The Millennium Falcon entered the main hatch of Maz's ship. Once the doors of the landing bay were closed and secure, and the Falcon had landed, General Organa, Rey, Poe, Kaydel, Finn, and Rose got out of the Millennium Falcon.

"Are you sure you feel like being up and about?" Finn asked Rose for the fifth time.

"I'm fine, Finn," she reassured him for the tenth time since she had regained consciousness.

As they walked across the landing platform, they found Maz waiting for them.

As Finn saw the short woman standing there he was filled with fear. Her already large eyes seemed even bigger behind her spectacles. Finn turned to run back into the Millennium Falcon, but Rose and Poe grabbed his arms to stop him.

"Princess Leia!" Maz exclaimed, in her familiar booming voice.

"Hello Maz Kanata,"  Leia and the rest of the Resistance walked forward to meet her.

"I'm sorry about Han," said Maz, as Leia and the rest of the Resistance came to stand in front of her.

Leia nodded. "Me too."

Maz looked at Finn, which made him feel very nervous, and uncomfortable. He tried to back away, but Rose and Poe tightened their grips on his arms.

"I see you decided not to run after all," she said. "I told you I could see the warrior in your eyes."

Rose and Poe looked at him with a look that said: "I told you so."

To Finn's relief, Maz turned her gaze away from him and onto Rey. He felt sorry for Rey, but he was just glad that Maz had her focus on someone else.

"Ah Rey," she looked into her eyes. "I can see in your eyes that you have excepted the truth about your parents. You have finally faced your past. Until you face your past, you can't look ahead to the future."

Now it was Finn's turn to give Rose and Poe the "I told you so" look.

Rey nodded. Her memory flashed back to when she went into the Dark Side hole. She remembered how lonely she had felt. She had went there to learn about her parents, but all she had learned was how lonely she truly was.

Then she remembered what Maz had said when she first touched the lightsaber. "Whoever you're waiting for on Jakku, they're never coming back. But there's still someone who could."

At the time she had thought Maz was talking about Luke. "Luke?" she had asked in a voice that was was barely even a whisper.

Then she heard a voice in the Force. It was so quiet that she could barely hear it. "It's Ben."

She had been so surprised and frightened at hearing this, that she had ran away out of the palace and into the woods near it. She had wanted nothing more in that moment than to return home to Jakku and wait for her parents to come back for her. But why had she gone into the woods? She should have stolen a ship and flown back to Jakku. There was no way for her to go back by going into the woods.

But she had felt called to go into those woods, the same way she felt called to go into the basement of Maz's palace where Skywalker's lightsaber was. Now she realized that she had been called into the basement because of the lightsaber and she had been called into the forest because of Ben. That had been where she had first met him, it wasn't an accident or a coincidence that she'd gone into the forest, it had been the Force guiding her.

Why was the Force pulling them together?

Why had the lightsaber called her? She was just a scavenger, she was no one. She knew the Force had called her because it believed she could stop the evil that had spread across the galaxy, but she still didn't believe she could do this. Not alone.

Then she thought about what Ben had said to her before they touched hands: "You're not alone."

Rey took a deep breath. I'm not alone, she thought silently. And just as quickly as it had come, the despair that filled her went away.

While Rey had been lost in thought, memories flooding back to her, the others had begun to load supplies onto the Millennium Falcon. Rey hurried to join them.

Everyone was busy, refueling the Millennium Falcon and bringing supplies aboard. Maz and General Organa discussed plans for the Resistance.

"Now we must decide what to do next," said Leia. "There aren't enough of us to face the First Order. I fear our only option is to go into hiding, until we can rebuild our numbers."

"I know some people who are loyal to the Resistance, they will join us if I tell them what has happened."

Leia nodded. "We can use anyone we can get."

"There are more loyal to the Resistance than you know. They just need the courage and the hope to take a stand," Maz looked over to where Rey stood, helping with minor repairs to the Millennium Falcon. "I think we've found that hope."

Leia followed her gaze to the young Jedi. "I think we have," she agreed, then she looked at Rose. She knew she had lost her sister in battle. "You are right, we can't give up hope for the Rebellion. We've all paid a heavy price trying to bring freedom back to the galaxy. I will not see those sacrifices be made for nothing."

Maz nodded. She had seen sacrifices made in an effort to keep the galaxy free, not just now but for centuries. She knew they couldn't give up just because things became difficult.

"These people you speak of who are loyal to the Resistance, can you take us to them?"

"Yes," Maz answered. "And I will also send a coded message to our allies across the galaxy."

Just then Kaydel came over to them. "First Order ships have been detected on our scanners," her voice was filled with worry, they didn't have the numbers or the weapons to face the First Order.

"How many?" Leia asked.

"A Star Destroyer and a fleet of TIE fighters."

"Do you have an X-wing?" Poe asked Maz.

"I have two," Maz answered. "They're old rebellion X-Wings that I rebuilt."

"May I use one?" Poe asked.

"Right over there," Maz said, pointing to the two X-wings.

"Permission to get in an X-wing and blow stuff up?" Poe asked Leia.

A small smile appeared on Leia's face. "Granted," she answered. Somehow she knew Poe would never let her forget that, but she could see that he had grown more responsible as a leader. The Resistance needed people like him to lead them. Most of the leaders had been killed. But Leia had seen Poe's skills as a leader during the battle on Crait. Then, he had lead others responsibly.

Poe went over to the X-wing, followed by BB-8. They both climbed into the X-wing.

Rey ran over to General Organa. "Should I go with him?"

"Good idea. I'm sure he could use the backup," Leia agreed. "Can you fly an X-wing?"

"I think so. It can't be much harder than flying the Millennium Falcon, without a copilot," Rey answered.

"Go. We can use all the pilots we can get," Leia replied, she knew that if Rey could pilot the Falcon alone, she could handle an X-wing with ease.

Rey began to walk towards the second X-wing.

"Wait!" Leia called after her.

Rey turned to face the general.

"Is R2 awake?" Leia asked.

Rey nodded. They had all been worried that he would go into low power mode after Luke died, but surprisingly, he hadn't.

"Take him with you," Leia instructed.

Rey nodded. "Come on, R2!"

R2-D2 rolled out of the Millennium Falcon to join her.

"And Rey!" Leia called.

Rey turned again to face her.

"May the Force be with you."

Rey nodded, then she and R2-D2 climbed into the X-wing. She found a blue and white helmet in the cockpit of the X-wing. She looked at it for a moment, she could tell that it had come from the rebellion, but it was still in excellent condition, none of the ones she had found on Jakku had been in such good shape.

She put the helmet on, wearing it reminded her of being on Jakku. She had found an old helmet a lot like the one she now wore, only it had been yellow and white. Rey had always enjoyed playing with it. In fact it had been the helmet that had given Rey her name. Written on the side of the helmet was Ræh, the name of the pilot who had once owned it. When she was little she had dreamt of being a pilot, and she couldn't remember her real name, that was why she called herself "Rey."

The bay doors opened and Poe and BB-8 flew out to face the First Order. They were followed by Rey and R2.