Author's Note: Have I said recently how amazing you all are? I probably do with every update, but seriously, I am just loving your comments. My Reylo readers are the best. Seriously. Also, your varied reactions to Kezzik have me absolutely cracking up! You either love him or despise him and that makes me so happy!

Next update should be Sunday if all goes according to plan and I can keep on this hot streak with my word count. As always, fuel my writing fire and let me know what you think 😊

Rey's rear end was falling asleep. Again.

In the three days they'd been on Coruscant, she'd already lost track of the number of meetings she'd attended. Any more time in a chair and she was going to go crazy. Not only that, but she was starting to feel a little pudgy after so many pastries and so little time training.

The only useful bit of news to come from this meeting was that intelligence regarding Balmorra had been received, revealing a very small Resistance outpost. The good news was, with the way the New Order was spread thin at the moment with these negotiations, they had voted to put off any move on the rebels in the next few days. It still meant Poe's friends were living on borrowed time, but it was the best she could do right now.

Unfortunately, there had been no news of Poe, Finn, or Leia since she'd left them in their cells nearly a week ago. Ben had managed to check the log when he'd gone to the Finalizer for an update on regular operations yesterday, but aside from the fact that they were all alive, and eating and sleeping at regular intervals, there was no news to be had. They were still imprisoned, and Rey was still in no position to free them. She'd even tried in desperation to reach out to Leia through the Force, but she was getting nothing.

A twofold increase in Ben's volume shook her from her thoughts. He was arguing with Hux again about the goal of several clandestine agents the New Order had operating within what was left of the New Republic. Between their shouting match, and finding out a sizable portion of the New Order's funding still came from smuggling and gambling rings, Rey now had a massive headache.

"Excuse me," she said, rising from her chair and heading to the door.

The dozen New Order officers in attendance were completely focused on the argument and even Ben was so shrouded in anger that he didn't notice her departure. Admiral Jeel was the only one to look up, his sweaty scowl hastening her steps from the room.

Once free of the oppressive stink of New Order politics, she headed away from the conference wing of the hotel and down the long catwalk leading to the gym. She'd visited the training gym only once in the three days they'd been on Coruscant. Ben had gone with her the first time, bringing training sabers for them to work with and stowing them for their practice sessions. Unfortunately, political life left very little time for such things and they'd been neglected since that first day.

She was going to remedy that.

The training gym was her favorite room in the entire hotel. Everywhere else, expensive rugs and gold leaf reminded her that she was far outside of her comfort zone. Here in the gym, the North and South facing walls were all glass, providing an uninterrupted view of the capitol's impressive skyline. The floors and remaining walls were stark white. The shelves, lined with gloves, helmets, weights, staves, ropes, and punching bags, provided anything you would ever need for training, either with a weapon or without. She could completely lose herself here.

Rey pulled a training saber from Ben's personal storage container and flicked it to life. It looked just like a regular lightsaber, though he'd explained it was simply a powered down version. If it touched the skin, it would still hurt, causing a burn, but would go no deeper than that. Both of the training sabers were green, which had surprised her at first. She'd wondered where he'd acquired them, and almost asked, before deciding against it. Maybe she didn't want to know.

She swung the blade back and forth a few times, slashing the air, experimenting with the balance of the weapon, feeling it's weight.

"Did you just plan on waving that thing around a few times and calling it practice?"

She could not suppress a groan of irritation when she heard Kezzik's voice behind her.

"I thought you were in a meeting?" he asked.

She turned to face him, taking great satisfaction in brandishing the weapon very near his face. "I needed a break."

He was dressed in loose pants and a tighter fitting shirt, all black of course. Though without the cowl and cloak, he seemed much less imposing. Losing layer upon layer of intimidating dark fabric made him much more approachable. He was well-built, too, but then all the Knights were. He'd even shaved, and it made him seem younger. If Rey hadn't known better, she might have thought him handsome like this.

"See something you like?" he asked, his lip turned up halfway.

She rolled her eyes.

He crossed to where the other training saber was stowed in the bin to her left.

"With your best friend Jeel at the meeting, I can't imagine why you didn't enjoy it." He turned the hilt over in his hands before igniting the blade. "We'll deal with him soon enough, he's almost spilled everything useful about his friends here, and I can give you the pleasure of deciding his fate when the time comes."

"How thoughtful."

"At your service, my lady," he said, sweeping into a low bow.

Kezzik had eased up quite a bit after their breakfast encounter. In fact, this had been the first time he'd barged in on her alone since that morning. When Ben wasn't nearby, his sarcasm had become more playful and less provoking. He'd even made himself useful over the last few days, having taken to being their eyes around the capitol. He had a knack of somehow just knowing who of each house was leaning the way of the New Order and who needed a bit more encouragement. Even Ben had agreed that Kezzik had been valuable, though she knew it killed him to admit it.

"Did you need something?" Rey asked.

"Well, I was coming down to train, but it looks like you need a sparring partner. So, what do you say, my lady?"

She shook her head. "No, I… I should get back soon."

"I know, I know. You're thinking, 'I shouldn't spar with him. He knows my secrets, and Ben says he's far too dangerous to associate with'." He leveled a gaze at her, his green eyes magnified by the glow of his saber. "I already know you aren't formally trained with that thing, Rey." He gestured to the training saber. "How could you be when there was no one to train you? And I know Kylo hasn't had the time to properly catch you up."

Kriffing Kezzik.

He smiled, but for once it didn't look cocky. It was an actual smile and the cleft in his chin gave him a sort of innocence in that moment.

"Let me just give you some easy tips to start," he said, "then if you don't want any more, I'll leave you be." He lifted an eyebrow in question. "Deal?"

She didn't respond, still weighing her options. What did he get out of this? Was he just trying to get on her good side so she would allow him to move up in the New Order, as he'd explained?

On one hand, she was just so hungry for knowledge and since coming to Coruscant Ben simply didn't have enough time to properly continue her training. On the other hand, Ben truly thought Kezzik could be a threat. Rey reached out to the Force, and wrapped herself in the comfort of her dark shields as she attempted to come to a decision.

"Alright, I'll take your lack of protest as a yes," he said. "Show me your ready position."

Without saying a word, she brought the saber up to her chin and spread her legs for balance. One false move on Kezzik's part and she promised herself she would be out those doors in a second.

He looked her up and down once before bringing his eyes back to her feet.

Then he shook his head. "Yeah, that's not going to work. Let's tighten up your stance."

He stood behind her, tapping her right leg, indicating for her to move it back. "Your dominant foot should stay behind you, with your lightsaber positioned vertically on the strong side. That's the Jedi ready position."

"But you aren't –"

"A Jedi? Thanks for noticing," he said. "But I was trained in lightsaber combat by a Jedi." He sidestepped to where he could see her. "Were you?"

She didn't respond.

"Thanks. Okay, now… the zones of combat."

He fell back a few paces before drawing a circle in the air with his saber in the space just in front of her head. "This is zone one. Any attacks to zone one will likely be vertical chops to the head." He brought his training saber down in a slow arc from above. "So the ensuing parry will be a horizontal block."

Rey brought her training saber up against his to indicate she understood the first parry.

"Next is zone two. Your right arm and side." He brought his weapon across to cut at her right side. "Any attack in this zone will be a horizonal side swipe. Therefore, the logical counter is the vertical parry position."

Kezzik went through all six zones of attack, one by one, showing the counter to each attack and practicing them several times. He ended with zones five and six – the legs, which were attacked in low swiping movements and countered with drop parries where the saber hilt was held at the waist. Rey was fascinated, asking for him to repeat the attacks again and again, faster and faster, as she practiced each parry.

By the time they were finished, sweaty, chests heaving, their moves were so well-rehearsed, it was like they'd practiced a choreographed dance. Neither of them had once used the Force, but she had an understanding of how to counter each of his attacks without it.

Rey had been defending herself for so long with her staff, countering the attacks of scumbags on Jakku, that she did it without thinking. She'd learned from trial and error. Now with a single direct lesson, combat with both a staff and lightsaber had become so much more methodical. Now, she understood why her body reacted the way it did to each attack. Staff or lightsaber, it didn't matter so long as she could parry according to the proper zone. It was so much different than Ben's style of teaching, guided solely by emotion and instinct.

His teeth flashed white with that spirited smile of his. He was obviously pleased with himself. "You seem surprised, my lady."

"It's just… this was very helpful, Kezzik. Thank you."

"Many duelists rely on raw power through the Force or brute strength alone. But if you've trained your brain to react, you will be even faster with the additional Force you bring to the battle."

She nodded.

"Shall we?" he asked, raking fingers through his sweat-soaked hair.

"Shall we what?"

"Spar?"

Her heart was suddenly beating very noticeably against her chest. "Not today, Kezzik. I really should get back."

"Another lesson then? We can go through some sequences, discuss the rings of defense."

Rey scrunched her lips together. "Maybe tomorrow," she said, the words spilling out before she'd really had a chance to think them over. Had she really just promised another one-on-one encounter with him?

Then again, Kezzik seemed positively harmless today and had even respected her space. Maybe Ben's near explosion that morning after breakfast had convinced Kezzik to play nice. Now Rey wondered if maybe Ben had talked to him afterwards.

"Tomorrow then," he said before flipping off his weapon and stowing it in the container. He gave her another smile before turning toward the door. No uncomfortable breech of personal space. No sarcastic remark. He just turned and left.

After just five days on the planet, they were able to strike a deal that would give the New Order unprecedented access to government support on Coruscant. Ben managed to keep his temper under control even when meetings filled all of his daylight hours, dinners and parties filled the evenings, and certain members of the bureaucracy remained less than agreeable. But it had been worth it, because now, their connections here were leading to other ties in nearby systems and Ben was being called away for more talks.

The Governor-General of Corellia had contacted them, asking for an audience to discuss an opening of trade. Corellia's growing isolationism had weakened its economy considerably and leadership was interested in opening talks with the New Order.

Word had also spread of Emperor Ren's order to initiate a pull-back on imperialistic missions in the Outer Rim. He'd instead, opted for sending delegations to talk with a handful these systems first. It was just a small step, but one which Rey had insisted on and Ben had finally conceded. This had opened up lines of communication with systems skeptical of the aggressive approach to acquiring resources used by the First Order. Hux had considered this not only a waste of time, but a sign of weakness. However, all it took was one look from Ben to send him scrambling to make it happen.

Now Ben was leaving to begin talks on Corellia and since there were still several details to smooth over in Coruscant, and they didn't trust Hux here alone, they decided it best if Rey stay to oversee the final stages of the deal here on Coruscant. Ben would initiate the talks then send a delegation to complete negotiations. It would only take a few days, but Ben only agreed to leave her if she kept half of the Praetorian guard with her at all times, along with Bosma and Den, the only two of his Knights he maintained could be trusted.

It had been raining for hours already on the night of Ben's departure and Quinn's normally immaculate hair was stuck to his forehead, the shoulders of his suit drenched, as he finished helping load Ben's belongings into the command shuttle. Ben had insisted that Quinn stay behind with Rey to "keep her company" which Rey had translated to mean "keep an eye on her." Quinn nodded and bid him farewell, disappearing into the night at the other end of the catwalk.

As they stood on the landing platform outside of what had become their little hotel refuge, the wind whipping through their hair, they were faced with saying goodbye for the first time since Rey had come to The Supremacy what felt like so long ago.

Could she really do this? Really serve as Empress alone?

Rey couldn't bring herself to look at Ben, because that meant acknowledging he was leaving. So instead, she looked up at the clouds in the night sky, glowing orange as they reflected the city lights below. She let the rain pelt her skin, opening her mouth to taste it. She would never get used to the rain.

When she tore her eyes from the clouds, she found Ben was staring at her, a sad smile pulling at his lips.

"I don't like this," he said, his voice nearly drowned out by the rain sounding against his ship.

And she knew what he meant. It wasn't the rain he didn't like, but goodbye.

"Me neither, I hardly see you as it is," she said.

"I shouldn't leave with Kezzik still here."

"We already talked about this," she said. "They will be gone in a few days and until then, Bosma and Den said they can handle him. And I'm not exactly helpless myself. Besides, he's been playing nice since your little discussion."

"For now," he said.

He reached out to tuck a strand of wet hair behind her ear.

"I have a bad feeling," he said and now she could sense he wasn't talking about Kezzik anymore.

"Tell me," she said.

He looked over his shoulder at the crew loading crates into the shuttle before taking her hand in his, and leading her behind the walls of an access tower, away from the prying eyes of nosy politicians. Rain slicked his hair, dripping down his face, and his sodden tunic was plastered to his chest. She couldn't help but touch him, running her fingers over the ridges of muscle underneath the drenched material and she wished for more time. They never had enough time for this.

His throat bobbed, and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but decided against it.

"Tell me," she encouraged, a second time. Rey would wait if it meant he would talk, instead of hiding away whatever he was feeling.

"I had a vision," he said. "Where, I… " he trailed off, staring at the wall of the tower behind her. "I wanted to hurt you."

Rey reached for him, draping her arms across his shoulders and pulling him close. "That's not you, Ben. You've already proven that you won't hurt me."

She wanted to wipe away the wrinkles between his brows, erase the tension from his body, but whatever this vision had been, it had him terrified. She could only speak to his apprehension.

"It will be alright," she said. "Maybe you're just worried about leaving and the Force is reacting to your fear."

He was heavy in thought, biting the inside of his cheek, when gradually his frown relaxed into something more reflective.

"I hope you're right," he said, his voice distant.

She ran her fingers up and down his chest over his shoulders, enjoying the feel of him, dripping wet with that heavenly excess of water. She looked up to the clouds again. How was there so much water falling from the sky?

She felt the rumble of his laugh through her fingertips and when she looked back at him, his gaze was locked onto her, and he had that hungry look in his eyes. When he leaned down to press his lips against hers, he started slowly, but she could feel him building and deepening their kiss into something so much colder and darker than they'd ever shared. Then he released his fear and the Force of the emotion tore through her, wave after wave, like an icy tempest through a glacier. She gave into it, letting her own dread amplify the darkness between them.

She could have given him light, given him balance in that moment, and maybe she should have, but a part of her wanted to experience the rawness of what he was feeling, wanted to be in that place with him. So, she kissed him greedily. Their mouths crashed together and his hands were everywhere on her rain-soaked body. Passion. Fear. Possession. It hit her like a flood, knocking the breath from her, and she clutched the fabric of his tunic to keep from being swept away.

Then he hesitated and she felt a spark of light through their bond, but Rey urged him back into the dark.

More. Please…

Her consent fueled another swell of dark current between them and just as she felt its peak, he Force-lifted her against the door of the access tower, pinning her between the cold metal and the heat of his body. She heard herself whimper from somewhere deep in that cold chasm, wanting to go deeper, needing his surging abyss to envelop her completely.

"Rey…" he sighed, against her lips, his Force so demanding, so all-encompassing as she let him ravage her with every bit of darkness he could wield. Her skin hummed with it, with him, and the sky seemed to open up in response. The billowing clouds in the night sky unleashed a torrent and it mingled with their kiss, only amplifying the cold, so cold now it burned her skin into tingling numbness, but oh she was already burning inside so what did it matter?

They kissed and kissed, taking turns experiencing each other's fear, drowning in that dark place together and she willingly allowed him to completely possess her. She gasped once more as he drew himself flush against her body, hands exploring her curves, through her thin tunic, and why, oh why did he have to leave?

She was dizzy with him when he relented, drawing back and looking at her. The rain streamed down his face as he panted through parted lips. As his breaths steadied, he offered her a slow, wicked smile.

"When I get back," he said, voice raspy in her ear, "I am going to make it up to you."

With both hands tangled in her wet hair, his mouth captured hers again she could only groan in response. He kissed her once more, softly, letting a touch of glowing warmth bleed into her before he released his hold, allowing her to slide gently down the steel door back to her feet.

The light splatter of rain against concrete soothed her racing heartbeat and soon, she'd recovered enough to find something close to a voice.

"That was – " But no words came to her. How could she possibly choose a word for what that was?

When she was silent too long, Ben pulled back, brows drawn together. "I'm sorry. I was too – "

But Rey pressed a finger to his lips. "Don't."

That Solo smirk made its return – the best kind of assurance that he believed her.

"I can't wait for you to make it up to me," she whispered.

His arms tightened around her once more, and he exhaled deeply.

They stood there a long time, holding each other, before he finally pulled away. Then he led her by the hand into the open, where half of the Praetorian guard waited to board the ship along with their Emperor.

Rey's own pulse in her ears mingled with the drumming rain, as she watched Ben's figure disappear into the command shuttle. A moment later, the loading ramp lifted and Ben's ship departed for Corellia.