"I'm one with the Force. The Force is with me."
-Chirrut Îmwe
Rey decided not to go to the med bay despite the fact that Dr. Fintis had told her to. She took a walk through the jungle forests of the planet, Ajan Kloss. It will let me clear my head and figure out a way to talk to Poe and explain why Ben is here, without him exploding, she thought.
About a twenty minute walk from the east edge of the base was a clearing in the jungle. With the lush green vegetation around her, and no sounds but the ones of the forest, Rey, for the first time since the battle of Crait, felt calm. She sat down on a boulder and just listened. She heard the wind blowing through the trees, the creatures and wildlife's noises. She felt the sun on her face, and for the first time, peace. In the Force. In the galaxy. In the worlds. In herself.
"You've been so brave, Rey," a voice said. Rey whipped around to face the person, or rather, the being, that had spoken. She was surprised to discover that it was her former master, none other than General Leia Organa herself.
"Leia," Rey whispered, her voice barely audible. Tears began to pool in the girl's eyes.
"You did it, darling, you saved the galaxy," Leia said with a smile. Her eyes were as bright as ever, and her smile was just as warm. If not for the fact that Leia was shrouded in a glowing blue aura, Rey might have thought that her master was actually there. "I showed you this spot, didn't I?" Leia asked, as she walked around the clearing.
"Yes, you did," Rey replied. "This was the one place I felt calm during the past year. I could come here and relax for a few minutes, just to be able to keep my sanity," she recalled.
"Follow me, I want to show you another place that I found," Leia said gently, a warm smile on her face. She turned and began to walk north in the woods.
The pair began to walk in silence, side by side. In about ten minutes, they arrived at the bank of a creek. Leia turned and followed the creek downstream. The creek had widened into a small river when she finally spoke.
"I held out hope for so long, Rey. For Ben. For our family. And eventually, I gave up. But you didn't. You knew that my son would return once again. When everyone didn't believe, you did. You knew that there was still good in him, fighting to come back. You tried to help him, and you believed that you had failed a year ago. But you never gave up. You were willing to give him a second chance. You had hope. Hope is so important, Rey."
"In many ways, you are already more burdened than me. When I was your age, I was leading a rejuvenated, but delicate rebellion. I could have never dreamed of doing anything as momentous as you have done, saving the entire galaxy, finding your family. You are part of a dyad. One of only a few in the history of the galaxy. You are so young, Rey. Yet you have so much responsibility on your shoulders. If you do not learn how to balance all that responsibility, I fear that it will weigh you down in the future."