Ben's arms enfolded her tightly as he continued the onslaught on her mouth, a barrage of passion she returned eagerly. Their lips moved together in a feverish rhythm, and she let out an involuntary sigh that spurred him on. With a muted groan of his own, he opened his mouth into hers, deepening the kiss and pulling her up to her toes to draw her in. In all her imaginings, embracing Ben, kissing him, being wrapped in his crushing arms, had never felt like this. It was more than she could have dreamed, but at the same time it was not enough. His hands splayed across her back, and her hands carded through his hair, reveling in the thick luxury, all the while her body shouted at her to pull him closer. If that was at all possible.

Ben's lips tore away from hers, and she was about to protest and pull him back until he bent his head further and began trailing his mouth down her neck and across the bare expanse to her shoulder. No longer was he inhibited by his former restraint, and he was not content with only a taste of her lips. No, everything he had denied himself was unleashed all at once in rapturous touch and furious zeal. She shivered and heaved for breath, shocked and pleased by the pulsating sensations that overtook her with each brush of his lips on her skin.

And when he murmured her name into the curve of her neck like a reverent prayer, her remaining control shattered like glimmering glass, and she didn't stop herself from steering his face back to hers. She clutched him to her, claiming him in kiss after lingering kiss, barely allowing either of them to breathe properly. But every moment his lips were free, they uttered her name again in that soft, yearning voice she hoped she never learned to resist.

He had never said her name before now.

"Rey . . ." he said again between kisses, his hands gripping a little stronger around her waist. "Rey, we should . . ." another kiss stopped his mouth. "Rey, we need to stop." He said it reluctantly, his voice gentle and raspy, but there was still an air of finality to his plea.

Rey planted one last soft caress on his lips, then allowed herself to teeter back onto her feet. She could barely speak, her body quivering from the explosion and her panting breaths ragged and uneven. "We . . ." she started to say, but couldn't finish. Instead she tugged him down to her level, pressing their foreheads together as they recovered.

When she felt it safe again to speak, she said wryly, "This is terrible timing, isn't it?"

He let out a breathy chuckle. "Yes. Terrible timing." He pulled back, straightening to his full height. Rey began to smile up at him, but her smile was immediately halted by the return of that familiar, dismal expression on his face. After what had just happened, she thought he would allow them a few minutes before reverting immediately to his self-loathing, but he was apparently incapable of doing so. "And we," he started to say, then took a few more steadying breaths, his eyes growing somber. "You shouldn't want . . . you shouldn't -"

"What?" she snapped forcefully. "Love you?" He stood still, a sorrowful doubt clouding his features, and Rey pressed on. She had gone too far for concealment, and so had he. She wouldn't go on without making herself absolutely clear. "But I do. You know it. You know I love you, Ben."

His chest rose and fell, and his hands fell from her side. "Yes," he admitted, taking a few steps away and out of her reach. "I know it. I've tried to keep you from -"

"Ben, how could I help it?" she pleaded, unwilling to let him retreat.

"You could try remembering what kind of man I really am; that should help," he growled.

"I know what kind of man you really are," she argued fiercely. She wouldn't let him sidestep any longer; she would know her fate, one way or the other. "You know me, and I know you. And you may not think I should love you, but that doesn't change the fact that I do. And I don't believe for one minute that you don't care for me. Ben . . . do you love me?"

He pulled up a little at the blunt question, then pinched his fingers around the bridge of his nose. "This really is not the time for this conversation," he muttered.

"Then when is the time?" She took hold of his hand and dragged it down so he couldn't hide, grasping it tightly in her own. "I'm about to go into . . . I don't know what, maybe it is the jaws of hell, and I'm scared. Is it so wrong to want something to hold on to? I couldn't go in there having said nothing, knowing that in an hour, my chance would be gone."

"Don't say that," he commanded with panicked anger, thrusting his pointer finger into her face. "Don't say it like you won't come out of this."

Under other circumstances, Rey might have pushed his free hand out of her way with a flare of her own temper. Instead, she just gripped his other hand all the harder. "But there is that possibility, and we can't pretend that it isn't." He bowed his head and exhaled loudly. "Please, Ben," she implored. "Do you love me?"

The silence was excruciating before Ben spoke.

"I have loved you from almost the first moment I saw you," he confessed as he met her eyes, and she had to catch her breath at the way her heart filled her chest. That long? She brought a hand up to his face, stroking his cheek and letting her fingers sift through the strands of his hair. She was touched and relieved when Ben didn't bat her away, but rather leaned into her hand, his eyes closing briefly. He turned his face toward her hold, pressing a light kiss into her palm, and her breast filled once more with a tense longing that was softened by his confession.

He let out a sigh, and his eyes were sad when he spoke again. "But I don't . . . I don't deserve this. I don't deserve you."

Rey sighed in response. "When will you stop believing you're a monster?"

"When will you stop believing I'm a hero?"

She set her jaw in determination. "Maybe when you tell me you're not responsible for concealing Gungans when you were ordered to kill them." That sparked a reaction from him, and he straightened abruptly. "Can you tell me that? And can you convince me that helping me to escape was some villainous act?"

"Don't ascribe virtues to me I do not possess," he warned with a beseeching gaze. "You think that there's some noble reason for all this, but there isn't. I did all that because of you. It's all been self-serving, because I wanted you."

"Ben -"

Now he gripped her hand in return. "Will you still think I'm good when I tell you if it had been any other woman that Snoke was after, I would have left her to her fate? I wouldn't have questioned it, and I would have continued in his service, no matter how I hated him. If it had been any other woman, I wouldn't have cared. But it wasn't another woman; it was you. And the thought of Snoke," his face screwed up in disgust, "making you his, it sickened me. He would have taken you and twisted you as he did me. And you would have eventually cowered before him, no longer the fierce, compassionate woman who would not turn away from a challenge. I couldn't bear it. So because of my selfish feelings, I had to get you out." He wrenched himself out of her grasp, and turned away.

Rey squared her shoulders. There may be some truth to what he said, but she couldn't bring herself to believe she was his sole motivation. "I reject your claim, Ben. If you had really been so selfish and self-serving, what was to stop you from simply taking me yourself all those months ago? You could have dragged me away, no matter if I came willingly or not, and you would have made me give up everything, just to be with you."

"Don't think I didn't consider it," he muttered back to her. "But you would have justly hated me."

Rey crossed over to him and, placing her hands on his shoulders, turned him around so he could see her resolve. "And if you really had no conscience, you wouldn't have cared if I hated you. If you were truly a man without principle or feeling, how I felt about you wouldn't have mattered. But you didn't consign me to such a life. You planned with Finn, and it was him I left with. A friend who I trusted. You put me in the path of people you knew could help me. You made it possible for me to take what was mine, no matter the consequences for you. And you won't leave me now, not because it's what you want, but because it's what I need."

She stretched herself up to kiss him again, lightly but feelingly. Ben kissed her back, tentatively but with the air of one who simply couldn't resist, and she came back down on her heels with a slight, soft smile. "And if you're selfish, so am I. Because I'd rather stay here with you, weaving dreams of what could be, instead of facing the ugly reality of what's out there."

His brow creased dubiously. "What dreams?" he scoffed in a whisper.

"The kind of future we could have together."

"There is no -"

"No!" she remonstrated a little louder, placing a hand on his chest. "Let me . . . let me be happy for a moment. Please. And then I'll strap on that sword and we'll go and I'll walk up to that door and hope that they don't skewer us in the first ten seconds. But let me be happy that right now, we love each other."

Ben watched her steadily, the desire to protest still there, but he nodded, almost imperceptibly, silently assenting to her request.

Rey idly picked at his shirt as she let her fancy roam free. "We could run away and find a place somewhere. Somewhere hidden and peaceful."

"I could show you the southern oceans," he volunteered, and Rey looked up with a deepening smile, glad that he was willing to play along with the fantasy.

"And I could show you miles and miles of endless sand," she quipped lightly, drawing a huff of a chuckle from him. "But it wouldn't matter where we were. There would be a home, a place for both of us. There would be books and arguing and laughing. And I'd finally see you smile. Really smile."

The mild humor in his eyes was suddenly replaced by a nervous apprehension, and he stroked his hands up her arms. "There would be a child." His statement was as much a question as it was a prediction.

"A child?" Rey blurted out in surprise, but it was quickly dimmed by the timid hope she read in his expression. In all their time together he had never expressed a desire for family as she had, but looking at him now, it made perfect sense. He hated a lonely existence as much as she did, and if they were together, this was a dream that could be easily fulfilled. "Yes," she confirmed, and his timidity vanished in the blink of an eye. His hands drifted away from her arms and around her back again. "There would be children," she clarified, her chest rising more swiftly as he drew her closer.

"Children?" His lip curled, pleased that she would dare to raise the stakes.

"A family." Something they both longed for. She tried to continue along this line, but it was hard to keep her thoughts straight as Ben's head bowed over her shoulder, his hands stroking her back, and his breath on her neck employing its usual talent of dizzying her, all while she struggled for breath between phrases. "And I would teach them to scavenge for treasure . . . and you would tell them stories of the stars . . . and we would love them. And . . ." She could hardly speak any more, her efforts to remain focused being seduced into oblivion.

Ben took her mouth with his, this kiss slow, deep, and utterly toe-curling. When he released her to breathe, his voice was positively sinful. "You know what would need to come before children?" he asked in a voice deeper than she'd ever heard from him.

She shivered. "Marriage?" she gasped out, desperate to know her voice wasn't completely gone.

He chuckled a little, and pulled back to peer down at her, letting a hand drift to her cheek. "That. And something else." His thumb grazed over her lips in a tempting manner.

He knew precisely what he was doing to her, and her legs were so shaky, she thought she might crumple to the floor. But that gleaming hint of triumph in his dark eyes dared her to reciprocate; she would not back down. With more bravado than she expected, she replied, "There would definitely be that," and gave him a challenging look in hopes that he wouldn't see through the facade of bluster.

"You'd want me to ravish you, is that it?" he asked with a smirk.

"Is that the word you'd use?" Hopefully her nervous swallow didn't give her away.

"It's the word that's come to mind ever since I saw you in that blue dress at the Harvest Ball, and wanted to pummel Dameron into the ground, carry you off, and have my way with you," he said bluntly.

"I would have let you," was her immediate reply, and she was startled that it came so easily.

Ben lowered his head and groaned. "Don't say that, Rey. Not when there's a bed only ten feet away."

A smile, apprehensive and flattered, played across her lips. "Are you . . . tempted?" She tried to sound playful, but was sure she only sounded shy.

His eyes blazed into hers. "Desperately," he rasped out. Her lips parted a little, and he gave her a wry hint of a smile. "I've loved you for over two years, Rey; you think I haven't wondered what it would be like to bed you?"

Breathe, Rey. Just breathe. He wasn't suggesting . . . She wasn't ready yet, not really, and this was hardly the time. Heaven knew how long they'd already made Alek and Victoria wait. "But not now," she said in a small voice.

"No," he agreed. "Not now. Definitely not now. And likely not ever." His head tilted a little as he replaced his hand along her jawline. "You know that this happy future you imagine can never be. I would give you that life. If you truly asked for it, to run away and make that home, I would. But you would never run away. And there is no place for me in the life you've chosen."

And they were back again, although Rey felt her protestations were a little weaker with this new take on the old argument. "That's not true."

"You are a queen," he said seriously. "You will be. And when that is the case, your life is no longer your own. You must consider the repercussions of every decision, including the question of who sits at your side as your consort. And that man, whoever he may be, should not be me. Not Kylo Ren."

"You aren't Kylo Ren," she argued with a stronger assurance in this belief.

"It's not that simple," Ben replied somberly with a shake of his head. "I have been an enemy to your people; I can't be allowed to sit in a position of authority and privilege beside you. My sins can't be rewarded with your love. I don't deserve it."

"And what of what I deserve?" Rey pleaded. "Don't I deserve to have the man I love be with me?"

"You do, but it's not right to force you into a lifetime of having to justify your choice. You mentioned the Gungans before, but Rey," he stuttered to a halt, his mouth working and jaw clenching. "I didn't always save them," he finished in an agonized murmur.

"I know," she said sadly, brushing his hair out of his eyes. She knew he had a point; what he said about her future as queen made sense. And whatever path of redemption Ben was on, keeping him at her side was not a simple situation. But that was a fight for another day, and she could not leave things between them now completely hopeless.

"But you have changed," Rey insisted gently, rushing ahead before Ben could protest. "You may think it's only because of me, but I think it's because of you. For years you've resisted Snoke more than anybody realized, including yourself, and you can't disregard that. The real you, the real Ben, has always been there," she took his face into her hands, "and that's the man I see. The man I love."

"I don't know who that man is," he muttered in despair.

"You'll find out," Rey assured him. "When it comes down to it, you will know who you are."

He looked as if he wanted to believe her. That alone was progress. "Whether or not that happens . . . it doesn't change things for us."

As she told herself, a fight for another day. She allowed him to back away, but in her mind she would not allow this to be the end.

We'll see.

It was fortunate that she and Ben hadn't ensconced themselves much longer in that cabin, because dusk was threatening when they finally emerged, and Alek and Victoria led them to the road that lay beneath their lookout. (Not without many a significant glance, and Rey belatedly realized, to her mortification, that Victoria knew exactly what kind of help Rey would need with that particular dress.) The pilfered gown fluttered just above her ankles, and she was relieved that she wouldn't be tripping over it like a buffoon. She gripped the hilt of her sword like a lifeline as Ben spoke quietly with his knights, who would remain behind. His cloak was also left behind, as was the crossbow and quiver. If things went at all according to plan, he would be able to return for them.

Please, let him return for them, Rey prayed.

Ben took his place alongside her, and nodded shortly, a gesture she barely returned. These were her final steps. And her terror was mounting.

"You won't leave me?" she whispered for one last assurance.

"Not until you ask me to."

The first step was the hardest. Once done, her feet went on in a cadence that pounded within her. Ben hovered nearby, half a step behind and to the side. Soon they were rounding the bend of the hill and the castle loomed up before them, high and magnificent in the last rays of the setting sun. She almost stopped to admire the view, but the sight of the guards stationed along the road and standing to attention kept her going.

She lifted her chin, feigning nonchalance and authority, and never turned to look directly at the soldiers, only seeing out of the corner of her eye their bewilderment at her appearance. Likely they had no idea of who she really was, and the first few they passed were so astonished they made no attempt to stop her. It was as she had suspected; they were woefully unprepared for the possibility that anyone would simply walk up to the gate. And thankfully, the remaining light was bright enough so that it couldn't be said she was trying to sneak in.

Her focus on the gate at the end of the road never wavered, but with each passing step she became more afraid that one of the guards would eventually step in her way, ask her name, and block her path. Then there was the fear that they wouldn't. A guard some way ahead broke away from his post and ran up to the gate door, and although she couldn't hear what he said, the pounding of his fist on the door echoed loudly in the open air. She faltered a bit then, waiting for the inevitable hindrance that must surely come, but Ben discreetly nudged her along before she could stop.

The door creaked open, a hidden figure conversing with the guard who pointed back toward her, and she forced an air of hauteur into her manner. This part she was about to play was as much a weapon as the sword that jostled at her side. She was drawing closer, every moment enclosing herself more securely in the enemy's clutches, and feigning arrogance was her fragile armor.

There was some kerfuffle at the gate, and as she came nearer, she could hear more clearly the mutterings of confusion, and the thudding of feet running in the courtyard between the gate and the house itself. Suddenly, before she was ready, she was through the silent gauntlet and standing at the gate. It took every ounce of control not to slump in relief that the long walk was done. The ordeal was by no means over.

A tall, skinny man with thinning hair and slightly sunken eyes stepped into the doorway. He might have looked a pleasant man if he smiled, though as he stared down at Rey she wasn't sure he was capable of such a friendly expression.

"What do you want?" he asked distastefully. "These grounds are private land, and you have no business here. Be off with you, before I set the guard on you."

A part of her was screaming for her to turn tail and run, take Ben with her, and disappear. But the reasonable part of her - the part that knew Ben stood with her, the part that was strong and capable and ready to face the horrible unknown - stood her ground. Besides, even if she did walk away, he probably still would set the guard on her.

She pulled herself up to her full height, cocked her head at a disdainful angle, and asked her own question. "Enric Pryde, I presume?" she asked with a snobbish sniff.

The man's face was the opposite of inscrutable as he reared up in shock that she knew his name. Already she began to see why he might not have been a useful ally in Snoke's court. "Who are you?" he demanded. "How do you -?"

"I am Rey Palpatine, princess of Naboo, and granddaughter of his Imperial Majesty, Sheev Palpatine," she said forcefully, successfully repressing the shudder at admitting her full name. Pryde's eyes bulged out, and he backed up another step. "I understand my grandfather to be within, and I demand to see him. You must be sure I have come a long way."

Pryde's shock was absolute, and tinged with fear. He shared a glance with the guard who stood at his side, whose expression was just as bewildered and panicked. The short, sharp shake of the guard's head didn't escape her, and Rey narrowed her eyes. She needed to play the part of the insolent, insistent princess, and here was a prime opportunity to press her advantage while they were off-balance.

"You would not be so foolish as to deny me, the rightful heir to your master, not when it is abundantly clear I have suffered considerable abuse at the hands of the usurper. It is my right, my privilege, and my due to see his Majesty, as well as my duty to inform him of the gross insults I have endured in his absence, for assuredly he has the authority to correct such wrongs. He would not stand for further indignities against my rank and character, and nor will I. Do you imagine that you have the authority to turn me away, or have you also turned against your sovereign lord? Have you bowed down to Snoke and kept the emperor shackled in this gilded cage?"

Pryde spluttered indignantly. "Certainly not! I would never treat my lord thus! He is most comfortable here."

Rey wanted to smirk, but kept her expression as neutral as possible. There was the confirmation she sought, to know for certain that the emperor was indeed alive and inside this house, and her cutting speech had not been in vain or complete lunacy. And Victoria was right; Pryde was an idiot. Barely two minutes and he gave away the secret. "Then you have no reason to refuse me admittance. If my grandfather is given the proper respect and care he deserves, you should not fear my disapproval, nor should you keep his flesh and blood away from him."

Pryde's mouth hung open like a gutted fish, and he looked back and forth between her and the guard at his side, at a loss to know how to proceed.

"You may be assured that your loyalty will not go unrewarded," Rey went on, hoping she wasn't carrying the act too far, but anxious to override his concerns and previous orders."I have heard of your devotion to his Majesty, and such fealty is not easily forgotten."

Fortunately, that did the trick, and Pryde straightened with decision. "I would not keep you from your grandfather for any reason, your Highness," he bowed deferentially, and Rey caught a glimpse of the guard rolling his eyes behind Pryde's back. "It is only that he is unwell. I'm afraid he has been in poor health ever since the fall of his mighty kingdom. It is a miracle that he survived such treachery at all, but such tenacity is only evidence of his greatness."

Rey found it hard not to follow the guard's example and roll her eyes, sure as she was that the reasons for their mild derision were likely the same. Pryde was blindly trusting that she was exactly who she said (never mind that it was true, but he had not been the least bit skeptical), was opening his arm for her to enter, and was probably compromising every command from Theed. However, their overall feelings regarding Pryde's actions must differ. Pryde's behavior worked to her advantage, giving her some secret relief, but the nameless guard must be both furious and powerless to stop Pryde from endangering their position. She stepped into the courtyard confidently, trusting to her haughty behavior to keep Pryde on the hop.

Still, she kept her eyes open.

"Uh . . ." Pryde spoke up warily behind her, and she turned to see Ben enter through the gate. "I'm afraid I cannot allow -"

"Pryde," she interrupted imperiously. "You would deprive me of my personal guard, the one who has done more for my protection than you, who should have made my safety a priority?"

Again Pryde seemed at a loss for words, and walked ahead of her without further argument, muttering to himself as they crossed the short distance to the main house.

"Well done, your worship," Ben murmured to her back, and she allowed herself a tiny smile. They had breached the boundaries, and immediate danger, though still lurking in the wary glances of the guards, didn't seem so imminent. Perhaps she just might make it to the emperor in one piece. That thought certainly did its job of keeping her alert and anxious, even if there was a tiny victory at clearing the first hurdle.

She also needed to keep in mind the possibility that Pryde's sycophantic and numbskull behavior was as much a feint as hers was.

The interior of the castle was ornate, almost ostentatious, and Rey was almost immediately confronted by a wide staircase that split in two directions halfway up to the second level, which was lined with open corridors. The wall protruding closely behind the staircase housed what she assumed was a large chamber. There was a similar protrusion on the second floor, jutting out so that the length of the entrance chamber was squat in comparison with its width and height. It seemed both open and crowded, and though the ceiling was high above her, she felt trapped. Was it the decor and layout of the place, or was it the tension she already felt? She couldn't decide.

She realized a few steps up the stairs that Pryde was babbling on, and she forced herself to pay stricter attention.

". . . of course, I could not have condoned such a thing under typical circumstances," he was saying, turning to the right, "but his Majesty was simply not in a fit state. And he needed the care of someone who sincerely wished for his good." So he was trying to butter her up and justify his position; good, she had him scared. "He has regained much of his former brilliance of mind, thanks to my efforts on his behalf, but his physical strength is all but gone. And he was simply too proud to take up his public mantle with his infirmities.

"If you will allow me to say, your Highness," he stopped and leaned in close to her on the stair, "if that great man does have a fault, it is pride. But it is only natural, when he has done so much to be proud of. Indeed, he earned his rest in addition to requiring it, after the horrifying actions of that snake, Vader. It was only just that the traitor perished so soon after his attempt on his Majesty's life."

Rey tried to look bored, but she couldn't help being concerned for Ben, who would not take kindly to his grandfather being spoken of thus. She was also not eager to hear the emperor's praises being sung for very long. She spoke quickly and scathingly. "I have no interest in hearing that man's name. My concerns of the past have only to do with how they directly affect me.

"For example," she said, taking a step above Pryde in a hint to keep walking, "why, exactly, a man so loyal to the Palpatine name would make no effort to lend support to me in my hour of need?" Pryde stumbled onto the landing of the second level, his face turning bright red.

Rey climbed up beside him, and patted him on the shoulder with a patronizing air, although she was sure to keep her expression severe when he looked at her, an apology and explanation formulating on his lips. "Something to consider," she suggested sweetly. "Now if you would be so kind as to show me the way. It is time I met my grandfather at last."

She could almost see the cogs turning in Pryde's head as he led her to the main doors of the large chamber in a daze. Perhaps she'd pushed too hard by reviling him. She wanted to shut him up and convince him of her right to be there; she didn't want to humiliate and alarm him so that he called for the guard. They were probably consulting among themselves precisely how to handle her, anyway.

"If you'll allow me one moment," Pryde said a little breathlessly, hardly daring to meet her eyes now. "I'll announce you and make certain he is prepared to see you." He turned the handle swiftly, making his escape and disappearing behind the door, which was left ajar.

Rey closed her eyes. On the other side of that door was her grandfather. She must cast off the ridiculous persona she had played at with Pryde. And once she did, once she was before the emperor and was truly herself, what would the emperor see? Would he see the leader she knew she could be? Or worse, would he see a scavenger playing pretend? Or worst of all, would he see a creature who was nothing more than a prize to be handed over to Snoke? Her fists clenched to relieve the tightness in her chest.

And then Ben's hand was there, coaxing her fingers to relax and entwining his own with them. Her eyes shot open to see his steady gaze, the one that spoke of his infinite faith in her, the one that would not allow her to back down, the one that gave her the strength to determine her own fate. Unwilling to wait any longer, she pushed open the doors to the unknown chamber herself.

There he was. On a high-backed chair at the opposite end of the room. Raising a hand to push Pryde out of the way. Staring at her with red-rimmed eyes.

The Dread Emperor himself.

A/N: When I get a story idea, it's usually because I've envisioned a particular scene or exchange and THEN I fill in the gaps to explain what brought that particular scene to pass. And at long last, we reached it - this conversation between Ben and Rey. Of course it didn't stay exactly the same as what I first imagined, but the overall themes remained, and some lines never got altered. It's kind of surreal to finally post the thing the got me ruminating on this story idea in the first place.

Also, please don't hate me because Ben is stubborn about his past. :)

And here comes the confrontation! Which way do you think it will go? I'm nervous and excited to get to it and hope that I stick the landing.