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CHAPTER 7

Rey awoke slowly, languishing in the luxury that was being able to sleep in. Quickly, her eyes fluttered open, the memories of the night flooding back to her. It had not been a dream.

Still laying on her side, sheet tucked up underneath her chin, Rey took in the sight in front of her. Ben was on his stomach and had his face half buried in the pillow, pieces of hair sticking every which way while he snored softly. The sheet was haphazardly wrapped around his lower half, his back remaining bare and feet sticking out over the edge of the bed. What she could see of his lips were curved into an almost undetectable smile, softening his angular face. Rey touched her own lips, still mildly swollen from the single most passionate experience of her life. Her cheeks heated slightly, picturing how his body had moved to meet hers, truly and physically completing their Bond to one another.

Rey lowered her arms and stretched out, wincing a bit when the soreness of her body made itself known. In the face of everything they had shared only hours before, the pain she experienced seemed trivial now. He had been so gentle, his concern for her comfort being paramount throughout the tryst. She didn't think one inch of her body had been missed by his touch, and just the thought of it now made pulse quicken.

Abruptly, she heard the change in his breathing and noticed his smile deepen, his dimples widening when his arm snaked out from underneath his pillow to reach for her. The reaction her body made to his was instantaneous, like a physical representation of an ignited lightsaber.

The sheet fell away and Ben pulled her close, his eyes still closed and positioning her so that his head was tucked underneath her chin, allowing him to nuzzle into her collarbone. He inhaled deeply, relishing the feeling and smell of her bare skin and unable to resist lightly kissing the skin above her breast. Rey let out a small gasp as he turned his face and began kissing a light and slow trail down her sternum.

Rey squirmed, laughing quietly at the tickling sensation of his warm breath on her skin.

"Mmm…goodmorning," he breathed, still enjoying the closeness of her bare chest to his mouth.

"Goodmorning to you, too," she laughed again, this time reaching down to tilt his face upwards, giving her the opportunity to look into his sleepy, yet blissful, eyes.

Ben relented his teasing and released her, giving his body a long stretch accompanied with a yawn before sitting up, resting his back against the headboard of the bed.

"And how are you this morning?" He smirked, an uncharacteristic twinkle to his eyes as he looked down at her re-wrapping herself in the sheet.

"I think you know," she looked up at him and smirked back, taking his hand and letting the intoxicating feeling of closeness and contentment envelope them both.

Ben closed his eyes at the touch of her hand, relishing in feelings that ran from within her to him. Nothing in the galaxy could compare to this. He felt guilty feeling this balanced and happy. So much of his life had been spent clouded with the dark side, being manipulated by Darth Sidious unknowingly. He had killed, tortured, and destroyed; not to mention standing by as the First Order committed atrocities of its own. This second chance had strengthened him anew, and he was determined to live up to the standards Rey deserved. He would start with her parents. Being able to give Rey closure and a true sense of family would be another mark of good he could make on this galaxy. Ben Solo could not erase, but he could try to balance his dark deeds with light.

"Ben? Where are you?" Rey's voice interrupted his thoughts and she looked up at him with playful curiosity. She sat up to join him in leaning against the headboard, bringing the sheet with her to cover herself.

"I'm here. With you," he answered, giving a show of a small smile and leaning in and to plant a light kiss on her lips.

"Did you really mean it? About…my parents?" she spoke softly as their faces remained close, her voice losing the playfulness, her eyes pleading with his.

"Of course. You, more than anyone else, deserve to know that you come from good, never mind who your grandfather was. You deserve to know something about the people who loved you so much that they sacrificed themselves to keep you safe."

She nodded in reply, unable to find words. He, too, was someone who had sacrificed himself for her. Only love could bring someone to make such a sacrifice and it burned brightly between them, though left unsaid.

The next day, instead of reporting to Rose for their daily assignment, they parted ways. Rey had promised Chewie that she would help him with the compressor on the Falcon. It was down, again. However, Ben still could not bring himself to face that ship or its current occupant.

Once she had left their room, Ben began dressing slowly as he tried to form a plan within his head. Outside, it was raining hard and the ground made a squelching noise as Ben walked quickly though the base, hoping not to be noticed much. He still was not supposed to be anywhere without some kind of chaperone. After a couple hours, though, he couldn't stand to wait around in the room and did not want Rey to be disappointed if Maz had nothing to offer in the way of leads on her parents. He just hoped his lone excursion wouldn't get back to either of the Generals too quickly.

Even though it had only taken him a few minutes to make it to his destination, he was soaked by the time he ducked under the covering that was the roof of a makeshift cantina. It was crowded today, like most days now. Laughter and conversation filled every corner as the Resistance members enjoyed the post-war thrill of the last month. Lucky for Ben, most of the crowd was focused on their drinks and friends, and not the tall, wet, former enemy making a bee line for the bar and its keeper in the back.

His first reunion with Maz had been strange upon his surprise arrival, but not unpleasant. Ben had known better than to expect to simply get off the hook with the small but mighty humanoid. Though she was not trained in the arts of the Jedi, her ability of perception within the Force was uncanny.

The person in question stood behind the counter, which was nearly as tall as she was. She was barking orders to one of the staff, pointing at a table in the middle of the cantina. When he reach the bar the woman turned and peered over the counter, her glare fixed on Ben. Without missing a beat, she ducked underneath the countertop and grabbed Ben's forearm, dragging him to a backroom away from the noise and eyes of the crowd.

"Well, what do you need?" Maz said when she released his arm, turning and squinting suspiciously into his widened eyes of surprise.

"I..." Ben hadn't planned exactly on where to start. The few times he had met Maz when he was a boy had been much the same. The small woman was intimidating and had a shrewd gaze despite her stature. He remembered visiting Takodana twice before with his father. Both times, he had watched as his father, the normally cool and carefree smuggler, squirm in her company when he asked whatever favor he needed in the moment. Still, Ben could remember the look she had given him whenever her eyes had found his, standing shyly behind his father's legs. It was as if she had seen him for what he was, even then.

"I don't have all day, kiddo. And we both know you shouldn't be here alone," she said, crossing her arms. Clearly, she had no qualms about getting straight to the point.

"I need help. It's Rey's parents. I know that there has to be someone in the galaxy who knows something…anything about them. Even if we can just learn their names. I was hoping that you might know something or someone," He spoke quickly and shook the wet hair out of his eyes, managing to break the intense eye contact battle at the same time.

Maz regarded him for a moment and adjusted her goggles out of the zoomed focus they had been in to look up into his face. After the Final Order's defeat, she had heard the same whispers that everyone else had. Palpatine was Rey's grandfather, and her unknown parents had left her on Jakku for her safety. They were only two pieces to the very large puzzle that was Rey's entire life.

"There were rumors of a secret Imperial cloning operation on Coruscant during the Rebellion. I think Beaumont had it right when he mentioned dark science and cloning. Everyone believed that once the Kamino operation was shutdown after the fall of the Republic, the science was abandoned."

Ben knew all about Kamino and the Clone Wars. As a boy, he had been obsessed with the heroes of the Clone Wars and the adventures of his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker. That is, before he had found out the truth about his fall to the dark side. Coruscant, too, was very familiar. Before he was sent to train with Luke, he had been to the dense, city-covered planet countless times with his mother, on her many trips for political meetings and events, but had never once heard of a secret cloning facility. Even from within the archives of the First Order, no such thing had been mentioned as far as he knew.

"On Exegol," Ben began, "I saw it - the cloning equipment and the Sith creatures that tended to it. I saw… clones of Snoke," he spoke slowly, putting together pieces as he remembered his single-minded fury while searching for the disembodied voice within his mind.

Maz nodded, tapping her four fingers on her chin, "Rey's father was not likely a child born of a woman."

The Palpatine he had seen on Exegol had been disintegrating, an insufficient clone body that held his evil essence while waiting for a proper and Force-powerful host: Rey. A clone, Ben thought; a wayward clone that had sought out a different path, one who had unknowingly created the very host that Palpatine had been searching for. Clearly, the genetic meddling by the Sith cultists had failed miserably, and this one had escaped to make a life of his own.

"Coruscant," Maz continued, "is where you should start. I know someone, an old Rodian who was an Empire informant turned Rebellion spy. Beero has strong ties to the underworld of Coruscant and might have some information at the cost of a few credits."

"Coruscant," Ben repeated, "Thank you."

The still-soaked man turned to leave but was halted when a leathery orange hand darted out to snatch his.

"I know the change within you is real, Ben Solo, but that does not forgive what has already been done," she said cryptically, her eyes casting downward. He knew she was speaking of his father. Despite how she had felt about Han Solo, she still had liked that scoundrel of a man. "Do not lead that girl astray."

This chapter was a lot harder to write! I had to do quite a bit of Star Wars research, so I hope I got it right. Feel free to send me a PM if I need some correcting :) (Also - I know that Rey's clone father was technically made on Exegol, but I'm going to change it to Coruscant for the sake of this story!)