Knowing the planet as they did, they figured the ship had to land in the same spot they had when they first came, before Rey crashed the ship, and would hike down to the wreck. They decided to take a peek at their visitors from the cover of the forest.
If it's the First Order, they'll know it's us right away, we'll need to steal the reconnaissance ship and leave the planet as quickly as possible. Rey said to Ben, shivering at what the Order would do to them if they were caught; a defector and a prisoner.
She'd seen in Kylo Ren's mind how impossible it was to lie to Snoke, and how his old master rewarded treachery. She knew that Ben couldn't even entertain the idea of going back, and most importantly didn't want to. No, they wouldn't be caught. They would fight and they would win, they just had to. After all, the Force seemed encouraging of them working together.
She really hoped it was a Resistance ship.
Ben already knew two things for sure: no Force sensitive had landed on the planet and the ship was not the Millennium Flacon. He would've sensed the presence of one or both his parents immediately. He was hoping for a third party, but what were the realistic chances of this intrusion being random?
No, it had to be Snoke, he'd finally caught a glimpse of them in the Force, and the reinforcements were probably already on the way to apprehend them.
They were finally close enough to see their ship, and one cautious man holding up a blaster as he walked inch by inch towards the hatch.
Rey's eyes widened as she recognized the form of the man looking about their encampment.
"Finn?" She asked loudly, hoping her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.
The man turned towards her voice. He looked exactly the same, even had the same Resistance coat on.
Finn would've recognized that voice anywhere. "Rey?" The amazement and happiness dripping from the former Stormtrooper voice was thick as he stared hopefully towards the forest.
She left her hiding spot in a hurry, running towards her friend without an ounce of hesitation, not noticing the dark look on Ben's face.
Ben disliked FN-2187 very much, and if he was being honest, it was no longer because he was a traitor. It was because Rey's memory of holding hands with him was still pissing him off. Petty jealousy can be very powerful, he realized, as he stood rigidly in his spot.
Finn had sort of fallen into being a Resistance fighter. He'd had no intention of joining the war against his old employer, but Rey's disappearance had changed everything from him. He couldn't have lived with himself if he'd left for the outer rims like he'd originally planned. Every day he woke up with the haunting thought that he'd failed her, and that if he'd stayed with her at Maz Kanata, she wouldn't have been kidnapped. That's partly why he fought so hard to find her.
His heart filled his ears and he couldn't believe his eyes as Rey emerged from the woods, apparently safe and sound.
"Finn, how in the world are you here?" She asked, a radiant smile on her face.
Finn close the distance between them and hugged her hard. During all these months, he'd hoped against all reason she was alive, and there she was. His heart was beating fast in his chest, he thought he would combust on the spot under the weight of all the things he wanted to say to her.
"Luke Skywalker, the Jedi, we found him, he sent us here, he‒" Finn stopped mid-sentence, startled to see a tall man coming out of the forest.
Rey's heart was hammering, her blood running wild, worried sick her friend would recognize Kylo Ren.
He will not, Ben's voice in her mind assured her.
Finn looked at Ben and turned to Rey questioningly and she let out a shaky breath.
"Oh, this is— this is Ben, my friend, we escaped together." She stammered a little, especially on the word escape, but it was true in a way, wasn't it?
"Another rogue soldier?" Finn asked hopefully.
"No," Ben almost barked at Finn and Rey threw him cautionary look.
Be nice, she admonished him.
Finn frowned at the unexpected aggressiveness in the man's voice. Sure, he must have been worried to see a stranger roaming about their encampment but Rey's attitude had made clear that he was a friend.
"No, Ben was a prisoner, like me," Rey added vaguely, trying to defuse the tension building around her. "How are you here?" She asked again, trying to distract her friend.
Finn's attention returned to Rey and he spoke quickly, so excited that she was here, alive and healthy he couldn't bring himself to care about anything else. "Luke said he sensed a disturbance in the Force coming from here, and we volunteered to investigate."
"We?" Ben asked pointedly, the presence he felt in the intruding ship vaguely familiar to him.
Finn chuckled, realizing in all this excitement he'd forgotten to tell his friend guarding the ship that he could come out. "Poe! Come here," Finn started yelling in his communicator.
Poe Dameron, the resistance pilot he'd tortured. Ben stiffened at the memory, calculating the chances that the man would recognize him. How was he even alive?
This man might recognize me, I tortured him, he stated matter-of-factly, trying to hide the pain in his voice.
With the mask, right? Rey asked, trying to convey as much calm over the bond as she could.
Yes, Ben winced, the discussion bringing up painful images.
You're fine, she stated confidently. She remembered how she used to imagine the face behind the mask, and how unlikely the truth was. Poe wouldn't recognize Kylo Ren if Ben managed to relax a little.
Try to loosen up, you look way too serious.
Poe walked towards the trio confidently. Finn had talked non-stop about Rey the past couple of months and described her to a T, so it wasn't difficult to put two and two together when he heard his companion gleeful voice over the communicator and saw the tiny woman standing up next to him. He did hesitate however when his eyes met briefly the ones of the tall, imposing man beside her. He had the confusing feeling of dejà vu, but couldn't quite place it.
Finn distracted him however, introducing him to Rey.
"Hi, Rey, I heard so much about you, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," he said charmingly, leaving out the part about believing she was dead.
"Nice to meet you Poe," Rey answered with a smile, still a bit surprised. Finn told her the man died on Jakku. "This is my friend Ben, we escaped together," she explained again, proud at how much more convincing it sounded this time around.
"Hi," Ben managed to croak.
There was an awkward moment immediately following the introductions.
Rey was watching Poe intently for any sign of recognition, thinking how easy it would be to just read his thoughts and know for sure if he was suspecting anything.
Finn was basking in his happiness, Ben was annoyed at the repetitive use of the word 'friend' and Poe was scratching at the slight itch in his mind telling him that something was off, trying to figure out what it was.
Finn was the first one to talk, asking after looking around at the elaborate camp: "God, how long
have you been here?"
Rey's mind reeled, trying to count. They'd been here 7 weeks, after 8 weeks on Starkiller.
"About 3 and a half months now," Rey lied, thinking it would be difficult to explain how she'd been kept alive as a prisoner for so long without talking about Kylo Ren.
We need to say we escaped together almost immediately after I disappeared.
Ben nodded imperceptibly.
"You've been here this whole time?" Finn asked, surprised.
Poe interrupted, remembering what Luke Skywalker had said: "Go grab your stuff, we have reason to think the First Order is not far behind us, we already talked too long."
"Right, yes, we can catch up in the ship," Finn agreed, ashamed that in all his excitement, he'd forgotten about Luke's warning not to linger on the planet.
Rey hastily grabbed what was left of their rations, thinking it shouldn't go to waste and grabbed her Jakku inspired clothes, glad she hadn't worn them yesterday, remembering how Ben had torn her clothes away in a single careless motion.
Ben grabbed the most inconspicuous spares of clothes he could find and wrapped his light saber in them, hiding it in a black bag.
He glanced at his discarded mask, laying on the floor in the corner of the room. A pang of pain struck his heart. Not because he was sad to leave it behind, quite the contrary. He'd crossed the line already, he knew this part of his life was over. He'd made his choice when his blade had gone through Hux's heart, even though he hadn't realized it at the time. No, the anguish within him was because he couldn't leave Kylo Ren behind, not really. He would always be him, and his sins wouldn't be erased just because his dusty mask was rusting away for all eternity on an inhabited moon. Rey wasn't seeing things clearly, and he was terrified that she would be jolted back to reality, but he needed her like he needed air, so he couldn't let her leave without him.
Rey came from behind and squeezed his arm.
We'll figure it out, she promised him.
He just nodded, not wanting to burst the bubble just yet. She sensed his hesitation anyway, his agony tangible over the bond. She stared deep into his eyes, and they both knew what he was thinking, so he decided to be honest with her.
There's no place for me where we're going Rey. There's no place for me anywhere now, and Snoke will stop at nothing to destroy us. It's never going to end, not until…
He was going to say, not until I'm dead but she stopped him, her eyes shooting daggers.
Don't talk like that, you're wrong, we can beat him. You, me, the Resistance, we can stop him, she said with ferocity, denying his self-pity.
Ben was shaken once again by her resolve, her bravery, her unbinding confidence in the light. Her fervor calmed his turmoil down, at least for a moment.
We can try, he admitted, erasing the fierce warrior look on her face with a kiss.
Hold, hold on, hold onto me
'Cause I'm a little unsteady
A little unsteady
Hold, hold on, hold onto me
'Cause I'm a little unsteady
A little unsteady
Unsteady – Xambassador
Unsteady is actually the song that sparked this whole fic up, my word document is actually titled that, what a great song. This chapter was so different, integrating someone else to the story, with actual out loud dialogue. Please review, it makes a world of difference in my motivation, and thanks to those who already did, they're the reason this fic is continuing on. Elmo13