***Author's Note***
Here we go; this chapter is massively important to the plot of this story. Therefore, it is extremely plot-heavy, and also very dialogue-heavy. There is also very heavy lemon-y goodness near the end of this chapter. Have fun, you lot!
Rey and Ben had been on Ord Biniir for ten days, and they found that conversation had become a great deal easier, though Ben had grown moodier than ever. Rey sensed that this was a direct result of his new, sedentary lifestyle; it was wearing on him, not being able to do anything. Rey smiled to herself. Well, hopefully my project will help with that, she thought, incredibly pleased with herself.
Rey fiddled with the next part she was breaking down; she had something on her mind, Ben knew, just as he knew she would bring it up when she was ready to. Just as that thought crossed his mind, Rey cleared her throat to speak, "Um, Ben?"
"Yes, Rey?"
"There's something that's been bothering me..." She drifted into silence for a moment, but Ben just waited for her to finish. "I was wondering if you'd tell me...what made you turn to the Dark Side in the first place?" Rey wouldn't take her eyes off the part she was breaking down.
Ben sighed. "I thought it might be something like that. Are you really sure you want to hear this story? It's not a happy one."
Finally, Rey looked up and met his gaze. "Yes, I'm sure. I feel it's important, since we're getting to know each other."
Ben reached his hand around and rested it on the stub of his left arm, in a gesture that had become a habit in the weeks since he'd lost his limbs to the Knights of Ren; already, it seemed like it had been a lifetime ago. "Well, let me see; where should I begin? I suppose the beginning is the only place to start. So, I will begin on the day of my birth. There are very few living souls that know this, my mother being one of them, but I was born a twin; my twin sister, in fact. She and I looked very similar. She had my hair, my eyes, my complexion, height, strength, and so on, but her face was far lovelier than mine. She was decidedly feminine; tall as I am, and thin as a reed. It was a very becoming combination. My sister was quite the beauty. Her name was Padme. She was named after our Grandmother, who died while giving birth to my mother and Uncle Luke.
"From the time that Padme and I were born, we had an uncanny connection. We always knew where the other was, and if there was trouble, we were always there to see it through for each other. Mostly, Padme spent her time keeping me out of trouble," Ben smiled sadly at some distant memory. "When we were six, our parents decided that it was time to give us our own rooms. It didn't go well. That night, Padme had terrible nightmares. I woke long before her screaming started; I'd had the same dream. I sensed there was something terribly wrong with my sister, so I rushed into her room; seconds later, the wailing began. She screamed so loud and so long that I thought my ears would bleed. Our parents came rushing into the room, where I'd pulled her into my lap, stroking her hair. But all my attempts to calm her were in vain. Suddenly, the screams went silent, but then she began to tremble, to shake uncontrollably. With each tremor that racked through my beloved sister, a blast of sheer Force energy exploded out from Padme. The whole house shook; we were terrified. On instinct, I felt for my sister's mind, and pushed with everything I had, willing her to hear my thoughts. Finally, I succeeded, and slowly, the tremors stilled, and the house stopped shaking. I remember taking Padme's face in my hands and leaning my forehead against hers.
"After that, my sister could and would not sleep without my presence. My father moved my bed close to hers, and every night after that, we fell asleep holding hands. It was the only thing that kept the night terrors away. Uncle Luke came to visit for our seventh birthday. What he saw and sensed disturbed him deeply. He took us into a quiet room in the house, and walked us through our first meditation. After we finished, he took Mother and Father aside to discuss what he had discovered. As twins are wont to do, Padme and I listened at the door. I'll never forget their conversation. Luke had told my mother and father that Padme and I were the most powerful Force-Sensitives of our age that he had ever come across. But with that, he said, came a terrible price. We had such a Force Connection that we literally felt everything the other felt. If we concentrated, it was like we were one person. She was my center, and I was her protector. She kept me calm, and I got her into trouble," Ben chuckled. "We could hear each others thoughts from across the galaxy, if we'd wanted to. Uncle Luke warned that the fate of one would become the fate of the other, and if something ever happened to one of us, the other would most likely be driven mad. He decided that it would be best if he took us for training, and our parents agreed.
"We took to our Jedi training like fish to water. We thrived under Luke's tutelage. But when I turned 13, I began experiencing unexplained fits of terrible temper; I'd always been very calm when I'd been younger. My mood swings grew worse as I got older, and we found that my beloved sister was the only one who could calm me. She would press her way into my mind, and remove the anger. She forced me to be calm. For some reason, this disturbed my Uncle. He said it was a kind of mind control, and that it was not something he felt comfortable with. Padme spent more and more time in the Archives, researching our Force Connection, looking for answers, trying to save me from the Dark Side. She had been having visions of me in black robes and a mask, with a red cross-section light-saber that sputtered and sparked as though it were unstable.
"Padme had a strong connection to the Archivist; no one thought anything of it at first, but as the days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, people began to grow suspicious of all the time she spent with him. She grew paler and more withdrawn. Then, one night, I was pacing the room that we shared at the Jedi academy. I was restless, and I couldn't figure out why. Padme was in the Archives, as usual. Suddenly, I sensed something was wrong. Something was terribly, horribly wrong." Ben took a moment to take a deep breath; his eyes had filled with tears, and Rey sensed the end of the story was near. "You see, we had all been fooled by the Archivist; he had sensed Padme's and my power, and he coveted it; he had tricked my sister into taking a trip with him, off-planet. They were supposed to return by evening. We know the Archivist now as Supreme Leader Snoke. He had tried to turn my sister to the Dark Side, but she had seen through his tricks. They fought with both Force and light-saber, but he was too powerful for her. I felt it when he cut off her right arm, and rammed his saber through my beloved Padme's chest." Rey gasped, and her own eyes filled with tears as she felt Ben's pain at the loss of his twin through the Force.
"I felt the moment our connection broke; I collapsed in our room, screaming. I have no memory of the next week; all I know is what I was told. I screamed; that was the most I could tell you, but it wasn't just with my voice. I forced my way into every mind that was near me, and they were trapped in my pain with me. Every fiber of my being was trapped in a whirlwind of loss and pain, and at the heart of it, a hard knot of anger and hate began to grow. With every scream, waves of the Force rolled off of me, just as it had the night Padme had had that nightmare. At the end of the week, there was nothing left of the Temple we had lived in. I had shaken it to the very ground, and all while I was unconscious. Finally, through the pain, I heard a voice. It was Snoke. He whispered to me in the dark, and told me I knew who I had to blame. I woke in the darkness and rain; I was inconsolable. Nothing anyone said could calm me. Snoke's whispers had taken root in my mind, and I blamed Luke. It was his fault; he'd brought Snoke to us, and Snoke had taken Padme from me. That was the day that I turned to the Dark Side. That was the day I slaughtered my Uncle's students. For the next thirteen years, I walked further and further down the path of darkness, trying to forget the memory of Padme." Ben trailed off into silence as a single tear trickled down his cheek.
"Oh, Ben. I had no idea. I'm so sorry." Rey reached up and wiped the tear away, leaving her hand resting on his cheek for a moment. Ben's eyes locked onto hers, and they softened with gratitude, and Rey's heart gave a sudden squeeze in response. Ben smiled sadly.
"Thank you, Rey. I haven't talked about Padme since the night she died. It feels...good. Thank you." Ben reached out and took Rey's hand, drawing little circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. The pair drifted for a while into silence, until Rey shifted.
"Well, I've actually been working on something. Sort of a...present for you."
Ben straightened in surprise. "For me?"
Rey smiled, "Sure; who else? Close your eyes." Ben obliged her. "Hold out your right leg," Ben held out his damaged leg, confused. He felt Rey place something on his stump, and tighten a few straps. "Okay, you can look now!" Ben did as she asked, and looked down. There, attached to his leg at the knee, was a curved, metal apparatus. Ben blinked in surprise.
"It's a leg," he said dumbly. "You made me a...leg?" His heart warmed at the idea.
Rey nodded, and held her hands out to Ben. "It's not very nice, but it'll function until we can get you a proper one. Let me help you up," she said. Ben took her hands and struggled to stand on his new leg. He wavered a bit, but Rey helped him to find his balance. For the next three hours, Rey walked Ben around and around their cave, getting him used to the new apparatus. They stopped, standing in the cave mouth, watching the sunset, each with an arm around the other.
Ben looked down at Rey, and was struck by how very beautiful she looked in the fading light. "Rey?" He said, "Thank you."
Rey turned into him, to gaze into his face. "You're very welcome, Ben." The pair drew closer, their arms still around each other. Rey felt the stump of Ben's left arm come up to rest on her hip, and his right hand came up to cup her cheek.
"You don't know what you've come to mean to me, Rey," Ben murmured as he leaned down, closer to Rey, his eyes searching her face. Rey tipped her face up as Ben closed the distance, and kissed her. Rey's breath caught in her chest, and she brought her arms up to drawn him in closer. The kiss deepened, and he tasted the sweetness on her tongue. He gasped in a breath, and wrapped his right arm tighter around her waist. He felt Rey's hands slide beneath his tunic, and up his back. His trousers tightened in response. He drew back, breaking the kiss, searching Rey's face with a questioning gaze. Without a word, Rey took his hand in hers and helped him limp back to the improvised cot that they shared. Rey waited as Ben lowered himself clumsily onto the cot, and she positioned herself with one leg on either side of his hips, so she could sit in his lap, facing him.
Ben kissed her again, sliding his hand under her tunic, and gently worked it up over her head. Rey lifted her arms to make it easier for him, and once free from her tunic, she reached forward to remove his, in return. Returning to the kiss, Rey traced his muscular chest with her fingertips, enjoying how he shivered as she explored his body. His member began to stiffen under her attentions; she felt it press against her, and she ground her hips against him in response. Ben moaned into her mouth, and flipped her onto the cot. He worked his trousers down clumsily with his right hand, as Rey removed hers, albeit far more quickly. Ben positioned himself over Rey, supporting himself on what remained of his left arm, so that he could trace her body with his hand. She shivered in response, and reached her hand around to take hold of his pulsing manhood. Ben straightened as she stroked his length, and he felt every nerve come alive at her touch. On a wild moan, Ben pressed Rey back down onto the cot, pausing with his lips pressed to Rey's neck. "Are you ready?" He asked; as Rey's gasped affirmative, Ben guided himself smoothly into her entrance. She cried out as he pressed further into her, and Ben's breath hitched as he pumped his hips deeper into her. She shifted her position so that she could pump her hips in time with his, and they hurtled into a frantic pace, as their moans mingled in the early evening air. Rey's back arched as her climax neared, and Ben felt her tighten around him. Shivering, he gave one final thrust of his hips, burying himself as deeply as he could, and released his seed into her, crying out her name, hearing it echo through the cave.
Trembling, he pulled himself from her, and laid his head against her chest, hearing her heart race. They lay there for some time, panting. After a few minutes, Ben groaned into Rey's breast. "I think I may have gone blind," he breathed. Rey shifted beneath him as she laughed.
"I'm going to have agree with that sentiment. I think I just saw the Afterlife." The two of them laid there, laughing for some time, until Ben maneuvered himself off of Rey, and wrapped his right arm around her waist, pulling her tightly to him, where she curled up against him, with her head on his chest, and promptly fell asleep. Ben sighed with contentment.
"Good night, my little scavenger," he murmured as he, too slid into sleep.
***Author's Note***
Everybody say "awwwwwwww". I had to add the mushy at the end there; it was a pretty heavy chapter. Hope it was enjoyable. I sure had fun writing it! As every, my friends, thank you for reading. ^_^