It was nearing midday by the time they finally got of bed, mostly due to Rey's insistence that it was time to eat something. She sat on the Falcon's ramp, content to watch Ben as he cooked. He had elected only to wearing his pants, leaving his night shirt to continue to lay where it had been discarded. She leaned against the doorframe, wanting to memorize every inch of him, take in the smallest of movements. He glanced back at her, a smirk playing on his lips and mirth shining in his eyes.

Enjoying the view?

You better believe I am.

She giggled happily, bringing up the sleeves of her sweater to her face and taking in his scent of molten iron that still clung to it, and reveling in the lightness of the atmosphere. The night may not have been that great, but it had led to what she felt like significant progress, and the morning had been much, much better for it. There was an incredible oneness about them now, and she smiled as her gaze shifted to the ribbon that connected them, thicker than it ever had been before.

"Your food, my lady." Ben held out one of the plates he was holding to her a few minutes later, presenting it with a small bow and a lopsided grin.

"Why thank you, kind sir." She took the food from him gratefully, wasting no time in eagerly beginning to eat.

She heard a soft chuckle at her side as Ben sat down next to her. "With the way you eat it makes me wonder wither you love me or food more."

"Hmm, that's a hard question." She said in mock seriousness, placing a finger on her chin.

"That hurts Rey."

She laughed, leaning over and placing a kiss on the corner of lips and speaking against him, "You know the answer."

He turned then, just enough so that he could completely take her lips with his own.

"I've been trying to figure out how what happened to Kaine and her partner could have been possible," Ben was the first to break the comfortable silence that had fallen between them as they ate. "all we know is that the two of them got separated and it somehow led to the demise of Kaine's other half. But how is that possible, when I know that we can use it to cross literal light-years? It should be impossible to get separated in such a way." He looked over at her, to find her staring at him. "W-what?"

She grinned, her smile bright as the sun. "I love it when you talk about figuring out how things work."

"Really? It can't be that interesting."

"But it is. Your whole face lights up when you talk about something that interests you, and I could listen for hours and never get bored." While he had gotten more used to the fact of having somewhere around that actually didn't mind him rambling on about things, she still kept finding ways to catch him off guard, and he had to try and keep the heat from rising to his face.

"I do agree that we're missing an important part of Kaine's story though," Rey added, "If only there was a way we could…" She trailed off, her head snapping up as she thought of something. "I've got it!" She hurried to get up, practically sprinting back inside the Falcon.

"What are you…" Ben's eyes widened as realization hit him. "Rey wait!" He scrambled up, chasing after her. He wasn't too far behind, and only just barely managed to snatch Eir's book before Rey could grab it.

"Ben!" She protested, eyeing the book that he was holding just out of her reach.

"You are not using Kaine's photo to get answers."

"But why not?" She pouted, and he could feel her trying to convince him to hand the book over.

It was increasingly hard to resist her the longer he held her gaze, so he forced himself to look away. "No, every time you sense the echo from something you always come back distressed." He shook his head before adding softly, "There isn't an answer out there that is worth risking your wellbeing."

"Alright, you win this time. We can find some other way to find out what happened." He heard a sigh from her direction, and finally looked back at her.

"Thank you." He said with a sigh of relief, lowering the book and placing it back on the table. "It's not a bad idea, I'm just –"

She reached up, placing a hand on his cheek with a soft, understanding expression. "I know, you're worried about losing me inside the visions."

"It would be a good idea to learn how to properly control it though," he reached up and took her hand in his, steering the conversation away from such an uncomfortable thought, "and there was that one Kestis person that Eir mentioned with the same ability."

Rey laughed slightly to herself. "Are you actually willingly suggesting that someone else be my teacher? After all that fuss made about it being you?"

He grumbled a bit, not entirely thrilled with the idea but – "I can only help so far without functioning knowledge of how it works, and if this will help keep you safe then so be it."

She giggled, a fond smile on her face. "You're adorable."

After getting dressed, they made their way into the village to talk to Eir about getting into contact with Cal Kestis. The older woman had agreed, but told them that it might take some time for Cal to respond, depending on what he was up to. They decided to check back with her later, and as they were leaving they ran into Vikki.

"Ah! Hello!" Vikki greeted them, seemingly back to her cheerful self from the last time they had seen her. "Would either of you know anything about fixing ships, by any chance?" Definitely back to normal, Ben decided, since the woman wouldn't stop talking. "The last few days have shown me that I am not cut out for taking kids at all. SO I think it's time that I got back out to my adventuring days. I asked Ranulf and Amir but they're completely useless, apparently Ranulf just had some sort of desk job before I guess? And Amir was some sort of soldier, I think, but my theory is that he used to be in the resistance –"

"I'll help you." Rey cut the woman off gently, taking the hands that Vikki had been talking with in her hands, looking a bit amused.

At least one of us doesn't mind her incessant rambling…

"You will?! Thank you!" Vikki's face lit up at the offer. "Oh! But I need someone to watch Squeak for me. I've been letting her roam free without any supervision, but now she's in trouble for running away and is confined to the house. But I'd feel bad just leaving her alone all day and like I said, Ranulf and Amir are useless, so…"

"I'll do it." Ben offered, surprising even himself. He didn't know the first thing about kids, but there was something about Squeak that pulled him towards her. The last time he had decided to trust his lighter nature he had ended up here with Rey, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"Perfect! C'mon, I'll take you to my house!"

Whereas Eir's house had been clean and tidy, Vikki's was anything but. Her house was an absolute mess; looking as if a whirlwind had come through. But then again, that would make sense with how the woman normally acted. Ben sighed to himself, trying not to cringe at the state of the place, and staving off the urge to start trying to find a place for everything to go.

"Squeak should be upstairs in her room, I'll let her know that you're here and be right back." Vikki waved them off as she ran up the stairs, deftly avoiding the various books, clothes and other random objects that were strewn about the floor.

As Ben watched Vikki disappear up the stairs, doubt began creeping into his mind. He had barely managed to survive his own childhood, what made him think he could possibly be left alone with one?

This was a terrible idea.

He started to turn as if to leave, but stopped when he felt a warm hand on his arm. Looking over he saw Rey watching him softly.

"Ben, it's going to be alright." Her tone was soft and soothing when she spoke, a gentle smile on lips. "Remember the other night when she didn't want to let go of you?" When he nodded subtly, she continued. "After seeing that, I know there isn't anyone she would be more comfortable spending time with."

He reached over to put a hand on hers, studying her face carefully, trying to absorb some of her confidence.

It was only at the small squeak from across the room did the two of them look over, in time to see Vikki coming down the stairs with Squeak following behind. "See, I told you they were really here." Vikki said once they reached the bottom.

"Alright babysitter – check. Actually helpful person for ship – check! Since everything is covered, let get started!" Vikki cheered, marking the invisible list off on her fingers.

Rey nodded. "I'm excited to see what kind of ship you have." She have Ben's arm a soft squeeze, reaching up and placing a quick kiss on his cheek. "For good luck."

The two women left shortly after that, and he found himself looking down at the little girl, with no idea what to do. Even though Rey was only a thought away, already he found himself missing her steadying presence. It was a moment that seemed to last forever, but in reality, probably only lasted a handful of moments.

He didn't know how to say it, but there was one thing that he knew he wanted to let Squeak know. He knelt down so that he was at her eye level, and, slowly so as not to startle her, reached out a hand, calling upon the force to bring a nearby book to him, letting it hover just above his palm. He wanted her to know that it was ok; that this wasn't something she should be afraid of.

Squeak's eyes widened slightly, and she reached out, poking the book with a finger as if to check if it were real. She looked from Ben to the book and back again, her face a look of surprise and confusion.

"Y-you too?"

Ben stared at her, almost unable to believe what he had just heard. Her voice was soft and a bit hoarse from disuse, but Squeak had spoken nonetheless.

"Y-yes, me too." He sounded like an idiot, but it was all he managed to get out, letting the book drop back down softly to the floor.

Squeak's face brightened, and she reached out a hand to tug lightly on Ben's sleeve, and pointing up the stairs with her free hand. "Will you…will you tell me stories?"

Ben could only nod dumbly, letting her pull him to her bedroom.

/

Vikki's ship turned out to be older, and while Rey had expected it to be a simple engine problem, the reality was that it looked as if it was practically falling apart.

"What happened?" Rey asked before she could stop herself, almost in awe of the damage.

"Well, I might have pissed off the wrong people in one of my adventures..." Vikki said, rubbing the back of her neck and fidgeting a bit where she stood, "and this is the result of that battle. Ekair was the closest planet when I was trying to escape, but still honestly if it wasn't for Eir and those abilities of hers I wouldn't've survived." She paused for a moment, before adding, "So...do you think you can still help me? I don't know the extent of your knowledge on the subject..."

Rey smiled at her, eager to get to work. "I can definitely still help. Fixing things is my specialty."

"Ok you are officially my new favorite person." Vikki's face lit up, and she clapped her hands together. "So, where do we start? I might not know much but I'm a quick study and not afraid to do any heavy lifting."

Well, I can tell you just from a glance that we will need to go to the ruins to scavenge for parts. There's no way that most of it doesn't need to be replaced repaired or replaced."

"Scavenged, huh? I would've said salvaged, but I guess it can be hard to get away from old habits."

Rey could feel the blood drain out her face and a painful knot began to form in her stomach at the slip. "How did you-"

"I'm smarter than I look and what's going on with you and Ben is painfully obvious to anyone paying attention." Vikki shook her head. "It's not exactly unknown that The Scavenger's name was Rey. And who do you introduce yourself as?"

"...Who else knows?" Rey asked, swallowing hard. She hadn't thought of that, should have thought of that.

"I'm sure Amir knows, and he would've told Ranulf. Eir's smart enough that I'm sure she's figured it out by now. I don't think anyone knows for sure who Ben is, or was, I guess, but I'm sticking to the idea that he's former First Order since for as nice as he seems he doesn't really strike me as a resistance guy, and it's obvious that the two of you are together, hence why I believe you two have a forbidden love story going on."

"You won't tell anyone will you?" Rey was quiet, not liking just how perceptive Vikki had turned out to be, yet ready to take action if need be.

Vikki gave her a bright, comforting smile. "Don't worry, your secrets safe with me; I'm a sucker for romance. Everyone should be free to live their life the way they want. It's the whole reason I started traveling, really."

Rey sighed, relived at least for her side of things. "Thank you, Vikki, I really appreciate it. Are you sure no one knows about Ben?" She added, worried anew. They had been making great progress; but she didn't think that the universe was ready to know Kylo Ren's true identity just yet. That Ben was ready. They were getting closer, but not there yet.

Vikki's face turned thoughtful. "Well, I have a theory that Ranulf is former First Order too, so if anyone has a better idea, it would be him, but that's only if they were ever in the same place at the same time. I think it's fine though, it's not he's said anything, so I don't think he cares. I think everyone just wants to be here in peace, you know?"

Rey nodded. "It's all we really want, after everything that's happened."

"And while I'm here I'll make sure you get it." Vikki grinned, putting an arm around Rey's shoulder. "And now that's out of the way, where do we start on my ship?"

Ben may have found Vikki annoying, but Rey decided that she wasn't quite so bad.

It was later when they were in the process of getting Vikki's speeder ready to carry cargo when Rey decided to contact Ben to give him an update. She could tell that he was more than a little distracted, so she decided to go directly to him, waving Vikki off in the process. Once she was inside, she followed the path to Ben, leading her up to where she assumed was Squeak's bedroom.

Opening the door gently, she was greeted with the sight of Squeak lying on the floor while drawing, with Ben sitting a few feet in front of her, watching.

"Vikki and I need to make a run to the ruins for parts, are two going to be alright?" Rey asked after watching the pair for a moment.

The two looked at her, but it was Ben who answered. "Alright, but you know you didn't have to come all this way just to say that."

She grinned. "Oh I know, but it's obvious that someone was too distracted to answer."

"Sorry about that, it's just…" He trailed off, looking back over at Squeak, who had gone back to her drawing.

She…she spoke to me.

Rey's eyes widened.

Really?! How did it happen? What did she say?

I just used the force to levitate a book. I didn't want her to be afraid of it and…she asked 'you too?' We came up here after that because she wanted to hear stories but I don't really know any so she's drawing out one's that Vikki has told her already.

Rey smiled and kneeled next to him. "I knew the two of you would be fine." She leaned over, kissing him briefly. "For your continued good luck." She added before he could ask.

"But what about the dragon? He deserves a happy ending with the princess!" It was late by the time Vikki and Rey came back to the house, and once Rey was close enough to Squeak's room, she could hear a soft voice coming from the other side of the door, followed by Ben's unmistakable one. He must have found a story to tell after all; she leaned lightly against the door, wanting to hear the end herself. It wasn't hard to figure out who the dragon was supposed to be.

"You really think so?"

"I know so!"

"Well, the dragon's injuries were terrible, and he certainly wouldn't survive by any – what's that look for?"

"I'm really mad. It's not fair to the dragon! He has to survive and live happily ever after with the princess and have cute dragon babies!"

A stunned silence before Ben managed to continue, and Rey had to stifle a laugh. "W-well, as I was saying, the dragon wouldn't survive by any normal means. But the princess' love for him was so deep that her tears were enough to save him, breaking his curse, and turning him back into a human."

"And they lived happily ever after?"

"I like to think so."

"Having fun in here?" Now that the story was over, Rey opened the door, stepping inside. She found that the two occupants had moved; Squeak was sitting on the bed, and had somehow managed to convince Ben to sit next to her, despite it being wholly too small for him.

It was a sight she could definitely get used to seeing; Ben looked completely natural sitting next to Squeak, and she looked perfectly content sitting next to him. For a brief moment she let herself believe that this was hers, that they had a small family to call their own.

"I hope so." Ben was the one to answer, looking over at Rey. "You done for the day then?"

Rey nodded, inwardly shaking herself out the dream. "It's getting dark so we decided to call it for the day. It's going to take awhile longer, but we made good progress."

Squeak reached over then and tugged on Ben's sleeve, stopping him from answering. He leaned over, and she whispered something in his ear. "You can tell her that yourself, you know." He told her, looking a bit amused.

Squeak looked at Rey and then back to Ben, and it was only at his nod that the small girl slid off the bed and made her way nervously over to where Rey was still standing.

"Um, thank…thank you for saving me the other day, Missus Rey." Squeak's voice was small and quiet, and Rey's heart melted.

She wanted to pick the girl up tightly and hug her close; to never let anything bad happen to her ever again. She didn't want to frighten the poor girl, so she resisted the urge and knelt down instead, giving her a smile. "Of course, we couldn't just leave you alone like that."

Rey glanced over at Ben, knowing that be felt the same. She also knew that he was having a bit too much fun imagining her picking up Squeak and twirling around. Rey flicked a finger, throwing a nearby pillow at him that he, unfortunately but of course, caught, a laugh escaping from him as he did so.

They left shortly after that, but not before reassuring Squeak that they would be back tomorrow. As they walked back to the Falcon, Ben slipped his hand into Rey's.

"I'm covered in grease right now, are you sure you want to be so close to me?" She asked.

"You know I don't mind." He gripped her hand subtly tighter. "My love for you is not dependent on how clean you are."

"I know, but it is nice to hear you say it."

He smiled, leaning over and placing a kiss on her cheek as they walked. "I'll say it as much as you need, sweetheart."

She smiled, leaning against him, even as it reminded her of something. "So, the princess saves the dragon, huh?"

Ben glanced away, and she could see the beginnings of a blush starting to creep on to his face. "Squeak really wanted to hear a story, but the ones I know from history books aren't the kind a child would like so I just…"

"You told her a version of our story." Rey finished for him, and Ben nodded awkwardly, his free hand absently reaching up to fiddle with the dice around his neck. "Well I think it's adorable. And it proves my point that you deserves this. Squeak didn't even know it was you and she was still mad at the possibility of you dying."

"That's just because she's wanted to hear a happy ending regardless of –"

"Ben." Rey shot him a look and he stopped, glancing away. "You know that's not true."

"I know." He said with a sigh before looking back. "One day I'll be able to kick the habit."