Ben woke up in his private quarters, as he had done for the nearly sixteen years of his life. To the galaxy, he was known as "Little Ren", the eventual successor to his father, Kylo Ren. To his parents, he was BJ, their son. Neither parent called him by the name his biological mother, Rey of Jakku, gave him.

Ben knew very little about Rey. She defeated his father at Starkiller Base. Sometime later, they formed a Force Bond, which led to Ben's conception. Sadly, Rey died after giving birth to him. General Armitage Hux has poisoned her pre-natal vitamins. She used the Force to heal Ben of the effects, but she was not able to save her own life.

He knew his father blamed himself for her death. It was the only thing that kept the Supreme Leader from returning to the Light. Kylo was a good leader, only attacking planets when things got out of hand.

As for Tessa Raindance, the woman he called Mom, Ben loved her, despite her cruel ways. He knew it was only her love for him that kept her from succumbing completely to the Dark side. She was angry and heartbroken over the loss of her daughter with General Hux. Her daughter shared Ben's birthday. Every year on his birthday, Tessa would lock herself in her room, and call out to her daughter, to see if she was still alive. There was never any response back.

Ben did not understand why Tessa was furious at Poe Dameron. He understood that the commander led the attack on Coreilla, where Hux kidnapped Tessa and delivered their daughter. But Poe couldn't have known that his mom was there, giving birth. But Tessa insisted that Kylo search the galaxy and arrest Poe, so that she could kill him for taking away her daughter. From what little information he knew about the pilot, Ben sensed that Poe was innocent of killing the girl.

What Ben and his parents did not realize was that the girl had survived. Poe had killed her biological father, General Hux. Hux warned him before his death to keep the baby away from its mother. Although Poe was not sure if Hux was telling the truth, he could not allow the baby to captured by the Order. So he decided to raise the girl as his own, with help from his droid, BB-8. He named her Rey, after the woman he had loved and lost.

It was not an easy life for Poe and his daughter. They were constantly on the move, never staying at one place for long. He would tell Rey when she was younger that they were going on adventures. That worked until she realized that they were fleeing for their lives.

Rey Dameron loved her father. Even though she knew General Hux was her birth father, Poe was the only dad she ever knew. He was honest with her, answering the questions she had about Hux. Rey felt bad that the Order was after her father. He did his best to give her as normal of an upbringing as possible. Since she could not attend regular school, BB-8 was her teacher. When Rey discovered she was Force sensitive, she used her power to protect her family in dangerous situations.

Rey knew nothing about her biological mother. She asked Poe about the woman she was named after, but he refused to talk about her. BB-8 told her that he had loved Rey of Jakku, but she died at the hands of Kylo Ren and the First Order. She sensed Poe's anger at the Supreme Leader, and also his guilt for blaming himself for Rey's death.

They arrived on the planet Ahch-To. Poe felt desperate, for a couple of reasons. First, he was running out of planets he and Rey could safely hide on. Second, Rey was turning sixteen tomorrow. She would be considered an adult, per Galactic law, and therefore allowed to leave her father's custody. This upset Poe, who felt Rey was still in danger if the Order found out about her.

That night, they and BB-8 sat by a campfire. It amazed Poe how quickly time had passed. His daughter was beautiful, with curly red hair and bright blue eyes. She was smart, kind and powerful in the Force. Although he dreaded asking, he knew he couldn't avoid asking the question.

"Rey, what do you want for your birthday?" Poe asked, as he was toasting a marshmallow.

At the same time, a birthday party was thrown for Ben on the Finalizer. Everyone was there, including his parents. They always celebrated his birthday the day before, since Tessa would be in mourning on his actual birthday.

"Little Ren, what do you want for your birthday?" Tessa asked, amazed at how much the child she considered her son had grown. He looked like Kylo, but his eyes and personality he got from his late birth mother.

To their respective families, Rey and Ben took a deep breath and replied,

"The truth."

"Rey, we have been over this," Poe grumbled, knowing what she was going to ask.

"You don't want to know the truth," Tessa told Ben, sensing what he was going to ask.

"BB-8, please check to make sure no one is around," Poe commanded the droid, who obediently rolled away.

"Everyone out now!" Kylo shouted. They vacated the room, leaving him, Ben and Tessa to talk privately.

"Dad, I want to find out who my birth mother is," Rey said to her father.

"Mom. Dad, I want to know more about Rey," Ben told his parents.

"You should not ask about her," Poe and Kylo said to their children.

"Why?" Ben and Rey questioned. They thought for a moment, then stated,

"You blame me."

"What?" all three parents exclaimed in shock.

"You blame me for having to live a life on the run," Rey confessed to her father.

"You blame me for surviving instead of your daughter," Ben admitted to Tessa.

"Enough!" Kylo and Poe scolded them.

"I blame myself for our predicament," Poe told Rey. "If I had not killed Hux, I would not have a high bounty on my head."

"Your mother blames me for the loss of her daughter," Kylo stated to his son.

"That's not true!" Tessa yelled at her husband.

"Then why won't you sleep with me?" he spoke to her mind.

"Because I'm afraid to get pregnant!" she replied back to his mind, before she bowed her head and cried.

"You wish she would have survived and I would have died!" Ben moaned in sorrow.

"BJ, no! I love you! You are my son! You are the reason that I'm alive! Sweetheart, if it wasn't for you..." Tessa paused, not wanting to finish her sentence.

"If that is true, why can't I celebrate my birthday tomorrow? Why won't either of you answer my questions about Rey?"

"Dad, you thought Hux was going to kill me," Rey reminded her father. "You have always worried about me, that I will get hurt. But I will be sixteen tomorrow. You can't protect me forever. I need to find out who my birth mother is."

"Rey, no! If the Order finds out you're Hux's daughter..." Poe stammered, as the tears streamed down his face.

"It's a chance I am willing to take..."

"No! I won't lose you!"

"Because I was afraid to lose you!" Tessa admitted to Ben.

"It's getting late," Kylo uttered. "We should get to bed. We will discuss this further tomorrow."

"Rey, let's discuss this in the morning," Poe pleaded with her.

"No, we won't," Rey and Ben said to their parents. Ben knew Tessa would be in mourning tomorrow, and Rey knew Poe would forbid her to leave. They left their parents and headed to bed.

"What am I going to do with her?" Poe grumbled to BB-8, who had come back from his surveillance duties. The droid did not have a response for him.

"What are we going to do about him?" Tessa asked Kylo. He gave her a look, and her face flushed red with anger.

"No!" she snapped bitterly. "I will not stop mourning until Poe Dameron pays with his life for taking my daughter's!" She stormed out the room, and Kylo hung his head low.

Ben and Rey tossed and turned that night. They needed answers to their questions. She knew she had to infiltrate the Order, and find out about her biological mother. He knew he needed to find Poe Dameron, and find out more about his birth mother. Ben also wanted to know if Poe was responsible for the death of Tessa's daughter.

Ben did not like the instability in his life. The Force had created him to bring balance. But he could he bring balance if he was surrounded by darkness all the time? His passion was to teach the way to the Force, to show that you need both the Light and Dark side. But his parents insisted he follow in his father's footsteps, and become the next Supreme Leader.

Rey wanted to learn more about the Force. She needed someone to teach her. But how could she find a teacher, when she and her father were on the run? He never admitted it to her, but Rey knew he feared her power. He was afraid she would be captured and killed, just like her namesake. Her dad taught her how to fly, and wanted Rey to follow in his footsteps and become a pilot.

"Goodbye, Dad," Rey softly whispered, as she watched him sleep. "I have to follow my own path. You don't need to take care of me anymore."

"Goodbye," Ben whispered, as he stood outside his parents' bedroom. They were both asleep. "I need to follow the path the Force is showing me, not the path you want me to follow."

They both turned and left, tears streaking down their faces.