Chapter 1: Coming home still feels strange

It has been 5 years since the Escape From Crait, as the small band of brave rebels called the day, when almost all of the naval forces of the former Resistance against the First Order was lost. It had been a hard time, a time for old leaders to gather up their strength and for new leaders to claim their responsibilities. For a long time they had been just a bunch of dreamers, crammed into the Millenium Falcon, hopping from planet to planet, always on tiptoes, always on the run from the First Order. In retrospect, no one knew how they always managed to be just a few days, sometimes only mere hours, ahead of their pursuers. But they managed. And in hiding, the old resistance, now known as Reborn Rebel Alliance, grew again.

The Millenium Falcon broke through the heavy clouds on Lah'mu descending onto the landing strip that stretched near the beach. Somehow, the First Order had forgotten about this remote planet which was now one of the main bases of the Reborn Rebel Alliance.

"We're home." Rey smiled as she programmed the landing routine into the ship's computer. She yawns a little and stretches into the pilot's seat. "I bet Chewie is happy to see the old bird still in one piece." She can't hide a grin as she looks over to Poe Dameron, by now again a Commander of the New Rebel Alliance, who is seated in the co-pilot's chair.

"One of these days he will trust me to fly with you." Poe answered slightly miffed.

"Just give it time, he had the Falcon for so many years. It also took him time to get used to the idea of me flying it." Rey smiled friendly. "But he was with me most of the times I was on the Falcon." A frown clouded her smiling features. "He still misses Han Solo a lot. He doesn't really like for other people taking Han's place on the ship."

"It's hard to get used to it. He was a legend.", Poe agreed.

Rey and Poe Dameron had become good friends after the events on Crait. They hit it off without problems. What fueled their friendship was a heavy amount of mutual respect and admiration. Rey had taught Poe some of her outer-rim martial arts whereas he had taught her some basic mechanical skills that helped her repair not only the Falcon whenever needed but other space crafts as well. She knew a lot about these things already, but with Poe's help she didn't need to salvage half as many other ships to get her repairs done.

They had been on a three-day-mission to the Outer Rim in order to stock up on some medical material. The Outer Rim might not be the go to place for medical supplies, but the Falcon blended in nicely there with all the other out of date ships and flying garbage.

"Do you have any plans tonight?" Poe asked casually when he grabbed one of the crates and rearranged it on the ramp for the ground crew to unload the ship.

Rey yawned "I don't know. After a very long and hot shower I'll probably just curl up on my bed and fall asleep. But the girls wanted us to hang out tonight."

When referring to "the girls" Rey was speaking about Rose Tico, who had easily become her best friend and Poe's fellow pilots of the Black Squadron, Karé Kun and Jessica Pava.

With a smile she added "So chances are, you have a chance to hang out with your best friend. I promise to occupy Rose for a while."

At this, Poe grinned mischievously. "You think so? Ever since they started dating, I hardly see Finn anymore."

"Well, you have no idea, what we girls discuss without you guys around. Rose will forget about her beau for a while when we gossip." Rey giggled. It had taken her some time to adjust to the presence of other people. But by now, she enjoyed it very much to have friends, even a family in the Resistance.

Poe laughed with a slight shake of his head. "I guess it's better we don't know what you gossip about." In fact, he very much wanted to know what Rey, Karé, Jess and Rose were gossiping about. But he was way too polite to implore or worse, eavesdrop. "So, I guess, I'll see you around later." He answered instead.

The base on Lah'mu was one of the bigger and newer bases of the Reborn Rebel Alliance. The planet in the Outer Rim had gotten forgotten after the Clone Wars and was the home to less than five hundred settlers. The only time the planet got recognition, was long before the first Rebel Alliance, as it was the home to the now legendary Erso family. But as it never was mentioned again, Leia Organa had chosen this remote planet with its planetary rings as an ideal hiding space and headquarter.

It had taken a long time to gather new forces to confront the First Order, that had soon overrun the galaxy after the doomed escape from D'Qar and the Massacre of the Hosnian System. But as Resistance against an oppressive regime and Rebellions go, the Reborn Rebel Alliance had prevailed. And it had grown.

Rey entered the control room, where she found General Organa concentrating over a communique that appeared in a holographic form.

"Hello General. Commander Dameron and I have returned. We managed to retrieve the medical supplies.", the young Jedi reported.

The older woman smiled warmly and friendly. "I know, Rey. Poe already sent me the mission report from the Falcon. Good job."

"Oh, he didn't tell me. Sorry to give you a redundant report then." Rey answered slightly embarrassed. She still was not used to the military protocol that the Rebel Alliance used. She never got officially enrolled. Even if she worked within the ranks.

"Don't worry about it. He should have told you." Leia motioned for Rey to sit with her. "Tell me about the planets you visited this time. Was there the green you look for?"

"There was no green this time. We went to a planet, that was more like Jakku than any other we went to before." Rey answered and sat down. A smile crossed her face. "But I don't miss green anymore. Ever since we came here, I guess, I found the green I so longed for. Lah'mu has become something like a home. I'd hate for us to leave it."

"It will happen, though." Leia motioned at the star chart in front of her. "When all of this is over, I hope you find a place that you really can call home. Try not to get too attached to Lah'mu. I did so with D'Qar and it was a sad call. But then, I have a sad history with places."

Rey looked down at her hands. She knew what the general was referring to. Who didn't know the story of Alderaan.

"I was looking for a place like my home world for a very long time. And then, I found my home in another person. Life can be cruel." Leia said. With a small wink and a soft smile she added "But this should never make hesitate in finding a home, either in a place or a person."

Rey looked even more focused at her hands. She couldn't help but see exactly what the general meant in her mind. Still, it embarrassed her to think about such things as attachment to another person.

"Oh dear, I didn't intend to put you on the spot. I was more reminiscing than giving you an advice. And I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want my advice either. That's what your friends are for."

"I'd gladly ask for advice from you, General." Rey blushed a little. "But there is no need for that at the moment."

"Would you please start calling me Leia? You're a stubborn as Poe in this respect. It took him years to address me with my given name." The faint blush in Rey's cheeks at the mention of the Commander's name didn't escape Leia's attention. But she didn't say anything about it.

"Okay, Leia." Rey tested the name shyly. "If you already received the debrief, I'll retreat to my quarters. It was quite a long trip."

Leia smiled. "Of course. Enjoy your night off. Rose couldn't talk about anything else when she came here earlier and worked at this battered down work station."

"I'll never get used to these new T-85 x-wings. They are great, but I miss our old T-70s." Jessica Pava exclaimed.

"Didn't you fly them in Rapier Squadron, too?", Rey asked curiously.

"you spend too much time with Poe.", Karé Kun snorted teasingly. "You know all of our old war stories already. And we can't complain about our ships anymore. This is getting boring."

"He might have told me about the different X-Wing models you guys flew before. But I think it was more to scare me off. He doesn't want to let me fly his X-Wing."

"That's unfair. Didn't you let him fly the Falcon?", Jessica exclaimed in shock.

"Don't tell Chewie I let him actually fly. Chewie thinks, the only thing Poe does in the Falcon is observe – and rearrange the co-pilots seat."

At this the girls started giggling. The thought of mighty Poe Dameron not being able to reach the controls from the co-pilots seat on the Falcon for being a lot shorter than Chewbacca was an image they could not get out of their heads.

"What did I miss?" Rose, who just arrived at the small bar. It was only a five inute walk from the base, but she had flushed cheeks.

"Not much, Jess and Karé complain about the X-Wings they fly." Rey answered truthfully, earning flabberghasted stares from the pilots and a shocked yelp from Rose.

"How could you? Do you know how much work goes into your gear? They are the best. And it was not so easy to get them in the first place. And don't get me started about your crazy customization wishes."

"Sorry Rose. We didn't want to complain about your work. They just feel differently." Jess defended herself.

"After all these years? You still mourn the T-70s?" Rose shook her head. "And this is what I came for tonight?"

"Missing your boyfriend already?" Karé teased. It was easy for her to mock the young mechanic. After all, she was living together off base with Snap for a time now. Whereas Rose still lived on the base and had to make do with what spare-time she could spend with Finn.

"Oh, no boy talk tonight. Please. We might get a toothache from all the fluff and sugar you go on about." Jess moaned. Rey nodded in accordance. She was happy for her friends, but she had no interest in talking about romantic getaways and big gestures, that both Karé and Rose so often gushed about.

Jess raised her glass of ale to Rey and grinned "To being reasonable and single." The two women downed their drinks in one large gulp, leaving Rey shuddering in disgust. "I'll never get used to this."

"But you belong to us pilots. You should get used to it." Looking over towards Rose, Karé added "And you belong to us pilots as well. You keep us flying."

"About that single thing." Rose started and grinned at both Jess and Rey "Who will the two of you bring to the solstice party?"

It was known that in a few days the summer solstice of Lah'mu would take place and that this would be an important festivity on the western hemisphere of the planet – exactly where the base was.

"I don't think I'll come to this party. I need to meditate and train. I have gotten a bit sloppy in my meditations." Rey shrugged.

"So, will you ask Poe then?" Karé motioned towards Jess. "The two of you always steal everyone's attention with you dance skills."

"Maybe. A little fun with our dashing commander can't hurt." Jess grinned in a way that made the others question her sobriety. "What? Doesn't mean, I'm not still single then next morning."

"Don't you want to witness that, Rey?" Rose asked innocently. "Do you really prefer meditation, when you can watch Jess making a move?"

Rey didn't know what to say. She really had no intention to see Jess and Poe together, especially not, if it went as Jess implied. But she didn't know, why she couldn't be as happy for Jess as she was for Rose and Karé.

"I'm really just tired. I think, I'll just go home right now. I'll think about the party later." And with that she silently walked out of the bar.

On the short way back to the base, she thought about what Leia Organa had said about a person being a home. Rey wanted that very much. How much, she only began to realize. And it scared her a bit to realize who she wanted that home to be.