Evil Author Day: The Prodigal (Star Wars) Part 2

[dizzydrea]

For notes on this story, see Part 1

~o~

The sand crawler rumbled through the canyon, slowly plodding along in the shadow of the sheer rock walls. The pilot leaned forward, squinting into the sunlight as he tried to see ahead of him through the dust and grime of the windows.

He wasn't sure he'd find what he was looking for, but he had to try. The past was calling to him, and he had to answer the call.

He emerged from the canyons onto a flat desert plain. There was nothing for miles but a lonely rocky outcropping with a small ship perched on top. He rolled the crawler to a stop and leaned back in his seat, stunned by the sight of that ship in the last place he'd expected to find it.

"After all these years…" he muttered to himself.

He shook his head, trying to throw off the old feeling of failure that had haunted him for so many years. He leaned forward and flipped the switches to engage his scanners. The upgrades were one of the first things he'd sprung for when he'd decided to stay on this worthless rock. They'd saved his backside on more than one occasion.

The sand stretched out in front of him, looking deceptively free of danger, but he knew differently. He hadn't survived all these years by not being careful.

The screen lit up, indicating the patch of sinking sands just in front of the rock. There was a patch of sand off to the right that was solid, so he pointed his crawler that direction and set off.

He lumbered along for quite some time before the thing he'd come out here to see swam into view.

The Millennium Falcon. His old ship; one he hadn't seen in a long time.

Lando grinned. "Hello, sweetheart."

He nudged the accelerator, wringing just a little more power out of the engine. He wanted to get to the ship before whoever was flying it decided to take off. He'd heard rumors that it had been stolen from Han—and wasn't that a delicious irony, considering Han had stolen it from him—but he wasn't sure if the rumor could be believed.

Life on the rim didn't come with a lot of reliable gossip, after all.

As he got closer, he spotted the First Order shuttle parked alongside. "Well, that's interesting."

He rolled the crawler to a stop still some distance away and shut it all down. There were a few things he never left his crawler without, one being his favorite blaster and the other being his favorite cape. Had to look the part, even at the ass end of the galaxy.

He climbed down out of his crawler and walked toward the Falcon. There was a familiar figure standing there, bowcaster in hand. It made Lando smile to see an old friend.

The Wookiee turned as Lando approached, and warbled a greeting.

"How you doing, Chewbacca?" Lando asked, just for old-time's sake.

Chewie practically swallowed him whole in an effort to hug him. Lando laughed.

"Good to see you, too, old buddy," he said. "Where's Han?"

Chewie's demeanor turned from joyful to deep sorrow almost instantly. Lando's heart dropped to his feet as the Wookiee told him what had happened.

"I am so sorry, Chewie. I know how much he meant to you," he said. "Do you know what happened to the kid?"

Instead of an answer, Chewie pointed off toward the rock with Ochi's ship perched on top. The one place they hadn't looked was the one place they probably should have, though how either of them should have known that Ochi was using the sinking sands to hide his ship was beyond him.

He shaded his eyes as he scanned the ship. The back ramp was open, so clearly someone had gone inside. He wondered if whoever it was had found what he and Luke had been searching for all those years ago.

Movement caught his attention. Three people emerged from a small opening in the rock. The woman and the smaller man weren't familiar to him, but the tall young man was.

As the three of them approached, Ben hung back.

"Who's your friend, Chewie?" the woman asked as they approached the ship.

"I'm—"

"Lando Calrissian," the smaller of the young men said. "The Rebellion General, right? Wow. How'd you find us?"

"You flew over the village earlier," Lando said. "I recognized the Falcon, so I thought I'd have a look."

"You know him?" the woman asked the young man.

"Not personally, but everyone knows General Calrissian," he said. "He was instrumental in the destruction of the second Death Star."

"Well, it's nice to be remembered," Lando said. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Finn," the young man said. "And this is Rey. She's training to be a Jedi."

Rey frowned at Finn, then cut her gaze to the third member of their group.

"Ben," Lando said, giving a sad smile as he nodded at the young man. "Been a long time. Glad to see you're keeping better company these days."

Ben huffed. "You could say that."

"What are you doing here, sir?" Finn asked.

"Well, I came here a while back with a friend," Lando said. He turned to Chewie. "You remember, back when Luke was looking for clues to the Emperor's last stronghold."

"You came here with Master Luke?" Rey asked.

"I did," Lando said. "We were following Ochi's trail. It went cold here, and by then Luke was… well, he wasn't in a good place. He up and disappeared one day, and I was never able to figure out where."

"He went to Ach To," Rey said. "To the first Jedi temple. It's where we met."

"Interesting," Lando said. "Well, as I said, we came here on Ochi's trail. Never did find him, though it looks like you all did."

"Yeah, we found him alright," Finn said with a grimace. "Or, what was left of him, anyway."

"Were you able to figure out what Luke was looking for?" Rey asked.

"He was probably looking for this," Ben said, holding up some sort of knife. "It's got coordinates to the Emperor's Wayfinder etched into the blade."

"And the Wayfinder leads to the Emperor's stronghold," Lando said. "Well, looks like you were able to complete Luke's mission."

"We were, apparently," Rey said. "It's the least I could do, after all he taught me."

"He gone, then?" Lando asked, heart sinking.

Rey nodded. "Leia, too."

Lando took a deep breath. It was hard, hearing that they were all gone now. He could see Ben's guilt over that; it was heartbreaking to see that in the kid. The last time he'd run into Han, he'd been heartbroken over the loss of his kid. Not even going back to what he was good at had helped. Lando could have told him that, but Han wasn't in a good place to listen back then, and they lost touch after that.

"So, now that you've found it, what are you going to do?" he asked.

"Head back to the Resistance base," Finn said with a shrug. "Keep fighting. The First Order isn't going away, so we've got to do all we can to fight back."

Rey looked out over the desert, her eyes taking on a far-away gleam. It reminded Lando so forcefully of Luke that, just for a moment, it was like having his old friend back.

"There's something coming," she said quietly. "I can feel it."

"More than the First Order's next move?" Lando asked.

"Maybe," Ben said.

"You could come with us," Finn said. "We could use a guy like you."

Lando looked over at Chewie, who warbled his agreement. When he looked back at his sand crawler, instead of nostalgia, he felt… nothing. He'd been hiding, all these years. Hiding someplace no one was likely to find him. He'd thought he'd made a good home on Pasana, but what he'd really done was hide from the past.

He took a deep breath. He didn't have to hide anymore. Maybe he never did. At least he could still do some good in the galaxy.

"You got room in the Falcon for one more, Chewie?"

Chewie roared, drawing a chuckle out of Rey and Finn. Even Ben smiled faintly.

Lando grinned. "Let me just grab a few things and we can go."

~o~

"I can't believe you brought that traitor here."

Rey frowned at him, as though his words didn't make sense. "He's not a traitor. He's a victim of the First Order, same as you and I."

"He's no victim," Poe said, pointing in the general direction of the Falcon, where Kylo Ren—the Supreme Leader of the First Order—was currently holed up with Chewie and Lando Calrissian, whom they'd just happened to find on Pasana. "He's responsible for a whole lot of deaths. People we cared about. I can't believe you just let him in here. We're going to have to find a new base, because we can't stay here anymore."

"He doesn't even know where we are," Rey said. "He stayed in his quarters for most of the trip, including while Chewie and I set the coordinates in the hyperdrive computer."

"And he can't send a signal to the First Order?" Poe asked. "Because he's sitting in the Falcon right now, with a whole communications array at his disposal. Can you really be sure he's not going to betray us? Because I can't."

"Do you trust me?" Rey asked.

"Yes, I do," Poe said. He was sure of that, at least. Though he had to question her judgement in bringing a traitor into their camp.

"Then trust me when I say that he's no threat to us," she said. "I know it's hard to believe, but he's really left them. Turned away from the Dark Side. He's willing to help us fight back against the First Order. Can we really afford to reject his help?"

Poe turned and walked away, running his hand through his hair. Their numbers had been depleted after the Battle of Crait, so the hep that Ren could provide would be huge. He knew bases, tactics, codes, and all of it could give them an advantage that might help them win the war.

Why did all of that have to come in the form of Leia's wayward son?

"Everyone deserves a second chance."

"What?" Rey asked.

"Something General Leia used to say." Poe sighed. He had to be crazy for even considering accepting help from Kylo Ren, but they had precious few choices. And Leia had given him a chance after their losses over Ileenium. "Alright, I can't believe I'm saying this, but he can stay."

"Thank you!" Rey said. She ran over and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing tight.

He pulled her back, an uncomfortable grin on his face. "Okay, okay, calm down, there. I have conditions."

"Of course," Rey said. She stepped back and nodded. "Whatever you need."

"One, he stays on the Falcon," he said.

"No problem," she said. "I don't think he feels comfortable enough to wander around the camp, anyway."

"Fine," he said. "And two, you'll be the one to get what we need from him. I can't ask anyone else to do it. Given what he's capable of, you're probably the only one who's safe to talk to him anyway."

Rey rolled her eyes. "He's not going to attack anyone here, but I'm fine with helping out. We'll probably be training together anyway."

"Good, fine," Poe said. "Just remember that he's dangerous. I don't want to see you hurt when he finally decides he's had enough of playing nice."

"I'm about as dangerous as he is, and you're not worried about me," Rey said. "Look, I get it. He made a choice to pursue the Dark Side of the Force, and that's not something that's easy to come back from."

"Theoretically, you're not supposed to be able to come back from that at all," Poe said.

"Leia's father did," Rey said. "He was the Emperor's Right-Hand and his last act in this life was to betray his master and save his son's life. That kind of betrayal… it hurts, Poe. Physical pain that never quite goes away. He made that choice, even knowing that he might not survive it. And now Ben's made the same choice."

"I didn't know that," Poe said quietly. "Is he in pain at all?"

"He is," Rey said. "I can feel it moving through him. Snoke's death at Ben's hand was like a knife through the heart. He's covering it well, but I can feel the ache deep inside him."

Poe sighed. "You know, I didn't want to feel sorry for the bastard, but knowing this…"

"I know," Rey said. She moved closer and laid a hand on his arm. "Ben's not just a former enemy soldier. He's a human being, with flaws and faults, just like the rest of us. Try to see that before you see the rest, okay?"

With that, she patted his arm and walked away.

He ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up even more. He really didn't want to see the humanity in a man who'd caused the deaths of people he cared about, but he also knew that Kylo Ren—Ben Solo—had been manipulated by Supreme Leader Snoke. Leia had said as much, many times in the past.

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He'd give the kid a chance, for her sake if nothing else.

~o~

"So, these are your quarters, huh?" Ben asked. He nudged at the strewn parts on the workbench near the entrance. Looked like Rey was making a new lightsaber. "Not exactly the lap of luxury."

"I used to live inside an old Imperial AT-AT, so this is palatial, compared," she said. "Of course, the AT-AT had a door. As you can see, I'm a bit short on doors here."

Ben turned in a slow circle, taking in the space Rey called hers. A decent-sized bed. The workbench. Some crates that probably held her clothing and other items. It wasn't much, and most of it was open to the jungle. Rey seemed… content here.

"If you want, I can take you to see Leia's quarters," she said when he didn't comment.

Ben took a shuddery breath. "Not sure I'm ready for that."

"We haven't touched anything since she—" Rey took a deep breath. "She just disappeared. None of us knew she was—she was healthy. Tired, but who isn't these days?"

"I'm the reason she's gone," he said. He sat down in the chair next to the workbench. "She came to me. Like Luke did on Crait. We talked, and then she just… disappeared. I don't—I don't have anyone left now." He bent over, running his hand through his hair and rubbing his neck. "I'm all alone."

Rey knelt down in front of him. She took his hands, rubbed her thumb over his fingers. "You're not alone, not anymore. We're together now. I don't know why or how, but I feel… This, with you, it's more real than anything else right now. I know you're hurting, but let me help. Let me help ease your burden."

Ben pulled her hands closer and pressed a kiss to the top, then rested his forehead against them. He let go, just a little, reaching out to whatever it was that connected them. He felt the gentle touch of her… soul, peaceful and calm, wrapping him in a warm blanket of affection. He let that sense of togetherness wash over him until it filled in the cracks in his own soul. He took a shuddery breath as the last of the pain receded away.

When he looked up, he saw tears glistening on her cheeks. He untangled a hand and cupped her cheek, his thumb wiping away the remnants of her tears.

"No one's cried for me since I was a boy," he said quietly.

"And more's the pity," she said. "Because you are worth crying over."

He gave a watery laugh. "That's so terrible it's almost good."

"Well, I'm not that good at this," she said, her own chuckle still just a bit teary. "I was an orphan, after all. Raised myself, really. It's a wonder I'm a normal human being."

"You aren't normal," he said in all seriousness. "You're extraordinary. I've always thought so."

"What's extraordinary is us finding each other," she said. "What are the odds? In all the inhabited worlds of this galaxy, we managed to find each other. It feels like there's been something drawing us to each other. Like—"

"The Force," he said. "Snoke made it sound like he'd forged the connection between us, but I don't think he did. I've always felt like there was something missing. Like there was a hole in my soul, a piece of it I didn't have. Meeting you, interrogating you—the agony of it was knowing I'd found the missing piece, and that you were on the other side of this conflict. That there was no way we could be together as long as we were on opposite sides."

"Well, we're not now," she said. "And I swear to you we never will be again. Because I felt it too, that longing for something I couldn't define. I always thought it was my parents that I was missing, but when you told me that they were nobody, I… just shrugged. Like it wasn't important to me to know that. Like they didn't matter."

"Would you feel differently if you knew they were… somebody?" he asked. "Someone important?"

"It still doesn't matter," she said. "I mean, I suppose my Force sensitivity had to come from somewhere, but it still doesn't matter. Because not even knowing who my parents were would compare to having the other half of my soul with me."

"The Sith used to believe in the Rule of Two," he said. "Master and Apprentice. The more powerful the Apprentice, the more powerful they would be together. It's why the Emperor tried to throw over Vader in favor of Luke. Because Luke was far more powerful than his father could ever hope to be."

"There was something…"

She trailed off, jumped up and ran over to the crates on the far wall. Ben ran his hands over his face, finding moisture from tears he hadn't been aware he'd been shedding.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"Just before I left Master Luke, I took the books from the Jedi Temple," she said. She went to the bed and sat down; her arms weighed down with several books. "I remember a reference to pairs in one of these books."

Ben got up and joined her on the bed, picking up a book and thumbing through the pages. It looked like gibberish., but he recognized some of the writing in the margins as Luke's.

"I can read most of them, but that one's in a language I've never seen before," she said. "Beaumont's been trying to help me track it down, but we've had no luck so far."

As he reached out to turn the page, the words on the page started to shift and change.

"Wait, what's happening?" Rey asked. "What are you doing?"

"I didn't do anything," he insisted.

"Clearly you're doing something, because I can read this now when I couldn't before," she said.

He looked back at the page they were looking at before, and sure enough, he could read the language. "I don't think—"

"What is it?" she asked.

He scanned the page, taking in the information. "This book. It's about us. Well, not about us specifically, but it's about people like us. Matched pairs. Matched pairs in the Force."

"'This describes Leia and I perfectly'," Rey read as her finger followed the words. "He saw himself and Master Leia in these words." She leaned over, squinting at the words on the page. "Dyad. A pair of souls perfectly aligned to one another, as though two halves of the same soul. More powerful together than apart."

"This is what the Sith were looking for all those years," Ben said. "The Rule of Two. Always looking for that match that would take their power beyond imagining."

"Clearly Master Luke believed that he and Leia were a dyad in the Force," Rey said. "Perhaps that's why he was able to read this book, and why I wasn't until you and I connected."

"There has to be more to it than that," he said. "Because we've been connected for a while, and you said you couldn't read this before."

"Maybe what happened earlier triggered something," she said.

"Or completed something," he countered. "I feel better, more complete, than I have—well, basically ever."

"Me too," she said, a small smile on her face. She looked back to the book. "At least now we have a name to put to whatever this is. And some guidance."

"We do," he said. "Provided you still want to walk this path with me."

"I do," she said. She held out her hand and waited for him to take it. When he did, she squeezed it. "Together."

"Always," he said back.

~o~

Rey ran the obstacle course early in the morning, as she normally did. After the emotional upheaval of the day before, she needed a bit of normal, and physical exertion was a better outlet than shooting someone.

When she reached the end of the course, she dropped down onto the peaty ground and flopped back, every muscle in her body screaming at her from overuse. She always seemed to do that, but lately it had gotten worse. Even as she lay there, she could feel the soreness and exhaustion receding.

She closed her eyes and focused inward, as Master Leia had taught her to. Just as before, nothing happened. She growled in frustration.

"Just once, I'd like for something to go as it's supposed to," she muttered.

"And where would be the fun in that?"

In one swift move, she gained her feet and had her lightsaber in her hand, blade glowing in the mottled early-morning sun. There was a woman standing on the edge of the clearing, but Rey didn't recognize her or her species.

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled sadly. "Such hostility. Do you not even wish to know my name before you try to run me through?"

"You're not part of the Resistance, so you don't belong here," Rey said. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't run you through."

The woman shimmered away, just disappearing as though she hadn't ever been there. Rey approached the spot where she'd been standing, but there was nothing. Not even a boot print to show that she'd been there.

"That's because I'm not here," she said. "At least, not in the flesh."

Rey spun around, spotting the woman standing on the opposite side of the clearing. "A Force Ghost, then. Who are you?"

"Better," the woman said, smiling at the less confrontational tone in Rey's voice. "I am Ahsoka Tano."

"You were a Jedi," Rey said. It was a guess, because she had no records from the Jedi temple to tell her who might have been a Jedi once upon a time.

"I was, once," Ahsoka said. She pulled two lightsabers off her belt and ignited them, wielding them with elegance and precision. She extinguished the blades and returned them to their place on her belt. Rey was impressed with her skill and dexterity.

"Not anymore?" Rey asked. Something in the way Ahsoka said it pinged her curiosity.

Ahsoka shook her head. "No. I left the Jedi long before my death."

Rey waited for her to elaborate, but it seemed she wasn't going to say any more about that.

"Can you tell me why you're here?" she asked instead.

Ahsoka walked to the center of the clearing and sat down, crossed her legs and closed her eyes, affecting a relaxed pose. Rey rolled her eyes. Every Jedi Master she'd met had that same calmness about them. Where Rey was chaos, these Masters were control, something Leia had been trying to teach her.

Rey joined Ahsoka on the ground, crossing her legs and staring at the other woman. Ahsoka raised an eyebrow, but she didn't open her eyes.

Rey huffed. "I'm sure you have a reason for coming here to see me. I could guess, if you'd rather."

"You remind me of Anakin," Ahsoka said. She opened her eyes and looked at Rey. "He was impatient, too."

"Ben's grandfather," Rey said. "You knew him?"

"I was his Padawan," Ahsoka said. "We were together for many years before I left the Jedi. Before he turned away."

Rey looked at Ahsoka, taking in the serene pose and her sad, almost wistful smile. "Were you two—"

"No," Ahsoka said. "We were close, but Anakin's affections lay elsewhere."

"You were a dyad, weren't you?" Rey asked with a sudden flash of insight.

"Your insights serve you well, Rey," she said. "We never completed the journey, but that was our destiny. I made the choice to walk away. Perhaps if I had not, I could have saved him from his fate. Then again, our choices determine our fate, and Anakin's choices were his own."

"Anakin eventually became Darth Vader," Rey said. "Somehow, I doubt you could have stopped that from happening."

"Perhaps," Ahsoka said. "We are all darkness and light. There is a balance within us, but sometimes that balance is tipped in one direction or the other. Anakin feared for the woman he loved and the family he wished to make with her, even though the Jedi forbade those types of attachments. That fear drove him to seek power, and upset the balance within him."

"But the books—" Rey said. "The books from the first Jedi temple don't forbid personal relationships."

"No, they do not," Ahsoka said. "Because in the beginning, the Jedi understood that we who are Force-sensitive cannot go it alone. Left to our own devices, we will inevitably tip in one direction or the other—either darkness or light."

"Tipping to the light side isn't so bad," Rey said.

"Perhaps," Ahsoka said. "But tipping to the darkness is infinitely worse. In a dyad, there is balance. You provide balance to each other, to keep each other from tipping too far to one side or the other."

"What changed?" Rey asked. "Why did the Jedi stop believing in balance?"

"They believed that, one day, there would come a Jedi who would bring balance to the Force," Ahsoka said. "He was considered as a savior to the Jedi. The Chosen One."

Rey paled. "Anakin. It was Anakin Skywalker, wasn't it?"

"It was," Ahsoka said with a tilt of her head. "Or so they believed."

"The Jedi lost sight of individual balance in their pursuit of balance within the Force," Rey said, knowing in her soul that it was true. "They thought that they could fix the Force, once and for all, but all they really did was destroy themselves."

"Yes," Ahsoka said, sadness lining the words. "They became the very thing they were fighting against, and the Sith used that to destroy them."

"Does the Force really need fixing?" Rey asked.

"The Force surrounds us and binds us together," Ahsoka said. "It just… is. It has always been, and will always be. Nothing we can do will change that. What is important is how we use the Force. Your intent matters. Anger, fear, hate. These lead to the Dark Side."

"But if I had someone to check me before I fell into the dark, I'd be at less risk of falling," Rey said. "But what happens if we both fall?"

"Then you will lose each other," Ahsoka said. "Now that you have bonded, you will wish to protect that bond. You have the power to reach each other, no matter where you are. And as long as you can, you can help each other come back from the brink."

She looked at Rey with a piercing gaze. "You are more powerful together than apart. Use that power wisely and always seek to protect each other and those who are weaker. When you are ready, go to Tython and visit the Seeking Stone. Call other Force-sensitives to you. Be the change the galaxy needs and you will fulfill your destiny."

Before Rey could even respond to that, Ahsoka shimmered away. Rey flopped down on her back and stared up at the canopy overhead. She wasn't sure, but she thought maybe Ahsoka had just given her a mission.

~o~

"You seem at loose ends, young man."

Poe snorted. Understatement of the year. "This—it wasn't supposed to be me. Leia was supposed to lead us into a new age. She was the politician, not me."

"Princess Leia was indeed a politician," Reeikan said. "She learned that from her adoptive father, and eventually became a force for good, just as her birth mother was. But she was also a keen strategist. She earned the title General."

"I didn't," Poe said, shaking his head. "I haven't earned anything. And now we're struggling. Not enough people believe in our mission to make a difference. The Resistance is dying on the vine, and I don't know how to stop that."

He paced to the entrance of the Command cave and peered out over the jungle. They'd cobbled together a base and a few ships from the remnants of Crait, but it wasn't enough. What little they had was just a drop in the bucket against the might of the First Order. Yes, they'd won victories, but at what cost? People needed to see—needed to believe—that they were capable of beating back the threat of the First Order. Right now, they couldn't beat back a bantha from a watering hole.

"You seem to be under the impression that the whole Resistance balances on your shoulders," Reeikan said.

"Doesn't it?" Poe asked as he turned around to face the older man. "Aren't I supposed to be the one with the plan? Leia left me in charge of what's left, and I have no idea what to do with it."

"What would you do if you were in command of Rogue Squadron?" Reeikan asked.

"I'd start by attacking First Order ships whenever they popped out of hyperspace," he said without even having to think about it. "Hit and run. Cause as much damage as we could before we jump. It's what they used to do, back in the last days of the Empire, after Endor."

"What else?" the General asked.

"I'd want to find their shipping routes," he said. "Hit them where it hurts. The more of their supply chain we can take out, the more risks they'd be willing to take to secure new supplies."

"Good strategy," Reeikan said. "With limited forces, it's what we used to do during the Rebellion."

"But you had more ships than we do," Poe said. "I'm not sure we can risk even one of our ships on something like that. The consequences of losing even one more ship could be devastating right now."

"And yet, if you do nothing, those ships will sit on the flight line, inactive," Reeikan said. "Preserving your ships for the future does you no good when the fight is now. Tomorrow may not come. All you have is today."

"Being bold has never quite worked out for me," Poe said, shaking his head.

"You think Leia never had doubts?" Reeikan asked. "She was a confident leader because she had to be, but she often wondered if we were doing enough. If all the lives and all the ships we lost were worth it in the end."

Poe opened his mouth to object, but Reeikan waved him off. "Oh, I don't mean that she doubted if winning the war was worth it. In the end, freedom is worth a high price. She knew that. Seems like you've forgotten that the price of freedom is paid in blood. Yours, mine, theirs. What you have to decide is whether or not you can give the orders that send people into the battles ahead, knowing they may not come back."

"How?" he asked. He walked over and dropped down onto a chair. "It's all on me now. How do I give those orders? How did she? How do you do it?"

"They all came here for a reason," Reeikan said, leaning forward. "Every one of them believes in freedom. They know, without a doubt, that if they don't fight for freedom—theirs, yours, mine—no one else will. They are the spark that will light the fire that will—"

"That will burn the First Order down," Poe said, finishing the oft-quoted phrase. "Is it really that simple?"

Reeikan snorted. "Nothing is ever quite so simple. But what you need to understand is that they want to be led. They want you to give the orders that send them into battle. They want to fight back against the First Order. But they need you to give that command. They can't fight this war by themselves. And once you start giving those orders, start showing results, others will see that you haven't given up and will join you. But it starts with you. You don't have to be a superior tactician or a planner, or even particularly good with a gun. You just have to find people who are and lead them into battle."

"Because the mark of being a leader is surrounding yourself with people who can do the jobs you ask of them," Poe said. "Leia always did say that her greatest asset was the people she chose to surround herself with."

"And one of those people is you," Reeikan reminded him. "She chose you for a reason. She saw something in you. Now it's up to you to reward her faith in you. Choose to lead. They'll follow, and more will come, but first you have to step up and lead."

"Right," Poe said. He sat up straighter and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, so we need to start with a guerilla campaign. We don't have enough forces for an all-out frontal attack, but we should be able to harass the shit out of them, and maybe take out a few ships along the way."

"That's the spirit," Reeikan said with an approving smile.

"We'll also need someone to go from inhabited planet to inhabited planet," Poe said. "Spread the word that we're still out here and still fighting. Mention the battles we've won recently and what we're doing to fight back. Give them hope where they had none before."

"Solid plan," Reeikan said. "When do we start?"

Poe just smiled, feeling almost like the burden he'd been carrying had been lifted. He thought, for just a second, that he felt a warm caress on his cheek, but he shook his head. Had to be a breeze blowing through the Command area. He let the thought go as he called a few key people together to start planning their next moves.

~o~

Lando walked up the ramp of the Falcon, overwhelmed by the sense of nostalgia he felt just being on board her after so many years. He reached out and skimmed his fingers along the wall as he moved through the space.

"Hello, sweetheart," he whispered. "Been a while, hasn't it?"

He poked around the ship, wandering up and down the corridors. When he pressed the button on the chess table, the last game sprung to life, drawing a chuckle out of him. He could remember many hours playing against—well, that was a long time ago.

He pushed those memories away and headed for the cockpit. He settled into the pilot's chair and ran his hands over the controls. He'd had a lot of good times in this ship; pulled a lot of jobs and spent a lot of hours laying low while he waited for his next score.

"Hard to resist, isn't it?"

Lando turned around to find Ben standing in the doorway of the cockpit. He looked different than he had on Pasana, more like his father. In fact, it looked like he was wearing one of his father's shirts and an old jacket of Han's that had probably been floating around the back of his closet.

"It's been a long time since I was aboard the Falcon," Lando said. "Some good memories on this ship. You know, I always said your father stole her from me, but the truth is he was a shrewd operator. He won the Falcon from me, and I resented him for it. Guess I wasn't as good a card player as I thought I was."

"Well, to be fair, my dad did have a way of making you think he was more than he appeared to be," Ben said. He settled into the co-pilot's seat. "He made a living on the fringes of society, even after he became a hero of the Rebellion."

"We all went back to what we were good at after the war," Lando said. "You can't make a living as a hero, and after a while, no one cares what you did in the war. They only care about their own lives, and getting by any way they can."

"Pretty cynical," Ben said.

Lando shrugged. "I prefer realistic. Besides, that was all a very long time ago."

"Longer for some than others," Ben said.

"I heard about what happened to your father," Lando said quietly. "I'm sorry, kid."

"Did Chewie tell you that I killed him?"

"Yeah, he did," Lando said. He shrugged when Ben's head whipped around. "He also said that you were being manipulated by someone, so while you might have been the one to pull the trigger, you weren't at fault."

"He said that?" Ben asked, shock in his voice. "How can he—"

"Forgive you?" Lando asked, one eyebrow raised.

Ben swallowed. "Yes."

"Because for as much as he loved Han, he also loves you," Lando said. "You were like his own son. He mourned your loss just as much as Han and Leia did."

"He never said…" Ben trailed off, looking lost in thought. "We haven't really talked, since we all met up on Pasana. I guess I've been afraid to talk to him. Afraid that he blames me for… well, for everything."

"Chewie understands—probably more than most—that it's hard to stand up for yourself when you don't hold all the cards," Lando said. "Your father helped Chewie when he needed it most, when he couldn't stand up for himself. Chewie swore a life-debt because Han saved his life that day."

"And then he failed to save my father when it counted," Ben said.

"Don't," Lando said. He looked at Ben, at the defeated slouch of his shoulders and the haunted look in his eyes. "Just, don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't drown in the guilt, kid," Lando said. "What happened to you—what Snoke did to you, it was awful, I won't deny it. But it isn't who you are anymore. You made a conscious choice to walk away from the Dark Side. That's no small thing."

"Not soon enough," Ben said. "I didn't walk away soon enough. I lost both of my parents, and their deaths are on me. Both of them."

"Luke talked a little about what it took for his father to finally turn from the Dark Side, you know," Lando said. "It took his son almost dying for him to finally see the Emperor for who he truly was. It cost him his life, but he did the only thing he could. Just like you."

Ben grunted but didn't say anything. Lando knew this would be a long, hard road for him to travel, but he felt like Ben was surrounded by people who'd help him walk that path. He'd stayed on Pasana, hiding from a legacy he couldn't hope to live up to. Perhaps it was time to get back to living instead of just existing, help Ben get back on his feet.

"I just wish I could have figured it out sooner," Ben said. "I wish it hadn't taken my parents' deaths to push me into letting go of the anger and hate."

"Ah, we all have regrets, kid," Lando said. "The trick is to keep them in perspective. Don't let them take over your life, because they can paralyze you, if you let them.

"What do you regret?" Ben asked.

"Lots of things," Lando said. "My biggest regret is betraying your father. Even after I helped rescue him from Jabba's Palace, I still felt the pain of betraying him. It never quite goes away, but I learned to live with it. And Han forgave me. Eventually."

"I guess I wish my parents could see me now," Ben said in a small voice.

Lando reached out and patted Ben's shoulder. "They know that you love them, and they're proud of you. Both of them. Never doubt that."

"I hope so," Ben said.

"I know so," Lando said firmly. He cleared his throat. "Now, how about we find something to eat. Emotional bloodletting always leaves me hungry."

Ben chuckled, which was what Lando was going for. He smiled, hoping that Han and Leia really could see how well their son was doing. And Lando would stick around to make sure he stayed that way. It was the least of what he owed Han.

~o~

Rey emerged from her meditative state, taking a deep breath as she became aware of her surroundings once more. In the days since she and Ben solidified their connection, meditation had come easier. If she'd known that was all it'd take…

Well, she'd probably still have fought tooth and nail against joining up with Ben. He'd been the last person she'd thought she could depend on back then, and it probably wouldn't have changed anything anyway.

Slowly, she became aware of a presence nearby. Instead of opening her eyes to see who it was, she focused on the presence with the Force. A smile bloomed on her face when she easily identified who it was.

"Hello, Finn," she said before she opened her eyes.

He was sitting across the clearing from her, mirroring her pose, a small smile on his face. "Hello, Rey."

"How long have you been here?" she asked.

He shrugged. "A while. You looked so… peaceful that I didn't want to disturb you."

"You wouldn't have been disturbing me," she said. "My focus is getting better. If I'd been at all bothered by you sitting here, I'd have noticed you before now."

"How does that work?" he asked. "I mean, can you actually feel the Force, like something tangible? Or is it just that you know it's there?"

"A little of both, actually," she said. "I'm not sure I can even explain what it's like. I can focus on it, reach for it and use it with ease, but even when I'm not using it, it's still there. It's like a—"

"A light, glowing inside you and spreading its warmth through every part of you," Finn said in that faraway voice that made something inside Rey sit up and take notice.

"Finn, are you—do you feel it?" she asked eagerly.

"I—I think so," he said slowly. "I mean, I feel something. It's like something bigger than I am. Most of the time I can ignore it, but there've been times lately that I couldn't. I don't know what that means."

Rey tamped down on the excitement coursing through her. It was exciting finding someone else who was aware of the Force, but at the same time, she had to proceed with caution. She had no idea if Finn would even want to develop his sensitivity into anything, and she wasn't even sure yet how they would revive or reform the Jedi. Or if that was even a good idea. And she wouldn't do it without talking to Ben first, anyway.

So many questions… But first…

"Does it scare you?" she asked.

"A little," he said. "Mostly because… well, because of him. Because of what happened to him."

"You mean, because Ben turned to the Dark Side," she said.

"Yeah," he said, swallowing hard. "I don't… what if that happened to me?"

"It—" She stopped, because she couldn't make that promise, no matter how much she wanted to. But Ahsoka's words rang in her ears, about finding someone who can help maintain your balance. It couldn't be her, but if they could find someone…

"I know you can't make that promise, Rey," Finn said kindly.

"I can't, no," she said. "But I think the reason why so many Jedi turned to the Dark Side has to do with how much they isolated themselves from each other. Wielding the Force involves stretching out with your feelings. But the Jedi so often denied their feelings toward others even as they attempted to use those feelings to make a way through this world."

"That sounds bad," he said, wrinkling his nose.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, because I'm still piecing things together," she said. "But I think that we—that the Jedi—were meant to work in pairs. One person, working by himself, is vulnerable."

"But two together is stronger," he said. "Because one can be strong where the other is weak."

"Exactly," she said.

"Is that how it is with you and him?" Finn asked.

"Ben," she said. "His name is Ben. And yes, I think that's how it'll be with us. Already, I feel stronger, more complete with him by my side."

Finn frowned. "There aren't that many people out there who can do what you do, though."

"There are more than we think," she said. "I believe there are Force-sensitive people in hiding. If we can defeat the First Order, maybe they can come out of hiding."

"And maybe then I could find someone to stand beside me," he said.

"Of course," she said, smiling at him. "But that doesn't mean you can't learn. Would you like to? I can teach you, if you want."

"Maybe?" he said, though it sounded more like a question to her ears.

"Here, let's try something," she said. She unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and laid it on the ground in front of her. "Reach out with the Force and call the saber to you."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"What do I do?" he asked.

"Close your eyes," she said. When he raised an eyebrow at her, she smiled. "If you can't see it, you won't be distracted. Now close your eyes and focus. See the lightsaber. Imagine it flying through the air and into your hand."

Finn closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. Rey could feel the air around him stir for a moment and then become still.

"Hold out your hand," she said quietly. When he lifted his hand, palm up, she continued. "Now, reach for that light within you and channel it through your hand. Call the saber to you."

Nothing happened for several long seconds, but just when she was thinking about giving him more encouragement, the saber twitched. It shifted on the ground, spun around and then leaped into the air and slapped into Finn's hand.

His eyes popped open, a look of awe on his face. "Did you see that? I did it!"

"Yes, you did, Padawan," she said, chuckling at the pure joy radiating off of him.

"Can I do it again?" he asked quickly.

"Of course," she said.

She held out her own hand just as Finn was making to get up. The saber flew out of his hand and across the clearing. She wrapped her fingers around it as it landed in her hand.

"Show off," Finn muttered, but it was good-natured complaining.

"The more you practice, the easier it'll get," she said. "This is how I started, in the woods on Starkiller Base. I called the lightsaber to me without even thinking about it."

"Do you really think I can become a Jedi like you?" he asked.

That brought her up short. Was she a Jedi? She'd been through the training, but did that equate to being a Jedi? And who was left to say whether she was or not? Plus, she and Ben still hadn't talked about what form the Jedi should take, now that they were together.

"I think you can become anything you put your mind to," she said. She'd have to figure out the rest of it later, but it was more urgent now than it had been before. "We'll start with honing your skills, and you'll want to start running the obstacle course with me at some point. It's going to be hard work, but I think you can do it."

Finn smiled. She thought perhaps it was inappropriate for someone to be that happy about more physical training, but she wasn't going to point that out.

"Tomorrow," she said. "It'll keep until tomorrow. For now, let's go get something to eat."

"Are the Jedi always hungry?" he asked as he scrambled to his feet.

"You know, I may make you run the course twice tomorrow, just for that," she said with a mock-scowl.

Finn just laughed.

~o~

Ben sat at the chess table on the Falcon, contemplating his future. Walking away from the Dark Side was only one piece of it. He still had to figure out what came next. And since he wasn't sure of his welcome with the Resistance, finding a place to land was paramount.

Of course, Rey would have something to say about that. Now that their connection had solidified, he felt even more stable than he had before. Which made contemplating leaving a near impossibility.

But sitting on the Falcon, surrounded by memories of his father, wasn't doing him much good either. The guilt was like another person in the room, but even so, he couldn't bear to just walk away from the only connection he had to the life he'd known before.

Talk about being stuck between and asteroid and a star.

Luke was once as conflicted as you are.

Ben's head popped up at the unfamiliar voice, but there was no one there. He shook his head, dropped his gaze back to the dormant table and closed his eyes. Now he was hearing things.

"You're not hearing things, young man."

When he lifted his head and opened his eyes, he saw an older man with white hair and a white beard, his tan robes giving him away as a Jedi.

He tilted his head to one side. There was something familiar about this one. "You're Obi-Wan Kenobi. Aren't you?"

"I am," he said with a regal nod.

"Should I be worried that you've come to see me?" Ben asked. It was surreal in the extreme to be faced with the man he'd been named for, but maybe it shouldn't have been, after everything he'd been through.

Kenobi chuckled. "Not as such. I've not come to deliver bad news, if that's what you're worried about."

"I wasn't, not especially," Ben said. "Although the last time a Force Ghost visited me, it didn't end well."

"Your mother," Kenobi said. He crossed the room and sat down at the table, across from Ben. "She knew she had but one chance to reach you. Her sacrifice saved your life."

"It did," Ben said. He glanced away, then looked back. "So why are you visiting me and not her?"

"Because your mother is still… wounded from her time here," Kenobi said. "Her soul will heal, but it will take time."

"How much time?" Ben asked. "Will I ever see her again?"

"The world beyond this one is… different," Obi-Wan said. "Things such as time and space have no real meaning for those of us who have passed beyond the veil. One day she will be well again, and then you shall see her."

Ben sighed. "Her soul is wounded because of me, isn't it?"

"Leia shouldered burdens that were not hers to bear, Ben," Kenobi said. "In the end, the whole of the future of the Jedi order rested on her. That is no easy burden, and she tired of carrying it alone."

"Was there ever a chance that she and Rey could form a dyad?" Ben asked. He wasn't sure why he needed to know, but he thought it was important.

"No," Kenobi said, shaking his head. "Luke and Leia—had they chosen to—could have formed a dyad. Rey is an excellent student, but her fate lies along another path."

"And will she walk this path alone?" Ben asked.

"I can sense within you that you have both acknowledged the dyad bond you share," Kenobi said. "But even before that, your souls were intertwined. It would not have been possible for Rey and Leia to form that sort of bond where one already existed."

Ben sighed with something like relief. He'd loved his mother, but he wasn't sure how he'd have felt about his mother and his… whatever Rey was joining in that way.

"You will learn to depend on that bond in the days to come," Kenobi said. "If you're concerned at all that you might be tempted to return to the Dark Side, I can assure you that won't happen now."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because no Dark Side practitioner has ever successfully supported a dyad bond," Kenobi said. "Your bond to each other will keep you from falling back to the Dark Side."

"Did the Jedi know about the dyad bonds?" Ben asked. "I mean, before the Empire. In the days of the Old Republic."

"That knowledge was lost a very long time ago," Kenobi said. "There were many with dyad bonds in the early days of the Order. But those with dyad bonds were always stronger than those without. The Jedi became fearful of that power, and so they forbade the forming of dyad bonds, though they did keep the Rule of Two. That is why there is always a Master and an Apprentice."

"None of this is written down anywhere," Ben said. "Why is that?"

"The only way for knowledge to die is to excise it from all records," Kenobi said. "The Jedi were intended to guard the balance of the Force, not to be the balance. Something they lost sight of long before the fall of the Old Republic. Dyad bonds were only the beginning of their failures."

"Guard the balance?" Ben asked. "Weren't they supposed to be warriors of the light?"

"It is impossible to guard the balance if one remains on the light side," Kenobi said. "By their very nature, the Jedi were meant to be grey rather than light or dark. In order to guard the balance, one must be willing to do whatever one must. Sometimes, this means taking actions that might be construed as dark."

"The ends justify the means?" Ben asked. "That hardly sounds like the Jedi I know."

"By the time I met your uncle, the Jedi had fallen due to their own actions," Kenobi said. "They had become political in nature, deciding for themselves what ought to be protected rather than allowing the Force to guide them."

"So, that was their fatal flaw," Ben said.

"Light cannot exist without darkness," Kenobi said. "And the reverse is also true. The darkness cannot exist without the light."

"I'm not sure I believe that," Ben said. "Snoke had been out there, building the First Order and planning the end of the New Republic for years. Where were the Jedi?"

"Luke and Leia weren't the only Jedi in the galaxy," Kenobi said. "There are others that are Force sensitive out there. They may lack formal training, but it's equally possible that there were other Jedi that survived Order 66 and hid themselves from the remnants of the Empire. They could have passed on their knowledge to the following generations."

"Is it even a good idea to reform the Jedi, though?" Ben asked. "If the Jedi Order became a political organization, then perhaps it should end here."

"The Jedi still serve a purpose," Kenobi said. "The question you must answer is whether or not you believe in that purpose. If you are willing to take up the challenge and guard the balance once more, then you and Rey will need to define what the Jedi are going to be."

"So, is this what you came to tell me?" Ben asked. "Or is there something else?"

"I once told Luke that his insights did him credit," Kenobi said. "The same appears to be true of you."

Kenobi held out his hand and a data crystal shimmered into his palm. He set it on the table and folded his hands together.

"Rey has questions regarding her family," he said. "That should answer at least some of them."

Ben picked up the crystal and turned it over in his hand. "What's on it?"

"Personal logs for Padme Amidala," Kenobi said. Ben's head shot up. "Your grandmother."

"What does my grandmother have to do with Rey's—"

"It's not what you think," Kenobi said, holding up a hand even as Ben sputtered. "Padme's assistant was a woman named Kadira Savar. After Anakin… turned, I spent a lot of time with Padme, which meant I also spent a lot of time with Kadira. We became… close."

"You're Rey's grandfather, aren't you?" Ben asked quietly.

"I am," Kenobi said. "I was guilty of the same sin as Anakin in the eyes of the Jedi Council. When Padme gave birth to twins, she sent her son away to protect him from his father. I agreed to go with him, to watch over him. It wasn't an easy choice, considering how I felt about Kadira. I had become disillusioned with the Jedi Order by then, so when Padme asked me to watch over Luke, I chose to leave Coruscant and Kadira. I had hoped that she would join me at some point, but she felt that her place was with Padme.

"Little did I know that Kadira was also with child," Kenobi said. Ben could see the pain in his eyes. That decision haunted him even now. "I didn't learn of my own child's existence until they were forced to flee Coruscant and the Emperor."

"Why give this to me?" Ben asked.

"Because you are in a position to help her cope with this new information," Kenobi said. "She deserves to know the truth. It's the least of what I owe her, but it's better coming from you."

"Thank you," Ben said. "Will we ever see you again?"

"One day, perhaps," Kenobi said. He began to shimmer away, but just before he went entirely, he said, "I will always be close by, should you have need of me. May the Force be with you."

Ben took a deep breath once the old Jedi Master had gone. Everything he'd said… it was a lot to process, and he wasn't sure where to start. He looked down at the data crystal.

"Well, that's as good a place as any," he muttered as he pushed up out of the booth and went to find Rey.

~o~

Rey swung her wooden training blade in a wide arc, feeling the jolt of impact all the way up her arms. Her own grunt was echoed by Ben's, which was satisfying in its own right. He pushed back from her and feinted to his left before coming back with a high downward slash. She raised her blade and blocked his blow, twisting as she did so, hoping to disarm him.

"Not gonna be that easy," he said, though she could hear the strain in his voice. "Besides, you always try that same move and it never works on me."

She shifted to offense, bringing her blade around low, making it look like she was going for his leg. At the last second, she shot her blade up and under his hand, twisting the same way she had before. This time, she caught Ben off guard and his blade flew out of his hand.

"Better?" she asked with a smirk.

He chuckled. "Better."

She swung the training blade around a few times, testing the balance and weight. She still wasn't as comfortable with the bladed weapon as she could be. She was used to fighting with a long staff held in a two-handed grip, not a saber. It was taking her more time than she thought it should to figure out how to fight with a bladed weapon.

"Here," Ben said, startling her out of her thoughts.

He was holding out a water container, jiggling it temptingly. She took it and gulped down half the contents, not realizing until that very moment how thirsty she was. She sat down on the leaf-covered ground and stretched out her legs. They'd started cramping, and now she understood why. They'd gotten so involved in sparring that she'd forgotten to hydrate.

"You're getting better at that, you know," he said as he sat down beside her.

Rey shrugged. "It's still not instinctive. I've been using a staff weapon for so long that I'm comfortable with that fighting style. I'm not sure I'm ever going to be as good as you are with the lightsaber."

"I saw the parts in your quarters," Ben said. "You're building your own saber, right?"

"Yes," she said. "Right of passage for a Jedi, construction of your own saber. I just need a Khyber crystal."

"So, if you're building your own lightsaber, why aren't you building it into the weapon you're most comfortable using?"

"Because the Jedi carry lightsabers, not light staffs," she said.

"Who says?" he asked. "One of the Emperor's apprentices carried a lightsaber with a double blade. He used it much like a staff weapon."

"And I should be taking lessons from a presumably dead Sith Lord?" Rey asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"No, probably not," Ben said with a shrug. "But you should take advice from someone who wants you to succeed. Me, in case you were wondering."

Rey nudged him with her shoulder. "I get it."

She sighed as she looked out into the jungle, feeling the press of life all around them. It was soothing, in its way. The Force thrummed with energy, pulsing with the ebb and flow of life on this planet and throughout the galaxy.

"I was visited… by a Jedi," she said quietly, still almost unable to believe what had happened. "Well, at least I think she was a Jedi, anyway. She called herself Ahsoka Tano. She carried two lightsabers. It was impressive, watching the way she twisted and twirled the blades. They… they suited her."

"There you go," he said. "You should build the weapon that suits you instead of trying to conform to some idea of what type of weapon a Jedi should wield."

"Mmmm." She tilted her head. "Because we're all that's left of the Jedi, we should get to choose the path we take."

"Yes," he said. "Will you tell me about Ahsoka?"

Rey took a deep breath. "She talked about—she talked about your grandfather. About Anakin Skywalker. She was his Padawan."

"What did she say?" he asked.

She could feel the turmoil that talking about his past always brought up. There wasn't much she could do to soothe him, but perhaps sharing what she'd learned from Ahsoka would help.

"She believed they were destined to be a dyad," Rey said. "But Anakin was seduced by the Dark Side, destroying their connection. She made the choice to leave the Jedi because she stopped believing in their mission, but also, I think because she was losing her… soulmate. He was in love with another—"

"Padme Amidala," Ben said. "My grandmother. Their relationship was forbidden, but he didn't care. It's why he turned. He wanted to protect his family, but in the end, it was the turn to the Dark Side that cost him everything."

"She said that if they'd completed their dyad bond, that she'd have been able to keep him from falling to the Dark Side," Rey said. "I think she carries guilt over that even to this day."

"Ben Kenobi said something similar to me," he said.

"Who?"

"The man I was named for," he said. "Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was the Jedi Master who looked after Luke while he was growing up on Tatooine. He… visited me."

"Seems like there's a lot of that going on," she said.

She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Master Leia had always told her it was possible to talk to other Jedi when your mind was calm, at peace, one with the Force. She hadn't achieved that until recently, but even so, she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to Force Ghosts just dropping in for a chat.

"He talked about how the Jedi were meant to balance each other," Ben said. "That dyads were fairly common among the Jedi in the early days, but they feared the power a dyad could wield and so they forbid them."

"Seems like they forbid personal relationships altogether," she said. "As if isolating themselves from each other would stop them from forming relationships."

"Well, it stopped them from forming dyads," he said. "I wonder if the destruction of the Jedi Order could have been avoided if they hadn't."

"Perhaps," she said. "I think the more relevant question is, what do we do with all this knowledge?"

"You took the books for a reason," he said. "Were you thinking of reviving the Jedi?"

"Maybe," she said. "Although I have to wonder if that's a good idea given what happened to them before."

"Well, I've been reading some of those books," he said. "The Jedi strayed pretty far from what they were originally. If we decide to revive the Jedi Order, we can take it back to what they were originally: guardians of the balance between the light and the dark."

"That would mean walking in the shadows," she said. "Walking the line between light and dark. Are you prepared to live so close to what you've only just walked away from?"

Ben reached out and took Rey's hand, lacing their fingers together. "As a dyad, we provide balance to each other. According to Kenobi, we wouldn't be able to support a dyad bond if one or both of us fell to the Dark Side. But as long as I have you by my side, I can walk any path."

Rey's heart warmed. She'd never had someone willing to stand beside her, come what may. It felt… good. Right.

"I'll walk that path with you," she said. "We'll rebuild the Jedi to be what they once were. Together."

"Together," he said.

"I should probably tell you that Finn is showing some Force-sensitivity," she said. "With some training, I think he'll be capable of becoming a Jedi."

"Then I suppose one of the first things we should figure out is how to identify dyads," Ben said. "Or maybe just how we identify the Force-sensitive. I've no idea how they used to do it, but the more we find, the more we'll need to find. If a Jedi is at his or her most stable within a dyad, we'll need a way to help them find that."

"Good point," Rey said. "Ahsoka mentioned someplace called Tython. She said we should go there to find more like us."

"That sounds familiar, but I'm not sure why," he said. "Maybe I read about it in one of the books."

"I've read all those books and I don't remember any of them mentioning Tython," she said.

Ben reached into his pocket and pulled something out. When he opened his hand, she saw a small data crystal resting there.

"What's this?" she asked.

"It contains information on your parents," he said quietly. "There are logs from my grandmother on there. She knew your family."

"Where did you get this?" she asked as the shock rippled through her.

"Kenobi," he said. "He was a Jedi Master with the old Order. He's also your grandfather."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Ben sighed. "I don't know if this will help or not, but I couldn’t keep it from you."

"No, of course," she said. She reached out and wrapped a hand around his neck, drawing him close. She pressed a kiss to his lips, a gesture of gratitude, though it did send a small thrill through her. When she pulled back, his eyes were shining. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he whispered.

~o~