Force Dyad

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A/N-thank you very much for the kind reviews on the last chapter. There is a time jump in this chapter. Almost two years have passed, Rey is now seventeen….

Chapter Forty-Six-Rose and Poe

As Rey etched another scratch on the wall by her bunk to mark the beginning of yet another day on D'Qar, she pondered how quickly the time had gone by. A whole eighteen months had passed since she had first arrived at the Resistance base with Ben and the others, and it had also been six long weeks since she had last seen Ben in the flesh. He and Tai had been sent on a diplomatic mission to Naboo at General Organa's behest. Now the war was heating up between the First Order and the Resistance, the General wanted to make sure her ties with her former allies remained as strong as possible. If Ben and Tai managed to attract more recruits to their cause along the way that was an added bonus. With Luke stubbornly remaining in exile-much to Ben's disgust and Tai and Hennix's dismay, they had been pushed into the limelight as the last true representatives of the jedi order-a title Ben refused to own, but his mother continued to claim in order to further her cause.

"Why do you do that?" A female voice asked curiously.

Rey glanced up to find her roommate, Rose Tico, looking down at her from the bunk above hers. "I like to keep a record." She said, shrugging.

"It's a waste of time if you ask me." Rose slipped off her bunk and landed lightly on the balls of her feet. She was a pretty girl, petite, with dewy tan skin and lively brown eyes. She originated from Hay's Minor, an impoverished mining colony in the Otomok system. She and her older sister, Paige, had joined the Resistance on the urging of their parents after The First Order took over Hays Minor's mines and forced Rose's people to mine their planet's resources to feed their war machine. Rose served as a maintenance worker in the Resistance while Paige was a gunner. Rose was the first person of Rey's own age that she had been introduced to on the base and the two girls had been firm friends ever since.

"Why the sullen face?" Rose teased as she joined Rey in her bunk. "You've been really down lately. You need to lighten up."

Rey moved over to make room for her friend. Curling her legs underneath her, she shrugged again, not really feeling in the mood to confide how much she was missing Ben. "It's just the last few weeks have dragged that's all." She mumbled.

"You mean since a certain someone left." Rose guessed astutely. "What is the deal with you two anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Rey always got uptight whenever anyone questioned her close relationship with Ben.

"Well…I don't know…its just…weird." Rose said carelessly.

"Weird!" Rey exclaimed in annoyance. "You can be so crass sometimes, Rose."

"I'm sorry, okay." Rose hurried to apologise. "Weird was a poor choice of word. Maybe…. different….is a better way to describe what I mean."

"Different?" Rey was getting increasingly irritated. "Ben and I are like…."

"Brother and sister?" Rose cut in doubtfully.

"No!" Rey snapped defensively. "Ben has always been a big part of my life. He's my…."-if she said 'everything' that would only give Rose's opinion more weight that there was something odd about how close they were. "Look I don't have to explain myself to you. So just drop it!"

"Fine." Rose said, backing off. She pushed herself off of Rey's bunk and gathered her shoulder length black hair into a small ponytail. "You better get ready or we'll be late for the morning briefing."

"Okay…and I'm sorry, Rose. I know I haven't been great company lately." Rey apologised.

Rose wasn't one to hold a grudge. "We're good. Just hurry up." She urged Rey as she sprinted toward the fresher.

Rey wasn't immune to the gossip that went around the base about her and Ben. It didn't help that Ben was so intense about everything. He didn't mix with anyone on the base. He avoided small talk, joining or mingling with large groups, never bothered with convention or seeking others approval. He spent most of his free time with her, only letting a select few that he trusted, such as Tai, into his inner circle. A lot of people found his high intellect intimidating. It wasn't that he set out deliberately to impress or dazzle them. It was because he was well read and thought about things more deeply. When engaged in a heated discussion with another, he often made more direct and sustained eye contact than others were normally comfortable with, most found this threatening, but Rey knew that they were just not well acquainted with him enough to read his intensity level while his eyes were locked on them and blazing while he talked passionately about a favourite topic.

People often commented on their age gap, openly wondering why Ben, who was almost ten years her senior, was content to spend so much time in the company of someone who was still only in her late teens. He might be intimidating to many, but there were some people, mainly of the female variety, who found his directness and intensity captivating and invested a lot of their free time trying to capture his attention. It was a fruitless exercise on their part, Ben simply looked through them as if they didn't exist.

Rose hadn't been the first to question Rey about her connection to Ben. Plenty of others had too. Some, like Rose, were simply curious. Others pretended to befriend her in an effort to use her to get closer to Ben. Rey had learned very quickly who was genuine and who was not.

"Rey, hurry up!" Rose called to her again, pulling Rey out of her brooding thoughts. "We're going to be late."

"I'm coming." Rey called back, sighing as she climbed off her bunk and reached for her clothes.


Rey wasn't the only one brooding. Ben stared moodily out of the transport's viewscreen into the velvety blackness in front of him. In every direction there was a star. He tilted his head, gazing upward, not looking at one star, yet somehow seeing them all at once.

Tai, noting his sullen expression, highlighted once again that their mission had been a success. "We should be home within a few hours." He pointed out. "General Organa will be pleased when we inform her that the mission went smoothly and that the Queen of Naboo and the Naboo Royal Advisory Council have promised extra troops to swell our ranks."

"This ship is too slow." Ben complained testily.

The transport was small and not designed for military encounters. It was unarmed and slow moving. Ben had wanted to take the Millennium Falcon, and Han had been willing to lend him his precious ship, but Leia had put her foot down, insisting that the Falcon was too easily recognisable. The transport would be much more suitable and less likely to be stopped or arouse suspicion should they encounter any unwanted attention.

It had been six long weeks since he had left Rey behind at the base, six long weeks of feeling like the best part of him was missing. Leaving her had been a bigger wrench then he could ever have imagined. When his mother had approached him about the mission, he had naturally assumed Rey would be a part of it. There was nothing perilous involved. He knew how much Rey loved Naboo, she had never forgotten the many months they had spent on the idyllic world close to the border of the Outer Rim territories. They often spoke of it, hoping to return one day. This mission would have provided the perfect opportunity to revisit old haunts. But, again, his mother had been firm that Rey would prove a distraction, she needed Ben to be fully focused. The argument that had ensued when she made this presumption had resulted in their worst disagreement yet.

At first Ben had refused to go, telling her that Tai and Hennix were perfectly capable of handling it alone, but Leia had been insistent that he go along, pointing out that as her son, he was her personal representative. Still, he had refused until Rey had intervened and told him she didn't mind being left behind. He suspected that was a lie. Han had obviously been in her ear, probably because Leia had been in his. Rey looked up to Han like she would a father, there was nothing she wouldn't do for him. If he thought it important Ben go without her, then she was prepared to suffer the separation.

So, despite his reservations, Ben had caved in and did what his mother wanted. And Tai was right, it had been a success. He could turn on the charm when he wanted. His eyes might have been empty and his smiles fake, but the Queen and her diplomats seemed none the wiser. Now six weeks, three days and four hours later he was on the way back to D'Qar and Rey.


Rey was incensed when she came across Poe Dameron trying to steal her droid again. The cocky pilot thought he was invincible and that everything and everyone on the base was in awe of him and his reputation as one of the best pilots in the galaxy. His inflated opinion of his piloting skills was legendary and he had an ego to match. Ben couldn't stand him and neither could she, even more so when he kept on trying to smuggle BB-8 away from her.

"Hey!" Rey yelled in his direction as she caught him trying to load BB-8 into Black One- a T-70 X-wing starfighter- his trusty co-pilot, a spherical droid similar to BB-8, had been severely damaged during one of Dameron's reckless manoeuvres. Ever since then he had been trying to steal BB-8 as a replacement.

"Ah, its my little Rey of sunshine." Poe was not in the least bit embarrassed at being caught out. Ever the incorrigible flirt, he began to tease her about her flushed face, which was red with anger, and not because she was enamoured of him like he assumed. "I love a girl with roses in her cheeks. There's no need to blush just because you're in my presence." He quipped.

"You arrogant Nerfherder." Rey fumed as she quickly released a grateful BB-8 from the X-wing and motioned for him to follow her.

"Nerfherder!" Poe said indignantly. "I'm insulted that's the best you could come up with."

"Leave my droid alone!" Rey warned him over her shoulder as she stalked off.

"Your droid?" Poe laughed as he followed after her. "Doesn't the little fellow have a say in that? Hey, buddy?" He called to BB-8. "Tell our little ball of sunshine how bored you are of hanging around the base. Tell her you crave adventure."

Rey gritted her teeth as she herded BB-8 in front of her. "Get lost, Dameron!"

"No can do I'm afr- "Poe immediately fell silent when he was suddenly confronted by the intimidating figure of Ben Solo.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review. A filler chapter I know. More coming very soon!