"We're not here to find anything of use, we're just looking around." Rey muttered under her breath as they pulled up to the wreckage of an old imperial destroyer. She was nervous about entering; but then she had been that way of various levels of intensity the entire day.
"That's right." Ben wrapped his arms around her tighter before she could get down from the speeder, leaning forward so that he could lightly place his chin on her shoulder. "And we're going to have so much food when we get back. I'm never letting you be hungry ever again."
She leaned into him at that, and he could feel her smiling. "I'm looking forward to it." She glanced over at him before adding, "Well, the sooner we get this over with the sooner we can get back to your wonderful cooking."
He nodded, slowly letting her go and sitting back up, "You may be exaggerating a bit, but I do know this pancake recipe that I know you would like."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Her eyes lit up as she looked at him with a smile, all but jumping off of the speeder before making her way inside the wreckage.
"This ship was picked clean long ago, but that doesn't matter now. Just being here will serve for what we need." Rey said once they were inside.
"And that's what you would do all day, taking what you could and hoping Unkar would give you enough in return."
She nodded. "What I couldn't turn in I would use for myself, or find parts and turn it into something that I could use, and then either keep it for myself or trade it in." She went over to one of the walls, taking hold of a piece of metal that was jutting outwards before looking back over at him. "Come on, let's go up." He followed after her, trying not to be too distracted as he watched her climb just ahead of him.
"How far up did you usually go?" He asked once they had gone as far as the current hand holds would allow, ending on a small platform.
"As far as I could." She looked up as she spoke, a wistful look gracing across her features. "I always enjoyed exploring the wrecks, and putting back together what I found. I always dreamed about the day that I could take my time and explore without having to worry about what I could get from it."
"And now you can." He took her hand softly in his, giving her a light smile. "We can go where ever you want, whenever you want."
"You're right." She gave him a smile of her own before beginning to pull him forward. "Come on, let's keep going."
They continued their climb, and he always allowed her to go first, preferring to watch her instead, mesmerized by the fluidity of her movements. There came a point where they had to jump from one platform to the next, and she had cleared it effortlessly, naturally, without using any trace of the force to help her, despite the distance. He stood there as he watched her land on the other side, completely in awe. He had been using the force since early childhood, had grown accustomed to using it in small ways everyday – and yet here she was, having accomplished so much with so little.
It was amazing, is what it was, and Ben felt privileged at the chance to see her in action.
"It's not that impressive, you know. It was just a simple jump." Rey called back over the expanse, having read him perfectly and fidgeting slightly. "Now are you going to stand there gawking all day or are you going to join me?"
Just because he loved to watch her didn't mean he was about to let himself be outdone. Rey had needed to take quite the running start to make the jump, but Ben knew that in times like this his height was actually an advantage, and as such only took a few steps back before running forwards. He pushed off from the edge of the platform and landed on the other side with a small slide, making sure to have done the jump as naturally as she had. "There, what do you think of that?" He asked her with a small grin.
"You're such a show off."
"Hey, it's not my fault you're short."
"I'm normal size, you're just a giant!"
"You're jealous."
"You wish, Ben." She said with a grin, reaching up and flipping the dice around his neck slightly, before continuing forward so that they could climb the rest of the way.
Kriff why is she so cute?!
"This is as far as I've ever been able to make it before." Rey said once they had made it just past the half way point to the top.
"You never made it to the top before?" He asked, only slightly confused.
She nodded. "I did try once, but the support I was using gave out and I fell pretty far." She shrugged. "It's lucky that I survived it, so I decided it wasn't worth it and didn't try again."
"It's lucky that I survived."
While he had known that living on Jakku was not easy and the ways one could met their end to be numerous, there was something about hearing her say it out loud and in such a nonchalant way –
No, never, I won't let it ever happen again
-he reached forward and pulled her close to him, as if the simple act was all it took to protect her from anything the world decided to throw at her.
/
"It's okay Ben, I'm fine, really." Rey smiled softly, letting herself lean into Ben's comforting embrace; for a moment forgetting where they really were. She stood there, taking in his scent, and letting it sink in that she was no longer the sad, lonely girl waiting for parents to come that never would. No longer did she spend every day worried about wither or not she could get enough food to eat.
"If I would've known that taking you to a wreckage like this would make you so relaxed, I would have done it a long time ago." She could hear the teasing note in his voice, and she laughed softly to herself.
I finally have a place I can call home and someone to go back to.
"Are you asking me out on a date, Mr. Solo?" She looked up at him with a grin, placing her hands against his chest.
"Would you say yes if I was?"
Instead of answering immediately, she stood up on her toes, placing a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth before speaking softly against his cheek, "I think you know the answer to that." She pulled away from him then, feeling almost intoxicated from the rush that came from both sides of their bond at her actions. "If there is one thing that I would like to do on our date," she began, going over to the edge of the platform and raising a hand up, reaching out through the force to pull a hanging cable towards her that had long since before been out of her reach, "is that I want to reach the top with you."
The view from above wasn't anywhere near as good as the one from where they had watched the sunset on Ekair, but that was okay; the comparison only helped to finalize how far she had come in her mind. She looked over at Ben watching as he admired the view. To her it wasn't anything special, but it was a nice feeling to see someone looking out across the graveyard with barely contained wonder. She idly wondered if she had ever been like that, before the harshness of her reality had sunk in.
Soon though, they would go back to the Millennium Falcon and leave to go back home, back to Ekair. There was nothing holding her here anymore; she was completely free and no matter what the future held in store for them they would face it together.
"Well then, shall we head home?" She said, going over and taking his hand in hers.
Ben nodded, squeezing her hand gently.
I'll follow your lead anywhere, sweetheart
Once they were back at the Falcon, Ben motioned for her to take the pilot's seat. "I think you're ready for this."
Rey nodded, taking the seat that was offered and starting to prep for their way back while Ben sat down in the co-pilot seat next to her. The last time she had done this, it had been in a rush, an almost panic of how they were going to escape the First Order and get BB-8 safely to the resistance. This time, however, she had all the time in the world, with the most important person to her by her side. She eased the controls forward, reveling in the feel of the Falcon humming to life around her.
She felt a giddy feeling rise in her chest, and she couldn't help the laugh that escaped her as they punched through Jakku's atmosphere. She had done it, finally and truly done it; she no longer felt any attachment to the desert planet, no longer felt the need to go back there ever again.
It was raining when they got back to Ekair, and Rey couldn't help but feel as if it was to welcome her back home.
"Are you really going out to play in the rain? And here I thought you wanted food." Ben asked her, once they had landed in the same hole in the rock face as they had before.
"Why must you give me such a hard choice?" She looked over at him, giving him a mock frown.
"You could go have fun in the rain while I cook."
"But I want you there with me. It's not the same if I'm by myself." She said, shaking her head.
"I see your point, but I did say that I wasn't going to let you go hungry again, didn't I?"
"Hmm, I suppose I can hold off on the rain if you make those pancakes you mentioned earlier today."
"You drive a hard bargain, but it's not one that I can refuse." He nodded solemnly, putting on an air of seriousness.
"It's a deal then." She said, just as serious as she held out her had for him to take. He took her hand and they shook on it, before quickly dissolving into fits of laughter from the absurdity of it all.
"Honestly though," Ben began once their laughter had subsided and he had regained his breath, "I was serious about not letting you go hungry."
"And I'm serious about those pancakes."
"Alright, pancakes it is." He stood up, giving her hand a light squeeze before adding, "Do you want to help?"
"I would love to." She graced him with a smile, standing up herself so that she could follow him outside to their little kitchen.
The next morning Rey had absolutely no reason to get up early, and she intended to milk it for all it was worth. There was no war to worry about, no resistance meeting to attend; for the first time in her life she had the time to do absolutely nothing, and she was not going to miss a second of it. It was made even sweeter by the fact that she wasn't alone – she had Ben with her, and that thought was enough to make her smile.
She rolled over at the thought, only to discover the distinct lack of the same person that she had just been thinking about. The bed was still warm from where he had been laying, however, so he couldn't have been gone for very long.
Ben?
She called for him a bit sleepily, sitting up slowly and trying to rub the sleep from her eyes with the sleeve of his sweater that she was wearing. Last night after they had eaten and finished their adventure in the rain, she had been too tired to remember where she had stashed her extra clothes, and had instead decided to steal his old sweater to wear, holes and all. She laughed softly to herself, remembering the way Ben had looked when he saw her after coming back from getting into his own dry clothes. She practically drowned in his sweater; it was so big on her that it went all the way down to just above her knees. It was at the moment of seeing his reaction that she wondered if it were possible to pass out from how red his face had become.
I'll be there soon. I could tell you were about to wake up, and wanted to bring you breakfast.
Really, I think you're the one who's too good to me.
"You know I'll have to debate you on that point." She looked up at the sound of Ben's voice to see him standing in the doorway, holding a plate of food in one hand.
"You made more pancakes!"
"There was still some batter left over from last night and I knew you would enjoy having them this morning."
She smiled at him, pulling up the sleeves of his sweater so that could accept the plate he was offering her.
You know me so well
I told you as much, didn't I?
He flashed her a grin before taking a seat behind her and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close, his legs sitting on either side of her. She leaned against him, and as she took her first bite of the warm, fluffy goodness, she decided that unlike the exhaustion of the previous day, today was going to be very, very good.
/
"What do you want to do today?" Ben asked her when she was about halfway through the stack of pancakes that he had brought her.
"Currently I plan on finishing these pancakes and then I want to do absolutely nothing." She said before taking another large bite of her food.
It feels like we've always had something to do, that we're always running somewhere or other. For once it would be nice to just sit around and do nothing whatsoever. And besides, you make a great pillow; why would I ever want to leave?
"And you look amazing in my sweater, have I told you that already?"
"Not so much in words," She began after swallowing, "but I gathered as much from your face last night. You should have seen how red you were."
"You're exaggerating."
"You know I'm not." She said with a grin, looking up at him.
You really are asking for it
Last night he had respected how tired she was and that she had just wanted to go to bed. But it was morning now, and there was no longer anything standing in his way; without any hesitation he leaned down, kissing her softly.
Ben Solo, are you trying to distract me from the matter at hand?
Possibly. Is it working?
He felt Rey change position against him, moving so that she had a better angle with which to reach him with, placing a hand on his cheek and deepening the kiss herself.
Ah, it is.