I can't say enough how much your reviews and your genuine interest and patience with this story mean to me, especially since it's shaping up to be potentially much longer than I'd previously anticipated. Please enjoy this next installment.

Leia was startled awake with a harsh knock against her door. She straightened slowly, wincing as pain shot through her neck and back. She'd fallen asleep next to Ben again. Rey had been gone for three days talking with Luke and still there was nothing to hint what had happened or what might be coming for them. The angry medic had taken the droid back the night before and Leia made do with the bed, tracking Ben's vitals and administering the assigned drugs herself. What she didn't like was the lack of someone to monitor him while she was away or asleep, and that's when BB-8 had volunteered his services. The brave little BB droid was sitting in the corner, his scanners trained on Ben and poised to wake her should anything change. She smiled wearily at him and received a kind, soft whistle in response.

"I'm alright," she assured him, getting up and going to the door. She pressed the key next to the door and looked up at the four men standing in her doorway. "Yes?"

"You're compromised General Organa so I'll just get straight to the point," the leader said, his arms crossed and his expression dark. "We are not going to spend any more resources on keeping Kylo Ren alive."

Leia straightened up a little more and her eyes went hard. "He's a prisoner, I am using minimal resources on him to begin with. I am doing nothing against protocol and this is not your decision to make."

"He's your bastard son and a mass murderer," the man snapped back. "Your precious trial is a formality and it will end in his execution. You're not fit for duty and someone has to have the balls to say it so here I am. You need to step down and you can start by getting out of my way while I do what everyone else on this base is thinking." He pulled a blaster from his holster and held it up, aiming at Ben's head. Leia stepped between her son and the blaster, her expression darkening as well. The lights gave a flicker.

"Holster that weapon," she said firmly. "That's an order."

The man's lip curled. "You're not giving the orders anymore, general."

He aimed his pistol past Leia and his finger tightened on the trigger. That's when Leia punched him. The man staggered back in surprise and she slapped her hand against the door controls, locking the room down. It wasn't enough. There was angry shouting and cursing from the other side and in moments the men were prying the door open. Leia went to comm for backup but the comm to her room had been cut.

These men had been planning this all along, prepared to break her door down if need be. Leia went to her storage closet and hit the code quickly, retrieving a blaster of her own and taking her place in front of Ben's bed. BB-8 whistled with a startled concern and Leia glanced at the droid. She didn't have time to give him orders or reassurance when the door wrenched violently open and blaster fire came through the smoke. She shot back, and was only vaguely aware when BB-8 went racing past her and out into the base.

Sparks rained around her and it was with a sick shock that she realized they were coming from Ben's life support console where a blaster bolt had left a charred wound that gaped the metal.

SWSWSWSWSW

Rey was chewing her lip, her feet tucked up under her at the control center for the Millennium Falcon. She was sitting in space just inside the forest moon's orbit, trying to decide what she was going to do when she landed. It was a little more freeing up here, where she had the stars in a blanket around her and no one could come up to the cockpit and knock on the glass wondering why she was taking so long to come out. Her discussion with Luke and Anakin had dropped off of anything immediately useful after Anakin had revealed what happened to the best of his knowledge. They didn't know why Kylo was still alive or what they'd all do if Snoke came back for him.

It was a serious dilemma, and she knew that the longer Kylo Ren was in their base the more angry people would amass outside General Organa's door.

At that point though, Rey was convinced they needed him, as absurd as that felt to think. How else were they gonna find out what Snoke was planning? The hard part would be to get a bunch of angry resistance fighters to hear that and then not tear him apart long enough for him to help. If he was even inclined to. She groaned and rubbed at her forehead. She'd been calculating the entire trip back and she still hadn't factored in what would happen if really was Kylo who woke up and not the Ben she felt lingering inside him. She huffed a sigh and tried to let the tension bleed off into the force. Worrying wasn't going to change anything and she could only plan so much. Better to land the ship and see what was happening before going any further.

When she landed she wasn't surprised to see Poe come running up, but she was surprised at the worried expression and the way he beckoned her down with a frantic wave. His lip was split and he looked roughed up, as though he'd been in a fight. She scrambled out of her seat and toward the landing ramp, a million bad scenarios flooding her mind.

"What happened?" she exclaimed, grabbing his forearms to slow herself as he met her half way up the ramp. He was gulping air and it took a moment for him to catch it back enough to answer her. That alone concerned her more—Poe kept in great shape and normally had excellent lung capacity.

"A few—of the men-didn't agree—with General Organa," he gasped, ducking his head as he worked to get his breath back. "They attacked her quarters. Broke the door, attacked Kylo. But I need you to come with me right now, I'll tell you the rest on the way."

Fear struck through her and she didn't have the presence of mind to let the force take the brunt of it as she fell into a fast stride next to Poe. "Is he still alive? Is Leia okay?"

"She has a cut in her forehead but I got to them both in time. I was able to fight the attackers off and Finn restrained them. They're in lockup right now and Chewbacca is standing guard by my quarters—we had to move Leia and Kylo there after the damage. And yes, he's alive but we don't think for very much longer which is why we tried to contact you."

"I was out of range, I assumed-" she felt guilty suddenly but Poe was rounding a corner and waving his clearance to let them into the base so he didn't see. She'd never imagined things would go so bad so quickly. "What can I do?" she asked as they both broke into a run towards Poe's quarters. "I'm no healer."

"You might have to be," Poe said grimly, slowing his stride only when his door came into view. The wookie and Finn were standing either side of it, blaster and bowcaster in hand. Rey felt a surge of immense pride go through her for both individuals. She knew what a testament of faith and love towards Leia them guarding Kylo was. Especially after she'd seen the scar left by Chewbacca's bowcaster and the saber strike up Finn's back. She touched Finn's hand on her way past him, shooting him a grateful look. He only nodded back and she tore herself away from his eyes to focus on the scene in front of her.

Leia had her hands on her son, who looked dead already. He was pale and his vitals were only present on the monitor. Rey could see no sign of breath from him. She went quickly to the bed and touched Leia's hand, causing her head to come up quickly. The pain in Leia's eyes made Rey's breath catch and her own eyes pooled with tears.

"Leia," she said softly, squeezing the older woman's hand. "I'm so sorry."

"He doesn't have much time," Leia said, clasping Rey's hand like it was a lifeline. "I need you to help me, he's beyond what our medicine can do now."

Rey shook her head, her brow furrowed. "I can't—I'm sorry Master Luke never got that far and he said that healing was a very difficult thing to accomplish. I mended a cut and helped heal a concussion once—nothing more severe than that."

"It is," Leia admitted, but she didn't let go of Rey's hand. "But I studied the force as well. Not to be a Jedi, but to understand the power I have. Healing is something that came easier to me. It is a power found only in the light, and it's about trusting. About letting go. Rey, I can't heal him myself. I need you to combine your abilities with mine and help him back. If we don't try, he will die. He's not even strong enough to be moved into a bacta tank."

Rey held Leia's gaze, warring with herself for a few pounding heartbeats. Finally, she looked down at Ben's still face and released a shaky breath. She nodded. I can do this. She felt tension leave her and evaporate into the force and she squeezed Leia's hand with more confidence. "Guide me?" she requested, looking at Leia again.

"Thank you," Leia breathed, and she took hold of Rey's hand and guided her to lay it against the center of Ben's chest. His skin was clammy and she wondered what he was clinging to that he hadn't died yet. Leia kept her hand resting over Rey's and reached her free one to cradle one side of Ben's head. When she was prompted with a nod, Rey mimicked the gesture.

She felt Leia's presence brighten as a focal point in her mind and she followed that presence with her own, her physical body going quite still. Below them, Ben's presence was cold and flickering—something you never wanted to feel from a living person. The force never felt cold unless the person harboring it was sick or dying. The dark side had a bite to it, but it was passion and heat. The light side sometimes felt cool, but this frost had nothing to do with the light.

She sensed tendrils of Leia twining with her like the clinging anchors on a vine and Rey returned the gesture until she almost felt that they were one person. It was a linking of their minds in the deepest meditation Rey had ever experienced and through that she could sense that Leia knew what to do, knew where to go to piece Ben back together. Rey allowed her to lead, feeling the force grow stronger around the two of them with every new layer of peaceful surrender. It was as though they were a conduit, directing the force where Ben needed it most.

She lost herself to the force, had no real sense of her own body or location or time. All she felt was the warm power pouring through the two of them and cascading through their hands, battling the ice inside of Ben into a thaw. Gradually Rey became aware of his body and every torn ligament, every crushed cell and splintered bone. She felt the cracked ribs at the deepest level, knew suddenly without ever having learned what bruised heart muscle felt like.

Just as she attained this knowledge something warm spread itself over the damage and she watched the threads of muscle swell and firm up again, joining in to restore a strong pulse. From there the healing rushed through his veins and she watched in awe as their combined meditation took the straightened bones held in place by the bed's field and quickly melded them. Marrow flushed the healed spaces and spindles of white bone like spiderweb knit his chest wall back together. She felt ligaments ease their unnatural strain and nerves quieted their frantic spasm as pain signals dulled. For the first time in days his muscles pulled together in the involuntary urge to take a deep breath and oxygen flooded his blood, infusing his force signature with a fresh heat. Deep in his brain, new neurons flashed bright and healthy, and all at once his presence in the force surged back with the deluge of new signals and oxygen.

She felt Leia withdraw slowly and as they parted their connection to one another and to Ben fell away like gold thread. Rey blinked hazily, her body numb, exhaustion overtaking her. She only barely realized her vision was back and her trance was over when she slumped boneless against the table.

SWSWSWSW

When she woke she was swathed in blankets and someone was holding her hand.

"Rey? Rey! Thank god," Finn breathed, his excitement apparent in the way he squeezed her hand and jumped up to look at her properly. She blinked hazily and frowned, focusing on him.

"Finn?" she said, her voice a rasp. "What happened?" She looked around and then sat up a little. "Why am I in the medbay?"

"You and Leia took quite the hit healing—him," Finn finished, seemingly torn about what to call their prisoner. "Leia's still passed out, but her vitals have been steady."

He glanced over at another bed where Leia was similarly tucked away. Rey blinked, wide-eyed. "How long was I out?"

Finn sobered a little. "Four days."

"Four days?" Rey exclaimed, the urgency to get out of bed and handle the chaos that must have happened in that time making her tense against Finn's restraining hand.

"Yes and everything is okay. Nobody else has tried anything and Chewbacca, me, and Poe have all taken turns guarding the room. BB-8 has been monitoring him and updating us for when you woke up. He's stronger by the way. His ribs are healing rapidly and his heartbeat and brainwaves have been healthy."

"And we haven't been attacked?" she asked, incredulous.

Finn shook his head, his smile full of relief and disbelief. "No, that's the weird part. Nobody. I keep waiting for it, it's making me nervous."

Just then Poe came running in, and Rey wondered if him being the out of breath errand boy was going to be his new job. This time though, he looked happy, if a little frazzled. He bent over, hands braced on his knees before he delivered his message.

"So, he's waking up-."