Rey woke early the next morning, before it was even light. She watched Ben sleeping, studying his face. She stroked his cheek gently and was rewarded with a faint smile. The new bed had definitely been worth it even if it took up half the small room. 

Not wanting to wake him she picked up one of the Jedi texts to occupy her mind. She could just about make out the words in the half light. She was looking for anything about Dyads and Force bonds. She flicked aimlessly from page to page, glancing over information on crystals, lightsaber fighting forms and instructions for Padawans. Tossing that one aside she picked up another. Her eyes fell on the sentence she had seen before about the Heart of the Galaxy. She wondered vaguely how many Force users had been to the Wellspring, it didn't seem to be many. As she turned the page the book slipped out of her grasp and in her efforts to stop it hitting the floor she turned over a dozen pages at once. As she got a hold on it again a word caught her attention, Dyad was written halfway down the page. 

'A Dyad is a rare phenomenon that occurs when two Force users share a unique bond with each other, connecting them across space and time. Within the Force they are one.'

Rey read it a second time and then uttered an exclaimed "Of course!" louder than she meant to. 

Ben stirred beside her. "Of course what?" he mumbled. 

"Sorry, that came out louder than I meant it to." Rey leant over and kissed his cheek. "Morning." 

"Are you going to explain why you are up so ridiculously early?" 

"Anxious I guess. I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep so I was reading. Listen to this: A Dyad is a rare phenomenon that occurs when two Force users share a unique bond with each other, connecting them across space and time. Within the Force they are one."

"Ok," said Ben sleepily, eyes still half closed. "But why of course?"

"It's the dreams I had, the ones where we were talking on Mustafar. It was the Bond, we were still linked through time and space but the Bond changed form to accommodate us sharing a Life Force. I think that I had to be completely relaxed for it to happen and after Exegol the only time that happened was when I was asleep."

Ben opened one eye and looked at her. "Makes sense," he said matter-of-factly. 

Rey had been wanting to figure it all out for while and finally the pieces seemed to be fitting together. "Aren't you curious as to what's been going on? Mustafar, the dream connections?" she asked.

"I promise I will be very curious when it's actually light," Ben replied, eyes half closed. 

 "Were you really looking for a Sith Holocron?" she asked him cautiously. 

Opening his eyes properly and raising himself on one elbow Ben answered "Yes. Darth Plagueis is meant to have made one that contained information on cloning and Sith powers. He was obsessed with avoiding death, tried manipulating midi-chlorians and experimenting with ways to live eternally. I thought maybe I could get back to you if I found it. This is a bit late but thank you for coming for me," Ben whispered, embracing her tightly.

Rey smiled at him and snuggled down under the covers, placing her head on his chest. 

"Ben . . ," Rey started and then her voice caught on a lump in her throat. She changed to telling him through their connection, not trusting her voice not to wobble. 

'If today goes badly I want you to know that these last few weeks have been the happiest I have ever been. I love you.'

'It's not going to go badly, we will fight and we will win. But it's been the happiest I've ever been too.'

He kissed the top of her head and they lay together in silence, heartbeats and breathing in sync, the Force swirling around them. Rey reached out to it as was her habit every morning, like checking in with a friend. Seeing the web she smiled widely. Ben could feel a sense of satisfaction coming from her. 

"What?" he queried. 

"The webs are properly wound together. One silver web, no split gold and grey. The Force is balanced." The Force felt more peaceful to Rey than it had ever been before. The gold and dark grey webs she had always visualised were gone, replaced by one integrated web with silver threads, vibrating slightly. No pushing and pulling, just existing. 

"And you're taking credit for this I suppose?" Ben replied with a slight smirk. 

"No, WE are taking credit for it. Although we should probably keep the way we did it quiet," she giggled. "You accepted my light, I took in your darkness. We exchanged energies. You know what Serenity said to me on the Force planet? That it was love that saved me. I think we have bought the two halves of the Force back together. It was split in two by hate, we bought it back together with love." She gave him a contented hug. 

Ben stared at the top of her head, his thoughts whirring. "The black sheets. Your dream. That's why you called me Kylo! You wanted me to expose my darkness."

Rey grinned up at him mischievously. "That and I thought we'd have a good time," she replied winking at him. "I always thought you were hot, even when I hated you."

Ben didn't know what to say, he hadn't realised Rey could be that devious. "I could probably get another uniform made you know . . . " 

"Maybe the gloves . . . ?"

Ben projected an image of them together to her that widened her eyes and bought a flush to her cheeks.  

*********************************

Breakfast was unusually quiet when they eventually got there. Finn and Poe had managed to convince some people to leave, at least temporarily. Beaumont, Finn, Poe, Kaydel, Rose and Chewie were already eating when Rey and Ben got to the Mess Hall. 

"Where's breakfast?" asked Rey, looking at the empty counters that were normally well-stocked. 

Finn still had his mouth full when he answered her question. "Chef's been evacuated. I'm cooking this morning but I can only do omelettes," he said in a muffled voice. 

"Then I guess we'd like two omelettes please," Rey replied giving him a winning smile. Finn finished his own breakfast and then got up to head back into the kitchen. She sat down next to Chewie and leaned her head on his shoulder briefly as a greeting. Chewie had obviously decided that Wookies did not eat omelettes and was drinking a cup of caff. 

Poe was sitting opposite them and was still frosty, but perhaps the tiniest bit less grumpy than before. "When we've dealt with this Dakodar character we need to tell the Government about our new fund," he told Rey, "start looking for people who need help."

She sighed. "Can't put it off any longer I guess. What's the plan today?" 

Poe looked around the table. "We incapacitate as many as possible, only kill them if we have to." He gave Ben a meaningful look. Ben raised one eyebrow but said nothing. 

Everyone else nodded in agreement, apprehension clearly showing on a couple of faces. Finn reappeared carrying two plates and set them down in front of Rey and Ben. He tossed them a bottle of water each and resumed his seat. 

"This is pretty good," Rey told Finn, smiling. She had just put the last piece in her mouth when there was an almighty explosion from outside. They all jumped to their feet, picking up blasters as they went. Rey and Ben had luckily bought their sabers out of habit and they both unclipped them as they ran outside. 

Looking up they could see several ships approaching and in front of them on the landing pad the MIllenium Falcon was burning, spitting sparks and smoke into the sky. 

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Artwork by Monica Eisenlohr on Pintrest

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