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Together, Ben and Rey helped each other limp and crawl and climb, until finally they reached ground level. They lay on the cracked clay for a moment, just to catch their breath. The tide of battle overhead had clearly turned. Debris floating into the atmosphere made a dangerous and fiery display.
Rey was growing extremely weary, Ben could feel her strength fading. He reached out for her hand. “You need to rest.” She loosely clasped his fingers. In truth, he was not feeling much better. He was still pretty badly hurt, and trying to keep the various aches and pains of his body out of their Bond was distracting and difficult.
“Almost.” Rey looked at Luke’s X-wing. “I’ve made it this far. I’ll make it into that ship. And then I’ll be fine.” Even in the distorted light, Ben could see how pale she was, how dark the shadows were growing beneath her eyes.
“Now I really hate to say this, but we need to check on your leg.”
“And I really hate to hear it.”
The journey back outside had taken a bit. They’d stopped a few times so Rey could quickly scavenge supplies from the dead and they could both rest. She’d pressed a few recovered cred sticks into his hand and had to remind that he would likely need the money. Ben also retrieved his dropped blaster.
Rey sat up and he shifted around, setting his feet beside her. The fabric of his pants leg was sticky with dried blood. She pulled up the hem and examined his left lower leg.
“There is all this blood, but the skin isn’t broken. How?”
“Mother. She woke me up. I passed out when I hit the rocks. My leg was badly broken." He smirked. "She healed me so that now it is only a little broken.” He sat up and readjusted his weight.
“I can’t heal you, I’m sorry. I don’t have anything left.”
“Rey, I don’t expect you to fix it. After I have some rest, I can try and heal it. Let’s just make sure it’s straight, bind it up, and get out of here.”
She ran her hands along his skin, feeling for the fracture. He closed his eyes and winced when she found it, but did not make a sound. With the skin to skin contact, she could feel the pain in his leg, despite his efforts. Also his side, his hip. Not to mention the wounds received during the fight.
Rey grimaced in sympathy and shook her head, “I think I have to set it.” If Ben wanted her to ignore how much pain he was in, for the moment she had no choice but to indulge him.
He nodded, and she could feel him putting up more barriers, readying himself to deal with the pain setting the bone was going to cause. Pulling her makeshift sack over, she extracted pieces of leg armor, and a cloak. She quickly ripped the cloak into strips. Also in the bundle were two weapons recovered from the Knights of Ren: a war club and an ancient ax.
“This - I - oh, I’m sorry.” Of course he knows it’s going to hurt.
Grabbing his left ankle securely, she pulled on his foot slowly, feeling things in his leg shift until the bones were aligned. She winced in sympathy, and he said through his teeth, “Please stop projecting. Just hurry.”
Using the borrowed armor and cloth strips, she bound up his leg as best she could. He grunted a few times, and shuddered, collapsing backwards once she was finished.
“That was unpleasant. I’m going to need a minute.”
Rey made it to her feet first, and made sure Ben’s splint was stable before they started moving again.
Once they reached the X-wing, he helped her climb inside.
“I have something for you.” Rey pulled out her staff and handed it to him. “Here - this should help.”
“But this is yours, I can’t take it.”
“I want you to be able to walk. Think of it as a loan, then.”
“Alright. Thank you. This will help.” The metal was cool against his skin, and it was heavier than he thought it would be. “I’ll get it back to you as soon as I can.”
“What do you mean as soon as you can? Aren’t you coming back to base with me?” Rey paused in her struggle with the seat straps of the X-Wing.
Ben clung to the edge of the cockpit, looking down at her. “I’m not ready. They don’t want me there anyway.”
“I want you there. Isn’t that enough?”
“Almost.” Ben gave her a wide smile, eyes twinkling. “But I can’t. Not just yet. I need to go and figure out who I am again.”
But I just found you - how can you leave me so quickly? She knew he felt her question. Instead she asked, “Where will you go?”
“I’m not exactly sure. But I will find you. Or you will find me. The Resistance needs to see you, and you need to see them. Go, I’ll be fine. I promise.” He grabbed her hand and quickly kissed the back of it.
She believed he would return to her. After all, Ben had followed her into Exegol with nothing but bravado and a blaster.
Rey buckled herself in and started warming up the ship. She watched out her view screen as Ben limped over to the TIE, a bundle over his shoulder. She opened up the link between them. Right now, even this was taxing. Please be careful, and let me know where you are when you can.
He looked over at her and she clearly felt his reply. I promise. Rey waited until she his ship began to hover, and then lifted off towards her fleet.
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the end
thanks for reading
serafine
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"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."
- Wesley in The Princess Bride