A/N: I don't own the galaxy, just borrowing it! Enjoy.
"We have been lucky enough to have found a home, even if a temporary one, here on Parmathe." Leia addressed the gathered members of the Resistance. "This is just one planet, and if we have any hope of defeating the First Order, we must find allies throughout the galaxy. News of Admiral Holdo's sacrifice and blow she dealt to the First Order Fleet has been spreading. We have received transmissions from a small handful of people and organizations that will be of some degree of help. Starting this week, we will be sending small teams to meet with them and begin rebuilding our network. Thank you all for standing with the Resistance., and may the Force be with us."
Leia dismissed the assembly and everyone began to disperse. "Rey, can we talk?"
Rey stopped, "Of course."
"Come with me to my quarters." Leia gestured for Rey to follow her.
She walked beside the woman as they headed down the hallway. "Will I get to be a part of those teams you send out?"
Leia smiled, "Yes, That is part of what I wanted to speak with you about." They arrived at her door and with a quick access code, Leia let them into her room.
Rey stood in the doorway, unsure of where to go.
"You can sit down you know," Leia smirked, pointing to the chair across from the one she was about to sit in.
"Right." Rey crossed the room and joined her.
"You have asked me in the past about the Senate."
"Uh yes, Sorry, I just wanted to learn more about -"
"- No need to apologize," Leia cut her off. "I know you have been trying to find your place in this war. "
"I belong here, with the Resistance, and restoring the Jedi Order." Rey said, though it was almost a statement of self affirmation as it was a response to Leia.
"The Empire took hold of the galaxy over years of coercion and false promises of something better. They won it over slowly and had amassed many genuine allies. The First Order rose from the shadows of the fallen Empire. And it came to power through fear." Leia spoke with an aristocratic air, as though she was telling this tale to someone far more important than just Rey.
Rey remained silent, unsure if she was supposed to comment. When Leia did not immediately resume speaking, she offered a small question, "How can we fight them?"
"The idealistic answer is hope, but hope alone won't win wars. When the First Order destroyed the Hosnian system, they thought they were destroying the entire Republic."
"But that's what they did." Rey was confused as to where Leia was going. The Republic was over and the First Order had control of the major systems.
Leia shrugged slightly, "Technically yes. But in doing so they left much of the galaxy in turmoil, without leadership or assistance from the Republic. They've managed to drain the resources from many of the Outer Rim planets and use those to intimidate the Core planets into submission."
"So where are these potential allies coming from?"
"More places than you'd expect. The grip the fear holds might be strong, but it doesn't last. And as more people learn that they are not indestructible, they become less afraid. We have an interesting opportunity to use some of the Empire's own tactics."
Rey's eyebrow scrunched together. "I don't think I understand."
"They met in secret with leaders and made promises to give them a better life. The Empire failed because they were false promises. I intend to keep the ones we will make." Leia was confident, ever still the Senator at heart.
"And how am I supposed to help?"
"Ultimately we are working towards restoring a democracy, with Senators and representatives. Diplomacy is a different game than war. Some of our contacts will be diplomats and I want you to meet with them."
"Why me?" she asked.
"Rey, you are strong, passionate, and something of a natural leader. I think your genuine spirit will do a lot to win some of these people over."
"If you believe that is what I should do, I will do it." Rey responded, though she herself was not confident in the choice.
Leia nodded, satisfied with Rey's response, "Great, we will talk more tomorrow," as she gestured for Rey to take her leave.
Rey headed towards the training facility on base. Her conversation with Leia had given her a lot to think about, and she thought best while doing something with her hands, preferably by beating something up.
Before grabbing her staff, the broken lightsaber caught her attention. It hurt her to look at the split saber. She had spent several nights turning the pieces over and over in her hand, hoping the secret to fixing it would make itself evident.
Once in the training area, she found a corner with an open space and began warming up. She started with slow sweeps of her staff; to the right, to the left, to the right. Increasing the speed of her movements, she would add flourishes. Sometimes a flick up from the bottom or a spin, shifting dominant placement of her hands.
Rey's focus was intense, so much so she failed to notice Kylo's presence. He had been watching her, studying her movements for some time before she realised he was there. When she finally did, she simply glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes and resumed her movements.
Wordlessly, Kylo grabbed a staff from his own training area and stood across from her and dropped into a defensive stance.
Rey advanced, spinning her staff around her shoulder to strike. Kylo blocked the attack with ease, and responded with a jab of his own. She blocked his just as easily. They went back and forth, trading blows. They both got increasingly aggressive, though neither had the intention to harm the other.
Every encounter between them, Rey felt the bond getting stronger. She noticed that the more physical contact they had in these bonds, the longer the feeling of his presence would last. The first time they touched was when she had seen the visions of them, of their future. Nothing like that had happened again, but she always felt like she learned more about Ben with every touch.
After nearly twenty minutes of sparring, Rey seized an opportunity and knocked Ben's feet out from under him. She stood over him, the bottom of her staff pointed at his throat. Rey was panting, nearly out of breath but when Ben smirked, he took the rest of it away.
She had never seen him even remotely smile before. The crooked grin suited him. The physical attraction she felt for him was undeniable, made worse by the memory of the taste of his lips on hers. Despite everything in her logical mind telling her to ignore it, to push aside those feelings, she just couldn't do it. After they kissed, it was the closest she had ever felt to him. If she had any chance of saving Ben Solo, shutting him and her feelings out wasn't the way to do it.
She offered her hand and pulled him up.
"You sure kicked his ass." Poe shouted from the other side of the room.
Rey's stomach dropped and she whipped around to look where his voice had come from, "Who?" She asked, perhaps a little too urgently.
Poe jumped slightly and furrowed his brow, "I don't know, what ever imaginary adversary you were fighting."
Rey glanced back to Ben, but he was gone. She forced a smile, "Oh right. Yeah. I guess I did."
"You should have told me you were sparring. I could have used the practice."
"Sorry. I didn't think about it. Just needed to get out some stress." She replied truthfully.
Poe chuckled, "I understand. Well, if you've got it in you after your hard won battle, I'm not doing anything else. Besides, I might actually have a chance to beat you if you're already tired!"
"Unlikely." She teased, this time a genuine smile formed on her face.
"I hear the General wants you to go on some schmoozing missions, rub elbows with the big money." Poe offered.
"Oh, yeah. That. I don't know why she wants me." Rey said nervously.
"You inspire people, Rey," he responded simply, with genuine admiration in his voice. "Might need to work on your manors though."
Rey let out an awkward chuckle. She never quite knew how to handle Poe when he got serious, so she was thankful he quickly returned to his teasing. "Well, I guess I'll just have to get Rose's help. Certainly not yours."
"Touche"
Supreme Leader Kylo Ren once again was seated at a table surrounded by his generals, some physically there, others holograms from their stations around the galaxy. A First Order base on Lothal had been attacked by local inhabitants. It was the first time a non Resistance group had stood up to the First Order.
As Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren had to address the potential threat. He was genuinely frustrated that his bases and troops had been attacked, he did not need to pretend to be interested in that. It came as no surprise to him that Hux's suggestion for resolution was to blow them up. Even Kylo admitted the thought was tempting. That had been the way to deal with dissent, and would probably still be the easiest method to do so.
The look of shock on several general's faces when he asked why they attacked was not missed. Kylo was fully prepared to be met with confusion and possibly even anger for asking such a question.
"I…" General Graven started, unsure how to even begin to answer the question. "They attacked…"
"Speak with their leaders. Find out." Kylo cut him off, tired of his mumbling. "Perhaps if we can determine the why and address their concerns we can prevent a repeat."
"You want to reward insolence with meeting demands?" Hux questioned.
Kylo glared in his general direction.
"Supreme leader Snoke would…" Hux began to offer.
Kylo's fingers curled as Hux's breath caught in his throat. "Supreme Leader Snoke is dead. You will not mention him again. Understood?"
Hux struggled to respond verbally, but shook his head in agreement enough that Kylo was satisfied and released him. Hearing Snoke's name was beginning to make Kylo sick. Demanding that Snoke no longer be mentioned both relieved him of this disgust and gave him an opportunity to demonstrate power over his Generals.
"Report back to me with your findings directly, General Graven. Dismissed." He rose quickly, always desperate to get away from the table of leaders.
Before Kylo made it back to his quarters, he found himself walking along side Rey.
"I definitely beat you yesterday." Rey immediately teased him.
"Only because I let you win." He replied, attempting to keep his face still stern.
Rey snorted, "Likely story." She quickly grabbed his hand, lacing her fingers with his.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Kylo asked, acutely aware of their contact.
Rey responded, "I care about you, Ben.
Kylo turned on his heel, pinning Rey against the wall, his hand holding hers down his other arm above her head. "Why?" Their last encounter had been so intimate, and he didn't even mean sexually. He was still having trouble believing that it was something she wanted, not after she left him on the Supremacy.
"Because I do. There is more to you. You aren't just Kylo Ren, I know it." Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to read his face.
"You're wrong." He attempted to protest, but her free hand had come to his face, brushing a curl from his eyes. He could feel his heart beating in his throat. He wanted nothing more than to lean down to bring his lips to hers again, but he didn't trust that she would let him. Before he could build up the courage to do it anyway, he thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.
Jumping back away from the wall and Rey, he glanced behind him, hoping he was wrong. When he didn't see anything, he resumed walking towards his quarters. This time when Rey returned to his side, he grabbed her hand. She glanced towards him with a knowing smile.
He grumbled internally, knowing full well she took his gesture as confirmation that she was right.
They walked, hand in hand, the rest of the way down the hallway towards his quarters. He had to fight to suppress the smile he so desperately wanted to show. This was what he dreamed of, walking through the halls of his ship with Rey by his side.
Once they were passed the threshold of his quarters, Rey let go of his hand rather suddenly. "Its so bare in here…" She trailed off as she walked around the room.
Kylo looked at her with confusion, "What do you mean?"
"It's strange. I can't quite make out anything specific, but I can almost feel the room." Rey's finger traced along the top of some drawers.
He had noticed the bond seemed to strengthen as they spent more time together. But he wasn't sure the limits of it were. Neither had interacted with the space the other was in directly, but somehow they seemed to be in sync. If he was sitting in his, there was apparently somewhere for him to sit in hers.
Rey walked the edge of the room, seeming to take in her surroundings, pausing to close her eyes, as though taking a moment to ground herself further. Kylo watched her, letting his mind wander to the possibilities. He imagined her finding this space comfortable. He imagined her jacket draped on a chair, her staff leaned up in the corner. He imagined her shoes at the foot of the bed. He forced himself to stop imagining. It was too much.
Kylo continued to stay frozen in his spot as she crossed to sit on the side of the bed nearest him. She looked up, almost expectantly at him. They were at an awkward impasse.
Normally she would be the first to break their silence. But after what seemed like hours, he finally spoke up, asking her the only safe question he could think of, "How did you learn to fight like that?"
"I had to, really." She started, "But I guess I learned most of it with Calen."
"Calen?" Kylo questioned. There was an unexpected combative tone to his name when he said it.
Rey must have noticed because she glanced at him, a hint of annoyance on her face. "He was a friend, when I was on Jakku."
Kylo could feel her defensiveness coming back. He didn't like it, "Tell me about him." He worked very hard to make his voice soft as he sat beside her on the bed.
"We met when I was, I don't know, thirteen maybe? He was a year or two older than me. It's hard to tell really." She made a face as though she was trying to remember the details. "I don't know where he came from, but he was there and the only other person who was close to me in age. We started spending time together, mostly when we were both cleaning the parts we had collected, but eventually we started spending more time together. We talked about all sorts of stuff, the places we'd go when we got off Jakku. I told him about my parents, or what I wanted to know. He would try to get me to give up on them returning."
Rey got quiet for a moment but continued talking. "Anyway, we would play sometimes. We were both too old for it, pretending to be Empire soldiers and Jedi Knights. It started off as just swinging around sticks, but the longer we went, the better we got. It wasn't long before it just became practice instead of a game."
"Neither of you had formal training?" Kylo asked. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, they seemed silly. Of course she hadn't, he knew enough about her childhood to know that it was an impossible notion for her, but not having formal training was such an impossible notion to him, he asked the question before he could stop.
"No. We continued like that for probably around a year." Rey leaned back, her legs still hanging off the bed, bent at the knees. "He and I were close, he was the closest thing I'd ever had to family."
Kylo leaned back to meet her, "What happened to him?"
"I don't know. I just know that one morning I saw him, his body, being dragged away to the graves to the West." Rey responded quietly. It was obvious that telling this story still hurt. "I don't think I've ever talked about him to anyone before."
"I'm sorry," Kylo responded, sincerity in his voice. He too had lost friends, some at his own hands, a fate he tried so very hard to avoid.
"Thanks." Rey turned on her side slightly, Kylo swung his legs the rest of the way on the bed and scooted up to make more room for her to do the same. She rested her head on his chest as he wrapped his arm around her.
They laid there, on his bed, ever so slightly tangled together. He held her as his fingers traced small circles on her side causing her to twitch slightly when he grazed just the right spot. The reflex made him smile.
He had forgotten what a smile like that was like. It warmed him. And when Rey's breathing slowed and she let out a small grumble of a snore, he laughed. Actually laughed.