Star wars: Reylo chapter VII

Rey and Ben returned to the camp in near silence, it was like they were holding on to the peace of the morning as long as possible. Then, as expected, mayhem arrived, Leia had an entire day planned for them which they now had to squeeze into an afternoon. Rey hardly got say goodbye to him before they were whisked away to their respective duties.

Rey spent the whole day talking to people, as the 'hero of the resistance', Leia kept having to reassure her it was necessary work. Ben had to make numerous arrangements for shipments to be delivered, food, medical supplies, etc. He still had a whole fleet of people to lead, and he only finished his day when it was already dark.

Rey had already escaped her day and was working on her droids in order to calm down. She finally saw the sky darkening and left to go to her rooms.

When she passed by the ship, she saw smoke rising from somewhere just beyond, in the forest. She felt the force beckoning her towards it and she obliged. She walked tentatively towards the tine smoke column and reached a little fire in the woods. A large figure was huddled around a very tiny campfire.

"Ben." She exclaimed, always a little too excited. His head jerked around and as soon as he saw her, he relaxed.

"Sorry, you startled me."

"Are you all right, there's heat in the ships, you know…" She started, full well knowing that they were his ships, so he would know that. To her surprise, Ben just chuckled a little.

"It's just quieter out here…" He breathed in slow, and his eyes closed. Rey thought he looked so peaceful, so much softer than the Kylo Ren she had known. She hadn't realised she was staring until he opened his eyes. She quickly looked away.

"You know Leia expects us at a dinner tonight." Ben said like he was informing her they were due to be executed tonight. Rey's heart lifted a little, she thought she wouldn't be seeing him anymore for a while, so this was good news.

"All right, who's coming?" Ben looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"All the most important people I suppose… Leia, my father, Luke, You… I suppose that's it." Rey couldn't help but have a reaction to that.

"Those are not the only important people, you know!" She said a little angrier that she had intended. Ben's eyes darkened and he answered softer than she had expected.

"They are the Skywalkers, the family who started everything, my family." His eyes pierced through her like they had during their fight. She would have been angry at his arrogance, had his eyes showed anything but true sadness. Sometimes she forgot who he was. The grandson of Anakin Skywalker.

"I'm sorry-" She started. But Ben had already risen.

"I'll see you tonight then." he walked away immediately, and Rey was left kicking herself next to the dying fire.

She returned a little while later, attempting to avoid Ben at all costs. When she arrived at the door, Leia was waiting for her.

"Lucky to catch you dear, I wanted to invite you to dinner tonight, you simply cannot miss it, I'll had someone lay out something nice for you. See you there sweetheart!" Rey hardly had time to say thank you and wave her off.

She entered her room, happy to be rid of the day's exhaustion, and before the evening's could commence. Something dark caught her eye, and she turned to find a long black dress hanging from her bathroom door. The fabric was the darkest she had ever seen, soft and velvety. She felt it and it slid between her fingers like it was made of water, she turned it around and it showed a deep back that made her blush. Rey decided to take a short shower, clean up her hands from all the grease and be brave. Leia had been nothing but nice to her, so if she provided her with such garment, she would wear it with pride.

After soaking off the day in the steam of the shower, Rey dried herself off and sat in front of the mirror of her vanity. She applied some red to her lips and accentuated her lashed by curling them, like Rose had taught her. She managed not to pluck any hairs, like she had accidentally done the first she'd tried on her own…

She put on the dress and the matching undergarments; Leia had graciously upgraded her knowledge of how little Rey actually had in her possession. And then she looked in the mirror. Rey didn't know how to feel.

She saw a beautiful woman, a little insecurity could be detected in her eyes, but she could bluff her way out of that. For a second, she believed she could do it all. She could be Ben's wife, a representative of the new republic, a public figure… She took a deep breath and raised her shoulders. Her self-reflection was thankfully interrupted by a knock on the door.

To her surprise and great disappointment, it was not Ben who was waiting on the other side of the door. It was one of Leia's maids and she escorted her to the dinner. Rey was once more awed by Leia's ability to transform a decaying space into a dining room fit for a palace. When she walked in the ceiling and walls were covered in a thing fabric, masking the filth of the walls completely and one side of the room was looking over the nearby lake, framed by partially ruined columns.

Rey was seated at a long table, Leia was at one end, Luke the other. Rey and Ben were seated across from each other, and Han was seated at Leia's right hand. Rey, again, felt like she wasn't supposed to be there. But once everyone started talking, she was able to relax a little.

The conversation started out nice, almost small talk, then Leia got a certain look in her eyes and Rey held her breath. Leia stood up and everyone fell silent.

"Ben." Leia's eyes were piercing into Ben's, and he looked up to meet hers with equal fierceness.

"General Organa." He said coldly, Rey could see the pain of the coldness in Leia's eyes. "Welcome, Ben." Leia tried a gentle smile. Ben raised his glass in a sort of acknowledgment, but this cold way of handling each other still felt uncomfortable to anyone there.

"Welcome, as I have said, we're happy to have you here. But we do have some questions."

"Naturally." Ben answered and Rey could feel his hurt.

"You have quite suddenly decided to join us, after years of… war. I want to trust you, but it will take more to convince the people." She said, as is this was a political congress.

"You mean to convince you?" Ben's answer was a little too fast and a little too harsh. Ben and Leia locked eyes and Leia had to look away to answer. "Yes." She said it uncharacteristically silent, and it was laced with an insecurity no one outside of this room would ever see again. Ben sighed and calmed his mind. His eyes were closed when he first spoke.

"I have turned away from the dark side. When Snoke was killed I felt his presence leave my mind and I felt no desire to turn to the dark anymore. I have done everything in my power to return to the light and to make an end to this war. I am truly here to restore peace, as I have said. Snoke was the one who wanted this war, and I was his pawn. But no longer, I have been freed of his influence, thanks to your hero of the resistance and have no further desire to follow in his footsteps."

"We are so glad to hear it." Leia said with tears in her eyes, this was the first time she had sounded like a proud parent. That's how they looked now, her and Han. Suddenly Han spoke "Was it him then… All these years…" Rey felt the emotion in this question. She didn't think it was possible, but Han was choking back tears. Ben looked at his father and there was emptiness behind them when he spoke. "Yes." Rey understood, he was trying to hide his emotions, but this conversation meant a lot to these three people.

"How can we be sure…the people will expect punishment…" Leia interjected. Ben's eyes looked dead, and Leia looked ashamed for asking.

"No." It was Luke. "You can be sure because I will tell you, there is no dark force present in this room today and he will not be punished because I also did not punish Darth Vader when he returned to the light side, and he had committed many more crimes than Ben." Rey's mouth fell open, sometimes she forgot who was standing in a room with.

Ben thanked Luke and excused himself after that. Rey wanted to follow him but didn't know what to do or say any way. She returned to her rooms after dinner dissatisfied. This must have been a horrible night for Ben. She wondered how he felt, and she was painfully aware that everyone else in the room had someone to turn to and he did not.

Finally she decided to be brave and left to go to his rooms. It wasn't so strange her visiting him after dark, they were supposed to be engaged for crying aloud. She reached his rooms and knocked. Nothing… another knock, she was starting to feel ridiculous. What if someone saw her standing there in this dress, at this time of night, suddenly it didn't seem like such clever idea anymore. And just when she was about to leave, a figure emerged from the forest. Ben Solo walked out of the woods, just wearing black trousers. Nothing else, it seemed like he had been running or training, since he was covered in sweat. Rey followed a bead of sweat from his neck to his chest to…

"What are you doing here?" Rey was pulled from her trance in a shock and realised she had been staring again. "Nothing." She quickly blurted out, eyes wide open. She realised she had come to his rooms, so she should probably say something else.

"I mean… I wanted to see how you were doing, after tonight. I'm sorry I wanted to follow you to see how you were doing, but I didn't know what to say." He had walked over to her and was standing awfully close now.

"So you showed up late at night, at my room, wearing that." Rey's eyelids fluttered.