Chapter 2

Thank you to everyone that read this 😊

I'm not sure where I'm going with this story, but it should be a few chapters long.

On her walk back to her room Rey rethought the days events, she wondered if Ben had questioned how she had seen Luke or why he was concerned about her at all. She had said she would not turn to the dark side, though she did consider taking his hand if it was the hand of Ben Solo. She could really use the meditation time now to work through her problems, maybe she'd skip the Ben problem for now and focus on the Poe and Finn sending people to ask her to the dance problem. If Poe thought she didn't notice him wave off his friend he would be mistaken in the morning. Even as late as it was Rey headed out to the training area, it was just beginning to get dark she might have an hour or two she could meditate yet.

While in meditation she rethought over her meeting with Luke, how he had seemed so carefree in the after life and somehow even sassier than he was alive. She had tried to reach out about the bond and replacing the lightsaber. Luke answered one, which was helpful to know where she had to go to get a new crystal, but the bond was the more pressing issue in her mind and Luke wasn't talking about it. Not more than a, 'how is my nephew these days?' kind of thing. She supposed that it was better that she not talk about her bond with Ben; other than to Leia at this point. Now where the crystal was concerned, she could have Poe drop her off on his next supply run. Luke had given her the location of a planet that might still have some crystals, he said it took some time for the right one to call out and she should expect to spend sometime there. With her mind made up she headed back toward her room and went to bed.

The following morning, she rose earlier than usual to shower and get ready before going to breakfast. Rose was in line when she entered the room, following the line of people she waited and got her breakfast, seating herself next to rose she told Rose of her conversation with Luke two days prior. Still having to run this past Leia, Rey was sure Leia would not object, she had constructed her own once upon a time.

"I think that's a great idea, but don't go tonight, there will be a dance and it could be fun! But I don't want to be left with them on my own." Rose looked pleadingly to Rey.

"After we finish up on those X-wing issues you've been working on we can go to the dance tonight. I'll see if Leia can let us do the supply run tomorrow, as long as Poe isn't too hung over." Both girls laughed as they had already planned to prank Dameron this evening. "How was your admirer from yesterday's lunch?"

Rose blushed, "He was nice, his name is Jack, he worked on engines in the ships and he's really smart and knows his stuff. Did Poe manage to find someone for you as well?"

"He tried, he had Chris stop me after dinner and ask if I was going; he even offered to teach me to dance. When will I ever need to know how to dance? I had an encounter with Chewy and the Falcon after that, so I wasn't in the mood when Poe showed up last night with someone else. Poe doesn't know I saw his friend, but I don't want to be set up. I can take care of myself." Rose was laughing.

"He knows you can take care of yourself; he wants to see you on a date!"

"But why, I don't need anyone. If I choose to date, I will pick the man."

Rose gasped, "Do you have someone in mind?!" It was a little too loud and a few others looked over from their tables. Rey blushed, "NO! I just mean it's not for someone else to decide." All the while in her mind she thinks that even if Poe found someone nice, if the bond opened up, she wouldn't be able to focus on that date or the person. It's hard to ignore Ben when he's glaring at you or talking to you, or fighting you. Maybe they should set up boundaries, but then they would have to know how to connect and why they connect when they do. Suddenly with an idea she realized that they would need to spend an afternoon testing the bond and what starts/stops it. In the back of her mind she knew this would take up so much time that the man from yesterday couldn't make her dance with him. "Rose, lets get to work on that ship of yours, I have some training I want to do this afternoon before the party." Rose and Rey got up with their trays and after tossing the garbage and laying the trays on top; left the building in search of Roses' ship she was fixing.

It took a little longer than anticipated to get the ship up and working, but Poe was more than happy to do a test run. Really, he would use any excuse to be in the sky, Rey thought he was the happiest up there. After Poe reached the ground safely and let them know how the ship felt and what could be better or was perfect, they settled in to an easy conversation on the way to the main base. Rey excused herself to the training area.

As she was walking away, she heard Rose as "Where were you and Finn for breakfast."

"We were in with Leia planning the party for tonight." You could just hear how happy he sounded at the prospect of a night of dancing, drinking and flirting the night away.

As she ran through the course she started to think of Ben and how she would summon the bond to start. Racing along the path she had to jump up and cut a piece of cloth down, run across a fallen tree, put on a blind fold and fend off a droid and run up a tree to get whatever Leia had put up there that day. There was more to the course than that, but that's as far as she got because half way up the tree she felt sound fall away and heard Ben. "What are you doing."

Concentration ruined, she lost her grip on the force and reached out to grab a branch before she fell backward. Looking down she saw him in a meditation pose in the air. "Ben, a little warning would be nice." He arched a brow, "I'm meditating and you summoned me…. again. If you could tell me how you're doing it I'd be happy to oblige."

"That's exactly it!" He looked confused, "We need to compare notes on how to open the bond and what closes it. I have all afternoon and evening to work on this- "

Interrupting her, "Don't you have a dance with that… boy" The way he said boy, made it sound like she was taking a child to a dance. "Ben, he's not a boy. He's a nice man and I don't think it's any of your business. I'm not all that big on parties anyway, so, can we just focus on this please." Rey had dropped from her hold on the branch. Standing across from Ben she hoped he would cooperate and help her find some sense of how to control the bond.

Ben sighed. "The bond grows stronger the more we use it, and the closer we are the stronger it becomes from what I've read and observed."

"From everything I've read, it seems like there has to be a way we both open it. In the past I was emotionally compromised and called out for you to talk to, you were the only one to understand, the light and dark, the loneliness." Rey looked at him across from her, his soft gaze the same as on Luke's island.

"Everyone has light and dark in them, it's a matter of what they hold on to. I needed you to let go and join me, but you chose the light."
"I chose my friends!" She couldn't believe they were back here, "That isn't why I was thinking about the bond today."

"But you weren't" He looked at her and she looked confused, "In order for the bond to open, you aren't thinking about it, you are thinking about me. Why would you want to think about your enemy?" He had a smug look on his face.

"I merely want to understand this." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"And what exactly is this, you help me defeat Snoke, you lean toward my hand and my offer, you took an escape pod to my ship." Rey looked like she wanted to look anywhere but at him. So, he continued, "This bond, couldn't have been made my Snoke, he wasn't that clever. This sounds more like the Dyad bond from your books." At that she looked back at him.

"Do you think it is? Those are rare, and it would make sense why Luke wouldn't tell me anything."
"Why does Luke's ghost come to you, but my grandfathers won't come to me?" He asked it more to himself, she wasn't sure he even intended to say it out loud.

"Maybe you should try asking his name and not Darth Vader?" She was trying to be helpful but the look he sent her was not something she thought she'd receive. He looked tired, like he'd probably tried that as well. "Just a suggestion."

"I'll take it into consideration…. What were you thinking of before I came here?" Back to business, but at least he was trying to help her understand.

Rey thought for a moment, "I was just thinking of our last meeting and the feeling I got when we were speaking."

"What feeling was that?" He looked intrigued. "Did you end up getting your back looked at?"
"Did you?" She countered so fast he smiled, then realized what he did he thinned out his lips causing Rey to laugh, "It's ok to smile Ben." "First order soldiers never smile. We are serious all of the time." She looked at him and noticed he was smirking. "We cannot allow Rebel scum to make us laugh, how would people fear me then?"

Rey smiled at the thought that she could make him smile, in her mind she saw him leaning more toward the light than the dark, "The feeling yesterday before you and chewy rudely treated me" She gave a pointed look which Ben ignored," … was that it was peaceful, and calm…Almost comfortable to have you and Chewy in the Falcon. That's what I was thinking of."

"You enjoy working on the Falcon then?" He seemed a little guarded.

"It's the most home like place I've ever known. And I can fix anything so Chewy lets me stay." She smiled wistfully at the thought of working on the Falcon all the time.

"Chewy would keep you forever, he's not going to kick you out if you couldn't fix the Falcon, that's just a plus." Rey looked at him and wondered how he knew Chewy would keep her, "No he wouldn't, but I like to earn my keep."

Ben pondered, "Before the bond opened, I was thinking about yesterday at lunch when I got to witness your bad flirtation skills."

Rey turned red, "I do not flirt, and that was not flirting, he was just asking me if I was attending the dance."
"Ah… as I recall, he asked to teach you to dance." Ben was having too much fun at this moment, served her right for ignoring him while she talked to that untalented boy. Ben wasn't too happy that he had jealous feelings, but he hoped they weren't sensed through the bond. That would cause more questions that he wanted at the moment.

She sighed and that made him refocus on her after his train of though drifted off. "Yeah, he did. But I feel like this is more important that me learning to dance."

After a moment of silence, she continued, "So, if we both think of each other around the same time, the bond opens?"

"It would seem so. We can test it out. I'll leave and try again in a few moments." He vanished and Rey thought to herself how he must have figured out how to leave. Maybe it was just willing yourself back to your own location. After his departure, Rey sat down in a meditation position and waited. She waited for a little while and then the sound fell away but this time she was transported to his ship. He was in the training room it appeared. Just a big room where he had weapons on the wall and nothing else in the room. The walls had blaster marks and lightsaber slashes, she did not like the idea of being in this room if he was to go on a tantrum; though she didn't tell him that.

"It worked!" She stood up from her seated position and walked around the room. She felt something fly at her, turning quickly she caught a staff. He had one for each of them. They sparred for a little while before he tossed her a bottle filled with water. She drank some and then asked how long they had been there. "How long have we sparred?"

"Probably too long, I think the longer the connection the more strained we become. I can teach you do dance before you go back." He looked softly at her, she hesitated.

"Do I really need to know how to dance? I don't think it's going to benefit me, I'm a fighter." She looked down at the staff in her hand.

"Not right now, but if you continue to work with Leia and are her bodyguard or go to events with the resistance, you'll need to know how to get information from any approach."

"Are you offering to teach me to dance to get intel on the First Order?" Rey raised an eyebrow. "Ben, I appreciate it, but no one would dance with a scavenger, and if I'm your mom's bodyguard why would I be dancing and not protecting?"

Ben had crossed closer and took the staff from her hand, tossing it to the side he held out his hand, "I'll teach you. It's easy once you know the steps, and the man is supposed to lead you. So, if you falter, it's his job to show you what to do."

"I don't'-"
"Just do what I say for once." He grabbed her waist and pulled her close. Her hands flew to his chest and she startled stared up at him. Knowing Ben was tall was one thing, obviously fighting him she knew, but being this physically close and having it dawn on her how small she was in comparison was jarring.

"What do I do?" She sounded so small in his arms, he smiled down at her and she felt her breath hitch.

"Just put your hands here and here." He placed them in position to do a waltz. All at once she noticed how the force felt as they held hands. It was the most content she had ever been. Not safe exactly, she knew, but she could see herself happy here. As he started, she was blundering, but he continued on as if it didn't matter until she picked up the pattern. "It's just like fighting, there are certain steps one must take. See if I turn you like this, yes! See you got it." He went around the room once in the waltz then he switched it to a slow dance position. "Sometimes this is more the pace of the song, so you'll just rest your hands either on the shoulder or in his hand and on the shoulder. Like this. "

They proceeded to do that for a little while longer, "I think I prefer the first one, it was faster." Rey looked up at Ben and smiled. He thought he saw something in her gaze flick to his lips, but that couldn't be, she couldn't feel the same way, could she?

Slowly he moved a hand to her jaw and tucked a strand behind her ear, he looked at her in a way she couldn't decipher. She noticed he started lowering his head and she raised up on her toes to meet him half way. Just as their lips met someone burst through the training doors and someone on her end had touched her arm. Her eyes snapped open and she found Finn staring at her.

"Hey, you ok? I tried talking to you for a few minutes, I tried poking your arm, I didn't mean to grab it so hard." Finn looked sad like he had hurt her, she put a smile on her face and let him know that it was ok, that she was ok. As they walked out of the forest, she noted how the sun was setting, the dance would be starting soon. She absently touched her lips as she followed Finn back. She wondered if Ben had felt as disappointed as she did.

Ben was livid. Once Rey disappeared, he through the storm trooper across the room and stalked out of the training center. Never had he been more disappointed, not chasing the resistance, not when Snoke would be disappointed or punish him. He had her, she had wanted to kiss him back! Now she was gone. Someone on her end had grabbed her arm, he had felt it through the bond, so at least it wasn't just the storm trooper facing his wrath. He ran a hand through his hair and stalked back to his chamber. After showering and returning to work he sat absent mindedly running his hand across his lower lip. Wondering if she was thinking about it too.

Leia was in her office as Finn and Rey pass, "Rey! Come in here please?"

"Finn, I'll see you at the party." Rey stepped into Leia's office, "General?"

Leia was finishing up some paperwork and filing it before she turned around, she had on a part dress, it had sparkles and flowers on it. Not the normal wear for a war room. "I knew that living on Jakku, you wouldn't have had a chance to wear a dress, so I found one of my old ones and thought you'd like to try it for just tonight."

As Leia turned around, she noticed the troubled look on Rey's face, "What is it?"

"I was wondering if tomorrow Poe would be allowed to drop me off at a planet so I could find my own crystal for the lightsaber? Luke's force ghost gave me coordinates and I would like to complete it as soon as I can."

"Yes, I think that would be a great idea, it might take you a few days. But we'll send a tracking beacon and it should be fine, if something happens, I'll let you know through the force." Leia smiled and was about to turn away to grab the dress for Rey.

"Leia, I need to tell you something… Ben and I connected while running the training course, he thinks this is a Dyad connection. I have one of Luke's books on it and it looks like he might be right. We practiced breaking and starting the bond to have a better understanding of it. He even sparred with me and taught me -" She stopped there, Leia pressed forward, "What did he teach you?" Leia was nervous for whatever what going to come out of Rey's mouth, she was not prepared for it.

"Ben taught me to dance for tonight's' party, he seemed particularly concerned if I was to travel with you and not know how to dance at certain events?"

Leia laughed, "Rey, I drilled that into my boy at such a young age, he couldn't help himself. Knowing how to dance is as much of his training as Luke's was. I used to dance with him before every event so he would know the steps for that particular culture. He's an excellent dancer, so if he taught you, you'll be no match for anyone here. " Leia smiled at Rey and hugged her.

"Leia, I… we… kissed, does that make me…did I betray the resistance?" Leia pulled back and a smile across her face. "So you did, and no you are not, I believe he will come back. He will have things to answer for, but something tells me he has not personally done as much as the stories elicit. There will be much to concern ourselves with in the future, but for tonight… please take this dress and have fun with your friends. Worry about Ben tomorrow." Leia smiled at Rey, "Please tell my son that if he hurts you, he'll have to deal with me."

Leia looked so stern in that moment that Rey almost had tears in her eyes, "Shouldn't you tell me that, he is your son." They both laughed, Leia took a step back, "Yes, he is my son. But he is still a man, and men do stubborn stupid things. I can't tell you all the times I would yell at Han about one thing or another. Just be careful Rey, being on opposite sides of the war will be hard on both of you."

Rey took the dress from Leia's outstretched hand and left the room. Leia followed after locking up the office. Rey hit the refresher and changed in her room, opting to leave her hair down and even put on some lip colors that Rose had left her earlier that day with a note that said, 'must use'.

She then made her way to the dance. Never one for looking in the mirror or caring for her appearance, even Rey noticed people staring at her weird. It would be the generals plan to draw attention with her in a dress. She made her way across to her friends that were getting drinks, somehow Poe was in charge and passing around a bottle of whiskey. This night was already shaping up to be quite interesting.

Thank you so much for reading!
Stay safe out there 😊