Ben doesn't remember when the voice started. It was always there in his head. Never nice or kind. Always hateful and mean. Taunting, telling him that he will never be enough-
He once said something to Snoke about his inner voice. The creature exploded in laughter as he admitted to how long he filled his head with his hate and venom. Even before he was born, he admitted.
That time he fell off his horse and the voice told him that he would never learn to ride much less be a king who would lead his troops.
Or that other time the voice told him to go and kill his uncle for shaming him in front of the entire family at that one midsommar gathering when he was ten.
That other time when he accidently caused his parents to be wounded at that welcoming dinner they had for the new king and queen of Naboo. The voice told him that he should kill them all and then ride south until he reached the kingdom of Exegol.
A chill dances down his spine as he remembers who else was at that dinner. The Princess, a small girl about five years old whose parents had just died; who looked more lost than anything. She had light brown hair that was trying it's best to maintain its baby curls and wide green eyes that saw everything. The good part of his heart reminds him that that was his bride, his Rey.
His parents were hurt when they tried to go riding but somehow thorns were under their saddles, causing them to be thrown- but when Ben himself went to go look for the briars, they were nowhere to be found.
That's when he knew that the voice was very real. And it was coming after him, unless it convinced him to come to it.
When Hux asked if maybe Snoke was communicating to the precious life forces that are his children- red, hot anger washed over him. He wants to destroy everything that Snoke holds dear, and to kill him in the process.
Even as his grip tightens on Rey, her green eyes come into focus. He stands, leaving her in the water and walks out of the creek.
Hux follows. "Where are you going?"
"To destroy Snoke before he gets to our children."
"Do we even know where he is?" Hux shouts after him.
Ben stops, and he knows that his friend isn't trying to stop him, just prevent him from doing anything rash. And it works.
"When was the last time we heard anything from Bodhi?"
"Weeks," Hux answers.
"Ben? Let's go back to the castle. Maybe someone's heard something by now? And didn't you say that Luke and Amilyn can help?"
He comes back to where she's still sitting in the creek. He offers her both of his hands and she takes them with a smile for his help. A kiss that lingers even with their friends looking anywhere but at them. "I just want to protect them," he mutters against her lips. Of course, Snoke would know that this, his family, is his weakness. He's used his parents against him for years, it's just a natural progression that he'd go after his children.
"I know, I do too. And we will. We can talk to them too, remember. Shouldn't there be some kind of guard that we can set. After all, we're their parents. We're the ones who are supposed to protect them until they learn how to guard their hearts, right?"
"Come on you two. Let's at least go find Maz," Rose says. "I know she'll know how to protect them, after all, she protected us, didn't she?"
Brbrbrbrbr
After changing into some dry clothes, the four of them go looking for Maz, Luke and Amilyn. Just outside the walls of the courtyard, they find Poe and Leia talking. "We were wondering where all of you wandered off to," Poe greets them. "Where did all of you disappear to after the harvest?"
"We had to go cool off in the creek. Have you seen Maz, Luke or Amilyn?" Rose asks.
"I think they were looking for you." Poe meets Rey and Ben's stare. "What's wrong?"
The soon-to-be-parent's eyes meet. "Odd question," Ben begins as he asks Poe, "when did you start to hear Snoke's voice?"
"What do you mean by that?" Leia asks, her question makes her voice pitchy.
Rey sees how uncomfortable his mother's question makes him as she slips her hand into his. "I remember hearing Snoke in my head from—well as long as I can remember. He even told me once that he talked to me long before that when I was still in your womb," Ben says to Leia.
"You know, his voice has always been in my head too," Poe whispers. "What does this mean?"
"We think that he might be going after our children, now," Rey murmurs. "What do we need to do now?" Her eyes meet her husband's and the worry she feels is reflecting back at her. "they're so sweet and so innocent, Ben, what are we going to do?"
"We're going to find him," Leia spits, "and destroy him once and for all. Have we heard anything from Bodhi yet?"
"No, we have not," Hux offers.
"Then we will figure out where he's at. We will gather our men and women if they choose to go and plan. Once we have a plan that we can all agree on, then we will attack. Ben, Poe, go and talk to Amilyn and Luke. Figure out how to kill Snoke once and for all. Rose and Hux, you two explain to the other knights and the ones willing to fight. Tell them to prepare. Warn them about facing Snoke again on the battlefield. This time we aren't leaving until he's dead. I want his head for hurting my son and for thinking he can do that again with my grandchildren. This stops now."
"What shall I do?" Rey asks not sure where she fits in all this.
"You my dear, we are going to go someplace quiet and I'm going to teach you something I wish I knew when I was pregnant—how to guard you and your children's minds."
Leia waits for the others to leave, then she sits Rey down under her favorite oak tree. "Have you done any more mediating since you and Ben talked to the babies?"
"Just once more. They said to be brave."
"Sweet little ones," Leia coos as she crosses her legs. Rey copies her and both ladies face each other, with their knees touching, like Rey and Ben did not too long ago. "Now, deep breath," Leia whispers.
In just moments, Rey feels herself slipping into the semiconscious state she was just in with Ben.
"Mama? Where's Papa? Lala? What are you doing here?" One of the twins chirps through the bond.
"Oh, my sweet one!" Rey can hear Leia greet them. "I can't wait to meet you."
"Where's Daddy? Where's Papa?" The other twin chimes in.
"Daddy is busy and Papa is doing king stuff."
"Well, that's good, I'll be doing king stuff too one day."
"Are you going to be a king?" Leia asks.
"Yes, but my sister will have to leave to be queen one day."
"And I told you that I was never going to leave," Rey hears the other twin say.
"How do you two know so much?" Leia asks.
"The force tells us." One of them simply offers. Nothing more, nothing less.
Rey then adds, "Listen you two. This is very important. There is a very evil creature—"
"Yes, we know. He's already been trying to talk to us." Rey can feel her heart fall. "But we don't listen, we instead focus on you or Daddy. That's the only thing that makes the bad man go away."
"Listen to me," Leia says. "Do not talk to the evil one. If he comes back, you do your best to tell me or your mother or your father. Now I'm going to teach your mother how to better protect you two. I love you."
"I love you, Lala."
"I love you, Lala!"
"Bye Mama, we love you. Tell Daddy—"
"I will. I love you too," Rey says.
"I love you, Mama!" The other twin says.
"I love you, now try to get some rest."
"Yes, Mama!" They say at the same time.
Before Rey can open her eyes, she feels the impression to keep them closed. Then just as clear she could hear her a moment ago, Rey can feel Leia in her head. "Now, when Amilyn taught me how to do this, she said that it was as easy as a brick wall. You have to literally imagine a brick wall surrounding your head and heart. Now, do even more when you picture your children.
One of Rey's favorite things to do when she was growing up was to go watch the farrier shoe the horses. How he would heat the metal and secure it to the horse's feet. That protection is what she pictures when she builds the wall around the babies.
"Very good," Leia praises. "Now, you might have to do this several times a day until you learn to keep them up all the time."
"That's fine. Whatever we have to do to keep Snoke out of their heads."
"Coming out of meditation, listen to the sound of my voice Rey. As you wake up, leave the walls you've built around yourself and the children. Three-two-one, open your eyes."
When she opens hers, Leia's eyes, the same color as Ben's are water-filled. She reaches for her mother-in-law's hands but Leia waves her off. "The babies are so precious. If that Snoke thinks he can seduce them to the dark side like he did Ben, he has another thing coming." She stands first then offers Rey a hand up. "Come on, let's go find our menfolk. We have vermin to kill."
Brbrbrbrbr
"Snap, gather three more men and start riding towards Exegol. Normally it would take five days to ride, only ride for four. Make note of what you see, if you feel that you can indeed travel then do so—"
"Your majesties!" Finn comes running to the meeting. King Cassian and Queen Jyn jump to their feet. King Han and Queen Leia reach for each other. Luke and Mara Jade draw their swords, while Ben grabs Rey. "We got a missive—" he pants.
Cassian accepts the note. Ben recognizes the wax seal, but the King has it broken before Ben can say anything.
"To King Cassian and King Han and I'm assuming that the high Prince of Alderaan, Benjamin or as I know him as, Lord Kylo Ren along with his wife, Princess Rey of Naboo will be listening.
Greetings Rebel Scum.
I have heard through our mutual friend here that you two did indeed go before the priest. Congratulations on your magical union.
You may think that I am against it, but I actually can't wait to meet your offspring. They have the potential to be greater than even Anakin Skywalker in their connection to the force. The twins will be great one day. I can't wait to meet them.
But since that won't be happening until at least what, spring? I will insist that their parents, the Prince and Princess of Alderaan and Naboo, respectively, come to Exegol to abide. They may go back to their home countries when the children are five years old.
The twins of course, will stay here with me.
I think this is more than fair to all parties involved. I get their first borns, the Prince and Princess get to go home and have more children while I continue to raise two of the most powerful force users in the known world.
And bring lots of warm things. It gets very cold here in Exegol.
-Snoke
"That little son of a bitch—" Han growls. He stands and walks to the door.
"Where are you going?" Leia calls after him.
"Exegol. If that thing thinks he can threaten my grandchildren, he has another thing coming."
Cassian jumps up, not to be left out. "Han, wait, we need our men. Are we going now?"
"Han Solo! You know we need to stick to the plan. Get back here," Leia growls. Rey's eyes grow wide as she watches how visibly flustered her mother-in-law gets.
"Your majesty, we will go and kill this vermin," Aunt Jyn says. "But your Queen is right, we do need to make plans. I think we should send messengers to our nearest neighbors and see if they can help us."
"That's a good idea." Leia encourages her husband, "Come back. Let's talk about this. You're a much better at this than I am."
Rey looks between his parents, not believing what Leia just said. But then Leia winks at her with a ghost of a smile and Rey knows that the queen was working on calming her husband down.
As the parents and aunt and uncle continue to talk, Rey stands and grabs Ben's hand. He starts to ask, but she whispers, "Just come on."
When they are out in the courtyard, Ben pulls her to a stop. Everyone one else is still inside breaking their fast. "Where are we going Rey?"
She walks over to where the practice swords are kept. Her yellow on is in her hand and she picks out a red one for Ben. She whirls on her heel and he meets her eyes with a raised brow.
She briefly wonders if one of their twins will be able to do that.
A quick shake of her head and hands him the wooden red sword. "What are you thinking about for you to shake your head like you just did?"
"That brow thing you do," she giggles. "I was wondering if one of them will be able to do that, and if one can, then both will be able to. Anyway, let's fight."
"You think you can defeat me?" he murmurs like he does when he speaks against her skin when it's just them.
"Stop trying to distract me," she hisses as they circle one another.
"Who me? I wouldn't do that," he teases as wood hits wood. The clanging of their sword echoes across the courtyard. At first, the people in the castle look at one another and wonder if Snoke has found them after all. But then they rush out to the yard and see—their Princess and their Prince fighting with the wooden swords the youths use.
At first, they don't think anything of it, but then they remember that it was this princess who fought against Snoke and that Black knight who they thought defeated Snoke until Snoke revealed to all that he was indeed still alive.
Some come and watch, willing to put off their chores. Others tried to look busy and not let the others know that they are watching.
Ben blocks her sword from touching his arm but pulls her closer than usual. His lips brush her temple as he murmurs, "You look so beautiful trying to kill me."
"What—" she murmurs at his confession. "I'm not trying to kill you."
"Then you're not trying hard enough," he taunts.
For some reason, that washes over her like water on a hen. Not well. "Oh yeah," she whispers as she advances on him, her sword echoing across the courtyard as she chases him to the wall. But before he touches it, he grabs her arms and whirls her around. There he pushes her up against it and steals a long kiss.
She blinks up at him in a daze and he has to chuckle. "Have you had enough? Ready to go in?"
"No, I'm just getting warmed up," she answers with a smirk. This time, she steals the kiss. When she stops, she ducks under his arm and rushes behind him.
He turns to go after her, but she's waiting on him with a swing of her sword. He blocks and then with a twist shows her an advanced move he and Poe have been practicing.
She swings, and with a simple move, she attacks, putting him on the defensive. Not sure what else to do, he grabs her again, planting a kiss on her pink lips. She lets him in, kissing him back but only for a moment. "I think you are trying to seduce me, Black Knight," she teases.
"Is it working?" he asks. She smiles when she sees him trying to hide how winded he is.
"Maybe?" she answers. "Come on, let's go find some breakfast?"
"I like the sound of that, but didn't we already eat?"
"We'll call this second breakfast because your children have forgotten that they've eaten already today."
"We can't have them going hungry."
"Plus, what was it that Finn said that other day? That I eat like a field hand?"
"I think—" he stills and pulls her close. They both drop their swords in effort to return the other's embrace. "That I adore my bride. Every part of her. Even the parts that need to practice her sword play more."
"My sword play is just fine, sir. I've been a little busy of late growing your children."
"And I'm so glad that you are." He steals another kiss when he kisses the tip of her nose then rests her forehead against hers. "When we go to fight Snoke, I want you to stay here."
"No, not unless I'm giving birth. I'm going too."
"But you'll be safer—"
"Do you really think so?" She steps out of the circle of his arms. "He kidnapped me out of my own room on our wedding night. I hate to admit it, but if he wants me, then he will find a way to get me. You know that! He even named the Knights of Ren after you!"
"But Rey—"
"Besides, I can at least be part of the archers. You know Aunt Jyn taught me to shoot too, not just Rose. I'm not staying here." His worried look is back. "I know that you're worried," she says as she steps back into his arms. he pulls her close again and she loves the spot he lets her fit. "But the safest place for me is with you."
"Do you promise not to fight anyone on your own? Or better yet, not to fight at all?"
"I promise. Just promise me that you'll do your best to return to me?"
"Always."
Brbrbrbrbr
"You wanted to see me, Nana?" Rey asks. One of Ben's cousins had found her and said that her presence was requested by the Skywalker matriarch.
"Come and sit my dear," Nana says. Under one of the oak trees outside the castle walls Nana and Papa had set up their wagon. Even though Aunt Jyn had begged for them to come in and sleep in one of the many bedrooms, Nana asked that they be excused for Papa has come to enjoy being in the wagon and the freedom that came with it.
When Ben's grandparents asked if they could use a table and several chairs, Uncle Cassian himself brought them out. "This is nice," Rey says as she sits at the table under the tree.
"I've always loved Naboo. Did you know that I'm from here?"
"Somehow, I've always known that. Didn't you and Grandpa grow up together?"
"We did, but it was more of us playing together when we were young. But that's not why I called you out here. Amilyn and Leia want me to start showing you how to heal."
"I didn't know I could learn that," Rey utters. "How?"
"It's magic, my dear, or the force as they call it. Now, you have the force in you, everyone does. Some people are more sensitive than others." Nana extends her hands towards Rey, palms up. "Put your hands in mine, dear." As soon as Rey touches Nana, she can feel the hum of something just under her skin. "I know you can feel that. It's the force."
"How—"
"I don't have the sensitivity like Anakin and Ben does, but I have a measure. And over the years, I've trained mine, I guess you could say to heal. I'm not going to go fight the enemy, I was better used to help. I think you can fight and heal. I must ask, why did you choose to fight?"
"Aunt Jyn. She's not—she didn't grow up in the castle, but on a farm. She always talked about how grandfather had a title, but he didn't live like a member of the peerage. And because of that, she learned how to fight and wanted me to know how to too."
"Yes, I remember that about Galen. You know how you can feel the hum of the force in me? I can feel it in you."
"You can?" Rey squeaks. "I never knew—"
"You do. and you need to learn to heal. Now to use this gift, you need to tap into the light side—"
"There's a light and a dark?"
"Oh, my you really don't know anything about this, do you?"
"She's never trained, Nana," Ben says as he approaches them. "But she's willing to learn."
He bends over to kiss Nana first, then he walks around to give Rey a kiss too before he sits down. "That always helps," Nana replies. "Usually, the best way is for me to just show you—" she reaches for Ben's hands, and all three of them form a lop-sided shape. "Now, just like before, close your eyes, deep breath—"
"Nana! What are you doing here?" One of the twins chirps.
Nana gasps and Rey's eyes open, breaking the force connection. "Is that—"
"It is. they want to talk to you," Rey smiles. But then she sees Nana's tears and she remembers how amazing this is. "Just relax and close your eyes."
"Mama, did we scare Nana? We sorry."
"It's alright, sweet ones. You just startled her."
"Yes, my precious ones. You two would never scare me, would you?"
"Never, we love you too much!" One of them chirps.
The other one agrees, "We can't wait to meet you and Papa!"
"We can't wait for you two either." Rey can feel Nana's tears through the bond but doesn't dare to open her eyes.
"Daddy!"
"Hello babies. Are you two being good?"
"We want to play with you—"
"When can we ride on Silence and B.B.?"
"When can we go swim with you and Mama?"
"When can we—"
"Babies, I think it's time for a nap."
"We don't want to sleep."
"Yes, you do—" Ben says.
"If Daddy says it's time to sleep, then it's time to sleep," Nana interrupts in her practiced mother's voice. "Or be still and listen, I need to teach your mother how to heal."
"We want to learn that too."
"Then listen." out loud, Nana says, "Picture the light. This is the part of the force we can heal through. Now, just like you're taking a lot of medicine for the sickness or wound, we picture ourselves taking part of the light and shaping it to help our friend. Go ahead and try that now."
Ben and Nana watch as Rey reaches into their combined subconscious. She gathers a measure of light in her hands and amazingly enough, it stays like thick mud instead of running between her fingers like water.
"My back has been bothering me for a while now," Nana says as a dream-like vision of her shows up next to the light. "Take the light, shape it to fit and put it on my back."
Dream Rey helps dream Nana. Rey can feel the light flowing through her, touching Nana. The ladies are still until a huge grin appears on Nana's face.
"Thank you, dear," Nana whispers as she opens her eyes, breaking the connection. "That's much better."
"I did it? That was amazing."
"Now we're almost ready to kill Snoke." Ben smiles an evil smile that she's never seen before.