I Can Get It Back

I Don't Plan on Stopping When This Summit Plateaus

Rey chatted with Kaydel while they waited and finally agreed to go on that shopping trip. She also ate quite a bit more. When Ben emerged from his talk with Lando, he seemed emotionally spent but clearly relieved by their conversation. Lando wished them good night and Kaydel showed them out. Too late, Rey realized that she should have asked where Ben could stay. But the doors of the lift were already closed.

Trying not to blush too much, she glanced up at him and then away. She couldn't help but think about their last time alone in one of these, how sure they had both been that the other would join them. And how it had finally come true.

"I can stay on the Falcon. Chewie suggested it," he said abruptly and she wondered if he was feeling as awkward as she did.

"Yes, perfect, I'm sure that'll be excellent," she replied, wincing internally. The lift was much too fast and they were at the floor where the hangar was before she could think of something more intelligent to say.

"Good night, Rey."

He was looking down at her attentively and she sucked in a breath. "Good night, Ben." Perhaps not the most original response, but she invested some emotion into it – relief and happiness that he was back. He smiled, an expression she was definitely not used to, and then he bent to kiss her forehead. Sorely tempted to do something rash, she managed to restrain herself to merely watching him walk away. And maybe sighing a little. She would see him again soon, she told herself, and she was exhausted from the mission to return him to life. So she could watch him go for a little while.

By the time she had awakened the next morning, Finn and Poe had already apparently spoken to and taken Ben with them to get to work. She learned this from Rose and was stricken not to see him right away. However, she could feel his presence in the Force and realized he was still in the building, so perhaps she was overreacting. Her concern that they hadn't let him rest enough, that this wasn't something he wanted to do, that he wasn't being properly cared for soon replaced her distress at his absence. Rose reassured her about that, too, and she let herself be convinced – Ben didn't feel distressed, at any rate.

This turned out to be an unfortunate harbinger of life in the New Republic – it was very busy and she saw Ben rarely. Well, at least once a day, but that wasn't enough. Not by a long shot. Still, he seemed to take to rehabilitating stormtroopers and officers as easily as Finn did. Not all of the officers were willing to be rehabilitated – the stormtroopers were an easier sell – but some had been brought up by the Empire's generals and had as little choice in the matter as the troopers. In any case, Ben was naturally very empathetic and compassionate, so was quite successful. Finn regularly spoke highly of him to Rey, sometimes with Ben there, the tips of his ears pink with embarrassment, sometimes whenever they had a moment alone.

Rey did not see much of Finn, either. They met for dinner most nights, but little else. Her days were taken up working with Rose. The morning after Ben had returned, she had confessed to Rose her passion for helping the downtrodden children in the galaxy, knowing Rose would also feel an affinity for those left behind by circumstance.

"That's something I've been trying to work on, actually," Rose had replied, her eyes shining, clearly happy to have someone who felt the same way. "I'm not saying the children who were taken to be stormtroopers are the lucky ones, but at least they got regular meals out of their slave labor."

Rey had never considered herself a slave, but she had been sold, so... "You're right! Can we end slavery?"

Rose smiled at her. "I don't know, but we can certainly try."

So they spent their days, if not ending slavery, then at least rescuing children from their dire circumstances. Slavery had never been a legal practice in the galaxy, but being illegal had not stopped it from being prevalent before. The New Republic banned the practice, though setting up its infrastructure would take some time before any laws were enforceable. There needed to be more immediate action if they wanted to make a difference.