For the purpose of this story, Ben is older than Rey but not by 10 years - this is so it is chronologically possible for them to have interacted growing up. I imagine the difference to be more like 7 years.

I do not own anything and I'm making no profit: this stands for the whole story.

Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy :)

It's Finn who tells Rey that Ben Solo has left the army and is coming home, to Alderaan House. Rey wonders when Han Solo and Leia Organa were going to tell her.

As she walks in the soft, blue light of dawn, her eyes cast down, a lone figure amongst the foxgloves and the mist, Rey's thoughts wander to the past few years, contemplating all the facts and anecdotes she's collected, and the picture that, put together, they create.

"He's coming out of juvie," Finn had told her one day. "That crazy guy who beat up Mr Dameron." They'd been kids at the time.

Rey wasn't an idiot, she'd noticed the agitation at school, she'd heard the feverish whispers between teachers and parents, she'd sensed the change in the air as she went around town. Something was happening, that was clear, but Rey knew nobody well enough to ask them what was going on. Ever since she'd moved to Takodana County, Finn had been the only one to insist on talking to her like they were friends, so eventually they had become friends for real. They'd met in kindergarten, back when Rey just joined school and everyone told her she stank, and no one wanted to sit near her because of the head lice. Her foster dad Unkar Plutt and herself had had to sit through numerous awkward meetings with the head teacher, the pastoral care lady and the school nurse, about the scraps of food Rey scavenged from the bins, about how she was never dressed appropriately for the weather, about how bad her attendance was, but mostly about the head lice. Eventually, Unkar had shaved her head and it had taken years for Rey to grow her hair back. She'd made sure she didn't catch head lice again.

Rey didn't know Ben Solo, but she certainly knew of him. He was the only son of local celebrities Han Solo and Leia Organa, and Rey knew of Han Solo and Leia Organa from the numerous National Geographic magazines she'd read all her life. One day, someone had brought a van to Unkar's scarp yard, with about five boxes full of the yellow magazines, all dating from the 70's and 80's. Rey had immediately claimed them. She'd spend hours flicking through the pages, staring at the pictures, and, later, reading about the amazing adventures depicted there. Leia Organa was the adopted daughter of a rich family from Takodana, who'd devoted her life to various altruistic causes, from the rainforest to the polar bears. Her partner Han Solo she had met whilst on a self assigned mission to Tatooine - he'd been a smuggler, and, against all odds, sparks had flown between them and they'd been together ever since. About their relationship, Leia had said: "it was unexpected, but it made sense. It felt...inevitable. Exhilarating. Han and I are different, but we're two sides of the same coin, know what I mean?". Rey liked to read that passage again and again, dreaming of such a love story for herself. Han looked so handsome. He was probably looking very aged, now, but Rey liked to dream of herself in Leia's 70's hairstyle, saving penguins whilst falling in love with someone as amazing as Han Solo.

Leia's twin brother Luke Skywalker (different name, he'd not been adopted and had kept their original family name) had always fought for the environment as well, camping in jungles and crossing crocodile infested rivers to reach remote locations and prove the existence of endangered peoples and species, thus preventing many ecological disasters caused by corporate greed. He had a black belt in Krav Maga, but preferred to practise yoga and meditation. Where Leia had been ready to pick up arms and fight poachers and tomb raiders, Luke was more of a pacifist, chaining himself to trees and offering flowers to soldiers.

Rey absolutely drooled on her magazines. How amazing the stories were, how fantastic it would be to discover herself a twin brother, to travel the world, fall in love and make a difference!

Sometimes, to fall asleep, Rey liked to imagine that Leia Organa and Han Solo were her biological parents, and they'd been forced to abandon her because pirates were closing in on them, and they missed her deeply, and one day she would find them and they would take her away from the scrap yard and they would live happily ever after, saving elephants together. Sometimes, she imagined a brother. He was cool, brave, and the two of them made a fantastic team.

"They still live in Takodana, you know," Unkar told her one day as he caught her staring at the National Geographic cover of July 1981, a portrait of Han and Leia. "That rich bitch owns Alderaan House."

After that revelation, Rey had secretly hoped to catch a glimpse of her heroes around the local town, D'Qar, without success. The only one she'd seen had been their son.

Alas, Ben Solo was nothing like the brother of her fantasies.

He was older than her, so they'd never been in the same class, and he was...violent. Everyone knew he had serious anger issues, and would snap easily. Didn't help that he was also very tall and strong.

When she was a kid, she'd seen him beat up Mr Dameron, the shopkeeper. Rey still shook with fear whenever she remembered hiding in a corner, by the drinks, covering her ears as she tried in vain to silence the wet thuds it made every time Ben Solo kicked and punched the shopkeeper, even after he'd stopped trying to escape, or cry out. When the police car arrived, Ben Solo had stopped and looked up, seeing her. They'd exchanged a look, his face splattered in blood that wasn't his, and her eyes overflowing with silent tears. He'd been a teenager at the time, and had disappeared to juvie after that. He'd spent two years there.

"He's completely crazy," Finn kept telling her.

"Hey Rey," said Unkar Plutt one night, "you wanna bet how long that Solo boy is going to last before he gets sent back to kiddie jail?"

Two weeks, it turned out. He'd hit a teacher and thrown a chair through a window. Word was, Leia Organa had paid the teacher so he wouldn't press charges, and Ben Solo had been sent to a boot camp.

She didn't hear much about him afterwards, until the day she saw him stab his dad.

Rey shivers in the cool, grey air of the receding night, unwittingly recalling the events leading up to that terrifying, traumatising moment.

Living with Unkar Plutt was nothing pleasant, but as a kid Rey had really loved the scrap yard - it was full of treasures. She could dream she was Leia Organa or Han Solo, discovering relics of civilisations past. And she loved mechanics, assembling and deassembling things. Rey wasn't particularly school smart, her poor attendance certainly not helping, but she was undeniably intelligent. She had a logical mind that knew how to solve puzzles, memorise the solutions and apply them in other situations. She had an excellent memory and picked things up really quickly. Once he realised just how smart she was, Unkar started putting her to work : she helped scavenge car parts and adapt them to other cars, she fixed radios, she did the accounts. She became so useful to him that Plutt made sure none of his guys bothered her, especially as she grew and started looking more like a woman than a kid. That was the only way in which he looked after her, and Rey knew it was down to the fact that he needed her to work - nothing to do with preserving her integrity. Rey knew that, but, truth be told, she rather enjoyed the freedom that came with living with someone who did not give a crap about you.

One day, an old classic 4x4, a Millenium Falcon, was brought to the scrap yard. Unkar negotiated for what felt like hours, until he bought the vehicle at a ridiculously low price. The other guy had clearly stolen it, otherwise he would never have agreed to such a pathetic offer. That was the thing with Plutt: he had no moral code.

"Use it for parts," he ordered Rey.

"Can I keep it?"

"What did I just say?"

"It's such an old car, the parts won't fit many other cars anyways. I could learn to drive with it."

"Wh-"

"If I could drive, I'd be able to help more, I could take parts to the garages."

"The boys do that."

"The boys don't know what they're selling. Not like I do. They never get what the parts are worth."

She'd caught his attention then, he was mulling it over.

"I just want to learn with it, I'll drive it on quiet roads. I'll take the registration plate off. I'll make sure it can't be traced," she pushed. "No one will know it's a stolen car."

Plutt's waxy cheek did a little wobble then, probably sensing the threat.

"Alright," he said, finally. "But if it impacts on your work, I'll have the boys take it from you."

And so, at 11 years old, Rey had found herself a ride.

True to her word, she replaced the registration plaque and scratched any serial number she found on anything. Then, she fixed the back left tyre and the headlights, topped up the oil level, replaced the battery, cleaned the inside of the Millenium Falcon. It took her a while to get it to move forward, she had to watch many videos on YouTube, but eventually she succeeded.

Rey was a tall girl, and she could reach the pedals if she stretched her long legs a bit.

She managed to drive the Falcon at snail's pace up to a field. It was winter, and a soft layer of snow covered the ground. Finn was already there, waiting for her. Rey honked, and laughed as she saw the wonder and awe on her friend's face.

"Oh my god!" He yelled. "Oh my god, Rey!"

They spent the afternoon teaching themselves to drive, and by the end of it Rey felt rather confident. So confident, that she stared experimenting with speed.

The old car picked up momentum and skidded over the snow, leaving black lines behind as it formed arabesques over arabesques, the two kids inside laughing their heads off. Rey kept turning and turning, gaining speed, then turning again, testing how sharp a bend she could take, until the car refused to turn as it caught some ice and gained more and more speed and kept going towards the end of the field and suddenly they were flying, above ground now, their laughter having turned to screams.

The car landed into a ditch by the side of the national road that ran behind the field.

"Finn?!"

"I'm ok!"

Rey turned to stare out of the back of the car, and saw that they'd jumped a good few metres. The kids fumbled with their seat belts. Once free, Rey found that she couldn't open her door, so she rolled the window down and climbed out.

"Hey! HEY!"

The kids looked up to see a greying man running towards them, his abandoned motorbike laying on the side of the road.

Rey nearly ran, but Finn was still stuck in the car, so she stayed.

"That's my car!" Yelled the man.

He was wearing a brown leather jacket that Rey immediately recognised, for having stared at it for many years.

"That's my car!" Han Solo shouted, looking at the wreckage.

"I fixed it!"

"You crashed it!" His voice was getting higher in pitch with each word.

"I'll fix it!"

"How old are you?!"

"You better not come any closer!" Shouted Finn, as menacing as a puppy. "My dad is in the police, I'll have you know I'm a big deal back at the station!"

"Shut it, Big Deal!"

In the morning light, now more pink than blue, Rey smiles at the memory. That was how she'd met her hero, Han Solo.

The aging adventurer had immediately taken a shine to her, charmed by her resourcefulness and optimism. She'd fixed the Falcon, again, and he'd done her a deal: he'd keep the Falcon, because that was his car, but Finn and her could come to Alderaan house and clean it for him every Sunday - at the time, it had sounded a fantastic deal.

Two years later, her and Finn were walking through the grass and forest on a hot summer afternoon, for their weekly date with the Falcon.

They emerged from the forest and found Mr Solo standing in the sunshine, newspaper in hand. Behind him, Alderaan House glowed gold in the sun. It was too hot to smell all the lovely plants that blossomed along the drive, but the view was still breathtaking.

Finn was about to wave at him when the two teens froze. Mr Solo wasn't alone. A tall, dark haired boy had appeared behind him. Ben.

"I thought he was at boot camp?" Mumbled Finn.

Father and son exchanged a few words. Han had his back now turned to them, and the kids could only see Ben's face - it was angry, hurt, wretched. Their voices rose, then something shone in Ben's hand. A knife!

There was a brief commotion, then Han abruptly went very still, as Ben looked stricken with horror. Han stepped back, one hand over his bleeding stomach, the other touching his son's face.

"No!" Screamed Rey. She made to run to Han Solo, but Finn caught her and pulled her away, into the forest, through the grass, along the road, across the field. Han Solo had survived, and he hadn't pressed charges, and Ben had returned to boot camp. Rey and Finn would not see him again for a while.

In the present day, Rey takes a deep breath, pausing to contemplate Alderaan House in the first sunshine of the morning. The next memory was the last she'd seen of Ben Solo, the last one before he'd joined the army, a few years ago. She'd been in her first year in high school. It was the last memory he'd have of her before he returned to his parents' home.

They were queuing at the C3P0 cafe, desperate for a milkshake. Poe Dameron was in the line too, just in front of them. Him and Finn had developed a friendship, which Rey tried not to get jealous over. She did not own Finn. Poe was a bit older than her and Finn, more like Ben Solo's age. He was so, so cool. Very laid back, great sense of humour, idealistic and brave. He reminded Rey of the Han Solo she'd read about in her magazines.

"Oh that's Poe!" Said Finn. "Hey, Poe!"

"Finn!"

Poe gave a dashing smile and pat Finn's back. "How you doing?" His eye caught sight of Rey, and she introduced herself, extremely conscious of how uncool she looked as opposed to other girls: Cheap, baggy, worn out clothes, trainers she had fixed herself, hair pulled tight, no makeup.

"Hi, I'm Rey."

"I know." Smiled Poe, and if he was disgusted by her looks he did not show it all. "Finn won't shut up about you. Nice to finally put a face to the name."

"Likewise," said Rey. "Finn told me you helped him with football."

"I did what I could for the poor soul," replied Poe, a hand over his heart. "By the way, love your accent. Bet you could make anything sound classy."

Rey had not known what to say to that, so she'd smiled back like a fool.

"So what are you going to do, now you've finished high school, Poe?" Asked Finn.

"Don't know, think I wanna go and see the world, you know? Travel. Maybe do some good, you know, like leave with a humanitarian mission. Have myself a bit of a gap year, then come back and go to Coruscant University."

Rey nodded and smiled like it did not sound like absolute science fiction to her, and Finn was so enthralled in Poe's words that he was forgetting to blink. They were awe struck.

Shortly after, the three of them were sitting together at a table, drinking their milkshakes (Poe's treat), chatting happily. Poe insisted on hearing Rey tell him all about the Falcon and how she'd taught herself to drive, watching her with a soft smile and admiration shining in his eye, making her feel interesting and important.

Poe was delighting them with his own stories too, including one about crashing his dad's car, when he stopped abruptly as he saw Ben Solo enter the cafe. His smile fell, replaced by a look of pure hatred.

"That asshole," he said, not bothering to whisper. "The fucking nerve."

The Damerons had not forgotten, Poe hating Ben with all his might for what he had done to his dad. Ben Solo was wearing a black sweater, the hood up, covering half his face. He stood at the till and looked up at the menu above.

"Thought he was at boot camp?" Whispered Rey.

"Oh no, he's too old now." Said Finn. "I heard he's joining the army."

"Yeah, to be honest I'm surprised the army would want to have him. Surely he'll get done for punching an officer or something. Bet he'll have some fun burning down villages." Poe said, loud enough for Ben to hear.

Ben Solo stilled, but did not look around. The whole room went very quiet.

"What are you doing?" Hissed Finn.

"Watch out, everyone, Psycho Ben is here." Poe pretended to whisper, "Oh but don't worry, he won't see us if we stay very still. You'd think he'd do us all a favour and go home, paint his nails black and listen to some Linkin Park."

"What did you just say to me?"

In a few big strides, Ben Solo had walked over to them, his pale face twitching and reddening, his whole body shaking with barely contained rage. Rey gulped. He really was very tall, and big.

"I wasn't talking to you, bro," easily replied Poe, smirking.

"You were talking about me."

"Yeah, to my friends. It's a free country. I'm allowed."

"Shut the fuck up."

Rey glanced down and saw that Ben Solo 's fists were tight.

Poe just smiled.

"I can say whatever I want. You can't do anything about it. Deal with it... Psycho Ben."

Ben Solo's hand flew forward and grabbed Poe by the throat. Poe wasn't small himself, but Ben Solo picked him up and threw him into the room as if he weighed nothing. Poe recovered quickly and stood to fight, but Ben just jumped forward and hit him in the face repeatedly. By that point, people were screaming.

Ben was a fully grown man, a very tall man, very strong, and years of learning Krav Maga (this, an attempt at helping him learn ways to master his anger issues) mixed with his natural physique and his violent outbursts had created a monster. Everyone knew not to pick a fight with Ben Solo, and, if Poe was smart, he'd act dead. Ben Solo would walk away, then sod off to the army, and all would be well.

But then, Finn joined in.

He ran to the fight and pulled Ben Solo off of Poe, only to get punched in the face himself. Finn fought back for much longer than Rey would have expected, but was eventually thrown to the floor, where he remained. Ben Solo advanced towards Finn, and Rey finally decided to spring into action. The cops shouldn't be far, anyway.

She picked up a stool and threw it at Ben Solo with all her strenght. It hit him in the shoulder and had him stumbling over. Astonished, he looked at her.

"Get out of here!" She shouted. Ben Solo did not move, just stared at her. "Leave, you monster!"

Rey picked another stool and threw it again, then she went for glasses and cups. Ben Solo dodged and caught everything she threw at him, advancing calmly towards her, like a villain in a film.

When he was close enough, Rey started punching his chest as hard as she could. It did nothing. Now, Rey was skinny, but she was all muscles, and she'd been in many fights before. Had she had her baseball bat, that tall asshole would not have stood a chance.

"Harder!" He encouraged her.

Was he mocking her?

Enraged, Rey hit him as hard as she could, a right hook to the face, which he took without much damage. She was about to strike again when he caught both of her arms and crossed them in front of her body, pushing her to the wall and pinning her there, in a straight jacket made of her own arms.

"I'm bigger than you," he told her, way too close for comfort. "You can't fight me like you'd fight someone your own size. You need technique. I can show you."

He was so close, staring into your eyes. His were a dark brown, matching his dark hair, now free from the dark hood. A large nose, full lips. Pale skin, a few moles.

Technique! Rey suddenly thought. Of course!

She kicked his groin as hard as she could, and, as his hold on her consequently weakened, she elbowed him in the nose then hit his throat with her knuckles. She kicked his shin, thus bringing one of his knees to the floor, then grabbed a bottle off the table next to them and crashed it over his face.

Then the police stormed in and she was pulled away.

And that was the last she'd seen of him. He hadn't pressed charges.

Ben Solo had joined the army. Finn had applied to become a firefighter, and was now training. Poe had gone travelling, and had yet to return. Rey still lived at the scrap yard, but she now worked at Alderaan House. She'd got the job straight after high school. Han Solo and Leia Organa had hired her as a gardener, grounds keeper, cooker fixer, pretty much handy man of the house. The original advert had requested a gardener, and Rey, despite having no experience in looking after plants, had applied. During her interview, she'd said that she was a fast learner, that she liked plants and being outside. She did not tell them she liked them, too. Han Solo had pointed out to Leia Organa that Rey was the little girl who'd taught herself to drive and who could fix any engine, and Leia had asked her only one question.

"Are you the young lady who bested my son in a fight?"

Rey had nodded, certain this meant she was going home. But Ms Organa had smiled.

"You're hired."

Rey circles the big house, quietly admiring the huge, purple rhododendron growing against the west side of the house. She arrives at the back door and takes off her shoes - a pair of trainers she's sown back together at least three times.

She enters the pantry and sets on the old wooden table the rhubarb stalks she's picked up. She walks through to the kitchen, and finds Ms Organa standing in her thick, silky gown in front of the cafetière, cup in hand.

"Good morning, Ms Organa."

"Oh, mornin', sunshine." Ms Organa looks up at the clock above the door. "You're here early! Have you walked? You know Chewie has offered to pick you up - he's always up at crack o'dawn too."

Chewie, or Chewbacca, is Han Solo's friend. He is huge, bearded, and refuses to speak any other language than his native Quechua. He'd been living at Alderaan House on and off, acting as the family cook when he was around - of his own insistence.

"I like the walk. Especially at this time of year." Replies Rey, discreetly admiring her boss. She wishes that when she reaches her fifties she'll have at least half as much class as Ms Organa, standing there in her pyjamas, salt and pepper hair tousled, thick slippers on her feet, glasses on the tip of her nose, struggling to work a cafetière she's bought herself. "Would you like me to prepare coffee?"

"Thank you, honey, I can never work this darn thing."

Rey walks over and starts preparing Ms Organa's morning fuel, and the older woman sits at the large tiled table, stifling a yawn.

"You're up early," fishes Rey, hoping she's managed to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah." Groans Ms Organa, rubbing a hand over her face. "Couldn't sleep."

When the lady doesn't extend, Rey opts for a more direct approach. Pouring Ms Organa a cup of coffee, she asks:

"Is it because your son is coming home?"

Leia pauses for a short second, steaming cup in the air.

"...yeah. Who told you?" Ms Organa gestures for Rey to come sit with her.

"It wasn't Mr Solo." Rey pours herself a cup, and goes to sit opposite Leia. "My friend Finn told me. I don't know how he found out."

Finn's mum always knew everything.

"Yeah, he's coming home." Leia gave a soft, tired smile. "Haven't seen my son in years."

"How old is he now?" Asks Rey, although she knows the answer.

"27. Hopefully he'll have gained some wisdom, in the army." She snorts. "The army. You know he joined just to annoy me, right? And his dad. And his uncle."

Rey smiles sympathetically. She drinks her coffee black, just like Ms Organa.

"Han hasn't slept either. He's spent the night in his garage."

"I'm nervous too." Confesses Rey.

"You are? Why?"

"Last time I saw him, I broke a bottle over his face."

Ms Organa chuckles, shaking her head.

"You did him a favour, think he would have killed the Dameron boy otherwise."

"Still, I bet he's still angry."

She'd scarred his face, someone said.

"Ben's never been angry at you. I don't think he can."

It is a somewhat enigmatic statement, but Rey doesn't press. She desperately wants to ask why, why are they welcoming that monster back into their house, why did they forgive all the violence, all the ungratefullness? He stabbed Han, for heaven' sake!

Rey really wants to question Ms Organa, but something in the woman's grave air, her tired eyes, stops her. Instead, she asks:

"Is he arriving this afternoon?"

"He hasn't said. Could be this morning."

Fear grips at Rey's heart and she pushes it down.

"I'll make sure the gardens are spotless."

"I know you will, honey."

The two women finish their coffee in an easy silence, broken only by the cheerful chirping of birds, the dawn chorus.

Rey chooses not to feel afraid anymore. She'll face this like she's faced every challenge life has thrown at her - head high, chin up, shoulders squared.

Besides, her baseball bat is never far.