When Finn stepped foot in the galley, Rey and Ben were already sitting across from each other in the small booth and food was being fried, by Chewie, with much banging of pots and pans.

He yawned and stretched. "We orbiting?" He asked to no one in particular, feeling the slight difference, his feet felt a little more springy when they weren't relying on artificial gravity.

"We took a little detour..." Rey began, continuing to explain, Finn however, was no longer listening: Poe had stumbled into the galley from one of the 'freshers and his hair was still damp. Finn's mouth went dry, the pilot seemed to feel his stare, turned and winked.

"...He wants to meet with their leadership to submit a formal invitation to the Summit. The General- Lando- seems to think that there are some Jedi artifacts, or at least some clues to their whereabouts hidden on this plane. Apparently, He and Luke were planning on searching them out, so he thinks I should see them." Rey furrowed her brow, watching the two men interact and knowing that not one person was listening to a word she was saying.

"They aren't listening" Ben murmured through the link without looking up from what he was reading.

Okay, maybe one person.

She smirked and ignored him, "Finn? Poe? Are you alright if we stop off here before we check out that mining colony?"

Both heads swiveled with nearly robotic synchronization. "Oh, uh yeah, sure." Poe winked again, before turning to tease the wookie chef about the seasoning.

Lando, poked his head around the corner and smiling at the scene. He cast his mind back to another time- but not that far back- to another group of people he loved in this same room. Emotion pricked at the corner of his eyes for not the first time since he'd joined them on this adventure. One of the last things he'd promised to do with Luke was to help him truly understand the Jedi Order, beyond just darkness and light and build it into something better. After the disappearance of Ben Solo and the reappearance of Kylo Ren, Luke considered this failure an indication that the Jedi Order should disappear like it was meant.

Now, watching the way the young Solo looked at the Last Jedi and the fact that the pilot and the Force Senstive stormtrooper were mooning after each other like lovestruck fools, things were about to get interesting.

He swept into the room with practiced gravitas, immediately all talk in the room went silent. Lando ignored Chewie's eyeroll and stole a couple slices of whatever meat he was cooking off the stove.

"Welcome, my friends, to Chandrila"

"So are we gonna talk about..." Poe cleared his throat a few times and messed with the zip on his coat. "You know, what happened?"

Finn's forehead wrinkled as he concentrated on pulling on his first boot. "I mean, i wasn't planning on telling anybody just yet"

"What?" The pilot changed his posture to lean casually in the doorway. "Oh... I mean, yeah, sure. It's none of their business right?"

Finn finally looked up and nodded distractedly. "Cause, I thought it was really Rey's call on all of this at the end of the day."

Poe lost his balance and tripped into the room. "I thought you said Rey wasn't..." All the levity he might have felt started to drain out. "I guess I was wrong."

Finn caught Poe's arm as he fell and righted him, "Nah man, If Rey trusts Solo then I think we should follow her lead and not report him to the New Republic. Like I told you the other night, I think she might actually be right about him being different." He smiled abruptly and leaned forward to catch the pilot's lips with his own. "Better get changed, I've never been on Chandrila before."

Rey took a deep breath of Chandrila and let her senses take over. As much as she was always surprised to find planets so dissimilar to Jakku, this one especially gave her chills. Even the green color of the rolling hills felt crisp and refreshing. A stiff breeze teased at her clothes causing her to turn and smile catching sight of Ben, who stood at the top of the gangplank, frozen and staring out with an expression she couldn't quite read.

"Are you alright?" She asked across the Force, signaling to Finn and the rest to go on ahead and into Hanna City where Lando had his connections. Ben was swathed, head-to-toe in dark robes, his scarf was pulled up and around the lower half of his face.

He had asked if there were any old battle helmets on the ship early that morning after she'd cooked up some sparse breakfast and sat cleaning and tuning the hilt of her Saber.

"No helmets." She'd replied, still cleaning,

"Rey. Someone might recognize me. A disguise-"

"-Is different matter. Just no masks." Her gaze darting up to meet his, shyly. "I'd like to be able to see your eyes. "

He looked so startled, the barest hint of a smile playing around the edge of his lips, about to respond when Chewie stomped into the room and started poking around cabinets after grumbling a minor hello in sleepy Shyriiwook.

Her eyes crinkled at the memory mostly impressed by the sheer amount of swear words the wookie had managed to incorporate into his morning greeting. Ben felt her recall the moment, sighed, and took a stupidly small amount of strides to reach her on the bluff behind which the Falcon was landed.

The breeze smelled of rain and soft summer storms. The silvery spires of a city glistened under purpling clouds on the horizon.

He reached around her, suddenly close, his clothes brushed against her back as he pointed to a distant spot to the left of the city, "Do you see that patch of light nearly on the edge of the vista? That's the Silver Sea, the sunsets there are like no other place in this Galaxy. They hold races in the afternoons across the surface." He continued for a few moments, describing the craft used to race. Rey listened curiously to the way his voice spiked with emotion, a fondness evident.

"How do you know so much?" She asked smiling, catching him off guard, he nearly smiled back, her heart caught.

"Oh." He said, face inches from hers, the skin of his cheeks visible above the scarf flushed pink. "It's where I was born."

Those words echoed frantically inside her skull, she remembered. The dream which had haunted her since their battle before Snoke's Throne.

A harbinger of what could come; despite its repetitious nature Rey could only ever clearly recall the barest gist of it. Every time she woke, it become nothing but a fearful half-memory; A cloud over her mind waking mind, fading as the daytime hours passed.

Rey stood inside a enormous cavern. A room which was vast and pristine, lit within by an ominous glow, pillars placed at regular intervals leading up to a massive throne at the center, floating between a two huge red banners.

A shadowed figure reclined on the throne, a dark profile that she couldn't quite make out. She stepped cautiously toward it, drawn into the eerie magnetic pull of the shadowed dais. An Elite Guard stood at regular intervals along the walls, if they noticed her, they made no attempt to stop her approach.

A shadow swept past, tall, broad and familiar. He moved quickly and silently, flanked by a band of individuals clad in Black Cloaks; they felt like creatures who were used to the hunt. She instinctively reached out to him in the Force, but all she sensed was the lingering cold of the Dark emanating from him. Rey thought about calling out to him, but her dream self could not summon the ability to speak.

His face was still scarred and remote: maskless and ghostly in the light from the large glass window above the throne. However, his eyes glinted at the sight of whoever sat enthroned; jealousy prickled at the corner of her mind, she was eager to know who could evoke such a reaction.

The silhouette on the throne leaned forward, into the cut of light.

"Empress." Kylo Ren intoned. "I have come with news"

Her blood ran cold at the sight of the thin, pale, figure draped comfortably over the monstrous throne. An alabaster hand- her hand- darted forward and gestured for him to approach, and he did with an enthusiasm that bordered on hunger. Immediately falling to his knees at her feet and bowing his head.

Her hand- the Empress' hand- slid forward to grab his chin and tilt his eyes to hers.

"My most Loyal Knight." The Empress sighed, her voice rich and melodious. Rey watched Kylo Ren shiver at her touch, she was unable to look away as the Empress drew his mouth to hers and kissed him, deeply, sensually. He did not resist as she took leadership, wrapping no-longer tanned fingers into his midnight hair and yanking his head back to expose his throat.

Rey watched his chest rise and fall, palms open and unafraid, Ren's eyes never left her face, they were fevered, adoring. His men made no move to stop her, either aware of her power or used to these interactions.

The Empress smiled, a sharp and haunting expression, at once possessive and indulgent. "What news do you bring for me?" She purred, still keeping her grasp on his hair.

"The Resistance, would like to offer Armistice, for talks of peace." His voice stuttered as her lips found a place on his neck, not gently, marking him. "They are offering the planet of Chandrila... and considering your terms of their surrender."

The Empress made a positive noise in her throat,

Kylo Ren looked up into his Empress' eyes, and Rey found herself looking back through them, her perspective no longer a casual observer but a participant in this dark dream. Straight away she felt the gilded draw of the Dark, the raw power of the Sith and the unfettered boundaries that her grandfather had promised. But nothing beckoned to her more profoundly than what she saw in Kylo Ren's eyes as he looked up at his Empress.

Without warning the enthroned ruler released her tight grip of his hair, throwing him slightly off balance. He stood at her pause, towering over her, his lips ticking with emotion before he bowed once in the semblance of obeisance and kissed her again. Despite initiating the kiss, he did not control it, she did.

She owned him, enthralled him, but it was not one-sided, he offered himself to her in every way.

Rey heard herself- the Empress- say "And what do you think of those terms, my Emperor? Shall I gift you the planet where you were born?"

Ben's eyes were wide when she returned to herself on Chandrila. Rey could still taste him on her tongue and by the way that his eyes darted to her lips, he too had a lingering sensation from her memory.

"You..." She stuttered out, "You saw it?"

He nodded jerkily, intensely aware of how he remained pressed against her, too close.

The Force shivered out into her mind, it felt heated, perfumed, "I've dreamed it many times." He said.

"With me on the throne?" She asked, frowning, confused. "You served the Empire-"

"I bowed to you." He corrected, "We served the Galaxy together, balance restored once more."

"With the power of the Dark Side." She countered. "Is that what would have happened if I would have turned? I dreamed-"
"More than that. A vision." He cut in. "You saw one possibility of our future. Every time I slept I saw this... from the night we fought on Starkiller Base. It was an outcome which we could only achieve together. Even before i understood the Dyad."

Rey's face darkened at his explanation, disappointed, unsatisfied. "On the Supremacy, you asked for my hand... because it was your only way to power?"

He stepped away turning his gaze once again to the horizon. "I saw you on our throne every night. But like you, the memory was never clear when I woke. But the more we talked, shared within our bond, it was no longer power which I wanted, it was balance. Perhaps to finish something that my grandfather had failed…"

"But it was not what you wanted on Exogol?"

He turned, sadness in his expression. "No." He said finally. "It was not"

The echo of a memory, his curious voice

I can't see your surroundings. Just you.

"And now?" She couldn't help it, not after the intense vision, the movement of his mouth on hers, the unadulterated desire they'd shared in her vision. Warmth flooded from top to toe. " What do you want now Ben Solo?"

His lips pressed into a thin line, she could feel conflict and something else.

"Hey are you guys good?" Their comms hissed with static, Ben flinched at the sudden noise, moment conveniently averted.

"Yes," Rey replied, already stepping away to attempt to get control of the emotions. "We were uh…" She made eye contact and shrugged. "Talking." She finished lamely.

"Oh…." A series of murmurs, possibly a Wookie yell.

"Have you made it into the city?" Ben mouthed, and she nodded swiftly and repeated the question into the microphone before they got too many ideas.

A quick burble of noise and then Poe's voice cut across. "The General headed to the Senate house, he said you two could catch up with us later once you've taken a look down at Junari Point… there's a couple of bars down that way where he has acquaintances that will know something about the Jedi artifacts. He seems to think Ky— Your— Ben will know the way there…"

Ben tapped the call button and gave a low affirmative, fussing with the scarf/face-mask.

"The General also said you may want to take weapons… and enough credits to stay the night so as not to draw suspicion. We left a speeder for you in the closest settlement. So you should be able to take it out to the point."

Ben was already stomping back toward the ship for what had been requested, eager to put space between the two of them, All while mentally berating himself for not being strong enough to keep his distance. For not being able to control his emotions and feelings.

For wanting.

He stalked into his Father's old ship, fists clenched, anger curling up inside of him. Without pausing to think he pressed a forgotten panel in the side of the hall revealing yet another smuggler's hole. It had been over 20 years since he'd set foot on this ship yet the Falcon had no spot in which Ben had not hidden and adventured as a boy.

He yanked out a crate covered in dust, taking a moment to sift through the random items inside before pushing it aside in annoyance and reaching further into the hidden space.

Rey forced herself to sit and meditate.

As much as she wished to rush after him, to force him to admit the things she could feel swirling beneath his uncertainty, something in her knew that this wasn't the way. She realized that she hadn't truly taken time to meditate since she'd been on Tatooine and if anything would soothe her spirit, it would be time within the Force.

"I see you found my prodigal son."

Rey smiled before opening her eyes at the warm voice, heart overflowing.

Leia Organa Solo stood before her, her Force form glowing despite the stormy sky. Rey hadn't seen her since her arrival on Tatooine, and Luke had not appeared since Ach-To. She hadn't really had enough time to think, let alone wonder why her Force imbued mentors weren't checking in.

"Hello General." She replied softly, remaining in her meditation position on the bluff. "It's good to see you."

"And you Rey." Leia turned to survey the idyllic sweeping hills of Chandrila with soft memories playing across her eyes. "How is he?"

Rey wasn't surprised by her directness. Even in the midst of battle the General was not one to mince words. "He's afraid I think, of what all of this means. Have you not seen him?"

Leia frowned slightly and shook her head. "Luke feels that Ben is afraid to use the Force, or unable to since his return so I haven't been able to reach him—"

"But he and I are able to—"

"That is different. A Dyad is something that cannot be truly eliminated. We think it may be what contributed most heavily to his resurrection."

"Oh." She replied, without really understanding. "How can I help him?"

Leia allowed the full force of her affection for the girl who never thought of herself first to flow outward, hoping it provided some solace to the young Jedi.

"Be patient with him. My son is stubborn as his father. If he believes he must do something it is hard to dissuade him. But…" She continued, when she saw the exhaustion in Rey's face. "He came with you, because you asked him. He also got his father's soft heart. Don't lose hope, he will come around."

Rey found him still sitting half inside the hidden cubby, legs crossed under him; scarf laying on the floor where'd he'd dropped it, an ancient holocamera propped between his legs.

A puddle of light and memories played in the space in front of him. She stood quietly and observed a much younger Han Solo laughing and chasing a raven haired toddler down the same hallways they now stood in. Leia's giggles were obvious from behind the lens as she followed their antics, occasionally reprimanding them for playing too rough or being too wild. Of course they ignored her and young Ben's excited squeals were followed by peals of laughter.

When the last frame finally played and the old machine beeped itself off she waited in the semi-darkness. He was aware of her presence, their bond didn't allow many surprises.

He rose slowly to his feet, shocking her as always with the sheer largeness of his presence. Gently, he placed the holocamera back inside the crate and sealed the lid, tapping his fingers on it softly, thoughtfully, before sliding it back into the niche where he'd found it.

"Were you able to meditate?" He asked, turning with another, heavier box in his hands. He was covered in dust and a streak of dirt crossed his nose. "I felt your… I felt it." He stated unnecessarily.

She nodded, and gave him space to move past her toward the galley, absently, automatically, touching his arm as he passed. He noticed but refrained from commenting.

"I found some weapons." He said finally, removing a couple of smaller objects from the box, taking back the scarf she held in her hands. One was a long blade, made of a dark metal and curved slightly backward, so that when It was held it ran nearly parallel with the user's forearm. He handled it comfortably before hooking it into a leather strap he had also pulled from the box. Next were a series of knives with wicked serrated edges, those were quickly slotted into various hidden spots on his body. He turned and gestured for her to take a look as well.

"My father" He explained. "Had a habit of keeping mementos from his travels. He just made sure my mother didn't know where he stashed them."

Rey picked through, and lifted out something that looked like a shriveled up serpent. Ben seized the thing from her hand and threw it back inside, Rey would have sworn she heard a slight hiss before he closed the lid. When he turned back she was waiting with a spare cloth, the wrinkle between his eyes deepened as she wiped dirt from his face.

"I think I'll stick with my saber."