Chapter Thirteen

The Star Ruby Bride

"No, wait, Rey -"

Just like last time, she didn't stay and took off just like that. R2 was hurrying after her, not sure what smug joke he could come up with this time for their "love squabble" - love. It stunned Ben so much that he stayed where he was, once more like an idiot. His chest was so swollen he was positive it would explode any second or minute.

It's as if a missing puzzle piece had fallen into place. She...Rey wants me.

A voice startled him right out of his skin, causing his heart to physically jump against his sternum. "Well, boy, are you just going to stand there like a fool, or are you going after her?" There Anakin stood with a piercing stare; how long had he'd been there, listening to every word spoken between his grandson and the little assistant? Not important now; Ben leaped into action thanks to his grandfather's words, rushing past the old man with the intent of making her hear him out, not letting her give another proclamation before fleeing.

She was just outside and about to begin her speeder, the datapads in her pack slung behind her back when he roared at the top of his lungs, uncaring if any invisible witnesses were there, or if Anakin and the droids caught them.

"Rey Kenobi, you are NOT leaving without listening to me!"

"What else is there to say, Ben Solo?" she countered, reaching for the brake which kept her vehicle parked in its place. "I wanted something you can't give; you said it loud and clear, so this is me cutting losses."

Words could not describe how frustrated he was. Cutting losses, was it? "Damn it, woman, how am I ever gonna get through to you? I thought you were only making a joke about that 'comfortable bed'. I still can't believe you think that way after everything!" Ben shouted, certain the veins were going to show on his forehead and his neck.

She refused to look at him, instead gazing beyond the park where the great lake calmly glittered beneath the sun. "Too bad, because where I come from, there's no use wanting what you can't have." And so, you settle for wanting nothing at all.

"You're just afraid," Ben pointed out, making her snap her head towards him. She glared at him with wide eyes and flaring nostrils as he knew he'd pushed her temper to its brink.

"No way I'm afraid!" He glared back at her, thinking to himself that it was indeed the opposite, and knowing it full well. She saw right through and angrily turned her whole body to him, arms folded across her chest. "If I am, can you blame me? You don't know what it's like to spend your entire life watching your own mother get swept by one man after another - right after the first one who happens to be your own father you never knew growing up - in a fruitless search for the one of your dreams, each time assuming this week's potential is the one. I had my entire life upside down because of her! My grandmother even gave up after every chance there was. So I swore never to be like my mother, to never mourn over what isn't meant to be." Her eyes appeared to be made of liquid as she did a miraculous job of keeping the waters in place.

But Ben...he had no idea what to say. She'd said that it wasn't the first time her mother lost a suitor, going all the way back to Cos Palpatine whom she'd thought was the man for her, and the pattern just kept repeating and therefore destroyed their daughter's views on life and love. He - why didn't he think of it before?

"...you don't have to say anything," she said in response to his silence. "I told you that I knew what I was getting into, to spare us both the guilt." Guilt? Why wouldn't she just stop this already? He was so close to strangling her himself.

"Could you at least quit assuming I don't want a committed relationship already?!" Now her eyes got so wide they resembled stars falling from the skies and making their way to crush you. All those emotions were molded together it was hard to separate them, amazing him to no end. He could just drown in them...forever.

That single word crushed him like a statue falling from disrepair.

All my life...I just spat at the idea of forever. My own parents were pulled apart because of my father's death, just like Grandfather lost his wife before they could start their family life together. I was afraid to end up just like that. He was so tired of fighting at this point. "Rey, how could you ever know if you wouldn't give me a chance to tell you? You were always fleeing - the first time we made love, then last week, and right now. All before I could even catch my breath. Why?"

He thought she was going to avoid answering, but no. "I heard...you tell your mother you planned on leaving. I shouldn't have, but I did." She - she heard him and Leia! Just last week after the family meeting. She'd unintentionally eavesdropped and couldn't ignore it. "I was finished with a client's droid, R2 with me, and was about to leave the garage when I heard you. You told her you had no reason to remain in Alderaan," Rey said carefully.

In spite of himself, Ben laughed at her ridiculous assumption. "I was talking about family, not us. You silly girl. What I meant was that I planned to take you away with me, just as we talked about. I meant every word of it, so there was no reason to keep me here. Look -" He paused and took a deep breath, calming himself down. "- I never went through what you have, but I know what it's like to have your world tilted upside down. I know the destruction better than you think, and until now, I also took the safe route to avoid any more. If I steered clear from trouble and relationships - especially losing another loved one - then there you go. But...I realize the safe route isn't the one. And why?" He reached and cupped her chin when her eyes adverted to the ground. "Because I met a Little Toniray Girl and never realized until then that my ship and home would be lonesome and freezing without her."

She stared into his eyes - brown meeting dark - as if searching for truthfulness. "Really? Both your ship and house are cold as winter?" She sounded as though she tried not to laugh herself.

"Like Ilum or Hoth - anywhere with never-ending snow. And too quiet and unentertaining. GG is pleasant, but he can only do so much. Also, there's no one to spoon my body with." They were having a serious conversation, but here he was being his honest and nonfiltered self. "I don't need just a bed warmer, but a co-pilot. I told you before you'd make a flawless one. Job's still open if you want it." And he didn't just refer to flying the Grimtaash with him.

~o~

"Co-pilot..."

He awkwardly smiled at her response, teeth displayed. It was a wonderful offer, and she'd never heard anything like it in her life. However...what if she was reading too much into it? What if this was truly the mistake she'd wind up making? Her instincts continued to insist she protect herself, be realistic and not get her heart broken like her mother over one too many failed relationships.

But she already was miserable, though being with Ben just like now, for a while, was better than the aching she had at the present. The longing was persisting much more strongly than the small voice which always helped her keep to the bay. "I'm scared," was all Rey could say. It slipped out, but it didn't push him away. He just smiled and brushed his thumb against her cheek.

"I am, too. Thinking about long-term is uncharted territory for me, but I guess we have to navigate those routes...together."

Together...

How could that word hold so much strength and promise? Unable to hold back the tears any longer, Rey threw herself on him and buried her face into the crook of his neck, and his arms wrapped around her waist to keep her in place - and never let go. He kissed her on the temple, hoarsely whispering that he'd missed her so much. She missed him, too, choking on her part. They stood this way, her speeder forgotten but her backpack of datapads not, for what felt like the rest of the day until he pulled away, and that was when she saw a bright star in the center of black - brighter than she'd ever seen, and with emotions rising from those depths. It made her heart swell with the love she'd deprived herself of.

"That mean you're up for the voyage then, Miss Kenobi?" Ben asked slyly.

"As long as it takes, I think, Master Solo." And I have a feeling it will be very long. "Actually...more like Captain Solo."

He burst into another laugh. "That was what my father was called." And it fit him just as much.

How did forever sound, he asked her. It was perfect for her. She didn't think it was possible, but her heart disagreed altogether.

It was then that Rey recalled where they were, and with horror, she remembered Anakin. The old man no doubt would want the whole story of what happened, but Ben assured her they had plenty of time, based on what hour it was: the start of his grandfather's program.

~o~

Just a year later, here they were again. How did they get here since that day he chased after her, leading them both to admit that long-term was indeed possible?

So much happened since then: they hit it off really fast and lasted right up to three months before it was official to both their families. Anakin wasn't surprised as he'd known there was something all along. Sabé wasted no time in blowing up with sheer excitement, saying that her granddaughter succeeded where her daughter failed. Speaking of Lilé, she was crying once again for different reasons: she'd told Rey that you never knew.

Leia had no daughter of her own, so she was more than happy to welcome Rey into the family, as did her brother, sister-in-law, and niece. As for Shmi and Ben, they reconciled. He finally made the peace with his family and his father's death. And he even agreed to finally be Anakin's successor. Which meant that when he and Rey would get married - yes, he proposed to her in front of all of them at a family gathering in the park during the spring that followed - it meant she would run it with him.

As for Unkar Plutt - he finally kicked the bucket, so to speak. He was no longer a threat to the Skywalker family, for someone else he targeted was the wrong one to mess with...and it was said the "perp" ripped one of his arms off, leaving him to die of blood loss. The investigation was still ongoing, but it was a celebration for the Skywalker family and anyone else who suffered because of the blobfish.

Rey still refused to acknowledge Cos Palpatine as her father, and that was perfectly fine. But if he chose to finally approach her, at least she had Ben with her.

Now that it was settled, there was one thing for them to do, and that was to head to Naboo, specifically the Varykino isle and villa in the Lake Country - where Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Naberrie spent time together as well as got married, and later on their daughter to Han Solo. Now the family tradition carried on with their grandson and Obi-Wan's granddaughter.

This place which was made of golden rock and bore red-and-green domed roofs, bearing marble balconies and hallways as well as outdoor gardens - it was just as Ben promised Rey. It was a place of magic, fantasy, and romance within reality.

On one balcony which bore fragrant red roses in bloom, the sun setting, it was where the family gathered for a third marriage into their ranks.

The bride wore a fine pristine white gown that gently graced her body, the sleeves softly billowing and tight on the wrists - there being golden lace and little pearls, almost matching the veil which covered her head and long length of hair. It had been Padmé Skywalker's, so in a way, she was with them in spirit. Along with was the pendant Rey borrowed for the day, which was a piece of carved japor Anakin made for his wife when they were children. It was simple but so exquisite, the symbol being very intricate and not needing to be bejeweled - something actually made from the heart.

Cousin Shmi wants Grandmother's heirloom gown, but allowed its veil to be for my new wife, and will someday wear the pendant. Just like Mom had all of it before them both. If only you could see us today, Grandmother. But Ben Solo refused to tamper with time to have everyone's needs met. He had everything he needed here and more.

He could never take his eyes off his bride during the exchange of vows. She was HIS angel. As for his grandfather, Anakin thought he was looking at his late wife all over again - with elements only - and it was impossible to miss the glaze in his eyes.

There on the day was the whole family, aside from the old man, R2, 3PO, and GG: Mom, Uncle Luke, Aunt Mara, Shmi, Sabé, and Lilé Kenobi - both having a holographic image of Obi-Wan with a young Rey perched in his lap, so that he, too, was present in spirit - Ahsoka Tano, and of course Rey's childhood friend Finn, along with Poe Dameron. To see his old friend was bittersweet, but at least they were gonna try to be what they used to be again.

Who could leave out Cos Palpatine? Regardless of his past with Rey's mother and having never been in his own daughter's life, he was still the family friend and shareholder and insisted he would just keep quiet and not ruin the day.

Evening birds called out and fluttered on the sunlit waters when Ben and Rey Solo sealed their union with a kiss - ending with him giving her a dazzling ring of golden fire with a star ruby.

As soon as the applause died down, there was an announcement the newlyweds shared: in six more months, they would be bringing their first child into the world. If it were a girl, she'd be named after Ben's grandmother, and if it was a son, after his father. It was frightening because this was the first time to become a parent, but they weren't doing it alone, and at least Anakin and Sabé were still here to experience a new baby on the way.

To think that we'd end up expecting a baby before today, and just in time. She's so insatiable it never gets old; it's like we learn something new each and every time.

Ben was certain he was going to be a mess when their firstborn would arrive.

This was everything he'd promised her because the aim was to please and please beyond expectations. He could never tell her how much he loved her too many times, never get enough. Just as she'd never get tired of hearing it from him.

The sun disappeared fully below the lake's horizon, leaving the newlyweds, their families, and friends to celebrate in town. Rey whispered to him that she was grateful for him giving her everything and more.

I was crying by the time I reread this over, and there are no regrets as far as I am concerned. Sometimes, I wished I'd finished this sooner than the timeline it's taken, but as my friends said: you want to take time to make it PERFECT, or rush and make it crap? XD Sometimes it flows fast and smoothly, but often it doesn't. It is what it is.

The part with what becomes of Unkar Plutt without stressing anything out - it was inspired by something I read online when Chewbacca himself did the deed after Plutt tracked down and assaulted Rey over what happened on Jakku, and WHOO. XD No wonder it's not wise to upset a Wookie.

Bon voyage, here be the grand finale, and no words can describe how proud I am of how this story has come out. Leave loving feedback in the usual format I always ask for! :3