"Hey kiddo." Luke Skywalker was outlined in blue and standing next to Rey. 

"Luke! You have terrible timing."

"It's not an accident. I come when you need me. For the last couple of weeks you haven't needed me and I also wasn't sure Ben was ready."

Rey's face fell. Ben. She felt numb. She gestured to her chest, "He-"

"He's not dead Rey, just unconscious, along with everyone else. Although perhaps not that one," he said shrugging, gesturing to a headless body. 

Rey heaved a sigh of relief, although on some level she knew she would have felt it if he were gone. She took a minute to look at a few of the fallen bodies on the ground and was relieved to see that most of them were breathing. 

"Ben taught me to control my lightning," she said weakly. She moved over to him and inspected his chest. She closed her eyes and raised a hand, concentrating on healing the bleeding gash across his chest. After a minute Ben opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Rey hovering over him. He stretched his arms out and pulled her down on top of him and kissed her. Rey blushed and tried to pull away. 

"We have company!" she whispered at him. 

Ben turned his head to see Luke grinning at him. Luke raised his eyebrows and winked. Ben went red. 

Ben frowned and dropped his head back down. "Really? You picked now for this reunion?" he said in a deadpan voice. 

 Luke was sniggering and enjoying Ben's discomfort. "I came for her really, but seeing you this embarrassed is an added bonus."

Rey and Ben got to their feet. Ben surveyed the scene and turned to Rey, "What happened?" he asked. 

"I controlled my lightning," Rey smiled at him. "They're unconscious, not dead."

"There's stuff on fire again," Ben commented. 

"Yes but that wasn't me." 

"Where's Dakodar?" Ben asked. "Dead?" he said hopefully. 

"He backed off when the fighting started, my guess would be that ship." 

Ben nodded and then turned to Luke, taking a deep breath. "I guess it's time to say how sorry I am." Ben's expression was tense and Rey could feel his anxiety through the bond.  

Luke looked him in the eye and said "It's me who should be apologising. I failed you and I'm sorry." 

Ben shook his head. "I should have let you explain. I'm sorry I reacted like that. The others at the Academy-"

Luke put up a hand. "It's ok, I know what happened. Palpatine." His face was solemn, remembering the destruction and the deaths. 

Ben's eyes filled with tears. "It wasn't what I wanted," he said softly, hanging his head. 

Luke walked forwards and placed a transparent hand on Ben's arm, "I know." 

Ben thought he could feel just a hint of pressure and it was comforting. 

"Can you forgive me?" Luke asked him, giving him a searching look. 

Ben frowned at him. "Surely it should be me saying that?" he said in confusion. 

Luke shook his head. "You were too young to face that kind of pressure. I should have realised that you weren't lost, that there was still light there. Luckily for you Rey is a better person than both of us." They both turned to look at her and she gave them a shy smile. 

She started to hear a noise behind her and turned towards the forest. "Can you hear-"

She was cut off mid sentence by the sight of Beaumont running towards them, waving a blaster and in full battle mode. He was followed by everyone else that had been at the Base, yelling and screaming. As they ran out of the trees to find everyone unconscious they ground to a halt and their battle cries died away into an embarrassed silence. There was some shuffling of feet and a few giggles.  

"Erm, we came to help . . . but I guess you don't need us," Beaumont said awkwardly. 

Rey stood there with her mouth open for a minute, stunned that all these people had thought that she was worthy of help. Ben stepped in. 

"Any that are alive need their wounds treating and then arrest them, preferably before they all wake up. The dead need to be buried, and we," he gestured to himself and Rey, "are going to take care of Dakodar." He turned to say something to Luke but he was gone. 

Beaumont nodded and everyone started to get organised to check people over.  

Rey and Ben exchanged a look and then started to move quietly towards the main ship, sabers drawn. 

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

The ramp was down and they crept up either side, watching for any movement. They came to a living area decorated in chrome and black leather. There was a large glass table in the middle, at which sat Dakodar, his blonde hair gleaming in the overhead lighting. His head was down, studying the banks of cameras that were feeding live footage from outside. 

Dakodar sighed deeply. "You are amazingly hard to kill."

Rey could think of a number of smart comebacks, but wanting him to come peacefully she held them in. She wanted to explain, to try and persuade him that the future would be better. "I promise that things are going to be different. I am starting a new Order, no light, no dark, no political affiliations. No more Jedi, No more Sith."

Dakodar considered her for what seemed like a long time. "Will it work?"

"I hope so," Rey smiled at him. It was not returned. 

There was another long pause. 

"Why did you say you were the First Order?" Rey asked. 

"It seemed appropriate, they were the source of the credits. Also I wasn't sure anyone would listen otherwise." Dakodar stood and smoothed his robes and squared his shoulders. 

"So what now? You arrest me? Make me stand trial?" The dismissive tone in his voice was clear. "I do want to know one thing though, who's this?" He pointed at Ben. 

"You don't recognise me?" Ben asked with interest. 

Dakodar considered him carefully. "There's something familiar that I can't quite place-"

Ben flicked the second switch and ignited the crossguard of his saber. "How about now?"

Dakodar frowned at the saber and then recognition dawned on his face. "You're him, you're Kylo Ren! But you're meant to be dead."

"I was dead but Rey came back for me."

Dakodar stared at them in amazement, looking from one to the other. "You can bring people back?" He asked quietly. 

Rey could see where this was going and her heart sank. "I'm so sorry, it's not everyone. This was a special case. I can't bring back your wife." She felt desperately sorry for the man before her, knowing what it was like to live with loss. 

Dakoar's shoulders sagged. "I miss her every day," he said quietly. 

Rey nodded, tears forming in her eyes. "Believe me when I say I understand how you feel. But killing people won't bring her back, it just creates more loss," she added sadly. 

Dakodar spoke in a quiet voice, "Ril jon." 

He turned his back to them, looking at a holo of a beautiful Twi'lek woman on the wall. Before they could stop him he pulled a blaster out of the pocket of his robes. Ben lunged towards him but was too late. Dakodar put the blaster to his own temple and pulled the trigger, collapsing behind the table.  

Rey turned to Ben in confusion. "He said 'I know.' Twileki," he explained quietly. 

Rey looked at the picture sadly and wondered when the loss would stop. Her heart ached to think of all the families that had been broken by the War. She was lost in her thoughts when she noticed that Ben had turned away from her. He was moving towards the next compartment, as if in a trance. 

She followed him and turning a corner found a second living area with plinths lining either side of the space. All manner of Force artefacts were displayed, including a small red and gold pyramid. 

Ben had stopped dead in his tracks and then started to draw closer to the small pyramid. 

"Ben, what are you doing?" Rey asked him.

He didn't hear her and continued to stare at it. "I don't believe it. That's it, that's the Holocron of Darth Plagueis."

"Ben you don't need it now. Please come away." Rey touched his arm but he still did not acknowledge her. 

"The knowledge it's meant to contain . . " Ben's voice was darker and he reached out a hand towards it. 

"Ben! Please don't touch it!" Rey raised her voice trying to get through to him. She was starting to feel a little whine of panic when he continually did not reply. As she watched he lifted it from the plinth with the Force and suspended it in the air. 

As he lifted it there was a click. Rey heard the noise and did not like it. She started looking for the source of it while Ben just stood and stared at the Holocron, turning it slowly to observe every face. 

Rey started hunting along the walls, senses telling her that something wasn't right. Finally she found what she was looking for tucked away in the corner. A small countdown timer was glowing red and ticking. 

She bolted down the length of the room and grabbed Ben's arm. She sent her sense of urgency to him over the bond, hoping that it would get through to him. He blinked slowly and then came back to himself, the Holocron dropping to the floor with a thud as he lost concentration. Rey yanked his hand and they both ran back through the living quarters, jumping over Dakodar's body. They flew down the ramp and leapt away from the ship just as it exploded.