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Chapter 8: A Home

Several Days Later

Not always shall you be what you are now.

You are going forward toward something great.

I am on the way with you and therefore I love you.

Carl Sandberg

Her name was Drakka. She was 10 years old. She had no understanding of how strong her Force power was.

Finn had managed to extract only a few details from the child since he and some other Alliance fighters had found her in one of the many offshoot tunnels in the Dantooine cave system. She mostly sat off to herself, away from the troops and campsite, chewing her lip or otherwise nibbling on one of her stubby, juvenile fingers.

Finn noted that the others did not seem to mind, seemed to prefer it that way, really. He reckoned the story of how they found her had wended its way among the troop. That, plus the tiny horns that ringed her head like a natural crown, had been the subject of stares and whispers from many of the fighters old enough to remember stories of Darth Maul told by their parents and grandparents. Finn had overheard them intermittently, although he refused to indulge anyone by joining in the conversation. She was an orphaned child, not an insidious killer from the past.

It was in the evening of the fifth day Drakka had been with the camp that Finn decided on an alternative method to connect with the little girl. Putting together a small helping of portion bread and root leaf stew, Finn carefully trod over to where Drakka had perched in a corner of the large cave chamber. Her solemn gaze tracked his every movement, her eyes owlish in the dull glow of the campfire.

"I thought you might be hungry," he said to her in a gentle, hushed tone. "I brought you some dinner."

"Thank you," she mumbled, her voice scratchy from disuse. She cupped the bowl of soup, keeping the ration of bread balanced on her leg.

"Is it okay if I sit with you a bit?" Finn asked. At the slight affirmative bob of her head, he took a seat opposite her, drawing his legs in to sit cross-legged. She raised the bowl to her lips and began drinking in the stew.

"Drakka," he began carefully. "Do you think you would like to leave this place? Go somewhere different?" he suggested.

The little girl paused her eating, the bowl drooping from her mouth as she considered his question. Despite knowing almost nothing of consequence about the child, Finn could gather from her mannerisms and observation of others that Drakka was no fool. If anything, he would have bet money the girl was wise beyond her years already, at only 11 years old. His innate curiosity itched to know more about her past, to learn the details that had led Drakka to being found alone in a bloodstained room with Force energy radiating off her in waves. But he held it back, determined to do his utmost to ensure Drakka walked out of this cave with her sanity still intact.

After a few moments of contemplation, she spoke. "If I left, I wouldn't know when they came back."

Finn tensed, considering the meaning of her words. It was the first time Drakka had mentioned a they at all, and he knew his next reactions would need to be carefully crafted. Thinking it best not to draw attention to the fact she was sharing new information with him, Finn feigned an air of casualness in his next reply.

"I see. Who do you mean by 'they'?"

Drakka swallowed loudly, her bowl of stew nearly empty. "My mother. And father. My aunt."

Oh stars, Finn thought. His heart broke for the child. Though they had found no bodies remaining in the parts of the cave system they had explored, Finn was quite sure he knew the fate of Drakka's family had been sealed. The stormtrooper unit had destroyed them, likely dragging their bodies deeper into the caves to loot and discard them. He put nothing past a band of scavenger stormtroopers; they were desperate, hungry and derelict.

Of course, he knew he could not reveal any of those thoughts to her. Even now, the girl was only a few shades away from being completely catatonic. The last thing she needed to hear was the awful truth that was now her reality: she was completely alone.

Immediately his mind shifted to thoughts of Rey as he considered Drakka, sitting stoically and munching on a bit of portion bread. His mind conjured an image of Rey at that age - similarly alone, confused, and without a soul who truly cared for her. He wondered if Rey had likewise had bouts of uncontrollable Force energy coursing through her young veins, and if she had ever come to make sense of what was happening to her. Already, there were striking similarities between Drakka and Rey, similarities that neither should have had to claim as part of their identities.

Drawing himself back to the present, Finn refocused his attention to Drakka. She had finished eating and was now flicking crumbs idly from the rough canvas of her trousers. She was so small. And so very, very young.

"Drakka?" Finn asked. The little girl raised her head to meet his gaze.

"Yes, Finn?" she responded, his name carrying a foreign lilt as she spoke. After having heard her talk more, he realized her accent was one he had never heard before. It was a strange little quirk that left him with even more questions.

"I have a friend I would really like you to meet. Her name is Rey. She's very similar to you," he spoke in a soft but clear tone.

Drakka considered his words. "Rey… can also move things without touching them? Sense things?" He was not surprised Drakka had made the connection so quickly. The child seemed to have incredible intuition.

"Yes, she can. And she's very good at those things. She might even be able to teach you a few new things. Do you think you might like that?"

Drakka pursed her lips, her face more serious than any 10-year-old's he had seen before. "My mother said she would teach me how to be better at those things soon. But maybe… maybe I could see Rey and learn something new that would surprise her?"

Finn's eyes pricked with tears he refused to let fall in the child's presence. It was almost too much to bear. Taking in a deep breath to steel himself, he plastered an artificial smile on his face.

"Yes, I bet she'd like that. Very much," he replied.

Drakka nodded seriously to herself, as though Finn's remarks had confirmed her own suspicion. "I would like to meet Rey, then," she said in a small voice.

"All right then. We will head out to meet her soon. I promise."

"And then you'll bring me back?" Drakka asked, her gaze boring into Finn's face.

"Yes, Drakka. And then I'll bring you back."

After ensuring the child had had enough to eat and was settled for the night, he bid her goodbye and returned to his tent. It was not situated far from where Drakka slept in case she would need something or, stars forbid, have another Force-energy episode.

Finn reached for the communicator he kept by his cot and fired off a quick message to Poe before changing for bed.

NEED EXTRACTION CRUISER SOON. TAKING CHILD TO REY. SHE HAS HER FIRST STUDENT.

Rey had barely slept in the days since the altercation with Luke and Leia. It was only when her body had refused to carry her any further did she slouch against the temple walls for brief periods of rest. She refused to sleep in her makeshift room, feeling that it held too many memories and nightmares now for her to find any comfort there.

She had stopped searching for Ben. She knew now it was impossible to reach him as she was, thanks to the work of the Skywalker twins.

In the hours following their encounter, Rey had grappled with the aftermath of feelings she felt toward her former masters. Luke had seemed so needlessly cruel, an altogether new experience for her since he had not treated her with such spite before. Leia, too, had appeared uncharacteristically agitated and distant.

While Rey could only guess at the true reasons behind their behavior, she reasonably assumed it had had more to do with both of their relationships with Ben than with her personally. She reminded herself that Luke had heavily mistrusted Ben while alive, even before Ben had assumed the name of Kylo Ren.

Leia's responses, on the other hand, were more of an enigma to her. She imagined it had something to do with the complexities of motherhood, but that was an altogether foreign concept to Rey. She had very vague conceptions of what being a mother entailed, and it was not enough to understand the position in which Leia found herself.

In the end, Rey decided their behavior was of little consequence when it came to her plans. She had spoken with absolute certainty when she told Luke and Leia she would not continue to linger in this lifetime as half of a Force-ordained whole. Having heard nothing more from the twins since their visit, which had been days ago, she took their silence to be an answer in itself.

She knew what she had to do.

It was why she was not sleeping, why she was barely eating.

Rey had decided to weaken herself intentionally so that one good heave of Force energy, one final surge of power, would be enough to sap the entirety of her body's strength. Then it would be over, the balance would be restored, and she would be at peace.

She would see Ben again.

She hoped they would meet once more at the beautiful temple near the lake. She wanted to hear the gulls calling once again, hear the breeze whisper through the branches of that ancient tree under which she and Ben had lounged for hours.

But until that time, Rey had put her many hours of forced consciousness to good use by completing the final renovations to the temple. BB-8 had assisted her when needed, albeit rather hesitantly. Somewhere within its cogs and artificial synapses, the little droid could sense something very off-kilter in Rey. Despite BB-8's attempts to force her into taking breaks, which mostly involved moving her tools and rearranging some of the interior infrastructure of the temple, its intercessions did little to slow her progress. Rey burned through burst after burst of Force energy to finalize the school until finally, finally, the structure was complete.

It was in the afternoon of the fifth day since Luke and Leia's visit when she slumped against the entryway to the temple, sweat-slick and utterly spent. BB-8 rolled to a halt next to her, opening a panel in its body to produce a small fan that began blowing in her direction. Rey gave the droid a small smile and patted its side.

"Thank you, BB-8. You've been a tremendous help," she said quietly. BB-8 hummed in response.

Rey sat at the temple entrance with the droid for a while, resting and thinking. There were just a few last-minute preparations she needed to take care of and then everything would be settled. She looked inward, observing her emotions, but was distantly surprised to find no active feeling of fear clouding her mind. Instead, all she could feel was peace and assurance. It was a strange sensation, but she was sure everything was unfolding as it should.

On a whim, Rey rose shakily to her feet and began walking down the steps. BB-8 released a flutter of worried beeps behind her, but she called to him over her shoulder.

"Come on, BB-8," she said "We won't be but a little bit. I just want to take a walk through the jungle."

Just one last time, she added to herself.

The plans were in place. They would be leaving for Ledeve in the morning.

Poe had responded almost immediately to Finn's message, sending him the coordinates for where he and Drakka should meet the extraction cruiser the next day.

Finn's body was buzzing with anticipation. It had nearly worried him senseless that Rey had been left to her own devices for several weeks longer than he had originally planned. He hoped BB-8 had at least been of some help to her since he and Poe had left. He reasoned that perhaps having the longtime companion around would ground her to the present, help her avoid thoughts of Kylo Ren and whatever lies his lingering presence had tried to spin. Teaching Drakka would surely distract her, seeing as it would be a full-time job that required all of her attention.

Lying in his cot, Finn mulled over whether or not to send Rey a message in advance of their arrival. On the one hand, he thought it might be exciting to surprise her with an introduction to her first student. On the other, he knew Drakka would not be the easiest youngling with which to begin a school. Her capabilities in the Force were already considerable, and the unacknowledged trauma from losing her family would pose many challenges throughout her training. But Finn felt sure that if anyone could help Drakka carve a path forward for herself in this life, it would be Rey.

In the end, he decided to send Rey a brief message through the communicator.

COMING BACK IN TWO DAYS. I FOUND A STUDENT. SHE IS VERY MUCH LIKE YOU. SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP.

At dusk, she emerged from the dense jungle that surrounded the clearing. From her peripheral vision, she noted the temple standing to her right. She felt no hurry to return to it; later there would be time to commit her years-long project to memory. Instead, Rey found herself wanting more than anything to absorb the feeling of this moment, the wonder of seeing the world around her as it carried on without notice or concern for her consideration.

A peculiarly cool breeze carried through the open area, cooling the beads of sweat that had formed on the nape of her neck. With BB-8 at her side, quietly humming, Rey opened all senses to take in the view, cherishing this time when day and night seemed undeniably intertwined. Everything she could see was lit with the warm honey tones of the sun's last rays, edges of leaves and grass blades limned with liquid gold. Even her skin appeared gilded in the places where the light kissed her goodnight.

Rey listened as the creatures of Ledeve called out their final songs for the day, the echoes of birdsong quieting until they became a soft murmur. She halfheartedly wished to be one of those creatures, perhaps one of the birds that circled high above, carried effortlessly through the air as though it had been ordained to do so. She imagined their lives to be so simple, unencumbered by the meaning of their existence or its implications for the rest of flora and fauna. She wondered what it would be like to have that sort of consciousness, to unknowingly be born into such weightless freedom. Tears slipped silently down her face at the idea.

After a few moments, Rey withdrew from her internal ponderings and collected herself. There was still things to do before she planned to take her leave, instructions she would write, texts she would store for Finn and other Force-sensitive beings to find. Shaking her head in an effort to focus, she turned and began walking toward the temple. BB-8 warily followed a few paces behind her.

It was not until she had cleared the first landing that she noticed the lone figure sitting on the steps above her. Leaning forward, his elbows rested on the tops of his knees, his fingers loosely interlaced before him. Watching her. Looking at her with an expression as though home had finally appeared on the horizon.

Years later, Rey would still be unable to articulate the moment she looked up. It was like breathing for the first time, she would say to those who would ask her to tell the story. As though you did not realize your lungs had yet to expand with air, or even comprehend the significance of what air is, until you felt its relief spreading from your chest. She would flash a small smile, knowing full well that even this description paled in comparison to the true experience she had felt in that unforgettable moment.

He looked just as youthful and vibrant as he had been the last time she saw him. His raven's wing hair curled around his face, brown eyes bright and full with subtle mischief, full lips curved into a half-smile. The realness of him rattled her composure. Her jaw slackened, causing her mouth to part in a silent "o."

Is this really happening…? Her garbled thoughts questioned. They... listened?

But then he was standing, he was descending toward her, and her mind could focus on little else. Oh, stars, the way he walked. Though perhaps completely unaware, he was filled with a quiet sort of grace. The traces of a royal lineage were revealed in the balanced, assured way he carried himself. As if the world wove itself only to touch his feet where he moved.

Soon, but not soon enough for Rey's liking, he stood before her, peering down at her as the waning sunlight washed over his face like a warm glow. Slowly, as if he, too, was somewhat uncertain as to whether this would all disappear with a sudden movement, he reached out to cup the side of her face in his hand. His long fingers gently stroked the arch of her cheekbone as she leaned into his touch.

Real. This moment was real.

"Look what you've done," he murmured, an undercurrent of unmistakable joy coursing through his deep voice.

At the sound of his voice, the nerve of him to tease her after all that had taken place, Rey's face broke into a wide-mouthed grin.

"Ben," she said simply.

Author's Note: Ben's back! If you've stuck with me this far, thank you very much! I honestly never intended to write more than the first chapter, but I promise there is a longer narrative that I am now working toward completing. Thanks for all the reviews, well wishes and encouragement since the last chapter. I really, truly appreciate the sincerity. Keep leaving reviews if you feel inclined to do so! It brightens my day to hear what you're thinking about the plot and ways I could potentially improve. xoxo (the socially-distant kind, of course)