Maz Kantata sat at a table on an open air patio next to her famous cantina and dive. At the moment she was sharing breakfast with Kylo Ren while he recounted his latest adventure on Tatoonie.
"And then she decided to talk to Rakka about moving a shipment of gitterstim. Glitterstim! And she told him her name was Skywalker. Then she yelled at me for not telling her about the Hutts before she went to Desilijic Complex! She was supposed to be at the market in the New Quarter." Kylo huffed with annoyance.
"It sounds like you two had a bit of excitement." said Maz with a belly laugh.
"It's not funny Maz. I had to break her out of Rakka's complex. We had a hover scoot chase across Mos Eisley. Have you ever tried to slide a hover scoot under the belly of a ronto?"
"I can't say I have, Kylo. But you got my shipment and you got away from Rakka's goons. And if I'm not mistaken, you two had a bit of a bonding experience."
"Uh, yeah, it was a bonding experience." Kylo's face got a bit red. Maz didn't need to read his mind to know that Kylo was getting quite attached to the little Jedi. "Could you pour me some more coffee Kylo?" As he reached out for the carafe Maz him saw hesitate for a moment, then pick it up and smoothly filled her cup. Ah, she thought, I bet Rey just woke up. Looks like the bond is getting stronger.
When you have lived as long as Maz Kantata has you tend to look for things to keep the mind sharp and engaged throughout the long centuries. Maz's diversion of choice was people watching, particularly those wonderfully exciting humans who were force sensitives. As long as they could keep from accidentally destroying the galaxy they were more entertaining than a holovideo.
"So what's next for you and Rey, Kylo?" asked Maz as she liberally adulterated her coffee with cream and sugar.
"Not sure yet." replied Kylo. "We're staying out of United New Republic territory for now. We're also steering clear of the Confederation of Planets and United Planetary Systems. They both have extradition treaties with the UNR. Rey was not amenable to trying to stealth into either of those places."
"She threaten you with a lightsaber if you even thought about trying?" asked Maz, amused.
"Not at all." replied Kylo. "We had a reasonable, rational discussion." If you could call Rey ranting about potentially getting himself killed reasonable and rationale he added mentally. Rey was a lovely person and, of course, his bond mate. She was just very definite in her opinions. To be fair, he could be too. The push and pull could be simultaneously aggravating and profoundly appealing. Whatever else she was, Rey was no hot house flower.
As if thinking about her invoked the Jedi, Rey came walking around the side of the cantina toward their table. "Good morning." she said quietly. "Thanks." she added as Kylo handed her a cup of coffee.
"Good morning" said Maz as Rey sat down. "So you had some excitement on the Mos Eisley run?"
"Yes." said Rey quietly. "Maz, would you mind letting me talk to Kylo for a few minutes?"
"Certainly." said Maz as she stood up to return to the cantina. Oh yes, thought Maz, things are going to take a turn for the interesting rather soon.
Kylo watched as Rey sipped her coffee and waited. "I'm sorry." she finally said. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have gone to the Hutts."
"Yes, you could have gotten hurt."
"Maybe, but you could have gotten caught out."
"Caught out?"
"As Kylo Ren. You had to use the Force to get me out of there. If someone had made the connection between Ben Solo and Kylo Ren you could have been captured and sent to the United New Republic before we could stop it. I could have lost you, and it would have been my fault."
"We weren't caught. It's fine." replied Kylo.
"No, it's not Kylo. Every time we make a run you risk discovery." said Rey, leaning in and glaring at him.
"I think it's an acceptable risk." retorted Kylo. He was becoming irritated.
"No! No it's not!" cried Rey forcefully. "I won't risk losing you again. You don't understand what it did to me when you died. They want you to pay for Hosnian system. They want to execute you or, if we're lucky, throw you in a cell and leave you to rot."
"The Hosnian system was on Snoke and Hux." said Kylo angrily. "I argued against it. I lost."
"Doesn't matter." answered Rey. "Snoke is dead. Hux is gone. You're available."
There was a long silence. They sat there, neither wanting to look at the other. Rey sighed and reached a hand to Kylo's face. She cupped his cheek and gently turned his head toward her.
"So how long are we going to do this Kylo?"
"What does 'do this' mean?"
"You know, shipping and smuggling."
"Is there something wrong with it?"
"You know that all this is just something to earn a few credits and occupy our time while we figure out what the Force wants us to do." said Rey.
"Maybe there isn't an overarching purpose." replied Kylo. "Maybe we're just supposed to be ... whatever we want."
"Nah, we aren't that lucky."
"You've become rather snarky since we've been traveling together."
"You're a good teacher, Kylo." said Rey with a smirk.
Maz, with the finely honed instincts developed from nearly a millennia of people watching, decided that it was time for her to wander up and stick an oar in the conversation.
"You two sort things out?" asked Maz.
"Yes." said Kylo.
"No." said Rey.
Maz smiled and climbed up into a chair. "Kylo, pour me another coffee please." She fiddled a bit adding cream and sugar while she organized her thoughts.
She adjusted her glasses, looked at the two force sensitives and in a clear, precise voice said "You two need to stop screwing around and get your poop in a group."
Rey looked shocked. Kylo, however, threw his head back and laughed long and hard. "Direct and to the point." he said finally. "I like that about you Maz."
Maz grinned and drank her coffee. "Look kids, I've been around for a long time. As long as you don't do anything abysmally stupid the Force isn't going to let you go while it still has a purpose for you." She adjusted her glasses. "And from what I can see right now it's not going to let you two go any time soon."
"I don't know if I should be comforted or appalled by that statement." said Kylo. Rey elbowed him in the side, hard, and glared at him. He grinned back.
"Now, some practical advice. You're safe in the Mid Rim Confederation and United Outer Rim territories. Neither one has extradition treaties with the United New Republic. Just keep your eyes open for bounty hunters. I know either one of you could handle them easily but there's no need to borrow trouble."
She directed her attention to Rey. "What's your opinion of the Falcon? Han wasn't the best mechanic and while I love Chewy he just couldn't keep up with everything on the old girl."
Rey made a face. "She needs a major overhaul. Or replaced. An overhaul is just a hair less expensive."
"If we are going with repairs I want to go to the Corellia Shipyards." said Kylo. "I know Corellia is part of the UNR but they are most familiar with the YT-1300 series freighter."
"So it's settled then?" asked Maz. "Good. You two should get moving."
As they all stood, Maz grinned. "Just one more thing. I got a comm this morning from Poe Dameron. He and Finn are engaged. Make sure you get Rey back here for the wedding, Kylo."
Author notes: Two chapters this week. This chapter showed up and demanded to be published. :-)