Epilogue

Missing Moon

Rey was splayed on her back, her ash-grey robes fanned out around her. She gripped her lightsaber staff as best she could from her position, angling one end upwards to protect herself while the other hissed against the grassy ground below her. Teeth bared and chest heaving with tired breathes, it took all of her energy to keep her weapon out and ready.

"Had enough?" Ben snarled, his lightsaber inches away from her neck and a smug smile staining his face.

"Haven't you two been at this long enough?" a hoarse voice called to them from over their shoulders.

Exbi lounged under the shade of a stocky evergreen tree, the decorations lacing his horns glinting in the orange sunlight of the early Nov Sensum evening. His gnarled fingers paged through Rey's Jedi texts thoughtfully and he looked up at the couple with a weary yet knowing glint in his eye. "You've sparred for hours. I can't even imagine going for that long even in my prime."

Ben held out his large, calloused hand to Rey and she took it. He lifted her off the ground as if lifting a mere straw doll. She blushed at the feeling of it.

"I guess we've been fired up, is all," she said to Exbi.

"At this rate, you won't be able to join me tomorrow for breathing exercises, you'll be dead tired and fast asleep."

"We held a star destroyer in place," Ben recalled, swinging an arm around Rey's shoulders. She reached up to take his wrist. "I think we can handle some fighting."

"Then I won't doubt you. You did save my village, after all."

The Nove popped his current volume of text closed and stood up slowly, his red robes sweeping the pine needles under his feet. His horned head tilted towards the brightening lights of his village, Vaas Minas.

"I must return to town for our weekly feast. You two are welcome to join us anytime, we'd be happy to have you. I also must return these to my hut for safe keeping." He waved a scaly hand over to the Jedi texts.

He turned to hobble down the pine-strewn hill they had set up their sparring arena.

They watched their friend leave, arms thrown around each other. Then they turned around and faced the setting suns, eyes squinting in the light.

Without warning, Ben flopped to the ground like a tired child and crisscrossed his legs, Rey almost tumbled down along with him but managed to regain her footing and sink down beside him at her own accord. The grass below then was warm to the touch, basking in the afternoon heat.

The redder sun slipped below the soft curve of the mountain range, sending rays of orange all around the valley. The placid lake they had spent their first night on the run by shimmered quietly, sparks of yellow skidding across its surface. Despite the warmth of the evening, a shiver trickled down Rey's spine.

She sighed through her nose as she snuggled up to his shoulder, burying her head in the crook of his neck.

"It's good to be back," she whispered over to him.

She felt his deep chuckle vibrate throughout her body. "No one's tried to kill us in a while, I think that's a first."

"I guess so," she wondered, drinking in the heat radiating from his skin. She took the tunic of his deep gray tunic and rolled it between her thumb and forefinger.

Like before, the contemplated the lake and surrounding forest in delicious silence.

"I think Exbi's exercises have been working their magic, because I've never felt like this before," he murmured. His full lips caressed the freckles of Rey's forehead.

"Like what, Ben?" she asked him.

His gaze exuded a slight melancholy, but Rey could spot a touch of hope there, too.

"At peace."

Rey mulled over his words, then smiled so widely it lit up her entire soul. "You don't know how happy that makes me."

"What about you, Rey?" he asked her, returning her grin.

Her mind leapt back in time and retraced the steps they took on their journey. Crait, Raspitar, Nov Sensum, Urear, Jakku, Mer'in, Jemf, then back to Raspitar and then finally back here, in the forest where their love had begun to blossom.

"Like this is the only place I've been," she said.

"I suppose that's amazing?" he jested gently.

"It truly is, Ben." Her expression turned tender as she leaned in and kissed him sweetly, curling her hands around his jaw. "You're finally here with me and that's all I could ever ask for."

That old puzzle-piece feeling drifted back to her as they watched the soft white moon rise up shyly from the east.

Author's Note: I'm always a sucker for cheesy, picturesque endings. Well, she's finally finished! My most humble thanks to every single one of you for taking the time to read my work! It's my first attempt and I've just been blown away by your support! I'm going to try and write more in the future, so I hope to see some of you then.