Fortis attachiamentum, validior praesumptionem: "strong attachment, the stronger presumption"


"What do you think you're doing?"

Rey jumped a little, then muttered, "Geez. What is with the Solo men and sneaking up on me today?"

Kylo glowered at her. "Enjoying snooping? Any qualms about invading my privacy?"

"I was not snooping, the door was open. And I only have one question." She held up the stuffed animal with a wide grin. "Who is this little guy?"

Kylo looked at her with a mixture of embarrassment and panic. "Put that down!"

"After you tell me his name. Please say it's Mr. Fuzzycuddles."

"That is not his name." Kylo snapped as he grabbed the bear and set it back down on the bed, then blushed. "I mean, it doesn't have a name."

"Oh, come on. Any bear that loved definitely had a name." Rey teased as she sat on his bed, bouncing a little.

"Right. Like you named your toys."

"Of course I did. I had this little doll when I was… eight, I think? I made her out of an orange vest someone threw away, other scraps of fabric, and some string. Her name was Captain Dosmit Raeh," Kylo raised an eyebrow at her as she replied, "R-A-E-H, totally different from my name. She was a famous war pilot who would fly down, rescue kids in trouble, then fly away."

She smiled as she gently patted the bear. "I called her Dozzie. All the other kids told me girls can't be pilots, but I pretended anyway."

"Do you still have it?"

Rey shook her head. "One of my foster parents threw away everything I had when I stopped him from hitting one of the younger kids."

Something flashed across Kylo's face, and he turned away to stare at the bookshelf.

"Huh." He said, and Rey bit back a smile at how much he sounded like his dad. "Everything is just the same as the day I left." Looking around at the walls, he shook his head. "Kind of creepy."

"How old were you?"

"Seventeen."

"Maybe they hoped you'd be back." Rey offered, and he snorted in response.

"Not likely." He picked up a photo of his twelve year old self standing with his parents at the front of the Senate, Han and Leia looking like the perfect political power couple in her white dress and his military uniform, preteen Ben all gangling arms and legs, gray suit hanging awkwardly on his tall frame.

"None of this was me, anyway. They never knew the real me. Never wanted to either." He frowned back at his younger self.

"They only thought of me when they needed to show off their perfect family to the press and politicians. Only cared to talk to me when I wasn't what they wanted. When I was a disappointment." He forcefully slammed the photo facedown on the last word.

"I was never anything but a prop to them. Something to pose with, to make pictures look complete. Something to use, then ignore." Glancing up at the door, he sneered at the handmade sign. "But not now. I'm done with them. Ben Solo doesn't exist anymore."

Rey watched him for a few moments, concern in her eyes, then softly asked, "So who are you, then?"

He whirled around, as if he had forgotten she was there.

"Because maybe you're not Ben Solo anymore." She shrugged a little as she looked at the photo of him and his bear. "But I don't think you're all Kylo Ren, either."

Disquieted, Kylo warily meet her soft gaze, "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" She searched for the right words, "I can see Ben in you sometimes. When you're tired, or think I'm being ridiculous. He's still there, somewhere. He's just hidden behind all the…"

"All the what?"

Meeting his eyes, she quietly finished, "All your anger."

He stared at her, taken aback.

"You carry so much anger with you. All the time. And sometimes I think…" Sighing, she changed tack, "Look, when you're in the system, and your whole life you've been unwanted, there are only two ways to survive.

"First, you can look back at everything and decide to treat the whole world like it treated you - treat it like garbage, like everyone's out to get you. You don't trust anyone, don't help anyone, and soon all you can see is darkness and hate."

She looked up at him, then said in an almost broken voice, "But that's such a small, heavy way to live." Rubbing her arm, she picked at the duvet cover. "Trust me, I know."

Slowly, softly, Kylo took a step forward. "What's the second way?"

She gave him a half-grin and said simply, "You have hope. Because yes, the world is broken, but instead of giving up, you try to help others, to make it better. Make yourself better." She shrugged self-consciously, "Maybe we can't save the whole world. But we might be able to fix part of it."

There was a long beat of silence, then Kylo told her, "I'm not sure I believe that."

"But you're listening."

They both turned as Leia's voice drifted upstairs. "Dessert's almost ready!"

Rey sighed, then hopped off the bed. "Well, we should get going."

As she passed him, Kylo shook his head a little, then muttered, "Wicket."

"Huh?"

"The bear. His name is Wicket."

Rey's eyes grew wide as she tried her utmost best to keep from smiling. "Like the posts in cricket?"

"Threepio kept talking about it when I was a kid, and it sounded like a name to me. I don't know, I was five."

"That is the cutest thing I have heard all day."

"No, it is not cute, it is not- wipe that grin off your face!"

"This is so much better than Mr. Fuzzycuddles."

"See, now I regret telling you anything."

"But he's so adorable! Wook at the wittle Wicket." She waved to the bear as Kylo closed the door behind them.

"You say one word about this to anyone-"

"Yeah yeah yeah. You'll go all scary Kylo Ren, I know." Winking at him, she skipped down the stairs.

"I don't like that. Why did you wink? Why did you wink?" He demanded as he followed her down to the dining room.

Rey was still grinning half an hour later as she excused herself from talking with Poe and Chewie about the the merits of domestic versus foreign cars. She had just grabbed a soda when Luke seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Rey."

Trying not to jump (what was with this family and sneaking up on people?), Rey desperately wracked her brain for more recent cases she had read.

"I just wanted to tell you to be careful."

Rey blinked in surprise, and nearly held up her soda as evidence that she wasn't planning to drive drunk, or even tipsy.

"Ben is not the man you think he is." The older man warned her in a low, intense tone, and both of them glanced over to where Kylo was staring at them. If she didn't know better, she might have said that Kylo looked almost… afraid.

She was searching for a neutral answer when her back straightened, her chin lifted, and a small spark of fire was suddenly in her eyes. "I think he's someone who's lost his way, and he believes he can't turn to or trust anyone. Including his family."

Part of her may have been envisioning all the ways that statement could jeopardize her future, her hands may have been shaking a little, but she stood tall as Luke scrutinized her for a moment, then shook his head. "Impressive. Every word in that sentence was wrong."

He turned to look at his nephew once more, and Rey jolted a little as the glass in Kylo's hand shattered.

Luke watched the pieces fall, then turned to Rey with a mixture of interest and curiosity. "But, it seems that even a wrong answer is not without value."

He handed her a card, then bowed his head slightly. "If you ever need to talk."

As quickly as he had appeared, Luke was gone. Rey was peering around to try and see where he went when Kylo rushed towards her, grabbing her arm and steering her into the hallway.

"What did he tell you?" He demanded in a low growl, his hand painfully tight around her bicep. "What did he say?"

Rey stared at him, then her arm. Kylo came back to himself and let her go, taking a step backwards.

"Nothing." She said, unsettled by his actions, by his tone. "We were just talking."

He rubbed his neck, then flinched as she touched the imprint from his hand above her elbow.

"I didn't… I need to go. I need to get out of here." He mumbled in a rush, then grabbed his coat and fled out the door.

Surprised into stillness, Rey finally gathered herself and went after him. Peering through the dark, she saw him open his car door.

"Hey! Hang on," she called out as she made a beeline for the small light. "Ren, what was that-"

"What?" He bellowed, "What do you want from me?"

She stopped, barely recognizing his face as it contorted in anger. "Nothing."

As the silence stretched between them, she let out a stung breath, then turned back towards the house.

"Rey, wait."

She moved her head just enough to see him run his hands through his hair.

"I'm sorry." He said finally, the stiff anger trickling away. "I shouldn't have… this place just… the way they were looking at me…"

It was the tinge of defeat in his tone and body that convinced her to walk the rest of the way to the car.

"I can't stay here." He told the ground, head hanging and shoulders hunched.

"Hey."

He lifted his head enough to meet her resolute gaze.

"Don't you ever grab me like that again."

"I won't. It was just... those people and…" He stopped as he caught sight of her eyes. "I won't."

"Good."

He shifted his weight, then, almost as a question, said, "I just… I need to leave."

Studying him for a moment, Rey realized what he reminded her of, why the look in his eyes seemed familiar - he looked hunted, filled with fear and anxiety and a nervous energy burning inside him.

She nodded, and his shoulders relaxed a little in relief.

"You should say good-bye to your mom, at least."

He shook his head. "I can't. If I go back in there-"

"Ben?" Leia's frame was silhouetted by the light inside as Rey shot Kylo a look.

"She misses you."

He let out a small groan. "Fine."

As he walked towards her, Leia glanced between him and the car. "Are you leaving?"

"Yes. I need to go."

"But you haven't even had dessert-"

"Mom."

Leia pressed her lips together at his dark look, then pulled him down for a hug.

"It was so good to have you home." She spoke into his shoulder, then released him.

She looked at him for a few more seconds, then kissed his cheek. "I love you."

"I know." He answered finally, then turned away.

Taking a deep breath, Leia turned to Rey, "Are you leaving too?"

"Oh no, I'll be back inside in a minute."

"Alright." Leia gave Kylo another pained look, then returned to the house with heavy steps.

"There, happy now?" He asked snidely, and Rey felt a flash of guilt about asking him to come here. She could see the stress manifesting itself in the bitterness in his voice, how he stood, the way he was using the car door as a shield between himself and the house.

"Yeah, I am." She said finally.

He turned to her, startled. "Seriously? That didn't seem like a complete disaster to you?"

"Better than anything I ever had."

"Hmph. I guess the key is to have no expectations."

Glancing at him, watching the way he held himself, Rey touched his arm gently, "Thank you, by the way. I know this isn't how you wanted to spend your day, but…" she looked up at him with a small smile, "I loved it."

He slowly uncrossed his arms and gave her a sidelong look. "Really?"

"Really. So, thank you."

Scoffing a little, he leaned back against the car door. "She's the one who invited you."

"Yeah, but you let us come."

On a sudden, impulsive whim, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss against his cheek. "Happy Thanksgiving, Ren."

She rushed back into the house before he could laugh at her, or pull away in disgust, and so missed the shell-shocked look on his face, and how he watched her run up the steps with a dangerous, desperate hope, something like hunger in his eyes.

The first thing she saw when she came through the door was Leia sitting in a chair by the counter, her eyes closed and shoulders drooping with weight.

"Are… are you okay?" Rey asked hesitantly.

Straightening, Leia gave her a tired smile. "Of course. I knew having him back wouldn't be easy, but…" She took Rey's hand. "Thank you for bringing him home."

"Oh, it's… He wanted to come."

Leia laughed kindly. "No he didn't. But he came anyway."

They both looked out as Kylo's car peeled out of the driveway.

"That's got to mean something." Rey offered.

Leia smiled softly. "It means you are a remarkable young woman, Rey. And I'm glad he has you as a friend."

"Mistress Leia!" Threepio called out anxiously as he shuffled in. "Master Han was wondering if the existence of the dessert was merely an elaborate hoax, despite my informing him that-"

"It's alright, Threepio. One moment."

Leia stood and Rey stepped forward to grab some plates. "Here, let me help."

As they distributed pie and ice cream around the table, Luke, Maz, and Han were all debating amiably about politics.

"I think you're underestimating the general masses." Maz argued after thanking Rey for the dessert. "If the information is available and publicized-"

Luke shook his head. "All the information in the world won't change someone's mind if Snoke is telling them exactly what they want to hear."

"And there's no accounting for good old pure stupidity." Han added as he leaned back in his chair. "People'll believe anything these days. Remember that time Threepio started a cult?"

Rey, who had just brought in the carafe of coffee, stared open-mouthed and Poe grinned widely and asked, "What?"

"Oh yeah. We were in some godforsaken forest-"

"Doing important charity work." Leia explained with a look at her husband.

"Sure, sure. Then we run into the locals, and the professor over here," he jerked his thumb at Threepio, "says he knows the language. So he starts talking to them, next thing we know, they're all humming and singing and frickin' worshiping the guy!"

Artoo rolled his eyes, then added some snarky gestures.

"Mistranslated?!" Threepio repeated, clearly offended. "I've never mistranslated anything in my life! Meanwhile, your shoddy codework nearly fried every server we have multiple times!"

Affronted, Artoo replied with more signs Rey recognized from her foster sister as particularly insulting expletives.

"Don't you call me a mindless philosopher, you half-sized glob of grease!"

Rey laughed with the rest of the table, and then listened in fascination as the adults told stories from their youth, Chewie mumbling clarifications to Rey whenever Han's near-death escapes got a little too fanciful.

At the end of the night, Rey reluctantly stretched and announced that she and Poe should probably hit the road soon. Leia called Poe into the kitchen and loaded him up with containers of leftovers, BB-8 happily pouncing on any scraps that fell to the floor.

"I remember those starving student days. I'm sure you three will run through these in no time." She told him with a smile as Poe profusely thanked her.

Han grunted at Rey, then motioned towards the door. "Let's go see if there's anything for your Speeder collecting dust in the garage."

"Really? I don't want to put you to any trouble-"

"Pfft. Her Highnessness has been after me to clean out those boxes for ages. You'll be doing me a favor."

Rey followed him out, and after a few more admiring looks at the Falcon, dug through the spare part boxes with glee.

"Were you looking for something in particular with this box?" Rey asked after finding yet another vintage piston. "You've got a great collection of pistons and and fuel pumps."

"Eh, one of the problems with a modified vintage engine is that you can't find anything to fit. If it's old enough, it can't be modified. If it can be customized, it's not old enough."

"Well, I'll keep my eye out for you at my usual spots." Rey volunteered, earning her a blunt nod of thanks as she stood.

"Here," Han held out a box of spark plugs. "Every car needs extras."

Rey smiled as she took it. "Thanks!"

Han shrugged gruffly. "It's good to know that at least some kids your age aren't completely hopeless."

Returning to the house, Rey and Poe made their rounds of good-byes, with a gentle hug from Chewie and a playful warning about keeping her grades up from Maz.

Luke simply nodded at her, his warning still echoing in her mind.

Leia embraced Poe, who nearly died of happiness, then rubbed BB-8's ears one more time before drawing Rey aside.

"Rey, I was wondering if you'd feel comfortable giving me your number."

She gaped for a moment, then quickly dug out her phone, "Of course! I'd be honored."

As Leia typed her number in, Rey asked, "It's so you can check on Ren, right?"

"Partly, but also so I can check on you."

"Me?" Rey blinked. "Why me?"

Leia smiled. "Because you are an impressive young woman, Rey. And you deserve to have people looking out for you."

As she was pulled into an affectionate hug, Rey bit her lip to keep the prick of tears away.

"Alright kid," Han said as he came out, "roads aren't too bad, but drive her easy until you figure out that noise."

"I will." Rey promised.

"And if you ever get tired of lawyering, Chewie and I own a mechanic shop that could use some new blood."

Rey stared at him for a moment, a slow grin growing on her face. "Are you offering me a job?"

"We wouldn't be nice to you. And the pay is crap."

Her smile widened. "You're offering me a job."

Han narrowed his eyes at her as Leia shook her head in fond exasperation. "I was thinking about it."

"Well, if you were, I'd be flattered. But I think I'm on the path I'm supposed to be."

"Too bad. Chewie kind of likes you."

A muffled roar from the house told Rey that was the highest compliment Han had ever given anyone.

"Stop putting mushy words in my mouth!" Han growled back as Rey stifled a giggle.

"Check with me after the bar, though. If I fail it, I might take you up on that."

Han shot her a wry look. "You'll pass it, but I'll check with you anyway."

"Han," Leia teased, "Chewie's right. You keep using that flowery language and I'll start getting jealous."

"That was not- I wasn't- I didn't even say- Hmph!" Han stormed off as Leia winked at Rey.

"Drive safe, dear." She told Rey warmly.

After waving at the house multiple times, Rey and Poe climbed into her car and drove out to the main road.

"Well, I think that was a successful introduction to the in-laws." Poe commented as he wagged his eyebrows at her.

She grabbed one of the bread rolls Poe was snacking on and stuffed it in his mouth as she fought off a blush. "You, hush. And by the way, if BB-8 barfs in my car, I swear I'm cleaning it up with your pillowcase."

"Whoa! Easy on the threats! What would your boyfriend's mother think?" He teased, then dodged the next roll. "Hey! I was about to eat that!"

As Rey rounded the wide curves of the road, she could still feel the warmth of Leia's hug, of Han's gift, of Chewie's rumbling laugh, and thought that if she was to have a family, she could hope to have one as loving as theirs.