"Hey," Rey says as he's finishing up his dad's latest project. He ducks his head out and finds her smiling up at him. She reaches towards his face, her hand poised over his cheek. "You've got something …." Then she's wiping his skin with a suppressed grin. "Isn't this usually your job?"
"I dunno. We both may have to be on smudge duty. I might be … might be working with my dad."
"On the Falcon?" she asks, a bit surprised.
"Yeah, he kind of … well he kind of offered me a job." There's a tremor of fear in her eyes and he realizes she thinks he's going to leave her. He quickly adds, "I thought we both could. You know this ship inside and out, from what I've seen."
"He did ask me once … in the future," she says wistfully.
He wipes his hands and folds hers into his larger ones. "We'll decide together. I never want to be apart from you. We have so many possibilities."
She looks at him with confusion. "All I really know how to do is fix things. Well … and fight."
"There's always school," he offers. He misses it, learning as much as he could about history, science, all of it.
Her eyes slide away with a hint of shame. "I've never been."
"That doesn't mean you can't. I don't like to rely on my position, but I am a prince. They'd pull some strings, if I asked."
Rey hums out a noncommittal sound. "Well, like you said, we'll figure it out together."
He nods. "Together. That's what we do, isn't it?"
She beams up at him. "Yes. It is."
"I mean … it could be fun, working with my dad. I know he adores you, and things with him they're … better."
"Roaming the galaxy with your father, is that what you want?"
All the adventures they could have spin out before him, showing her the galaxy the way he'd always wanted to see it himself. He's been to many places over the years, but usually as part of a diplomatic delegation or looking for Jedi relics.
He's never seen his father's world, and the idea is … well, it's exciting. Brushing with danger, getting out of tight spots. He can just imagine he and Rey using their powers to tip the balance, make his father proud. And perhaps nudge him into slightly less seedy pursuits. Maybe even try and help people who have no one?
It's so easy to see how he and Rey would spend all that time in hyperspace. He could teach her all about cooking, show her everything his dad has taught him. Maybe get his dad involved, learn some new tricks.
And the nights, oh the nights. He'd make love to her, slowly, completely, until she'd beg for sleep. They still have so much to explore, even though he's quite sated with where they've already been. He can't really imagine enjoying anything more than diving his face between her folds, but perhaps being within her, giving physical form to their bond … well maybe it will rival that taut place between giving and taking.
"Yes, yes, it's what I want. I want to see everything with you, experience all the galaxy holds. I want to see your face as we race through the stars, hear your joy when we meet new people. Nothing makes me happier than making you happy."
Then she's kissing him with a desperation he doesn't really understand, but he's more than happy to meet her ferocity. Gods, he could kiss her for hours, days, years, and never get enough.
Then he hears a loud noise and he pulls from Rey to find his father banging on a panel. Rey twists away from him and blushes brightly.
"Uh, sorry," Ben mumbles.
"Eh. I get it. I couldn't keep my hands off your mom—"
"Dad!"
"What? Just sayin' …"
Rey finds her voice. "Where's Poe?"
"Oh, probably several parsecs away by now. He's on his way to Atalyn."
She makes a disappointed face and says, "I'd wanted to wish him luck."
Han snorts. "I think that kid had enough of our drama. He was keeping a pretty close eye on the time, practically ran out of here."
Ben muses, "Yeah … I would too, if I was him."
"Well … I'm sure I could find us a job …" Han says with a half-serious tone.
"Hmmm," Ben hums, tapping his lips with his finger.
"Don't even think about it," Rey says to Ben with a ferocity that surprises him. "We have to be ready to go to Kamino as soon as we hear from Han's contacts."
"I was just kiddin'," Han says with a grin. "We'll save your plants, kid."
There's a long silence, then Ben asks, "Do you need me for anything else?" He finds he needs some time alone with Rey. Working with his father has calmed him, but he's been so caught up with his family that he's pining for the peace that only Rey can bring him.
"Nah. I'll just finish this up. Go spend time with your girl," he says with a wink.
He really wishes his dad wouldn't do that. It's just weird.
He and Rey walk along the promenade near the apartment, hand in hand. He's taking her to the park he used to enjoy as a child. It's lined with well-tended trees and the occasional bench donated by a bereaved family or city leader.
"It's nice to be outside. I never thought there'd be so much green in a big city like this," Rey remarks.
Ben rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, well … this is the … uh, nice part of town." It's nothing like this in the lower levels. But the privileged must have their scenery.
"Ben …" she says slowly before asking, "Just how well off is your family?"
"We're … comfortable," he answers, feeling anything but. He has no desire to underline the disparity in their beginnings.
"But … you're … you're a prince. I mean … I just, does it bother you?" Her hand not in his flails.
"Being a prince?" He shrugs. "It used to, but now I just see it as a way to honor my mother."
"No, I mean … me," she says in a small voice and he stops their journey, turning to her swiftly. She's pulled in on herself and he lets out a long breath, gripping her biceps.
"Nothing about you bothers me. You're perfect."
"But … I'm just a scavenger from a poorer than poor planet. I hadn't even touched credits until a year ago."
His brow furrows. "But … then how did you pay for things?"
She snorts inelegantly. "I didn't. Plutt only gave us food if we found things of value. Everything else was scavenged or traded."
"Oh," he says dumbly. He can't quite imagine how that would even work, not really. He's never, not once, not had credits at his disposal. Frowning slightly, he realizes he has no actual idea of what Rey's life was like. Yes, she shared her memories, but it was fleeting, just enough to give him a taste of her arduous existence.
it's not the full picture and he wonders what else is hidden under her shifting sands. Swiftly, he pulls her into his arms. "I hate how you lived. I hate it."
He feels her shrug in his tight embrace and he pulls back, taking her face in his hands. "I want to hurt this Plutt fellow. What he put you through—"
"But he didn't, not now. Not him, at least."
"I'd still like to feel my saber go through his neck," he hisses.
"Ben!" she exclaims, pulling away from him and looking into his eyes with alarm.
"What? He hurt you. If anyone deserves to die, it's him."
"You don't mean that."
Oh, but I do.
"Why do you defend him?" he asks, perplexed.
Rey sighs, long and low. "Because, even though I hate him … he did take care of me. In a way."
"Making you drag yourself through those desiccated carcasses of a dead Empire?" he asks with contempt.
Her eyes immediately shutter, and he rubs his hands along her arms. "I'm sorry … please … tell me."
"You wouldn't understand," she says with finality while pulling from him. Again. His fists ball and he wants to scream. Why is she always shutting him out?
While a huge part of him wants to beg her to let him in, instead, he quietly says, "That's not fair."
"None of this is fair," she dismisses.
"No. I mean it's not fair to me. To just decide that I won't be able to listen, to fathom … well … you." His gaze pleads with her and she's wide eyed, stunned to silence.
Her mouth opens and closes, then she deflates. "You're right," she whispers.
"You were so sure that I would turn that you didn't trust me enough to let me be part of my own choices. And now you use it as an excuse to hide from me. Why won't you let me know you?" he asks, bluntly but gently.
"Fine! You want to know me? He was the closest thing I had to a father, but he was my master! I tried to win his love and starved on his scraps! I hate him with everything I am and would have killed for just one kind word from him!"
She steps back, wrapping her arms around herself tightly and his heart shudders in his chest. Oh, Rey …
"I'm disgusting! Desperate for that monster to acknowledge me, spawn of the most evil man who ever lived. Why do you even want me?" she wails and Ben notices a crowd is beginning to gather.
Quickly, he puts his arm around her, wrapping her in his coat, and hurries her past the onlookers. She's shaking and he knows she's crying, but he doesn't stop them moving until they reach the park and are hidden in a grove of trees.
When he finally unwraps her, ugly tears are streaming down her face. "I thought—" She hiccups through her weeping, then continues. "I thought if I could save you, then I wouldn't be so broken. But I am! I should want him dead, but … but he's the only family I've ever known."
He croons comfort into her ear as he again takes her in his arms. "No, no … I'm here, I'm your family."
Purposefully, he strokes his hands through the braids she lets him rebraid each night, and she lets out a pained sob. "Shhh, sweetheart. You're everything I could ever want in a lover, a partner … a friend."
"But what's wrong with me? I should want to hurt him with you."
"Well, you're made of much finer stuff than I, for one."
She shakes her head emphatically. "That's not true."
"Mmmm," is all he says and her eyes bore into his.
"No. I don't know why you still think so little of yourself, but you're … you're beautiful," she says with a touch of awe.
All he can do is make a harsh sound at that absurd notion, but now she's the one to reach for him, her hands clasping his face. "Truly. You are so strong, so kind … you're full of so much love. I wish you could see it."
Seeing his chance, he takes it. Even if he doesn't agree with her. "And why can't the same be true of you?"
"Because I'm nothing," she mumbles, shame heating her cheeks.
"Who told you that?" he asks softly.
Her eyes grow that far away tinge they do when she's thinking of the future, but all she says is, "Everyone."
"They were wrong. All of them." Then he gets an idea and he takes her hands, encouraging her to kneel with him. "Let me show you. Come into my mind."
Into my soul.
Hesitantly, her luminous hazel eyes meet his and her face is brimming with hope. Good, she believes that he loves her, enough that she wants to see. Her face is open and trusting, and he silently thanks every god that she allows their minds to flow together, knowing what an act of forgiveness it is for her.
They breathe in tandem with their gaze locked on each other. He could spend the rest of the day counting each color that sparks in her unfathomable eyes, the glinting golds, the deep greens, shifting and beautiful. Just like her.
Slowly, he opens himself to her fully and the Force flows like water. Unstoppable. Gentle. Ferocious in strength and the giver of life. He begins with how he felt when he first saw her, how his whole universe burst into color and light. How he felt like he could finally fill his lungs with air after a lifetime of gasping.
Just looking at her had made him swell with possibility and oh, how he'd needed her. He hopes she can feel how she nourished his starving spirit.
The first time she touched him, the obscene pleasure, the connectedness, how he never wanted to be parted from her. The simple act of holding hands meaning so much more than anything he'd ever felt before.
Complete.
Floating with her near the waterfall, feeling held so much more by the energy streaming between him than he had by the cool water. That sense he's come to believe in, that she's right here, always right here. In his heart, in their soul; he has her and she has him.
Safe.
Losing himself in her body, how her taste feeds him, her cries inflame him. All that heated skin and total trust as she gives herself to his hands. The sheer astonishment that she wants him, too.
Connected.
Braiding her hair, the pride that overwhelms him that she wants to be his, that he's always been hers. Knowing that, someday, he'll pledge himself to her though he already has in all the ways that matter.
Claimed.
Watching her brilliant mind work through the latest issue on the Falcon, how she just seems to instinctively understand the mad ship's systems. How she'd taken to the Force like a newborn foal already knows how to walk, that her instinctive grasp of her power leaves him breathless.
Awed.
Her unbridled glee when he finds her a new experience to enjoy, a new food to please her, dancing with her in the club, the lights and throbbing music somehow taking them to some place where it's only them, adrift on a sea of life.
Satiated.
When his storm comes for him, but he fights it back. For her. For him. To protect this precious cord that connects them, wraps around them, tangles them together for eternity. Because that's all he is, now. He's the man she deserves, the man who will breathe for her.
Loved.
On their knees, lost and found in each other's eyes, he shows her everything she is to him, and the sheer emotion riots through their hearts, their being, their shared soul. He feels her answering rush of feeling, and he has to believe she understands.
Slowly, gently, he pulls back, a bit disoriented from being so completely enmeshed, to find her eyes shining and wide.
"You're everything," he whispers.
She swallows and makes a secret smile before nodding.
"Do you see? Do you understand who you are to me?"
Again, she nods. "I see, I do."
He takes her face in his hands and presses a soft, sweet kiss to her lips. But it sparks into something so much more and he feels as if he's sealing some promise to her with his caress. That they've crossed into some new land, together, hands enmeshed, hearts as one.
Always.
Feeling buoyed by sharing so much of himself with Rey, there's an eagerness to his step as they walk back to the apartment. He has Rey, nothing else matters. He'll find a way to make peace with his uncle, they'll go to Kamino and bring down the darkness stalking the universe.
He's done waiting.
He knows, like he knows he loves Rey, that the galaxy is turning, that the light is breaking over the horizon.
Nothing can stop them, not when they're together.
A/N: Thank you, ArtemisBare. I honestly can't imagine going through this time without you to keep me laughing.
Thank you, Mr. Downing, who has been doing his best to keep me entertained and is having a lot of fun cooking. So far we aren't driving each other nuts!
Thank you, Readers! I'm sorry I haven't been writing more. I intend to fix that, as I really have no excuse not to be pounding out the chapters. I can only watch so much news. It's a truly odd time and I hope that everyone is staying healthy. I'm keeping you all close in my heart.
