Six days later, he is back on Jakku. Kylo tells himself that he's back to see the battlefield and not the girl. But mostly, he's back to see the girl.

And even where the girl is concerned, Kylo is lying to himself. Telling himself that the strange, nearly gaunt and sunburned girl is a useful guide. That she is a fellow history buff so she's the right person to help him understand Jakku's past. That with her bright eyes and wide smile, she is a pleasant enough companion. But the truth is that he's back to see the girl because the girl has the Force. Lots and lots of Force. And she seems completely oblivious to that fact.

Rey had slid down that rope in the darkened wreck and it had been like a supernova in his mind. He had been taken aback. Stunned really. Peering into the gloom at the skinny figure shrouded in goggles and linen rags. To Kylo, this newcomer had seemed a veritable beacon in the Force. Her intrinsic Light shining forth to blind his mind's eye. And so when she had turned to run, he had to stop her so he could learn more.

Rey isn't the first Force sensitive being who he has come across since the demise of his uncle's Jedi Academy. He usually makes a point of killing them to avoid the possibility that they might someday find their way to his uncle. But this girl had seemed like an unlikely future enemy. Hidden away on obscure Jakku living hand to mouth as a scavenger, she lives a wretched life. She hadn't struck him as an ideologue. Rey hadn't even seemed hostile to the Empire or the First Order when the topics came up. If anything, she is apolitical, he guesses. And that combination of Rey's ignorance of her abilities, her remote location, and little incentive for opposition had swayed him to spare her. Plus, somehow it had seemed fitting to show mercy to the girl with the Light who scrounges around for mechanical scraps amid so much death, decay and darkness. For if there ever was a place that needed a little hope, it is the ships' graveyard on the wasteland world of Jakku.

Rey had piqued his interest and so today he has found a few hours in his schedule to disappear back to Jakku. He is buzzing the ships' graveyard in his shuttle for the third time attempting to locate the girl's home due east between the battlefield and the trading outpost. But he can't locate any structures in that area. There's just the remains of a downed AT-AT walker laying on its side. Kylo is skeptical but he's wasted ten minutes already, so he sets the shuttle down near the walker.

And sure enough, it is the girl's home. She's standing outside as he lands, her feet apart and her staff planted upright in the sand. She looks like a sentry guard at a royal palace and not a scavenger waif in front of a thirty-year-old piece of junk. Kylo smiles at this girl's intrinsic dignity. And he smiles because the ten-year-old boy in him thinks living in an AT-AT is cool. Very cool.

"Hello Rey," he calls as he marches down the ramp. This time, she's not wearing the head wrap and goggles. With her entire face uncovered, Kylo realizes now just how young she is. Rey has her hair tied back in a tight trio of buns. It's a little girl's style that is purely functional. It just adds to the impression of youth. She's a teenager, he realizes uncomfortably. Just a kid.

"You're back," Rey announces coolly. This girl looks him in the eye and speaks with confidence. He likes that. Kylo Ren is used to people cowering from him. Sure, he's not wearing his uniform and mask just now so this girl doesn't know to be afraid. But still. Her poise charms him. She is very self-possessed.

His eyes sweep over the wrecked walker behind her, noting the two antennas mounted on the back, a clothesline, and some contraption that resembles a homemade moisture vaporator. "This is where your family lives?" he asks, wondering if the rest of her family has the Force. The Force appears spontaneously in most species, but it also runs in families. And if there is a whole clan as strong with the Force as Rey, that presents a problem.

Rey shakes her head. "It's just me. My family is gone."

Gone. There's a story there, but he doesn't ask. It's too soon to ask. He doesn't want to scare this girl. She's skittish enough as it is.

Rey gets right down to business. "Did you bring the power converters?"

"Of course."

Her eyes light up and she grins. "Then what can I show you?"

Kylo shrugs. "Surprise me," he offers.

Rey thinks a moment and then beckons him over to the speeder bike he remembers from last time. Like the moisture vaporator, the bike looks homemade. It's a hodgepodge patchwork of parts she must have scavenged and it's covered with bits of junk tucked into a large cargo net. This girl is nothing if not resourceful, he observes. Rey hops on the front and pats behind her. It's his turn to grin now. Kylo throws a leg over the bike and grabs for her waist. It's tiny, he sees. This girl is far too slim. She pumps the accelerator and the engine roars to life. Then she puts the bike in gear and they are off.

Rey takes him to the super star destroyer Ravager. It is by far the largest wreck. The remains of the ship stretch as far as the eye can see. Seeing it laying in huge chunks on the desert floor is a sight to behold. The sense of scale to these behemoth capital ships is lost in space. But here, it is awe inspiring. Just the aft engines alone are perhaps twenty stories high. They dwarf everything nearby.

Rey pulls up the speeder and side by side they stand a moment to take a good look. "She was an Executor-class super star destroyer," Rey tells him with something approaching reverence. "A Kuat ship, like the rest. The Ravager was the last surviving dreadnought in the Imperial fleet. She was taken down by heavy fire towards the end of the battle. Inside there is a lot of damage, mostly from fire."

He's impressed. Rey is correct on all points. But Kylo stays silent and lets her talk.

"These ships were floating cities. The superstructure up top housed thousands. All the mechanics were down below. Ships like these were a marvel of engineering. But they were a high concentration of manpower and firepower. Losing one of these must have been a big loss."

He nods at this wisdom. The Empire always had a bigger is better approach to technology, whether it was Death Stars or super star destroyers. Palpatine had been willing to commit huge resources and take huge risks. Many paid off, but some did not. "My grandfather commanded the Imperial Navy," Kylo reveals to Rey. "He was on the Executor."

"That ship was lost at Endor, right?"

"Yes," Kylo confirms grimly. "My grandfather died at Endor."

"I'm sorry," Rey says quietly. She is sincere. Yes, he thinks, this girl is no threat to turn Jedi one day. She might be the Light, but she's no left wing nut like his uncle. His Master old Darth Plagueis has long preached a certain tolerance towards the Light. If the Light were all like Rey, Kylo would be happy to show forbearance. But they're not, so usually he resorts to killing Lightsiders.

The silence hangs heavy between them for a moment and then Rey speaks up. "I was hoping you would come back."

"Why is that?" he asks as he follows her towards a very mangled TIE half embedded into the sand.

Rey glances over at him. She looks a bit sheepish. "I know a lot of people, Kylo. But I don't have any friends. I thought that maybe you could be a friend."

"So it wasn't just about power converters?" he asks with a wry smile.

"Well, that too," she answers honestly. She walks over to wipe sand away from the TIE cockpit windows. Kylo sees that the unlucky pilot is still inside. The pilot's face is covered by a helmet and his hands are sheathed in gloves. But his flightsuit has disintegrated in places over the years and reveals mummified looking flesh here and there. Rey gestures at the dead man. "There are a lot of bodies like this in the Ravager. I'll take you in if you want to see. But it's fodder for nightmares, Kylo."

Kylo Ren has seen plenty of dead bodies. And he's killed plenty. He's not squeamish in the least. But Rey apparently is. Of course, because she is the Light. Kylo takes the hint and declines.

Rey begins circling the downed TIE, surveying the damage. "I have read that the First Order still flies TIEs. Is it true they are painted black to confuse visual scanning in space?"

"Yes, that's true."

"Does it work?"

"Maybe in a dogfight when normal scanning is chaotic and confusing. But painting a ship black is hardly the same as a cloaking device."

Rey nods her agreement. "Yeah, I thought it seemed like a gimmick. But your black shuttle sure looks slick."

Yeah, it does. "How did you get to be such a techie?" Kylo asks out of curiosity. "Is it all from scavenging?"

"Mostly," she admits. "But I have always liked mechanical things. When the ships come in to the outpost, I usually get a few days' worth of real work as a mechanic. We strip stolen ships for parts. But sometimes we rehab them so they can be fenced. We pull the transponders and reprogram the main computer to avoid identification, and then we repaint the ship. Someone else fakes the paperwork. Most people have no idea they are buying stolen goods." Rey shrugs and then casually reveals more unsavory acts. "Now and then, we get smugglers who pass through here on the run. They want their ship disguised to keep the Core World docking cops fooled. I help with that too."

Kylo is not impressed by these admissions. His tone is pejorative. "So you work for a chop shop? And for spice dealers?"

Rey hears the censure in his tone. "Hey, a girl's got to eat. I don't steal the ships, I don't smuggle the drugs, and I don't ask questions."

That's one step away from those actual crimes as far as Kylo is concerned. He has never been one to tolerate shady deals. This sort of thing reminds him of Han Solo. "So you are an accessory after the fact?"

Rey thinks a moment. "Yeah, I guess. Maybe. Am I disappointing you, Kylo?" She shrugs and looks a bit uncomfortable, to her credit. "Look, there's not any opportunity here. We don't have much in the way of legitimate business. I get real work when I can and the rest of the time I scavenge." She gives him a sideways glance now. Her tone is testy. "Sometimes I get lucky and a rich First Order guy will fly in on his fancy shuttle and pay me in power converters. But the rest of the time, it's take the work I can get or starve. Have you ever starved, Kylo? You lose your scruples very fast when you starve."

She has a point there, he concedes. And there is a difference between Han Solo choosing to cheat and steal when he has better options and this girl doing what's necessary to survive. "No, I have never starved," he is forced to admit.

"Well, maybe you could get your First Order friends to come and clean up Jakku. I know they won't, but I wish they would," Rey complains. "We could use some law and order around here. And the First Order brings jobs. Munitions factories and stuff like that. Jobs that pay real credits."

Kylo reads the frustration in her face. She knows as well as he does that the First Order will never come to backwater Jakku. "Desert worlds are hard to develop," he explains matter of fact. "There are no natural resources here. Everything has to be brought from off-world. Plus, you are far from any major hyperspace lane. That's not conducive to commerce. There's nothing of an economic or strategic benefit here, Rey."

"Yeah, I know." She kicks at the sand with her boot. "Jakku is a place people come to hide. No one comes here and so no one would think to look here."

He doesn't know what to say to this except that life isn't fair. And this skinny scavenger kid who is forced into crime doesn't need him to tell her that life isn't fair. Watching her now, Kylo wonders who this girl is and how she got ever stuck on Jakku. It seems like such a waste.

She's staring off into the horizon now. Squinting. Then she snatches a handful of sand and tosses it into the air to watch as a sudden breeze disperses it. Whatever she sees makes her nervous.

Something's wrong, he senses.

"Come on, let's get back on the bike," Rey tells him abruptly. Her tone is clipped. "There might be a storm coming. It's not safe to be out in a sandstorm. Especially here." By the time they reach Rey's AT-AT ten minutes later, Kylo can feel the change in the air and in the wind. Rey parks the bike and hurries to cover it with tarps to protect it from the storm. Sure enough, there is a dark swirling cloud on the horizon to the west, like a tornado in the desert. The both watch in silence for a minute.

"Sometimes they blow themselves out before they make it this far," Rey tells him. "Storms form fast without warning. But they disappear fast too." She turns to him. "Kylo, if you're going to leave, you need to get in your shuttle now. These storms disrupt the normal winds close to the surface. Even a few miles from the storm, takeoff and landing can be treacherous. You either leave now or wait it out."

Sandstorms are serious business, he sees. Everything about this girl is tense and on edge. The Force tells him that she is frightened, although her outward serious calm belies that emotion. Maybe it's her youth, but Kylo suddenly feels oddly protective of this girl. The girl who must be terribly lonely if she yearns for a random tourist like himself to be her only friend.

"Will the storm hurt the shuttle?" he asks. He has no plans to get marooned on Jakku.

"Not the mechanics. But a bad one could ruin your slick paint job."

That he can handle. "I'll stay, Rey. I've never been in a sandstorm before."

Instantly, she sees through him. Rey doesn't seem to appreciate the concern. She's shooting him a downright resentful look now. "I can handle myself, Kylo. There's no need to worry about me."

He shrugs. "This way, I can cross sandstorm off my bucket list," he tells her with a smile.

Rey eyes him a moment and then decides, "Alight. Well, come on in. Let's have some water."

Kylo has never been inside an actual walker, but he knows that the interior of Rey's home is far removed from the original contents. Everything he sees is salvaged or makeshift, like the speeder. From the hammock that looks to have been handwoven from fabric scraps to the table and chairs that look to have been lifted from the interior of some capital ship. Plus, scattered about are intriguing things like a doll dressed as a rebel pilot, an old flight simulation console and a thicket of computer and communications components Rey appears to have rigged together. There is a lot here he would like to ask about, but nothing arrests his attention like the marks on the wall. Thousands of them in neat rows. He opens his mouth to ask when Rey catches his eye and blushes furiously. She looks away. Kylo takes the hint and swallows his question. He adds the marks on the wall to his mental list of things that fascinate him about this girl.

Rey rummages around towards the front of the walker and appears with a cup of water for each of them. "Cheers," she toasts him and then guzzles the water down in one long, loud gulp. Kylo grins and follows suit. This desert girl has no pretentions and it's sort of refreshing. Charming when compared to all the posturing of the effete officers he deals with.

She's actually quite attractive, he thinks as he sees her in profile. Rey has elegant, even features. Strong brows that balance her full lips. She is completely unadorned in her filthy desert rags and tight hair. That's so unlike the women of his experience. Not his perfumed princess mother or the coy, overly made up tarts who he picks up on Coruscant weekends with his knights. This girl is a noble savage of the desert with arresting poise and athletic grace. Even though she is a sandy, sweaty mess, everything about Rey seems to draw him in a little further each time he meets her. Her lure is so completely unintentional on her part that it disarms him. She's not coming on to him. She's no flirt. And yet he is getting very into this strange girl.

"Are you hungry?" Rey asks and he can tell that she is doing her best hostess routine. Kylo declines because there is no way he will eat this poor girl's food. Rey looks as if she needs every calorie she can get. She looks a little relieved when he says no.

"Stay here, I'll take another look," Rey tells him as she disappears out of the hole in the belly of the walker that serves as her front door. "We're good," her voice calls from outside. "It's blown out. There's no danger."

Rey ducks back inside and not a minute later there is the sound of a landspeeder approaching. Rey peeks out her front door once more. Then she turns to Kylo and makes a face. "It's that Church of the Force guy again. He means well but he can't take a hint. Let me handle this. I'll get rid of them. You stay inside."

Church of the Force? Kylo doesn't like the sound of this. Who knew those crazies were still around? Still, it's good to know that they are hiding out here in the Western Reaches. Kylo mentally files that fact away for future reference. He rises to his feet and Rey shoots him a hard look. "Stay inside, Kylo. If they see another prospective convert, they'll drone on and on forever with their Force talk."

"Rey?" a singsong woman's voice calls. "Rey, are you here? We saw the storm and got worried . . . "

"I'm here. I'm fine." Rey steps out to stand at her front door. She's got her staff in hand and her sentry pose just like she greeted him this morning. On the outside, Rey has a lot of bluster. But that's not her real personality, he now knows. She's really quite friendly. And sort of eager to please.

Kylo gets the briefest of glances at a middle-aged woman who accompanies a tall, whitehaired and bearded man. The man looks familiar and it jogs an old memory. Kylo knows that guy. Or he knew the younger version of that guy.

"There's really no need for you to keep checking on me," Rey informs her visitors. This girl is nothing if not independent. And proud of it.

But as advertised, the visitors can't or won't take a hint. Kylo hears the woman's voice complain, "Rey, we are concerned for you. It's not safe out here by yourself."

"You're right. It's not safe. But I'm still alive," Rey answers. Her ungracious tone tells Kylo that this is a conversation she has had many times before.

"We brought you some hydration tablets, Rey. Just hear us out and you can have the hydration tablets. All we ask is that you listen."

"Thanks, but no thanks. You told me about Luke Skywalker last time, remember? I've heard the whole story about your prophet. I hope you're right and he comes back some day. But I'm not holding my breath."

Kylo's ears perk up at the sound of the name Skywalker. Now the conversation is getting very interesting.

The woman is persistent. "Rey, we can teach you the ways of the Force. We will be the family you seek-"

Rey cuts her off coldly. "My real family will come back. You'll see. They'll come."

"We think you may have the Force. If so, that is a great gift," the old man intones. He has the same slow declaratory speech that Kylo remembers from years ago. It's just as sanctimonious now.

And now Kylo's mind is racing. He's wondering how exactly San Tekka knows Rey has the Force. Because despite that man's deep interest in Force lore, he himself is completely non-Force sensitive. And from what Kylo can tell, so is the woman who accompanies him. They are wannabes, both of them.

"You are risking your life and wasting your gift," the woman chimes in.

"Maybe," Rey concedes. "But those are my decisions to make." She is firm.

The old man backs down now. "We'll stop by the next time we are at Niima. Rey, if ever you need help, you know where to find us."

"Yeah. Okay," Rey replies. After the pair departs on their speeder, she ducks back into the AT-AT and makes a face. "That guys runs a Force cult at a village not far from here. They mostly keep to themselves. I'm the only one they bother." Rey shakes her head dismissively. "I guess they think since I'm alone I'm ripe for their evangelizing. But I don't need their help." Rey looks away and mutters, "I don't need anyone's help."

And that's a lie because this girl looks like she could use a lot of help. Or, at the very least, a friend. Kylo decides to lay his cards on the table. Well, some of them. "That's Lor San Tekka. I knew him years ago. He was a family friend."

"Yeah? Really? I guess it is a small galaxy after all. His cult takes in widows and orphans now and then. They keep trying to take in me too."

Kylo looks around at the sandy hovel Rey lives in. "And you aren't tempted to accept?" he wonders aloud.

"No. I'm not much for organized religion, Kylo. Maybe the Force exists. But I'm not sure."

Kylo puts this issue to one side for a moment. He's curious about what Rey said. "What did you mean about your family coming back?"

She looks away as she reveals, "My family left me here as a kid."

Ouch, he thinks. "When?"

"I think I was about four or five."

His eyes widen. Who abandons a little kid that age to fend for themselves? It's a wonder she's still alive. "Why?" Kylo asks.

Rey looks away again. "I don't know. I'm sure they had a good reason."

Kylo isn't so sure. And now he is very intrigued about this unusual girl. The pieces are starting to come together now to explain the lonely scavenger who lives in an AT-AT. "So who raised you?"

"I worked for Unkar Plutt until I was about twelve. He needed a kid who could fit into small spaces for repairs. When I grew too big for the job, I wasn't any use to him. That's when I went out on my own and began scavenging."

Rey has been on her own since she was twelve? He frowns. "Who is this Plutt guy?"

"He's a Crolute who runs the local trading post. He's not a nice guy, Kylo. He's the local crime boss and he cheats people. One of these days, someone is going to kill him."

Kylo is starting to understand how agnostic Rey was earlier about dabbling with criminals. She was raised that way. Jakku is as lawless as the rest of the Rim, it seems. "Was this Plutt guy good to you?" Kylo wants to know.

Rey shakes her head with resignation. "Good? No. But I'm alive. I keep my distance from him now. Once I got older, I didn't like the way that Crolute looked at me."

"What makes you think that your family is coming back?" Kylo tries to ask this as gently as possible. But even he can hear the skepticism in his voice.

Rey is defensive now. "I don't know why I think that. I just do. Anyway, even if they don't, that cult isn't the solution." She sighs. "I've sat through their speeches about the Jedi before. They talk a good game about happiness, kindness and love. But they have a lot of New Republic political ideas underpinning it all. Look, Kylo, I know that you're First Order. But I'm not much into politics or ideologies. The war is a long way from here. None of that matters for my life. I'm just trying to survive." Rey looks down and it's the first time he sees this girl actually look beleaguered. "There's no point in having an opinion. What I think won't make a difference anyhow. People like me don't matter, Kylo."

The unconscious irony of her statement floors him. For this is a girl with the Force. A lot of Force. She is one of the few individuals who can make a difference in the galaxy. Rey of Jakku has the potential to matter quite a bit. Maybe it's because he likes this girl and is beginning to admire her. But Kylo makes an impulsive decision. He tells her the truth. "The old man is right about one thing. You do have the Force."

Rey gives him a look. "Are you into hokey religions too?"

"Yes, I am," he tells her with a smile. "And I have the Force too."

Rey frowns at him. She is indignant. "Well, there's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. I control my life. Not some all-powerful Force."

Kylo is familiar with this viewpoint. There are lots of misconceptions about the Force, especially now that the Jedi are all but extinct and the First Order has spent years vilifying and marginalizing the exiled Luke Skywalker. "Rey, that's not how the Force works," he says patiently. "It controls your actions but it also obeys your commands."

She shrugs. "I'm not buying it, Kylo. Where was the Force when I was starving at age thirteen? When I got sick two years ago? And why doesn't the Force send my family back? Or just send me a friend? Where is the Force when I need help? The Force isn't why I'm still alive. I am the reason I'm still alive."

"Rey, the Force doesn't make life easier or less dangerous. Quite the opposite usually." No one speaks from experience on this point better than Kylo Ren.

Rey sighs. "Then, no thanks. My life is hard enough."

Yes, he can see that. "Why do you stay here?"

"I'm waiting for my family, remember? Besides, I can't afford a ticket off world and where would I go?" A shadow crosses her features and he can tell that despite her conviction, Rey has some doubts about staying. "Look, life here isn't good. But I'm surviving. It's okay . . . for now. And it's just until my family returns. Then, we'll leave and go to a nice world and make a nice life . . . "

"Rey," he says gently, "Would you even recognize your family if they showed up?"

He can tell that he has hit on a sore nerve. Rey looks away. "I'm sure I would know them. And they would know me, right?"

"Yes. Of course," he agrees mostly to humor her. If Rey needs this hope to cling to, he won't be the one to dissuade her. "Well, if the storm has passed, I should be leaving."

"Yeah, okay." Rey walks with him to the shuttle. He starts the ship warming and then returns to hand her two power converters.

"Fully charged," he says with a smile.

"I didn't actually show you much today," Rey says softly. "I don't think I have earned them."

Her honest admission absolves any concerns that this girl is a criminal at heart. "Take them," he urges. "You saved me from a sandstorm. That counts for something."

"I would have done that anyway," she says and he believes her. She frowns now and looks like she wants to say something.

"What is it, Rey?"

"This Force stuff. Jedi wizards and evil Sith, the Light and Dark Sides. All those myths the Church of the Force people tell—are they true, Kylo? Do you know if they are true?"

"It's true," he confirms solemnly. "All of it."

She nods. "That's what I thought you'd say."

"Search your feelings, Rey," he tells her softly. "You know it to be true. Force-users can always sense the truth."

Her brow furrows and suddenly Rey looks like she might cry. "Kylo, is the Force why I'm here?"

"It's why we're all here," he reveals and he sounds more like his prosy old uncle than he would like.

"That's not what I mean. Is it why I'm here? Is it why my family left me? Because I have the Force. And having the Force is dangerous." Rey's eyes fill with tears. "That's it, isn't it? My family didn't want me because I have the Force."

Kylo stares at her. He's remembering Rey's earlier comment about no one ever coming to Jakku. About how people come to Jakku to hide. Insight flashes up at him through the Force as he suddenly understands that Rey is right. She was left here because she had the Force.

No, not left. She was hidden.

He thinks of old Lor San Tekka who keeps coming around to check on Rey. If San Tekka is mixed up in this, then San Tekka's old friend Luke Skywalker might be too. It has been many months since Kylo Ren has had a decent lead on the whereabouts of the crafty Jedi fugitive. This Church of the Force group bears watching, he thinks. And so does Rey. He makes a mental note to order the intel guys to infiltrate the nearby village and the local trading post.

"We got cut short today. I want to come back, Rey," he tells her as he impulsively reaches to swipe a meandering tear away.

That prompts Rey to begin furiously wiping at her eyes. "I'm not the crying type," she grumbles. He believes her. When she looks up, she is more composed. "I'll be here, Kylo. I'm always here. You know where to find me."