Thank you so much for the readers who clicked on « favorite story » for my fic ! But wow... ONE REVIEW ? Is my story that bad? :-((((((

Base Haven-Planet Arbra:

"He is on Tatooine."

Leia stared at the young woman with astonishment. Lying in bed, the general was still tired-looking. Mirzin had specifically ordered that she not be disturbed, but Rey couldn't have waited any longer to tell her what she had discovered.

Her voice filled with emotion, the Resistance leader asked, "Has the bond opened again? How can you be sure he is there?"

Rey told her how she knew that he was on the desert planet, probably on a hydroponic farm.

So it could not be him, on the videos. Her intuition was good. And Rey saw hope gradually reborn in the tired eyes of the general.

Despite all that her son had done, she was still a mother. She was crumbling under the weight of guilt but Rey could feel the love rooted deep in her heart.

The young woman swallowed hard, thinking back to her own parents selling her to Plutt when she was only five years old. Before the emotion overwhelmed her, she drove out of her mind the image of the great gray ship moving away into Jakku's sky.

"I knew something was wrong. I don't know what happened in the First Order, but your son is no longer among them. Someone's pretending to be him. Surely one of the other Knights of Ren."

Leia looked up at Rey. Now, different scenarios were being considered in her tactician's brain. The hypothesis of a coup led by Hux was no longer so insane. The soldier must indeed have allied himself with the Sith knights to seize power. But her son had managed to escape.

"If Hux wants him dead and his followers have turned against him, he has no choice but to hide somewhere," Rey supposed. "I'm sure they're searching for him to finish what they started."

"Curious choice of planet," Leia smiled sadly.

Rey waited with bated breath as the general resumed in a more solemn tone.

"It could be a trap."

Of course Rey knew it was more than a possibility and the two women continued weighing the pros and cons for several long minutes.

"And during these four months, Hux has hidden the fact of my son's defection, and is pretending that he's still at the head of the First Order by broadcasting these videos?" Leia murmured.

Rey nodded to let Leia know that she really believed in this version of events. She could tell that the princess really wanted to believe it too, but felt that she should think like a leader first.

"What are we going to do?" Rey asked anxiously.

If Leia decided to inform the others, Ben's fate was sealed. Poe was going to propose going to Tatooine with men and heavy artillery to try to capture a weakened and isolated Kylo Ren, and the rest of the Resistance would obviously agree with him.

This should not happen to Ben Solo.

The young woman stared at her feet with a sigh.

"Rey, nobody wants more than I do to believe that he can come back to the Light, but I can't ignore the little voice in my head shouting at me that this is probably an ambush: Ben waiting patiently on Tatooine, your connection opening right now when we have just inflicted a severe blow to the First Order on Diyu …"

Leia put two fingers under Rey's chin and forced her to lift her head. The two women looked at each other in silence for a few seconds and the general gave her a sad smile again.

"You want to go find him, don't you?"

Rey was caught off guard. Perhaps Leia really was able to read thoughts, just like her son.

"No, I…"

Leia narrowed her lips and frowned. Rey realized then that denial was useless.

"Ok," she capitulated. "I have to go on Tatooine. And I have to go alone. The others don't need to know. They wouldn't understand. I go there with a shuttle and I get to the bottom of it. I just need an excuse to justify my departure. A delicate and secret mission? A meeting with new potential allies? I trust you to find something convincing."

"Rey …" Leia protested.

"If it's a trap, too bad for me. You know that I would die rather than betray you all. We must have confirmation that the First Order is now led by Hux and these dark side knights. And if Ben is there, I would be the only one able to reach him and you know it."

"Why don't you wait to see if the Force connects you again? Can't you ask him what happened with Hux while staying safe here?"

"I don't control the link any more now than I did four months ago."

Leia was considering all that Rey had said, and the young woman felt that the general was about to give way.

"He will not welcome you with open arms," she said. "He may even try to kill you."

"I've stood up to him more than once," Rey retorted firmly. "I am as strong as him. And, I really need to know …"

Rey noticed that Leia's eyes had become more and more shiny.

"... and I think you need to know too," the scavenger added.

When the general closed her eyelids with a sigh, Rey knew she had won. The old woman took a deep breath before announcing:

"You take the Millennium Falcon, not a shuttle. You want all the odds to be in your favor if you have to defend yourself or escape, and this afternoon Rose installed a jammer that neutralizes the First Order hyperspace trackers. I will ask that the ship be prepared quickly and I'll have Chewie stay away from the hangar during this time. Will you be able to pilot it alone?"

"Yes, I'm positive that I can."

"Good. You also take R2-D2 and C-3PO with you. If Ben is on a hydroponic farm - and I suspect he did not decide to visit Tatooine randomly - he may have thought about going where Luke spent his childhood."

"I thought about that too."

"The droids know the planet well. They will help you. Leave tonight. I'll figure out what to say to others."

Rey stood up while keeping Leia's hand tightly in hers. Then, with a natural gesture, she bent to kiss her cheek. The general was worried. Rey saw it well.

"Be careful, my child. May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you too, Leia."

OoooooO

Planet Tatooine- Outer Rim:

Rey stopped her speeder in front of the small white dome that rose out of the ground in the middle of the vaporizer field. She took off her goggles, untied her turban, and shed the rest of her gear. Then, tightening her fingers around the handle of her staff, she walked the few steps leading to the small front door.

The heat was stifling. Walking through the arid expanses of Tatooine had reminded her of how much she hated the desert. If Jakku was mainly covered with dunes, here the rocky reliefs alternated with sand hills carved by the continual caress of the wind. Moreover, since she had left the Falcon stationed two kilometers away, the latter seemed to have picked up. She wiped off the sweat covering her forehead, then the dust stuck to her cheeks, and put her palm on the little box near the door. A beep warned her that her presence had just been reported to the occupants of the farm.

After a moment, the face of a blond man with curly hair appeared on the small screen near the box.

"Who are you and what do you want?" he asked in an unfriendly tone.

"Hello…"

Rey had not really thought about what tactics to adopt. Playing the honesty card and revealing that she was part of the Resistance was rather risky. She therefore opted for a simple and evasive answer.

"My name is Rey. I am looking for someone. His name is K…, Ben. According to the information I have, he would be in a hydroponic farm here on Tatooine. He is very tall with dark hair, he has a scar on his right cheek and he …"

The young woman had just enough time to see the man's face darken before the screen went blank again, and she found herself alone in front of the closed door of the farm. She pressed the button again but this time there was no answer.

Kriff, she'd been really stupid to think that it was enough to knock on the door and make her speech, and she'd be led right to Kylo Ren! Maybe these people had no idea who she was talking about? Maybe he was there and was holding them hostage? She imagined him making fun of her, hidden behind these white walls ...

She was still procrastinating on the stairs when suddenly the black door opened and she found herself with the barrel of a blaster under her nose.

"You will tell me the truth." The blond man seemed much smaller and less intimidating in the flesh.

Rey raised her hands and dropped her staff on the floor.

"Ok, listen, I'm just looking for my ... friend. The last time I saw him, he was hurt. It was four months ago," she explained calmly. "I confess that I have no idea how he landed here, but I'm here to take him home. I just want to know if he's been here or if you've seen him somewhere, at Mos Eisley or Mos Espa, maybe? Bestine? Please, I really need you to help me," she concluded in the most pleading tone she muster.

The blaster lowered and the man swallowed before asking:

"Are you with the Resistance?"

Rey hesitated. If she was going to use the Force on him, it was now or never. But something in the eyes of this poor frightened farmer dissuaded her and she decided to play fair with him.

"Yes, I'm part of the Resistance."

"Prove it," he retorted.

Rey took a deep breath and began searching through the little leather bag hanging from her belt. She pulled out a small golden ring. She activated the mechanism on the side that made the Rebellion emblem hidden in the center of the jewel appear. The man's whole body relaxed immediately and Rey silently thanked Leia for entrusting her with the ring before she left.

"I suspected his name was not Aedan. That was the name he gave to Sovan when she picked him up and took him home after he crashed into the Jundlands with his shuttle. She owns another farm ten kilometers north of here. Your friend now lives in a small cabin not far from her holdings."

"Aedan?" Rey repeated, not sure she had followed everything.

"At the beginning, I told Sovan that it was crazy to house a stranger coming from who knows where, but since he's been here, he's been helping with the farm work, and a week ago he saved Sovan and her son's lives when they were attacked by Tuskens."

Rey could not believe her ears. Kylo Ren helped with farm work? He saved the lives of these people? There must have been an error. Both of these acts seemed completely out of character.

"My name is Zed, by the way. Sorry to have threatened you with that," he sighed, waving his blaster. "Come inside, I'll explain how to get to Sovan's farm. But you have to hurry, it seems like a sandstorm is approaching."

OooooO

Her departure from Arbra had proceeded as planned. Leia had loaded provisions for her in the Falcon, the tanks had been filled, Chewie had been assigned to repair an X-wing fighter in the southern hangar, and Poe, Finn, and Rose hadn't thought for a moment that she was about to flee like a thief to find their sworn enemy. She knew very well that the general would have to suffer the wrath of her friends when they discovered the truth.

C-3PO and R2-D2 had questioned her a million times during the trip about the purpose of this mission, but the "top secret" had become Rey's two favorite words to utter in response to every request from the droids for an explanation. Besides, she herself did not really know what to expect on Tatooine. She had taken a blaster, her staff, and light clothes. Without really knowing why, she had also packed the spare parts of Luke's lightsaber into her satchel. She had also taken her father's brooch and her little rag doll, as if she had felt the need to carry with her everything she had in this world. Now they were all in one of the Corellian freighter's luggage compartments.

After her conversation with Zed, she had returned to the Falcon and questioned R2-D2. She suspected that the hut described by the farmer was Obi-Wan Kenobi's former shelter. The little droid had already told her the story of Luke's meeting with the famous Jedi master during her research on the Skywalker family.

C-3PO began to gesticulate when he heard that Rey was planning to go there.

"Miss Rey! This part of the planet is very dangerous! According to the data stored in the ship, the Jundlands area is the territory of the Tusken Raiders!"

R2-D2 emitted a series of annoyed stridulations.

"What? How are we already aware?" The golden droid scowled. "R2, are you saying that we have already had to deal with these brigands?"

"Bidbupbigbiiibipp," the little robot retorted.

"Oh Maker, if I find those who ordered the erasure of my memory, I ... Grrrrr! I am outraged! It is unacceptable!"

"R2, enter the coordinates of the cabin in the ship's computer."

The astromech complied and the Falcon flew low over the southwestern end of the Dune Sea. As expected, at point Alpha-1733-Mu-9033, Rey saw the small hut perched on top of a little rocky plateau. It was impossible to land there with the ship. So she decided to do it at the foot of a steep cliff near the entrance to the canyon.

"Miss Rey, are you sure you'll find who you're looking for there? Visibility has fallen sharply, andI'm afraid this sandstorm will only get stronger. It's not really safe to get out now!"

Indeed, the weather had deteriorated in less than an hour. But during the fifteen years she had spent on Jakku, Rey had experienced worse. She wouldn't be deterred by a small sandstorm like this. On the other hand, on the first point, C-3PO was right. She wasn't even sure Ben was here. He might be at the farm of this Sovan woman. But the opportunity was too good to pass up. Either she came face-to-face with him in the hut with no one else to disrupt their reunion — with the possibility of being cut into pieces, but that was a risk she was ready to take — or he was not here, and it would give her plenty of time to search the place. If she could get her hands on his lightsaber, she would greatly reduce the chances of being killed. He should not be able to walk around with this kind of weapon on his belt if, as Zed had told her, he was pretending to be a simple member of the Resistance.

Ignoring C-3PO's advice, she finally decided to go to the cabin. She took a comlink with her to keep in touch with the droids, and ordered them to stay ready to take off.

As she entered the canyon, Rey felt a feverishness invade her.

Did Ben suspect she was coming to meet him here? How would he react when he saw her?

Zed said he called himself Aedan and that he lied about being a pilot. Apparently these people had believed his story. Upon reflection, she realized that few people, other than the First Order officers, really knew what Supreme Leader Kylo Ren looked like. The facade of his black mask had been, until very recently, the only face that his victims and his enemies had been able to see.

Quickly, she struggled to control his bikespeeder, shaken from all sides by the increasingly strong winds. As she reached the bottom of the path leading to the top of the hill, Rey felt the force of the hellish storm going on all around her and immediately regretted not listening to the protocol droid. Pebbles now were intermingled with the impressive amount of sand lifted by the wind, and the small projectiles were striking ruthlessly at her head, arms and legs. A violent gust shook the speeder and she was ejected. The mini-tornado propelled the vehicle against the rock wall while Rey pressed herself to the ground to try to escape the same fate. She could hardly see anything. Her goggles were smeared with dust. The turban cloth wrapped around her face could not even stop the sand from seeping into her nostrils and mouth. She swung her head to the side and wiped the glass as best she could to see that her speeder was now unusable. She resisted the onslaught of the storm for a few minutes until a slight lull allowed her to get up and walk on a few hundred meters.

Damn it! Why had she not waited patiently in the Falcon!

A new projectile struck her violently on the temple. The shock made her fall to her knees again and she felt something warm running down her ear. All of a sudden, her head began to spin. The incandescent silica invaded her throat and nostrils.

Filthy desert planet! She was not going to be stoned to death here and buried under the sand!

She tried to gather her strength to get back on her feet. When she tried to push on her legs, her muscles did not respond. The rain of sharp pebbles did not falter. Reflexively, she rolled into a ball to limit the exposure of her body and felt the sand cover it gradually like a shroud. She was faint and could not move.

But while she was concentrating all her efforts to fill her lungs with oxygen, she felt a presence, an entity whose power rivaled the chaos that reigned around her, and which was getting closer and closer.

Her throat was on fire. Her goggles were covered with an opaque layer again and she could not see anything.

A hand of steel grabbed her by the arm and lifted her up as if she weighed nothing. Still stunned, she let herself go and found herself pressed against what appeared to be a brick wall, supported solidly by the waist. The wind was screaming in her ears. She felt like she was being dragged along by this "thing" which came out of nowhere and her feet were barely touching the ground. Their progress through the terrible tornado lasted a minute or two, then stopped.

Suddenly she was propelled to a hard floor and a door slammed shut.

The sound of the storm was now muffled and the air again breathable. Despite the mist blurring her mind, she realized that she had been led inside ... But inside what?

Still a little dizzy, she got rid of her goggles and her turban. Her head ached, but all her senses were alert now. A violent cough shook her chest. And when she looked up, she saw a gigantic figure, draped from head to foot in a long coat, caulking the bottom of a door.

When he was finished, the giant turned to her and, magically, she instantly found again the use of her legs. She stood up at light speed, ignoring the feeling of whirling that came over her as she retreated into what she recognized as a small circular living room.

The big brown coat fell to the ground and the face of the stranger finally revealed itself.

It was him.

Ben.

He was there, very real in front of her, and was staring at her intently. She once again had the impression that her muscles were no longer responding to the injunctions of her brain. She could do nothing but stare back at him with apprehension.

He held the pommel of his lightsaber in his right hand. She had no more weapons on her. Her staff was probably with the remains of her speeder scattered in the canyon. Instinctively, she looked for something to catch, anything, preferably sharp and sturdy. But apart from the basic furniture and some dishes placed on the coffee table behind her, nothing was appropriate.

"I have no intention of killing you," he said.

Did he just read her thoughts? Why not take advantage of the situation to get rid of her here and now?

Her questions remained unanswered and she even thought she was hallucinating when she saw him calmly putting down his lightsaber on the small counter next to him.

She had to remain vigilant ...

Her heart was still pounding. She swallowed hard and a shiver ran through her from head to toe when she realized the weapon was now within reach. She had only to stretch her fingers and make it come to her by using the Force.

"And I don't think you intend to kill me, either," he added, as if to nip her assassination plan in the bud.

"And what makes you believe that?" she retorted.

"You had plenty of time to do it on the Supremacy before fleeing to find your Resistance friends, and I'm still alive."

"I may have changed my mind in four months."

"I don't think so, no…"

Rey looked down and Ben savored his victory. To see him again after all this time was shocking, and she wondered if he felt the same way.

"How did you find me?" she questioned, struggling to control the trembling of her voice.

"I felt your presence."

His grave and stony voice contrasted with the tumult in his eyes. Rey had almost forgotten how tall he was. His hair was still thick and wild. But she was disarmed to see him dressed in simple cotton-colored shirt, cheeks covered with dust.

"And you? How did you find out I was here?" he went on.

"When the Force connected us yesterday, you spoke Jawa," she replied.

A new silence settled between them. Rey wondered if they would play this question-and-answer game longer.

"Where are your rebel friends?"

"I came alone."

Perfect ... She had just revealed that no one was there to cover her back.

"I do think that you are impulsive and reckless enough to have landed here without reinforcements," he retorted.

Outside, the storm was still raging. The debris carried by the wind came smashing against the walls and windows of the hut. When an impact, louder than the others, made her jump, she instinctively turned her head towards the small window, which was still intact - the glass had to be the syrex that was used in spaceships.

She felt the weight of Ben's gaze still focused on her. If he continued to stare at her like that, she would end up burning. His trim and angular face, his nose a little too big, his terribly sensual lips still troubled her. It was visceral. Ever since he had removed his mask on Starkiller, she found him sublime and captivating. It was incomprehensible. All this did not make sense. She should have hated him with all her soul after what he had done.

The temperature in the room had risen by several degrees despite the night falling outside. She suddenly felt a little tingling at the end of her fingers and the air became heavier. The atmosphere was changing. The immaterial fluid that was now so familiar to them vibrated each atom between their two tensed bodies. The Force seemed satisfied with their reunion and let it know.

"This storm is likely to last," he added, breaking the spell. "I think we're going to be stuck here for a while, so at least we can be cordial with each other."

Rey let out a hiccup of surprise.

"Cordial? I never thought I'd hear you use that word one day …"

Her use of sarcasm seemed to work well enough to hide the whirlwind of emotions he awakened in her. And he was visibly relieved to be able to respond in kind.

"I suppose you landed on this planet aboard the Corellian piece of junk?"

"There's no fooling you."

Ben began to turn around her like a predator gauging its future prey. His eyes drifted to the young woman's right temple and she finally remembered being injured in the storm. She touched the painful point above her ears with the tips of her fingers and realized that she was bleeding. Ben watched her wipe the wound with her sleeve.

"Never mind," he said suddenly before turning around to go to the kitchen.

On the way, he picked up his coat and hung it on the hook near the door.

Now reassured not to have to fear for her life, Rey finally took the time to look more closely around her. The interior of the hut was basic but functional. It was actually rather luxurious compared to what she had known on Jakku. Behind her, there was a round coffee table next to a semicircular bench that served as a bed. On the right was a dining area consisting of another small table and a single chair. The kitchen was near the door through which they had entered. There was a bathroom at the back and a staircase in the living room that led to what she guessed to be a basement. The decoration was non-existent and the furniture minimal.

When Ben returned to the living room, he handed her a glass of water. She remained motionless, suspicion and astonishment on her face.

"It's just water," he said, his arm still stretched toward her.

The young woman hesitated a moment before grabbing the goblet and eagerly drinking the contents. She closed her eyes and sighed comfortably before putting the glass on the table.

Extreme fatigue suddenly overtook her, and she walked a few steps back and dropped into the seat behind her. This blow to her head had been really violent. She felt like her brain weighed a ton, so she began to gently massage the bump that had appeared on her aching temple. She heard a closet open and close and when she opened her eyes again, she saw Ben approach to apply a piece of white cloth to her wound. Rey could barely breathe as he held it pressed against her temple.

Water, and now a compress? Who was this man?

Ben's fingers were warm through the fabric and an electric shock ran down her spine from top to bottom. She suddenly lost all will and, anesthetized by this strange sensation, she didn't immediately understand that he was waiting for her to take it. So she hastened to raise her hand to hold the cloth in place.

Then their skin brushed and time stopped.

The young woman's brain was suddenly assailed by a tidal wave of images.

She was on the Finalizer, in a dark, cold room, alone and panting on the floor. And the next second, she found herself in a huge room strangely resembling the one in which she had fought the Praetorian guards alongside Ben. Armitage Hux was displaying a carnivorous grin and was surrounded by four strangers dressed in black tunics. She was cornered. They threw themselves on her and the fire of their blades tore her skin. The Force pulsed in her, wild and violent, and she recognized with horror the ferocity of the Dark Side ... Her hands were crackling and she was having trouble channeling the flow of energy that wanted to flow from her molten palms.

She was then sucked into a whirlwind.

"Did you really think you were Snoke's only apprentice?" whispered a tall, ice-blue-eyed blond man who was gazing at her from his full height.

Then the unbearable pain invaded her and made her almost lose consciousness as the shuttle moved away from the destroyer to go into hyperspace.

Change of scenery.

A polar cold froze her skin. Her hands were shaking and she was struggling to tear the packaging of the bacta-patch she had to apply to the wound in her bleeding abdomen.

As if she were looking in a mirror, she saw herself standing in the icy room, paralyzed with amazement at Finn's side.

She once again had the impression of being engulfed by a black hole.

Her eyes were burning with fever now. She heard a woman's voice. It was gentle and soothing. Then a thin face crowned with auburn hair appeared more clearly through the fog. The suffering slowly faded. The woman smiled. A spicy and woody fragrance was floating in the warm, moist air. She was in a greenhouse. The crystalline voice of a child made her jump: "Rey ... Is she your girlfriend?"

Her pulse quickened. Rage invaded her again.

She looked at her hands and saw that they were covered in blood. At her feet, the bodies of strange masked creatures were lying inanimate.

"Help us," begged the boy's familiar voice, and a strong smell of antiseptic caught her by the throat. The woman's body was on a stretcher while medical droids were healing her.

Then suddenly calm returned, finally leaving her a little respite. She could not take it anymore. She was exhausted. Her mind had been thrown into a maelstrom of memories ... Ben's memories. She had relived all that had happened to him in recent months: fear, fury, frustration and suffering, but also doubt, guilt, appeasement ... She had just traveled to the depths of his soul and she had all the answers she'd come searching for.

Her mouth opened to suck in a big gulp of air while her heart continued to beat fast against her sternum. Her face was covered with sweat and her vision readjusted enough to see that Ben, leaning against the wall a few feet from her, was in the same state.

He stared at her in shock too.

Outside, there were no stars in the tormented sky, and the tumultuouswind was continuing to lift up the sand to lick the cabin's white lime walls with its angry breath.

OooooO

Planet Kintan- Hutt Space- Outer Rim:

Sylla watched the prisoners with their hands and feet shackled by fine chains of durasteel. They were walking in single file in the middle of two parallel rows of stormtroopers to the ramp of the freighter that would lead them to the mines of Sato. Most of them had been captured in the Arkanis system and were just a bunch of vermin and thieves.

The female knight was getting ready to return to her personal ship when raised voices caught her attention.

A large, muscular man covered in tattoos had stopped walking and was now hitting some of his fellow prisoners.

"Take care of that!" Sylla shouted to the squadron leader.

The trooper made his way over to the recalcitrant man, but before he could order him to calm down by aiming at him with his blaster, the colossus knocked him out and then started kicking the prisoner in front of him until he was on the ground.

The other soldiers hesitated to fire, to avoid "damaging the goods," so Sylla came back with a sigh to solve the problem. She activated her lightsaber and decapitated the troublemaker with a clean and precise gesture. Then she turned to the poor injured guy lying in the dust. Seeing the yellow sword pointed at him, the man immediately began to gesticulate and cry. His originally white mohawk was now stained with blood. Two of his front teeth had been knocked out of his mouth, and he was now holding out his arms in front of him to ward off a possible blow from the dark amazon.

"Please, please, don't! Don't hit me with that thing, not again!"

His eyes were focused on the lightsaber's blade and Sylla froze when she heard him whine and beg.

She leaned toward him as he tried to back off, and grabbed him by the collar.

"What are you talking about? Have you ever been struck by this kind of weapon before?" she asked now, more than intrigued.

The white mohawk man, realizing he might be able to survive if he answered her questions, gestured to his back with a wave of the hand. The poor guy was shaking like a leaf now.

Sylla flipped him over sharply and tore off his tunic to reveal a charred cut from his neck to the bottom of his spine, which was undeniably a mark left by a lightsaber.

"Who did that to you?" she questioned, forcing him to turn again.

The prisoner squeaked before answering, breathless.

"It was this crazy bastard! He had a saber like yours, but the blade was red with a guard in the shape of a cross. And he also had a big scar across his face."

Sylla's blood ran cold in her veins. She could not believe her ears.

"Where?" she added, blessing the stars and all the Sith masters for her good fortune.

"Tatooine …" stammered A'Shek. "It happened on Tatooine."

OooooO