A/N: Thanks for reviewing!

Now I'm picking up the pieces getting cut open by shards of broken glass

It made sense for Finn to be able to sense the Force – many people could. The Jedi texts talked about harnessing an inclination that most creatures were born having. Some could be trained to manipulate it at will, though only a very small percentage. It rarely passed down familiarly, even before the Jedi took to celibacy. The Skywalkers were a divergence, as were apparently the Palpatines. In any case, children were the most likely to hone their abilities before adulthood solidified what a person believed they were capable of doing.

"I don't know if I can," Rey blurted in response to Finn's request.

He looked taken aback and maybe a bit hurt. "Oh. Well, that's okay. I'm sure it's nothing like what you can do."

The implication that she was some paragon made her swallow and the next words came with difficulty. "I… I think you should definitely try to develop your power. But I'm… not such an expert –"

"Of course you are! You're a brilliant Jedi, Rey. No one else could teach me about the Light Side as well as you could."

"Finn… I barely had any training," she tried again.

He scoffed at that. "You were trained by Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. Please, Rey, I need a teacher."

The memory of being told she had such a need struck her almost violently and she nearly fled the room. What would he possibly think if he knew about that connection? About her antecedents? Would he praise her then? Want to have her train him if he knew how familiar she was with the Dark Side?

"Maybe you can just think about," Finn offered in the face of her silence. She managed a nod before he excused himself.

Her plate was not empty but she gave it only a resigned glance before hastily leaving the room. There were people in the hallways who smiled at her and may have stopped her to talk about something or other. About her being the last Jedi and how she would help put the galaxy to rights, more than likely. It was not a discussion she wished to have, so she hurried toward the hangar bays.

A building of this size, with its many uses and prime location (from what she'd heard), had an array of hangars for any number of visitors. This meant that her search took rather longer than she had hoped. Her anxiety was ever building as she did her best to actively avoid people she knew and to look too busy to engage with those she didn't. Finally, though, she found it – the Millennium Falcon.

It looked a bit the worse for wear but she smiled with relief upon seeing it. A quick search revealed that Chewie was, unfortunately, not nearby. That was alright, she decided, and headed inside anyway. It had clearly been used by other people since she had flown it last but she was extremely tickled to find the nest of porgs was still there.

"Hello, little friends," she said. "Perhaps I should take you back to Ahch-To." Porgs must have long childhoods because it had been over a year and chick showed no signs of learning to fly like its parents. Chewie had been taking care of them, but she had tried her hand at the task when she could. It was very rewarding and she couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face as the chick squeaked at her in recognition.

Surely she should return them to the rest of their species on Ahch-To, though. There weren't enough of them on the ship to start a new population, for one. And they were bound to be missing their friends and family. They would want to finally go home, no matter how much they were enjoying their lives here.

The sound of approaching voices startled her out of her reverie and she looked around hastily. It was clearly not Chewie approaching – he would be louder – so she hurried to the captain's quarters, correctly assuming it would be untouched. If anyone had used it since Han Solo was in residence, there was no sign. She was careful not to touch anything for fear of her power to read the history in objects and she had no desire to dredge up old ghosts.

However, the voices were getting louder and she had no desire to talk to the living, either. So she opened up the closet and climbed inside, listening. It was impossible not to touch some of the hanging clothes, but no troubling memories seemed to emanate from them because she had no visions. Just a muddled sense of the familiar, which she chose to ignore.

Feet were stamping around outside, in the hallway, and people were shouting about some tech or other. She was good at waiting and let her mind wander as she did so. It was too dark in the closet to see anything, but she ran her fingers idly across the soft fabric garments, wondering if having different outfits might be as fun as having different food options at meals. It seemed unlikely, and her clothes were quite functional. If a bit cold sometimes. But perhaps she would take Kaydel up on the offer of shopping.

"Dad, don't go!" a familiar voice ripped through her head and she snatched her hand away. But only for a moment – she reached again and saw a vision this time. A young Ben Solo, looking imploringly up at his father as he stood at the bottom of the gangplank while Han Solo stood at the top.

"I have to, kid," he replied gruffly. "Look after your mother."

Rey wrapped her arms around her chest and the vision began to fade. Suddenly, the boy turned to look at her. "Rey? Rey!" he called as he took a step forward before disappearing.

Shaken, she scrambled out of the closet and back into the well-lit bedroom, tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried to understand what she had seen. The power she had that enabled her to read objects had never been quite like this. Usually it was a thought or a feeling, only a vision very occasionally. It felt like the first time, when she'd touched the lightsaber and been transported into several visions. Visions with Luke and R2, with her younger self and Unkar Plutt, with Kylo Ren, first surrounded by his Knights and then alone. None of them had reacted to her presence except for Ben. Just the same as now. What could that mean?

Hesitantly, she reached out with the Force in search of Master Leia or Luke. Nothing responded even though she knew they had spent a great deal of time on this ship and it would hold memories of them if she wished to search. She wanted to ask them about what she had seen, about what had really happened on Exegol – if there was any chance that – no, she wouldn't admit that desire even to herself. It would be too devastating to allow herself to hope. But she could not resist reaching out again, this time searching blindly. Though she could feel the life of all the people in this building, in this city, few had pronounced Force signatures and none strong enough to know the answers to her questions.

Getting to her feet, she left the Falcon and returned to her quarters, finding the Jedi Texts hidden just where she had left them. It felt like some time ago but she supposed it hadn't really been that long since she was last here. She had not taken them to Tattooine because she'd had no intention, even then, of dwelling on her powers. She had wanted an escape, not an opportunity to learn more about her abilities. She had wanted to ignore them entirely, though that hadn't been successful.

There was not a table large enough in her quarters so she took the books in search of a better study location. There were rooms on the lower levels intended for meetings between political parties and she remembered that the tables in those chambers filled most of the room, so headed that way. Again people she passed were smiling at her and she did her best to return the expression to avoid seeming rude.

Finally she got to the lift and stopped short when Finn and Rose stepped off, clearly deep in discussion.

"Rey!" Rose called with a grin. "Haven't seen you all day – what have you been up to?"

"I was going to study," she admitted.

Finn's expression brightened. "Can I come with you?"

Since Rose didn't seem too surprised by this request, Rey supposed she must know about his burgeoning abilities. "I don't know…"

"Were you trying to look up something in particular?" Rose asked, glancing at Finn.

"Well, sort of – "

"I can help you find it!" Finn offered with more exuberance than she would have liked, though she generally enjoyed his excitement. His stark upbringing mirrored hers and they were often delighted by all the new things they were getting to experience.

Rey cleared her throat and Rose shot her a concerned look. Ignoring it, Rey nodded. "Yes, that would be very helpful. I don't think I'd be a very good teacher, but I would enjoy having a study partner."

Laughing, Finn held out his hands to take a few of the books himself. She hadn't realized how heavy they were until she had given him a few, somewhat grudgingly.

"I'll leave you to it. Tell me all about what you learn later, Finn," Rose told him with a smile.

He grinned and nodded. "I will! Thank you, Rey," he added more quietly to Rey as they boarded the lift. "And don't worry – I'm sure it'll be a breeze."

Letting his optimism wash over her, she smiled, daring to think he might be right. Surely the Texts had to be good for something, after all, or they wouldn't have been so carefully written and protected. Though still shaken from her vision, she felt much more cheerful as she and Finn headed down to study.