"Ben, can you give me access to the HoloNet?" Luke asked, swivelling his chair to face his nephew. "I need to contact Leia."

"I turned the communicator off so our signal can't be tracked," Ben said, leaning against the control board. He glanced out at the passing streaks of stars as they sped through hyperspace, considering the risk of turning the HoloNet back on. Surely no one from the Empire would be able to scan their signal from this far away. Hopefully. He gave his uncle a reluctant nod. "Alright," he said. "But be brief." He turned to leave and find Rey, who had just left the room, but Luke spoke up.

"Your mother will probably want to hear from you too, you know," he said.

Ben sighed; his uncle was right. He owed it to his mother to at least check in with her. He faced the control panel again and hesitantly switched the HoloNet access back on. As Luke typed in the communication codes to connect with Leia on Trora, Ben slumped into the seat next to him. Considering how far they were from the planet, he figured they'd be waiting a while for the connection to patch through to his mother.

….

"Madam Chancellor? Sorry to disturb you, but you're needed in the panel room for a meeting," the attendant standing in Leia's doorway announced.

"Now?" Leia asked, and the attendant nodded. She sighed and rose from the couch in her suite's living area. She rubbed a hand down her pant leg, her knees sore from all of the walking she'd done on Storia. She hated how old she felt now. "Alright, I'm coming," she grumbled. "Who's even conducting a meeting right now?"

"Some of the pilots and soldiers that fought on Storia, madam," the man informed her. "There are some...issues they would like to go over with you."

"But we won the battle on Storia. And with few casualties, too," Leia remarked, pressing her brows together in confusion.

"I'm not sure it's about that, exactly, Madam Chancellor," he said.

Leia was about to follow the man out of her suite when her blinking data pad caught her attention at the edge of her vision. She turned and picked it up from the couch, seeing the request for audio communication on the screen. "Huh. I don't recognize this transmission code," she muttered, frowning.

The attendant in the doorway craned his head. "Madam?"

"I don't know who's trying to contact me," she said, looking over to him.

"Perhaps it isn't a good idea to answer," the attendant suggested. "It could be an Empire spy."

Leia pursed her mouth and looked back to the datapad in her hands. "Hm, I'll take my chances," she decided, tapping the confirmation button. For a few moments, she only heard static. Then a familiar voice began to filter through the crackling noise.

"Leia? Leia, can you hear me?"

Her eyes widened, and she held the datapad closer to her ear. "Luke! Luke, is that you I hear?"

"Yep, it's me."

"Um, Madam Chancellor…?" the attendant trailed, looking across at her expectantly.

"Go on back to the panel room, tell them that I'll be there soon," she said, waving him off and settling back onto the couch. "Close the door behind you, will you?" She let out a breath, relieved to have the weight off of her aching knees.

"How are you, Luke? Maker, what happened to you and Rey?" she questioned. She'd had no idea where they'd gone during the last battle, but she'd felt through the Force that they had survived, so she hadn't been too worried.

"I'm fine, Leia. So is Rey. I'm with her and Ben now," Luke explained, the static clearing from his end.

Leia's heart leapt at the mention of her son. "You are? How's my son?"

"I'm fine, mother," she heard Ben say. "Everyone's fine."

"Ben!" Leia exclaimed. What she would do to hold him in her arms again! "My boy! I wish I could see you, I miss you so much."

"I miss you too," Ben said.

"Leia, is anyone else listening in right now?" Luke asked.

Leia found herself shaking her head. "No, no, all's clear," she assured.

"We're on our way to Ach-To right now," Luke informed her.

"Ach-To?" Leia repeated, dumbfounded. "Luke, why in the name of the Maker would you want to go back there? Don't tell me you're going to disappear for another thirty years."

"It's the safest place I could think of," Luke said. "The Empire's searching for us. I figured it was best to just get Ben and Rey away from the war front."

Leia frowned down at the datapad, imagining her brother's stubborn bearded face. "No, you three are going to turn right back around and come straight to Trora."

"That's exactly what Snoke would expect us to do," Ben piped in. "Besides, Mom, the Empire's fleet has grown. If we go back to Trora, the Empire will focus all of their efforts there and we'll stand no chance. As long as we remain hidden, there will be armadas searching all over the galaxy for us, and they will remain divided."

"What about when they find you?" she asked. Ben's reasoning was sound, she had to admit, but she didn't like that this plan kept him so far from her.

"We...we'll figure that out when we get to it. Maybe we'll go planet-hopping," Luke said.

"That's not going to work forever, Luke," Leia warned. "We're going to have to face the new Empire directly at some point. Snoke, too, or this war is never going to end."

"You're starting to sound like Maz," Luke said. "We just came from Takodana."

"And?" Leia prompted. "What did she have to say?"

"Same thing as you," Luke said. "Well, specifically, she wants Ben and Rey to face Snoke. But I told her no, not a chance."

Leia had always trusted Maz's judgement, but she certainly didn't want Rey or her son battling Snoke, either. "Not a chance," she agreed. "Ben, you're not doing that, okay? You hear me? Rey either," she urged, raising her voice. "Don't be getting any ideas, you're not to go anywhere near that Snoke ever again."

"Well, it's not what I want to do, either, but...I can't make any promises," Ben said.

"Ben Organa-Solo," she scolded.

"Yes, mother," he conceded.

"We should go, Leia, we don't want to cross signals with any Empire ships," Luke said. "I just wanted to let you know that everyone's safe."

For now, Leia thought grimly, and ducked her head. She wanted to speak to her son for longer, but she couldn't endanger them. "Alright. Thank you for the call. Please keep me updated as often as you can. I want to hear from all of you."

"We'll do that," Luke said.

"I love you two," Leia said. "Please keep yourselves safe." The two men murmured their "love you's" in return and the call ended, leaving her to the cold silence of her suite. She sighed and brought her hand to her heart, a smile spreading across her mouth. She pictured Ben and Luke together again, after all of these years. She thought they'd never get along again, but now...now it seemed that things were perhaps falling back into place, as much as they could. Slowly, but surely.

She lifted from the couch and trudged over to her nightstand. She dug her way through the packed drawers, searching. It has to be in here somewhere, she thought. She knew she'd kept it all of these years. And—there it was. The white plush tauntaun Ben had had since he'd been just a baby, courtesy of Luke.

Leia sat down on the edge of her bed with the stuffed toy, examining it, plucking at its soft fur. It was one of the very few childhood things she had left from her son since the destruction of their home on Hosnian Prime. She held the toy tightly to her chest, memories of young Ben flooding her mind. On the verge of tears, she shut her eyes, firm resolve building within her.

Though she didn't like that her son was still so far from her, at least he was safe. And she was going to do everything in her power to keep him that way.

….

As the communication with Leia ended, Ben thought he heard laughter from the ship's central chamber. Exchanging a puzzled glance with Luke, he rose and made his way down the hall.

"That's too funny. He really did that?" he heard Rey ask as he stepped into the chamber. He was taken aback to see her sitting amongst his group of knights, all unmasked.

"Rey?" Ben addressed. All in the group turned to look up at him, like children seated in a schooltime circle. "I thought...you were going to take a nap."

"Marcus said you once saved a lothcat from a tree during a battle," she said, smiling, her cheeks rosy from recent laughter.

Ben looked around at all of his knights. They turned solemn and cowed under his calculating gaze, deciphering if they had stepped out of line in talking to Rey. Probing quickly through their minds, Ben found that they'd been sharing stories with Rey about their travels and battles under his leadership. Looking back to Rey, he folded his arms and allowed his shoulders to relax.

"I did do that once," he said. "But afterwards, it bit me." He heard one of the men stifle back a laugh. "I brought it back to Hux, thinking it would do the same to him."

"How nice of you," Rey teased.

"But, as the Force would have it, the cat ended up taking a liking to him," Ben continued.

"And it kept attacking you, didn't it?" Marcus chuckled.

"Only every time I passed by it on the Finalizer," Ben said, and the men chuckled.

Ben looked around at his men, realizing that he'd never heard any of them laugh before. Or smile, for that matter. He knew their conversation was harmless, but he figured that Rey had just stopped to talk with them out of politeness. He trusted his men, knew that they'd always looked to him for leadership instead of Nodin, but still he was wary to allow them to be so casual around Rey. They were his knights, after all; it wasn't their place to sit and joke around with his girlfriend. Ben made eye contact with Rey and waved her towards him. "C'mon," he said, and watched as Rey got up and made her way to the edge of the room. She turned and smiled back at the group of knights.

"It was nice to meet you all," she said. "Maybe we'll have time to talk again soon." She followed Ben down the hall and touched his sleeve as they stopped at his bedroom's sliding door. "Ben, you didn't tell me they were all so friendly," she said.

"They're not friendly, Rey, they're knights," Ben insisted, stepping into the small room. "Warriors."

"That doesn't mean they aren't people, Ben," she said, plopping down on the edge of the bed. She watched as he bent down and removed his boots. "They have feelings too, just like stormtroopers. I used to think those troopers were all just a bunch of robots until I realized that they were actually people inside of armour. They're just like us, you only have to be willing to get to know them."

"Right," Ben said sarcastically.

"Ben, that's not fair. You're not listening," Rey protested.

Seeing her annoyed expression, Ben raised his eyebrows, demonstrating that she had his full attention.

"Your knights, all of those stormtroopers that were taken as children and raised to fight—they're also human beings, they deserve respect, same as us," Rey continued. "I mean, look at Finn. He was a stormtrooper and now he's one of my best friends."

"Finn." Ben paused, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, Finn. My friend. The one you called a traitor on Starkiller, remember?"

"I do. But I don't like remembering that day," Ben said, casting his gaze away as the image of his father falling from the catwalk flashed through his mind.

"I'm know," Rey said. She patted the edge of the bed, and Ben sat down next to her.

Ben pressed a kiss to her forehead, sliding his fingers down her back.

Rey looked down to her lap. "Ben, there's something I wanted to tell you," she said. "On Storia, before the battle, I was with Poe. The pilot. He...he told he loved me, and he...I let him kiss me. I didn't know how to react. I couldn't bear to hurt his feelings, not just before a battle."

Ben remembered Luke's memory of the event, but he forced the image from his mind. He swallowed and continued to trace his fingers down Rey's back. "I see."

"I meant to tell you about it earlier, but I was just waiting for a less stressful time, you know?" she asked quietly.

He nodded and shrugged. "It's not a big deal," he said.

Rey frowned. "What?"

"It's okay if you kissed him," he assured, raising his brows.

"You're not upset?" she asked, confused.

"Well, I'd rather he hadn't have done that, but...I'm not worried, if that's what you mean," he said. He felt her probing his mind, and he let her in.

She narrowed her eyes. "You already knew," she realized. "You saw it in Luke's mind. And you didn't say anything?"

"I didn't think it was necessary to say anything," Ben said, locking eyes with her. "I know that you love me, Rey. And I that you love Poe and Finn, but as friends. They bring you happiness, and you, them." He paused, his gaze shifting. "But frankly, considering your effect on me...I'd expected them to be in love with you, too."

Rey eyed him suspiciously. "You're not...jealous, then?" she probed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to be?" he asked, tilting his head.

Rey bit back a smile, stifling a laugh. "I just...I'd expected you to be, is all."

"Well, I'm not going to go after that pilot, if that's what you were thinking. I have no intention to kill your friends." He paused, his eyes dropping to his lap. "Even on Starkiller, I couldn't bring myself to kill Finn. I injured him greatly, I know, and for that I don't ever expect forgiveness on his part or yours. But I'd seen in your mind how much you cared for him, and I didn't want to take him from you. Selfishly, yes, I took my own self-hatred out on him, because I recognized that he was...he was stronger than me. He was everything I'd wanted to be. The man I should have been."

Rey rested her hand on his shoulder, and he met her eyes once again. "But think about everything you've done now," she said. "You've renounced the Empire, you've made up with your mother, your uncle..." She slid her hand down his arm. "I'm proud of you."

"It's not enough to make up for everything I've done," he said. "Nothing can."

"Well, what's important is that you're on the right path," Rey assured. "It's going to take time, but...at some point, you'll have to learn to forgive yourself." She held his cheek and pressed a kiss to his mouth. She leaned her weight into him, pressing him onto his back. She smiled and climbed atop him, hovering her face over his. "And if anything, you'll always have me," she murmured, brushing her nose against his.

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. "Not unless that pilot steals you away," he teased, gauging her reaction.

Rey let her gaze travel, biting back a smile.. "He is rather brave," she mused.

Ben held her chin, turning her face back towards his. "Brave?" he repeated.

"And charming."

"Charming."

"Mm-hm," she hummed.

"I can be those things," Ben said, tucking her dangling hair behind her ear. Rey smiled. "You did want me to be jealous about that kiss, didn't you?" he teased, smiling and narrowing his eyes. Rey bit her lip and looked away, feigning innocence. She giggled as Ben pulled her down to him and rolled atop her, switching places. "Naughty Scavenger. I'll just have to make sure you're still mine, then, won't I?" He kissed her, holding her head in place between his hands. Rey's hand moved to the back of his neck as they kissed, sending pleasurable sensations as her fingers moved up to his scalp. Ben lowered his mouth to the side of her neck and pressed his lips to her warm skin. He nipped her gently with his teeth, indicating his brewing urge.

"Ben," Rey protested, shifting in an attempt to move from under him. "Ben, no," she breathed.

Ben kissed her mouth to placate her, running his hands along her clothed body, allowing his heated energy to flow through to her. He felt her relax beneath him, and he smiled against her mouth as she a hooked a leg over his, drawing him closer. He kissed her deeply, grinding his hips once against her and seeing bright flares of color behind his eyelids. He brought his lips to her ear and felt her shiver. "Now, what do you say?" he breathed, sliding a hand underneath the hem of her blouse.

"Okay—but quietly," she hissed.

Ben lifted her upper body with the Force and began sliding her shirt up her arms as a knock sounded on the bedroom door. He dropped Rey to the bed and they both swivelled to look towards the door as Luke's voice sounded on the other side.

"Hello, you kids in there? We've reached our destination," he called.

Rey swallowed audibly. "Alright," she called back.

Ben huffed out a sigh and collapsed on his stomach next to Rey. "Kriff," he groaned into the covers.

Rey patted his rear. "I'm sure we'll find time later," she assured.

Ben turned his face and watched as Rey rose from the bed and began fixing her blouse back into place. She turned towards him and extended a hand. "Oh, come on, there's no use in pouting about it," she said, yanking his arm.

Ben reluctantly got up from the bed. Rey pulled him out of the room and along the hallway. "So you're sure this place isn't the same island we've envisioned?" he asked, looking down at her.

"I'm sure," she said. "Trust me, it's a lot different."

Ben immediately saw what she meant as they looked out of the ship's front window. He watched intently as Luke coasted the ship over a dark, grey-blue ocean towards a series of brownish islands. Luke eased the ship toward one of the taller, greener islands, but there was nothing familiar or even inviting about it to Ben. The waves crashing violently against the island's dark rocky shore were nothing like the sparkling waters and pristine white beach of the island he'd dreamt of.

With a lump in his throat, Ben wondered if his and Rey's mystery island was, in fact, nothing more than a pleasant dream.

After the landing gear settled the shuttle in place at the base of the isle, Luke rose and pulled his cloak from the back of the pilot's chair.

"It can get pretty cold and windy up there, best to bring whatever coats and blankets you have," he said, pulling his cloak around his shoulders.

Ben led Rey to a storage room at the back of the ship and together they rummaged through shelves to find extra articles of clothing. Finding no blankets, they shed the pillows and covers from Ben's bed and bundled them into their arms.

Luke was waiting for them on the rocky grade at the bottom of the ship's dropped ramp.

"What about your knights?" Luke asked as Ben and Rey descended from the ship. "I don't think I have enough food in the huts to feed all of them."

Ben turned and looked back up into the ship, where Marcus was standing.

"We can stay and look after the shuttle if you'd like, sir," Marcus said. "There are food and supplies for us here."

"Okay. Make sure you keep the Holonet access off so no one can figure out our location," Ben called, and Marcus nodded and turned.

"Speaking of food, I'm not sure you'll like it much here," Luke said, scratching his chin in thought.

Ben lifted his face to the sky, seeing a swirl of thick grey clouds above and feeling the icy brush of the ocean breeze upon his face. He and Rey both turned as the white fingers of a wave collided with the rocks to their side. The foaming wave hissed in its retreat back into the dark sea. Ben couldn't imagine how cold the water must be.

Luke turned around and motioned for them to follow him up the craggy steps. "C'mon, you two love birds. Best to make it up to the top before nightfall."

Ben peered up the steep steps, hesitantly adjusting the bundle of scarves and bed covers in his arms. He looked to Rey, knowing that she'd made this trek before. "Nightfall?" he asked her. "Will it really take that long?"

Rey let out a short laugh and began ascending the first steps behind Luke. "Let's just say your legs are probably going to feel like they're on fire by the time we reach the top."

….

"Leia, it's good to see you," Finn said, appearing concerned as he moved up to the chancellor's side as she stepped into the crowded panel room. The others in the room were engaged in various conversations.

"Hello, Finn," Leia greeted with a quick smile. She scanned the group of pilots, soldiers, and officers around her with curiosity. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked the group, and everyone quieted as they noticed her presence in the room.

"There are some matters of concern we need to address with you," one of the pilots near her said.

Leia frowned. "That's rather vague," she remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Leia," Poe said, stepping forward to the planning table from across the room. "It's about your son."

Phew, another chapter! Not very eventful, I know, but we will definitely have another action-packed segment soon enough...*rubs hands together*

Also, I know some of you had questions about how Force users are generated in this star wars universe, whether through blood and/or at random, and these questions should be (mostly) answered in the next chapter. We gotta break open some ol' Jedi Journals first!