Ben could hear voices, but they were distant.
He felt as though he were underwater, a cloud surrounding his mind.
Was he dreaming?
He swum through the haze, towards the tones.
"You know I've never doubted your abilities, Rey…" The first voice begun.
"I sense there is a 'but' coming." The second deadpanned, her voice closer.
"But… Do you think this is really going to work? It's been days…"
"You can see his chest moving as clearly as I, Poe. Every machine hooked up to him tells us that he is alive."
"I can see that, Rey, but will he wake? I don't know how long it was before Chewie and Rose pulled us from fighter and got to you both…"
There was a silence then. Ben's consciousness lulled, beginning to fade, but he heard her quiet voice before he sunk beneath the tide.
"I can feel him there. Trust me."
Ben was drifting. He felt as though he were floating high in some distant atmosphere, but he was drawn to quiet murmurs once more.
"How is Finn?" Rey whispered, her voice close to his ear.
There was a heavy sigh. He heard footsteps grow closer, and a screeching against linoleum.
"It was touch and go. They removed the metal fragments from his chest, but it was a long process. Recovery will take some time." Poe's voice was dejected. He was close by, almost as close as Rey.
"If you would just let me-" Her words were quickly cut short as Poe interrupted her, as though he had interrupted the same words many times before.
"Rey, you've barely recovered yourself. I cannot lose him, but I will not lose you too." His tone was sharp, but his words brimmed with affection. Rey sighed, conceding.
"He's lucky he has you." Rey responded softly.
Poe laughed tiredly.
"Yeah, and he better know it. Though neither of us would have survived without you." A pause. "Without Ben, too."
"It was a team effort." Rey laughed, a hollow sound that seemed to catch in her throat.
Silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity before Poe's hesitant voice cut through the heavy air.
"Rey, you know I'm bad at this… I… I should have trusted you about him… About Ben. I just… All I could think about was what he did when he took me captive… How he almost killed Fi-" Poe's words were rushed and he cut himself off, exhaling sharply.
There was a movement from beside Ben.
"Poe, you don't have to. I know. I understand." Rey's words were genuine, full of warmth and empathy.
"Thank you, Rey. For everything."
"Ditto."
There was another movement and silence ensued. Ben continued drifting without the voices to tether him to the earth.
Ben felt a throbbing at his ankle first. He stirred, focusing on the pain, but his leg felt suspended, trapped.
He knotted his brows in confusion, and the nerves in his face ached in protest.
A groan escaped his lips and he shifted his shoulders.
The groan grew as the pain morphed into a sharpness that pelted through his shoulder.
There was a loud beeping from close to his ears, and another, higher series of beeps that seemed to move closer and then further from him.
Ben exhaled deeply, allowing the breath to pass his lips with such relief it felt as though he had been holding it for a lifetime.
The higher chirps disappeared after a muted bang, and Ben finally attempted to open his eyes. The brightness of the room around him blinded him for several moments, and he closed his eyes again, opening slower this time, waiting for the yellow balls of light to clear as his vision begun to focus.
His gaze roamed his body first; his chest was bare of clothing, yet it was wrapped in bandages and covered in little pads connected to wires, which connected to the source of beeping to his right. Ben attempted to shift again, when he found the source of his trapped leg; a bacta pack was wrapped from foot to knee, and he winced against the throbbing in his ankle, amplified by his movements.
Casting his focus wider, he found he was in what appeared to be a medical ward, open and sterile. Metal instruments and machines littered the space, and Ben was surprised to find the blinding lights he thought were artificial appeared to be in fact natural. Ben tilted his head slowly to his left, and the air caught in his throat as his eyes focused on the source of the light.
A glass wall existed in the place where some muted shade of building should be, opening the room to what lay beyond the clear pane. Through it, he could see green so lush he could barely stand it; ferns and flowers stretched onwards, and he thought he could make out some form of stream or waterfall through the forest.
Somewhere within his chest, he knew he wasn't on the Forest Moon of Endor. The way flowers sprung throughout the undergrowth reminded him of a place he may have only visited in a dream, or a vague memory from another life.
The familiarity clung to his skin though, and he only tore his eyes from the pane when a much louder bang sounded before him.
If he had his wits about him, he would have felt the fear and relief that had washed through him from another, but he didn't grasp it until his eyes met a pair of wild, amber orbs.
Rey had thrown the metal door with so much strength as she flew into the medical bay, that it slammed against the wall and ricocheted, almost knocking into the little BB-8 astromech unit as it followed through after her.
Minutes seemed to pass as they stared at each other, with only the slight squeak of the door hinges, and BB-8's confused chirping filling the air.
Ben grasped for the words that rushed through his mind, but in parting his lips to speak, nothing emerged.
Rey seemed to regain her wits faster than he, and her hesitant footfalls drew her closer, until a spark of anger coursed through him from her, and in her final steps, she threw a closed fist at his uninjured shoulder.
"What-" Ben begun, brows knitting together as he watched her, eyes wide.
She stood beside him now and his breath hitched as he took her in. She was no longer clothed in the torn and stained fabrics which he had last seen her. She wore a light grey tunic and black pants, with brown belts fastened across the fabrics as they always had been. His eyes roamed quickly back to her face, and while the grime had been washed from her cheeks, there were still dark circles under her eyes. Her skin seemed pale, as though she hadn't a moments' rest her entire life.
Despite how tired she appeared, Ben swore he had never laid eyes on anything that could move him in such a way. It felt as though a wildfire threatened to consume his chest.
He opened his mouth to ask again why she had landed such a blow to his arm, but she answered his question before it formed at his tongue.
"You are a fool, Ben! You… You idiot, you almost… I almost lost you!" Tears begun to well, and her shoulders heaved a little as she seemed to linger on the memories, a pained expression behind her eyes.
Ben cleared his throat slightly and shifted himself further upright so that he could look directly into her liquid golden orbs.
He wanted to be closer to her.
"And I almost lost you," Ben whispered. He flinched as the memories rushed at him with full speed; the moment the saber pierced her stomach, the second the life begun to exit her fallen body. The tears she choked out as she fought through the pain, and the moment her lungs released her last breath of air.
His lip quivered as they both succumbed to the horror and pain of what they had fought through, tears spilling over Rey's eyes and brimming at Ben's.
It was a darkness they were both falling into, tumbling through the air as they drew closer and closer to the bottom of the chasm.
Before they hit the ground, Ben moved his fingers to where Rey's were shaking at her side. The eyes that seemed to have glazed over were suddenly pulled into focus.
The warmth that radiated from her palm sent a thrill up his spine, and he readjusted, taking her entire hand within his own.
Their fall faltered, the speed at which they raced to the bottom now slowing, until they hung mid-air, suspended.
Ben grounded himself to the feeling of Rey's soft fingers within his own, and following his lead, Rey stilled her mind, taking in deeper breaths. Tears still fell, but the darkness was no longer a chasm to consume them both.
"If that was the price to save you, know I would pay it again and again." Ben's words were raw and radiated such truth and adoration that Rey hiccupped, her breath seemingly catching in her throat.
The pain was instead blinded by the love that begun to thrum through her bloodstream. She shook her head at him slightly and moved quickly, removing her hand from his only to place it on his cheek, rushing her lips to his.
A sense of calm blanketed them, until Ben's lips parted slightly, and he moved his arms around her to draw her closer. It was then that the calm shifted into a blazing fire that simmered through every single nerve of their bodies.
Rey's lips parted in reciprocation, and the taste of her breath on his tongue was intoxicating.
She shifted, wanting to be closer to him as his arms encircled her, but their urgent kisses quickly slowed as they both became breathless.
Both their bodies still needed time to heal.
Ben drew himself away from her by only a fraction, only to bring his forehead to her own, resting gently against her as he chuckled lightly.
"We finally have a moment of safety, and it is our bodies that will not reciprocate." Rey's cheeks flushed slightly as she took in his words, a small smirk curling the corners of her lips.
Ben's words awoke another memory, and he jumped slightly, imploring Rey's eyes.
"Hux," he begun. Fear wrapped itself around his throat, then a confusion paralysed him.
How had they evaded the wrath of Hux?
He begun to sit up, but Rey's hands were quickly upon his shoulders, fastening him in place.
"Ben, stop. It's okay. We are safe." Ben's brows knitted, and Rey quickly elaborated.
"Palpatine's vessel entered warp after our officers received a transmission from the bridge. A General initiated a coup. Her intention was to destroy the it in a part of space that would not destroy the planet below it. She had a message for you." Ben's eyes narrowed in confusion as he attempted to understand Rey's words.
"She told the rebellion to tell Ben Solo that she was returning the favour."
Ben's eyes widened, and it took moments for him to compose himself.
A flash of the General aboard the Guillotine shot through his mind.
No…
"What happened? Has the vessel been found, destroyed or otherwise?" Rey shook her head.
"Chewie, Rose and Lando, amongst others are searching for it. We retreated here just in case the General didn't succeed. We are safe here."
"Where is here?"
"Ajan Kloss."
Ben did know this place. Of course he did. How could he not? He had spent the earliest years of his life here, memories that had long stayed dormant until recently. A vision flooded his mind, of his family standing among fields of flowers.
"Leia refused to let this be a target to the First Order. She did not want it to meet the same fate her home planet found. We were only to settle here when we were sure the First Order had been destroyed." Rey begun, but a fear continued to climb through Ben's throat.
"But Palpatine's vessel, if the General did not succeed, it-"
"No, the first thing our officers did when it entered the atmosphere was scan for the same tracking technology fitted to the other Dreadnaughts. Even if it is still out there, they cannot track us here."
"You're certain?" Ben asked, and Rey nodded, reassuring.
Ben thought of the General once more. He pondered the reasons she abandoned the First Order, the horrors of her last battle, and the woman who held her heart on a distant planet.
She had risked her freedom to take down the final vessel within the First Order fleet, and Ben did not even know her name.
Rey could feel his fear and regret, though her understanding was misplaced.
"They will find it. The First Order will never take another world from the stars."
Ben shook his head, pulling himself higher in the bed, wishing he didn't have a bacta pack wrapped around his leg, hindering his ability.
"The General… She was repaying a debt I had never held her to. I gave her a chance to leave the First Order to find her lover, and she rushed back in to do what we could not have… If she was unable to succeed, she will have been captured. We owe it to her to find her."
Rey smiled, a softness reaching her eyes while she observed him before a familiar fierce determination filled her eyes.
"I agree, and as soon as we are healed, we will join the others. But you and Finn are both still recovering. Let the others work until we regain our strength."
Ben opened his mouth to argue, but his eyes lingered at the tinged purple skin under her eyes, and closed his mouth again, nodding.
He needed to let her rest, too.
Rey smirked a little, moving to sit next to him on his bed.
"I am surprised you are so reluctant to let us have just a couple moments of calm."
"I haven't known a single moment of calm since I met you." His lips twitched upwards as he watched her. "It is not unwanted, it will just take some time to adjust."
Rey laughed then, lighter than Ben had seen. It felt as though the same weight that had been suffocating him for years had also ceased its attempts to drown her.
"To be honest, if I didn't think Poe would strangle me himself, I would heal you and Finn myself if it meant travelling through the stars again. It feels strange to be so idle. I cannot count how many times I have cleaned and repaired BB and the other droids."
Ben looked to the floor over Rey's shoulder, meeting BB-8's gaze. The astromech unit slid backwards several inches, observing Ben as though he were still trying to discern his trustworthiness.
Rey turned to the unit, raising her eyebrow at it.
"It's okay BB-8. Poe changed his mind, I know you will too." The little droid chirped back at her and Rey laughed, turning to face Ben. He hitched an eyebrow at her, intrigued.
"He says he needs to follow you around to truly decide on the matter."
A disbelieved laugh escaped Ben's throat.
The irony of the role reversal did not escape him.
"I suppose that's only fair, considering the time I spent following you all those months ago. Though I suppose, it is you I have to thank." BB-8 emitted what he could only decipher as confused beeps, and even Rey's brows furrowed slightly at Ben's words.
"On a desert planet in the middle of nowhere, the one person you happen to run into is the other half of my force dyad. You were the missing link." BB-8's head tilted upwards, silent for several moments as though it were comprehending Ben's words.
Finally, BB-8 strung a series of pitched beeps directed at them both, before rotating and exiting the same way it came. Rey snickered, turning back to Ben.
"Did I offend the droid?" Ben asked, genuinely curious. Rey shook her head, readjusting her position so that she was leaning into Ben's chest. Warmth flowed from her skin to his mostly bare chest and through their bond, a blanketing that comforted him more than he ever imaged he could be comforted.
It was almost unbelievable. It was too good for him, a love that he did not believe he could ever deserve.
But it was one he would accept, nonetheless. It was one he would protect with a fire that blazed passionately within his chest.
He relished in the calm, finding the peace within the blazing adoration and the steadying fear that danced within his soul.
There was a communication through their bond that could not be described by mere words alone. As they sunk into what transpired between them, Rey finally replied, her soft laughter drifting through the air.
"BB-8 went to find Poe. I think it might be in denial that it played a part in bringing us together."
Ben chuckled, wrapping his arm gently across Rey, holding her close as his eyelids begun to fall slowly.
The last thought that drifted through his mind held firm in the recesses, until his consciousness lulled once more.
He was, finally, exactly where he needed to be.
My sincerest apologies that this was uploaded so late! I returned from holidays, and between being loaded with extra shifts, and helping organise a Star Wars event at my local cinema (thankfully my state have not had an active covid case in 4 months so we are still able to hold some events), I just have not had a spare moment. Thank you so, so very much for all the support. I am constantly overjoyed by the beautiful reviews, they mean more to me than I can say. RedPandaJoy, BrokenMentality, stepankahanusova, pam48, CEFox7 and Guest, your ongoing support has been phenomenal and I appreciate you all so very much! I truly hope that I brought a justice to Ben and Rey's relationship, but first and foremost a justice to Ben's struggles and triumphs, his growth and his redemption, and the happy ending he truly deserved. I will end with an epilogue after this chapter, and I will also write a stand alone one shot of the General whom Ben met aboard the Guillotine, and who subsequently helped the Rebellion. I am extremely intrigued by what her story could offer, so I will give you a glimpse, and let your imaginations run wild with the rest.
Apologies for this extremely long authors note! Thank you again my pals. I hope you're all safe and well. So much love xxxx