Destiny

"I- I can't do this right now. I'm sorry." Rey stammered as she gently pulled her arm from his loose grip, walking toward the rocky cliffside. Her emotions were swirling around in her chest as she walked away from an almost deflated Ben Solo. It hurt to feel his defeat ripple through their Force bond. She did not know how to react to a man, let alone one such as Ben Solo. She had never been kissed romantically by anyone before and the fact that it was him made it all more confusing. Rey quickly found her way up the familiar rock wall towards the Falcon. Her sleeping gown constricting her movements each time she tried to find her next foothold. Rey almost stumbled into the soft, lush grass as she came off the cliff and onto the surface of the small landmass. She could not get to her room fast enough. Her pace was hasteful as she made her way up the open ramp of the ship. While her quarters were not a home, it was the closest thing she has had for comfort since she left Jakku. The room's automatic lights came to life as Rey passed the threshold of the door. She let out a deep sigh of relief as her eyes looked over the messy room.

Rey laid in her bunk of the Millennium Falcon with her eyes closed. Memories from the first time she met Kylo Ren, to their kiss, to now, skipped around in her mind. Her face was contorted at the images playing before her. When she first met Kylo Ren she could feel his hatred burning through his veins as he tried desperately to gain the location of Master Skywalker. Rey loathed that man. So, how had she ended up here? Her thoughts were spinning as she tried to wrap her mind around what Ben Solo had meant to her now. The heat from his kiss still lingered on her lips as Rey tentatively felt them with her fingers.

She knew that from her vision that their destinies were intertwined and there was nothing for her to do except to acknowledge that fact. How had they veered so far from their paths, to be here in this situation? Or maybe this was the path the Force had always meant for them to be on. It is as the Force wills, Ben Solo's voice sounded through her mind. He was the third person to tell her that. It was as if Leia, Master Anakin, and now Ben Solo were all vessels for the Force to tell her to surrender to her fate. She threw the hand that idled on her lips down to her side in frustration, hitting the thin mattress with a dampened thud.

She opened her eyes, turning over on her side to stare at the other side of the room. The cold white painted steel wall stared back at her as her thoughts continued to drift. Both Ben Solo and Rey had changed drastically since their fateful meeting. Ben Solo was slowly starting to come back to himself, shutting out the darkness of Kylo Ren. While Rey was left utterly confused. She had always had a good understanding of herself until he came into her life. Now she doubted where she stood as a Jedi. Rey had always been strong, determined, and unabashed by who she was. But now she is left spiraling. Since him, Rey constantly gave in to her emotions. Letting them drive her decisions. Fear of losing him drove her to Dantooine. That fear made her feel like she had to deceive her friends in order to enlist their help. That fear quickly overtook her rational thinking. And then there was the hatred she still felt for Kylo Ren. That hatred that she carried for Kylo Ren had somehow shifted, altered by Ben Solo. Or at least the small glimpses of him that poured through the cracks of a crumbling mask.

Just outside the door, she could feel his presence. She could feel his nerves as he paced in the corridor just beyond her quarters. The sound of his boots echoing on the grating of the Millennium Falcon was muffled through the steel walls. Rey, rolling back over onto her side, grasped the scratchy sheets in her fist. Tears began to well up in her eyes. She was so confused. She did not know what to do or how to feel. She could not face him now despite how much her feet wanted to take her to Ben Solo.

Ben wanted to knock on the door that partitioned him from Rey. He stopped his frantic march in the hallway before the steel door, his fist hovering to ask permission to enter. Ben Solo's heavy brows pushed together in hesitation as his loose fist fell back to his side. He stood for a moment, listening to the quiet that spread like an ocean between them. Faintly, soft sobs drifted through the steel door that he lingered at. His chin fell to his chest as he rested his forehead on the door. Ben Solo closed his eyes while he listened to Rey's obvious distress. He had not meant to cause her any harm with his actions. The moment had swept them both into the kiss.

They had both felt the need to be closer to one another, but neither knew how it would affect the dynamic of their relationship. Pathetic. Just end her. Do it, Kylo Ren intruded his thoughts. No, I will not let you have her— not ever, Ben Solo pushed back on Kylo Ren's creeping grasp over him. A wave of disconnected anger seemed to flare in the background of his mind. Anger was always a handhold that allowed Ben Solo's insidious counterpart to take control. Kylo Ren had been in control for so long that his suffocating grip still had a hold over him. He was tired of being a coward. He was tired of sitting on the sidelines of his own mind. Ben Solo slumped at the thought of never being able to completely snuff out the rage within him.

Do you honestly think that girl could want you after all you've done? You're weak. Pitiful. You are a monster. That's why she can't face you. She is disgusted by you, Kylo Ren's words struck deep. He lifted himself from the cool steel door and straightened. The grim thought was blaring inside his head. His hands at his side began to ball up into fists. He was angry. Not at Rey, but with himself. Ben Solo's heart began to beat hard like a drum in his chest as he turned from her quarters. The grated floors of the ancient ship echoed his steps throughout the hallway when he began to walk away.

Rey lay in her bunk. The sound of retreating footsteps pulled her from her state of dejection. She held her cries back to listen to Ben Solo's heavy gait fade away from her door. An ominous air hung over her while his emotions rippled untamed through their bond. She wanted to throw herself up from the thin mattress that she occupied and run to Ben Solo, but something stopped her for a moment. The first time she saw him like this, she had almost been killed. Rey's throat tightened at the memory of his large hands grasping her squeezing the life out of her. His extreme emotions of anger and confusion radiated off him. It scared Rey, but, as his friend, she felt a sense of obligation to help him. Despite her feelings, she couldn't stop herself when she was faced with someone who needed her help. Something deep within the young Jedi willed her to save the poor souls before her path.

Rey promised herself to always be the person she wished others could be. The one that stands up for justice, has mercy, and kindness. Hastily, Rey jumped up from the thin mattress tossing her feet over towards the cool floor. She used her leg's strength to push her body off the low sitting bunk and rushed towards the door. She did not care that she was still in her nightclothes or that she did not have her boots on. She had to run, get to him before he went off the deep end. Anger is a raw emotion that once it's grip has found a home within someone, it is hard to expel. That is what Ben Solo had been fighting since he had first laid eyes on Rey. She was pure and seeing that within her had made him ache to be who he once was. A Jedi who believed fighting for the helpless, not a Sith who cut down who he pleased. He was tired of letting that monster rule his life. Rey knew this, felt it, saw it in his eyes, and within his soul.

As she ran down the halls of the Falcon, her face bore a determined, linearly driven expression. When he was in this state there was no telling what might happen. The fearsome rage bore through the air like a targeted beam of plasma from a blaster. It tore a hole through Rey as she began to emerge from the ship, each step taking her closer to the origin point. No thought of the consequences of what might happen to her once she reached its beacon. Outside the blue skies turned grey and were ridden with thick clouds. The dark ocean was raging and her hair and light garments snapped in the wild gusts of wind. This was the calm before the storm. No telling what was to come for the boy that never learned how to be a man and the girl desperately trying to be who everyone needed her to become.

Her last step off the ramp of the Falcon landed her on the soft richly green grass. Frantic and out of breath the young Jedi whipped her head in each direction searching for any sign of Ben Solo. Rey circled where she stood reexamining the places she previously cleared, wondering where Ben Solo may be. The small rocky peninsula left nowhere for anyone to go. Fear twisted Rey's imagination as possible scenarios played through her mind each sending her further into a spiral of frightful panic. Her feet began to take a step, then another, and another before she approached the degrading edge of the sheer cliff. Bits of earth-colored rock crumbled from the weight of her body that was positioned dangerously on the edge.

Rey could not see him on the pebbled beach below her. The storm was beginning to pick up as she stood at the brink. The thick grey clouds began to loosen its grip on the retained water, small droplets fell onto Rey's linen garment, dampening it in a sporadic pattern. Her shoulder-length hair was whipping violently in the wind, stinging her youthfully supple skin. Ben Solo was nowhere to be found. The young Jedi quickly found herself climbing down the short cliff faster than she had never previously been able to. The worst scene forcefully occupied the forefront of her mind. Rey's left foot tentatively felt around the pebbled ground before allowing her right foot to follow and her hands release their grip.

Quickly, she turned, still no Ben Solo to be found. The rain, now coming down in brisk droves, hit her skin with weight. Rey's hair began to clump together in thick saturated sections as she turned her head to scan the raging, dark ocean before her. Soaked and panicked, she closed her eyes while she tried to clear her racing mind to allow the Force to guide her, she searched for any semblance of their bond. Nothing. Her mind shifted to reach towards his spiraling emotions. In the exceedingly worsening storm, Rey felt the Force pushing out from her body, infinitely expanding outward in every direction. She opened her eyes abruptly, her gaze yanking to the left.

Running, Rey swiftly rounded the corner, hoping to find Ben. Her panic made its way to her throat, staying there in a tight lump. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion as if her feet could not take her fast enough. Skirting the cliffs rounded corner, there Ben Solo stood somberly in knee-high water with his bare back towards her. The ocean spray moved slowly across her view, waves moved too slowly, her heart pounded in her chest. Time seemed to slow down at that moment she found him before it snapped her back into sync. It hit her hard when she blinked to find him in the dangerous waters. She froze at the sight of him. His black pants soaked and his curls were wet and loose. His pain and confusion rippled through the turbulent storm and through the space that occupied between them. As if he had sensed her there behind him, he turned, his eyes were red and swollen. With the rapidly falling raindrops, indeed, Rey could not see that tears were streaming down his otherwise vacant, emotionless face. His drenched curls whipped in front of his pained eyes, but they never left her stare. Ten feet from each other, Ben Solo parted his lips as if to say something to her but quickly rethought it.

Eventually, after a long moment, "I'm not a good person." he shouted through the rain, pain laced in his voice while Rey stood there with watchful eyes. Ben took a step backward, further into the ocean that showed nothing but ferocity. Rey took a step with her hand outstretched before her, every finger erect. She began to tell him to stop, but he shot her a glare that told her to stay put. Her arm fell almost limply back to her side. Memories of Kylo Ren's rage bore into her. She swallowed, but could not say anything. She was utterly stunned at the situation.

"I'm tired, Rey. I'm so tired of fighting him–– Kylo. Just so— tired…" He seemingly deflated as the words left his mouth. As if waiting for a response she was always so willing to give, he stood there in the loud storm that was rushing around them. Her brown eyes never left his. The linen nightgown she wore was drenched and practically see-through. The watered-weighted hems of the garment flapped in union with the storm. Dark locks of hair blew with the wind, but she stood her ground, watching. She was beautiful in this moment. Ben Solo felt his breath catch in his throat as he watched Rey. The storm perfectly outlined her. Strong, relentless, and strangely stunning. He felt so unworthy to take in such a sight.

"It's hard to face this pain every day of trying to fight for my sanity, let alone my soul. Kylo Ren is always there lurking, waiting to take over at my weakest moments. I just want the anguish to stop. I have more blood on my hands than I can fathom. I want to wash the blood that stains me, but no matter how hard I try it won't come off. I can't do it anymore, Rey. This life is not mine anymore. I lost myself a long time ago and I can't find my way back. Han––my father tried to bring me home and I killed him, Rey. I killed my father. What kind of man does that make me? I am evil. Truly, irrevocably evil... " The energy from the storm and long-suppressed emotions of a broken man before her played a part in the shattering and weathered mask of Ben Solo to fall off completely. He let it all come out as he spoke. It was raw and pain-ridden. It stung to watch him internally writhe in pain. He broke his own heart and fractured his mind over the countless years under Kylo Ren's tight reign.

"I hurt too," She stated, "I feel your pain and anguish, the gut-wrenching guilt that keeps you up at night. Everything you feel I feel tenfold thrown back at me. I see the nightmares that never leave your mind. I see it. I see you, Ben." Rey yelled through the sound of pouring rain and untamed waves. He stopped for a moment at the impact of her words. No one not ever had seen him as she had. The carefully constructed mask of Kylo Ren kept cracking further and further around her. But Kylo Ren needed the mask, the control, the power. Rey's words angered the alter.

"You know nothing of pain and torture. You are so naive, Rey." Ben callously spat back at her. Rey seemed taken back by the assuming snide reply. She bit the corner of her lip with a sharp incisor that stung as she tried to fight back the words that wanted to spill out of her. Letting go of the soft skin, Rey walked slowly toward the edge of the water. Arctic liquid met the bare flesh of her feet. Ben wanted to take another step backward but was frozen in place by the intense glare she gave him. Now merely inches apart, Ben Solo collapsed to his knees, letting years of torture wash over him. The frigid water surrounded the lower half of his exposed torso. His hands came out from the water slightly clenched, palms facing up. The water spilled out from in between the gaps of his fingers. His hands tightly balled up wet black curls in each hand as a painful wail escaped him. Rey began to kneel slowly, almost elegantly, lowering herself before him into the shallow water.

"Those nights," she paused, swallowing the lump in her throat, only rain filling the silence, "on Jakku, utterly alone in the world and you don't think I ever knew pain? The nights where I begged for someone to save me. Or longing to feel wanted and loved and you tell me I don't understand? I never had anyone. I was so alone all the time, but you know what? I kept going even though I felt like giving up. I starved and scavenged and I am still here. As I got older, every day felt like I was walking up a steep rushing stream that had no end. The rocks on my path were so slippery. I would fall time and time again back to the bottom, but I got up each fucking time and walked back up. So do not tell me I do not understand pain. I've suffered and I survived. That's what people do, Ben. We survive." Rey shouted through the storm while Ben Solo sat motionless face upward towards the thick clouds. Rain fell down his face, but he did not react to the fast-falling drops of water. Tears now welled in Rey's eyes as memories she tried to suppressed resurfaced.

"Look at me," Rey's eyes stared at the man who looked completely exhausted and defeated. Slowly he let his hands fall from the tufts of curls back into the water and brought his gaze to her. His eyes were painful to look at. "Ben, look at me in my eyes and tell me that I don't feel your pain. Tell me I can't see right through it all." he stayed quiet and motionless. The rain was still falling heavily between them. Their soaked skin and hair glistened in the grey overcast. The storm was deafening as it surrounded the two of them. He lowered his head down, looking away from her. Rey's hand lifted out the shallow water bringing it to the chilled skin of his neck, holding it loosely. She brought her forehead to his and whispered to him.

"You and I will never be who we were expected to be… it is as the Force wills." she finished softly trying to offer up some comfort, although loud enough to reach him through the downpour. The words perked his ears and resonated within him. The words eased him as she panted, out of breath, knelt before him.

Warm water trickled down the hard and exhausted body of Ben Solo. His forearm laid perpendicular to the wall of the shower with a limp wrist as his head rested on it. His eyes were closed as he tried to let the water be therapeutic and wash away everything that had spilled out of him. The storm continued with ferocity, causing the old ship to creak and groan. Ben switched the handle downward simultaneously cutting off the stream of water. He stepped out of the cramped shower stall and into a small bathroom that only held the essentials. A clean white towel hung on a rack just in front of him. The bathroom was not constructed well. It was as if it were haphazardly thrown together by Han Solo and Chewie. The small, dim light fixture in the center of the ceiling gapped. The shower barely ran and leaked. But it all got the job done.

Ben Solo began to pat himself dry before he wrapped the towel at his waist. One hand holding the fabric of the towel and one out reached grabbing the vertical handle of the sliding door of the bathroom. It clicked on the track as it opened to Rey's messy room. She sat on her bunk with a towel drying her hair. She had changed into an oversized white long sleeve shirt that draped to her mid-thigh. The natural fabric was slightly see-through, but Ben had averted his eyes. She flashed a closed-lip smile at him as she set the towel next to her. She looked him over. He still had droplets of water on his pale skin. His black wet curls hung loosely around his neck and wore nothing but a towel. She blushed and turned her eyes.

Rey stood up from the bed. Ben's eyes followed her every move as she made her way towards the cluttered dresser tucked in the corner of the room. Books of various subjects and sizes stacked dangerously on top of one another, spent pale yellow candles molded around the candelabrum and loose sheets of parchment scattered the modest top of the bureau. A small smile curled in the corners of his lips whilst watching her grab a pile of clothes from the top drawer.

"Here, these are for you. I found them tucked away in the quarters next door. I think they were your father's." silence dropped between them as the painful memory replayed in their minds. Ben reached out for them and grasped them tightly. These were some of the last of his father's things. He felt unworthy to even have them in his possession.

"Thank you." his lips pulled into a tight line at the memory of his father, taking the clothes he disappeared back into the confines of the small hygiene room. Rey could feel the confliction spark within Ben Solo as soon as she had mentioned Han's name.

She walked out of her chambers and around the circular corridor making her way towards the ship's storage. The storage room was barren of anything valuable after it came into Unkar Plutt's junkyard on Jakku. Hopefully, she would be able to find extra blankets and pillows somewhere. The doors to the expansive cargo area of the Millenium Falcon flung open upon her approach. The hanger was barren except for the few trunks scattered sparsely. She approached one that was aged and that was once a deep brown. The metal hinges were rusted and ground against each other as she opened it. The chest was empty of anything useful and held nothing but dust. Gently, she shut the lid and continued to a nearby closet just off the entrance of the bay. She manually opened it with a pull, no lights came on. Rey searched for a switch on the left wall of the dark closet. The panel was cool to the touch and had smooth contours as her fingers found it and pushed on it, turning the faint light on. It flickered as it came to life, revealing mostly empty shelves.

The middle of many small shelves held a large folded blanket and a small pillow. Both were worn and showed signs of heavy use. Rey reached in and grabbed both items, tucking them underneath each arm. Turning, she switched the light off and closed the door. Her footsteps echoed off the walls of the empty room as she made her way back to the corridor. Ben Solo's ears perked up at the sound of arriving footsteps. He straightened his posture, waiting for her to enter the room. As if when she entered the room, she brought life back into it and it made Ben Solo ever so aware of her. She entered the room with a faint smile on her face as she made her way to where he sat on her bunk.

"I found these in storage. I hope they will be comfortable enough." she stood in front of him holding out the pillow and blanket stacked on top of one another. He was looking at her. Not blankly or coldly, but warmly. His dark brown eyes seemed to have lightened since an hour ago when he was wrapped up in a whirlwind of pain and confusing rage. Rey stared back for a moment before the heat had crept to her cheeks. Ben Solo smiled at himself as his hands reached up for the stack of fabric and the pillow. His hands brushed her as his hold closed on the pile. They were warm, Rey noticed. Her sharp incisor met the soft flesh of her lip again as she tried to ignore the warm fluttering in her abdomen. Ben let out a soft private chuckle when he felt it ripple back to him. Taking the pillow and worn blanket from her, he set them on the ground next to his feet.

"Thank you… again." his eyes fell to his hands that cupped each knee, feeling like an awkward boy in front of a beautiful girl. Did she not understand that she was a woman? Did she not know how provocative it was to wear that when they were alone together? In all honesty, Rey could wear anything and have the same magnifying pull on Ben Solo. He tried not to notice out of the corner of his eyes that her shirt became shorter when she sat down next to him. Her hands cupped the rounded edges of the frame of the small bed. She leaned forward as she sat. Her hair fell into her face as she stared at her feet.

The silence fell hard between the two. Neither knew what to say. Some many things had happened in a short 72-hour cycle. She could not take her mind off that night on Dantooine of their heated moment and the one of earlier today. The thought of his kiss reignited the fire that burned her lips. The Force bond blared each other's anxious fluttering and pooling warmth back and forth between them. Rey straightened her posture and took a hand up to her face to push the loose hair behind her ear. She turned her sheepish gaze to the man she sat utterly and completely alone with on a ship. Heat crept over Ben Solo's skin as he took in the sensual warmth ebbing and flowing through their bond. He could feel her gaze on him. He looked up at her.

"Rey…" her name sounded so sweet coming off his lips that at this moment she wanted the familiar weight of his kiss. She wanted to feel the weight of his hands on her and he wanted to give in to her need.

"I know, Ben…" she replied in almost a whisper. They both felt the heat, the wanting, the need. But neither knew how to initiate it. The two had never known the touch that so many others offered up for free. Both innocent and naive to the carnal act. Maybe it was the powerful, almost spiritual energy, from the storm or maybe it was their need to be closer that made them close the small gap between them. Ben moved first. He used his hand to push himself in closer to her, positioning the other on the small of her back. The air in their lungs froze at the touch. Her eyes still locked on his, her breath became shallow at the heated desire exuding from behind his gaze. His hand that sat on her back extended and wrapped around her feminine waist, pulling her in closer to him. Rey did not protest the newfound closeness to Ben Solo. Eye to eye, nose to nose, their shallow breaths collided with one another.

When two people in the Force are bonded together they become acutely aware of every shift of emotion and feeling between the pair. What one felt the other half felt times two. Every sensory input becomes heightened and thrown back, infinitely rippling back and forth between them. For Ben Solo and Rey, those laws were no different. Even a minor touch that traced Rey's body sent her pleasure to back to her partner. The warmth that pooled in between her legs sent him aching. Neither knew what they were doing but their whole world felt right in that moment, on her bunk all alone in the middle of a raging ocean.

Rey pushed the voice in her head telling her that it was a bad idea into a dark corner. Her sharp incisor found the soft flesh of her lip as Ben Solo shifted his body, moving to face her. In the same movement, he used his body to push her down to the bunk. Rey watched his features that seemed soft as they fell to the bed. His arms were on either side of her body, using them to prop himself above her. He watched her eyes. She was nervous under him. Ben Solo moved back up to his knees as his arms crossed over each other while grabbing the opposite corners of the garment. Pulling upward on the shirt, Ben Solo pulled it off of his body, tossing it away.

Electricity flowed between them, spiking their nerves. Rey's hands came up to meet the warm, scar ridden chest of Ben. He let out a soft sigh at her touch. She was a beautiful poison, a drug, made for him. Their eyes locked into each other, watching, looking for what the others were saying with them. Both the young Jedi's hearts pounded in the quiet room as Ben Solo positioned himself closer to Rey. Almost, instinctively, her soft sun-kissed thighs parted for her partner, inviting him in closer.

Ben Solo inched into the freed space, nervous and shaky, as the two awaiting bodies touched. Ben Solo's length pushed into her. The foreign touch rippled exhilarating waves of pleasure through her, causing her body to tense and relax. Ben let out a soft sigh from the bond throwing the sensations back at him. He bent his arms lowering himself onto her small frame beneath him. He let his nose take in the sweet scent of her heated skin in a long inhale, savoring her. His lips grazed her neck. Rey let out a sweet sound of approval in his ear as soft lips collapsed on the skin. Her arms that laid loosely on the bunk lifted from the sheets and gravitated toward the exposed skin of Ben Solo's back. Her hands softly grasped his soft skin, nails digging in. Ben Solo bucked at the thrill of the superficial pain, driving himself into her core. Rey's mouth dropped open as an airy, feverish gasp escaped her parted lips.

Ben's large hand came up from the thin bunk mattress and drifted teasingly slow down from her shoulder towards her breast, stopping for a moment. He watched his hand gently cupping the supple flesh that was covered by a thin white material. His broad hand sat on her chest as his viciously fire-filled gaze drifted back to her equally wanting eyes. Rey closed her eyes to Ben, taking in the moment and the feeling of his warm body pressed into hers. Ben Solo watched Rey's brown eyes disappear behind delicate skin and long, luscious lashes. He watched her move as if in slow motion. Her eyebrows were soft in their position. Her hair sprawled out behind her in soft waves. Her plump lips parted with a short exhale. Ben lowered his head to mere inches away from hers. The tip of his nose alerted Rey to his closeness. Her eyes opened to deep brown ones watching her. She tilted her head up, pursing her lips as if to beckon him to meet them. Ben Solo gave in to her silent request as he shifted his head to bring his lips to hers.

Warmth expanded outward, spreading to each of their extremities. Their lips molded together in a sweet but sloppy, passionate kiss. Rey's hands that still sat at his bare back, clenched as nails dug into his skin. They moaned into each other's mouth, pushing core against core. Both heated and desperate they plunged further into the kiss, deepening it. Ben Solo's strong hand came up from Rey's supple breast, tracing the exposed skin of her neck as he snaked towards the nape of her neck. Long fingers wove through fine strands of dark hair, sufficiently grabbing a fistful of hair, Ben Solo tugged at her hair. She bucked up against the hard length between her thighs at the exotic sensation. Her tongue asked permission to enter against his closed kiss. His lips parted with his wet tongue tentatively reaching out towards hers, delicately caressing it. Ben Solo came out of the kiss, dragging his teeth along Rey's lip. Her lip slapped back into place with a soft wet smack.

Both Jedi's heads whipped in the direction of the door, sensing movement coming towards them. Each scrambled up from the shallow bunk and on to their feet. Each assuming a defensive position, ready to attack. Rey summoned her quarterstaff into a familiar hold in her hand. Ben Solo, however, relaxed at a familiar but almost forgotten presence of the person approaching them. He straightened at it, feeling like a boy in trouble, embarrassed even. Rey, dismissed his feelings of ease and his anxious nerves, staying alert for the trespasser's arrival. Seconds felt like hours when waiting for a possible enemy to walk through the door. The intruder's light footfall echoed and bounced off the steel walls, growing louder before they stopped just in front of the door. The door opened to a woman, Leia. She looked worried and relieved at the same time. There was a long moment of silence as Leias's eyes bounced from Ben and Rey's disheveled and nakedness. Rey in her oversized shirt and Leia's half-naked son relaxed at her presence but also felt awkward in their current state. Leia smiled.

"Ah, it has been a long time since I have been on this ship. Hello, my old friend." Leia took a weathered hand to the cool steel walls and held it there. Memories of her and Han's wild adventures played out as her smile turned bittersweet. Ben Solo's eyes fell from his mother, guilt riddling him. If you looked closely at his mother, you could see the presence of tears holding tight to the rim of her eyes. As if Leia had to force herself out of the slideshow of memories, she turned to the two young Jedis in front of her. Her smile was sad, but she came here on a mission. She needed them to return to base. It was urgent.

"Hello, Ben." Leia's voice was laced with soft joy as she turned her gaze to her son. She had not seen him since he was a young man. He had changed so much, but he had not at the same time. He was unmistakably her son. She could not help but see her late husband in his face and even his build. But, one thing for sure, is that he had her deep brown eyes.

"Mother…" Ben Solo timidly addressed Leia. The tight, achy grasp on his heart tightened at his mother's greeting. How could she be kind to the monster that her son had willingly transformed into? The thought that a mother's unconditional love still applied to even the evilest, twisted, Sith baffled Ben Solo. His eyes dropped to his feet, feeling unworthy of such regard. His arms sat apprehensively with clenched fists. His palms were sweaty and the tips of his ears burned. Rey took up the gauntlet to get answers to why Leia put in so much effort to find them in the middle of the ocean of Ahch-To.

"Leia, what are you doing here? What's wrong?" Rey, took a casual posture now knowing that the intruder was no cause for alarm. But, knowing that Leia does not carry out any action without thought or calculation caused the hairs on Rey's arms to stand erect. Something is up and Rey senses the worry radiating off Leia. Leia straightens as if snapping back into her General persona.

"The First Order's probe droids were spotted just on the other side of the planet. The recon team was successful in going unnoticed by the droids, this time. But the First Order knows we are somewhere within the Unknown Regions. The droids littered these holoprojecters as they went. Here, play it. You need to hear it." Leia reached in her robe's pocket and brought out a small silver disk. Rey took it gingerly from the General's outstretched hand. Rey looked from Leia's eyes to Ben's. They were all on edge from the news.

Without a word between the three of them, Rey pressed the inner ring with her thumb before returning her hand to a relaxed upward position. The holoprojector, cheap in quality, skittered to life. The hologram picture of former General Hux jerked as it rendered the digital message. Hux stood tall, arms tucked sternly behind him. His hair perfectly combed back and his face was effortlessly expressionless. Ben Solo's forehead furrowed as he focused on the image of the man he despised most. The rat began to bark out a chilling warning.

"This is Supreme Leader Hux of the First Order. As of today, our forces are closing in on the rebel group known as the Resistance. Their leader Leia Organa-Solo is a long time terrorist and has now turned to harboring violent criminals like the former master of the Knights of Ren. Kylo Ren is an enemy to the whole universe. They must all come to justice for their crimes against the First Order. We must band together to take down such terror groups that threaten our livelihoods. If you come into contact with anyone who has a connection to either Kylo Ren or Leia Organa-Solo, please come forward and you will be rewarded. General Leia, I know by now this message has reached whatever foxhole your ragtag team of rebel scum are hiding in. This is for you. We are close. We will find you. You are short on numbers and supplies. Your allies have deserted you. You are sitting ducks and it is only a matter of time before we find you. You fall short of the magnitude of the First Order. We will hunt you down one by one if that is what it takes. That is all." The jittering holographic image of Hux cut out and disappeared. Ben and Rey did not move a muscle as the continued to look at the holoprojector. Stunned, their minds raced through every worst-case scenario. Adrenaline coursed through their hard beating hearts.

Rey's view shifted upward to an awaiting Leia, "This is bad."