A/N: Ahh finally. The chapter you've all been waiting for! Reunited at last. Enjoy!

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By the time Rey reached the platform where the Falcon was docked, she was soaked to the bone. Her clothes clung to her skin, strands of dark hair plastered to her forehead. Irritably, she swiped at her eyes again, struggling to see in the impenetrable blackness. She could hear waves crashing against the durasteel structure some seven meters below, the towering exterior of the spaceport looming behind her.

A sudden and ferocious gust of wind nearly blew her sideways, but Rey managed to catch herself, her long gray sash whipping to the right. Arms extended, she took a moment to get her bearings before traveling the rest of the remaining distance to the ship. Blast this weather! she thought grumpily. They told me Chandrila was a paradise.

Thunder boomed overhead, a sudden flash of lightning blinding her. In the same instant, something metal struck the back of her head, and she fell. Hitting the platform hard, Rey lay flat on her stomach, dazed and disoriented. But despite the fact that she couldn't seem to form a single coherent thought, sirens were blaring within her muddled mind. On an instinctive, subconscious level, the Force was warning her—warning her that she was in danger.

Rey rolled onto her back and saw a strange figure standing over her, robed in black and wearing a domed helmet. In its right hand was a mace, which it was now raising to deliver a lethal blow, and she stared in shock. Images she had nearly forgotten streaked across her memory, merging with reality and paralyzing her.

There was a deafening crack, another fork of lightning piercing the darkness as the mace came down. But then a silver blade burst through the armored chest of the figure, a masculine scream tearing from his throat as he collapsed. Rey scrambled backwards, narrowly avoiding his lifeless body as it landed with a dull thud. Breathing hard, she sprang to her feet, struggling to fight off the dizziness that assailed her.

The silver saber hissed and sizzled in the rain, curls of smoke rising from it as a tall, hooded stranger lowered the weapon to their side. It had a crossguard hilt, extremely similar to that of—Rey's train of thought screamed to a halt. It couldn't be. It simply wasn't possible—was it? But the man from her vision—the man who had saved her was—

"Rey." He had deactivated his lightsaber and was now lowering his hood. "It's me."

She knew his voice, could see the rain flattening his black hair against his forehead as his dark robes were caught up by the tempestuous wind. But even then, she could hardly believe it.

"Ben?" she managed finally. "What are you doing here?"

"A good question," he admitted with a sad smile. "Even I didn't know at first."

As she watched him closely, Rey realized that it was not just the color of his lightsaber that had changed. "The vids on the HoloNet…"

"I saw them, and so did the rest of the First Order. The result was probably even messier than you might imagine."

"I might surprise you," she countered. "Some high-ranking members within the Resistance didn't take too kindly to my perceived affiliation with you. We…didn't part on good terms."

"It seems that the Force brought both of us here for a reason," he replied, squinting as water dripped from his hair and off the end of his nose.

"Which is?" she pressed, crossing her arms over her chest and reminding herself that she should not let her guard down so easily.

"I was lost," Ben confessed, taking a step toward her, "and I never believed that I could find a way out until I met you. You said that I wasn't alone. That it wasn't too late. And for the first time, I—" he stopped and swallowed hard. "I felt hope again."

Suddenly, tears were welling in her eyes, and Rey tried to blink them back.

"When you left, I realized that all of the power I had gained—that ruling the galaxy—meant nothing if it was a burden I had to bear alone. So I tried to change things, tried to show you that I was willing to compromise. But there were others who never intended to loosen the First Order's grip on the galaxy, so they plotted to overthrow me. This man was one of them," he clarified, nodding at the masked corpse.

"Wait," she said, her expression softening. "You did—you did all of this for me?"

He ventured another step closer, and her heart beat faster.

"All of it," he assured her, the intensity of his gaze sending a shiver down her spine. He paused a moment before continuing. "Rey, there's something I need to tell you."

"Yes?" she asked hesitantly.

"I…had another vision. I can't explain everything now, but I—I was told that there's only one way this war ends, and it requires you and I to join forces."

Her brows rose, her eyes widening. "Are you…are you saying that you want to bring down the First Order?"

"I know that the Resistance would never accept me," he explained quickly, "and you have no reason to trust me. But I'm willing to do whatever it takes to bring peace."

Rey stared in stunned silence as he grasped the hilt of his lightsaber with both hands and held it out to her. Then she shook her head.

"You don't have to do that, Ben."

"Take it," he insisted quietly.

She could sense his desperate desire to prove himself to her, could feel the aching loneliness inside him that was so akin to her own. They were exiles now, rejected by the very causes they had fought so fiercely to defend.

Slowly, Rey reached out. As her fingers curled around the cool metal, she glanced up and met his gaze. But instead of removing the hilt from his loosening grip, she gently pushed it down. Her heart thundered in her ears as she drifted nearer to him. Surprise flickered in Ben's eyes, but he did not retreat or look away from her. Instead, he appeared to be transfixed, neither of them noticing nor caring that the storm was calming.

Rey timidly tilted her face up toward his, knowing that he must be aware of the longing inside her—how she yearned to feel his touch again. And yet, he seemed uncertain. She perceived his guilt, his shame, and all of the reasons why he was telling himself that he shouldn't cross this line. But she inched closer, more insistently this time.

His resolve was weakening—she could sense it when he finally bowed his head. Brave and terrified all at once, Rey waited, watching him lean down. As she felt his breath on her skin for the first time, a quiver of anticipation ran through her. They remained there for a long moment, savoring this new intimacy but still refraining from closing the remaining distance between them.

At last, Ben surrendered, tilting his face slightly to one side and moving in. Rey closed her eyes, forgetting to breathe. And then she felt his lips brush softly against her own. It was cautious and tentative, but she had never experienced anything like it before. She wanted more.

Raising her left hand, Rey rested it on his cheek, her fingers tracing the same scar that she had inflicted upon him so long ago. And as she eagerly returned his kiss, his confidence grew. Ben's right arm slipped around her waist and pressed her body against his, their lips colliding again and again with increasing intensity. Finally, his other hand relinquished its hold on the lightsaber and shifted to her shoulder. That left the hilt dangling loosely in Rey's grasp, and a moment later, she dropped it onto the platform with a metallic clang.

Rain continued to pour down her face as she slid both arms up and around his neck, tangling her fingers in his soaked black hair. He was devouring her with the kind of desperation that could only be felt by someone who had been starved for a lifetime, nearly bending her over backwards with his strength. But Rey let him—because she knew what it was like. In so many ways, they were different, but at their cores—they were one and the same.

"Don't leave me," she panted. "Don't leave me ever again."

"I'm not going anywhere," Ben answered breathlessly, his hand moving from her shoulder to the side of her neck.

And then he kissed her again, caressing her cheek with his thumb as tears spilled from her eyes and mingled with the rain. He was gentler now, holding her close but no longer crushing her against him. Both of them, it seemed, had finally realized that the other was not going to vanish from their arms.

Rey could have remained there forever, reveling in the warmth of his touch and the safety of his embrace, but a sudden rush of dizziness caused her to waver. Her knees nearly buckled, and she tightened her arms around his neck in an effort to stay upright.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his brow furrowing in concern as he kept her steady.

"Yes, I…" She sighed and shook her head. "I guess I took a bit of a harder blow than I thought."

Extending his left hand behind him, he summoned his saber and hooked it back onto his belt. Then he was suddenly stooping and sweeping her up into his arms.

"Ben, what are you—? Put me down!"

He ignored her, lifting her like she weighed nothing and carrying her toward the Falcon.

"You're going to pay for this later," Rey growled.

"I look forward to it," he smirked, glancing at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

She blinked in surprise, her cheeks flushing as she quickly looked away. It wasn't until Ben had brought her up the ramp and into the ship that he appeared to truly comprehend where he was and what he was doing. He stopped just inside the doorway, his gaze wandering over the dirty, circular corridor with exposed wires and unpolished floors.

But Rey was distracted by a shrill, repetitive beeping sound that was coming from the cockpit. "Ben, do you hear that?"

There was a faraway look in his eyes, and he didn't respond.

"Ben," she repeated, squirming impatiently in his arms, "put me down please."

As if snapping out of a trance, he blinked and looked at her, then carefully lowered her onto her own feet once again. Ignoring the dots that were flickering in and out of her vision, Rey braced herself against the wall and hurried to the cockpit.

"Someone's left an urgent message!" she called back over her shoulder.

Pressing a button on the console, she watched as a hologram of Finn materialized in front of her. His features were grave, and her heart immediately plummeted as she braced herself for whatever bad news he was about to deliver.

"Rey, we're not going to make it to Malterra. Poe just made contact and informed us that a spy returned to him with rumors of an invasion. The First Order knows about our secret base, and they're gathering their forces for a final assault on Naboo. General Hux has declared himself the new Supreme Leader, and he's claiming that Kylo Ren was a traitor all along—that he was secretly working for the Resistance."

Finn paused and took a deep breath, and she saw the profound sadness in his eyes. "Poe told me about the surveillance footage. He said that you can't be trusted, but I don't know what to believe anymore. All I know is that Rose and I are turning around—we're going back to Naboo. I'm not sure how long we have to prepare before the First Order arrives, but we're going to make every second count. If you receive this message—if you're listening—then, Rey, please come. Please help us. The survival of the Rebellion is at stake."

The message ended. Rey released a shuddering exhale and lowered her head, shutting her eyes tight. She could sense Ben standing behind her, and she knew that he had heard everything.

"We have to go," she said at last, turning to face him. Her eyes were pleading, her voice trembling. "We have to help them."

"I agree," he replied.

She breathed a sigh of relief, tears welling in her eyes. It was true—he really had changed.

"Thank you," she smiled gratefully, dropping down into the pilot's seat and setting a course for Naboo.

When Rey noticed that he was still lingering at the back of the cockpit, she turned around in her chair and raised an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you coming?"

Ben swallowed, his eyes darting to her face. With a pang of guilt, she realized that he had been staring at the pair of golden dice hanging just above her head. Rey glanced away for a moment, uncertain, but then she had an idea.

Reaching up, she took the dice from their designated place and then stood, approaching him with them clasped safely in the palm of her hand.

"I think he would have wanted you to have them," she said softly.

Ben hesitated, his lip trembling slightly as she held out her hand. Rey gave him a small, encouraging smile, extending her arm just a bit further. He gazed silently at the golden cubes, years of pain dwelling in the depths of his dark eyes.

Finally, he raised his hand from his side, and she pressed the dice into his palm before he could change his mind. Then she gently curled his fingers over them, leaving her hand resting on top of his. Ben met her gaze, and she could feel a new sense of resolve growing inside him.

"Let's go," he murmured.

Rey nodded, returning to the pilot's chair. As she sat down and began activating the Falcon's systems, she heard him sink into the copilot's seat. A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth.

Indeed, the Force was far from being finished with Ben Solo.