Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I haven't had much time to write lately. As always, please enjoy and review!

Rey burst through the door to the small back room on the ship, not sure what to expect. She froze for a moment as her eyes adjusted to the different light and she took in the scene. Ben lay unconscious on a table; his raven black hair was matted and sweaty and framed his extremely pale face. A teenage girl with curly red hair, probably one of the civilians they'd rescued, stood over him, pressing a blood stained towel to the injured man's side.

Rey didn't even remember crossing the room, but the next instant she was standing over her beloved, clutching his hand with her own. "Ben" Her voice could barely manage more than a whisper.

Rey reached out through their connection, but Ben's force signature felt distant and weak. It had become second nature to always have his presence in the back of her mind and the emptiness she currently felt was terrifying. Sensing how much he was struggling to hang on only deepened her fear even worse. She focused on Ben and spoke in her mind, hoping he could hear her. "Please, don't leave me."

A voice she didn't recognize jarred Rey back to reality. "Make sure to keep that pressure on the wound. I just need one more thing before I start fixing him up."

Rey jerked her head up to see a young, blonde woman hustling around the room gathering various items. "Who are you?!" Rey demanded.

"My name is Rilac and I'm trying to save this man. Although the lack of supplies available here is going to make that difficult." Rilac dug a flight suit out from a storage bin and thrust it at Rey. "You're Rey, right? Here, start ripping this into strips. We're going to need bandages."

Rey glanced down at the piece of clothing with surprise and then a thought formed in her mind. "Wait, how do I know you're really going to help him? You surely know who he is, so what's to stop you from harming him further."

Rilac stopped moving for a moment and met Rey's suspicious gaze, her blue eyes filled with determination. "This man saved my daughter. Now, I know there have been stories about what he's done, but anyone who would risk their life to save a child is not all bad. Plus, he appears to have won your heart so I would say that also vouches for his character. Wouldn't you agree?" Without waiting for an answer the woman returned to her work.

Rey was stunned for a moment. She hadn't expected anyone to be willing to help Ben, but it appeared she'd been proven wrong. With one final squeeze, she reluctantly dropped Ben's hand and started tearing the article of clothing as instructed. By now, Rilac had finished her raid of the room and was starting to undo the many layers of Ben's black clothing. She carefully removed his shirt and Rey gasped at the sight of the two open wounds on his chest. The deeper one carved across his lower left side, while the blaster wound on his right shoulder was smaller, but still bad looking. Rey's hand absent mindedly went to her own side, where a phantom pain had been plaguing her since Ben had first received the injury.

Rey was so distraught at the sight of Ben that she almost didn't register Rilac talking to her. "Miss. Miss!" Rey met her gaze, but her eyes were already stinging with tears. "Miri here is going to assist me with the cleaning and stitching up. I need you to keep an eye on his pulse and hold him down if he wakes up." Rey nodded silently at Rilac's instructions and her fingers quickly found the vein on Ben's neck where she could feel the faint beating of his heart. Rilac was continuing with her instructions, this time to Miri, but Rey blocked her out and focused on Ben. She forced her breathing to slow down and attempted to steady her shaking body. Reaching out through the force, Rey tried to sense Ben's life force and hold onto it.

The room seemed to slip away and Rey's vision seemed to shift. She could see the energy of everything around her, including the distinct auras of power around herself and Ben. Even though she couldn't see it directly, Rey could tell hers was bright and strong. Ben's was naturally darker than hers, but she could tell it was faint and dull. Black holes that radiated a consuming energy were located over where his physical wounds were. Rey wasn't really sure what to do, so she tried directing some of her own energy into him. Surprisingly, tendrils of energy seemed to flow down her arms, through her hands, and into Ben. She pushed out with her mind at the dark holes in his aura, willing them to get smaller. Her own energy force seemed to dim slightly as Ben's grew stronger. Deep down, Rey knew that she could take this too far and drain herself. But at this point she didn't care, she couldn't lose Ben again.

Rilac had been concentrating on her task at hand. Even though she had her doubts from the beginning that this man would pull through, she was still giving it her all. At first it was hard to even manage the loss of blood, but miraculously it seemed to start slowing on its own.

"Ma'am, look." Miri spoke in a quiet voice, wonder and awe lacing her tone.

Rilac looked up and saw Rey's eyes were closed and a white light emanated from the young woman's hands. She had heard the old legends of the Jedi being able to do wondrous things, but it was still a shock to see it in person. It was mesmerizing to watch, but Rilac knew she couldn't waste time. She returned to stitching the blaster wound, hoping that whatever Rey was doing was helping.

As she worked, Rilac thought about what Rey had said, her hesitation at her willingness to help. Rilac was no Force user, but she'd always been a little more sensitive to things than the rest of her village. When the Supreme Leader, or Ben as Rey had called him, had first opened their cell door, Rilac could just sense he had no intent to harm them. She had told her daughter, Alana, to stay close by as she helped one of the older members of their group make the journey to the shuttle bay. Rilac shuddered slightly as she remembered the fear that had nearly paralyzed her upon realizing that Alana was gone. She had been ready to run back through the halls in a frantic search, but Ben had stopped her. There had been genuine concern in his eyes when he heard what had happened. When he risked his life to go find Alana, Rilac had known then this man was not the monster everyone thought he was. So when the resistance pilot had brought an injured Ben on board Rilac had stepped in, making sure he was tended to and kept out of harm's way.

Rilac finally applied the last bandage and breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced up and saw that Rey hadn't moved, the white light still glowing around her hands. Turning to Miri she thanked the young girl for her assistance, knowing that couldn't have been easy for her. As she watched Miri exit the small room, a nagging feeling told Rilac that she'd better intervene in Rey's work or she might have two patients to worry about.

Rey lost track of how long she spent in her meditation, but was eventually pulled out of it at the feeling of a light touch on her arm. She opened her eyes and saw Ben's chest was now bandaged up. Rilac was standing to her side looking at her with mild curiosity. Rey stepped back slightly from the table and a wave of exhaustion washed over her. She nearly collapsed, but Rilac grabbed her arms and guided her to a nearby chair.

"Are you all right?" Rilac's eyes showed concern as she knelt beside her.

Rey nodded, although she was still a little dizzy from her exertion of power. "Is he going to be alright?" She was desperate to know the answer, but still scared of what it might be.

Taking a deep breath, Rilac spoke with a gentle tone. "It's too early to say for sure, but I think so. I still want to watch him closely, he lost a lot of blood and there's always the possibility for infection." Rey let out a small sob of relief and Rilac's heart went out to her. "I'll leave you alone for a bit, but I will be back later to check on the bandages." She stood and walked towards the door.

Rey finally found her voice. "Thank you. I…I don't know what I would have done without you."

Rilac offered a small smile. "I would guess you helped out too, some sort of force healing I suppose?"

Rey did really know how to answer. She'd never been trained on anything like that, although she and Ben had talked about it a couple of times. Instinct had seemed to guide her on what to do, but she wasn't sure if it was hers or Ben's. "Still, you didn't turn your back on him like some would."

"I was just trying to return the favor. Plus, I believe we all deserve second chances." Rilac turned and exited the room, the door clanging shut behind her.

The moment she was alone, all the emotions and memories of the past few hours came rushing back to Rey. She covered her face with her hands and finally allowed herself to be overwhelmed with emotion. The excitement of seeing Ben again, the fear and emptiness of his supposed betrayal, and the relief upon realizing he did still love her. Finally, the utter panic and gut-wrenching heartache when she thought she might lose the man who meant everything to her.

Rey had finally managed to calm down enough so her breathing stopped coming in sobs when a deep voice off to her side caused her to nearly jump out of the chair.

"It's time we talked."