Rey lifted her head to look at Ben's face. His eyes slowly blinked open.
"You...saved me." He propped himself up on his elbows, "How did you...?"
Rey nodded slowly, "I used the Force."
"But I felt, something, darker." He pushed himself up into a sitting position, his strength returning.
Rey pulled back from him, extracting her hand from his. He watched her pull away from him, feeling her loss.
Ben saw the ring on her hand; a jolt ran through him like a lightning bolt.
"Rey, you need to take that ring off." He said gently but with an urgency in his voice.
"I know, but it...helped me save you. It's very...powerful." She shrunk back from him a little further.
"It's too powerful." Ben held out his hand to her.
She nodded, searching his eyes, searching his feelings. There was no deceit in his heart. Gone was the confusion she had always found there before.
Slowly, she held out the hand which bore the ring. Extending it toward him, fingers outstretched.
Silently, he reached for her, slowly, knowing anything sudden may startle her into pulling the ring back and diving into the darkness.
Their hands met, carefully, Ben pulled the ring off her finger and slowly lowered it to the floor beside them. He rested it there, covered by his hand for a moment while he studied her face.
Rey gazed at him earnestly. Ben could feel trust gain a footing inside her, she smiled at him softly and nodded. He lifted his hand from the ring and reached toward her face, brushing his fingers along her cheek. She leaned her face into his hand, finding comfort there.
"Rey," he whispered, lowering his face to look into her eyes.
Rey reached for him then, burying herself in his chest and feeling his arms encircle her just as quickly. One hand caught, fingers tangled in her hair while his other arm held her tightly to him. His lips pressed kisses into her hair. Rey had never felt so safe, so secure as she did then, wrapped in his arms.
The clamor of voices reached her. She never wanted to leave the warmth of his embrace and willed her ears to ignore them.
"Rey! There you are!"
"We need to go!"
The voices called to her.
She felt Ben's body stiffen slightly as she began to pull away from him, he wasn't ready to release her. Together, they stood to their feet but his hands still clung to her gently, circling her waist and holding her near him.
She could see them then, Finn, Poe, Vi and Cardinal running through the now-empty hall toward them. As if in unison, they skidded to a stop when they saw Ben, standing close to her, holding her. Finn began to raise his weapon instinctively.
"No, stop," Rey held her hand out toward Finn for a moment, "it's alright."
She covered Ben's hand with hers, lacing her fingers together with his, it felt right, she noticed.
Finn watched her carefully, then incredulously. Vi's face broke into a broad smile, "Ok, but we still need to go. There is a massive crowd forming outside, citizens and defecting First Order troopers. It's chaos, huge."
Rey's mouth opened slightly in surprise, she looked up at Ben, "It worked." She whispered. He smiled at her in a way that Rey found herself reveling in and kissed her forehead gently.
"Ok, that's going to take some getting used to." Finn quipped to Poe who nodded, eyebrows raised.