The base on Batuu held a different kind of quiet from the base on Ajan Kloss. Jungle life couldn't be heard and while there was a low hum of machinery, there was a sense of calm throughout. Rey was used to seeing those who had a late shift roaming around when she made her way into the mess hall but now it was just her and her insomnia. When she tried to sleep, all she heard was the Emperor's haunting laugh as she watched the two sides of herself fight as she tried to figure out what was next for her. She never stayed in bed long before going to make tea and hoping that she would get so exhausted when her head hit the pillow next, she wouldn't dream.

Just as she sat down with her hot drink, she felt the tell-tale tingling in her mind that Ben was reaching out to her. She often dismissed him, especially when he reached out while she was in the middle of shutting down a base or she was flying the Falcon. Even when he did reach out and she wasn't busy, and she didn't feel like talking. She felt like dismissing him tonight, but then she wondered if he had heard about Kat. They didn't give him any way to communicate so this was the next best thing.

"Can I help you?" She asked as she let him make the connection.

"And hello to you too."

She rolled her eyes. "Kat is fine by the way." She told him as she sipped her tea.

Ben sat up a little straighter, his protective streak flaring up. "What do you mean she's fine? Why wouldn't she be?"

Rey hid her face in her palm. "You haven't been told yet."

"No, I haven't. Lando's been treating me like a kid so doesn't tell me anything. So, what kind of trouble did my sister get herself into? Did that bumbling pilot of hers not help?" He still didn't know why Kat had chosen Poe Dameron. Then again, he knew very well and just liked to pretend he was clueless about it. Their very first interaction on Jakku made it painfully obvious.

"Be nice," Rey warned before launching into what she had been told of the events of today when they went out to tour the outpost.

Ben let out a heavy sigh. Leave it to Kat to threaten the second in command of the crime organization on Batuu. "Dear old dad still causing problems." He quipped, even if he knew that Han would be extremely proud of how Kat handled things. "I'm glad she's okay though. Will you tell her for me?"

"She'll find out you're using the force if I do. Isn't that one of your stipulations?"

He rolled his eyes. "That's for after this little mission is over."

"You sure? Cause it didn't sound that way to me. But I'll still tell her if you want."

After thinking it over for a moment, he let out a sigh. "No, don't. I wouldn't want anyone to deal with my pissed off sister."

"Oh, what happened to my sister's not that scary?"

"She isn't but apparently she made a bit of a reputation for herself. So, I'll leave it be." Really, he just didn't want to have any unnecessary arguments with her. He typically was the one who kept her from arguing but now he was the reason she was on the defensive. No amount of Jedi party tricks was going to distract her from her anger towards him and he really didn't blame her. He royally screwed up and he wanted to earn her trust back. After all, he only cared about her and Rey.

"Then I won't pass along the message. Is that all?" She knew she should cut the connection, try her sorry attempt to try and get some sleep again but she didn't have to deal with the too quiet sounds of the Batuu base if she kept talking to him.

"No. Why are you still up? What's on your mind?"

Yup, should have cut the connection. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Why? I'm the perfect person to talk to."

She rolled her eyes. The arrogance and quick draw to the defensive made her really not want to talk to him now. Not only that, but the knowledge that he wasn't always like this seemed like a different reality altogether. He and Kat used to be as thick as thieves. She just didn't see it. "Yeah, because that's making me want to talk to you even more about it."

Ben sighed. Okay, so maybe he needed to work on a few things. "Is it Jedi things?"

"Sort of."

"If not me then do you feel comfortable talking to…" He paused as he tried to think of the person's name. "What's the traitor going by these days?"

"You mean Finn?!" Rey asked, offended for her best friend.

"Yes, him. Do you feel comfortable talking to Finn about it?"

Rey thought about it. She didn't even tell him the real reason she stopped their training. She should but she didn't really know how to put things into the right words. He already worried about her. She didn't want to add to it. "Not at the moment."

"And you're sure you don't want to talk about it to me?"

"I'm very sure."

He slid back down into the bed. He wished his mom was still around. She would know how to help Rey. How to help them both, really. "What about Kat?" He finally asked after a few moments of silence. Whenever Leia wasn't around, he would go find her or reach out to her and she seemed to also have the knack that Leia did for always knowing exactly what to say.

"I don't know. She's got enough on her plate already."

"She'll make time for you. She's the only other person I can think of that would actually give decent advice on whatever you're looking for. Not only because she has a decent understanding of the force but because of her background."

"I doubt her working in the senate…" Rey started before Ben cut her off.

"Her childhood, Rey. There are similarities there."

Ben felt the confusion that washed over Rey. "Wait, do you not know?" He asked, shocked that Rey apparently didn't know. He assumed that everyone knew that part of his sister's story. It was one of the reasons she fought in the Resistance, why she didn't join him.

"I know Leia adopted her, but I thought that she didn't know her parents. She doesn't really talk about them much."

"That's because she keeps a lot of things close to her chest." He sighed. "Her parents were killed by Imperial Sympathizers when she was ten. The authorities in her homeworld found out that she was related to Leia and off they sent her. It's part of the reason she does what she does."

Rey was reminded of Kat's promise of her Naboo story, how she said she knew that determined look in Rey's eyes. She wondered if Kat would know even more about her situation than she initially would have thought. Maybe Ben had been onto something when he suggested his sister to talk to.

As if their talking about her, conjured her up, Kat approached the table looking very much like a woman who was resolved about being awake at such an early hour. She hoped that she would be able to get back to sleep but she knew it was highly unlikely.

Ben felt Rey startle. He did his best to try and see where she was and what was in front of her but he got nothing. Even after he tried to verbally ask her if everything was alright. He felt the connection slipping and so before she severed the bond, he reached out in the force around her and realized it was Kat who showed up. He smiled softly and settled back into his pillows, letting the connection drop. Rey was in good hands. He just hoped she would take his advice and actually speak with Kat about whatever was bothering her.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Kat asked as she made her way into the mess hall. She had woken herself up from a bad dream. Her eyes popped open and she was breathing a little heavier from the battle that played out behind her eyelids. Luckily she hadn't woken Poe. So after not being able to fall back asleep, out she wandered in the hopes of finding something that could calm her mind.

Rey startled a bit, cutting the connection between herself and Ben. While she should have seen Kat approaching, she had been so caught up in her conversation that she hadn't seen her friend come up. "Yeah. I made some tea, do you want some?"

Kat shook her head. "I think I'll be okay. Thank you."

"You sure?" Rey asked. "You look like you could use some."

Kat chuckled. "You look like you could use it more. Have you even slept?"

The Jedi shook her head. "I haven't slept much lately."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Rey laughed a bit, looking down at her cup. Finn had been trying to get her to talk for weeks. Even Poe had tried some. Then tonight Ben had offered in his own way and now, here Kat was, asking the same question. A sense of calm washed over her, making her want to spill her guts even if she had apprehensions about it earlier.

"Ben's right. She is good. Best advisor I ever had."

At the sound of Leia's voice, Rey's head popped up but there was no sign of her. Kat gave her a questioning look at the sudden movement. That usually never boded well.

"You okay?"

Rey nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I just heard someone I wasn't expecting."

That set Kat on high alert. "Is everything okay? Do we need to sound the alarm? What's going on?"

Rey grimaced, looking a bit sheepish. "Sorry, probably could have worded that better. Everything's fine. They're just encouraging me to talk to you."

"Oh," Kat laughed a bit, "well, I'm a pretty decent listener and will try to help in any way I can. But if you don't want to talk tonight, I'm available, any time." She smiled softly.

She wasn't quite ready to talk about what was bothering her but she knew that Kat owed her a story, so she figured that could possibly help in getting herself to open up. "Feel like telling me about Naboo?"

Kat smirked. "I was wondering when you were going to cash that in. Get comfortable it's a long one."

Once Rey seemed settled in, Kat started her story. She informed Rey of her birth parents, how angry she was and how Leia nudged her towards politics to place her anger towards something productive. She promised that starting so far back to the true part of the story was relevant. She wanted to show Rey how utterly lost she felt.

"After Ben turned," Kat continued, not wanting to get into the details of that particular moment. She had kept things factual with the death of her birth parents, nothing like where she told Poe the whole story, but it still unnerved her. Her internal warning signals yelling at her to keep things close to the chest. So, for this next part, she did. "I was completely torn. Leia had told me what she was planning on doing, of course. But I was still too wrapped up in the part of losing my brother to be of any help. I couldn't fight the First Order while trying to figure out what I could have done better to keep Ben from turning. On top of being angry at basically everyone, including Ben and myself for the rise of Kylo Ren, I did the next best thing, something that helped me when I was growing up; I went to Naboo to study politics. Well, public affairs more specifically.

"Before I knew better, Naboo was far away from the growing fight, I could figure things out on my own and away from all the noise. Not to mention away from the pressures of being Leia Organa and Han Solo's daughter. In the beginning, I kept to myself mostly. Only really leaving my room when I was headed to class or going to eat. And then my ex-boyfriend approached me after the class we shared and asked me out. It was a bit of a whirlwind romance. His father was also a senator, so he understood some of the same pressures but other than that he didn't really seem to care about who my parents were. He liked me for me, or so I believed. He introduced me to his friends, and I became close with a lot of them. Then the riots started, and I couldn't turn a blind eye like he and most of our friends were able to."

She let out a sigh. This was where things took a turn and not exactly for the better. The only other person who really knew about this was Leia. She had glossed over it with Poe but Leia was the only one who knew the details. "Did you get a chance to meet Wes when he was around?"

Rey shook her head. "No, but I heard about him."

Kat raised an eyebrow. "From who?"

"Rose." Rey smiled. "She said he was a good friend of yours even though he gets on your nerves."

Kat laughed. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Wes was the only one that fought in the riots with me. Imperial Sympathizers were trying to take over Naboo since it was Palpatine's homeworld. He even saved me from a POW camp. After that things started to become strained between me and my ex. Wes was the only one I was able to really talk to about what happened when I was captured. My ex didn't get why I kept going back and fighting in the riots and his overall demeanor just changed. I started to feel like he didn't understand me at all but I was dumb and tried to still make things work instead of ending them but he did that for me when he cheated on me. After that, it was just me and Wes until we finished up. Then of course on top of all that was the fact that I still had classes and then when the riots weren't happening, I could be found at a cantina or a club, letting loose so I could work through whatever problem I was trying to solve or just forget about whatever issue was bothering me."

"Then how did you figure things out?" Rey asked.

"Some of my best ideas came from dancing it out, or when I was under someone who was a little boring." She gave a small shrug at Rey's shocked expression. "But honestly, I'm still trying to figure things out."

"When I joined the Resistance, Leia was the one I fully talked to until Rose and I became friends and even then I didn't open up to her until much later. I was all business, some would say too much so, and I kept hidden that I still talked with my brother. I had made a reputation of myself on Naboo as the Party Princess and the first two weeks of being in the Resistance didn't help with my image either especially after I was named a Colonel. I needed to make sure they knew I knew what I was doing. People were either looking for a mini Leia or someone who was passionate about the cause. I disappointed people on both fronts and in the beginning, I let it bother me but I kept getting the results that helped us move forward so I stopped caring what others thought about me and continued doing what I thought best."

Rey sighed, slouching against the table. "I don't think it's going to be that easy for me."

"Why not?"

She tightened her grip on her cup, trying to figure out if she should tell Kat. Would she lose trust in her? Would she make her go back to the base? Surely not. She's been nothing but nice towards Ben.

Noticing Rey's internal conflict, Kat reached out and placed a hand on the other woman's arm. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But whatever it is, it doesn't define who you are or who you want to be. I have to remind myself of this too. Even if there's a similarity."

She squeezed Rey's wrist and continued when she noticed that Rey still wasn't up to talking. "Take this next phase of rebuilding for example. Because I'm going back into politics, Leia's legacy will be held over my head and I will be compared left and right. Not only that, I won't be throwing my brother in prison like most believe he should be. I'm going to be called many things for that one. But no matter what, I'm going to do my best, do what's best for the galaxy, and do my best to not care about the whispers. Because if I've learned anything, it's that it doesn't define you. What you do as yourself is what matters."

"Even if I'm a Palpatine?"

Kat sat back, shocked at Rey's confession. She certainly wasn't expecting that.

Rey scoffed. "See. I will have that shadow following me around, no matter what I do."

"Who said anyone else has to know?"

"Ben knows."

Kat rolled her eyes. "So the Solo-Metonae siblings know. Our grandfather was an apprentice underneath yours."

"Exactly. So how am I supposed to train future Jedi with that kind of history?"

"From my understanding, every Jedi has the temptation to fall to the dark side."

Rey gave her a pointed look and Kat sighed. "You're starting to get out of my reach of understanding but I'm going to try and help the best I can. Before you knew you were a Palpatine, did you feel the pull to the dark side?"

Rey nodded.

"And yet here you sit, having defeated the Emperor and saving someone who had turned to the dark side, helping him return to the light." Kat gave a small smile as she leaned on the table. "Listen, the only knowledge I have on this subject is from what I've picked up being around my mom and brother all the time. Jedi are all about balance. And because you are a living being, you have emotions. Now with these emotions, you can either choose to act with them right away or choose to take a step back and use that emotion as fuel for what you need to get done."

"I don't know. There are still times where I lash out, fall into patterns of the dark side."

Kat shrugged. "So do I."

"It's not the same."

"The only difference is that I can't tap into the Force. And it's probably for the best because ten-year-old me would have blown up the house. I was that angry and scared and defiant."

"Then how did you get past that? How did you not let it consume you?"

"Leia. Looking back I'm pretty sure she gave me some Jedi lessons." Kat laughed. "She taught me that it was better to be productive in my anger than to attack right then and there. And attack I mean I either ran off or deliberately didn't listen to them. Although I did break something one time and let me tell ya, never again. Actually, that might have been what had done it. That paired with me pulling Ben with me when I left to wander the city."

"What did she teach you?"

"To sit in the emotion for a little while. Let myself feel it but not so long that I got stuck in it. Then to look back at what the problem was and then figure out a way to solve it or to let go and move on."

Rey nodded. "She taught me something similar. So that's it? That's all I have to do in order for the shadow to not follow me around?"

"Rey, find out what you want to do with your life. There are going to be plenty of opportunities to do what you want now. If you want to continue to be a Jedi, great. If you want to do something else, then that's fine too. Do what's going to make you happy. Then the shadow won't seem so daunting."

"But what about shutting these bases down? Am I in trouble of falling to the dark side because of why I decided to join this team?"

"Have you cut anyone down in anger when you've had to engage with those left behind?"

Rey shook her head.

"Then my guess is that you're fine."

"But –"

"Listen to her Rey." Leia's voice sounded, cutting Rey off.

"She's certainly picked up a thing or two." Luke's voice spoke up.

Rey sighed and nodded. "Okay, but I'm not ready to train anyone else yet."

Kat tilted her head as she watched Rey stop herself from whatever rebuttal she was about to say. She hadn't ever experienced Leia or Ben speaking to those who had left before them. But based on the small interaction she had seen before, Kat assumed that Leia was speaking to the young Jedi once again. "Then don't. But I do have to ask, are you hearing Leia's voice?"

"Yeah. Luke too."

A small smile tugged at her lips as she tried to push down her jealousy towards not being able to hear them ever again. She looked down at her hands, nodding briefly before looking back up at Rey with a smirk. "How badly did I mess up the Jedi teaching?"

"Not too bad. They told me to listen to you." She smiled reassuredly.

Kat let out a small laugh. "Good to know I learned a thing or two." She then moved to stand up, wanting to get back to bed, get back to Poe to revel in his warmth for a little while longer. She started to feel her heart weighing heavier and she didn't feel like crying in front of someone she hadn't cried in front of before.

"Tell her we're proud of her," Leia said, knowing that Kat was getting ready to leave.

"She should think about taking up where Lor left off." Luke quipped, expressing the same sentiment in his own way.

"They're proud of you. Luke thinks you should become the next Lor San Tekka." Rey said, getting Kat to stop in her place.

Kat laughed, smiling briefly before turning back around to face Rey. "I'll think about it after I put the galaxy back together again."

Luke would take that and while Rey would still have the council of those gone before her, he knew how fickle the Force could be about sending guidance. Until Ben got a level head back on his shoulders, Kat could be helpful, much like Lor San Tekka was helpful to him in his recreation of the Jedi Temple. "She should read some of the books. You'll at least have a more level-headed person to talk to."

"Would you like to read some of the journals and texts? I'd like to keep coming to you for now with questions. Ben's not the greatest." Rey offered.

"Well, I mean I am the better sibling." She motioned to herself with a teasingly smug smirk before it turned into a soft smile. Her uncle apparently wanted her in on the family trade. "I'll think about it. Now get some sleep, Rey." She said before turning back around and heading off to her room.

Rey watched as Kat left, drinking the rest of her tea. Do what makes her happy. What would make her happy? Her whole life she's been forced by circumstances to do what she needed to survive. Now she got the chance to live and she wasn't entirely sure what that looked like for her. She let out a sigh as she stood up. Maybe she should try and get some sleep. These questions weren't anything that had to be answered right away, after all. And maybe after some sleep, she'd have a clearer answer.

"Where were you?" Poe asked as soon as he saw Kat's form creeping into the main part of the room.

She startled, looking up at him sitting up in bed, arms loosely wrapped around his knees. She had been paying attention to the floor so she wouldn't trip over anything. The room had been quiet so she hoped that he was still asleep but that wasn't the case. "I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep so I took a walk. What are you doing up?"

"I just woke up."

"Nightmare?" She asked as she crawled back into bed next to him.

He nodded. "You?" He turned to look at her, foreheads touching, as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up." She kissed his temple.

"You're here now." A small smile tugged at his lips as he reached down and brought her other arm up around him so he could embrace her a little better.

They held each other just like that until they both could feel their eyes drooping shut. The couple shuffled around so they could lay back down and soon sleep found them once again.

The next time Poe woke up; he was alone in bed once again. He let out a groan into the pillow, cursing Kat's early riser tendencies. Slowly pushing himself up after letting out a sigh, he realized that BB-8 was waiting for him at the end of the bed. "Do you know where she went?"

BB-8 let out a string of beeps, relaying the message Kat asked them to.

That certainly got his attention. "Mom went where?"

The droid twirled its head around before answering him again with what they had just communicated.

Poe scrambled out of bed, dressing in a flurry of clothes. "That's what I thought you said. Did she go alone?"

BB-8 chirped in confirmation.

"Of course, she did. Because being asked to return to the second in command's lair alone doesn't scream trap or anything." He huffed, hopping, well more like stumbling, towards the door as he pulled on his boots.

Once he opened the door, he noticed that his droid hadn't followed him. "Well, are you coming?"

The astromech let out a string of beeps, letting him know of their arrangement and how it was not time yet to go find Kat.

He rolled his eyes. "Have I taught you nothing? You don't have to listen to her all the time, especially when she's going to meet Dok-Ondar alone. Now let's go."

BB-8 once more let out a string of beeps as they followed behind Poe, letting him know that if Kat were to get upset, they would make sure she knew it was all his idea.