Rey ran her hair through Kylo's hair slowly from where his head rested in her lap, watching the few strands of silver slide through the dark ones. "So, we'll be taking shifts?"

"Mmhm." Kylo had gotten the first of two bacta tank treatments earlier that day and had been dozing off since, claiming it was too early to go to bed. He pulled in a slow breath and blinked several times before seeming to lose the battle and kept his eyes closed. "You get up earlier, so I'll take the first shift."

Rey played with a few strands near Kylo's ear, beginning a small braid. "I knew I married you for a reason."

Kylo grinned and opened an eye to look at her with an eyebrow raised. "I thought that was because of my good looks."

Rey snorted and finished the small braid, watching it slowly fall out again. "Nope. I only married you for our contrasting sleeping schedules."

Kylo's face lit up with a laugh, and he closed his eyes again as her hand started through his hair again. "Liar."

"Hey, lovebirds." Poe stride into the sitting room and plopped onto the couch across from them. He flashed them a wry smile. "I have a proposal. Or rather, Jess mentioned something off-hand that was actually brilliant and gave me the idea."

Kylo opened an eye to look at Poe. "And?"

Poe glanced at Kylo, pressing his lips together for a moment. "You're… really not going to like it."

Kylo sighed slowly and moved to sit up, his exhaustion clear in his movement. "Get it out, Dameron."

"I think that you should do an interview."

Kylo glanced at Rey and then back at Poe, his voice flat. "You're joking."

"Hear me out, Ren." Poe leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "We find a reporter that, you know, has actual ethics and morals – A.K.A. not Flash Zizz – and answer the public's most burning questions. If we do this right, we could completely change your public image, and Zizz's tabloid articles won't be as believable."

Rey's stomach twisted. Kylo tended to be very private. If she searched for him on the HoloNet, the only verifiable information was commonly-known actions from the war plus a scant profile on his position at the Jedi Acadamy. But to her surprise, Kylo's face looked serious as he considered Poe's suggestion. "People are still going to read Zizz's articles no matter what. I imagine he has a base readership with all those articles he's been getting."

Jessika and Teela trailed in from the kitchen, each carrying a bowl of some snack food Finn liked. Teela sat next to Poe, and Jessika leaned on the armrest. "What're we talking about?"

Rey frowned and shook her head, her stomach twisting again. She pressed a hand to her stomach, feeling the little life in her kicking again, as if Leia liked the idea as much as her mother. "Poe wants Kylo to do an interview with a credible reporter."

Teela munched on the food for a moment before saying, "What about a trade with Zizz himself? He won't write up anymore rumors about us, and in exchange he gets first dibs at interviews and news from the Jedi. He suddenly gets credible, and we can control what gets out and what doesn't."

Jessika pressed her lips together. "I don't trust him not to twist things or make up stuff for a few more articles."

Poe reached into Teela's bowl and pulled out a few pieces, grinning at her light slap across his hand. "Somehow, I think the threat of 'scary Kylo Ren' might be enough."

Kylo ran a hand through his hair, but most of the strands flopped back into his face. "I'm not very frightening right now."

"You have what? Another treatment in two days, and then another day to sleep off the bacta." Poe crunched on his stolen food and swallowed. "So, in roughly four days, you'll be scary Jedi Master Kylo Ren." He waved his fingers in a spooky gesture, but the cheese covering the tips negated the effect.

"A mind trick?" Jessika held her bowl out of Poe's reach as he tried for her food. "You could set up an interview and then… suggest he doesn't write trash about the Jedi."

Kylo let out a slow breath and shook his head, leaning back against the couch. "Honestly, I'd like to suggest he leave the planet and never bother anyone again. But we did swear not to use mind tricks unless in the service of the Republic." He looked like he severely regretted the oath in that instance, not that Rey blamed him. "If the Senate even gets an inkling I did that, they'd have a field day."

"I could do the interview with you. And Rey." Teela smiled at Rey and leaned forward, setting her almost empty bowl on the table. "Senator Tomsega apparently has convinced the rest of the Senate that I'm trustworthy, so having me there might help."

Rey reached over to hold Kylo's hand. "As much as I'd like public opinion of us to lighten, I just don't think an interview with a tabloid Gungan is going to help. We should let our actions speak for us, like with the relief missions we started before all of this," she waved her hand to gesture at everything, "started. Show the public that we're here to help, not just to mind trick our way into getting things."

Poe nodded slowly. "I get what you're saying, and you're right, Rey. But we need the media, or at least some of the media, on our side if relief missions are to even help. Not just our image, but getting the public aware of areas that need more than what we can do."

"Getting Zizz on our side might be the fastest way to help." Kylo carded a hand through his hair anxiously. "And keep him from prying into our lives. We could just meet with him at the school. See if he's willing to work with us."

Poe nodded once. "I'll send a message, then? See if he'll meet with us at the school in four days?"

Kylo sighed and gave a reluctant nod. "Send the message."

Jessika handed her bowl to Poe, whose excited look faded as he realized it was empty. She gave him a mischievous grin before turning back to Kylo. "Sonzy and I would like to go to Imoco." She handed Kylo a datapad after tapping on it. Rey leaned in to see an image of a shuttle docked against icy terrain on the screen. "There's reports of a Nu-class shuttle that's been in the main port for a couple of days."

Poe perked up, his eyes on the datapad as if he could see the screen from across the table. "A Nu-class? That one that caused the crash?"

"I'm almost certain it's the same one." Jessika clasped her hands together, looking determined.

Kylo flipped over to a different page, scanning the screen. "Imoco. In the Kamino system. Maybe you should wait until I can go with you."

Rey rolled her eyes and took the datapad from Kylo, flicking through the images of the planet. "Considering your current track record, they're probably better off without you, Kylo."

Kylo made a noise of protest, which was drowned out by Poe's roaring laugh. "She's got you there, Ren. You'll have been fully submerged in bacta for the third time in two months by the end of the week."

Rey gave Kylo a victorious look and cut him off with a hand raised. "Plus, the shuttle'll probably be gone by the time you'd be ready to leave the planet again."

Kylo let out a slow breath before nodding. "Fine. Fine. You'll be leaving soon, then, Jess?"

The young Jedi nodded, her face lighting up in a smile. "Yeah. Sonzy's teaching the youngling meditation class, so we'll head out this evening."

Poe tapped something on his comm. His face was expressionless, but Rey could feel a jumble of emotions from the pilot. "Take BB-8 with you. He's almost done charging."

Jessika nodded once and gave Poe a strange look, as if she could feel the jumble herself but could not decipher them. "Thanks, Dad. I've got to go pack some things."

She disappeared down the hall, and Teela collected the bowls to take back to the kitchen. Once the two young Jedi had left, Rey gave Poe a small smile. "Jess can handle herself. It's not like she decides to fight two rancors by herself."

Poe snorted, and his shoulders visibly relaxed. "Yeah. I know. She's smart." He looked to the armrest that Jessika had been leaning on, a rare look of nostalgia replacing his usual easy-going expression. "But having BB-8 there will make me feel better."

Rey leaned forward, smiling at her friend. "She'll always be your child."

Poe gave a soft laugh and blinked several times before meeting her gaze. "I knew from the moment Ren said she was sensitive that I'd always be worried." He seemed to force a smile. "But she's been trained by the best." His eyes dropped to Rey's stomach, and the smile grew more genuine. "Get ready for the worry. But the joy is worth it."

Rey pulled off the last bacta patch and tossed it into the trash. She turned back to Kylo, giving a small gasp. The wounds, once gaping and bleeding and terrible smelling, had ebbed into angry red marks with bruises discoloring his skin. "Stars, I can never get used to how well bacta works." She pulled the synthflesh spray into her hand with the Force, holding it over the wounds.

"It healed my rib, so at least I can lie on that side again." Kylo's finger traced the discoloration. "I can put the spray on myself."

Rey rolled her eyes. "I grew up on Jakku, remember? I saw a lot worse without the tech to heal. I can handle a few measly bites, especially now they're like this."

"Ah, we've gone to dismissing rancors," Kylo laughed, taking his hand away from the healing wound. "I must be out of danger."

Rey pressed down on the can, watching the synthflesh spray over the cut on Kylo's thigh. It solidified into a thin gel, protecting the fragile new skin from further infection. "You'll never be out of the danger again if you keep being reckless."

She moved to the red marks on Kylo's hip, distributing the spray over them slowly. They were quiet for a while as she worked, enjoying each other's company, until Kylo broke the silence with a soft voice. "I think I'm more… anxious than I thought I was. About Leia." Rey looked up at him, but his eyes were on his fingers fidgeting with the blanket next to him. "I know it's no excuse, but that might be why – why I've been spending so much time around bacta tanks."

"And here I thought you just enjoyed the stuff." Rey laughed at his eye roll and pressed a hand to the side of his face. "No matter how many times you throw yourself into danger, you can't eradicate it all before she comes. We'll protect her and teach her to stand on her own."

He smiled softly and curled his fingers around hers, his eyes closing for a moment. "I know."

Rey pressed a soft kiss to his lips and then turned back to her task, spraying over the last piece of red skin. She set the spray can on the nightstand and looped around the bed to her side. Getting comfortable on her side, she watched Kylo settle against the headboard with his datapad. "You should sleep, Kylo. You've been exhausted since the bacta."

Kylo nodded, his hand tapping rapidly over the datapad. "I will in a minute. I've been securing our private information better since that reporter published about our finances."

Rey chewed her lower lip for a moment, watching her husband's strained face. "Did you ask Sonzy? He has a knack with technology sometimes."

Kylo paused before shaking his head. "No, but I will. Soon."

Rey let out a slow breath and closed her eyes, resting for a few moments before another thought came to mind. "You know, I don't think Zizz hacked us."

Kylo turned his head to her, raising an eyebrow. "Then how did he find out about my mother's credits going to me?"

Rey shook her head, focusing on the Force for a moment. "I… don't know. But something tells me that he found out some other way."

"Why does the public care how much I have? If I really wanted to use it, we would move to a much less nosy planet, but we put most of it toward the school, anyway." Kylo made a frustrated noise, his eyes shutting for a moment. "Those younglings need an environment around other people like them, but we don't force them to stay. I don't understand why everyone has an opinion on strangers' lives. On our lives."

Rey paused and squished a pillow under her head. "I think it's more the idea of beings who are different. Who can use sabers and lift things with their minds." She ran a hand lightly over Kylo's bare forearm. "Growing up, I always wished I could do what the legendary Luke Skywalker could."

"So, we're a distraction from the public's lives."

"Somewhat, I suppose, but you know we're more than that." Rey smiled up at him. "Maybe this interview will help the public see that we're not all that different from them. We have a family, and it's growing. We're normal, aside from, you know, the Force connection."

Kylo set the datapad on the nightstand and gave Rey a tired smile. "You always manage to see the positive side of things."

Rey grinned and swatted his shoulder lightly. "What other side is there, Mister Gloom and Doom?"

Kylo twisted to kiss her. "Just yours."