Chapter Two

Rey was soaked to the bone when she returned to the Falcon, but she didn't seem to mind. Ben had barely beat her back—he had found his crystal a bit closer, farther downstream from Rey's. She showed him her find, brimming with excitement. Her enthusiasm was almost childish, but Ben realized that he, too, was hardly less eager than his first time assembling a saber.

"Do you want to dry off before you get started?" Ben asked anxiously.

Rey shook her head, sending water droplets spiralling out from her hair. "I'm fine. It's warm."

"Alright." Ben sank to a sitting position in the middle of the clearing, crystal and saber pieces in hand. Rey followed his example, crossing her legs and resting her back against his. Ben could feel the wet of her tunic soaking through his shirt, but it hardly mattered to him. He liked being able to feel her.

Ben cleared his mind, focusing on the crystal. He poured himself into it and opened himself to it. He was woven deep within the currents of the Force, the crystal with him. He could sense that Rey was nearby, on a similar plane, brushing up against him but still separate. Time was irrelevant, gone from Ben's mind if he had ever cared for it. Nothing existed but him and the crystal and the Force that bound them. His body began to move eventually, and his awareness felt dim and yet deep at once. He could feel every twitch in the Force bringing the pieces together, the texture of warm stone and cold metal on the pads of his fingers, and still his intentions were so crystal clear he could hardly see them.

The last piece was in place and Ben was falling back into himself and then falling quite literally out of the air. He managed to get his legs under him in time and righted himself. He hadn't realized that they had lifted several feet off the ground. Rey was still sitting cross-legged in the air, rotating slightly as she delicately connected pieces of her saber. Her face was slack and peaceful except for her brows, furrowed in concentration.

Ben moved back several paces. He figured it would take a lot to startle her out of her trance, but he didn't want to find out what would happen if he did. The saber hilt felt familiar in his hand, and he turned it over, running his fingers over the metal and inspecting it. The hilt gleamed with color in the light of the rising sun. It had been midday when they had begun their meditation. They must have been here all night. Or maybe more than one. Ben wasn't sure. He flipped the switch and watched his lightsaber spark to life.

The blade was clean and smooth, and after the spitting fury of his last saber this new creation was almost overwhelmingly beautiful. Ben clenched his free hand into a tight fist, knuckles whitening and nails digging into his palm. The urge to touch the blade was fighting with Ben's common sense. It was a wonderful rich dark blue. It was what he had expected, after all. His first blade had been blue. But he thought maybe the shade was different, tinged with purple, perhaps. A hint of the Dark side. It didn't really bother Ben.

He sensed that Rey was almost done and deactivated his saber, returning to her side. She levitated a final piece into place and her hands found the hilt. Her eyes flew open, and Ben scooped her out of the air before she hit the ground. She slumped into his arms, and Ben could feel her exhaustion.

"Thanks," Rey muttered as Ben set her on her feet. She looked down to the hilt in her hands and the wonder in her eyes was familiar. He saw it sometimes when she looked at him. Ben felt his heart swell. The indescribable feeling had become common, a mixture of pride and love like he couldn't quite believe she was his. He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, resting his chin on her hair.

Rey leaned back against Ben's chest in silent acknowledgement and, holding it away from her, rotated the switch on her lightsaber.

The warm gold blade illuminated her features. Ben couldn't help but let out a small but audible "oh."

"What is it?" Rey asked, twisting her neck so she could see him.

"I've just never seen one in person before. A yellow blade," said Ben. "In the Old Republic, it would've assigned you to guard the Jedi Temple."

"Is that good?"

"I think so. Jedi with yellow sabers were known to fight with compassion in particular."

A small smile flickered over Rey's lips. "Let's see yours," she said.

Ben turned on the blade and handed her the grip. "I think we could both use some rest," he said.

"Right." Rey took a moment to admire the saber before handing it back and following Ben to the Falcon.

Ben sat cross-legged as Rey danced between trees, saber in hand. She seemed scarcely aware of him. He thought he could watch her lithe body lunge and flip in the gold glow of her new lightsaber forever. Picking up a thin stick, he absently smoothed the dirt in front of him with a hand and started tracing her figure in the soil. No, that was no good. He brushed over his drawing and tried again. There, several strokes had captured the motion of her lunge. He waited patiently for her to make the move again, watching the muscles bunch in her legs as her body fell back into the position he was looking for. He added a few more details and shifted a bit, tracing the profile of her face on a blank area. Three loops for her buns, tendrils of messy hair fanning out and framing her face. The curve of her brow. Her eyelashes, curling forward—there, now it looked like she was looking at something. He had forgotten to look up, head drooping closer to his dirt canvas. He didn't need to look to see her face, anyway. A pair of gray boot toes appeared in his frame. He jumped, slashing a hand across his drawings.

"They were good," said Rey, as Ben looked up at her, still startled.

"I—uh—thanks," he stammered.

"I haven't seen you try out your new lightsaber."

Ben was still off guard and flustered. "I was…"

"Watching me? Yeah, I know." There was a mischievous twinkle in Rey's eyes. "It's hardly fair, you just sitting there while I show off. Come on, let's spar."

Ben's face was burning, but it didn't seem like he had a choice. He got to his feet and ignited his blue saber as Rey backed off a few paces and lit up her own. They circled each other, and Ben flipped his lightsaber with a lazy flick of his wrist, warming up his joints. He swung a slow, predictable blow and Rey deflected it easily, then jabbed at his legs. He leapt out of the way. Rey was waiting where he landed. Their blades clashed through the forest, with no real desire to meet their targets.

Rey moved toward him, and Ben took up a defensive stance, both hands holding his saber close enough to his body. Rey's swing was wide and Ben's blade followed her feign as she dodged the way she had come, deactivating her lightsaber. She ducked and popped up inside the circle of Ben's arms as he was regaining his footing, her warm body pressed against his. She grasped the hilt of his blade. In his surprise, he let her have it. Then somehow Ben was on the forest floor and Rey was straddling his chest, her saber crossed with his own over his throat.

"I yield." He could feel her breath on his face.

"Good fight," she said, deactivating both blades and clipping Ben's back on his belt for him.

"You were already warmed up," he grumbled.

"Someone's a sore loser," Rey responded, planting a quick kiss on his forehead.

"That's it." Ben wrapped an arm around her waist and flipped himself over, pinning her under him. She struggled half-heartedly.

"You can't make up for lack of skill with sheer size, Ben," she teased.

"Watch me," he growled, pressing her shoulder to the ground as she squirmed. He liked this side of her he was just getting to know, confident and teasing. Somehow, it was her insults that betrayed her feelings.

Rey gave up her struggle and placed her arms around her neck, pulling his head toward her. Oh yes, this was what Ben had wanted to do since he started doodling her in the dirt.

"Some days, I can't believe that you're real," he whispered, his voice husky.

"Well you'd better believe it," Rey shot back, "otherwise thin air just kicked your ass."

Ben stopped and made a face at her. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"Oh, just shut up and kiss me already." Ben didn't need to be told twice. His lips found hers instantly. Rey's arms snaked around him, pulling him down to her.

Ben pulled away to kiss the place where her jaw met her neck. Her skin was salty from sweat worked up while they sparred.

"Mmm." Rey stretched her neck, exposing more of her tender throat to him. When Ben reached her collarbone, he pulled back, hovering over her.

"Ben? You alright?"

"Yeah," he said, smirking slightly at her. "I just think we should take this back to the Falcon."

"Right."

He stood up quickly, scooping her off the ground before she had a chance to get to her feet and planting a light kiss on her cheek as he carried her up the ramp.

Onboard the ship, the comm was blinking urgently.

"Auugh," Rey groaned, throwing her head back and going limp with frustration in Ben's arms. He struggled to keep her flexible body from slipping.

"We don't have to answer it."

"No," Rey sighed, swinging her legs out of Ben's grasp and jumping to the floor, "it's probably—it's definitely the Resistance. And when they need me they need me."

Ben bit back an I need you and followed her to the comm. Rey tapped it and a small holographic Rose appeared.

"Rey! Oh, thank goodness, I've been trying to reach you for a while now. Wait—are you okay? Your hair's a mess and you're covered in leaves."

"We just got in from sparring." Rey reached up to pluck some leaves from her hair and unbent her collar, flipping it over the side of her neck.

Poe elbowed his way into the projection. "Oh," he said, eyeing Ben, who had also collected his fair share of leaves, "is that what they're calling it these days?"

"Shut up, Poe." Rey frowned. "What's going on, Rose?"

"Right. About six hours ago…Someone put a massive bounty on both your heads."

"What?!" Ben roared. He could understand a bounty on himself. Frizz, he probably deserved it. But Rey?

"Hold up, I'm sending you the info," Rose said.

The holo projection flattened into a screen, displaying crude drawings of Ben and Rey. The images were labeled with "Wanted: Kylo Ren and his Dark consort, Sith Empress Palpatine. 18,000,000 credits."

The screen returned to Rose. "It's rare for bounties to go public, but this was released anonymously early this morning. Since, several systems have put out requests, and they've upped the reward pretty consistently. I'll send you a list."

"Why the dosh do they want Rey?" Ben exploded. "That was barely more than a kriffing week! She didn't have a crinking choice!"

Rey was pale, but she put her hand on Ben's arm. He exhaled and deflated a bit, bringing a hand to his forehead.

"Han's had bounties on him before. How did he get out of it?"

"He didn't. He got kriffing frozen. Mom always used to hold it over him—'I should've left you on Jabba's wall!'"

"This is a lot bigger," said Rose. "We think it might be best if you two…disappear for awhile."

Rey nodded, looking down at her feet. Neither of them had prepared for a trip of more than a few days. Ben moved a step behind her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. When Rey looked up, her eyes were determined. "The Resistance can't know where we are. It will just put you all in unnecessary danger. Send me the info and I'll write it down, then wipe the comms' memory. This conversation never happened."

"You can do that?" Ben asked, mildly impressed.

"Ben," Rey said flatly, none of her earlier playfulness in her voice, "I've taken apart and put back together every machine you've ever seen and more."

"I'm comming you again tomorrow," Rose stated.

Rey nodded.

"Rey?" Finn's face had appeared next to Rose's. "May the Force be with you."

"And with all of you."

Author's Note: Because people were asking about the bounty amount from the teaser, I just anted to clarify that it's actually quite high (at least that's my intention). 18 million credits is nearly double the Imperial bounty on Leia's head during ESB and several orders of magnitude larger than those on Han and Luke. No, I haven't accounted for inflation if that's a thing in this universe.

Anyway, I hope y'all are enjoying the story so far! As always, please let me know what you think!