A few hours later they all sat in a command room at the Resistance base set up on Endor. Rey had just finished catching Finn and Poe up on Ben's observations regarding General Parnadee.
"So she's gathering allies and searching for weapons, we assumed as much for all of the Generals, just not quite so quickly." Poe sighed, running a gloved hand over his face, "I was hoping we would have more time."
"So we still haven't found a cypher?" Finn asked.
"General Calrissian says Maz knows where one is but it's not going to be easy to get. He said she is sending her best people." Poe shook his head, "we should be the ones on that mission."
"Poe, you're a General now, a leader, you can't go on every mission that comes up." Rey was still tired, her head still throbbed and she had dark circles under her eyes, "Maz knows what she's doing, she will send the right people."
"I know, but if they succeed we need to be ready. We will have to strike as soon as we get that cypher." Poe was pacing now.
"Maybe it's time for us to head back to headquarters? Finn said quietly.
Poe stopped in front of Rey, "I know how important this mission is to you but I think Finn is right. If we are off chasing some Sith map when the critical time comes and everything goes to crap I'll never forgive myself."
Rey nodded, "I understand, but you know I have to see this through." She lifted a hand to stall Finn's protest, "I need to follow this map. Healing Zorii has shown me that my force wounds are worse than I first thought. I'm no use to you like this."
"Rey you know that's not true, you knocked a whole legion of stormtroopers into next week." Finn shook his head, "you're getting stronger, you just need time."
"Finn a force push or pull here and there sure, I'm no good to you when I go too far and pass out though. I need to do this." She caught Finn's gaze and held it, "please let me finish this."
A stubborn look crossed his face, "You can't go alone Rey."
"She won't be alone," Ben interjected.
"You don't count Ren." Finn said, crossing his arms.
Ben bristled at this but kept quiet.
"I just need R2 and a ship of my own and yes Ben counts. He is a part of me, it is time you all got used to that." She mirrored Finn's posture, "I'm going no matter what you say. I'd rather have your blessing but I will go without it."
Rey and Finn stood staring each other down for a few tense moments before Finn got up and moved over to her, pulling her into a tight hug, "you know I worry. That's all."
She smiled and hugged him back, "I know."
Finn reached over and grabbed Poe by the front of his shirt, pulling him into a group hug. "Okay, we're hugging," Poe said, giving both Rey and Finn a pat on the back before stepping away.
"Alright, I'm going to see if I can find Rey a ship, Finn I need you to resupply the Falcon, we're heading back to Ajan Kloss once Zorii's bacta treatment is done." With that Poe backed out of the command room.
"Just be careful," Finn said, pulling back to squeeze Rey by the arms, "We need you."
Rey smiled again and nodded, "I will. Will you do something for me?"
"Of course, yeah," Finn replied.
"On the Falcon, in the drawer under the bunk, are the Jedi texts and Luke's journal. Read them. If you can't get 3P0 to translate them. Practice your breathing. Use your feelings. Let the force guide you," she laughed lightly, "I'm not very good at this."
"No, you're going to be great Rey. Find what you're looking for and come back to us so we can finish this." He scooped her up in another one of his crushing hugs.
Ben did his best to hide the way watching Finn hug Rey made him feel. Jealous yes but it ran deeper and he found himself feeling ashamed of the feelings brewing inside of him. He pushed it down and waited, turning around so he didn't have to watch.
Rey felt a brief brush of Ben's emotions and extracted herself from Finn's hug to look over at him, "Ben?"
He turned around, keeping his face neutral, "We should get the artifact and get ready to leave."
Rey nodded, turning back to Finn, "Take care of Poe?"
"Always!" Finn said, turning to leave the same way Poe had.
"You okay?" she moved to stand right in front of Ben, looking up at him.
"It's hard. Watching others touch you…" he raised a ghostly hand to her face, passing through, "I know I shouldn't be jealous, I can't seem to help it."
She moved to put her hand over his at his side, letting him take it and move it up to her face, "At least we have this. Each other. When you were gone, it was awful. Not knowing if I'd ever see you again. I cried myself to sleep every night. It felt so unfair, to have you only for a moment before you were stolen away. But now, here you are, I can't touch you but I can see you, talk to you, and we have our dreams…"
He leaned down to put his forehead on hers, "It's not enough," he breathed.
She closed her eyes, holding back tears, "I know."
"I love you."
"I love you too Ben."
Poe managed to find an old Republic era military scout ship for them. It was well armoured and had a discreet weapons system. It had room for three people, so more than enough room for Rey and her supplies. She gave the ship a once over, checking the lines and engines. Overall it would do just fine.
"Where'd you get it?" she asked Poe, who stood off to the side with his hands on his hips.
"Called in a few favors. Just try to bring it back in one piece?"
Rey nodded, "I will."
Finn arrived, R2 in tow, "How long do you think you'll be gone?" he asked.
"Hard to say, the wayfinder gives coordinates as you go so I don't know for sure." she moved over to place a hand on R2, "Ready friend?"
R2 beeped happily in the affirmative before heading up the gangway.
"Hiding the wayfinder in R2 was a good idea," she said to Poe, "People always underestimate droids."
"When I tried to get it out he'd already integrated it so I'm glad you liked the idea." Poe shook his head, "that's a strange droid, didn't know they could do that."
"Well I trust R2 with my nav computer more than my haphazard wiring." Rey said, turning to Finn and Poe, "So, I guess this is it."
"Just till you get back." Finn said firmly.
"In one piece," Poe added.
Rey smiled, "Till I get back in one piece."
They all stood awkwardly for a minute before Ben cleared his throat behind her.
"Sometime this century?" he said jokingly.
Finn rolled his eyes and Rey laughed, Poe just looked slightly confused. She turned to climb onto her new ship, giving her friends a wave before closing the gangway.
"They'll be fine." he said, trying to be reassuring.
"I know." she said, climbing into the pilot's chair, spinning up the engines.
R2 wheeled in, connecting to the computer, a few moments later he beeped that he was ready.
Ben sat in the seat next to hers and watched as the forest moon of Endor fell away beneath them, hope blooming in his soul. Hope that this was the right choice, that this will help them bring balance to the force. That they'd find what they were looking for, whatever that was.