As they made their way into the control room, R2-D2 and C-3P0 were waiting for them just inside. Rey gave Ben's hand a soft squeeze as she felt his anxiousness increase the closer they came to the droids. Once they were close enough, R2 beeped angrily, rocking back and forth.
"Yeah, I know, I haven't been the smartest." Ben said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
When R2 responded, it was more as if making sure to convince someone to stay put this time.
"Don't worry, I'm staying. I'm not about to make the same mistake again." Ben looked back up at Threepio after R2's satisfied chirp. "...Are you doing alright?" He asked a bit cautiously.
"After careful consideration and discussion with R2-D2, I have come to the conclusion that you are still Master Ben." Threepio began, "You took the long way around, but you have indeed returned! And that should be celebrated. Your parents would be so proud."
Ben's eyes softened, the ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as Rey gave his hand a soft squeeze. "Thank you."
/
"This morning near Coruscant a first order ship was spotted, only this time we have a better image to go with it." Poe pushed a button on the control panel, and the image of a large, resurgent class star destroyer flickered to life.
"Isn't that –"
"The Finalizer, yes." Hux said, cutting Ben off. "It would seem Quinn has made it his base of operations."
"Of course, it is." Ben sighed. "shouldn't have expected anything less." He shook his head. "I'm sure Quinn's trying to recruit more people. Even with the entirety of everyone aboard my ship, it wouldn't be enough to amount much to continuing the war."
"As much as I hate to admit that Ren has a point, the fact still remains." Hux admitted grudgingly.
"Shouldn't we be surprised he hasn't tried to attack anywhere? Isn't that how The First Order went about forcing support?" Poe asked.
"Not necessarily." Hux said, shaking his head. "Quinn is a very calculating person, and will only strike when he feels he is at the greatest strategic advantage."
"Even if he isn't going to do anything immediately, I think it would be best if we go and check out everywhere we know he's been to try and figure out where he's planning." Rey said.
"Exactly!" Poe exclaimed. "And we should send our best pilot to go check it out."
"Which is why we're going." Ben said with a grin.
"We've missed so much while we were away, this is the least we can do to make up for the help you didn't have from us before." Rey broke in, cutting off Poe's protest before it could start.
"It's more my fault this happened anyway." Ben said with a nod, rubbing his neck. "And I want to make good on what I said about putting things right."
/
With their next steps decided, there was still one thing Rey knew was on Ben's mind before they left.
"I can take you there, if you think you're ready." She told him once they had parted from the others. It wasn't like she hadn't noticed the glances; the wondering gaze towards where he figured his mother's quarters to be.
Ben nodded slowly. "I don't think I'll ever be ready, but I need to know. I need to know how she lived."
"Alright." Rey nodded in turn, softly taking his hand in hers to pull him with her.
The room the Leia Organa had been using as her quarters was simple, yet exuded a sense of grace and charm, along with an unyielding fiery spirit that could not be contained or put out. The room itself had been largely untouched, as if in a sign of respect. The room was still bright and warm, the echoes of the presence of Ben's mother still prevalent. So much so that it was almost as if his mom would come walking through the doorway any second, scolding him for all the trouble he had caused and how long he took to come back to his senses. He had to resist the urge to look back at the doorway for her, his heart twisting painfully as he knew that would never happen. To distract himself from it, he made his way over to the old, well-worn dresser that had been pushed against the far wall as Rey stayed by the entrance, letting him take in the room at his own pace, watching silently.
There were two things set atop the dresser; his mother's wedding ring along with a kid's crude drawing that had been propped up against the wall. He picked it up in a shaky hand, taking in the scribbly lines of the three figures holding hands that had been drawn upon it; a man, woman, and a small boy in between them. They were all smiling as the sun in the corner shone down on them, the words 'mom, dad, and me' written above.
"She kept it." He whispered, his voice broken and uneven as he felt Rey's hand on his arm, his heart trembling and his eyes beginning to sting, "Even after all this time, she kept it." And oh kriff, he missed her. He missed them both.
"She never gave up on you." Rey said, giving his arm a gentle squeeze.
"I don't know why." He sniffed, reaching up to wipe his cheeks with the back of his hand. "I'm just as weak as before."
If he had been a bit smarter, a bit stronger, he could have come here so much sooner. He could have helped end the First Order properly, instead of letting a small faction get away. If he hadn't been so stupid, so weak – he would have gone with Rey after the Supremacy, would have actually been able to see his mother again...but he didn't. Couldn't. If he was just able to be better -
"You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for." Rey cut into his intrusive thoughts fondly, yet determined, her tone suggesting the statement was not up for debate.
"I don't see it." He muttered.
"Hux called you Ren and you didn't even flinch."
"That's just because it's Hux."
Rey frowned, reaching up to take his face in her hands, getting him to look directly at her. "Do I need to list all the reasons that you are?" When he glanced away without answer, she took it as her cue to keep going. "Ben, you went years with someone whispering terrible things in your mind and yet it was only when they left you with no other option that you were pushed into the dark. If you are truly as weak as you say you are, then you would have fallen years before." She took a breath, not letting him interrupt as she continued. "You survived years of abuse, killed said abuser for me, came for me on Exegol, and climbed out of a pit only to turn around and save me from death. If that isn't strength then I don't know what is."
He watched her closely, letting her words sink in. Sure, he had gone through a lot, but that was just how anyone would survive...right? "I was only able to come back because you pulled me up at the end."
She shook her head. "At most I opened the door. But you were the one who chose to walk out. You didn't have to come to Exegol at all; you could have just left everything behind, but you didn't."
"I couldn't just leave you to face everything alone." He said softly.
She smiled. "And you know what that takes? Strength. If you didn't have that then we wouldn't even be here right now. It's not easy what you did, and yet here we are."
He continued to stare at her, watching for even the slightest sign of exaggeration; yet it came as no real surprise when he found none. Rey wasn't afraid to tell him how things were, to always get to the point-blank truth of how things were. Slowly he nodded; maybe, just maybe, she had a point. Broken and bruised as he was, he had still managed to keep going despite everything, picking himself off the floor time and time again.
"There you go." She smiled softly, brushing his cheeks with her thumbs before leaning up to kiss him. "You are amazing and one day I'll get you to fully realize it."
"Well, I suppose that was a start." He said, a slow smile finally spreading across his face. "Might need a bit more of a reminder, though."
"You cheeky scoundrel." She laughed, pulling him down to kiss him properly.
/
"Do you need any supplies before you go?" Rose asked once Rey and Ben had meet back up with the others right before they were about to leave for Quinn's last known location.
Rey shook her head. "No, Eir's got us pretty well covered, but thank you." She pulled Rose in for hug. "It was good to see you again."
"Tell us as soon as you find out anything, alright? Don't be strangers." Rose said, returning the hug.
"And try not to do anything too foolhardy, Ren. We will not be coming to your aid should you do so." Hux said curtly.
"How can I when I'm leaving all that here with you." Ben said.
Rose laughed, cutting Hux off before he could answer as she and Rey parted. "Perhaps next time we should work on their getting along better."
"He does have a point though. We don't know what Quinn is up to, so you be careful out there, alright?" Finn said.
"Yeah," Poe chimed in, "I still need to have a race with Supreme Softie over there to see who's really the best pilot around here."
"You really think you can beat me?" Ben said with a smirk. "I've seen what you can do, and I really don't think you can."
"Hey -"
"Alright save it for later, boys. We really should get going." Rey said with a small laugh of her own. "And we'll be sure to be careful, don't worry. We're only going scouting, right Ben?"
Ben nodded. "Yeah. We'll see what we can and then report back before we decide what to do next."
"We'll see you again soon, hopefully." Rose said, giving Rey one more hug before letting the two of them leave.
As they began to make their way to the Falcon, Chewie followed them.
"You're coming with us?" Rey asked.
Chewie growled simply as he nodded, continuing to make his way to the ship.
Ben shrugged. "You ever try to say no to a Wookie? Plus, it won't be too bad having him around."
"I guess not." Rey laughed. "Welcome aboard, friend."
With that they boarded the Falcon, taking one last look at the resistance base and waving at the others before closing the ramp and heading to cockpit.
"You ready?" Ben asked, taking a sit at the co-pilots chair with Chewie sitting in the chair behind him.
Rey smiled, settling into the pilots' chair. "Let's go."
/
When they arrived close enough to Coruscant to scan, Quinn had already left. A brief trip down to the surface hadn't turned up much either; whatever Quinn was planning, he was being sure to be careful about it.
"He's definitely up to more than just recruitment." Rey said as they sat in the Falcon with a map of the galaxy between them, a temporary line placed along the planets Chewie had told them Quinn had been sighted. "Besides Tatooine and Kessel, some of the places he's been to aren't even inhabited."
"It almost like he's looking for something." Ben sighed. "But with no clues to go on, there isn't much we can do besides keep looking."
"We always did say we wanted to travel the galaxy," Rey said, giving Ben's arm a light squeeze, "we'll keep an eye out, and you never know what we'll come across just by looking around." She leaned over, placing a kiss on his cheek before standing up. "For now, I'm going to give Rosie an update and then I think it would be good to go home for a few days at least."
"You just want to see the house."
"Don't pretend like you aren't just as curious." She laughed.
/
Coming back to Ekair was like a breath of fresh air. While it had been nice to get answers about Kaine and Meru, along with getting to see her friends again – it was even better to come back here, where no one expected anything of them, where they could once again simply be Rey and Ben, if only for little awhile. Being thrown back into the reality of the very real threat of the First Order coming back had been jarring at best, yet coming back home was as Rey had always dreamed it to be – the weight of world became just that much lighter, the unease in her heart settling slightly.
"Looks like Eir's thought of everything." Ben said, motioning to where a space between the trees had been crafted, just behind where they had chosen for their house to be.
Rey smiled, maneuvering to land in the clearing. "We really should remember to thank her when we see her."
As it turned out they didn't have to wait long; Eir, Kira, and Vikki were already waiting for them as the they exited the Falcon.
"You're back!" Kira exclaimed with a bright smile. She made to move forwards, only to let out a squeak and hide behind Eir as Chewie came into view, peeking out slightly around the older woman. "W-who are you?"
When Chewie's answer wasn't in basic, Kira looked up at Eir in askance.
Eir smiled, giving Chewie a small bow. "It's nice to meet you, Chewbacca. I am Eir."
Kira looked back over at Chewie, her curiosity more than a little obvious, as she had all but stepped away from Eir, one hand lightly hanging on to the hem of the older woman's top.
"It's okay," Ben began, kneeling down so that he was more at Kira's eye level, "he isn't going to hurt you."
As if it were the trigger to break the spell, Kira trotted over to them, stopping just before Chewie and looking up. "Hi. I'm Kira."
Chewie kneeled down in turn, warbling softly.
"What did he say, what did he say?" Kira asked in an excited tone, tugging at Ben's sleeve.
Ben chuckled softly, enjoying her enthusiasm. "He said it's nice to meet you, Kira."
"Don't forget about me! I'm Vikki!" Vikki broke in, waving and grinning like a lunatic, and Ben had to suppress a sigh.
Rey glanced over at Ben, amusement playing across her face.
Forget how energetic she is already?
Ben stood up, a pained expression on his face.
Not to mention loud.
"I've never met a Wookie before!" Vikki continued, completely unaffected. "Always wanted to though, but the opportunity never quite came about. I mean, I did think about going to Kashyyyk, but it was never quite close enough to where ever I was at the time, and then you have to learn a whole new language, and really, who has the time -"
"I trust that your trip went well?" Eir broke in. "We're you able to find the answers to your questions?"
"We did, and then some." Rey said, slipping her hand into Ben's, which in turn he interlocked their fingers.
"That's good to hear." Eir said with a smile. "You will have to tell me about it later, as for now I'm sure you're quite ready to check out your house."
"So it is ready then?" Rey perked up, unable to contain her excitement.
Eir nodded. "It is. We have managed to procure some basic furnishings, but the rest is yours to decorate as you please."
/
Set inside the base of a large tree, stepping inside their house was as if setting foot in a dream. It was simple yet quaint; sunlight streaming in from the windows on either side of the room. Stairs leading up were set against the back wall, with a small kitchen set to the right. Everything was theirs and theirs alone, a stable, stationary place they could truly call their own. It was warm, and bright, and best of all – they were together.
"We did it." Rey whispered, taking in the sight, trying to memorize even the slightest detail. It was pure bliss, making her want to cry just from the sheer amount of it. "We made it!" she laughed gleefully, throwing her arms around Ben's neck tightly. He wrapped his arms around her, twirling around a few times before hugging her tightly.
"We did." Ben let out his own contented laugh, the smile stretching across his face wide and free. "We really did."
There was still the looming threat of what Quinn had in store, yet this house stood for just how far they had come. They had truly found each other, no longer lost and alone. They would face what came next together, never to be separated.
The beginning may be over, but the Adventures continue in part 2, in which Ben and Rey sort out their new life and aim to take down Quinn! Titled Finish What You Started. The first chapter is already written and being posted right after this.