A/N: Thank you for reading!
General Hux stood with his hands clasped tightly behind his back as he glared out the viewport. This weapon was supposed to end things, once and for all. The Resistance was evacuating while the blast from the weapon hung suspended. The Stormtroopers were reported to have defected to the last man, so he did not have the manpower to scramble the fighters to go after them. Most of their ship's power had been used by the weapon and it would take a few moments to be able to fire more effective alternatives. And this day had been going so well.
Suddenly, the green beam of light moved again. The bridge went silent as they watched it reach its target at last, enveloping the planet in the sickly green hue. Then it was gone.
"Did it work?" he demanded.
"The structures remain intact," one officer reported.
He snorted. "What of the Resistance?"
"It appears, sir, that they had completed their evacuation."
"What?" This was unaccountable. All that for nothing? Force-users! Their ideas always turned out to be useless.
"General, the Resistance is making contact."
He struggled to compose himself. "Fine, patch them through."
"General Hugs?" a familiar voice echoed through the bridge and his lip curled in disdain. He knew better than to answer. "I have a real message this time, General."
"Let's have it, then," he snapped.
"Your weapon was ineffective. Your Stormtroopers defected. The officers in your fleet could all fit on one transport. Are you willing to surrender?"
"Yes, fine."
There was a pause. "What are your terms?"
"I'll consult with my officers and send them to you."
"Thank you."
Hux turned toward the tech and indicated that the connection be severed. Then he addressed his people. "Send a message to the rest of our fleet, but do not engage with the Resistance. Surrender, whatever the terms. You understand that I will not be here when we are boarded." He waited to see if anyone would protest, then headed for the escape pods.
Poe Dameron kept an eye on the First Order ship from his X-Wing. It was a victory today, hopefully a lasting one. There was the rest of the fleet to consider, but the Stormtroopers in it were likely to join their fellows in mutiny. A surrender would be in the best interest of the officers of the First Order. Especially since they were not known for their heroic behavior. There was little chance that they would remain affiliated with the regime when it was definitively the losing side.
"Kaydel, did everyone make it off the planet?"
"Everyone's reported in, Poe."
"Good. Are there any remaining effects from the weapon?"
There was a pause while she checked. "Our scans show that the little plant life on the surface was destroyed, but the infrastructure for the mines and the city remain intact and are presenting no continued effects."
"Thank you. Send them back to Cloud City. We can help the Stormtroopers settle in. Then I think we should move to a new base, keep it from being too crowded."
"You think the galaxy will still need the Resistance?"
He considered. The idea of not being part of the movement had not occurred to him. He'd spent his whole life with Rebellion leaders and they had naturally morphed into the Resistance when the First Order rose. Still, it was not a dissatisfying thought. "For a little while. Until the rest of them are locked up or something. Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
"I was born on Dulathia. Would be nice to go back."
A smile crossed his face. "I'll see what I can do to get you back there, then, Kaydel."
"Thank you, Poe."
His expression turned into a frown as he spotted something breaking off from the main ship. An escape pod. "Where does he think he's going?" he wondered aloud.
"Poe?"
Instead of answering, he fired up his engine and gave chase – hardly a contest. "BB-8, launch the grappling hook," he ordered when they got close. It was easy enough to latch onto the pod. Getting it down safely on the landing platform might be another story, but he saw no reason not to try. The landing was unsurprisingly bumpy, possibly a bit more so than it had to be. He climbed out of the cockpit and went to check it out.
"Ah, General Hugs. What a pleasure to meet in person." The other man glared fiercely, but resigned himself to his fate when Poe leveled a blaster at him. "Come on, then," he ordered and escorted the general to some of Calrissian's people.
"You won't keep me here for long," Hux growled as he was led away.
Poe smiled. "No, I'm sure there are a lot of people who will want your head. I hope you'll be comfortable while you're with us," he added politely, and went off to find Kaydel.
Rey sat by the Dejarik table on the Falcon, trying to stay awake. Ben sat next to her, his eyes closed. She wondered how much of the exhaustion she was feeling was actually his. Everyone else was in the cockpit, fortunately – except for the Knights, of course, who were locked up in the hold – and she was glad to be alone with Ben. It was only maybe, what, the fourth time she had been so in person.
"Ben," she murmured.
He opened an eye to look down at her.
"What's going to happen next?"
"You'll have to tell me – you're the one with visions of the future."
She frowned slightly. "That's not what I meant."
"I know," he replied resignedly, reaching for her hand. He brought it to his lips gently and she felt her cheeks growing warm. "What do you want to do next, Rey?"
"Help the Resistance, if they need us."
"Alright. What if they don't?"
"Then... I don't know. Maybe find other people who do."
He frowned slightly. "Like whom?"
She shrugged. "Other Force-sensitive people, maybe. Ones who want to be trained. Without having to leave their families," she added when he stiffened.
"You would be good at that."
"You would, too," she insisted. "I've only had a couple days of formal training and could use the help."
A smile tugged at his lips. "That's all you got from Luke?"
"I got the sacred texts," she countered.
"So you did." He closed his eyes again, leaning back. Then opened them suddenly to look at her. "You 'got' them? He didn't give them to you?"
She flushed for a different reason. "He wasn't using them," she defended herself.
A laugh was startled out of him and she smiled in spite of herself. "Scavenger," he called her with an unexpected level of affection in his tone.
"I learned a lot of useful life skills scavenging. Collecting items that won't be missed, defending yourself and what's yours, fixing broken things..." she trailed off uncomfortably, acutely aware of how different his upbringing had likely been as the son of a princess.
His expression sobered and he reached hesitantly to touch her cheek. "Yes, you are good at fixing broken things," he agreed softly.
She wondered if he could feel the heat in her cheeks as she leaned into his touch. "You're not broken," she told him.
"Yes, I am."
She swallowed, then reached out to trace her fingers down the scar that bisected his face, feeling a wave of guilt wash over her. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Don't be, Rey." She started to protest and he shook his head slightly. "I deserved it. I don't deserve anything else from you," he added, pulling his hand away.
The loss sent a spike of devastation through her. Without thinking, she leaned forward instinctually and pressed her lips to his. He didn't move, frozen, for a beat. Then he kissed her back, and she went on not thinking for some time.
"We deserve this," she told him firmly when they broke apart. "To be together. To... to not be alone anymore."
He nodded, then put his arm around her to draw her close. "If that's what you want."
"It is."
"So, how does Rey know Ben?" Lando Calrissian asked his new friends, and one old one, as they waited to return to his city.
There was an uncomfortable silence before Chewie growled a response.
"Really? How exciting. I hope she'll tell me all about it when we land."
"You could go ask her now," Finn said, expression somewhat doubtful.
Lando laughed. "Oh, I don't think my nephew would appreciate an interruption anytime soon." Chewie expressed his agreement while Finn and Rose exchanged a look.
"Your nephew?" Rose prompted.
"Well, you know, I've known him his whole life. Leia and Han and I go way back. We aren't related, of course, but he's always been like a nephew to me. Used to call me Unca Wanwo. When he was very young, naturally."
Finn shook his head. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this. We knew about Kylo Ren in the First Order. We avoided him for a reason. He didn't really seem like... like anyone would enjoy being around the guy."
Both Lando and Chewie laughed at that. "I admit he's had a rough few years. He's too much like his father. He'll come around, though, especially with that nice young lady to keep him on his toes."
Finn glanced over at Rose and was pleased to see that she seemed just as thrown by the information as he was. Fortunately, they got the all-clear to land and he didn't have to be stuck in this awkward conversation any longer. Poe and Kaydel were waiting for them on the platform and he was looking forward to seeing them after all the excitement.
"You two go on ahead," Lando said when they landed. "I'm sure my people have things well in hand and I want to catch up with my friend," he added, patting Chewie's shoulder. "Unless you'd like some medical attention." Chewie snarled in response and Lando laughed.
Rose and Finn exchanged another look and, shrugging, headed toward the gangplank. They had to walk past where Rey and Kylo – Ben? – were seated to do so. "Are you coming?" Finn asked, trying not to think about how close the two of them were.
"Yeah, we'll catch up in just a minute," Rey replied. He didn't wait to see whatever silent communication she was having with the man who used to be a frightening story told to Stormtroopers who were caught shirking their duty.
"Poe!" he called gladly as he hurried down the gangplank toward his friend. They embraced, and then he did the same to Kaydel while Poe embraced Rose.
"We did it," Poe said with a grin.
"He captured General Hux," Kaydel explained. "We have a large portion of the First Order leadership in custody. It shouldn't take much to get them to disband at this point."
"That's great," Rose said. "What are you going to do with him?"
Poe shrugged. "Send him to trial, I suppose. I'm not really sure how that'll work now."
"We'll figure it out," Finn assured him.
"You did great up there," Poe continued, clapping Finn on the shoulder. "I honestly didn't think it would be as effective as it was," he admitted.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
He laughed. "You know what I mean. It was a long shot and –" He trailed off, looking behind them with wide eyes. "Is that – ?"
"Ben," Rose said firmly and Poe stared at her. "His name is Ben Solo. It's a long story. And it would be best if there isn't any confusion about who he is," she added.
Poe blinked at her, glancing at Finn, who shrugged, then at Kaydel, who looked at least as confused as he was. BB-8 beeped and he looked down with considerable consternation. "How did you know his name was Ben? Alright, alright, fine," he continued, watching as the Last Jedi came walking up, hand-in-hand with the Jedi Killer. Whose name was apparently Ben.
"Hello, everyone. Ben, this is Poe, Kaydel, Rose, and you know Finn," Rey explained. They all murmured awkward greetings and it was fortunate that Lando and Chewie chose that moment to leave the Falcon as well, chatting like the old friends they were.
"Ben, it has been too long," Lando said as approached, breaking off his conversation.
"It has," Ben echoed hesitantly.
Lando pulled him into his arms tightly. "I'm so glad you're back," he told his nephew.
"I'm glad to be back, Uncle," he replied quietly.
Everyone else averted their eyes uncomfortably until the reunion was apparently over. Ben took Rey's hand again and Lando smiled broadly. "Now, we have a reason to celebrate tonight, don't we? I'll have something set up. Come on, Chewie, you can finish your story when I've had someone see to that leg." Chewbacca grumbled in protest but followed Lando.
BB-8 rolled over and ran into Rey, who smiled at him, patting his head without releasing Ben's hand. It was nice to see a familiar face, though she remained nervous about what bringing Ben along with her to the Resistance would be like.
"Well, we'd better head in there. Lots of work to do," Poe suggested, kneeling to pet his droid and grinning up at them.
The distinct sound of a ship entering the atmosphere interrupted whatever someone might have answered and they all stared as a small transport ship moved through the clouds to land right next to the Falcon. It opened and a familiar figure made her way down the ramp. Two figures, as C-3PO hastened to catch up to the first.
"I'm hearing that we won," Leia Organa called as she approached them. "Which can't possibly be true, because I was not here to command a victory," she added with a grin. "Hello, Poe, congratulations. How does it feel?"
He smiled at her. "Pretty good, ma'am."
"Glad to hear it. Kaydel, you were indispensable, I'm sure. And Finn, I'll never doubt your powers of persuasion again." She stopped short, lifting her hand self-consciously to her chest. "Ben," she whispered.
"Hello, Mother." Rey could feel both of their heightened emotions and tightened her grip on his hand encouragingly.
"Goodness! Master Ben! No one told me to expect you," C-3PO broke in, sounding pleased, then glanced back at his mistress uncertainly. Leia did not respond to his subtle query and he looked a bit lost when no one else spoke, either. BB-8 beeped at him and, with obvious relief, he walked over to the other droid.
Leia cleared her throat, taking in the sight of all of them, then glanced back at her son. Despite that, her question was not directed at him. "My son hasn't made too much of a nuisance of himself today, has he?"
"He saved us all, General. Gave us time to evacuate when the First Order attacked by holding off their weapon," Rose explained.
Ben's mouth worked in that way of his and he glanced away from Leia.
"He's done great things today, Leia," Rey said gently. "In the Light."
"I don't doubt that," Leia replied, then took a hesitant step closer. "Ben."
She didn't need to say more than that. He stooped to be enfolded in her embrace, releasing Rey to hold tightly to her dress like a child. "I'm so sorry, Mother," he murmured. "For everything."
Fussing with his hair, she gave a watery smile. "I know, sweetheart. I imagine there is a celebration going on. Why don't you all go check that out. Rey, if you could wait a moment."
The four others were glad enough to leave what was clearly a private moment. Rey shifted her weight awkwardly as her friends disappeared inside. Seeing Ben with his mother made her heart ache.
"Am I correct in guessing you had a part in bringing my son back to me?" Leia asked, as though her son wasn't in her arms to be questioned.
Rey bit her lip. "A part, yes."
Leia smiled slightly. "Don't undersell yourself, child. Stand up, Ben, let me look at you." He did as bidden and seemed so young as he stood there, accepting her scrutiny. "You're taller than I remember. Could use a wardrobe change. What happened to your face?" she asked sharply, reaching up to touch the scar. He caught her hand and shook his head slightly.
"That was me," Rey explained.
Leia turned to look at her in surprise. "Well, that's certainly an unorthodox way to go about it, but I suppose I can't argue with your results." She offered her arm to her son, who took it, then took Rey's hand. "Let's do some celebrating. I think we could all use it."
The three of them joined the rest of the Resistance in the mess hall. Lando's people must have worked quickly, because the celebration was already in full force. Poe and Kaydel were teasing each other by the refreshment table, Finn and Rose were laughing with a group of former Stormtroopers. Lando and Chewie were having a heated debate while some poor medical droid tried to tend to Chewie's leg. Leia headed over to embrace both of them, while Rey and Ben followed more slowly. She smiled up at him. They were finally home.