When she woke up, she was back on the Falcon. Finn and Poe stood over her, their eyes wide. Finn looked close to tears, whereas Poe looked drawn, and anxious. They started to speak, all at once.

Rey held up her palm. "Please…" she said "Tell me. Is he dead?"

"Yes," Poe replied.

"You literally…. melted him." said Finn. "He's definitely dead."

"No," she said. "Ben…"

Poe looked at Finn for a moment, as if he was uncertain of the right answer.

"We don't know," he replied. "His soldiers hauled him up and got him back on his ship. Then they left, in a hurry."

"He didn't look good, Rey," said Finn, softly.

Rey pressed her lips together. She reached out into the ether, and searched for him. There, in the distance. There was a light.

"No," she said. "He's still alive." She pulled herself up in her bunk, and looked around. Then, she burst into tears.

"How?" asked Poe, almost to himself.

Finn sat down alongside her, and drew her into his arms. She held him tightly. Finn, her friend, her rock. Finn shrugged. He was done trying to explain anything anymore when it came to the Force.

"Things got pretty strange back there," he murmured. He started to stroke Rey's hair. "I mean, she flew. Rey. Flew. She took up into the sky and floated. And she glowed. Purple. It was… terrible. And I never want to see it again."

"It was… Ben," she choked, her tears still flowing. "He passed his powers to me, momentarily. I never even knew that was possible. But then, I suppose… that's what had happened to Hux. He stole the Knight's abilities."

"Is Ben still… there?" asked Poe, prodding her, gently. "Are you still…. light/dark? Or Dark/light? Grey?"

"No," she said. "I must've passed them back somehow."

Poe turned away for a moment, and looked out of the window. Then he spoke again. "You kissed him." His voice was stiff, but his tone was resigned. "Maybe, you saved his life."

Finn pushed her gently back, and put her face in his hands. "So do you want to go there?"

"Where?" she said. Finn smiled. "Where everyone wants to go, dummy. That dusty hellhole. Jakku."

"Okay," said Finn, as the Falcon dipped out of orbit and banked down towards the planet's former scavenger centre. "Maybe no so much of a hellhole anymore."

Before them, they saw towns springing up, and in the distance, a larger one. There were signed of life, even water, greenery. On Jakku.

Rey could hardly believe her eyes. How has she missed this last time she had come?

The Falcon dipped again, and landed just outside the main town. She stood up to leave, expecting Finn and Poe to do the same. But they stayed seated, and looked at the ground.

"This isn't our stop," said Finn.

"We're heading back to the Cruiser," added Poe.

She looked at them, and nodded. They all knew that whether Ben was still Ben or.. something else… she would want to be here for a while. So much had happened since she had been an orphan growing up on this planet. She needed more time to process.

"Whether we like it or not," said Finn, quietly. "There's something between you, something we can't understand."

"Just make sure…" continued Poe, his voice small. "He doesn't hurt you."

"Did you see that purple thing she did?" asked Finn, and smiled.

Rey looked across at the two men, and felt her heart would burst.

She hadn't been on Jakku's new capital town, which seemed to be unnamed, more than an hour before she felt someone watching her. Sure enough, as she turned her head she saw a familiar face. Iago.

She was walking through the town's main medina, taking in the sights and smells of a very new, unfamiliar Jakku.

Around her, men and women toiled in small shops and factories, making things. Good things. Here was a man shaping the most extraordinary sculptures from old sheet metal. Here, a woman fashioned jewellery, decorated with gems and dyed sand. Here, another man was created bespoke hand weapons, and even lightsabres.

Iago fell in beside her, quietly. "We've been expecting you," he said. "Well. He's been expecting you."

"He's okay?" she asked, in a small voice, as she fiddled absent mindedly with a beautiful necklace.

"Weak, but recovered. We may be sand people, but we do have bacta tanks. And frankly genius physicians."

She smiled, and for the first time felt a ball of excitement form in the pit of her stomach. He was alive. And she was going to see him, properly, for the first time since… since…?

Had it been the Throne Room fight? She could still remember the graze of her hand on his thigh as they had fought back to back. But then, she remembered the darkness in hie eyes as she has said no. It seemed so long ago.

This time, she thought to herself. I want to say yes. I just hope he asks the right question. She put down the necklace.

Iago, she noticed, was looking at her. "Shall I tell you about this place?" he asked.

As he spoke, they rounded a corner and came to a large square. It was beautifully designed, surrounded by large town houses and guesthouses cut from sandstone blocks. Nothing was grand, but everything was simple, and beautiful. Water fountains sprayed gently in the centre, and brightly painted tiles covered the ground. Rugs and fabrics hang from walls and windows.

"I can't believe this place," she said, stopping. "Who….?"

"Scavengers," replied Iago, and his eyes smiled. "With a bit of leadership, and a bit of help."

She looked at him, expectantly.

"We arrived here after we left Ahch-To," he continued. "Kylo, as he was then, was in a pretty bad way. But, also, he was better. He wanted to come here, we had no idea why. It looked like a hellhole. But it seemed to give him something that he needed."

He was down, for a long time, well, we all were. But after a while, it seemed to inspire him. He started to talk to the people. He said they were the most resourceful, toughest people he had ever met. He admired them. We were horrified. He was a Prince!"

But then, he got them working. He threw out that fool and got the people making things, doing things. They still used what they could find, but he helped them be better. He built houses. He built a school. He bought things in and the people repaid him. Turned out these people could do a lot."

I admit," continued the Knight, "We doubted him at first. We've always been soldiers and leaving the Order.. and our Brothers… was a wrench. We went through so much too, after Skywalker. But…it started to make sense to us, too. It felt good to see something grow, other than the bows of a Destroyer or rows of an army. So now we make things that we sell across this system. We've got the start of a entertainment quarter. We race. We have soldiers too. But our own brand. Not Sith, Not Jedi. Just Force people. Sand people."

Rey thought about that for a moment. After a while, she asked, "And what of justice?"

"We're tribal," continued Iago. "There's a council of 12, and the Aghmar. The King. Each of the council are responsible for something. I have water. That's mine,": he pointed, proudly, to the fountain. "Plus the pipes in the ground."

We also act as judge and jury," he continued. "It's very neat. Decisions get made."

Rey looked troubled for a moment. She looked around, and noted the grit and determination on people's faces. Things, she realised, were not easy.

"It's not a Republic," he said, as if reading her mind. "We're not a democracy. He's a King. But… he's made lives better."

"But he takes lives too," she said, quietly.

"Yes." said Iago. "If we all decide that's right. If you wrong the town or the people… well. There's no jail. If you're weak… well. Its a hard town."

She looked around again, and saw again that grit, and determination. But she also saw hope, And pride.

Suddenly, Iago stopped in front of her. She looked up, and realised they had come to a large sandstone fortress, surrounded with palms. The light was slowly failing, and stars were beginning to glimmer in the sky.

"Look," said Iago. "He said to be honest. I'm not sure what you are to him. Its…something we can't understand. But it feels important that you stay, and speak to him. But if not, you can go."

Iago gestured towards a small ship that sat in the grounds of the fortress. She recognised it as Kylo's ship.

"Will you stay?" asked Iago.

Rey looked up at the fortress and saw a tall shadow standing in a balcony. She couldn't make out a face, but she didn't need to.

Her stomach leapt. "Take me to him," she said.