This story contains four parts. :)

Six months post-Exegol.

The sun was barely starting to creep through the surrounding trees when Rey suddenly jerked awake, startled by a sharp pain in her upper arm. She instinctively pressed her palm over the spot, which just happened to be directly on top of the old wound she received during the battle with the Praetorian guards back in Snoke's throne room.

The battle that now seemed like a lifetime ago.

There was no new injury there, though. Just the slightly raised lines of the scar that had been left behind.

She had stopped wearing the leather band over it once she and Ben arrived on Naboo. The temperate climate on the lush green and blue planet was far different than what she was used to, so she'd taken to wearing long sleeves on the occasions when she and Ben ventured away from their tiny hidden cabin in the woods to gather supplies in the nearby city, one that Leia frequently visited when Ben was a child. His mother had always explained to Ben that their visits were for diplomatic purposes, and Leia had in fact accomplished a great many things for the New Republic during their time there, but Ben had always suspected that there was more to it. Some kind of pull or draw towards the planet that Leia had that she could neither explain nor resist.

Of course, they now understood why Leia had felt so drawn to the place, and Rey knew that in the six or so months since the battle on Exegol, Ben had at least felt some semblance of peace there.

Or, if not necessarily peace, Ben at least felt safe.

She imagined it had been similar for Leia as well, that sense of safety and security during the tremulous times following the fall of the Galactic Empire. Even if Naboo was also the home planet of Emperor Palpatine, the apparent mastermind behind everything dark and evil in the galaxy over the last several decades, light, in the form of a mother's—and grandmother's—unconditional love, would always manage to overpower the darkness.

In Rey's mind, though, the fact that Palpatine also hailed from Naboo almost made it even more peaceful. Now that the evil Emperor and most of the remaining dregs of his existence and influence were completely and truly gone, it was almost as though Naboo felt like it could breathe again. Its colours were brighter, the air sweeter and more fragrant, the water clearer, and the people happier, more optimistic.

The dull veil that had plagued the planet ever since the fall of Anakin Skywalker had been finally lifted.

At that moment, however, Rey was almost naked, dressed in only her underwear, as she had discovered that sharing a bed with Ben was akin to having her own personal heating element. Ben's long, lanky body somehow managed to radiate more heat than the brightest star, and Rey, who'd been often forced to bundle herself with scratchy blankets made from thin linen during the coldest of the desert nights on Jakku, luxuriated in sharing in his warmth.

Amongst other things.

And it was times like these, when she found herself alone, where all it took was just a single thought about what she and Ben often shared in that bed to ignite the fire deep inside her chest, her cheeks flushing as it spread down her body and out to her arms and legs, bringing a bright smile to her face.

She had found that she rather enjoyed smiling lately, having had so few reasons to do so all those years while alone on Jakku, before BB-8 practically dropped out of the sky into her lap and she found herself flung right into the middle of the Resistance.

Another pain suddenly hit, this one right above her left hip, causing her to gasp. The space next to her on their small, narrow bed was still slightly warm, so Ben hadn't been gone too long. Rey knew that he was having trouble sleeping, as he'd apparently had his entire life, which meant it was likely yet another bad dream that had roused him.

Which meant that he was probably in the woods. Again.

She reached down, feeling around on the floor until she found Ben's crumpled black tunic, still bearing the hole that she'd made when she plunged his old red lightsaber into his abdomen on the ruins of the second Death Star. A shiver trickled down her spine at the memory, of how angry she'd been at Ben for destroying the Wayfinder device, and then, right on its heels, of how frightened she was when she realised what she had allowed her anger to push her to do.

It was Ben who had insisted on keeping the garment when she'd wanted to burn it, but she was now glad to have it as she pulled it over her head and threaded her arms into the sleeves. It was long enough to completely cover both her hands and her bum as she slipped her feet into her soft boots and pulled one of their blasters out from under the mattress. They had managed to acquire three of the weapons; one snatched from Exegol before they escaped the destructing planet and two others on Coruscant, where they stopped to get Ben medical treatment. The already tight fit of two people in the cockpit of Master Luke's old X-wing was made even more uncomfortable due to Rey having to sit directly on top of Ben's broken ribs and leg, the injuries he had refused to allow her to attempt to heal after bringing her back from the dead.

Stubbornness seemed to be both a Solo trait and a Skywalker trait, from what Rey had observed, and since Ben was both Skywalker and Solo, he'd apparently received a double portion.

And it seemed as though it was that very same stubbornness that had lured Ben out into the woods yet again, since Rey's lightsaber was also missing.

Stepping across the tiny cabin, Rey pushed open the door, the cool, crisp early morning air hitting her square in the face as she stepped outside, prompting her to wrap her arms around her front as she followed the already-worn path to the clearing a short distance away, the hum of her lightsaber beckoning her to where Ben was training. She flinched as yet another sharp pain struck her body, this time on her shoulder, accompanied by a brief muffled cry, not much more than a grunt. Rey frowned as she picked up her pace, arriving in the clearing to find Ben—shirtless and with his hair tied back—sparring with three separate Jedi training remotes, one of which she was able to Force-grab just in time to prevent it from landing another shot to the back of his neck. With a flick of her wrist she deactivated the thing, sending it and the other two dropping onto the spongy forest floor as Ben whipped around, his brow furrowed and his lips stretched into a tight line.

"Why did you do that?" he asked, huffing and puffing as he deactivated the lightsaber, gripping it possessively. "I was fine."

"Oh, you were?" Rey retorted. "Were you really? Is that why I was able to feel every single shot from the remotes that you didn't manage to block? I can see your burn marks from here!"

Hurt flashed across Ben's dark brown eyes, almost black in the pale light of the early morning, and in three strides he had crossed the distance between them, halting suddenly a bit more than an arm's length away and holding out his hand, his expression desperate but tentative, as if he was still afraid that she might reject him.

"Rey," he whispered, almost like a prayer as Rey took his hand, allowing him to pull her into his arms. The blaster she was holding fell to the ground as Rey instinctively snuggled against him, tucking her head under his chin, the thud thud thud of his strong heartbeat beneath her ear a reminder that he was alive and well, and with her.

Be with me, she'd whispered in her mind, over and over in a panic when she feared he was dying on Exegol. Be with me. Don't leave me here alone.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, his large hands splayed across Rey's back as he held her close. "I was just—"

"Don't be sorry," Rey interrupted, trying to assuage her own guilt in the process. She had often wondered just how different things might've been if she'd chosen to take Ben's offered hand there in that throne room. Ben had saved her life by killing Snoke and then fighting with her against the guards, but she had been too confused, too conflicted by her feelings for Ben and what she felt was her duty to both the Resistance and to her Jedi training, so instead she had left him there, lying unconscious in that red-walled room, surrounded by dead bodies, burning fires, and falling embers.

Alone.

"I know what you were trying to do," she continued, a bit gentler. She raised her head, looking intently into those dark eyes that she could often get lost in. "I just feel that it's… unnecessary."

"But it's not," Ben insisted, shaking his head. Wisps of his hair had come loose from their tie, framing his dewy forehead and cheeks and giving him a sort of reverse halo-like effect against the rising sun streaming through the tall trees. "It's not unnecessary. I need… I need to train."

I need to prove myself, he said into her mind. Prove myself worthy of you.

No, you don't, she replied. I've already told you, you don't need to prove anything to me.

Then I do to myself.

Rey let out a sigh. It's the same argument they've already had so many times, one they couldn't seem to resolve. "Then let me help you. You know it would be much easier if we—"

"No," Ben said firmly. "I've already told you. I'm not—I won't ever fight against you, Rey, not again. I just—I can't do it."

Nodding, Rey tucked her head back against Ben's broad chest, breathing in deeply. She wasn't suggesting that they fight each other, only train together, but she could understand how Ben could equate the two in his mind.

The fact that she had nearly killed him the last time they fought didn't help matters. She knew that Ben wasn't scared of her, that he was more frightened of seeing himself as attacking her, but that doesn't mean she wasn't still haunted by it. She had been so angry, and so intensely focused on that anger that she hadn't even realised that she'd been the one attacking Ben on that Death Star until she replayed the battle in her mind after speaking with Master Luke, feeling Ben's intense pain and remorse transmitting across their bond despite her best efforts to block it out.

I can feel what you're thinking, she heard in her mind as Ben's lips brushed across her temple. The past is over. Gone. Buried so deep it'll never be found.

I know it is, she replied. But apparently neither of us can seem to completely let it go now, can we?

Ben huffed in frustration, his hands dropping to his sides. "You know that I can't!"

"Ben—"

"No! I can't. Not yet." He paused, swallowing hard, his chin quivering. "Not until I've built another lightsaber."

"And in the meantime, you're never going to get where you think you need to be by using mine!" Rey exclaimed. "You can use it, yes, and use it well, but it wasn't built for you, just like your grandfather's wasn't built for Master Luke. The crystal inside my lightsaber called out to me and me alone, just as yours will when the time is right." She wrapped her arms around his waist again, drawing him close. "It will happen. We just need to be patient."

Ben was quiet for a moment, finally offering a begrudged, "I know." He knew she was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. It was the main reason why he'd agreed to bury Luke and Leia's lightsabers in the middle of the Naboo forest rather than continue to use them. Neither saber belonged to either of them, not really, and it was time for both Rey and Ben to forge their own paths, with their own lightsabers.

Rey hadn't quite understood what was happening when she first wandered past the ruins of the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the very same temple where Anakin Skywalker lost his internal battle between light and dark with the brutal murder of the Temple younglings. She had felt drawn to the ruins almost as soon as she and Ben arrived there, and as the days passed and Ben grew stronger, she found that she could no longer resist the pull towards it. It was as if something there was physically calling out to her.

Which it had been, as it turned out. Because hidden down deep in those ruins of what was once a magnificent Jedi Temple on a magnificent planet, was a single light green kyber crystal, cracked nearly in two. And as she carefully dug it out and plucked it from its hiding place, she cradled it in her hand and squeezed her eyes closed, concentrating on trying to knit the precious gem back together.

And hours later, when she finally opened them again, she found in her palm a softly glowing yellow crystal, perfectly intact.

Her crystal.

Master Luke had explained some of the lore behind the kyber crystals during her training, and Rey had read a bit more about it in some of the ancient Jedi texts, but she had honestly never completely understood it until she heard her crystal calling to her. Ben of course was familiar with it, having hunted down his own crystal during his apprenticeship with Master Luke, the very same crystal that then cracked under the pressure of its high-energy transformation into the unique crossguard lightsaber design used by Kylo Ren, Sith Apprentice and Supreme Leader of the First Order.

The lightsaber that now lay at the bottom of the raging ocean on Kef Bir. Rey sometimes wondered why instead of abandoning it, Ben didn't attempt to heal the broken crystal inside it, reclaiming it for the light as he did for himself when he shed the persona of Kylo Ren.

"Let the past die," Ben had said to her, shirtless and scarred during one of their first Force bond connections, while she was training on Ahch-To. "Kill it if you have to. That's the only way to become what you're meant to be."

She supposed destroying his lightsaber was Ben's way of killing his past. With that saber, Ben had been both a Jedi padawan and a Sith apprentice, and now, like Rey, he needed to just be.

He needed to realise that being "just" Ben Solo was more than good enough. That he was no longer defined by who he served.

"You are good enough," Rey said, muffled against Ben's chest. "In fact, you're more than. I only wish you could see that."

Ben's arms tightened around her, his long fingers threading into her hair as a light gust of wind rippled through the branches of the surrounding trees, causing them both to shiver.

"We'll see," he whispered into her ear, his warm breath against her skin a sharp contrast to the crisp breeze against her bare legs. Goosebumps pebbled down her arms, and her breath hitched as Ben's hand cupped her cheek. She tipped her head up to meet his eyes, dark and glassy, his thumb brushing lightly across her cheekbone.

"We should get back inside. You're shivering."

"That's 'cause you left me alone," she said, rather petulantly. "The bed… I was cold without you there."

Desire flared inside her chest at Ben's sharp intake of breath, both across the bond and of her own accord, and she wound her arms around his neck, rising up on her tiptoes just as he dipped his head to meet her lips. He returned the kiss eagerly, pressing her even closer as his hands slid down her back to her bum to lift her up, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist as he started walking towards their tiny cabin.

"You're so beautiful," he rasped, tearing his lips from hers to trail kisses down her cheek to her neck. Rey tipped her head back, moaning softly as he paused on her pulse point, her mind barely coherent enough to open her hands and summon their forgotten blaster and lightsaber as Ben fumbled with the cabin door, uttering a soft curse as he tried to wedge it open with his foot. Once it was finally open Rey's boots and the weapons clattered to the floor as Ben crossed the small room to the bed, laying her gently down and covering her with his solid warmth.

"Ben," she whispered right before he captured her lips again, her hands clinging to his shoulders as Ben's fingers slipped underneath the tunic, his palm sliding up her rapidly heating skin to cover her right breast.

"So beautiful," he murmured as he drew the tunic up and over her head, tossing it back onto its place on the floor. Then he slid her underwear down her legs and leaned back on his heels, his full lower lip caught between his teeth as his eyes swept across her naked body, so lust-blown they were almost black.

"Ben," Rey whimpered, fidgeting a bit under his impassioned stare. It had been six months since their desperate first kiss on the dust-covered floor of the legendary Sith temple, six months of being with him like this, and she still wasn't quite used the way Ben looked at her, as if she was his own personal saviour.

Because you are, he whispered into her mind. You saved me.

"No," she said aloud, because she wanted him to hear it. She reached for him, pulling him back down to her. "We saved each other."

His chin started to quiver again, so she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, slipping her tongue into his mouth as she hiked her legs up to hook over his hips. He was already hard, and gasped against her lips as his still-clothed erection made contact with her very warm, very aroused centre.

"Rey—!"

"Why are you still wearing these?" she cut in as she slipped her fingers beneath his waistband and underwear, tugging impatiently. Ben let out a low growl as he reached to still her hands, his chest heaving as he panted against her neck.

"Too fast, sweetheart," he said, his arms trembling around her. "I won't—I won't last."

Rey huffed but nodded, breathing in a deep, shaky breath as Ben sucked in one of his own.

"Let me make you come first," he whispered, trailing kisses all along her neck and chest. She reached for the tie holding his hair, burying her fingers in the silky-soft strands and moaning when his beautiful full lips closed first over one nipple, then the other while his hand glided down her belly, pleasure already coiling deep in her gut as his practised fingers found her slick folds and slipped inside.

"Ben!" she gasped as he found that magic spot at the apex of her thighs, circling it as his lips lightly brushed across her skin. "I need—I need—!"

"That's it, sweetheart," Ben said, low and husky. "Stars, you're so beautiful, I wanna see you come for me!"

Growing up on a middle-of-nowhere planet like Jakku, Rey had encountered plenty of things she wished she could forget, including humans and aliens copulating right out in the open. Those images combined with the accidental eavesdropping on a Resistance soldier viewing a holo while looking for Leia one night were all Rey had ever known about sex. As such, she'd never really quite understood the appeal of any of it until the first time she and Ben locked eyes through their Force bond.

For even then, as angry with him as she'd been, she couldn't deny that there was something else there, a spark igniting deep inside her gut that she had never before felt, and then spent far too long trying to ignore.

Something she now knew was desire.

Desire for him.

And now, as the coil inside her finally snapped and the stars burst behind her eyes, she clung to him, clung to the man she loved more than her own life as he held her in his arms, whispering words of pure adoration against her skin.

I love you, she thought, and felt him smile against her throat.

She so loved his smiles.

"I love you too," he said, the simple words so melodic in his soft, raspy voice that another blaster shot of pleasure shot down her body. She curled into his chest, hearing the rapid beat of his heart as his fingers caressed the back of her neck and his lips caressed her forehead and temples, the warm weightlessness from her climax slowly replaced with a heavy soddenness in her limbs. She closed her eyes, a contented smile stretching across her lips as Ben brushed a strand of hair from her forehead.

"You're tired," he said softly. "Sleep now."

"No!" she exclaimed, sitting up so fast that she nearly knocked her head into his chin, offering a kiss in apology. "I mean, I don't want to sleep. Not yet." She glanced down at his clearly straining erection, gently palming it as he hissed. "I want you first."

Ben tried to hide his sharp exhale, but the relief in his inky black eyes was obvious as she touched his cheek, bringing their lips together in a soft, languid kiss. They remained like that for awhile, wrapped in each other's arms as they explored each other's mouths, until Rey grew impatient and pushed against his shoulder, indicating for him to lie on his back. His eyes never strayed from her face as she peeled off his trousers and underwear, greedily running her hands up his long, muscular legs, across his toned stomach and up his broad chest to his neck. His pale skin was just as soft as his hair, like the silken dresses that Leia had always favoured, and Rey never tired of the feel of it against her own.

"Rey," Ben said, almost choking on the word as he bit down hard on his bottom lip, his entire body trembling beneath her. "Sweetheart, please!"

She leaned down to kiss him again, a soft, sweet kiss as she straddled his hips and took his cock in hand, sinking slowly down on him. He was big, and she wasn't, and while Rey rather enjoyed the slight burn as he stretched her, she also knew that Ben would rather die than hurt her.

Besides that, she knew there was no need to rush, and she wanted to savour every single second.

They both moaned softly once he was fully sheathed, Ben's shaking hands gripping her hips as she adjusted to him, waiting for her to signal that she was ready. Rey's eyes fluttered closed as Ben's intense love and desire for her radiated across their bond, their hearts beating in tandem as she sucked in a deep breath, planted her palms on his chest, and started to move.

"Ben," she whispered as she slowly rocked back and forth, gasping at his answering moan. Beads of sweat began to dot across his forehead, soaking a few wayward strands of his hair as she moved up and down, chasing her pleasure once again.

"Ben," she said, a bit louder this time, unable to say anything else as the pleasure continued to mount. Her jaw went slack as Ben suddenly surged up, curling his arms around her and burying his face in her neck. She was so close, dangling on the precipice, and she could tell by his shuddering gasps that he was as well.

Be with me, she heard across the bond. Don't ever leave me.

To which she responded, I'm here. I'll never leave you.

"Rey!" he choked out as his hand slipped between their bodies, touching her just as his entire body went taut and he came, flooding her with his warmth, his arms crushing her against him as she followed him over, clenching and fluttering around him until they were both completely spent.

They remained still for a time, she wasn't quite sure how long, until Ben gently lifted her off of him, cradling her in his strong arms as he laid them back, their naked bodies so intertwined she wasn't quite sure where he ended and she began. Her limbs were deliciously heavy and her eyelids drooping as Ben's lips brushed across her forehead just before he pulled the blankets up over them. They were both sweaty and sticky, but neither of them cared; they would head out to the nearby river to bathe once the sun was high overhead and it was a bit warmer outside. Then they would prepare a meal together and curl up by the fire pit while they ate. Recently Ben had started telling her a few stories of his childhood, and Rey listened intently, basking in the narrative that she had only ever dreamed of while growing up alone on Jakku.

But right then, in that moment, Rey wanted nothing more than to lie in the arms of her love, listening to the soothing sound of his heartbeat lull her into a peaceful sleep.

Be with me.

I am with you.

You're not alone.

-I have been every voice… you have ever heard… inside your head-

Ben woke with a sharp inhale, squinting in the darkness that had fallen over their tiny cabin as he tried to remember where he was, slowly exhaling as Rey let out a soft sigh, the arm resting across his chest tightening, as though she was trying to anchor him to her.

Which, Ben realised, was exactly what she was trying to do. The two of them had been sharing a bed—if one could call the tiny pallet they slept on an actual bed—ever since he was well enough to do so, so he knew that Rey was no stranger to the nightmares that constantly plagued him.

Even as he wished that she was. Ben couldn't remember a time when he hadn't been plagued by nightmares, when his sleep hadn't been disturbed by whispered voices, poking and prodding and taunting his unconscious mind. Even as a baby and small child it was always hard for him to sleep, something he knew drove his father particularly nuts and caused more than a few arguments between his parents.

He shifted slightly, turning onto his side and tucking Rey's head flush against his chest, over his heart. She liked being able to hear his heartbeat, and as he glanced down at her, bathed in the soft light of the new moon streaming through their single window, he was rewarded by seeing her lips curl into a slight smile, one that he couldn't help but return.

You're not alone, he heard through the bond. I'm here.

But you almost weren't, Ben couldn't help but think, and a sharp pain lanced across his chest at the memory of seeing Rey's lifeless body lying on the filthy floor of Palpatine's citadel, his nearly overwhelming panic overpowering the intense pain from his broken leg and ribs as he crawled to her, whispering desperate words as he gathered her into his arms.

"Can you hear me? Hold on!"

Please, don't leave me here alone.

I can't live without you.

He would have rather endured an entire lifetime of having his life-force slowly stripped away, cell by cell and fibre by fibre, than face the possible reality of losing Rey, his Force-mate, the light to his darkness, his other half.

Two, that are one.

A dyad in the Force should never be separated, for then it ceases to remain a dyad and becomes… only one.

Alone.

Solo.

A name tossed at Ben's father by an indifferent and overworked Imperial Officer during a frantic moment while he was trying to escape from Corellia. Nothing but an afterthought, which then went on to define him for pretty much the rest of his life.

And for a time, Ben had allowed it to define him as well.

Their cabin, for example, if one could indeed call it that, was built by Ben over the course of a few of his mother's many diplomatic missions to Naboo during the early tenuous years of the New Republic, before he was sent off to train with his uncle. Bored with studying with his tutor and not at all interested in politics, Ben had wandered out into the woods one day and just started gathering up fallen tree branches, stacking them on top of each other until they resembled something that looked like a hut, if he tilted his head and squinted a bit. Still, his nine-year-old self was pleased enough with his progress that he continued to work on it whenever he could find the time. Digging a foundation, strengthening the walls, reinforcing the roof, the hut became his own special project, almost an obsession. Something that belonged to him and him alone.

But even so, it wasn't until Ben had enlisted the help of Chewie that the hut became stable enough to support itself against anything stronger than a soft breeze. Chewie had also recommended and installed the window, insisting to Ben that he wouldn't enjoy just sitting around all alone in the dark.

Alone.

Solo.

You're not alone, he heard again in his mind. I'm here.

Ben's throat tightened, and he drew Rey even closer, softly kissing the top of her head. She deserved so much more than to be holed up in a hovel in the middle of the Naboo woods, on the run from whatever the Resistance was calling itself these days, but he also knew that her temper tended to flare when he dared to even think those thoughts while she was awake, so he usually reserved them only for when she was sleeping.

She had spent most of her life barely scratching out a living on Jakku. Malnourished, freezing, fighting on a near-daily basis to keep what she rightfully earned, Ben knew without a doubt that there wasn't a single person in the entire galaxy who was tougher or stronger than Rey.

Or more stubborn, as he realised during his convalescence on Coruscant, when he'd tried to convince her to leave him and join back up with the Resistance. He was a wanted man, he'd told her, the most wanted man in the galaxy now that his mother was no longer there to serve as a buffer, and Rey didn't deserve a lifetime spent being on the run with him. His father had spent a good portion of his life on the run from someone or other, and Ben had been a firsthand witness to the amount of damage it often caused his relationships.

But the words were barely out of his mouth when her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed, and she explained to him very clearly and concisely that under no circumstances was she ever going to leave him alone.

"You won't be alone," she told him. "I'll be with you."

And so, as soon as Ben was pronounced well enough to travel, he and Rey crowded back into Master Luke's old X-wing and flew to Naboo. It was a long, uncomfortable flight, with Ben's body contorted around Rey's while she piloted the ship, landing it in the woods far away from any of the major cities and an almost three-day hike from the cabin, which Ben had been relieved to find was still standing upright after being abandoned for so many years.

It, like he and Rey, had managed to survive yet another war.

He pressed his lips to the top of her head again, breathing in the glorious scent of her hair. They had spent several hours that day at the river, bathing, washing their clothes, and catching waterfowl and fish. Rey enjoyed listening to the water flowing across the rocks, so towards evening they found a shaded area on the riverbank—Ben's skin was too pale to sit in the sun for long, as they had learned the hard way—and sat for a time. Rey combed her fingers through his hair while he told her another story, this one about the time he was wandering around on the Falcon when he was around three years old, and ended up getting stuck inside one of the smuggling compartments.

"Weren't you scared?" she had asked.

He told her yes, because he had been. The smuggling compartments were black as a starless night with the covers closed and smelled absolutely horrible. But what Ben hadn't told her was that the reason he'd opened one of them in the first place had been because he knew his father was getting ready to leave again, and he wanted to see what was more important to him than staying with him.

Ben hadn't told Rey that part of the story, but he knew she'd managed to figure it out anyway when she cupped his face in her tiny hands and kissed him, slowly and deeply, repeating yet again that she would never leave him.

I am with you, she said, over and over into his mind as she stripped the clean clothes from his body, her lips and hands brushing and sliding across his skin, once again igniting the spark deep inside his chest, the spark that had never once been extinguished, even when he had tried so hard to forget her.

You're not alone.

Neither are you.

And if he had his way, she would never be.

But first, he had to prove himself worthy. For even as he had shed all of the visible symbols of Kylo Ren, the mask, gloves, dark cape, and lightsaber, Ben knew deep down that there was still darkness inside him, darkness that wouldn't be truly banished until he was deemed worthy to build a new lightsaber.

And maybe, just maybe, once that happened, he and Rey could return to the Resistance, and—

Actually, Ben didn't enjoy thinking about it all that much. He knew what had happened to many of the former Imperial soldiers from the last war who didn't die on the Death Star, as his mother had been involved in many of their trials and sentencing, and he also knew how much he was despised by the current Resistance leaders.

And he supposed he really couldn't blame them.

But if he was able to construct a new lightsaber before then, it would at least be a visible symbol of his change to the Resistance, and perhaps enough to convince them to grant Rey some clemency, if not him. Anyone familiar with Jedi lore would know that the kyber crystals used by the Jedi for lightsaber construction could only be summoned once they deemed the receiver worthy, so…

Well, it was his hope, at least. And at the moment he supposed that hope would have to be enough. Because as much as Rey liked to protest, Ben knew that she deserved far better than the life he could give her the way things were. She deserved for her name to be spoken with reverence among the Resistance for her defeat of Emperor Palpatine, deserved to live in a palace with every possible comfort for the rest of her life, and never have to wonder where her next meal was coming from.

She deserved so much better than him, but at the same time, he also knew that there was no way he would be able to become what he needed to be without her.

"Ben," Rey murmured suddenly in her sleep, and he glanced down at her just as her fingers glided up his neck to thread into his hair. She looked distressed, with a slight frown between her eyebrows, so he pressed a soft kiss there, trying to smooth the lines away.

Sometimes she had nightmares too.

"Shh, sweetheart, I'm here," he whispered. "I've got you."

Be with me, he heard across the bond. Don't leave me here alone.

You're not alone. You'll never be alone.

I love you.

I can't wait to see what you think! Please don't hesitate to leave me a review! :)