The Pull to the Light

Chapter XXVIII

Only a few minutes later, Chiara and Ben were boarding an old Z-95 Headhunter with an expanded cockpit. Chiara immediately went into the pilots seat, quickly buckling herself in before Ben had even reached the cockpit. He was still agitated due to Maz's attempts to make him return to his family but Chiara knew that he would come around eventually.

They flew in silence for a while after taking off from Takodana until Ben finally broke the silence, "You are going to force me to go back there, aren't you?"

Chiara looked up at him, having just put the coordinates for Yavin into the system so they could go into hyperspace, "What do you mean?"

"You are going to make me go to D'Qar and see Leia and Han," he spoke, distaste present in his voice.

She shook her head, "As much as I do believe that you should make amends, I will not force you into anything that you don't want. I just got you out of the darkness and wouldn't do anything that could end up with you returning to that state."

Ben paused for a moment before finally replying, "Thank you."

Chiara reached out and took his hand in hers, "Ben, I love you. If you don't want to do something, who am I to force you? I would never risk losing you over something so trivial. Besides, you've given up so much for me already."

"I would give up everything for you, Chiara. You have brought me back from the darkness, you've given me something I never thought I could experience."

Chiara fell back into silence as she returned her attention to piloting the ship, which was just coming out of hyperspace. She carefully landed the ship in an open field just on the outskirts of a forest. Ben noted how she held her breath while landing, praying that, although she was never a star pilot, she could at least land smoothly.

"You never told me you could fly so well," Ben smirked, getting up from the copilot's seat.

Chiara shrugged as she too stood, "I was never very good at it, but I try my best. Especially when transporting such valuable cargo."

"I'm valuable cargo?" Ben asked, pressing Chiara against the wall of the cockpit.

"Oh, I was referring to my clothes, you are replaceable," Chiara teased easily slipping out of his grasp.

"Hey, get back here, you little minx!" Ben called out after her, running to catch her. His arms wrapped around her waist and he easily lifted her up off of the ground, slinging her over his shoulder.

"Benjamin Chewbacca Solo, put me down this instant!" Chiara cried out, furtively hitting his back.

"My middle name is not Chewbacca!" Ben argued, placing her on the floor of the plane and starting to tickle her. "Apologize for that!"

"Be-Ben!" Chiara exclaimed, trying to get air into her lungs but failing miserably. She writhed beneath Ben's touch, attempting to escape his grasp. "B-Ben please!"

"Apologize and I just might let you go!"

"O-ok! I'm so-sorry! Alright?!" She panted, causing Ben to stop. She lay on the ground, breathing heavily as she tried to recover from the attack. Ben sat down next to her, his back supported against the wall. He moved her into his arms and they lay there for a few minutes, enjoying the peace and tranquility that had fallen upon the two.

When the finally moved, it was only to find a place to stay as the sun outside was setting. Chiara picked up their bag and tried to pinpoint the exact coordinates that the man on Jakku had given her. As they approached, they found a nice sized cottage surrounded by the thick forests around them.

"I suppose that's ours," Chiara spoke up, walking towards it. She tried to sense the presence of other life forms around it but could find nothing. Even so, when they reached the door, she gently knocked before entering to make sure the cottage was not currently being inhabited.

Although it did reflect the years of abandonment, the beautiful cottage was not at all in bad shape. There were four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and a porch that overlooked a large clearing. It consisted of two floors, both appearing quite well kept even with the absence of inhabitants.

"This place is beautiful, why would anyone give it up for a ship?" Ben asked, his fingers lightly brushing the polished pine wood of the fireplace mantle.

"Well, he tricks visitors into buying these plots of land, but he doesn't believe that they will ever actually use them. Most travelers are unable to leave Jakku after having traded away their ship, much less travel halfway across the galaxy in order to get to wherever it was he had sold to them," Chiara replied, slipping into a plush armchair in the room. Although she hadn't done much all day, the excitement from the morning left her quite exhausted.

"Thank you, Chiara," Ben spoke, confusing his love.

"For what?"

"For changing me, for bringing me to this place to be with you. And for saving me from Snoke. I will never be able to repay you for all that you've done for me."

"I couldn't have done any of that had you not been willing to change yourself, I only encouraged you to do what you already wanted," Chiara replied, standing up and walking over to Ben, wrapping her arms around his neck and enveloping him into a hug.

"I love you more than anything in the world, Chiara," Ben assured, leaning down and meeting her soft lips, forming a passionate kiss.

...

I was planning not to have an epilogue but I think I am just because I couldn't resist. So yeah, there is one last part before this is over!