"How are you feeling?" Aunt Jyn asks, after she feeds Rey a spoonful of broth.

"Better, still sore. I'm just glad that I'm safe." She accepts another spoonful then asks, "How long since-"

"Since midsommar?" Aunt Jyn asks. "A little over a fortnight and a week. You've been here in Kalonia's cottage for three days."

"That's a long time."

"The water your husband has been feeding you is amazing. Your bruises look almost healed." she must have a confused look on her face because her aunt asks, "You have questions?"

"I do." She lays her head back on the pillow, suddenly tired. "Who kidnapped me?"

"Snoke," a deep baritone answers from the doorway.

Even though she hates that name, that word, she still smiles at the sight of her husband. "Come join us?"

"I can go-"

Jyn starts to stand but Rey reaches out to stop her. "Stay please."

"Very well." Aunt Jyn smiles.

She takes a deep breath. "Everything after our wedding is jumbled."

"But you remember our handfasting?'' Ben asks.

"Of course, I do. I don't regret promising myself to you." She smiles as he grabs her hand and brings it to his lips. "So Snoke is alive?"

"He is," Ben answers.

"But I saw you myself kill him."

"I knew you were on that battlefield." Ben smiles

"Yeah, she did that against our wishes," Aunt Jyn grumbles.

"We needed everyone who could fight to fight." She squeezes her husband's hand. "We wouldn't have won if it wasn't for this one." Something clicks. "Wait. You killed Snoke? So, what you said wasn't a dream? You're the Black Knight?"

"I am. I hope you're not mad. When I saw you that night climbing down your wall, I had to talk to you. If anything, I was going to convince you to go back and marry me the next day."

"Don't believe him," Aunt Jyn teases. "He said that he thought you were a thief. And you young lady, why didn't you come and meet him at dinner?"

"I'm not sure? I guess I was still mad that Uncle said I had to marry him. Then for some reason I thought you were-"

"Hux. The knight with ginger hair," Ben adds.

"Then Rose came back and told me what he said to her- I knew that I didn't want to marry him." She looks down at where her fingers are still intertwined with his. "But then I saw you. And you made my heart feel like it's flying."

"Knock, knock," a new voice comes from the doorway. Rey knows her now, it's Queen Leia from Alderaan.

"Come in, your majesty," Rey welcomes her.

"And I told you to call me Leia." She comes into the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. I wish I could go home."

"You can't even walk yet without crying. When you can do that, Kalonia will let you go," Aunt Jyn says. "But I must be getting back. I need to plan for your second wedding."

"But first, more questions, please?" all three nod. "Forgive me, but the past three weeks have been a blur and I don't know what's real and not real. Queen Leia, you're Ben's mother, right?"

"Yes, Princess. The king is here somewhere, have you met him yet?"

"I don't think so."

"Oh, you would remember if you'd met Father," Ben adds.

"Yes, King Han is quite charming," Aunt Jyn chuckles.

"He's always been a scoundrel." Leia rolls her eyes. "What do you remember?"

"Pain. A weird rhyme. How good that water tasted." She looks up to meet his eyes. "You? You were there. How?"

"I'm still not sure-"

"Wait, you saw her while you were somewhere else?" Leia asks. He nods. "It's happening. I can't believe it."

"What are you talking about Mother?"

"Do you know the prophecy Jyn?" Leia asks.

"I've only heard bits and pieces." Aunt Jyn looks at Rey and Ben with an unusual expression on her face. One that Rey's never seen before. "Do you really think it's them?"

"What are you two talking about?" Ben demands.

"The chosen ones. Basically, it says something like this: they will come together. A balance of light and dark. A means to balance the magic that flows around and through them. They will become a dyad, when two become one. They will defeat evil once and for all while their children will maintain that balance for generations." Leia says. "How else could you explain how you two have connected?"

"What is this magic that you speak of?" Rey whispers. "Is this why Maz told me not to ask about the crystals?"

"There are crystals scattered all around us. In the earth, in the mines, in the walls of our houses." Leia answers. Then she meet's Jyn's stare. "Did the Princess not know about the magic of our lands?"

"We were waiting to see if she showed any aptitude for the arts. Her teacher did the test-"

"What test?" Rey asks.

"Your mother, rest her soul wrote to me when you were three. Sadly, you didn't show any signs of being sensitive." Aunt Jyn replies.

Rey meets Ben's eyes. "What do you think of all this?"

"I'm not sure." He kisses her hand again. "Let's get you well and back to the castle. Then we'll figure it out."

"One more thing." Leia smiles. "Remember how everyone insisted on your handfasting the Eve of Midsommar? Do you know why we did that?" She gives them a moment to answer, but when they don't answer, she continues, "When you get married during Midsommar, it increases the connection you have with your mate. And then babies that are convinced during the festival- did you tell her?"

"Tell me what?" Rey murmurs.

"No, today is the first day she's actually awake." Jyn answers. "Rey, sweetie, as you know what might happen after a husband and a wife share a bed." Rey feels her face heating up and a glance at Ben's tells her that he's having the same reaction. "And I know you two shared a bed."

"Just tell her Jyn." Leia digs in her pocket and pulls out a crystal and holds it up for them to see.

"That's pretty." Rey smiles.

"It's normally black."

"What? How?" Rey asks her skin prickling the way it does when something important is about to happen.

"It turns pink when it's near a pregnant creature."

Rey looks around the room. She knows Aunt Jyn can't, is Leia too old… "Oh that's funny. It's not right, no one's pregnant."

"Princess, you're pregnant. We're going to be parents." Ben squeezes her hand.

"A baby?" She whispers as tears spring to her eyes. "What? How? They beat me. Day after day. I couldn't even see them coming. It was that bad. Ben? We're having a baby?"

His arms are so gentle as he pulls her close. "It would seem so, Princess."

"I don't understand. The beatings alone- wouldn't that alone make me lose the baby?"

"You know that amazing water you've been drinking?" Aunt Jyn asks. "It's not only making you better, but also taking care of that sweet one inside."

"But what about Snoke? If he knows that we're the dyad, then he knows what a baby means."

"Let's get you better, Sweetheart. Then we'll kill that worm," Ben promises.

Brbrbrbrbr

"Do you really have to go?" Rey hates that she sounds like a five-year-old little girl, but her Aunt Jyn has been her everything for so long.

"Kalonia said that you'll be ready to travel soon. Probably within days. Besides, Rose is staying, plus Ben's men."

"But Finn is going with you?"

"No, I think he's staying too. About half of our men came with me, the rest are at home."

"And everyone is going to Naboo, and finding shelter at and around our castle?" Her mind is still a jumble from being in that dungeon.

"Yes, I think that's what has been decided. Then once Snoke is once and for all dead-"

"Hopefully we can find him," Rey whispers. "I think I want to kill him myself."

"I just hope one of us will be successful in all this wishing we've been doing."

"Me too."

Brbrbrbrbr

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ben asks.

"Yes, they're all leaving today, and I want to at least tell them thank you. And I need to get out of this room for just a couple of minutes, please."

"I have an idea," he mutters as he hurries back out.

"You were supposed to take me with you," she calls after him.

"I said I was coming back," he says moments later as he comes back. "Can you put your arm around my neck?"

"I can, I'm feeling much better." There's just a tinge of pain as she raises her arms. An arm behind her and under her knees, he lifts her until they are eye to eye. "I've missed touching you," she whispers.

"I've missed you too, Princess." For the first time since he rescued her, they are alone. And she's not in a great amount of pain. The hand that's behind his head, finds his inky waves. As she begins to play with his hair, his eyes flutter shut.

"I remember how much you liked that on our wedding night."

"It feels incredible." He opens his eyes. "You are incredible. You've survived so much."

"I had a lot of reasons to," she murmurs as he carries her outside. One of Kalonia's rocking chairs is on her little porch and from there Rey can see the ruins and the field where her knights and the travelers camped. "There are so many of them."

"They came to help you." He almost lowers her to the chair when he notices her tears. "What's wrong, Princess?"

"I'm nobody. Why would they want to help me?"

"You're not nobody. You're everything, at least to me you are." He kisses her temple. "I can't believe that I belong to you, now."

"That's really how you see it?" Her eyes meet his. Her heart flips and she smiles through her tears. "That you belong to me?" She hurts, but she brings her arms up so she can touch him even more.

"Let the Princess heal, son," Leia says somewhere behind them. They both flush pink as he eases her into the rocking chair. "You're looking better and better."

"I'm feeling better and better." And she does. the fresh summer air, feels amazing on her face. She isn't sure where to look first. The flowers blooming along the forest floor. The birds flying above her. The look on her husband's face.

Is this love? I think he loves me too…

She hears voices but isn't paying attention to follow who's talking. "What did you say?" She asks Ben.

"That was me, dear," Leia laughs. "You needed to get out of that bed and out of that room. Have you tried walking yet?"

"Yes! I can almost make it to the fireplace. Isn't that what one of you said I had to do before I could go home?"

"Something like that," Ben agrees.

"Are you leaving with everyone else?" Rey asks Leia.

"We are. Luke has some more stuff to do at the border and I'm sure that your uncle is missing his wife."

"I know he is." Aunt Jyn says as she walks up the path to them. "I think our men are ready to go home too. They do wish you were well enough to come with us."

"I do too," Rey wishes. "We'll be along in a couple of days."

"You better," Jyn murmurs as she leans over to kiss her forehead.

"I will be." She tries not to be teary eyed as her aunt and his mother gives them all kisses and soft good-byes. Ben follows them, leaving her alone for the first time in days.

Her mind is quiet as she watches the world move around her. The men climbing onto their horses. The women who came with them, readying the wagons. Someone told her that the ride back is more than five days, but how did Snoke get her from her castle to here in a matter of hours?

Then the former Knights of Ren.

Her breath hitches in her chest. The flashes of pain. Them drawing out her screams even though she swore to never let the enemy see her like that. Her tears when they stopped touching her, hurting her.

Those tears are wet on her cheeks as she struggles to take a breath.

No is near to hear the sob that escapes. She doesn't want to do this, but it's like when she fell out of the loft in the hay barn. Once she caught her breath, she cannot stop crying.

Through her tears, she sees him. Her Prince, her Black Knight. Her heart beats happily at that thought. The Black Knight is her husband, her Prince. He turns to check on her. She's not sure how he sees her, but he does.

He runs back to her, through their people, past their families. Not stopping until he reaches her side. He drops to his knees in front of her.

"I'm alright," she mutters as he wipes the tears from her eyes. "I really am. I started remembering what-"

He cups her cheeks and kisses her. It's a lover's kiss but then it's so much more. His touch, his breath mingles with hers, his lips soft on hers.

"You're safe now," he whispers against her lips. "They will never cause you pain again."

"I think I love you," she replies, giving words to this feeling inside as he catches the last of her tears. "You really are my Black Knight. So brave and so strong." He rolls his eyes. "You think I'm teasing you. I'm not." Suddenly serious, she continues, "I need you to be brave and strong and all those things I'm not. Because I'm afraid Snoke and his men have taken that from me."

"Don't believe that. I saw you on that battlefield. You are everything. But I know what it's like to be lost. And if you need me to be what you can't right now, I can do that. Because I know that there might be a time when I'll need you to be all those things I can't."

"I guess that's what we do now?" She asks.

"Take care of each other, you mean?" He replies.

"Yeah, I like that."

"Good."

Brbrbrbrbr

"It's always hard to leave her," Queen Jyn admits.

"I never thought he'd be back," Queen Leia answers. "And now, a wedding and a baby."

"Queen Jyn, Leia," Luke walks over to greet them. He'd left the other camp a couple of days ago to help here at the border between Alderaan and Naboo. Jyn can see groups of Skywalkers gathering around several stacks of rocks.

"Luke." She nods. "It's still early in the day, we're going to keep riding towards Naboo. How long will your people linger?"

"Until Ben and Rey can join us. Then we'll come on to the castle." Luke squints against the noon sun. "Is this all your men?" He asks Jyn.

"Oh no. Over half is back at the castle. Cassian would have sent all of our fighting men, but I convinced him that he needed some to stay back." She looks at the rest of the Skywalker clan. "Can I ask if I may?" She waits for Luke to nod. "What are you doing?"

"I am using the crystals around us to set up protection spells against Snoke and anyone who follows him. This is why Ben and Poe couldn't come home until they promised the king that they would fight with him and not against him. The barriers were weakened and that's how Snoke's Knights were able to stay and keep your niece prisoner. And from what I understand, they weren't alive either?"

"No, they weren't. Even the one who tortured Rey might have been real at first. Ben parted his head from his body. Then he was gone like the rest. It was like they were training dummies that our knights use to train. You would attack them with your sword and nothing. No blood, no cries of pain. Once we realized what they were doing, Poe was able to stop them. And then Ben led the way to Rey."

"But how was Snoke able to survive Ben killing him on the battlefield?" Leia asks.

"It must be the same enchantment he used on the soldiers that attacked you, Queen Jyn." Luke answers.

"But you also said that the magic guarding our countries has been weakened," Jyn gasps. "I bet they were all the enchantments. That's why when Ben made up his mind to betray Snoke-"

"He was able to approach the castle,'' Luke whispers. The look on his face though, it looks like he had a great revelation. "Your majesties." He nods before he spurs his horse to action.

"And that's your brother?" Jyn asks.

"He gave up the crown, saying that Han and I can lead better than he ever could." Leia looks over Jyn's shoulder. "Han!"

"Leia! You're back!'' Jyn turns to see the King of Alderaan walking towards them. He offers Leia a hand and helps her down off her horse. The Queen of Naboo has to smile when the King and Queen kiss for all to see. She had to blink fast because it reminds her that she hasn't seen her own husband for weeks now.

"Queen Jyn, this is Han, the King of Alderaan."

"Just call me, Han. All these royal titles flying around can confuse a guy. Besides, aren't we in-laws?"

"Something like that," Jyn agrees. Her mood is so much better now that Rey has been found, she's safe with her husband and she's on the way to see hers. "You will be joining us when Ben and Rey come back?"

"That's the plan, isn't it?" He asks Leia.

"Yes, then when Rey is better, we go after Snoke."

Brbrbrbrbr

"Another two days?"

"Yes, my Queen. Are you ready to set up camp?" One of her knights, Lord Snap asks.

"Yes, go ahead," she says as she pulls her horse to a stop. "I know we have another hour until sunset, but I think everyone is tired and ready to rest."

"Yes, my Queen."

Jyn looks over and meets his eyes. She knows that his dark circles match hers. "Lord Snap, thank you."

He gives her a gentle smile and nods his head before he rides away to tell the others that they're stopping for the night.

"My lady?" One of the Skywalkers, Amilyn asks. She along with her husband Tobias were willing to volunteer to ride with them to Naboo. Amilyn, so the Queen would have some female company and Tobias was ready to travel.

"We're stopping for the night. I'm not as young as I used to be and if I can admit it, I'm ready to see my husband and my bed." Jyn feels her face heat up and chuckles, "To sleep, I promise, to sleep.

"I understand, my lady. I've spent the last several years living in a gypsy wagon. I'm ready for a room that doesn't have wheels." Amilyn says with a wink.

"But your family is safe. If I had to do that to keep them safe-" memories of Cassian and Rey flit through her mind, sweet ones that make her smile. And now a baby, a new one is coming- sudden tears cloud her vision. "I would do anything to make sure of that."

Brbrbrbrbr

"Queen Jyn!" It's the next morning and Snap's excited voice outside her tent reaches her.

She doesn't even put her boots on when she rushes out. "What?"

"I think it's Snoke." She can hear how scared he is as he says that evil name.

"Where?"

"On top of the ridge there-" he points ahead of them.

She walks around the tent and looks. Lined up, shoulder to shoulder is a line of Knights in Snoke's colors of red and black.

"How many men does he have?" Her voice wavers as she asks.

"We're still counting, your majesty," Snap answers. "But it's a lot."

"Your Majesty," Tobias says as he approaches them. "What are we going to do?"

"Snap, are the men ready?" She doesn't wait for him to answer as she ducks back into her tent only to come back with her boots still in one hand and her quiver in the other with her long bow slung over her torso. When Amilyn comes out of their wagon with a quiver and bow of her own, Jyn smiles.

"They are ready at your command," Snap says.

"I trust you to lead them- us. Tobias, can you go with Snap? Come Lady Amilyn, let's go kill as many as we can."

They walk over to the highest point facing Snoke's army. "Do you know Sir Dameron?" Jyn asks.

"I do, your majesty," Amilyn answers.

"I hope that his prayer, spell whatever Ben called it is still on my quiver-"

"Did he cast the never-ending arrow spell? That is a good one."

"He did. Do you have that one too?"

"Something like that." Amilyn says. "How is it that you and your family not know magic? You have more kyber crystals than Alderaan does."

"We do?"

"You do! I have a rare purple one that I found one day when I was riding through Naboo. So how is it that no one knows magic?"

"Rey's mother was sensitive, but no one else showed the aptitude for it. Not even Rey. I wonder if that's changed."

"Maybe? Ben's sensitive. That's why Snoke targeted him."

"Snoke targeted Ben?" Jyn can't imagine. "How old was the Prince when he left home?"

"Fifteen? Sixteen?"

"That young?" She would have cried for Rey then went to kill that snake. "Snap needs us to get into position."

"Stay safe your majesty," Amilyn wishes. A squire brings them their horses. After he gives them a hand up, the ladies nod at one another.

"Call me Jyn. Stay safe." She watches as Amilyn rides to the other side of the knights and draws an arrow. She copies her and waits. "Oh, Cassian, why aren't you here, or better yet why aren't I with you?"

A lone rider, one of her men rides out to the middle of the field before them. Unsurprisingly, one of Snoke's rides out to meet him. He's dressed all in black, with a wicked looking sword strapped to the side of the horse.

But what throws her off is the mask the man is wearing.

She's seen men, knights, usually wear helmets when they train and when they ride off into battle.

But this man- once when she was an older child, perhaps ten years, a rabid, mad thing of a dog came into her village. Snarling and biting everyone it could, it cornered her in the barn. She escaped by climbing into the loft until her father came to help. He was able to drag the beast out. After a moment, Father came back for her.

"Oh Stardust, I'll always protect you," he murmurs in her ear as she sobs in his arms.

"It was so hard being brave," she says.

"But you are. You are braver than you know-"

With Galen Erso's words echoing in her head, she notches her arrow, aiming for that sweet spot she knows that lies between a knight's helmet and his neck piece. She kisses the feathers of her arrow, and prays, "My arrow strong and true, find your place to defeat the enemy."

The breeze that was just whispering around her, stops. An odd mix of cold and heat surrounds her, and she aims again. She moves her fingers, releasing her weapon into the atmosphere.

With bated breath she watches her arrow as it flies and she has to smile as it gets closer to its target- when he jerks it out of the air before it finds its mark.

The sound of hundreds of men bellowing their battle cry echoes in the valley brings her to tears.

"You are braver than you know-" she hears Father's words in her head again and she grabs several arrows out of her quiver. She puts them in between her fingers like he taught her many years ago and aims with another prayer on her lips.

Her arrows fly, finding their designations among the enemy as they collapse on the battlefield.

Poe's enchantment seems to be working because she quickly loses count of just how many arrows she sends. She glances over at Amilyn who is shooting as many as she is.

She aims another round of arrows when she notices something. Her heart sinks as she sees the blood being spilled. Thankfully it doesn't seem to be from her men, but this rag-tag army. There are only a couple of them on horses, which moves the battle to the ground.

Which is more dangerous.

A loud cry from a horse going down, breaks her heart. One of her arrows finds a new home in the man who hurt one of hers. Then another cry comes to her. Another arrow plus one from Amilyn.

One by one her men with horses start to fall. The men get back up, ready to continue the fight, but so many beasts don't.

Queen Jyn isn't sure how long the battle ensues, but she continues her archery until her arm cramps.

The hot summer sun beats down on them and she can no longer see who's who on the field. Just when she says, "We can't lose-"

A familiar trumpet vibrates. With tears in her eyes, she looks up. For there, coming towards them all is her King. Her husband. Her beloved. Her Cassian.