Authors Note:

Several of you are going to realize that this chapter is very familiar. Several others are going to have no idea what I am talking about. Well, note to self, I need to stop editing in the middle of the night because I accidentally missed a lot of editing that I had intended to fix. I am currently editing this in the middle of the night, so I guess the first bit will have to be disregarded.

Anyway, I realized that I could have left it as was, but reading over it, and remembering everything that I had wanted to add or change, I was very unhappy with it. So, I went back and redid it. Now, the old chapter 28 is gone, I have removed it, and the new chapter 28 is currently this one. The basic concept is there, but more has been added or changed to the dialogue so that it sounds a little smoother, some spelling or grammar errors, punctuation, and a surplus of about 700+ words or around two pages were added. Suffice to say, I am relatively satisfied with it now.

I am sorry for those of you who were expecting an update with a new chapter, but I was in the midst of typing chapter 29 and couldn't get myself to focus until I went back and fixed this one first. Anyway, chapter 29 should be out within the next few days and I think it will be switching over to Ben's POV since it's been since about chapter 24 since we've had this POV and I'm not going to lie, writing his are actually my favorite. XD

Some of you may not care about the changes I had made or what I had added, and that's fine, but if there were any of you that were as bothered about it as I am, well the majority of it is fixed now and we can all celebrate together. So, officially look forward to chapter 29!

"I've already apologized." Rey heard her before she saw her. Lying on her back in the cramped confines of the bunk room in the base of Ajan Kloss, her mind had resorted to running in useless circles for hours, repeating the same things, going over the same scenario in contemplation of what she would have done differently. What she could have said, how she could have faced the look of absolute outrage on Ben Solo's face. The hurt, the fear. It gave her the reassurance that she needed, but simultaneously knew already.

He was gone, and there was no scenario in which he would come back to her-no chance of finding him-and there would be no need to go find him when the dust settled.

She'd reached through their thread for him numerous times already. He'd blocked her out, obscured his thoughts, every little bit of him that she had seen so clearly before was suddenly lost to a place she couldn't reach. That wasn't to say that she couldn't still feel him, but that didn't grant her any reassurance that he may still be alive.

Their Dyad transcended far beyond even that.

She wondered how far across the galaxy he would run, if the First Order-New Order-would finally catch up to him.. Judging by their numbers, the fight stood about equal, and that was what she told herself to urge a smile and remind herself that she needn't worry whereas a fight with him was concerned.

Rose's interruption granted her some reprieve, casting a look to where her friend leaned by the open entryway, her shoulder pressed against the solid frame, hand tapping a gentle rhythm into the door frame and snaking into the pockets of her jumpsuit. "I know." She chuckled with a small but awkward little smile, low and obscured underneath clearing her throat. "That's not why I'm here. Everyone is unsettled after what you did-"

"Which I said that I apologized for." Rey added tersely, shoving a piece of bread into her mouth, her aggressive chewing droning out Rose's footsteps traversing across the rusted interior floor.

"You did," Rose agreed, gently ushering Rey's legs over to lower herself onto the cot beside her. "We all heard it, but things are going to be a little tense until the initial shock dies down now that you're back." She offered lamely, but she was trying; Rey saw that, and with a droll stare flickering up to her face, she directed her attention around the noticeably empty bunk room.

Every single cot was absent, loud chattering outside of the room reminding her that there were still fighters, and thankfully there had been no casualties which further helped plead her case when she came back to folded arms from the resistance.

"Is that why every single bunk is empty?"

"That's a part of it."

"Am I going to have to start sleeping on the roof?"

"Not yet." Rose laughed, a genuine laugh ringing in her ears and ushering a smile from her too, not one as heartfelt, but the first one she had given since coming back. Not even a game of Dejarik and listening to Chewie threaten Poe who had been so obviously cheating had been enough to lift her spirits.

For the record, she had won in the end and claimed a few extra credits to her pocket.

"You're putting a target on your backs having me here," Rey reminded her around a mouthful of bread. "They have to see that."

"We already had a target on our backs in the first place. After they found you and Ben, the Resistance would be the next step to whatever plan Hux thinks he has. At least having you here, we have more of a chance, and with Finn that's two Force users on our side." She reasoned, gently nudging her leg. "And the children will be better off. The good outweighs the bad in this case."

"Maybe," Rey grasped her lower lip in between her teeth, turning her eyes up to the ceiling with its hanging wires and various tubes that all led to something in the base's operation. Considering how long ago they had abandoned it, she was surprised most of its functions still worked.

"I'm trying to get you to smile." She voiced her intentions at last, squaring her shoulders against the wall and nestling her arms across her stomach. "If you keep frowning like that, your face is going to get stuck."

She hadn't realized that her face had twisted back into a scowl until she relaxed, the tension in her eyebrows releasing, her clenched jaw stiff when she released.

"Sorry," her eyelids fluttered and she was sitting up, folding her legs against her chest to give Rey more space-something her friend seemed to appreciate as she scooted back on the cot. "I'm just-I'm worried about Ben."

"I know. You're on your third helping of our rations and have shown no signs of slowing down since we got back."

Now, Rose wasn't wrong. A surplus of crumbs had made a home in her bed, never mind the empty packages left on a box on one side and the empty wrappers falling off its edge to the floor. It was a mess, one that she'd have to clean before the others settled down for the night-unless they chose to crowd the war room in order to avoid her.

Something told her they wouldn't pass up the chance to be a witness to her misery.

So what if she'd chosen food as a means of dealing with Ben's absence? It had only been a few hours, but she'd already contemplated going back to the river planet in order to find him and explain herself yet again, maybe beg him to come back with her, or at least plead for his forgiveness and some sort of mutual understanding.

The only thing that had stopped her were a few helpings of fruit, bread, and packaging of leftover rations from what they had managed to grab from Crait. On Ajan Kloss, they had a bustling community, agriculture, hunting patrols and means of trading with other Resistance outposts…

They could spare a few things to satiate her emotional eating habits.

No, she couldn't look for him. He wouldn't want her to. The anger that had emanated from him had been suffocating. A culmination of when he had once been Kylo Ren, raw and untamed power but with two warring sides fighting to be in control.

What that meant for him, she didn't know, but the thought only urged another piece of bread into her mouth. "You didn't see his face when he left." She mumbled around her full mouth, looking over to see Rose scrunching up her face into a mild expression of disgust.

"No, but we all heard it. It didn't sound good."

"He's just worried about me succumbing to the dark side, that I may be vulnerable to it since the war on Exogol." Rey sighed.

"It's not like you have a family lineage like Ben's. That was a part of what pushed him I think?" Her voice was slightly high pitched at the last few words, shrugging her shoulders. "You don't come from anything like that, and you have the Resistance as your home," she reminded her. "We'll keep you on the right track."

Rey's heart sunk, reminding herself that she had failed to tell them about her own family lineage, the truth of her being a Palpatine because of her own fear that she would be treated differently-that they may react in the same way they had as Ben and issue a death warrant and demand that she face due punishment.

The Resistance passed around her with careful and calculated steps already, sending their wary gazes to whoever was nearby in a silent warning.

Somehow that made her feel worse than if they had told her directly.

Rey may as well have been dead to the light and consider the possibility of opening up her mind to the dark side. One couldn't exist without the other, as Ben had said, and having been partial to the light all this time, was this sudden anger a warning? An omen that promised her nightmares would become reality?

Was it all a feeling stemming from her argument with Ben? He couldn't have been right, because what did that all mean for the Jedi Order in the past? The Sith? Two warring sides on equal parts of the same spectrum. Ben had been brought to the light and the dark side was a force attempting to yank him back into the legacy of Kylo Ren. That's what it meant, and it was a path that she had to follow.

Had to.

"Yeah," she breathed softly. Looking down at her hands clenched tightly in her lap, she wrapped them loosely around her legs, tugging them in closer. "I guess I just wish that it was under different circumstances."

"Me too." Rose's lips pressed together into a thin line, pulling her knees to her chest as well and tucking her head on top. "I liked Ben. A lot more than Kylo Ren. Less angry, and maybe even kind of handsome-"

"Eugh, stop-" Rey shoved at her legs which earned a cackle from her friend.

"I'm just saying that I can see why you-"

"No, no. I am done with this conversation." Rey unfolded herself and slid off the edge of the cot, stretching languidly once she was at her feet. "I am going to go find Finn."

"We have to talk about it eventually."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"You might be a Jedi, but you're a horrible liar."

"Well, our mind tricks don't require us to be good liars." She retorted.

"So you're saying you are lying?" Rose quirked an eyebrow.

"Goodbye, Rose." Rey called over her shoulder, already making for the entryway that would lead into the war room.

The only supposed last Jedi was out wandering the galaxy somewhere in a blinding fury. He was shielding her from it, but she could feel the vibrations of his pain through their bond, and it was just enough to choke her up and threaten the tears to spill.

She forced them back.

Ben was as dark as the deepest corners of space, traversing in a realm of unknown that she couldn't follow, going and going with the hope of ending up somewhere. Powerful, dangerous and determined with an ability to love immeasurably.

He was also frightening, a large figure that always seemed to have a shadow looming just behind him, standing over him his entire life. She'd seen it when he had stood in front of her and called her foolish, that rage that urged the Force to his aid and threatened a cataclysmic event if he didn't walk away.

And as she reached out through their bond for him again, she was promptly shoved away. Rey had been nothing, a scavenger from Jakku turned Jedi and serving everyone but herself. She'd finally found the person who thought of her as if she was someone, not a weapon or a means to the end of a long and arduous war, but an end worth fighting for. He'd saved her life on Exogol and that had meant something.

He'd finally expressed his deep-rooted feelings for her only to accidentally crush him because of a favor.

Good job, Rey. Really excellent.

Rey cast her eyes over to Finn. He looked so relaxed in his posture while she sat balancing her weight on the balls of her feet, her heels pressed against her behind and her arms draped over her legs.

"I'm not so sure about picking a fight with the New Order." He admitted.

"You wouldn't stand much of a chance." She didn't sugarcoat that, but she would be lying if she said that the clearing fit with the main computer and large open canvas of space didn't instill a calm lull over her. The two suns were set high above the horizon, casting a golden hue over their seated forms. It was refreshing seeing the planet below the treetops with its bright filtering lights drifting through tall branches. It reminded her of the view back on the river planet, the water splitting through, oceans upon oceans of grassland and its rolling hills-except more closed.

She'd have liked for Ben to see this, too.

"We've fought the First Order. I think this can be taken as a milder situation, at least without the influence of Kylo Ren-Ben." Finn grimaced.

"Hux is smart. He's tactical, but I don't mean just him. Bandits, wild animals, unruly villagers, me. You have the Force, but your problem is that you're reckless. You don't care when you hold your own life in your hands." Someone had to care for him, and frankly there was no better time than the present to test out the extent of his abilities.

Ideally, he would have his own saber to spar with. Considering he didn't, she had to improvise. Unholstering her weapon, she slid it across the ground with a soft, metallic thump. "Take it, hold it, and familiarize yourself with it."

At her instruction, Finn retrieved it from the dirt. He ignited the blade, giving it one quick practice swing from where he crouched on the ground. "I've used a lightsaber before."

"Yes, but you're not fighting Kylo Ren, you're fighting me."

Finn's lips pressed together tightly, his eyes following her as she stood. He rose, but with a curious head tilt as if she was missing some larger point. "You don't have your own weapon if I'm using yours?"

She had left the other to Ben.

She shrugged. "I don't need it."

"Okay," he shrugged. "A little cocky, but I believe you."

Rey flashed him a forced, almost sarcastic smile. "I don't have much experience, but I have more than you and honestly that's all I need." She took a few steps toward him, using her hands to gradually move him into the correct posture, molding his shoulders back and kicking against the insides of his boots until he moved his legs. "The saber itself should be an extension of your hand and therefore easy to move, but the primary objective is using your saber and the Force at the same time."

She'd learned a little late compared to most. What usually began with wooden training weapons was lost on her with the expectation to serve the Resistance.

Unfortunately, Finn also couldn't afford that luxury.

"I managed to use the Force on Hux's ship. It was just for a brief second but… I-I felt it." Finn stammered. His eyebrows flicked upward as he spoke and with a grimace, he tucked his other arm behind his head, stretching out.

"You also got shot several times. Listen to Rose and Poe next time and I'm sure it could be avoided." With one harsh jerk of her wrist, the saber flew into her hand-causing Finn to stumble forward-deft fingers closing around the handle before flipping on her heel to point the blade at his throat. The sizzling crackled a mere few centimetres away.

He recoiled from it.

"I told you that it's not just the New Order that will hurt you. Most people don't have the power of the Force or an army, so learn how to fight the smaller threats first and work your way up." Whether he was avoiding it out of fear or just plain ignorance, she didn't know. "And that starts with me. All I can hear is you deflecting."

"I wouldn't really call you a small threat."

Like her, he was more of a do-er, thinking of his actions, thinking about what he needed to say, but when it came to fighting, he was never one to avoid it. At least, not for the aid of the Resistance. Finn was more privy to peace talks than immediately jumping into a fight-a good balance to Poe's blunt force-but at times it caused him to chase it; seek it out.

After their run-in with Kylo Ren at the foot of the cliff when the world was quite literally splitting apart, it had changed them both in more ways than one. Rey refused to let herself become subject to it again.

Once more, she offered the saber to Finn by placing it on the ground in front of him, turning and gathering some rocks that were lying nearby among the brush. "Pick it up." She ordered through gritted teeth. A knot of frustration was developing in her chest, a tightness that she took some deep breaths to work through, closing her eyes for a moment to feel it.

In truth, she was at the end of her rope. "Defend yourself against this." She said and chucked a rock in his direction.

"But you don't have a weapon-ouch!" Finn's words were cut off by a startled gasp and a mild hiss. It had shot into his right thigh, exactly where she had intended for it to go. He rubbed at the stinging spot-she hadn't exactly been holding back-and raised his saber again with less restraint than before, taking several tentative steps back, an accusatory scowl swiped overtop irritation. "Are you crazy?" He braced the hilt in one hand, extending it outward.

Technically, she had always been and it was his fault for just now noticing.

He leaped back as another stone pelted against the blade-feet tripping up on stray stones and soil-and then another, and another. One pelted against his shoulder, and with a quick flick of two fingers, one of the rocks flew back and jabbed him in the side, his body jerking with the impending assault.

"What exactly is this supposed to teach me?"

"Well, it could teach you to dodge first of all." Frustration laced her with a feeling of intense rage that tried to drown her along with it, mold and envelope her into its unwelcome embrace that at first she hadn't recognized. Not until she felt the heat creeping up her face, the slight trembling in her limbs that pulsated through her fingers. Was it her, or a feeling from Ben that was trembling through the thread and impacting her, too?

Rey threw another rock that struck him in the center of the chest. "You see a rock, you move out of the way so that it doesn't hit you." She clarified. "Or hit it with your saber. That's what it's for." She turned another stone over in her hand. "Come on! Dodge!"

His handling was getting better at least, but his own frustration was growing too as he ricocheted one back. Rey willed the Force to throw it back at his arm. "I have fought Porgs scarier than you." She taunted, and watched as his form braced a little taller, a little wider.

The saber turned over in his hand, making a wide arc in order to deflect another.

She wondered if this was similar to Ben's first training in the Jedi temple, if Luke had ever done similar means in order to teach him, gouge whether or not he could control his emotions without erupting into the monster that his family believed him to be.

She herself was disappointed in the lack of training and guidance that Luke had given her, frustrated. She'd fought with anger so many times already-with good reason-and the life she'd spent on Jakku, while a fleeting memory, reminded her that while she had been searching for a sense of belonging before, she hadn't quite found it yet-had yet to understand exactly who she was or meant to be now that Ben was somewhere else and only growing farther and farther away.

When Kylo Ren saved her in the throne room after he himself had disappointed and betrayed Snoke, if Rey had taken Kylo's offer, they could have turned their backs on the past and forged their own future.

Take charge of the First Order, save her friends from a possible fate, and forge a new path for the galaxy. She hadn't by some sense of justice as the hero she was supposedly meant to be, hadn't for the sake of the Resistance and the hope of pulling Ben to the light side. For what?

They were back to square one except with children hanging in the balance.

One frustrated huff later and Rey had swiped the lightsaber from Finn's hand, trying to shove out Ben's accusations before he had left for what was likely the final time. With a harsh invisible shove, Finn was pushed onto his back with a quickly cut off grunt when he hit the ground.

Her lightsaber was aimed at his chest before he could get up. "We need to be ready when Hux comes." She snapped. "You need to be ready, because if you don't, we lose and everything Leia and the others built is lost."

"Okay," Finn yielded, adding on more softly: "Alright." He put his hands up, and while it was not an intense expression of fear, it was one of discomfort and uncertainty. "We'll do this. I'm just going to need a bit of time to learn."

It only further irritated her because of their simple lack of time, grinding her teeth until she thought they would crack. The tension, the rage she felt with her own inner struggle that enveloped her in this moment caused her fingers to twitch on the lightsabers hilt before reluctantly hitting the ignition switch. It flickered off, an intense crackling slowly quieting to a low hiss.

Rey backed away, turning her head with her suddenly growing shame, guilt. "I need a break." She mumbled, tossing the handle back into his lap.

A tightness in her chest swelled once she turned her back and walked away. Finn's unsteady gaze burned into her back and heightened her grief; her anger and frustration. It was the same feeling as when she had watched Ben walk away, the thread between them strung taught but slowly loosening its grip with their increasing distance.

It didn't bid them to each other anymore, didn't demand that they close the distance.

Was this Ben? Was he separating from her, looking for some sort of end to their connection.

Tomorrow when she looked, would he still be there?

Rey lifted her gaze up to a clear blue sky, mocking her with its positive mood strongly contrasting with the sunken feeling that enveloped them down here.

Without looking back, she took the long winding path away from the resistance base.