Panting, Rey looked around herself. The desert sand was absolutely smooth, like it had been raked clean, the surface debris blown out away from where the building had stood. Only Alik stood above ground level, his clothes and face and hair a mess. She had killed five men, leveled a building and the ruins of several more, and, most importantly, rescued Alik. She wiped her forehead with the back of her forearm, and when it came away she saw blood along with the dirt.

A shadow flitted across the furthermost vision of her eye – a figure against the bright sunlight, tall and black, familiar yet strange. When she turned her head to follow it, it was gone.

"That was incredible," Alik said, capturing her attention. He still pressed his hand to his ribs as if they hurt, but his eyes were on her. A mixture of emotions was on his face, relief and fascination, as he approached her. "I've never seen anything like that."

"I don't suppose so," she replied, softly, placing the lightsaber back on her hip. He was very near to her, examining her as if to see if she were real. "You're not afraid of me now?"

"I mean, a little bit," he said honestly, grinning. His lip split anew as he did so; he looked like hell.

Rey could manage only a little smile in return. What she'd done was not what Luke and Leia had taught her – they would never have allowed her to give in to anger like that. The rage she'd felt scared her, and yet here Alik stood, beaten but alive.

"I can help you with that," she offered.

"With what?" he asked, wiping at the blood on his lip.

"That," she said, and she reached out to him and laid her hand against his cheek. The swelling around his eye went down, the broken skin knit back together, and he inhaled so deeply it was as if he hadn't drawn breath in an hour. He looked a little frightened now, as he realized what she'd done. Rey broke his gaze, suddenly embarrassed, and dropped her hand.

"Thank you," he managed after a moment, his voice very quiet and strained. She did not look up again.

The sound of a ship, far away, came to them both at the same moment, and they turned toward the noise. "Lump," she said, as she could it was him without being able to see the Falcon, and as it approached and landed, she felt new cause for the wrenching in her chest.

"Wow," Alik said to the Wookiee as he disembarked. Apparently that was all he could manage at the sight of the battered old freighter and he was uncharacteristically silent as Lump growled at him and strode right to Rey.

That was not okay, he said.

"I know," she murmured. Tears were pricking her eyes and beginning to threaten to overflow. Lump examined her, the few bruises and the cut near her hairline that was dribbling just a little, and threw his arms around her, pulling her into him with a ferocity that surprised her. A sob escaped her and she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his fur.

~/~/~

Rey clung to Lump's arm as they sat together at the dejarik table on the Falcon. She'd apologized already for what she'd done, but the guilt clung to her even after a turn in the refresher.

"The Dark side is faster, easier," she told him, very softly. Her own words were like bile on her tongue. "Forcing you was just … easier."

Lump was silent for a long time. He'd forgiven her aloud twice now, but the distance between them still stood, and Rey could feel her heart breaking. I don't know what your master would say, he said at last. But I know what my parents would say.

He was right. This was not how to honor Luke and Leia.

Alik came out of the refresher, the blood washed from his hair and the dirt from his skin. He looked almost himself, except that he was wearing not his usual resplendence but just the white inner shirt and trousers, which, without the jerkin and overcoat and cloak, were quite plain. He looked at Rey but dropped her eyes quickly and went away from them. He seemed deeply aware that he was intruding, yet had no way to escape.

"What do I do?" she whispered to Lump. "How can I earn back your friendship?"

You never lost it! Lump replied, more quickly and more loudly that perhaps he intended. I love you and I would have come back for you even if you hadn't made me. I just wish you'd let me help you.

"I can't risk you," she said. "I owe Chewie more than that." But now they were both just saying out loud what didn't need to be spoken. A painful thought was building up in her: the friends she'd loved so much had left her on Exogol. They'd chastised her for not fighting enough in their war, but they'd let her disappear into that Sith temple without a word. They'd not come back for her. Ben had come for her, given his life for hers, and Lump had tried to follow her into that gangster's den. This was real love, like when Chewie had dragged her from her tent when all she really wanted was to die. "I love you too," she said, finally, and let Lump put his arm around her.

"Are we okay now?" she asked, through the knot in her throat.

We're always okay. Just don't do that to me again.

"Never," she agreed. And then, "I know where the farm is."

"How can you know without Zed?" Alik asked. Rey had almost forgotten he was there.

"She told me," she said, picking her head up. "Just a little ways over the western ridge."

"Then we should finish what you came here for."

She stood up. Alik was right. Her actions against Lump had been unworthy, but she could right them. "Lump, will you take us?"

He nodded and went into the Falcon's cockpit. The engines fired up and Rey went to retrieve her masters' lightsabers. She could feel Alik watching her as she drew them out of her bag. The saber hilts were heavy in her hands, but familiar. Luke's saber had drawn her on in this adventure, had led her out from fear and from endless clinging to the past. Her heart ached to give it up. Leia's had been a precious treasure that even Luke had protected when he could not longer protect her greatest treasure.

Rey carefully unscrewed the hilt of Leia's saber to reveal the kyber crystal within. She had nothing of Ben's, nothing at all, but this. She plucked the crystal from the cage that held it and looked at the crystal in the palm of her hand. Then she pressed it to her heart and put it into the pocket of her garments, as close to herself as she could make it. She was ready now.

"What will you do now?" she asked Alik, over her shoulder.

"Go home, I suppose," he replied.

"Back to Naboo?" she asked. She turned to look at him in surprise. He was standing, her shoulder against the wall, his head ducked to avoid the slope up to the ceiling where a loose wire looped down. His hands were shoved into his pockets and his eyes were on the floor. Going home seemed unsafe. "There are spice mines on Naboo."

He nodded. "Yes. And my mother is the regional governor there. I'll have her protection, and, you know, her name."

Rey took a step toward him, listening to him but also trying to feel his emotions. He was quiet for a moment, thinking. "I've had enough adventures for a while. Time for a break." Then he shifted, turning away as if afraid Lump would overhear. "Come with me." He looked at her, his gaze intense and fearful. "Come with me. You'll like Naboo. It's beautiful, and quiet."

She looked at him, trying with all her might to read his face. To decide what he was offering.

"You know I'm Force sensitive. You know what I can do." She gestured at the lightsabers in her hands, the third, on her hip, an unspoken presence.

"I don't care," he said, and then quickly, "I mean, it doesn't matter. I already thought you were amazing." His silver blue eyes were sharp, his brows drawn together in fierce concentration. He dropped his eyes and Rey reached out to him, searching him and his emotions. A kind of eagerness, a hope ...

Alik's meaning dawned on her slowly. She set the sabers on the table, very gently and very slowly, and looked back up at him.

"My family will love you," he offered. Rey's eyes narrowed and she realized that her breath was suddenly very shallow. It was a very good offer. Her heart racing, she very, very subtly nodded back to him.