Three:

No one came. Finn and Poe didn't return and there was no one else who really wanted to talk to him-though he strongly suspected many people wanted to have the kind of 'talk' that ended in blood and pain, curled on the ground, struggling to breathe or in the swift thrust of a knife or the fading whine of a blaster shot. They dispatched a droid to check his wounds and ensure that they were healing as planned and to administer a further shot of whatever they had drugged him with but they didn't provide food or even water and he found his throat growing parched and his lips cracked.

Then the guards came in, stone-faced and brusque, unlocking the binders and unceremoniously hauling his large frame from the inadequate bed. His head spun at the sudden, vicious change of position and he pressed his lips together to forestall any sort of groan, though he guessed they would see the scrunching of his brow. His injured leg stabbed a sharp jab of pain as he was dragged along, The corridors were suddenly crowded with members of the Resistance, all stationery and glaring at him. Some remaining spark of pride had him straightening up his tall frame and pulling his broad shoulders back, lifting his chin to meet their contempt. And he had never been more glad that his connection with the Force was almost completely suppressed. The intensity of the hatred in every eye was stunning, the emotion almost crackling about the watchers: it would have been a literal hurricane, howling in his ears if he could still feel it through the force. Taking a deep breath, and feeling a throbbing in the back of his head, he lowered his eyes.

It was a relief when they shoved him into the cell and the door slammed behind him, walling off all those glaring eyes. Pausing for a long moment, he limped over to the simple ledge that served as a bed and slumped down to sit on the edge, briefly covering his face and then running his fingers back through his hair. And then he rose, ignoring the gentle vertigo and limped back and forth across the small cell, trying to work the kinks out of his body from being immobilised for so long and trying to think. First and foremost, he needed to get out of the cell. Poe and Finn were probably the only people here who would even grant him a thought before trying to kill him-and only for Rey. The rest…well, he was pretty sure they would shoot him out of hand. Unconsciously rubbing his wrists and trying to ease the red weals from his binders, he turned and limped back across the cell.

And there was Rey. Back on Exegol, he had been injured, exhausted, drained…but here, he could think a little more clearly. And he knew that something was wrong. There should be no body, no remains. Jedi merged with the force when they died, leaving artefacts but no body.

Vader was cremated, he reminded himself. Though he had spent decades as a Sith and in any case, Rey was no Vader. He paused. Nor was he, though he had spent wasted years trying to be. His fist curled instinctively, a surge of anger and disgust at himself rising and he took a shuddering breath. It would be easy to fall back into old, familiar patterns, allowing himself to be drawn back into the dark. The darkness was always there, a part of him, an old friend. Becoming Ben Solo was a conscious choice, one that he would have to live with-including all of its consequences. He forced his hand to uncurl without punching the wall.

Time was running out. The Council of whoever was left in the Resistance would be meeting and they would decide his fate. From the reaction of the Resistance members, it didn't take any imagination to figure out what that would be. No matter what happened, no matter his decision, the sacrifice he had made, the battle he had fought...Rey was dead. And without her, he stood less chance than the inhabitants of the Hosnian System had against the Starkiller weapon. Lifting his head, he peered at the door.

He was going to have to escape.

-o0o-

Time seemed immaterial in the strange fog of the Force. She had been walking, hand in hand with Luke and Yoda forever-or it could have been a few seconds. But the conversation had gently faded and they just walked together, slower than Rey would normally have moved because even here, in the unreal realm of the Force, Yoda seemed to be old and limped along with the help of a staff.

"Impatient are you," the ancient master commented, a definite edge of amusement on his voice. Glancing sideways, she saw him inspect her with a definite smile on his face. She frowned.

"I just can't see why all this walking through nothing is relevant-or even happening?" she commented. "If the Force is just energy, created by all things, then why do we have to walk through it? Why can't we just be there?"

"Good questions," Yoda conceded. "Care you to answer, my Padawan Apprentice?" Luke sighed.

"The Force is not an even field," he explained. "There are areas where it is thin and easy to pass through and in other areas, there are dangerous eddies and traps, cul-de-sacs that could entrap you for eternity..."

"Like the space below the Jedi Temple," she realised. He nodded.

"There are others-including those around areas where the Sith were powerful," he explained. "And the area we need to go is in one of those places. We have to get to an interface where it will be possible to allow you to return as a corporeal entity."

"As opposed to this," she murmured, staring at herself. "A ghost?"

Luke nodded.

"Only Masters and trained Jedi can see Force Ghosts," he explained.

"Then why can't I see Ben?" she asked directly. "If he and I are...a dyad, if we share this unique bond, why can I not hear him through it. Why can't I see him?"

"Again good questions," Yoda told her. "But this time, no answers have we. Wrong this is."

"Something has subverted your bond," Luke frowned as the fog finally billowed and then vanished. They were suddenly in a white, fractal realm. "The question is...who?"

-o0o-

"YOU KNOW WHAT THE ANSWER IS!"

The shout sounded from the back of the chamber as the leadership of the Resistance met to discuss the obvious problem. The celebrations had been concluded, the ceremony to remember Leia and honour Rey, whose body was still held in stasis. No one was sure what to do but Finn had prevented her being cremated as had been done for Darth Vader after his demise because Kylo Ren's words in the cell still echoed through his mind. And if there was a chance something was wrong, it felt like a betrayal of his friend to burn her body until...

He blinked. Until what? She returned from the dead? Or he accepted that she was gone? Fortunately, so far Poe and Maz Kanata had supported him. In fact, the ancient alien had given a serene smile and murmured that protecting Rey was the only right thing to do.

But the meeting had been turbulent and everyone had an opinion and wanted to be heard. Pretty much every member of the Resistance had lost someone, usually in a battle that Ren had commanded if not been personally involved in. That he had been Supreme Leader was not in doubt and the fact that he had hounded the Resistance almost to extinction and slain hundreds of people personally in battle was not questioned either. That no one really wanted to offer any sort of chance was hardly a surprise either.

Finn glanced around, only mildly surprised at the vehemence of feeling. Poe had been silent and so had Lando Calrissian as everyone in attendance was given a chance to offer his or her opinion and as he looked around the people he had come to know well, he realised that there was only going to be one outcome. Everyone was baying for blood and the majority were calling for death. Controlling his face, he looked over to Poe and saw the pilot-turned-General frown slightly.

"Not looking good," he murmured as Finn nodded.

"What more can you say?" he whispered back. "That he claims he's turned to the light side and helped Rey kill Palpatine? That he tried to save her. Who would believe him? I'm not sure even I believe him!"

"Rey would know," Poe commented. "But no one can contact her. She was the last Jedi. There are no more..." Finn sighed.

"I'm Force sensitive but that only gives me some instincts," he sighed. "And I'm not sure how that is changed by his use of the Force."

"Though we have him drugged," Poe admitted.

"What would Rey do?" Finn murmured. Maz leaned forward.

"What would Rey do?" she offered. "What did she do the last time they faced?" Poe glanced over at Finn.

"You and Jannah were there," he reminded his friend. "I was mending the Falcon." Frowning, Finn shook his head.

"They fought," he said slowly. "She won. She let him live." Maz smiled.

"Then there is your answer," she said softly. "She chose not to kill him. She chose life. We fought for freedom. Should we start the future with revenge on the past?"

"Perhaps...where crimes have to be punished," Poe said slowly. "And some of the way to build the future is to acknowledge the sins of the past and ensure they are punished. That those who committed the worst crimes pay the price, to draw a line under the old regime, the conflict."

"The leaders die but the conscripts have the opportunity to return to their old lives-or new ones," Lando murmured, casting a look over at Jannah. Finn took a deep breath.

"Are we really doing this?" he murmured. "Are you saying Leia would allow this?"

There was a pause.

"He was her son-but she knew the deeds he committed," Maz mused. "Though she never gave up on the hope of saving him. She spent the last of her life in trying to reach him. Maybe she didn't do that in the hope we would then execute him if he did turn…"

The shouts continued and Finn registered that Rose was speaking. He sighed as she added her voice to the consensus that Kylo Ren should be tried for his war crimes and then executed.

"She never believed it was possible," Finn murmured. "Peace is fragile and if we refuse…do you think they won't do it anyway?"

"That's no reason not to try," Lando suggested thoughtfully. "When Leia and the leaders of the Rebellion started the New Republic, there was a vote to attack the Empire academies. Leia of course was against it but she was outvoted. It tore her heart out that they would condone such an attack as she had never intended the New Republic to stand for revenge."

"And look how that turned out," Poe commented as Finn and Lando looked at him. "Those survivors became the seed of the First Order. It's why they cheered as the Hosnian system burned. Every side had its scars."

"Except..." Finn rose, his eyes troubled. "Ren said something was wrong, that Rey should be one with the Force," he said passionately. "That there should be nothing left, like with Leia. But her body is still here. And if there is something wrong, then we owe it to Rey to find out what it is. What if it's preventing her moving on? Or she's trapped somewhere? Or she could even be brought back…?" He glanced over at Poe. "You carry on here-and don't let them do anything yet. Ren may be the only person who can clarify this, if there is any hope for Rey. She's our friend and if there is anything we can do to help her, I think we have to. No matter who it involves. So I need to ask some questions. And this time, I'm not taking no for an answer…"