"Before we leave I want to talk to Poe and Finn," Rey said to Ben as he finished his third cup of coffee.

"They won't want you to go." Ben said plainly, "Especially not with me."

"I don't think that's true," Rey frowned, "They know I can handle myself. Besides, I'll bring a droid to keep us company."

Ben immediately sighed and put his head into his hands, "Please... please do not bring C3PO."

Rey's lips turned into a devilish smile, "You know C3PO?"

"Of course I do, he and R2D2 are my mother's droids. I grew up with them around our house. While my mother was busy building the New Republic, I was left alone with C3PO on most days." Ben didn't speak of the time very fondly. He didn't think he had the most joyful childhood, even when he was a toddler. He felt a huge sense of abandonment from both his mother and father.

"Do you think he still remembers you?" Rey's eyes twinkled at the possibility,

"I don't want to find out." Ben sighed, but before Ben could get his words out Rey was flagging down the golden droid and his blue counterpart.

"C3PO! Come over here I have someone you might remember!"

Ben tugged on the ends of his hair. The two droids only flooded his mind of memories. Memories of his parents arguing every night. Memories of his Father leaving on the Falcon and never coming back. Memories of his Mother being gone all day working, never asking if he was happy.

"Oh!" The metal voice ran shivers down his spine, "Master Ben! I haven't seen you since you left for your Jedi training with Master Luke!"

Ben stood up and turned around, he smiled politely at the droid and told him to keep his voice down. R2D2 was squealing and shaking back and forth on its wheels. It was very happy to see Ben.

Rey's stomach turned when she saw the amount of discomfort she was causing Ben. Guilt washed over her and she realized maybe bringing back some of these memories wasn't a good idea. Furthermore, the droids obviously didn't know Ben Solo was Kylo Ren. She hadn't even thought about that possibility. C3PO thought Ben had been away training the whole time, he didn't know the full story.

"Are you back for good Master Ben?" C3PO asked.

"Just for a while C3PO, I'm leaving soon with Rey to train."

"Oh, how you've grown Master Ben!" R2D2 whirred in agreement.

"Maybe you can catch up later," Rey offered, trying to fix her mistake.

The droids pattered away eventually and Rey hugged her elbows tightly. "I'm sorry." Rey murmured, "I thought seeing something from back then might be good." She cast her eyes away but could feel Ben's sizzling anger. The anger wasn't directed towards her, she could feel that.

"No. No, it wasn't helpful." Ben said, voiding all emotion in his voice. "I should get back to the Falcon."

"Why?" Rey asked, looking up at his frown,

"The Wookie is close by," Ben said.

"How do you know?" Rey whispered, peering around the mostly empty room.

Coldness and fear washed over Rey as she heard the Wookie cry out. Before she could react, the 7-foot tall Wookie was running at the two of them.

Chewbacca grabbed both of Ben's arms and shoved him to the ground, letting out the most violet growl Rey had ever heard from him. Rey grabbed the Wookie's arm and begged as quietly as she could to let go. They were already making a scene and Rey didn't want it to get worse. What made the whole incident worse is when she looked at Ben's face, he looked broken. He didn't fight back either. He let Chewbacca pin him to the floor. He let him scream in agony into his face.

After Chewbacca finished growling into Ben's face, something changed. Rey stood back when Chewie stopped. Chewie lifted a giant hand and pounded onto Ben's chest, not enough to hurt him but enough to make a point. Chewie's growls turned into cry's. The same sound he made when Ben drove his saber through his Han's heart. Chewie cried and continued pounding on Ben's chest.

Ben's lips quivered as he watched the pain he's caused people in full display before him. He was brought back to all the days he spent with Chewie. Chewie was there everyday Han was, Chewie was an extension on his father. The Wookie played with him while his parents fought in the other room. The Wookie taught him how to play Dejarik, he even let him win sometimes. Chewbacca was there when Han and a Leia were too busy for him.

Chewie let Ben go and sat on the floor, crying into his furry hands. Chewie watched the boy next to him grow up, and then he watched him kill his best friend.

Ben put his hand on Chewies shoulder and clenched his throat, not letting his cries escape, "I'm sorry Chewie," was all Ben could say.

The Wookie wrapped his arms around Ben and wailed.

Eventually, the two stood up but Chewie kept hugging Ben. It was an odd mix of sadness and forgiveness between them. Chewie shook Ben back and forth in his arms. Ben struggled to stay standing but let Chewie do what he wanted. Ben eventually started laughing at his lack of grace.

"What's going on?" Rey startled from the whisper behind her. She turned around and saw Poe standing there, hands on his hips, mouth wide open at the sight before him. Rey walked over to him.

"I think Chewie just forgave Ben," Rey whispered back to him.

"Huh? Imagine that." Poe said, scowling.

"Well, I guess Ben grew up with Chewie," Rey said.

Rey said that part a bit too loud because Chewie responded with a playful wail. Ben detached himself from the beast and laughed,

"You did not raise me," Ben said in response.

Chewie nodded his head furiously and demanded that he did.

Before retreating to the Falcon so Ben didn't suffer any more ghosts from his past, Rey told Poe she needed to talk to him and Finn after the Resistance meeting in a couple of hours.

Once on the Falcon, Ben slumped into the couch that surrounded the Dejarik table and put his head into his hands. Seeing people from his past brought back the same pain that originally pushed him so far away from his family. He was brought back to how alone he felt growing up and how desperately he wished he had a normal family. The loneliness in his heart made it so easy for the darkness to find it's way into him when he was a child. He feared now that darkness still lingered in him, no matter how badly he wanted to move past that.

Rey's hand on his shoulder came as a loving reminder of why he was here, and what his intentions were now. His connection to Rey was stronger than any of the pain he's felt in his life. Holding onto her meant holding onto his sanity.

Ben stood up and wrapped the girl into his arms, hugging her as tightly as he could against his chest. Her fresh scent filled his nose as her loose hair brushed against his face.

"I'm sorry I put you through that," Rey whispered next to his face.

"It was unavoidable. I was bound to have those interactions eventually. This base is full of people that have known my mother a long time... that usually means they know me too. The longer we stay here the more people will recognize me."

"Then we'll leave soon. I need to talk to Finn and Poe tonight but after that, we're gone."

"No droids?" Ben chuckled,

"Actually there is one I was thinking might want to come along." Rey pondered,

"Who?"

"His name is D-O, we found him on Ochi's ship."

Ben stayed behind while Rey headed for the Resistance meeting. He was still emotionally drained from seeing C3PO, R2, and Chewbacca. Although he had started to make amends with the Wookie he wasn't ready to be best friends with him. He also wasn't sure Finn would take too kindly to him being there. Poe had been surprisingly unbothered by Ben for the most part. Ben sensed that Poe Dameron was very accepting of people despite their past, perhaps Poe himself had a darker past that people had forgiven him about.

Rey made her way through the crowds and settled on a couple of wooden boxes close to Poe and Finn. Finn made his way to her and hugged her tightly,

"That freak isn't giving you too much trouble, is he?" Finn asked. Rey smiled and shook her head,

"No, no he's not. You don't have to worry about him or me."

Finn rolled his eyes and laughed, "All I can do is worry about you, Rey."

Poe called for everyone's attention as they gathered in a ring around him and Poe.

"We have a lot to talk about, people." Finn echoed Poe. Everyone quieted down and Finn gave a knowing nod to start.

"The First Order is no more!" Poe started, cheering instantly started. Poe waved his hands and asked for them to quiet down. "But, we still have a lot of work to do. Stragglers... First Order sympathists... they're still out there. It's our duty to the galaxy to seek these groups out and destroy them. We need to send a message that the galaxy has no tolerance for the First Order. We have an example to set for everyone in the new galaxy. A new order starts today, and that order is freedom from anyone who threatens our way of life!" 

Cheering and laughing boomed around the two Generals. 

"We've already started getting reports of First Order activity across the galaxy." Finn continued, "Our allies are sending in reports of Stormtroopers killing innocents in retaliation. We are sending out squads of Resistance fighters to protect our allies wherever we are needed. We have a lot of people out there counting on us."

After a few more talks about the specifics of their future missions, Poe and Finn finished the meeting and the fighters spread out, excited to get assigned to their new missions. Finn and Poe followed Rey to a secluded space where she could explain her personal new mission. 

"After my fight with Palpatine, I lost some of the strength I used to have," Rey said solemnly. She hesitantly pulled the neck of her tunic down to show the grayness that stained her skin. Finn gasped and ran his hand against her collarbone.

"Rey..." Finn began,

"It's okay." Rey assured him, "I'm okay. Ben is the same way. But that just means we have a lot of work to do. We need to train and work on regaining our powers. If we are going to help the Resistance rid the galaxy of the First Order we need to be at our best." 

Poe and Finn nodded their heads in agreement.

"So we need to go away for a while," Rey added.

"Why can't you train here?" Finn blurted, "Why do you have to leave?"

"There's some things that we can't do here. Ben's told me about a place where we can claim our own lightsabers." 

"Well go there and come back. Train here." Finn said adamantly,

"Finn..." Rey murmured,

"Well, then I'm coming with you," Finn said.

"The Resistance needs you here, Finn" Rey said, looking to Poe for help.

"I need you here, too, Finn," Poe interjected.

"Guys!" Finn looked between the three of them, "I thought we were a team!"

"We are, Finn." Poe said, "But times are changing, our roles are changing. We have people counting on us here." 

"Oh come on!" Finn argued, "You can't be serious? Letting Rey go with that murderer?"

"Finn," Rey said softly, she could feel his pain and betrayal.

"No! No." Finn said, kicking his boot into the ground, "Don't listen to me! Go. I don't care." Finn looked between his two friends before storming off. 

Rey clutched her hand to her heart and tried to stop the tears brimming at her eyes. She loved Finn. Hurting him broke her heart but she needed to do this. She needed to find her strength and find herself, more importantly. Outside of the Sith, the Jedi, outside of everyone telling her who she was. She needed to finally find who Rey was. 

"I'm sorry," Poe murmured.

"It's okay," Rey replied. 

"He'll come around." Poe said, "Anyways, you have my support. Whatever you need. I'll call you if we need you here." 

After agreeing that Rey would take D-O so Poe could communicate with her if needed, she found her way to the supplies room to take what she thought she and Ben would need. She started filling a cart with food and a water generator, the generator could condense some of the air on the Falcon and turn it into drinking water. She packed for about two weeks of food. If they needed more she was sure they could pick up supplies from a travel station somewhere in the galaxy. In the corner of the room, there was a cabinet full of standard clothing. She rifled through some of the shelves and grabbed a pair of boots for herself and a jacket. Ben said Ilum was freezing, and she didn't even own a jacket. At the top of the shelves, she grabbed what she thought was a black scarf. After unfolding it to see if she liked it, she realized it wasn't a scarf at all. A silver clasp at the top two corners revealed that it was actually a black cloak with a hood. She hesitated, remembering Kylo Ren's daunting silhouette that always included a cloak. She folded it back up and tossed it into the cart. He might like it, she thought. 

Rey grabbed a few weapons too, two blasters and two pistols. She didn't like using them that much, they felt clumsy. She preferred using her staff more than anything but she wanted to become more comfortable with a saber. Maybe when she has her own she'll feel more inspired to use it. 

An R2 droid carried the cart to the Falcon while she went off to say some goodbyes to her friends. She found Chewie first, who hugged her tightly and told her to come back soon. He also playfully threatened her about keeping the Falcon safe. Lando Calrissian was with Chewie, so she hugged him too, thanking him for being here. She asked Lando to look after Poe and Finn. He said he'd always be there to guide them the best he knows how. Lando also asked her to look after Ben,

"He's a troubled kid, but a good one at heart. I trust you'll keep him on the right path." Lando said with a wink,

"I'll do my best," Rey laughed.

Next was R2D2 and C3PO. They both expressed that they wanted to come with her, but understood when she reminded them that they were needed here. D-O was with them, so she took the opportunity to ask him if he wanted to come with her,

"Y-Yes, please. Yes please." The small droid stuttered. 

He rolled in circles around Rey. He liked Rey. She was the first one to be kind to him in a very long time. 

BB8 crashed into her as she approached Poe and Finn. The orange droid angrily rolled into her ankle over and over again in protest of not going with her. Rey laughed and tried to explain that he was needed here.

"If I didn't know better, I would have thought he was your droid," Poe said, scowling at BB8.

BB8 conceded and rolled back to his owner.

"Oh, jealous, are we?" Rey laughed.

"Maybe," Poe responded. 

Rey crossed her arms and sighed when she realized Finn was basically ignoring her. "Silent treatment, huh?" Poe asked his fellow general. "That's real nice." He said under his breath.

Rey hugged Poe and thanked him for being understanding. She was really proud of Poe. He had gone from moody, reckless pilot to a real leader, overnight. She trusted that under his command, Poe was going to lead the Resistance to great places. 

Rey shuffled over to Finn and frowned, "You know I have to go, Finn." She murmured.

To her surprise, Finn hugged her. She relaxed into his grip and put her head on his shoulder. "I know." He said. "Take care of yourself, Rey. Come back in one piece." 

"I will." She grinned and pulled back to look at his face. "You take care of yourself too. I'll be back in no time."

Finn cupped her cheek with his calloused hands, "Can't wait."

Rey said her goodbyes to her friends one last time, her heart ached having to leave them. She wished she could ask them to come but they all had bigger roles now. They were leading a whole to order into the galaxy. Their days of running missions around the galaxy were over now. It was time to be adults.

"Rey!" Finn called as she walked away. She turned back to her best friends, "I dig the hair." He said motioning to her head. She brushed a piece of her long hair behind her ear and blushed. 

On her way back to the Falcon, Rey passed the R2 droid she sent with the supplies, it was carrying an empty cart now. She hustled back, surprised that Ben unpacked it himself. The ramp to the Falcon was down so she went right up. Ben was pushing some of the boxes of food into the corner of the main room,

"Hey, thanks for-" Rey was cut short when Ben turned around and stood up. He had found the cloak. 

Ben's figure was striking. He was once again dressed in black, save his gray shirt. Under his flowing cloak, he had a black belt strapped to his waist with both lightsabers attached to it. His chest filled out the gray shirt, his muscles flexing under his clothing as he breathed. He had thick black boots that added another two inches to his stature. His hair was pushed back from his face and fell in elegant layers down his head. 

Rey had suddenly forgotten how to breathe. 

"Is this the droid?" He asked in his deep, husky voice.

D-O rolled past Rey who was still paralyzed. He looked just like he did the first time she saw him, but this time it wasn't anger that flowed out of him. His presence was peaceful, calming. 

"H-Hello. I am D-O," The small droid said, accidentally rolling into his boot. 

"Your voice modulator is damaged," Ben said calmly down to the droid.

"I-I k-know," He stuttered.

"I can fix that." He cooed.

Rey finally pulled herself away from staring at him and finished walking onto the Falcon. She had been standing on the ramp the entire time.

"You can?" Rey asked,

"Sure. It's not difficult." He said confidently.

"R-Rey eliminated m-my squeaky wheel," D-O said proudly.

"She put oil on your tire? Some mechanic she is." Ben laughed and smiled at her. 

Rey rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Despite his daunting look, he still managed to be sarcastic.

"Are we ready to go?" Ben asked her.

"Yes." 

Ben and Rey walked side by side to the cockpit, both reaching for the pilot's seat. They looked at each other and scowled,

"Oh no, I'm flying," Rey said.

"I've been flying the Falcon a lot longer than you have," Ben said,

"Bullshit." Rey laughed,

"I learned how to fly on this ship when I was eight," Ben said.

"That was a long time ago! You've probably forgotten since then," Rey snickered.

"Bullshit," Ben rolled his eyes and laughed, "There is no way you're flying."

"And why not?" She asked,

"Because I've been flying longer than you've been alive."

"It's not my fault you're old," Rey turned her nose up at him.

"Old?" Ben recoiled.

"Yes." 

After several more minutes of Rey and Ben arguing over who is more fit to pilot the Falcon. Ben promised her they would switch back and forth. However, he had no intention of keeping that promise. Ben slid into the pilot's seat and began firing up the converters. Flying the Falcon was second nature to him. He really had been doing it for a long time. Sitting in the pilot's seat took him back to when he was a child, but this time it was positive memories that filled his head. He had some of his best memories with his dad in this chair. Now he was with the only girl he's ever loved on his way to make a new future for himself. He felt security for the first time in his life. 

As they lifted off the planet's surface before he jumped to lightspeed, Ben grabbed Rey's hand and pressed his lips to the back of her hand. He didn't want to be with anyone else.