***Author's Note***
Good evening, dear friends! This chapter is all plot, so hang on. There will be more fluff shortly, I promise. Can't wait to write more! Enjoy.
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Padme lit her light-saber and bared her teeth in a feral grin, her yellow eyes glinting dangerously. She sprang forward, slashing at the pair as they separated, just in time. Padme's saber came down on the holocron, exactly where the two had been. Rey glanced to the other side of the common room, where Finn and Poe were pinned down by the Stormtroopers, picking their shots carefully; as Rey watched, Finn and Poe each got a kill shot; eight Troopers left.
Rey brought her attention back to Padme and lunged with one end of her staff, which she neatly dodged. Padme lunged viciously at Ben, and he clocked it easily. Ben and Rey continued their uneven duel with Padme for longer than Rey thought possible; Padme was incredibly skilled with a light-saber. Easily, she was Ben's equal. An odd corner of her mind recognized how Ben and Rey moved exactly alike, as though one knew what moves the other would make. Ben would feint to one side, and Padme would instinctively block to the other. The only unknown in this fight, it would seem, was Rey. She seemed to catch Padme by surprise a few times. At last, Padme seemed to grow tired of the back-and-forth; she slashed wickedly at Rey's guy, which Rey barely managed to dodge. Ben tried to shout a warning, but it was too late; the attack had been a feint. Padme brought up her hand and lightning flew from her fingertips at Rey. She was flung through the air, into the wall across the room.
Ben bellowed with rage and flung out his own hand, sending a powerful Force-Blast at Padme, sending her through the wall and out of the house. With a growl, Ben sprung through the hole in the wall after her. When he reached her, her mouth parted in a mad grin, and an insane cackle burst from her.
"Very good. Kill me, then, if that's what you want."
Ben shook his head sadly, "That's not what I want, Padme. That has never been what I wanted, but it seems that you are intent on leaving me no choice."
Ben and Padme sprung simultaneously, his sabers sparking and flashing as they connected with her single one. Ben felt Padme push her mind towards his, but he had been expecting her favorite trick and, while she was distracted, he lunged at her side. His blow struck soundly, and Padme cried out in pain as the acrid smell of burning flesh permeated the air. In rage, Padme hacked at Ben's right knee as his lunge carried him past her left side. The blow damaged his cybernetics, and he found the leg would no longer support him. Padme lifted her light-saber to Ben's throat.
"Drop them. Now, or I finish off your...friends..." Ben dropped his sabers. "I told you that it was useless. You'll never defeat me. You could still come back to us, you know. I could forget any of this ugliness ever happened, and we could rule the galaxy, side-by-side." Ben glared at his sister, "No? Ah, well. I thought I'd offer. Too bad. The next time I see you, dear brother, only one of us will walk away."
Ben sighed, "I know. I feel it, too."
Padme's yellow eyes narrowed in hatred as she raised her hand, sending Ben end-over-end into the sky, before dropping her hand. She watched with no emotion in her yellow eyes as her twin fell from a great height and slammed into the ground. He did not move. Padme grinned wickedly to herself and ran, leaving the scene behind her.
Back inside the house, Poe and Finn had dispatched the last of the Stormtroopers. They rushed over to Rey, hoping she was still breathing. Finn felt at her neck for a pulse, "She's alive!" He exclaimed.
Just then, Rey's back arched and her eyes flew open, "Ben!" She gasped, "Go and see to Ben!"
"But Rey, you..." Finn began, but she cut him off.
"Go! Ben needs you! See to Ben! Go NOW! See to BEN! GO!" The screams that tore from her throat had Finn launching to his feet and sprinting out the front door, knowing something must be terribly wrong with Ben, if Rey was hysterical.
Poe leaned over and gently laid his hand on her shoulder, "You're okay, Rey; Ben's gonna be fine." As he examined Rey, Poe saw that her pupils were tiny pinpricks; she was in terrible pain. But if that pain was her own, or the pain she felt from Ben, he had no idea. Rey struggled to sit up, but Poe stopped her, saying, "Rey; you've just been electrocuted and flung into a wall. You need to get your bearings. Finn is with Ben. He'll be fine."
Just then, from outside, they heard Finn yelling, "BB-8! Come out here, now! I need you!"
BB-8 whirred and beeped anxiously as he rushed outside. Tuk-Tuk came slowly, hesitantly out of hiding and laid a gentle, furry hand against Rey's cheek. Rey alright? Tuk-Tuk here. Tuk-Tuk love Rey.
Rey lifted her hand to pet Tuk-Tuk's sweet, concerned face, "I'm alright, Tuk-Tuk. And I love you, too. I have to...get to Ben." She tried to get to her feet, but her head spun nauseatingly. She tried again, and managed to regain her feet, but fell again as her knees buckled.
"Rey, you're still smoking."
Rey smirked from her face-down position on the floor. "Poe, I'm glad to hear that you still find me attractive, but how does that have any bearing on me reaching my husband?"
Poe sighed, shook his head, and offered Rey a hand up. "Well, you and your husband sure are cut from the same cloth. You're both stubborn as hell." Tuk-Tuk gently climbed onto Rey's shoulder and hung on as best he could as Rey limped her way out of the house. "You really should rest. You've been electrocuted."
"Yes, but I fear something far worse has happened to Ben. He is in terrible pain." Just then, they saw Finn and BB-8 working furiously over Ben; Rey's limping speed increased.
Finn looked up, "It's okay, Rey, he's alive; he's just unconscious. I don't know what she did to him, but given the indentation around him, I'd say he fell from pretty high up."
"Uuunnngh. I'd say you're absolutely correct. He did, in fact, fall from a great height. Ugh, my head. She could have killed me, but Padme chose to leave me alive. She's gone for the Darksaber; we have to go after her." Rey gasped and laid one hand gently on Ben's face, thumb stroking his scar.
"I'm inclined to agree, Ben, but first, BB-8 has to get your leg fixed. It'll probably have some dings, but we'll just call them scars." Finn smiled, "Is anything broken?"
"My pride, does that count? No? Well, then, I'm not sure; Rey?"
Rey nodded and extended her right hand to assess the damage through the Force, "I'm not sure how you've managed it, my Love, but there is nothing broken. Loads of bruises, of course, and some of those go all the way to the bone, but that's the worst of it. I'd have to say we got off easy." BB-8 beeped quickly, and Rey nodded, "BB-8 says you should try to stand now so he can do the final repairs."
Ben groaned, "Unnn, but I like it down here. Nothing spins when I'm on the ground. Oh, alright." He got slowly to his hands and knees, shaking with effort. Finally, he managed to stand; Finn and Poe held him steady as BB-8 made the final repairs to Ben's cybernetic leg. "BB-8 says your leg should work fine now."
Ben took a few experimental steps, pleased with the little droid's quick work. "Wow, BB-8! That feels great; thank you." Tuk-Tuk extended his hand and slowly climbed onto Ben's shoulder, curling around Ben's neck like a scarf. "We should get back to Mos Iseley and tell Luke what's happened. He'll want to know that my sister now has the location of the Darksaber."
With that, the small band limped and hobbled back to the speeder and scrambled clumsily inside. Rey climbed into the back seat, her face pale and waxy, "Poe, I think you should be the pilot. I feel like I may vomit." Rey leaned her head back and closed her eyes as the others took their places. Ben climbed in beside her, took her hand, and leaned his head gently onto her shoulder with his eyes closed. Finn and Poe suddenly got the feeling that they were intruding on an intensely private, intimate moment, and steadfastly kept their eyes forward.
At last, Mos Iseley came into view, but pillars of smoke rose from the spaceport. Apparently, the battle had already ended. Rey and Ben came back to the present, looking around, concerned. Poe pulled the speeder over and parked. Ben scrambled clumsily out first with Tuk-Tuk clinging to his shoulders, and walked around the back of the speeder to help Rey climb down. As her feet hit the ground, her face went ashen, and she lunged for a wall. She proceeded to vomit violently, her head spinning and her chest aching.
Ben watched her, concerned. "Where did the lightning hit you?" Rey pointed to her chest. "That's not good, Rey; you're lucky to be alive." She nodded, panting, as Ben rubbed her back, leaning heavily on the wall, himself. At length, Rey felt steady enough to stand and wrap an arm around her husband; they helped each other hobble into the town.
From a distance, Captain Morris spotted them and came hurrying over. "What happened!? Is everyone alright?"
Ben held up a hand to forestall the questions, "Yes, Captain. We're all fine. I need to speak with my Uncle; where is he?" Morris pointed in the correct direction, "Thank you," said Ben. The ragged group weaved their way through the crowd, earning stares as they.
Luke turned as he sensed Ben's approach, frowning as he sensed his pain. "What is it? What happened?"
"Padme followed us, Uncle; unfortunately, she now knows where the Darksaber is. We should be able to get there first, if we hurry."
Luke sighed and nodded, "Alright; what's wrong with Rey?"
"Ah. Force-Lightning," responded Ben as Rey swayed.
Luke nodded, "That'll do it. She should be fine after she gets some rest; we should be ready to leave soon enough."
Finally, three hours later, the transport ships were loaded and ready to go; another two hours in hyperspace, and they were landing gratefully back on Tagoria and limping off to their respective quarters. Ben and Rey stumbled, exhausted, into their room and stripped off their clothes, too weary for the 'fresher. They crawled into bed, and Rey barely had time to wrap around her Love and pillow her head on his chest before she was asleep. Tuk-Tuk settled himself onto the foot of their bed and he, too, was soon asleep.
***Author's Note***
Yaaay! More plot! Hope y'all enjoyed the Ben/Padme angst. More will be up tomorrow, my dears. Until then, to quote Shakespeare, "Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say good night til it be the morrow!"
*Shameless Romeo and Juliet quote* As ever, thank you for reading, and feel free to leave any comments!