A/N: Thanks for reviewing!
All that hope and that joy, that trust and that care, those dreams of a boy, I can get it back
An impatient rapping on her door woke Rey. She jumped up, squinting as she turned her light on. Only a sliver of the sun had cleared the horizon and she was surprised to be awoken so early.
"Yes, hello," she said as she opened the door.
Maz glared up at her. "I didn't wake you, did I?" she asked sardonically, obviously aware that she had. "Your friends insisted I come by as soon as I could, so here I am. What can I do for you, child?"
Rey gathered her scattered thoughts, pushing away whatever dream she had been having. "What do you know about the Netherworld of Unbeing?"
Glancing behind her, Maz closed the door so they were alone, though it was unlikely that anyone would be awake to eavesdrop on them. "I've heard of it. Something the Emperor wanted to find, for nefarious purposes. What do you want with it?"
Rey nervously picked at her clothes, not meeting Maz's eye. It was one thing to explain everything to her friends after hiding it for over a year. It was quite another to tell a near stranger of her deepest wants. Especially when Maz had already shown herself able to read Rey uncomfortably well – it was daunting to consider what she might say. Still, she had a mission and wouldn't be deterred by something as silly as embarrassment.
"I want to bring Ben Solo back," she admitted.
Maz's eyes widened and she regarded Rey. "And how do you know Ben Solo, Jedi?"
"We are a dyad in the Force."
"Intriguing," was all the tiny woman responded and Rey clenched her hands in frustration.
"Do you know anything about the Netherworld or not?"
Maz huffed at her. "The Vergence Scatter? The world between worlds? I know a few things about it. I knew of it from the days of the Empire, and your Dyad seems to have catalogued quite a bit about it in the last year. From the records I've been combing through."
Rey felt a sense of relief surge through her. Of course he had. "Can I see them?"
Hesitating, Maz looked around before taking her hand. "There's no evidence that someone can come back from there. Not easily. Palpatine was not successful in using it."
"As far as you know," Rey replied, unwavering. "But he came back from the dead somehow. And his death was far more permanent than Ben's."
"Oh?"
Rey nodded eagerly. "Ben gave his life Force to save me and then disappeared. Vanished! So I think he can return."
"Vanished? Like he became one with the Force?" Rey shrugged, uncomfortable at the question. "So he might have decided to go and not wish to return, child," Maz explained.
This brought a frown to Rey's face. "I've had visions of him since then. He asked me to find him. So I'm going to," she said firmly.
Maz squeezed her hand and nodded, then turned toward the door. "Alright, let's go."
They left the part of the building that had been converted to living quarters and went to a large room full of records. Maz led the way to where she had been working and Rey was greatly relieved to find that these files were far more organized than the Jedi Texts had been. It was much easier to search digital files than physical ones, after all. Maz brought up all that Ben had found on the Netherworld easily and stepped away to allow Rey to peruse them.
Unlike the sacred tomes penned by some unknown Jedi, these records were not written in academic prose. Rather, they were clearly written by Ben. Rey felt tears prick her eyes at the recognition of his voice, something she hadn't realized was part of her thoughts for the last year until it was gone. Covering her mouth to bite back a sob, she forced herself to focus on what he had to say with the reminder that perhaps she would soon hear him again.
Despite this focus, she was a mess by the time Finn and Rose found her there. She was aware of them talking to Maz and tried to unsuccessfully to stop reading Ben's words to pay attention to them. His absence had never felt so pronounced as it did while she read his log entries, so indicative of his character that even his role as Supreme Leader of the First Order had been unable to suppress.
"Rey?" Finn asked quietly, sitting down next to her.
She took a deep breath and smiled at her friend, wishing he could understand how much it meant to her to have even this little reminder of Ben. The desire to read all of his records was strong, but she would save that for if this plan didn't work out. A poor consolation in the light of the loneliness she'd be facing, but better than nothing. "Hi, Finn."
"Did you find something?"
"Yes, I think so."
Rose sat down on her other side. "What did you find out?"
Fighting the urge to hug her friends and cry, Rey cleared her throat and got to business. "The Netherworld is difficult to access, and most people who seek it want to use its power. It draws back the curtain between life and death. The Sith who searched for it, including the Emperor, wanted a way to prolong their own lives to feed their power. It is not of the Dark Side or the Light, but the Jedi teachings encourage acceptance of death as part of life, so it isn't something they studied.
"Ben found Sith artifacts that spoke of it and sought what he could find out about it, though there isn't much that is definite, I'm afraid. Few have ever crossed over into it and returned to talk about it. Ben also found out that some systems seem to be better conduits for the Force, and that these places were rumored to be where it was possible to travel through the Netherworld to reach other systems, or even other times!"
Rose looked a little skeptical but Finn nodded more enthusiastically. "So what are you thinking? That we can travel to these places so you can go in and bring him back?"
"Or maybe call him out without having to go in yourself," Rose suggested.
Rey shrugged. "I don't know that we'll know how to it works until we get there. I do think that the Emperor must have made use of this and that is how he returned. I don't know how else he did it," she added thoughtfully.
"Does that matter for this?"
"I don't know that, either. But I think he might have had to stay on Exegol for a reason. Ben's records indicate that the Emperor needed him as a proxy to lead the galaxy, that he couldn't go out and do anything himself. He may have been lying, of course, but it's possible that he couldn't leave the planet. So I think we should start there."
"Alright, then we'd better go. How soon are we leaving?" Rose asked.
Rey had been expecting more resistance or at least an insistence that she rest first, so she grinned at her friend's acceptance of the idea. "I can be ready in about ten minutes."
Snorting, Finn got to his feet. "We might need a little longer. Are we taking the Falcon? You'd better check with Chewie. And Lando. I'm not sure who owns it now."
"Why don't you do that, Rey? Finn, you talk to Poe about our being gone for a while. I'll go get us some supplies. Is Chewie coming? Because that will greatly affect how many rations we need," Rose added with a grin.
Rey laughed. "Better plan for it, just in case!" Her friends nodded and headed off to get ready. She hurried to her quarters and hastily packed her meager belongings, opting to bring the texts with her – they might come in handy, who knew? Then she headed in search of Lando Calrissian. There had been few previous occasions for her to talk to him and the nervousness she was already feeling only intensified at the thought of addressing a Rebellion general.
He was in a conference room, clearly getting ready for a meeting as he and Kaydel were discussing their strategy when Rey got within earshot. "Ah, to what do I owe the pleasure of being graced with your presence, beautiful Jedi?" Lando asked, sweeping a bow.
Exchanging a glance with Kaydel, Rey felt her cheeks grow warm. "I was wondering if I might take the Falcon. On a mission," she added awkwardly.
The man considered her for a moment and Rey shifted her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably. "How long will you be away?"
"I don't know."
"Hmm. Is she likely to come to harm?"
Rey cleared her throat. "I don't think so. I'll be careful with her."
His laugh was quite pleasant and Kaydel smiled. "I'm sure you will, quite a bit more than her previous owner. Can you believe he lost her for nearly a decade? Not to mention the state she was in after he took over. It's a lucky thing Chewie was there to keep him in check some of the time." Lando's expression was wistful as he remembered the past, then he shook his head slightly. "I would be honored to have my beloved ship serve such a beautiful creature as yourself, but I have one condition."
"Yes?" she asked with some trepidation.
"Tell me all about your adventure when you return with her in one piece. I suppose that sounds more like two conditions," he added with another gentle laugh.
Smiling with relief, Rey nodded. "Yes, I think I can oblige you on both fronts."
"Excellent. I knew you'd never let us down," he added. "May the Force be with you, Master Jedi."
Her cheeks heated again as he took her hand and kissed it.
"Make sure Poe knows you're leaving," Kaydel said, breaking through Rey's flustered reaction to the general.
"I think Finn is taking care of that," she offered, fighting the urge to rub her hand after he'd relinquished it.
"Good. May the Force be with you, Rey."
"Thank you," she replied and hastily took her leave of them. Kaydel was her friend but she wasn't sure about Lando Calrissian – he didn't act like anyone else she'd ever known. Though not in an unpleasant way, she had to admit. She pushed the encounter to the back of her mind and focused instead on her new goal, pleased to have finally made some progress.
Chewie was in the hangar bay where the Falcon resided when she got there, and she quickly told him the plan. To her surprise, he was insistent on joining them. They helped Rose pack until Finn arrived and then they were ready to go. No one was there to see them off, which was just as well as far as Rey was concerned. She was impatient to get underway, feeling immensely relieved to be in the cockpit with Chewie as her copilot. Well, here we go, she thought as they took off. Time to find Ben Solo.