfortably in the mixture of warring emotions and sensations within her she wondered if she should take a quick shower to calm her nerves first.

Rey sighed again. She was just too tired to even get up and use the 'fresher.

All of the nighttime Force 'visits' and worrying about said Force visits, plus Ben's horrible nightmare she was pulled into the night before meant that sleep hadn't been something she was getting enough of lately. She'd had her fair share of sleepless nights on Jakku for sure, but imagining the island did not help lull her mind anymore now that her imaginings included the Dark Place, and what it had showed her. Now she just tried to keep her mind blank—to find some sort of mindless existence in the Force around her—and let that pull her into unconsciousness.

But behind her closed eyelids images of sand dunes shimmering in unbearable heat appeared and she quickly opened her eyes again. Her lungs burned with dreamy echoes of sucking in dry heat and dust as she yelled and screamed at the familiar shapes leaving her behind. She could still feel the unforgivable rays of the sun on her skin, the desperation for water, and the never ending pains of hunger that twisted her stomach and forced her to know the true meaning of starvation.

It was a dream. I'm safe now, away from Jakku. She thought like a mantra. I'm not on Jakku anymore, I'm safe with the Resistance. I'm not on Jakku.

I'm not on Jakku.

But still she felt a droning in her breast, a tightness that made it hard to breath and her heart to pound. Turning on the lights she swung her heavy legs over the side of her bed and went to her food box, opening it to check that yes, her stash was still there. Then she went to the 'fresher and turned on the tap. Yes, still water.

She held her hands beneath the cool stream, scooping up a mouthful and drinking it greedily. She'd never get tired of how amazing it felt to drink cold water. Or have food she didn't have to scavenge junk for.

Still, though, she didn't like feeling she wasn't earning her keep aboard the Amilyn—she wasn't used to getting things just because she was there. She needed to do more to help on the ship, train harder, something. She didn't like feeling useless.

Rey turned off the tap after drinking her fill and, wiping her hands on her pants, looked forlornly at the two halves of Luke's lightsaber sitting unfixed on her small desk. Perhaps she should start with that, since a Jedi wasn't a Jedi without a lightsaber. The problem was she had no idea where to even begin with repairing it, and every time she tried to sit down and get started on it her brain would just draw up a blank.

And for someone who could fix just about anything mechanical, it was a very foreign feeling not knowing how to even start with the saber. She'd gathered some parts that looked like they could work and had attempted to put some pieces back together, but it was all a shot in the dark. She had no idea what she was doing.

Rey sighed, turned from the broken saber and crawled back into bed as the lights turned out. She'd look on the holos again tomorrow for anything on lightsabers. There had to be something or someone out there in the galaxy who knew about them.

You know exactly who could help you, A treacherous voice whispered in her mind.

Rey shut her eyes against the thought. Kylo would sooner take the saber from her than help her fix it. This was something she would just have to figure out alone.

When she finally woke up again (at a more reasonable time) Rey felt the need to avoid everyone, choosing to stay in her quarters to decipher the Jedi texts and meditate instead of seek out her friends. Usually she'd also go to the extra storage room to train with her staff or a broken piece of pipe in place of the saber, but today she just really didn't feel like seeing anyone, even in the corridors.

She shut the blind on her viewport and lowered the lights to a dim glow, settling herself into a seated position in the middle of the floor. She needed to meditate today, to feel the Force as it flowed around and inside her, to be wrapped in it's light and warmth. After her dream of heat and sand and burning sun she'd felt rather cold, the feeling reminiscent of how cold she'd felt for the first few weeks away from Jakku until her body had acclimated to the new climate aboard the ships.

It was nothing like the freezing bite of Starkiller base, but it was a chill she still couldn't quite shake, even after putting on more layers.

Rey straightened her back, hands placed on her knees, and closed her eyes. She'd read in one Jedi text about the proper way to breathe when meditating, and how controlling one's core was the only way to control one's mind. She tried it out, breathing in deeply through her nose, feeling the air fill her lungs deep into her diaphragm, holding it for two seconds, and then letting it out slowly through her parted lips. Hopefully this method of breathing would actually help.

But even so, it wasn't easy today to fall into a meditative state. She kept seeing her friends' rattled expressions behind her closed eyes. She felt bad about her angry outburst at them from the day before, and even more rotten about making them look so uneasy by nearly losing control of her powers. She didn't want them to be frightened of her. She didn't want them to think she was a freak.

But at the same time, in spite of the darkness that still threatened Ben's heart—and in spite of how much of an asshole he'd been yesterday (although she hadn't been very nice either)—she still believed the tiny amount of light within him was worth fighting for. Even if that meant fighting against her friends.

If only there was some way she could prove it to them. Some way to convince them he was worth fighting for, and that his turning would help end the war. Maybe someday there would be a chance to bring him into the light, although now that he had his Knights she had a feeling that day was getting farther and farther away.

She would just have to try harder to talk to him during their Force connections—try to convince him to join the light side and abandon the dark side. Nothing good came from the dark side anyways; it didn't even feel right. Her brief brushes with it in the Dark Place on the island had left her feeling slightly sick and weak afterwards. How could Ben stand it all the time?

Rey shivered, and tried to clear her mind of anymore murky thoughts. She began to imagine a blank wall or an empty room as a starting point. Eventually it manifested in her mind, and she felt herself begin to drift in a sea of grey broken up by white fog. It was beautiful and peaceful here in this place of nothing and yet everything.

She spread out her senses as if spreading her hands through sand. If she focused, she could sense every living creature on the ship, feel the Force move with them as they went about their duties. There was Poe, Rose, Finn, and Chewie, each with their own special signature even if they didn't know it. She could also feel Leia's light like a beacon in the Force, not particularly powerful, but steady and unwavering in it's goodness.

When Rey had been on Ahch-To she had been able to feel the whole island and all of it's dichotomies: light and dark, life and death, peace and violence. She hadn't extended beyond that because the Dark Place had called to her, drawing her in, whispering in her mind and enticing her with truths that cut to the bone. But now Rey pushed outward still, further into the empty space that seemed a vacuum but was teeming with the life and energy of the Force.

There was no hard separation of light and dark out there. There was just the Force, pulsing and echoing with undulating waves of lights and darks and greys and everything in between. It was becoming more difficult to push her senses out now, but try she did until she brushed against the pulsing energy of a distant planet.

She wanted to get closer, to feel the life of whatever lived on the world. But her efforts were already at their max, her concentration pulled taught like a string, like a glowing string…stretching out from her into the void…

What is that?

She snapped back into herself with enough shocking immediacy that it was actually a bit painful. She gasped for breath, gulping down big draughts of air as if she'd been held underwater for almost too long. She blinked, the dim light so bright to her eyes that had been closed for…

She looked at the chrono on the wall.

"Three hours?!"

No wonder her body was so stiff and sore. She'd never sat in one place like that for so long before.

Her heart pounded solidly in her chest as she remembered what it was that had jolted her from the meditation. The bright string, extending from her form towards something. She knew there was something at the end, and decided that in spite of her aching body she was going to see what it led to.

She stretched a little bit before settling back into her meditation pose, finding that falling back into the peace and liveliness of the Force was much easier and more quickly done than the first time. She reached out with her senses, searching for the string, trying not to become impatient or desperate and lose her concentration.

It took a short while, or maybe a long while—she couldn't tell, but she finally came upon it again. It was so thin, she'd almost not seen it. But now that she could she wondered how she almost managed to miss it at all. The curious thing seemed to give off a light glow, and yet she could sense small sparks of dark flare off every now and again. She mentally grasped it, almost feeling it as if it were solid. It seemed so fragile, and yet as she gave it a small tug, she could feel it's strength. This was not a string that could be easily cut.

Her curiosity clawed at her mind, and she began to follow it. It was slow-going, and it seemed to go on forever, but finally she began to sense something. She was approaching something—something solid.

She couldn't see it, couldn't see or sense anything anymore except darkness all around her, almost suffocating in it's intensity. The string was a dark line in her grasp now, but Rey could sense that it pulsed a dim light, like a body just near the end of life—or a candle burned down to the smallest flame, refusing to go out.

She brushed her senses against the wall before her, feeling something very familiar about it—something that made her feel whole and balanced—and it gave a small jolt, as if she'd surprised it.

She'd never known a wall to be surprised before. Curious if it would react again, she brushed against it once more, but this time it became like the hardest durasteel against her senses.

She pulled back from it, slightly incensed, and sent the smallest pulses towards it, just barely getting a grasp of it but still curious nonetheless.

After a small while of this she could sense the wall softening, the hard durasteel turning into more of what she'd describe as the feeling of dark magma—more pliable and giving, but still able harden at the smallest provocation.

Something pushed out from the wall of magma, reaching towards her hesitantly. There was no fear in her as she reached back, somehow knowing this thing couldn't hurt her. Not here.

The dark formless thing wrapped around her just as she wrapped around it, her innocent pulses of curiosity causing whatever it was to become amused.

A voice rumbled around her, through her, into her mind, as if it was her own, as if it came from her but she knew it wasn't her voice:

'What are you doing, Rey?'

She knew whose voice it was.

'Ben?'

Her shock wrenched her from him as she once again snapped back into her physical body. Ben's presence in her mind disappeared, and even as she searched pitifully around her for him as she gasped for air, she knew he was not here.

She'd bridged their connection without the Force doing it for them, although it had only been their minds. What did this mean? Could they connect on their own this way? It took an incredible amount of energy (and time, she thought as she peeked at the chrono again and saw another two hours had lapsed), but apparently it was possible.

She wasn't sure she wanted it to be possible, but then again, maybe this could be the way to bring him to the light. If she could be a more consistent voice of good in his head maybe she could make a difference.

There was also a bloom of warmth in her chest at the thought of being able to have more contact with the man, and she allowed herself to enjoy the feeling for a moment. They'd managed to have a couple moments of connection and understanding between them since they started talking through the Force, in spite of their knack for getting into verbal spats. She really just wanted to have one normal conversation with him though. She wanted to know about him— the real him—not the dark mask of Kylo he always wore (but not so much around her anymore, she reminded herself).

She also wanted to know the full story behind his fall to the darkness. And she wanted to know about the good things that he'd held onto before Luke had pushed him over the edge.

She'd just have to wait and see how things went the next time the Force connected them.

Stretching out her legs was agony, and Rey couldn't help the groans of pain that escaped her as she unfolded from her sitting position. Maker did her body hurt. If she was going to do this again she needed to figure out a more comfortable position, or try to find him faster. As it were, she was mentally exhausted and couldn't imagine even trying to spread her senses out so much again so soon.

Gingerly, Rey rose on shaky legs to lay herself down on her bed, marveling at it's softness compared to the floor. Just a quick rest while her body recuperated, and she'd go back to studying the texts.

Rey woke blearily from her nap and sat up. She felt like she'd had her brain taken out, kicked around in the sand by Unkar Plutt's lackey's, and then had it roughly shoved back into her head. Even her body felt achey and frail.

Wasn't meditation supposed to strengthen a person? She thought glumly as she rose shakily to get a drink of water and, still not wanting to confront the ships occupants, retrieve one of the only Jedi texts she found she could understand to bide the time.

Or, at least, sort-of understand. She'd barely managed to make it a couple pages in so far. The language it was written in was Galactic Basic, but sometimes it felt like the words were indecipherable even as she recognized them. It had made for a very slow reading process.

Rey's eyes followed her fingers as they slowly slid beneath each word, her mouth sounding them out silently as she read them.

'…The Jedi Code is the focus of all Jedi, and is the philosophy upon which stands the Jedi Order and religion. It is an encapsulation of one's relationship with the Force. As a Jedi, one must be faithful to the spirit of the Code, memorize it, and most importantly, understand it: There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no death, there is the Force.'

But what did it all mean? How could there be no emotion, no chaos, no death? Wasn't that the point of balance? She wondered if Ben had to learn all of this, and a small voice whispered that she should ask him about it next time they speak, before she silenced it with a shake of her head. There was no way he'd be willing to help her with the texts, and she wasn't sure she wanted him to know she had them anyways. He'd likely try to find her just to destroy them.

Rey replaced her fingers at the beginning of the sentence she'd just read and tried to actually internalize the words this time. However, once again she found her thoughts straying from the task at hand and towards Ben, and Kylo Ren. Questions filled her mind until she had too many of them and not enough answers.

She wondered what sort of people his Knights were. Why had they chosen to follow him to the dark side? Do they care about him, or are they just mindlessly following him out of some sort of twisted sense of loyalty? Were any of them more loyal to Snoke than to Kylo? Had Ben even told them that he'd been the one to kill his Master? Would any of them have killed the deformed monster the way Ben had?

I guess they'd have to have a reason to kill Snoke, she thought.

She still wasn't exactly sure about Ben's motivations that day in the throne room. Especially now that he'd decided to take over the First Order. She wondered if he'd done it for her, or for the power.

He had said he would do it all over again that night they'd woken up together for the first time. But whether or not he'd been thinking about preserving his new role or saving her life was the question. She wanted to believe some part of him cared about her— wanted to believe his vulnerable expressions, soft words, and gentle touches meant that he had some ounce of compassion left in him for her. She knew he wanted her to be by his side, but to what capacity she wasn't sure.

Had she made the right decision when she rejected his offer? If she had taken his hand and accepted the place by his side as dual leaders of a 'new order', could she have swayed him to the light side much more quickly?

She shook her head.

No, I went with the Resistance because it was the right thing to do. It was the only thing to do. Just as I'm learning to be a Jedi because the Light side is good—I want to do good for the galaxy.

And hiding from her friends was not something a good person would do.

The better thing to do would be to go and apologize to them, but apologizing felt like giving up her belief in Ben Solo, and she didn't want to give that up. Eventually they'd come to understand that.

They had to.

Rey sighed, closing the text, defeated once again by her inattentiveness. Her stomach growled loudly, the emptiness of it both familiar and foreign. The tightness in her chest returned.

Perhaps she could remedy things by breaking bread with them, so to speak. It was nearing dinner time anyways, and she'd already missed both breakfast and lunch while plunged in her meditation.

Her stomach twisted in on itself, complaining about it's hollowness. Her hands began to shake and she glanced at her stash box.

Yes, food was a great idea.

Rey wandered the ship, looking for any one of the people she knew. There were a few smiling nods sent her way as she passed by people busying about, which helped bolster her confidence and reminded her that even though the command personnel and her friends knew what she'd done on the Supremacy, no one else on the ship did. They still saw her as the one who'd helped save the Resistance on Crait. The one training to be a Jedi.

I hope I don't let anyone down, She thought, turning another corner.

Poe and Finn were typically seen chatting and working together with Rose not far away, but after checking their usual haunts Rey decided they were apparently not to be found. Just when she was about to go search the mess hall she felt something turn her down another corridor towards the hangar instead.

As she entered the hangar she immediately noticed that they were traveling at hyperspeed, and realized she must have been meditating more deeply than she thought if she hadn't felt the jump. She wondered briefly where it was they were heading now, when her ears picked up the distinctive sound of Chewie yelling—his ire directed at someone who had apparently almost scratched the duralloy hull they were working next to.

Rose's voice replied, "Listen big guy, if you want these pitot tubes to be replaced there's gonna be some scuffs, because these things are not coming off the nice way."

More whining from Chewie, his hairy fist shaking up at where Rey could now see Rose harnessed to the side of the Falcon.

The young Haysian woman had her hands up in defense. "Okay okay! I promise I won't damage anything I don't intend to fix later. But trust me, dude, this baby'll run like a dream when I'm done with her."

The Wookie put his hands on his hips and growled.

Rose gave a small laugh as she lowered her visor and aimed her ionwelder at the pitot tube. "You're right, it already does, but I can make it eeeeven better."

Another crew member's head popped out from above the cockpit dome as Rose was illuminated by bright, snapping sparks.

He raised his voice to be heard over the whine of the machinery. "Hey, Rose, I'm gonna need to borrow the ionwelder from you when you're done. This one's giving me a hard time too."

"Got it!"

The young man stood, hands on hips as he frowned down at the pitot tube Rey couldn't see. He pushed up the sleeves of his jumpsuit and knelt down with a determined face. As Rey approached the Falcon, Chewie noticed her and padded over with warm eyes.

"Hey Chewie." She greeted with a smile, which turned into a laugh as he enveloped her in a hairy embrace.

He whined above her head, the questioning growl vibrating the chest beneath her cheek.

She sighed, separating from him. "I'm fine. Just been meditating a lot today. I've been feeling a little off."

He tilted his head, another queried whine in his throat.

Rey shrugged, looking away. "I dunno. Just…something's off."

Just then from atop the Falcon there came a loud CLANG, and they both looked up to see the crewman jerk back from the force of his efforts to pull the pitot from the hull. His foot must have caught on something as he went to step back because suddenly he was too close to the edge of the ship, and then he was pitching backwards, arms pinwheeling to try and keep his balance, and then with a cry of terror he was falling, plunging forty feet towards the hard durasteel floor.

Rey wasn't sure if it was a conscious thought or just a reflex of the fear inside her that had her arm stretched out with the Force, feeling the weight of the man become nothing as she wrapped her power around his body and stopped him mid-air. The crew working in the area who had become alert at his shout looked at the man with incredulity, and then Rose gasped, "Rey!" and all heads turned to her.

Poe came out from beneath his new X-wing, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. He'd seen her lift the stones on Crait and a few times he'd interrupted her as she practiced lifting small objects in the storage room, but he'd never quite gotten used to the fact she had Force powers. None of them really seemed to have grasped it yet—especially the new recruits from Mirrin Prime.

Maybe they'd finally get it now.

As Rey tried to gently lower the man to the ground her grip on him slipped and he fell the rest of four feet to the floor. Several crew members rushed to check on him as he lay stunned on his back.

Rose belayed down and quickly unclipped herself to also check on the fallen crew member while Poe came up and touched Rey's shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked, noticing how suddenly out of breath she was.

She nodded, once again slightly overwhelmed that someone was asking her that question even though it wasn't the first, second, or even tenth time.

"Yeah. I'm sorry my control slipped."

Poe gave an incredulous huff of a laugh. "Rey, you probably just saved his life. A little fall like that is nothing."

BB-8 beeped his agreement from where he'd rolled to a stop at their feet.

Rey closed her eyes for a moment, wanting her apology to mean more than what happened today, but before she could explain she was suddenly surrounded by a small crowd of astonished crew members.

"How did you do that?" One of them asked.

Poe scoffed at the man. "What do you mean 'how did she do that'? How many times do I have to tell you people? She's a Jedi. She's got Jedi powers." He looked to her in confirmation.

"Well, actually," Rey started, remembering her own mistaken understanding of the Force before Luke set her straight. "They're not 'Jedi powers', it's the Force—"

"So the Jedi really are coming back." Another interrupted, face alight with hope and awe.

Rey felt the heavy gazes of everyone around her and tried to stand a little straighter, drawing on their collective hope and expectations to help her put as much confidence into her expression and voice as she could.

"Yes. I'm going to do everything in my power to bring the Jedi back. The First Order won't know what hit them when I'm done training."

Excited smiles and optimistic smirks passed between the group as they murmured to each other, shooting Rey bright glances, which she tried to return with a confident grin.

Then the crowd parted as the fallen crewman, flanked by two others helping him, limped up to Rey, his face white as a sheet but more amazed at her than afraid.

"Are you alright?" She asked, looking him over. He nodded.

"Yeah, thanks to you."

Rey frowned. "Just be more careful."

Poe leaned over, face serious. "There's a reason we have safety harnesses. Use one next time."

The man nodded quickly, murmured a "Yes, captain," then was led away on shaky knees to the medbay to be fully checked out.

As they crowd thinned out and people got back to work, Rose sidled up next to Rey and Poe, watching as the man disappeared around a corner. Her face when she turned to look at Rey was one of relief. She puffed out a sigh, eyes wide.

"Phew! That could have been bad. Good thing you were here, Rey, or we'd be calling for a cleaner bot to scrub blood and brains from the floor."

Rey opened her mouth to reply but was cut off as Finn ran into the hangar.

"Rose!"

He ran up to the short woman, hands gripping her shoulders as he searched her worriedly with his eyes.

"Are you okay? I heard someone fell from the Falcon and I know you were going to work on it today." He noticed Rey and his face softened from worry to acknowledgement. "Oh, hey Rey."

"Hey." She said, exchanging an amused glance with Poe.

Rose gave a strange half-smile, a blush painting her cheeks pink.

"Finn, I'm fine. It wasn't me that fell, it was Grent. And Rey actually saved him. She used her Jedi powers and stopped him midair. I've never seen anything like it. It was crazy!"

The young man looked back at Rey and smiled. "Really? That's so cool. You're getting pretty good at making things float now, huh?"

Rey shrugged. If making things float was the only thing she needed to learn in order to be a Jedi, she was almost there. But it wasn't enough, and she still didn't even have a complete grasp on it apparently.

Finn crossed his arms. "By the way, where you been today? I knocked on your door but no one answered, so I figured you were in your training room, but you weren't."

Rey frowned. He'd knocked? "Oh. Well…I was meditating so I might have been too out of it to hear you knocking. Sorry."

"Oh." And this time it was the others who exchanged glances.

"By the way," Rey said hesitantly, her stomach twisting in her abdomen. "Do you guys want to go grab some food?"

Rey looked between the two different offerings of meats and felt herself at an impasse.

Rose slid up beside her in line at the mess hall, her tray already full, and Rey turned to her with indecision.

"I don't know which to get. I've never had either of these before so I don't know what's good." Although it could taste like teedo dung and she'd still eat it. Food was food after all. Still, she hadn't felt comfortable taking more than her fair share of the food since they'd been established on the Amilyn, and so she knew she'd only be able to pick one. But which one?

It felt so silly to be asking herself that, when just two months ago she'd have chosen either one of them in a heartbeat just to take advantage of the fact something so high-quality was being offered. For free.

Rose merely shrugged. "Why not both?"

Rey's eye's widened, searching Rose's face for any sign that she was joking.

"Really? I can do that?"

"Yeah, sure, why not? Here." Rose put a healthy portion of each on her tray, beaming up at Rey's joyful expression.

"You know, I don't think I've ever had this much variety of food in my whole life." Rey confessed.

Rose gave another happy shrug. "Yeah, it was a shock to us too when we first joined."

Before Rey could say anything a loud voice accosted them from across the food station.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" The voice came from a scowling food service worker, who had his large hands where his hips probably used to be before his stomach had grown around to encompass them. His greasy face was stony, and Rey felt her heart stop in her chest.

She was at once reminded of all the times Unkar Plutt had leered at her as he swindled her for portions. It wasn't the first time the Amilyn's large cook had brought up memories of the lecherous junk trader, but Rey had always tried to bury them away since the man hadn't ever seemed particularly unkind. Just looked like Unkar.

But now she wasn't so sure.

Several frenzied thoughts went through her head.

Had Rose unknowingly lied? Would they take her food from her? Kick her out of the mess hall? She supposed if that happened she could just eat from her food stash, but then what? Her stash was barely half of what she had on her tray. She calculated how much she could still save if she portioned it correctly. Maybe it would last her four days, five days tops if she laid off physical training and focused more on meditating to preserve energy—

"Oh, come on, Jerung." Rose teased with a smile. "You and I both know that this is the second time you've reheated this stuff, and you'll have to toss it out after today. Let the woman get some grub! Besides," She leaned forward conspiratorially, "your cooking is the best in the galaxy, and this poor woman has yet to experience the amazing flavors of your famous seared Gamorrean pork or your salted Bantha steak."

Jerung looked with narrowed eyes between the two women, more than a few tense moments passing, and then his face cracked into a huge grin. It would almost be endearing if he wasn't missing so many teeth.

"Bah! Alright, alright. Go on ahead, girly. I was just joshing with ya anyways."

Rey sagged in relief, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Thanks!" Rose said with an equally jolly smile.

"Oh, and Rose," he said, leaning forward and pointing at the woman with a glint in his eye. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

Both women laughed, Rey more out of sudden release of nerves than humor, and they grabbed their trays and headed over to where the boys had already sat and started eating.

"Are they really going to throw all of that out if it's not eaten?" Rey asked as they walked.

Rose shrugged. "Probably not. Jerung'll put it into a soup or something. Save's rations, and from what I hear we are seriously getting low on supplies."

Rey nodded, already mentally planning for the eventuality of no food.

"Do you guys know where it is that we're headed?" She asked the table as they sat.

"Hanna City, on Chandrila." Poe said around a bite. "To get supplies. Also," Poe leaned forward, prompting the table's occupants to lean forward too. "There's a secret memorial planned for the Hosnian system and the Galactic senators who were killed. General Organa wants to attend it, even though I think it's a trap." He scowled, the bitter tone in his voice betraying arguments he had and obviously lost about the plan to go to the memorial.

"It's definitely a trap." Finn agreed. "If I know the First Order, they're probably waiting for us to arrive and go planet-side before attacking the fleet and then picking us off with their turbo canons when we're stranded on the ground."

"Like they tried on D'Qar?" Rose asked.

Finn nodded. "Exactly." Then he grumbled, "It's insane that we're even going anywhere near the Inner Rim. By this time the Core will probably be infested with First Order ships."

"What sort of place is Chandrila?" Rey asked after swallowing a large mouthful of what was by far the tastiest thing she'd ever put in her mouth. "I mean, I know a little about it from holos. Isn't it an important planet? Do you really think the First Order would destroy it?"

"It's what they do, Rey." Finn said lowly, brows creased. "They destroy things in the name of order and stability."

"But what's the point of ruling the galaxy and making it into some bastion of greatness if they're just going to destroy the most developed parts?"

Finn shrugged. "They're not important to the First Order if they don't fall in line."

Chewie lumbered over and sat down, his tray full of meat and not much else. Rey looked at his tray in envy, and with an amused huff Chewie transferred an extra morsel onto Rey's. She took it and popped it into her mouth before he could take it back, sending him a thankful smile.

"And even if they did fall in line," Finn continued, "they'd probably blow them up just for fun, like they did Rose's home-world."

Rose nodded. "I wouldn't put it past them, even if Chandrila is a Core world."

Rey frowned above her tray, talking even as she shoveled more food into her mouth. "If it's so dangerous to go to Chandrila, why are we risking it?"

Poe set his cup down after taking a drink. "Apparently there's going to be a lot of our allies at this secret memorial. The general wants to try and use her presence to guilt them for aid, since they haven't returned our comms."

"Will it work?" Rose asked.

"The general can be very convincing when she wants to be."

Chewie gave a couple whiny growls, his chuckles like throaty barks. Rey, Poe, and Rose nodded and laughed. Finn's eyes narrowed, his mouth quirking up on one side.

"I think I'm starting to understand him. He said something about her being more stubborn than other people are patient, right?"

"Basically, yes." Rey said, giving him an appreciative nod. "I'm glad you've been studying."

"Kindof hard not to when he's yelling at me all the time."

"Speaking of studying," Poe said, turning to Rey. "How goes it? Any closer to figuring out how to defeat the galaxy's most evil team of Dark Lords and their Supreme Leader?"

Rey tensed up, her smile losing it's mirth. "Studying is going as well as it can without my having a proper teacher. I'd feel much better if I had the lightsaber fixed so I could at least train with it instead of my staff or the pipe I found. But I suppose I'm just going to have to do the best that I can with what I have."

"It's all we can do, Rey." Rose shrugged, sighing. "Our best with what we have." And then she swiftly changed the subject, much to Rey's relief.

"So did you guys feel that weird tremor earlier?"

Finn put down the veg he was about to eat. "Yeah, I did. What was that? I thought it was something wrong with the engines."

Rose shrugged. "They're working fine as far as I'm aware…"

Suddenly the noise around Rey took on a dreamlike quality as she felt the Force waver and lurch around her violently. She put her fork down, trying to school her features so no one at the table would take too much notice of the fact that the blood had drained from her face and her heart had sped up.

She hoped it was some hallucination brought on by lack of sleep and food, but the feeling of the Force bond jolting to life was unmistakable.

They'd never had a Force connection while she was around so many people before. Would Ben be able to see them? Hear them? Luckily they didn't seem to be talking about anything so case-sensitive anymore, but what if they said something important and it slipped through the connection?

All of her worried thoughts became moot when Kylo Ren shimmered into view like a heat mirage, right in the middle of the mess hall.

His back was to her, but she could still tell he was breathing hard from exertion, his hair damp with sweat. He turned, and in his hands he held his red lightsaber, the beam crackling and sizzling. The glow reflected in his burning eyes, wild with adrenaline and recognition and something incredibly dark as his gaze found hers. He looked so much like he had the day they'd fought Snoke's guards, and Rey found her pulse jumping for another reason as she remembered the way he'd looked at her then, his dark eyes burning into her, longing for something she hadn't been willing to interpret just yet because her friends had still been in danger and they took priority.

He was massive even without his cape, Rey realized. He took up space, not just with his size but also with his aura, his dark power. He was dressed neck to toe, but she remembered what he looked like shirtless, remembered beneath his pale, scarred skin the sinewy muscle and flesh hardened by years of training and discipline. If he'd actually been there on the Resistance ship, even surrounded by eighty crewmen eating in the mess hall, he could have slaughtered every one of them by himself. Of this Rey had no doubt.

His eye twitched as he scorched Rey with his gaze, but between one heartbeat and the next his head swung around to see something she couldn't, his body sinking back into the defensive pose he'd been in before he'd noticed her, and then he was swinging at something coming towards him and Rey could sense something, some extra indentation on the Force that was dark, and she knew he was training with his Knights, and as his lightsaber swung through two crewmen unaware of who they were walking besides Rey lurched to her feet, startling her table mates.

Finn blinked, looking up at her. "Rey? You okay?"

"I feel sick." She mumbled, stepping out from the bench seat and heading for the exit on quick feet, ignoring the concern of her friends behind her. She just needed to get out of there.

If she could sense the Knights, maybe they could sense her, and that was something she had a feeling would be disastrous if exposed prematurely. She hated to admit it, but Ben was probably right about her friends likely turning very cold towards her if they ever found out about her connection to him. Her friendships with them would be shaken for sure, and they'd probably lose a lot of trust in her.

But the Knights would probably try to kill Ben if they were to find out.

As she hurried down the corridor away from the mess hall, she tried to mentally separate herself from the connection, hoping that maybe that would help end it. It was an unpleasant feeling trying to pull from the Force and the connection it hosted, but just as she reached her quarters she could feel the bond close and she breathed a sigh of relief—even though she felt the loss immediately.

This was becoming very inconvenient.

Rey slipped into her room and sat on her bed, feeling exhaustion weigh on her again. Her stomach simpered in her abdomen and she took a moment to mourn the loss of her meal. She'd be fine though. She had her food stash to tide her over until breakfast.

She breathed deeply, trying to settle her heart. In all of the recent Force connections Ben had either been asleep or relatively calm and non-threatening. Yesterday's heated argument had been unfortunate, but compared to how angry she's seen him before, yesterday was quite tame.

Seeing him in the mess hall in his warrior mode reminded Rey that he was an incredibly dangerous person—that he was Kylo Ren even if she knew Ben Solo still lived within him.

He had been such a terrifying figure on Takodana, coming at her in spite of her blasterfire, swinging his red saber and deflecting her shots as if swatting away some annoyance and not something that had killed a stormtrooper just minutes prior. And wearing those all-black, flowing robes—a faceless monster beneath a cold mask—he'd been like Death incarnate.

But somewhere between him taking off his mask for the first time and her almost killing him on Starkiller Base she'd stopped being afraid of him. It could have been when she'd turned his power against him and stolen into his mind, seeing things about him that struck her own memories and feelings, realizing he had a very human fear of his own—fear of not being good enough. Or it could have been when he'd killed Han Solo, and her fear of him had been replaced with hate and want for vengeance.

She'd experienced fear again while dueling him, but it was less of a fear of the boogeyman Kylo Ren and more of a real fear—a fear for survival against a man who by all accounts should have beaten her that day. But she had been the victor, and her fear of him had almost completely disappeared.

How scary could he be, really, if she could beat him?

But now she could recall with clarity why he was someone to be regarded with utmost caution. He'd frozen her body so easily on Takodana, and penetrated her mind like dipping his hand into water. He'd Force-thrown her into a tree, and almost killed Finn. In Snoke's throne room he'd fought three Praetorian guards by himself while she'd been trying to handle just one. He was the Master of the Knights of Ren—a title that probably had not been given lightly.

She thought once more, Would he ever try to hurt me through the bond?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.

"Rey? You alright?" It was Poe. Rey sighed, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes as she mentally debated about pretending to be asleep, or just not there.

"Hey, so, I brought your meal. I figured since you didn't eat—" She was up opening the door before he could finish, startling him.

"Oh, hey." He said casually, blinking, and then gave a small smile. He held up the tray, now a couple pieces of meat heavier than it'd been when she'd left it. "I figured even if you're feeling too sick to eat it now, you could at least save it for later."

Rey took the tray slowly, her mouth watering at the sight and smell, trying to control herself from just shoving the whole lot into her mouth right then and there.

"Thank you, Poe. I really appreciate this." She looked up at him. "I'm feeling much better now. I think I just ate a little too fast at first after not having eaten anything all day."

Poe looked away and down, a somewhat pained expression tightening his smile.

"Yeah, listen, um," he looked up, meeting her gaze. "I'm sorry that I keep bringing up that whole thing…with Kylo. I just want to make sure you didn't leave because of what I said."

Rey blinked at him, trying to remember, and then released a breath of understanding.

"Oh, no, not at all, Poe. Honestly, it was my stomach."

"You sure? You seemed pretty pissed yesterday, and you were gone all day today."

Now Rey was the one to look down. "I—I just needed some time alone. To think, and meditate on some things."

"About Kylo?"

Rey shrugged. "Sort of."

Poe sighed, pursing his lips as he crossed his arms and looked away briefly to check the hallway for anyone else. Then he leaned forward in the doorway, voice low.

"Look, I'm not going to pretend that I'm on board with your plan, because from what I've seen of Kylo Ren—and he's only ever going to be 'Kylo Ren' to me—there's nothing good or worth saving about him. I don't know why he didn't kill you on the Supremacy, and maybe we'll never know. But I do know that he's Supreme Leader now, and he tried to kill all of us on Crait—including you." He must have noticed her hard expression because his voice softened a little. "I don't know how you plan to somehow change him to our side, and, I'm sorry, I don't think I can really help you with it. But…" He sighed again, slightly defeated. "I won't stop you from trying."

Rey nodded, accepting the small compromise as she looked down at the tray in her hands.

He stepped forward, nudging into her space, his head ducking slightly in order to catch her eye.

"Just promise me you won't do anything overtly reckless that could get yourself killed."

"Is it because that's your job?" She teased with a small smile.

He gave a small laugh, nodding. "Yeah." Then grew serious again. The look in his eyes made her heart thud in her chest.

"You're really important to us, Rey." His hand found her shoulder and squeezed it gently. "We care about you. You're the last Jedi, and that really means something to a lot of people here."

She smiled wanly, nodding. "Thank you. I'll do my best to be the Jedi you all deserve."

He gave an easy smile, nodding with a casual, "That's my girl."

Rey blinked, her smile wobbling a bit, and turned to put the tray on her desk to hide the awkwardness she felt at his words. I'm not anyone's girl, she thought peevishly.

"Um, thanks again, Poe." She said over her shoulder. "I think I'll just get some rest now."

"Yeah, okay." He took a step out of her room, and she walked to the control pad to manually close the door, not trusting her Force abilities to work in that moment. She was just too flustered from everything.

"I hope you feel better tomorrow." He said.

"Thanks."

She gave him one last smile before shutting the door. As soon as it was closed she whirled around and sat at her desk, all but inhaling the food on the tray.

Maker, it felt good to be full.

That night she dreamt of blistering sands, silent screaming, and empty stomachs again. There was no Ben to accidentally wake her this time. She tossed and turned in the throws of her nightmare until her alarm yanked her back into consciousness in the morning.

Again she checked her stash box and 'fresher, and again her anxiety was assuaged.

This is ridiculous. She thought as she stripped out of her sweat-soaked clothes and washed herself.

She decided in spite of her bad dream that she wasn't going to let the lingering effects of the past several days affect her today. What Poe said about her being important to the people of the Resistance, and of the galaxy, really struck a chord with her. She couldn't afford to let her personal problems influence her anymore. She needed to become mentally strong, and emotionally balanced. She needed to be more like a Jedi.

If only it wasn't so hard.

Rey pointed herself in the direction of the engine rooms and started walking. She felt like seeking out Rose and helping her with whatever tasks she was assigned to that day. Rey had really started to grow very fond of the Haysian woman, especially her optimistic attitude towards things.

She almost ran straight into Poe as she exited the lift on the engine room floor, her small laugh and apology met with a nervous one from the captain.

Rey noted the feelings of discomfort coming from him but decided against asking him what was wrong. She smiled a little brighter instead, letting him pass as she finished walking out of the lift and he walked in.

"Oh, Poe," she said, turning, and his hand froze over the button panel, eyes like a caught animal. "Is Rose down here? I wanted to help her with her mechanical work today."

Poe leaned an arm against the panel, other hand coming up to his hip as he nodded a little too enthusiastically.

"Uh, yep. Yeah, she is. She's, uh, well, I was going to talk to her about something but she looked busy with…something…but I'm sure she could use some help."

Rey gave him an amused look, punctuated with a nod. "Okay, thanks, Poe."

He gave a nonchalant wave of his hand, standing straight again. "Yeah, sure, no problem."

Rey turned to go down the stairs to the lower level but Poe stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Hey, Rey," He dropped his hand when she looked at it curiously, eyes meeting his now genuinely smiling face. Once more she found herself liking his features as she did when she'd first met him. He was just naturally charming when he smiled in such an open way.

"You know, I could try and help you with the lightsaber sometime. Maybe I've worked on something similar and might be able to help you figure out how to fix it or something." He shrugged, dimples visible even under the perpetual scruff he kept. "I figure a fresh pair of eyes never hurt anyone."

She smiled, feeling her cheeks warm as his deep brown eyes searched hers expectantly.

"That'd be really helpful. Thanks, Poe."

"Yeah, no problem. Just let me know."

"I will." She said with a nod, and then with a wave she pivoted and went down the stairs, leaving him with his quirked smile and strangely intense eyes as she did.

It didn't take long for Rey to find Rose, although the sight that met her as she turned the corner made the smile fall from her face.

The Haysian woman was seated on the ground, tools and odd bits of this and that spread all around her. She was crying openly.

Rey took a tentative step forward. "Rose? Are you alright?"

"Hm? Oh," Rose looked up, startled, then gave a wet laugh and hastily wiped her face. "Yeah, I'm fine, totally fine. You need something?"

Rey gingerly sat beside the shorter woman. "Not really. Are you sure you're okay?"

Rose looked down at her hands, lip quivering. Rey remained silent, searching the other woman's face with concerned eyes.

"It just hits me sometimes, you know?" She sniffled. "That she's not here anymore. That Paige…" Rose faltered, swallowing. Rey nodded in understanding, remembering Finn telling her about the woman who'd died during the escape from D'Qar.

Rose indicated around her at the mess. "I keep myself pretty busy with repairs, but every now and then when I have a second to think, or I see something that reminds me of her, it all comes rushing back." Tears resumed streaming down her cheeks. "And I remember that I'll never eat Bantha steak with her, or laugh with her about some stupid joke, or cry together over our parents or our home-world, ever again. She'll never know how her sacrifice saved so many lives, or meet Finn, or even know you, Rey, and be filled with so much hope for the future the way I am whenever I see you."

Rey looked back at Rose's glistening eyes and tried to smile even as her brow furrowed. There was an unpleasant tightness in her chest at Rose's last words. She shook her head.

"I'm really not anything special, Rose. You've helped out the Resistance far more than I have."

Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes animately and wiping her face. "Me? Are you kidding me? I'm nobody compared to you. You're Rey! The last Jedi! You can, like, move stuff with your mind and you got to train with Luke Skywalker! And you've gone up against the First Order's Supreme Leader and lived to brag about it. Just, wow! I still can't believe I even know you sometimes. First Finn, and now you." She shook her head, starry eyes unfocused for a moment. Then her eyes closed, and she sighed. When she opened them again they were apologetic.

"Paige would probably tell me to stop geeking out over you. She was a much better people talker than I've ever been. I guess that's why I like working on machines so much; they don't require much talking to in order to get them working."

Rey smiled in understanding.

Rose laughed, sniffling back her running nose. "Yelling and hitting things, however, seems to be a language the machines understand perfectly well from me."

Their combined laughter rang among the pipes and durasteel.

Rose lifted a fist, shaking it. "I'll tell ya, those engines know that when I get my thirty-six-wrench out, shit better start working right or there'll be hell to pay."

Rey snorted as she laughed heartily, imagining the tiny woman brandishing such a huge tool and yelling at silent machinery.

She caught her breath, managing to speak after a momentary battle with more laughter threatening to bubble up. "It was always the vibrohammer for me. Sand does not do wonders on machine parts, believe you me. Although, I guess a good whack with my staff always did the trick too whenever my speeder started to act up."

Rose smiled, laughter dying down, then seemed to have a curious thought as she finished cleaning her face.

"You never really talk about your life on Jakku."

Rey's grin faltered. "There's nothing really to talk about to be honest."

The shorter girl tilted her head. "I guess that depends on how long you lived there for."

Rey looked down. "A long time."

"So there's 'a long time's worth of stuff." Rose teased. Then her eyes lit up. "Were there any boys? Any cute boys? Ugh, Paige and I always had different tastes in men. 'Course we'd never really had time to really figure that stuff out, although I'm starting to think I might have a type…" she trailed off, facial features half-amazed and half worried.

Rey gave a teasing smile. "Would your type happen to be rebellious, dark, and handsome?"

Rose's face turned the color of her namesake as she spluttered out a response.

"Wha—No—! I mean—Maybe—I guess, well, you know— He's just so," she made a surprised face, hands up and fingers splayed wide, "whoa, you know? Like, one second he's trying to jump ship and the next—wait. You're talking about Finn, right?"

Rey laughed, nodding her head. "Yes, I'm talking about Finn. Who else would we be talking about?"

Rose let out an unladylike sound through her lips as she breathed out. "I don't know. I mean, I didn't really notice anyone before, but now I really don't notice anyone. Except for him. He's all my brain parts seem to want to think about, and I don't even know if he notices me. Or if his brain parts are all mixed up like mine. Do you think he knows? Or cares about me? I seriously can't tell. He's been acting a little weird ever since Crait, but that's probably because I kissed him."

"You what?" Rey's eyes bulged from their sockets.

Rose's face twisted into something apologetic and yet shameless.

"It was in the heat of the moment! I barely remember it because I was in so much pain and I passed out right after, but I think it might have ruined our working relationship." Rose looked down, worry creasing her brows.

Rey smiled, nudging the woman's shoulder with her own. "Listen, Rose, I'm really no expert on this, but I think that he really cares for you."

Rose looked up. "Really?"

"Yeah, he didn't leave your side in the medbay for days until you woke up. And he's always talking about you."

Her face became incredulous. "Really?"

Rey nodded emphatically. Then gently touched Rose's hand to get her attention when she started to get the faraway look again.

"Listen, I really don't know a whole lot about this sort of stuff, but I remember hearing some bits of advice from different travelers and fortune tellers on Jakku. If you care about him, and he cares about you, just let whatever is meant to happen between you, happen. Don't try to force things, but don't resist them either."

Rose scoffed. "I'd probably go crazy if I tried to ignore this thing—whatever it is."

"There you go." She said, then added, "And just be yourself. Don't think about the whole 'Rebel Hero' thing too much. If you try to be someone else just because of who he is, he won't be falling for the real you."

Rose nodded seriously, looking like she'd had an epiphany.

"Yeah, you're right." She looked up and smiled. "Thanks, Rey. You're so wise. You really are a Jedi."

They both laughed, although Rey hoped she didn't sound as forced as she felt it did.

"It's so nice to have some girl talk again." Rose said with a sadder smile. Then she snapped out of her funk with a scrunch of her nose and scoffed as she stood. "But now what I really want to talk about is how the heck we're going to get these compressors to cooperate without an external modulator."

"I was thinking the same thing." Rey said with a smile, standing too. "We've got our work cut out for us for sure."

Poe's voice called from down a corridor as Rose made her way towards the mess hall with Rey.

"Rose! Hold up a sec."

After giving Poe a quizzical once-over, Rey told Rose she'd meet her there and then continued down the hallway. Rose turned to the approaching man with a smile.

"What's up, captain?"

"Hey, listen," he paused as someone passed them in the hall, then took her arm and motioned to a less busy corridor, "let's talk over there."

The smile fell from her face as she took in his serious expression and stiff body language. "Okay."

In the quiet corridor he turned to face her again, biting his bottom lip as he tried to gather his words.

Rose began to worry.

"Is this about the life support filters? Because I swear I had no idea they were gonna be that bad. I mean, when was the last time they were changed? Definitely not within the past ten years, I'll tell ya. And when we finally get them cleaned—"

"It's not about the filters, Rose."

Her mouth clamped shut. "Oh." She looked worried again. "What's this about then?"

Poe sighed, eyes closing as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I realized earlier, which is way, way too late, that I never apologized to you about Paige."

Rose's face went slack. "What? Captain—"

"Listen, Rose, she died because of my recklessness. If I hadn't pushed to destroy the dreadnought—"

"No, Poe." She snapped, the force of her anger surprising the man into silence. "Don't you dare. Don't you dare take away her sacrifice. We both knew what we were signing up for when we joined the Resistance, and we both knew the risks of her gunning on a bomber. She gave everything she had to this movement, everything. So don't you dare take that away from her by telling me her death was a mistake. Don't you dare." Tears filled her eyes. She realized the ache in the palm of her hand was from tightly gripping her necklace (now forever without it's matching piece) and she released it, hand fisting at her side.

Poe looked back at her blazing tear-filled eyes with solemn understanding.

"I'm still sorry, Rose."

She nodded, chin trembling.

"It's okay, Poe." She took a shuddering breath in, and tried to smile. "I forgive you."

Somber astonishment spread slowly over his face, and then his breath was knocked from him as she gave a half-hearted punch to his gut.

Her finger was in his face as he held his middle.

"But don't you ever do something like that again, Poe Dameron."

"O-okay." He wheezed, once again struggling for breath as Rose surprised him with a very strong hug. He patted her back awkwardly, and then she released him.

Rose wiped the tears from her cheeks, a bright smile once more lighting up her face.

"Well," she gave a loud sigh. "The mess hall is open now. You coming?"

The ship's engine's stopped functioning and pulled them from the hyperjump as they were just about to enter the Colonies region.

The crew immediately sprang into action, bodies running down corridors to check the engine room and life support systems. Luckily the auxiliary power unit kicked in and kept the life support systems online, but upon further inspection of the hyperspace drive the outlook was grim.

"Status update." General Organa clipped as the small team of mechanics and engineers—including Rose, Rey, Chewie, and Grent— walked onto the bridge.

Rose pulled up a holo of the damage. "There's a break in the casing of the hyperdrive, which is usually something you hear about happening to ships that are no longer in one piece, so the fact that we aren't shredded across three systems is a testament to the safety features someone remembered to install on this thing. As soon as it fissured it shut itself down."

Grent stepped up. "The good news is that it's fixable. The bad news is that we don't have the parts to fix it."

Admiral Nunes spoke up from his chair. "How does it affect the status of the main thrusters?"

Rose shook her head. "No damage to those, as far as we can tell. We'll be able to move around once we restart them, just not at hyperspeed."

The general heaved a sigh, looking at the holographic schematics of the problem before her. Rey wasn't sure, but the woman seemed to have aged substantially since she'd met her. Even so, there was a strength in her eyes when she turned to them, gripping her still-present cane in her hands.

"The hyperdrive is almost brand new. How did this happen? Does anyone know?"

C3-PO piped up from his stance beside the ever-present R2-D2.

"I wonder if the strange power surge my sensors detected yesterday had anything to do with it, General. I still remain by my analysis that it wasn't a passing solar flare, nor an electrical storm."

R2 beeped and whistled his agreement.

"And I still think you need your wiring checked." Leia said. "There's nothing on board that could cause something like that."

"That remains to be seen." Nunes droned, eyes swinging around to look reproachfully at Rey.

Her face went hot under so many gazes now directed her way, her fists clenching at her sides, heart beating in time with the red pulsing in her vision as she thought about why he would accuse her of damaging the hyperdrive. And then her stomach dropped when she quickly realized she may well have been the cause of all this. Hadn't she done something similar on Ahch-To—cracking the stone beneath her where she sat sensing the Dark Place on the island?

Rey clenched her jaw and looked down, Leia's probing stare too much for her to handle at the moment.

"Well," the general said, thankfully moving on, "It's fortunate we're in a system that might help us. We're close enough to Manaan that getting there, picking up supplies, and getting back shouldn't take too long, especially for the Falcon."

Chewie bellowed.

Leia gave a bemused smile. "Right, right, twelve parsecs. I've heard it before, Chewie, no need to remind me." She turned back to the group. "I'll need a full report of the damages and what we'll need to repair them with in an hour. We're near some very dangerous space with Kuat so close, so I'm sure it goes without saying that the faster we get going on this, the better."

Rey stepped forward as the mechanics voiced their compliance and filed out of the bridge.

"I can go with Chewie to Manaan and get the supplies." She needed to help fix this, especially if she was the cause of it in the first place.

The general shook her head.

"No, I want you to stay here and see what you can do to patch it up in the meantime, just in case. I'll go with Chewie."

"What?" Poe's face was not the only shocked one among the bridge staff. "General, you can't be serious. You're in no condition—"

"I'll worry about my own condition, thank you very much, Captain." She intoned back blandly.

Vice-Admiral Yaris spoke up. "I have to second the captain's objections, General. It's too dangerous for you to leave the safety of the cruiser."

"A cruiser that's as handicapped as the Raddus had been?" Leia pointed out. "The Falcon is far better equipped for anything we could run into than the cruiser at this point. But I doubt there'll be any trouble. The Selkath people on Manaan have always defended their neutral stance in the galaxy. They won't betray us or harm me for fear of disrupting their carefully constructed neutrality. And as for why I'm going and not someone else," She said, cutting off whatever Poe was going to say next, "I've had several dealings with many high-ranking Selkaths in the past—so much so that I doubt it will take me long to negotiate a trade. They're very meticulous people when it comes to red tape, but for me I know they'd speed up the process, as they've done before."

The command officers exchanged glances. They knew they couldn't overrule the general's authority, but even if she wasn't the head of the Resistance no one could stand against Leia Organa-Solo when she decided something.

"Admiral Nunes," She addressed, the man sitting a little straighter in his seat as he turned to her fully. "Chain of command falls to you while I'm gone."

"Yes, M'am."

Rey's heart fell a bit at that, and she pointedly avoided looking at the admiral and the haughty gleam in his eyes as he glanced at her. She decided then and there to steer clear of Nunes as much as possible while Leia was away. It shouldn't be too hard if she stays busy with the temporary repairs.

"That'll be all for now." General Organa clipped, using her cane to stand and prompting the rest of the table to rise to their feet as well.

As she passed the dark-haired captain to stand by Rey the general rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, wipe that nervous look off your face, Poe. You're coming with me."

"I am?"

"You are. I may have faith in the Selkath's peacekeeping nature, but I wasn't born yesterday."

Rey faced Leia fully. "Are you sure you don't want me to come along too? I may not have the lightsaber but I'm pretty well trained with my staff."

The older woman smiled, but there was a tightness about it that made it less reassuring.

"I know you are. But how will you help with preliminary repairs on the hyperdrive if you're not where the hyperdrive is?"

"But what if something happens?"

Leia looked around. "There's a whole ship of people who know how to fix problems, should they arise."

Rey closed her eyes, slightly frustrated. "No, I mean what if something happens to you? You're the whole backbone of the Resistance. We could very well fall apart if you were gone."

This time Leia's smile was genuinely soft as she grasped Rey's hand in her weathered one.

"I may look good for my age, but I'm not going to be around forever, Rey."

Rey nodded wordlessly, swallowing back the lump that had risen in her throat. Poe looked down, brows creased.

Leia sighed, and continued. "The Resistance is growing stronger every day that Luke's story spreads. Just believing that the Jedi are coming back will be enough to keep the hope going, and remind people that we've defeated great enemies like the First Order before. Rey," she squeezed her hand, "With Luke gone, you're our greatest chance right now."

The meaning in her eyes as she said it told Rey what she really meant: You're the one who will finally bring balance to the galaxy.

Rey schooled her features as best she could to keep from betraying the sudden feeling of painful tightness in her chest. Her stomach felt like lead in her abdomen.

"I'll do my best, General." She promised.

Leia gently patted her cheek, the motherly affection making Rey's heart twist in a different way now.

"I don't doubt it for a minute." She said with confidence. She dropped her hand, her General persona returning with the set of her shoulders. "I'm sure they could really use your help down in the engine room now."

Rey nodded, understanding that she was being dismissed. "Of course." And then she left.

Poe and Leia watched her leave, the young pilot turning to the elder woman after a moment.

"You do look damn good for your age, General."

"Watch it, Captain."

The preparations on the Falcon didn't take too long after the list of repair items was handed over. They loaded up the freighter with half the remaining credits the Resistance carried anymore, and hoped it would be enough. They still needed to pick up supplies on Chandrila, but perhaps their pleas to their remaining allies would result in more aid, and they won't have to worry too much about using so many credits on this emergency trip.

The more Rey thought about it the worse she felt, knowing that (probably) because of her they were in an even tighter spot financially than they'd been in before. She'd just have to find a way to make it up to them, to compensate for the trouble she'd caused everyone (and the danger she's put them in).

Poe came up to her, Finn, and Rose as they were finishing up the pre-flight prep.

"How's it looking?"

Rose shrugged. "Same as it did an hour ago."

"That's reassuring." He grumbled.

Finn looked at Rose with confidence, then back at the captain.

"It'll get fixed." He said, and then he and Poe clasped each other's shoulders once in farewell.

"Keep her safe." Finn added. Poe nodded.

"I promise the Millennium Falcon will return as soundly as she leaves."

"I meant the General."

"Oh." Poe grinned cheekily. "Yeah, I'll keep her safe too."

Rose rolled her eyes with a smile. "You'll probably need more protection than she does. Bet you five credits when things go south, she's going to be the one to save your cocky hide."

Poe gave a half-shrug, dropping his arms from Finn. "I wouldn't doubt it."

And then Poe turned to Rey, surprising her with a chaste embrace. He'd already let go and backed up a step before she could even bring her arms up to hesitantly return it.

"Keep these two in line while I'm gone, Rey." He pointed a thumb in their direction. "Or who knows what else will end up broken."

Finn shook his head, trying to keep from smiling. "You know, I'm starting to think I should have left you on that Star Destroyer."

"Aw, come on, bud, you don't mean that."

"Yes I do."

"Well It's a good thing he didn't." Rey said, thinking of all the people Poe had saved so far, even in spite of the many lost because of his rash decisions. He was still a good man, and an amazing pilot. He still wanted to do good for the galaxy.

Poe's eyes swung back to look at her, the warmth in his small smile bringing out his handsome features again.

"Yeah, it's a good thing he didn't."

Rey saw Finn and Rose exchange a glance from the corner of her eye and quickly gave a final nod in farewell, with a "See you later," to Poe before turning to go see Leia off.

Her goodbye to the older woman was less sentimental than she felt like it had the potential to be. The tightness in her chest had returned, along with the buzzing, and it took all her willpower to not hold onto Leia and never let go when they embraced. She could tell that the general had felt her slight trembling by the crease between her brows and the sad lilt in the set of her smile.

"I'll be fine, Rey." She reassured, hand brushing some of Rey's loose bangs behind her ear. "I've been through too much crap in my long life to give in to anything now. It'll be a routine run—there and back in just a couple of days."

Rey nodded, not trusting her voice.

"And besides," Leia added, "you'll be busy enough with temporary repairs and training that you'll hardly have time enough to miss us. So go on and get rid of that mopey expression. You guys are going to give me a complex with all this worrying."

They both smiled, Rey's a bit watery but she held back her tears. They looked at each other, feeling things in the Force that spoke without words. Rey didn't know how to interpret it, but it wasn't an altogether bad feeling. Leia's face turned serious after a moment though.

"You be careful, Rey."

Rey frowned, not sure what had prompted this warning. But she nodded.

"I will."

Chewie growled from the Falcon's ramp, letting them know the ship was ready to go whenever they were done. Without another word Leia stepped away from Rey, and with final farewells to the command staff who had assembled, made her way up the ramp after Poe and the ever loyal BB-8.

The remaining crew and staff stood back at the Falcon lifted off, swung around, and flew out of the hangar. It became a flash of light as it jumped to hyperspeed, and then it was gone.

Rey spent the rest of the day in the engine room, helping to deconstruct the hyperdrive and then search the ship for anything that could help replace the broken parts. It was a moot task though, as they needed the actual manufactured parts in order for it to be stable. Otherwise they'd end up with more than just a fissure next time they tried to hyperjump.

Still, though, the act of scavenging around helped clear her mind of the bad feeling in her gut. It was nostalgic in a way, climbing about the inner workings of the ship, learning it's secret passageways made of wire and pipe and durasteel.

Between lunch and dinner she snuck by the kitchens again to snag some cooling leftovers. Jerung caught her but merely waved her on with a secretive grin, to which she gave an appreciative nod back, returning to her room to deposit her finds in her food box.

She spent time with Finn and Rose, watching their somewhat awkward interactions melt into more easy camaraderie as they talked about this and that, or worked on something else that needed to be fixed.

And still, she couldn't shake the dark pulses echoing in the Force. Was it Ben? Or Leia? Or maybe something else entirely? She wasn't sure, and it was giving her a headache trying to figure it out.

Soon after dinner had ended and she'd received reassurances that her help wasn't required anymore for the night, she went to bed. She was physically and mentally exhausted, and as she crawled beneath her blanket, she tiredly hoped that a new day would bring better things for all of them.

In a half-dreamed state Rey awoke slowly on her side to her forehead pressed not-so-uncomfortably against something warm and firm. And, she noted that her arms—folded at her chest, hands cradled beneath her chin—were also pressed against the warm and firm thing. She decided to pay it no mind, sleep winning out over figuring out why this felt so out of place.

As she was drifting back into her pleasant dream, nuzzling into the musky scent that was slightly familiar and right at her nose, the warm and firm thing moved, expanding slightly against her. A long sigh ruffled her hair, and with a sinking heart she begrudgingly opened her eyes.

Dark cloth greeted her. She moved her head back slightly, expanding her view until she knew for a fact that yes, it was Ben's clothed chest she was pressed against, his arm draped casually over her waist, other arm laid out above her head, face a vision of slumber just inches above her own.

Rey gave a long, frustrated sigh herself.

"For Maker's sake." She mumbled quietly. "Why does this keep happening at night?"

Ben made a noise in his throat, startling her a little.

With his eyes still closed he grumbled back, "Don'make a fuss about't this time. Jus go back t' sleep."

"'M'not making a fuss." She muttered.

"Y'ssyouare."

She opened her mouth to argue groggily back but he shushed her with another long breath out, barely making any effort with it, and pulled her closer until her forehead was pressed once more to his muscled chest. The heat of his breath warmed the crown of her head, another sort of humming warmth spreading from the spot where the pads of his fingers gently touched the back of her neck through her mussed hair.

She wanted to protest, to move away, to not let this happen (whatever it was), because this was dangerous in more ways than one, but in spite of how her heart had leapt at his tightening embrace she found that it was so comforting laying like this. No animosity, no war, no problems on the ship. Just the two of them, cocooned in a warm peace, the Force a serene blanket over everything. Even the electric hum at the points where they touched—which had been so overwhelming the last time they'd been like this—was languid in it's movements between their bodies.

She relaxed after only a moment of barely-attempted objection. Her heartbeat slowed back down as she breathed him in, sensing his own brief touch with consciousness begin to waver back on the edge of sleep as well. Her eyelids drooped closed, and she fell into a blissful dreamscape, lulled by the sound of his steady breathing and strong heartbeat beneath her hands.

I really do love some good ol fashion fluff. Next chapter we get Kylo's POV, as well as some KoR POV.

R&R much appreciated.