Chapter Text
"REY!" A woman's voice called out. "Rey, are you here?"
"That sounds like Rose! What is she doing here?" Rey squirmed out of Ben's hold and waved her arms frantically, not caring in the least about Ben's indignant huff. "ROSE! We're over here!"
A smaller woman with short black hair popped out from behind a tree. "Rey!" She exclaimed. It was Rose. "There you are! We detected your ship approaching, then POOF!" She swept her arms in a circle as she jogged closer. "FINN!" She yelled over her shoulder. "I found her!"
"Rose," Rey frowned, eyes looking her friend up and down, "what are you wearing?"
"Um," Rose looked down at herself, "the standard Resistance uniform. I was wearing this when you left, silly!"
"That's definitely an old x-wing back there," Finn said as he approached, "but I have no idea what a First Order–" He stopped short next to Rose as his eyes widened at something just beyond Rey's shoulder. "What's he doing here?"
Rey looked behind her and took the man's hand in question, pulling him closer. "Ben? He was with me when the airship crashed. Is this Florida? And how did you get here? I was supposed to meet you both in New York!"
"You can't just bring the Supreme Leader of the First Order to the Resistance base, Rey!" Finn fumed. "Tell her, Rose! Wait, what's a New York?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "There is no more First Order, Finn. Come on." She waved for everyone to follow. "You can tell us all about Exegol and this New York outpost after Dr. Kalonia checks you over. Is that where you got the clothes? I would love to see some new places and wear something new."
Rey looked at Ben in question, but he merely shrugged, so they wordlessly followed Rose as Finn pointed his hand gun at them.
"I'm sorry, Rey." Finn spoke from behind them. "I don't trust this guy."
Ben audibly gulped. "Was I too handsy earlier?" He whispered in Rey's ear.
Rey didn't know how to respond to that. She didn't know how to respond to any of this. No one said anything else until they arrived at what must be a local Florida town. Fish nets hung high above their heads, draped from tree to tree in patches forming a canopy. There was even a clearing large enough for an airship, flatter and rounder than Rey had ever seen. A desk and equipment was set up nearby, surrounded by people dressed like Rose and Finn milling around. They all turned to watch the newcomers, letting out whoops and cheers.
"We're all excited and grateful for whatever you did to defeat Palpatine," Rose explained as she led them into a darkened cave big enough to hold multiple airships. "Everyone in the galaxy will sleep better tonight." She pressed her hand next to a door and with no other effort, it slid open all on its own with a soft hiss.
"Don't you think he belongs in a cell?" Finn asked, gun still pointed at Ben.
"And you think my company is bad?" Ben complained softly enough for only Rey to hear as they both hopped up on a table. "I want to see my parents," he said, louder this time.
Rose exchanged a loaded look with Finn. "Your parents are dead, Mr. Ren."
"What!" It was Rey who gasped in horror for Ben sat still as a statue. "When? How?"
"He," Finn nodded at Ben, "killed his own father on Starkiller! You were there, Rey!"
"Look, I know my relationship with my parents is lousy," Ben argued, "but I would never kill my dad!"
"I want to talk to my parents, then," Rey requested because this place was getting ridiculous. "Do you have telephones in Florida?"
"Rey!" Ben hissed next to her. "We're not in Florida, remember?"
Rose laughed nervously. "We're just going to go get the doctor." She pushed Finn towards the door. "You, put that blaster away!"
"But! Rose–" Finn protested, the rest of his complaints cut off with the closing door.
'"Something isn't right," Rey said, swinging her legs. "I want to go home."
But it soon became apparent they would not be going home, not anytime soon, at least. The doctor came, poking and prodding with her strange beeping gadgets. She said that their "scans were clear", much to Rose's protestations as she was convinced they whacked their heads at some point, causing such bizarre unbelievable tales. An extremely tall hairy man came in next along with a rolling white and orange ball. Rey couldn't understand a lick of what they were trying to communicate or why a ball was even talking. By the time all their visitors had left, silent tears streamed down her face.
"I tried telling you," Ben sad sadly as he rubbed soothing circles on her back, "we're not in Florida. This has to be a nightmare. Who is Kylo Ren?"
"Hey, kids!" A man in a cape swept into the room, Rose close behind. Finn and his gun were nowhere to be seen.
"Uncle Lando?" Ben perked up.
"Not exactly," the man answered. "We think. Well, Threepio thinks."
Rey said nothing. Ben said nothing. They waited for this not exactly Uncle Lando to explain. Or someone. Anyone. Preferably this Threepio.
Rose came over to Rey and began patting her cheeks with a damp rag. "You don't know me, do you Rey."
Rey frowned. "Of course I do. You're my friend Rose. We met at Luke Skywalker's flight school two years ago."
"No, Rey. We didn't," Rose disagreed. "You know a different Rose. You don't know me."
"What are you saying?" Ben asked.
"Threepio believes the two of you switched places with our Rey and Ben while they were on Exegol," Lando explained. "Finn thinks it's crazy, but Threepio says that Exegol is capable of more than we know."
"And Poe's being Poe about it," Rose added. "Demanding to blow something up and toss both of you in a holding cell until this gets sorted."
"Who is Threepio?" Ben asked, backtracking.
Rose gave him a look, holding a hand out as if to say see?
"You're on a moon called Ajan Kloss," Lando continued. "If we take you back to Exegol, you might switch back, or–"
"You might be stuck here!" Rose finished entirely too cheerfully for the dire situation they were in, but apparently she realized it as soon as the words left her mouth and appropriately shrunk back with a cringe.
"You probably want your me and Ben back," Rey guessed, playing along. She had every intention of waking up any minute now from this terrible dream.
"Ideally, yes," Rose confirmed. "Though some would prefer not to get back the former Supreme Leader." She cringed again. "Sorry. Tiptoeing around how to speak to your alternate universe friend and former enemy isn't one of my best skills. Give me an engine to tweak any day!"
"We'll give you some time to rest, think about what you want to do," Lando added, turning to Ben with a smile. "It's good to see you, kid. Being free from the darkness is a good look on you. I didn't..." he trailed off, clearing his throat. "I hadn't realized until I saw you how long it tormented my nephew."
Before Ben could object to the older man's words, Rey jumped in. "What do you mean by what we want to do?"
"See the galaxy, of course!" Rose exclaimed. "Let the chips fall where they may until whatever happened on Exegol rights itself. Maybe Dr. Kalonia's scans were wrong. Maybe Threepio was wrong. I still say a hard knock jostled both your brains."
"But what about–" Rey started at the same time Lando hissed, "Rose!"
"Pfft!" Rose waved a hand, dismissing them both. "The other two will be fine. If anyone can find their way home from an alternate universe, it's them. If they don't kill each other first, that is." She shrugged. "Anyway, we'll be back once we figure out where to settle you in for the night."
"Hold on," Ben held his hands up. "Settle in? See the galaxy?"
Rose nodded enthusiastically. "There are worlds to see beyond this one that are much more comfortable that a secret resistance base in a jungle. Aren't you the least bit curious? Not to mention you'll need some time to read the books Rey took from Ach-To so you can, you know..."
Ben motioned for her to continue.
"Figure out how to either get back to your world or what happened to your minds on Exegol. Finn thinks it's some weird Force thing. Anyway, by now!" Rose spun for the door.
"Wait!" Rey called out, stopping the two before they could leave the room. "Are my parents here? They can help!"
Rose turned back with a frown. "You have no parents here."
"Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor," Rey desperately pleaded because surely no matter where they are, Jyn and Cassian would always know what to do. They had to exist anywhere that was real.
Rose looked to Lando with questioning eyes, but all he did was shrug in response. "They died along with the rest of the Rogue One crew on Scarif years before either of you were born. I'm sorry, Rey."
Rey managed to hold in a scream, barely able to keep it at bay with a slap of her hand over her mouth. A world without her parents didn't seem fair. A Rey without them didn't seem fair. Ben's other theory seemed much more likely and her fear was now confirmed so once their two visitors had left, Rey hopped off the table. "You were right. We need to get back to the crash site," she told Ben, twisting her hands together. "This has to be some kind of dream. No... a nightmare. If we can get back, we'll wake up."
"Ok." Ben stood too, rubbing his hands on his pants. "Ok. It's not like it's much less humid in here anyway," he joked with a quirk of his lips.
"At least there are no bugs in this room," Rey added, feeling around the door. "How do you open this?" Frustrated, she kicked it with a grunt.
"Maybe... did Rose..." Ben felt around the door frame and must have pushed whatever required pushing because the door swooshed open.
Lando and Rose were nowhere in sight in the heart of what they called the Resistance Base so Ben and Rey quickly left the cave, but once outside, the daylight was nearly gone.
"We should hurry," Ben commented, increasing his grip on Rey's hand. "Come on."
No one stopped them on their way out. Perhaps it was dinnertime or there was a meeting, but the few people around paid them no mind. As the sunlight faded more and more, the darkness even more evident under the shade of the trees, they arrived at the airship crash site. Luckily, it wasn't far away. Had they initially went in the opposite direction after the crash, they would have found Rose much sooner rather than the other way around.
"Ben? What will happen when we wake up?" Rey asked, her stomach a jumble of fear and excitement.
"What do you mean?"
"Will we remember this dream? Or will we still be here?"
"I..." Ben hesitated, pulling her closer to the wreckage. "I don't know."
"But will we–"
"Rey." Ben stepped in front of her suddenly, grasping her shoulders. "Whatever happens, happens. Nothing will make me forget that I've always been in love with you and should have told you sooner."
Rey's brain stopped working. She forgot the meaning of words, so all she could brilliantly say was, "What?"
"We're not going back to the way we were, ok?" Ben lowered himself to the ground, tugging Rey with him, and settling back against the shop cradling her in his arms. "I know now that I'm on the right path wherever you're going. I'll follow you anywhere."
And with those words on her mind and wrapped in Ben's comforting embrace, Rey drifted off to sleep.