Ben woke up slowly and steadily. He stretched out his arms, but found he was wearing grey. It was a comfortable outfit, the material didn't differ much from his usual clothing, but why was he not wearing his robes-
It all came back to him in a hazy rush of memories. He had come home with his mother (home and mother being two words he had seldom heard). Ben pushed himself up on the bed, his stiff body protesting. He recognized the slight edge of hunger his stomach was making clear. Acknowledging this, he stood up, made his bed, and headed down the grey halls of the base.
Not really remembering where the mess hall was at, Ben wandered around, occasionally reaching out with his Force abilities to try and locate the place where the most people were gathered. It was midmorning, so he assumed that would be his safest bet.
As he walked, he thought about what Leia had said. Kylo had always assumed that there were only two distinct sides-light and dark, power balancing and power hungry-but what did Ben believe? Where did Leia get this notion of grey Jedi?
Eventually reaching his destination, having reached no clear answer, he decided to put off his journey of self-discovery for a place that wasn't as.... active. 
Active was certainly a word to describe the room Ben had just walked into. A steady thrum of energy and conversation emerged from the people sitting inside.
Resistance pilots made good-natured digs about their last mission. A few people he supposed were mechanics looked to be asleep with their eyes open, except two who were loudly complaining about having to fix the mess caused by a crowd of banthas that had been set loose. The snickering from the people sitting at the table next to them gave Ben a hint about who had set these creatures loose.
He walked in, and his eyes wandered over the food offered. There was a quite a range of choices. Who on earth had the time to cook all this food every day? He was suddenly aware of the fact that most conversation had died out, and a considerable amount of eyes were focused on him.
He supposed Leia had told everyone he was going to be here, and even if she hadn't rumors had to have gotten around by now.
Ben's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp elbow jabbing into his side.
"Oops, sorry Darth Junior, my bad," came a grating voice from his left. Ben turned quickly to see a boy, not much older than his teens, with his face contorted in badly masked fury.
Ben took a deep breath, determined to not let this child get to him.
The boy, whose nametag read Thanner, was flanked on both sides by very unintimidating sidekicks, looking even dumber than Thanner did (Ben had doubted this possible before seeing them).
"So why are you here, Crylo?" mocked Thanner. His two friends chuckled stupidly. "Did you run back over here so you could kill your only enemies, or because your mommy put you in time out?"
'That wasn't even clever,' thought Ben, as Idiots A and B continued laughing. He fought his urge to strangle them, which was becoming more and more pronounced every second.
"My name isn't Kylo any longer. It's Ben," he said.
"Trying to start again. How noble," said Thanner.
"Nobility is obviously a trait you don't possess," said Ben.
The whole room was hanging on their every word now.
"Why did you come here? Was it because everyone abandoned you? You had no place to stay? Obviously, no one would love you after everything you've done," taunted Thanner.
Kylo realized that somehow, he had been backing up subconsciously. Having realized this, he took a few steps forward, determined to stand his ground.
"Don't. Let's stop this before it starts," said Ben.
"Oh, so that's your game. You've got the General convinced, Ren, but not me. I see right through you. You're an insane, unlovable freak," said Thanner, continuing despite the warnings.
"Look. You've probably been hurt in some way," started Ben, but he was cut off.
"You're darn right I've been hurt. By you. You killed my parents, and now you come prancing back through here expecting everyone to accept you, to assume you've changed. But any person who's done that can never be changed. You're a Sith, and you're a monster, and you expect us to think you've changed but I DON'T THINK YOU CAN," said Thanner, getting gradually louder until he was practically shouting.
"Listen, Thanner. I'm sorry about your parents," Ben tried.
"You don't UNDERSTAND. You don't understand what it's like to have your mother and father ripped away from you. And that's why I don't think you can change. Any man who can kill his own FATHER doesn't deserve a second chance," said Thanner, ending in a whisper.
Ben wanted to say something, but no words would come. Thanner was mimicking what his own thoughts had been since he had let his father fall off that bridge.
But no one had noticed a certain Pilot and Jedi who had just walked through the door. Rey and Poe had been walking together back from visiting Finn as they did most mornings. The doctors said his condition was rapidly improving, and he would be sure to make a full recovery sometime in the near future. But as they neared the familiar room, they noticed the usual hustle and bustle of the dining hall was... somehow absent, replaced with a tense, tangible silence.
"Something's not right," said Rey.
Poe sighed. "I'm sure everything is fine. Maybe Leia had a meeting or something, and they've all gone there," said Poe, though he didn't really believe this.
"It's probably just-"
But Poe was cut off by Rey's hand slapping rapidly over his mouth, and he winced melodramatically before groaning into her palm.
"Shut it, pilot," she hissed, creeping steadily nearer to the hall. Poe resigned himself to following her, knowing full well there was no stopping her at this point.
It wasn't completely devoid of sound, they noticed. Two angry, loud, male voices kept ringing out through the silence.
"Not another fight," muttered Poe. But as they closed in, and stepped in front of the door unnoticed, they saw who it was.
As Thanner mercilessly insulted Kylo- no, not Kylo, he was Ben now- Rey got increasingly more angry. Poe held her back to keep her from hitting Thanner unconscious.
"He's a new recruit, he has a troubled past," said Poe warningly, "you cannot punch him in the face. I'm sure Ben can take care of himself."
"I have a troubled past, and I don't go insulting people out of the blue," Rey said huffily, but she stayed put.
But after the insult about Ben killing his father, Poe lost his grip on the back of Rey's robes.
No one really knew how it happened, but Thanner fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
"THAT'S FOR BEING AN UTTER IDIOT, AND THAT'S BECAUSE HONESTLY I NEVER LIKED YOU!"
"Rey!" yelled Poe, rushing forward. "No!"
Ben stood there, stunned. The rest of the people in the room did the same.
Poe had managed to drag Rey away from Thanner, though she still tried to get out of Poe's grip and punch him again. Thanner was currently laying on the floor moaning, his sidekicks long gone.
"Thanks," said Ben, still stunned. He didn't know what to think of her now.
"Don't mind him," said Rey, smiling.
"I'll call a medic," said Poe, sighing yet again.
And so began a new friendship between the two Jedi and the Pilot.