Ben

"I need you." I heard my cousin grit between clenched teeth.

I looked over to her and found her face white with fury.

"To get on the craft that I have for you." She said, "And get off of my planet."

Rey stepped closer to her. "They're here, C." She told her. "And,we can help. We can protect you and your people from them."

"Protect us from them?" C demanded. "How?" She took a step toward Rey, her amber eyes like liquid fire. "Exactly how will you protect my people from the Knights of Ren, when you couldn't protect yourselves from a couple of low life bounty hunters?"

I winced, though I knew she hadn't meant it as a personal jab. She was merely pointing out the lunacy in Rey's suggestion.

My mate remained unfazed. "What protection do you have against the Knights?" She wanted to know. "We can at least tell your guard how to fight them."

"They'll slaughter my guard, and you, and me if you don't get off of Naboo, now." C replied, cooly.

Rey raised her chin. "I'm not leaving you to the mercy of the Knights."

An explosion rocked the house, drawing our attention to the East. "They're close." C breathed.

"At least have Ben tell your guard how to fight them." Rey begged. "I'll go and distract them, buy you as much time as I can."

C looked to me, then to Rey, then back to me, considering. "Fine!" She hissed, and I retreated into my room.

I pulled on some clothing, not caring in the least what it looked like, just that it was clean, and emerged from my room just as Rey came out of hers.

She caught my forearms. "Keep your shields down, and the Bond open." She instructed. "I'll give a tug if I need help."

I nodded weakly, and she pulled me to her, capturing my lips in an urgent kiss. "I love you."

"I know." I told her, and watched as she disappeared out of the front door.

oOo

Rey

I ran toward the smoke billowing up into the orange lit sky from the still burning remains of the explosion. I couldn't help but see the terrified faces of the people who ran passed me into the darkened forest.

Here I am. I yelled into the Force. Come and get me.

I felt a panicked tug on the Bond, and pushed it to the back of my mind.

Ben was suffering, nearly sick with worry and regret. My own stomach rolled with it. But, he'd finally, finally let me go.

I just had to get back to him.

There you are. I heard a sinister whisper in the Force.

I skidded to a stop, watching, waiting, listening, as the smoke around me grew thick.

Jedi. Several voices whispered at once. We've been looking for you.

I felt my senses darken, and shoved against the intrusion, then claws dragged along my mental shields.

They were strong, but untrained, and I was able to concentrate on reinforcing my barriers to keep them out.

Then another set of claws scraped inside my head, and another, and another.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to focus, when I felt another hit, like a white hot branding iron, stronger than the other four combined, and my walls broke.

I scrambled to rebuild, to shove them out, but i heard a child crying.

I opened my eyes, and the claws vanished all at once.

The sound grew louder, and I followed it to a darkened corner down an alley way, where I found a small girl.

She was hugging her knees to her chest, though I couldnt make out her features.

I knelt down in front of her. "Dont cry" I told her, I'll get you out of here."

"I want my mummy." She cried.

My heart broke.

"I know." I told her. "I want my mummy, too."

She stopped crying and looked up, her face still cloaked in shadows. "But your mummy doesnt want you."

I recoiled from her as if I'd been slapped. "W-what?"

"You have no place in this story, you come from nothing. You're nothing." She said.

How could she?...

She leaned forward, and I saw my own face, grown young, my hair pulled back into three buns.

I jumped up, and froze, seeing the red sputtering glow of Kylo Rens lightsaber protruding out of Hans back.

My stomach lurched. "No " I breathed, watching the blade retract, and his lifeless body fall, leaving Kylo Ren on the bridge.

His dark eyes went to me, burning with hatred and venom.

I turned and fled, barely able to see, the thick smoke stinging my eyes. I frantically wiped at the moisture there, and ran into something solid, the force sending me sprawling back, and knocking the wind out of me. I Iooked up at the knurled face of Snoke.

"Well done, my good and faithful apprentice." He praised. "My faith in you is restored."

Snoke? He was alive? No, I'd seen him die. Hadnt I?

I scrambled to get away, until my back hit something. I looked up to see Ben. My Ben.

Relief washed over me, and I tried to stand, to go to him, when his massive gloved hand wrapped around my throat and squeezed.

Ben. I pleaded, through the Bond, and felt it go taut. Ben, please.

And then panic. Desperation. And rage. Rage so hot it burned.

I struggled to get away, the edges of my vision blurring.

"Vicrul." I heard another man call. "You want to let go of her."

The grip on my throat loosened, but just a bit.

I blinked, and saw that the man in front of me was not Ben, but another man in a metal helmet.

"Why do I want to let go of her?" Vicrul demanded.

"Did you feel that shift in the Force just now?" The other man asked.

The man holding me shrugged as I tried fruitlessly to pry his fingers away from my throat.

"She's newly mated, and just called her Mate to her." The other man explained.

"So?" Vicrul spat.

"Her mate is Ben Solo."

I was dropped immediately, and fell back, gasping as I gulped in air. Blood rushed to my head, and it throbbed painfully.

I counted, there were six of them. All in black, and all with metal helmets, but all different. Some were wearing armour, others carried weapons, and I tried to prepare myself for a fight.

"Why didnt you tell me?!" I heard Vicrul nearly shriek. He was as far away from me as possible in the alleyway.

"I knew I sensed him with her, i just couldnt figure out why until then."

"A mated Force Bond." Another man said.

"I thought they were a myth."

"No, they're real. They're just rare."

One of them knelt down next to me. "Please accept our most humble apologies, my Lady."

"Especially mine!" Vicrul interjected.

I felt my brow crease. They were apologizing?

He offered me a gloved hand. "Will you allow me to help you up?"

I glared at him, and got to my feet.

"I'm dead." Vicrul groaned. "He's going to kill me."

"Rey!" I heard Ben bellow, and the six men around me instantly straitened. The man beside me stood, and they lowered their chins as they moved to stand shoulder to shoulder, in a line.

I heard his heavy footsteps, felt the pull of the Bond, and turned to see him.

His eyes were wild as he looked me over. "What happened? Are you hurt?" He demanded.

I shook my head. "No. No, I don't think so."

His gaze hardened as it fixed on my throat, on the marks beginning to darken there, and he stepped around me. He extended his arm, and Vicrul fell to his knees, gurgling and gasping.

"I take full responsibility for Vicrul, Sir." Another knight spoke. "We didnt know until it was too late."

"Dont." Ben growled. "Lie to me."

"I swear." Vicrul pleaded. "I would have never touched her if I'd known."

Ben sneered, and relaxed his hand, dropping Vicrul on the pavement below.

"Did you come here to kill me?" Ben asked, pacing in front of them. "To kill my mate?"

"No, sir." Another Knight said. "Supreme Leader sent us after the gi-" He caught himself. "Your mate. We had orders to capture the Jedi and bring her to him."

I saw Ben's shoulders flex as he took a threatening step forward. "You think you're going to take her from me?" The implication in his question made the hair on my arms stand on end.

"No, sir." The Knights said, in unison.

"Sir," One of the Knights dared. "We were unaware that the Jedi we were sent to apprehend was mated."

Hux most likely had kept that gem of information from them. Would they have known about the galactic laws against separating mates? Would they have cared?

A silent beat passed as Ben looked them over. "Go back to the Supreme Leader." He said to them. "Dont ever come near her again."

He turned and strode back toward me, his face hard with unleashed fury.

The Knights did not move.

"Permission to speak, sir?" One requested.

Ben stopped, and glanced over his shoulder. "Granted."

"Sir, we never pledged our loyalty to the Supreme Leader." The Knight said. "We swore an oath to Kylo Ren."