I hope you had a Merry Christmas. My beta, Nancy and I went back to translating. I'm not going to argue about the movie "The Rise of Skywalker", but I was just hoping a very different ending for our beloved Reylo. It doesn't matter, this story was originally written for that. So thank you for reading and for your support.
Unknown Regions:
Armitage Hux was sitting in the back of the Upsilon-class shuttle cockpit and stamping his feet, his hands clenched on the armrests of his chair. The hypnotic scrolling of the blue beams of the hyper-space corridor had no calming effect on him. On the contrary, his nervousness grew as the ship approached their final destination. In order to verify Mitaka's information, Hux had chosen to go to Diyu with complete discretion, accompanied only by an armed escort of stormtroopers and two pilots. When Viri Pax had asked him where he was going, he had pretended to be visiting a new construction site for Star Destroyers, and said he would be back in two or three days. He wasn't sure that the Zabrak had believed his story but honestly he didn't care. Once there, he had found that, ultimately, the famous laboratory was not really one: it was just a small complex in which prototypes warheads, able to cross any planetary shield, were being designed. The team of technicians was receiving all their instructions from the main Sato-based research center. Hux was stunned. It was the planet situated in the heart of the UR-345 system that contained fabulous deposits of kyber crystals and the famous ore with extraordinary properties. All of this was insane. So he had decided to go and see for himself.
Suddenly, the ship shifted slightly, indicating that it had just returned to sub-light speed, and continued idling.
Hux jumped from his seat to bark at the two pilots.
"What are you doing?! Why are we stopping in the middle of nowhere!"
"General, the ship's sensors triggered the exit from hyper-space. Apparently there's an obstacle right in front of us."
The three men scanned the black void in front of them, and after a few seconds, they saw in the distance what had alerted the computers on board: an asteroid field was blocking the shuttle route.
"I don't understand!" Hux was livid. "Why, when you entered the Sato coordinates, didn't the nav computer have us avoid this area?"
The co-pilot displayed the map of the region on the viewing screen. His eyes widened as he turned his head to his colleague, who was just as surprised as him.
"Because this asteroid field is not supposed to be there, General …"
"What? Don't be stupid! Our data concerning this part of the Unknown Regions was updated less than a month ago!"
The two soldiers remained wary, not knowing exactly what explanation to give to their superior. Hux was right, the First Order's spatial maps were certainly the most reliable in the galaxy. Suddenly, the redhead became deathly pale.
"I wonder if …" he articulated painfully.
He shoved the poor co-pilot unceremoniously to the side, tapped on the keyboard and zoomed in on the area they were supposed to be in. The old records in the ship's memory appeared on the screen. Their current coordinates corresponded to those of a small moon, KX343, normally gravitating in high orbit of the planet that they could see far off on their right.
"What does that mean, General?" The pilot, who still didn't understand, looked up at him for clarification.
Hux had taken a few steps back and was now motionless and unresponsive in the middle of the cockpit. He kept staring at the multitude of rocky fragments floating quietly in front of the shuttle. Ignoring his subordinate's question completely, he merely whistled between his teeth:
"Elias Ren, what did you do?"
The shuttle landed on the small runway of the complex. Not wanting to risk crossing the asteroid field, they had lost time bypassing it. Flanked by his escort, Armitage Hux made his way to the entrance of the facility, which was guarded by four stormtroopers, who promptly came to attention. The huge metal door opened, and the newcomers were greeted by a man in a white coat, with a waxy face and a hooked nose. The sparse hair on his head was combed to the side in a single strand, and his little black eyes, too close together, widened at the sight of the soldier he obviously was not expecting to see.
"General Hux! What a surprise! I am so sorry that I was not informed of your arrival! I am…"
As the man continued to stammer and make excuses, Hux cut him off unceremoniously:
"My coming here was decided in a bit of a rush. In fact, we did not have time to warn you."
The scientist suddenly appeared even more uncomfortable.
"Our Supreme Leader is aware of your presence here, isn't he?"
This time it was Hux's turn to stammer out an answer:
"Yes of course!" the general lied shamelessly before walking past the scientist to take the corridor leading inward. "It's he who sends me to check the status of your research on the ore. You are ... uh …"
"Professor Maktor Heln." The hawk-faced man was trotting along behind the officer. "I have been in charge of the 'Fusion project' for about two months."
The "Fusion Project" ... What was that? ...
Hux's eyebrows met on his forehead. He had absolutely no idea what the scientist was talking about. During Kylo Ren's few weeks in power, it was decided that Sato would house an extraction center but also a laboratory to test the ore found in the subsoil of the planet. And just after the ousting of Han Solo's son, Elias had declared that he would personally oversee the establishment and management of the facilities in order to realize the idea of his predecessor: the construction of the five miniaturized Death Stars. But apparently, Elias's plans had changed somewhere along the way.
The little group soon arrived in front of a huge room with glass partitions. Heln accelerated his pace to move ahead of the soldier, and then invited him to enter his sacred laboratory. About fifty technicians were busy like ants at different workstations.
Armitage Hux stopped on the threshold and took a few seconds to examine the scene. The excitement within the room was undeniable, but the faces of the workers were serious and closed. They all seemed really worried and nervous, which piqued Hux's curiosity even more.
"Can you brief me, Herk?" he asked in a falsely detached tone as he approached a bench on which samples of deep blue crystals were scattered in small glass cups.
"It's Heln," the scientist retorted "Maktor Heln." A bit upset, he clenched his teeth before continuing. "Well, as your Supreme Leader must have told you, the last attempt was a total success. The weapon worked perfectly."
"Yes ... and just like him, I'm absolutely delighted that everything went perfectly …"
Hux was gambling everything, hoping that he could bluff his way into getting as much detail on the project as possible without letting the scientist discover that he had actually been removed from it.
"Our engineers did a remarkable job," Heln boasted, "guided, of course, by the instructions of our beloved Supreme Leader. This new prototype bomb is a little gem. The casing is no bigger than a neutron battery * and can be transported in a simple suitcase! Inside, we placed the new alloy made from the ore mixed with the red crystal provided by Lord Ren, and we deposited it on KX343."
Armitage Hux immediately thought back to the missing moon and the asteroid field that had taken its place. "Of course, the red crystal," he repeated stupidly.
"We were all so excited! The Supreme Leader and Lord Viri Pax were standing where you are when they activated the holocron and voila! The countdown started as planned! I wasn't convinced at first that this Sith artifact could serve as a detonator, especially at such a long distance, but I was wrong. This technology is fascinating!"
Maktor Heln pointed to the computer on the bench at Hux's right. On the screen, the three-dimensional image of a small pyramidal object slowly rotated as the machine performed a multitude of complex calculations.
"I would have liked to study this object in more detail before the Supreme Leader left, in order to discover why its activation requires the presence of two Force users."
"Yes ... Interesting, isn't it? A… pair of Force users is required to detonate… the weapon," Hux was now staring at the screen, becoming more and more pale.
"The result has exceeded all our expectations! I can't believe that two months ago, when we made the first test with an alloy of ore and classic kyber crystal, we only managed to detonate one of the planet's mountain ranges! But using a few micrograms of red crystal instead of the blue kyber, we obliterate the entire moon! And all of that from here!"
Viri Pax. Holocron. Alloy of ore and red crystal. Moon obliterated.
All the pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together in Hux's mind.
Elias Ren was in possession of a mysterious artifact called a holocron, which controlled the firing of a super-bomb developed by the First Order's laboratories. Viri Pax was in the know because, according to the scientist, it took two Force sensitive people to activate the device.
Kriff ...
Was Sylla also in the game? Yehnu? Where did that damn holocron come from? Did it belong to Kylo Ren? Snoke? And this red crystal? Where did Elias get it? Here even on Sato? On Malachor?
Too many questions without answers ...
With this discovery, the First Order could, without question, bend the entire galaxy to its will. Their sheer firepower would be mind-boggling. In addition, the explosive device was easily transportable and the firing could be triggered from another point in the galaxy. But if a few micrograms were enough to get a device capable of exploding a moon, what would happen if the proportions of the infamous red crystal were increased during the creation of the alloy?
Hux still didn't understand how all this could have happened without him being informed, and he could not imagine what the consequences might be. A whole system ravaged? Many systems? Just at the snap of your fingers?
And this phenomenal power of destruction was now in the hands of Elias Ren ...
OooooO
Planet Malachor
She knew it. She should have beheaded the bald man with the tattooed skull, which would at least have made her feel better. The mercenary had been smart enough to stay unnoticed when the transport shuttle sent by the Fellfire came to pick them up in the middle of the Jundland desert. As a result, he had escaped summary execution. Good for him.
Kriff ... She wasn't getting soft, was she?
It was all because of Kylo. Because of the feelings she had for him.
Sylla closed her eyes and felt again her former partner's lips running along the skin of her neck and slowly moving up to her ear. She heard his moans of pleasure echo hers and shuddered at the memory of his hips rubbing against her ass. She bit the inside of her cheek and the metallic taste of blood revived both her taste buds and her resentment.
He is a traitor. He killed Snoke and Bram. He wanted us all to be eliminated. And now, he's with this girl ...
Armitage Hux had implied that Kylo was infatuated with her. The scavenger was perhaps Force sensitive and had recovered Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber but, for her, the girl was just rebel vermin who thought she was a Jedi . Moreover, she couldn't see the former Supreme Leader of the First Order being welcomed into the enemy camp with open arms, and even less so by his mother. Kylo had murdered Han Solo and caused Luke's death.
Sylla was bitter and furious, but surely not as much as Elias must be right now. She heard the boots of the new master of the Knights of Ren slam on the floor of the great hall and she took a deep breath before turning to face him. She was expecting a barrage of reproach and humiliating remarks. Elias would love to cut her down to size and make her pay for what he'd surely think was obvious proof of her incompetence. After all, she had insisted on taking care of Kylo alone and she had failed miserably. She clenched her teeth, ready to weather the storm.
The knight stepped closer to her, glared at her for a few moments and, without uttering a word, left her there to head for the terrace.
She really would have preferred him to explode. His condescension was unbearable. She was blaming herself enough for ruining her chances of killing Kylo, killing the girl, and proving to him that she was just as trustworthy as Viri and Yehnu. She decided to follow him to the balcony and play the truth card.
"As you already know, I lost him. He fled with the scavenger aboard the Millennium Falcon."
Hands behind his back, facing the gray plain spreading as far as the eye could see, Elias remained silent, and Sylla swallowed hard.
"Say something ... Shout at me, draw your saber, act like the real master of the Knight of Ren! Come on!"
Her voice was high and Elias barely turned to look at her.
"This 'Rey' must be really exceptional if Kylo has decided to fight by her side ... Do you think he's in love with her?"
Sylla stopped breathing.
The saccharine tone that Elias had just used made her nauseous. He had touched on a raw nerve. And that was only the beginning of the reprisals. When the tall blond turned to face her, he had a sadistic and provocative smile on his face. Sylla suddenly wanted to lunge for his throat.
"It wouldn't be all that surprising," he continued. "She may be coming out of a junkyard, but she is not so unpleasant to look at. Rather pretty even, full of passion…. Passion and determination. I understand why our dear Kylo wanted to make an apprentice of her and 'deepen' things with her. Unless that's already done."
Sylla's body went forward and Elias had to grab hold of her arms to keep her away. The amazon's onyx eyes threw flames, her jaw clenched, and her hand rested on the handle of her saber hanging from her belt. The knight was now holding her gaze, no longer smiling. No more comedy. No more honeyed, viperish words.
"It is not against me that you must direct your anger, Sylla! Kylo despises you and has never felt anything for you! You have only served to satisfy his carnal impulses and flatter his ego!"
She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. Rage was choking her tears and drying her throat. At that moment she just wanted to kill. Anybody would do...
Then Elias drew her towards him and his hand came to rest gently on her cheek. She flinched, surprised by this unexpected gesture.
"Wake up, Sylla. Your attachment to him makes you weak and prevents you from fully drawing on the dark side's power."
His palm against her skin was hot. The darkness that emanated from him was intoxicating.
But Sylla was not fooled. The Sith had never praised anything other than her warrior skills, and she had never experienced the slightest attraction to him. If he was playing the card of the benevolent master, it was just because he was waiting for total, unconditional submission from her.
Suddenly footsteps echoed behind them. Elias abruptly released her, and Sylla tried to regain her balance as one of the First Order's minions joined them on the terrace with a portable holocom in his arms.
"Lord Elias, I apologize for disturbing you, but Lord Viri has just contacted us. He has crucial information to transmit to you."
With a wave of the hand, the knight ordered the soldier to activate the communication and the face of the Zabrak materialized in front of them.
"Salutations, Master. Just to let you know that General Hux left Naboo this morning. He is right now on Sato. The scientist in charge there has just sent us a message."
A little knowing smile appeared on Elias's lips.
"Dear Armitage ... It didn't take long for him to stick his nose into our business."
"You have only to say the word and I'll take care of him," Viri retorted.
"No. Let him believe he can still act with impunity. We will take care of him later. In a short time, we will have an iron grip on the entire galaxy. Nothing will stop us: not the Resistance, or Hux, or Kylo, and even less this girl who thinks she is the heiress of Skywalker."
Elias turned to Sylla again, and she looked at him more confidently.
"What about the prisoners on Naboo? Did you manage to make them talk?" he added, addressing the Zabrak.
"The queen knows nothing. Maz Kanata continues to resist but I am under the impression that neither have been made aware of where the rebels are hiding."
"Kanata is tough, indeed. We'll let her languish a bit in her cell so she understands that, this time, she will not be able to save her skin if she does not collaborate. And if she still refuses to speak, then we will kill her. Sylla and I are going back to the Finalizer. Join us as soon as you can. We will wait together for the return of our dear friend Armitage Hux, and we will ask him how he has found our new facilities on Sato."
"As you wish, Master," Viri replied before the transmission was cut.
OoooooO
Naboo- Gungan Refuge:
Ben wiped the steam off the mirror in the small bathroom and ran his hand over his chin. He needed a good shave. A few drops of water slid down his lashes to come crashing down on his bare shoulders. Rey had been away for about two hours and he had plenty of time to enjoy the comforts of the room. He had spent long minutes in the shower while his clothes were cleaned in the small sonicator. He finished buttoning his pants and looked at himself for a few more seconds in the mirror. His cheeks were slightly hollower, his skin less pale. He had never really paid attention to his appearance so far, but if he had to give an objective opinion of his physique, he would simply say that he was rather massive, that his scarred face was now giving him a bit of a "rough" look, and that his ears were definitely too big. His nose too. He was not especially handsome and wondered what Rey saw in him. Would she have even looked twice at him in other circumstances, if there was not that special bond that drove them inexorably towards each other?
Besides, what would become of them both in the end? Once Maz was free, once they left Naboo, would she keep her promise and let him go? Was she going to abandon him again, as on the Supremacy,to return to the Resistance?
And if the mission failed ... If she got caught, or worse, if she was killed ... The rebels were right. Accompanying her was risky but it was out of the question for him to let her go alone. He would face Hux and all his army if necessary. He would crush Viri, Sylla, Elias. The soldiers might even be surprised to see him again without his mask. Maybe he could take advantage of that ... After all, he was still, in the eyes of all, the Supreme Leader of the First Order. To rely on the blind obedience of the stormtroopers was not such a crazy idea.
Take back the reins, the power and sweep away all those who had betrayed him ...
Ben looked up and gazed at his reflection in the mirror again.
If he did that, he would lose Rey forever. And without Rey, he was not sure he wanted to continue ...
He ran his hand over his face again before letting out a long sigh.
He was lost and didn't know what to do. But he was certain of one thing: he was totally and madly in love with Rey.
OoooooO
Inhale… Exhale…
On Ahch-To, Luke had said these words to help her connect with the Force. On Arbra, she used to whisper them before each meditation. And right now, they were the only thing she could hang on to, to keep from sinking. For several minutes, she repeated them on a loop in her head, like a mantra, fixing her gaze on an invisible point outside the translucent wall of the bubble.
Isbé had remained silent, ridden with guilt for revealing the terrible truth. She had taken Rey's hand in hers, to comfort her, to make her understand that she was there for her, and the young woman had let her do it.
"I could have held my tongue. I could have told you lies. Perhaps I should have …"
Rey finally turned her head towards her and shook it from side to side to tell the old woman that she had done well to be honest, even though it was hard to accept. Then Isbé squeezed her fingers a little harder.
"My child, you are smart enough to know that ancestry does not define who we are deep inside us. You and only you can choose the voice you want to follow. You are a young woman so brave, strong and caring. Your light floods all those who have the chance to meet you. You're nothing like 'him,' and your grandmother, Nalea, was just like you, the opposite of all that he embodied."
"What about my parents? They abandoned me on Jakku …" Rey's voice broke on the last syllables.
Isbé sighed and looked down. What could she answer to that?
"How can people who love their child do such a thing? Why don't I remember anything about them, not even their faces?"
Rey had asked Maz the same question about Jakku a few months ago. She hadn't understood then… But here, with Isbé, she suddenly had a revelation. She understood absolutely everything. She stood still for a moment as the elements all pieced themselves together in her mind.
Your father had always been different. The other scrap dealers were afraid of him. I remember one day when, in the middle of a fight, he threw Gert across the room without barely lifting a finger. I'm not sure that he was quite right in the head… something always seemed to be gnawing at him. That's why he needed glitterstim. He once told me that he used it "to calm his demons."
That's what the dealer in Niima had said. Tark knew he was Palpatine's grandson - Nalea must have told him. She imagined him, terrified, upset, just as she was right now. He must have borne the burden, knowing that he was Force sensitive and that the darkness might try to reign over his heart, just as it had done with his infamous grandfather. And then she was born.
Had her father "felt" that she had powers too? In what circumstances? When?
Then he and her mother had left her on Jakku, in the hands of Unkar Plutt... Without any memories.
They made me forget ... Rey realized. She immediately remembered how Ben had managed to manipulate Sovan and Shalim's mind on Tatooine, just by looking in their eyes for two seconds.
Tark had purposely erased her memory.
But why? Remorse? Cruelty? It was perhaps even her own father who had engraved this certainty in her subconscious that one day they would come back for her ...
Rey was in shock. Palpatine, her parents, all of this was too much. But the unexpected arrival of Beccar Dugg and the four members of the Naboo Council prevented her from bursting into tears beside the old woman.
OooooO
She was walking on the footbridge bringing her back to her room, moving like an automaton with the oppressive sensation of being trapped in a bad dream. A few minutes earlier, the rebels had interrupted her meeting with Isbé to give her crucial information. She had listened carefully to Beccar Dugg, but the words of the emissary had struggled to imprint themselves in her brain.
The informant in the palace had warned them about Hux's departure. Apparently, the soldier's absence was to last several days, and Viri Pax was preparing to return to the Finalizer very early in the morning. They had to act the following night, but the problem was always the same: how to enter the palace?
Isbé had not left the room. She was not one of the Gungan leaders or a member of the Royal Council, but she interrupted to offer them a crucial piece of information she'd learned from the time she had worked at the palace. King Ars Veruna, fearing that he might have to flee suddenly due to accusations of corruption, had ordered a tunnel dug that led from his room to an outlet at the foot to the cliff, under the waterfall.
Didiun Laz, a member of the council, was surprised. "I've never heard of it. You are sure?"
But Isbé had been adamant. She just didn't know if the tunnel had been condemned in the years since. Beccar had immediately begun issuing calls to gather everyone together, and urging Rey to call her friends. But the young woman had remained silent throughout this whole exchange, thoroughly lost and confused as everything she'd learned whirled together in her head. Sensing her turmoil, Isbé had cut in to say that their guests needed rest, and that it might be better to wait until tomorrow morning to begin developing a strategy. All the rebels had nodded, and Rey had been encouraged to go back to her room and rest.
The inhabitants of the refuge may have been deprived of natural sunrises and sunsets, but the lighting inside the village was adjusted according to the day-night cycles of the surface. And as the plains and mountains of Naboo were now bathed in the warm colors of twilight, in the darkness under the lake, Rey's footsteps were lit only by the small lanterns on the ground that marked the path. The opaque bubble in which Ben was waiting for her soon appeared at the end of the way.
But she was totally lost.
Ben…Should she tell him everything? How would he react when he learned that she was the great-granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine?
The Emperor was responsible for causing Anakin Skywalker to surrender body and soul to the Dark Side. He was also indirectly responsible for Padme's death. He had been the nemesis of the Skywalker family for decades and the worst dictator the galaxy had ever known.
So she began to think of Leia and Luke. They, too, had once faced the same devastating news, when they had discovered that they were Vader's children. Rey was convinced that the general could understand, that she would support her. She was also deeply convinced that Finn, Rose and even Poe would be on her side. They were family. Her affection for them was so deep and she knew that they cared for her too. She just hoped they would still look at her the same way once they knew about this.
When she arrived in front of her bubble, she realized that she was still holding her father's golden brooch in her hand. She opened her fingers and stared at the jewel in her trembling palm. She felt empty. She was cold, needed someone to take her in his arms, to give her warmth and comfort. She needed Ben. She unlocked the door and entered the room.
As soon as she stepped inside, Ben came out of the bathroom. He was shirtless and dressed only in his pants, and when he saw her, his face filled with worry.
"Rey? Is everything OK?"
No. She couldn't tell him. She had to take the time to analyze the situation and think about what to do next. And most importantly, she had to forget, at least for a few hours, what she had just discovered and why they had landed on Naboo.
She looked at Ben's powerful chest. His pectorals were still perfectly drawn, his shoulders so large. He was handsome and strong and he was there, with her, in this room, out of sight. The jewel in her hand had become icy - just like she supposed her great-grandfather's heart has been - so she hastened to put it on the small table before slowly approaching him.
"Did you find the old woman?"
"I didn't have time to look for her," she lied. "Beccar Dugg learned that Hux has left Naboo and that Viri Pax is planning to return to the Finalizer. We need to put a plan in place soon, starting tomorrow morning."
Her eyes slid over Ben's plump lips. The warmth emanating from his body had a soothing effect on her. His powerful aura was now calling her through the Force. She didn't want to think about the rebels, about Isbé, about her family anymore.
She slowly raised her hand to rest on Ben's heart. She felt him flinch slightly and his pulse quickened.
"But right now, I just want you to take me in your arms."
He stood motionless for a few seconds, staring at her before gently pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her tightly.
It felt so good: snuggling against him, listening to him breathe. The weight oppressing her disappeared and suddenly, naturally, her desire for him surpassed all the rest.
Ben's fingers slipped into her hair, traced the lobe of her ear, and gently kissed the top of her head. She then raised her chin and hiked on tiptoe to taste his lips. Her tongue caressed his for the second time and the sensations came back, even more intense this time.
As with each time they touched, the air all around them began to vibrate. The link was about to open again. Ben would have access to her thoughts and so to what she had learned a few minutes earlier. But she could not let that happen, not this time. Otherwise he would discover everything: Palpatine, her bitterness, her sadness, doubts and fears ...
She reluctantly erected an impenetrable wall around her mind, as he had taught her. But besides that, she focused all her senses to the assault of his mind.
And she met no resistance.
Ben, unlike her, was giving body and soul to her kisses, to her caresses, and she was utterly overcome by what she read then in him: Ben was filled with her, her smell, the salty taste of her skin, the sweet taste of her tongue.
He wanted her too. Furiously. Desperately. And she had to tell him that she also felt the same.
"Ben please, I need you here and now."
"So let me in, Rey ... Tell me what you want me to do."
He was begging her, not understanding why her mind was closed for him.
Her mouth explored the curve of his jaw. He had not shaved since yesterday. The abrasion of his nascent beard against her wet lips gave her goosebumps.
Ben's hands finally became more daring. His gigantic palm grabbed one of her breasts and began to knead it gently through the drape of her tunic, as if it were a small, fragile sphere. She could not hold back a sigh of pleasure when he ran his thumb several times over the hard point of her nipple. The friction between their two bodies intensified, but she needed more contact. She tried to undo the button of his pants, and Ben murmured against her temple:
"Rey, are you sure …"
"Yes, I'm sure," she whispered, taking a step back.
Releasing herself suddenly from his embrace, she began undressing in turn. Ben, his eyes glistening with lust and his lips parted, watched her unbuckle her belt. She could see the outline of him, straining against his half-open briefs. She got rid of her shoes and her cropped pants. She then undid her scarf, which went to join the rest of her clothes on the floor. This would be her first time to be naked in front of a man, and she was suddenly struck by the seriousness of what she was doing.
How far did she expect to go? How far would Ben want to go?
She was only wearing her tunic now and the giant man in front of her was literally feasting his eyes on her. His pupils were dilated and his breath was short. A new tidal wave of sensations hit her hard. Pictures of what he wanted her to do to him, of what he wanted to do to her, and she blushed violently.
"Rey …"
There was only her name on his lips, as if any other vocabulary had deserted his brain. But Rey didn't need any more. She could read him like an open book.
She slowly spread the sides of her tunic, dropped it at her feet, then removed her panties, shivering. Ben was admiring now every inch of her anatomy and a moment of panic seized her as she thought back to their conversation aboard the Falcon about Sylla. The woman knight she had seen in her dream was really beautiful. Rey couldn't hope to compete. She had tiny breasts, no womanly curves, no experience ...
"Oh Maker, you are so beautiful," Ben enthused.
The sincerity in his voice moved her to tears, so she decided not to lose another second and kissed him again.
This time he didn't hold back. Ben's hands were everywhere at once. Her back, her breasts, her hips. He finished getting rid of his pants before grabbing the back of her thighs to lift her from the ground as if she weighed nothing. She encircled his waist with her legs and her core pressed directly against Ben's hot and hard cock, still trapped in his underwear.
Clinging to his shoulders, she moaned softly as he kissed her neck and, instinctively, she arched her hips and started to move. Ben let out a low growl against her throat.
It was both incredibly exciting and a little scary. Rey couldn't believe she was the one provoking such a reaction. She was beginning to get drunk on his pleasure mixed with hers. The shock and stupor of the last hours was gradually fading away and she was a little ashamed to use him in this way, to silence her discomfort and the voice of Isbé still ringing in her head. Feeling his feverish body pressed against hers was a delight, but suddenly he stopped caressing her and he released her thighs.
"What?" she asked.
Ben was breathing heavy. His dark locks, falling in front of his face, were a mess and his eyes were glistening.
"Rey, I want this, really want it. But I know it's the first time for you and I don't want to rush anything. I only did that …"
Not giving him time to finish, her lips captured his again.
... twice. With Sylla.
That's what he was about to say. But at the moment, she didn't care about his reluctance, his arguments. She wanted him to make love to her right now. She needed his skin against hers. She needed to fetch the light buried in the depths of her, to ward off the dark specter she was so afraid of.
She pushed him unceremoniously towards the bed. She rested both hands flat against his chest as he was sitting and then lying on the mattress. She climbed on top of him and straddled his colossal body as she moved over him. The friction was pure ecstasy, and with the tip of her tongue she pressed hot kisses along his collarbone. Ben tilted his head back and bit his lower lip, whimpering again. He was still trying to get in touch with her through the Force, to anticipate her desires, to meet her expectations, to intensify her sensations, and she felt him grow more and more cautious and anxious as she pushed back his attempts.
"Rey, please, open up to me. You don't know how long I've dreamed of this moment with you."
"I've dreamt of this moment too and now, I'm just a little nervous."
Before meeting Ben, no one had ever touched her. On Jakku, the lecherous glances of tavern customers or other scavengers had been anything but discreet, and she could have found some small comfort with them if she'd wanted. Finn and Poe were charming and attractive men too, but she had never wanted someone like she wanted Ben. And she wanted him to know that. Now.
She lifted slightly and slid down his underwear along his thighs. Ben's throbbing cock sprang free to bump against her folds. He was hard, big, and swollen. She was seeing a man's sex for the first time.
Kriff ... Was there anything more erotic in the whole universe?
Ben grabbed her hips a little too abruptly. A wave of arousal shook her from head to foot and they looked at each other for a long time, just lulled by the sound of their jerky breaths. Then, a little hesitantly, she closed her hand around him. It was soft, thick and firm. She wasn't certain of what to do next so she decided to squeeze a little harder and pump him a few times. Ben let out a sigh of bliss.
"Rey, I don't have any protection for …"
She leaned over him and, with the tip of her nose, she caressed the tip of his.
"It's not a problem, I have an implant," she whispered.
But suddenly, she was afraid that he imagined things and she hastened to clarify. "All women at the base have one. That is…"
He didn't let her finish. Ben's hand between her shoulder blades pressed her forward and he took the pink tip of one of her breasts in his mouth, licking her nipple as his fingers began to explore the space between her legs. A sweet heat invaded her belly and ran down to her core. When he finally found her clit and began to rub it in small circles, all the nerve fibers in her body ignited simultaneously.
Kriff ... it was absolutely delicious. A thousand times better than when she did it herself.
If he continued like this, her mental defenses would collapse. She had to pull herself together, to concentrate ... Ben's voice echoed in her head and begged her one more time. Her apprehension increased and instead of continuing to surrender against Ben's fingers, she tensed slightly.
"Rey, what is it, am I hurting you?"
"No, it's perfect, please, keep going…"
Come on, hold on, Rey ...
Her fist kept going up and down on his shaft and she felt his heart beating fast when she put her other hand flat on his chest to support herself. So she dared a new foray into his head. Anxiety was obscuring his pleasure. It was a torture for him because, it felt so good, but she continued to refuse to bind her soul with his. He was feeling guilty. She had to reassure him, to convince him that it was not his fault.
With her thighs resting on either side of his hips, she took his velvety, hypersensitive cock head and slid it easily through her folds. Through the link, she could sense that a wave of intense pleasure rushed over him again. Suddenly on the verge of ecstasy, he struggled violently not to explode in her hand.
"Kriff Rey, you have to stop doing that …"
"I want you in me," she whispered, resting her forehead against his.
He kissed her tenderly, on her cheeks, her chin, her lips.
"You aren't ready yet, I might hurt you. You have to relax and let me …"
But she had already risen up on her knees. She guided his cock to her entrance and, before he could stop it, she let herself slowly descend on him. His warmth filling her had to push away her fears, had to make her forget the terrible truth. She needed it. She needed him.
Ben gasped and he started to shake.
She hadn't expected this. He was right, she was not ready. Her muscles were too contracted and she hissed with a groan of discomfort at the friction of his penis against her inner walls.
"Rey, wait ... You're going too fast." He tried to stop her, grabbing her by the waist.
A multitude of contradictory emotions jostled in her, first and foremost being the visceral fear she could lose him. She didn't know why, but she saw herself in the dark cave on Ahch-To, facing her reflection on the wall, her hair wet and with the Emperor's monstrous face superimposed on hers. She was falling apart, losing the thread of pleasure but she still wanted to fight, to hang on to Ben's body.
She didn't listen to him and lowered herself further until she felt something give way under the pressure. This time she couldn't suppress a little cry of pain.
"Rey, stop!" he choked out, panting at the sight of his cock fully buried in her.
He took advantage of the fact that she was trying to catch her breath to tilt her to the side and pull himself out as delicately as possible.
"No Ben, it's nothing!" she complained.
She was shivering and clung desperately to his forearms.
"Rey, I can see that something is wrong! I'm sorry but we have to stop. You look so shaken. You block all my attempts to connect with you. I don't understand, what's going on?"
"I told you, I'm just a little nervous but it's OK."
"No, it's not OK. There's something else going on. I would give anything to be with you, to make love to you, but not this way!"
This time, warm tears ran down her cheeks and Ben, still shaking with the violence of their embrace, stared at her with a panicked look. He hastened to hug her tightly and she hid her face in the crook of his neck. She no longer had the strength to resist. She was giving up. Her barriers collapsed one by one and she clung to Ben's voice, whispering soft words against her hair and caressing her lower back tenderly.
OooooO
The water flowing over her body was soothing her now. Standing under the shower, her eyes closed and her mind empty, she was focusing on her breathing. A thin stream of blood had flowed down her thighs before disappearing into the drain at her feet. Her core was still burning a little, but the pain was fading.
She had told Ben everything. She had told him about Isbé, Naléa, her parents and the terrible truth she had just discovered: Sheev Palpatine alias Dark Sidious was her great-grandfather. She had told him of her anger, her disgust, her distress. She was blaming herself for not having trusted him, for having used him and ruined their first time.
Ben had listened to her in silence, with an indecipherable expression on his face. Then she had got up and picked up her clothes from the ground. Grabbing her hand, he had tried to stop her as she made her way to the small bathroom.
"Rey, please," he'd begged, but she hadn't turned around. She had just whispered in a weak voice, "Give me a few minutes ..." before removing her fingers and disappearing into the next room.
The water was starting to get cooler and she turned off the tap. She dried herself and opened the sonicator, which already contained Ben's clean shirt. She put it on, left her own dirty clothes to wash in the machine, and returned to the bedroom.
She wasn't able to read his thoughts anymore. He had closed his mind.
Ben was sitting on the bed, his forearms wedged against his raised knees. He was watching the aquatic ballet outside of the creatures tirelessly plying the depths of the lake. He had dimmed the lights in the room and a subtle play of shadows was highlighting the muscles of his back. He was beautiful.
Rey remained in the doorway, quiet and unsure.
"What irony, isn't it? You, the descendant of Palpatine and I, the grandson of Darth Vader …" he murmured, still admiring the underwater scene.
There was no cynicism in his voice, and when Rey approached the bed timidly and came to sit beside him, he remained motionless.
The young woman wanted to cry again so badly.
What would he do now? Would he push her away? Had she just destroyed everything she had spent so much time building with him?
Then Ben took a long breath and resumed quietly.
"It was written, Rey ... It's the Force that brought us together."
Her tears finally sank, warm and liberating, and he turned his head towards her before adding:
"I don't care where you come from. I don't care who your parents are. I already told you. You know what I think of the past."
"Ben, it's not that simple. We can not escape the past, what we are, whatever you say."
His giant body was now facing her, and the intensity of his gaze took her breath away. His huge fingers caressed her neck as his thumbs wiped away the streaks of water on her cheeks.
"You still don't understand ... I love you, Rey."
Everything shifted in a split second. The young woman felt herself leaving the ground, swept away by a whirlwind of emotions.
"You are the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. You saved me. I was lost in an abyss of darkness, and I thought it was the only path open to me, because of who I was, because of Snoke, what happened with Luke and because of what I did to my father. You came out of nowhere with your light, blinding like a sun, and you made me reborn. I'm not afraid to say it now. I should have told you months ago."
Rey's lips were quivering now. Her slender fingers came to rest on Ben's wrists as if to make sure she was not dreaming, that he was here touching her and telling her all these beautiful words.
"I'm ready to do anything for you, to confront Hux, Elias, the whole army of the First Order so that you are safe. I don't want to lose you ... I couldn't stand it."
He pulled his face against hers and when their foreheads touched she realized he was holding his breath. He was waiting for her reaction, for her to say something ... Anything.
"I love you too," she murmured, and he let out a sigh of deliverance before kissing her passionately.
They lay down in the tight bed, glued together as if their lives depended on it - nose to nose, mouth to mouth, legs intertwined and hearts beating in unison. They caressed each other for a long time with gentle gestures. She leaned her head against his chest and Ben's hand went under the side of her shirt, touched the top of her thigh, and came to lie flat over her lower abdomen.
"I'm sorry for…"
"It's not your fault, I threw myself at you."
She couldn't see his face, but guessed he was smiling. She felt the fatigue numb her body. She was physically and morally exhausted, but the pressure was slowly dissolving, and Ben's aura was reassuring her completely now.
"I didn't lie, that night, in the hut on Ahch-To. You are not alone. You'll never be."
She barely heard his words, whispered in her ear, and fell asleep peacefully with the delightful feeling of being loved and safe.
OooooO
She woke up with a start and her knee bumped into Ben's thigh. With haggard eyes and her mind still entangled in the throes of her dream, she tried to calm her breathing and froze for a few seconds, hoping not to have woken him too.
Her dream ... Or a new vision sent by the Force. No. It was not that. It was something different. Rather a memory, vague and imprecise, and she suddenly realized that this memory didn't belong to her. She had picked it up in Ben's mind a few hours ago when she had entered his head, and froze in horror as she thought back to what she had just seen.
It was impossible ...
By the Creator.
He had planned to go to the palace with her, unmasked, to take over the reins of power and sweep away all those who had betrayed him. After all, he was still the Supreme Leader of the First Order in everyone's eyes.
No. She couldn't believe it. Not after all that they had just said to each other. Not after they'd admitted their love.
But the feeling of uneasiness suddenly mounted in her, and she carefully freed herself from Ben's arms to leave the bed and find herself standing, confused and paralyzed in the middle of the room.
Ben was still sleeping. She looked at him for a moment. He was breathing peacefully in front of her.
No… The idea had just crossed his mind… It was just that, a slightly crazy intention ...
But…
She couldn't take the risk. She couldn't let that happen.
She tiptoed to the bathroom and got her clothes from the sonicator.
OooooO
His hand closed on an empty space next to him. He opened one eye, then the other, to find that indeed Rey was not here.
"Rey?" he called in a hoarse voice before clearing his throat.
He had never slept so well - or at least not for a very long time - even though the small clock near the door was indicating it was still the middle of the night. He straightened up, hands flat behind him on the mattress and instinctively, the hairs on his neck stood on end.
He no longer felt her presence.
He had taught her to conceal her energy signature to evade other Force users, but Rey had never managed to hide completely from him. The connection between them was too strong.
He jumped up and went to the bathroom to check. No one. The sonicator was empty and his shirt was lying on the floor.
Had she gone out to meet Finn and Rose? The other rebels? Why didn't she wake him up?
The young woman's bag was still on the table beside the brooch and her staff was leaning against the chair. Yet a feeling of anguish seized him in the stomach and the nervous tic under his left eye reappeared. He turned abruptly and his eyes fell on the little bedside table next to the bunk.
His lightsaber wasn't here anymore.
OoooooO