Holding Rey in his arms made all of Ben's worries wash away. He knew he didn't deserve her, but she deserved to have everything she wanted, and for reasons he didn't understand she wanted him. Ben would do whatever it took to make her happy.
He pressed his lips against the top of her head and held her tighter. Offering comfort and showing affection hadn't been part of his life since his childhood. He was relearning it with Rey.
His heart seized painfully as he remembered that Rey was learning it for the first time. She didn't have warm childhood memories like he did. All she had was her time with the Resistance and him.
Ben wouldn't allow her to be alone like that again. He wanted her to have the family she should have had from the beginning. That meant she needed her friends. Her friends that didn't have the same memories that she did, that had only recently met Rey.
She was impossible not to love, so he knew that they would all come to care for Rey as deeply as they had in the original timeline. Ben just had to make sure that he didn't drive a wedge between them.
"What are you thinking about?" Rey mumbled into his shirt.
"You," he answered honestly.
"Good thoughts?"
"Always," he said, smiling, which was something he had found himself doing often around her. His cheeks felt uncomfortably tight, his facial muscles unused to being put to work.
Rey bit her lip. "Do you think Luke will help Finn?"
"I don't know," Ben said. The Luke they found on Ahch-To was not the same Luke that had taught him for most of his life. He didn't know if Luke changed in ways that worked in their favour. "I might be able to convince him he should try."
Rey sat back so that she was facing him. "How?" she asked, biting her lip.
Ben wanted to pull her back into his arms, but took her hand instead. "I know Luke better than anyone."
"He's changed," she warned, echoing his thoughts. "But so have you."
He squeezed her hand. "I'll try."
"Thank you," Rey said.
...
Ben didn't want to leave Rey alone, but she had insisted that he needed to find Luke before his mind was already made up. In both timelines Rey had seen how stubborn Luke was.
Now that Luke wasn't blocking the Force, Ben could sense him in Lando's home. He wasn't as strong of a presence as Rey was, but his presence was strong enough for Ben to know his general direction.
Focusing on the Force sometimes meant he wasn't paying attention to his immediate surroundings. If he hadn't been so focused on Luke, he may have paid close enough attention to avoid running into anyone.
He hadn't realized Rose was in this hallway.
Remembering how Rey told him that Rose needed space, Ben turned around, intending on leaving without saying anything to her.
"Wait," Rose said with a slight tremor in her voice.
Ben faced Rose and waited for her to speak. He fidgeted with the sleeve of his borrowed shirt, a rougher and more lightweight fabric than he was accustomed to wearing.
Rose crossed her arms. "Would you have told me who you are if I hadn't found out when we were escaping the Supremacy?" She maintained eye contact as she spoke. "Or would you have kept me in the dark?"
Ben wished he knew how to repair the damage his deception had caused. Part of him wanted to believe that he would have said something if his mom hadn't decided to keep his identity a secret, but another part of him doubted that he would have told Rose. She had been the first person he had connected to without the baggage of Kylo Ren. "I don't know," he admitted.
Rose pursed her lips. "At least you're honest about that."
If they were ever going to move forward, now wasn't the time. The wound he caused was too fresh. It needed time to heal.
Rose looked like she was about to leave. Ben stopped her with a question. "How's Finn?"
Rose wrinkled her brow. "Why do you care?" Her words could have been harsh and confrontational, but she said them softly, like she was genuinely curious about his answer.
"Rey cares," he answered, not knowing if that would be enough of an explanation.
"He'll be fine," Rose said, nodding. His answer must have been sufficient. "Finn is one the strongest people I've ever met."
"I'm starting to see that," he said. It took strength to escape the First Order and then fight against it – strength Ben hadn't had in the original timeline – strength Finn had.
Having no more to say, Ben and Rose went their separate ways. Losing her trust affected him more than he had anticipated. It meant a lot to him to be seen as a person. With the exception of Rey – everyone looked at him like he was about to turn on them. His dad tried to hide it, but it was obvious that his trust only went so far.
Even though it hadn't gone particularly well with Rose, it hadn't been as bad as he had feared. Ben felt the slight stirrings of hope that maybe one day they would be alright.
...
Luke was in the dining room with his dad and Chewie. All three of them sat at the table, but only Chewie was still eating.
Chewie roared a greeting without looking away from his meal.
"Good to see you," his dad said, motioning for Ben to sit next to him. "Do you want a snack before this one eats all of Lando's food?" He pointed his thumb at Chewie.
Ben didn't sit down. "I'm here to talk to Luke."
His dad raised his eyebrows. "Chewie, let's give these two some space."
Chewie growled.
His dad sighed. "You can bring your plate with you."
Chewie added another piece of bread to his plate and left with Ben's dad. The sounds of his dad and Chewie bickering faded as they walked further away from the dining room.
Ben sat across from Luke.
"Well?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ben leaned forward. "You need to train Finn." Straightforward was the best approach to take with Luke. That was why his dad and Luke got along so well. Ben remembered how chilly his dad had been with Luke since Ahch-To. It was why they had gotten along so well, Ben thought, correcting his earlier thought.
Luke tilted his head. "Do I?" he asked.
Ben nodded. "You're the only one of us he will accept as a teacher." If there was anyone else, Ben wouldn't ask Luke. He was the last resort.
"That's his mistake," Luke said, shrugging. "I'm not a very good teacher." His tone was light, but his face was serious. Like the lines in his face, his pain was deep and permanent.
Ben swallowed. "That's not true," he said reluctantly. Despite his anger at Luke, he had to admit they had many good years together. Even though he never felt like he belonged, he learned a lot from Luke. He wouldn't be the man he was today without Luke – for better and for worse.
Luke leaned back in his chair. "Oh?" He put on an air of nonchalance, but Ben could see through it. Luke's hands were gripped into fists as if he were bracing for the impact of Ben's anser.
"You did alright with the others," Ben said with only a hint of bitterness. Luke had been their beloved teacher.
Luke laughed darkly. "They're all dead."
Ben flinched. "Because of me."
Luke shook his head. "I'm not foolish enough to believe that the blame is yours alone. I have at least an equal share."
Ben closed his eyes, trying to block his memories of that day – that horrible day that changed everything. "My point stands," he said, his voice more steady than he felt. "Without Snoke's – without Palpatine's influence – you'd likely still be a teacher."
Luke looked down on the table. "There's no point dwelling on what might have been." His voice was small and he looked far older than his years.
Ben gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. "So let's talk about the future." He tried to keep his tone neutral. "You have two options: do nothing or do something good. Which will it be?"
Luke looked up at Ben. "I have my doubts that teaching Finn will do him any good," he said with a bitter smile.
"Leaving him untrained definitely won't do him any good," Ben countered. "You either do nothing, which will result in a bad outcome, or you do something, which may result in a good outcome." He shrugged. "Your choice."
Luke ran his hand through his hair. "I'll think about it."
"Don't think for too long," Ben said. "We're in the middle of a war."
...
Lando gathered everyone in the dining room to plan their next steps. Lando and Luke had decided that locating Ochi's blade should be their first priority.
Luke was pacing. "If Palpatine has returned–"
"He has," Rey interrupted.
"–we will find him on Exegol," Luke continued without missing a beat. "Ochi's blade will lead us to the Sith wayfinder. That wayfinder is the only way to get the Exegol."
"There's more than one," Ben reminded him. He remembered the carnage her wrought to gain possession of it.
"And where is the second?" Lando asked.
"Mustafar," Ben answered.
His dad whistled. "Going there is far too dangerous, even for me."
"What's Mustafar?" Rose asked.
"It's a molten planet that houses many Sith cultists," Luke said. He looked at Ben. "They won't let us take a Sith artifact."
"So we should find the other wayfinder first," Paige said. "Hopefully it's somewhere less dangerous."
Rose snorted. "I doubt we'll be that lucky."
Knowing the other wayfinder was on Kef Bir, Ben silently agreed with Rose. Both wayfinders would be difficult for them to find before the First Order did. His knights were already aware there was an important Sith artifact on Mustafar, even though they didn't know what it was. Kef Bir had been on his raydar as well, having been obsessed with his grandfather and the Empire.
Ben hoped that nobody had been able to access his personal files. He had kept all of his records encrypted.
"We'll need to acquire both," Rey said. "We don't want the First Order to get to Exegol before us."
"Ochi's ship isn't far," Lando said. "We should start there."
Chewie growled his agreement, and Ben's dad nodded.
"There are too many of us to all go together," Paige said. "We'll draw too much attention. I haven't seen many visitors on this planet."
"And you won't," Lando said. "Not until the Festival of the Ancestors."
The necklace Rey had been given at that festival had led Ben to Rey in the original timeline. That festival was almost a year from now. He had to remind himself that they had some time.
"I'll go," Luke said. "I know what we're looking for."
"You didn't find it last time you were here," Rey said, sounding skeptical of how much help Luke would be. "I'll go with you."
"So will I," Ben said. Rey wasn't going without him.
"You're not going without me," Finn said.
Lando nodded. "Four is a good number," he said. "It'll be tight, but you'll fit on my speeder."
…
All they found on Ochi's ship was a droid, D-O it called itself.
"Anything of value was taken years ago," Finn said, causing D-O to let out a garbled protest. "I don't think we'll find anything in here."
We need to go into the quicksand, Rey said so that only Ben could hear.
Ben tried not to let his surprise show on his face. What?
That's how we found the blade last time, Rey explained.
You intentionally went into quicksand? he asked, suddenly concerned about Rey's survival instincts.
No, it was an accident. Rey gave him a discreet smile. But it worked out.
Of course it did. Rey had much better luck than he did. How do we convince Luke and Finn?
We make it look like an accident.
Ben didn't like where she was going with this.
"Let's explore the surrounding area," Rey said so that everyone could hear. "Ochi couldn't have made it far."
Rey's words sounded sensible, and only Ben knew that they weren't sensible. The others agreed easily to her suggestion. Ben couldn't share why he was worried without revealing too much.
Everyone followed Rey out of the ship and explored in different directions. Ben pretended to look for signs of Ochi and watched Rey. She made her way to a darker patch of sand – the quicksand Ben guessed – and walked into it.
Rey started sinking immediately.
Even though Ben knew this was her plan, his heart sped up. He wanted to tell her the blade wasn't worth the risk.
"Rey!" Finn called out. He ran over to her and grabbed her arms, trying to pull her out. Instead of rescuing her, he was pulled in. Seconds later both of them were gone.
"We have to go after them," Ben told Luke.
Luke shook his head. "They're dead."
Ben snorted. "They're fine."
Luke raised his eyebrows. "How can you – ah, your bond."
"Let's go," Ben said. He walked to the edge of the quicksand.
"I'm going to regret this," Luke said, sounding put out, "but fine." He followed Ben into the quicksand.
…
The landing was rough. Ben found himself in an underground cave with an unusual pattern on the walls. He wondered what had carved out the passages.
Luke fell beside Ben, almost knocking into him. "This is an unusual place," Luke said.
Finn and Rey must have heard their landing because they joined them from another passage.
"There you are," Rey said, the relief clear in her voice.
Luke was examining the walls. "Where are we?" he asked.
"We think this is where Ochi disappeared to," Finn answered.
"Hmm," Luke said in reply. If Rey hadn't told Ben that they had found the blade here, he would have shared Luke's skepticism.
Rey led them down the passage.
Finn bumped into something and looked down. "I think I found Ochi."
Ben saw what was left of Ochi and looked at Rey. "What killed him?"
She didn't answer. "Let's get the blade and get out of here."
Rey's lack of answer put Ben on edge. He heard something move, and tt wasn't any of them. Whatever it was, it sounded like it was slithering, but the sound was too loud to be a snake.
Rey ignited her lightsaber and Ben and Luke followed her example. Finn took his blaster out of its holster.
The creature that appeared was something out of a nightmare. Ben hadn't been too far off when he thought the sound he heard was similar to a snake.
The creature was much larger than any snake Ben had ever seen. He wasn't sure that all of it was in the passage with them. He hoped it wasn't too much longer. The creature had three sets of unblinking eyes and it hissed at them.
How did you fight it last time? Ben asked.
We didn't, Rey said, which was what he was afraid she would say. I healed it.
Ben scanned the creature for injuries. Its sandy brown skin was unblemished. It doesn't look injured.
I know.
The creature moved towards them, and Finn shot at it with his blaster, giving them the chance to scatter.
Rey, showing no awareness of the danger she was in, went for the blade. Ben stood in front of her to protect her from danger.
"Got it," Rey said. He was glad she had known where the blade was.
Luke hit the creature with his saber, burning its eyes on one side. The wound enraged it further.
"We're just making it angry," Finn called out.
They needed a distraction to escape. "I have an idea," Ben said.
Finn looked over at Ben. "Why does that sound like a bad thing?"
Ben ignored Finn's question. "When I say run, you all need to run."
Rey looked at Ben with wide eyes, but she nodded in agreement.
Ben disengaged his lightsaber and snuck around the creature on the side with its damaged eyes. He moved slowly and kept his steps light. He didn't know how strong the creature's hearing was.
Now behind the creature, Ben grabbed its head, just below its mouth. "Run!"
They ran.
The creature thrashed, but Ben held on.
"You will let me leave," he said to the creature in his most commanding tone.
The creature continued to thrash. "Let me leave," he ordered again to no effect.
"Stop," he yelled, "don't move."
The creature stilled.
Ben exhaled sharply and let go of the creature.
It didn't move.
Unsure if this was a trap or not, Ben backed away slowly, facing the creature. His heart was racing.
Once he had put enough distance between himself and the creature, Ben ran in the same direction as everyone else.
…
Ben didn't stop running until he was on the surface. He was panting, but it was not from exertion. We could have died, he thought.
"Ben," Rey said, sounding slightly out of breath and running towards him. She ran her hands down his chest, searching for injuries.
"I'm fine," Ben told her.
Rey nodded, believing him. She stood up on her toes and pulled his head down, pressing her lips against his. The kiss was frantic, like she was assuring herself he was still here.
Ben returned the kiss with equal fervour. His heart was still racing from the adrenaline of his near escape. He held the back of her head with one hand and rested the other on her spine. She was warm and slightly damp from sweat. He was sure that he was the same.
He had thought she would have been angry with him, but he was happy that this was her reaction to his reckless plan. Her lips were soft against his. They hadn't done this nearly enough.
Rey pulled back far too soon. "Don't do anything like that ever again," she ordered.
"It worked," Ben said, defending himself.
Rey glared. "You're infuriating."
"Is this new?" Finn asked, reminding Ben of their audience.
"I suspect it's been going on since Ahch-To," Luke said. "They're not subtle."
Rey's face reddened, but she didn't move away from him. Once they got back to Lando's, Ben knew that everyone would hear about the kiss. What he didn't know was whether it would be Finn or Luke who would talk first.
…
Rey went back to Ochi's ship to get D-O. She had insisted that they couldn't leave the droid alone. Nobody argued with her.
Ben leaned against the speeder, facing Ochi's ship. He saw Rey enter the ship.
Finn and Luke were already on the speeder. Ben listened to them talk, wanting to hear if Luke had made a decision yet. Finn had the blade, and Luke mentioned that he was anxious to get it translated.
"I'd like to teach you," Luke said to Finn in a low voice. If Ben hadn't been paying attention to them, he wouldn't have heard Luke.
"You want to teach me to be a Jedi?" Finn asked.
Luke sighed. "If that's what you want." He said the words like they were a warning.
"I don't know if I want to be a Jedi."
"You don't have to decide now." Luke sounded slightly more at ease. He must have approved of Finn's caution. "The Jedi aren't the only Force users in the galaxy. I can teach you some basics while you decide."
"I'd like that," Finn said. "I'd like to know how to control it."
"Tonight then?" Luke asked.
Ben's attention was torn away from Finn and Luke by Rey. She was back with D-O.
"Did I hear what I think I heard?" Rey asked.
Ben nodded. "Luke offered to teach Finn."
Rey let out a deep breath "Good."
Ben was relieved for Rey's sake, but he had mixed feelings about Luke becoming Finn's teacher. He knew that Finn needed training, but part of him was jealous. He didn't want Luke to be his teacher – he already knew that was disastrous – but he was jealous that Finn might be the student Luke had always wanted. He had an intuitive understanding of the Force, but he was also far more noble than Ben had ever been. Ben wouldn't be surprised if Finn became a proper Jedi once he moved past his reservations.
"What's going on in there?" Rey asked, tapping his forehead with two of her fingers.
"Just my mind going to dark places," Ben said. He kept his voice light.
"Well, stop it," Rey said.
"It's not that easy."
"You need to think about something else." There was something sly in her voice.
"Like what?" he asked.
Rey gave him a quick kiss. "Did that help?"
"Huh?" he asked, focused on her lips.
Rey smiled. "Did that distract you?"
Ben kissed her cheek and then spoke into her ear. "You know it did."
"Then I'll have to kiss you more often," Rey said, sounding smug.
Ben held Rey's chin in his hand. "You'll get no complaints from me."
"Hey," Finn called out, "we need to get back."
Ben looked up at Finn and Luke.
"It's getting dark," Luke said. "And we need to translate this blade." He pointed at the blade Finn was holding.
Ben sighed.
"Later," Rey said quietly.
Ben's breath caught in his throat. Later sounded like a promise.