A note from your humble author: Here's a nice loooong chapter to get you through the weekend :D Also, some lemon, you're welcome! ~_^

"I owe you two, and I pay my debts. What can I get for you, anything, name it!" offered Lando the next day as they joined him and Rando for breakfast in his luxurious apartment. Lando had not stopped thanking them since the rescue and both Rey and Ben were being made uncomfortable by so much praise, nor could they think of anything that they particularly wanted. Lando had been poorly treated while a prisoner of the First Order, but after a few solid meals, the attention of a medic, a good night's rest, and a private talk with his son, he was looking and feeling much better.

"I'll bet you're one hell of a pilot like your old man!" commented Lando, trying to reacquaint himself with the son of one of his dearest friends. Lando Calrissian had not seen Ben Solo since he was a young boy, and he couldn't help but notice how much he reminded him of Han. Word had reached Lando in the past year of Han Solo's death, and he had been devastated by it, as he and Han had been friends for a long time. They had both been generals in the days of the old Rebel Alliance.

Lando remembered when Han would bring Ben to visit Cloud City, back when he was just a boy and his own son was still in diapers. He was a strange child, sometimes happy, sometimes somber, but he would always get a sparkle in his eye at the mention of piloting or anything to do with starships. Like father, like son.

Han had once confided in him that his son was being troubled by something, something to do with the force, and that he felt powerless as a father to help such a clearly gifted child. Lando would later know that own struggle when he discovered the same abilities in his own son. He had heard that they sent him to Luke Skywalker for help, and that after a few years the academy had been destroyed, and that Ben was missing. As a father he sympathized with Han and Leia in their time of loss. He knew that Ben had been missing for many years, but that Han and Leia seemed to believe…to know…that somewhere he was still alive. He had wondered if it was just the futile hope of devastated parents, but now before him, after so very many years, he could see the face that resembled the father, and the dark knowing eyes of the mother. It seemed, Ben Solo had returned from the dead. Indeed, he had thought he was looking at a ghost when the young man first greeted him, a shadow of Han returned from the grave, but when the young man had said he was Ben, he could hardly believe it. He wondered why Leia had not told him of her son's return, such momentous news; he was a little hurt that she had not shared it with him. He would have celebrated for her, but he sensed that there was much that had happened in the years he had been gone that he was not open to discuss, and that Leia must have shared that sentiment, or he would have surely known sooner.

Lando had chosen not to ask Ben about where he had been, or what had happened to him, though he was sure to inquire with Leia the moment he saw her again. The most he had dared to ask Ben, was what he had been doing since his return.

Ben had been grateful that Lando had not pried too much into what had happened since he 'ran away.' But when he had offered him condolences for the loss of his father, it was hard to mask the pain it had caused him. He felt ashamed to look Lando in the eye knowing that he had been the reason for his own father's death, and knowing that Lando would probably despise him if he knew the truth. Lando's question once again pulled that pain to the surface.

"He taught me well," was all he managed to choke out, and Rey could sense his shame and sadness through the bond. She reached her hand under the table and clasped his hand to comfort him.

"Well, I have some very impressive ships that I'll be sending along to the resistance now that this blockade is settled. I can't believe you guys found the Millennium Falcon, where did you find her? I'll bet Chewie is thrilled, she could probably use a tune-up, but I'll bet she's still the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy!"

"My friend, Finn, and I sort of happened upon her when we were running from Jakku," replied Rey.

"Jakku! I told Han he needed to check that area more than once!"

"Will you be returning to the resistance?" Rey asked, trying to broach a subject both her and Ben had heatedly discussed until the wee hours of the morning.

"I have to clear a few matters here first. Make sure Lobot will keep an eye on things for me while I'm gone, prepare a few extra shipments for you guys. Maybe in a week? I'm going though, I'm well over-due! It's been a few years since I've seen Leia and Chewie, and even longer since I've seen Luke!"

"I'm afraid we can't wait that long, you see Rando must come with us, now," she finally blurted.

Lando and Rando regarded her with startled and unblinking eyes.

Ben explained what she meant. "The purpose of the Knights of Ren is to find and destroy any and all force users that do not swear allegiance to their Supreme Leader and the First Order. The only reason Fresza Ren did not kill Rando on sight, was because she was using his force abilities in deception to keep the resistance in the dark about the blockade, now that that's over, he's of no more use to them. He will be on the top of their elimination list. He cannot stay in Cloud City. The resistance is the only place where he will be safe."

"Does this mean I'll get to learn to be a Jedi?" asked Rando, suddenly feeling a thrill of excitement.

"You're too old!" grumbled Ben, and he tried not to wince as Rey kicked his shin under the table.

"We contacted General Organa last night, resistance soldiers will be here in the next two days to make sure the First Order does not come back to interfere with your operations again, and to safely escort you and any cargo back to the resistance," she said referring to Lando. "But, General Organa has also warned us that the situation on Endor is growing dire, she needs at least one shipment to hold them until the rest come. We can escort the freighter personally in the Millennium Falcon and ensure that it gets back to the resistance, but we must leave by tonight, and Rando must come as well, or his life will be in danger."

Lando merely nodded his head to acquiesce. "I'll have one freighter full and ready to go before sun-down."

"Solo! Wait!" called Rando, as he spotted Ben making his way down to the lower floors.

Ben contemplated how good it would feel to punch the younger Calrissian in the throat. It had actually been his suggestion to Rey that Rando be protected by the Resistance; he was doing his best as a Grey Jedi to not let his personal feelings get in the way of his actions. No matter how much he disliked Rando, he knew it would be wrong to leave him exposed to the wrath of the rest of the Knights of Ren. He had discussed with Rey the option of using Rando as bait to draw out the other Knights of Ren, but his mother's urgent plea for their return to Takodana had ended that possibility. His only consolation was that Rando had seemed adamant about not riding with him and Rey in the Falcon. He would be riding in the freighter, and had stated that for him it would be more comfortable than their 'rusted bucket of a ship.' Ben had also been irritated by that comment, for some reason, an insult to the Falcon had felt like an insult to his father.

He turned and regarded Rando with cold detachment, and simply raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Look, I know you hate my guts, and for good reason; if I can get half a chance to steal Rey from you, I will, BUT!" he quickly added, sensing through the force that Ben was about to explode, and that, for some reason, a punch to the throat might be eminent. "But, I do want to thank you!" he offered, and tried not to cringe in trepidation as he felt the slightest ebb in Ben's anger. He knew he would have to explain himself quickly or risk losing his head to his volatile romantic rival.

"Look man, you saved my father's life. You're even saving my life, though I can tell you don't particularly like that idea. I'm guessing that was Rey's idea?"

"No," was Ben's mumbled reply.

Rando tried not to show how much that revelation surprised him, at the moment he was merely lucky that he wasn't getting pulverized, and he decided it best not to antagonize.

"Anyway, I am grateful. I really am. I was beginning to lose hope that I would never see him again. After my mom…" he paused, trying not to be outwardly emotional, and obviously failing. "He's the only family I have left. No matter what happens, even with Rey, I still think you're a pretty cool dude, and if there's anything you need – I really do owe you."

"You can do me a favor and stay away from my girl!"

"Whoa, hey, let's not get crazy here! I didn't say I was backing down on that, but I did throw you a bone and opted to ride the freighter. You think I want to be trapped on a small ship with some big ape going hard and heavy on my girl of interest? Give me a little credit!"

Ben was reluctantly pleased to know that Rando had some code of decency and that his choosing to not fly with them wasn't entirely out of distaste for his father's ship.

"Well…just be ready when it's time to leave…and…you're welcome."

Rey could tell that Ben was feeling conflicted about his encounter with Fresza Ren. They were in the cockpit of the Falcon, keeping a watchful eye on the freighter, and enjoying the peacefulness of open space. The freighter couldn't go as fast in hyperspeed as the Falcon so it would take them an extra day of travel to make it back if they wanted to not leave the freighter in their space-dust. Once again, it was nice for them to be alone together. She was still doing her best to help Ben with the Grey Path.

He had once asked her why he simply couldn't visit the Grey Jedi temple, as she had, and get it all over with, but she had had to explain to him that the temple only gave her the knowledge to understand the path. The hard part about being Grey wasn't the knowledge, it was the practice. Even she had to make daily conscious effort to successfully walk the path of the Grey, and so would he. Knowing the path and walking the path were two very different things.

"You didn't do anything wrong," she said, trying to calm the storm within him.

"I felt like I was Kylo Ren again…slaughtering all those troopers…I liked it, Rey. I felt powerful. I felt strength greater than I had ever known before. How can that be right?"

"Being Grey is carrying a certain amount of the darkside within you. Even I do! The difference is that you acted with a different intent than any you have ever battled with before. Tell me…what were you fighting for?"

"You, of course! I couldn't let her take you…or kill you. When she threatened you, I snapped. I snapped harder than I've ever snapped before."

"The safe path is to find a place between love and hate. You love me don't you?"

"More than anything," he confessed.

"You were protecting me, and even if you don't like to think about it, you were helping Lando and Rando. You took lives to save lives. You weren't just taking lives because of blind devotion or orders. You were fighting for something, something better than pure hatred or malice. That's the difference between the darkside and being Grey. You probably were a little too far into the darkness when you were taking down the stormtroopers, but your love for me kept you on the right path. I can sense it in you. You're closer to the middle now than I've ever felt you before."

He was so relieved that he didn't have to adhere purely to the lightside of the force as he had once been expected to do in his youth. He had never felt like the Jedi code was meant for someone like him, and it had always left him feeling like a failure, like a let-down, because he could never live up to those sorts of expectations. When he let Rey's words sink into him, he suddenly couldn't deny the overwhelming sense of peace that washed over him. For once in his life, he was daring to hope that there really was a place for him, where he belonged, where he was meant to be.

Rey too felt peace flow through her; the strongest that she had felt it since her time in the Silver Light, and she knew it was not just her feeding off of Ben through the bond. She felt the peace within herself, because for the first time since she had emerged from the Silver Light, she knew that she had a safe path between love and hate…and it was Ben.

She had never dared to love before, she had never opened herself up to another person the way she could with Ben. She knew in that moment that she would fight for him, even die for him, and she knew that he would be enough to save her from the darkness. There was no hatred she could ever possess that would be stronger than the love she felt for him. She no longer stood alone against the darkness within her own soul, because he was with her, and they could save each other.

General Organa had decided not to let anyone besides Luke, Maz, and C3PO know that Rey and Ben had ended the blockade. The recent supply shortages combined with the growing threat upon Endor due to their inability to mobilize had taken a terrible toll on the morale of the entire resistance, and especially on their temporary home base of Takodana. She wanted to ensure that everyone received a pleasant surprise.

"Finn! Finn, you won't believe it! Air control just picked up a freighter and the Millennium Falcon. It's Rey! She did it! Come on, everyone is gathering at the tarmac!" shouted Poe with the biggest grin on his face.

Finn let out a jovial shout and put down his work to hobble after Poe as quickly as he could on his cane. He knew Rey would come through for them, but he also wondered what part Kylo Ren had to play in the recent turn of events.

When the ships landed everyone ran out to greet them cheering and welcoming and dying to know all the details. Once again Rey and Ben were overwhelmed with uncomfortable amounts of attention, but everyone congratulated them on bringing the freighter in and hailed them as heroes. Even Rando was met with many handshakes of warm greeting and friendly slaps on the back.

"Get over here and hug me! I haven't been able to see you outside of a holovid since you were my height!" laughed the general as she welcomed Rando in one of her motherly hugs.

Even Chewie was thrilled to see Rando. The big Wookiee had always had a way with children, and most children had always instinctively loved him in return. Any friends, and children of friends to the Solo family, were family to him too, as far as he was concerned. The last time he had seen Lando's son in person had been just before Ben disappeared.

Ben couldn't help but watch with a heavy heart as his furry uncle fawned over the young Calrissian, and he tried his best to stifle a pang of jealousy and sadness. He had to remind himself that for what he had done he should be grateful that his uncle didn't kill him on sight, but that thought did nothing to lessen his sadness.

Rey sensed his sorrow and wrapped her hand around his, she felt him sigh and give her small hand a gentle squeeze.

Luke approached them after some of the crowd began to calm down. "Well, there's going to be come celebrating tonight, I'm sure. Welcome back," he greeted as he gave Rey a warm hug, and sensing Ben as not being quite so ready for that level of public affection, he offered his real hand, which at least Ben graced with a warm handshake. "You'll have to do us all a favor and not hide away tonight. Everybody is dying to hear about your adventures, and you can't hide that you're Ben Solo around here forever."

Ben let out an audible groan. As much as he hated it, if he wanted to make a name for himself and earn respect within the resistance, there would be no way of getting around his identity. The last time he had been on Takodana he had been cold and quiet to anyone who had tried to introduce themselves, and at most, gave them his first name only.

"I sense a strong connection to the force coming from Rando. The last time I saw him, he was a baby. It had been too faint then to tell. This is an unexpected turn of events," Luke seemed to muse.

"That's why we had to bring him here. The Knights of Ren will be after him, now that they can't use him anymore," replied Rey.

"A wise decision! We'll have to discuss this young man's fate further, perhaps at another time."

That night there was a casual bonfire celebration at the fortress. Rey had explained to a small circle of her pilot friends, including Poe, Finn, and Jessika, about how they had tricked Fresza Ren, and how Ben had single-handedly ambushed an entire platoon of stormtroopers and that he really should be the one they thanked for the end of the blockade. For Rando's sake she had left out his unwitting deceptions.

Poe and Finn, much as they wanted to dislike Ben, couldn't help but acknowledge that if what Rey said was true, he had been of substantial help to the resistance. "That is pretty bad-ass," Finn conceded.

Eventually the story spread amongst the rest of the base, and Ben found himself the unwilling recipient of a lot of attention that night. It didn't take long for people to figure out that he was the son of the legendary Rebel Alliance General Han Solo, and therefore, General Organa's son. They also put together pretty quickly that he was some sort of a Jedi like Rey. Nobody really knew the distinction between a Jedi and a Grey Jedi, it was either all magic or all hooey, depending on what the individual believed. At first he had hung back, away from the firelight, and let Rey manage the telling of what happened, but eventually he found himself trapped in a group of curious admirers.

This is horrible. I want to leave.

He pleaded with her over the bond.

I'm sorry, Ben, don't be angry. They just want to know you. They're all very nice people, they really are. We'll leave soon.

She promised as she had been separated even further from him by the throngs of people and she could sense his anxiety levels rising the further away she went.

Rando seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. He was charming, handsome, and charismatic, and most of all comfortable in social situations. No matter where he mingled he had people laughing and smiling, and most had already formed the solid opinion that they were going to like having him around.

Ben felt angry and embarrassed as Rando came over and made a fuss over what a bad-ass warrior Ben was to take on so many enemies on his own. "How would you know? You weren't there!" argued Ben, who wasn't certain if Rando was trying to be nice or annoying.

Rando did seem to get a sadistic sort of satisfaction from embarrassing Ben, but he was also careful not to push too far. He had just enough force in him to sense just how much Ben was willing to take in the moment. While part of him liked goading Ben, another part of him genuinely did want to compliment the tall brooding Jedi. He wasn't sure why, but he liked the big jerk. He shouldn't, he was his rival for Rey's affections, and at the moment Ben was winning, and Rando hated to lose at anything, but he couldn't help but feel that if not for his interest in Rey; Ben was the sort of guy he'd like for a friend.

"Hey, Rey, who's that new guy? He's really cute," remarked Jessika, as she nodded towards Rando who was standing next to a cringing Ben with a big grin on his face.

Suddenly Rey had a moment of inspiration. "Say, Jessika, you're into pod-racing aren't you?"

Ben eventually managed to back out of the crowd and was trying his best to make his way towards Rey without gathering any further attention, when he felt a slight tug at his sleeve. He looked down to see a young woman, about Rey's age, with sandy blond hair.

"So, you're the general's son?"

He tried not to groan at the association.

"I've been dying to have a chance to talk to you alone, but you've been the man of the hour. Everybody's so busy fawning over your charming dark friend, but I like guys who are more quiet and reserved. Perhaps we can get a drink? I'm Andy by the way," she said as she leaned uncomfortably close to him.

Rey could sense embarrassed confusion coming from Ben, and when she looked up from where she was chatting with Jessika she noticed that a pretty girl was getting way too close to her Ben. She felt a moment of rage snap within her.

The only thing on Ben's mind at that moment was how to make Andy go away, or how he could get away himself, thankfully Rey came right over, and he could sense that she was very angry and…jealous?

She didn't say a word, she just grabbed him by his hand and pulled him away from the startled flirtatious female and dragged him away from the gathering.

When they were finally alone in Rey's room he smiled one of his devilish grins. "My, what beautiful green eyes you have all of a sudden."

"What? I was ready to leave, and so were you!" she argued, not liking to be called out on her jealousy. It was a new experience for her, and if he felt it as sharply as she just had, no wonder he was always moments away from a violent outburst.

"I'm sorry. Please don't be mad," he offered, not wanting her to turn her anger towards him. He gently wrapped his arms around her. At first he could feel that she was tense, but eventually she softened against him. He was not used to having anyone be jealous on his behalf and he found it oddly arousing. He wanted his Rey to be as possessive of him as he was of her. He lifted her chin in his large hand and looked into her with his burning eyes. "There is no other woman in the world for me than you, Rey. Only you, no one else even exists," he said as he leaned down to taste her soft lips. He could instantly feel her return to a state of peace and pleasure, and he smiled against their kiss to know that he had as much power over her emotions as she had over his. "But, you really are beautiful when you're jealous, perhaps I should make you jealous more often," he teased, and watched as her eyes grew sharp and her lips tightened into a straight line, but he could feel through their bond that her irritation was mostly feigned.

"I see you want me to be crazy for you," she said, her expression suddenly turning coy.

"Seems fair, why should I be the only crazy one?"

"Oh, you're not. Perhaps I'll show you just how crazy for you I really am," she said as she clasped his hand and pulled him towards the bathroom.

Once inside she reached over and turned on the fresher and the room began to steam with the heat of the water. They began stripping off each other's clothes and climbed into the fresher together.

Ben was clearly very excited as his throbbing erection mashed into her stomach as they furiously kissed each other under the running water. He wondered if she had known that he had been wanting to have her this way, or if they just happened to share the same wicked ideas.

Even with the water she could feel how wet he was making her and she nearly cried out as he slid his hand up the inside of her thigh and began working his long fingers along her fold. She ran her hands down the chiseled plane of his stomach and marveled at how beautiful his body was. He had many scars, most were still fresh and grew redder under the heat of the water, but she loved every inch of him, and she leaned forward to run her mouth over one of his nipples, making him groan.

He grabbed one of her thighs and began pulling it up to wrap it around his waist, she could feel his urgent need growing through the bond, but she was not done with him yet.

"No," she said, as she gentled pushed him back. For a moment he looked hurt, but she quickly eased that tension from him. "You're still dirty. I think you need to be cleaned a bit more," she said as she grabbed the bar of soap from the fresher shelf. She could sense a further spike in his excitement. He wasn't sure where this was going, but he was dying to find out.

He sighed in absolute bliss as she began working the bar up and down his body, being careful not to drop it. She lathered the soft hair of his chest, down his hard thighs and perfect ass. He nearly saw stars as she began soaping his cock and massaging the lather into him. He nearly burst as her delicate hands worked the length of his shaft, but she pulled back and slowly began working the soap over her own body. Watching her smooth the lather of the soap over her perfect round breasts and down the gentle curves of her hips was driving him mad. He was just going to reach out and help massage the foam into her smooth skin, when she set down the soap and leaned in against his own body. Her body was smooth and slick with soap against his own still lathered body, and he couldn't stifle a growl of excitement as she began slowly moving her body up and down against his, using the soap to provide a friction-free glide between them. When her soft breasts rubbed into him, over his chest, and slowly down around his eager cock he cried out for her. "Rey, I want you," he begged, but she only smiled up at him as she wriggled her body along his, turning to let him feel her ass as she slowly moved her hips and continued to use the soap to glide against his hard body.

But, there's only so much a man can take, and eventually he seized her in his arms, slippery though she was, and breathed hotly into her ear; "I think we're clean enough." He held them both under the spray of the fresher long enough to rinse the soap from their bodies. Her back was still facing him, and he ran his hands down the front of her body, cupping and squeezing her breasts then moving down to softly play with the throbbing heat between her legs. She let out a cry of need, and he leaned her forward against the fresher wall.

When he finally slid his eager manhood inside of her, she almost came within the first stroke. She had enjoyed teasing him and making him want her, but she was ready to feel him, and when she finally did it was almost too much. He used one hand to hold onto her hip and wrapped his other arm around the front of her body to continue touching her swollen clit.

As much as he wanted to pound into her and satisfy his primal need, he also wanted to pay her back with some slow torture of his own. He could feel how wet and ready she was, and sensed how close she was to finishing through their bond, but he wanted to savor this moment, as he felt himself slowly pumping inside of her. She was his, and he was hers, and just knowing how much she wanted him brought him pleasure beyond any physical thrill he had ever known.

She could feel her knees growing weak as the heat continued to build within her core. She felt him run his soft lips along the side of her throat and taste the flesh there. "I belong to you, Rey. Only you. I love you, no one else," he breathed hotly in her ear and suddenly she felt her walls clench around his throbbing cock and she cried out as she continued to come for him.

When he felt the power of her climax he thrust up into her even harder, and felt the tightness of her walls milk him for all he was worth. When he was finally done spilling himself inside of her he withdrew from her body and turned her to face him. He sensed how weak and spent she was and pressed her into the wall of the fresher, holding her firmly in his arms so that she wouldn't fall.

Perhaps it was the heat of the fresher getting to her, but she felt dizzy and the sweet taste of his lips and tongue as it danced against her own, seemed enough to drown her. He helped her out of the fresher and they dried each other off.

He groaned as he heard a knocking sound at their door, and turned to look out the window. The sun had just barely begun to rise. Then he heard the familiar beeps of binary.

"Rey, wake up. Your stupid friend sent his droid for you again."

"Hmm?" she moaned, still half asleep and struggling to open her eyes.

He realized it wasn't so much of a knock as a bumping sound, and suspected that the droid was bumping its round body against the door for lack of hands. He watched as Rey slowly dragged herself from their bed, but in her exhaustion she couldn't find where her clothes were, so she grabbed Ben's tunic and threw it on instead. He smiled. He loved her naked, but seeing her wearing his shirt gave him a possessive thrill as well. Then he cursed the pest droid for spoiling his morning possibilities.

She finally opened the door and the little orange and white ball droid barged right in and started beeping at her that squadron practice would be beginning in an hour, and that Poe wished for her to come practice with them.

His mother had told them that they would be launching an attack on the First Order's salvage operations on Endor and its moons as soon as the last of the supplies arrived. They needed more starships, even though they had won the battle of Jakku Canyon, they had suffered great losses as well, and they were already training new recruits to be pilots, the only problem was that there weren't enough starfighters to go around until Lando's freighters came through.

He got up and pulled on his pants in front of the droid, who, for a droid, managed to look scandalized, but he didn't care at all if the droid saw him naked. If he wanted to barge in first thing in the morning, he deserved what he got.

Rey and Ben showed up at the tarmac just before practice was to begin. Ben at least wanted to watch. He had been very impressed with her flying when they had been in a dogfight together and he wanted to watch her practice the formations with the rest of the squad. Not to mention, there wasn't much he felt like doing when she wasn't around. And he certainly didn't want to hang out with Rando, who had bumped into them during breakfast at the mess hall and, oddly enough, offered to keep him company while Rey went to squad practice.

"Rey, you're here!" hollered Poe Dameron, as he ran up to greet her. He stopped a little short as he noticed her tall shadow. "Ben," was all he offered in greeting.

Poe and Finn had discussed how they felt about Ben's contribution to the blockade effort. He had done the resistance a valuable service, and for all they could tell, he and Rey seemed to be inseparably close, and actually enjoyed each other's company. Whatever personal reservations they had about the man who had once been Kylo Ren, they couldn't deny that he did seem to be genuinely changing for the better. Of course they both chalked that up to being entirely due to Rey's influence. To them, Rey was the embodiment of someone wholly good and pure, and Finn especially could believe that she had a way of bringing out the best in people, as she once had in him.

"Ready to fly?" asked Poe.

"I'm always ready," replied Rey with a bright smile. She did look forward to squad practice, but she also felt a little sad because she knew that Ben loved to fly just as much as she did, maybe more, but that he wasn't included in their squad.

"Maybe you'll join a squad too, once we get more ships," offered Poe to Ben, but not necessarily offering him a place on his own squadron. Poe was always up for having another pilot to challenge his skills, which was why he loved having Rey in his squad. He hated to admit that she was just as good if not better than himself. Having her around only made him sharper. He was aware that as Kylo Ren he had been a formidable pilot, and he couldn't deny his natural curiosity to see what Ben could do flying for the resistance instead of the First Order.

"Maybe I'll just start my own squadron, other than Rey, I'm not too sure the rest of you pilots could keep up with me," he boasted.

"Those are pretty big words. I'd hate to have to make you eat them!" replied Poe, rising to the challenge.

"Hey, isn't it time for practice?" interrupted Rey as she plunked her helmet over her head. "Time to go!" she called; heading for the Grey Wolf, and hoping to avoid seeing the two men get into a throw-down.

Ben sat on a crate out on the tarmac and watched the pilots overhead. He hated to admit, but Poe Dameron was a pretty good pilot, but he also was convinced that Rey was better.

"Thought you might like a hit of some of this Corellian brandy," he heard Rando offer, as he joined him and passed him a flask.

"This guy doesn't take 'No' as an answer from anybody," though Ben, but he did take the offered flask and helped himself to a swig of the strong brandy.

They sat quietly together and watched the formations above.

For the next few days Ben and Rey entered a comfortable pattern. Every morning they would have breakfast in the mess hall, and every day a few more people would join them at their table. Usually her two friends, the Pilot and the ex-stormtrooper, often Rando, sometimes the female pilot Jessika Pava if she noticed that Rando was also at their table. Ben couldn't help but notice how she made eyes at the younger Calrissian, and he hoped Rando would notice her, but always to his chagrin, he was only ever fixated on Rey, and openly flirted with her at every meal. Every time they would leave the table all of his cutlery would be horribly bent from him balling his hands into angry fists while he was eating. He still wanted to punch Rando in the throat, at least when Rey was around, but when it was just the two of them, he found he could tolerate the charismatic man's presence much easier. They both ended up on blaster canon calibration duty, seeing as his mother didn't believe they should be standing around doing nothing while Rey did squad practice, and Ben was growing used to hearing Rando prattle on about pod-racing and his other Cloud City antics. He hated to admit it, but he could be amusing to listen to at times, as long as he didn't bring up Rey while they worked.

After squadron practice, he and Rey would spend the rest of the day working on the Grey path, then there would be evening meetings in the war-room after dinner, where they listened to his mother and Admiral Ackbar go over strategy for the upcoming battle. He found it hard to fully pay attention, as by the end of the day all he wanted was to be alone with Rey in their room, and to have her all to himself.

The upcoming attack would be a combination of airstrike and ground-forces, of which Luke had insisted as they wanted to free the slaves.

Luke had spoken to Rey and Ben in private about the fate of Rando Calrissian. Ben was shocked when Luke didn't argue that Rando was too old to start learning the force, instead he conferred with Rey on what Grey insights she could offer on the situation.

"Well, I wasn't particularly young when I started learning the force, neither were you," she said, referring to when Luke began his own Jedi journey. "Rando certainly has a lot of…passions," she said, and felt Ben's temper flare up again. "The Grey path might help him, but, I don't see where we'd find time. We're about to go into battle, just working with Ben occupies so much of my time, and I can't work with them together, for one they'd kill each other, and for two, they're at very different levels, skill-wise. Rando would have to start from the beginning."

"Well teaching Grey isn't my style, but I can begin by teaching him some of the early basics while you two are busy. If we can get him a little more up-to-speed, in time, perhaps, if we can put an end to this war, you'll be able to guide him the rest of the way. I'm growing old you know. I won't be around forever, and when I'm gone there will be no more Jedi. There was a time when that pained me greatly, but now, now I see that that as a good thing. It would seem the Grey way is a clearer path to harmony. For centuries force-users have predicted that the force must someday be brought into balance, perhaps you two are the chosen ones to make that happen. Only time will tell."

It was hard for either Rey or Ben to think so far into the future, they had no plans at all for after the war, if they could end the war at all, but the idea of teaching the Grey path to other force sensitive's was intriguing to them.

"I think Rando will be pretty excited to have Luke Skywalker teach him the force!" said Rey.

"That excitement usually wears off a little the moment I climb on their back," replied Luke with a laugh.

Rey and Ben were in the forest meditating when BB-8 rolled up beeping excitedly that Lando Calrissian had just landed with several freighters and to come quickly.

When they reached the landing strip they saw a large crowd cheering and Lando being smothered in affection by Chewbacca, who eventually made way for the general and Rando to welcome him in turn.

"Leia, you're still one hell of a beautiful woman!" crooned Lando as he kissed the general's hand.

Rey could sense that Ben was clearly appalled. "What is with these Calrissian men?" he cried, shaking his head in disgust.

"I dunno, kind of a cute couple," she teased, and tried not to laugh at his discomfort.

"Ben! Rey!" called Lando as he finally made his way towards them. "Made it here in one piece! I see Rando has been enjoying himself. He's secretly always wanted to help with the resistance, I'm afraid that's my fault. I raised him on all the stories of my old Rebel Alliance days, but then kept him cooped up helping me run my business on Cloud City. Why don't you come with me, Ben, there's something I want to show you," he offered as he ushered Ben towards the largest freighter.

Ben followed Lando up the ramp into the freighter. The interior was so massive it easily contained several dozen brand new X-Wing Starfighters. Most were T-70s, though there appeared to be a few T-85s. Lando continued to lead Ben further into the back where finally he stopped next to one X-Wing that was draped in a cloth.

"This one is fresh! Nobody can get their hands on these yet, but I was able to pull some strings and get my hands on this!" he declared as he gave the cloth a heavy hank. Ben watched as Lando revealed a brand new X-Wing that was a strange model he had never quite seen before. It was sleek and black, and so new it was shiny even in the dull interior lighting. It was beautiful.

"That," he declared, pointing at the obvious black X-Wing, "is the new T-90! Word in development is that it might even be capable of giving the Falcon a run for its money. And," he stopped for dramatic pause "It's yours!"

Ben was speechless. He didn't even know what to think, and he hadn't even realized that his mouth was agape, until he noticed Lando's ecstatic grin of satisfaction. "I take it you like it," he laughed.

"I…yeah…wow. But, I…I can't take such a gift!" he tried to argue.

"You can and you will! You saved my life, Ben. You're helping my son. You wouldn't let me give you anything on Cloud City, but you will accept this and make an old man happy. And I'll not hear a word of argument about it!" he declared.

"Thank you," he finally managed to choke out. "Do you think we can keep it a secret? I'd like to surprise some people tomorrow," he asked.

"That sounds devious – I'm in!" replied Lando.

The next day Rey was flying with Black Squadron practicing formations with Poe and several new pilots who were still getting their bearings behind their new X-Wings for the first time. Poe was worried that they wouldn't be ready in time for the attack if they didn't get as much practice in as possible, and so he had insisted upon double-duty practice all the way up until the battle.

Just when they were practicing their speed-based maneuvers, a mysterious black X-Wing shot past them and went supersonic.

"What the hell was that?" asked Poe.

Rey had sensed Ben was up to something that whole day. He had kept a barrier up so she wouldn't nose around in his head and had informed her she'd find out soon enough.

Ben?

She asked though the bond.

"Black Knight to Grey Wolf. Black Knight to Grey Wolf, decided I'd join you today," he replied over a comlink so that the entire formation could hear.

A note from your humble author: Oooooh daaaamn. There's an attack on Endor coming up, are you guys ready? Are you ready to hold onto your butts?

Romance and Bromance, am I right?

I have family coming to visit the whole weekend, so I know I won't get any writing time. BUMMER! Especially because the next few chapters are going to be soooo fun. But I hope to get the next chapter up maybe late Monday or early Tuesday.

Thank you to all my new readers and followers. Extra big thanks to everyone who has given me feedback on the story so far, you guys are awesome! Please keep it coming! I love love love reviews they feed my soul. Please feeeeeeeeeed meeeee!

P.S. Also, it might seem like I just sprang Jessika Pava's character in out of nowhere, but she was actually introduced in Chapter 7, but was only addressed as Blue Three because that's her callsign. I'll be sure to post a list of all our favorite pilots and their callsigns with next chapter so you guys can have an easier time keeping track of whose who.