Planet X

Rey finds herself marooned on an unknown planet with no way to contact the Resistance. Now she must find strength beyond the Force in order to survive the elements, the dangerous creatures, and her own fear of isolation.

ORIGINALLY POSTED SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

The alarms that blared from more than one location in the ship’s cockpit were starting to annoy Rey, as was the panic emanating from her co-pilot; sometimes it really was a pain to be so open to others emotions, she thought to herself. She finished twisting the wires in the lateral control system together and took a deep breath when that alarm stopped. She turned to look at her companion.

“How’s it going, Stevie?”

The young woman glanced at her, the panic Rey could feel obvious in her eyes. “I think I’m getting it,” she mumbled.

Rey moved over to the control console, reached underneath and popped open a service panel. She quickly pulled a wire and another alarm went off. Stevie looked at her with trepidation. “That one’s not serious,” Rey told her. “We can fix that when we get home. I just shut off the alarm.”

Stevie, only slightly mollified, continued working on the comm.

Rey sighed, looking out the cockpit window at the planet below. “Where are we, anyway?” she asked.

“Before everything shut down, the coordinates said the Drackenwell System, but I have no idea where that is or what that planet is.” Stevie answered.

“I don’t suppose you got any readings on it?” Rey asked. When the hyperdrive had suddenly failed on them, dropping them here, the rest of the ship had started failing as well. Communications, navigation, all but emergency lights. It was only luck that life support and sublight propulsion systems were still functioning.

Stevie shook her head. A spark flew up from the panel she was working on. “Damnit!” she said as she jerked away. She sat back and looked at Rey with misery in her eyes. “I don’t know what else to try,” she moaned. The primary antennae link was fried to a crisp, and the wire she had scavenged from the heating system wasn’t working as a replacement.

Rey sat in the pilot’s seat and considered the situation. It was dire, she had to admit, but she also knew not to give up. She had been in worse situations. She looked down at the planet ‘beneath’ them. It looked idyllic, with oceans and green and brown land masses, but who knew if it could sustain oxygen breathing, carbon-based lifeforms such as themselves? She could see no obvious settlements, but sparsely populated planets rarely gave up their secrets from this far up.

“We could land,” she said softly. “Are shields strong enough to enter atmo?”

“Most likely,” Stevie answered. “But what if it’s not habitable?”

“We can stay on the ship and keep life support on,” Rey answered. “That way we could at least find out if there is someone down there who can help, and if not, maybe something we can use to fix that,” she nodded towards the communication system.

Stevie opened her mouth to reply when the first laser blast hit them. Still squatting on the floor, she was knocked down and Rey was almost thrown out of the chair. She spun around to face the window again just as a TIE fighter flew overhead. “You have got to be kidding me?!” she exclaimed.

Stevie jumped up. “Was that a TIE Fighter?” she gasped.

“Yep,” Rey told her, then added, “And there’s more than one!” Another blast hit them as at least two more TIEs came into view. “I don’t suppose you checked the weapons?”

Stevie shook her head violently. Rey could feel her panic explode.

Rey moved her hands on the panel in front of her, finding the weapons on the modified U-55 Orbital Loadlifter. Though designed for work, not battle, this particular ship had had both weapons and shields installed upon its arrival to the Resistance base last year. Too bad the old ship wasn’t in as good condition everywhere else, she thought. Rey fired, aiming as best she could with only the visual she had from the window; no sensors were up to tell here where the TIEs she couldn’t see were. She destroyed one immediately, but felt her body jerk again when they took another hit. The shields they had were not going to hold up, she knew. She closed her eyes and opened herself up fully to the Force. Time to get down and dirty, she thought. In her mind’s eye, she found three more TIEs, and one was coming right up to where she could blast it. So, she did. Two down, two to go.

She felt the ship take another two hits, one right after the other, and she heard Stevie’s scream, but she was focused on another TIE, one just out of range. Her hand moved automatically to the lateral controls, which she had just fixed, and moved the shuttle just enough to… fire. One more left.

“Rey!” she heard Stevie shout.

“Just… one… moment,” Rey told her, then the last TIE was gone. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “Well, now,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm as she saw what Stevie was shouting about. “Looks like we’re landing whether we want to or not.” In her attempt to move the shuttle so she could fire on the TIEs, she had hit the atmosphere. The planet’s gravity had them, and low and behold, the sublight engines were no longer responding. “This just gets better and better,” she whispered.

“We’re gonna crash!” Stevie cried as she leaned on the console next to Rey.

Rey brought her hand up and put it on Stevie’s shoulder. “Relax,” she said softly, using the Force to instill calm in her companion. “I still have lateral controls. I’ll get us down in one piece.” She hoped.

So much for a short trip to Naboo and back for a meeting with the New Republic leadership, thought Rey. Then she focused on trying to keep her and Stevie alive.

******

Rey thought she was successful in her attempt to crash land the shuttle in a non-lethal manner, aiming it for a shallow dive into the ocean, until the explosion came. She wasn’t sure where it came from exactly, or what had caused it, but she saw Stevie fly back against the wall behind her as she herself was flung from the pilot’s seat. Her head hit the console to her right and she struggled to stay conscious. “Stevie?” she called as her vision blurred. She tried drawing on the Force, but another explosion shoved her even harder against the wall. The engines, she thought. One of the TIEs must have damaged one of the engines before she got it. That’s why sublight hadn’t worked. She attempted to push herself from the wall, but the effort was too much for her battered head, and she blacked out.

When she opened her eyes again, her head screamed at her. At least that’s what it felt like. She had had some serious headaches in her past, especially when she had been forcefully connected to the Dark Side, but this was something else. She suddenly became aware of the silence that was surrounding her. No alarms. She also took note of the cold water that she was lying in. She jumped up, ignoring the flash of agony in her head, and looked out the cockpit window, where sunlight was streaming in. They were in the ocean, and they were in one piece! “Stevie?” she called, and turned to look for her companion.

The young woman was lying on the floor in the back of the cockpit, ocean water that was apparently leaking in from somewhere surrounding her. Rey moved toward her. “Stevie?” She squatted down next to the woman and realized almost immediately that it was too late. Stevie’s eyes were open and sightless, water already encompassing her face. Rey tried to move her out of the water, which was quickly rising, but she knew her efforts were futile; Stevie’s neck was broken. It had probably happened when she had been thrown back against the wall after the first explosion. Rey let the tears come. She hadn’t known Stevie well, as she and her older brother Sean had joined the Resistance only after they had moved their base to Yavin IV, but she had been well liked and would be missed by many.

Rey became aware of how fast the water was rising in the cockpit. The leak must be big, which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the explosions that had rocked the shuttle. Rey took a deep breath and gently let Stevie’s body go. There were worse things than burial at sea; maybe someday, if Rey ever found herself safely home, they could come back and recover the wreckage and Stevie’s body with it. Rey stood and grabbed her sling bag from the back of the pilot’s chair. She moved to the rear of the ship, feeling the water get deeper as she went, and found the storage for the ration packs, snatching up as many as she could and putting them in her bag, then added a couple of bottles of water and a vial of water purifying tablets. She then snagged an oxygen respirator with mask; she still had no clue what the atmosphere outside was like, but she knew what it would be like in here once the ship was flooded. Lastly, she opened up a compartment near the ceiling and pulled out an inflatable raft; it was original to the ship, so she could only hope it wasn’t too old and would work.

With water up to her waist now, she climbed the service ladder to the upper escape hatch, put on the respirator, and opened it up. The bright sunlight hit her full force as it reflected off the water surrounding her. She immediately pressed the control to inflate the raft, hanging on tight to the rope attached to it as she threw it over the side of the sinking shuttle into the water. It inflated without any problem, and soon Rey was sliding down the side of the shuttle, pushing off at the last second with help from the Force and landing in the raft. The small motor started up without trouble and she guided the raft slowly away from the shuttle, then watched as the ship gradually sank beneath the waves.

Rey took a deep, shuddering breath of recycled air and looked around her. Nothing but ocean. Taking another deep breath in and then out, she closed her eyes and carefully removed the face mask. Slowly, she breathed in again and opened her eyes in relief as oxygen entered her lungs. Though thin, the atmosphere was breathable. She turned off the respirator and put it in her bag, carefully buckling it shut. She would need to do her best to ensure everything in that bag was protected; it would keep her alive.

She looked around her again. Which way was land, she wondered? As she hadn’t been awake when the ship crashed, she hadn’t been able to visually see where they came down. So, she once more closed her eyes and opened herself completely to the Force. She allowed it to calm her, to help ease the pain still throbbing in her head, and to tell her where to go from here. She felt she had to concentrate extra hard, as if all her body had been through in the last 30 minutes had taken its toll on her ability to read the Force. But finally, she sensed she was being pulled in a certain direction. She opened her eyes and looked at where the Force was pointing, then looked at the sun to determine which direction that was. She restarted the little motor, hoping its battery was charged completely, and started off.

She tried her best to not think about the fact that nobody knew where she was. Except for maybe whoever those TIE pilots belonged to. Imperial remnant? First Order survivors? Whoever. Hopefully they had been as surprised to find the shuttle as she and Stevie had been to see them and they hadn’t had time to inform their command before they attacked. Rey shook her head slowly and tried stretching her neck out to ease the discomfort from what she assumed was a concussion. As soon as her head stopped hurting so much, she would attempt to connect with Finn or one of her students; She knew they had been only about mid-way through their flight between Naboo and Yavin when the hyperdrive had died, so she doubted she was close enough to them, but she would try.

At the moment, it was all the hope she had.

******

The sun was hovering right over the horizon when Rey finally saw land. She sighed in relief, but also trepidation. She had no idea what awaited her on shore, but it had to be better than getting sun and wind burned out here on the open water, trying not to notice the occasional dark shadow or slight disturbance in the water beneath her. She had never actually seen any creature during her journey, so she knew the subtle signs she had observed were probably animals that had just been curious or had decided whatever she was wasn’t worth the effort to disturb. She did not know how deep the water was underneath her, and she really didn’t want to know.

The sun had almost set when she finally hit land, and the temperature had dropped along with it. It wasn’t below freezing, yet, but it was still uncomfortably chilly. She hadn’t thought to grab a jacket from the storage closet when she abandoned ship, so she could only hope it wouldn’t get much colder than it was. She stepped ashore on shaky legs and pulled the raft along with her. The terrain was rocky with lichen-like growths splattered here and there, giving it an almost glowing green hue in the dying light. A scrub-bush like plant sat about 20 yards from the shore, and Rey dragged the raft to it, tying it to the small tree. She didn’t know what kind of weather this place had yet, and she didn’t want the raft to fly back out to sea if the wind should get strong. She walked carefully up the rocky incline away from the ocean until she reached its top, but it was already too dark to see much. She could see more scrub trees were in the vicinity, though. Using her lightsaber, she cut off several branches from a couple of them and brought them back down to the beach, where the ground was level, and set up a fire pit. It wasn’t long before she had a good fire burning. The warmth and light were a welcome balm to her soul.

She took a ration pack out of her sling bag, as well as a bottle of water, and carefully mixed a small amount of water with the powder to make some portion bread. She ate it and the veg-meat, though she hated the stuff cold; she had no way to fry it over her fire. She finished the water, which had been only half-full, as she had drunk the first half when she had been out on the ocean, and popped a pain pill with it. She always carried a small number of them in her pack, though she had never had to use one for herself; she carried them for her students, who had a tendency to hurt themselves whenever they went on training missions. She really didn’t want to take one, as she knew it would make her more lethargic, but the pain in her head was not getting better, and she knew she needed to rest. She tried to get as comfortable as possible on the rocky ground and closed her eyes to meditate.

As before, it took some time for the Force to connect with her, and she knew it was due to her distraction from the pain, but soon she felt it flowing through her. The pain eased, as did the fear and frustration and sorrow she was feeling. She breathed deep and felt her body lift off of the rocks. As she felt the peace of the Light Side encompass her, she reached out.

Rey felt enormous life energy surrounding her, both in plant and animal life, and she was grateful to know this planet wasn’t at all desolate or uninhabited. She could not discern if any of those energies were sentient, but she hoped she could follow their signatures later and answer that question in person. As she gathered more energy from the life force around her, she pushed out with her senses, this time searching for familiar and well-loved presences. Finn, her brother in spirit if not by blood. Temiri, Finn’s adopted son. Talia and Isaias, two of her most powerful students, both human females with unknown family histories. Shaina, her own little girl, who at 16 months of age was already a strong presence in the Force. She searched for any and all of them. She was unsurprised when she came up with nothing.

She was just too far away from them. While her own abilities were amazingly powerful, none of the others could equal her in that power, nor did they have enough training to find and feel her search. Not yet. Taking a deep breath, she let herself sink back down to the ground. She stared at the fire for a long time, thinking about her next course of action. She would need to move inland, following the strongest of the living presences she felt, and hope it led her to a sentient settlement where she could contact the Resistance. While doing so, she would have to figure out what was and wasn’t edible on this planet, praying the Force would guide her and not let her ingest anything toxic. She needed to prepare for a long stay; the ration packs would last only so long. But she would not give up. She would keep moving forward. She must look on this as just another adventure in the life of Rey Skywalker, and she must stay alive at all costs. She knew the Resistance would be looking for her. She also knew that it would be impossible for them to find her in the immensity of space.

But Poe Dameron had done the impossible before, she thought. More than once. She settled against her sling bag, trying to get as comfortable as she could, the pain pill having kicked in and making her sleepy. Though it took some time, Rey eventually fell asleep, imagining her husband’s face, his eyes full of hope.

******

SUNRISE

“Mesh’la?”

“Poe?” Rey jerked awake, sitting upright, her eyes seeking out her husband, whose voice had awakened her. Immediately, her head began to throb, and yesterday’s events rushed to the fore of her memory. She sat back against her pack and let the tears come. Silently, she cried, letting out all the fear and frustration she had kept in check the day before.

Eventually, she was able to focus on her surroundings once more. The fire from last night had gone out, and while there was still a chill in the air, the sun that was peeking up over the small hill to her right was already warming things up. She looked at her chrono. About seven hours from sunset to sunrise on this planet. Now to see how long the days were. Slowly, she sat up again. The pain in her head had reduced to a nagging ache, and she didn’t want to disturb it more than she had to. She opened her bag and took out another ration pack and more water. Slowly she ate, watching as the sun climbed higher in the sky. She noticed no clouds and recalled that she had seen none the day before, either. However, she was sure they would appear eventually; the scrub trees near her campsite would need rain, not to mention all the animal life she felt through the Force.

Soon, she felt well enough to stand, again taking it slow so her head didn’t start pounding. She shouldered her sling bag and headed toward the top of the rise she had climbed last night. Now that there was light, she could see the expanse of land before her. The rocky terrain she was on next to the shore gradually evolved into a grassy plain, dotted with the now familiar trees from the beach. She could see nothing man-made, but she sensed a large group of beings toward the southeast of her. People or animals? Only one way to find out. She glanced back toward the raft that had brought her here; there was no way to compress the small boat and bring it along, but maybe…

She went over to the raft and pulled off the small motor. She was sure the battery was almost dead, but the parts may come in handy. She added it to her sling bag’s stash, and then set out toward the southeast.

As the sun rose higher, the temperature began to rise. Rey had never felt chilled when she had been on the water the day before, despite the strong wind, so she knew it was probably going to get fairly hot as the day progressed. She regretted not wearing a tunic with a hood; they were a particular favorite of hers, but she had gone with a more formal, high necked tunic for the meeting with Chancellor Berreth. The hood of her preferred tops would have come in handy right about now, protecting her from the sun.

She marched on, appreciating that while the terrain was rough it was fairly level, with a few shallow dips here and there. As the day progressed, the wind increased, helping keep her from getting too warm, but not helping with her overall comfort level. Still better than a desert, she told herself.

Sometime in the early afternoon, she noticed several dark dots in the distance; the lifeforms she had been sensing? She continued on toward them and eventually was able to discern that they were large quadrupeds, grazing animals from the look of it, designed to survive on open plains. As she got closer, she was able to see their features. They were fairly large, about the size of an Orbak, but their coats were much shorter. They had long tails and large ears, with a short stubby mane. The had two-toed hooves and the males had short curved horns on their head between their ears. Some lifted their heads from their grazing and looked at her, but eventually went back to the business of eating, telling her they did not see bipeds as a threat. Because people that lived here didn’t hunt them or because there were no people, she didn’t know. She was more than a little disappointed that the large Force sense she had been following was not sentient, but not surprised. Nothing about this ‘adventure’ had been easy, yet.

She decided to take a break, as she had been non-stop walking since dawn, and she sat down to eat another ration pack. She looked about the grassy plain, wondering if there were any edible plants nearby. She looked at the herd of animals in front of her. She dreaded the thought of having to slaughter one for food, but at least she knew it was an option should she not find any vegetation that she could eat.

While she rested, she watched as one of the male critters, one that had been grazing quite a distance from the rest of the herd, started making his way toward the others. Almost immediately, one of the other males and two of the females turned on it, violently chasing it away from the herd. She took note that he had a misshapen horn. A birth defect, or an accident in his past? Either way, it was a shame the others didn’t approve. He wandered away from the group and then seemed to focus on her. He headed her way, his eyes curious.

He stopped a short distance away, putting his head down to graze, but his eyes remained on her. He was a lovely shade of copper, with his mane and tail a dark brown, and he had a spot of white on his nose and another further up on his forehead. The deformed horn seemed to twist down to point at it. “It’s not easy being different, is it?” she said to the animal. “I know from experience. I hope you find friends that accept you for what you are some day like I did.” She shook her head, laughing at herself for talking to the beast. She had nothing against non-sentient animals, but she had never really had the opportunity to befriend any, either. They never seemed to be comfortable around her. Rose had taught her how to ride the Fathiers a while back, and she had enjoyed the experience, but they had never taken to her like they did Rose and Finn. Of course, Temiri may have had something to do with that; the boy used the Force to communicate with them and they seemed to adore him, and Rose and Finn were his family. A couple of Rey’s other students had the natural ability to communicate with animals, too. It appeared to Rey that any Force user could do it if they worked at it, but some were just born knowing how.

Rey sighed and pushed herself slowly back to her feet. She shouldered her bag again, closed her eyes and let the Force flow through her, then started walking in the direction it indicated, opening her eyes only after she started walking. She hadn’t gone 50 yards when she realized the creature with the misshapen horn was following her. She turned to look at him, and he stopped and started grazing, looking for all the world as if he wasn’t aware of her. She started walking again, only to hear him following along again. She stopped short and turned. He started grazing, this time his eyes were focused on her. She shook her head and kept moving. “Whatever,” she said out loud, sure he would eventually get bored and wander off. In the meantime, she would enjoy the company.

******

“I’ll bet you 30 credits I could beat you in a starfighter race, like the ones they have on Mygeeto.”

“Just 30 credits?” Rey scoffed. “That’s not even enough to get Red 5 a new paint job!”

“Well, I sure as heck would beat you if you’re flying that hunk of junk,” Poe snorted.

“Hey!” Rey argued. “Red 5 is a legend! Do not talk that way about it!” She shoved him in the shoulder. “And it’s still faster than your X-Wing.”

“Not a chance!” he shoved her right back. “Besides, it’s not just about speed, you know. You need to fly through those rings accurately or risk a really big headache.”

“I’ll take that bet, but I want to change the stakes.”

“To what?”

“The loser has to give the winner a massage,” she said with an innocent smile. “And I’m not talking about a 5-minute shoulder rub. I’m talking about a long, hard, deep, full body massage.” She drew out the last few words of that last sentence.

Poe visibly swallowed. “You’re on,” he whispered.

SUNRISE

Rey opened her eyes. The sun was coming up again, not a cloud in the sky. She sighed, her body shaking with a combination of fatigue and sorrow, and she carefully sat up. Movement to her left caught her attention, and she saw her new shadow grazing a short distance away; she guessed he had never strayed too far from her all night. And it had been a short night, especially after the long 12-hour day yesterday. She sat quietly, recalling her dream, and wondered about it. She and Poe had never had a discussion like that. In fact, though they had often argued about who was the better pilot, most of those arguments had occurred before they were even romantically involved, and they had never discussed racing each other in their X-Wings, much less made a seductive bet like that with each other.

She closed her eyes. What she wouldn’t give to have Poe Dameron grant her a full body massage right now, and not just because she was so terribly sore from her hike yesterday. She missed him. She missed him so much.

She opened her pack and took out the small bag with the berries she had found yesterday. She had seen several birds eating them off a group of bushes shortly before she stopped for the night and had taste tested them, deciding that if the birds were eating them, they were probably safe. Of course, that negative part of her mind reminded her that some species developed a tolerance of toxins over time and what may be safe for them could be dangerous for others. However, her Force sense, as tired as it seemed to be, didn’t shout out any warnings, so she had eaten some. Not only were they tasty, but she had suffered no ill effects from them, so she had gathered up as much as she could. Now, they were her breakfast, a nice break from the ration packs.

She watched her companion as she ate. He occasionally lifted his head to look at her, as if he was expecting her to get up and start walking again soon. She was, but since the days were so long, she wasn’t in any rush. “I think I’ll call you Sal,” she said to the beast, her voice startling in the quiet morning. He lifted his head and stared at her, chewing contemplatively. “I don’t know why,” she continued. “You just look like a Sal. You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?” He continued to stare. “Of course, if I name you, that means I can’t eat you later,” she said wryly.

As Sal went back to grazing, Rey sat quietly, taking her time eating the berries and insuring she was well hydrated for the day ahead. She let her thoughts linger on her ‘dream.’ It was odd, because she normally didn’t dream. Her dreams always ended up being visions of some sort, images of the future or even the present. Was what she had seen going to happen? Kriff, she hoped so. Or was it just a result of her isolation and fear? It amazed her how she felt, especially as she had spent most of the first 19 years of her life by herself. These last three years had spoiled her, not only giving her friends she knew would be a part of her heart for the rest of her life, but an actual family. She felt tears well up in her eyes again as she thought of Shaina. Her baby girl was walking and talking now, her hair thick and dark like her father’s, but her eyes were Rey’s hazel. She was already a ‘little hellion,’ as Poe called her, and Rey blamed that on him. “I’m sure you were just like that at her age.” He didn’t deny it.

Finally, it was time to go. Securing everything in her bag, she stood. As before, she closed her eyes and let the Force choose her direction. She wasn’t surprised when Sal began following her. “I hope you’re okay with where we’re going,” she called back to him. “Wherever that is.”

As before, the day was sunny and hot, but around late morning, before the sun was at its highest point, she noticed clouds in the west. She recognized them as cumulus clouds and watched them carefully, knowing they often turned into storms, but as the afternoon wore on, they started to dissipate. It was shortly after that when her companion stopped short and started snorting, looking off to the northeast. Rey may not have spent much time around animals, but she recognized the body language nonetheless. She slowed and moved carefully toward the rocky outcropping Sal was looking at. She became even more worried when the beast turned and ran. Slowly, she climbed the short hill that led to the rocks and peeked over them.

The body of an animal lay on the ground not far away from the rocks, another grazing beast like Sal, but different, smaller. On top of the body was another animal with a decidedly feline appearance. It was almost as large as the critter it had apparently killed and was now feasting on. She settled back, feeling the direction of the wind and happily taking note that it was blowing her scent away from the big cat. She kept her eye on it, not willing to try and move past the creature until it had had its fill and moved on. She kept her hand near her lightsaber the whole time.

Suddenly, the big cat jumped upright and stared off to the west. Rey ducked down, but then carefully looked over the edge again when she heard the cat scrambling over the ground. It was running away toward the east and Rey soon heard why.

A ship!

She turned toward the sound and could see the shape in the sky of an incoming spaceship. At first, her heart leapt with excitement, but that quickly faded as logic took over. The Resistance had no clue she was here. The people in control of the TIEs that had attacked them most likely did. Making sure the cat was long gone, she dived over the rocks and wedged herself in between two large boulders, praying the stone would hide any heat signature she may be producing. She heard the ship come closer, but it soon seemed to turn away, and eventually the sound diminished to nothing. She moved out of the rocks and opened her bag, pulling out her personal commlink. She checked to make sure it was on, then put it back. Had that been a Resistance craft, or anybody else sent to look for her with good intentions, they would have tried contacting her with the commlink as soon as they had entered orbit. That had not been a rescue ship; odds were good it had been Imperial.

Sighing, she sat down in the shade of the rocks, exhaustion even stronger after the adrenaline rush she had just had. She looked over at the dead animal. She was sure that the big cat she had seen would not be the only living creature to benefit from its death; that was nature. That was the Force. With sudden determination, she got up and pulled out the small virbroknife she always kept in her bag. Carefully, she cut off a piece of the deceased animal’s thigh, just enough for a meal. Then she settled back by the rocks and began to make camp, starting her fire with the branches of the ever-present scrub trees. Soon the smell of cooking meat filled her senses and made her stomach rumble. The ration packs were full of protein and other nutrients necessary for the human body, but they were not and never would be real food.

As the meat cooked and darkness fell, she heard a noise to her left. There was something coming around the rocks. Lightsaber in hand, she stood and faced it, ready to combat the big cat for dinner if she had to. She let out a big breath of air when Sal walked around the corner. He stopped and looked at her, looked over at the body of the other animal, then started grazing, almost as if he had shrugged and said, “Whatever.” Rey smiled and sat back down to enjoy her meal. Once, Sal looked up at her and she could swear he looked unapproving. “Hey, you made friends with a meat eater,” she told him. “Deal with it.” He snorted and went back to grazing.

Now that her ‘guardian’ was there, Rey felt herself relax. She could sleep, knowing Sal would wake her should the cat, or the ship, come back.

******

“I think if it’s a boy, we should name him Skyler.” Poe’s voice was wistful. “Of course, Skyler could be girl’s name, too.”

He and Rey were sprawled on top of the daybed in the living area of the little house they lived in on Yavin IV. He was on his back and she was curled up next to him, her legs over his, her head on his shoulder. She lifted her head up and looked at him. “You know something I don’t?” she queried.

Poe looked a bit embarrassed. “Just planning for the future,” he explained. They had decided a couple of months ago that another baby would be more than welcome, but since Rey had literally just finished her monthly, she knew it wasn’t happening yet.

She lay her head back down and felt her eyes close as he softly stroked her shoulder. It was actually amazing they were talking about having another child after the last 24 hours. Shaina had spiked a fever and had been feeling miserable, and both she and Poe had been up all night taking turns walking the floor with the toddler, trying to ease her pain and frustration. Rey had done her best to soothe her child using the Force, but since she didn’t know the exact cause, she could not pinpoint her healing energy anywhere, and she didn’t want to overwhelm the child by guessing. They had both taken a ‘sick day’ from their respectful duties to stay with Shaina that day. Usually, she came with Rey as her mother taught her group of potential Jedi. Unless there was physical training to be done, then she stayed with her grandfather; having Kes living only a few kilometers away was one of the many reasons Yavin IV was a blessing. But that day Shaina wanted her parents with her, and they obliged, trying to keep her occupied with games and books. Finally, about an hour ago, her fever had broken and she had fallen into an untroubled sleep.

Rey and Poe were so exhausted they hadn’t even made it to their bedroom, collapsing on the small couch instead. Rey found herself idly playing with the collar of Poe’s shirt. “We should probably shower and go to bed,” she said softly.

“We can shower in the morning,” Poe told her. “Let’s just sleep now. Right here.”

And they did.

SUNRISE

Rey once more opened her eyes, the rising sun awakening her as had become the norm. She stretched and sat up. Her head was actually feeling almost normal this morning. Sal was laying down not too far away from her, sitting sternal with his legs curled up and tucked in next to his body. He lifted his head and blinked sleepily at her. She guessed he wasn’t any more used to this constant walking than she was.

She reached for her bag, blinking away the sleep and wondering about her dreams yet again. This last one wasn’t a Force premonition, she knew. This one was an actual memory. She and Poe had lived through that long night about two months ago and Shaina had recovered from the illness without any trouble. Rey looked over to where the slain animal from the day before still lay, but decided against taking any more meat from it, not wanting to take the time to restart her fire. So, another ration pack it was.

After she finished eating, she meditated for a while. As usual, she stretched out her senses, looking for anyone that she could connect with. As usual, she found nothing. She heard Sal get up and move off to graze, and soon she also prepared for her journey. Of course, now she was even more alert for predators and spaceships. Not long into the day’s hike, she ran across a small stream. She had fortunately found at least one of these natural brooks at least once a day on her journey, allowing her to stock up on water. Having grown up in a desert, she was still amazed at places where finding water was never a concern.

The day was sunny and hot, just like all the previous days had been, but for some reason it felt different. The air seemed heavier, and Rey found herself sweating more than normal. When the cumulus clouds started building in the west like the day before, she was unsurprised to find them developing into storms by early afternoon. She eyed the sky with concern when the small white puffy clouds grew into one large mass of dark grey. Thunder rumbled and the lightning soon became easily visible despite the daylight. Rey began to look for shelter. While rain alone didn’t concern her, the lightning did. Sal seemed to know there was trouble ahead as well, and he began walking quickly in front of her rather than following lazily behind. His ears were forward as if he was searching for something, but whatever it was, he didn’t find it before the storm hit.

It started with incredibly strong wind that roared over the open grassland like a railcrawler. Rey hunkered down and found that Sal had turned around and come back to her. He stood next to her, his butt to the wind. The rain came with a roar of its own, and then the hail. Huge chunks of ice falling from the sky. Rey folded into herself, bringing her arms up over her head. She felt Sal come closer to her and she realized he was blocking most of the hail, protecting her the best he could with his big body. His head was down, nose almost touching the ground, and whenever a big hail stone hit him, he kicked out violently, snorting and shaking his head. Despite his efforts, more than a few chunks of ice hit Rey. She knew they would both be badly bruised when this was over. Finally, the hail ended and it settled down to just rain. Rey felt herself breathe a little easier, but when the storm finally passed, she felt frozen and beaten. The cold gusts still blowing even after the rain quit didn’t help.

She stood on shaky legs, her hand on Sal’s wet neck, thanking him. Then she set out to gather wood for a fire. She tried her best to cut out the branches that were toward the center of the scrub trees, as they weren’t as wet, and she did manage to find enough that were dry enough to get a fire going, but it took a little patience. Sal seemed to appreciate it, as well. “So, are storms always like that here?” she asked the critter. He just stood, one back foot cocked at a relaxed angle, eyes already closing, dozing off. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Rey feel asleep while the fire still burned bright, not even bothering to eat anything in her exhaustion.

******

“We’ve decoded the intel from the First Order spy, and it confirms the worst.” Poe took a deep breath. “Somehow, Palpatine returned.”

No, Rey thought. He can’t still be alive. She had long believed her grandfather was dead.

Wait! What? I didn’t know he was my grandfather when this happened!

Rey barely heard the rest of the conversation among the Resistance leadership, until the name Exegol got her attention. She retrieved the book she had seen the notes in about the legendary Sith planet and brought it to Leia’s attention. Rey was going, whether Leia wanted her to or not. She would not let the Sith rise again.

That night, she wandered the base, feeling unsettled and not able to rest.

That didn’t happen, either, Rey thought. I helped Chewie get the Falcon ready all that night.

She heard the sound of music and wandered toward it. Poe was playing his hallikset and singing, but the usual bawdy taproom songs he liked to play the night before a big mission were missing. Tonight, he was playing an old ballad that had been written after Alderaan was destroyed. It was a sorrowful lament and Rey had never heard Poe’s voice sound so sublime.

She did remember him singing that song once, but it wasn’t the night before they left for Pasaana.

Rey moved to stand near the small group of people that had gathered to hear him sing. She made sure she was in the glow of the firelight; she wanted him to see her. He was nearing the end of the song when his eyes met hers, and she held his gaze, trying her best to tell him exactly what she was feeling at that moment. Before he had left for the mission to meet with Boolio, Poe had tried to kiss her. She had literally run away from him, refusing to acknowledge any feelings for him, to him or to herself. But she was done running.

He finished the song, eyes still locked on hers. She licked her lips and saw his gaze focus there. “Hey, guys,” he said to the group. “We’ve got a big day tomorrow. I’m calling it a night.” He received a few groans and a few sounds of agreement, then he stood and made his way toward Rey. She turned and walked away from the fire, moving steadily through the Resistance camp, catching glimpses of him in her peripheral, making sure he was still following. Finally, she arrived at her destination. The clearing next to the stream was special to her, and she wanted to make it even more so.

Of course, that clearing is special! That’s where Poe and I had our first date. And after we were married, we had a couple more ‘dates’ there. But they were all after the war was over!

She turned to face him, and he stood there, hallikset in hand, looking at her with a wary expression. She took a deep breath and walked up to him, and taking his face in between her hands, she kissed him.

She could tell he was startled, but only for a moment. He gently dropped the hallikset and wrapped his arms around her as she brought her arms around his neck. His tongue dived into her mouth and she welcomed it with growing excitement. Suddenly, he pulled back. “Where is this coming from?” he asked her, breathing heavily.

“I’m sorry I turned you down the other day,” she said. “I was scared. You make me feel so much. Too much. I didn’t think I should.”

“And now?”

“Leia talked with me and set my head straight,” she told him. “She said as the first of the new Jedi, I shouldn’t have to live by the ways of the old Jedi. That those ways obviously didn’t work anyway. That I should make my own path.” She smiled. “She told me to ‘go get him’.”

“Does she know that ‘him’ is me?”

Rey nodded. “Oh, yes.”

Poe grinned and started kissing her again. Only he didn’t stop there. He began to work at her clothing, removing her belt and holster, then the shawl wrapped around her. She returned the favor, unbuttoning his shirt and removing his holster. He lowered her to the ground, where they finished the chore of disrobing each other, and then the real delight started. Poe seemed to know she was inexperienced in this area, and despite the almost desperate work of getting her naked, he slowed down significantly once he got her there. But she wouldn’t have it. There was no time to waste; tomorrow wasn’t a guarantee. “Poe, please! Now!”

He obliged.

SUNRISE

Rey didn’t want to open her eyes this time. The dream, though strange, was not one she wanted to wake up from. She finally gave in and lay there, aroused and saddened, watching the sun come over the horizon.

She just didn’t understand these dreams. What did they mean, if they meant anything? Actual memories, distorted memories, total fantasies… they had no pattern. The only thing they had in common was Poe. She sat up, the ache of her body reminding her of the beating she had taken yesterday afternoon in the storm. She looked around, surprised that she didn’t see Sal anywhere nearby. Concern filled her, and she tried to ignore it. You should not be getting attached to this animal, she told herself. She opened her bag and grabbed a ration pack, remembering she hadn’t eaten the night before. Going without food for a day or two had been common during her time on Jakku, but her life since then had never included wondering where her next meal would come from. She had gained a healthy amount of weight after joining the Resistance; even her time on Ahch-To with Luke had included regular meals, thanks mostly to Chewie. She imagined she was losing a lot of that weight now.

Eventually, still looking around for her shadow, she headed out. Her sense in the Force had been leading her north for most of this journey, but today she felt it pulling her a little more west. She was aware there were more clouds today than the previous day, and the temperature didn’t feel as warm. They weren’t storm clouds, though, so Rey wasn’t too concerned, and even appreciated the lack of sun for however long she had it; her skin appreciated it, too.

She had not yet been walking for thirty minutes when she heard the sound of pounding hooves coming up from behind her. She couldn’t stop the grin when she turned to find Sal racing up to her. He swung his head around as he came up to her, emitting a low, rumbling growl, as if he was admonishing her for leaving without him. “Where were you?” she asked. He snorted and started walking along next to her.

Onward, they marched. The clouds soon began to thin out, and by afternoon the sun was back full force. At one point, Sal stopped and stared off toward the north. Rey, again listening to his instincts, stopped and looked, too, but saw nothing. She continued walking and Sal eventually followed. Then Rey heard a distant scream and Sal again stopped and stared. Whatever he saw had just made a noise Rey could hear. She stopped and looked again, and this time she noticed a cloud of dust on the horizon. She watched as the cloud got bigger and closer. She heard the scream again, louder this time. The cat, she wondered? She looked at Sal. He seemed concerned but not panicked. Rey looked toward a small rise to her left and she headed for it. As she hoped, there was a little creek on the other side. She turned back toward the cloud, hoping the small bank of the stream would offer her shelter if she needed it.

The cause of the dust soon became visible. A herd of animals, just like the one she had found dead the day before yesterday. But it wasn’t the herd that caught and held her attention, it was what they were running from.

“What the kriff is that?” she exclaimed. Sal snorted as he came over the rise and ran down the bank, jumping the creek and stopping to turn and watch with wide eyes. A huge bird-like creature was flying just above the small mob of grazing animals, chasing them. And huge was an understatement. The thing was as big as Sal, with a wingspan that extended almost as wide as an X-Wing fighter. While she watched, it reached down with massive feet and talons and grabbed up one of the racing beasts. It screamed, but the flying creature screamed even louder as its wings beat hard and lifted it upward, carrying the struggling animal away.

Rey breathed out a rush of air, only then realizing she had been holding her breath. She looked at Sal. He was probably a little too big to be considered a meal for that thing, but she wasn’t! Oh, the joy of discovering new and amazing and dangerous creatures on an unknown planet, she thought sarcastically. “Okay, so that’s something else we need to avoid,” she told Sal, who gave her a look as if to say, “Well, that’s obvious.”

Rey turned to step down the bank to the stream, intent on filling up on water while she was there, when her foot stepped on a loose stone and she lost her balance. Her ankle collapsed under her and she slid down the hill on her butt toward the water. Sal actually had the temerity to spook and spin away as she fell, but he came back. “Well, that was graceful,” she said to him, and pushed herself up, only to have that ankle collapse again with a wave of pain. “Ow!” she yelled. “Dosh!” she swore. She must have sprained her ankle. On a rock. She rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the situation.

She sat quietly and tried to focus on the area that hurt. She was a healer. This trait had come as natural to her as ‘talking’ to animals did to Temiri, and Leia had pushed her to perfect it when she had discovered what Rey could do. Rey sometimes wondered if Leia had known then how important that gift would be in the future. Despite her strength in healing others, Rey had never mastered the ability to mend herself very well. It was almost as if she couldn’t turn her own Force energy back into herself. She could ease pain, and she could speed up healing while she meditated, but the almost miraculous repair of skin, muscle, bone, and sinew that she could provide others was unattainable for herself. She tried anyway, hoping to at least keep the pain under control. The ability to walk and run was vital to her survival right now.

It was a long while before she finished her initial task of filling her water bottles and stood. The pain was bad, but bearable. At least it wasn’t broken, she thought. Sal had wandered off to graze and Rey wondered if maybe she should just make camp now, even though there was at least another three hours of sunlight left. It wouldn’t hurt to rest the ankle for as long as possible. But the urge to keep moving was strong. Was it the Force or her own stubbornness she was feeling? She carefully limped her way over the creek and up the other bank. She groaned as she knew she wasn’t going to get very far like this.

She found herself staring at Sal. He was the same size as an Orbak, she thought. People rode Orbaks. She looked at Sal’s back. It looked strong enough to carry a person three times her size. But would he let her ride him? He obviously liked her and trusted her and was even trying to take care of her, but would getting on his back be too much? Only one way to find out, she thought. “Sal?” she said, and he lifted his head from his grazing to look at her. “Can you do me a big favor?” She tried to imagine in her head what she wanted of him, sending it to him through the Force, hoping that her experience teaching Temiri, Fresco, and Ciarra, her animal-bonding students, helped her do this right.

He stared at her for a while, and she wasn’t really sure that what she was trying to tell him was even making a dent. Maybe she had too high of an estimation of his intelligence. But then he wandered over to her and stood next to her. She looked at his back, which she could barely see over, and was uncertain if she could get on him from the ground, especially with her ankle the way it was. She didn’t stop to think she was still ‘connected’ to the beast when she thought this, so when he moved past her and stepped back down the bank to stand in the creek, she was startled. He was lowering himself so she could get on, she realized. With more than a little trepidation, she moved close to him, sliding her right leg over his back and pulling herself on.

She sat there for a while, feeling his muscles tense a bit. She grabbed the bit of mane that was longer than the rest right at the base of his neck and said, “Okay.” He turned and lunged back up the bank. She almost slid right off and would have if she hadn’t been holding on to that bit of mane. Once on level ground again, he started walking off calmly, totally unconcerned he was being ridden by a human. And he was even going in the right direction, Rey thought with a smile.

******

“Dad?”

Poe called for his father as they entered the house. Rey and Shaina had just arrived on Yavin IV a couple of hours earlier, and Poe had been insistent that they visit his father’s farm right away. Rey looked around the house, pleased with its comfortable and homey feel. She wandered over to the mantle of the fireplace, drawn to the holos that sat there. Her eyes immediately found the one of a younger Poe in his New Republic uniform standing proudly next to an X-Wing.

“Dad?” she heard Poe call again. He turned and looked at his wife and child. “He knew you were coming today.” He shrugged.

Rey smiled at him. She had met Kes Dameron already at their wedding on Ajan Kloss almost a year and a half ago, but this was the first time she had been to the house Poe had grown up in. She looked at the mantle again, finding the holo of a beautiful black-haired woman with a very familiar grin. “Is this your mother?” she asked him, already knowing the answer.

Poe walked over to her, looking at the holo fondly. “Yeah,” he said softly.

“You look so much like your father,” Rey told him, “but I see her in you, too.”

Poe gave her a grin. “She would get a kick out of the fact that I married a Jedi,” he told her. “She would love you!” He took out his commlink. “Dad? Where are you?”

There was a pause. “Poe!” Kes Dameron replied. “Sorry. I had to run to the Corner for supplies,” he explained. The ‘Corner’ was Adorney’s Corner, the local market. “I’ll be there in 10!”

Poe shrugged. “Well, I wanted to show you something anyway,” he told Rey. He motioned with his head for her to follow him and headed toward the back of the house. Rey followed, bringing her hand up to let Shaina grab her finger. She carried the baby in a sling on the front of her chest. At only three months of age, Shaina was already far ahead of other human babies in her mental and physical development, and she was looking around, silent and curious, as if studying everything around her. Rey didn’t know if it was just a fluke of genetics or the Force at work in the child.

She followed Poe out the back door to an open area cleared of all natural vegetation except grass. At the back of the yard was a lone tree. Poe walked toward it, and as Rey followed and got closer, an amazing feeling came over her. The overall sense of well-being and completeness with the Force was so powerful it almost made her light-headed, and it was emanating from the tree. Poe stopped to look at her, his eyes bright, but he did not say a word. Rey walked up to the tree and put her hand on the bark. Shaina also reached forward, but her short little arm couldn’t quite reach, so Rey stepped closer until the baby could also touch the tree.

She looked at Poe with a stunned expression. “What is it?”

Poe smiled and tilted his head at her. “It’s called a Uneti Tree. It’s Force sensitive, but I can see that you and Shaina figured that out already.” He stepped closer to her and put his own hand on the tree. “The ‘parent’ of this tree used to grow in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant,” he told her. “The Emperor had it destroyed, of course, but for some reason he kept two cuttings, probably to study them later, I don’t know. My mom helped Luke Skywalker recover them after the war, and to thank her, he gave her one of the branches. She and Dad planted it here and this was the result.” He looked up at it fondly. “I grew up with this tree.”

Rey smiled at him. “What a wonderful way to grow up,” she told him.

Poe glanced back at the house. “You know, we’re gonna have to come back here, just the two of us, when Dad’s occupied elsewhere.”

Rey frowned. “Why?”

Poe’s smile was downright naughty. “Do you know how many times I’ve fantasized about making love to you under this tree?”

Rey couldn’t help but laugh. “Is there any place you haven’t fantasized about making love to me, Dameron?”

He thought a moment. “No. Not really.”

“There she is!” Kes Dameron’s voice called out from the house.

Poe leaned in toward his wife and whispered, “And we still haven’t gotten to the cockpit of my X-Wing, yet.”

Rey punched him lightly on the arm, then started walking toward her father-in-law, who was already focused on the baby.

“Oh, my!” Kes said as he met his granddaughter face to face for the first time. “She certainly got the Dameron hair, didn’t she?” he laughed.

Rey smiled at him and unbuckled the straps to release Shaina from the sling so her grandfather could pick her up. The baby had still been distracted by the tree, but when her grandfather took her, she immediately turned to him and smiled. Once more, Rey was filled with an overwhelming joy she couldn’t describe. Her family, she thought. She was here with her family. She was living a life she had only ever dreamed about, and she knew she would die before she ever willingly gave it up.

SUNRISE

It was a long time before Rey was able to continue on that morning, and it had nothing to do with her ankle. Her heart was breaking. All those years on Jakku, waiting, counting the days, finally finding all she had been waiting for with the Resistance, and now, not much more than three years later, it was all gone. And she was once again all alone. Maybe that’s how she was meant to be. Maybe this is what the Force wanted.

NO! She would not think that way! This last dream, a real memory of the day she had arrived on Yavin IV, was a reminder of what she had waiting for her when she got home! She had to believe that. She must not let hopelessness and depression pull her down. She started meditating, asking the Force outright to give her the mental strength she needed to carry on. Her mind drifted to her dream/memory. She and Poe had indeed been able to spend time under that tree alone, more than once. They still had not gotten to the X-Wing cockpit, though, even though Poe had twice made sure it was parked in a semi-isolated area of the landing field. Life had just gotten in the way. Rey made a promise to herself that when she got home, she would make that X-Wing tryst happen.

That last thought gave her the energy to get started. She had found more of the berries last night and had made camp there so she could eat them directly off the bush. She picked several more and stored them in her bag for later. Sal had been grazing off in the distance, but he came to her almost immediately when she got up and settled her bag over her shoulder. Her ankle was feeling much better, but her ride yesterday evening had made her realize how much more distance she could travel on Sal, and since he didn’t seem to mind at all, she mounted him again, able to hop up from the ground this time. “Let’s go,” she told him, and he did, carrying her west-northwest, just as her Force sense told her. She wasn’t sure if he was reading the direction from her, or if he was following the same urge she was, but she guessed it didn’t matter.

By mid-day, Rey started watching the sky again. More storm clouds were building, and she felt a brief moment of panic; her bruises from the hail storm two days ago were still fresh. However, the storm that built stayed toward their south. It was close enough she could hear the rumble of thunder, but the waves of rain and hail she saw coming down from the dark cloud did not reach them. Nor did the terrifying funnel that sprouted from the base of the storm at one point. Rey had never seen a cyclone like this before. Dust devils on Jakku could get fairly large and tended to hurt if you got caught up in one, but this was something much more powerful. The atmosphere around her felt explosive, and the clouds the storm emanated from had turned a weird greenish hue. She remembered Finn talking about encountering what he called a tornado on Dilonexa XXIII, back when he was still a young cadet in training. It had destroyed several homes and acres worth of crops, killing at least a half dozen people. This one looked like it could do that kind of damage and more, but it meandered on, moving southeast, away from them. Watching it caused her heart to race, but Sal never even seemed to look at it. She wondered what he would have done had it headed their way.

About an hour before sunset, Rey saw a major difference in the terrain ahead of them. Suddenly, there were canyons and cliffs and sandstone pillars in front of them instead of kilometer after kilometer of open grassland. She halted Sal and decided to make camp for the night now rather than try and traverse the rocky terrain in the oncoming dusk. The storm from earlier had long since moved on and she saw no more lightning in the vicinity; she had been fortunate one of those storms hadn’t come upon her while she was sleeping. She finished the berries she had collected that morning and settled down for the night, watching her fire flicker and listening to the sound of Sal grazing.

And she wondered what she would dream about this time.

******

Another day. Another ration pack. Or two. Rey’s haul that day hadn’t been big, but it would be enough for a meal, however small. She stopped her speeder just outside the limits of Niima Outpost, the sun low in the sky, and carried her load to the cleaning station. As she did so, she noticed three unique shapes off to the south, where visiting ships usually landed. She stopped and stared. X-Wings?

She had seen X-Wing fighters before, on the rare occasion some mercenary or outrider who happened to have one stopped on Jakku. However, it was obvious those models were old junkers, damaged during battle and disposed of by their owners as not being worth the money to fix, and then being taken on by someone who had the time to repair them enough to be travel worthy if not battle ready. These three ships were far from junkers. Sleek, well-cared for, and ready for combat, they had no insignia on them to identify who they belonged to, but there was only one group in the galaxy that used X-Wings effectively these days: The Resistance. Two of the ships were steel grey with blue and red marks on them to individualize them. The third was painted a very distinctive black with orange marks.

Rey continued on to the cleaning station. While she hadn’t found much in today’s scavenging, what she had was unique enough to warrant decent ‘pay,’ and after cleaning the old compressor engine, she was pleased to have earned one full portion for it. Putting the ration packs in her bag, she headed for her speeder, but a small group of humans caught her eye. There were three of them, and though they were dressed casually, she knew immediately they were the pilots of the three X-Wings she had seen. They stood out like a sore thumb amongst the rag-tag throng of Niima.

There were two men and one woman. The woman was young, less than a decade older than Rey herself, and though she was attractive, Rey recognized a hardness in the woman’s attitude; she was no pushover. Which made sense, since flying an X-Wing was not for the faint of heart. The man she was talking to was older, a bit thick around the middle, with a beard and a jovial expression. He did not look like a fighter pilot at first glance, but the way he looked about him with wariness spoke of someone who had been there and done that in his lifetime.

The third member of the group, who was talking to one of the merchants, was probably a bit younger than the other male pilot, shorter but fit, and his demeanor spoke of confidence and leadership. Something told her the black X-Wing belonged to this man. As she watched, the vendor said something that apparently amused the pilot and he laughed. Something inside Rey clenched, and she was immediately confused. Why did this stranger affect her this way? Suddenly, she realized the dealer was pointing at her, and all three pilots turned to look at her.

Panicked, Rey turned and started walking away, trying to be casual about it. She had no clue what they wanted with her or why the merchant had pointed her out to them; she had never had dealings with the man. She turned her head a bit and was dismayed to see the woman and the bearded man following her in her peripheral. They seemed to be in no rush, but their focus was undeniably on her. She was so intent on them she didn’t see the third pilot until she almost ran smack into him. Somehow, he had gotten in front of her and was now blocking her way.

He gave her a disarming smile, his brown eyes warm. “Hey, it’s okay,” he told her. “We just want to ask you a question.” When she stopped and gave him a brief nod, he held out his hand. “I’m Poe,” he told her. “Poe Dameron.”

She looked down at his hand and then back up at him, taking it cautiously. People rarely shook hands here on Jakku. His hand was warm and callused, and his touch was comforting. She bit her lip and pulled her hand back, more than a little confused by her reaction.

She saw his gaze drop to her lips, then he looked up and behind her, motioning to his companions. “This is Snap and Jess,” he told her.

Rey glanced back at them as they nodded, then she faced Dameron again. “Rey,” she said softly.

“I know.”

For some reason, his simple response made her heart beat harder and faster. Why did he seem so familiar? And why was she acting this way around him? Plenty of hot-shot pilots had come and gone from Niima outpost, and several of them had been handsome as sin. None had affected her like this man.

“We’re here looking for pilots to recruit into the Resistance,” he continued. “More than one person pointed out you as the best pilot in Niima, maybe even all of Jakku.” The corner of his mouth tilted up. “Do you have any interest in learning to fly combat spacecraft?”

Rey was stunned. Who had told him she was a pilot? It wasn’t something she broadcasted, and she sure as heck never thought anyone in Niima cared anyway. “Fly combat? Like an X-Wing?” she asked.

“Yep,” Dameron said with a smile. “X-Wings. A-Wings. Bombers. Whatever your talents fit with best.”

Rey was starting to get excited. To be able to travel around the galaxy and fly those amazing ships would be a dream come true. “That would be wonderful!” she exclaimed, but then reality hit her.

Poe had grinned at her reaction, but when her face fell, his did too. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

She blinked and looked at him. “I’m flattered by your offer, but I… I can’t leave Jakku.”

“Seriously?” he said, his expression disbelieving. “Why can’t you leave this dustball?”

Rey hesitated. How to explain something she had a hard time explaining to herself? “I’m waiting for someone,” she said, keeping it simple.

Poe looked disconcerted. “That’s too bad,” he told her. “We really need good pilots.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Whoever you’re waiting for is very fortunate to have someone so loyal on their side.”

Rey felt her face heat.

He held out his hand again and she took hold of it more willingly this time. “If you change your mind,” he told her softly, “look me up.” He held onto her hand much longer than a simple handshake warranted, and she didn’t mind at all. With a sad nod, he let her go and turned away. Rey was barely aware of the other two pilots passing her and following him. Slowly, she made her way out of town and toward her speeder. She had mounted it and was getting ready to start it when the roar of engines caught her attention. She looked up to see the three X-Wings lifting off and heading upward toward space. She watched them until they disappeared in the dusky sky, then put her head down on the steering column and cried.

SUNRISE

“Take the offer, stupid! Let him show you how to really fly! In more ways than one!” Rey wished she could have yelled at her dream self. She hadn’t liked the ending at all. She much preferred the dreams that ended in her and Poe making love. She sighed as she sat up, wondering what this day would bring now that the night and her weird dreams were done.

She took out a ration pack. Only two more left after this one was gone, she thought. She needed to start hunting. She had seen several small rodent-like creatures throughout her journey, but how to catch and kill one? She did not have a blaster; she had been going to a peaceful meeting on Naboo and had no need of such a weapon. Her lightsaber, a symbol of the Jedi, was always with her, but she couldn’t see how to use it to kill a small rodent that ran as fast as these guys did. She sighed. She would figure it out.

As the sun rose higher, she and Sal headed into the strange new area, Rey on foot next to him. At first, she was worried that Sal would have no grass to graze on here, but it wasn’t long before she realized there were still pockets of prairie here and there, and Sal seemed fairly comfortable with what grass he could find there. Eventually, she mounted him again, assured he could handle the rocky surfaces on his nimble hooves. It seemed hotter in this area, probably because the surrounding rock seemed to absorb the sunlight and heated the ground more than it had the grassy surface on the plains. She also began to worry they wouldn’t run into any of the little streams that were so common on those plains.

When the sun had reached its highest point, Rey though she heard a ship, just like the one she had seen a few days earlier. She searched the skies, but the sun was blindingly bright and it was almost impossible to see anything. She dismounted and sent Sal off to graze; if he was seen, he wouldn’t be suspect, and she could hide much easier by herself. She heard an engine whine, and she followed the sound toward a small canyon. Carefully, she climbed up the rocky wall to look down on the ravine. She ducked down immediately when she realized there was a Theta-class T-2c Imperial shuttle parked right beneath her. Damn. She knew it had been Imperial when she heard it before.

She peeked over the edge again as she heard angry voices. A man in civilian clothing was arguing with two other men in old Imperial uniforms, with four stormtroopers in classic armor standing watch. It was like watching a holo-movie, she thought, one that took place 35 years ago. This wasn’t the First Order. These guys were hard core Imperial Army.

Suddenly, she realized she recognized the man in the civilian clothing. Waitley Calandra. She had just met him on Naboo. He was the aide to the Senator from Chandrila, Jorini Ketterly. Ketterly had been one of the few people Rey had met on Naboo that she had taken an immediate disliking to, but she couldn’t have told anyone why if asked. She focused her Force energy toward her sense of hearing so she could find out what exactly her aid and the Imps were arguing about.

“I can’t understand why she hasn’t been found, yet!” Calandra was saying.

“Do you not understand that our resources are limited and that this is big planet?” The Imperial Lieutenant was obviously being sarcastic. Rey didn’t know that was possible.

“A planet devoid of human life!” Calandra shouted. “She should be easy to find, being the only human.”

The officer just stared at him, then shook his head and looked at his companion. “Halpern? Did we ever get those human-only sensors we ordered last week?”

The Ensign looked a bit discomfited. “Uh, not that I know of, sir.”

“Well, darn,” the Lieutenant groused. “Looks like we’re SOL, Mr. Calandra.”

Rey had to admit, she kinda liked this guy. Too bad he chose the wrong side.

Calandra fumed. “Ketterly will know your name, Lieutenant,” he growled.

“She already does, Mr. Calandra,” the Imp replied with a smirk. “She’s even screamed it a couple of times.”

Rey bit her lip to keep from laughing at Calandra’s expression, but she soon sobered and pulled herself back down into a crouch behind the rocky hill. While the argument had been entertaining, it also told her something she really didn’t like. This whole ‘adventure’ had been a set up. Her shuttle had obviously been sabotaged by Imperial spies on Naboo and had ‘broken down’ at this specific planet in the middle of nowhere, and those TIEs had been waiting to destroy it. And Senator Ketterly, who represented the same planet that the famous leader of the Rebel Alliance, Mon Mothma, had come from, had instigated it all.

The new Republic government had just gotten started, again, and it already had Imperial spies.

Rey decided to slip back down the way she had come and go around. She had done a good job so far of avoiding detection, so she might as well keep on moving. No sense in confirming she was still alive and kicking. That thought sobered her. If they were seriously looking for her, that meant they had found the wreck of her shuttle. And Stevie’s body.

“What is that?!” she heard suddenly from over the rise. She straightened up and peeked over again, her eyes widening when she saw Sal wander into the ravine. “Oh, no,” she whispered.

“It’s just a native grazer. A dumb animal,” the Imp was saying. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Well keep it away from the ship,” Calandra said.

“It’s not going to do the ship any harm,” the Lieutenant told him with exasperation.

Calandra just glared at him, pulled his blaster, and headed for Sal.

“No!” Rey thought, directing her energy to Sal. “Sal! Run! He means to hurt you!”

Sal turned his head to look in her direction, then turned wide eyes toward the man coming toward him. The stormtroopers were watching with interest; Force knew they would be happy to shoot at anything that moved, too. Sal finally turned and started running, but Calandra lifted his blaster and aimed.

“Stop!” Rey shouted, jumping out from her hiding place. They all turned startled eyes toward her. “I’m the one you want! Right?” She spread out her hands, enjoying the look of pure shock on the faces of the men. The non-helmeted ones, anyway.

“Shoot her!” Calandra was almost frothing at the mouth.

The stormtroopers immediately took aim and fired. Rey’s lightsaber flew from her belt into her hand already activated and she blocked them in quick succession. Two troopers immediately went down from their own deflected bolts. She saw the smart-ass Lieutenant and the Ensign run for the ship while the two troopers left continued firing like the good, brain-washed soldiers they were. Calandra seemed to realize he was being left behind, but the firing troopers were between him and the ship.

Rey continued blocking the bolts sent her way, carefully making her way down the short, steep hill to the ravine, finally taking out the last two troopers as the shuttle engines roared. As Calandra screamed at the ship, another figure appeared off to Rey’s right. She looked over to see one of the giant cats she had run into before. It was watching the ship and Calandra with a combination of fear and anger. As the shuttle lifted off the ground, Calandra running after it, she decided to test her newfound ‘dumb animal’ communication skills. Using the Force, she learned the cat was a female who had nursing young in a cave nearby and was getting quite fed up with all the commotion out here. Rey casually coaxed the cat into believing her kittens needed some fresh meat and that Calandra looked very tasty, then she redirected the Force to pull the blaster out of Calandra’s hand. She watched as the cat began to stalk the now weaponless man, whose shocked eyes were going back and forth between her and the creature. Rey turned and walked away. When the screams came, she felt no satisfaction, but she did feel that justice had been served.

The Imps would be back, she knew, but not until they reevaluated the situation. She found Sal just around the corner of one of the sandstone pillars, his eyes still wide as he listened to the commotion in the ravine; Calandra’s screams had stopped, but the cat was still shrieking. She put her hand on his neck. “Don’t do stupid shit like that again, okay?” He almost looked embarrassed. With a soft smile, she put the blaster she had stolen from Calandra in her bag, then moved around to hop on Sal’s back, but once there, she just sat.

She had no idea where to go. Her Force sense was not telling her anything. And the fact that Sal just stood there indicated he did not have a clue, either. The Force had led her here. For this. To learn the how and the who. But what difference did it make if she couldn’t tell anyone? If she couldn’t warn the senate and Chancellor Berreth of the spy? And where did she go now?

Devoid. Calandra had said the planet was devoid of human life. That didn’t mean there weren’t other sentient species. Imperials (and their successors the First Order) had been notoriously Human-biased, considering other species inferior. So, Rey wasn’t about to give up on finding help, yet.

“Okay, Sal,” she said softly to her friend. “It looks like it’s just us, now.” She looked off to her right. “Let’s head east this time. We haven’t gone east, yet.”

Sal obediently turned and headed east.

******

Rey could not believe she had agreed to this. She and Poe had been invited by the Queen herself to this shindig, and Poe had told her it would have been an insult to refuse, but Rey really wished they could have found a reason not to be here. It didn’t help that Poe had a private conference with the leader of the Republic Navy right beforehand, so he was meeting her here; she would have felt a bit more comfortable if he had been with her when she got here. As it was, she was standing off by herself watching the dozens of strangers milling around her, eating, drinking, dancing, and socializing, all of them dressed to the 9’s.

Rey shifted her weight from one foot to the other, wishing she had worn her Jedi robes rather than the dress Poe had picked out for her. He had assured her she would look wonderful in it, but had told her he wouldn’t mind if she chose to wear the robes. Wanting to dress up for him, something she rarely did, she had chosen the dress and was now regretting it. She felt almost naked, even though the dress was far from immodest. It was a lovely indigo color, made from some soft, slinky material that shined under the lights. It was held up by thin straps, and hugged her lithe frame from chest to hip where it flared out in a full skirt that ended just below her knees. She had worn simple flat sandals (no heels for her; she hated wearing them, though she had to admit they had landed her a husband) and a small amount of makeup on her eyes and lips. Her hair was loose, also something she rarely did in public. The dress had come with a lovely shawl that she had tied around her waist, just so she could keep her lightsaber unseen on her hip.

The only good thing about the get-up was the fact that nobody seemed to recognize her. She looked nothing like the Jedi Skywalker that had spoken at the conference she and Poe were here to attend. While she was happy she had not been recognized, this also meant more attention from people who were seeing her just as she looked. She was being ogled by strangers of all species and genders, but mostly human men, and it made her extremely uncomfortable. One young man was actually making his way toward her now, an earnest smile on his face, and she knew he was going to ask her to dance.

Her Force sense jumped to attention at that moment, and she breathed a sigh of relief. The young man reached her, and she thought he actually looked rather sweet and very sincere. “I don’t mean to bother you,” he said quietly. “You are looking rather lonely and I wondered if you might like to dance?”

Taking a deep breath, she gave him as polite a smile as she could muster. “Thank you, but no. My date just arrived.” She looked at the door just as Poe Dameron walked in. She felt her breath catch. Damn, but he did look fine in uniform. His eyes searched the room and quickly found her. His smile appeared immediately and he headed her way through the crowd.

Rey was barely aware of the young man next to her recognizing the man walking toward them and realizing just who she was. He stuttered an apology and moved away quickly. She saw Poe give him a glance, then he focused on her again, his gaze sweeping the length of her body and appreciation filling his eyes. “Damn,” he whispered when he got to her. “You look incredible.” Suddenly, Rey was glad she hadn’t worn her robes after all.

“You owe me, big time, Dameron,” she replied, remembering how uncomfortable she had been before his arrival.

“I’ll make it up to you when we get back to our room,” he said in a low voice that sent heat shooting through her. He reached out and touched the shawl around her waist, his hand finding the shape of her lightsaber underneath. “Just can’t be without, huh?”

“Did you expect otherwise?” she asked him, moving into his space. She could feel more eyes on her now than when she had been alone; people recognized her now that she was with her husband.

Poe shook his head. “Nope,” he told her. “I think I’d worry something was really wrong if you didn’t have it.” He glanced around the room, noticing all the stares. “Let’s dance. Then we’ll have something to eat, say ‘hi’ to the Queen, and get the hell out of here.”

Rey liked most of that idea. “You know I don’t dance,” she told him.

“You never watch yourself with that lightsaber, do you?” he responded. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. “Just hang on to me and move with the rhythm; it’s not a waltz.”

She did, and wondered why they hadn’t done this more often. Rey loved music, and she especially loved listening to her husband perform, but she had never realized how lovely it felt to be in his arms and move to that music she enjoyed. “This is nice,” she told him honestly. “We should do this more often.” She gave him a flirtatious smile. “In private.”

“Noted,” Poe said simply. The look he was giving her was a combination of amusement and desire; it was a common expression for him, and she loved it. It spoke of both the passion and the playfulness that defined their sexual relationship, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

SUNRISE

Rey was smiling when her eyes opened to the sun that morning. Another fantasy, she thought. They had never gone to a party on Naboo together. In fact, they had never been to Naboo together; every trip they had made for official reasons had been separate. Maybe this was another preview of what was to come. If so, she would make sure to tough it out and wear the dress. It was pretty, and the thought of Poe removing it later thrilled her.

She sat up and began to mediate first thing, testing to see if the Force wanted her to go anywhere specific today. While she felt it all around her, in the animals and the plants and even the earth beneath her, it was telling her nothing. It was all up to her again. She pulled out her last ration pack, wondering if she should just keep camp here for a while and work on hunting. The tiny spring she had camped next to would inevitably draw animals to it. She could set up a snare of some kind. In the meantime, she could simply ride around the area and look for other food, coming back here by the end of the day; she had a blaster, now, if she needed it. This idea appealed to her, and when she was done eating, she rose to search for her companion, who she guessed was grazing behind the rocks she camped next to.

As she climbed up onto one of the many buttes surrounding her campsite, she searched for Sal. She couldn’t see him, but she knew with the terrain the way it was, he could be only feet from her and she wouldn’t see him. So, she opened up to the Force and searched that way; she knew his presence in it well, now. She found him easily and knew he was quite a distance from her, so she gently asked him to come. His willing response made her smile, and she climbed back down to start setting up a simple snare using some of the whipcord she always carried and some of the wire from the raft’s engine. She was attaching it to one of the scrub bushes when Sal trotted into camp. He acknowledged her, then went to the spring to drink. Rey looked over her design, hoping it would work, as she had never done this before. She decided she wouldn’t ride too far so as to not be gone too long in case the snare didn’t kill right away; she dreaded making anything suffer.

She turned to Sal and hopped on, directing him out of the camp area and back into the rather desolate but beautiful land she was trying to learn to live with. She was finding out that Sal responded to her legs and body weight while she rode him, allowing her to direct him without having to constantly tap into the Force. It was almost as if he was becoming an extension of her own body, as she learned which movements cued him to do what she wanted without hardly any thought. They circumnavigated the area, carefully avoiding the many steep cliffs and drop offs. When the sun was at its highest, she headed back to the camp. Immediately, she saw her snare trap had been sprung, but whatever it had caught had gotten away, leaving only a bit of fur behind. As frustrating as it was, she hadn’t really expected to be successful on her first attempt.

A loud, familiar screaming suddenly sounded off to her right and above her. She looked up to see one of the giant birds that she had watched hunt a few days ago. It was circling them, watching her intently. Sal started to snort and dance, and she wondered how safe she was from the thing. She couldn’t imagine it would attack Sal, but then this bird seemed to be larger than the one she had seen before.

Everything in Sal’s demeanor told her he wanted to run, and when the bird dived at them, she decided she was going to trust his instincts and let him. She hung on tight to the little scrap of mane he had and gripped him with her legs. She had never gone faster than a slow trot since she had started riding him and she didn’t know how easy it would be to stay on while he was going fast. She found his gallop was smooth, although the jumps he had to perform over some of the rocks and ditches in his way made it more than a little difficult to stay on. It was exhilarating, but she had no time to enjoy it, as the bird followed, diving at them. She brought out her saber and slashed it upwards, but the bird was smart and after the first fiery touch it knew to avoid the saber.

Rey tried to focus on the Force to communicate with the avian, but it was hard to concentrate and stay on Sal, who had to be running at speeds of close to 55 KPH. The bird made a grab for both of them as Rey struggled to find her balance after a harsh jump, and the huge talon swept over Sal’s neck and her leg, almost pulling her off her mount. Sal screamed as the slash left his neck bleeding. The bird’s other foot found her and grabbed her, the talons closing in on her as the foot squeezed, one of them raking against Sal’s back. The bird lifted upward, carrying Rey with it. She saw a bloody Sal continue racing in fear, the whites of his eyes visible as he watched her taken away from him.

Rey struggled in the bird’s grip, feeling as if the breath was slowly being squeezed out of her. She was going to suffocate before she was let go, she knew. She had to do something drastic, even if it meant falling. The higher the bird got, the more likely she would die in the fall. She activated her lightsaber and immediately stabbed upward with it. There was no way she was getting out of this situation without killing it. She felt the bird’s death almost instantly. The grip holding her loosened, but did not let her go as the big body started falling from the sky. She attached the saber to her belt quickly so as to not lose it, then used both hands and whatever strength she could glean from the Force to pry herself loose. She realized they were over one of the canyons and there was not really any good place to land, but she also knew the bird would crash hard into the rock wall and she didn’t want to be with it when that happened, so she let go.

The Force helped her control the fall somewhat, but her fear and adrenaline were high, and her concentration off, so she landed much harder than she had hoped and felt a sharp jab of pain in her left leg. She skidded along the rock and began to roll off the cliff she had been aiming for. She stopped herself with her left arm and leg, but then screamed in agony when the leg she was using barely held her. The pain was low on her leg, so she gripped with her knee and thigh, pulling herself back onto the cliff. She pushed herself up and scooted back against the wall, breathing hard and trying to determine how badly she was hurt. She closed her eyes and searched, finding the source of the torturous pain almost immediately. Her tibia had snapped on impact.

After catching her breath, she looked about her. The cliff edge she was on was wide, but it was at least 100 meters from the floor of the canyon, and there was a rock wall behind her, telling her she was on an outcropping of the canyon wall, not on the canyon rim. She scooted out and looked up, dismayed to see the rim was a good 20 meters above her. How was she supposed to climb up the wall with a broken leg? She felt panic start to build. The sprain on her right ankle earlier had been simple, and had healed moderately well thanks to her being able to ride Sal. This was much different.

Sal. Oh, kriff, she hoped he was okay. At least the bird was dead, so Rey knew it couldn’t go after her friend anymore, but he had been bleeding heavily from his wounds when she last saw him. Even if they were not lethal, the smell of blood would inevitably bring other predators to him. She felt tears start to build and she pushed them away. No. You can fix this, she told herself. You are a Jedi, a powerful one. Everyone that knows anything about the Force has always told you that. Use it.

She opened her sling bag, grateful she had had it over her head and shoulder as usual so that it stayed on her person during the fall. She took a long drink of water and then searched the pack for anything she could use. Nothing. The bandage material she had was for soft wounds, not broken bones and she didn’t want to take any painkillers, as she couldn’t imagine they would help at all as soon as she put weight on that leg. Even the leftover whipcord was useless, because there was no way to secure it to the wall for climbing.

She sat back against the wall and started to meditate. She knew it probably wouldn’t do her any good to try and heal the bone herself, but she had to give it a shot. She brought her hand down to her leg. It was already bruising badly, and she could feel the unevenness of the bone, which, thank the Force, had not gone through the skin. She focused. She felt the energy flow. She felt the Force fill her, as strong as she had ever felt it. She felt the pain ease and the blood flow increase in the area of her injury. She became aware of her other injuries: the laceration from the talon on her other leg, the bruises and swollen areas from her struggle with the bird and her fall, the scrapes on her face and arms from sliding along the rocks. But no matter how hard she concentrated they wouldn’t heal. Even the slightest of scrapes remained.

Rey didn’t know how long she tried, but it was absolute exhaustion that made her quit. Only then did she let the tears flow.

She kept her eyes closed, trying to imagine Poe’s face. She tried to hear her daughter’s laughter. She tried to envision Finn with the lightsaber she knew he was ready to make. She tried to touch the Others, who had helped her before, but she knew the odds of them coming to her aid were slim. The fate of the galaxy was not at stake. It was just her.

Just Rey.

“You have never been ‘just Rey’,” a deep voice said next to her.

Rey recognized it immediately, but she refused to open her eyes. “If you’re just a dream, go away.”

“And what if I’m not a dream?” Ben Solo asked softly.

Rey took a deep breath and opened her eyes, turning her head to look at the man sitting next to her, his legs crossed as if he had just sat down to chat with a friend. He had a small smile on his face, and his eyes were the gentle brown that reminded her so much of his mother. “You’re here?” she whispered.

He nodded. “I’m here.”

Rey wiped the tears from her face. “I can’t do it, Ben,” she told him. “I can’t go on anymore.”

“That’s why I’m here,” he told her. “The Others could feel you giving up hope. They thought it best that I be the one to give you some.”

“How?” Rey said despondently. “There really has been no hope this whole time. I’ve just been making it up as I went along.”

“That’s not true,” Ben argued. “As long as there’s life, there’s hope.”

“You sound like Poe,” she said, her voice catching.

“Good,” he said firmly. “Then maybe you’ll listen to me.”

She shook her head. “He’d tell you I never listen to him.”

Ben smiled at her words, and she realized with a start that she was actually arguing with him. And it felt good. She took a deep breath. “What do you suggest I do, then?”

“What do you need to do?”

She shifted her weight, trying not to move her leg. “I need to climb up off this cliff.”

“You can climb anything,” Ben said.

“Not with a broken leg,” she told him.

“So, fix it. Hell, you fixed me.”

“I tried,” Rey told him, frustrated. “I can’t use that power on myself. Somehow I think you know all this!”

“Then let me help,” he said patiently.

Rey stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“Dyad, remember,” Ben said with another small smile. “Great power and all that.”

“But, you’re…”

“Dead?” He shrugged. “That hasn’t seemed to weaken the bond,” he told her. “I’m here, after all. Not a dream, this time.” He cocked his head, and she was suddenly reminded of his father. After a moment, he offered her his hand.

Tentatively, she took it. Shock filled her when she felt warm skin under her fingers and palm. How was she able to physically touch him? “Ben?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. And I don’t ask.” He nodded at her. “Now, focus. Let’s do this.”

Rey saw him close his eyes and she followed suit. She felt the Force surround her and she shivered knowing that it wasn’t just her power that she was feeling. She felt her body leave the ground and briefly wondered if she could just levitate to the canyon rim.

“One thing at a time, Rey,” Ben said, humor lacing his voice.

She smiled and focused on her injuries. Ben was already there, focusing on her broken leg first. She ‘met’ him and soon felt her leg tingle as the bone slid back into place and began knitting itself together. After that, the laceration on her leg healed. Then the scrapes on her face, knuckles and arms. The bruising disappeared and the swellings went down to nothing. Even her right ankle and her head, both still tender from their respective injuries, healed completely.

Letting her breath out in a rush, Rey settled back to the earth. She felt Ben let go of her hand and she opened her eyes, looking at him with wonder.

He stood suddenly. “Now, I think you can manage the rest on your own.”

She jumped up, amazed at the lack of pain in her so recently abused body. “You’re leaving?” She felt panic at the idea of being alone again.

Ben looked up the cliff face. “You need more help?” he asked.

Rey glanced up the wall. “Not with that,” she told him. There were more than enough rough edges and divots in the rock to help her climb. “But what happens when I get up there? Do I just keep…” her voice broke and she swallowed. “I still have no way to get home.”

“But you do,” he told her. “You just don’t understand, yet.” He stepped back. “Here’s the deal. You get up there and I’ll show you what you need to do from there.” With that, his image faded and disappeared.

Rey stood there, confused for a moment. Was he gone or was he really coming back? Only one way to find out. She licked her lips, resettled her bag, turned to the wall, and started climbing. Within minutes, she was on the canyon rim. She pulled herself over the edge and clambered up to her feet, dusting herself off. She heard a noise off to her right and reached for her lightsaber, but instantly stopped the movement when she recognized Sal’s presence. He was galloping toward her, swinging his head and growling in consternation.

“Sal!” she cried and ran to meet him. He must have followed the bird as long as he could and had been looking for her. He came up to her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He ducked his head down, squeezing her body between his head and chest, hugging her back. She laughed, but then pulled back, her eyes taking note of the jagged laceration on his back and then coming around his other side to look at the one on his neck. His bleeding had stopped, but they were deep and were bound to get infected. Taking a deep breath, she put her hand next to the wound on his neck and closed her eyes. The Force didn’t disappoint, and soon both wounds were healed. Sal nuzzled her as if he was thanking her.

“You are amazing,” Ben said from behind her.

She quickly turned to face him. Sal also stared at him, and Rey looked back and forth between them. “He can see you,” she said with wonder.

“Triss are very Force sensitive. That’s why he attached himself to you so strongly.” He stepped toward them. “I really am not supposed to be here anymore, but I know you won’t believe you can do this by yourself, and I think you’ve been through enough.”

“Thank you? I think,” Rey said a bit sarcastically. “Do what by myself?”

“Contact home.”

Rey frowned. “I’ve tried that, too, Ben. Often. I can’t connect with anyone through the Force.”

“Rey, you’ve been connected to someone through the Force this whole time,” he told her. “You just haven’t figured that out, yet. Probably because you don’t think it’s possible with this person.”

“What do you mean?” Rey was searching her memory, trying to think of anyone she had connected with, however little, in the past few days. “The only person I’ve even had consistent thoughts about is…” She looked up at Ben, startled. “Poe?”

Ben smiled and nodded.

“But, how?” she breathed. “He’s not even…”

“Force sensitive?” Ben asked. “He may not be able to use the Force, but he can feel it. He always has. And his connection to you has only increased that sense.” He held out both of his hands toward her. “I’ll help you complete that connection,” he told her. “Eventually, you’ll be able to do it on your own.”

Rey stepped toward him, taking his hands without hesitation. He gave them a squeeze, then he let go to move behind her, holding on to her shoulders with a firm grip. “Focus,” he said. She felt the Force like a living, breathing thing flow around her, and she opened herself to it completely.

“Find him,” she heard Ben whisper.

It wasn’t hard. It was as if her soul was already pinpointed in his direction. She found the Organa, the brand-new MC-85 Star Cruiser that the Resistance had acquired last year. It was now their flag ship, named after their founder, and it was only a few star systems away. She felt herself in the main stateroom aboard the Organa, and she saw the man sitting at the desk in the room, his head in his hands, exhaustion emanating from every part of his body. He lifted his head as if he heard her. Several days growth of grey-streaked beard graced his fatigued face, and his eyes were red-rimmed and had dark circles underneath. His uniform was wrinkled, the jacket thrown across the back of the chair he was sitting in. His eyes searched the room. “Rey?”

“Poe?” she gasped. Had he even slept since she disappeared?

He stood up suddenly from his chair. “Rey?” he shouted this time.

“Poe, I’m on a planet in the Drackenwell System,” she told him in a rush. “Stevie is dead,” she continued as she saw him come around the desk, his eyes still searching. Suddenly, they focused on her. “An Imperial faction is responsible, so be careful coming into the system. I don’t know what kind of ship may be in orbit.”

He was looking at her now, joy lighting his face. “You’re okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “Hungry and tired,” she told him. “Ready to come home.”

“Drackenwell System,” he repeated. “That’s not far.” He looked past her and she thought for a moment he might be looking at someone coming in the door of the stateroom, but his brow furrowed a bit in confusion, then his gaze settled on her again.

Rey could feel the connection waver. She was losing it. “Find me, Poe!”

“I’m coming, Mesh’la,” she heard him say as he faded from her view.

She opened her eyes to blue sky and a hot wind. She turned to face Ben. “He saw you, didn’t he?”

Ben nodded. “He’s much stronger than you give him credit for,” he said. “He’ll never be a Jedi, but I don’t think either of you would want him to be.”

Rey continued to stare at him. “I felt something else, too,” she told him. The corner of his mouth turned up, as if he knew what she was talking about. “At first, I thought it was Shaina, but I know Poe would have never brought her with him on a mission like this. I’m sure she’s with her grandfather.” She took a step back. “Besides, this was different.”

His smile increased and his eyebrows rose as if challenging her to finish her thought.

It hit her, then. “A baby?”

He smiled. “One tough baby, to have gotten through this.”

Rey took a deep breath, focusing now on one area of her body in particular. “A boy. Skyler,” she grinned.

“You have a name already?” Ben said with a laugh.

“Poe did,” she said fondly. Then she frowned at Ben. “Why is it your family has to notify me of when I’m pregnant?” It was Leia’s Force ghost that made Rey aware of her pregnancy with Shaina.

Ben laughed again. “I’m just glad you took my suggestion to have children to heart,” he told her.

Rey suddenly became shy. “I told Poe I want a ship full.”

“And what did he say to that?”

“He agreed on one condition,” she paused. “Every one needs to be born on a different planet.”

Ben grinned. “Well, I don’t think that will be too much of a challenge.” He sobered. “You’re fine, now, Rey. In a few hours, you’ll be heading home.” He stepped toward her, gently grabbing her shoulders, then leaned down and kissed her softly on the forehead. She knew he would have done more, but would not out of respect for the man she had chosen as her mate. “Take care of each other,” he told her softly, backing away. “And never forget you’re not alone. May the Force be with you.” With that, Ben Solo disappeared.

******

It wasn’t even sunset when her commlink started emitting static. Sal looked at her curiously as she snatched it out of her bag.

“Rey? Do you copy?” It was Finn’s voice.

“Finn!” she answered. “I’m here!”

“Damn, it’s good to hear your voice,” he replied, with joy. “Turn on your transponder so we can locate you!”

She did as he requested, but knowing the transponder only worked at limited distances, she asked, “Are you sure you’re at the right planet?”

“There’s only one in this system that has oxygen, Rey,” he informed her. “You got lucky.”

She grinned. “Luck has nothing to do with it,” she told him.

“Yeah, yeah,” he quipped.

“Hey, Finn,” she added.

“Yeah?”

“You’re in a shuttle, right? Not a transport pod?”

“Yeah, we’re in a shuttle. Why?”

“I’m bringing back something rather large,” she told him. “I just wanted to make sure you had room.” She smiled at Sal, who was still watching her.

“How large?” It was Poe who responded. He must be flying the shuttle, she thought.

“Smaller than a Fathier,” she said.

There was a long pause. “Is this thing gonna poop on my ship?” Poe groused.

“Probably,” Rey said with a laugh.

“Why are you guys always bringing strays home?” she heard him ask, and she knew he was including Finn in the question.

At that moment, she heard the shuttle engine and looked up to see it descending toward her. Sal also heard and saw it and began to get nervous. His experience with flying things had not been very good these past couple of days. She put a hand on his neck. “It’s okay,” she told him. “This is our ride.”

She waited as it touched down, then stood still for a while longer until the side ramp dropped. She started forward, her body already shaking with emotion, as she saw her husband rush down the ramp. Then his arms were around her and she let the tears come. “It’s okay, baby,” he whispered, his voice rough. “I’ve got you.” She burrowed her face into his neck, breathing him in.

Eventually, she felt in control again. She took a deep breath and stepped back. Poe released her, but she could tell he didn’t want to. “The Imperials?” she asked.

“There was a Carrack-class light cruiser in orbit, but he high-tailed it out of here when we dropped out of hyperspace,” he told her.

“Senator Ketterly,” Rey said. “She’s the one responsible. Her aide was here with some others in a shuttle. The officers got away, but he didn’t.”

“They were after you specifically?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “They must have sabotaged the shuttle while we were on Naboo. The hyperdrive just died, then four TIES attacked us and the ship went down. Stevie was gone before we even crashed.”

Finn was coming up behind Poe, having taken his time to allow them their reunion, and he heard what Rey was saying. “I’ll send a message to the Chancellor as soon as we get back to the Organa.”

Rey moved in to hug him as well, and he held her close. “Kriff, Rey. Everyone thought you were dead.” He paused. “Everyone but Poe.”

She smiled and turned back to her husband, but he was looking at Sal. “Is this what we’re bringing back?” he asked.

She grinned and walked over to her friend. “This is Sal,” she said, stroking the Triss on the face. “He’s helped me a lot in the last few days. His own kind don’t really care for him because he’s different. I figure he’ll be happy with some Fathier friends.”

Poe shook his head with a smile, his exhaustion evident in his body language, but his relief and joy glowed in the Force. “Whatever you want, Mesh’la.” He held out a hand toward her. “Let’s go home.”

******

General Poe Dameron sat in his office in the command center of the Resistance Base on Yavin IV trying to finish up his review of the reports from his officers this past week. There had been a half dozen skirmishes with an Imperial sect that called themselves Black Star. Though he wouldn’t declare complete victory, he was confident his army had successfully rendered the faction powerless. It helped that Senator Ketterly and three other Senators had been arrested for treason after a quick investigation by Republic Security a few days ago. If they hadn’t gotten overconfident and tried to assassinate the last Jedi, they may have stayed hidden for a bit longer.

Poe looked at his chrono and immediately closed out the data pad he was on; he would have to finish tomorrow. It was getting late, and there was no way he was not getting home on time. He needed to be there for Rey.

He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he was worried about his wife. It had been a little over a week since she had come home from Kolbe, the desolate and rough planet she had spent several days surviving on by herself. Though she had come back bearing no injuries, her clothing had been torn and bloodstained, and she had lost weight. She had requested to be seen by a medic immediately, and afterward had told him in private that she had learned she was pregnant while on the planet and had wanted to ensure the baby was in good health before letting him know. She had then come with him to Kes’ house to retrieve Shaina; the toddler had clung to her mother for hours afterward, as if she was terrified Rey would disappear again. Rey had gone back to her normal routine just a couple of days later, including going back to teaching. She spent at least an hour or two every evening with the Triss she had brought home; Sal had become a favorite with her students, too. By all outward appearances, Rey was back to normal. But nobody else saw how she huddled on the bed every night, waiting for him to join her, and then curled up in his embrace, shivering, until finally she fell asleep. He never pushed her for any intimacy, he just held her. Every night the trembling was a little less.

She had been through the ringer, and though she put up a brave front in front of everyone else, he felt the responsibility of being the one to see her fall apart at the end of the day.

He left the command center, glad to be out of the artificially chilled building and back into the warm, humid Yavin evening. He turned toward the north, where he and Rey kept a small house just off base, and was more than a little surprised to see BB-8 rolling up toward him. When he didn’t see Rey behind the droid, he started to panic; BB-8 was not supposed to leave her side. “BB-8, what’s going on?” he demanded.

BB-8 went on a long spiel about how EV-D3, one of the mechanic droids, had notified him that Poe’s X-Wing had apparently been broken into. Rey had known Poe would be on his way home soon, and had sent BB-8 to catch him so he could check up on the X-Wing on his way home.

Poe breathed a sigh of relief. “So, Rey’s still at home?” he asked the droid.

BB-8 paused a moment, but then replied ‘yes.’

“Okay, let’s check out the ship,” he told his droid. BB-8 chipped excitedly and lead the way. The landing field happened to be on his way home, so it was no real problem for him to check out the X-Wing; he would comm Rey if he thought it would take longer than just a quick inspection.

The landing field was fairly dark, with only a few flood lights here and there throughout the 10-acre field. His X-Wing was parked right next to the much older Red Five, Rey’s X-Wing, and both a bit separated from the rest of the fighters. Though there was no flood light close, the red-orange orb of Yavin lit the area well. He noticed right away that the canopy of his ship was opened slightly and one of the service ladders was still attached to it. It looked as if whoever had gotten in the ship had high-tailed it out of here without worrying about closing the canopy completely or putting the ladder back in the service shed. He didn’t think whoever had been here was still here, but he drew his blaster just in case.

Quietly, he climbed the ladder, flipping the lever to raise the canopy completely as he did so. He moved up one more rung and was able to look inside. He about dropped the blaster in shock. Rey was sitting in the cockpit, smiling at him, naked as the day she was born. “It’s a good thing I could feel you coming,” she told him. “This would be really embarrassing if it hadn’t been you climbing up that ladder.”

Poe holstered his blaster and glanced down at BB-8, who was chirping merrily to himself as he rolled away. He looked back at his wife. “Kriff, Rey! You about gave me a heart attack! How did you get BB-8 to lie for you?”

“I promised him you wouldn’t be mad at him,” she told him. “That you would thank him, in fact.” She tilted his head at him. “Was I wrong?”

He folded his arms on the rim and looked down at her, his eyes roaming her body. “That depends,” he told her, his voice low. “Why are you doing this?”

“I’m just helping you out,” she told him. “I know this has been on your ‘wish list’ for a while, and I had promised myself to make sure it happened when I got back home.” She gave him a soft smile. “Shaina is with your dad for the night.”

It was her smile that decided him. “Well, if this is gonna work, I’m the one that’s gotta be in that seat.”

“So, get in, Flyboy,” she told him, moving up and toward the side of the cockpit. Poe pulled off his jacket and threw it on the ground, then undid his holster and hung it on the ladder. Carefully, he climbed in and slid into the pilot’s seat while Rey pulled herself in front of him and straddled his lap. He pressed the switch to close the canopy. Quickly he reached behind her to jack up the joystick and get it out of the way so it didn’t dig into her back, then he brought his hands to her side, sliding his fingers along her ribs as she lowered her head to kiss him.

He felt her shiver as he touched her, and he knew it wasn’t just desire that made her do so. “Sorry,” he said against her mouth. “I know my hands are cold.”

“S’okay,” she whispered back. “They’ll warm up soon enough.” She kissed him deep, and he brought his hands up to her breasts. She caught her breath, and he remembered how tender her breasts had been during her last pregnancy.

“Does that hurt?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. Not yet.”

“Good,” he told her, then dived in to latch onto one with his mouth. She gasped and grabbed his head with one hand, pulling gently on his hair. He felt a sudden surge of desire that was far stronger than he expected and he pulled away, looking up at her with surprise. “What was that?”

She swallowed, looking apprehensive all of a sudden. “I opened myself up to the Force,” she said softly. “To you. I want to feel what you feel. And I want you to feel what I feel.” She licked her lips nervously. “I know it sounds scary, and if you don’t want me to do it, I won’t.”

“Rey,” he told her, his own nerves suddenly on edge. “Making love to you on a normal day about kills me. Doing this will for sure end me.”

“Well,” she said softly. “How do you want to go? Getting blown up in your X-Wing or blowing up in your X-Wing?”

He laughed out loud, throwing his head back against the seat. Her answering grin was vibrant and all Rey. He reached up to run his thumb along her lower lip. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

She kissed him again, still smiling against his lips. He moved in to kiss her neck and collarbone and felt her reach down between them to work on his belt and trousers. He ran his hands down her back to cup her buttocks and felt her approval. The tingling of their connection was suddenly familiar and he pulled back a bit.

“Rey?”

“Hmmm?” She was focused on the task of opening his trousers.

“Did you happen to have any weird dreams while you were on Kolbe?”

She stopped what she was doing and pulled back to look at him. He could see her eyes reflecting the glow of Yavin shining through the canopy. “They were the only thing that kept me going,” she told him. “I knew I had to make it to nightfall, so I could see you again.”

Poe took in a deep breath. Almost every time he had dozed off during the search, either trying to catch a quick nap or falling asleep at his desk, he had had dreams with Rey front and center in all of them. Memories, skewed memories, fantasies. There had been no rhyme or reason to them. “They were what convinced me you were alive,” he whispered. “No one believed me. Except Finn. He believed.”

She smiled at him, and he could feel her love envelope him. Then she finished with her task and pulled him free of his trousers. He groaned as she readjusted her position on his lap, then lowered herself onto him.

He didn’t die, but he was pretty sure he passed out for a moment.

When they finally recovered enough to move, the laughter began again. It was more than a little humorous as Poe tried to fix his clothing and Rey tried to find the dressing robe she had worn from the house to the X-Wing, which had slipped between the pilot’s seat and the back of the cockpit, all in the tight confines of the ship. Finally, Poe opened the canopy and they tumbled out, still laughing. Poe retrieved his holster and jacket and they began walking toward home, holding hands like two teenagers.

They met with BB-8, who had been standing guard a short distance away, and the droid happily rolled along with them. They were about half-way there when Poe brought up the subject that had been bothering him since he and Rey had been reunited on Kolbe.

“Rey, when I saw you on the Organa,” he started, and he felt her tense. “You weren’t alone.”

Rey nodded slowly. “He helped me reach you,” she said softly. “I didn’t have the strength to do it alone.” She stopped and looked at him. “He also helped to heal me,” she told him. “I was pretty mangled when he showed up.” She touched him softly on the cheek. “I know you can’t forgive him after what he did to you, and you shouldn’t have to, but…”

“Stop,” he told her, taking her hand in his. “Without him, you wouldn’t be here,” he told her. “I’ll never forget that.” He paused. “Was he with you the whole time?”

She shook her head. “No, just that last hour. When he knew I had given up hope.”

“Kriff, Rey!” he exclaimed. “Even more of a reason to thank him.”

She smiled. “I’m pretty sure he knows. He knew we were connected through those dreams before I did.” She brought up the hand holding hers and kissed his knuckles. “He may have helped me out in the end, but you were the one who saved me,” she said. “My back-up,” she smiled. “As promised.”

“Always.”

THE END