Ben

I did my time in the tank to heal my leg, and, as promised, Rey was by my side when I awoke.

She was staring at a data pad, its light illuminating her face in the dark room. There was a crease between her brows and tiny worry lines around her eyes.

I couldn't tell if she was pale, or it was just the light from the screen, but she was still in those bunny scrubs.

Where did she even get those?

She chewed on her lip as she concentrated and I thought about what she'd said before I'd agreed to go to the medbay and undergo the bacta treatment.

Yes, we would have to put a stop to the trafficking of children. I wanted absolutely none of that tied to either of my names. And, we needed to return all of the children that we could, including the son of the man who'd given me the antidote that'd saved Rey's life.

But, her presence aboard, as well the changes that we planned on enacting would not be easy to explain.

She'd casually mentioned that we needed to verify the Bond, but I took that as delirium from the last of the poison in her system.

Not wanting to marry Kylo Ren, not wanting to marry me was the entire reason she'd rejected the Bond. She didn't want to be Empress of the First Order. She didn't want to be my Queen.

Suggesting so was lunacy.

However, I'd always left our relationship entirely up to her. Whether she wanted me or didn't, stayed with me or went home, it was her call.

Her decision.

I couldn't believe that she'd decided to marry me.

However…

Just a few months ago, I would not have believed that she'd accept and seal the Bond.

But she had.

She sighed, still engrossed in the data pad.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

She jumped, gasping, and looked up at me. A small smile tugged at her lips. "Ben!"

She stood, dropping the data pad into her seat, and rushed to my side. Her hands went to my face and she pressed her lips to mine.

My arms went around her, and I pulled her to me, deepening the kiss. I'd almost lost this, lost her. Then, I nearly lost myself trying to save her.

Her hand flattened on my shoulder and she gently pushed me away.

I let my head fall back against my pillow, watching her as she straightened and looked down at my thigh. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine." I assured her. I moved the sheet to reveal a deep reddish-purple scar that now joined the white ones that chosed my thigh.

She frowned, and traced the angry gash with her fingertips, her touch setting the new skin ablaze.

I forced my mind to focus. "Uh," I sighed. "What were you working on?"

"The records for the storm trooper program." She answered, not looking up. "Most of which were either corrupted or destroyed. And, there's no data for the force sensitives at all." Her featherlight touch moved to another scar on my thigh that was jagged and ugly, and silvered with age.

I put my hand over hers, stopping her. "I'm going to have to stay." I told her, regret making my voice thick. "I can't just walk away."

Her eyes flickered to mine. "I wouldn't want you to walk away." She said. "I know that to make the changes that need to be made, you have to stay."

My heart dropped. She'd said it so casually. Like she didn't care we were going to be apart for months on end.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I'll have a shuttle prepared to take you back to base."

Her face clouded, her eyebrows pulling together. "Back to base?" She echoed.

"Or anywhere you'd like." I amended and she snatched her hand out from under mine.

"What are you saying?" She demanded.

I felt my eyebrows pulled together. "Returning those children will take months at least. Enacting the other changes will take longer, and to be the one to enforce them, I have to be Supreme Leader."

She crossed her arms over her chest, her face expectant. "And?"

"And, I'm giving you an out." I admitted.

She blinked. "An out?"

I nodded. "Because I'll have to be Kylo Ren, too." My mind went back to that night on the Falcon. What would your wife be, Kylo Ren? She'd seethed. And I closed my eyes as the words played in memory. Until I can only be mated to Ben Solo, I reject the mating Bond.

The ghost of those words still ripped through my chest.

I felt weight on the mattress, and opened my eyes to see Rey sit next to me.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I'm sorry I ever said those things to you, and the biggest regret of my life is rejecting our mating Bond." She reached up, and touched the scar that crossed my cheek. The scar that she'd given me. "I'm so sorry that I hurt you."

My chin quivered, and I looked away, moving from her touch. "I've never forced you to stay with me, and I won't start now." I said, my voice breaking. "I'll have a shuttle prepared to take you home."

When my work was done, when I could be just Ben Solo, I would follow the Bond and find her.

And, we could be together.

"I am home." I heard her say, and looked up, confusion knitting my brow.

She stroked my cheek again, then her eyes locked with mine. "Ben, you are my home."

I shook my head, my vision blurring with the water that stung my eyes. "But, I can't be Ben-"

"What everyone else calls you doesn't matter." She insisted. "You're mine."

I let out a shaky breath. When she'd said that she wanted a ceremony, that she wanted to be my Queen…

"You want to have the Bond verified?" I asked, heat rising in my cheeks.

She nodded. "I want to marry you."

The machine that monitored my heartrate beeped an alert as the rhythm of my pulse stalled, then began to race.

"You want to…" I asked, unable to finish. It was suddenly hard to breathe.

She nodded again.

I sat up. "You're sure?"

She smiled, and nodded a third time.

I pulled her to me, crushing my lips to hers. Our kiss was open and deep, and I pulled away abruptly. "What are we waiting for?" I demanded. "Let's go!"

She giggled as I pushed passed her to get up. "Let's go!"