After Luke had disappeared, Rey left her room and went out of the Millennium Falcon to look out of one the windows on Maz's ship. She looked out at the starry space outside. She could see a planet near by. The planet was covered beautiful greens and blues. They were approaching Naboo.

She made her way to the cockpit of Maz's ship and joined the others.

Leia looked at the planet they were approaching. "So this is Naboo.I've always wanted to visit, but I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Rey asked, Leia was the last person she expected to be afraid. She was always so brave, so courageous.

"Facing my past," Leia answered.

"I know how that feels," said Rey. "Only, I've spent my whole life searching for a past that was hidden from me."

Leia nodded. "For so long, my past was hidden from me. I was raised by the king and queen of Alderaan. But somehow I remembered my mother, my real mother. I only met her once, on the day I was born. I didn't know it then, but I was connected to her through the Force. That's how I remembered her."

"You were connected to your mother through the Force?" Rey asked, surprised. She wished she could have been connected to her parents through the Force. Then they wouldn't have forgotten her, or abandoned her.

"Yes," Leia answered. "But I never knew who my real father was, until Luke told me. While I was connected to our mother, he was connected to our father."

"Darth Vader?" Rey asked. Perhaps he was speaking from experience when he said that the Force had connected her and Kylo for a reason.

"Yes," Leia answered, a little puzzled. "Did Luke tell you?"

"No," Rey answered a little timidly. "Kylo Ren did."

He hadn't actually told her, she had sensed it, when he looked into her mind for the map to Luke. She had found herself inside of his mind. But she thought this was an easier way to explain it.

Leia nodded. "He has too much of grandfather in him."

Rey could see how painful this subject was to Leia, so she moved on. "I know facing your past is hard. It's something you've searched for your whole life. But sometimes, once you find it it's not always what you expect. I finally found my past, but it was nothing but loneliness. In truth I have always known it, but I was afraid to face it. But now that I've had a glimpse into my past, I'm ready to face my future. My parents abandoned me, they're gone and they're never coming back, I have no family."

Leia hugged Rey. "That's not true. We're your family now, and we won't abandon you."

Chewbacca, Finn, Poe, and Rose joined them. Finn had found a family in the Resistance, and he hoped that Rey could find the same.

"Thank you," said Rey.

Maz pulled Rey away from the others so that she could speak to her alone. "Your past may have been filled with loneliness, but that doesn't mean your future has to be. You must not be afraid of becoming close to someone. The belonging you seek is not behind you but ahead of you."

Rey remembered the first time Maz had told her that, she remembered the voice that had whispered: "it's Ben." Now she knew that it was him, it had always been him. In the loneliest years of her life, she had heard his voice comforting her.

Rey remembered telling Ben how lonely facing her past had made her feel. That she had never felt so lonely in her life. He had listened to her story, without interrupting, as if he really cared about her, about what she had experienced. Then he had told her that she was not alone. In those few moments, she had felt more belonging than she had ever felt in her whole life.

Maz was right, the belonging she was looking for was not behind her, but ahead. "Thank you," she told her.

But was it dangerous to place all of her hope of being loved on someone who seemed incapable of loving? No, that was Kylo Ren not Ben Solo.

Maz nodded, then she, Poe, Finn, Rose, Kaydel, and Chewbacca left to prepare the ship to land on Naboo. Leia and Rey were left alone.

Rey went back over to Leia and sat down beside her. She took out her new lightsaber, the one she had made from the Skywalker lightsaber and showed it to Leia. Rey handed the lightsaber to Leia, who held it in her hands.

"I made it from Luke's old lightsaber," Rey told him.

"You've done well. I'm sure Luke would have been proud."

Rey nodded. "I'm sure you must miss him."

"Very much," Leia agreed.

"You know how I told you that I heard Luke's voice in the X-wing?" Rey asked.

"He told you to use the Force," Leia replied.

"Yes," Rey answered. "I heard his voice again....Only this time I didn't just hear him, I saw him."

"You saw Luke?"

"Yes," Rey answered. "I think he was using the Force to communicate with me, somehow."

"A Force-ghost," Leia answered. "Luke told me that he saw the Force-ghost of our father."

"A Force-ghost?" Rey asked.

Leia nodded.

Rey took a deep breath. She decided it was time that she told Leia the truth about her connection with Ben. She was nervous, because she didn't know how the General would react. She remembered how angry Luke had been when her learned about their bond in the Force. He had destroyed a hut when he saw Ben sitting there. She was worried that Leia might also become angry, or upset.

But she thought that Leia should know. She was his mother, after all. "There is something else you should know," said Rey. She took a deep breath, then continued. "I've seen your son... through the Force.... I've seen Ben."

"You saw Ben through the Force?"

Rey nodded. "We have ... a connection," she answered shyly.

"A connection?" Leia asked, her voice both surprised and concerned.

"Through the Force. We have a connection through the Force," she answered shyly, suddenly wishing that she'd never brought it up in the first place. "We are bound through the Force somehow. We can't control it, sometimes he just ...appears. And when he does, I can see him as clearly as I see you now. It's as if he's really there. We can even speak to each other."

"You can speak to him?" Leia asked surprised. Though she had a connection with her mother, her brother and her son, it was nothing like the connection Rey was describing. She could feel them, she could sense them. But she couldn't see them or speak to them. She certainly couldn't have a conversation with them.

"Yes," Rey answered. "I can see the good in him. Ben isn't gone. He is lost, but not gone."

"Do think he could come back?" Leia asked.

"I have hope that he will. I know all about waiting. I waited for years for my family to come back. I never gave up on them, and I won't give up on Ben," Rey said smiling. "Leia, I promise you I will do everything I can to bring your son back."

"Don't Rey, please don't make that promise," Leia answered. "The last thing Han said to me was that he promised he would bring our son back, but he's gone now. I can't ask you to do the same. I know how much you meant to Han."

Rey gave her a surprised look.

"He trusted you with the Falcon, he must care about you. I know he would have wanted me to look after you now that he's gone. I can't lose you to Kylo Ren the way I lost Han ...and Ben."

Rey smiled. "Thank you for looking out for me, General...."

"Please, call me Leia," she interrupted.

Rey smiled. "Thank you for looking out for me, Leia. But if Han knew that I could bring Ben back, I think he would have wanted me to. At first I wanted to kill Kylo Ren, and get revenge for Han. But then I realized that Han wouldn't want that. He died trying to save his son from Ben, and I won't let him die for nothing. I will finish what he started, I'm going to save Ben or die trying."

Leia nodded, Rey was right. "You're right. I just can't ask this of you, Rey."

"You don't have to ask, Leia," she answered. "The Force chose me to do this, and I must try."

Leia nodded. She remembered Luke saying that no one was really gone. Luke had believed that Rey could bring Ben back, Leia had seen it in his eyes. She had sensed it through the Force. Now she could see that same hope in Rey's eyes. Leia had held on to the hope that her son would return for so long. But she had begun to give up on that hope. Now Rey had restored it to her.

She reached over and hugged her. "Thank you, Rey."

Rey hugged her in return.

Leia released her and returned the lightsaber to Rey. Then she took Han's chance cubes from her pocket. She had picked them up from the Millennium Falcon where Luke had left them. She handed them to Rey. "If you see Ben again, tell him that his father loved him. ...And so do I."

Rey squeezed the cubes in her hands. "I will," she promised.