***Author's Note***
Okay, all, so I know it's been pretty heavy, but in this chapter, there is a definite return of Reylo lemon-y goodness! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
***End Note***
Ben woke in the morning with a groan, which Rey echoed. "I feel like I lost a fight with an entire clan of Wookies," Ben mumbled into the pillow.
"Mmph. I know how you feel. Mine's more like somebody opened up my chest, messed about with my heart, closed me up, and beat me about my head, gut, and just about everywhere else with a club for good measure."
Ben lifted his head off the pillow to stare at Rey with his jaw slightly unhinged. "Well, that was...descriptive." He lost his composure then and snorted into hi pillow, laughing hysterically.
Rey chuckled, "If I had the strength to lift a pinky, I'd hit you with a pillow." This statement only succeeded in sending Ben into further hysterics. Ben was laughing so hard that Rey felt obliged to join in. "Oh, stop it! It hurts! Stop making me laugh!" Just then, there came a beep at the door. Rey yanked the blankets around them, and flicked a finger at the door so it wooshed open to reveal Finn and Poe standing, bemused, on the other side, still in only their sleeping trousers and dark circles under their eyes.
"Well, you two certainly seem to be enjoying yourselves. What, exactly, is so damn funny?" Poe grumbled. "do you two have any idea what frigging time it is?" Rey and Ben glanced at each other and snorted out another laugh, which irritated Poe further. "You two woke us up! You do know that our room shares a wall with yours, don't you?" This only made Ben and Rey laugh harder, and even Finn was starting to smirk. Poe stood, staring from Ben, to Rey, to Finn, looking like an owl as his head whipped back and forth. At last, Finn dissolved into giggles, and hung on Poe's arm for support. "I still don't...get what's...so damn...funny!" Poe choked out as he began to chuckle.
All four fell into hilarity, tears of of laughter rolling down their cheeks. Suddenly, from Tuk-Tuk, whom they had all assumed was still sleeping, came an irritated You all strange. Wake Tuk-Tuk. Why you so loud? This only exacerbated the situation. Completely undone, Finn and Poe fell to the ground, clutching their stomachs. Tuk-Tuk raised his head and narrowed his amber eyes at the in irritation. Not funny.
There came another beep at the door, but Rey didn't get the chance to even twitch a finger before it slid open again. Luke and Leia stood, each leaning on one side of the door frame, their body language perfectly mirroring the other; each was grinning, and Leia's eyes sparkled with amusement. Luke chuckled at the raucous laughter, "So, what brought this on?"
"We...have...no...idea!" Finn gasped between guffaws.
"Well, between the four of you, you have managed to wake this entire section!" Leia chuckled, "Well, it's nice to be woken by laughter, rather than the screaming of sirens, for once." Luke nodded in agreement.
Luke and Leia's appearance seemed to have a sobering affect on Rey, Ben, Finn, and Poe. Slowly, their chortling began to subside, and Ben got a good look at Finn and Poe. They were both covered with angry, mottled bruises and puckered, blistering burns. "You two look like hell," he observed, rubbing his now-aching stomach and wiping tears from his face.
Poe raised an eyebrow, "And you two look like a painting done by a demented toddler."
Rey chuckled, "Oh, please, no more. I can't take it." She sighed and snuggled in closer to Ben's warmth and laying her head on his chest.
"You two aren't wearing any clothes, are you?" Finn's cheeks darkened as the realization struck him.
Ben began to applaud, "Well done, Finn; once again, your powers of observation astound us." Finn rolled his eyes at Ben.
"Well, get dressed, all of you. Since everyone's up, we might as well start planning our excursion to Kashyyk," Leia chimed in, with a tone of authority and finality that was not to be argued with.
Finn and Poe stood, "See you in a bit, then," said Finn as he and Poe left to get dressed. Luke and Leia turned to follow them, the doors sliding shut behind them. Finally gone. Tuk-Tuk sleep now. Ben and Rey looked hastily away from each other to keep from bursting into laughter again.
"Well, as much as I'd love to stay right here and seduce you, my Light, we should really go help with the planning," said Ben reluctantly. They rolled slowly and stiffly out of bed, wincing at their many bruises, and began to pull on their robes. They finally had their boots strapped on and their light-sabers clipped to their belts, so they walked, hand-in-hand, out of their room. Meeting up with Finn and Poe, who had been waiting for them outside their own room, the group walked for a while in companionable silence until Ben broke the silence, "So, I've been wondering something. If one or both of you wants some...female companionship, how does that work, what with you two sharing a room and all?"
Poe stared at Ben in shock as Rey smothered a giggle. "Well, we take turns. Finn uses our room one time, and I get it the next. Otherwise, we go to the lady's room. It's worked pretty well, so far."
"Huh," said Ben. "I suppose that's the only way it really could work, isn't it?"
"Why were you asking?"
"Oh, no reason. Just trying to picture the two of you trying to have a private moment with a female, when your beds are side-by-side." Ben chuckled sadistically as both Poe and Finn flushed. "I just wanted to make the two of you blush, to be honest." Ben went broodingly silent for a while, earning a sidelong glance from Rey.
"Okay; what's on your mind? You're unusually quiet. You only get this quiet when you're brooding about something. So. What's going on?"
"I've just got this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I think the end is coming; I think that Padme and I may meet for the last time on Kashyyk. The thought terrifies me. I don't want to kill my own sister, Rey, but I know that, if it comes down to it, I may well have no choice."
Rey squeezed his hand, "I know, my Love. But, it doesn't seem like she's left you any other choice, does it?"
"No, my Light. It does not." Finn and Poe exchanged a worried glance as they all entered the briefing room together.
"Ah; good. Now that we're all here, we can begin. I'll keep this short, sweet, and simple. Ben, Rey, Finn, and Poe with go to the surface of Kashyyk and find the Twi'lek. It will be their job to convince him to give up the Darksaber. The rest of us will stay the hell out of their way! We will remain on the transport ships and maintain constant comlink contact. Should things become...difficult, it will be our job to intervene and make sure to get our people out. If they call us to the surface, we go; no questions asked. Is that clear?" A resounding "Yes, General" rang through the room. "Good. Now; go and spend the day with your loved ones; tomorrow, we load the ships and head for Kashyyk."
They room quickly emptied; Ben and Rey exchanged glanced with eyebrows raised. "Well, Mother, that was...brief. Why?"
Leia smiled as she looked up from the datapad she held and turned to her son. "You and I both know the odds are good that this thing will end tomorrow, one way or another. Now, I would suggest that the two of you meditate and heal yourselves. As for how to occupy your time after that...well. I'm pretty sure you can figure out a way to stay busy." The General winked at them before she turned her back to them and resumed examining the datapad, in a clear dismissal.
Ben and Rey returned to their rooms and decided to take the General's advice. They settled down to meditate, and as they did, they allowed the Force to flow through them freely, healing the damage that Padme had left behind. For the next two hours, the pair remained submerged in the Force, and within each others' presence. In that space between dreaming and wakefulness, they found peace together. At last, they sensed that the Force had finished its work; they surfaced and opened their eyes, happy just to sit and watch each other breath for a long moment. Rey stood first and held out her hand for Ben's. She lead him to the bed and helped him strip quickly out of his clothes. He bent down to kiss her, but she put her hand up to his lips, shaking her head silently. She pushed him gently to the bed, face-down, and then stripped off her own clothes.
Ben watched curiously as Rey padded naked to the bed and climbed on top of him, sitting on his lower back. He sighed with pleasure as he felt her begin to work the knots out of his neck and shoulders. She worked her way down his back, paying special attention to the shoulder blades, leaving relaxed muscles behind. Then, she trailed kisses down his spine where her hands had traced. He shivered as each kiss left a line of goosebumps in its wake. At last, her clever hands found his lower back and worked to relieve the tension that had built up there. As she felt the last of the tension give way, she pressed a kiss to the base of his spine. Ben shuddered and raised up on one elbow to cup her face in his right hand.
Rey saw the emotion stirring in Ben's eyes and smiled. Without a word between them, Ben shifted and drew her into a gentle but deep kiss. As the kiss lengthened, Ben lowered Rey gently onto the bed, tracing her curves with his left hand. He found her warmth and discovered her already wet and ready for him. He gently worked his fingers in her to stoke the need that was already stirring in her. She sighed and arched her back in response as she raised her hands to run them through his hair. Gently, she brought his face to hers and kissed his forehead, then his scar, then his mouth. Ben moaned into the kiss and braced himself with one hand on either side of her as he sank slowly into her center. She gasped, and Ben could see her eyes deepen with desire and love; he felt that he could drown in those eyes, and he would not mind in the least. He held her gaze as he began, slowly, to move within her.
Ben gently wound his arms under her, fastening her to his chest as her fingertips traced the length of his back; and still, he moved in her. Their breath began to quicken, but he kept the pace slow and steady, still with his eyes locked on hers. At last, they felt a slow wave of euphoria rise up, and just as it threatened to swallow them both, they felt the wave crash and break upon them as they climaxed, and Ben's seed was released into her. Ben's breath rushed out of him in a great, trembling sigh of contentment as he slowly drew himself from within her and laid his head on her breast, still holding her tightly to him. "I love you, my precious desert rat."
Rey smiled and replied thickly, "As you know I love you." They laid together for some time, perfectly content to simply be in this moment, silently together. At last, they slipped into a dreamless sleep.
When Ben woke, he was alone. At first, he was concerned, but then he sensed Rey in the bathroom, and he was comforted, but only for a moment. Something wasn't quite right. He rolled out of bed and walked to the bathroom, where she stood, wide-eyed, staring into the mirror. "Rey?" he said softly from the doorway. She jumped and turned to face him. "Rey, what's wrong?" He sensed something, but then she pushed the thought away before he could examine it. "What was that? What are you hiding from me?"
Rey smiled and took his face in her hands, tracing his scar with her thumbs, as she so often did. "It's nothing, my love. It's nothing that can't wait. If there is anything to discuss, we can discuss it after this is done. Now, come; let's go back to bed. I'm still tired, and there are a few hours yet before we need to be up." She took his hand, leading him back to bed, where she settled in against his chest, breathing in his scent in deep, calming breaths. Before long, they had both sunk back into sleep.
In the morning, they dressed quickly and headed to the landing pads. They found Luke and Leia already hard at work, directing everyone to their transports. As they stood watching the organized chaos, Finn and Poe walked up behind them, Tuk-Tuk trailing behind them. "And just where have you been? We were worried when we couldn't find you, Tuk-Tuk." Rey and Ben...alone time... The innuendo in the simple words was so thick that Ben and Rey choked on a laugh.
"He felt that you two needed some...alone time...So, he spent the evening with us; he was very entertaining, and the girls really liked him."
Rey rolled her eyes at the pair of them, "Honestly, sometimes I think you two are just a couple of teenagers."
Finn's eyes narrowed as he looked more closely at his friend, "Rey, are you alright? You look a little pale."
Rey smiled and laid a gentle hand on Finn's shoulder, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
The four headed towards the largest of the transports; Leia caught each of their eyes for a moment and nodded. Good luck, heard Ben and Rey. Within the hour, the transport ships were fully loaded and ready to go. The General's voice crackled over the ship-to-ship comm. "We may see a great battle today, we may not. None of us truly know for certain what will happen on Kashyyk. However, to those brave few who are going down to the planet first, I say: Good luck, and May the Force be with you all." The comm crackled off, and they felt the engines roar to life as the transports lifted off. As soon as they were clear of Tagoria's atmosphere, the ships entered into hyperspace, using the fastest channels they could find. At long last, after a long 8-hour race through hyperspace, the ships came smoothly back into normal space and neatly into orbit around Kashyyk; First Order ships were already there. Rey, Ben, Finn, and Poe hurried to their shuttle, not saying a word, only glancing around as though to say goodbye, and launched towards the planet.
***Author's Note***
Oooooooo; here we go! This is gonna be fun! Hope y'all liked it. As ever, thank you for reading. I adore each and every one of you; I've received over 17,500 views, which is astonishing to me, so thank you! Please keep on reading and sending me your lovely words of encouragement.