Chapter Text
She could feel the darkness in him, like a bitter taste on the back of her tongue. It was heavy in the air, like the damp in the evenings. She had felt it the moment they landed on this planet - a large desert world she had never visited. Although, that wasn’t surprising; Rey had never been anywhere until recently.
Ben had called it Tatooine.
The name seemed to carry some unspoken weight. Even the Falcon seemed to sag with the feel of it. The Force was strong under her feet and woven tightly in the warm air that sped across the dunes. Much had happened on this planet, it seemed...
After they landed, Ben had said little. He merely lumbered on towards the mid-sized spaceport they’d been called to. Rey saw ‘Mos Espa’ etched in basic over the city gates. The portmaster had summoned them to this place, and the old man was weary with worry. Young children had become outcasts and vagrants because they were struggling with unknown powers.
Rey and Ben were used to these sorts of stories by now. They’d heard them countless times, and they’d done their best to answer. The gossip feeds on the holo pads called them, “The Jedi-Makers.” It was an over exaggeration, of course. Rey could practically hear Master Luke’s laughter from behind the veil. Ben, unsurprisingly, hated the title. Rey, on the other hand, thought it was exciting.
She’d never been known for anything before.
Together, the so-called Jedi and her dark knight had traveled from planet to planet, mentoring young force-wielding children until they were strong enough to carry on alone. They spread awareness and acceptance, and she felt the balance growing through the galaxy with each passing day.
When they arrived in Mos Espa, Ben had leased a small cluster of abandoned slave dwellings at the edge of town. They were run down and eroded from wind and sun, but the beds were soft and the doors closed tight at night.
Together they had found a handful of lonely younglings scattered throughout the open markets of the space port. She and Ben had found them hiding in the shadows between buildings and behind merchant tents. They took their hands and led them to safety. When they introduced themselves, they never hid their names.
Rey of Jakku and Ben Solo.
“ Solo ?” the children would exclaim with the bright glow of excitement shining from their eyes. “General Solo saved the Rebels! General Solo saved Master Luke Skywalker!”
“Yes, he did indeed,” Rey would say, catching her morose lover’s eye from across a crowd of sandy children.
Ben’s smiles had become commonplace now, even at the mention of his blundering pilot father. However, that darkness had settled high on his shoulders the moment his feet had touched the sand of this world. Even as he teased and goaded the younglings with Force trickery, it lingered at his back, in the deep brown of his eyes.
As their days sped by, Rey began to piece together the reason. She heard it through the hushed whispers that floated between huts and tent poles like lost debris on the wind.
Skywalker .
Anakin Skywalker - Darth Vader - had been a tiny slave boy on this planet. Many years ago, Ben’s grandfather had lived with his mother very near where they slept now. The memories must have called out to him, tempting him with tales unknown.
Rey was at a loss, so she did what she always had - she waited, and she listened. Each day, Ben kissed her the same as always, and his hands gripped her fingers tightly as they embraced. She began to wonder if it was a trick of the light. Perhaps she had imagined the darkness?
She found him outside one evening after supper. The blazing twin suns were setting into the rippling desert horizon at his back, but Ben faced their dwellings, lit by the lamp light inside. Always guarding, always protecting. Behind him, the untouched dunes wavered in the distance. Rey walked to his side and threaded her fingers through his dark hair - like strands of fire-warmed slik in the fading sunlight.
Ben made a hum of pleasure at her nearness and leaned into her hand. From where they stood they could see the bobbing heads of the children inside. Arguments echoed out the windows as they fought over one thing or another. Eventually it quieted, and Ben reached for her free hand. He drew it to his lips and kissed her palm. His lips were chapped and scratched from the heat.
“Something is bothering you,” she said gently.
He tugged her around so she stood before him, and she knelt between his knees. “It seems that you already know,” he said.
Rey shrugged. “I’ve picked up this and that. The planet speaks sometimes.”
Something like pride pulled at the corner of his mouth. He squeezed her hand as he looked out towards the desert. Lights from evaporators flickered in the near distance. “The memories are thick here, like ghost stories,” he said. “They tug at me from all directions.”
“Of Anakin?”
Ben nodded. “Of my grandfather, his mother, my uncle. Such loss…”
“And, can you fight them?
Ben’s brows furrowed as he watched the sand swirl at their feet. “I don’t need to fight the memories. I’ve heard them all before. They don’t tempt me with darkness or false promises anymore. They only speak of sadness and struggle. Suffering.” His eyes were shining when he lifted them.
She felt a rip through her heart and she pressed her hand to the side of his face. “What is it?”
He didn’t look away as he said, “I find myself thinking of you, and your past. What it must have felt like to be stranded somewhere like this.”
Rey sighed with relief. “Oh, Ben. Don’t do that.” She found herself laughing as she said, “Don’t waste your time.”
Ben’s eyes flashed with quiet anger. “ Waste- ”
“I’m here now,” she cut in, firmly. Her hand was still on his cheek. “I’m safe, strong, loved.”
His eyes had softened as he listened to her words and his mouth lifted in a slow, sweet smile.
“All of us made it out somehow. Luke, Anakin, and me.”
He nodded.
“How can I help you?” Rey offered. “I’ll do whatever I can.”
Ben trailed his fingers up the side of her arm. “You’ve already helped me, just now. You do help me. Each day. Thank you.”
They watched each other in the fading light as their bond seemed to hum between them. She felt bashful and vulnerable, like she’d been stripped bare. His smile made her want to leap into the air but the intensity of his eyes always anchored her to the ground. Ben Solo was a large force, practically radiating with power and strength, but he was hers, and she cared for him deeply.
The suns had nearly disappeared below the horizon. It would be dark soon, and they should start their evening meditation with the children…
But she wasn’t often selfish with Ben, not since they’d been out on their own. She wasn't quite ready to let him go yet.
“Do you like the sand?” she asked instead. It was a question she would ask anyone, living most of her life on a desert planet. Most people she had met had never set foot on a sand dune. She liked to hear the answers.
Ben seemed pleased at the distraction. “I do,” he answered with a nod. His long hair swung around his ears.
His answer had surprised her. “Why?”
“I’ll show you.” There was a twinkle in his eye where the sadness had once been. Rey bit her lip at the sight of it.
“Show me what?”
He didn’t answer, merely pursed his lips together.
She realized gradually that thousands of single grains of sands had lifted into the air around her. They remained suspended, twinkling with the last bits of sunlight. Slowly, they began circling each other and undulating like fine threads until they formed shapes across her skin. A lace made of sand seemed to form around her arms and chest, like a necklace and bangles. Each grain caught the light, like shining copper. Her mouth fell open as she marveled at the detail.
Between them, more sand rose and bubbled like liquid until if formed a tiny Millennium Falcon. It swooped and swerved between unknown sandy scenery, living up to every legend it carried in its wake.
It shot away and into the distance, as though Ben had thrown a handful of sand into the darkness.
Eventually the shapes stilled and floated away on the wind, until only the delicate filigree around her neck remained.
Ben was smiling fully now, his eyes creasing at the corners. He hid a laugh and bit down on his lip.
“That was remarkable,” she sighed.
“I’m glad you think so.”
Rey shook her head. “Don’t be modest. I’m a bit flustered if you must know.”
He hummed and leaned close until she kissed him. It was a welcome task to hide the blush on her cheeks and the trembling of her fingers. When she pulled back, the necklace had gone.
“It’s a shame you can’t keep them,” she said, dusting the remnants off her blouse.
“I’m sure I could find a way,” he mused, watching her curiously. “Or I could buy you something.”
Rey waved her hand into the wind. “I’d have no use for anything that fine. Look at us; crouched in the sand outside of a shanty town on Tatooine, with a brood of unwieldy Force children spying on us from the windows.”
They laughed together.
“No,” she sighed, smoothing his hair off his forehead. “I have everything I need.”
Ben leaned into her touch. “If that was all it took to make you smile that way, I’d buy you a necklace in a heartbeat.”
Rey draped her arms around his neck and twisted her fingers in his hair. “ You make me smile.”
Ben’s lips pursed in embarrassment and he looked away.
“Make me something with the sand,” she whispered in his ear. “I don’t need to keep it.”
His eyes flit back to hers.
“I feel like it means you’re not lost to the darkness.”
“No,” he sighed, leaning close. “With you, I won’t be lost to the darkness.”