Thank you so much for the kind reviews, I'm so glad you're enjoying the story

14 days post-Exegol

"There," Ben said softly into Rey's ear, pointing to a small clearing in the dense forest. "That should be big enough to hide the ship."

"And you're certain that no one will find it?" Rey asked as she gently set the battered X-wing down. She and Ben had fixed up the ancient fighter as best as they could before departing from Coruscant, but with their limited resources for new parts combined with the lack of materials available for such an old X-wing, the ship was still pretty rickety.

"Not out here," Ben said. "The only inhabitants this deep in the forest are animals, and it stretches on for days in all directions. The ship will be safe."

"All right." Opening the canopy, Rey hoisted herself up to her feet, leaning forward so Ben could unfold himself from the cockpit. The X-wing was a bit of a tight fit for one person, much less two, and especially when one of them was over six feet tall.

Not that Rey hadn't enjoyed being practically plastered to Ben during the flight. On the contrary, she had not yet turned down any excuse to be close to him, and in fact had invented more than a few of her own over the course of their time on Coruscant, a thought that she must have broadcasted a bit louder than she realised when she noticed that Ben's ears were turning red.

"It's so beautiful here," Rey said as Ben gathered their things from the droid's hold and tossed them onto the ground, jumping down after them and holding out his hand for her to follow. She closed her eyes once she landed, breathing in the delicious scents of the forest. She remembered the first time she'd ever seen a real forest, on Takodana, and how light-headed she'd felt at first, not used to such thick, oxygen-laden air.

"Yes, it is," Ben said, smiling as he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. He'd been doing that a lot lately, ever since she had informed him that he no longer needed to ask her permission every single time, and it never failed to make Rey smile.

The added effect of imagining the look of pure shock on the faces of all of Ben's old First Order subordinates may have helped a bit as well.

"What's so funny?" Ben asked when Rey let out a soft giggle, prompting her to giggle even louder as she slipped her arms around his waist.

"I'm just trying to imagine the expression on General Hux's face if he'd ever learned that you know how to braid hair," Rey said, snickering as Ben's cheeks flooded with pink. "Do you think it's something that he would've kept to himself, had he known?"

"Are you kidding? Absolutely not," Ben said, and relief washed over Rey as his own smile grew to mirror hers. She had been especially careful with mentioning much of anything regarding the First Order, trying to avoid triggering any further unpleasant feelings in Ben. He was still having a lot of trouble sleeping for any decent length of time, and while she realised that was likely going to be the case for at least the near future, it still pained her.

She had noticed, though, that Ben's mood had been considerably lighter ever since they'd left Coruscant, which she took as a very good sign. They had only just landed on Naboo and it was already agreeing with him.

"Well, then he definitely missed out," Rey said as she rose onto her tiptoes for a kiss. Ben had braided her hair for her just that morning before they'd left, as a matter of fact, and Rey was still in awe of the way he could somehow manoeuvre those long fingers of his through her baby-fine hair and end up making her look and feel like a real-life princess.

Then again, since Ben's mother had been an actual real-life princess, maybe that meant that Rey could be one as well.

"So, what made you choose this place?" she asked him once they'd gathered up their things, which amounted to little more than a couple changes of clothes, a few blankets, and a bit of food and water. She slung her satchel over her shoulder, her brand-new lightsaber with the bright yellow blade already hanging from her belt, courtesy of the kyber crystal she'd discovered hidden deep inside the ruins of the old Jedi temple on Coruscant.

The crystal that she had healed, having found it nearly broken in two.

She and Ben had already decided to bury Luke and Leia's lightsabers when she first heard her crystal's call, a faint voice floating on the wind that at first had frightened her enough to insist that Ben not accompany her when she went looking for it, out of fear that it would somehow make his already horrible nightmares even worse. He had tried to argue with her, of course, but since his leg hadn't yet been completely healed she had won easily, reminding him that she could more than take care of herself.

She had done so for most of her life, after all.

Poking through the ruins of the once-magnificent temple had definitely been something, similar to her climb through the destroyed Death Star on Kef Bir and yet at the same time a very sharp contrast. For while her struggle to reach the Wayfinder hidden deep within the ruins of the Death Star had been laced with an overwhelming sense of dread combined with remnants of lingering pain and terror from the battle between Master Luke and the Emperor, her climb through the abandoned temple had been made on the premise of hope.

Hope isn't dead, she had thought, over and over again as she searched through the dust-covered wreckage. It's right in front of me.

And then, hidden underneath what had once been a section of an ornately carved bookshelf, she had discovered the crystal. Battered and broken, but still clinging to life.

Just as she had been when Ben had healed her, and just as Ben had been when Leia made her final sacrifice through the Force to bring him back.

Setting down her staff, Rey had carefully plucked the crystal from its hiding place, cradling it in her hand as she settled herself down and closed her eyes, breathing slow, deep breaths as she drew upon the Force to help her heal the precious gem. Time seemed to disappear as she poured all of her concentration into the crystal, slowly knitting it back together in the same way that she had healed Master Luke's broken lightsaber and Ben's lethal wound, and gasping in awe once she reopened her hand to find that it had transformed from its original green colour into a brightly glowing yellow.

A colour of hope.

Hope wasn't dead, it was right in front of her.

Ben had been truly frantic by the time she'd returned to him, pacing back and forth in their tiny room on a leg that wasn't yet healed such that he'd practically pounced on her as soon as she stepped through the door, burying his nose into her hair and hugging her so tightly that she could barely breathe, something that continued on through the rest of that night.

And as such, he had absolutely insisted on accompanying her back to the temple ruins a of couple days later for her to assemble her lightsaber, a demand to which Rey had relented in the hopes that she would never have to see Ben that worried again.

"My mother used to bring me here a lot when I was a child, mainly for political work," Ben replied. He shot her an odd look, one of concern mixed with comfort. "Since this was the birthplace of Emperor Palpatine, she wanted to make sure that the New Republic established diplomatic relations as quickly as possible."

Rey's teeth instinctively clenched at the mention of the name that she had already come to despise more than anything she ever thought possible. Ben had confessed shortly after their arrival on Coruscant that revealing her long-buried heritage to her had been one of the most difficult things he'd ever done—on par with killing Supreme Leader Snoke—because he had known how hard it would be for her to have to hear it.

And then he had immediately gone on to say, in his own endearingly stumbling way, that her bloodline didn't get to dictate who she was as a person or change who she already was, but that it was only who she was on the inside that mattered.

Which, for someone who had struggled for most of his life with his own often overbearing legacy, had been a pretty brave thing for him to say.

"That was probably very smart of her to do that," Rey said quietly.

"It was," Ben agreed. He reached for her hand, squeezing it gently. "But I'd always suspected that there were other, more personal reasons why we kept coming back here. It was almost as though she had felt drawn here, even though she couldn't explain why."

"Drawn through the Force?" Rey asked.

"Yes, but it wasn't until several years later that she discovered the truth. Or rather, Master Luke discovered the truth and then told her."

"And what was that?"

"That her mother was from here as well—she and Luke's birth mother." Ben's fingers tightened around Rey's. "And she was royalty."

"Oh." Rey attempted a smile as she glanced up at him, the bright sunbeams shining against his beautiful raven hair. "So then you really are a prince, hmm?"

Ben gave her a funny look, shrugging his shoulders in a way that reminded her so much of his father that Rey had to do a double-take.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said. "But I'm pretty sure no one's going to care too much about that if I'm discovered here, which means—"

"Which is just fine with me," Rey said firmly.

"I know," Ben said quickly, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. "But I still think—"

Rey silenced him by brushing her fingers across his lips. "We are not having that argument again," she said. "I am exactly where I want to be and that is that."

Ben's chin quivered as he nodded, his dark eyes glassy.

"Good. And that's the last I want to hear of it, all right?"

"Yes," Ben murmured. Rey smiled up at him as she brought her fingers up to his cheekbone, trailing her thumb across it, her heart fluttering when Ben tilted his head into her palm and closed his eyes. His black eyelashes were so long that they didn't even look real against the paleness of his skin, the light smattering of freckles across his face only enhancing his natural, striking beauty.

But, Rey, I—

"Shh," she whispered. "No more."

All right.

"Thank you," Rey said, followed by a kiss to the underside of his jaw. "Now, where would you like to bury the sabres?"

Ben pursed his lips as he looked around, settling on a pair of trees a short distance away. Over the years of their growth their branches had become intertwined, such that from Rey's vantage point it appeared that any attempt to separate them would cause them both considerable damage.

It was something she had thought about more than once, especially since the battle on Crait; how things might have been different if Luke and Leia hadn't been separated at birth.

It doesn't work to dwell on the past, sweetheart, remember? she heard across their bond, another burst of warmth spreading across her chest at the endearment. Like Ben, Rey still wasn't quite used to the idea of being important to someone. Having spent so much of her life alone, it was still difficult for her to wrap her mind around the fact that she was not only part of something so special that it had been unseen for generations, but that she had been part of it the whole time, before she'd even known that Luke Skywalker was an actual person and not only a myth.

"I know," she said, squeezing his hand.

At the foot of the trees Rey took the lightsabers from her satchel, already wrapped in a piece of linen cloth and tied with a thin leather strap. Together she and Ben placed them on the ground, their hands hovering over them as they closed their eyes, calling on the Force to lower them deep into the soil where they would never be found again.

It was their way, Rey thought, of returning the twins to their mother.

After several moments of silence, in which Rey felt as though she could sense Luke and Leia smiling down on them, she stepped back, taking Ben's hand as she looked up at him expectantly.

"Shall we be off, then?"

Shielding his eyes with his hand, Ben looked towards the sky, attempting to get his bearings. He had told Rey about the small cabin that he'd built as a child, out in the woods outside of the main city, where he believed would be a good place for them to hide while the galaxy settled down, an idea to which Rey had readily agreed. Aside from the destroyed Jedi temple Coruscant had not been a very pleasant place, far too populated for Rey's taste, so when Ben had suggested they leave and settle somewhere else long-term once he was healed she had pounced on it.

"It's this way," he said, jerking his head in the direction that led parallel to the sun's course across the sky. "It's going to be a pretty long walk though."

"That's all right," Rey replied. "I'm looking forward to it."

Ben hadn't been lying when he'd said it would be a 'pretty long walk', as it ended up taking them almost three days to arrive at the small log cabin, built near a clump of tall trees and shorter shrub-like bushes that were covered in bright blossoms of pink, red, and yellow, and only a short distance away from an absolutely beautiful river. Rey could sense Ben's growing trepidation as they approached, trepidation that was only slightly relieved at Rey's sharp gasp of joy once they came upon it.

It was small, yes, and definitely needed some work after sitting dormant for so long, but for Rey, who couldn't remember ever having a real, true home to call her own, it was absolutely perfect.

"Oh," she breathed as a wide smile stretched across her face. "Ben, it's perfect!"

"It is?" Ben asked, incredulous. "I mean, it's so tiny, and I'm not even sure—"

"Yes, it is," Rey insisted. She dropped her pack at Ben's feet, hurrying over to the little cabin and trailing her hand across the outside wall next to the door. "And you built this all by yourself?"

"I tried to at first," Ben answered, rather sheepishly. "But when that didn't go too well Chewie offered to help me. He's the one who got it so it was able to stay upright for longer than a few minutes." He reached for Rey's pack, slinging it across his free shoulder. "Let's see if there's anything left on the inside."

It took a few moments for Ben to get the door to open, but once he did and they stepped inside, Rey's smile grew even wider. Anything they could've needed was already there, including a small table with two chairs and a bed tucked against the wall, directly opposite the rectangular window.

There was even an old-fashioned oil lamp resting on the table, which Ben explained he had used when it got too dark outside for him to continue his reading or writing.

She turned to Ben, who was still standing ramrod-straight in the very centre of the room, radiating nervousness and skepticism.

"C'mon, then," she said, reaching for his hand. "Let's get to work."

Ben's shoulders relaxed slightly as he nodded. "Okay."

Surprisingly, even though the interior was covered with about twenty years of dust and cobwebs, the cleaning process went remarkably fast. Rey threw herself into the work, washing down the walls and floor and dusting the surfaces, while Ben took the thin mattress over to the nearby river to soak clean, built a small outdoor fresher contraption, and cleared away some of the brush near the front to make room for a circular fire pit, lining it with stones. He also taught Rey how to set various snares to trap animals for food and built them each a fishing rod so they could fish in the river, showing Rey how to cook them over the fire.

And every single night she fell asleep in the warm cocoon of Ben's strong arms, the soothing sound of his heartbeat beneath her ear and the words she was still too shy to say reverberating through her mind.

Rey had always been a rather impulsive person, relying mainly on her instincts rather than long, drawn-out thought processes that she'd so rarely had the luxury of thinking. Her instincts had served her well growing up on Jakku, where every single day was a literal struggle to survive, as well as during her time with the Resistance and her training with Master Luke and Leia.

Those same instincts had also served her well when she made the choice to leave Exegol with Ben. With the massive Sith temple collapsing around them there had been no time to make a conscious decision once Ben woke up. She simply helped Ben to his feet, wrapped her arm around his waist, and started dragging him towards the X-wing, asking him where they should go once they were safely inside the ship.

She hadn't had to think about it at all, it had just been the right thing to do. She and Ben were a dyad in the Force, two that were one, and that meant they were supposed to be together.

And yet, Rey still sensed Ben's frequent tremulous thoughts and feelings of unworthiness even as they continued to grow closer. She had informed him that he no longer needed to ask permission to hold her hand or kiss her while they were still on Coruscant, and yet even as their goodnight kisses—and their good morning kisses, and good afternoon kisses, and just general I-feel-like-kissing-you-kisses—had grown more frequent and heated, she could still sense that Ben was nervous about possibly pushing her too far.

Which, while she found it rather sweet that Ben was allowing her to call all the shots, if the ever-growing desire that sparked across her body with nearly every single one of their touches was any indication, Rey was already beyond ready to take the next step. Ben was her Force mate, her other half, the one she'd been destined for, and she knew without a doubt that she loved him with every fibre of her being.

She also knew that she wanted him so badly that it was almost painful, and while she could appreciate Ben's efforts to control himself, she had already decided that they were no longer necessary.

They were sitting outside next to the fire pit, watching the sun set behind the tall trees as they finished their evening meal. It had been absolutely delicious, fresh fish that Ben had caught earlier in the day seasoned with herbs that Rey had found and some berries from a nearby berry bush for dessert. Rey sighed happily, popping the last of her berries into her mouth as she leaned her head on Ben's shoulder, breathing in as his arm automatically wound around her waist, tucking her as close as possible.

"Are you sleepy?" he asked, gently kissing her forehead. "We worked pretty hard today."

"No, I'm not tired," Rey said as she tipped her head back, pressing a soft kiss under Ben's chin and smiling as he shivered. "Not yet."

She felt Ben's heart skip a beat as she crawled into his lap and cupped his face in her hands, his arms tightening around her as she looked into his beautiful brown eyes, already darkening in the fading light.

"Rey? Are you—?"

"I love you," she choked out, rushing the words so fast she nearly tripped over them. Fear instantly seized her, her heart thudding madly in her chest when Ben's eyes went as wide as saucers, his expression completely dumbfounded.

"Rey," Ben finally said, sounding so positively wrecked that a sharp bolt of relief laced with pleasure shot through her body, one so strong that Ben gasped, his hands spaying across her back to press her closer. "Rey, I—"

"I'm done waiting," she cut in. "I spent my whole life waiting, my whole life looking back instead of forward, and I'm not going to do it again." She trailed her fingers from Ben's temple down to his quivering chin, brushing away the single tear that rolled down his cheek. "I'm done waiting and I'm done running because I've chosen you. My place is with you."

Again Ben only stared at her, a second tear slowly trailing down his cheek as he sucked in a deep, shuddering breath. Across their bond Rey could sense his internal conflict as it raged, pegging the love and desire he felt for her against his own toxic feelings of worthlessness.

I'm a monster, Rey. You deserve so much better.

"No, Ben," she whispered, brushing a soft kiss across his lips. "Please, don't think like that. There's no way I'd be here if I thought that."

"I know you wouldn't," he said. He pressed his forehead to hers, gliding his hands up her back. "I just… Rey, I've managed to destroy every single I've ever loved, and if—if I somehow did that to you, I'd—I'd never—"

"No," Rey said firmly. "That's not going to happen."

Ben's tears were flowing freely now, his breaths ragged as he tucked a stray hair behind Rey's ear.

"You're sure?" he whispered.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," Rey stated, punctuating her statement with a firm kiss to his lips. "I love you, and I want you. I want everything."

As soon as the words left her mouth Ben let out a growl, one large hand reaching to cup her cheek so he could capture her lips while his other hand slid down her body to her bum, squeezing her impossibly closer. Rey gasped as Ben swiped his tongue across her bottom lip, her lips instinctively parting to let him in, the spark in her chest quickly flaring into a roaring conflagration as his tongue met hers.

"Ben," she rasped as Ben's lips tore away from her mouth, trailing kisses down her jaw to her neck, pausing on her pulse point as her fingers threaded through his soft-as-silk hair. "Ben please!"

"Rey," he sighed against her skin. "My beautiful Rey."

"Yes, I'm yours," she murmured. "And you're mine."

"Yes, I am," he said as he rose to his feet, carrying her into their cabin and laying her down so reverently onto their bed that tears sprang to her eyes.

Even without words Rey could see it, could sense it as Ben's eyes trailed up and down her body.

I love you, Rey. I've loved you for so long.

"I love you too," she said as she reached for him, pulling him down on top of her. She slipped her hands underneath his shirt, gliding her palms up the soft skin of his back as his lips found hers again, his tongue plundering her mouth.

"Off," she said against his lips, tugging impatiently on his shirt. Ben quickly complied, pulling the shirt off over his head and tossing it onto the floor, Rey's breath hitching as she ran her hands all along his beautiful broad chest and strong arms.

Mine, she thought.

Yes, I'm yours, she heard in reply. Everything I am is yours.

"And everything I am is yours," Rey whispered as she reached for the hem of her tunic, desperate to feel Ben's skin against hers. "All of me."

"No, let me," Ben said as he stilled her hand, drawing the tunic up her abdomen and over her head. She had stopped wearing her usual chestband while they were on Coruscant, discovering that she preferred the comfort of regular camisoles now that she had access to them.

"Oh Rey," Ben rasped, his tongue poking out to wet his lips as he peeled the final layers of her clothing away, his eyes so lust-blown they appeared completely black. "You're—you're just exquisite."

A sudden wave of shyness washed over her, and she turned her head away, fighting the urge to cover herself with her arms. Years of poor nutrition combined with excessive physical activity had stunted both her growth and her development, leaving her with little of anything that she might have called curves.

"No, sweetheart, don't," Ben murmured as he settled over her, one large hand gliding up to palm her breast. "You're perfect."

He kissed her again then, moving his lips against hers first gently, then more fervently as Rey brought her knees up to bracket his hips, moaning as his still-clothed erection made contact with her throbbing centre. Her entire body felt like an overloading circuit, sparking with every single touch of Ben's hands and lips.

"Ben," she said on a gasp as he trailed his lips down her neck to her breast, circling her nipple with his tongue before taking it into his mouth. She buried her fingers into his thick black hair as he kissed across her chest to her other breast, closing his mouth around it as his other hand trailed down her abdomen to her pelvis, tracing along her hip bone.

"Please," Rey begged, squirming as Ben's fingers paused and he pulled back to look at her. The ache between her thighs was almost unbearable now, an insatiable hunger that only he could satisfy. "Ben, please, touch me!"

Ever since she had first touched Ben's bare hand through their Force bond Rey had been fascinated by them. Just like the rest of him, Ben's hands were beautiful. They were always warm, with long, slender fingers and so large that they covered almost her entire back when he held her.

And Rey had never felt more protected and safe than she did when Ben was holding her.

And now, as he stretched out on their bed next to her, raining feather-light kisses all along her face and neck as he slipped those glorious fingers between her legs and touched her, Rey couldn't help but cry out as he brought her to such an incredible height of pleasure that for a few moments she felt as though she had become her own Force ghost, watching over herself as she surrendered to it.

Passion isn't something to be feared, sweetheart, she heard across their bond. It's to be embraced.

Several minutes had passed by the time she felt capable of movement again, and she opened her eyes to find Ben stroking her cheek and smiling, the same soft, wonderous smile that she first saw on Exegol when she woke up in his arms.

"That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life," Ben whispered, gently kissing her cheek. "Thank you."

"More," Rey said, almost without thinking as she took hold of Ben's shoulders, guiding him on top of her and slipping her hands underneath his waistband. She palmed his round backside, moaning when he instinctively thrusted against her. She had felt him hard against her before, often in the mornings when she first awoke, but Ben had always pulled away as soon as he'd sensed she was awake, rising from their shared sleeping space and hurrying off to the fresher.

Now, though, things were different.

"Ben, I want more."

"Anything, my angel," Ben said as he fumbled with his trousers, finally kicking them off his long, lean legs. Rey's eyes went wide at the sight of him, so big and hard and ready for her, the loud, guttural moan escaping from his throat as she wrapped her fingers around him sending a rippling shock of pleasure across their bond.

"Too much!" he gasped as he released a sharp puff of air. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, breathing in deeply through his nose.

"Are you sure you're ready?" he asked.

"I'm ready," Rey said as she hitched her knees up over his hips, clinging to his broad shoulders. "Now, Ben, please."

"All right." Then he propped himself up on his arms, his lust-blown eyes boring into hers as he lined himself up. He was nervous, afraid of hurting her, but she wasn't afraid at all.

"Look at me, Rey," Ben said as he started to slowly push inside her, even as she could sense that his body was screaming at him to go faster. "I love you, sweetheart. It's always been you, and it will always be you. Only you."

"Only you," Rey breathed, her breath hitching as Ben met her body's natural barrier and froze, his shoulders shaking. "It's okay. I'm okay."

Ben gave a nod, ducking his head to capture her lips as he pushed through. Rey felt a pinch, only for a second or two before it ebbed into a warm fullness that quickly permeated throughout every single cell in her body.

Their beautiful, unique connection was finally complete, in every possible sense. Two that were one.

As soon as he was fully inside her Ben stilled, squeezing his eyes closed while he waited for Rey to adjust to him. She felt so full, and the pleasure flowing across their bond was so strong that it was overwhelming, completely blocking out any possible discomfort.

"I'm okay, Ben," Rey assured him as she combed her fingers through his hair. "You can move now."

Ben gave a nod, sucking in a sharp breath as he slowly drew his hips back and moaning as he pressed back in.

"Rey, you feel incredible," he said, moaning again as she clenched around him. "I'm not—I'm not gonna last, I'm not—"

"Shh, it's all right," Rey whispered as she peppered kisses all along his neck and shoulders and anywhere else she could reach as the coil in her belly wound tighter and tighter. She wasn't going to last much longer either, but none of that mattered. Not to her.

All that mattered was that they had found each other. Across time, space, and war-zone front lines, she and Ben had somehow still managed to find each other.

And that all the years of pain and darkness, all the years of suffering had been worth it because she loved him, and he loved her.

With a final thrust Ben came, his body going taught above her as he cried out, his pleasure pulling Rey over the edge with him as it looped endlessly through their bond until they were both completely spent and he collapsed half on top of her, holding her so closely that Rey felt as though they were literally one being.

Two that were one.

"I love you, Rey," Ben sobbed into her neck, raw and exposed, just as she was.

"I know," Rey whispered. Then she brushed the sweat-dampened hair from his forehead and kissed him. "I love you too."

Hope isn't dead. It's right in front of us.

I can't wait to see what you think! Please don't hesitate to leave me a review! :)