"Rey?"
She had only heard that voice once before, in a nightmare, in a dream. It belonged to an old man who had spoken to her when she awakened to the Skywalker lightsaber, a man she later learned to be Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"What happened?" She looked around, and she stood in water, that reflected the stars all around. It was an infinite mass of stars, and it felt endless. Yet the water didn't feel wet, or like anything at all. "Am I dead?"
"No." Kenobi laughed, like a grandfatherly figure. "My namesake took you away from the fight, so Snoke couldn't influence any of you."
"I never felt so angry in my life," Rey recalled. "But I just thought it was motherly rage, you know? Like the kind that gets ordinary women to lift swoop bikes off of their babies."
"That didn't help anything," Kenobi said. "But Snoke was influencing what was already there, magnifying it to dangerous levels."
"So what do we do?" Rey asked.
"I'll show you," Kenobi said. "You can strip away his ability to alter the Force."
"Even as a ghost?" Rey raised her eyebrows. "I've never heard of that ability."
"Never has the Otherworld had to share that ability," Kenobi said. "Listen carefully, for this will save you, my namesake, and your children."
"That's it?" Rey said when he was done. "It was that simple?"
"I suppose so," Kenobi said. "But it requires a lot of power. You may need the help of young Ben and Jacen and Jaina and Kyp Durron. Even Tash Arranda may be needed."
"No," Rey said. "I'll risk myself, I'll risk Ben, but not any of the kids. They don't deserve any of this."
"They don't," Kenobj agreed. "But deserve and need don't always go hand in hand."
"I suppose not," Rey muttered. "Is there anything else you can offer me, any premonitions or anything?"
"He can't, but I can."
Rey turned to see Leia. But not as General Organa, when she knew her. As Princess Leia, young and strong, looking as she did when she won the Battle of Endor. Triumphant, wise, confident.
Rey's throat tightened. "I've missed you so much."
"As have I," Leia said. "You know, you could've summoned me earlier. Would've caused a lot less trouble."
"What do you mean?" Rey asked.
Leia rolled her eyes and slapped her hand to her forehead. "Your tryst with my son. You could have just summoned my Force Ghost and asked for my blessing. I would've told you to go with him, at least for your children."
"Really?" Rey was astonished. "You made me promise I'd die trying to restore democracy to the galaxy!"
"I didn't know you were hooking up with my son, or that you'd get knocked up after I died!" Leia protested. "How was I supposed to know that? If I had, I would've told you that the second you knew they were his to go to him! Change the First Order from within!"
"That would've been helpful seventeen years ago," Rey said.
"I suppose so," Leia said. "But the Jedi Order has grown. Luke always dreamed of having one like yours. And the Resistance has survived for twenty-eight years! You've done great things, Rey. I just need you to have courage and do one more. But you won't be alone."
"I won't be alone," Rey repeated. She blinked, tears stinging her eyes. "I'm not alone anymore."
Leia took Rey's hands into hers. "You have friends like Finn, Rose, and Poe. You have Ben, who loves you. Han, Luke, and I have always loved you like you were our daughter. You have children who look up to you. You have a family, Rey."
Rey wept from joy, at the revelation that shattered the very foundation of her world.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," Leia said. "Be brave, Rey, one last time."
Rey sat up straight, inhaling deeply.
"Rey!"
Ben embraced her, his presence surrounding her in the Force until they felt as if they were one entity, never to separate.
"Ben," she said.
They broke apart as he read her face. "We have to try again, don't we?"
"And we'll need the kids," Rey said.