The pain had lessened, but the markings weren't fading. Rey stared at them for at least the hundredth time that day as she sat in her bed, back against the hand carved headboard. Her fingers braided and unbraided her hair again and again as she sat in silent thought.

She had never felt his pain physically before through the bond. How much turmoil was he in that the space between them had bridged? Was he ok? She hoped he was. Her chest only grew tighter the more she thought of it.

Rey wasn't there to help him. Every time they finally had each other, there was something new that dragged them apart once more and she was tired of it. She had done everything in her power to get him from the Nether of Unbeing and she would do everything to get him back now. She just wanted to be at his side. Was it that horrible of a thing to want? What was so wrong with it that they seemed destined to always be apart?

There was a knock on her door and Rey's eyes met a kind smile from the Queen who was closing the door behind her. She looked as beautiful as ever in her over the top outfit. She stepped up to the bed and clasped her hands in front of her, eyes looking over Rey with concern.

"How are you feeling Rey?" she asked, eyes falling on the markings over her leg.

Rey embarrassedly pulled the leg of her pants down with a wince and sighed. "I'll be fine."

Cordella nodded and thankfully let the conversation move on without prying more into Rey's injury. "What are the plans Rey?"

"Plans?" she asked with a small laugh. "They're not going to let me go with them, are they?"

Cordella smiled and reached up to remove the beaded headdress and let down her long hair, tossing the head dress into a nearby chair before sitting on the edge of Rey's bed. "Do you think they'll let you when you can barely walk?"

"Of course they won't let me go." Rey grumbled, tossing her hands into the air with a smile.

"They just want to protect you," Cordella offered with a shrug. "And I can't blame them. I am worried about you. I will not hide that from you." Rey frowned and was about to argue, but stopped when the queen continued speaking. "But we all know you. We all know your love for Ben and all of us know that you'll go no matter what." Rey again tried to speak, but stopped once more. "So I suggest that we wait until they leave and we will follow behind them."

Rey stared for a moment, eyes wandering the girl's face curiously. "We?"

"Well, it's not like they're going to let me go either," Cordella explained with another shrug and a half smile. "Something about them needing to be men and keep us safe or whatever it is they are thinking. So you and I will go. What do you think?"

"I think you two are both crazy," a new voice said at the door, making both the girls jump. Finn stepped into the room, closing the door behind him and came to stand beside them. "Poe and I aren't stupid. We're tired of trying to keep you two away. And you are our best. We can't do this without you. We weren't going to make you stay behind."

"You weren't?" Rey asked in disbelief, moving to the edge of the bed and getting up. She limped to one of the four posts around the bed and used it as balance.

Finn shook his head in answer. "No. Both of you are coming. We went into this together and we will get to the end together."

Rey smiled brightly. "When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow," Finn answered with his own smile. "So I suggest the two of you pack."

"You're in charge while I am away. I hope I won't be long," Cordella said as she packed some bare essentials into a bag that rested on her bed that was large enough to hold several people comfortably in it. Emila stood at the bedside, arms folded over her chest as she watched her friend pull things from her expansive closet in the corner. They were mostly her flying gear that she didn't wear often anymore, having to trade them and dirty hands for elegant gowns and makeup. "We should be back soon if everything goes well."

"I think it would be better if you stayed here," Emila offered, not at all helping Cordella with her work. "Your people need you here, not on some random planet-"

"Moon," Cordella corrected with a smile towards her friend. "And I won't have a people if we do not meet this threat head on."

"Why do you have to do it?"

Cordella paused, hands in her bag. She released the jacket she was holding and finally turned her full attention on Emila. Cordella's hands rested on her hips and she gave a deep sigh.

"Why don't you want me going?" Cordella asked firmly. "You've never questioned my reasons before." Her hands fell to her side and she stepped closer to Emila who was avoiding the Queen's eyes. "Emila, I have always valued your opinion and I have always respected your course of actions while I've been busy with personal matters. Why is it different now?"

"You invited these people who are wanted by the First Order and the First Order hasn't hesitated to come find them here and you let them stay. You are asking for this planet to be blasted from the map. We're going to be the next Alderaan!" Emila shouted, not speaking with her hands. "How can you not see that?"

Cordella blinked momentarily at the outburst and it took a little longer for her to find her words than she thought it would. "I am doing this to avoid that becoming a reality."

"We should stay neutral."

"We have never been neutral."

"We have also never been this idoitic with our outreach!" Emila reminded harshly. "We have never housed anyone in the Resistance and you are never in the city to hear the talk. They don't want them here and I can't say I blame them."

"We can't sit here afraid and not help when we have every means to," Cordella explained. "We have the resources at our disposal and I intend to use them."

"You're walking into your death," Emila pointed out. "I can't let you do that."

Cordella smiled with a small laugh. "I'll be fine. I'll be back in no time."

"You went out for a few hours with them and came back at death's door." Emila stepped closer and Cordella took an unsteady step back before returning to her closet to grab something else. "You had a hunk of metal sticking out of your side! You're going to come back looking like Queen Amidala in her casket if you go with them."

Cordella's fingers stilled on the spare pair of boots, the material rough against her fingers. "I've always felt like I was meant to do something, be something bigger than me."

"You are. You're queen of Naboo. You have a chance to be bigger than you are right here, right now."

Cordella lowered her gaze to the floor with a sad sigh. Emila had a point, no matter how much Cordella wanted to fight it. She was the queen, she had all of the power to make things better for the people of Naboo by staying here. But... she had the chance to do something about the impending doom more than talk about it with a bunch of grumpy old male politicians who wouldn't listen to her any more than they would their own children.

"This is something I need to do," Cordella said firmly. "I don't care if this kills me, I have to go. This is where I'm needed. I need to be in that temple with Rey and Finn and Poe. I need to help save Ben and dismantle the First Order. That's been the whole point of having them here."

"Ben?" Emila asked curiously.

Cordella snatched the boots from her closet and went to shove them into her bag, a bit of frustration in the movements. "Kylo Ren, Ben Solo," she explained, not meeting Emila's judging eyes.

Emila opened her mouth to speak but found herself at a loss for words. That's what all of this was about? That traitor that had decided that he was on the losing side and had come back to beg for forgiveness; Cordella was going after him?

"You can't be serious," Emila got out after a long silence. "After everything he's done? You're just going to forgive him like that and let him into this city and-"

"He is not blameless," Cordella argued. "He is stained and broken and he has blood on his hands, but are any of us any different?"

"Cor-"

"I'm not saying that he is in the right or in the clear. He knows that he has to answer for his crimes," Cordella continued, ignoring the interruption. "He knows very well what awaits him at the end of this. And you should understand what awaits at the end of this if we fail. Which is why I'm going."

Rey stumbled onto the Falcon and Finn snatched up her arm as she stumbled. She gave a small smile and a laugh. "Thanks."

"Are you doing alright?" Finn questioned. "We're still worried about you."

"I'll be fine," Rey answered sweetly despite the fact that she was growing frustrated with how many people were asking her that. She understood that they were concerned, but there was someone more important than her out there that needed help and she wasn't about to lose them. Not again. Not ever again. "Just more nervous about what we're going to run into when we get to where we're going."

"Everything will work out the way that it's supposed to," Finn assured.

Rey smiled at the reassurance and Finn let her go so she could put her bag on the Falcon. She tossed it to the side and turned back to help with a few of the other bags. "Thank you for our help. I know that none of this is easy for either of you."

"It's what friends do, Rey," Finn answered, tossing another bag into the Falcon. "Besides, he's helped us plenty. It's the least we can do for him."

"She's packed us a lot of stuff, hasn't she?" Rey stooped down and picked up a bag that had some food in it and glanced through the contents for a moment. Her fingers trailed over a loaf of bread and she sighed. When did life get so crazy? When did this go from a boring, dreary existence junking on Jakku go to being the savior of the universe? She didn't feel like the savior, but that was how everyone out of her immediate friend group treated her.

"She just wants to make sure we have enough when we come back," Finn explained. Rey glanced up at movement and a smile covered her lips at all of the bags moving into the falcon at once. She stepped out of the way and let Finn work. "I've been practicing."

Rey let out a laugh. "I can see that. You're getting fairly good. Though I don't know if the force was meant to be used to carry groceries."

Finn chuckled. "Probably not."

"Are we all ready to go?" Poe asked as he stepped into the hanger with a single pack on his back. As he got to the entrance, he tossed it inside, knocking over some of the neatly placed bags that Finn had put inside.

"Just waiting for Cordella," Rey answered, her hands on her hips with a deep sigh.

"I'm here!" a happy voice called and the group turned to look at the teen racing into the hanger with her bag in her hand. Poe took it from her and they all entered the falcon, going to the cockpit. Everyone was settled and engines roared to life. "You can still throw us out, you know."

Poe chuckled as the ship rose from the ground. "I know better than that."

A/N: Hey peeps! Sorry again that this chapter and the next one are short. My uploads are going to be a little off for the next week or so. Next weekend I'm going camping and I don't think I'll have internet, so I might do an early upload during the week. And then the next weekend will be the weekend after my surgery. So I will try to get your guys a chapter up as well. It might be earlier in the week again, but I promise more chapters are coming.

Thanks again to my sister and my wonderful beta, PitaGonzalezMe on twitter.