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You took the armor on my chest
and tore it open, open
You saw my heart inside the mess,
said, “It’s not broken, broken” ...
You lit the match, shook me awake
The fire grew, you fanned the flames
It burned until the walls let in the light
-“Passing Time” by Heffron Drive
When Rey wakes, Ben Solo is there.
He is handsome even in sleep. Though his face is mottled with bruises and half-healed cuts, Rey can’t help but smile, reaching out with one hand to cup his cheek.
He is here. She still can’t quite believe it.
Ben begins to wake, eyelashes fluttering as his eyes slowly open to meet hers. He gives her a soft, sleepy smile, and it is so sweet that Rey’s heart melts. As gently as she can, she kisses his cheek, and Ben’s smile grows.
They don’t speak yet, both simply reveling in the shared warmth of this moment through their bond. All too soon, though, they can hear the base awakening around them. It is time to face the day.
Rey rises, stretching, before turning back to Ben. Carefully, she helps him sit up, and he swings his legs over the edge of the bed. Rey offers him her hand. “Fresher?”
Ben nods. He grimaces as she pulls him to his feet, and Rey winces in sympathy. “Ben, I can heal—”
He shakes his head as she moves to his side and draws his arm across her shoulders. “The Resistance feels safer if I’m at the mercy of their Jedi. I don’t want to be a threat.”
Rey can understand that. If he were a threat, they might have locked him away, or even tried to execute him. But while he is injured, he is under her watch—and her protection, truthfully. It will be a while before he heals. They have plenty of time to show the galaxy just how much he has changed.
That doesn’t make his pain any more bearable for her, though.
Ben catches the direction of that thought and leans down to kiss the top of her head. “I know, love,” he murmurs, his voice low. Rey blushes at the endearment. “I’d feel the same if it were you.”
Yesterday, it was her. Rey can’t imagine what Ben went through—finding her there, at the foot of Palpatine’s throne, her life force all but extinguished. But she’d held on as best she could for Ben. With his voice in her head, begging her to stay, she’d floated somewhere between life and death and waited for him. Then he pulled her back from the edge, teaching them both what it means to possess a power like life itself.
But it seems that Ben gave Rey a little too much of his strength. Rey left Exegol exhausted, but all her other injuries were healed. Ben, on the other hand…
Rey winces as she helps Ben out of his shirt. A web of purple-black burns spiders across his chest, remnants of Palpatine’s attempt to draw the bond right out of their chests. A large bandage peeks out from the waistband of Ben’s pants on his left side; with that broken hip, he won’t be able to walk well for some time. His shoulder, too, had connected with the rock as he fell into the pit, leaving behind a large bruise. And then there are all the scratches that track down his arm—
“Rey.” His warm hand cups her cheek, drawing her attention to his eyes, and he looks at her with that intensity she has come to know so well. “I’d do it again,” he says fiercely, and with finality. “I would suffer anything for you.”
She reaches up to cover his hand with her own. “You know I’d do the same for you,” she murmurs. Bracing her other hand on his uninjured shoulder, Rey rises on her toes and presses a lingering kiss to his forehead. Ben closes his eyes and lets out a quiet breath.
When Rey releases him, she turns her back so he can finish undressing. He occasionally places a hand on her shoulder for a combination of support and balance. Then it’s a matter of keeping her eyes squeezed shut and both of them using the Force to get him in and out of the shower without incident. When he is clean and back in underthings, Ben sits, and Rey finally opens her eyes, ready with fresh bandages and bacta.
She tends to the lacerations on his arm first, carefully applying a bit of bacta to each and covering them. She leaves his hip alone. Dr. Kalonia put a waterproof bandage on it last night, so they can wait for her to change it at Ben’s check-up tomorrow. The bruises on his cheek and knee receive bacta as well, but no bandages.
All that’s left is his chest.
Rey doesn’t know what to do about the burns. There probably isn’t anything she can do about them, except heal them with the Force. She frowns. “Ben, I should—”
Ben shakes his head. He reaches for her hand, taking it and pressing her palm to the center of his chest. “You erased Kylo Ren’s scars on Kef Bir. These marks belong to Ben Solo.”
The words ring with such truth in the Force. Rey spreads her fingers on Ben’s chest, her thumb tracing the path of the nearest dark line. “That…makes them sort of beautiful,” she admits. There’s a beat of silence, and Rey’s gaze darts up, quickly assessing Ben’s reaction. A blush stains his cheeks. Suddenly, Rey is aware of his warmth, his bare skin beneath her palm, the way she stands between his knees.
This time, it is Ben who initiates the kiss. The way they are positioned, he has to tilt his head back to capture her lips. Their bond flares with light, just as it had yesterday, and just like Rey is sure it always will.
When they part, Ben murmurs, “Do you know how many times I wished for this? I wanted to be yours since I found you in the forest.”
Rey nods. She knows; she has seen it in his mind. “I wished for it, too.” Looping her arms around his neck, she gently tangles one hand in the hair at his nape. “After Crait, I stopped dreaming about the island, and I started dreaming about you. Us. Here, together.”
Ben leans into her, hiding his face in her chest, his arms coming up around her waist. “Sorry it took me so long.”
“You’re here now.” Rey holds him tighter. “And I’m never letting you go.”
“Mm. Scavenger’s rights?”
Grinning, she kisses the top of his head. “Best thing I ever salvaged.” Ben lets out a small laugh, and he is so close that Rey can feel the puff of warm breath on her chest. She hopes she will make him laugh every day for the rest of their lives. “Let me get your clothes.”
They release each other, and Rey grabs the pile of clothing she left just outside the fresher door—black pants, an off-white shirt, and standard-issue Resistance boots. The boots are much shorter than Ben’s, and therefore easier for him to get around in while his hip is healing.
Rey takes a step back once Ben is dressed, unable to keep the smile off her face. Ben tilts his head. “What is it?”
“You look so…” She pauses. He looks different. Softer. Like a man reborn. Like every dream she has ever had, every hope for belonging, brought to life. Aloud, she settles on, “You look good, Ben.”
Ben smirks, and it makes Rey’s heart skip a beat. “Because I am good now.”
Rey laughs. Yes, he is. He is good, and he is here. She couldn’t ask for more.