Two Sides

Interlude #13

Tarana dismissed everyone for a recess, and led Ben and Rey to a small office off of the meeting room. Finn and Poe stayed with the children, though Rey found it unlikely they needed monitoring. They were a solemn group, barely speaking and often looking lost in thought. Ben remained standing, but Rey took the chair Tarana offered.

"I think we started off on the wrong foot," said Tarana. "Can we start again?" 

She spoke to Ben, which Rey was glad of. 

"Ma'am, there's not much to say," said Ben. "Finn, Poe and Chewie meant well when they brought us here, but we wouldn't have come had we known what you were about. We've been through enough in the past few months to last a lifetime and then some. I would think that hearing that we have no intention of disrupting your plans or attempting to sway them to our designs would please you greatly."

"You are both invaluable assets," said Tarana. "Can you see our perspective?"

"What you mean," said Rey, "is that you can't trust what we'll do if you don't have your thumb on us." 

"What are your plans?" said Tarana, sighing deeply.

"We're going to find a backwater planet with a nice climate, maybe a beach, and retire in peace," said Ben. 

"And what will you do with yourselves?" said Tarana.

"I imagine we'll have a lot of sex," said Ben. "If Rey's up for it." 

Tarana turned bright red. "I intended to inquire about your professions, Mr. Solo." 

"We'll find plenty of things to keep us busy," said Rey, shooting Ben a warning look. He just couldn't resist poking at this woman. 

"And if we need you?" said Tarana.

"It would be best if you think of us as dead," said Rey. "We intend to interact with the rest of the galaxy as if we were."

"And the children?" said Tarana.

Rey nodded. She and Ben had thought long and hard about what to do with the Force sensitive children. Many of them were traumatized, some mute as a result. They hadn't been able to determine the full extent of their Force potential. Ben didn't think it mattered. Rey wasn't so sure, but she didn't have any better ideas as a result of her uncertainty. 

"Would you teach them?" said Tarana. "Train them so they can safely use the Force?"

"That's out of the question," said Ben. "Rey had very little training with Luke Skywalker. I had years, but as you'll remember, I didn't turn out as planned. Neither of us are teachers."

"We think you should disperse the children throughout the galaxy," said Rey. This idea had caused her a great deal of anxiety and more than a little guilt. In some ways, she had come to feel responsible for these children. "If you can find the families they were taken from, you should return them. Though we think it unlikely Carias left such messy loose ends as families behind. If you can't, you should find good homes for them, and let as few people as possible know who they are and what they can do."

"There are entities in the galaxy that would not hesitate to manipulate a child into following their ideologies and using the Force as a weapon against innocents," said Ben. 

He was so bitter. Rey was glad he recognized how much of his life and will had been bent by Snoke, how set the path he walked was before he even took a step. She couldn't see how a person could heal from such deceit, from a condition which closely resembled slavery when you looked past the glossy surface. 

"Which is why we need you," said Tamara. "We do." She was desperate. Rey understood her position. Her fledgling Cooperative would crumble if they couldn't convince both sides of an old struggle by diplomacy and compromise.  

Rey nodded. "I know. Tamara, believe me. I understand. I empathize. But we are not what you need. Jedi are not what you need. There are good and bad people everywhere. I like to believe that there are far more of the former. I believe that even the worst of them have some humanity you can appeal to, and I believe that even the farthest gone can change course and make the necessary sacrifices to stand on the right side of things. I truly believe that. If Kylo Ren could turn from the violent creature he was created to be to end up saving the galaxy and balancing the chances for the good and evil, anyone can." 

"I love you," said Ben, his voice a calming presence in her mind.

"I'm holding you to our plans when we arrive at our new home," she said.

"It would be my pleasure, darling."  

Finn and Poe received their decision with a mix of disbelief and sadness.

"We just got you back!" protested Finn. "Rose and I are getting married soon. You'll come, won't you?"

"Of course," said Rey. "We won't be out of reach. We just aren't going to get involved. You understand why, right?"

"I understand," said Poe. "Ben, I don't think anyone will be sad to know that you are out of commission, regardless of how they beg you to stay now. You understand, don't you?"

Rey knew he did. Ben was nervous on this ship, and he didn't like to think about how his many crimes had affected these people. He wanted nothing more than to get away from them, and never look back. Ben nodded, and shook Poe's hand.

"We'll keep in touch," said Rey. "I promise. You two are going to help Chewie transfer the materials we need to our new planet and get us set up until we can figure out our own trade options and sources." 

"So I'm to be your porter?" said Poe.

Rey hugged them both. "Yes, and anything else I need. Thanks, guys. You're the best." 

Ben's hand pressed into the small of her back, lending her support. It was hard to dismiss her friends like this, to intentionally and permanently separate themselves from the rest of civilization, but they both knew it was necessary. Rey allowed Ben to lead her back to the Falcon, and they began their search for a planet that would suit their needs.