Author's Note: I do not own Star Wars, nor am I making any money off this. 'Scuse me while I light the match to start this Reylo garbage fire. Thanks for reading, lovelies! xx

Field of Vision

Chapter Three

The seventh time it happened, it was a temporary relief.

A tremendous battle between the First Order and the Resistance had just taken place, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. Had the battle not been interfered with unnecessarily from Ben's constant source of irritation, General Hux, victory would've been their's today.

The conflict occurred on the old Hoth outpost, with the First Order Stormtroopers being much more acclimated to snowy tundra climates than this generation of Rebels. However, those same Rebels have been able to elude the hand of the First Order since the beginning, and their victories have begun to outnumber his own.

Judging by the look of Ben in the mirror of his washroom, it seemed the Rebels were the clear victors. However, neither side won this battle. It was simply a bloodbath.

Rey had been there too, though not on the front lines like Ben was. Throughout the entire conflict, she had been worried about him. Terrified that one wrong move would end him and leave a gaping hole in the understanding of her world. He still held the answers she needed.

Ben sensed Rey long before she appeared in his chambers, simply knowing that she would be there at some point.

It took all the strength he had to stay upright; hands planted on either side of the sleek metal sink supporting himself as he leaned over it, watching the water drain. He looked wild and untidy, standing shirtless with his face and neck still covered in soot and blood from the battle. Some of it was probably his.

A housekeeping droid passed by and collected his dirty, war-battered garments for cleaning and mending, but Ben dismissed it when he felt the familiar sensation of their Force connection tug at his attention.

Rey found him hunched over the sink, washing his face. She stood facing his back, where she could find all his scars. The big one Chewbacca gave him. The ones she and Finn gave him. And the others, of unknown ownership.

"Am I the only one that thinks the timing of this could be better?" Ben asked sarcastically, aware of her presence behind him.

"Yes," she answered defiantly.

Ben dropped his shoulders and turned around, taking in her image. She was just as much a mess as him. A beautiful mess, he thought. He hadn't yet forgotten the temptation from their last connection.

The first thing he noticed was the bloodied bandage wrapped tight around her left arm. Her eyes were red from recent crying, though he found no tears now. Her hair was down, brushing her dirty, exposed shoulders. Together they scrutinized each other's appearance, identifying wounds and marks that weren't there before.

"I'm glad you're alright," she finally said.

Ben laughed a single, spiteful chuckle. "What is alright?"

"Alive."

Ben cut the water off. He didn't want her to see him like this anymore. He grabbed a towel and dried his face as he walked away from her, looking for his saber and a clean shirt.

"I can feel it, you know," Rey said cryptically, following him.

He stopped. He must have looked confused, because he didn't remember asking her to elaborate.

"There is still light inside you."

Ben's first reaction should've been anger, but it wasn't. It was pure relief and it surprised him. She was the chisel that had been carving away at his hard stone exterior for some time now. He felt a crack inside him grow bigger each time they shared a vision. It scared him, but he let it happen, wanting to see what would become of her work.

"I don't know if I can be what you want," he began.

Before he realized what was happening, Rey had rushed over to embrace him. The impact of her colliding with him through the Force was like a subtle electric shock to his system. She wrapped her slim arms around his waist and held tight, trying to hold the tears back. Terrified of the conflict raging inside him, he did the only thing that made unquestionable sense; he hugged her back. He held her tighter, anchoring himself to the light. Hesitantly, he rested his cheek against her head, breathing in deep to memorize her scent and everything about her that he needed to survive.

She didn't care that he was covered in dirt and dried blood. She didn't care he was supposed to be the enemy. There was something deep and strong pulling them together that was becoming harder for them to ignore, no matter how inconvenient. However bullshit it seemed, it made sense for them to be together.

When she vanished, all his confusion and anger resurfaced now that his tether to the light was gone. The desire to turn and wreak complete havoc on this star destroyer and everyone in it burned deep within him. When he continued searching for his saber, becoming increasingly irritated by its absence, he suspected the worst. With his vices taken from him, Ben fell to his knees, utterly lost in the chaos.

xx

The eighth time it happened, it devastated him.

Ben fell into a dream, he was sure of it. Rey was dancing barefoot around a large bonfire somewhere. It frustrated him that he couldn't see the full setting of wherever was lucky enough to have her in it. She was wearing her usual drape-wrapped bodice, but without the bandage sleeves and a long sheer skirt with exotic flowers tucked in her hair. Her neck was adorned with long strands of multi-colored beads that bounced off her chest whenever she jumped. As she danced, the skirt swayed wide, revealing her slim, tanned legs beneath.

Mesmerized, Ben couldn't take his eyes off her; she was beautiful.

The longer Ben remained in the vision, the more things and people he could see materialize around him. Ben watched her sway and twirl around other people, celebrating something he was unaware of. But, what could possibly be worth celebrating now? The Resistance was dwindling in numbers after every battle and losing credibility as a formidable opponent against the First Order. He couldn't understand why people were happy, and it frustrated him that he was so far removed from it.

Something caught Rey's eye, drawing her towards where Ben stood within the Force connection, but she seemed unaware of his presence amongst the festive crowd. She twirled in his direction, but kept walking past, the wide smile on her face never faltering. Rey kept floating like a cloud past him, into the arms of another man. He heard her joyfully call out the traitor's name in greeting before embracing him. Then, she moved on to embrace another, and another before moving to the last person he expected to see tonight. Her back was turned to him; but he would know that figure anywhere. He had a terrifying idea that she too could find him in the Force-connection, and knew he wasn't the least bit ready to face her. Not after everything he's done.

By this point, Rey was hyper aware of Ben's presence. The buzzing of their Force connection had permeated through the haze of the festivities. She made no great indication to acknowledge him, that is, until she lovingly embraced his mother, Leia, staring him dead in the eyes over his mother's shoulder.

"It's good to see you come home again," she said to Leia as she stared fully at Ben, almost as thought she was speaking directly to him instead.

Leia parted from Rey's embrace, slowly turning around. A sad and longing expression was written on his mother's face as she stared at Ben, causing the air to rapidly depart his lungs. The bright light from the bonfire illuminated the two women in the same warmth that they radiated towards him. But he couldn't breathe.

"You have no idea how good," said Leia, full of hope.

He hadn't heard her voice in years. A smile grew on her aged face, but it was the same face he knew and loved as a boy. It caused his guilt to rise powerfully up to the surface.

When the connection broke, Ben's entire body was trembling from the encounter. He looked down at his gloved hands, still shaking from facing the truth he feared. It was better to keep pretending that she didn't love him anymore, but he knew that was a lie. The rising anger and self-hatred boiled over again. Ben couldn't suppress the furious roar that came next, punching his bedroom wall until a significant hole formed. His knuckles began to bleed through his torn gloves, but it only made him hit the wall harder.

Then, his father's voice returned to him, arresting his anger like it did every night since:

"It's alright, kid."

xx

The last time it happened, it changed everything.

Another long stretch of time had passed since the last defining battle that turned the tides for the Resistance and slowed down the well-oiled machine that was the First Order. At Leia's request, Rey was taking another break from rebelling to train and sharpen her skills on the most remote and comfortable planet she could find out of reach from either side. She still kept in touch with Leia, checking in periodically to reveal her location and let Leia know everything was alright.

Comfortable with isolation, Rey sought to find her own peace. She settled on a paradise of a planet, a veritable jungle covered in ruins and teeming with colorful wildlife.

Her routine had become her life, and nothing could interrupt that. In the evenings though, she dedicated time to relax. She'd been able to focus; to keep the door to the rest of the galaxy closed, or at least she thought she did. Months had passed since she last felt Ben's presence. It was a welcome respite from the storms of doubt he often brought with him, but his lengthy absence also caused her to feel so incomplete. Somehow, someway, she would find a way to fill that void.

Tonight, Ben was the visitor in her jungle haven. He could actually feel the foreign humidity envelop him, enough so that he promptly wanted to shed his heavy cloak. It wasn't long before he discovered the shape of Rey bathing in a blue spring nestled below the shallow cliff where he stood. She bathed in a spring between a smattering of trees and vines full of colorful blooms. This vision presented more details than their connection had ever allowed before.

He wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting this visit, but it certainly wasn't this.

Rey's naked back was turned to him as she stood waist deep in the bright blue water, arms raised as she undid the ties in her hair. He wanted to leave immediately, completely unprepared for the encounter this time. He felt like an intruder rather than a participant.

But it was too late, Rey sensed his wild presence in the calm atmosphere before he even had a chance to react.

"For heaven's sake, Ben!" she shouted, lowering herself in the water to hide. "Can we not do this right now?" In a bashful effort to escape, Ben spun around and tripped over his own two feet at the cliff's muddy edge, tumbling down into the blue spring with a righteous splash.

He emerged from the water, soaking wet and humiliated as he heard laughter echoing in the Force bond. His pride was shattered; he didn't have a breath of a chance to act tough now. He waded through the water to the edge of the spring, weighed down by his heavy clothes and climbed over the high bank with difficulty.

Resigned to his embarrassment, Ben sat down with his back to her, pulling off his sodden clothes.

"I hope you have an extra towel," said Ben coolly, turning his boot upside down to drain the water.

Rey couldn't help but watch as he disrobed, her heart guarded but still full of hope.

"Why are you here?" she asked, keeping herself covered under the water.

"Why do you think I'm here," he shouted sarcastically, halfway turning around to berate her for asking such an obvious question. But, Rey threw a pebble at the back of his head to keep him turned around.

"No, why are you here now? It's been months."

"I have never claimed to know why or how this is happening," he replied irritably, wringing out his wet shirt.

"But you must have done something. Decided something, maybe? I don't know! It just feels intentional this time—and don't you dare say it's 'cause you wanted to see me naked."

"Again."

"What?" Rey's voice skipped a whole octave higher.

"Naked again—never mind."

Ben sat completely still. She could sense the turmoil inside him again, boiling to the surface before he could push it back down.

"I've… decided to leave the First Order," he confessed, surprising himself to have finally said it out loud. "I've made so many terrible mistakes… it's left me and everything I touch out of balance."

Rey was shocked. Her jaw dropped, finally hearing him admit what she'd been trying to change in him since the night Luke discovered them in the midst of a connection.

"But, I need you—your help," he stammered, dying to turn around and face her, if she would allow it.

Instantly, Rey became cautious. She once heard Ben say something similar to his own father right before he killed him in cold blood. She did not want the same thing to happen to her tonight.

"Prove it," she said breathlessly. She wanted to believe him so much, it hurt.

Finally, Ben turned around and stood up to his full height. Rey watched him intently, feeling somewhat invaded as he stared at her with the first semblance of a smile she'd ever seen him make. To her great surprise, he dove back into the spring and swam the distance over to her.

Rey started to back away, wary of his intentions as he closed in fast. Finally, Ben met her in the water and reached out to grab her by the wrist, sending an electric rush of Force energy up their connecting arms. Swiftly and without waiting for her permission, Ben pulled her naked body hard into his bare chest, reaching for her other hand crossed protectively against herself. The water churned around their struggling bodies as he wrenched her hand open and placed a small dagger in it, angling the tip of the blade towards himself. Terrified, Rey fought against him until she realized what he was doing.

"Plunge it through my heart if you think I'm lying to you," he dared, staring her down with dark eyes full of fire. "Do it, please, and make this so much easier for me."

They were so close to each other, it made them both dizzy. Her trembling fingers tightened unwillingly around the cold dagger as his tightened aggressively around hers, drawing the point of the blade into his chest. "Go on," he whispered urgently.

Rey had seen men lose their minds before, eternally lost in the vast deserts of Jakku, but this was different. As their eyes locked together, she could sense his mind was clear, probably for the first time in his adult life and he was trying to prove something to her.

"Stop! STOP!" she cried as she noticed blood weeping freely from the puncture.

Immediately, Ben loosened his grip on her hand. She let the dagger fall into the water, staring horrified at the bleeding wound on the ridge of his pectoral. If she hadn't stopped him, would he have kept going?

While Rey focused on trying to staunch the bleeding with both hands, Ben eagerly reached for her neck, drawing her in to finally kiss her. She should've seen it coming, but Ben surprised her for the third time today.

Ben kissed her deeper, pressing their bodies together in the water. He couldn't wait anymore. Once the initial shock of being kissed for the first time subsided, Rey's head swam with satisfaction, immediately forgetting all about the bleeding wound. The light side finally had a foothold in him. Rey broke the kiss and gently pushed Ben away, overwhelmed by the electric rush of their contact. But now that he had her, he would not let her go. His hands wandered across her skin like they already knew the paths to take. Her heart fluttered at the unfamiliar sensation of being this close to another human being this way. This was happening all so fast.

"If I give you my coordinates… will you come alone?" she asked him, desperately hoping he would not betray her yet.

"What are you asking," Ben's mind suddenly jumped to conclusions. He couldn't help but unmask his raw feelings. Rey reactively pressed her fingers against his lips, searching his dark eyes for understanding. He didn't care about power anymore; he knew he would do whatever she asked of him.

"Escape the First Order today. Just come to me already," she said, blushing as she interpreted his feelings. "I don't care how you do it, but you belong with me."

Ben's eyes grew wide; he should've expected that. Ever since their one-on-one connections began, they had been so grounded in where they were in their alliances and understandings of the Force. Yet, whenever they crossed into each other's territory, the lines began to blur and fade, allowing Ben's sense of control to unravel whenever she challenged him. Anything was possible now. He nodded once, an obedient submission to her ruling order.

"We can restore balance, together. I promise," she said before sealing it with a kiss.