Hi all! This started out as a response to a prompt. It's officially a one shot as of right this very second but I will most likely add on to it. It is TLJ compatible. I would love to hear ideas and wants and needs when it comes to this story because it's onviously in the very early stages.

Thank you very much

"If I had a daughter, I hope she would have been like you." The voice of General Leia Organa filled the quarters that she had made her own while she moved to her closet.

Rey sat on the made bed, watching the old woman move. From that simple phrase alone, her eyes started to sting. The ache of her abandonment ever present in her chest. She pressed her lips together and smiled, holding the emotions in. "Really?" She breathed, pictures of Leia as her mother and Han as her father played in her head. Han would let her sit on his lap as he told her stories of his adventures. Leia would hold her down long enough to put her hair in ornate braids before letting her run off to play with Ben.

Rey sat up straight and made a face. Ben as her brother? No. Maybe not such a good idea after all. The thought made her queasy but she wasn't sure if she knew why... or wanted to admit why if she did, in fact, know.

Leia interrupted her slightly unsettling thoughts.

"Maker, yes," Leia paused in her movements and looked back at the brunette. "You are strong and beautiful... full of ideas, adventures, mistakes, potential, hope." Leia paused to quirk her lips in an amused sort of way. "You've got spunk. I like that." She turned back to the trunk she had pulled out of the closet. "I used to have spunk. Oh you should have seen me when I was your age. I had legs for days and you bet I could handle a blaster." She nodded, sure of her statement. She stood up and faced Rey, her shoulders squared and her chin held regally. She still sometimes held herself more as a princess than a general.

Rey, who had been watching the woman in front of her with a wide smile from her antics, found herself straightening up as well. "General Organa?" She asked. She felt like the general had something important to tell her all of a sudden. She had wondered why she had gotten dragged into Leia's private quarters but, never to turn down time with the older woman, she had gone along without question.

Leia waved a hand, "Please, leave the titles for business. This is personal. Call me Leia." She sat on the bed next to Rey and took her hands. "Rey," her voice was both loving and serious. "I value you so much. I care for you. I do. I see you and, damn it, I get all motherly. To think that some nerf herders left you on that planet when you were just a little one it—ugh!" Leia paused and regained her composure. "You're like the daughter I never had. I don't mean it in a bad way or anything but I see my Ben in you. I look at you and I see pieces of him. You two are similar in ways neither of you realize." Leia rolled her eyes, "It makes me so gosh darn maternal. Motherhood is aggravating sometimes. Let me tell you..." she shook her head and laughed. "I never knew my mother. She died when Luke and I were born. I—especially in my angsty teenage years—really missed her. I wished I had her to talk to about so many things. I wished... well, I wished for a lot of opportunities that I never had. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about." Leia wiped at her eyes and smiling kindly at the younger girl. "I was given a few of her things. She was... goodness she was beautiful. Her dresses..." Leia smiled sadly. "I used to put on her dresses, thinking I could smell little hints of what she used to smell like, and just look at myself. I would try to see her spirit in my eyes and in my form. She gave me... strength or femininity when I felt like I needed them."

Leia cupped Rey's face. Rey tensed, not used to any contact, but felt herself relaxing into the comforting touch. "It's hard to be the one to save the day. It can rub you raw. I see so much of me in you that I can't help but think of my mother's dresses and how much they helped me. You are absolutely allowed to have them help you, too." She kissed her on the forehead.

Rey looked at the woman in awe before looking at the trunk, feeling her very being drawn to it like she was tied to a string. The force had a way of showing her which way to go and what to do.

Leia smiled, her eyes twinkling, before she excused herself from the room. "I'll leave you two alone," she teased, talking about Rey and the trunk. "Take as much time as you need. I'll keep those smelly boys out of your hair." Leia tittered and walked out of the room.

Rey slipped the silky material over her skin. None of her underclothes felt like they were worthy enough to touch the garment so she shed it all. Shades of cream that changed to shades of pink that changed to shades of purple. It was stunning even in the trunk. Rey had never worn a dress like that in her life. The indulgence of it made her feel silly but the meaning behind it made the situation seem sacred.

Working on her patience, she fastened the dress slowly. She kept her back facing the mirror. She wasn't ready to face her reflection and see that she was still a scrawny, boyish scavenger.

She took a few breaths, her fingers twiddling against each other.

When she turned and looked at herself, everything went silent. First she thought it was because of just how stunned she was at how beautiful she looked. Then her skin pricked, feeling his presence. It felt like it was in her and all around her but, mostly, it was behind her.

Now? Of all times? She wondered, closing her eyes tightly.

"What are you doing?" His voice sounded all the way to her bones.

Rey turned around, trying to seem as distinguished as possible. "Haven't you ever seen a girl in a dress before?" She quipped back. The absolute silence around them was deafening.

Kylo Ren was rarely surprised. Unexpected and unpleasant things happened to him but that wasn't surprising anymore. What was surprising was when unexpected and pleasant things happened to him. And that only happened when Rey was involved.

Feeling their connection... experiencing their bond through the force... feeling her fingers against his... not feeling alone for the first time in his life...

Yes it was all very surprising and yes it all had to do with her. His little scavenger.

Still, knowing what he did know about their surprising encounters, he could not in a million years have expected the vision in front of him.

He had to admit that when he first saw her he thought that he was hallucinating or that it was another dream. He had dreamt of her in dresses before. Oh yes he had dreamt of her in a lot of things... also maybe not very many things. He felt his blood start to warm at just the thought and he had to change his thoughts before he got too...warmed up.

His eyes travelled from her eyes to her sun kissed skin. His eyes moved over the dress and her form how he wished his hands would move. The dress complimented her form, showing a more dainty and feminine side that he had not seen before while still possessing the power of a ruler that he already knew she could be. At his side.

"It was your grandmothers." Rey's voice broke him of his trance. She had taken a few steps closer to him and looked down. Her revelation stunned him but there were whispers that flitted about the dress like memories and feelings from the past. He could feel his grandmother. He could also feel his grandfather. The latter urged him forward to the girl. Suddenly, their moments which had always been only theirs had changed into a moment that was so much more special and personal.

He raised a hand and faltered when her eyes sharply followed his movement. He gestured to the dress. "May I?"

Rey felt her heart beat quicken. She nodded, her cheeks coloring. She reasoned that he had a right to touch the dress because it was his grandmother's after all, but she knew that wasn't the only reason.

Kylo pulled off both gloves this time, remembering how much he had wished to have taken off the other when their hands had touched. His fingers tested a small piece of fabric, feeling the softness. He wondered how it felt in comparison to her skin. His eyes flickered up to hers before looking back down at his fingers. He slowly traced the stitching, savoring the silky touch but wishing it was the skin under the fabric that he was touching instead.

He held his breath, wanting to keep the moment tender and not get over excited. Little did he know the effect he had on the girl he was so close to at that moment. Her jaw switched between being slack and being locked. She felt her stomach muscles trembling in weakness but she stayed tense. No slipping up.

Oh.

His fingers moved to the place where the dress and the skin of her chest met, moving so slowly.

They both held their breaths and their eyes locked on each other. Was this okay? Neither wanted to say what they felt first but her skin felt on fire from his touch and his fingers tingled wildly.

After a moment of frozen silence, he murmured, "I feel it too." He felt her relax marginally. Without moving his eyes from hers, his fingers started tracing small designs onto her skin instead of the dress. First with one lone finger but carefully progressing until his whole hand was caressing the skin that wasn't covered. Rey felt herself slowly melting and relaxing into his touch. It was hypnotic and...right. It was right.

His fingers slowed down at her jawline. Her breath ghosted shallowly beneath his fingers. He stopped his movements and looked back down at the dress. "It's a beautiful dress." He said, not ready for her inevitable rejection from going anywhere near her lips.

Rey tilted her head, shocking them both as her lips lightly brushed against his finger tips. "The galaxy can have some very beautiful things if you take a moment to appreciate them."

Ben nodded, "I'm starting to realize that."

Rey could see the light and the dark shining from his eyes and she realized not only how important this moment was for them two as...whatever they were. It also meant a lot for Ben Solo as the resistance's only hope. She felt her thoughts start to cloud up the perfectly clear moment they had been having. Ben noticed this too and, before she could stop things from progressing further, he captured her lips in his.

Even without his mind touching hers, he knew that it made her mind freeze. She did feel it too. There was something there. There was something between them. He saw glimpses of a future with each touch and their kiss guaranteed that they were bound.

"Join me." He whispered, breath brushing against her lips.

"I—" she started to respond but a knock at the door severed their connection. Rey blinked and looked around. She cleared her throat and closed her eyes trying to regain her composure.

What the hell just happened?

"Come in."

Leia walked back in, "I just wanted to see you in one of the dresses... Oh! You are simply stunning! Look at you!"