Sorry for the wait, friends—don't worry, I haven't given up on you and our Reylo lovers! Happy reading.

"Finn! Buddy!" Poe exclaimed. "Can you hear me?"

There was some static through the X-wing's transmission before Finn's voice broke through to the pilot. "Poe! I'm leading my squad to you, I have the transport ship. Took longer than I thought, and Maz decided to come along too, she's here with me. Do you already have Jess and BB-8?"

Poe's face turned serious as he stared down at his ship's scanners, watching the dots of Finn's second squadron as they caught up to his own. "We've got Jess, but we didn't get BB-8 back," he said, his voice lowering. "And we lost Rey."

"Wait—what? You lost her?"

"She went down to the planet—an Empire base, it's nearby," Poe said, deciding not to mention how Rey had rendered him unconscious with the Force. "But she left the planet and went somewhere else, so now we're following her."

"She went to the planet alone?" Finn asked.

"She knocked Poe out, and we couldn't just leave him vulnerable, floating around near an enemy base," Vern said.

"Knocked him out?" Finn asked confusedly.

"Y'know, with the Force, or whatever," Vern said.

"It was nothing, Finn," Poe reassured. "She was just upset about something, she—she wanted to go to the planet alone."

There was a pause before Finn answered. "She went to see Kylo Ren, didn't she?" He asked knowingly.

"I guess so," Poe said flatly, his jaw tightening. He dropped his gaze from the intercom as his heart clenched in his chest.

"Then—wait, wait, how did Jess escape?"

"Actually, Finn...Kylo Ren helped me escape," Jess piped up. "I think he used some sort of mind control thing on the stormtroopers to distract them—he led me right to a TIE fighter on the base."

"What?" Finn blurted.

"Hey, guys, I think I've pinpointed the location of Rey's X-wing on my mapping scanners," Poe interjected. "It looks like she's on Jakku."

"Ja—JAKKU?!" Finn shouted exasperatedly. Muffled banging sounded over the intercom. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Finn, buddy, calm down," Poe said. "We'll just touch down, get Rey, see what's up with her, and bring her back home."

"You're telling me Kylo Ren...saved Jess, and now we're going back to that hellhole, Jakku? What kind of Fantazi mushrooms have you guys been smoking since I've been gone?" Finn cried. "Poe, if you think I'm going to Jakku with you, you have another thing coming."

...

The next thing Finn knew, he was steering his transport ship with Maz Kanata after Poe's X-wing, grumbling under his breath as they neared the deplorable red rock whose name he refused to even acknowledge.

….

Ben slowly rose to consciousness from his deep sleep. He tightened his arm around Rey's waist, pulling her back flush against his chest. He'd possessively spooned her like this almost the entire night, except when she'd briefly left the bed in the middle of the night to cleanse herself with a towel at a small water vessel in an alcove of the AT-AT. As she'd tip-toed back to the bed, Ben had gotten up to do the same.

Now, he smiled to himself as he felt her side slowly rise and fall underneath his arm. Ben slid his hand slowly up and down her stomach, never wanting her to leave his embrace. He blinked his eyes open to the soft, dim light of daybreak, and he became increasingly aware of the sweat sliding down his forehead, as well as his familiar morning erection below the blankets.

He gazed at the back of Rey's head and neck, admiring the way the soft glow of sunlight turned her hair a golden honey color. His eyes flickered over the several faint purplish spots on the skin of her neck, the marks left on her from his own mouth. The memories of the night surged through his mind, and Ben had the urge to wake Rey now, to roll over on top of her and make drowsy love to her. But he stopped himself, forcing himself to hold back these drives and let her sleep.

Ben became distracted from his bodily impulses as he sensed Rey's mind churning. Intrigued, he gently rested his hand against the side of her head to see inside her dreams, just as he had when when she'd been unconscious in his temporary hideout on Zephus, when he'd been more than eager to get into her head once again.

As he closed his eyes and accessed her dreams, he saw a dizzying, swirling glow of electric blue—his old lightsaber—and the brilliant green of swaying trees amid a scene of white sand and a sparkling blue ocean. The island, Ben thought, recognizing it from his own dreams. He blinked his eyes open a moment, astonished. When he closed them again, he saw the furry, spiked back of a nexu in front of a snowy backdrop. He laughed softly under his breath, remembering how easily Rey had downed the nexu on Drecenia, and how she'd felt compassion towards it and spared its life.

Ben saw a flash of a large, pinkish male figure, one he'd remembered seeing briefly in Rey's head before when he'd interrogated her on Starkiller Base—Unkar, he recalled. On Starkiller he'd seen Rey's memories of how she brought the man scavenged metal pieces almost every day to trade for food portions. Ben felt another deep pang of sympathy for how hard her life had been, how she'd always had to work and struggle for something as basic as food. Things like food and running water had always been readily available to him, and taking into account Rey's former life and makeshift home within the AT-AT, he realized just how much he'd taken these things for granted.

As Ben saw the image of Unkar again, he heard threats beginning to spew out of the gelatinous figure's mouth, some of them sexual. Ben's face twitched in alarm. Are these just dreams? He thought in a huff. He pushed further into Rey's unconsciousness and realized that these flashes of Unkar were memories. He let out a flustered breath, fury beginning to boil within his veins.

His sensed his flaring temper waking Rey, and he quickly slid his hand from her head, pulling out of her mind. Despite his heated emotions, he felt his knotting chest beginning to relax as he felt Rey rising to consciousness, her legs rubbing against his as she shifted and stretched her body. He heard her let out a soft sigh, and he slid his arm back around her side, pulling her snugly into him. "Sorry I woke you," he whispered huskily near her ear. He slid his hand up and lowered the blanket from on top of them, exposing her tan shoulders and back. He pressed a kiss to the top of her shoulder, resting his hand back on her smooth stomach.

Rey placed her hand atop his and turned her rosy face to look back at him. "It's okay," she whispered. "I had a bit of a nightmare." She blinked slowly, her eyes moving around his face. "Were you in my head?"

Ben hesitated to speak, but he couldn't lie to her, not with their mental bond being as strong as it was now. "Yes," he admitted. "I wanted to see into your dreams." He leaned forward and gently kissed her lips, brushing her soft hair from her damp forehead. "I love you," he breathed against her mouth, looking sleepily down into her half-lidded eyes. She smiled and brushed her nose up against his. "I love you too," she said.

They kissed again, and Rey turned and lowered her head back onto its side on the pillow. Ben let out a long breath and burrowed his face into the back of her neck, taking in her honeyed, hypnotic scent.

Rey shifted as Ben slid his hand down to her thigh, rubbing his hand slowly up and down her soft skin. Rey scooted further back into him in response, and she let out a surprised breath. He presumed this was from her fully feeling his hardened shaft against her lower back, and he smiled in amusement as he kissed her shoulder again. He dug his fingers into the flesh of her strong thigh, no longer able to fight his brazen desires. Rey attempted to turn her body to face him, but he gripped her shoulder, pressing his chest against her back to keep her in place.

His hand slid around to her front and began squeezing her breasts. His breathing grew husky as he kissed the side of her neck. Rey's legs slid against his, and Ben sensed the pleasure she was getting from his touch and his kisses. His heart raced in his chest as he heard her breathing quicken. "Ben," she breathed dreamily.

A feverish stir rippled through Ben at the sound of her saying his name. Rey attempted again to turn her body to face him, and this time he let her. She rolled over onto her other side, facing him, and Ben took a moment to take in the sight of her body in daylight, the way her breasts were illuminated in the warm yellowish glow. He leaned in and wrapped an arm around her waist, kissing her deeply. He slid his hand lower to grip her behind, and Rey kissed him back slowly, sleepily. Ben wanted to elicit more of a response from her. He moved his hand to her stomach and slid down between her legs. He watched Rey as she shut her eyes, leaning her face into the pillow as he rubbed his hand back and forth between her soft folds. He rubbed harder, and Rey opened her eyes as she jolted and winced, grabbing his arm to stop him.

"It hurts right now, Ben," she breathed, her face pinching. She moved his arm up from between her legs. "I don't think...I can't right now, again," she said vaguely, biting her lip.

Although he had gotten himself worked up, Ben nodded reassuringly, kissing her. "I'm sorry, it's okay," he said, hoping he hadn't overwhelmed her with his forwardness. "We don't ever have to do it again, if you don't want to. Once was enough for me," he fibbed, trying his best to sound earnest.

Rey scoffed, twirling her fingers in his hair. "You're lying to me, Ben Solo."

He let out a breathy laugh as he traced his finger across her lower lip. His eyes trailed over the shining strands of her hair, the tiny freckles scattered across her dewy skin, the alluring way the sunlight glinted in her eyes. "I wish I could lay with you forever," he mused, gliding his thumb down her jaw to her chin.

Rey smiled, but there was a seriousness in her expression. "I do too," she said softly. Shifting her gaze, she nestled herself into his chest, and Ben wrapped his arms around her. He held her into him, squeezing her small frame. As he tucked his head above hers, Ben felt a developing sorrow at the reality of their situation, and he sensed that Rey was feeling the same way. He knew that they were both were confronting the reality that they could not stay here in the AT-AT forever, that they'd have to leave each other soon, to return to their own sides.

"You're...you're leaving again," She whispered into his chest.

Ben felt her body shake, and he gripped her tighter. He rolled onto his back with her in his snug embrace, pulling her atop him with the blanket draped over her lower back. As he gazed up into her moist eyes, he brushed away a tear dripping down her face. "No more tears," he soothed, shaking his head slowly. "No more sorrow."

He pressed a hasty kiss up to her mouth and Rey held his face between her hands, searching his eyes. "But why can't you just come back with me?" She breathed. "Why can't you leave the Empire?" He felt her sliding into his mind, and he continued to look up into her bright eyes as he showed her: of his need to remain with the Empire for intel, of his strategic wins and losses of battles to maintain the image of his loyalty, of his foremost desire to keep her safe, regardless of the sacrifices that required. Rey lowered her forehead down to his as she pulled out his mind, breathing heavily. "But when will we see each other again?"

"Soon," Ben said, brushing her hair from her face and leaning up to kiss her. He looked earnestly up into her teary eyes. "We'll see each other again soon, Rey. We'll find each other when we need to—we'll figure it out. We can hear each other again, remember—we'll communicate," he said, sliding his hand down her arm.

He leaned up onto his elbows and kissed her slowly, savoring the sensation. He felt himself growing stiffer below, and he broke from the kiss, gently sliding Rey off of his lap onto the bed to his side. He wanted her badly, and as much as it pained him to break from her contact he knew he couldn't suppress his desires until he separated from her body. He slid from the bed, taking a blanket with him as he self-consciously wrapped it around his hips, feeling Rey's eyes on his back.

Rey slid to her own feet, pulling at the other blanket draped across the makeshift bed and wrapping it around her. She let out a surprised breath, and Ben turned to see her hurriedly pulling the remaining top blankets from the bed. His brows raised when he saw a red flash of blood on the material, and Rey stared across at him, her cheeks flushing. "I-I know it's normal, since it was my first time," she said sheepishly.

Ben moved towards her, and she tossed the blankets onto the ground in a small heap. "I'm sorry it hurt for you, last night," he said, his brows pinching together. "I dare say I enjoyed it more than you did." Rey held onto the blanket wrapped around her as she looked up at him. He cupped her face and kissed her tenderly, and he felt her relax.

Rey gently parted from the kiss to speak. "Well, towards the end...it was good," she said, searching his eyes and biting her lip.

Ben gave her a knowing half smile and raised an eyebrow. "Pretty good," he returned, nodding, and she laughed under her breath as he leaned down to kiss her again. Feeling sly, he bent down and abruptly lifted her, bridal style. She giggled as he carried her back to the bed and tossed her onto it, her blanket slipping down from under her arms as she landed. Ben looked her body up and down as her breasts and stomach were exposed, and she shyly pulled the blanket back around her.

Ben pointed a scolding finger down at her, raising his eyebrow. "It's time for you to get dressed, now, Scavenger," he teased, his mouth curling into a half smile. Rey smiled up at him demurely, and his heart skipped a beat in his chest. He turned and she watched him as he made his way to the side of the bed to pick up her panties. He smiled mischievously as flung them directly at her with the Force.

"Ben!" She laughed as they landed on her shoulder. He made his way around the AT-AT, collecting bits of her clothes and Force-throwing them at her as she laughed and began dressing herself with each new item.

As he gathered his own clothes, Ben snuck glances over at Rey as she removed her blanket, pulling her pants on and rewrapping the thick white fabric around her breasts. She watched in turn watched him as he dressed, and he noticed her brows raise as he rewrapped his arms with the Force, quickly winding the fabric around his arms with a spinning gesture of his opposite hands.

"I never thought to do it that way," Rey said, tilting her head as she sat on the edge of the bed, yanking on her boots.

"Luke never taught you that?" He asked teasingly, moving towards her.

"Hey, let's not get into all of that again," she warned, raising an eyebrow.

"He's teaching you more now, though, isn't he?" Ben asked seriously.

Rey nodded up at him. "Yes, he is. He's a really good teacher." Ben frowned at her statement, and she rose from the bed to press her hand to his cheek. "But so are you," she laughed, pressing a kiss up to his mouth. Ben kissed her back, cupping her face gently. He pressed into her mind, wanting to see some of her training with his uncle. As they began to kiss open-mouthed, Ben shifted through her thoughts, consuming her mind and recent memories as she opened them to him. But a particular memory he saw caused him to flinch, and he broke suddenly from their kiss, his mouth remaining open in astonishment.

"'Flygirl?'" He exclaimed, his brows furrowing together in disgust. "How dare—he calls you 'flygirl?'" His chest puffed as his temper flared. His mind became a sudden red haze as he felt the Dark side of the Force rising within him.

Rey took a step back from him, seeming to sense his violent temper. She stared across at him in desperate confusion. "Ben—what's with you? Calm down," she urged, her brows knitting together.

Ben grinded his jaw as he remembered the Organa pilot, the one that even his mother seemed to adore. "I will not calm down as long as that pilot is giving you kriffing pet names," he spat. For a few moments, he silently fumed, but as he sensed Rey's dismay he began to relax his posture and loosen his fists.

"Ben," Rey said, her voice pleading, "I don't want to fight. Why are you doing this?"

Ben's face softened as he looked across at her, and he took in a deep breath. He stepped back towards Rey, his chest twisting in self-hatred. "Rey, I'm...I'm sorry," he said softly. But Rey's face didn't soften as he traced his hand down her warm cheek. Glancing away, he shut his eyes tightly and lowered his head. "I didn't mean to lash out, I didn't—I-I just don't…" he trailed, unable to formulate what he really wanted to say.

"You just don't want someone to take me away from you," she said knowingly, gripping his wrapped arm.

Ben turned his face back towards hers, his eyes flickering over her face with ardent fondness. He nodded silently.

Rey wrapped her arms around him and leaned into his chest, hugging him tightly. He in turn held her in his embrace, pressing a hand to the back of her head.

"I haven't seen you for so long, I was so afraid that you'd finally fallen for someone else...or that maybe you'd never existed at all, that you were even just a dream," he said, resting his head atop hers.

Rey shook her head against his chest. I'm right here, Ben...I'll always choose you. I'll always love you, she pressed into his mind. Even if you're with the Empire, even if you're a Sith.

Ben felt his heart swell with love as she released these thoughts, and he smiled to himself. I'm only a Sith in title, he reminded her. I've failed the ways of the Sith.

And I've failed the ways of the Jedi with my attachment to you...so l'm only a Jedi in title as well, Rey responded. She leaned back from him and he rested his hands on her upper arms. Rey searched his face as she looked up at him, her eyes like glinting mirrors, and Ben sensed her mind churning. "If you're not a Sith, and I'm not a Jedi...then what does that make us?" She wondered.

Ben thought for a moment as he studied her glistening hazel eyes. "I don't know," he finally said, shaking his head slowly. "I guess that puts us in between the two."

Rey's lashes fluttered as she smiled up at him, and for a moment his breath caught in his throat at her sheer beauty. "If we're stuck in between the Dark and the Light because of our Force bond, I guess that would make us...Grey," she mused, scrunching her nose.

Ben pressed a doting kiss to her forehead before smiling fondly down at her. "Then the Grey is where I'd like to stay."