AUTHOR'S COMMENTS:

I'd like to give a big thanks to all the people who have been reading this story and supporting it so far! This is my reviewers' response corner! I appreciate all the feedback here now and the feedback still to come. Keep in mind that if I get more reviews for previous chapters, I will still try and respond to those as well. Thank you!

Paul Cousins I hope you like the following chapters, and I'm glad you liked Chapter 1.
tsk91 Yes, I thought if would be nice of Luke to say that. Plus, I really want him to be in the story more, so, of course, he's going to tag along. HAHA
ManonVarendaz I appreciate your kind-hearted review. I am more than glad to share this story. I also hope the upcoming chapters are interesting for you!
beckywbotsford I am super happy you think my story is awesome! (is touched) Here is more!

Chapter 2- Family Reunion and Jealousy

Everyone climbed aboard the ship, getting ready for takeoff. As Luke climbed on, the memories flooded through him. He stopped in his tracks, letting it all sink in.

It took many long moments for anyone to realize him standing still, though, since he was the last one who walked in. Rey's simple mention of his name when she came over woke him from his daydreaming.

"Luke?"

"Oh, um..." he smiled, "What was that?"

"You sure were daydreaming," she couldn't help but laugh at her Master's actions.

"It's just that...it's been so long since I've seen this ship. We had many adventures with it."

Rey let him think for a bit longer, and then chimed in, "By the way...is it alright?"

He was confused, "Is what alright?"

"For me to call you by your first name. I...don't want to be informal, Master."

Luke was a bit surprised, "You are far too polite, my young padawan. You could have called me that any time you like."

Rey's face was a little red, feeling embarrassed, "I-I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I called my Masters by their names, too, so this is no different. I know you mean no disrespect. Besides, I consider us more than just teacher and learner."

She nodded, knowing already what he was about to say.

"You have become a good friend," Luke finished, putting and arm around her shoulder as they went to join everyone else.

Rey was slowly getting used to having more friends. It seemed like only yesterday she was all alone on Jakku, but at the same time it felt like an eternity. She had gotten to know more people by now, so it was becoming commonplace.

As Luke separated to take his seat, Rey's mind was excited about piloting again. Chewie was waiting for her in the cockpit. He nodded with a cheery growl, a sign he was more than happy to be her co-pilot once more. As she sat in her seat, everything fell into place as if she had been flying ships her whole life. She pressed a few buttons to get ready for takeoff, also prepping for lightspeed.

Meanwhile, Luke had taken a seat next to Finn, who also had R2 nearby in power-down mode to rest.

What do I say to him? Finn racked his brain, I don't know him very well, and this is the first time we've met. Plus, he's a Jedi. Can I even use normal "meet and greet" sayings?

Despite Finn's semi-panicking, Luke turned to him and held his hand out, "Nice to meet you...Finn, was it?"

Finn internally sighed in relief, "Y...Yes. That's right," he shook his hand in return.

"Rey has told me all about you, you know."

His ears perked up, "Oh, uh...really?"

"Are you that surprised?"

Finn waved his hands in front of him, "N-no, I just didn't know she talked about me that much."

"Well, she told me enough. You were her very first real friend," Luke looked slightly forlorn, "She was also very troubled. I could tell because there were some days she couldn't fully focus while doing her exercises. I heard from her that you had been hurt in battle."

Finn agreed, "Yeah," his head slightly lower now, We were both uneasy, not sure how the other was doing. Weren't we, Rey?

"Feeling all better, then?" Luke asked.

"For the most part. I just get small back pains every now and then, but those should fade eventually, they said. Those medical droids know their stuff. They sure did a number on me," he grinned.

Luke reciprocated his happiness, "That is good to hear. I'm sure now that you are mostly recovered, Rey will have no problem concentrating on her training."

That last statement made Finn more happy than he wanted to show. He changed the subject and just simply asked, "So...can I call you Luke, then?"

"Of course. That will be fine."

Finn was content, "By the way, It's been nice to meet you, too, Luke. Thanks for helping Rey."

"Prepare for takeoff!" Rey shouted back to them, and the ship was hovering over the ground.

"Speaking of Rey," Luke said, "I guess I finally get to see her flying skills at work."

Finn chuckled as they buckled in, and the ship took off only seconds later.

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The Falcon, hours past that, reached the planet of D'Qar. It slowed down to fly through the atmosphere, until arriving to land at the Resistance base.

Once the landing gear was planted, the ship came to a complete halt. Rey powered it down and opened the departure hatch.

Her and Chewbacca walked out of the cockpit into the center of the ship to join Finn and Luke. Finn woke up R2 and unplugged him from the ship's charging area. The droid quickly scurried away, anxious to be back.

"Woah! Hey, watch it!" Finn stood up quickly, almost being knocked into by the excited machine, "He really wants to get off, huh?"

That only made Luke laugh.

Chewie and Finn were the next to step out soon after, but then Luke stopped Rey.

"You aren't too bad," he complimented, "...at flying, that is."

She did a half-smile, "Well, I did kind of miss it," and then she suddenly wanted to take back what she said and began to stutter, "Th-that doesn't mean I wouldn't rather train with you, or-" she was flabbergasted, "I mean, we didn't have any aircraft where you were, and...um..."

Luke only laughed again, but assured, "Rey. It's okay."

Rey realized she was overreacting, placing her hand behind her head to scratch at it, "S-Sorry."

Luke smirked at her, stating, "Hey...your landing was great. You had more grace than I'm used to, based on my past experience being a passenger in this 'hunk of junk.' "

That made them both smile wide, even though they were referring to Han's methods of flying his "trusty" ship. They may have missed him, but that didn't mean they wanted to forget about him.

Rey grabbed Luke's hand tightly, but with care, "Are you sure you're ready?" She couldn't even imagine what he was feeling now, about to see his sister again after so many years.

Luke deeply sighed, but he nodded.

"Come on, then," she let go, sauntering off by herself to give him space.

As her feet met the hard, concrete ground of the base, she saw Leia only feet in front of her, ready for a greeting.

"Hello," was all Rey said, knowing it was enough for now.

Leia walked closer, "Good to see you again, Rey," and her arms came around the girl in a warm, friendly embrace.

They both leaned back, eyes meeting with sincerity.

"How are things here?" Rey questioned.

The general shrugged, "Same ol' same ol,' " she replied.

"Leia."

That familiar voice rang loudly in Leia's ears, having not heard it in so long.

Luke stood right behind them, and when Rey turned around, she mouthed "good luck."

"Excuse me," Rey left quietly, leaving the siblings to themselves.

For what seemed like an eternity, although it wasn't, the brother and sister only stood there. They couldn't move or speak.

Luke's conscious was getting the better of him, and his words formed out loud first, "I'm...I'm so sorry, Leia. For..." his voice quivered, "...for everything. I just..."

Leia didn't want to hear anymore of it. As her eyes welled up with endless moisture, spilling out onto her cheeks, she went over and hugged her brother tightly.

Luke exhaled, a breath of consolation. He hadn't even cried in years, but at that moment the tears came on their own without any of his control over them. He was more than ready to return such an eager hug from her, and so he did so.

After brief moments of walking (and she had walked slower than normal on purpose), Rey couldn't help but turn around to see the sight. She was very happy.

"Good for them."

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Finn was walking around the base, just randomly talking with others on the way to his quarters. He was definitely deserving of some rest.

In the midst of conversations, Poe found him and called him over. Once in hearing range, Poe spoke up with enthusiasm.

"Finn, you won't believe it!"

"Won't believe what?" he wasn't sure why Poe had tracked him down specifically.

"You need to come to the next meeting. You've gotta hear what they have to say about our next mission."

Finn crossed his arms, "Well, if it's so important, why can't you tell me?"

Poe began to whisper, "It's kind of under-wraps at the moment, alright? I can't let too much information get out, even to those on our own side."

"Hmmmm...that secret, huh?" Finn was now more curious than ever.

"What's a secret?"

Both of the friends suddenly got tense, turning to see Rey looking at them, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Oh, um...we can't, um..." Finn looked up, as if trying to come up with something...anything...to help divert her attention.

Poe took charge when he saw his friend looking troubled, "Actually, Finn. She needs to be in on this, too."

Finn's eyes were a little wider, looking at Poe, "She does?"

"I do?" Rey also asked.

"Don't worry. You'll both be informed tomorrow afternoon. I just needed to make sure to pass the message on."

"Oh, okay. Thanks for that, uh..." Rey couldn't remember his name.

Poe took out his hand for her to shake, "Poe. Poe Dameron," he said in a polite tone, his lips turned up in a broad smile.

Finn looked back and forth at the two as Rey grabbed Poe's hand for the welcoming gesture, grinning back at him. What was this feeling? It was the first time he had felt this way.

"Rey, right?" Poe continued, ungripping her hand.

"Yes. I'm sorry I forgot your name, Poe. We barely met before I took off to find Luke."

"No problem. I hope to get to know you better. A lot has been said about you around here. You are quite the celebrity."

Rey giggled, "I don't mean to be. I'm not looking to be famous of anything."

Finn just couldn't put his finger on what agitated him from their simple act of talking. What was bugging him so much about all of this?

"I also hear you're a pretty good pilot. I'll have to see it some time."

Rey answered Poe for the compliment with a simple, "Thanks."

"I'm pretty good myself. We could always find time to talk and exchange our knowledge with each other."

Yep. There was no doubt Finn was considerably bothered at this point.

"Really?" Rey was interested in talking more with another pilot, and that's all that was on her mind when she replied, "Sure. Although, I don't know what I could really help with."

"Oh, don't say that. You're being too modest. Isn't that right?" Poe nudged Finn, "You've seen her fly. She is good, am I right?"

"Y-Yeah. She's...really good," Finn barely spoke after he had been brought back from his inner thoughts.

"That's nice of you to say, Finn. Thank you for that," Rey turned her attention to him.

Finn froze, taken off guard from her gratitude, but managed to say, "You're welcome."

Many beeping noises came from behind Rey in the distance, and BB-8 was rolling closer to see her.

"BB-8!" she exclaimed, running over to see him.

With more of a distance between her and the others now, Poe talked with Finn again, "She seems nice."

"Of course she is," Finn was ready to defend that statement.

Poe semi-shrugged, "Well...she is kind of cute, too."

"What?" Finn retorted, unsuspecting of hearing that.

"You would know, though," Poe kept chatting, "You know her better than I do," he winked.

"Uhhhh..."

Poe erupted in enormous laughter at the expense of his friend, "I'm just messing with you!" he slapped Finn on the back, but not too roughly, "Can't you take a joke?"

Finn still wasn't sure to respond to that.

"Fine, fine, I get it. Just lighten up a little, okay? You know, take it easy sometimes. You seem tense."

"No, I'm alright," Finn tried to assure.

Poe laughed more, "Well, see you later! Don't forget about the meeting!" and he took his leave.

"Okay, see you," Finn said, although maybe too quietly for Poe to hear. Too deep in thought, he looked back up towards Rey.

What is it?

He saw her endlessly smiling as she dabbled on and on with BB-8.

He found himself, in turn, smiling as well as he watched. Then, he began to frown as he realized what he was doing.

No...no, no, no! He mentally kicked himself, It can't be that!

Rey stood up, waving goodbye to the droid.

Or maybe...

Then, she turned to walk back over, this time grinning directly at Finn.

Maybe it is-

"Hey, where'd Poe go?" Rey was now directly in front of him, ready for a casual chat. Little did she know all that he was dealing with in his brain right then and there.

"Oh, well-" Finn's head snapped back up, trying to concentrate better, "He had to leave. Not sure why."

Rey understood, "He probably has things to do. We'll see him tomorrow at the meeting, I guess. I wonder what is so important."

"Me, too."

A few seconds of silence, and then Rey brought up, "It's been a while."

"Hmmmm?"

"We really haven't been able to talk like this for a long time. Wanna go somewhere and catch up with each other?"

"Oh, sure. That's fine."

Rey grabbed his hand without really thinking, her naivety as strong as ever, happily walking in a certain direction to find somewhere away from the crowd.

She didn't know it, but that simple touch was making Finn's heart begin to beat faster. It wasn't the same feeling as when they had been on Jakku. They had held hands multiple time while running furiously from enemy TIE fighters.

This time, however, was completely different.

Is this...really what I think of her now? Has it come to this?

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END OF CHAPTER 2