A/N - Welcome back to the story!
Ben found Rey with Finn and Poe, their shoulders touching as they sat on a bench before the fountain in the garden of the Imperial Palace. They were talking and teasing and smiling with each other, and it warmed Ben's heart.
He was captivated by her, entranced by the laughter that finally radiated from her again. How had he ever thought that she wasn't beautiful? She may not be perfection in the classical sense, but her spirit was glorious and it shone from her like the sun.
He took a step back, intending to return to the palace. She had so few moments of peace and tranquility, he wasn't about to intrude upon this time with her friends. She turned suddenly, her head tilting to the side as she spotted him. Her smile grew as her cheeks colored beautifully. Finn and Poe frowned at her for a moment before turning toward him.
The two quickly exchanged a look and rose to their feet.
"You don't have to go," Ben told them.
"Yes," Finn glanced back at Rey who offered him a small smile. "We do."
As the two men left the gardens, Ben walked around the bench and sat beside her.
"Do you remember when you brought me to the gardens at the first order palace?" She asked.
Ben stared at the fountain, which was strangely similar to the one on the First Order home planet, recalling that day. He hadn't known what to make of her then, hadn't known what to make of anything that was happening to him. She'd thrown him off balance, rattled him, confused him in a way that he'd never been confused before.
She still did.
Ben didn't think he would ever get used to her, the way she made him feel. The way she could melt him, infuriate him, and drive him nearly to his knees all in the same moment.
"I do."
"I was so uncertain of you before then."
"You sure didn't act like it," he muttered.
Rey laughed as she leaned against his side. He loved the way she looked at him like that, playful and joyful. It almost made him believe that she wasn't still aching inside, but even through the smile he saw the persistent torment in her eyes. It would be there for a long time to come.
Ben took hold of her hand, pressing it gently between his as he placed it in his lap.
"Well, I couldn't let you know I was a little scared of you, you'd take advantage of me then."
He couldn't stop the snort of laughter that escaped him.
"Oh, I'm sure, as you're just so easy to take advantage of," he retorted dryly.
"Only with you," she replied with a blush, and he couldn't help the increase of his laughter. It was so rare and fleeting to see Rey embarrassed or shy about anything, but intimacy was one of those things.
"Even then you're like a thorn."
A burst of astonished laughter escaped her, and she leaned over to press a brief kiss to his lips. He knew she'd only meant it to be chaste, a small show of affection, but the minute her lips touched his heat flashed through his body. He grabbed hold of her shoulders, keeping her in place as memories of their nights together burst hotly through him.
Ben was shaken, and for a brief moment he was unable to control the powerful wave of desire that swamped him. He'd most certainly never loved another woman before, but he'd also never been this enthralled or rattled by one either. He'd thought that possessing her would ease the need somewhat, but he'd been wrong. It had only increased.
Rey was breathing rapidly, her face flushed with a different kind of heat when he regained enough control of himself to finally separate from her. Her eyes were wide with awe, her lips parted and swollen from the force of his kiss. He craved nothing more than to take her back upstairs and forget about everything as he lost himself to her, but there were things that had to be done. Things they had to settle between them. There was only so long they could push reality away, and though he would have liked a few more days, he knew it would only make things more difficult in the end.
"There's something I have to tell you, Rey."
Reality crashed over her as she straightened her shoulders and thrust her chin out.
"There's something I have to tell you too."
"Does it have to do with whatever has been going on between you and my family recently?"
She paled visibly as she leaned away from him.
"You knew?"
"I suspected something. I'm not a fool. You haven't been the same since my mother and uncle started making us hide our relationship and began prattling on about being Jedi. I'm aware you were trying to put some distance between us, but I figured it was because of the perceived need to keep our love secret. But it was more than that, wasn't it?"
"You're going to be mad."
He shifted uneasily, but he'd known that he would be.
"I don't doubt it for a minute."
"Just please try to control your temper."
Ben's jaw clenched.
"I'd never harm you."
"I know that," Rey assured him. "But I do enjoy this garden and I'd like to keep it all in one piece."
He raised an eyebrow at her.
"It's that bad?"
She shrugged, but there was no casualness to the gesture.
"Depends on your point of view."
"From my point of view?"
"You're probably going to feel like breaking something, but for me, please don't."
Ben didn't like the sound of that.
"For you, Rey, I can do just about anything."
He wasn't going to promise her though, not when he didn't know exactly what it was that she was going to tell him.
Rey took a deep breath and blurted her words so fast that in the beginning he had a tough time trying to follow what she was saying. The faster she spoke though, and the more she spoke, the more anger and dread began to curl within his chest. He was struggling not to shake, trying hard not to clench down on the hand he held.
He'd suspected they were plotting something, he'd even suspected that it might have been something like this, something that separated the two of them, but it did nothing to ease the acid he felt churning through his stomach. Nothing to ease the sense of betrayal he felt building through him.
"I never meant to upset you, Ben."
"And leaving me again wouldn't upset me?" He grated through clenched teeth.
Rey looked as if he'd slapped her as she recoiled from him.
"It's not what I wanted to do," she whispered. "Leia and Luke convinced me that I had to leave so you could rule. That I had to be a Jedi, and you had to be Emperor, and we had no place together in the new world."
Ben released her hand and rose abruptly. He wanted to scream at her, to shout and bellow and tear the garden apart. He had the urge to shake her until he rattled some sense into that thick skull of hers, but even as all of those urges slammed through him, he also felt a deflating of his spirit.
He had driven her to this, driven them all to this. He'd been so determined to believe that he could walk away, that he wouldn't be necessary, that they wouldn't need him to rule in order to bring peace to the turbulent galaxy. He hadn't stopped to think of anyone other than himself, and her. He'd only aspired to keep her safe and protected, he'd been insistent that he would leave with her as soon as the war was over, but by doing so he'd pushed her and the others into trying to find a way to make him stay.
Ben ran a hand through his hair as he dropped onto the bench beside her.
"You're angry with me," she whispered.
"I am. I'm also angry with myself."
"Just know that it was never what I wanted," She told him. "I always wanted you."
"Rey," He moaned as regret filled him. Pulling her against him, he pressed a firm kiss against her forehead. "I would have found you. I'll always find you."
"I know." Her fingers curled into his shirt as she pressed her face against his neck. "I think I always knew."
"You should have come to me…" He started, but broke off as he shook his head. "You couldn't, I wouldn't listen. Why did you change your mind? Why have you decided to tell me this?"
Rey pulled away slightly.
"Because I couldn't be that person anymore. I couldn't leave you for a second time," She confessed. "I was trying to do what was right by leaving, but it was never going to be right, not in the end. The Jedi were wrong, the Sith were wrong, and I couldn't try to keep that system alive, not when there was no room for us together in it."
"What did Luke and Leia think of your decision?"
"They know that I'm right," she told him, eyes closing as her hands stilled on his face. "I would never have been a Jedi."
"But you will be an Empress, if you agree to be."
Rey's eyes shot open.
"But the council-"
"Has agreed to accept us as Emperor and Empress," He finished for her. "They voted this morning"
There was a moment of stunned silence before she started to laugh and flung herself at him. He barely felt the force of her slender weight as she wrapped her arms around him and settled in his lap. Ecstasy swamped him as he hugged her back.
"You don't have to decide right now," he murmured as his fingers slid through her hair. "We can wait and discuss it further once you've had time to think it over."
"Ben…"
"I just want to make sure you can live with this life," He said hurriedly. "This isn't your world, Rey. I know that and you know that. I remember how unhappy you were in the First Order palace, how much you missed your freedom. There will be many demands placed on us, lots of pressure, and even less freedom."
"Ben, I can…"
"I mean to make sure you understand that, Rey, you can't rush into this decision" He insisted. "I won't force you to stay. If you choose to leave because you won't be happy here, I won't make you stay. I won't-"
Before Ben could get out another word, Rey cut him off with a kiss.
"I'm not rushing into this," she whispered. "And I can go off-planet once in a while, can't I?"
"As often as I can I will take you to explore the galaxy," He vowed.
"Good. I think I can keep my sanity then," she grinned up at him as she nudged his hip.
"So… is that…"
"Yes, Ben," she said softly, pulling him into another embrace. "I will be your Empress."
A/N - Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
As always, please leave a review with your thoughts, suggestions, and predictions, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
~ Elizabeth (FanOfDeliciousFlavour)