Chapter Fourteen

Relief washed over the entire Resistance. It was nearly overwhelming to Ben, and may have been had he not already been feeling the same things. Others had rushed into the room nearly as soon as Rey had woken up: Chewbacca, the second general—Poe, the woman Ben had seen cut in the fight. It was crowded, with so many people laughing and celebrating and trying to hug Rey. Ben had slipped out and recovered some clothes from his room. One of the medics—thankfully, not the one who had cut his shirt—had caught him in the hallway and made him step into one the rooms to have his arm rebandaged, but the man had let him go shortly after.

The Resistance seemed to have decided that they trusted him. Ben wasn't sure how long it would last, but right now they were all celebrating, and news spread fast. Ben had even seen a few nods and friendly waves directed at him as he wandered the base. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to them. No one had ever waved at Kylo Ren.

Ben finally found his way out of the medical section and into the calm, outside air. He found a smooth tree and sat down at its base, leaning against the trunk. Rey was still in there somewhere, getting fussed over by her friends. Ben hadn't expected her to turn to Finn immediately after he healed her, but he admitted to himself that he hadn't really thought about what would happen before. He had been too focused on getting to that point. It made sense, of course, that she would want to join her friends' celebration. Still, Ben had been a little…hurt? Jealous? He tried to keep the feelings in check. The choices were hers to make, and after all, it had only been hours since she had woken.

Ben heard quiet footsteps, and his heart fluttered as he saw that their owner was Rey, making her way toward him. She sat down silently, leaning against the same tree. After everything, Ben had no idea what to say to her. So he remained quiet, hoping that she would break the silence.

After what felt like a long time, she spoke. "I'm so sorry." It wasn't quite what he had expected.

"I'm sorry too."

She was looking at his bandaged forearm. "They haven't fitted you with a prosthetic yet?"

"No," he said. "The skin has to heal first."

She glanced up into his eyes. "Let me fix it for you." Those honey hazel eyes…he almost wanted to let her, even if just to feel her touch again.

"No, Rey, we can't keep doing this. Trading life Force. Just…" Ben reached out and touched the spot on her rib cage. He could feel the scar through her shirt, the scar he had made. It matched his own, invisible, but still always there. "Just keep it for awhile. You need it."

She nodded, looking away from him, and sighed softly. "I'll let you heal on your own time."

He realized this was the first time they had really been together with no outside motives, no war to fight. It should be joyful, or, at least, not this somber. Maybe some humor was in order. "Hey," he said, "didn't I always say you would eventually give in and take my hand?"

Rey looked back at him then, biting her lip to suppress a stubborn smile. "You are a horrible man."

Ben chuckled, half failing at his attempts at restraint, and her smile finally broke through. Rey held out her hand and he placed his much larger one in it. She held on tightly, although her gaze was far away. He savored the warm, alive feeling of her hand in his.

"So," she said finally, her voice teasing, "are we going to talk about how a certain someone claims to have fallen in love with a scrappy scavenger?"

Ben groaned, throwing his head back against the trunk to look up at the sky filtering between leaves and branches. "You heard that? I sort of hoped you would have forgotten or something."

Rey let go of his hand, taking hers back to press her fingers together in her lap. She stared into the dirt of the forest floor. "I was not often fully in control," she confessed, "but I was still…copilot. Not everything came from the Sith, Ben, some of that was…some of that was me."

Ben suddenly thought back to her tears as he held her through their Force bond, and the way his mother's lightsaber had ended up at his belt on Exegol. "I know," he said.

She must have sensed his thoughts because she added, "not always the good things."

"I know," he said, more firmly this time. "I know."

Rey leaned back against the tree trunk. "I guess you would."

Ben could feel that she was hurting. "You forgave me on Kef Bir, didn't you?" It wasn't quite the truth. Forgiveness…he hadn't earned it. But he had felt Rey's acceptance, along with his mother's.

"Yes."

"Then you can find the strength to forgive yourself. Even now, you are the brightest star in the galaxy…especially compared to me."

Rey looked away, blinking. "I never knew whether I could trust what you were telling me. Whether it was real or just a ploy to get me to the Dark side."

"Even if that had been true," said Ben, "it seems it's backfired fantastically."

"But I still…"

"It's okay," he said softly. "We're here now. You're here now. I'm not going anywhere. Not unless you want me to." Ben had moved closer to Rey, and reached for her, cupping her face in his hand. She closed her eyes and leaned into his palm. "Please," he whispered.

She nodded, and he shut his eyes, tilting her face up to press her forehead against his own. Focusing on his inhale and exhale, he pulled down the thinning walls he had spent so long erecting around his feelings. He nudged those about Rey to the front and center. That was what he wanted to give her, but she could have anything. Have a look for yourself, if you want.

Ben's hand shook against Rey's cheek, and she reached up and steadied it with her own. She tentatively accepted his invitation and he felt her delicately probe the thoughts he had put forward. She was hesitant to go deeper than surface level, images and sounds of the memories he presented. And then she stumbled into one that he hadn't realized his mind had filed under "Rey," one of the Empress in his chamber late at night. He stifled a groan but he didn't push her out. Anything. Rey almost drew away from him, but then he could hear the snippets of his old thoughts echoing through her mind. Not Rey. Not what I loved about Rey. Her perfect balance of gentleness and strength. Rey didn't choose this. Not the old Rey. I only want her back. Rey. Rey.

Ben felt hot, wet tears run over his hand and pulled back and opened his eyes as Rey retreated from his mind.

"I'm sorry for that last—thank you for letting me show—" He felt a lump forming in his throat and then they were both shedding heavy, cathartic tears.

"You missed me," she whispered, and beneath her flooding eyes, she was smiling.

"I don't want to ever again."

Rey wiped her eyes on the final strip of her arm wrapping, pulled up over her palm. Then you won't.

Ben could hardly believe what he had felt her say. Had that thought really been her, or just his own hopeful mind? "I'm sorry for not stopping you sooner. I know you didn't really want…"

"I didn't want it to be like that. Not with me only half present. Not with her."

"Then—then we'll do it better," Ben said softly.

She was looking at him so intently. "You mean it?"

"Yeah."

She moved toward him just as he reached for her, and he pulled her so close, arms around her waist and supporting her back, crushing her to his chest as gently as he could, mindful of her injuries. Her fingers worked their way into his hair, pulling him to her, and she looked into his eyes as if she couldn't quite believe he was real. Then she kissed him, and her lips were soft and confident, and this, this was Rey. Strong and gentle. He could feel warm joy glowing from her and could only hope she felt his own. She pulled away from him and he smiled, closing his eyes and taking a moment to fall back into himself, to just exist in her arms and her light.

"Thank you, Ben." The corners of her mouth tilted upward as she said it, then she pressed her velvet lips to his cheek.

Any words Ben could think to say ran into each other and caught in his throat, so he just caught her up and kissed her again.

Then Rey stood up, and Ben started to protest. "We've got all the time in the galaxy," she said, and offered him her hand. "Let's get back to the festivities. They're celebrating because of you, you know. And I want you to meet my friends. Properly this time."

Ben let her pull him to his feet. "Yeah," he said. "Okay."

Author's Note: So, this is it. Thank you so much to everyone who stuck with this little fic. I've so appreciated all your support for Binary Sunrise.

But wait! We're not done yet!

I've already started writing a sequel. I won't be publishing it for a few weeks probably because I have to finish the novella I'm writing first (I've got fifteen pages and a lot of editing to go, aaaaaaa) but once I have a big enough backlog of chapters, I will put the story up and post a teaser on Binary Sunrise.

Until next time,

—E