Chapter 2

Sleep always came easily. Managing operations on a moisture farm was not light work. Rey felt exhausted as much from her work during the day as the encounter with Master Skywalker that evening. She lay down heavily, closed her eyes, and the hum of silence pressed gently against her eardrums.

In seconds, she was asleep.

Sleep may have come easy, but so did the dreams, and they were much less pleasant. In them, Ben died in front of her, again and again, and she was helpless to stop it.

When the twin suns rose the next morning, Rey woke to BB8's frantic warbles as he rolled into her room. A few moments later, as she pulled that last of her work clothes on, the warm presences of Finn and Poe, followed by the sound of engines powering down outside brought a small smile to her face. She pulled her hair back messily, wiped her face hastily, and ran out to greet her friends.

Finn and Poe hugged her warmly, bringing her back to their embrace after the fall of the First Order. The something inside of her that had snapped with Master Skywalker softened in this moment, and Rey found herself crying again, out of relief.

They held her without question, chins locked over shoulders, arms securely around each other. Sand swirled with a gentle hiss around them. This moment didn't make her feel completely whole, but it was leagues better than she felt before they arrived.

A familiar groan sounded from the ramp of the Falcon, and Chewbacca descended, holding a parcel in one of his paws. Rey broke into a small smile at the sight of him, and a chuckle escaped her as the Wookie swept them all up in one arm.

Chewie trilled excitedly as he handed her the package.

"Yeah, well, we'd all be sick for a week if we ate it your way, Chewie," Poe smirked.

Rey chuckled, leading the way to the kitchen. Finn, Poe, and Chewie sat around the table while Rey prepared the meal, all of them chatting amiably about nothing in particular, when, suddenly, Poe broke the casual conversation.

"So what's your plan, Rey?"

The air had been sucked from the room. Rey, who had been heating the ronto meat in a skillet, stood rigid, as though ice water had been thrown on her.

"Poe…" Finn started, and Chewie growled in protest.

"No, he's right," Rey said, but didn't turn to face them.

The room was silent for several moments, save for the sizzling of breakfast. More than one stomach rumbled awkwardly in the silence that hung there.

"I…I don't know," Rey said, plating the food. Finn got up to help her, and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She met his eyes. They both turned to the table and served breakfast.

"It's been a few weeks. We could use your help out there," Poe said, gesturing vaguely with his utensil.

"I'm not interested in testifying, or establishing a new government," Rey said. "But I don't want to just be a moisture farmer either."

"Or starting a training temple?" FInn asked, pausing between bites.

"No," Rey said firmly. "I may be the last Jedi, or at least one of the last, but I think we need to go about balancing the Dark and Light sides in a different way."

Poe, Finn, and Chewie both shifted in their seats and looked at her attentively.

"Okay," Rey said, bracing herself, "so the ancient texts speak about balancing out the Dark and Light with Sith and Jedi, but what if real balance was people with the ability to use the Force learning to balance both sides within themselves? When one side is cultivated over the other, when one side takes all the power, when one all-powerful Jedi rises–"

"A Sith rises to meet them," Finn finished for her, nodding.

"Exactly," Rey said, her eyes fierce and bright. "This is a battle the galaxy fights every generation. We have to think about it a different way, or we're doomed to just keep repeating the cycle."

"There's our Rey," Poe grinned, clasping her shoulder.

Chewie woofed in agreement, and growled and grumbled something that made Rey smile.

"Thank you," she said to the Wookie.

"Chewie's right. You'd be a great teacher," Finn agreed, finishing the last of his breakfast with a swig of blue milk. "You could train people here."

"I need some more time–"

FInn, Poe, and Chewie began to protest, but Rey stared them all down defiantly. Even Chewie sat back quietly under her glare.

"Not a long time," she assured them, raising her hand to hold back their protest. "But some time. I need to find my feet here. I need to…resolve some things."

"Kylo Ren," Poe said hotly.

"Ben Solo," Rey spat back.

"Poe, back off," Finn said, fighting to not raise his own voice.

"No, I'm tired of seeing you heartbroken over this!" Poe exclaimed, gaze fixed on Rey, who glared daggers back at him. "Kylo Ren was a war criminal. He committed unspeakable atrocities all over the galaxy. He may have saved you, in the end, but it was his rise to power that made that rescue necessary. Does saving your life make up for all the death and pain he inflicted?"

"Get. Out." Rey said between clenched teeth.

Poe threw up his hands in exasperation, looked to Finn and Chewie for support, and, finding none, rose from the table abruptly, and stormed out.

Finn took a breath, glanced at Chewie, who nodded, and rose from the table, cleaning the dishes.

"You can't fix this for me," Rey said, frustrated.

"I know," Finn said simply. Chewie belted his agreement. "Exactly, Chewie. We can't fix it for you, but we can do the dishes and help with the farming to give you time to figure it out."

Rey began to protest, but Finn's stern look silenced her.

"Go do what you need to do," Finn said gently. "Don't worry about Poe. He'll cool down and apologize. We'll all be here when you're ready."

Rey pulled him and Chewie to her in a hug and felt her shoulders relax for what felt like the first time in months. When they broke apart, Chewie and Finn turned immediately to cleaning up the kitchen, and Rey took to the sand fields for the long day's work ahead of her.