Rey could barely believe her eyes.

"D-did this happen because of us?" Finn stammered as he looked around at what remained of the Niima Outpost. Huts were smashed and burnt, ships and vehicles toppled on their sides or in pieces... and the bodies… the bodies had been picked clean by the natural scavengers of the land and what remained were already whitewashed by Jakku's unrelenting sun.

Rey scanned the mess before her in the early morning light. She knew she had escaped the Outpost as it was being barraded by the First Order, but she had never imagined that they'd totally exterminated this little collection of huts Jakku had once called a town. She tried to look at the remains that were scattered, but they were beyond recognition.

BB-8 came rolling up besides her, leaving a trail in the sand, and beeped disdainfully.

"This all happened because of us..." Rey's voice trailed. This all happened because of a nobody

But as quickly as the thought had formed in her mind, she tucked it away. She couldn't think about that right now.

With a shaky breath Rey closed her eyes and dipped her mind into the Force. She could feel insects digging into the sand miles away, rustling movements around the Millenium Falcon, travelling Teebo beyond Fallen Teeth and at the Niima Outpost...no life remained (other than that that had arrived with her).

"Let's get what we need and get out of here." Rey's voice cracked on the first word and the sand shifted slightly at her feet.

"But shouldn't we check for survivors?" One of the Resistance suggested, Rey couldn't recognise the gruff voice.

"There are none." She simply answered.

"Rey…" Finn's voice was full of sympathy for his friend as he reached out a reassuring hand to her but, before it could be accepted, Rey silently began to walk towards the remains of the Concession Stand.

"Is she ok?" asked a Resistance fighter, Finn had probably seen her around but couldn't recall her name. He looked down as the older woman and noticed she was looking at Rey wearily, as if expecting her to suddenly turn and attack them.

"This was her home, cut her some slack," he answered bitterly. He hated the fact that some of the crew were frightened of Rey, even after she had saved them back on Crait. Some where this frightened just because she'd moved a few rocks using the Force, perish the thought they ever saw her use the Force in battle.

Finn continued to follow Rey with his eyes, even when the Resistance woman had left his side to search through the village's remains. The Jedi walked with purpose, never wavering from her destination but he could feel something changing inside his friend, like she was shutting herself off- but if that was due this dreaded planet or because of some unknown event that had happened at Ach-To, he was unsure.

During their week in space he had questioned her about Ach-To and her confrontation with Kylo Ren...

"Snoke is dead." Was the only answer she would give him.

Obviously, with an answer like that, Finn couldn't help worry for his friend. He was already scared that Rose might never wake up, he didn't want to think of Rey shutting herself off from him too.

Finn was about to call to her again but he bit his tongue as he noticed the little sand spirals that were erupting around her feet. If you weren't paying attention you wouldn't notice them so, thankfully. none of the Resistance did but Finn had noticed…

Was Rey struggling with the Force?

He cursed to himself as he ran towards her, just as she took her first into what remained of the Concession Stand.

"Rey!" Finn called, causing Rey to look around in surprise.

"Did you find something?" She quickly asked.

"No," he panted, as he came to a clumsy halt before her. "You sure you're ok?"

She gave him a quizzical, slightly confused look.

Finn shrugged, not sure how to answer to that.

"Well, the sooner we get out of here the better," She looked up at the sky. "We should find some food and water quick, and head back."

Finn made as if to say something else, that wasn't the type of answer he was looking for but instead replied, "I'll go see if any of these ships can still fly, or maybe they have some gas- anything that could get the Falcon flying again."

She nodded her head and turned her back on her friend, returning to her search.

Unkar Plutt had built his stand well, surprisingly, most of it was still standing and intact. Scraps of metal the Crolute had collected over the years had protected the stand from the First Order, or it hadn't been hit head on by any missiles. Both options seemed feasible.

On careful inspection, it seemed that no one had been here since the attack. Scraps of traded machinery still lied haphazardly within the first room- converter flasks, hyperspeed cylinders, control valves- Rey's hand swept over them, putting a few into her bag, thinking they might be needed them at a later date.

She continued to look through the shelves, pushing past unneeded trades, until she found what she was looking for- Food Packs. Rey's hand travelled over their airtight plastic coverings, some had been damaged during the attack and insects had already long attacked those, but the mass majority were, thankfully, intact.

Without a second thought she began to throw the sealed packs into her bag. So many years scavenging the Graveyard to earn a few of these measly packs. Back then, it had been for her survival, now it was the survival of the Resistance. The bag she'd brought with her couldn't even hold half the packs Unkar had stocked, which made Rey feel bitter at the Crolute's stinginess. She'd have to come around another time to collect the rest, though she estimated she'd collected enough food to feed Leia's crew for a few days.

Water, they'd need that sooner.

The few times she'd had enough to trade with Unkar, the water had come in the form of barrels from the backroom. Rey cursed when she made her way toward said room, the ceiling had collapsed but, fortunately, majority of the barrels were still intact.

She made to walk towards them when she tripped on something hard that had been protruding from under the collapsed pile. The young Jedi looked down and, in her shock, caused the barrels in the room to shake, one even blew its top, showering her in lukewarm water. She'd tripped over one of Unkar Plutt boots! It seemed not even the trader had escaped the attack.

Rey closed her eyes and pushed her surprise to the back of her mind, trying to regain control of the Force. Why was this happening all of a sudden? Why was she struggling so much to keep control of the Force?

She closed her eyes again, raised her hands and concentrated as she moulded the Force around to suit her needs. As she opened her eyes, taking careful breaths, she slowly saw the barrels of water began to float off the ground. With sweat already beading at her temples, she began to walk backwards, out of the hut, the barrels following in her wake.

"Nice haul!" Called Finn, running towards her, a broad smile on his glistening face. With some effort, she carefully placed the barrels on the sand, "Though I think I win this round."

"I didn't know it was a competition." half smiled Rey.

"Well if it were, I would have won." Finn laughed, pointing towards a medium sized scouting vessel the Resistance were already scouring around. Its paint had long since faded, leaving it a unflattering shade of pink. Rust creeped out of its joints and sand coated the cockpit windows like a second skin.

"Does it work?" Rey couldn't help feel surprised at Finn's discovery but, then again, they had found the Millennium Falcon, fueled and working, at this very Outpost.

Poe's head peeked out from the cockpit window, a broad grin on his face, "She won't be taking us to any other planets but she can make our trip around this one a lot easier!"

As if to prove his point, Poe's head disappeared back into the old ship and the engine revved to life, causing the Resistance to cheer.

"This is just the first step in getting the Resistance back on its feet." Rey noted, a small smile playing on her face.

Finn continued to beam at her, "And between you and the general, the hope of the Resistance will burn once again!"

"R-right," Rey's smile faltered as she turned to face the barrels. "Better, get these on board then."

"Do you need any help with that?" offered Finn, already walking towards them.

"No need," was her reply, shooting him a mischievous smile as she extended her arms and concentrated. "I've got this covered."

And, still smirking, she began to lead the barrels onto the ship's musty cargo-bay.

"Show-off!" Finn loughed, running after her just as the last of the crew and equipment was loaded. The ship's door sealed shut behind him.

"Let's see if this baby can do more than purr!" called Poe from the pilot seat. BB-8 beeped excitedly as he began to push buttons and turn levers.

"Do you actually know how to drive this?" jumped in Finn, taking the co-pilot's seat.

"Well, they don't call me the best pilot in the Resistance for nothing!"

And with one last button the ship roared to life and staggered unevenly into the air, causing a number of people to stagger sideways. With a quick twist of the wheel and a few more adjustments, the ship slowly began to balance out.

"Oh man, you did it!" yelled Finn, "Isn't that great Rey?"

Rey shot her friend a distracted smile as he hit the pilot on the shoulder, playfully. Poe made some sarcastic comment Rey couldn't hear and, with some skill, he adjusted a few more levers and the ship began to zoom forward, a storm of dust erupting around them.

Rey felt uneasy where she stood, at the entrance of the cockpit. Although her friends where within her reach, she felt further than they had when she'd traveled to Ach-To. It felt like she'd crossed some unknown line back on that island and her world had become a lot larger than the one her friends knew…

The journey that had taken them hours that morning was finished in barely one, just as the sun began to take cover behind Jakku's jagged mountain range. The Resistance on land stepped back wearily as they saw the scout ship attempt a rather shaky landing on the sand, some even retreated back in the Millenium Falcon. But when Poe stuck out his head in greeting the Resistance cheered and rushed to the opening cargo doors, eagerly helping to retrieve the supplies that had been brought in.

The food was rationed and expected to last at least a week, if no emergencies propped up, which they most probably would. However, the Resistance survivors laughed and joked that evening, in front of half a dozen small fires they had had built out of unusable scraps found within the scout ship (or Elpis, as Poe had taken to calling it).

Rey set in front of a small fire between the general and Finn, as she played with the small piece of food in her hand. She wasn't paying much attention to the conversations flying around their campfire and her eyes kept on lingering on the horizon.

She was brought back to reality as, shakily, Leia got to her feet. She didn't even need to clear throat for the small group to fall silent- she had their full and undivided attention. Rey momentarily wondered how the old woman was capable of doing such things without manipulating the Force. She'd heard stories of the great Princess Leia Organa but, after having fought and worked besides her, Leia was more than just history, she was a living legend.

"Thank you all who braved the desert to bring this feast to our camp. It may not be a meal worthy of royalty, but the company far exceeds that." Some of the survivors laughed, while others cheered at her words. "Take this time to recover and rest, it is well earned, but our battle with the First Order is far from over."

Leia shot Rey a quick glance, the latter giving the old general a quick nod.

"Jakku has been kept out of this war up till now, but I believe it has the potential to help us- as a Resistance stronghold." Her words caused a cascade of whispered comments and Rey could make out the crew's sudden agitation in the Force. "An Empire base lies just beyond that mountain range, it may still be intact from the Battle of Jakku and so may hold valuable resources that we desperately need."

"Are you proposing we travel to an Empire base on the possibility of it being useful?" an unseen voice said, quickly merging back into the shadows before he could be recognised.

"An what of the sick and injured?" called another, also disappearing into the crowd.

"That's why I propose that I'll lead a small group of volunteers." she continued, "we'd take the scout ship and check the remains."

Her words caused an instant turmoil of emotion but one thing was clear to Rey, no one wanted the general to go.

"Excuse me, General," Rey quickly said, getting to her feet to stand beside the older woman, "I think you should remain here with the rest of your fighters. I'll take the ship and I'll scout the area."

The crowd fell silent but the Force spoke volumes. The instant Rey had stood up another emotion had seeped into the air- fear. The weary look Leia shot her men told Rey that even she had felt the shift.

"Well if Rey's going, I'm going too." Chipped in Finn, unphased.

"You two are going to need a pilot then." Added Poe, also getting to his feet besides Leia.

BB-8 beeped his agreement.

The three youths looked at Leia, determination clear in their eyes. She smiled sadly to herself, remembering another time when she'd have been the one volunteering with Han and Luke at her side.

Leia nodded her consent, solemnly.

That's probably the longest chapter I've had to write in a long time, but couldn't split it up or it would mess up the Kylo story XD so what do you guys think?i hope you're enjoying the story so far but feel free to leave a review about the good, the bad and the meh ;) I'll try update soon but, until then, may the force be with you!- Luna Pendragon