Chapter 36

The beeping of the ship woke Rey. She reluctantly pulled herself away from Ben's side to check the cockpit. The ship would be exiting hyperspace soon.

Rey went back to where Ben's bed had been superimposed over her cot through the bond and kissed his forehead gently. He murmured, but did not wake up, so she found paper and a pen and scribbled a note letting Ben know she would reach out to him again after she was with the Resistance. She tucked the note into his hand before closing the bond between them.

Ben disappeared, and Rey sighed. She looked forward to when they were always together, though their make out session had gotten rather intense when she had asked that they rest instead of continue. Of course, Ben had insisted on sleeping next to each other, which involved a good half hour of experimenting with their bond to get their beds lined up properly.

Rey smiled and shook her head at the memory.

They had fought over the challenge, since Rey was fine sleeping on the floor with their pillows, and Ben insisted they needed to understand their bond better. He had even proposed trying to move his mattress to her location since they knew they could transfer objects, but Rey couldn't get the mattress through.

However, they had found they could transfer anything Rey could lift off the ground, including life, thanks to Growlie's small size. Rey glanced around in a panic and reached into the force to make sure she had not unintentionally left the porg on her side of the bond. Upon finding only herself, she sighed in relief.

It was with these thoughts that she exited hyperspace outside Corellia. She shook her head briefly to clear it and reached into the force, searching for Finn as she had done before with Ben's help.

The force guided her as it had before. She sat down at the controls, closed her eyes, and put her faith in the force to lead her to her friends.

Eventually, she stopped, and opened her eyes to see a large battle cruiser in front of her. Unexpected. She searched for the com, switched it to an open channel, and froze as she realized she had no idea what the protocol was for announcing herself to this ship, or even if she should. What if her friends were prisoners? Or on a mission where her arrival might cause problems? Or they might attack her if they knew her identity?

"Cruiser to unknown vessel. Identify yourself," came a familiar voice over the com.

"Poe?" Rey asked, uncertain.

"Rey!? Is that you?" Poe asked.

"Yea, where did you get hold of a battle cruiser?" she asked.

"Come aboard! I'll explain it all. We'll use a tractor beam to bring you in, if that's fine. Wait, is he with you?"

Rey had no doubt Poe meant Ben. "A tractor beam is fine, and no, I'm alone."

There was a pause, and the tractor beam locked onto her ship. Rey turned off the engines to avoid wasting fuel. "Everything okay between you two?"

Rey could hear the apprehension in his voice, and she smiled, knowing she could reassure him fully. "Everything is great, Poe. I have a lot to share too."

"I look forward to seeing you on board then."

"I look forward to seeing you too," Rey said with sincerity. Poe was not her closest friend in the Resistance, but she treasured his sincere passion for helping the Resistance succeed. Not many people she knew would have so quickly accepted a former stormtrooper as a best friend, and his willingness to work towards a treaty with Ben had been nothing short of amazing.

She relaxed back and watched the stars, ships, and planet outside as the beam pulled her to safety. There were a number of war vessels nearby, and Rey wondered what exactly the Resistance had been up to in the week she had been gone.

Once on the battle cruiser, she exited her ship to find Finn waiting on her. "Finn!" she shrieked with delight and gave him a big hug.

"Oh Rey, we were so worried about you. He didn't hurt you, any, did he? I'm supposed to take you to the bridge so Poe and you can debrief each other. Rose is up there too. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Rey smiled at his repeated question. "I'm fine. He didn't hurt me at all. We're in love, Finn," she said. She watched Finn go bug-eyed with shock and tried to think of something easier for him to grasp. "Oh, and I have a new lightsaber. Well, staff, really. Want to see?"

"Yes, yes, but let's join the others first. You're in love? With him?"

"Yes," Rey insisted, though she followed his lead. She noticed now that there were a number of fighters onboard and people working on them. "Where did all this come from?"

"I'll let Poe explain," Finn said.

They reached the bridge, where Poe stood with a number of unfamiliar people, except for Rose, who was sitting down at one of the stations.

"Rose!" Rey said, spying her friend.

Rose squealed and stood up. Finn rushed to Rose and shoved her back down not entirely gently. "The medic says your ankle is not recovered and you can't just walk whenever, Rose. You know that!"

Rose pouted at him and crossed her arms. "But it's Rey!"

Rey walked to Rose, feeling silly about the whole encounter. "My legs are working, Rose. Don't worry." She embraced her friend and stood back. "How has everything been? Where did all these ships and people come from?"

"I can explain that," Poe said, joining them from behind. He offered his hand for Rey, and Rey shook it firmly, smiling at him. A moment later, Poe pulled her into a bear hug too. "It's good to have you back with us, Rey."

"It's good to be back. The First Order is not nearly so friendly," she said.

"The First Order?" Finn said, confused. "Is that where you were?"

Rey froze. She had forgotten her friends didn't know. "Only for a few hours. Not even a full cycle. Poe, Ben and the knights want peace! They're sick of the war too. They want to form a treaty with the Resistance!"

Poe's jaw gaped with a huge grin. "Sincerely?"

"No way!" Rose and Finn said together.

"It's true! Ben called them together and told them that he had met with you, Poe, and that he liked your suggestions for peace. He's tired of the war… he even told them how he plans to retire with me, so he's selecting a replacement leader."

The smile fell away from Poe's face. "A replacement leader? But Rey, the only one we know is Ben. How can we trust a treaty with one of the knights when we know nothing about them?"

Rey's smile faltered. "Well, they're not all bad. The two who kidnapped Rose seem pretty reasonable. They want peace too, and they supported Ben's right to choose his successor even after they learned he killed Sn-"

Poe's hand clamped over Rey's mouth, and he glanced around them with apprehension. "Maybe we should go somewhere more private to finish this discussion."

"Yea, okay," Rey said, backing out of the hand.

"I want to be part of it," Rose protested.

Finn shook his head at her. "Stay here. Your ankle needs to rest. I'll fill you in later. Promise."

Rose nodded, and the two men and Rey left the bridge after Poe briefly spoke with another officer.

Finn and Rey followed Poe to a large walk-in supply closet with just barely enough room for the three to stand. Rey looked around at the assortment of brooms, mops, and other cleaning materials in fascination. She knew what they were, but she had never seen so many in one place at once.

"Okay, so the ships, people, and all that? They're supporters from the outer rims. Got the distress signal from Crait, but they organized too late to help us, and then took several more days to find the Resistance since we had hidden away for a time. Kaydel discovered them while we were all on Coruscant. They want to help us, but they're not so keen on allying with the First Order. I've been trying to sway minds all week. It's why I hadn't reached out to you yet, Rey."

Rey frowned. It made sense, in a way, but peace was actually within their reach. "The First Order is led by the knights, and they're all currently onboard with a peace settlement. You've got to convince them, Poe!"

"No, we have to convince them. They've been asking all week about this legendary jedi girl they heard about who single-handedly killed Supreme Leader Snoke and saved the Resistance on Crait. These are people who grew up on legends of Luke Skywalker, Rey. They believe in you even though they've never met you. If we're going to make peace happen, you have to be part of it."

Rey screwed up her face in frustration. "But I don't know anything about making fancy speeches or convincing people!" she said. "I couldn't convince Finn to stay with the Falcon on Takodana… I couldn't convince Ben to convert on the Supremacy… I could barely get Unkar Plutt to get me the rations I needed to survive, even when I brought him quality salvage!"

"But Finn did stay with the Resistance, and you've won Ben's heart, right?" Poe asked.

Rey nodded. "Still, there are a lot of things I don't know… why should they like me?"

Poe laughed. "Rey, everyone likes you. You're honest, straightforward, and passionate about the right things. You'll do fine. We'll just need to clean you up some first… maybe. I don't know. Should she wear a dress for this like the General once did? What do you think, Finn?"

Finn shook his head firmly. "No, Rey's perfect the way she is, and I'm pretty sure she would trip in a pair of heels anyway. She doesn't need to be pretty to win their affection, though she is pretty. Rey, you're pretty. Don't let anyone tell you anything else."

Rey smiled, recognizing Finn's own social blunders and attempts to cover them for what they were. "Thanks, Finn, Poe. I'll do my best."


I did NOT mean to introduce extra conflict. I don't know how that happened. I really want to wrap this story up so I can start on new stuff, but Sugar apparently has a mind of its own. I hope you're enjoying the ride, regardless!

I did goof slightly in that Crait's in the outer rim territories, so depending on how you read the Star Wars galaxy map, the help may have been quite close. However, I'm choosing to assume the outer rim is a layer of a 3D galaxy and that these new Resistance supporters were opposite everything from Crait. If anyone knows more about this, please fill me in, because I never really looked into it before.

Please tell me what you think!