Ben Solo they called him.

Rey saw him around every now and again. Her neighbors always mentioned how cute he was when he would wander by. He was a bit strange-looking, in Rey's opinion. He was slim-bodied and lanky. He had a thin face but surprisingly large ears and was black from head to toe, save a small speck of white on his chest.

Rey assumed that he had a home somewhere, despite the fact that he seemed to wander the neighborhood at his leisure day and night.

One day she found out that he did belong to someone.

She found out on the day that someone passed away.

"Oh Han," her elderly neighbor, Maz, had sniffed into her handkerchief. It was a strange sight to see the usually strong and composed woman crying. "He was a good man. Flighty, and maybe a bit untrustworthy at times, but good at his core." She noisily blew her nose. "That black cat, Ben, was his. Do you know which one I'm talking about?"

"Yeah," Rey had replied awkwardly. She hadn't known her neighbor that well at all. She'd only moved into her apartment a month ago.

She had patted Maz's back in what she hoped was a comforting gesture as the old woman continued to cry.

Rey could only wonder who would take care of the cat now.

After his owner's passing, Rey didn't see Ben Solo for a few months. She sometimes thought about the strange cat, but she just assumed that it had been taken by one of Han's relatives to be cared for.

So perhaps that was why she was so surprised to see him at the local pet store.

Well, actually, she didn't see him. Not at first. She saw his picture on a clipboard attached to a large metal cage that housed a handful of cats up for adoption from the nearest pet rescue center.

Earlier that day her friend since high school, Finn, had brought her along on a few of his errands. Halfway back from their outing, he had gotten a text from his roommate (and Rey's other good friend) Poe reminding him to pick up dogfood for their Corgi, BB-8.

Finn had cursed and quickly whipped the car around. He apologized profusely to Rey, who simply shrugged her shoulders and told him that if her ice-cream melted past the point of no return in her shopping bag then he would owe her another gallon, plus a chocolate bar as penance.

When they arrived at the pet store Finn dashed toward the back to find the dogfood and Rey lagged behind to look at the pets on display.

She had surveyed the hamsters, guinea pigs, mice, and even paused to watch with amusement as the ferrets rolled around and played with each other. Then she had migrated toward the large cat cage. Peering in, she found nearly all of the kitties napping or otherwise lounging about. There was very large and fluffy one that was a lovely caramel color that caught Rey's eye. Rey had glanced down to find its chart, curious as to what breed it was.

Then she saw him. She snatched the clipboard and her brow furrowed as she stared at the picture. It was hard to decipher his features in the grainy, dark photo, but she knew those big ears.

Her eyes flicked over to the name. Sure enough, scrawled in the top right corner she saw it.

Ben Solo.

Her eyes flicked down the page. She was as curious as she was confused.

Color: Black.

Breed: Unknown. Closest match is Oriental Shorthair.

Attitude: Unsociable. Does not get along well with other cats. Likely would not get along with children.

Reason for Coming to the Shelter: Owner passed away and did not have relatives to look after him.

Additional Notes: In need of a quiet living situation. We believe that with enough time and patience he will come out of his shell and warm up to the person who welcomes him into their home.

Now that Rey knew he was in there, she looked more closely at the cage. It was three-tiered contraption with most of the cats lounging on the second and third uppermost levels.

Rey crouched down on her knees to peer into the first level, the one that mainly housed the litterboxes and food dishes.

Finally she spotted him in back the corner. He was crouched on the hard plastic in the darkest spot. He nearly blended in perfectly. Rey found herself frozen staring at him. He looked uncomfortable, having curled to be as small as possible with all his feet tucked under him and his tail wrapped closely to his body. His eyes were closed, but they eventually opened under Rey's unwavering gaze.

They locked eyes for a moment. He regarded her, even lifting his head a bit to sniff the air. He paused, breathed out sharply, and then closed his eyes and tucked into himself again, effectively ignoring her.

"Uh, anything I can help you with, miss?" Asked one of the employees as he wandered by.

Rey quickly scrambled up from her position on the floor. She glanced over just in time to see Finn heading her way with one of the most ridiculously large bag of dogfood she had ever seen thrown over his shoulder.

She looked back to the store attendant, who's nametag read 'Hux'.

"Yeah, actually," she said. "I'm adopting that cat at the bottom, Ben. Ben Solo."

"Wait, what?" Finn blurted, his eyes going comically wide.

The red-haired employee looked just as surprised as her friend did. "The really antisocial one?"

Biting her cheek, Rey nodded. "Yeah. And I'll need all the—cat stuff, too." She waved her hand, "Litterbox, food. Uh—all of it."

"The really antisocial one? Black? With huge ears?" Hux asked again, this time more slowly.

"Wait, what?" Finn was beyond bemused.

Rey glanced back down to the bottom level of the cage. Ben paused mid-step, having come out of his hiding spot. They caught eyes again. Her brown hues bore into his own nearly-matching ones.

"Yeah, I'll take him," Rey told them all. Her tone was sure.

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for reading! This is a really strange and completely out-of-the-blue story that my mind decided must be written. I hope you enjoyed! Please look forward because there will be more to come!

Cover image retrieved from Usayaka and Pirate at wordpress .com