The next morning, Rey, Finn, and Poe woke bright and early in preparation for their departure. Rey packed a small suitcase with basic clothing, attaching her lightsaber to the thin belt at her hip.

As she entered the kitchen, Rey saw Luke and Leia sitting at the dining table. They stopped talking when she entered, and Rey greeted them.

"Rey, I've been thinking," Luke said, standing up. He stepped forward and slid his hand into his robe, pulling out his lightsaber. "You should take this one instead."

Rey looked at him questioningly. She hesitantly took the saber, turning the familiar object over in her hands "But, this is yours."

"It calls to you," he said. "I know it does. My time with it has long reached its end. It belongs to you now."

Rey admired the aged lightsaber in her hands, trying to hide her growing excitement at having it in her grasp once again. "Are you sure?" She asked, looking back up at Luke, eyes shining.

Luke nodded heartily. "Absolutely. You seem to be able to use this one more naturally, anyways. Here, I'll take the other one off of you," he said, and Rey handed him the yellow saber. She attached the blue lightsaber to her belt, instinctively wrapping her sweater around it, her prized possession.

…

As Finn, Poe, and Luke began boarding the small transport shuttle, Rey hugged Leia at the edge of the tarmac. Leia and the other visiting members of the Order were staying a few more days with Luke on the tiny, unnamed, and otherwise uninhabited planet. Rey couldn't wait to leave, to see civilization once again after having stayed on this small planet for over a year.

"Be careful," Leia said, touching Rey's cheek. "I need you to return to me." Rey smiled at Leia's warm maternal concern.

"I promise," Rey said confidently.

After another hug from Leia, Rey turned and crossed the tarmac, pulling along her small suitcase. She saw Poe waiting for her at the shuttle's open door. He raised an eyebrow at her as she approached. "Ready for an adventure?" He exclaimed.

"Always," Rey said, and Poe followed her inside the shuttle. Luke and Poe got into the front control seats as they started the shuttle's engines. Finn and Rey sat in two of the passenger seats behind them. Rey turned to look at Poe next to her, who seemed quiet.

"Is there something wrong, Finn?" She asked gently.

He raised his eyebrows and shook his head at her. "No. Nothing's wrong, it's nothing," he said with feigned assertion.

Rey laid a reassuring hand on his arm. "You can tell me," she said, just as the engines grew louder. The shuttle began shivering as it lifted from the ground, pushing them into the air, heading towards the atmosphere. As the rumbling noise from the engine subsided, Rey looked back at Finn expectantly.

Finn frowned, struggling to meet her eyes. "I just...I don't think this is a good idea. And Poe isn't taking this seriously enough," he admitted. "He was all gung-ho when Leia proposed this to us...but, I mean, doesn't he realize who we're after?" He turned and met her with unmistakable fear in his eyes.

Rey's mind wandered to her dark memories of Kylo Ren, when she first saw him in her Force vision, stalking towards her in the rain. "Well, we're not trying to find him, we're just trying to get information about him," Rey said after a few moments of silence. "Really, I think that Poe just wants to try and make Leia happy...she's obviously been through great trauma. I simply can't imagine what she's gone through…" Rey said, her voice drifting.

"You're right," Finn said, nodding. "I mean, I highly doubt Kylo Ren is even still alive, he had to have gotten blown up with the base."

"Even besides that, Poe knows what he's getting into," Rey continued. "He knows what Kylo is capable of." Rey remembered how distraught Poe seemed whenever he recounted being tortured at Starkiller Base and interrogated by Kylo. From what Rey had overheard, it had apparently taken Poe quite some time to recover psychologically from his ordeal. Perhaps he still hasn't fully recovered, Rey thought.

...

Finn and Rey talked about how Luke had given her his lightsaber as their transport ship neared Takodana, Poe in the pilot's seat. After having taken the three up to Leia's large star ship in the unnamed planet's orbit, Luke had exchanged goodbyes with them before taking the small transport shuttle back down to the planet.

However, before getting back into the shuttle, Luke had pulled Rey aside, firmly gripping her shoulder as his expression grew serious. "Rey, remember, do not use the lightsaber or your powers unless you have to," he said. "If you blow your cover as a user of the Force, you will be in grave danger."

Rey nodded, and Luke released his hand from her shoulder, turning to get into the ship, but he suddenly stopped himself.

"One more thing," he said, slowly turning to face her again. "If you feel the presence of the Force at any time, even if it's calling to you...no matter where you are or what you're doing, get out of there immediately," he said, and Rey's eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"But I thought we are to listen to the Force? To follow it?" She questioned.

Luke's somber gaze moved to the side momentarily. "I want you to separate yourself from the Force this time. Avoid it, at all costs." Right after having said this, before Rey had the chance to speak again, Luke turned and got into the shuttle.

...

As the ship touched down on the brilliantly green Takodana, Rey marvelled at the familiar view of the stunning lake and valley outside of the window. Next to the water, across from their ship, she saw a large but unfinished castle, seemingly taller than the original had been.

"I wonder why she stayed here, after the First Order blew this place up," Finn said.

Rey shook her head. "I don't know."

Poe came out from the pilot's section, smiling. "I wonder if Maz still runs a bar here?" He asked.

The three exited the ship, stepping onto the soft grass. Rey looked around at the natural scenery as took she took a deep breath, taking in the cool, crisp air.

"My friends!" Rey heard a familiar voice exclaim. The three turned to look as the small Maz was making her way towards their landed ship.

They each had to bend down as Maz took turns hugging them, so as to avoid her just hugging their legs.

"Poe, you look as strong and confident as ever," Maz admired. "You too, Finn. Very muscular!" She said, pretending to flex her small arm.

She looked up at Rey, smiling warmly. "Ah, and the ray of sunshine," she said, and they all laughed momentarily at the pun.

Maz motioned towards the castle. "C'mon, I'll get you guys a round of drinks. It's not much, the place is still under construction, but it's something. I'm hoping it'll be finished in the next few months."

…

Once inside, Maz ushered the three to take a seat at a round table, not unlike the one that Finn and Rey had sat at before in this bar. Several small groups of people and creatures of varying species sat around the room, which seemed to be larger than the original bar room. The other visitors took little notice of the group as they entered. Rey noticed that the bar room itself really did not look much different than before, save for newer decorations and trinkets lining the walls.

Maz came back to their table with three pints of a green drink, passing them to Finn, Rey, and Poe, who winked at Rey.

"This is Ebla Beer?" Rey asked Maz, sneaking a smile at Poe.

Maz nodded, taking a seat at the table. "Yes, it is."

"No beer for you, Maz?" Poe asked.

"No, I haven't had a drink for…a while. At least, not since this place was pummeled to smithereens," she said, her voice faintly bitter.

"Maz, what made you stay here?" Rey asked.

Maz looked around the room thoughtfully for a few moments. "This place has a lot of history. I feel connected to this place, this planet, and so do a lot of my regular guests; I felt I owed it to both them and myself to rebuild what I'd had here before. To provide a place of comfort, of hospitality after a long journey. I salvaged everything I could from the original, which wasn't much."

"Savages," Finn said under his breath.

"Yes, you could call them that," Maz said, nodding slowly. "Speaking of which, Luke sent me word of why you're here."

"Do you have any information, Maz?" Poe asked. Rey wondered why he hadn't been more specific with is question.

"Yes, let's not say his name aloud, lest someone hear us," she said rather quietly. Maz then sighed, leaning back in her chair as she looked at Poe. "And I do not have anything conclusive on where he is."

"But there has to be enough visitors here that still have some sort of allegiance to the First Order, a spy, an ex-stormtrooper?" Poe said, motioning towards Finn, who looked offended.

"There are only rumors, which vary too much to be taken seriously. If you're wanting to know his direct whereabouts," she said, "I could only guess."

"But a figure like that, he's iconic. People would easily recognize him. Most people at least know of the guy," Poe said.

Maz leaned forward, lowering her voice. "A figure like that can go under wraps quite easily, actually. And most people know of him, but they don't know what he looks like without that mask."

"Finn and I saw him without his mask," Rey said.

"I remember Luke mentioning that to me, when he told me how you two fought him. That was very brave of you."

Rey hesitated before speaking again. "Ky—I mean, he also took his mask off in front of me before he read my mind. When he kidnapped me and took me onto ship."

Maz straightened her posture, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "He did? I didn't know that. Why would he do that?"

"Well, I believe I called him 'a creature in a mask,' and then he just…took it off," Rey said, and Poe and Finn both chuckled.

"Hell yeah you did, Rey!" Poe exclaimed, gesturing towards her with his beer.

"And then he proceeded to read your mind? What did he look like? What was he like?" Maz questioned.

Rey was surprised at all of her questions. "Well, I mean, he seemed...younger looking than I expected him to be," she said. Maz waited, encouraging her to continue. "He was very…intense. He just kept staring, I nearly felt as if I were being examined by a doctor," Rey said.

"Did he try to harm you?" Maz asked, making eye contact with Poe.

Rey frowned, shook her head. "No, he didn't. He didn't touch me. He came very close to me, though...his face was very…close to mine when he was reading my thoughts."

"And you tried to fight him, right? To keep him out of your mind?"

"Yes, but he still got to my thoughts," Rey said, her voice quieting as she recounted when Kylo had accessed some of her deepest feelings, her loneliness and her fear.

Poe leaned an elbow on the table. "But when he read your mind-didn't it hurt?"

"Well, it was uncomfortable, but…" Rey remembered the instant deep connection she'd felt when he'd entered her mind, but wasn't sure if it was worth mentioning, if it really meant anything. "It didn't hurt, no. But...there was something else I felt, some feeling...I can't explain it. But he had the same feeling."

"The same one? How do you know?" Maz asked.

"I remember he said, 'don't be afraid, I feel it too.' And for some reason, I knew exactly what he was talking about."

Maz sat back against her chair, letting out a long breath as she continued to study Rey hard. "This feeling, you really can't describe it?"

"It felt...it was overwhelming... really, I cannot explain it," Rey said, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"Did this feeling scare you?" Maz asked, leaning forward once again.

Rey felt flushed. "Yes," she said with a nod.

"Why didn't it hurt Rey when he read her thoughts?" Poe asked. "I mean, I'm very glad for Rey's sake. It's because she has the Force too, right?"

Maz narrowed her eyes, thinking for a moment. "No, that wouldn't be it."

"So, what then?" Finn interjected.

Maz rubbed her mouth in consideration. "Well, assuming that the victim of the forced mind reading was attempting to block the other out, in which case we know Rey was, the only way this wouldn't cause the victim pain is if the one trespassing into the other's thoughts did so with careful precision. With deliberation."

"I'm sorry, I'm really confused here," Finn said, squinting.

"So in other words, he purposefully wasn't trying to hurt Rey?" Poe asked, raising an eyebrow.

Maz nodded. "Yes. Which is...interesting." She sighed, and a look of sadness suddenly crossed her eyes.

"What is it?" Rey asked concernedly.

Maz had a distant look in her small eyes. "I haven't seen Ben since he was very young. Since he was my own height," she added with a chuckle, but her smile slowly faded again. "But I knew who he was, knew his character. Ben was always a rather serious child, but never, never a cruel one…Perhaps there is light in him yet."

"We watched him murder his own father," Finn said.

Maz shot him an angry look, and Rey realized with astonishment that Maz still cared about Ben. "No story is ever black-and-white, stormtrooper," Maz snapped. "None of us know what he has been through." Rey caught Finn and Poe exchanging skeptical looks.

"Why would he be in hiding?" Poe asked, changing the subject. "From us? The Order of Organa?"

"I don't know," Maz said, shrugging. "There is a healthy price tag for his head, so that is possibly why. But there are many potential reasons, so I simply do not know."

"Maz, do you have any idea where he could be hiding?" Rey asked. "I mean, where would you go if you didn't want to be found?"

"Why, where anyone worth their salt would go if they really wanted to disappear," Maz said frankly, looking directly at Finn.

Finn thought for a moment, then it dawned on him. "The Outer RIm."