Tired of running amongst lonely stars, Eris found herself part of a ragtag group trying to save the galaxy. A jedi, a pilot, and a stormtrooper. She might not believe in their cause but she believed in them. Pit against a man who'd once been her only friend Eris must fight for what she loves. A fight she knew might be her last.

What was left of the Resistance settled in the dense forest of an unknown planet on the far side of the universe. They were buying time, licking their wounds, regrowing the numbers they'd lost so they stood a fighting chance against the First Order.

Poe never knew where Eris went or for how long and every time she left he thought they were one day closer to the day she left them for good, except for the occasions Rey accompanied her. But she always brought someone back with her. Her connections spanned the galaxy, and Poe learned the more numbers she brought in that she gravitated towards like-minded people - a will to fight without a cause. And Eris had given them one.

He was running through outposts making sure everyone was set up when he spied the small ship she commandeered. His steps faltered and he stood shuffling on the balls of his feet knowing Rey had probably already found her. So he finished the job and he headed back in time for dinner. Which is when he spotted Rey standing with Finn, her head spinning as she searched for the woman too guarded to feel out.

His mouth twitched at the corners as he headed back outside. Rey might be able to feel her presence but Poe liked to think he knew her better. Climbing the furthest watch post he nodded to the startled man before climbing higher through the trees. A gentle hand reached through the leaves and grabbed his arm helping him up.
"Thanks," he told Eris as he sat beside her. And he caught his breath staring at the bleeding sky that had turned from blue to a fiery orange that was beginning to blacken at the edges. The world below and all its need and raw nerves fell away, deafened by thick silence and a cool breeze that ruffled his hair. "Guess you found your corner of the universe after all."

She took a breath knowing her reverie had ended. "I even have a place for you to park your ship," she added harking back to what felt like a lifetime ago.

He chuckled fondly resting a hand over her knee as he exhaled heavily. Beneath his palm he could almost feel a restlessness that would soon spread to her eyes and she'd be gone again. "I can't imagine how hard this is," he said without looking at her. He was having a hard time with that lately. Cal still wasn't awake and everyone watched her waiting for her to break, it would drive him away too. He just thought it'd be him she asked to go with her.

Turning she looked at his profile noting the tension in his brow and the faint downturn of his mouth. "It's not," she paused meeting his eye as he looked at her and sighed. "Yeah." Her hand settled over his as though to hold it before she pulled away. "Come on," she said shaking the tree as she stood, "I didn't think you'd take all day to find me and I'm starving."

Her head disappeared beneath the thick foliage and Poe was quick to follow. "Well maybe you shouldn't hide in one of the most, good evening," he told the man still on watch as he continued climbing down after Eris, "out of the way places." He felt her hands graze his back as he reached the ground, and he opened his mouth to tell her he's got this but what ended up falling out was, "wait, did you just admit you waited for me all day?"

Her answer was the shake of her head as she turned to the base, but he'd seen the very small smile that curled her mouth. He marched after her grinning.
Rey stood a far distance ahead of them unable to hear their casually affectionate bickering. Just behind her stood Finn, they'd followed Poe when Rey noticed him leave and Finn held her back knowing Eris wasn't ready for all of them. He watched Eris find them, saw first the longing that followed quickly by the heavy weight of inevitability. She was gonna leave again.

Though she wanted to Rey kept her arms at her sides knowing the way Eris would stiffen if she tried to touch her. "You were gone longer this time," she said turning as Eris passed her, feeling her violet hand squeeze hers too brief to feel like coming home.

Finn stepped forward staying close to Eris' back as they headed back to base. "You didn't bring anyone this time," he thought was the bigger point. She hadn't left with any other purpose than being gone.

Rey and Poe were an unlikely pair that didn't share much fondness except for the two that bound them together. But they stayed back watching their sullen girl walk away without bothering to see they were following. That wasn't like her. "She won't come back next time," Rey told him in a voice as shattered as Eris felt.

He reached a hand to her shoulder and patted it awkwardly. "We might need to consider doing something about Cal."

It was an argument they'd had before, he was where her discourse stemmed. It made Rey pull away now as it always did. "What do you suggest, smothering him with a pillow?" she almost sneered. "She can't lose him again."

He shrugged which seemed to irritate them both. "You wanna wait for her to leave for good go for it, but I'd rather lose him than her."

It left Rey to watch him go, jogging to catch up, and she watched how easily Eris made room for him. How comfortably they fit together.

...

They made it two days before the final cagey signs had her packing ready to go at a moment's notice. "Give me another day," Poe told her standing in her doorway seeing she'd never really unpacked. Other than the wrinkled bed it was hard to tell anyone lived here. "Me and Finn are doing a quick run, there's information on Hoth. We could use you." It was a hostile icy planet and there was sure to be a fight, he and Finn were good and with Chewy and the Falcon they were better. But Eris knew the ins and outs of this, had a reputation for finding the information before it fell to the Resistance or the First Order could kill it.

She stopped pacing and looked down at his warm dark eyes, earnest. As though it were a chore she took a breath and nodded. A wide handsome grin split his face as he clapped her shoulder, and he paused staring at her unhappy face seeing just a hint of her former muted self and he wanted more. "Knock it off," she told him before he could get his arms around her. She was all out of hugs.

She gave him his extra day knowing he was keeping her preoccupied and away from medical as well as giving her plenty of reasons to stay. These were her people now, he told her, they'd fight with her and take care of her too if she'd let them. He was too busy showing her what they'd built he didn't notice the contempt that settled on her face as she looked around, the dodgy suspicion.

"Where's Rey?"

Poe sighed resisting the urge to roll his eyes, she'd hit him last time he had. "She's training," he ground out as he made his way into the Falcon. His boots clanged loudly as though to show his frustration.

Finn hovered just away from where she stood glaring at the space around her. And then she whirled on him with a ferocity that had him swallowing. He stepped forward with his hands stuffed in his pocket so she wouldn't see their tremor. "You're not used to staying in one place," he said seeing something in her eyes just barely shift. "You can't really hide here, can't go unnoticed. It makes running harder. I might not get all of it but I do get that." Her expression wasn't softening but she felt quieter, still. "I know you're tired, I'm tired too." He raised his shoulders looking as lost as she still felt. "Maybe this is your chance to stay."

She didn't soften toward him all at once, but it was a start. Maybe she could stop running. Metal clanged above them and they turned to see Poe crouched in the doorway to look at them impatient as ever. "Two of you waiting for an invitation? Come on," he barked sounding very much the commander Leia had been working him into becoming. Finn met Eris' pale eye seeing her weighing her options, and he heard the breath she released when she finally made up her mind.

…

The roar of the ship passing overhead had Rey looking up from the programmed target and she hissed at the sting of the laser hitting her shoulder. She threw it into a tree and rubbed her sore skin frowning deeply as she looked back to the sky to see the ship disappearing. She wanted to be with them, should be with them, but she had a long way to go before she was ready to face Ren again. He wasn't Ben anymore and she had to be better.

Taking a breath she shifted her hold on the saber and got into position ready for the next challenge. It was another spherical target this one faster, meaner. A branch snapped to her left. She raised the lightsaber blocking two small little blasts from the bot before the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Her back arched pulling her head back just as the tip of a sharpened dagger flew past and hit the tree beside her with a sickening thud. Her eyes widened feeling another coming and she lunged hitting the ground rolling and sprung back up into position hearing it hit another tree. A flash of black and she caught the blast from a rifle with the saber, an actual threat.

Before she could catch her breath and gain her bearings on who was attacking her another shot had her ducking. It was a distraction and Rey had fallen for it too easily because a sharp knee collided with her middle throwing her to the ground. The breath went out of her when her shoulders struck the hard dirt but she got a foot under her and dropped the saber grabbing instead her staff from over her shoulder. She swung it wide because she knew Eris liked fighting close, but all she hit was air. Rey looked up seeing Eris several feet away holding the blaster level with her eye and her finger on the trigger.

Eris gave a poor imitation of a blaster rifle and Rey groaned falling back as she caught her breath. "You're getting better," Eris told her as she stepped to her side and stood over where she lay.

"It doesn't feel like it." Eris took her down easily, too easily. It wasn't good enough, she wasn't good enough. A lilac hand appeared in front of her and Rey took it letting Eris help her up. Her fears rose high in her throat burning the back of it like acid, but she swallowed it for something easier. "Thought you were going with Poe," she stated trying for nonchalance.

"Thought you didn't care if Poe took me on trips without you," Eris stated bluntly in kind.

Rey scowled gathering her things. "I don't," she quickly retorted feeling heat rush to her face. "If he had it his way he'd always have you, he doesn't know how to share." As though Eris were something they had a claim to, or Finn who they were almost worse with.

"None of you do, you guys are ridiculous." Everyone was jealous of everyone and Eris had just about had it with the lot of them. Like a mother telling her children to behave, although Eris wasn't much for words and opted for smacking them when they acted up. "Come on," Eris said pulling her daggers from the bark they were stuck in. "We've got a lot of work to do."

The sun was beginning to set when they finally fell back shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the dense forest as they rested their aching bodies. They'd have bruises in the morning, Eris already had a nasty one forming from the tree her back struck from Rey losing control. Eris' response had been admittedly childish and Rey was gonna have a nice shiner come tomorrow. "Who finally broke through to you?" Rey asked knowing Eris was too stubborn to get there herself. She buried things inside so they could die, she had a graveyard of old wounds Rey had felt come alive with Cal's return.

"Finn," Eris answered staring at the sky between the leaves above her. She sighed before admitting, "he's not that bad. Don't tell him I said that."

Rey smiled faintly planning to, he still didn't think Eris liked him. "So what is it really?" she asked turning on her side. Rey traced the sharp plains of her pretty face having long since memorized every curve and blemish.

Taking a breath Eris held it a moment til her lungs started burning, and she let it go feeling herself shrink. "I'm not used to sticking around." She was a runner, and she was good at it. She'd spent half her life on the run, and she was tired.

"Or anyone to stick around for," Rey added in a soft breathy voice. It was easier to read her tonight, she had a restless spirit. Wild. She was hard to tame.

Eris turned to her feeling the tip of her nose brush Rey's. "Yeah, that too," she agreed less reluctant when the world felt so small, so close. Like they were the only two people in the universe. She missed that feeling. "Why'd you have to be a jedi?" she asked turning back to the sky. "We could've taken on the galaxy, you and me."

Rey missed it too, how close everything had been on Jakku. Just two lost souls finding each other. No rules, no responsibility, no jedis or Kylo Ren, no pain but the pain they caused. What a life that would've been. "You'd never leave him," Rey reminded her knowing how much Poe meant to her. "And whether you wanna admit it I don't think you'd leave this." She might not fight for their cause but she'd fight for them.

"Yup," was Eris' clipped reply. "I'm part of this now." How these two managed to do that Eris still wasn't quite sure, but they were hers. Maybe they were her chance to finally stay.

.^.

The mission was simple, get in get the information and get out. There were a lot of details were it could go wrong: the planet their source was on happened to be heavily trafficked by the Order. A pilot, a stormtrooper, and a Jedi. Chewy bellowed for them to hurry up as he climbed into the Falcon to start it up. All that was missing was their Bounty Hunter.

"I told her to meet us here," Poe said already on his way to impatient.

Rey had too, but she wasn't as bullheaded as Poe and she grumbled for them to give her a second as she marched off. She returned moments later with a reluctant Eris who was wearing Poe's street clothes and welding gloves. "She's refusing to come with us, make her come," Rey demanded of Poe as she stood back with her arms crossed sullenly.

Poe's head swiveled from Rey to Eris. "What do you mean you're not coming, and what are those for?" he asked pointing to the gloves.

"It'd be easier without me there to give you away, I have a reputation,"

"We know," Rey and Poe said almost simultaneously.

Eris continued undeterred. "And you broke my staff last mission, Snap's helping me make something new."

Neither of those were good enough reasons, Rey was furious without really meaning to be and Poe's brows were furrowing as he studied her dicey expression. "She's choosing to stay, leave it alone and let's go," Finn told them ushering Rey into the Falcon.

She shared a somewhat thankful nod with Finn before she turned on her heel and headed back to where Snap was waiting. A hand latched onto her arm and she turned recognizing its gentle strength and sighed looking at Poe. "You're choosing to stay," he said finally understanding what'd been eating at her. It wasn't Cal it was this, them, the sudden realization she had something she didn't wanna lose. "You hate this, don't you?"

"Ugh, yes," she groaned hearing his quiet laughter. "Caring is the worst."

Still chuckling he shook his head finding this familiar, this was his girl. "It's a good look on you," he told her brazenly seeing the way her eyes narrowed. "Gotta admit, you're nice to come home to."

"No I'm not."

He deflated a bit as he replied, "well you could be." And she really could be, on the days she wanted to, which were few and far in between. What he really meant was he was getting used to coming home to her, of having her here, being together. She was giving him the look he knew meant he was pushing it and he nodded stepping back. "Alright, I'll leave you alone," he told her. "But I'm just saying," she huffed her annoyance, "this one's pretty dangerous. I might not make it back," he said looking off in the distance as she rolled her eyes. He turned back to her suddenly and said, "it's a good moment for a kiss is all I'm trying to say. You can put it right here," he tapped a finger on his cheek. "Give me a reason to make it back."

She looked down at his stupid face and smacked his cheek lightly. He in kind popped her backside which had her turning on him furiously but he'd already hightailed it away. "You are a short, half-witted, second best pilot in the galaxy, Poe Dameron," she called after him.

He stopped halfway up the ramp and turned back to her with a dashing grin. "Love ya too babe." He brought a hand to his mouth blowing her a kiss and could almost see how hard she rolled her eyes from there, but more than that he saw her smile. He liked her smile.

"Nice of you to stop flirting and join us."

He turned at Rey's steely voice and looked between her and Finn who hummed his agreement as the two left him by the now closed door. "What?" he asked following them to the cockpit.

They'd been quick to let that bickering go but they were even faster at finding something else to fight over. They were still arguing when they came back later that afternoon, Finn trailing behind the irate pair. "Your recklessness almost got us killed," Rey said through bared teeth as she stormed after Poe. He was quick to reply; "no, my recklessness is what got us out of there."

"Guys," Finn said trying to break them up but they carried on as though he wasn't there.

"You really think you're the one that got us out of that?"

"Yeah I do. You know, you don't have to be a jedi to be good at getting things done."

"Guys," Finn yelled louder.

"Is there a problem?"

To the second Rey and Poe straightened and turned to where Eris was waiting. "No," they both said almost wincing at the memory of how hard she could hit.

She looked between them with hard eyes until she was satisfied they were done. "Good, now look at the weapon I made," she said pulling it from where it was slung behind her back.

Poe looked at the sharp blade that ran from the hilt to the tip which was flat and hooked at one end, but it was barely two inches wide. It looked like it'd break the first thing she tried to slice with it. "Very nice," he told her being supportive, "you made a weird sword."

Her face turned like she smelled something she didn't like as she glared at him. But she shook her head and turned to Rey who could feel the power in her hands. She pushed a button and Rey gasped as some sort of energy sparked along one side of the blade making a sound not so different from her own weapon. Rey could almost feel how fast it vibrated.

Eris smirked looking proudly at her new weapon having already killed a lot trees with it. "Figured you could use someone to spar with. Snap's working on the other half, I've always wanted a double bladed one."

Rey looked from the faint yellow tinted glow to Eris' face that looked more pink in the sunlight. She blinked too quickly to consider normal. "You're gonna cut your arm off," she said though she remembered how deftly Eris had wielded her doubled bladed staff. As if she wasn't dangerous enough.

Their eyes met in a rush of warmth and without warning Eris raised the vibrosword the same time Rey pulled out her lightsaber and swung. They met in the middle in a loud crack that had Poe ducking as he jumped back. "Hey, hey," he yelled at the girls as they pulled apart and swung again, this time Eris went low and Rey came in from the side. "Seriously?" Poe cried falling back feeling Finn's arms around him pulling him out of the way.

They continued a few moments more before they put their weapons away and headed back to base leaving the boys behind. Poe, still outraged smelling his singed hair, turned to Finn and raised a hand to where they'd gone. "You believe that?"

Finn's frown mirrored Poe's as he shook his head muttering, "she had to be the cute boyfriend." Clapping his shoulder Finn pulled Poe with him after the girls who eventually realized they'd left their boys behind and were now waiting for them to catch up.

Welcome to Part Three of this series, and the finale! It's been a long ass journey, but thank you all for being here.

Since the movie starts off a year after the last one I'm gonna explore that time just a little; develop relationships deeper, making characters richer (hopefully). Eris is gonna grow a lot, she's going to finally feel safe enough to really be herself because we've only been getting glimpses so far.

I'm thinking there's at most two more chapters before I get to the movie's events. I want to show one mission with all of them together, and then set the tone for Eris' role in the movie. Cause once I get to the movie I feel like it's gonna unfold quickly.

Check back next week for the next chapter. And as always, thank you so very much for reading. I hope you enjoy.