[ And in this way, he manages to … scold her? It's the closest word for the way she balks at his sharp reply. Rey backs down, softens in a snap. Perhaps because his fervor matches her own, and perhaps because … she had never considered neither to be a real option before he had said it. ]

They rose from its ashes. They're all that's left of the Empire. We don't have anything outside of the New Republic or the First Order. There is no middle—

[ But she thinks of something Ben had said, about balance. He had meant it to justify the Dark Side's hold on him, but hadn't she said something similar to him once? It's more complicated than that. It's an unwelcome memory of a time she wants to escape, but then also— We can find a better path. Together.

She turns away from Thrawn to compose herself. Any thoughts of that thing she had become after the temporal insects bit her put her on edge. She's not sure what to make of it. What she does know is that she wants out of her head, so she isn't left alone with it. ]

Explain. [ Her voice is choked in a way she doesn't like, but she persists. ] What do you mean, neither?