A prelude to more intense things to come.


Pants filled the room as both lovers fell on the bed. Sweat glistened on their bodies, a lazy smile growing on Rey's lips.

"You may be a demanding lover, but I bet you didn't know how greedy I'd be," Rey teased Ben as she used her finger to move his fringe from his eyes. Ben grunted in response.

"I still bet I can tire you out," he said with weak challenge. Sleep was starting to get to him. He technically hadn't rested since he was remade.

Rey laughed lightly and caressed his back with her hand. "Go to sleep Ben. You'll need your strength," she said her voice full of promise.

Ben woke a few hours later to an empty bed. His hand reached out and felt the warmth of where Rey had been, but did not find a body. He opened his eyes with a groan and lifted his head to look around.

"Rey?" he called out gruffly, his voice full of sleep.

"Yeah?" came her voice. She had been in the 'fresher. She walked out and had a towel drying her hair. The rest of her was nude. She seemed to care not. Ben just remained looking at her, his brain seeming to have frozen.

"I didn't want to wake you. You seemed to be so tired last night. I just needed a shower," Rey said, "I felt icky."

Ben shrugged off the shock of seeing his lover in the nude during the day. He groaned as he sat up and stretched. He had sure given his body a workout last night. For it being brand new,
it certainly had aches and pains of a 30 year old.

"I should probably do the same," he said standing up and walking towards Rey. Also in the nude. Rey stopped toweling her hair and just started unabashedly. She had only seen his cock as it was going in and out of her. She hadn't really had time to...observe. He was thick, had veins that were not blue just skin colored, and he seemed long.

"Is it supposed to hang past your scrotum like that? Its like 3 inches past it," Rey said walking closer and showing genuine interest in it. Ben cleared his throat and looked down briefly.

"I, uh, don't know. I never really thought about it," he said reluctantly. He suddenly felt like a specimen under a microscope.

"So...when you get erect, the skin here retracts right?"

"Yes."

"And you're most sensitive where?" she said taking his phalus in hand and moving it around. She was finally inspecting the hardware. With no embarrassment it seemed.

Ben cleared his throat again, "Un-under the tip usually."

Rey swept her finger past the underside of his head. Ben tightened his jaw. She then moved on towards his scrotum. It was wrinkled and seemed to be moving of it own accord. She was mesmerized. She cupped the sack and ran her thumb over the skin that seemed to be moving like oil in water. For the skin being wrinkled it was also smooth.

"This is amazing!" she said with awe. She let go of the sack and just kept looking at it. 'I wonder...' She puckered her lips and blew cool air to it. The skin of the sack began to move again and in rapid succession. It puckered and shrunk into itself. Ben was amused but somewhat weirded out. His cute little scavenger was rummaging around his man parts like salvage pieces for a starship. This wasn't sexual. This was completely for her information. Ben looked on with a smile. This was odd, but it was intimate. It showed how comfortable she was with him. Because she trusts him. Because she loves him.

'Amazing how my vagina stretched to let this in. I wonder if my mou-'

Her thoughts were cut off by Ben lifting her quickly by her arm. "You don't need to wonder. Let's test it out," he said with a feral gleam.

Rey was going to need another shower.


Finn focused on the burn of the liquor as he took another swig. He looked at the amber fluid and found that it only reminded him of ring he had made for her. Of her brown whiskey eyes that he loved to look at.

"She's coming back. You know she's gonna do everything she can to get back to you. At the very least get some kind of message to you," Poe offered from the side of Finn.

Finn looked over at Poe with a deadpanned expression. "Poe...it was the Force that took her. She wasn't kidnapped on some ship with comms," Finn said sounding very tired all of a sudden.

"She's resourceful, our Rey. If she's with the Force somewhere, then you know she's unharmed at least."

"We're supposed to get married today Poe. She was to be my wife. I know she didn't love me like...like him, but I know she cared for me. We could have been happy," Finn said taking another drink of the liquor in his hand.

"You're gonna be buddy. Maybe not today, but soon. As soon as she get's back, you'll see. We'll be celebrating with you both," Poe said clapping his depressed friend on the shoulder.

Finn chuckled with no mirth. A sardonic laugh that was very unlike his usual jovial nature. "That's not going to happen."

"You assume the worst Finn. For all you know it was Luke or Leia that pulled her away. I don't know, like a Force meeting?" Poe supplied weakly.

Finn cracked a small smile at that. "You're an idiot sometimes, you know that right?"

Poe narrowed his eyes suspiciously at this friend. "You suspect something don't you? You think you know who took her."

Finn looked away and took another swig of his liquor. "You remember how I found her? Basically with no reason to live. That was because of him. Do you know why his death had her like that? Why she would grieve an arrogant, tyrannical, murdering prick?" Finn asked his friend with a small nod his head and a lift of his brow.

Poe cleared his throat and dropped his eyes from Finn's stare. "No. I can't say I do."

"Because through the Force, they were a dyad. A fancy word for soulmates basically. So knowing this piece of information, I ask you, who do you think took her?"

Poe lifted his brows in realization. "He did."

"Bingo," Finn said with a quick point of his finger in Poe's direction. "That son of a bitch, that woe-as-me victim of his circumstances, gets two prizes in death: to exist in the Force as Luke and Leia do, and Rey," Finn said standing up wiping his upper lip in disbelief. "He had everything in life. A family, the Force, food in his belly, a home over his head. And because of whatever reason, he wasn't loved enough, something in the darkside of the Force, whatever. He threw it all away. Killed his father, sorely disappointed and emotionally tortured his mother, killed countless people, and what does he get? The Force grants him a soulmate."

Finn slugged down the last of his liquor and tightened his lips as he felt it burn down his esophagus. Poe kept silent not knowing what to say or if he should say anything at all. It seemed as though his friend needed to purge himself of the thoughts he obviously had harbored for awhile.

"I hate him," Finn said quietly, "I hated him when I found Rey in the state she was in. He wasn't worth it, her taking her life. I hated him after when I saw her start to heal, but still not be as when I first met her on Jakku. And I hate him even more now. I never knew my parents. I never felt love as a child. I was taken from my home, raised as a 'trooper, and even so I fought the good fight. I made the right decisions. Never did I harbor ill will towards anyone."

Finn began to clench his hand; Poe began to hear a crunching noise like light static. He looked over to where Finn had placed his cup. It was beginning to crumble; it was reacting to his friend. Finn was the one crushing the cup. Poe looked up in awe, but remained silent.

"I hope he stays dead. I hope that this is just a visit for closure, that he's saying goodbye. If he comes back somehow...I swear Poe I'll send him back."

Poe only nodded, but felt unease settle in his stomach.


It was 1235 on the chrono next to Ben. Rey was currently getting dressed, and she was trying to convince her lover to do the same.

"I need to get back Ben. Finn and the others are going to be wondering what happened to me, or if I'm even alive," Rey said as she put her shoes on.

Ben grunted. He didn't want to leave this little bubble that currently encased them. They were safe here in this moment. Sure she was mentioning other names, but they hadn't seen anyone yet. They hadn't left their little cocoon. Rey felt the irritation and concern stemming from Ben. She was not blind to his feelings, but they way she had left Finn was cause to worry him to death.

"What will you tell him when you see him?" Ben asked quietly.

"The truth," Rey said simply.

"That I fu-"

"That I can't marry him, Ben. Grow up a little yeah?"

Ben had been smiling when she interrupted him, but he sobered. "He loves you Rey. He won't take this well. Especially because its me," Ben said quietly.

Rey stood and walked over to him. She put her hand on his and cupped his face with her other hand. "He knows about you. That we're a dyad. He knows that you are the reason I no longer wanted to live. He knows everything. I have not hidden anything from him or given him false hope about how I feel. He knew that even married, I would never grow to love him like I do you. You are it for me," she said pecking his lips lightly.

Ben sighed and nodded. "Will I wait for you here?"

Rey arched a brow. "No. You're coming with me."

Ben looked at his lover with raised brows. "That might not be the best idea. That man will want to punch me at the very least. I will defend myself Rey."

"And when I tell him that 'Yeah Ben Solo is back and he and I are together,' but you're not there, he'll think I've lost it. I'll need proof that I'm not leaving him for a ghost."

Ben grunted in concession. "Alright, but remember I will defend myself if it comes to it."

Ben went to stand and reached for his shirt. Rey stopped his by running her hands over his chest and abs. "Which reminds me, when there is a moment for it, I would like to spar."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Well first thing is, no one here knows how to spar with a lightsaber, and I am getting rusty. Second, and I am secure enough to admit this, seeing you fighting with your red light saber in your uniform...Let's just say that makes me sweat from more than just physical exertion," she said nipping at his lip playfully.

Ben laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "Naughty jedi. Were you fantasizing about your enemy?" Ben teased with a slap to her ass.

"More than once," she said wiggling out of his arms and handing him his shirt. Ben grunted again and took it from her.

Maybe he still had that uniform stashed somewhere.

Ben finally left the building where his grandfather had resurrected him to. It felt odd and precarious to be out and about. Granted most the galaxy knew him from his time as Kylo Ren. He tried very religiously to always keep his helmet on when out in public. He never wanted anyone to see to his face. Some of that was for privacy, the other was for his mother. He may have been a wretch of a son, but that didn't mean that his mother had to look upon the face of the child she adored as he did his wretched things. He walked slowly behind Rey, making sure to keep his head down but not conspicuously so. He had learned you can be too suspicious when trying to not be suspicious.

'Rey you do realized that there is a chance someone could recognize me. We're being reckless doing this,' he whispered in her mind. Rey had thought about that, but knew that there was really no other way. They couldn't stay in their love nest, and she would not ask Finn to come to her.

'And if they do, we run,' she thought back easily. Ben loved the optimism of his woman, but at the same time found it frustrating.

He reached Rey's side and continued to walk beside her. He felt like a schoolboy. He was wanting to hold a girl's hand. A girl he had made love to. Three times. Rey felt the flutter of nervousness coming from Ben, but could not place it. Perhaps it was still from being outside? They continued walking along, and about 5 minutes later she felt his large warm hand encase hers. She looked over at their clasped hands and then up at him. Pink stained his cheeks and he looked briefly at her before looking back down. Rey smiled. She gave his hand a squeeze and continued walking with ease.

"This is it," Rey said coming to a stop finally. Ben looked up and raised his brows.

"This place is Maz's?" he asked in disbelief. The building was tall and ornate. Not dark and dilapidated like the old one he had destroyed.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Rey said with a smile his way.

"Rey are you sure I should be here? Finn...Maz...these are people with serious reasons to point and shoot a blaster at me," Ben said with uncertainty, "I don't want to impose my presence on anyone."

Rey sighed with understanding. "Look, you'll stay where I tell you. When I need you to make an appearance, I'll send for you. Deal?" she said giving his cheek an encouraging peck. "You can lurk in the dark corners until then."

Before Ben could respond, from the corner of his eye he spotted a familiar face. It was the pilot he had interrogated, and he was walking their way. 'Trust me,' Ben thought to Rey. Rey had no time to ask what was going on when Ben took their clasped hands, bent forward, and brought it to his forehead as if in thanks. He then let it go and walked away from her. Rey was completely dumbfounded. What was going on? She was about to yell out to him when she felt a hand grip her shoulder and whirl her around. Rey immediately reached for her saber when her brain caught up to what her eyes were seeing.

"Rey!" came the relieved voice and face of her friend, Poe.

"Poe! What are you doing here?" Rey asked genuinely. Ben's earlier actions now making sense.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? Did you forget what happened? You disappeared last night. Without warning. Into thin air," Poe said with a raise of his brows, and his hands gesticulating.

Rey shook her head. "Yes, of course. I am just surprised to run into you. I thought you would have been at home with Rose," Rey said trying to recover. She let herself reach out to find her lover's Force signature...Ah there it was. Not far from her. She kinda wished that he hadn't of left. She didn't want to delay telling those closest to her the truth.

Poe let go of her shoulder and pulled her to him. "Its so good to see you. I didn't know how concerned I was until I saw you just now," he said letting her go from the hug and giving her a sincere smile. "I was with Finn. You can imagine how he was after you left," he said with a furrowed brow and a flex of his jaw. This registered to Rey. These tiny movements that gave her a feeling of something being off.

"Poe...is Finn ok? Did something happen?" she asked now with concern coloring her voice.

Poe looked at her and pursed his lips. He looked around and then brought her closer to the door of Maz's building. "Look I know nothing of the Force and I won't even try to understand it, but I do know my friend. Finn is a great man. He deserves everything life has to offer."

"And I agree. Where is this coming from Poe?"

'He suspects me,' came Ben's voice. Rey kept her face even, but inside her stomach had dropped.

Poe was looking very intensely into her eyes. "You were with Kylo Ren last night."

Rey's breath hitched both on hearing that name and at the fact that her non-Force friend had guessed correctly, which means..."Finn knows?"

Poe's face flashed with rage as he slapped his thigh in anger. "Kriff you're not even going to deny it."

Rey shook her head as her lip trembled. "I have never lied to you both. I won't start now."

Poe's jaw flexed again and nodded. "Thank you for being honest," he said sighing and wiping his face with his hands, "And at least he stayed gone. Finn figured it was just an over-due goodbye. At least he was right."

The hidden meaning in those words was not lost on Rey, nor on Ben. "What do you mean by that?"

"What?"

"That 'at least he stayed gone' comment."

"Regardless of whatever connection you had with that bastard through the Force, don't forget what he was and still is to all of us Rey. Kylo Ren killed our Resistance family, other civilians, tortured me, killed his father, emotionally tortured his mother. This man, no this thing did inhumane act after inhumane act of his own volition. There is no coming back from that. There is no 'I'm sorry' good enough to permit him to walk around and enjoy life while there are others that cannot at his hand," Poe said passionately. He swallowed and ran a hand through his hair. "And if I feel this way, you can only imagine how Finn must feel."

Rey stood there just breathing. It was all she could do. Ice flowed through her veins paralyzing her thoughts and rendering her unable to move. 'Rey...Rey focus sweetheart.'

Poe gripped her shoulder again seemingly unaware of Rey's internal struggle. "Look Finn got really trashed last night. He's probably still sleeping off a hangover. Come back in a couple of hours. He's in the suit you guys would have shared tonight."

Rey just nodded mutely. Poe lifted his hand and smiled in dismissal. As soon as he was far away enough Ben walked over towards Rey and cupped her face. The paralytic state that had overtaken her after Poe's words was still there. She merely moved her eyes towards him after a few minutes and tears began to leak from her sunny brown eyes.

"He hates you," Rey said in to answer Poe's last sentence. She could indeed imagine how Finn felt. "Finn hates you Ben."


Please drop a word to say if you're enjoying this. I am enjoying writing it. I have an idea of where I want this to go, but not where I want it to end. So its been a fun challenge.