Part XXVI

When his breathing was a little more controlled, Ben pressed his lips upon her breast bone, tasting the salt of her skin. Snaking his hands under her shoulders, he pulled Rey up until she was sitting sweetly before him. Next, he moved his palms along her back and rested them at the base of her neck, working the clasp of the necklace, pulling the heavy jewels from her chest and setting the piece next to the pile of hairpins on the small table.

He scooped her up, kissing at her shoulder as she wrapped her legs around his hips, feeling their combined slick pressed just below his navel. With one arm wrapped around her rear, he used his free hand to throw back the thick blankets on their bed before settling them both into the soft mattress.

With a snap of his fingers, the lights in the room went dark and he pulled the covers over them, pulling her closer into his chest as he rested his chin upon the crown of her head.

They dreamlessly, blissfully, and contently slept through the night.

The next morning Ben woke alone but he could feel that Rey was close by and he sleepily shuffled to the fresher. The floor of the shower was wet when he stepped in to begrudgingly wash her scent from his skin.

He found Tyris in the kitchen, pointing with a spatula to a fresh pot of caf as Arlan sat at the bench, popping pieces of cut up fruit into her mouth before smiling and muttering a "Good morning, sir."

Ben poured himself a generous cup of caf and looked over Tyris' shoulder to see what he was cooking up. "What is my Empress up to this morning?"

"She's out in the garden with Davin and Cale," Arlan offered.

He hummed in response, pushing off the edge of the countertop where he had been leaning before he started towards the terrace doors. "Can you make me one with tomatoes and cheese?" Ben asked of Tyris has he passed.

"Yes, sir," the trooper answered, cracked a few more eggs into a bowl.

Walking out onto the stone terrace, he could still feel the chill of the prior night under his bare feet, the sun only cresting over the foothills to the east. Bending slightly and leaning his elbows on the carved railing he looked out over the garden and smiled.

This could be his life. He would stand in this spot every morning and watch his wife and children play in the rows of flowers and herbs. He could fall asleep every night with his Rey tucked in beside him and he could be assured that she would be safe while he was away not only because she was just as powerful in the Force, but also because he had surrounded them with people who genuinely loved her.

He has a cousin that would help Rey rule, be there when his Empress felt overwhelmed. He had Arlan who would always assure that Rey had someone besides himself to confide in. Davin and Tyris would treat Rey with respect and protect her at the risk of their own lives. Cale would go on to the Knights, but he would always remember Rey as the small woman who pulled a saber on him the first time they met, and for that Cale would accept her command as if it came from his own Master.

Ben was pulled from his daydream when he heard Davin call out, "Empress…please you don't have to…"

Taking another sip of his caf, Ben started down the stone steps to the gardens and came upon a scene that had him almost spitting out the savory roast.

Rey stood in a ready stance with her hand outstretched and a determined look on her face. At the other end of her efforts was Cale, held in place and suspended over five feet in the air with the use of the Force. Davin continued to plead with her to let his fellow trooper down.

"What's going on here?" Ben asked, still holding his caf mug casually and a slight smile on his lips. He would be lying if he said he wasn't amused and wondered what Cale had done to anger his Empress so.

"I told him to stop and he wouldn't," Rey protested, as she dipped her toe into the Darkness to maintain her focus.

"It was my fault, Emperor," Davin tried to explain. "I shouldn't have let my feelings get the better of me."

Rey rolled her eyes and lowered her hand, letting the arrogant Knight in training fall to the ground with a huff. "You are not to blame Davin. If Cale could learn when to shut his mouth, then we wouldn't be in this situation."

Cale picked himself up off the gavel covered path, brushing the small rocks from his clothing and where they pressed uncomfortably into his palms from when he broke his fall. "I'm sorry Master. I was teasing Davin and apparently took it too far."

"Don't apologize to me," Ben said, motioning with his mug over towards where Rey and Davin stood. "Apologize to your Empress and your brother."

Rey stood up straight, her shoulders back and her chin held high, her gaze steeled across the rows of herbs. Ben thought that she had never looked more like an Empress than in this moment, even in her ordinary leggings and dirt stained tunic. It was as if the small act of standing up for someone in peril, this personal representation of how she was helping the downtrodden of the galaxy, somehow gave her the confidence to rule and it made her shine.

Cale's gaze fell to his feet before he made his way around the low hedges of rosemary and basil. Standing in front of his Master's mate, he dropped down to one knee as if he was addressing Ren. "Empress," he started.

"Look at me," Rey interrupted. She didn't want him to bow his head in assumed shame, she wanted to see the lesson learned in his eyes.

His blue eyes came up to meet hers and he spoke again. "Empress. I sincerely apologize for defying a direct order and causing you distress."

Rey scoffed, "You should be apologizing for being an ass."

The man on his knees didn't have to verbalize his reply, Rey read it loud and clear on his expression and in his mind, 'I'm not sorry for who I am' and perhaps she couldn't fault him for being consistent. Maybe he needed the cocky attitude to compensate for the death wish he signed when agreeing to become a Knight.

So Rey just rolled her eyes, "I will expect more of you in the future." Next, she sighed and her shoulders slumped, now not only feeling the effects of using that much power but also knowing that she had let her temper get the most of her. "Make amends with your brother and then join us in the house for breakfast before we need to depart."

She moved across the garden, stopping in front of Ben long enough for him to cup her cheek and lean down to press a kiss to her forehead before she walking into the house to get cleaned up for their meal.

He watched Cale saunter up to Davin, they each clasped a hand on the other's forearm, much how Ben had done with Alister, a gesture of solidarity and brotherhood. "You know I'm just jealous right?" Cale offered.

Davin's face glowed red again, "Well maybe if you took the Empress' advice and wasn't such an ass, you would have more luck with women."

Cale smirked, "I'll keep that in mind."

Ben was satisfied and called out to them, "We shouldn't keep Her Imperial Majesty waiting," and he turned to walk back up the stairs and into the home, a place that from this day forth would belong to Rey, hers to run and command.

Tryis and Alran had done a splendid job setting up the formal dining area for their party of six. Along with the cut fruit and omelets, Alran commented that the basket of baked goods had been sent over by the palace earlier in the morning.

"That's what caused all the commotion," she whispered to Ren. "There was a note for Davin from the Queen delivered with it."

Ben hummed, thinking that his cousin could do worse and if he had his way, he would have Rey back on Naboo within half a solar cycle, bearing his name and with any luck through the Force, expecting their first child. He wouldn't mind taking on a new guard unit, knowing that having Tryis, Arlan, and Davin around would bring Rey joy.

At the beginning of their courtship, even as far back as Starkiller, Ben had been jealous of the defector trooper Finn. FN 2187 had abandoned his post, betrayed the people who fed and clothed him. Through the Trooper Information Act, Ben had found out that Finn was surrendered to the Order by his parents, who were too poor to care for another child. But Rey had found a kinship with Finn, a common bond in their lacking childhoods, and because Ben had prominent parents and a bloodline that made many assume his life was close to perfect, Rey had at first found him unrelatable.

Under Snoke's rule, guards would never dream of acting as Ren's do, but he wanted them to have their own personalities, he wanted to show that he was different than those who came before him. He wanted them to feel like a family so that they would be loyal and protective to the utmost degree. He wanted to give Rey something comparable to what she was giving up to be with him.

On one late night, Rey had asked him about a place in the New Order for some of her friends within the Resistance, noting that Finn wasn't as fanatical as Poe and she suspected he would settle down once he was married to Rose. She asked about having a place for Finn on a committee for Trooper Reform. Ben had said that he would think about it, but he wasn't sure if he could trust the trooper he had on multiple occasions called a traitor and attempted to kill.

But now as he looked around the dark wood table as the Naboo sun spilled though the wall of windows and a gentle breeze blew off the lake, he felt like he was so close to having everything he had works for over the past year. Ever since he made the decision to forsake his Master and take a chance on the budding connection between himself and Rey…ever since that moment he had only dreamt of this.

There were no remaining hurt feelings as they enjoyed their meal and before long Arlan was announcing that they needed to start packing up the shuttle. In their quarters, Rey picked up the necklace and walked into the fresher with it, asking Ben where the case was for it.

She ran her fingers over the gem. "I will need to leave this on Coruscant," her tone was almost remorseful. It was easy for her to explain away the extra kyber that she had stashed in her bunk room, but the ruby and diamonds would be difficult to make excuses for.

It was at this time that she realized how much she was abandoning on Coruscant. It was as if she had two lives…it wasn't just leaving behind the gowns, jewels, or a penthouse apartment. Rey would be leaving a piece of herself on the city world, a most precious part that she was entrusting Ben with for safe keeping.

Rey hated that they had to be apart, but she refused to let more innocents die for a now inconsequential cause. She was even more resolved but anxious for her new life to start, to be with Ben, to spend more time on Naboo, and to take her rightful place where the Force had known she belonged all along.

With a heavy heart and tears in her eyes, they lifted off from the grassy plane just outside of the manor. Once Rey could no longer see their stately home at the edge of the deep blue lake, she retired to their quarters.

Ben joined her and tucked a sprig of lavender into the braided bun at the top of her head. She cried harder, missing the sharp but soothing aromas of her garden. He wiped her tears and pulled her to their bed where he propped himself up on a mass of pillows before cuddling her to his chest.

He allowed her to cry, feeling her grief, not necessarily at the loss of something, but more at having to give something up that she desperately wanted. As they moved into the first of the three hyperspace lanes that would bring them back to Coruscant, Rey was able to sigh and catch her breath.

She couldn't ask for a better partner in life as he held her and allowed her to catch up on her stories on the holonet. In a soft voice she explained the plot and which characters were involved with each other, and how Owen had been with Val in season one and two but they broke up and now he was with Jequin and their love was epic.

Placing kisses to the top of her head and humming at all the right spots in her dialogue, remembering that his mother used to mock women who had no other aspirations than to plunge themselves into the 'mindless dribble' of the daytime stories. But for Rey, who was deprived of an upbringing of privilege, these shows were an escape, a peek into what life may have been if she was had grown up in the Core, attended school, and university.

Rubbing his finger tips along her bare arm, his mind was a million parsecs away when he heard her gasp and his attention was drawn back. Craning his neck, he saw her eyes brimming with tears and her hand was pressed over her mouth. Looking down at the datapad screen that was displaying her show, he evaluated the scene.

The man, Owen, and his…girlfriend Jequin were standing on a rocky shore, waves crashing behind them, and Owen was in the middle of a long-winded speech about their relationship and then he realized the reason for Rey's reaction.

Owen dropped to one knee, pulling a small box from his pocket and presenting Jequin with a large diamond ring, the filming lights catching the stone just so and it gave off a brilliant sparkle. Ben wanted to roll his eyes, but Rey was so in raptured that he dare not tease her about it.

Rey felt almost as invested in the make-believe relationship as she was in her connection to Ben and both she and Rose had been waiting months for this moment. She told Rose that Owen would propose, but her friend believed that it wouldn't last and the show would only do it for the ratings.

But it didn't matter, her heart was alight with what had just transpired between her favorite literature professor and fashion designer. Rey couldn't wait to meet up with Rose later that day and gush over how romantic it was.

Coruscant came back into view sooner that both Rey and Ben would like and Rey watched Arlan walk her things back into the apartment. It was now that she truly found her life divided.

Ben took her cloak when they were back in the flat and she walked to their room. She pulled off her leggings and tunic, went to the fresher and ran her hand along the cold stone of the counter, tracing the silver hair brush and the rim of her sink. She washed her hands with the rose scented soap. She pulled her old clothes out of the closet, threading silk gowns between her fingers before she pulled on her scratchy linen pants.

As she stood in front of the large windows in their sleeping quarters, watching the sun dip below buildings and holding her arm wraps in her hands, Ben stepped up behind her. Folding his arms across her chest, he pulled her back into him, kissing the top of her head.

"We're happy…aren't we?" Her voice was small.

Ben's expression was solum, "Yes my love. We are happy."

"Then why do I keep going back?" She spoke towards the window and then twisted her head up to try to meet his eyes. "Why do I keep leaving?"

Exhaling he just held her tighter, "You can't ask me things like that…"

"Why?" She fully twisted in his arms now, resting her chin on his chest and looking up at his narrow face.

"Because if you doubt your purpose with the Resistance there is no reason for me to let you go back."

Rey buried her face into his chest, hiding her smile. "And how would you detain me?"

Reaching his hands down, he cupped her rear and pulled her up his body until she had her legs wrapped around his middle and her face was level with his. He loved the way she squeaked when he surprised her with his strength and desire. "I would lock you away on Naboo, or perhaps Mustafar if you were particularly naughty with attempting to escape my clutches," he gripped at her rear for good measure.

"What would you do to keep me?" Rey said sweetly, twisting the hair at the back of his neck around her fingers.

He smirked and kissed her waiting lips as she looked at him through her lashes. "Not anything we have time for now."

Rey sighed, knowing he was right and she slid down his body once more. Both of their postures showed how miserable they were with the fact that Rey was once again leaving. She packed her bag and with a helping but reluctant hand, Ben carried it for her.

Walking around the apartment, Rey ventured into the room just off the entry, the room with the two suns. She imagined a bassinet in the corner and toy box by the door. She could see herself in the rocker, holding a swaddled bundle. Ben would look at her holding their child like he as seeing the world anew.

She gazed over to the door where Ben was standing and as she shared her vision with him and he smiled, showing his own vision of throwing her over his shoulders and keeping her in his bed until the end of time.

The sun was starting to set on the city and Rey needed to make her way south to pick up Finn and Rose. "Thank you for making us a home," Rey said as she stepped up to him.

"Where ever you are, in my arms or across the stars, I will be your home just as you will be mine."

They kissed and he stroked at her cheek before taking her hand, retrieving her bag from the entry and they made their way up to the landing pad. Just like their other meetings, her shuttle was fully stocked with everything that had been on her supply list. Even though the New Order was still at war with the Resistance, Ben made sure to send her back with enough to sustain the health and welfare of the troops living in the base on Dantooine.

As she started to flip switches and warm the engines, Rey turned to Ben who was leaning on the bulk head just behind her seat. "When do I get to stop saying goodbye to you?"

His smile didn't quite make it to his eyes as he spoke, "You know where to find me when you are ready."

She felt his unease in the bond and she knew that each time she left it hurt him. Even though she had been the one abandoned alone on a dustbowl of the planet, Ben too had been left behind time and time again. His mother and father picked politics and adventure over their son and now Rey was choosing the Resistance over Ben, the person she loved perhaps even more than the Force.

"No my love," he said, catching the tear that started to fall. "You are choosing peace and balance. Our separation is only temporary. We have the rest of our lives to be together. We will unify the galaxy, bring forth new teachings for Force uses." He wiped at her cheek again as more tears started to fall. "We will be a family…one day."

"Soon," Rey said into the small space between their lips.

"Yeah…soon," he repeated right before Rey gripped his coat, pulling them together as she poured all of her sorrow, hope, and promise into their kiss. When they parted he searched her face, finding that she too was already anticipating the next time they could see each other and he smiled down at her. "Until next time sweetheart."

She liked this better than goodbye, "Until next time."

Tears slid from her eyes as she took the shuttle off the landing pad, pressing her fingers tips to her lips before waving at him through the windscreen. For a moment she wished that even if they couldn't be together at this time, perhaps the bond could remind open so that she could always feel him near.

She had fifteen minutes to composer herself. Of all the times they had separated, this was the most difficult. Rey wasn't just leaving her love, her other half, her Emperor…she was leaving her home, a promise of a wonderful future. While she had always yearned for a home, a place of belonging, it also tore at her to have finally found such a place, such a person, and to have to leave it all behind.

Until next time…rang in her mind and that was the only way she was able to dry her tears and temporarily mend her heart.

True to her pervious thought, when she picked Finn and Rose up on the public landing platform they both gushed over the fictional engagement of Owen and Jequin. Finn just rolled his eyes and strapped into a jump seat, resting his head back and closing his eyes while Rose settled into the co-pilot seat next to her friend.

While Rey was happy to be reunited with her friends she was dreading returning to Dantooine, dreading facing Poe and watching him smugly regale the story of how he shot an unarmed man. Now that she was not trying to take in every ounce of her time with Ben, Rey was left to think, to worry about what the future held for herself with the Resistance.

Once they were off world and in the hyperspace lane Rey turned towards Rose and Finn, "What are your plans after the war?"

"What do you mean?" Finn asked, leaning forward between the seats the ladies sat in.

"I mean," Rey started wringing her hands in her lap, "this war can't go on forever. The New Order is not the First Order, and it appears that most of our grievances have been addressed. If Poe is willing to sit down for an accord, we could end this war…get on with our lives."

"Is that what you want to do?" Finn's tone was accusing. "Get on with your life?"

Rey sighed, seeing his mind, Finn still felt he had a score to settle with Kylo Ren. "I want a home that isn't in a military base. I want a family…a real chance at happiness."

"We all want that," Rose interjected, reaching a hand out for her husband. She glowed internally thinking that she was actually married and she could not fault Rey for wanting the same.

"We do?" Finn questioned his wife.

Rose gave an incredulous look. "I grew up in a war zone, I followed Paige into a war zone, and I continue to live in a war zone. As adults, we should always want better for our children."

"Children?" Finn said, practically going pale as his voice cracked.

Both Rey and Rose laughed, "Did no one tell him what happens when people get married and are intimate?" Rey asked her friend.

Finn sat back and huffed, "I know how babies are made."

"Well, then you know that a rebel base is not really the place for children to be raised," Rey argued.

"I'm not so sure. I got word from Poe over the datapad that with the influx of supplies that we have been raiding from the First Order, that some of the fighters are considering moving their families to Dantooine."

Rey laughed, thankful for her pills because she couldn't fathom bringing up a baby on the base. "Are we to open a nursery next to the chow hall?"

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that we have built a family and home within the Resistance and I can't imagine being anywhere else," Finn mused. "We are getting new recruits all the time. I'm sure there will be someone along for you."

This made Rey blush thinking about how she had slowly made love to Ben just hours before on their shuttle ride home. She had commanded his body, not like the night before with orders and innuendo, but she pinned him under her thighs, riding him as his large hands wandered her body and she milked him of his bliss.

"Or perhaps someone has already caught her eye," Rose said to her husband as she saw the blush paint Rey's cheeks.

Finn scoffed, "Might as well be the General with all the time they spend together and how all they do is bicker."

Rey choked on her own tongue, not only at the insinuation but also having been privy to Poe's inner fantasies. "Poe?" Her voice squeaked.

Rose slapped her hand at Finn, "It's none of our business." She then gave Rey a knowing look and a wink.

Fearing that their minds would be made up about the ridiculous notion that Rey had a relationship with Poe and that her point on peace had completely been missed, she turned to the more sensible of her two companions. "So Rose, what does your future look like, now that you are a married woman."

Slipping her gaze just briefly to her husband, Rose smiled, "After the war, I would like to settle someplace green with large grasslands. I never want my children to know the sound of a blaster or ion cannons. Perhaps we can open an inn, or live off the land."

"That sounds nice," Rey said returning her friend's smile and wishing that she could tell Rose about Naboo, offer them a cottage in the hills around the estate so they could always be near. "Finn could have a place in government, I'm sure."

Finn scoffed, "I suspect you are talking about the First Order…"

"I'm talking about the New Order. How they have passed the Trooper Information Act and shut down the child camps. I think that you would have a helpful insight into their programs."

Finn leaned forward again, pointing his finger at Rey, "I will never serve that man…that monster. Once Ren is dead and off his self-made throne, then the Republic can start to mend and there will be peace."

Rey wanted to cry at this because she knew that Ben's rule would be long and fruitful and it saddened her that her friends wouldn't be a part of it. "But you can't ignore the good they have been doing," during all of her talks, Rey was careful not to use Ben's name, fearful it would give her true feelings away.

"Good…" Finn scoffed again, rolling his eyes at the thought of it.

In this moment Rey not only needed to sway Poe's heart but also Finn's mind. She needs them to get their heads out of the sand and look at the galaxy around them. How planets once dead are growing and prospering, how industry is blooming, and younglings were getting proper nutrition, education, and medical treatment.

She had once thought that the Resistance was fighting for this type of change, but now she knew they were just fighting against one man. A man that could not be killed because the Force would not will it.

AN: I'm so sorry for not updating yesterday. I had most of this part written but it just needed a little more. I hope to get a lot of writing done this weekend so that I can be good on my schedule next week.

I hope you enjoyed this little chapter and Rey has a conversation with Poe in the upcoming part.