Archive of Our Own

What a week. It’s only Wednesday but Rey feels as though three weeks have passed since Sunday.

There must be something in the water, because the clients at work have been downright nasty lately. Demanding, pushy, entitled—she sighs. She is off the clock and there will be no more thoughts of work tonight.

She warms up leftovers in the microwave and pours a glass of the red she and her roommate Rose opened a few days ago. It’s still good, right? Does wine go bad? It passes the sniff test and she’s willing to risk it.

“You know what would make this better?” she says aloud to herself. “A night with Kira and Kylo Ren.” Not literally, of course—though it’s not as if she wouldn’t gladly jump at the chance to meet her favorite Stellar Battle characters! Especially Kylo, if she’s being honest. There’s just something about a tortured, conflicted villain, even if the author of the series completely wasted him in the third book.

Once she’s finished dinner, she refills her glass, pulls out the first book in the trilogy, and curls up on her couch, ready for an escape into a galaxy far, far away.

Kylo has just demanded, “What girl?” from his poor aide when she hears it—a loud crash and muffled swearing coming from her bathroom. Her heart drops and then thuds into panic mode. Rose is out with friends and probably won’t be back until late, and someone is definitely breaking into their apartment.

She grabs the closest thing—a TV remote, good enough—and cautiously ventures towards the source of the noise before she stops. Should she call the police? No, she can handle this. If she gets the jump on him she can do an awful lot of damage, and even more if he’s slow to react. With a deep breath and tightening her grip on the remote, she bursts into the bathroom with a yell—and promptly lands flat on her back on the floor when the intruder kicks her own legs out from under her.

So much for slow reaction times.

But when she stares up at the intruder—winded, the breath knocked out of her—she finds it’s a young woman, dressed in beige, flowy clothing, with her dark hair pulled back in three buns. Someone who looks exactly like what Rey would expect Kira to look like.

But that isn’t possible. Right?

“Where am I?” the not-Kira demands. “Who the kriff are you?”

“Who am I?” Rey can’t help but repeat incredulously from the floor, with bruised pride and tailbone. “You broke into my apartment! Who are you?!” She starts to get up and the other woman doesn’t stop her. Only then does she notice that the window isn’t open or broken—but the utility closet is open, and Rey’s Swiffer handle is sticking out at an odd angle. What on earth? Did this woman break into her bathroom to steal cleaning equipment? How did she get in?

“My name is Kira.”

“You—what?” She’s got to be kidding. She’s some person who is pretending to be the book character. “You can’t be.”

“I can’t be? What does that mean?”

“Did someone pay you to be here and dress up as Kira? Was it Rose?”

Probably not-Kira’s brows narrow. “Pay me to dress up? In portions?”

Rey admires the woman’s commitment to the bit, but this is ridiculous. She needs to leave. “Yes, in portions. Portions of money. If this was Rose, I’m going to kill her. Please go.”

The stranger’s face morphs from anger to confusion. “You didn’t bring me here?”

“Definitely not.”

“I heard a voice, calling to me. I walked down the corridor, and a door opened… I went through and I ended up here.” Her eyes narrow again. “Where am I?”

Hearing voices is not on Rey’s want-to-deal-with-this list. This is turning from weird to psycho. “I can’t help you with all that, but there’s a mental health clinic down the street. I’m sure they can help with the hearing voices thing.”

The woman growls in frustration and in a quick movement, pulls the Swiffer from the closet and pins Rey against the wall. “Listen, I’ve been shot at, nearly eaten by a rathtar, met a whole set of new people, and am now on a strange planet. I’m tired, and I want to go home. So I’ll ask you again, where am I?”

Rey briefly considers her options. Option 1, an amnesiac scaled the two-story wall, opened the locked window with no apparent tools, closed the window behind them and attempted to steal her Swiffer. Option 2, Kira somehow wandered off the pages of her book directly into her utility closet and is now as confused as Rey is. She decides to put this to the test. “My name is Rey. You’re in my apartment in Boston.”

“Boston?”

“Yep, it’s in Massachusetts. America? Planet Earth?” When she still looks confused, Rey says, “Were you at Maz’s castle in Takodana?”

Possibly-Kira’s eyes grow wide and she nods as she loosens her grip and steps away. “Yes! You know the place?”

Rey shrugs. “More or less?”

“We were trying to return the droid to the Resistance,” probably-Kira continues, “when I heard the strange call and—wait! Where’s BB-8? He was right behind me!”

“So let me get this straight, you stopped to see Maz on Takodana, and instead of finding the lightsaber, you ended up in my utility closet?”

“The lightsaber?”

“I think you went through the wrong door. This wasn’t the door that was calling to you. You were supposed to find a lightsaber that used to belong to Luke Skywalker.”

“BB-8 has the map to Luke Skywalker. But how did you know?”

How did she know, indeed. She eyes her utility closet, curious behind reason. If Kira could end up here, could anyone go through the metaphorical wardrobe? Could she end up on the pages of Stellar Battle? Kira should get home, but what would be the harm if Rey were only to look?

She takes a step.

The utility door closes behind her.

And she realizes too late that Kira did not follow.

She feels the sensation of being forcefully pulled forward, and then instead of painted drywall she’s surrounded by stone.

Beep-beep-chirp?

She spins at the sound and finds a round machine looking up at her. This must be BB-8! At the same time she hears a loud rumble and then screeching noises from overhead. If she’s ended up at the beginning of the book, with BB-8 on Takodana, then that must be—

The First Order.

Specifically, Kylo Ren and his fleet of Stormtroopers coming to find the droid and the girl. The girl who isn’t here anymore.

Panic returns and she fumbles with the door lock. This is not what she signed up for. There must be some way to get back! But the door remains locked and her world is impossible to reach.

Only one thing left to do, then.

“We need to get out of here!” she tells the droid, and takes off down the hall. She finds a set of stairs at the end and takes them two at a time, remembering halfway up that she needs to grab the droid. He isn’t as heavy as he looks and they soon find themselves blinking in the Takodana sun. Takodana really is a lovely place, now that she’s seeing it. It’s too bad she can’t enjoy it.

First Order ships are landing all around them, so she sprints to the nearby forest, the droid close behind. Hide, I need to hide. She can sort everything out later, once she isn’t in danger of being captured by Stormtroopers.

But luck is not on her side. No sooner does she find a dense clump of trees that she hears, “The girl and the droid went this way!” close behind. She can’t keep BB-8 safe, and she knows that the First Order can’t get their hands on the piece of the map he’s carrying. She has no weapons and no Force and nothing to stop them from taking the droid except her own two hands and the TV remote, which she never let go of. Not remotely helpful, her brain supplies, and she suppresses a groan of frustration.

“You need to leave. Go back to the castle. The Resistance is on their way and will take you,” she tells BB-8, and even though she can’t understand his response, he listens to her and is soon on his way back through the trees.

She turns around to find another hiding place when he emerges through the trees and cliffs. Draped in black like Death himself and wielding a long, ragged red sword.

Kylo Ren.

He is so much more terrifying in person than he is on the page.

Her heart leaps into her throat but before she can scream, he freezes her in place.

“The girl I’ve heard so much about,” he says, walking around her, and she wants to contradict him but she can’t even speak. “Continue searching for the droid,” he tells two Stormtroopers behind him, and then he waves his hand and everything goes black.

She wakes with a start. I can’t move is her first, panicked thought, then she opens her eyes and sees metal walls and a bright ceiling. I’ve been captured by the First Order. How am I going to get home now? Her hands and feet are trapped in an interrogation chair, and she vaguely realizes she isn’t holding the TV remote anymore.

When she looks down, she sees Kylo Ren crouched on the floor, watching her. He couldn’t have brought in a chair?

This is a lot more than she bargained for when she went through her utility closet door hours ago, but she knows he doesn’t plan to hurt her. Well, he doesn’t plan to hurt Kira. Does he know she isn’t Kira? “What are you going to do with me?”

“You’re my guest,” he replies, straight off the page, and she wonders if he would still follow the script even if she were to say something outrageous, like pink elephants have party hats. The thought makes her smile in spite of herself, and his head tilts to the side. “Is something amusing?”

That’s a new line, so there goes her theory. “No,” she replies.

He stands and takes a step towards her. “Tell me about the droid.”

“I don’t know anything about him, really. We were only together for a few minutes. Did you find him?”

“We did not. But you know where he went. And now you’ll give it to me.”

He holds his hand out, and she knows he’s about to read her mind—which could be disastrous if he sees even half the things in her head—so in her desperate attempt to stop him she blurts out, “He’s still with your father.”

Kylo visibly stiffens. “My father?”

She nods, one of the few movements allowed by the interrogation chair.

Suddenly, she sees her position in a different light. If she were to give him some information, could she change his ending? Could she influence him to the point where she changes the story—even improve it? She takes a deep breath. “I know your father is Han Solo.”

He stares at her in silence, the mask covering his expressions, but she thinks he might be listening. She wishes she could see his face. He didn’t take his mask off for her like he did for Kira, but they haven’t exactly followed the script.

When he still hasn’t said anything after a too-long pause, she presses her advantage. “Snoke wants you to kill your father and you’ll get the opportunity. But it won’t give you what you want. You’ll still be split between the dark side and the light side, and your father will be dead.”

There’s a hissing sound from behind his mask, like he drew in a sharp breath. “How can you know this? There’s nothing of the Force about you.”

She completely blanks on how to respond. Somehow, you’re my favorite character in a book series doesn’t seem like the right thing to say. “I can see the future. With magic.” There’s magic in this galaxy, right?

He draws back, away from her, his earlier confidence rapidly disappearing from his posture. “The Supreme Leader is wise,” he says, but it lacks conviction.

In for a penny, in for a pound. “The Supreme Leader is lying to you and using you for your power. He’s been lying to you your whole life. Your mother and father love you and weren’t trying to abandon you with your uncle. Your uncle wouldn’t have killed you that night. It was the dark side—Snoke—influencing him and it’s his biggest regret.” The words pour out of her, everything she ever wished she could say to this man that had so much potential and was manipulated at every turn by the ones he trusted.

Kylo takes a step back, then another, then turns and runs from the room.

That went well.

She hopes he took some of what she said to heart and doesn’t immediately go and tell everything to Snoke, who would discredit what she said and keep him in the dark side. Snoke definitely has the advantage here, but she’s going to do what she can to turn the story until she can figure out how to get home.

Speaking of figuring out—now that Kylo is out of the room, she thinks she can slip out of the bonds. She just has to wriggle her hand like so, then once that hand is free she can take a bobby pin and go to work on the lock mechanism.

It doesn’t take her long to get out of the handcuffs. Getting past the interrogation room door lock is more force than finesse, but then she’s free.

Loose on Starkiller Base. It would make a good book title, she thinks. Maybe once she gets out of this mess, she can write it.

She slips down another corridor and barely misses a small group of Stormtroopers. It’s a wonder she hasn’t been caught yet, honestly. Not for the first time, she wishes she had Kira’s knowledge and powers. Then she could crawl around maintenance shafts meant only for droids or use the Force to turn enemies’ minds away.

She turns a corner and nearly runs into two men and a great, hairy beast—wait—this must be Han Solo and Chewbacca! And Finn!

“Kira!” Finn whispers loudly, his dark face split with a grin.

A grin that immediately falls when his eyes meet her face.

“You aren’t Kira,” he says slowly, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“I’m Rey.” She sticks her hand out in greeting and he stares at it like it’s going to bite him.

“Where’s Kira?”

“She—uh—she’s fine. She just isn’t here. She got a last-minute transfer to another planet.”

“Is she still a prisoner?”

“No! I mean, she never was. The First Order doesn’t have her.”

“We saw Ren take someone on Takodana—”

“That was me.” She laughs nervously. “He thought I was Kira, I think, and took me instead. Kira transferred from Takodana to—to—” Why is she blanking on all the planet names? There must be something far away from here that they wouldn’t suspect is a lie. “Back to Jakku.” There, that was reasonable. Kira had wanted to get back to Jakku during the first half of the book anyway, and got swept up in the story instead.

Finn’s face falls, just slightly, before he nods. “I guess we’re here for you, then. My name is Finn, and this is Han and Chewie.”

Han, who hadn’t been paying them much mind up to that point, grunts a greeting that Chewie echoes. “Good to meet you, kid. Now we gotta get out of here before we have company.”

Everyone else agrees, and they continue their primary mission—disable and destroy Starkiller. The four of them head to a lower level, and split up to place bombs on the primary supports of the thermal oscillator.

Everything is nearly in place when Rey sees Kylo and a small band of Stormtroopers arrive. Kylo starts to walk across the bridge over the chasm leading to Starkiller’s core, and Han calls out to him.

Just like in the novel.

Rey’s heart leaps into her throat. Please don’t do this please don’t do this please don’t— The plea is an endless refrain in her mind. Don’t kill your father, Kylo. Please, remember what I said. She can’t hear what they’re saying from this distance, but she knows the words well. I’m being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. Will you help me? She sees Kylo pull his lightsaber out and a hoarse “No!” is torn from her lungs before she even realizes she’s said something.

Everything stops.

Kylo looks up at her. He’s taken off his mask for his father and he’s younger than she pictured—his face vulnerable and bathed in red light. Their eyes meet, and he takes a step back, says something to Han, then points at her.

Han touches Kylo’s face and Rey can see Kylo’s flinch even at this distance, but then Han turns and walks back the way he came.

Alive.

Han is alive.

Rey breathes a sigh of relief.

The relief is short-lived. Only a few moments later, Rey and Finn are surrounded by Stormtroopers, and then Kylo is there again, this time without his mask.

“Let the traitor go and take the girl.” He pivots and waves a dismissing hand. “With me.”

“Rey, no!” Finn cries, but Rey holds up a hand to stop him even as Stormtroopers grab her arms.

“It’s okay, Finn. I’ll be okay.”

Then the Stormtroopers drag her away.

She isn’t taken to an interrogation room this time; instead, the Stormtroopers bring her to a shuttle that takes them to a Star Destroyer, and then they escort her to a small, dimly lit, sparsely furnished room.

But there’s a bed.

Is this where she’s supposed to stay? One step up from a jail cell, honestly—not that she can say she’s seen the inside of one of those, either.

She remembers her phone, abruptly—so caught up with everything that had happened it had slipped her mind. She’s surprised to find that it’s still in her pocket. Whoever searched her must not have seen it as any value. It’s at twenty-three percent—and zero signal—so she turns it off and puts it back in her pocket. She wants to keep track of it in case she’s able to get home.

A brief exploration reveals a small bathroom with a few products, neatly arranged, and a closet full of draping black clothing.

That’s when she realizes—she isn’t in guest quarters. She’s in Kylo Ren’s room. Of all the—why on earth would he bring me here? She paces for a while, waiting for him to arrive. But when he still hasn’t after probably an hour, she stops, exhausted. With nothing else to do, she sits on the bed and kicks her feet together. Now what?

What could he possibly want with her in his quarters?

A thought strikes her and her face burns. She’s the first woman he’s seen in a while that isn’t a Stormtrooper or officer. What if he—? She doesn’t want to think about it. Besides, he’s meant to be with Kira, not her. Kira, who is presumably stuck on the other side of the utility closet door, doing who knows what.

She makes a frustrated noise and flops backwards on the bed, before scrambling off the bed as if it burned her. That’s not exactly the picture she wants to paint for when he does decide to return.

She settles for sitting on the floor against the wall. It isn’t comfortable, but it’s better than sitting sprawled on Kylo Ren’s bed.

It’s at least another hour before he finally returns, doors swishing open to admit him. He’s wearing the mask but when he enters, he removes it and places it on a shelf she hadn’t noticed, along with removing his cloak.

Only then does he turn to her, still sitting on the floor. “I have seating.”

Does he? Where?

In answer to her unasked question, he presses an unseen button in a shiny wall, and a padded bench emerges. Well, how was she supposed to know that? It isn’t like she went around pressing random places on the walls. She frowns, but gets up and sits on the bench instead.

“Why did you keep me here?”

“As I said, you’re my guest.”

“Don’t you have places for guests to stay that aren’t your bedroom?”

He turns to her, a puzzled expression on his face. “You aren’t staying here. But I have questions for you before you are escorted to where you will be staying, and I did not want them on the recording in the interrogation rooms.” He crosses the room to her and sits on the other side of the bench. “You knew my father was going to be here, even before the Supreme Leader.”

“I can see the future—”

“Another lie. I know of the Night Sister’s magic and you do not have the look. You are not Kira of Jakku. So who are you?”

Her mouth goes dry. But he can tell when she’s lying, that seems to be clear. Nothing for it but the truth then, she supposes. “My name is Rey. I’m from far away. Nowhere, really.”

“If not magic or the Force, how are you able to see the future, Rey from nowhere?”

It gives her chills, to hear her name in his voice. “I—I—you wouldn’t believe me, even if I told you.”

“Let’s find out.”

And before she can stop him or say anything, he puts his hand out, and she feels an immense pressure in her head, like the worst headache she’s ever had. She tries to press her hands against her head to relieve the pain, but her arms won’t obey.

Distantly, she hears, “Where are you from?” She tries not to think about it, but it rises to her mind anyway—the brick of Boston, the traffic and food and crowds.

“How can you see the future?” comes the voice again, and then the truth—she can’t. There’s no magic where she’s from, and no Force, and those who claim to see the future are often frauds.

“How can you see my future?” is the next question, in a more frustrated tone, like Kylo realized he wasn’t asking the right questions. And then it all unfolds behind her eyes—the books he stars in, and how she’s read them too many times to count. She’s read all about his childhood at the Jedi Academy, and what turned him to the dark side and Snoke. She’s seen him killing his father and being beaten by Kira in the ensuing fight. The Force bonds with Kira. Killing Snoke. Being Supreme Leader and hating it. Emperor Palpatine. Kira’s bloodline. His return to the light. His death. The words and mental pictures she’d conjured play out like a movie in her mind, and he sees it. He sees it all.

He pulls from her mind with a gasp.

“I’m not real to you,” he says in a disbelieving whisper. “I’m like a character in a holodrama. Destined to live a path someone else decided for me.” He pauses, but when she doesn’t say anything, he continues. “You know how I die.”

She can see now why he wears the mask all the time. Every emotion he’s feeling plays out on his expressive face.

It’s his crestfallen expression that loosens her tongue despite her lingering headache. “You can change it. It isn’t too late. You were supposed to kill your father and you didn’t. The future is already changing. We can leave the First Order and you can return to your father and mother with the Resistance.”

He stands and turns away. “The First Order is bringing order out of chaos. Chaos thrived under the New Republic, and the First Order is righting that wrong.”

“By creating how many other wrongs? Was destroying the Hosnian System creating order? Billions of lives, gone?”

He flinches. “The Supreme Leader is wise,” he mumbles, as if reminding himself.

“The First Order is just the Empire all over again. One person who wants to control the whole galaxy and oppress people. You know it’s true. And now you know that Snoke is really Emperor Palpatine. The same man who has been trying to destroy your family for decades. If you stay here, he’ll succeed. Your mother will die. Your father may still die. Your uncle will die. And without Kira here, the Emperor could win! Is that what you want?”

He stares at her, jaw working, before closing his eyes and shaking his head. “I can’t. I turned to the dark side. This is who I am.”

“It isn’t too late,” she repeats, thinking of what Kira says to him in the second book. “I’ll help you.”

He slumps back onto the bench and puts his head in his hands. “What could you do? You don’t even belong here.”

He’s right, there isn’t much she can do. But she can tell him the truth about his family, away from Snoke’s poisonous lies. “I know your mother wants you back. She told your father to bring you home before he came to Starkiller.” He tilts his head towards her, ever so slightly, so she continues. “I know your parents regret sending you away.”

“They thought I was a monster.”

“No, they didn’t. Were they afraid? Yes. They were afraid of your power and didn’t know how to help you. But they thought that Luke was the best option for you to gain control. They truly wanted to help you.”

“Funny way of showing it,” he mutters to the floor.

It’s pure instinct that makes her put her hand on his shoulder in comfort, and while he tenses, he doesn’t pull away.

“Why do you care so much?” he says after a pause. “None of this has anything to do with you.”

Why do you care about me? seems to be his unspoken question.

“I just think you deserve better than what you got. You deserve a life that makes you happy, not miserable.”

“And turning to the light will make me happy?”

“Are you happy in the dark side?” she counters.

His silence speaks volumes.

“It’s hard to accept that my entire life was a lie and a waste,” he says at last, head still in his hands. “The Supreme Leader—Snoke—has been in my head for as long as I can remember. I thought he was my friend. My only friend.” She squeezes his shoulder, and—slowly—he reaches up to cover her hand with one of his. “But with everything you showed me, I can see that he was manipulating me the whole time.” He takes a shuddering breath and his shoulders sink. “He was never my friend at all.”

“Did anyone ever tell you how Darth Vader died?”

His head snaps up at the question and he looks at her sharply. “The Supreme Leader said his body was burned.”

“That’s true, I suppose, though it wasn’t burned until after he died. He died saving your uncle from Emperor Palpatine, taking the Emperor’s lightning on himself. He chose to turn back to the light to save Luke.”

Kylo’s jaw tenses at the mention of his uncle, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Do you see? If the great Darth Vader can turn back to the light for his family, why can’t you? All you want is to be like Darth Vader, but his voice in your head is only Palpatine with more lies. The real Anakin would beg you to return to the light, as he did.”

He stares at her, eyes wide. “How do you know?”

She taps her temple. “Anakin was the star of a separate set of books. He turned to the dark side because of a lie, too, and I think he would be devastated to learn the same thing had happened to his grandson.”

Kylo shakes his head and stands. “My whole life—someone should have told me.”

She agrees, but she doesn’t say so. Not telling Ben the truth about his grandfather was a big mistake on his family’s part. Not for the first time, she thinks about how good people aren’t always good parents, and there’s a lot she wishes she could change about Ben’s formative years.

He paces for several minutes, before turning back to her, resolve now hardening in his expression. “We need to leave before the Supreme Leader realizes anything is amiss. The First Order is still regrouping after the explosion of Starkiller, and this would be the perfect time to slip away.”

Starkiller exploded? She missed that one, entombed in his room. She’s glad Finn, Han, and Chewie’s mission was successful, though. Losing Starkiller will be a big hit.

She nods quickly, and he takes his mask and puts her back in handcuffs. “I’ll remove them when we’re on my shuttle,” he tells her, and somehow, she believes him.

He leads her to the hangar and doesn’t bother hiding. Enough Stormtroopers give him a wide berth and no one even seems to consider stopping them. It would seem more suspicious, she reasons, if he were trying to hide. As promised, he removes the handcuffs once they’re out of sight of any First Order personnel. Then, with a few taps to the control console, they’re speeding away.

“What made you decide to leave?”

“I don’t want the ending you showed me. I want my life to mean more than that. You’ve given me hope that it isn’t too late.”

“I don’t think you’ll regret it,” she says, hope rising in her own heart that she really might be able to change his ending.

He keeps his eyes fixed ahead. “We’ll see.”

“Where are we headed?”

“Somewhere we can’t be tracked. We’ll determine the rest later.”

They end up on a small planet on the edge of the galaxy, not far from where Starkiller was. Kylo—Ben?—has changed out of his recognizable outfit into a long-sleeved undershirt and pants. Still black, obviously. She wonders if he ever owned something in any other color. He trades the First Order shuttle—claims he stole it—for a small freighter, they gather some supplies, and leave again.

“Have you ever owned anything in a color other than black?” she blurts when their new ship hits hyperspace.

He looks down at his outfit with a puzzled expression. “It doesn’t show stains.”

Right. Of course. Perfectly reasonable. “Naturally,” she mutters.

“It’s better than what you’re wearing. At least I blend in in a crowd.”

Now it’s her turn to look down at her jeans and t-shirt. “I know women wear pants in this world.”

“None of that material. I knew something seemed off when I carried—” He cuts himself off abruptly and looks away.

“When you what?”

“When I brought you to my shuttle on Takodana.”

“You carried me?” She can’t help the grin that spreads across her face, even more so as his face pinkens.

“It was either that or levitate you with the Force,” he replies with a solemn dignity that’s undercut by the blush spreading across his cheeks. “It seemed a logical choice.”

She wants to tease him further, but she holds back her comments. He could have had anyone carry her, there was no reason for him to do it himself. She doesn’t think logic had anything to do with his choice. But then she realizes—he carried her! And she wasn’t even awake to know! Pity, she thinks ruefully, and hopes for a next time.

“They’re called jeans, and they’re very popular in my world.”

There’s the barest hint of a smirk before it’s gone. “Clearly not because they’re practical.”

She can’t argue with him there. Honestly, she wishes she had changed into sweatpants before being sucked into Stellar Battle. Those would at least be comfortable. “Well, they’re all I’ve got.”

“We can get you new clothes at the next planet we visit.”

The next planet they visit? Is he planning on taking his time to get to the Resistance base? “We should go to the Resistance, right? They would know how to find Luke and he would know how to defeat Palpatine.”

All earlier mirth disappears from his face. “Palpatine,” he mutters with a frown. He stares at the control console for a long moment before nodding curtly, punching in some coordinates and sitting back with a heavy sigh.

“You know where you’re going?” She doesn’t want to doubt his navigation skills, but he didn’t ask her where the Resistance base was or anything. Maybe he got the information from someone else?

“I’ve always known how to find my mother,” he responds, barely audible.

“Wait, you’ve always known where the Resistance base is?!”

“I could have. I didn’t because I didn’t want the Supreme—Snoke to find it and destroy it.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I thought he’d taken enough,” he mumbles.

She doubts it’s an answer the Resistance will find comforting, but she finds it rather touching.

“You should get some rest,” he says suddenly. “It’s still a long way yet.”

“No thanks.” Since his return to the light side, he seems like a nice enough person, but they’re so far off the script they’re in a completely different book. She has no idea what he’ll do next or how he’ll act. Forgive her if she doesn’t trust him yet.

He shrugs. “Suit yourself.”

He doesn’t say anything more about it, but after about twenty minutes staring at the blue lines of hyperspace, she realizes he was right. She’s exhausted. Her eyes keep closing and her head jerks forward twice before she gives in and leans back against the back of the seat. She can just close her eyes for a minute, right? That should be fine.

She wakes, much later, in a cot, covered in a blanket. He moved her! She walks back to the cockpit with the blanket around her shoulders. “You carried me again!”

He starts a little, and turns to look at her. “I suppose I did.”

“You’ve got to stop doing that! At least wait until I’m awake.”

His expression, which had shuttered with her first comment, now alights with mischief. “Until you’re awake?”

Her face burns. “Is there food anywhere on this ship?” she asks, desperate to change the subject.

His smile grows, before he turns back to the console. “The galley is down the hall and to your right.”

She follows his directions and finds a cramped space with a couple cabinets and a black square that might be some kind of stove. She rifles through the cabinets until she finds a box of what look like granola bars. “Why would I say something like that?” she mutters to herself as she grabs a couple. “He’s good-looking, but sheesh. Can I possibly make this more awkward?!” The words on the side of the granola bar are in a language she can’t read, but she brings them back anyway and hands one to him. “I don’t know what these are, but I thought you might want one.”

If he was planning to say anything about her comment and abrupt departure, there’s no indication of it. He takes the bar she holds out and glances at the label. “They’re protein bars. A good substitute for a meal if you’re in a pinch.”

“Straight protein?” She wrinkles her nose. That doesn’t sound appetizing.

“These ones are flavored, I think.” He reads the side again. “Chocolate and jogan fruit.”

“What’s a jogan fruit?”

That half-smile is back. “It’s good. Try it.” He unwraps his and takes a big bite, as if to show that they’re safe.

She follows suit and finds out he’s right: jogan fruit is good, especially mixed with chocolate. Though, it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate. The chocolate here is different than what she’s used to: it’s sweeter, but with a unique tang. It’s unexpectedly good, and she wonders if she can sneak some home. “Did you sleep at all?”

“A little.”

A sore subject, she thinks, when he doesn’t expound on that and doesn’t look at her. Time for a new one, though she thinks he might like this one even less. “When was the last time you saw your mom?”

His shoulders tense. “Going straight to personal questions, then?”

“It’s a long flight. Do you have a better idea?”

He shakes his head tersely and crosses his arms. “About eight years ago now. She came to the ceremony when I was promoted from apprentice to knight. She was only able to stay for an hour before she was ‘called away.’ Didn’t even stay for the feast.”

“Did your dad go to the ceremony?”

His posture closes in even more, which she didn’t think was possible. “Couldn’t make it. Had other business.”

“When was the last time you saw him? Besides the other day, that is.”

“The week I turned fifteen. He and Uncle Chewie came for half a day. My mom tried to come at least once a year, in the early years, but he only came the one time.” He sighs. “He never knew what to do with the Force. I think he secretly hoped I wouldn’t have it, before I was born.”

She watches him, hunched in on himself, and reaches out to touch his shoulder like she did before. His shoulders relax a slight amount and he inclines his head. “Thank you,” he murmurs.

“He loves you, you know. They both do.”

He gives her another short nod, before he says, “Tell me about your parents.”

Well, painful subject for painful subject, she supposes. “They died when I was very young.”

He looks up at this, surprised. “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks. I wish I’d gotten to know them more, but—well, I grew up in foster care.”

“Foster care?”

“It’s where people who aren’t your parents take care of you and usually a bunch of other kids. Some of them are better than others, but there’s never enough food to go around. The government sends them money to help take care of the kids, but not everyone uses it for that.” She shrugs. “Some people use it for beer instead.”

He makes a face. “At least spend it on whiskey.”

“Beer is cheaper than whiskey. Anyway, once I graduated high school I got out of their house and found my own place. It was a dump, but it was better than them. I wanted to go to college but it was too expensive, so I found a job repairing cars and started saving.” She grins. “I think I’m close, with financial aid.”

“What are cars?”

She can’t help but chuckle at his innocent question. “They’re like speeders, except they touch the ground when they move.”

“That seems impractical.”

“Well, in my world, we haven’t mastered the art of the hover. Maybe someday, far in the future.”

He chuckles, too, his laugh sounding rusty. “Maybe you can talk to the engineers here and pick up a few tricks.”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea! It’s too bad we left them all behind when we left the First Order.”

“I’m sure there are plenty of engineers in the Resistance,” he says, though his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Is college the same as university?”

“Oh, yes. Do you not have colleges here?”

“We have many universities, we just don’t call them that. There was a time when I wanted to go to the University of Coruscant. If I’d followed my mother’s path and become a Senator, I probably would have.” His smile turns wistful. “The library at my uncle’s academy was my favorite place to be. Most of the time we would learn from holos or holocrons, but he also had scrolls of teachings, some books on flimsy, and one or two books that were on real paper.” He chuckles. “Luke would never let me touch those.”

“I’m sure you always listened to him, too, right?” she teases, tone sarcastic.

He shakes his head, smile growing. “There was a night or two I snuck in after hours to read them. One night, I read until dawn, and kept falling asleep in my lessons later. Luke didn’t appreciate that, but he never caught me.”

His mention of scrolls reminds her of a throwaway line in the second novel. “Is it true you like to do calligraphy?”

His smile at that is the biggest yet, and a little shy. “You know about that, huh? Yes, that’s true. It was calming, in a way. Never on actual paper, since it was too rare. But I would write on flimsy scrolls.”

“What did you write?”

“Verses from old poets, mostly. Sometimes I would try to make up my own, but they weren’t very good. Some Jedi teachings. My name, if I couldn’t think of anything else to write. Ben Bail Organa Solo.” He says each name as though he’s pronouncing a title, and makes a face at the end. “A legacy from birth,” he mutters darkly.

“Is Ben short for anything?”

“Like a longer name?”

She nods.

“No. Just Ben.”

“In my world, Ben is often short for Benjamin.”

“Benjamin. That’s quite the name.” He smiles. “I like it. Benjamin. I’m surprised that your world has similar names to mine.”

She doesn’t mention that it’s because his world came from hers. “There aren’t many, but there are a few. Ben is a popular name. Luke is also a popular name. A name like Bail is much less common. And no one would be called Chewbacca.”

“Interesting. Is your name short for anything?”

“It’s short for Reyanne, actually. A bit of an uncommon spelling, but a fairly common name in my country.”

“Is that one name or two?”

She chuckles. “Two smooshed together to get one, I suppose. For the way mine is spelled.”

“Do you have a second name?”

“Nope, just the one. And my last name. Reyanne Johnson, that’s me.”

He sticks his hand out to her. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Reyanne Johnson.”

She laughs and clasps his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Ben Bail Organa Solo.”

He shakes his head with a wry smile. “I never thought I would go by Ben again. It’ll take some getting used to.”

“It’s a good name. It suits you.”

“Thanks,” he murmurs. “So what do you like to do when you aren’t trapped in a strange world?”

“I read. Obviously. Let’s see…I like to figure out how things work and fix them when they aren’t working properly. Or improve an existing process. I have a few pet projects I’m working on to try to make the process better.” She taps her fingers on the arm of her chair as she thinks of what she likes to do in her spare time. “Umm…I like to sing? Sometimes I do karaoke with my roommate.”

“What is karaoke?”

“Oh, it’s singing.”

“Why don’t you just say ‘singing,’ then?”

“Well, it’s a different kind of singing. It’s usually at a bar—a cantina—and you’re often drunk, and you go up on stage and sing to strangers. You have the words and the tune to sing along to.”

“That sounds terrifying.”

She chuckles at his serious tone. “I’m sure you’ve done things that were more scary than that.”

“No, I’m sure that’s the scariest thing I’ve ever heard.” She rolls her eyes, and he smiles. “Will you sing me a song?”

“What? No!”

“Why not?”

“Well, you’re—you aren’t a stranger. I don’t want you to judge me.”

He sits back in his seat, amused. “Am I not?”

“Not anymore.” Not at all, really, based on how much time she spent with him as a book character.

“Hmm.” He studies her, and she squirms. “I promise I won’t judge you.”

“But what if you think I’m horrible? And you won’t tell me because we’re stuck together?”

“I highly doubt you’ll be horrible. Please?” And he looks at her with an uncanny impression of puppy eyes.

It’s the please that does it, really. She sighs. “Fine. You won’t know the song, but—” She picks a pop song she likes and sings the chorus, then the bridge when he’s still watching her raptly. When she finishes, he looks almost…disappointed?

“You have a lovely voice, Rey,” he says quietly. “Thank you for sharing it.”

She’s thrown off-balance by his soft praise. Where did this man come from with his gentle compliments and interest in her life? And what does someone say to respond to something like that? You’re welcome? “Thank you for listening,” she settles on instead. Then, in an effort to bring back the lighter mood, she cheerily says, “Your turn!”

His eyebrows reach toward his hairline. “Me?”

“You made me sing, now you have to sing a song.”

“That’s different. You told me you like to sing. I said no such thing.”

She attempts to replicate his strong puppy eye game. “Please?”

“I don’t know any songs.”

“Zero songs? I find that hard to believe.”

“There is one, I guess,” he murmurs. “Mirrorbright, shines the moon, its glow as soft as an ember,” he sings softly. “My mom used to sing that to me before I went to bed as a child. Her mother sang it to her. It was from Alderaan.”

“It’s a pretty song.”

“It was bittersweet, for her. I don’t remember all of it, but I remember the end, “Those you loved are with you still—the moon will help you remember. She would get tears in her eyes at that part sometimes.”

“I’m sure she missed her home.”

He nods. “She would always tell me about it when I asked. It seemed like a beautiful place.” His face darkens. “It’s too bad my grandfather helped erase it from the galaxy.”

“He made a lot of mistakes. But we’re trying to change it so you don’t make the same mistakes.”

He nods again. “I won’t.” Something on the control console chimes, and he glances down at it. “We’re approaching D’Qar. Listen, I doubt they’ll be pleased to see me. My mother will probably sense my arrival, but as I said before, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her. If anyone comes at you with blasters, don’t worry about me. Just get back on the ship and leave, okay? You press this button to activate the engines and these ones to take off.”

“Do you think they’ll just open fire?”

“I don’t know what they’ll do. Better to prepare for the worst.”

She looks down at the buttons he’s pointing to and hopes it doesn’t come to the worst.

The descent to D’Qar is uneventful, and then Rey is looking out the window to see a large forest—and a crowd with blasters. Oh, boy.

“Who are you?” A man in uniform demands when they exit the ship.

Ben seems about to snark something in reply when they both hear, “Move aside! He’s with me,” from the back of the crowd.

Ben freezes.

“Who is it?” Rey starts to ask him, then the crowd parts.

“Mom,” Ben whispers.

Leia Organa is shorter than Rey had pictured, but much more regal. She is every inch a princess turned general, the picture of grace and elegance. She holds her arms out to Ben and he takes halting steps forward until he curls into her embrace. “Welcome home, Ben,” she says, and strokes his hair. “I’ve missed you.” The rest of the Resistance seems stunned by this turn of events. But if General Leia is accepting of the newcomer, they have no place to say anything.

When it’s clear there will be no firefight and no fanfare, the crowd slowly disperses to return to their daily tasks. Only then does Leia turn to Rey and hold her hand out to her. “You’re the girl Han picked up from Jakku?”

“No, that was Kira, and she isn’t here anymore. My name is Rey. I met Ben on Takodana and I met Han on Starkiller Base.”

Understanding dawns on Leia’s face. “You’re the one who intervened between Ben and Han on Starkiller.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Abruptly, Leia pulls her into a hug. “Thank you,” she murmurs into Rey’s ear. “You saved his life.”

Behind her, Ben hangs his head. “I shouldn’t have—”

“Hush now,” Leia says, turning back to him. “You didn’t. You’re here. I couldn’t ask for more. Let’s go and talk to him, shall we? I think we have a lot to talk about.”

They spend two days on the Resistance base, planning their next move. Now that the map to Luke is complete, there’s talks about who should go to bring him home and end the war. Rey tells them what she knows about Palpatine, and they realize they need Luke more than ever. It’s decided that Finn, Ben, and Rey should go. Finn is Force-sensitive, Ben says, so he should be the one to see Luke. And Ben insists that Rey should go, because if anyone can convince someone to change their mind, it’s Rey.

In those two days, Rey is amused by how many times Ben seems to want to spend time with her. He stands by her in the meetings and sits next to her at mealtimes and on their second night, asks if she wants to go for a walk with him outside. They don’t talk much on the walk, but when they return to the base, Ben brushes a strand of hair behind her ear and tells her she looks nice tonight.

It’s a simple enough comment, but it keeps her awake half the night. Was he flirting with her? He’d developed feelings quickly for Kira in the book, but Rey isn’t Kira! He isn’t supposed to have feelings for her!

She tries to avoid him at breakfast the next morning, the morning they’re planning to leave, but he sees her before she can duck away.

“Rey, can we talk?”

A dreaded phrase in any context, let alone after her tumultuous thoughts last night. “Right now?”

He nods and leads her to an empty side room. There’s a couch and some armchairs, so she takes a seat, thinking he’ll join her.

He doesn’t. Instead, still standing, he runs a hand through his hair and takes a deep breath. “Everyone in my life has always wanted something from me: to live up to my family’s legacy, to reach my full potential, to twist and turn my power to the dark side. Everyone except you, Rey from Boston. All you want is for me to be the best version of myself. You don’t want my power or my legacy. I never realized how much I wanted that—not until I met you.”

This sounds like a speech. If she didn’t know better, it almost sounds like a proposal. She can feel her face start to heat up.

“I know we’re from different worlds and we haven’t known each other long. But you make me a better person, and I like the way I feel when I’m with you.”

The lyrics I like me better when I’m with you come to her mind automatically, and she tries to squash them to pay attention to what he’s saying.

“I like you, Rey. I like you a lot,” he says on an exhale. “I want to get to know you better and I don’t want this war to separate us. Before we left, I wanted you to know.” He looks at her earnestly, expectantly, and all she wants is to reciprocate his feelings.

But— “You can’t,” she whispers. “You’re supposed to fall in love with Kira. You would if you only met her.” She runs a hand over her face and rubs at her temples. “This is all wrong!”

His expression falls into hurt and frustration. “How can I love someone I’ve never known? You are the one who has been there, convincing me not to kill my father, pushing me to leave the First Order, showing me compassion and kindness the way no one ever has! How can this be wrong?”

Her resolve quickly crumbling, she stands and pushes past him out the door. But instead of the dim corridors and stone walls of the Resistance base, she’s blinking in bright sunlight. Her eyes adjust and she sees brick houses surrounded by bushes. And a street. And a car, rushing past! She stumbles back from the road, shocked.

She’s in Boston again.

She looks behind her and sees she walked out of a port-o-potty door near construction. Gross. Now where in Boston did it dump her out? She checks the street signs at the nearby crosswalk and thank her lucky stars, not only is she back in Boston, she’s about two blocks from her apartment.

Remembering her phone, she pulls it out and turns it on, and as soon as it gets past the welcome screen, it lights up with text messages. All from Rose. They start as general check-ins, and gradually grow more frantic as Rose is clearly panicking. The last one she sees pop up is an all caps: I’M CALLING THE COPS CALL ME BACK RIGHT NOW.

Rey presses the call button from the text thread even as she starts to walk towards her apartment.

“Rey? Oh my gosh, Rey! I was so worried. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Rose. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fall off the grid.”

“You’d better be sorry! It’s been days! Where have you been?!”

“It’s a long story. I’m almost back to the apartment. I need to know—is Kira there?”

“The girl who thinks she’s a book character?”

“Yep, that’s the one.”

“Not right now, but she should be back soon. I let her stay in your room, I hope that’s okay? She didn’t seem to have another place to go.”

“Totally fine. Where did she go?”

“She’s out job hunting. I hope your amazing explanation for your disappearance includes what on earth she’s on about.”

“It will. I think.” Rey hears a noise behind her and turns to see Ben, running down the street. As if this day couldn’t get any weirder! “Look, I have to go. I’ll see you soon.”

“Wait—Rey, don’t hang up—”

Rey ends the call just as Ben catches up to her.

“You’re here,” she says, surprised. “You followed me back?”

“You left,” he pants. “Why did you leave?”

“I’m sorry. But I didn’t mean to end up back here, that just happened.”

He glances around. “This is Boston?” His eyes widen as he takes in the houses, the cars, the streets, the people. “This is incredible,” he breathes. He points at a car. “They do run along the ground.”

“Don’t point, that’s rude.”

“Sorry.” He drops his arm but still stares at the people. “They’re all human. Are other races not allowed here?”

Rey laughs. “We don’t have any other races. There’s only one planet that people live on, Earth, and only one race, humans.”

“Only one planet? That sounds so confining.”

“We still have plenty to see!” she defends, even though she had never had the time or money to do much traveling. “Come on, my apartment is close and I need to give an explanation to my roommate before she kills me.”

Rose answers Rey’s knock with a frown and a hand on her hip. “You hung up on me.”

“I had good reason,” Rey replies, trying for a smile and indicating Ben with a wave of her hand. “This is Ben Solo.”

“Like, the Stellar Battle character?”

“Exactly like that.”

“Wow, you must be a big fan of the series, then?” Rose asks.

“No, Rose, he is Ben Solo. As in, the actual character. Like Kira is the actual character.”

Ben waves. “Hello.”

“Rey, can I talk to you? Privately?” Rose is smiling but there’s murder in her eyes.

“Ben, make yourself comfortable. We’ll just be a moment.”

He seems uncertain, but Rey smiles and points to her couch before Rose pulls her into her room and shuts the door.

“Okay, seriously, what is going on? You disappear for days without contact, some girl with delusions is here instead, no explanation. Now you’re back with some guy?”

Rey takes a deep breath. “I know it sounds crazy and looks bad. I do. But I promise this is the truth.” She tells Rose an abridged version of everything that had happened since she sat down to read Stellar Battle after work, however many days ago. “Now you see why I need to talk to Kira to get her back where she belongs,” she finishes with a sigh.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. But it’s cool, right? Didn’t you always say you wanted to live in that world?”

“I mean, yeah. I just never expected I ever would!”

“Not only did you get to go there, but you changed Kylo’s—sorry, Ben’s—ending! Shoot, if I could fix one book character ending, you know I would.” Rose shakes her head, probably thinking of all the fictional characters she wishes she could help. “The question now, though, is what are you going to do about him?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said he confessed feelings for you.”

“Well, yeah, but they’re misplaced. He’s meant to be with Kira, and when she gets back, he’ll see.”

“What if they aren’t?”

Rey’s world tilts. “What?”

“What if he really does have feelings for you, not Kira?”

“That—he can’t.”

“Uh, he clearly does. Can’t doesn’t seem to factor into it. I’m just saying, he has to go back, right? There’s nothing that says Kira has to be the one who goes back with him.”

“That’s insane, Rose. What about my job? What about college? What about you?!”

Rose ticks off Rey’s questions on her fingers. “You don’t actually like your job. You could still go to college there, and who knows, they might have free tuition! I’ll miss you, but you’ll just have to invent book-to-real world communication to keep me updated.”

“You don’t really think I should leave with him, do you?” Rey wants to, but what if it’s a one-way trip this time? To give up everything in her world, just like that?

Rose grabs Rey’s shoulders. “I think that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that no one ever gets. I think you’ve been dreaming about living in the Stellar Battle world since the first time you read the books. And I think your biggest fictional crush has always been Kylo Ren. Am I wrong?”

Rey shakes her head no.

“Okay. Do I want you to stay here? You’re one of my best friends, of course I do. But should you take a chance that’s never been offered before and will probably never be offered again? Abso-freaking-lutely. You would be crazy to pass that up.” They hear the front door open and close. “Think about it, alright?”

They exit Rose’s room and see Kira taking her shoes off by the door. She’s traded her beige, desert clothing for black leggings and a tunic shirt, and she looks up when she hears the door. “Oh, you’re here,” she says to Rey. “Did you come back through Maz’s castle?”

“The Resistance base, actually.”

“You found the Resistance! That’s great!”

At the mention of the Resistance, Ben stands up from the couch, and Kira’s gaze shifts to him. “It’s you.” She doesn’t sound awed or even surprised. Instead, she sounds…resigned.

“It’s me,” he agrees.

“You know him?” Rey asks. If no one else is surprised, she certainly is.

“I read the Stellar Battle books after Rose mentioned them my second day here,” Kira responds, still looking at Ben. “I know we share a Force connection, and I know we fall in love.” Her lips purse. “I know you die right after saving my life.”

He flinches, and nods.

“But I don’t really know you,” Kira continues. “And honestly, I’m not sure I want to.”

Ben says nothing, his expression unreadable.

“What do you mean, you don’t want to?” After everything, Kira is turning Ben down?

“I’d have to go back with you, right? But I like this world. I like the bay and the trees and the people. I’m learning so much, and I think I can have a real purpose here. It’s better than dying alone on a desert planet or with the burden of the whole Jedi Order.” She shrugs. “I don’t want to go back. Especially since I never find my parents, and our ending is a tragedy.”

This isn’t turning out at all like Rey had expected. For some reason, she thought Kira and Ben would see each other, there would be instant sparks, and then Kira would leave with him. She’d never considered that Kira would want to stay.

Or that she would want to go. She thinks again about what Rose said. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Ben’s eyes meet hers across the room. “We still need to find Luke,” he says lowly. “And I meant what I said before. None of this changes that.”

Rey nods, and in that moment, she makes her decision. No matter how crazy it is, she wants that life. And she wants to be with Ben. “I hope we can still get through the utility closet door.” She sees the moment her use of we hits him. His face brightens and he grins, bigger than she’s seen from him before. She turns back to Rose, who was watching this whole exchange with a bemused expression. “I’m going with him.”

“I’m so happy for you, babe. Knock ‘em dead, alright?” She gives Rey a big hug with an extra squeeze. “And if you can ever come to visit, my door is always open.”

“Thank you.” She returns Rose’s squeeze, then looks at Kira. “Good luck. I hope you’re able to do everything you want!”

Kira smiles and nods.

Then Rey takes Ben’s hand and leads him to the original portal to his world. “Here we go,” she whispers, and smiles up at him.

“Here we go,” he echoes, and, to her surprised delight, scoops her off her feet in a bridal carry. “You’re awake this time,” he says with a smile, and steps through the door.