A/N: Life is starting to pick up again on my end. I'll do my best to upload a new chapter at least once a week, but I absolutely won't be able to keep publishing a chapter every-other-day or so. Thank you for all of the support with this fic! Please continue to follow the story and leave reviews. You all are the best!
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Rey sat alone on a small slab of rock jutting out from the cave's exterior. She had tried relieving one of the sentry guards on duty just to give herself an excuse not to sleep, but had been told that she was not expected to perform that task. Apparently, many in the Resistance saw her as a Jedi to be renowned, not as a scavenger girl who had many other skills besides the ability to use the Force.

Sounds of merriment drifted to her ears from deep inside the cave. Finn had wanted her to stay, to be part of the celebrations. But Rey didn't feel there was much cause for celebration. Logically, she knew why everyone's spirits had been raised: Anya's contacts on Onderon had paid off and the royal family there had agreed to lend support to the Resistance. It was a pivotal moment in the battle.

But something just felt off to her.

Exhaling deeply, she focused her mind, remembering the few meditation techniques she had learned from both of her masters. Clearing her mind proved almost impossible - something was missing.

Or someone.

Reaching out with her mind, she followed the sliver of power that connected her and - Ben. She thought sternly. That's who he was, at least around her. When they were alone. When he didn't feel pressured to hide his true self.

How desperately she wanted everyone else to be able to see him the same way. And yet, a selfish part of her relished in the rush of elation she felt because she was the only one who actually knew him.

The man she knew certainly wasn't the thoughtful, idealistic, and loyal boy that Anya had told her stories about. Except...she had seen that careful, calculated look in his eyes when he watched her; had felt his intense determination to protect her whenever she was in danger. That boy was not nearly as dead as everyone seemed to believe.

Just buried - buried very deeply under a mask of rage and indifference. But when that mask was pulled back, the conflict underneath was crystal clear. He had been stuck his entire life between two opposite extremes, only to find he belonged in neither.

It was all too easy, Rey thought, to imagine that she would have made a different choice. But would she? If their roles had been reversed, would she have chosen any differently? If she had felt a dark, forbidden power growing within her, would she have been able to resist going against everything she had been taught to believe was right just to try and find herself?

She had been tempted already and had almost given in after a few moments of doubt. What would years of that type of self-deprecation drive someone to do?

Every day that she spent in the Resistance, better understanding the values and the people behind the group, a smidgen more empathy washed over her. Ben must have thought running was his only option. He didn't think anyone would accept him. And he was partially right. She thought, sickeningly, remembering the multiple versions of the story she had been told of the night Master Luke had gone to confront his nephew.

But he hadn't met me then, Rey thought with determination, and I'm not going to give up on him.

True, she had thought to give up on him for a moment, after Crait, but had quickly tossed the idea aside as her concern for him sparked anew upon feeling the pain he was in.

"Rey?" A voice called out. With a pang of disappointment, she realized the voice was coming from down below, not present in her mind. "Are you out here?"

Head hanging over the side of her perch, she spotted a tall, lone figure backlit by torch light. "Up here, Poe," she responded, trying to keep the sadness from her voice. There was no possible way to explain why she upset.

"What are you doing all the way up there?" Poe asked as he clambered his way up to join her on the small, bumpy boulder.

"Just thinking," she responded as cheerily as possible without sounding fake.

"You want some company?"

Yes, but he's not here right now. "Sure." Rey responded, gesturing for Poe to sit down.

Even sitting, Poe seemed antsy. "I know we haven't really spoken much," he said, breaking the silence that had settled between them, "but you weren't at the celebration and, uh…" He sighed, taking a moment to recollect his thoughts. "I know this war can be draining: sometimes it just feels like one defeat after another and it can be hard to see why it all matters. Guess I'm just saying - if you need to talk, you have friends here."

A genuine smile raised the corners of Rey's lips. "Thank you." she responded softly. "All of this is just still so new to me," she admitted, glancing down at her hands. "I'm used to being alone."

"If you want me to leave you alone, just push me off your rock." Poe's laughter was contagious, lifting Rey's contemplative spirits.

"It's not that I want to be alone," she explained as the laughter subsided. "It's more that I'm just not very good at not being alone." Rey paused, considering her last words, "That didn't make much sense, did it?"

"Nah," he responded, turning his face to look up at the stars, "that makes sense. You strike me as more person of action than words, anyway."

"Words don't get you very far on Jakku," she agreed.

As the silence stretched on between them again, Rey's mind drifted to Ben once more. Part of her felt guilty, sitting there with a loyal member of Resistance, outside of the Resistance's base, thinking of their greatest enemy. The other part of her wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Something had been wrong with Ben when they spoke earlier, she had sensed it. But, for some reason, he had tried to act like nothing was wrong. At the time, he had distracted her with his quickly-shifting mood. Now, however, her mind kept replaying that question he had asked her so intensely, "Do you feel it?" Had she felt what?

Other than his odd behavior, nothing about their conversation had lept out to her. What was it that he thought she would feel? Some growing part of their connection? No - she would have noticed.

Well, then who had he been arguing with? She doubted they would have had a conversation had he been anywhere public when the Force connected them. Besides, she hadn't sensed anything abnormal about their connection.

Unless...unless her first instincts had been correct and Master Skywalker had been wrong. Snoke couldn't have been pleased to have been murdered by his apprentice. If he had come back as a Force ghost like Master Skywalker, then he would likely stick around Ben, haunting him, causing him pain. Rey shuddered to think of what Snoke could be capable of, even in death.

"What would you do," she questioned, voice barely above a whisper, "if someone…" Rey paused, trying to gather her courage to say the words. "If someone you cared about was in danger? What lengths would you go to in order to protect them? Is there such a thing as going too far?"

"Who's in danger?" He asked, suddenly alert.

Rey shook her head. "No one. Nevermind." She shouldn't have asked in the first place.

Seeing her withdrawing back into herself, Poe leaned back against the rocks and crossed his arms, a thoughtful look crossing his face. "Well," he began, "I'd probably do something drastic. If someone I cared about was in trouble, I would find a way to get them out of it. Or die trying."

"Even if no one understood?"

"It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks," he insisted, "if someone you love is in danger, you do your best to save them."

'Love?' I certainly don't - I mean, sure, I care what happens to him and would do anything to keep him safe, but I don't love...Do I?

"Thanks, Poe." She said, using her staff to help boost herself to her feet. "That's what I needed to hear."

Ignoring Poe's confused sputtering, she quickly climbed down the side of the cave, sliding the last few feet. "Where are you going?" He called from above her.

"To do something drastic." She hollered back, taking off at a run towards the Falcon.