Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter two of "Not So Far." This chapter has some Ben/Rey. I decided to include Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor in this fic. It is set after Return of the Jedi as setting it before made no sense as Wicket was fluent in Basic by the second movie and could not speak it when he met Leia. It is said Cindel and her family spoke another language that was translated into English for the benefit of the audience. Stay tuned for chapter three.

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Chapter 2: A Little Breakfast/Getting Ready

Ben and Rey sat at the hut's table two hours later. They were cutting pieces of fish with their knives. Bowls of coconut sat near their plates. They finished cutting and got the fish on their forks. They popped them into their mouths. They chewed before swallowing with quiet gulps. They started to cut more of their fish. Marcus lay on the floor in which he ate fish from a bowl.

Ben and Rey finished cutting their fish. They scooped them onto their forks with contented sighs. They put them in their mouths and chewed at a slow yet steady pace. They swallowed before gulping quietly. Marcus licked his lips before eating more fish. They looked at each other, big smiles forming on their faces.

"This is very good fish," he said in much warmth.

"Yes, it is," she agreed. "The best part was it was caught fresh from the ocean."

"Sometimes, we catch it with fishing lines. Other times, we catch it in nets," Ben said and cleared his throat. "Of course, you haven't participated in many fishing trips recently."

"I remember when you began teaching me how to fish. I was disgusted at seeing you clean out one," Rey said, shuddering softly.

"I didn't know how to live off the land until Uncle Luke taught me during my first year of Jedi training. Before then, I spent the first ten years of my life in Hanna City on Chandrila. My family never spent much time out in the wilderness on camping trips," Ben whispered, a soft sigh leaving his mouth. "However, I do fondly remember a trip to the forest moon of Endor we took when I was eight years old."

"That's where Ewoks live, right?" Rey pointed out.

"That's right. It was also where the Empire made its final stand. Mom and Dad got married there right after the Battle of Endor. Mom, Dad, and Uncle Luke were eager for me to see Bright Tree Village. I became really good friends with Wicket. He had a wife named Princess Kneesaa, who was the daughter of Chief Chirpa. He told me he met a girl named Cindel Towani and her family not long after my parents and uncle left. The family crashed there. Her parents were called Jeremitt and Catarine. She had a brother named Mace. Jeremitt and Catarine got kidnapped by a Gorax, but the children and the Ewoks rescued them. Before then, Cindel got really sick. The Ewoks healed her with their medicine," Ben explained.

"The kids must have been really scared when their parents disappeared," Rey whispered fearfully.

"I imagined they were," Ben agreed while putting his silverware down. He eyed her doing the same with hers. "Anyway, Wicket mentioned Jeremitt began repairing the starship. It took him six months to get it fully fixed. Wicket and Cindel became best friends. He grew proficient in speaking Basic. She was eager to go home, though she admitted she would miss him. Unfortunately, the Marauders led by King Terak attacked the village looking for 'the power.' A Nightsister named Charal was his partner. They killed Cindel's parents and brother. The Marauders stole the crystal oscillator from the ship. Wicket and Cindel were captured, but they escaped. They befriended a hermit named Noa Briqualon and Teek, who was his companion and had the same name for his species. After Charal captured Cindel, Noa, Wicket, and Teek set out to rescue her and the other Ewoks."

"I have no doubt Cindel was scared," Rey commented.

"According to Wicket, she was," Ben murmured and cleared his throat. "Terak thought Cindel could release the oscillator with her 'magic.' She couldn't, and he had her and Charal imprisoned. Charal said Salak Weet looked for a new oscillator after his and Noa's ship crashed and shattered theirs. Noa, Wicket, and Teek managed to free her and the Ewoks. Noa took the oscillator. They fled to the forest with the Marauders on their tail. Charal kept track of them in raven form. Terak had the Talisman of the Raven around his neck at that time. The Ewoks held off the Marauders while Noa worked on getting his starship powered up. He succeeded and used the guns to fight back. Wicket got caught in a trap. Cindel went to help him and got grabbed by Terak. He told Wicket to tell Noa to bring the oscillator to him. Wicket did just that. Terak threatened to kill Cindel if Noa did not hand it over. Noa did that, and Terak released her. They began fighting over it."

Ben breathed deeply before letting out a small yawn. Rey propped her head up with her elbow. She tapped her fingers on the table.

"Wicket said he heard Cindel beg him to do something as it looked like Terak was going to kill Noa. He used his slingshot to throw a rock at the ring. It was activated and burned Terak to death. Noa repaired his starship completely and asked Cindel to go with him. She agreed. They said their goodbyes to their friends. She promised to return someday. Wicket hadn't seen her since by the time we came," Ben finished.

"Talk about an amazing story," Rey whispered in great awe.

Ben smiled. "I know. That vacation on Endor was the best one of my life. I had fun singing and dancing with the Ewoks, especially Wicket. Threepio didn't like it when they tried to get him to dance."

"You told me he complained a lot," Rey said while tracing circles into the tables with her fingertips.

"Oh, he did," Ben admitted and groaned in much annoyance. "Mom said he complained so much while they, Dad, and Chewie were fleeing from the Empire that she turned him off. Dad thanked her for it. Chewie was very relieved."

Rey blew hard. "Good for her."

He stared at her as she slipped a lock of hair behind her ear and looked down at her plate. He began to feel his heart beat faster. His breathing got a tiny bit heavier. She glanced at him, becoming a little concerned. She tilted her head somewhat.

"What is wrong, Ben?" Rey asked and licked her lips.

"It's nothing, except—" Ben said, his breathing turning to shudders.

"What?" Rey responded.

"You are so beautiful, especially since you are pregnant," Ben said, love echoing from his voice.

She giggled. "Why, thank you. You are so handsome, especially since you've been taking great care of me during my pregnancy."

He smiled. "Thank you."

Ben moved his hand to Rey's neck and tickled it. She pushed it away before smacking him upside the head. He grabbed her chin. He moved her head from side to side. She took hold of his wrist and pulled his hand away. She laid it on top of the table. She gave it three gentle pats before taking it away. She cleared her throat.

Suddenly, a green-winged yellow macaw flew in and landed on the windowsill. It squawked, causing the couple to look at it. It was rather large. Its entire body was yellow with the exception of the tops of its wings being green. Its tail feathers were a mixture of green and yellow. Its beak was powerful enough to break open tough nuts.

"What a beautiful parrot," Rey said in amazement.

"It is a macaw," Ben pointed out matter-of-factly. "Macaws are the biggest parrots. They can reach lengths up to three-and-a-half feet long. At least half of it is in their tail feathers."

"It'd be funny if we had tails that were the lengths of our bodies," Rey squealed, a snicker coming from her.

"I do not think I could handle having such a tail. I wouldn't be able to control it at all," Ben said nervously.

"Me neither," Rey agreed. "It would make a great blanket, though. I could wrap it around my body."

"Yeah," Ben said, smiling. "It would make a great jump rope as well. Your tail would be the better one."

"Sure, it would," Rey said sarcastically and blew a raspberry. She scratched the back of her neck. "At least we have comfortable blankets. Of course, we do have to wash and our clothes frequently."

"The bright side is we know how to make our own soap. It's by mixing water, ashes, and fat," Ben said with pride.

"I make better soap than you do," Rey said, a big smirk forming on her face.

"Yeah, right," Ben said, sarcasm lining his voice. He ruffled her hair before tickling her neck. "You are such a hoot."

Rey broke away from her husband's grasp. She took his hand and placed it on the table. She gave it a gentle pat before putting hers in her lap. She looked down at the coconut. She turned back to him, her eyebrows raising. He propped his head up with his elbow.

"It wasn't long after I learned how to catch and clean fish that you taught how to retrieve and open coconuts," she said, a small giggle leaving her mouth.

"I took you coconut hunting," he said and chuckled quietly. "We chased each other along the way. You caught me twice. We located a palm tree with coconuts in it. It happened to grow across and straight up."

"You scaled the tree by walking across the lower part and climbing the upper part. You reached the coconuts as I went under it. You picked four and tossed them to me," Rey said, laughing as she remembered catching the coconuts. "We went back to the hut."

"I told you we had to heat it in a pot first. It helped to weaken the shell. After it finished heating, he used the dull side of a cleaver to open it up. Then I used my knife to get the meat out," Ben pointed out.

"You cut the meat into pieces and put them in bowls. We ate a little bit of it and found it tasted really good. We threw coconuts at each other a little later. I managed to hit you in the head," Rey said and squealed delightfully. "We laughed our heads off."

"Imagine if we really could lose our heads while laughing," Ben commented and touched the sides of head. He acted as if he were trying to pull it off. "I want to pull my head off and play ball with it."

"Let me help you," Rey responded and put her hands on her sides. She rose to her feet slowly. She went over to him and placed her hands on his head. She faked grunting as she pretended to try to pull it off. "It's not budging."

"Maybe a coconut will knock it off," Ben suggested as they let go of it. "You care to throw one at me?"

"No, thank you," Rey said, shaking her head.

"What is the matter, you afraid you will really knock it off?" Ben teased and tickled her nose.

"No," Rey said while ruffling his hair. She laughed at his swatting it aside. "You will knock my hand off if you keep slapping it away like that."

"I hope so," Ben said and smirked. "Then we can see your hand running around."

She smacked him upside the head. He gave her a slap to the shoulder in retaliation. He took her hand into his and kissed the back of it twice. She giggled, causing him to raise an eyebrow. He pressed his lips together before licking them.

"I hope you don't lose your lips by kissing the back of my hand all the time," Rey joked. She pinched his nose before flicking it twice. "It would really stink."

"If you want me to stink, then I will go roll in the mud," Ben teased and spoke gibberish. He released his hold on her before clearing his throat. He rubbed his nose. "Maybe you can join me. After our child is a toddler, that is."

"I will join you on one condition," Rey said, turning her nose upward. She stood tall and proud. "You have to let me throw you in the mud." She wiggled her eyebrows. "Yes, you do."

"It's a deal. Then we can get out and throw our kid in," Ben said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. He let out a fake gasp. "I just kissed your hand again. I think I will lose my lips if I do it anymore." He let go of it. "I better not kiss it again."

"I would love to take your lips off and put them on my hand," Rey commented and pinched his lips together. "Yes, I would."

Ben grabbed Rey's wrist and pulled her hand away. He put it at her side and gave it a gentle pat. They smiled at each other before digging their heels into the floor.

"What do you say we finish our breakfast?" Ben suggested.

"I say that is a good idea," Rey agreed with a nod. "You and Marcus have a hunt to get to."

"That is true," Ben commented and looked at Marcus, who turned to him. He smiled at him. "I am sure it will be successful like always."

She giggled. "I am sure it will too."

He shifted his attention to her. "With the Force as our ally, we can do what others think is impossible."

Rey kissed Ben's forehead. She returned to her seat and sat down with a light grunt. They grabbed their silverware and started to cut more of their fish. She proceeded to talk about the time they lost a fish they caught on a line.

00000

Ben stood in front of the bed two hours later. Marcus sat near him, his tail swinging from side to side. They were waiting for Rey to come back from filling his water canteen after she went to the bathroom. He had his backpack on his back. His lightsaber was attached to a brown belt on his waist. He made an adjustment to the right strap of his backpack. He repeated his action with the left one. He moved his head from side to side in which it stretched his neck. He rubbed his hands together before clearing his throat.

He sighed very contently. He was so glad he and his wife made love twice after breakfast. He wanted to do it some more, but she told him he and Marcus needed to get their hunt going. He suggested they have fruit with whatever meat they would have for lunch. She agreed with that. He decided to wear his brown vest and take his lightsaber with him.

His thoughts shifted to the upcoming hunting trip. He was looking forward to it very much. He had little doubt Marcus was too. He remembered their first successful hunt together. He watched as Marcus chased a Tihon hog into his line of sight while he was hiding behind a bush. He emerged and threw his ignited lightsaber as if it were a spear at it, killing it instantly. It provided them with food for several days.

He started thinking about his lightsaber. He saw the blade color of each one as very interesting. He remembered when Luke told him it was a Jedi's life. He knew his uncle meant he needed to take care of it and try not to lose it ever. He took that to heart, though he recalled one time a white-spotted black monkey stole it from him. He chased it as it went across the treetops. He used the Force to get it back from it.

Ben snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of approaching footsteps. He glanced at the doorway, seeing Rey come in. He focused his attention on his water canteen in her hand. She walked up to him and held it up. She formed a big smile on her face as he ran his hand through his hair. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly.

"Your canteen is now full," she announced while giving him the canteen.

"Thanks," he responded in much warmth. He shook it in which he heard water slosh around. "It is nice to hear water slosh around."

"Oh, yes," Rey agreed. "I enjoy the tastiness of the water here. No trace of pollutants is anywhere."

"I know," Ben said, putting his canteen over his shoulder. "On many habitable planets, water can appear to be very clean. At the same time, it could have some nasty stuff in it."

"I have little doubt Tihon has water areas that are very dirty due to urine and feces filling them. Absolute pure water does not exist anywhere. It is always a few tenths to a point above or below purity," Rey explained.

"Some metals have violent reactions upon contact with water," Ben said, tensing badly. "I wouldn't want to be near a glass container if it shatters because of said metal's explosive nature."

"I wouldn't either," Rey muttered, shuddering in fear. "It is not pleasant having glass embedded in you."

"Thank the Force we don't have to worry about glass here. Every one of our dishes are made of wood," Ben whispered in much relief.

She nodded in agreement. "Mm-hmm. The best part about those dishes is they are quite easy to clean."

He laughed warmly. "Yep."

She planted a kiss to his lips before rubbing noses with him. He kissed the tip of hers in a light way. She flicked his chin twice. She tapped it with her finger repeatedly. He raised an eyebrow while laughing.

"Are you trying to tap my chin off?" Ben wondered.

"I guess I am," Rey admitted and spoke gibberish. "Once I tap it off, I will put it on top of your head."

"Bring it on," Ben growled in much playfulness. "I would love a chin hat."

"You once told me about a HoloNet cartoon called Boisy and Kika you watched when you were a boy. Your favorite segment was called 'The Madness of Space.' You said Captain Boisy's constant tapping drove Commander Kika crazy," Rey said, laughing aloud.

"I laughed at it every time," Ben commented with a wide smile. "That could annoy just about anyone, even those who are very sound of mind."

"I knew some scavengers who were not sound of mind at all," Rey said, a fearful shudder leaving her mouth. "They could go from normal to insane in just seconds."

"Talk about creepy," Ben said, cringing badly.

"You said the best part of the segment was where Boisy pressed the existence eraser button after several tries of resisting it," Rey commented and suppressed a yawn.

"It erased all of existence. That meant the whole universe. It is likely it forced life to start over from scratch," Ben said. "It made me laugh so hard that my sides started hurting each time I saw it."

"I would have laughed just as hard as you did if I saw that," Rey admitted and scratched her neck. "We do have to be careful because it is quite possible to die from laughter."

"This form of death is pretty rare," Ben murmured. "It usually resulted from cardiac arrest or asphyxiation. It has been recorded since before sentient beings discovered lightspeed in which it resulted in the invention of the hyperdrive." He expressed much awe.

"That is incredible," Rey said and rubbed her nose.

"Oh, yes," Ben said, nodding in a slow manner. "Even more incredible is many stars in the galaxy have a system of planets. Luke told me my grandfather wanted to be the first one to see them all."

She took his hands into hers and squeezed them in a gentle way. She rubbed the backs of his hands with her thumbs. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. He kept his lips there for thirty seconds before pulling them away. He breathed at a slow yet steady pace.

"It's nice being able to eat for free. Trading salvage for measly portions was just too much for me," she whispered, frowning a bit. "Sometimes, Unkar told me a part was worth less than the week before." She gritted her teeth. "It made me mad, but I tried not to dispute him unless I felt I needed more food."

"I bet that blobfish is bemoaning the fact he lost his best scavenger," he said bluntly. "He deserved to lose her."

"Even if he had treated me better, I still would've gone with you," Rey said in much determination. She emitted a sharp exhale. "It was my destiny to become a Jedi."

"It was our destiny to be together as well," Ben said, cupping her chin in his hand after taking it out of hers. He stroked it with his thumb very tenderly. "I can't imagine life without you and our child."

She sniffled. "I can't imagine life without either of you too. I love you."

He smiled. "I love you too."

Ben and Rey shared a tender kiss. Marcus growled annoyingly and went over to them. He pushed himself in between them, forcing them to break it. He snorted in much impatience.

"Okay, Marcus. We will go on our hunt now," Ben said, rolling his eyes.

"Good luck, you two," Rey said, warmth echoing from her voice.

"Come on, buddy. Let's get some meat to eat for lunch," Ben said eagerly and headed out of the hut. Marcus followed him close behind. They proceeded to go down the beach.