Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of the amazing characters

Hello everyone, I know I promised more frequent updates but this quarantine and morning sickness (more like alllllll day sickness) has had me flat on my back either sleeping or fighting the urge to puke my guts out. Sorry TMI I know but tonight was the first night I was able to actually force myself to focus and do something that actually mattered. So here is the new chapter and I am currently editing chapter 18 and will try to put it out tonight too.

Enjoy

Rey

As soon as the falcon landed, Rey tore out of the ship and barreled straight into Kylo's arms, kissing him. She wanted to hit him too but with the chaos of the rest of the resistance fleeing in such a short time, there were more important things to be done right then. Instead Rey mentally told him just how much she loved him and how afraid she'd been that she was going to lose him.

The darkness in the back of her mind told her that she would deserve it if things had gone wrong back on the first home she'd ever really known.

"We need to start sorting things out. I can't imagine how the integration has been going without us," Rey said to Kylo.

"Not well considering the look of relief on Bell's face," Kylo said nodding toward Bell who was jogging toward them.

The male stopped in front of Leia and stared at her with wide eyes. He looked her over and then looked at Kylo. A small smile crept over his face as he threw his arms around a startled Leia.

"Mama Solo, from the stories Kylo told us I expected you to be this 6 foot tall, imposing tiger lady," Bell said with a grin.

Leia glanced around Falbell at Kylo and then at Rey.

"Mother, this is Falbell Ren. He was my best friend for a very long time," Kylo explained. "Bell this is my mother, Leia Organa-Solo," Kylo said.

"It is an honor to meet you," Bell said as serious as he could be.

Leia stood there for just a moment and then she smiled.

"Thank you for being friends with him," she said softly, her voice filled with some mixture of sorrow and joy all wrapped into one. "And thank you for taking in the resistance when you really didn't have to," she said.

Falbell looked around at the chaos that was the resistance at the moment and shrugged.

"It's been a long time since we've had any real excitement on this planet. Plus, there are parts of this castle that haven't been used in centuries by my estimate. It'll be good for the whole complex to be of use," Bell explained.

"Have you located any of the others," Kylo asked over Rey's head.

Falbell just shook his head. He was going to say something but Nikhoah came running up to the group.

"Kylo, Rey, glad you guys made it.," Nik said.

"Mother, this is Falbell's wife and my other best friend Nikhoah Ren," Kylo introduced quickly. "Nik, this my mother Leia."

Leia smiled at the younger woman who nodded at Leia with appreciation.

"I would say that it is an honor to meet you but Kylo used to tell us stories about how you used to treat him. I think I will save my opinion of you until after I get to know you," Nikhoah said. She turned to Kylo and Rey and asked, "How bad was it?"

Kylo and Rey looked to Leia, who looked around for someone.

"Connix," Leia called out.

The petite blonde woman appeared out of the crowd and came over, looking grim.

"Leia, it's worse than we thought," she said. She looked over the couple before going on, "We lost two ships full of rebels. One of those ships was carrying communication equipment but otherwise the bigger loss is the loss of our people," Connix said solemnly.

Leia nodded and Kylo and Rey shared a burst of anger at their enemies.

"I swear to you that the Neo and First Orders will pay for this," Kylo promised his mother, who just shrugged and shook her head at them

"Vengeance is not what the universe needs. It needs peace and protection and order," Leia said. "The Ember Order can do that. A new Republic can do that. Let's just focus on that for now," she said looking at her son.

Rey nodded her head. What Leia was saying made sense to her. It really did, but at the same time, could she really lead a whole movement. Even with Kylo's help it would be a momentous task. The darkness in the back of her mind asked who was she to ask people to follow her, her own parents hadn't even wanted her. She was no one.

"We should work on getting things set up," Leia said. "Then we can really assess the damage."

The five of them nodded at the same time.

"Connix, will you help me get the communications room set up," Leia asked.

Connix nodded.

"I can assure you that our communications room is already fully functional," Nik said a bit defensively. "I can show you to it so that you can begin trying to contact your allies, but no changes will be made to our systems."

She and Connix eyed each other with obvious dislike. Kylo and Rey caught the subtle animosity passing between the two young women and looked at each other.

That is probably going to be a problem, Rey thought to Kylo.

I am sure it's just because they don't know each other. You weren't exactly fond of Bel or Nik when we first got here, Kylo said back. Maybe you can go with them so you can help things run smoothly. Bell, Poe and I can get everything else set up.

Rey thought about it.

Could she handle things if Nik and Connix just couldn't get along? Maybe, maybe not, but she had to try. Things had to work out for them on this planet. At least until Leia and Poe decided if the Resistance was really going to stay on Vodran for any real length of time.

Yeah, sure that should work, Rey thought to him.

"Why don't I go with you ladies," Rey suggested. "Leia, you know exactly what we need to reach resistance channels," she said smiling at the older woman who was eyeing the two younger women with curiosity. "And Nikhoah, you know exactly what we need to do to avoid the First Order and the Neo Order when making contact with our resistance allies," she said to Nikhoah who nodded. "And Connix you know exactly what we stripped from the old base."

The three women all seemed to agree, and Rey sighed with relief.

I'm surprised no one argued too, Kylo thought to her.

After the day we've all had, it is probably best not to question our good fortune, Rey thought with a smile.

That is very true, my wise and beautiful Rey.

Rey blushed a little and hid her face against Kylo's chest for just a moment.

"Bell, will you help me, and Poe get the people settled into the residential side of the castle? I know they must be antsy just sitting in orbit for so long," Kylo suggested.

Bell nodded, "Course, boss. Can you get someone to call your people down?"

Leia nodded. Rey stepped away from Kylo and headed back into the Falcon.

"Hey Essie, can I speak to Poe," Rey said after dialing the Starfall.

"Oh, hey Rey, sure," Essie's cheerful voice said.

After a moment Poe's deep voice came over the Falcon's comms system, "Yeah, Rey?"

"Poe, we have permission to land so I want you to start bringing the ships in. I want you and the Knights of Rey to help Kylo and Falbell Ren get the people set up in the residential section of the castle," Rey said and she could just about imagine the frown on his face as she set the task upon him. "I'll be working with Leia, Connix and Nikhoah to set up the more technical stuff," she said with a frown of her own.

Poe sighed.

Rey sat back in the seat and waited for him to respond. She got more nervous the longer she had to wait for Poe to give his answer. Rey glanced over at Chewie who was still in the pilot's seat, but the Wookie just shrugged his shoulders and went back to fixing some wiring that was poking out of a side panel.

"Okay Rey. I'll do it. It's going to be weird working with Ren and one of his cronies, but I guess I better get used to it if we are going to stay here and start collecting Rens," Poe said, and Rey was relieved to hear the teasing in Poe's voice.

"Thank you, Poe. The boys will be on their best behavior," Rey promised.

She went back to Kylo and the others and let them know that Poe was on board and that the orbiting ships would be coming in shortly.

Rey's group didn't wait around for the ships to start landing. Instead Nikhoah took them around the long way to the communications room. Rey helped explain what she and Kylo had envisioned for the different sections of the castle like compound.

Once they did reach the comms room, Connix and Nikhoah couldn't seem to agree on anything. Connix wanted to bring in some of the equipment from Olara as it was newer, but Nik thought everything was just perfect the way it was. Leia mostly stayed quiet while the women argued, and it was often up to Rey to settle the petty disputes.

Leia talked to the former First Order soldiers.

They all seemed too nervous to make any real conversation with her but that didn't seem to bother Leia one bit.

Rey wanted to check in on the progress Kylo and the others were making but every time she tried, Nikhoah and Connix would break out into an argument.

The evening turned out to be even more draining than the morning had been.

Are you okay, Rey?

Rey was started by the sudden appearance of Kylo's voice in her head. She hadn't even felt him reach down the line of their bond. She embraced the feeling of him inside her head, wrapping it around her consciousness like a warm blanket. It was comforting and she felt safe knowing he was there.

Yes. I guess I'm just tired. How much longer do you think you guys will need, she asked.

It had been hours since they'd begun the task of finding sleeping quarters that made everyone happy and Rey hoped like hell that it was nearing the end because all she wanted to do was lay in Kylo's arms and sleep.

Yeah, we're done getting everyone settled. Falbell and I were going over some information we found on Snoke, Kylo said back sounding excited.

Rey was too tired and emotionally drained to join in his excitement, especially over something to do with Snoke. In fact, she couldn't seem to bring herself to continue caring about the squabbles of the women. The rebels were safe, the soldiers with Nikhoah and Falbell added to their numbers, and the Neo Order hadn't gotten anything because the base had blown in time. Today had been a win in Rey's eyes, but Nik and Connix felt the need to pick at things.

"I think we can call it a night," Rey said, looking to Leia.

"Yes. I think those two will need to sleep on each other's words before they can come to any kind of understanding," Leia said with a small smile. "You look like you could use some rest," Leia commented.

Rey glared at her for a moment and then shook her head.

"Yes, I definitely could. Will you be okay with these two by yourself if I head off," Rey asked.

"Oh, these two will give me no trouble at all." Leia pinned the two bickering women with a hard look. "Go on. By the morning I will have this all sorted out," she assured the younger woman.

Rey nodded and hugged Leia calling goodnight to Nik and Connix as she headed for the door. Once she was outside, she found Kylo waiting for her. He looked tired, but the excitement was still evident in his eyes. "So, what did you find," Rey asked as he kissed her on the forehead.

"When I was trying to get to Hux, he said something interesting about Snoke," he said as they began walking back toward the rooms they had stayed in when first coming to Vodran. Rey listened as he talked about rumors they'd heard before with a new fever but was thoroughly surprised when Kylo said, "I think we need to go Mustafar to Darth Vader's castle."

She let the surprise show on her face.

"What? But we just got here. Things need to be settled here first," she said in a no nonsense tone.

"I think that they can handle themselves for a day while we hunt down leads that may end up helping us take out Zoroyais," Kylo said in a tone that said he thought she was being silly. "They won't even miss us, I promise."

She sighed. The man she loved had made his mind up and she knew that he would be going on this mission with or without her.

"Okay. But give me two days. We can rest and get the operations up and running so that the rebellion can continue to get stronger even though we're starting over again," she suggested and when Kylo agreed she let herself smile up at him. "Can we please go to bed now," she asked in a suggestive voice.

"Anything for you my beautiful Rey," Kylo said with a grin.