*This chapter is especially dedicated to @stitch4321, @HeyloReylo and KiraNaberrie, who kept me going on with this story! *

~*~

The war was over. It was finally over. And the cries of joy and the music rang across the whole galaxy.

Rey and Ben have found a hidden cave up in a rocky mountain, where green meadows spread beneath, filled with people celebrating their freedom. The sounds of music and laughter reached the mouth of the cave where Ben sat cross-legged on a slate.

Strange, though, that his body did not hurt anymore. Maybe when Rey had brought him back, she had healed his wounds as well.

The fiery sun was setting over the range of mountains, casting a golden light and making the stone seem red.

Ben was gazing off in the distance, his mind lost to the sea of green of that planet, streaked here and there with balloons and decorations. They are celebrating the escape of my wrath, he thought bitterly. Would he get to live all of his remaining days up here in this cave, thinking about all the bad he had done?

But a sudden, gentle touch on his shoulder woke him up from his thoughts. His head jerked up, his eyes fixed right on her.

Rey just smiled and sat down next to him. She seemed happy. But still he had so many questions to ask her. And he was afraid to do so.

His head turned again to gaze in the distance. He wished he were there with them, to celebrate. He wished he were with them from the beginning.

And then something soft brushed against his neck as Rey laid her head on his shoulder. He stirred slowly, his eyes drifting to hers. Surprise was written all over his face, and it took him some good moments to realize that Rey was sitting there, next to him, as if he was her friend, not her enemy.

But I've turned. I'm not her enemy anymore, he thought back, the thought still incredibly strange.

And, guessing what she could want, he rose his arm, slowly, hesitant. What if she would get scared again? But right now, he was going to find that out. He wasn't going to let his doubts take the lead of his life anymore.

His arm wrapped gently and protectively around her shoulders. And he could see it surprised her.

Her head jerked up to his sad brown eyes, a gasp escaped her mouth. And he thought he had offended her, and made to retreat his arm.

But to his surprise, Rey pulled his arm back around her.

"No, please." She said. And he could read in her eyes the same tension he had seen the night their hands had touched on Ahch-To.

He found the strength to nod weakly. Then, she buried her head in the crook of his shoulder, her arms wound around his waist. She was exhausted. And his hand stroked her arm up and down. She craves affection. My affection, he realized. As I crave hers. And she had been offering him her affection ever since they met. A kind of affection he had always needed, but of which he thought himself unworthy.

He smiled. And, without any hesitation this time, he laid his chin on her head.

Even when the sky had darkened completely, and the cold began to freeze the stones, the cries and music continued on. It was now so cold, that Ben had to make a fire. He had spared Rey of everything that had to be done, and he had gone to gather logs.

The cave had a large hall, overlooking the wooded vales now filled with spots of light. The people down there had made a huge fire that rose high in the air, the flames reaching for the sky.

The walls were damp, and small drops of water trickled down them.

Ben sat down on the hard ground looking at the fire he had made. Somehow, it's our celebration fire, he thought and smiled. She deserved that, to feel the victory. She deserved everything. Even if Rey was not there with her friends, maybe he could bring the celebration to her. And he waited for Rey, who was now making an improved bed from his cloak. He would let her sleep there, he didn't mind the stone floor as long as she was well and rested and warm.

The logs were cracking and the fire was spitting out sparks. The flames were swirling and dancing steadily against the night sky.

Yet there was a silence that had been hanging over them all day, and all because of only one question he wanted to ask.

His eyes followed her as she fussed around and placed a water flask on the ground. She had stayed with him at last. After all his pleas to her, she was finally standing by his side.

"Why did you come with me?" he asked in confusion. She could have gone to the resistance, to her friends. She could have been celebrating with them by now instead of staying in that damp cave.

But she stopped from what she was doing, and came to sit down next to him.

His eyes never left hers once. And pure curiosity read in them. But she greeted it with a knowing smile. She had always known him, better than he had ever known himself.

Rey took both his hands in her small ones, and gave him a moment to understand.

"Because I love you. I've always loved the Ben in you." She said first.
"And you've just came back to the light. And today, I celebrate your return to me. For this is the greatest victory I have won."

So, after all, she loved him. He had never known enyone else than his parents to love him. Yet she had proved it before. But it had been so suddenly, he needed time to think on it, to accept the reality as it was.

And, staring at her face, it was in the sweetness of her hazel eyes flecked with gold that he could see the ocean of love she held for him.

His hand squeezed hers, and his thumb caressed it.

"I've always loved you, Rey. And I've always wanted to be there for you... But I wasn't the right person..." he trailed off, words catching in his throat. "I wasn't able to reach you."

"I know it." She said. And the calm on her face made him forget his worries, too.

Then one of her hands unclasped from his. She rose it to the level of his face, and reached up to touch him.

His eyes were locked with hers, and she begged him to believe her. But as her outstretched hand approached his face, his eyes darted to it, and his heartbeats began to increase.

He looked at her gentle fingers that could hurt him one more time. It was what he was used to. Every time Snoke touched him like that, the master would make him scream in pain. But her eyes told him otherwise. Her eyes told him to trust.

Everything else faded, and the crackling of the logs in the fire had turned to a low, swift echo.

When her hand was about to cup his cheek, and his heart was hammering against his chest like a bird caught in a cage, he flinched away from her touch, letting out a nervous gasp.

Rey retreated her outstretched hand, visibly confused. A small frown crept up between her brows.

He knew he had disappointed her, knew she did not have the same intentions as his master. Yet it was a reflex of his to be defensive. As it was hers.

His eyes dropped to the grey floor, then to the shadows of the flames dancing on the walls.

But suddenly she seemed to understand, for she reached out to him again, this time with the back of her hand.

"Trust me." She said soothingly, looking into his eyes.

Then the back of her fingers gently touched his face, close to the corner of his mouth. He closed his eyes, and leaned in after her touch. Then her knuckles brushed against his jaw, up and down.

"Here, here. It's alright." She kept soothing his shredded soul in a whisper, as if speaking louder would scare him. And a warm tear touched her fingers, the trail it had left across his face glistening in the firelight. Then her hand finally cupped his face, and this time he didn't flinch.

Instead he made himself speak.

"It's just that... Snoke used to touch my face to get what he wanted..." he blurted out, his voice shaky.

"You're safe now." She insisted. "You're with me." and she continued to caress his face. He needed that affection so much.

"Will you help me?" his eyes snapped to her.

"That's why I'm here." she searched his face. And she forced him to look up at her. "I will never hurt you again, Ben. Trust me, never!" she said with such conviction, it shook him.

And then he placed his hand over hers, and nuzzled inside it. "You're my light, Rey."

Rey crawled closer to him. And without any warning, he closed the space between them and hugged her, his head on her shoulder. Her arms went around him, sticking her cheek to his forehead.
She whispered soothing words and kept running her fingers through his soft black hair.

They stayed long, and before they broke apart, she placed a kiss on top of his head. It surprised him. How long has it been since he had felt a kiss the last time? He couldn't remember, he didn't even remember how a kiss felt. But Rey had revived it.

Rey's shoulder was wet from his tears, and his eyes were watering as he looked at her, but his mouth broke into a smile and his hand remained placed on her cheek. And then, who knows why, they broke into a laugh.

"It's over. We're finally safe." Rey said at last. "Can you believe that?"

"It makes me wonder, but... Yes... Actually yes. And I'm with you. I wouldn't care if it was over or not as long as I'm with you."

He looked into her eyes, and placed his forehead against hers, their noses touching too.

"I don't want to leave this place. Not ever." Rey said.

He smiled affectionately at her as his thumb stroked her cheek. "Now that it's over, maybe we can stay here. Or go anywhere else you want."

But there was a question that was constantly flooding his mind: what next? Because he had never known a peaceful life. He still expected something to happen, to turn the course of events upside down. But maybe it was time he should learn to live his life.

Suddenly, a booming noise made his head snap to the entrance of the cave. And as he heard it, he wrapped his arms tighter around Rey and held her to his chest.

But a shower of lights flooded the sky as the fireworks cascaded against the blackness. And he watched Rey relax in his arms and easing her head on his chest.
He stroked her soft hair as he gazed at the lights across the sky and he could feel her drifting off to sleep as her grip on his hand loosened and her breath steadied.

They had chosen to sit at the entrance, right where the fire was made, to have a better look at the fireworks, while his arm stroked her back up and down.

A cold gust of wind blew past them and pulled at Ben's hair, flapping it against his face. He looked one more time at Rey and stretched back his free arm to grab his heavy cloak. He wrapped it around Rey and nestled her in his arms.

Her chest rose and fell in slow motions, her head lolled against his neck. He rocked her back and forth a bit until she was fast asleep. He watched as her eyes were closing slowly, taking with them the reflection of those fireworks.

"Sweet dreams, my love..." he whispered softly in her hair. Then his hand went up and cupped her face and his lips touched her forehead in a caress. He hoped he had done it right, the way she had shown him earlier.

He fell asleep long after watching over her.

* I hope you're as excited as me to see what happens next!
Btw, I added the book to the fanfiction club.*