Rey left Ben studying the texts and left their room to find Rose. She eventually tracked her down in one of the hangers, fixing the hyperdrive on a ship. 

"Rose?" she called. 

Rose appeared from behind a panel. "Hi Rey, how are you doing?"

"I'm good thank you." 

"I bet. I noticed the new friend you have," Rose grinned and raised her eyebrows. 

"Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Ooohh, girl talk. I always have time for that." Rose looked excited to hear some gossip. 

"Sorry if I'm interrupting. Do you mind?"

"Of course not. Want to go for a walk?" Rose asked. 

They walked across the landing pads to the forest, Rey starting to explain on the way. "There's several things. Firstly I need some advice, girl to girl." 

"Sure."

"Ok. Well . . . I think I need some contraception."

Rose grinned at her and raised her eyebrows again. "I would suggest an implant. They offer them to any female resistance member who wants one. You just need to ask, it's all confidential." She raised the sleeve of her shirt and showed Rey a tiny incision mark under her arm. "They last for ages," she confirmed. 

Rey smiled, starting to feel a little less awkward. "Thanks, I'll do that." 

Rose nodded and waited for her to continue. 

"The next bit might sound strange. But it's going to be hard to explain if I don't tell you who Ben is." She took a deep breath, hoping that she hadn't misjudged Rose. 

"Ben is Leia's son."

"You're kidding?! General Leia?" Rose queried. 

"Do you know any other Leia? His full name is Ben Organa Solo, and he's the son of the General and Han Solo. Anakin Skywalker was his grandfather." 

"Wow, that's quite the family tree. Doesn't that technically make him a prince? But hang on, didn't Leia's son disappear?" Rose frowned, trying to remember what she had heard. 

"Erm, kind of. He turned to the Dark side and became Kylo Ren." Rey waited with bated breath to see what Rose's reaction would be. There was a very long pause. 

Rey turned to look at Rose who had frozen mid-step. She looked at Rey open mouthed. Rey decided it might be better to keep talking. 

"We had a Force Bond, we were joined together by the Force. We could talk to each other across the Galaxy and he asked me to join him. I refused and things were rough for a while. But after going to Kef Bir he followed me when I went to fight Palpatine. He turned back to the Light side and sacrificed himself for me, saving my life. I can hear his thoughts and he can hear mine. We are two halves of the same soul." She had been looking away while talking and finally turned back to Rose, dreading what she might see. 

Rose looked like she didn't know what to think. "And he was really Kylo Ren? And he turned to the light for you?" 

"Really."

"That's kind of romantic. And you're sure he's changed?" 

"I'm sure." Rey smiled at her. 

Rose was silent for a few moments. "I don't know what I thought he would look like but it's not that. He's hot!"

Rey gave her a shy smile. "I know. The first time I saw him without his mask . . . " she trailed off, not knowing quite what to say. 

Rose giggled and the sound was infectious and Rey joined in.

Rose looked at her and said "Well now I'm dying to know what you're going to ask next!"

"Ok. This is my first serious relationship so I don't have a lot to compare it too. Ben is amazing but sometimes when we are together I want him to be more . . . " Rey waved her hands vaguely. 

"Dark?" Rose suggested shrewdly. 

"Exactly! I don't want him to be violent or anything, but perhaps just a little more . . . bad boy, if you know what I mean."

Rose nodded, "I so do," she sighed. 

"How do I explain? He's really self-conscious about being on the Dark side and I want him to accept that it's part of him and that it's ok."

"Can I ask a question? You don't have to tell me but have you ever talked about fantasies and stuff?" Rose asked curiously. 

"Kind of. He's seen a couple of dreams I had . . ." Rey blushed. 

Rose was grinning widely again. "I won't ask for details, but my suggestion would be to get some of the props from the dream you want to recreate, drop a few hints that way."

Rey gave her a conspiratorial smile. "Would you mind keeping this to yourself? Obviously there are going to be lots of people who will never forgive him, no matter how much he's changed." Rey couldn't keep the worry out of her voice.

"Who else knows?" Rose asked. 

"Finn and Poe, Chewie and if we see Lando or Maz Kanata I'm pretty sure they will recognise him. But I think that's it."

"How did Chewie react?" Rose asked. 

"He was pretty upset at first, but ultimately he could see that Ben was back. They've known each other for a long time." 

"Well if both you and Chewie are convinced that he's changed then so am I." 

*******************

Rey made an excuse to leave the Base and headed into the nearest town to do some shopping. In a couple of days when it was all delivered she would have a surprise for Ben.

******************

Dakodar was starting to lose patience. What was the point of having all these credits if everyone he paid failed to kill the Jedi? Three times now. If you wanted something doing you just had to do it yourself, he reflected. He stared into the mirror, smoothing back blond hair and making sure his jacket collar was straight. 

Vardo had said that she was heading back to the Base on Ajan Kloss so he would go himself. He wondered how many mercenaries he might be able to round up to go with him, as he was very aware of his lack of combat skills. He knew Jedi were powerful but surely there was a limit to how many people she could fight off? If he took enough resources he would succeed.