1 Wires and Feathers

The Porg surprise instantly made Rey realize that those ridiculous pests were chewing at the wiring again. Chewbacca roared at the Porg until it fell out of the outlet; on to its face. Letting out another absurd squawk, the goofy yet highly irritating little creature fluttered safely to his feet. Chewbacca used his superior height to look into the open outlet above him. As soon  his face leveled with the opening, another Porg came flying at his face like a mad hornet. More startled than defeated, Chewie roared backward to recollect himself. The awkwardly cute assailant had already re-settled up in the outlet; cooing with victory.

Rey chuckled as she climbed up there herself with a bit more stealth. Wires and Porg feathers were everywhere. The Porgs had made a nest of a main wiring harness and Rey could sense that the Porg was full of eggs and it perfectly explained the attack on the Wookiees face. This is the price for camping on Achto overnight, Rey rolled her eyes as she scoured for some tools in a nearby compartment. Her mind struggled desperately to maintain focus on the task at hand but she was light years away.

She was lost in the throne room filled with dead Praetorian guards and the slain former Supreme Leader Snoke. It was raining fire, the air hot and smoky; making it hard to breathe. His gaze met her eyes but she let herself focus on his magnificent hair-the ashes fell all around them but none ever touched his hair.

BB-8 bumped himself into her leg, shaking her out of her dissociative daydream. She looked down at him and nodded as he beeped sympathetically at her. He had chosen to go along with Rey because he had had enough of Poe's late nights at the cantinas and a few hairy scenarios where he and BB-8 barely escaped some gambling debt thugs. Poe just really wasn't the same after Leia's death; they all were dealing with her loss in their own way. Finn and Rose had taken over most of the daily operations at the base; most of the Galaxy was at peace now. Finn had attempted to get Rey to change her mind about looking for Ben, but knew she would not be stopped. BB-8 squealed at her again because her hands had gone idle once again and he held out a tool he thought would help. On Jakku she had learned to fix things with almost nothing so she quietly declined the droids offer but with a grateful smile.

All the while that Rey had been re-wiring the outlet, Chewbacca had been helping the Porgs relocate-outside the Falcon. Rey hoped that the wiring project wouldn't eat up the whole day because she still hadn't done what she came here to do. The holotape could wait until they got to the Outer Rim trading posts where she knew they would have Empire-era tech. A few more wires to go she thought, proud of herself for maintaining just enough focus to make decent progress. Her fingers laced around a familiar wire. "This leads to the compressor," she thought out loud. Rey remembered the small victory of bypassing the crude unnecessary adjustments that Unkar Plutt had plagued the system with before. She remembered swallowing that same pride as Han had shown no real change in expression at her achievement. Disappointed in herself for stalling again; she couldn't help but wonder what kind of father Han was to Ben.

Attaching the final wire and closing up the outlet compartment, Rey started to feel strange energy around her. Her body shivered like she was freezing despite the warm golden sun pouring through all the windows of the battle-worn Correillian Freighter. The feeling passed as quickly as it came on and she poured herself a hot beverage similar to a matcha green tea from the ship's dainty kitchen. Barely waiting for it to cool, she downed the whole cup along with a little piece of smoked fish that Chewie had caught. She tried to keep her wandering mind grounded as she slumped into the co-pilot's chair and nourished her body for the first time in two days. Feeling more sleepy than she realized, Rey fought the urge to fall asleep in Chewbacca's chair.

The sun was high above her in the grey blue sky as Rey hiked around the rocky island. Her sleepiness faded in the harsh winds that tore at her as she crept along a steep ridge. The whole island had been calling to her since Ben's death-in subtle dreams and faint whispers. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she finally approached the entrance to the cave. A wet gust of wind rushed up to kiss her cheek just as she prepared herself to take the plunge into the black hole. "Rey"... his voice sounded more sultry than ever and as if he had whispered right into her ear. Her heart swollen with hope, Rey squeezed her eyes shut and dove head first into the darkness.