Summary: Rey reflects on her life with Ben in the middle of the night. Takes place on Naboo in the lake country. Post-TROS but Ben lives bc obvi. Flufffffffff. Also I did imagine Ben shirtless in every scene I wrote him in so just keep that in mind, I couldn't figure out how to tastefully add that so bear with me okay?
A/N: heyyyyy so this is the first fic that i've ever finished and posted!! Have I had this account for three years? yes, Have I ever posted? No. But that changes today!! Hope you like it <3
Rey sat up in bed. The cream silky covers slipped down to pool around her hips, cooling her on this spring night. The darkness and quiet of midnight wrapped around this place, permeating a gentile peace. She was in her and Ben’s sprawling bed, with him next to her.
Through the dark she could make out the railing and the lake beyond it. Naboo was famous for its beauty; she'd had the pleasure of exploring its rich forests and learning to swim in the crystal-colored lake. Ben helped keep her afloat with the utmost care and love as she thrashed and struggled to stay above the water line. They would sit under the stars at night and he would tell her stories from his family’s days fighting the empire. Sometimes, a shooting star would streak across the sky, leaving a trail of dazzling light in its path. When this happened, she only ever had one wish, for these precious things to stay in her life. She felt truly grateful for these gifts. Ben was technically a prince of Naboo because of his grandmother; so they were given a home and the promise that they would want for nothing. Rey had never dared to dream she could live in a place as grand as this, with no fear, no pain, just a contentness that filled her days.
Every morning she knew there would be food, whether the chef would cook, or her and Ben, would be the only question they faced. She had a closet, it was filled with any item of clothing she would ever need. The softest robes made from the hide of an animal of some distant planet. Leather boots that were kept polished and perfect, not a hole to be found. Gowns, for when they hosted company, though she rarely used those. She would clean herself every night, she could take a bath or use the refresher and the water was always warm. She would finish and find a warmed plush towel folded neatly for her. These were the luxuries she spent her days relishing. Every once in a while they would take the speeders out into the forest and race each other through thickets and trees that touched the clouds. When they were done they’d return home to sit in silence and tinker with their machines until dinner. Rey constantly found herself trying to one-up him to make her speeder faster.
She turned to see the sleeping Ben Solo next to her, his face showing no evidence of the cruelty he’d endured or been a part of. As the years passed, time had healed even the worst of their wounds. The scar she’d given him when they first fought was reduced to a pearly line the size of a needle. His eyebrows no longer had a crease between them, no fear or anxiety were present in his force. Neither woke to the other screaming or shaking from a nightmare. It had taken such time, but the peace she felt was well worth it.
Looking at him she couldn’t describe it, the feeling she had. No word had been invented to show how in love they were. She felt it every day in the force, it wasn’t raging and charged like years past. No, this was peace and purpose. Even when they were quiet like this night, it lingered like a promise, a devotion. Her and Ben could just sit together and feel each other's presence and that was enough.
They had married, no officials were there. They decided as the last two Jedi in the galaxy that they had more than enough power to pronounce the marriage official. It had been at sunset, with just a few friends and loved ones. Ben had told her the story beforehand of how he’d had a vision of his grandparents getting married in the same spot. The sunset had painted the sky golden as they stood and vowed to never part. That was one of the moments in her life with Ben that she felt the force speaking and singing around them. The dyad was elated and buzzed with happiness at this union.
She looked at Ben’s face again, a few strands of his jet black hair had fallen over his eyes. She reached out and gently brushed them back, and stopped to stare. This was the greatest gift of all, her missing piece, the void that he filled had sucked away her life for so long. But he was here, he was real. This darkness had no fear for her, she lived these days in the comfort of the fact that she could just reach next to her and he would be there. As she leaned down to kiss him she felt the force pick up around her, it began to lightly buzz like it did every time they connected. Rey gently pressed her lips to his, tasting the sticky juice from the tangerines they’d had before bed, it lingered on his lips.
Feeling drowsiness began to take her again Rey pulled the covers up and lay back down. This time she shifted so that her head was on Ben’s broad chest. As she closed her eyelids she heard the rumbles of his breath from his lungs mixing with the singing of the force around them. It was like a second blanket protecting her from the outside world. Just before she fell asleep a vision from the force found her.
Rey and Ben were chasing something through the halls of the house. It was small but quick, she wasn’t riddled with anxiety, there was no desperation to catch it, just joy. She could hear the pitter-patter of feet against the cold tiles, and the high-pitched giggles that bounced off the walls and ceilings of her home. As she ran past the drawing room she saw a flash of blue silk. She spun around and tip-toed into the room. Just as she reached the velvet couch, the vision shifted.
She was wading into the lake, the water tickled her sides. The sun hit the top of the water, sending bright white sparkles dancing across it. Rey shaded her eyes from the sun and looked further ahead where Ben stood. He was waving to her with one arm and holding something in the other, before she could make out what it was the vision shifted again.
This time her and Ben were on the balcony, it was early in the morning and they each had a cup of warm caf in their mugs balanced on the railing. She turned and her eyes met Ben's, he was looking at her in that way that reminded her of when they first met. Full of wonder like then, and now of love as well. “I love you, honeybee,” he whispered.
She tilted her head and felt herself smile at him, the moment sweeter than the honey their bees made. She suddenly felt something attach to her leg. It wrapped its arms around her and tugged so as to get her attention. Both Rey and Ben looked down. The child had her face, and her short brown hair, it was even in the same style. But the child’s eyes, full of a wonder and love that she would come to know for the rest of her life, were the same as Ben’s.