What we were always meant to be

Author's note: Let's watch these space babies reach for the sun.

There is something hesitant about him. Cautious.

As if she's an illusion about to evaporate if he burns too close.

She can tell by the way he comes to stand behind her, carefully cupping her bare shoulders with his warm hands. By the way he raises his gaze to look at their joined reflection on the window of his room. This dark, heavy gaze that carries a sliver of hope inside. Or - perhaps it's only the glittering city playing tricks in the night.

Ben towers over her, all broad shoulders and solid chest, but he seems the frailest she has ever seen him.

He wraps one large hand gently around her throat, an unuttered plea for her to remain perfectly still for him, while he runs the knuckles of his other hand lightly down the tiny bumps of her spine. The touch is so soft, so feathery that Rey can barely contain her body's instinct to shudder. If this is what his touch will be like, she doesn't believe her heart will make it through the night.

Fingers tighten slightly on the pulse of her neck, as he leans in to caress the the tip of his nose along the shell of her ear.

Rey…

His voice breathes inside her mind and sets the embers ablaze.

When he slowly unties her dress and lets it slip to the floor, Rey fears she will melt to his every demand. She stands bare in front of him once more - an unwrapped gift in the dim lighting of his room - with his longing and desire pulsing between them. He is treating her as if she's something vulnerable, fragile. As if she's made of glass. LIttle does he know that Rey wants to be broken.

He tips her head to the side, exposing her neck to his hot breath.

I dream of you...

He whispers in the corners of her mind, stirring a hunger that has been long forgotten.

His lips find that sweet spot behind her ear, just as his other hand comes around to cup her breast. Long fingertips delicately curl around her nipple. They knead and pinch at the pebbled flesh, shooting want down to the pits of her core.

I ache for you...

His voice bleeds through her cracks.

His hand moves down. It slips inside her thin underclothes, finding her small patch of curls and gently spreading her folds wide open for him to touch. To explore. To take.

Rey is soaked.

He dips a finger inside her, sliding it across that throbbing spot she has spent countless nights rubbing in want for him, and circles it tightly. Her knees nearly give out under her.

"Take me to bed," she moans to him.

She doesn't need to tell him twice.

Ben comes to stand in front of her, sliding his hands down to her ass and cupping it firmly before lifting her up. Rey feels so high she never wants to touch the ground again. She wraps her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, while he clutches on to her tightly, molding his mouth to hers with a desperation that threatens to steal all logic from her mind. He carries her to his bed, but instead of devouring her as the monster that she knows he can be, he lays them down on the soft bedspread and drags her on top of him.

He's surrendering to her.

The restraint he is showing is truly admirable. She can tell by the tender way his hands find her hips, guiding her to straddle him. By the way his thumbs run small circles on the jut of her hipbones. Rey's chest begins to ache.

He wants to savor her, when she wants to be ravished.

She hurriedly undoes the buttons of his shirt and unfastens the bindings of his trousers, fingers agitated and frustrated at the lack of dexterity on her behalf. She is harsh and hasty, yanking his shirt off his shoulders, running her palms over the expanse of skin on his chest and the muscles of his abdomen. She clenches her jaw, struggling not to scratch. Then she fumbles to remove the rest of their clothing, to wrap her hand around his already hardened cock.

Ben grunts when she strokes him, and she stares hungrily at the way he buries his head in the pillows. She could easily work him to his release in a matter of moments, but that is not what she's here for. She glances away from his searching eyes when she aligns him with her wet slit.

And sinks down on him.

He is glorious and hard, filling and stretching her to the brim. It's everything her body could ever want and wish for.

Her eyes begin to sting, but she refuses to look at him. She begins to rock on top, spreading her palms on his chest to steady herself, as he lets her ride him in a pace that will ruin her before her heart can catch up to what she's doing.

Her brow begins to sweat, her heart begins to pound and her chest heaves. He is lying beneath her, their bodies acting as if they were never apart for a single moment, but her heart has never felt more alone.

Look at me.

His voice speaks softly inside her, unfolding her memories. Shedding light in their dark days.

"Baby girl… Look at me."

His hands run up her thighs. A sob tears at her throat and her rhythm stutters.

Ben reaches for her wrists, clutching them affectionately into his large hands as he sits up.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. Everything is fine."

"You're acting as if I don't know you," he leans in to catch her eyes, but she explodes before she can stop herself.

"Well, maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do!" Dreadful silence slips between them as their bodies remain locked together - but they remain a galaxy apart. "Now, do you want to have sex with me or not?"

Rey knows she has taken this too far. That he's going to push her off him, get out of bed, get dressed and ask for her to leave. He has done nothing but try to bridge the chasm between them all night long, while all she's done is try to push him as far away as possible. She is such a mess. Such a horrible, terrible mess of a person - and all she wants to do is hurt him.

But he only stares at her for a few awful moments with that heavy, indecipherable gaze of his.

"I've fooled around with barely a handful of women that meant nothing to me these past couple of years, but I've never slept with Hannah," he states suddenly, pressing his lips together and looking so damn determined to reach out to her it's infuriating. "I haven't kissed or touched her in any intimate way, or tried to initiate any kind of personal contact with her. I want you to know that…"

He lets go of her wrists, only to wrap those strong arms around her and bring her just a breath closer to his body. His wide brown eyes search for hers. "Not a single day has passed where I haven't thought of you. Dreamt of being with you… You're the reason I've been able to hold on to my sanity through these empty years in hope that one day... "

He stops just as his voice turns thick, and Rey is left staring at him, blinking away her tears.

"...In hope that one day we could find a way to become what we were always meant to be."

There are a couple of more creases on the side of his eyes, and his face looks so much thinner than she remembers. She even thinks she spots a few greying hairs at his temples. But it's not those insignificant details that make him feel as if he's aged a lifetime in the span of these two years. It's the loneliness and dejection that have eaten him away. Just the way they have eaten away at her.

"I've slept with other men."

He shakes his head lightly. "It's ok. You had every right."

"You told me to sleep with other men."

"I asked you to move on… There is nothing wrong with what you did. I could never hold it against you," he says, wiping away a strand of hair from her face. "You did what you needed to do to make it through."

"How can you say that?" she whispers. "I hated every minute of it."

"I did too." His hold on her tightens, turns desperate. "And I'm so tired of it. I'm tired of wasting myself on people I don't give a damn about, and staying away from the one person who means everything to me. I have put you through so much, and I would understand if you never want to see me again. But you are the only thing that matters to me. Life is so short, and the only thing I want to do is spend it with you…" He slides his hands up to cup her face and hold her gaze. "If you are willing to have me..."

Tears roll down her face. Fat and hot - that his thumbs wipe away. They are so tender that Rey feels she doesn't deserve his touch. She wished to hurt him just moments ago.

"...I can only hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive me someday," he continues, as if he's the only one who can carry the burden of their choices.

"Would you forgive me?" She whispers.

"Forgive you?" He asks puzzled. "There is no reason to."

Yes there is. She wants to scream at him. "I tried to forget you. I slept with other men so that I could try to forget you and…"

"Well, did you?" He raises his brow at her. "Forget me?"

There's a little smugness in there - in the way he regards her - when he should be angry at her. Glaring daggers or snapping some kind of snarky retort.

Only he isn't.

Rey shakes her head. She is so tired of running away from him. Exhausted. And so very helplessly in love with him.

"Aren't you mad at me?" she finally asks.

"No."

"Even just a little?"

"I want to hunt down every bastard who touched you and cut off their balls if that makes you feel any better."

She snorts and a smile breaks on her face, despite the tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Yes," she nods. "I think I'd like that. But there's just so many of them, and it would take you forever to track down every single one and.."

She nearly squeals when he flips her on her back, wedging himself between her spread legs and pinning her wrists on the sides of her head. He has her trapped beneath his body and he is staring at her now, all dark intentions and primitive need.

Damn… She knew the predator was just a scratch away...

"Nice try," his chuckles playfully, but there's a little danger behind his narrowed eyes. "If you want to make me feel jealous - it's working."

His hardness is rubbing against her swollen center, and wetness pools treacherously between her legs. Rey nearly laughs at how easily her body betrays her.

"Well good," she beams at him. "It was about time you knew how that felt."

Rey never thought that this man could ever look like a kicked puppy, but for a split moment he does.

"You honestly have no idea what you make me go through," he deadpans.

Her smile falters. "I'm sorry…It was a stupid joke."

But Ben doesn't seem to find the joke funny. He simply studies her for a dreadfully long moment, with a gaze so steady and solemn that nervousness begins to crawl up her spine. He is so close that Rey can see her bewildered reflection in the pits of his dark irises, count his constellation of freckles and moles on his pale skin.

Is he really that mad? Surely he must have known she was joking.

Gods, she's such an idiot...

She holds her breath and tries not to think about how this night can so easily derail into a complete catastrophe.

But he only hums lazily in the end, tearing his gaze away, and bringing her wrist to his lips. "I'll let it slide this time…" He delivers his verdict by setting a kiss on her pulse. "But I can't guarantee about the next."

There's a tiny curl of his lip, barely there really, but it's enough to let her know he is actually amused by this whole situation. Bloody asshole. She exhales in relief. Rey can't believe how naive she is to still fall for his oldest trick.

"Ben?"

"Yeah?" He mumbles, setting another kiss on her wrist.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Perhaps."

"Would you really do it?" She's really pushing her luck with him tonight.

"Punish you for the next cruel joke you make at my expense?"

"No." Stars, this man. "Track them down."

"I already know where they are."

"You what?" She attempts to pull her hand away, but he holds on to it tight, smiling against her skin.

"Or I might have a vague idea about where to find them."

He's messing with her. He must be messing with her. Either that, or he really must have been keeping tabs on her through Nyxx. What a double crossing weasel, she thinks. She believed him to be her friend. Though, strangely enough, she doesn't feel angry about it. Not even just a little bit annoyed. In fact, she feels rather ...satisfied.

Something warm coils deep inside her.

"Baby?"

"Hmmm?" He's so concentrated on nibbling her wrist that she feels reluctant about interrupting him. It feels divine.

"Make love to me tonight," she whispers in his ear, which has him raise his head from the trail of bites he is setting along her forearm. He blinks at her, confused through his mess of hair, and in that instance he looks so much like the young boy she holds dear in her heart that her chest clenches.

"I've always made love to you..." he replies as if it's the most natural thing in the world. "You were just too afraid to see it."

Her heart swells.

Rey pulls him in for a kiss, and he returns it hungrily and victoriously, all teeth and lapping tongue, suckling lips and heated breath. It has her giggling like a fool. And when he spreads her legs wide to push himself inside, she is throbbing so damn much for him she thinks she will burst.

Her orgasm slams suddenly into her when he is halfway sheathed in her, and she clings to him as if she might die. He curses low and buries his face in her neck as he helps her ride the convulsions, whispering dirty, wicked words of the things he will do to her tonight.

It is only the beginning.

Her limbs feel like butter when he settles her on her stomach and arches up her behind to slide himself back in. His pace is languid, slow and deep and so perfect that she knows there is no place to hide anymore. No more crumbled walls and broken facades. No more righteous excuses and helpless lies. Their feelings are as bare to each other as the nakedness of their writhing bodies.

It's the most sacred thing she has ever felt.

He drapes himself over her back and groans her name, struggling to maintain the punishingly slow rocking of their bodies. But he is just a man. And restraint is not his virtue.

There's a loud slap on her ass and Rey flinches from the sting.

"Hey! What are you…?"

"Shh…" His hush is decadent against her ear. "Don't pretend you don't know what it's for."

His arm wraps around her waist before she can move away, and his other hand comes to knead her flesh, soothing away the pain.

"What will you do to me?" The slap had caught her by surprise, but it hadn't felt bad in all honesty. She knows he will never hurt her again.

"Brace yourself, baby," he dictates. "I'm going to fuck your little cunt so sweet now, you will never let me go again. Do you understand?"

Exhilaration sparks down her body. She has never felt more ready for him in her life.

She nods, feeling her mouth go dry. "Yes."

"Good girl. Now...hold on tight."

His thrusts become quick. They become hard.

They become everything she could ever ask for.

Their lovemaking turns fervent and sloppy, and the bed is not enough to contain their thrill. They find themselves tumbling over at some point, dragging half the covers along with them while they struggle to maintain their frantic pace without burning a hole through the floor.

When her next orgasm takes over her body, clenching at her insides and wringing her voice dry, Rey is somewhat aware in the back of her sizzled mind that she can never have enough of him. Never have him deep enough. She scrapes at the floor, shamelessly moaning his name, as he follows right after with desperate, powerful thrusts, pumping his release inside her as if there is no tomorrow.

Only there is. Rey hasn't felt so eager for what tomorrow will bring in a very, very long time.

They must lie on that floor panting and staring at each other blissfully for an unknown amount of time. Their cheeks are flushed, and their hair is matted on their sweaty temples but Rey can see that they are both glowing. When they eventually help each other crawl back up on the bed, laughing like idiots, she believes that if their life together can have a fraction of the happiness she feels right now, every damn, rotten decision they have ever made will be worth it.

But when Ben shuts the light off and turns to face her, draping his arm over her body to bring her close, she knows that their life together will have so much more.

"Rey? What are you doing here?" Leia asks with a voice raspy from sleep, hastily tying her night robe around her waist. Rey knows that it's an ungodly hour in Chandrila, and she really has no excuse to be standing in front of Leia's doorstep dressed in last night's red gown and clutching her backpack to her chest. She must look like a crazy woman. But she really had no other place to go.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Leia regards her with so much concern, that Rey comes very close to confessing she just came back from sleeping with her son.

"I don't know…" she says in a small voice, wiping the streaks of tears on her face. "I think I am? I hope I will be..." She blurts out with a chuckle.

Rey had gotten out of Ben's bed and left his room at the very first light of dawn, leaving him peacefully asleep on their tangled sheets. She had barely caught a wink of sleep herself, choosing to lie on her side instead, tracing his handsome features while he slept, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest and imagining that their talks of last night could come true.

"Hannah's father has been replaced as head of his house, and I am no longer of political importance. It's the opportunity I have been waiting for," he had said later in the night, caressing her hair. "There's nothing Hannah can do to stop me."

Rey had nodded in her pillow as she looked at him. Their limbs were tangled together and their eyes were gleaming with dreams of tomorrow. Everything seemed so real and possible that Rey felt as if she could conquer the galaxy.

"All I'm asking is for you to wait for me. I am getting myself out of this marriage. Will you do it? Will you wait for me?" His eyes had darted anxiously between hers. Rey knew that deep down, for as long as she remembered, she had always waited for him.

"Yes."

His lips had curled in a relieved smile.

"But I can't be with you until all this is over." Rey had said softly. Her fingertips had traced the lines of his dimples and had come to settle on the curve of his bottom lip. It was soft and swollen, and she didn't know how she would part with it again.

Ben hadn't answered, but had nodded in understanding.

"Where will you be?"

"Don't worry." She had smiled at him. "You don't have to use Nyxx to track me down. I'll make it easy for you to find me."

Rey wipes the new tears that are already welling in her eyes with the back of her hand, hoping with all her heart that his mother doesn't ask any more questions.

"May I come in?"

Ben's door to his childhood room creaks as it opens, which means he hasn't stayed here in a long time. It smells a bit stuffy when she steps inside, like old wood, smoke, and something masculine that matches the scent on her skin. Rey couldn't feel more welcomed.

"It needs to be aired out," Leia says from the entrance. "I'll have a cleaning droid freshen up the sheets and…"

"There's no need," Rey interrupts her with a small smile. "I don't mind. This is perfect."

She ventures further inside, studying the charcoal drawings framed on the walls and the trinkets and gimmicks of a teenage boy laying about the worn out, wooden furniture.

"You look like you've had a rough evening," Leia offers softly. "Why don't I have Threepio prepare you some hot herbal tea and something light for you to eat? I believe you need it." She's being so courteous and generous about her unexpected visit that Rey barely refrains herself from falling into the woman's embrace. She's the closest person there is to Ben at the moment, and the home she has always craved, but she feels like she has already overstepped.

"No. No…I'm fine," she says, running her fingers on the light dust covering his desk. She comes to stand in front of the beat up bookcase brimming in old books and datapads. There's so much to discover about him here. "Thank you..."

But Ben's mother is already draping a warm blanket over her shoulders, looking at her with those soft brown eyes that remind her so much of him.

"I'm not taking no for an answer," she says, trying to hide her own swelling emotions. "Make yourself at home, my child. He's doing his best to come back to you. Just be a little patient."

Rey feels the truth of her words fill those cracks inside her, that are yearning and waiting and hoping to be whole again.

She hears the door shut softly behind Leia, just as Rey walks over to the large windows of his room. It's the deepest hour of the night, right before dawn breaks in the horizon. The sparkling waters of the lake stretch before her, and the twin moons have already retreated into their hiding place. The image is so similar to last night's that Rey thinks she will feel him stand behind her, running his fingers gently along the spine of her neck and making every fine hair of her body reach for his caress.

"The divorce won't be easy. It might take a few months at best," he had said earlier in the evening, as they walked side by side towards his hotel. The night had been so sweet Rey felt as if the gods had created it just for them. "Hannah is fond of my status in Coruscant's society - and even more fond of my credits. She won't back down without a fight."

"I thought she was in love with you."

"She's in love with the image of me."

"Is that why you're getting a divorce then? Because she doesn't know how to love you?" Her question had sounded saltier than intended. She knew their marriage was because of a political agreement and he didn't harbor any deeper feelings for her. But still…

Ben had lifted his eyes to hers. Rey could swear that all the sadness of the world was gathered inside them at times.

"You should know better than to ask me such questions. I'm divorcing her because I'm in love with you."

Rey is already missing him like crazy. She doesn't know how she will make it through the next few months without seeing him. Listening to his voice. Without feeling him.

But life finds solutions when we least expect them. Because as the days go by and Rey is unable to tear herself away from Ben's childhood home, she comes to realize that she is aware of his presence in a way that transcends the material world. Worlds and systems of planets might be between them, but he feels like he is merely a thought away. A heartbeat that stutters when she longs for him, a breeze that touches her skin when she is laying in his bed at night.

A voice that speaks inside her.

She knows there is a connection between them. Some glitch of the Force that bonds them. But this is so much more. Sometimes she doesn't know where she ends and he begins.

As if they are pieces of one being that should have never been torn in two.

"I might have to give up the estate."

Ben's holoprojection thrums on the surface of Leia's office desk one early morning. She can hear bustling in the background, and Kaydel's face comes into view momentarily, as she leans to say something in Ben's ear. He scowls and shifts in his seat before gesturing for his secretary to leave him be.

"The apartment too," he growls, sitting back and rubbing at his face. "I'll be signing a good portion of my property over to her, and hopefully she won't be asking for an alimony."

"That's ok…"

"No, it's not. I love that apartment."

"We'll get another. And if you're too broke to afford one by the end of the divorce, then I'll just mind trick a real estate agent to give us one. How does Chandrila sound?"

"Too close to my mother."

"How about Kuat? You have invested a lot of credits in their ship industries."

"It has no trees. You won't be able to survive. Besides, it's no place to raise a family on."

"To raise a fam…" Rey parrots stupidly before her voice gives out on her. She sits frozen on Leia's plush leather chair, with a mug of hot herbal tea in her now trembling hand, staring at Ben's blue image smirking devilishly at her.

"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your communication, my lady, but Prin… Senator Organa has been looking for you," Leia's golden protocol droid chimes suddenly from the entrance of the office. "The Mirrorbright is ready for take off, and she is extremely concerned about running late to her appointment with the ambassador of Naboo and… Master Solo! I did not notice it was you. I have a malfunction in my right eye that limits my peripheral vision to …"

"Threepio, not now..." Ben's holoprojection growls.

"...seventy six percent of the original…"

"I said not now!"

The droid whirs in Rey's direction with arms raised in befuddlement, but before it can protest she assures it with a smile. "Tell Leia I'll be there shortly."

By the time Threepio shuffles out of the room Rey is able to get her emotions somewhat under check. But Ben's confidence has slipped away.

"A family?" She asks, in an attempt to verify that her hearing is intact.

He regards her sheepishly. "It's just a thought. Nothing solid or concrete. And of course, if you're not interested in having children or being tied down to one place, I don't mind. As long as…"

"Ben."

"...we are together and we…"

"Ben."

He is ruffling through some datapads stacked in front of him, with his attention set on the task as if it's the most important job in the world. He bites at the inside of his cheek.

"I want a family with you," she says.

Ben stops the ruffling but keeps his gaze lowered. He clears his throat. "Alright," he says, after a few heartbeats have gone by. "If you insist."

"I insist." Rey hides the grin spreading on her face behind the steaming mug of tea. If she could figure out a way to jump across the stars and wrap her arms around this man through that stupid bond that connects them, she totally would. Right this instance. He can be so damn adorable without even knowing. She takes a generous swig without thinking, and barely stops herself from flinching because of the scalding beverage.

"Aw! Fucking hells!" Ben hisses, sputtering and wiping at his lips. "Did Threepio make this? I swear he is obsessed with serving tea at temperatures beyond boiling point. Don't you dare let him make another one for you again," he grumbles, regarding her concerned. "Are you alright?"

She believes her tongue will fall off actually, but he already has a lot on his mind, so she figures there's no point in adding Threepio's reprogramming to his list. Besides, Leia seems to be fond of that ancient droid for some odd reason.

"I will be when you're here," Rey settles on saying in the end. She misses him like crazy, so she might as well make him feel guilty about that.

He cracks an unguarded smile for her, the type that makes his whole face brighten up like a beaming sun. "Soon, sweetheart. Very soon."

Rey carries that smile everywhere she goes after that. She knows it won't be long.

She's taking a swim in the middle of the lake one hot summer afternoon, when a black ship suddenly cuts through the sky.

The waters are glassy, reflecting the foliage of the forest and the cerulean sky like a perfect mirror. The light breeze that had been gracing the lake earlier in the day has died down, leaving the world at the mercy of a relentless sun. Not a single ripple can be seen on the surface of the water. Not even a leaf swaying on a branch - as if it's too cumbersome of a job for nature to take a single breath.

Rey dips her head into the sparkling water to soothe her burning cheeks, the soft splash the only other sound accompanying the buzzing of crickets that surround the lake.

When she breaks through the surface, the smooth whirring of an engine has filled the air, and she lifts her head just in time to catch the sun reflecting off the black sleek metal of a ship in the sky.

Her heart jolts just as his voice fills her mind.

I'm coming, angel.

Adrenaline surges through her, and then Rey is splashing and kicking and splattering through the calm waters like a newborn bantha. Every damn swimming lesson that Rose - the Mirrorbright's technician - has given her flies out the hatch. It's the longest five minutes of her life - the struggle to get to the shore - and she comes this close to leaving her hindering body behind for the fish to feast on.

The ship disappears behind the foliage just as she reaches shallow waters.

"Ben!" She cries out, digging her feet into the wet sand and breaking into a run.

He appears suddenly on the twisting pebbled path that comes around the house from the private landing bay, wearing a plain white button down shirt over grey trousers, and he blends in so beautifully with the colors of the garden and the marble of the back patio that Rey nearly misses him.

"Ben!"

His attention snaps to her and his whole face lights up.

Ben!

The sand is scorching hot under her feet, making it so damn difficult to run - Rey knows she will have blisters by the end of the day - but he's hurrying down the path too, his own urgency mirroring her own as it so often happens these days between them.

I'm here, baby… I'm finally here.

Rey stumbles on a rock, nearly tripping. Her right hand touches the sand as she regains her balance, and when she looks up he's right in front of her.

She's barely aware that her arms are wrapping tightly around his neck and that she's being lifted in the air. That she's clutched against his solid chest and that his hands are tightening around her like vices.

Rey is barely aware of any of it, because his lips crash onto hers, kissing her like a madman and giving her all that he has. And then her head is spinning, and her heart is soaring - and maybe it's the whole damn galaxy that's turning inside out - but she could care less at the moment.

Because Ben is here. In her arms. Hers at last.

Hers, hers, hers…

And nothing else matters.

He stops too soon and pulls away for a gulp of air, which Rey knows is completely unnecessary in their case - because who needs air in their lungs when they are tangled around each other - but he is looking at her with sparkling eyes, crinkled from elation and all the love that exists in the world, so she thinks she will forgive him this one time.

"I've missed you…" is all she thinks to say because, gods, he is so beautiful today in the middle of this summer afternoon, under this blistering, golden sun and bright blue sky, that Rey wants time to stop at this very moment. Forever. Lock them up in this very heartbeat and never let them go again.

She buries her face in his neck, inhaling his musk and sweat and staleness of his ship, lacing fingers in his thick hair and digging fingers into the muscles of his back. He is here. Wrapped around her, solid and strong and free - finally free. Wisps of his hair is tickling her nose, and the sun is blinding her eyes, but he is so warm around her that tears well in her eyes.

"I'm here, baby girl… Never letting go of you again…" his deep voice rumbles inside her.

She nods in his neck because yes, yes… she knows. She's never letting him out of her sight again either, but she still needs to tell him. Tell him of this soul deep emotion that has been within her since the beginning of time. Before the creation of the world.

Before the gods even existed.

Her lips part next to his ear just as his breath fans on the shell of her own. But no words come out from either of them.

I love you.

A thought breezes through her mind instead. And it really doesn't matter if it comes from him or her, or who says it first.

Because their hearts are beating as one on this lovely summer day.

And who needs words, anyway?

Author's note: Only one chapter left my lovelies -an epilogue from Ben's POV before this story comes to an end. It has been one hell of a ride and I have never felt happier to wrap these babies up in sunshine! Thank you ALL for your incredible, amazing support! I would have never been able to do it without you...