AD-83 whistled in surprise as Ben stumbled on board, still holding Rey to his chest.

"She got hit," Ben mumbled in response to the droid's question and laid her carefully on the seat cushions in their common area. The whole way to his ship, his mind kept replaying her collapse—and how it was his fault she was hit to begin with.

The bounty hunters were after him.

And he was running out of time to save her.

His medical knowledge was rudimentary at best, and he had never had the patience to learn Force healing. Coruscant hospitals would ask questions he didn't have the answers to.

Thalia. Her name came to him with a swiftness that surprised him. Thalia, his childhood friend and fellow Senate kid. Thalia, who always had top-of-the-line med droids and equipment due to a persistent condition in her heart that she struggled to manage.

Thalia, who lived on Coruscant.

He barked the coordinates at AD-83 and brushed a lock of hair away from Rey's pale face. "Hold on, sweetheart," the endearment fell almost unconsciously, "I'm going to get you help."

They landed on the platform outside Thalia's opulent residence high above the crowds, and Ben picked Rey up again.

He kicked at the front door, careful not to jostle her. When there was no immediate response, he kicked again, harder. The rain had increased its steady pour and was now running in rivulets down his face and back.

For a brief, terrible moment, he worried that Thalia was off-world and he was wasting precious time trying to rouse her.

Then he heard a distinctly annoyed voice from inside, "I'm coming, I'm coming!" Her voice grew louder as she neared the door. "Do you have any idea what ti—" The door flew open and Thalia cut herself off mid-sentence at the sight of him standing there. He supposed he must look a mess. "Ben?" she whispered.

"Can I come in?"

Wordlessly, she stepped to the side.

"Do you still have your med droid?" He carefully placed Rey onto a table and looked back to where Thalia was unmoving by the entrance.

The question seemed to shock her out of her stupor. "Of course." She clapped her hands briskly and an advanced medical droid wheeled in.

"She was hit by this." He pulled the dart out of his pack and handed it to the droid. "From what I can figure, it had some sort of poison, but I couldn't—"

"Sit down and let the droid work, Ben."

He glanced quickly between Thalia, already seated, and the droid he was going to entrust Rey's recovery to, before running both hands through the tangles in his damp hair and dropping into a chair next to Thalia.

"So I take it this isn't a social call." Her tone was dry.

"I'm sorry, Tal. I didn't know where else to go."

"The hospital?"

"You know I can't be seen in any legal establishment," he said, trying for a joke but it fell flat.

She fixed him with an exasperated look. "Glad to hear you're still breaking the law professionally," she deadpanned. "But I don't believe that's the only reason."

"You have better equipment," he sighed, staring at a pattern in the floor tile and tracing it with his boot. "And—and I couldn't have stayed with her."

She was watching him pensively when he raised his eyes from the floor. "You must care about her a lot."

"Yeah," he mumbled, shifting in his seat. He couldn't admit it to Rey, could barely admit it to himself, but Thalia's even gaze saw right through him. "I do."

"What's her name?"

"Rey."

"It's pretty."

He acknowledged the compliment on Rey's behalf with a nod and swiped a hand over the back of his neck in an attempt to stop the water trickling uncomfortably down his back.

"I'm happy for you, Ben. I'm glad you found someone to keep up with you. You and I both knew I never could." She got up from the chair with difficulty and left the room, returning shortly with a towel that she dropped in his lap. "Here."

For some reason, her calm acceptance hurt worse than if she'd raged at him. He couldn't even contradict her about his and Rey's relationship. Him showing up past midnight and desperate to save her life spoke volumes. "What about you?" he asked after a moment.

Thalia smiled, a real smile that reached her eyes. "I'm engaged, actually. We'll be married in two months."

"No, really?" He couldn't hold back a smile of his own. "Anyone I know?"

"Tav Berenko." Her smile turned shy.

Ben chuckled. "Good ol' Tav! I haven't seen him in ages, either. How is he?"

"He's good. Filling his mother's shoes at the Senate as she does outreach in the Western Reaches."

"He was always cut out for politics." Unlike me, he didn't say. He remembered now that one of their last conversations was an argument about his choice to take to the stars. He wondered if Tal remembered that, too. "Is that where you are also?"

"Yes, I still hold my place in the Senate. In fact, I have a bill I'm putting through in a few days."

"What about?" He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and placed the wet towel on the floor, where he knew a cleaning droid would retrieve it later.

Chuckling, she waved a dismissive hand. "Just trade regulations of a few Outer Rim planets. Boring stuff, but it needs to be done." She shifted further back into the chair. "I presume you're still smuggling, then? How's that going for you?"

Unbidden, his eyes moved to Rey, unconscious on the table. "At the moment?" he mumbled.

"Hey, she'll be alright," Thalia said gently. "While I might not appreciate you showing up out of nowhere in the middle of the night, we'll do our best to help her."

"I'm sorry, truly. I shouldn't have dumped this on you."

She pursed her lips and closed her eyes. "No, you shouldn't have. But you always were impulsive."

"I—"

"I don't want your apologies." Her mouth curved into a small smile, though her eyes remained closed. "It was one of the things I really liked about you. We had so much fun together, Ben." She huffed a sigh and her smile dropped. "I hope you found what you were looking for."

He didn't want to unpack that with Thalia, even if she was one of his oldest friends. Not with an unconscious Rey nearby being treated by med droids. Better to address the neutral ground of their friendship, instead. "I should have called," he murmured. "But I didn't know if you wanted to hear from me."

She let out a genuine laugh at that. "Of course I would. Having a few arguments doesn't mean we aren't friends anymore."

He hesitated. "Are we still friends?" he asked at last.

"We could be, if you called on occasion. You could even visit, from time to time. Bring your girlfriend. We could make it a double date."

"She isn't my girlfriend," he corrected out of habit, and watched the amusement flood Thalia's expression. "Wait, it's not—"

"So you haven't told her yet how you feel? How long have you known each other?"

"A few months. She and I work together. She's my partner."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." He glared at her, and she laughed. "Look, I'm not here to tell you how to live, but I know a lovesick fool when I see one."

"Tal!"

"Just don't wait until it's too late, okay?"

He shot a look to the table to make sure Rey wasn't hearing this before mumbling, "Okay."

Anything else he might have said was interrupted by the med droid's approach. "The poison has been extracted and the antidote administered with bacta. The female is stable and currently resting. Expect full recovery within three to five hours."

Ben could feel the tension physically drain from him at the droid's information and prediction, and with the adrenaline gone, exhaustion poured over him.

Thalia noticed. "You should get some rest, too. You're welcome to stay here, or I'm sure your ship is nearby."

He nodded and stood. "If I could borrow a blanket, I'll sleep on the couch. Rey can have the guest room."

"We can do that. You'll find the fresher around the corner and the common room through there." She pointed down a hallway. "Thank you for the update and your work," she addressed the droid. "Bring Ben here a blanket and transport the woman to the guest bedroom. You may then return to low power mode."

"Very good, Mistress Thalia," came the droid's response, and he headed off to obey her directions.

"I'll have another droid there with Rey for when she wakes, and we'll let you know if there is any news."

"Thank you so much, Thalia. I really can't thank you enough."

She smiled and also stood. "Thank me with your time. Don't be a stranger anymore."

"I won't be. I promise." He gave her a tired smile and accepted the blanket from the droid before heading to the couch. Tomorrow would be better. Rey would recover and Thalia didn't hate him, so things were already looking up.

—

Ben awoke to a familiar beep-beep-whistle and opened his eyes to find AD-83 centimeters from his face.

"Hey, buddy." He stretched with a groan. While the couch wasn't the best place he'd slept—that was probably the two nights he'd spent in Canto Bight without a budget a few years ago—it definitely wasn't the worst, either. He tried not to remember that one.

AD-83 whistled again.

"They're already up!" He scrambled off the couch and hunted for his boots. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" The droid beeped in response and Ben slowed his mad rush around the room. "Well, that's nice of them. I guess I needed it." He found his boots at last and headed for the kitchen, following the smell of flatcakes and the sound of chatter.

Rey's laugh echoed down the hallway and Ben sped up, eager to see her in the light of day and not pale and sweaty from fever.

He wasn't disappointed. Rounding the corner, he spotted Rey perched on the counter in the middle of the kitchen, licking something from a spoon, while Thalia sat at the table nearby. A droid was at the stove, flipping the flatcakes.

"—then my mother said, 'What do you two think you're doing?' and I think he must have jumped half a meter! We dropped the basket and ran without looking back!" Thalia's own chuckles interrupted her story. "We both had a stomachache the next day, but it was worth it. Oh, hi, Ben."

Rey took one look at him and burst into laughter.

Was his hair messed up or something on his face? He realized he had been in too much of a hurry to visit the fresher yet this morning and ran a hand through his hair self-consciously. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Rey said, recovering from her giggles. "Just learning about your origins as a sweet thief."

Ben shot a shocked look at Thalia, who was smirking. "You're telling her about me?"

"I didn't know you got into so much trouble as a kid," Rey continued. "Though I shouldn't be surprised, given how much trouble you get into now."

"Hey, I seem to recall you getting into trouble with me. Both of you, in fact." He glanced between the two women.

"But we know who always started it!" Rey laughed, Thalia laughing with her.

Ben opened his mouth to defend himself before he shrugged helplessly. They'd ganged up on him. He never stood a chance. AD-83 took that moment to bump his shin with a supportive whistle, and Ben seized upon the chance to steer the conversation away from his childish antics. "I see you brought Ady inside."

"Yes, you'd left him alone in the ship all night. He was lonely." Rey finished licking the spoon and tossed it into the sink behind her.

Did droids get lonely? "I—" He looked down at the little droid. "In my defense, I was a bit preoccupied. Speaking of which, I'm glad to see you're doing better, Rey."

She beamed at him. "I feel great! Well, a little sore, but I think that's more from the running and crouching than from the shot. Thalia said I was poisoned?"

"By one of the bounty hunters, yeah. Tal was kind enough to allow us to use her med droid."

Thalia's expression said, Not much of a choice, but he ignored it.

"Thank you, Thalia. I owe you my life, quite literally." Rey gave the woman her best smile.

"I'm glad I had the resources to help a friend," she returned diplomatically.

"Yes, thank you again for your help, Tal. Though we should get going after breakfast."

"Where are you headed next?"

"Oh, around." He decided not to share their next illegal venture with an actual government official.

"Alright then," Thalia chuckled. "I see how it is." She paused. "The Festival of Light was last month in Theed, but Tav and I will be going next year. Will we see you?"

Ben glanced at Rey, who nodded enthusiastically. "I think we can make the trip," he said with a smile.

—

"Well, she was a much better friend," Rey declared as they headed back to Shadowstar.

"Better than what?"

"Than all the other 'friends' you introduce me to across the galaxy." She saw Ben try and fail to hide a smile. "Admit it, you know I'm right."

"Jannah is a good friend."

"Jannah is your cousin, she doesn't count. I was almost beginning to wonder if you had friends who didn't want to kill you."

"You should have seen Tal last night, when I showed up to drip water all over her mosaicked floor. She might have wanted to kill me then."

She laughed. "Ben Solo, friend of the year."

He looked away quickly and activated the boarding ramp. "That's me," he mumbled, barely audible.

She didn't have time to ask about this attitude shift before they were headed to the cockpit to begin the startup sequence, and the mood was gone as soon as they entered the familiar space.

Then he was inputting coordinates and flashing her a small smile, and they again sped off into the stars.

Only once they were stabilized in hyperspace did Rey remember that Ben had a Jedi weapon. Maybe it was the blue streaks of the hyperspace lane that reminded her. She shifted to face him and propped her chin on her hand. "So, lightsaber."

He looked over and smiled as he shook his head. "I knew you wouldn't forget. Yes, I have a lightsaber. My uncle gave it to me. I think he was hoping I would follow him to become a Jedi."

"You could have been a Jedi?"

He winced at her tone and kept his gaze very intently on the ship console. "I guess, but who would want to?"

Who would want to? She would. She would want to very much. "If I was given the chance to be a Jedi, I'd take it."

"Really? Guardians of peace throughout the galaxy? Live separate from everyone and not allowed to have attachments? I don't think so."

"But they're heroes. They fight for justice."

Ben chuckled dryly. "All that and more. There are two sides to every story, Rey," he said. "And things don't always go the way you think."

"Are the stories true?" She was almost afraid to ask. Since leaving Jakku, she had learned so much, but it was always hard when things didn't line up to her dreams.

"Some of them, probably."

"The Force? Luke Skywalker?"

"Those are true."

"I thought Luke Skywalker was a myth," she breathed.

"Definitely not a myth." He laughed softly, like at a private joke. "Very real and very grumpy."

"You know him?" How many times could she be shocked in a conversation?

He ran a hand through his hair and then over his face. "Remember that uncle I mentioned?"

"Luke Skywalker is your uncle?!"

"Rey, please," he sighed, wincing again.

So maybe she was being a little loud. But—"Your dad is Han Solo, your mom is Leia Organa, your uncle is Luke Skywalker—are you related to anyone else famous I should know about?"

"I know you're mostly joking but the answer is probably yes."

She stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "Who?" she asked when he didn't say anything.

His face darkened. "No one that's still alive. Besides, what does it matter? They're famous to you but only family to me."

"But will I get to meet them?"

There was a long pause, then, "Sure, if you want."

"I would love to meet Luke Skywalker. Can you use the Force if you aren't a Jedi?"

He gave her a sidelong glance tinged with amusement. "Of course."

"That's what you do! How you pulled me across the alley and the way you pilot the ship sometimes, isn't it?"

"Got it in one," he murmured with a slowly growing smile. "Just like you use the Force in arguments and on missions, how you're always able to find the thing we need."

The sound suddenly seemed to be sucked out of the small space until all she could hear was the pounding in her ears. What? "I don't—what do you mean, I use the Force?" she barely managed to gasp as the silence morphed into a shrill ringing in one ear.

His shocked expression must have mirrored her own. "You didn't know?"

"I—no—have you known all this time that I could use the Force?" Hearing was back in both ears. That was progress.

"Yes?" he said slowly, watching her reaction.

"Is that an answer or a question?"

"It's an 'I don't know what you want me to say.' I really thought you knew." He smiled hesitantly.

"Well—" She threw her hands up a little helplessly and sunk back in the chair. "I do now, anyway," she muttered. An idea blossomed in her mind and she sat forward again. "Could you teach me how to use it?"

He gave her a one-shoulder shrug. "I'm not that great myself, but I could try. For me, it's more instinctive. I never had actual training."

"More than me. Your uncle is Luke Skywalker."

"I heard," he chuckled lowly. "Maybe sometime we could stop by his Jedi Temple to pick up a few tricks."

"After this job though, right?"

"At least until after this job," he confirmed with another laugh.

She sat back with a nod. All this talk of family had her missing her own. Speaking of—"Have you heard from Maz recently about my parents?"

He shot her a look at this apparent non sequitur. "I haven't had the chance to check. You want to?"

She fished through his bag until she found the comm. "I don't see any—wait, no, there is a message." She pressed play and Maz's grainy hologram popped up.

Hey, kids. I haven't forgotten about you. I think I have a lead, but I'm still following up on it. I'll let you know when I know more.

Rey tried not to be too disappointed. Of course Maz wouldn't be able to find them right away. It was a big galaxy. A lead was good, but she had hoped for at least some news.

"Hey." Ben's gentle tone broke into her thoughts. "We'll find them."

She smiled. "I know." For now, this was enough.

A/N: Headcanon time! In this AU, Ben never fell to the Dark side because he actually talked to his mom about the voices in his head and she believed him. She talked to Luke, they destroyed Snoke, no rise of the First Order (and Palpatine was killed by Anakin after the latter threw him down a reactor shaft on the second Death Star). Ben also doesn't go to train with Luke because he has no desire to become a Jedi, and his parents don't force him to go. So Luke and his next generation of Jedi are alive and well on their remote planet somewhere, and Ben lives out his life as a Force sensitive who generally doesn't know what he's doing.

A/N 2: Today marks a full year since I started posting Reylo! I'm so grateful to everyone who reads and to those who respond! We make our own happy endings here. :)