Merry Xmas to those of you who celebrate it! And, for those who are reading DARKER, that fic is NOT abandoned. I just got a little sidetracked, as you know . . .

Ben's face is a gleeful smirk as he watches Rey dump her armload of Force texts on the table in his quarters. "It's a good thing Skywalker is dead, because he might kill you in your sleep for stealing these."

"He didn't get to have it both ways." Rey is defensive about lifting the books. "He told me I needed a teacher and then he told me he couldn't be my teacher. In the end, I got only two lessons out of him and he promised me three."

If anything, Ben's smirk grows broader now. "You didn't miss much from Jedi camp, Rey. It was lots of meditating and floating rocks."

Levitating rocks comes in handy, Rey thinks, but she keeps that observation to herself. "I think I got a different version of Jedi training than you did," she tells Ben bitterly. "Mine was mostly why the Jedi needed to end. So I wasn't stealing these books so much as saving them."

"That's plausible," he allows, sliding her a sideways glance, "from a certain point of view." And is he mocking her? Or judging her? Rey looks up sharply. She doesn't consider herself to be a thief. And Ben doesn't either, apparently. "I'm glad you took them, Rey," he tells her with sincerity. "Have you looked through them yet?"

He starts sifting through the pile. He's got his gloves off, Rey notices, as he carefully fingers the fragile books. He handles the ancient books with a reverence that surprises her. But, then again, Ben Solo was raised a Jedi. And his beloved grandfather had once been a Jedi too. So maybe these books feel sacred to him still.

"Well?" he prompts her. "Did you read them?"

Rey looks away. "No. Er . . . not yet."

"Let's take a look then."

He sits down and she sits down beside him shoulder to shoulder. Then Rey relays all she knows about the books. "Luke said these were sacred Jedi texts that date back to the beginning of the order. He said the temple was built to house them a thousand generations ago."

Ben starts opening the largest book now, running his finger across a handwritten inscription date on the inside cover. "Let me guess—the temple was a tree."

"Yes. How did you know?" she asks in surprise.

"Before the Jedi Order gained a foothold in the Republic, they never built grand sacred spaces like the fancy temple on Coruscant. Back then, the focus of the Order was still on the religion of the Force and not on gaining influence in the Republic and controlling the power of its knights." Ben looks closer now at something he's reading. Again, Rey is struck by how intrigued he is by the books.

He looks up now and continues. "The tree was one of the Jedi Order's most recognizable early symbols. Rey, life creates the Force. Makes it grow. And from death, life comes again. The tree lives and dies, and then from the decay of the tree a new tree grows. Life is interdependent and connected, and so is the Force. Things that seem like random events are often part of a larger scheme, for life is full of cycles. As is the Force."

"Tell me more." Rey is eager for this knowledge. She peeks over his shoulder at what he is looking at and Ben pushes the book closer for her to see. He keeps carefully paging through the tome while she looks on.

"Like so many institutions, the Jedi Order was full of fresh ideas and good questions when it arose. But over time, it grew too large and lost its focus. It became more about perpetuating itself and growing its power. The Jedi High Council was an echo chamber of Jedi Masters who took everything they agreed on and deemed it as sacrosanct. Long before the Republic fell, the Jedi had muzzled the voices of their detractors and marginalized the few in their ranks who wanted reform."

He looks over to meet her eyes. "Do you know this history, Rey?" he asks. "When the Jedi were at the height of their power, they meddled ceaselessly in everything. In the military, in commerce, and in government. They called themselves 'Keepers of the Peace,' but all they really did was intervene to choose their preferred winner for every conflict. It earned them a lot of resentment. Plus, over the years, the meddling by the Jedi served to weaken the institutions of the Republic. And so, at the crucial moment when the galaxy needed strong, unified leadership, its institutions failed to resolve the Separatist Crisis. And the ensuing war destroyed much of the galaxy for years."

Rey is silent. Maybe what Ben says is true, maybe not. Ben has an agenda, so she can't help but be skeptical. But Rey also knows that she is too ignorant to discern the truth for herself. "I don't know much about the Clone Wars," Rey mumbles.

"Well, know this, Rey: it was no accident that Count Dooku and his followers who founded the Separatist movement were Jedi. They had to step outside the Jedi tradition and the Republic government to have any chance at reform. Because Yoda and the rest of the Republic leadership did not tolerate dissent." And that's sort of a strange comment coming from the Supreme Leader of the fascist First Order, Rey thinks, but she holds her tongue. Strangely enough, Ben Solo and Luke Skywalker sound as if they might agree on their views of Jedi history, she thinks.

"The Clone Wars are worth learning about," Ben continues as he peruses the book. "They are far less of a conspiracy than history portrays them as. The Confederacy was more than just a disguised power grab by Darth Sidious. There were legitimate political issues at stake."

"Yeah, I guess . . . " The more Ben speaks like this, the more Rey struggles for how to broach the topic of why she needs his help with the books. Ben Solo's education just might be the most intimidating thing about him, Rey thinks as she uncomfortably shifts in her seat. For the more he casually shares knowledge like this, the more self-conscious and diminished she becomes. And the more uncertain she feels about what she thinks is truth.

"I never went to school. Not formally," she reveals, feeling her face flush at the admission. "I don't know much about history . . . " Her voice trails off before she adds dully, "I don't know much about anything other than mechanics and flying, Ben."

He doesn't reply. He's too interested in what he's reading in the book. "Look. Here!" He excitedly points his finger to a bunch of words that she just nods at. "Here it is! The prophesy of The Chosen One I told you about." He slides the book over some more for her to see. "It's a slightly different version from what I learned. But the gist is the same."

"You read it to me," Rey suggests.

He does. Then he starts parsing the text to consider the differences with the version he knows. Ben is so scholarly, Rey realizes with a gulp. And, of course, he is. He has a princess mother who was a New Republic Senator. He's probably the product of the best schools credits could buy. A son of privilege, no doubt. For whatever Ben Solo's grudges about his childhood may be, they are not deprivation like Rey has experienced. Suddenly, Rey very much regrets bringing the books to ask for help. For this is turning out to be a far harder topic to broach than Rey had expected.

"Look at this!" Ben excitedly points to another passage.

His sudden intensity is lost on her. "Yes?" she looks blankly.

"Recognize it?"

Rey recognizes a few words right off but there are many more that she will need to puzzle over a moment. She can do it, she knows. But not at first glance. Ben is still looking to her, so she improvises. "Luke didn't teach me much—"

"It's the Jedi Code. It's phrased a bit differently too."

"Oh, of course. Read it to me," she requests.

And again, he does. As Ben recites the age-old creed, flustered Rey rises from her chair to walk apart. She ends up standing before the large windows looking out.

When he's done reading, Ben sits back in his chair and considers her a long moment. Then he quietly asks, "What's wrong, Rey? And don't tell me you're feeling guilty over the books."

"On Jakku . . . " she begins and then falters. But she's determined to get this out so she rallies her courage. "On Jakku, there are no schools and—"

"You can't read," Ben says flatly.

She whirls at this, indignant. "Of course, I can! I just don't do it well. Not for this sort of thing anyway . . . "

And, oh, just look at his scowl. Is that contempt she sees? Or anger? Rey is utterly humiliated and blinking back hot tears. She turns back around to the windows to hide her face.

"It's okay, Rey," he sighs as he stands to his feet.

In these words, she hears that she is being placated. It makes her indignant. "I'm a nobody from nowhere, remember?" she sneers as she stares down at the planet the Finalizer orbits. It's Coruscant, the bright center of the universe and the chicest world of the Core, and that just makes Rey feel even worse. "The daughter of junk peddlers who are buried in paupers' graves. A scavenger on a graveyard world in the Outer Rim. There is nothing special about me except that I have the Force."

"It's okay, Rey."

"I can read just fine!" she asserts again as she feels more tears run down her face. "I'm just slow at it sometimes. There was never much need to read on Jakku anyway . . . it wasn't a skill you needed to survive . . . "

"It's okay, Rey."

"The Resistance doesn't know. Skywalker didn't know. Only you know," she admits. Then she gives an ugly chuckle. "It's a good thing the Jedi have ended because who ever heard of a barely literate Jedi Knight? The Jedi were heroes and leaders, Ben. Men and women who were admired for their wisdom and faith."

"At least one was born a slave from the far Outer Rim," he tells her cryptically.

Whatever. Rey wipes at her eyes and then turns to give him a rueful look. "I bet you're glad I didn't take you up on your offer now. I could never rule the galaxy with you." She'd likely be insisting on a written constitution that she couldn't herself read, Rey thinks sourly.

Ben doesn't disagree with her assessment. And, truthfully, that's what she expects. Rey of Jakku is nothing if not a realist on how the world works. Life in the desert makes you face cold hard facts.

Still, she is frustrated to be in this predicament. "I begged for Luke to teach me and he didn't. And now all I have are these books I can't use . . . It might take me years to get through those on my own," she complains. "I guess I could get a droid to read them aloud to me," she posits. "That could work. I run a lot of holonet text through oral translate programs so I can listen to it instead of read it," she admits.

"Or, you could forget the books and learn the Force from me," Ben speaks up to renew his offer. "I can teach you the ways of the Force. You know that you need a teacher, Rey."

"I'm not joining you!" she tells him flatly. Emphatically. "I won't be your apprentice or whatever it's called—"

"Why not? You yourself say you want to learn."

"I want to be a Jedi like in the old stories the guys from the Church of the Force used to tell—"

"Those are fairytales of an idyllic history that never truly existed," Ben shoots back. He is looking increasingly frustrated with her now. Angry too. "Forget these books! You don't need them! All you need is me. Rey, you need to see through the lies of the Jedi and move on to a larger understanding of the Force."

"But what if I want those lies to be true?" Rey asks in a small voice. Again, she wipes at her eyes. "What if they were true once and can be true again?"

And therein lies the crux of their disagreement. Luke Skywalker and Ben Solo want the Jedi Order to end, but Rey is searching for a middle ground. For a reformation of sorts. And that idea does not go over well. Ben stares at her a moment and then he erupts in a loud outburst. "No, no! You're still holding on!" he says sharply. "Let the Jedi fall into history, Rey. Go ahead and read these books to learn what you can, but leave the past behind!"

His vehemence annoys her and Rey is still feeling humiliated so she lashes out. "You're a fine one to lecture me on history," Rey informs him tartly. "You have Darth Vader's mask next door. So don't tell me to let the past die, Ben. Because I don't see you doing that for yourself!"

She has hit a nerve. "Darth Vader is my family! He is all that is left of my family—"

"Thanks to you! And your mother is still around, you know-" Ben's own credits just saved her life for now, Rey thinks.

"My mother is only alive until I deal with the Resistance! General Organa is living on borrowed time," he says through clenched teeth.

Rey holds her ground. "Darth Vader is the past just as much as the Jedi are the past. Vader was a polarizing figure in his own time and he still is now. Recreating his life and his Empire won't bring balance, Ben. It will only drive the two sides farther apart."

He doesn't answer. Instead, Ben stalks over towards the room with the mask. He concentrates a moment and the door slides open with the Force. Ben stands there silhouetted in the doorway as Rey watches from across the room.

"W-Wait-" she stammers weakly. But if Ben hears her, he doesn't acknowledge it. He just walks in and stares down at the poignant, if gruesome, relic.

Watching Ben brooding over the mask makes Rey wonder if maybe she has gone too far. Ben's hero worship of the grandfather he never met is very real. Here is the approving parent Ben never had, the encouraging mentor in the Force he always wanted, and maybe even the absolving confessor he needs. For Ben Solo seems very alone. From her own experience, Rey recognizes all the signs.

"I'm sorry," she stammers as she walks up beside him. "Ben, I went too far—"

"He had a horrible life," Kylo rasps, his eyes never leaving the destroyed mask. "He was born a fatherless slave and sold away from his mother to the Jedi cult."

"Wait-Darth Vader was a slave?" Rey interrupts. No one has told her that. "Really?"

"Yes." Ben turns to her and waves a finger in her face to make his point. "Darth Vader was born a slave in the Outer Rim. He rose to rule the galaxy from Tatooine. So don't ever tell me that a scavenger from Jakku is not good enough to rule! Rey," he tells her pointedly, "I see what others cannot see. You are a nobody from nowhere, but not to me. I don't give a damn if you can't read! You have the Force. You are full of Light. And you marched into Snoke's throne room to fight for me."

Ben has the same resolute look in his eye she remembers from that day when he had held out his hand and asked her to join him. It's one part determination and one part desperation. And something like a pleading command.

Rey doesn't know what to say. Whenever Ben Solo speaks like this, her first instinct is always to agree. This man has a disarming charisma when he drops his guarded, smirking sarcasm and speaks from the heart.

As she stands there caught off guard, Ben continues his tale. He's back to Darth Vader, of course. "Vader was born a fatherless slave and sold away from his mother to the Jedi cult. The Jedi forbade family, so they demanded that he forget her. Later, Vader fell in love with a queen and a Senator, but the Jedi forbade marriage. Vader was supposed to forget his love too, but he refused and they married in secret. Years later, my grandmother died birthing Vader's twin children. The Jedi stole the children, separated them, and hid them away. It was supposed to be for their protection, but it was for revenge. My mother was raised to hate the Empire and indoctrinated into the Rebellion as a teenager. My uncle was to be trained to assassinate his own father-"

"I know the rest of the story," she interrupts again. Well, she heard a slightly different version. But she knows the gist.

"Do you?" Ben asks rhetorically. "Have you really thought about his story, Rey? Is it so surprising that a very talented, ambitious man born a lowly slave might seek to amass power? Is it so surprising that a man denied his parents, denied his wife, and later denied his children might be weak for sentiment in the end? Rey, Vader was a man who at every turn was denied the love he craved."

"You're saying Darth Vader was lonely?" Rey is wondering where this is going.

"Absolutely." Ben turns back to the mask and his words now sound less of Vader and more of himself. "He was a lonely man whose only consolation was power."

Rey nods because, yes, she's starting to get it now. The Vader mask is not about the Force or the Empire. The self-identification at work here is far more personal than that. Rey gulps hard because suddenly she's thinking of her own little talisman ritual of making marks on the wall. Because in life, sometimes you have to use whatever crutch works. And for Ben Solo, apparently, it's the melted husk of Darth Vader's iconic mask. Here is the long dead kindred spirit he lacks in life. Snoke might have wanted a new Darth Vader as his enforcer apprentice, but there is far more to this role model for Ben.

"I keep the mask here to meditate with it," Ben reveals. "I seek my grandfather's presence whenever I feel the call to the Light. It helps me to know that he felt it too his whole life." Ben looks almost embarrassed now to explain, "It's comforting to know that even Vader was conflicted from time to time."

"Do you actually speak to him in the Force?" Rey wonders aloud.

"Not directly. But the mask is very evocative. Sometimes it gives me visions. Go ahead. Touch it," he invites her. "See if you respond to it."

Rey looks askance and instinctively declines, "That's okay—"

"Do it!" Ben says sharply in a tone of command. But then, he softens. "Do it. Rey, I want to see. I want to see if it's just me or if it's any Force-user who will respond to it."

Rey reconsiders and meets Ben's eyes again. And now, he disconcertingly asks, "Please."

He looks so earnest now. And again, here is the compelling version of Ben Solo who is very hard to resist. The man who is oddly vulnerable and yet completely in command. And he is helping her with the Jedi books, Rey thinks, so perhaps she owes him this. Plus, Ben had said that he doesn't care that she doesn't read so well. So, with much trepidation, Rey reaches out her hand to the mask.

At the first touch, her conscious world dissolves and Rey feels herself falling. Someone catches her and then the images begin to come.

The master is humanoid and pale, with a handsome, intelligent face. You can tell he is very tall even laying down in bed. He wakes instantly at the sound of the saber igniting. His pale eyes pop open wide. The apprentice hacks away with clear resolve and the master does not resist even though he is armed with the Force. Instead, the master crows as though he were the one triumphant: "I cannot be betrayed. I cannot be beaten." It will be years before the apprentice learns that he underestimated the power of the Dark Side.

Darkness meets Darkness, and Darkness wins. Because Darkness is eternal.

The scene shifts and another attacker full of resolve creeps in under cover of night as his unsuspecting victim sleeps. This time the aggressor is the master and the victim is his disappointing apprentice. The boy wakes instantly at the sound of the saber igniting. His dark eyes pop open wide with shock and fear. This trusting student has not seen this coming. But he fights back with his sword and with the Force. This time the apprentice is the one to hack away. Not at the master but at his fellow students. In the end, it is the master who has betrayed himself and others. He emerges alive but utterly beaten. His fear led to anger and his anger led to hate and now all have suffered.

Darkness meets Darkness, and Darkness wins. Because Darkness is in even the best of us.

The master sits upon a high throne in a red room. He is very damaged in appearance, deceptively frail and weak. But stronger now than ever. He orders an execution but his apprentice rebels and seizes the moment for himself. The apprentice ignites a saber straight through the master, cleaving him in two. The master dies with his pale eyes open wide. All the while, his proud words still ring triumphant in the air: "I cannot be betrayed. I cannot be beaten." It's true that the more things change, the more they stay the same. But for this apprentice, history will not repeat itself.

Darkness meets Darkness, and Darkness wins. Because just answering the call to the Light is not enough for redemption.

Then, as abruptly as it began, the vision is over.

Rey understands what she has seen but it is a mystery too. Like on Takodano in Maz's basement, the images were all at once sharply focused and yet softly blurred. And like before, when finally Rey opens her eyes, she is thoroughly disoriented. It takes a long moment to catch her breath.

And that's when Rey realizes that she is being held tightly in someone's arms. In Ben's arms. She is shaking still with her head ducked up under Ben's chin and her face pressed hard into his wool tunic. And wait—are those her arms clinging to him? This is just as confusing as the vision. For how did she end up like this?

Rey squirms but Ben holds fast. "What did you see?" His voice is a hoarse whisper right above her ear. "Tell me!"

Her answer comes out a rapid stream of consciousness. "Snoke. Snoke being attacked. It wasn't by you. It was by someone else. And Luke. I saw Luke attack you. And the throne room again. I don't understand. Why am I seeing Snoke? Why am I dreaming of Snoke? He is dead like Luke. I saw for myself . . . "

"I don't know. Tell me more."

She squirms again and this time Ben releases her. Rey looks up and starts asking her own questions now. "Who was Snoke? Where did he come from? If he was a Sith, then who was his master?"

"I don't know," Ben surprises her with that reveal. "Snoke never admitted to being a Sith, but I'm pretty sure he was. He spent the Empire days in exile in the Unknown Regions, watching from afar. All I know is that he has had several other apprentices before me."

"You don't know?" Rey blinks at this. "Where did Snoke learn the Dark Side?" Did he teach it to himself the way Rey plans to learn the Light?

"I don't know. Those are not questions you get to ask, Rey."

"Oh."

Ben's dark eyes are snapping at her and they are standing mere inches apart. Rey can literally feel his breath on her cheek. She hasn't been this close to him since they were in the elevator heading for Snoke's throne room. And that is a disconcerting memory. Rey takes a quick and long step back.

"Did Luke ever fight Snoke?" she wants to know. Rey is thinking back to Luke warning her that her confrontation to redeem Ben was not going to go the way she thought. She had understood that comment to refer to Ben but what if it had referred to Snoke?

"No."

Again, Rey blinks in surprise. "Why not?"

"Skywalker confronted me once after I burned the temple," Ben reveals. "But he never confronted Snoke."

"Why not? Why wouldn't he have gone to kill the last Sith or whatever Snoke was? Why wouldn't he have gone for justice to the man who seduced his nephew to the Dark Side?"

"I don't know." Ben's face is a frown as he recalls ugly memories. "Probably because he didn't care enough to do so. Luke wanted me dead. Especially then."

"But he didn't kill you . . . "

Ben sighs and reddens. "My mother made him promise not to."

This isn't making sense for Rey. "But Luke Skywalker took on the Emperor. His father was Lord Vader. He blew up the Death Star. He was no coward. I still don't see why he never faced Snoke."

Ben shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe it was because Luke thought he couldn't win."

And that doesn't persuade Rey. "Ben, Snoke was not that hard to kill. The guards were harder to kill than he was. Luke could have won. Especially younger Luke. Unless . . . "

"Unless what?"

"Unless he thought that killing Snoke wasn't the same as winning," she thinks aloud.

"Now you sound like a preachy Jedi my uncle would agree to teach." Ben's sarcasm is ugly. "Are you going to tell me next that violence isn't the answer? Because it was in Snoke's case. He's dead, Rey. We both saw it. What you saw was a vision, and visions are not necessarily truth."

"Yeah. You're right. He's dead."

Ben's eyes narrow now. "You're still dreaming about him," he accuses.

"Yes," Rey admits. "And now this. What does it mean?" She lifts troubled eyes to his. And then, the words slip out before she can stop them. "I'm frightened." She instantly bites her lip, wanting to take them back. For Rey feels silly to be scared of bad dreams. And even sillier confessing this childishness to Ben Solo. It's bad enough to have confessed that she is barely literate already.

But Ben doesn't chide her. Instead, he nods seriously as he holds her gaze. "He's dead, Rey. He can't hurt you now. That lightsaber went right through him."

"Yeah," she agrees before adding sheepishly, "I guess I never thanked you for saving me that day."

"You saved me from that last guard. Rey, we're even."

"Yes. Even," she repeats.

And now, Ben's long, angular face lights up in genuine smile. It's the first time Rey has ever seen him truly smile. It's so unexpected that she responds with a smile of her own. "I knew you would react to the mask," Ben tells her with undisguised relish. "I just knew it," he breathes out. Ben is excited now and it shows, like before with the books. "Darth Vader would understand what I am trying to do. He too was interested in balance. I have his castle, Rey. You should see the things I found hidden there—"

"Let me guess. Lots of black capes and the plans to the Death Star—"

"He had a treasure trove of Jedi artifacts. There are hundreds of Jedi holochrons there." Ben gestures over at the haphazard heap of stolen Jedi texts. "Vader would have loved these books, Rey. He would have poured over them to try to understand where the Jedi went wrong. Were the Jedi wrong from the very beginning, or did they lose their way?"

"That's what I want to know, too," Rey complains. "Because blindly throwing away the past feels like it might be as much a mistake as slavishly repeating the past, Ben."

He nods and seems to consider her words. "I guess we will learn the answers once we read the books together."

"Wait-you want to read the books . . . together?" She shoots him a questioning look.

"Yes. But first, we need to preserve them," he decides. "Some of those books are in pretty bad shape. Come back in a week and I will have a complete scan of the texts along with audio files so you can listen along as you read."

Rey's eyes dart back to the sacred Jedi texts in the other room. "Those books are all I have left of the Jedi Order," she says nervously. "Ben, if you burn them, I will have nothing left to learn from."

He looks her in the eye. "There is still me."

She puts her hand on one hip and cocks her head at him. "So then you see why I'm not so keen on leaving the books with you." She frowns at him. "Why do you want to read old Jedi books anyway?"

"Because Vader would have read them," he answers as if it's self-evident. "And because I'm an old fallen away Jedi myself. Besides, if you are going to read these, then I should read them too." He smirks at her. "Who knows what ancient Jedi tricks you will uncover in them. I don't want to be at a disadvantage, Rey."

"I don't know—" She has a bad feeling about this.

"Trust me," he tells her.

"But—"

"I'm not asking you to join me, I'm asking you to loan me some books." And now, Ben raises another topic. "Are you really going back to Jakku again?"

"Would you prefer that I went back to the Resistance?"

"No. Fine. Jakku it is, then. But this time, I don't want you spending my credits on the Resistance."

Oh. Rey was wondering when he was going to bring that up. She had a feeling that the First Order would figure out by now that the Resistance has fled courtesy of Ben's credits. "Er . . . about that . . . " Rey shifts her weight and tucks an escaped strand of hair back into her ponytail.

Ben gives her a hard look. "I didn't give you a hundred thousand credits for you to contribute it to the Resistance, Rey. Did you keep any of it for yourself?" he complains. "Or are you destitute as usual?"

"Er . . . well . . . "

"You're broke," he judges. Then he raises an eyebrow at her. "Care to tell me where the Resistance plans to meet up to regroup now that they have escaped?"

This question at least Rey has an answer for: "No."

"I thought not." He looks askance at her. Well, it's more like disappointed than angry. "Do I have to dig into your mind?" Ben threatens flexing his hand her direction as if he's ready to summon the Force.

"That didn't work so well for you last time around," she reminds him with a hard look. "But bring it on," Rey challenges as she summons her own focus.

They stare at one another a long moment before Ben lets the point go. He gives her another disappointed look. "I trusted you with those credits. Don't fool yourself into thinking that you helped. All you did in the end was prolong this war."

"Er . . ." Uncomfortable Rey frowns. Heretofore, she had thought those credits had gone to good use, but now she's not so sure. And part of her understands why Ben feels duped by her move. It was not a nice way to repay his generosity, she knows.

With another disappointed look, Ben informs her, "Well, I am trustworthy, Rey, even if you are not. You'll get your books back unharmed." And now again, he is pressing credit cards into her hands.

This time, she won't accept them. "Don't bother giving me credits, Ben. No one accepts them on Jakku. It's strictly a barter economy. I'll have to scavenge for goods to trade."

"What if the guy you stole the Falcon from makes trouble for you on Jakku? Then where are you going to go without a single credit to your name?" he counters.

That starts a bickering argument that continues the whole way back to the Millennium Falcon in the hangar bay. In the end, Rey leaves the books, Ben keeps his credits, and the Falcon is refueled and released to Rey with temporary, makeshift repairs that will get her home to Jakku.

"You're always going to be difficult, aren't you?" Ben complains as they stand before the Falcon's ramp.

Rey nods. "Yes. I'm like that."

"I know," he smirks. "I know a woman like you," he tells her. "Well . . . I used to know her."

With that food for thought, Rey wishes him, "May the Force be with you, Ben. And take care of my books."

"Try not to die on Jakku," he answers.

So focused are both Rey and Ben on their negotiation that they both miss the tall, slim redheaded general who looks on from across the busy hangar bay with an ambitious subordinate at his side. Yes, that's the girl, the general confirms. I recognize her from the prisoner briefing back on Starkiller Base. Good work, the general commends the junior deck officer, you are a true patriot of the First Order. The general then hands the deck officer a comlink. Alert me the moment you see her arrive again, he orders.