A/N: Fingers crossed that Adam Driver wins that Emmy tonight! :D
Ben leaves Rey at the door to Finn's cell with a brush of his mind against hers, the mental equivalent of squeezing her hand. Rey nods in reply, bracing herself as the door slides open.
Finn's face lights up the moment she enters. Even seated in a small metal chair, with his hands bound to the table before him, he is relieved to see her. "Rey!" he exclaims as the door shuts behind her.
"Finn," she says, both admonishing and fond. "What are you doing here? And how did you manage to get captured?"
He leans towards her as she sits across from him, lowering his voice. "I came to rescue you."
Rey sighs. "There's nothing to rescue me from. You know what the plan was, Finn." She doesn't bring up what Hux said — that Finn gave the general intel on her. It must have been a ruse, in order to allow them to see one another.
"Just because I know the plan doesn't mean I'm happy about it. That's why I had to come, Rey. You shouldn't have to sacrifice yourself to that monster like this. We can — we can fight, we can find allies — "
"No. No, Finn. I made my choice."
Finn grimaces, reaching for her hand and clasping it between both of his. "Are you alright? Has he hurt you?"
Rey shakes her head vehemently, horrified by the thought. She knows, with absolute certainty, that Ben will never harm her. Ever. "No! Of course not. He's not like that, Finn, he's — "
"You don't have to be brave, Rey. You can tell me the truth."
"I am telling you the truth. He's..." She trails off uncertainly. Ben is what? Changed? No. If anyone has changed, it is Rey. And rightfully so. Her time with Ben has already opened her eyes to so much — about the Force, the galaxy, and of course, Ben himself. "He's good to me, Finn."
Finn seems appalled by this, his face scrunched in confusion. He opens his mouth, clearly intent on speaking, but then his gaze shifts to her arm — or, more specifically, the sleeve covering her arm. Rey glances at the fabric herself, swallowing hard. She is wearing a thick, warm tunic that is mulberry in color, with black pants and heavy black boots. The symbol of the Knights of Ren has been stitched into the material at her shoulder.
"What did he do to you?" Finn asks lowly.
"I know what this looks like, Finn, but I swear to you that I am not lying. It's more than the Resistance's safety that he has guaranteed me. He promised that he would put an end to slavery, suspend the stormtrooper program, and conduct peaceful negotiations with planets that refuse his rule rather than use military force...all because I came to him."
"You can't possibly believe that Kylo Ren is going to keep those promises, Rey. You know what he is. I know what he is."
"I trust him," she says emphatically. "I trust Ben with my life, Finn."
"Did you just call him Ben?"
"And I trust him to keep those promises. He asked me to rule with him, to marry him—"
"Marry him?" Finn shouts. "Are you insane?! You can't marry him!"
Rey pulls her hand out from Finn's, her frustration and hurt growing with each second. "I can," she says coolly, in what Ben has called her Empress voice, "and I certainly plan to. He is giving me half his power; we will rule together, as equals, and I will help him bring peace to the galaxy." She leans forward, desperate to make her friend understand. "Don't you see, Finn? The war is over."
She still has trouble believing it herself, some days. It seems as if war is the only constant the galaxy has known. But not anymore.
Finn shakes his head. "But it isn't peace, Rey. It's surrender. How could you do that? How could you allow him to turn you to the dark side? Don't you know what will happen to the galaxy without you on our side? We need you."
No, she thinks, surprising herself with the bitterness of the thought. You don't need me. You just need my power.
Rey forces the thought away. "But we're fighting for the same thing. There are no sides anymore."
Finn sighs, reaching up to run a hand over his face, but the cuffs stop him short of the motion. He simply looks at Rey, silent, for several moments. "Alright," he finally says. "So Kylo Ren comes through. Then what? You're really going to give up your entire life to stay with him? There must be another way to co-rule. You should be allowed to marry someone you love, Rey. Someone who makes you happy."
Biting her lip, Rey searches for the words to explain. She has never talked about the bond out loud before — to anyone other than Ben, that is. Language seems insufficient for something this soul-deep. "We're...connected. Through the Force. I think it would be impossible for us to be with anyone else."
Finn's eyebrows lift in surprise. He exhales long and slow, clearly running her words through his mind several times before speaking. "Okay. But couldn't you just...not be connected anymore?"
Rey recoils, her stomach turning. It's as if her very being is repulsed by the idea. "That's not how it works," she says. Though they have not finished researching the dyad, she knowsit is not so easily broken. And even if she and Ben could break the bond between them, Rey would not want to.
She wants to be with Ben.
Can she admit that to Finn?
It's not that she is ashamed of Ben. She just isn't certain that Finn will understand. Half the time, she does not understand why she feels so strongly for a man who, only a few days ago, was her enemy. In the end, she simply says, "I care about him, Finn. More than I have cared about anyone else before."
Finn studies her expression in that way of his, warm and concerned. He seems to find whatever it is that he is looking for and clasps her hand again between both of his. "Alright. If he's important to you, I'll do my best to understand."
Rey smiles, squeezing his hand in reply. If only the rest of the Resistance – and the rest of the galaxy, for that matter – were so easily swayed. "Thank you, my friend."
When Rey returns to Ben's quarters, she finds Ben in his training room. He wears a sleeveless black top, revealing the various scars that litter his arms, shoulders, and upper back. Though she has seen them before, Rey allows her eyes to linger on them now. Each mark speaks to the man he has become – the fascinating, broken, fierce hybrid creature that is Ben Solo and Kylo Ren.
She's starting to understand what Ben meant that first day, about the danger of her dividing him into two separate beings.
Without saying a word, Rey leans against the doorjamb, crossing her arms over her chest as she observes Ben. Strands of his dark hair hang over his eyes as he whirls about the room, saber crackling in his hand. He moves with such beautiful, deadly grace – interrupted by moments of blind, brute force – that she hardly blinks, afraid to miss a moment. Usually, she is on the receiving end of those blows. It is a nice change to see them from an outside perspective.
At last, he pauses, shoulders moving with great breaths as he disengages his saber and turns to face her.
Rey shakes her head to clear it, forcing herself to refocus on the matter at hand. "Finn is okay. We talked. About everything. Then I ordered Hux to let him go without a scratch, and I watched as he left, to make sure of it."
Ben nods, grabbing a black towel off the low table to his right and using it to wipe the sweat off his brow. Again, Rey's eyes track each movement. Does he even realize how beautiful he is? When they had been on opposing sides, she hated how easily he could fluster her. Now that she is preparing to marry him the day after tomorrow, she allows herself to admit just how much she likes his appearance – even if the thought makes her feel a bit ridiculous.
She does not realize that pieces of such thoughts have been escaping her shields and drifting towards Ben until she hears him take in a breath, his expression open and vulnerable when she meets his eyes. Rey blushes, about to stutter out an apology, when the reality of the moment hits her.
What does she have to apologize for?
Unexpected confidence surges through her, propelling her across the room and into Ben's space. She lifts a hand to his scarred cheek, feeling the synchronized jump in their hearts that results from the contact.
"Rey," Ben whispers, the single syllable filled with overwhelming, blinding hope.
Raising herself onto her toes, Rey kisses him.