Rey stood atop the old temple atop the highest hill on Upahatu, scouting the early morning sky. She held a commlink close to her face as she waited for Poe's voice to come over.

Three X-wings had been lost in the first successful mission in a series of thirteen. But now Menlo V was freed from the First Order, joining the small coalition of planets that remained free of an Imperial shadow. They were known for their forging and ships— not as good as Corellia, of course, but they were still renown— and could easily replace their ships.

Besides, the First Order was having a fairly easy time replacing the ships and personnel as it was. They didn't need Menlo V to help.

Now Rey was waiting for Poe to return with what was left of the Black Squadron, and return with any extra intel, including confirmed deaths. There was one name that she always braced herself to hear— but she knew, through their connection, that she never would.

Twenty years had passed since the death of Supreme Leader Snoke on the Supremacy. Rey remembered Leia telling her that it was only the beginning of the war. Some, like Finn and Rose, had hoped that Snoke's death would've spelled out the end.

Rey knew that Ben wouldn't give up so easily. But the Resistance wouldn't either. And neither would she.

The first steps were hard. She needed a last name— so Skywalker was the one Leia chose for her. The logic was simple. Let them think she was his daughter, his lost heiress. Then it was searching for the true Force-sensitives— not frauds, or fools with delusions of grandeur.

But somehow, she'd grown a Jedi Order out of nothing— with the occasional advice from Leia and the man she would always be connected to. The Gray Order of Jedi Knights was the key to winning the war— or so she'd thought.

Four years of fighting had passed, when Rey's faith finally broke down. It was a mission to Jakku, to Niima Outpost.

Instead of the weary junkyard, Niima had actual buildings, and Unkar Plutt was no longer in charge. There was even an electrified fence surrounding the place, keeping it safe from marauders.

It was safe, and wealthier than it had ever been. Rey sat atop the AT-AT crying. He had seen into her mind, and had fixed everything broken about Jakku. The rest of the Resistance had already gone home as she watched the sun set over the Giant's Graveyard, so when the twilight bathed everything in its rosy pink light, she was alone.

She was alone when she felt his shadow, like a blazing fire and torrential downpour at the same time. It reminded her of her days on Ahch-To, when she was still learning so much about herself and the world.

But he was so much more than that.

It wasn't through their connection— they had happened to be on the same planet at at same time, and their gravity pulled them together.

The encounter left Rey with what would form into a scar nine months later on her stomach, when her twins were removed via C-section.

Ever since then, Rey had her doubts about destroying the First Order. But she never thought about them too long. It didn't matter what she thought. It was her promise to Leia that kept her fighting.

"Sunshine, this is Black Leader, we should be coming in. Over."

Rey fumbled with the commlink. "This is Sunshine, I hear you Black Leader. The strip is clear and ready. Over."

Just as she clicked off the commlink, she saw the X-wings stream in, led by a particularly beat-up ship. Rey groaned. Poe always damaged his X-wing in his impatience to win the day.

She started down the tall rocks that formed the stairways all around the base. Below was a freezing desert, but within the rock formations of Upahatu, there were pools of water with fish and the like within, and several caves that made a great place to build a base. There was a large cave much lower than most where the X-wings would land.

Rey had designed the closing doors, and improved on the principles of the blast doors on Crait. With a little help from Rose, of course.

When she entered the hangar, she saw Rose directing X-wings into their spray-pained boxes. Other technicians were running around to prep the sites. Rey stopped by her old friend.

"Mission was successful— but we lost three fighters, and we have a typical Dameron on our hands," Rey said.

Rose looked to the Jedi Master. She still wore bangs, but they had grown a slant to her right. Her hair had grown quite long, so that she braided it back. But Rey had seen her hair down, and it was in black ringlets now.

"Of course," she muttered. "At least we're getting Menlo V, right?"

"Yes," Rey said. "We'll get a bigger fleet, thank the Force."

"That reminds me, the Wraith Squadron sent in intel, Finn wants to discuss it with you," Rose said.

"I'll talk to him," Rey promised. "Remind Poe to write a briefing tonight."

"I will," Rose said. "I'll— HEY! THAT DOESN'T GO THERE!"

Rose ran after a technician, leaving Rey standing there. Seeing all the X-wings fly in was a sight unlike any other. It still amazed her, seeing them all come home, with more scars in their skin and dents in their ships, but all alive and laughing with camaraderie only found on the battlefield, or the grim silence of a flee that had spent all their chances.

But she was Rey Skywalker to everyone else, and she had more important things to do than sit and watch the ships go by. That was her life on Jakku, and that had passed long ago.

Finn was always found in the support room, with several empty mugs of caff littering his desk, and had tired circles under his eyes as he analyzed the blue and green holograms, deciding the next strategy to employ against the First Order.

He'd grown his hair out, and dyed three streaks red. It was a display of defiance, that he was not the First Order's anymore. His jacket was the same one Poe had given to him, with the stitching up the back from his famous duel with Kylo Ren. Except now, that jacket had more patches and new stitches over two decades.

He now stood over a schematic of the past battle, watching what they had done versus the First Order. It was recreated using trackers within the X-wings. His dark eyes were intent on analyzing the mistakes they had made— especially the ones that had led to three people dying.

"Finn!"

Finn turned away from the schematics table to see his best friend. "Rey!"

He embraced her, just as he always did. Then they separated.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Rose sent me, she said Wraith Squadron had intel," Rey said.

He suddenly became serious. "Right, I do."

"What is it then?" Rey folded her arms over her chest.

"You have to understand, Nell Lanni and Deak Adsj were in a bad situation," Finn said. "They were briefly in the middle of enemy territory, in interrogation rooms."

"Did they give over any secrets?" Rey asked.

"No, thank the Force," Finn said. "In fact, they escaped. But they had help from a stormtrooper initiate. An initiate who came with them."

"I see," Rey said. "You want me to interrogate him. Or her."

"Him, but there's a little more to the situation," Finn said. "He opened the door with his mind, according to Nell and Deak."

"He's Force-Sensitive," Rey realized.

"Most likely," Finn said. "We put him in an individual cell so that if he's a Knight of Ren or a spy, he hasn't seen much of the Resistance Base."

"I understand," Rey said. "I'll be right there."

She hesitated a moment.

"Oh, Jacen and Jaina are watching Saoirse and the other kids in the playroom," Finn said.

"Oh, thank the Force," Rey said, a smile emerging on her face again. "I'll go meet the agent then. May the Force be with you."

Finn nodded. "And also with you."