The Pivotal Moment
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.
A/N-thank you reviewing this story!
Chapter Nineteen-Two that are One
Stealing the Falcon was easy. In Plutt's possession, the light class freighter had remained unused for years in Nimma outpost. Plutt paid for minimum maintenance on the ship with the intention of preparing it fully for flight only in the event that he would actually find a buyer. Unfortunately, the Millenium Falcon's shabby outer appearance did her no favours, and any potential buyer would walk right past her, completely unaware of all the modifications that Han and Chewbacca had made to her over the years.
"You're gonna fly this garbage?" Rey exclaimed in alarm when she got her first good look at the ship.
"She may look like a worn out junker, but beneath her hull she's full of surprises." Ben told her.
Rey didn't look convinced. She noticed by the dubious look on Finn's face that he wasn't convinced, either. But despite her many reservations she followed Ben up the ramp, with Finn following reluctantly behind. Ben could feel her anxiety. She was putting a lot of trust in him, and he loved her for it. No one had ever shown such blind faith in him before. Not Leia. Not Han. Never Luke. Ben had finally accepted that his family loved him in their own way, but they had never trusted him. Not completely.
"You know this ship made the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs." Ben boasted to Rey.
"Twelve, actually." Rey corrected him absently as she sat down in the co-pilots seat as if she owned it. She started flicking switches, her fingers tracing the console as if from memory.
Ben watched her closely. Rey was acting as if she had flown this ship before. Like this had all happened before. He wondered if she was even aware of what she was doing. He approached her cautiously, settling down in the pilot's seat next to her.
"Rey, what are you doing?" He asked her softly.
His question startled Rey. She had been so involved in doing the last-minute flight checks that she wasn't even aware that he was so close. She stiffened, her cheeks flushing slightly under his intense scrutiny. "You're going to need help flying this thing." She mumbled, avoiding meeting his gaze. "Although, we might have a problem with the compressor. I think I might be able to bypass it…"
"Rey." Ben put his warm hand over her clenched fist. "How do you know where everything is on this ship? How do you even know there is a problem with the compressor?"
A slight frown marred her forehead. "I'm a pilot. I can fly this thing. I..." She paused, finally gaining the courage to meet his enquiring gaze. "I don't know. I just know that I know." She slipped her hand out from under his, seeming uncomfortable with the familiarity of his touch.
"Hey, what is she doing in my seat?" Finn suddenly demanded from behind them. "Scavenger, you're in the way."
Ben made an irritated sound in the back of his throat at the interruption. Finn was constantly getting in the way. He was about to issue a retort when Rey beat him to it.
"You're not a trained pilot. You can't fly this thing." She snapped, angered at being addressed as just the scavenger. "And I have a name."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Rey." Finn gave her a mocking smile. "And for your information I'm known as one of the best damn pilots in the- "
"Shut up, Finn." Ben cut in harshly.
Finn's thick brows drew down as he glared at Ben. Ben matched his glare. "I don't know what is going on with you, Ben. You drag me on this fool's mission to rescue this piece of space junk that you lost in a stupid bet!" He shook his head irritably as he pitched a side glance in Rey's direction. "This is all to do with some nostalgia fest you've got going on with your old man. You seem to forget we're in the middle of a war. You can explain this to General Organa when we get back to the base. I'm not taking the fall this time, buddy. No way!" He yelled, before storming off to the lower decks.
Ben took a deep breath to try and compose himself before focusing his attention back on Rey. She looked strange. Her hands were twisted in her lap, her posture tense, her expression troubled. Ben did his best to read her, but she had closed her mind to him. He reached out to her in a vain attempt to hold her hand, but Rey withdrew from him as if his touch burned.
Ben tried to mask his hurt. He thought they had moved beyond this, that they had made a connection. "Rey, what's wrong?" He asked cautiously.
"I'm getting an odd feeling." She mumbled, shaking her head. "Like déjà vu."
Ben held his breath, waiting for her to continue. It was like she was on the brink of some kind of breakthrough. "What are you thinking?" He pleaded thickly. He tentatively tried to reach out to her with his mind, but she steadfastly blocked him, intentionally or unintentionally, he wasn't quite sure. It was frustrating.
"Everything about this ship is familiar to my eyes. But I swear I've never been inside it before." Her lovely hazel eyes roamed the cockpit anxiously, before settling on Ben again. "And you…you're familiar. When our paths crossed, I felt drawn to you. Then when you forced your memories on me…" She closed her eyes briefly at the remembered pain when he'd accidentally invaded her mind.
"Rey." Ben whispered in anguish. The guilt he still felt at the horror he'd unwittingly unleashed on her would never go away. "I'm sorry, I- "
"I died." Rey cut in before he could journey down his path of self-pity. "I saw it. You were holding me…. begging the jedi to help you." Her eyes widened, a strange light giving them an amber glow. She looked past him, as if her being were somewhere else entirely.
"Please, don't!" Ben pleaded as the nightmarish memory began to materialise in his mind. He couldn't relive the horror all over again. His breath came in gasps and he felt like he was going to black out. His heart was hammering so hard it threatened to burst out of his chest. Everything spun around him and he had to grab hold of the console for support. His eyes closed in an effort to make everything slow to something his brain could cope with. But the memory refused to give up its chokehold.
Ben was back in Snoke's throne room. He was on his knees next to Rey-his Rey-the bodies of the Elite Praetorian guards scattered around them like fallen dominoes. He inhaled a trembling breath, sweat accumulating on his hot skin. His midnight black hair clung to his scalp in damp tendrils. His dark brown eyes turned almost black with anguish as he touched Rey's icy skin with shaking fingers.
"Rey?"
Her eyes stayed closed. No colour returned to her chilled skin.
"Rey?"
Ben picked her up, cradling her against his shaking body. Oxygen was slowly being ripped and snatched from lungs already scarred with a thousand unformed regrets. Every waking minute was pain. As he pressed her precious form against the vulnerable flesh of his body, his heart shattered into a million pieces. His surroundings blurred into the new sick reality that only the broken could see. He was broken.
Vainly he tried to summon the voices of the Jedi, begging them for help. But unlike Rey in her last moments, they stayed stubbornly silent. Rey was gone. He couldn't feel her. Ben knew he didn't want to exist in a world where he couldn't find her.
While cradling Rey's inert body, Ben placed his hand on her stomach, and closed his eyes. He breathed deeply, evenly, but this time was slightly different. He wasn't calling out to the jedi. He was calling out to her.
"Be with me! Be with me!" He murmured over and over. "Please, Rey! Be with me!"
And finally, Rey answered him….
"Ben."
Soft lips brushed his.
"Ben."
"Rey." He whispered slowly, lost in the dream. He kissed her and his world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be.
"Ben." His name was a prayer on her sweet lips.
"Rey." He said slowly, prolonging each letter of her name as if to savour them. His senses had been seduced by her touch and he couldn't think straight.
Gentle hands clasped him on either side of his face. "I'm here. Open your eyes, idiot."
It was the word idiot that convinced him to open his eyes. He did so slowly, warily. As his gaze settled on Rey's lovely face, his heart and lungs expanded when he realised it was his Rey looking back at him. It took a minute for this blessed knowledge to sink in. It still felt like a fever dream, but when she smiled at him, he knew it was real. Her smile was the prettiest thing he had ever seen, for it extended into her eyes and deep into her soul. Her smile was so vibrant and free that it made Ben's heart soar. He didn't know how this was possible, that her soul had followed him here, that she had found him again, like he had found her, but in this moment of pure joy he didn't care.
Ben leaned in for another kiss, before pulling back to just look at her, his own smile coming from deep inside to light his eyes and spread into every part of him. He murmured her name, pulling her into another kiss. It was a kiss full of need, full of hunger. Rey's arms reached up and tangled around his neck. Ben's hand drifted to her hip. It settled there and pulled her closer. Rey inhaled sharply. She was against his hard chest, chiselled to perfection. She splayed her hand against it, his breathing quickened as did hers. Ben began nuzzling her neck with delicate kisses, so faint, they were whispers. Warmth spread throughout Rey's body, the same warmth she'd felt when she had heard Ben desperately calling out to her. Her soul had been lost, adrift, in a world between worlds. But then she'd heard his voice calling to her across the vast expanse of time and space.
"Be with me! Be with me! Rey, please be with me!"
The dyad. Their connection. It had pulled them back together. They were two that were one. They couldn't be apart. Their souls couldn't survive without one another for long.
Ben's hands were wrapped around her waist and hers locked around his neck pulling him down slightly. When they broke apart for air, she rested her forehead against his and gathered some much-needed oxygen.
"Ben, I need to ask you something." She said breathlessly.
"Anything." He murmured, still very much distracted by her pouty lips.
"Where in time are we?" She asked.
A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.
