Chapter 5

"I don't like this, Poe. I don't like it one bit," Finn said as they went to an on-planet communications hall to contact Maz. "It's too dangerous. That man is unstable."

Poe raised an eyebrow at his friend. "He is, but Rey's powerful and smart. She can hold her own against him. Furthermore, if he's as infatuated with her as I suspect, he'll be too mesmerized at having her near to be angry for a long time. I mean, seriously, how badly do you have to fall to monogram your own last name with your crush? He may be a monster, but he must be smitten."

Finn kicked at the gravel road, sending pebbles flying. "Or he's tricking Rey into returning so he can remove his last major obstacle in defeating the Resistance. He's the Supreme Leader. He took out Snoke through trickery. How do we know he's not tricking Rey too?"

Poe laughed. "Because he's the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, who both knew a few things about how to seduce someone when it was convenient, and he's stumbling around like a rathtar in a crystal shop. You may not know this, but I actually remember when he was just Ben Solo, hanging out with the Resistance as a kid. He was weird, but he was clever with people. I'm not at all surprised that he defeated Snoke through trickery, only that he did it to save Rey."

"Or maybe that's part of his evil plot too," Finn interjected, widening his eyes to emphasize his point.

Poe grinned. "Possible, but unlikely. Ben was good at discretion. He rarely got caught when things went bad, and he often set it up so that someone else looked at fault. He was smooth at everything except getting caught by his mom. He loved her, you know. The general said there was a moment in the battle where she knew he had his finger on the trigger, aimed at ship, and he pulled his hand away instead of taking the shot. It's one of the last things she told me. She died with hope for him."

Finn narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure you're not just letting your grief for General Organa cloud your thinking? Rey's still alive. We could lose her if we send her to Kylo Ren."

Poe's smile fell. "You might be right. Well, we're here. Let's go in and ask for a conference with Maz. Hopefully there won't be a line."

They entered the communications hall and luckily found no line. Poe entered the usual code to request her correspondence, made easier with Maz's specialized radio that she kept on her at all times. Before long, a holo image of Maz appeared.

"Well hello, boys. I didn't expect to hear again from you so soon. Wasn't expecting to hear again from you at all, given how the battles went. What can I do for you? Mind you, I'm a bit distracted here, so you might need to be patient with me," Maz said, gesturing with a thumb behind her.

The holo didn't show what was behind Maz, so Finn and Poe had no idea what she was referring to. "We were wondering what you know about force connections," Poe said.

"Force connections? Between force users? A force user and a non-force user?"

"Between force users," Poe clarified.

"Audio-only? Visual? Both? Oh, hang on one moment," Maz said, and turned away from the camera. "Just breathe, honey. You're doing great. Deep breaths. Breath with those contractions. This will be over soon." They heard screaming and sobbing in the background. Poe and Finn exchanged alarmed looks. "You're giving birth, not dying. Calm down! Sorry about that, gentlemen. The trouble with knowing a lot about everything is people will come to you for help with anything. So what kind of force connection is it?"

"Uh… They can see, hear, and touch each other. They can also exchange objects," Poe said.

Maz's already wide eyes grew even wider. "Fascinating. This would be between our new Jedi and the Supreme Leader, correct?"

"How did you-" Finn said, a quizzical expression on his face.

Maz barked a laugh. "Not like there are many options out there now, are there? Well that's a trick, especially if they can exchange things. If they can exchange objects, I wonder if they could exchange people too… I trust that you've got her secluded and barred off from the rest of the Resistance, correct?"

Finn's jaw dropped, and Poe's lips thinned. "I did not think it necessary to lock her in. She has held her own against Kylo Ren before."

"I think it's crowning!" cried another woman through the holo, and Maz rolled her eyes, held up one finger to let them know to wait a moment, and disappeared from view. They heard a multitude of other unpleasant sounds and then the cry of a newborn baby. A minute or two later, Maz returned with a towel, which she casually used to wipe the blood covering her hands, arms, and some of her shirt.

"Sorry about that. Rey is strong with the force. I saw that when I met her, but she also is one person, and Kylo Ren has the entire First Order to work with, not to mention the Knights of Ren. I hate to say it, but she is a danger to you all because of this connection."

"How… how do you turn it off?" Finn said.

Maz snorted. "You can't. Leia asked me the same once, fearing her son would use his own connection to her to betray the Resistance to the First Order. The fact that he hadn't was one of the reasons she could never give up hope. Her connection to her son was only audio, of course, but even that was not something she could turn off on a whim, not without cutting herself off from the force entirely."

"Wait, wait… could she do that? Could Rey cut herself off from the force?" Finn asked, excited.

Maz sighed. "She could, but she's not one to run from responsibility, young man. Nor do I expect Kylo Ren to end his connection, though she also presents a danger to him. I do not know that there is a good solution to this."

"We have… reason to believe that the Supreme Leader cares for her, and she had a vision that she could turn him if she went to him."

Maz tilted her head to the side, processing this, and a smile grew on her face that Finn most definitely did not like. "You think she might sway him to your cause and bring back Ben Solo."

"Yes," Poe said.

Maz tapped her chin with one finger, leaving small patches of blood on her face from where her fingers hadn't completely been cleaned. "It is possible, but the risks… This is a dangerous gamble, Poe. You don't only stand the chance of losing Rey's life. You could lose Rey's allegiance, and the universe may tremble under the power of two unified dark force users at its helm."

"I know. I hoped you might have some wisdom on the matter," Poe said.

"Well you can't keep her with the Resistance now. What does Rey want to do?" Maz asked.

"I… uh… I'm not actually sure. She does seem to care for him too, but she turned him down right before the battle of Crait," Poe explained. Maz gave him a questioning look, and he elaborated. "Rey said that he offered to have her rule at his side."

Maz leaned on her bloody hand thoughtfully and rolled her fingers on her cheek. Finn cringed as more blood spread on Maz's face, and Poe elbowed Finn to keep Finn focused.

"Well, the vision gives me hope, but I do think it will be very likely that, no matter what you say or do, she will return to him, and that before long we will have either two jedi or two sith lords. She will need your friendship, you two. Believe in her, and do not let her down."

"Thanks, Maz," Poe said.

She waved a bloody hand at them. "Anytime."

"And Maz?"

"Hmm?"

"Take a shower," Poe said, and signed off as Maz started cackling.

Poe stared thoughtfully at the holo for a minute, rubbing his chin as if stroking a beard, though his face was clean shaven. Finn watched him. "What are we going to do, Poe?"

"Get back to the ship. You'll check in on Rose again, and I'll talk to Rey about her options."

"No, no. You heard the creepy little lady. Her friends have to stick with her. There's no way I'm leaving her alone now. If Kylo Ren wants her, he'll have to take me too."

Poe smiled. "You would only be in the way, Finn, and the Resistance needs you. Rose needs you. I need you. Besides, even if you ask Rey, she'll just tell you to stay with us anyway."

Finn glared at Poe, but Poe kept on smiling at him, and Finn sighed, admitting defeat. "At least don't let her leave right away. She's one of the first friends I ever made. She's already gone where I can't go several times now, but I'd at least like to say goodbye first."

"That I can manage."


Oh look, a chapter with the supporting cast! Maz, Finn, and Poe are all fun characters to write. Please review if you're enjoying it. Please review if you have suggestions for improvement. Please review if you like tacos.

Credit to DayBreak15 for noticing my goof in crediting Rey for giving Finn his name. It was Poe. I've edited the line to remove that reference. Whoops. Thanks again!