Wrapping his arms around Rey, Ben was surprised at his own instinctive gesture. He felt compelled to bring Rey some form of comfort, knowing full well the avalanche of emotions he'd just plunged upon her through his own staggered memories. Despite the painful flashbacks that had resurged through his mind, a distinctive warmth began flooding through his body. His heart quickened as Rey leaned into his chest, clutching at his sides. The ache of his dark memories began to fade as he himself was soothed by Rey's snug embrace.

Something clicked in Ben's mind. His tears drying, he marvelled at the connection he felt to Rey, mentally and physically. Their closeness felt so right, so natural. He hadn't been touched, embraced for—well, he didn't even want to think how long ago.

Since the time he'd encountered her in the flesh on Takodana, he'd sensed their visceral link. It had intrigued him, driven him mad with the desire to study her, keep her as his own prize. When he'd subsequently interrogated her on the Finalizer, he had realized their remarkable similarities, making her all the more enticing. He hadn't been able to keep himself from getting closer to her, and had barely been able to restrain himself from actually touching her. His primal craving for basic physical contact was so strong, contact he so rarely received.

He felt his temper flare momentarily as he remembered the men that had dared to stare at Rey as she'd taken off her coverings on Stoltara, gawking at her like daft idiots. Ben had nearly whipped out his lightsaber in his fury.

And now, her body held gently against his, the draw he felt to her was magnetic. He felt as if he were in a trance. He again had the urge to touch her face, feel the warmth of her soft skin. But he restrained himself; he didn't want to frighten her further, considering the emotional trauma he'd just exposed her to.

As Rey's sobs eventually subsided, Ben blinked, coming to. He lifted his head and released his arms slowly from her back, sliding them back down to his sides. Rey released her tight clutch on his shirt, and Ben gently pulled himself away from her, even though he didn't want to. But he didn't want to betray any weakness in front of Rey.

He wiped away his tears sheepishly, avoiding her gaze. He felt frustrated, partially because Rey had seen him in such an emotional state. He forced himself to swallow his emotions, keeping his face level.

He watched as Rey shakily sat back down in the pilot's chair behind her, her eyes locked on the metal floor before her, lost in thought.

Ben turned and stood before the control board, watching the passing stars through the window. "These are the images I am haunted by," he said softly, staring before him. "And now they'll haunt you." He looked back over his shoulder curiously at Rey, meeting her eyes which were still wet with tears. His gaze was detached, tranced.

He then turned and walked out of the room silently, but not before sneaking her another glance.

….

Several silent hours later, as he sat cross-legged in the cold pitch-black cell of the metal storage room, he sensed Rey's presence nearing.

Ben opened his eyes as the heavy door before him slowly slid open, letting through a single beam of light that landed on him. Rey stood in the doorway, looking down at him curiously. Her face was no longer red from crying. Ben remained on the ground as he looked up at her.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked softly.

"A place to focus," he merely said.

"Were you meditating?" She probed. Ben didn't know how much she knew about meditating, whether Luke had ever taught her to do it herself. He decided not to answer, not wanting to delve into the subject. But Rey continued. "How often do you meditate? I didn't know users of the dark side did this, too," she said. Ben lifted his eyebrows, surprised at her casual remark.

Ben again remained silent as Rey tilted her head, squinting down at him in the dim of the cell. "You do still use the dark side of the Force, don't you?"

Ben sat up straight and scowled, taking offense at the question. "What do you think?" He retorted.

Rey's mouth pulled into a straight line as she considered him. "Ben," she said softly.

He blinked up at her, furrowing his brows, but he didn't scold her for using his real name.

"Thank you."

Ben leaned his head slightly back, puzzled at her statement. "What?" He asked.

"I meant to thank you for saving me, back on Zephus. For taking care of me. For healing me," Rey said, her warm hazel eyes boring into his.

Ben merely blinked at her, unsure of what to say. He watched as Rey interlaced her fingers together, hesitating to continue.

"I...I can see things from your side, now. I don't fully understand why, perhaps I never will...but I understand how you feel. I didn't know...I didn't think you were capable…" she trailed, blinking hard. A single tear fell from her eye as she looked away, avoiding his glance. "Han. You've always loved him. Your mother, too...I felt that. I felt your suffering..." she said, meeting his eyes once again.

Ben shifted his gaze to the ground, not wanting to go back to this again. He had just spent the last three hours focusing his emotions; he didn't want to let them come pouring out again in front of Rey.

"You feel the pull of the light," Rey said abruptly, and Ben's eyes flickered back up to hers as he frowned.

"No more than you feel the pull of the dark," he snarled, watching as Rey's brows knitted together, her posture tensing. She seemed about to speak as a distant beeping sounded from outside the storage room.

Ben's eyes widened as he leapt onto his feet, pushing past Rey as he moved swiftly through the ship's central area.

"What is it?" Rey exclaimed, trotting after him. As he reached the control board, he froze in horror as a multitude of small red dots began moving towards the center of the screen of the ship's movement scanner.

"Dammit," Ben hissed under his breath. "TIE fighters," he said, turning on the plasma generator button.

"Coming here?" Rey asked, stepping towards him to look at the locator screen. Her eyes scanned the many buttons and controls on the desk. "What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing," he said, increasing the ship's engines and picking up their speed.

"I can pilot this thing, while you shoot with those Kyber cannons you were talking about."

"There's no need for steering, I have coordinates logged in already," he said hurriedly. "Damn. This is not a good place to stop."

"Where are we going?" Rey asked concernedly.

"Naboo."

….

Rey stood up from her pilot's seat as the blue and green planet grew larger in the window. She came up next to Ben, gripping the edge of the control board as she stared ahead at the nearing planet. The light of the nearby sun glinted off of the planet's atmosphere, giving it a shiny quality.

Ben looked over at her, wondering if she knew anything about the history of Naboo, the people who had once lived and reigned there. She hadn't brought up anything about the subject, so he deduced that she didn't. His gaze lingered a few moments on her profile, her long dark lashes that swept her cheeks as she blinked.

Ben turned his gaze back to the controls in front of him as he switched off the autopilot setting, beginning to manually direct the ship as it reached the planet's atmosphere. The security scanner had remained silent, and he'd told Rey that they must have lost the TIE fighters. But he still wanted to land on the planet to hide for a while, just in case.

"Hang on," he cautioned to Rey as the ship broke through the outer atmosphere of the planet. He lowered his left hand at his side, using the Force to anchor his feet to the ground as the ship descended quickly through the clouds, the metal walls pulsating with the wind resistance of the planet's thick atmosphere. .

"How are you so still?" Rey asked incredulously, and he looked over at her as she attempted to hold onto the edge of the control board.

"The Force," he said, but she just looked at him confusedly. He furrowed his brows in concentration as he tilted his palm, holding both Rey and himself in place as the ship broke through the final cloud layer, revealing the shining city of Theed below.

"OH...oh, wow," Rey marvelled, her eyes wide at the scene before her. Ben was amused at her appreciation of the sight. He steered the ship around the far edge of the city, veering it to the left sharply and keeping it near the ground. Glancing back over at Rey, he decided to take a small detour, turning the ship around the edge of the city and passing the shuttle in front of the immense waterfalls that cascaded down the tops of the cliffs where sat the city's royal palace.

"I've never seen a city so beautiful," Rey gasped, looking over at Ben. As he momentarily met her shimmering eyes, he felt his mind go blank, his heart thudding quickly in his chest. A flush came over him, and he tore his eyes away from her, pretending to concentrate completely on directing the ship.

He landed the ship in a small clearing within a thickly forested area away from the city; he didn't want his ship parked in a hangar where someone could potentially damage it or worse, recognize it.

After setting up the full security systems on the shuttle, Ben moved silently into the storage room, turning on the lights and searching the shelves for their cloaks and scarves.

"Again?" Rey asked, her hands on her hips as she stood in the doorway, watching him. "Who would even recognize me here?"

He shoved into her hands the same cloak and neck scarf he'd giver her before, which were now coated with the red dust of Stoltara. "That's not the only reason to cover you up," he said, and Rey gave him a puzzled stare. "Put those on."

She did as she was told, and Ben hurriedly pulled on his own clothing. "We need to get to the city as soon as possible, we should be sheltered there. The TIE fighters wouldn't dare go near there, the city has too many defenses," he said, exiting the storage room as he sensed Rey following behind him.

….

As Rey trailed behind Ben, he kept his pace just quick enough so that she wouldn't be able to catch up to his side. If there was to be trouble ahead, he wanted to be the first to encounter it. He shoved his way through the thick green foliage, scanning his surroundings with his eyes and with all of his Force sense.

After about a half hour of trekking through the forest, he was relieved when the foliage grew more sparse as they neared the edge of the city. Ben made his way up to a paved path at the top of the hillside, stopping at the top to wait for Rey to catch up. As he turned to look back down at her, she seemed to be trudging up the hill with great effort. She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling under the shadow of her hood, her nose and mouth covered by the dark neck scarf. The dark hood and scarf seemed to frame her eyes, giving her a captivating—if coy—look. Ben's throat tightened as he forced himself to tear his eyes away from her.

"Can...can we slow down?" Rey panted, yanking the scarf away from her face.

Ben nodded once silently, his eyes scanning the greenery behind her instinctively, making sure no one had seen and followed them. He then turned and lead them into the city streets.

The city was noisy and crowded, which was to be expected as it was the height of the afternoon on this planet, the middle of the day. Various people and species moved about the streets, all of whom seemed to keep their distance from the two hooded figures. No one on this planet seemed to wear much in the way of hoods or coverings, and Ben realized that he and Rey's concealing clothing ironically made them stand out.

As they soon reached a small open square, Ben walked over to a more shaded area, turning towards Rey. He reluctantly pulled down his neck scarf and hood, eyeing the passing people guardedly as he did so. "We don't need these here. They're drawing too much attention," he said quietly to Rey.

Rey pulled off her own hood, loosening the thick scarf around her neck. "I was going to take them off anyways. Mother of Moons, it's too warm outside for these clothes. I can't stop sweating," she breathed, fanning herself. She stepped out of the shade and into the sunshine, curiously observing the people passing through the square as Ben's gaze lingered on her.

Rey looked back at Ben, who was jolted, afraid that she had realized he'd been staring at her. "I'm hungry, can we find something to eat?" She asked.

Ben felt a small rush of relief, but then realized he hadn't noticed how hungry he himself was. His spirits rose at the thought of eating something new; they'd only been eating the dry, bland packaged food he had stored on his command shuttle.

He nodded at her, and began leading them further down the road towards an open marketplace. Ben continually ran a hand through his hair, uncomfortable and self-conscious with being so unconcealed in the public eye. Yet now that his face was was exposed, people no longer seemed to stare at him.

Ben slowed as they reached the market, allowing Rey to lead. He trailed close behind her as she observed the different market stalls, flipping his gaze left and right as he watched for any signs of trouble. Several times he caught the admiring eyes of men upon her, in which he shot each of them a black glare until they shrunk away from his visual threat, and removing their eyes from Rey.

Rey decided on a handful of large, brilliantly-colored fruits at the market, suggesting that they share. After he had paid for the food, Ben followed Rey down a sunlit street, sitting down next to her on a shaded bench. It felt unnatural to him to behave casually in such an exposed, public place.

"Which one do you want?" Rey asked, holding the basket of fruit out to him.

"I don't care, you choose," he said, nodding towards her. Ben watched as she looked down into the basket, considering them.

"Hmm. You seem like a red sort of person," she said, handing him an electric red fruit, a small smile upon her mouth.

He looked down at the fruit, knowing full well she was referring to his red lightsaber. As he bit into the fruit, he was pleasantly surprised by its strong, sweet flavor. "This is really good," he said between mouthfuls. He looked over at Rey, who was nodding as she bit into her own blue fruit. "Blue? How fitting," he said flatly, and he was surprised as she briefly laughed. He couldn't help but smile momentarily himself.

After eating another fruit, Ben kept his eyes trained on their surroundings, watching and sensing for anything that would indicate danger. But as time passed by and the sun got a little lower in the sky, Ben allowed himself to relax a bit as he listlessly watched the people and animal-drawn carts that passed.

"What is this place?" Rey asked, looking over at him.

Ben hesitated. What should he tell her? "Many battles have been fought on this planet," he said. "And—" But Ben cut himself off as he heard a distant sound. With a shock, he realized it was a familiar screeching sound. He stood up from the bench, his eyes searching the sky in disbelief. The screeching grew louder. No. No.

"What's that—" Rey began, but just then, a TIE fighter soared overhead. Everyone in the streets yelped and hollered, quickening their paces to take cover.

More screeching sounded, but Ben was frozen in place as two more TIE fighters sped by overhead, unsure of what to do, where to go.

"We need to get back to the ship!" Rey yelled, attempting to tug Ben away by his forearm. He looked over at her, the blood draining out of his face. He needed to hide her.

"We can't," he protested, allowing Rey to pull him under the shelter of an overhanging circular roof. "They'll see us if we leave the shelter of the city."

People began to scream and shout as a group of TIE fighters passed over the street again, this time closer to the rooftops of the buildings. "Come on," Ben said, ripping off his cloak and choking scarf as he picked up a jog. He snaked them through the panicked crowd, down a shaded street, keeping his senses focused on Rey to make sure she was keeping up behind him.

As they passed into a narrow road, he heard panicked screams coming from behind them, and he hurriedly read the thoughts of the crowd around him. Stormtroopers. He glanced back anxiously at Rey, who was struggling to push through people to keep up with him. He thought he read fear on her face, and he slowed.

They both looked up as three TIE fighters screeched past, and Ben extended his hand out to her, reaching through the people that pushed around them. Rey grabbed onto his gloved hand as she met his eyes, and Ben tried to give her a look of assurance. He gripped her hand tightly and turned, helping to pull her through the panicking masses.

The screams of the crowd grew louder behind him as he heard the familiar shots of blaster bolts. As they pressed through the people, the shots grew louder, closer. Ben scanned the buildings around him, finally coming upon a half-open shop door up a small flight of stone steps. He yanked Rey to his side and began pushing her up the steps. "Go inside and wait there," he urged, pushing her up the steps until she was inside the doorway.

Shutting the door behind him, Ben leapt down the steps, facing the direction in which the rest of the crowd was running from. Reaching down at his side, he pulled out his lightsaber from the attachment at his hip, flicking it before him as it ignited.

The people around him panicked further at the sight of his glowing red lightsaber, giving him a wide berth as they ran around him, away from the approaching stormtroopers. Ben centered his growing rage, swinging his saber threateningly as the rest of the crowd sprinted past him, revealing a line of six stormtroopers. Their blasters were now trained on him.

The stormtroopers marched forward, but Ben held his ground. They began shooting, and Ben deflected all of their shots with his lightsaber, flipping it between his hands. He began backing up as he continued to counteract their shots, leading them away from Rey. He scowled up at the sky momentarily as a howling TIE fighter passed overhead, forming an arc over the street as it circled back over him and passed out of view.

Sensing an opening, Ben deflected another blaster shot and swatted his hand at another shot, redirecting it with the Force into a nearby wall. He then flipped around and sprinted away using the Force, creating significant distance between he and the pursuing stormtroopers.

He slowed, breathing heavily as he entered a large, open courtyard leading directly to the palace. People ran past left and right, unsure of where to go. Ben sensed for Rey, feeling that she was still a ways away. He hoped he had led the stormtroopers away from her location.

He raised his lightsaber instinctively as several TIE fighters soared overhead, circling back over him again. Ben focused his energy and anger. He moved backwards, intending to find shelter once again in the shaded streets, but one TIE fighter broke off from the others and soared just above him, shooting at the ground near him as it passed. Ben was forced to leap back towards the middle of the courtyard, swearing under his breath as he did so.

He flipped to his side as he sensed the pursuing stormtroopers entering the courtyard. Glaring at them, he swung his lightsaber through a nearby light pole threateningly, daring them to proceed. Two of the stormtroopers appeared to hesitate, but then continued forward with the rest of the group. They resumed shooting at him, and Ben growled as he concentrated with all of his being to deflect their every shot. A TIE fighter circled back over him and shot at him, missing him by mere feet as he lept away from the powerful blast.

With one powerful swipe of his saber, Ben deflected several shots of the stormtroopers at once and leapt forward, landing a devastating blow upon the lead stormtrooper, slicing through his head. Ben quickly met the other stormtroopers' shots with his saber as the now dead trooper crumpled to the ground in a bloody pool.

He suddenly sensed Rey nearing and, between deflecting shots from the stormtroopers, he saw her at the edge of the courtyard, igniting her blue lightsaber. Rey. No. He thought, urgently warning her to remain hidden as he directed his thoughts towards her. But Rey began charging forward, swinging her lightsaber at the several stormtroopers that had now turned to face her.

Hot fury coursing through him, Ben leapt forward again, his saber slicing halfway through the midsections of two stormtroopers like a knife cutting through two sticks of butter.

He sprinted to the side as two TIE fighters began pursuing him, flying close to the ground. The first one again just barely missed him as he leapt away from the impact of its blast. As the second fighter released its blast, however, Ben positioned his palm out just in time against the shot, halting the large blast midair with the Force as the TIE fighter continued on past him. His eyes remained trained on the TIE fighter as it began to ascend back up into the sky, and Ben used the Force to traject the halted blast up at the ship. It made contact, exploding and shattering the TIE fighter into fragmented pieces that shook as they fell to the ground.

Ben flipped back around to deflect a blaster bolt with his saber, but just as he did so he saw a blue saber stab through the shoulder of the offending stormtrooper, who subsequently buckled to the ground, revealing Rey standing in his place.

He and Rey briefly made eye contact as Ben realized she had finished off the rest of the stormtroopers. He felt a surge of admiration, impressed at her capability. Just then, however, several TIE fighters surged overhead, and Ben took a defensive stance.

However, just as the TIE fighters formed an arc, doubling back towards him, a large orange and grey X-wing fighter soared over the courtyard, taking each of the three fighters out in lightning-fast succession. Ben staggered back as the TIE fighters came crashing down not far in front of him, watching as several more X-wings sped past.

The orange and grey X-wing quickly circled back, and Ben deftly leapt away as it fired several shots at him.

Ben ran towards the edge of the courtyard to an overhanging roof, but flipped back around, halting in his tracks as Rey ran past him out into the center of the courtyard. "Poe!" She yelled. She met Ben with luminous eyes. "That was Poe, I recognize his fighter!"

"He shot at me," Ben spat, but Rey seemed to ignore this fact as she shaded her eyes with her hand to peer up into the sky. Ben had felt a pang of repugnance as Rey had said the pilot's name. "We have to leave, now," Ben called, beginning to head back down the street.

"No, wait, I have to see Poe! I'm sure he saw me!" She exclaimed, waving her arms up at two more X-wings as they flew overhead. "I didn't know he was stationed out here."

Ben pressed into her mind with a sense of desperation, urging her to listen to him. "We have to go, there will be more TIE fighters on the way," he said, and Rey shot him a look of defiance.

"The Order of Organa is obviously taking care of it now, we're safe," she stated, shaded her eyes from the sun. "And I'm not leaving until I get to see my friend."

"Then I'll leave without you," Ben said sharply, shooting her a dark look before he turned and began moving back down the street.

"Wait, but—" he heard Rey's disheartened voice call behind him. After a few strides, he couldn't help but feel a flush of warm relief as he sensed Rey hurrying to catch up behind him.

I figured it was about time for some more action. This is Star Wars, after all! Loving the comments, they really keep me going. Some of them made me laugh out loud, glad to see you guys are actually really getting into this. As always, thank you so much for your patience and support. I know I haven't been posting chapters as often as I used to, but school's picking up. I really don't want to sacrifice quality just for the sake of churning out chapters more quickly. But don't fret, the waiting will pay off for you soon, you angsty little Padawans.