Perspiration beaded her forehead as Rey woke up with a jolt. One moment she'd been in a dreamless sleep, the next she'd heard Ben's voice, not with her ears but from within. Her every nerve stood on edge in a fight or flight reflex, but there was nothing in her sleeping quarters. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that something, somewhere, had gone terribly wrong.

Rey looked around the room, wondering if anyone else had felt what she had, but as far as she could tell her bunkmates remained sound asleep. This did not provide reassurance, as she knew she was the only Force-sensitive person in this room full of pilots.

She had to speak with her Master.

Quickly changing into trousers and a tunic, Rey left the makeshift dormitory. The halls were empty, save for a few patrols that'd been unlucky enough to have nightltime guard duty. Winding her way through the concrete halls, she found Luke's chambers and pounded on the door. She'd barely knocked twice before the door swung open.

"Something's gone wrong," Rey said, letting herself into his room. She'd always waited until her Master invited her in, but now was not the time for formalities.

"I felt it too," Luke said as he hastily closed the door. "A call,"

Rey nodded. "From Ben,"

It was then that Rey noticed how exhausted Luke looked. How many times had he been called upon to save the galaxy, and how many times had he heeded the cries of those who called him? She couldn't begin to count.

"I need to visit Ki-ah," Rey decided. She was not asking permission, only stating a fact. She knew Luke was not going to dissuade her; he felt the gravity of the situation just as much as she did. The problem was finding a means of transportation, as their most recent relocation meant the use of pilots' personal X-wings were restricted. Even if she had access to her individual ship, another unannounced exit would rouse suspicion among the crew, which would eventually filter down into the rest of the Resistance. After all, the only people who knew about Rey aiding Ben were Luke and…

"Poe," Rey said. "You, Poe, and I can borrow a Starfighter,"

Luke sat down slowly, carefully. "I cannot leave," he said, the words paining him as he spoke. "It would not be a wise choice to leave the other young Padawans unattended. Should there be another surprise attack by the First Order, they would be vulnerable,"

"Then Poe and I will go," Rey said. "We'll take BB-8. And C-3P0 for translation purposes,"

"What makes you so sure Poe will be willing to make the journey?" Luke asked. "We do not need to read minds to know how that man feels about Ben,"

Rey paused. "I don't know," she confessed. "But every moment we spend speculating, the more precious time we lose,"

Luke sighed. He remembered what it was like to be a young Jedi with the weight of the world resting on one's shoulders. But with age came additional responsibility, not necessarily burdens but loads to carry. No matter how much Luke loved his nephew, he couldn't put his Padawans' lives in danger. Rey, on the other hand, was not encumbered with this paternalistic responsibility. If she wanted to take on the First Order, there was no stopping her. Being alone on Jakku had made her strong willed and independent, and if she was intent on making sacrifices for the betterment of others he knew she would follow through.

"It will be dangerous," Luke warned. "We do not know the gravity of the situation unfolding,"

Rey nodded. "I understand. That is why I will seek Ki-ah first,"

"Absolutely not," Poe said. "A mission like that would be suicide,"

For the briefest of moments Rey felt the urge to call upon the side of the Force she rejected, to twist Poe's mind into agreeing with her. She was certainly strong enough to manipulate someone to do her bidding, perhaps even powerful enough to take on Luke himself. But the thought was only that: a fleeting temptation, nothing Rey would ever act upon. To manipulate her friend's mind in such a way …it's what a Sith would do.

Rey ran the through the mental list of ways the Force could be used to expand one's consciousness. There had to be something…

"If you won't listen, can I at least show you something?" Rey asked.

Poe hesitated. He knew Rey was going to pull some "Jedi trick"; he also knew he trusted her with his life.

"Fine," Poe said, forcing the words out before he could change his mind.

Rey closed her eyes and placed her fingertips on Poe's temples. As soon as she made contact with his skin, the small room they sat in was surrounded by a purple fog, visible to only the two of them. Rey could feel Poe's sense of amazement, even though her eyes remained shut.

"I'm going to share some of my memories with you," Rey explained. "I want you to see what I've seen,"

Poe watched, awestruck, as a purple outline of Snoke, disproportionate to his actual size, appeared in the corner of the room. Closer to them a battle was raging, with Rey fighting through a handful of Stormtroopers. Poe had not been there at the time, but he knew what battle this was: it had taken place shortly after Finn's death. Poe knew Rey was well aware of this, as he noticed a silent tear run down Rey's cheek.

Snoke had managed to take Rey's lightsaber. The Stormtroopers had her surrounded and were ready to end her life when suddenly Ben appeared from the shadows. The Stormtroopers paused, wondering what brought Kylo Ren to the situation, when suddenly Ben struck them down, almost in one fell swoop. Ben then turned his blade with Snoke's, clashing in a heated fight that ended in the Supreme Leader's death.

The memory swirled in a mist of haze, rearranging itself into a later fight between Rey and Ben in a forest. They fought-no, Rey fought, while Ben deflected every attack without trying to take the offensive.

What struck out in this scene, Poe noticed, were Ben's eyes. Poe himself had seen the evil that glimmered in Ben's eyes when he'd been taken hostage on Jakku five years ago. But these eyes told a different story, one of a man who had seen too much and had too big a burden to bear alone.

"Do you understand now?" Rey asked, the purple mist beginning to fade as she opened her eyes. "If he was the same man we met all those years ago, why would he betray his own like that? I searched his mind in that forest, and there's not a menacing thought to be found.

"No matter how much I remind myself what Kylo Ren has done, I can't help but think how Ben is the son of a Skywalker, and no longer a slave of a Sith,"

"But you're not willing to risk your life just because of his Force-sensitive lineage," Poe said. "You have feelings for him, don't you?"

Rey bit her lip. "I can deny my feelings until the end of time, telling myself I could never care for someone who had caused so much pain, but it would be a lie. Ben risked his own life to save mine, without asking anything in return. Believe it or not, underneath those black robes is a boy who used to look at the stars and dream they were sending him secret messages.

"This isn't Emperor Palpatine we're talking about. This is a man who's struggling, and wants desperately to do what is right. To permanently label him a villain would be a great falsification,"

Poe mused over what Rey showed him and what she'd said. Even he couldn't deny that something, somehow, had changed.

"If you'd asked me to spare this man a year ago I would have thought you'd lost all common sense," Poe said.

"I would have thought the same," Rey admitted.

Poe ran his fingers through his black hair, or at least he hoped it was black. The war had sprung patches of premature gray hairs. Both he and Rey had seen far too much for as young as they were.

Life, especially during times of war, was too short. And life was certainly far too short not to provide second chances.

Choosing his words carefully, Poe asked, "When would you like to leave?"