Snow is falling outside the Nevermore, and Rey has her face pressed to the transperisteel, her hazel eyes round with wonder as she silently watches it fall, a smile on her face."Ben," she says, looking back at him, "It's beautiful!" Rey, fighting beside him with a lightsaber in hand. Rey, reaching out to him with a look of horror on her face. "Ben!" she yells. Hesitancy. Denial. Love. Passion. Trust. Happiness.

Ben stared blankly into the depths of the Nevermore, swirling a glass of Chandrilian Raava around over and over again as he thought. He hadn't been able to keep the slave girl he had helped earlier – Rey – and her fetching hazel eyes out of his head since his vision from his meditation earlier. The fact that she was Force sensitive was also a problem for him to ponder, as she obviously needed training to harness her burgeoning powers effectively. His Uncle Luke was in agreement with him on that fact, Ben had spent a brief time talking with his Uncle earlier via holocomm. Since then, he had thought of little else but her.

"Ben Solo! Did you even hear me?"

"What? I'm sorry, Jai," Ben's eyes jerked up from the glass in his hand to his sister as she looked at him, obviously frustrated that he hadn't been listening to her. Huffing, Jaina rolled her eyes at her 'little' brother in frustration. "You've been a galaxy away since we got back from the Outpost and you talked to Uncle Luke. Really, Ben? What's on your mind?"

Sighing, Ben ran a hand through his hair, looking at his sister before downing the remnants of the Raava in his glass. "She is. That slave girl – the Force sensitive one we found earlier? Uncle Luke wants me to make contact with her, offer her training at the Praxeum. I just, I've got a bad feeling about this."

Jaina sighed, not liking that her brother was in any amount of distress. "Ebon won't be back in touch for another four days – he has to 'retrieve the data' and return here, and apparently he doesn't trust anyone else to get it but himself, so we have four days. That should be enough time to speak with her. What's your plan?"

Jaina tilted her head to one side as she watched Ben. Usually, nothing fazed him, so seeing him nervous was something new to her. Clearly, he was troubled. "Ben… honestly, what's going on? Would you rather I make contact with the girl?"

Not wanting Jaina to know about the vision, Ben shook his head. "No, Uncle Luke tasked me with this. I just have a feeling that it's not going to be easy to convince her that she needs training." Pouring himself another glass of Raava, Ben knew he had to come up with a plan to find Rey when she was alone. He barely noticed as his sister shook her head and went into her own quarters for the night.

….

"You have greatly displeased me, Rey," Unkar Plutt was perched on a chair above Rey as she knelt before him, washing his feet as he had requested of her. "You know my boys are permitted to touch you if they choose to, and you acting upon that… I fear, Little One, that I will have to punish you, yes." Rey finished her task, drying his feet the way he liked them, hoping that he wouldn't decide to give her the worst punishment in his repertoire. "They told me you were talking to a man, too. One with a lightsaber. We don't talk to men, do we, little Rey? Especially not Jedi! Maybe I should take away your little house, yes? Make you sleep with the other girls?"

Rey's eyes widened at Plutt's words, and she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying. Her master didn't like it when his slaves cried, and she would be punished even more severely if she did so. "I didn't talk to him, Master. He just showed up at the end of the alley and lit that stick and then your boys just walked off, muttering something. I couldn't hear what they said. After that I ran around him and came straight here to tend to you. Please, Master… I will never speak to a man. I know better."

Rey couldn't lose her home. The AT-AT was the only place she could truly be herself, and she had collected tiny treasures here and there throughout her life. She was lucky her Master still let her live there after her parents had sold her to him. It was the only place she found a little peace.

Standing now, Rey's head stayed bowed, her eyes on the floor. She would show Master Plutt that she was a good slave to him, and maybe, just maybe, she could go home to her own hammock tonight to sleep.

"Oh, Little Rey. You don't disappoint me as much as the other slaves. I will let you keep your house for now. If I catch you talking to another man, though, you will come to live here, and will sleep with the other girls. Now, you are excused for the night. Before you go home, go see Marska for your punishment. He has not punished anyone yet today, so I know it will make him happy to see you."

Rey was shaking as she left her Master's house. Marska was his brother, and took delight in being Plutt's enforcer when his slaves stepped out of line. He wouldn't care that she was tiny compared to him, and he was very good with the whip he carried with him everywhere. She could only hope that he was drunk. When Marska was in his cups, he tended to swing a little lighter, and lose count of how many strikes he had given a person.

Knocking with a trembling hand on Marska's door, Rey stepped inside when told to do so, her head bowed and a lump in her throat. "M-Master Plutt said I was to come here to…to b-be punished, Master Marska.." Rey's voice sounded tiny, even to herself, as she spoke.

Marska let out an angry growl before standing and moving so quickly that Rey didn't know what was happening until she was dangling a foot off the ground, her face stinging from the slap Marska issued with his fat palm. She felt her old cut open up, a new trickle of blood starting to flow down her chin.

"You! I was winning at sabacc, I had to come home to deal with you, slave scum!" Marska howled in her face, his stinking breath making her want to gag. His punch to her gut made all the air leave her body, and as he tossed her against the wall, her head collided with the ground, a bolt of pain coursing through her head and her vision dimming. With another roar, Marska picked her up off the floor, forcing her to stand facing the wall. She was breathing heavy, trying to swallow around the knot in her throat.

The first lick of Marska's whip across her back sent red hot heat streaking through her body, a whimper escaping her lips. She mustn't cry, though. If she did, Marska would give her even more lashes than usual. He didn't like when you cried when he was punishing you – Rey had learned that the hard way at the age of seven. She had started to cry after the first snap to her back, and Marska had been so angry he had given her fifteen lashes. It had taken her two weeks before she could move without crying.

Rey closed her eyes, trying to picture her ocean desperately. She had heard a trader once talking about the ocean on some planet she had never heard of before called Chandrila. The woman had said it was so large and so blue that you couldn't see the end of it, and it had all manners of life living within its waters. Rey had tried to picture that ever since, when it was late at night and she was trying to sleep. Once, she had even dreamed about it, and a cozy house sitting alongside it, a house with a backyard that was green and lush, ending on a small beach. Before the next strike came, Rey saw her ocean swim into view, and she tried to imagine swimming in its waters, lying on the beach with the sun kissing her face.

With her ocean in her mind, she hardly noticed the last four lashes, only opening her eyes when Marska grabbed her wrist and turned her around forcefully. "Get out of my sight, little scum, before I decide to punish you more. I have a pod race to watch. Good money I can make on it! Leave!" Marska kept hold of her wrist, pulling her to the door before opening it and pushing her unceremoniously into the street.

I won't cry. I won't cry. I won't cry.

Heading to the small speeder that Plutt allowed her to use to go between her AT-AT and the outpost, Rey repeated that mantra in her head over and over. Getting on the speeder and heading home, she continued the mantra. She wouldn't waste her tears on Unkar Plutt, after all. He wasn't worth them.

Pulling the speeder up to her home, Rey finally felt like she could breathe again as she entered her small living space. Fumbling around in a small drawer, she pulled out some bacta and set to work applying it to her wounds as best she could, letting out a small sigh of relief as she felt some of the pain fade away. Her head still throbbed from hitting the ground, but she knew that would fade away after she settled into her hammock for the night. After grabbing her portion of food for the day, as well as her trusty staff, Rey headed outside, her eyes automatically going to the sky as she settled into her usual spot to eat.

She often sat here until long after the suns faded into the horizon, watching the stars and imagining what it would feel like to leave Jakku. She knew it was a silly thing to think about – her, a slave girl – being granted permission, and freedom, to leave this planet. Still, she dreamed of it. She wasn't meant to be a slave, deep inside she knew this. Rey had always known this. No one was truly meant to be a slave!

Finishing her portion and the water in her bottle, Rey smiled as she settled one of her treasures on her head. She had found the helmet inside the wreckage of an X Wing nearby, and she liked to put it on and imagine flying one of them, the laser cannons blasting away at the enemy as she helped the Resistance fight against the First Order.

She watched as a ship streaked across the night sky as it engaged its hyperdrive, and Rey sighed sadly before standing and stretching, wincing slightly as the wounds on her back protested, knowing it was time to settle into her hammock for the night.

….

Ben was brought out of his silent musings as he felt something disturbing the Force nearby. He knew it wasn't Jaina, she was in her quarters speaking with Jag, so that left him only one option. Something was happening to Rey, and it was sending a wave of worry and pain through him. The girl was nothing to him, so Ben didn't exactly understand just why this was affecting him so much, but he knew he must act. He hated seeing anyone being hurt, and as a Jedi it was his duty to protect those who were being harmed.

The door to Jaina's quarters flew open, and Ben met her concerned eyes, nodding at her. "I feel it, too. I need to go, Jai."

"Be careful, Ben," his sister said, watching as he stood and left the ship before she went back to her quarters, determined to keep an eye on things in case Ben needed her.

Ben stalked through the streets of the Outpost, trying to keep the anger within him at bay. Someone in pain never sat well with him, but knowing it was her practically had his blood boiling for some reason. He tried desperately to find balance, repeating a Jedi mantra he had learned during his training at his Uncle's Praxeum.

There is no emotion, there is only peace. There is no emotion, there is only peace. There is no emotion, there is only peace.

It didn't help. Ben could feel the rage coiled tightly in his gut still. Something surged through the Force – determination? Yet, he continued to feel a sense of pain, then… peace? Stopping outside what could only be described as a ramshackle hut, Ben looked around carefully for a place to slip into the shadows until it was time for him to act.

Ben slid into the shadows behind the dwelling, closing his eyes and trying his best to find focus. He was unsettled – unbalanced – and as he heard the door open, he could sense the pain and determination within Rey as she left, getting on a speeder and heading out of the Outpost. Ben wasn't worried about following her yet – he had business to attend to before he used the Force to locate her.

Stepping from out of the shadows, Ben approached the hut, kicking the door open to find a Crolute male within, his eyes wide with surprise as he turned to see who had intruded upon his home, his whip in his hand in an instant after he realized that it was a stranger who had just entered his home. Letting out an angry roar, Marska flicked his wrist, the whip unfurling and heading in an arc for Ben's face.

Putting a hand up, Ben force stopped the Crolute with ease, a smirk coming to his lips at the look of surprise on the man's face. "Yes, I'm one of those pesky Jedi everyone is so afraid of here. Tell me, you insignificant piece of bantha offal, do you enjoy hurting women that are half your size?" Tilting his head to one side, Ben called his lightsaber to him, igniting it with a quick flick of his finger as he started to circle Marska. "I think you enjoy it too much. I think you enjoy the power. You disgust me."

Swinging his lightsaber out in a quick arc, Ben brought the weapon down on Marska's hand, severing it cleanly, a wicked glint in his eyes as he looked at the Crolute, who was watching in horror as his hand holding the whip fell to the floor. "I doubt you or your boss have the credits to get you a replacement hand, do you?"

Leaning in, Ben pushed out with the Force, planting the needed coercion in Marska's brain. "You will never harm Rey, or any other woman, again. You lost your hand in a sabacc game, you were cheating and there was a fight." Watching Marska, his eyes narrowed and the Force roaring inside him, Ben stood, lightsaber at the ready, until he heard the Crolute mutter in a guttural voice, "I will never harm Rey or any other woman again. I lost my hand in a sabacc game. I was cheating and there was a fight."

Ben nodded in satisfaction after hearing the words, waving his hand and causing the Crolute to fall limply to the floor. Using the Force once more, Ben reached into Marska's head , erasing his memory of their encounter from his brain. Turning, Ben exited the hut, stopping in the street and reaching out with the Force, sending it in an outward pattern until he sensed Rey's presence. She was no longer in the Outpost, but he could see her surroundings as she sat outside the AT-AT, an old Rebel pilot's helmet perched on her head. Ben let a smile come to his face at the sight, deciding that he would simply watch her for a bit before he went to her home.

Once Rey had headed inside, Ben stopped watching her, not wanting to infringe on her privacy. Instead, he found an unused speeder and headed out of the Outpost, using the Force to help him pinpoint where she was in the sand dunes of Jakku. Once he was within walking distance, he stopped the speeder, choosing to approach the AT-AT on foot.

He found himself growing anxious for another glimpse of her as he walked, and his heart was racing in his chest as the old, defunct AT-AT came into sight. Moving silently for a man his size, Ben approached what he had seen was the entrance to her home, pondering how best to let his presence be known. After a moment's thought, he decided the direct approach was the best, and so he stepped up to what posed as a door, reaching out with an uncommonly shaky hand, striking the durasteel three times lightly, hoping he wouldn't scare the woman within half to death.

…

Rey was settled into her hammock, a threadbare blanket pulled underneath her head for a makeshift pillow as she closed her eyes. With a small sigh, she tried to picture her ocean, the sun sparkling off the waves, the endless blue stretching as far as she could see, when she heard a rapping on the durasteel of the hatch doubling as the door to her home. Her eyes wide, she reached out and grabbed her staff – which was never far from her reach when she was home – and scrambled out of her bed.

Her heart was racing in her chest as she took a defensive position, ready to fight if someone came bursting in. Instead, she was greeted with silence. It could be one of the scavengers she had dealt with before, simply looking for a place to sleep for the night, so Rey went to the hatch, her staff still at the ready as she said sharply, "Who is it?"

A gasp left her lips when a man's voice answered her. She had tried to keep him out of her head since they had met earlier in the day – but his eyes were so warm, so expressive – that she had found herself thinking of him several times before she reminded herself that she shouldn't, she mustn't have thoughts about a man.

"I met you earlier. In the alley. My name is Ben, and I… I need to talk to you. I'm sorry for waking you."

Rey crept closer to the door, her staff still in hand. This could all be a trick, after all, even though the voice did sound like the man's. He could also mean to hurt her, to steal from her, or even to… to do things to her like Snake and Mumbles wanted to do. No, she couldn't talk to this man, and she certainly couldn't let him into her home.

Letting her voice take on a confident, annoyed tone, Rey answered Ben. "Go away. I don't want to talk to you. If Master Plutt finds out you are here, he will punish me and have his boys run you out of town. You don't want that, so please, go away." For some reason, the words leaving her lips felt wrong, and Rey found herself hoping he wouldn't leave.

With an anticipation she didn't fully understand, Rey found herself waiting to see if he would stay, or walk away into the Jakku night.