The Force's Secret - A Reylo Fan Fiction

Never Really Gone

Author's Note: Hey guys - a quick update before I head out of town for work. Again. As usual. Enjoy!

*artwork used does not belong to me*

Ben fell to his knees next to Rey's body. What had he done??? This was the woman that he loved. The mother of his child! The child that he just found out about.

He picked up Rey by the shoulders and gently shook her.

"Rey?.... REY???" He called out to her. There was no response.

"REY!" He cried.

His mind took him to their second to last conversation. The one they had four years ago....

~ One Year, Four Months and Three Weeks after the events of The Last Jedi ~

Rey was softly humming to herself as she folded a series of white linens on top of the bed. She should have been sleeping. That's what the plan had been. Rose and Finn had offered to watch Lucas for a couple of hours so that she could catch up on some well needed rest. She knew being a single mother was going to be hard, but her friends had been so kind and helpful over the last month, it made things a little bit easier. But no matter how many helping hands she had, there was nothing they could do to help with the turmoil of emotions she felt inside.

She tried telling herself it was just her body regulating itself from her pregnancy hormones back to her normal self. She knew that wasn't fully true. There were some nights, more than she'd like to admit, where she would cry herself to sleep, or cry as she nursed Lucas, or cry while she rocked him to sleep. Frankly, she was starting to think she cried more than he did.

She reached into her laundry basket and grabbed another handful of white linens. Lucas sure went through a lot of diapers. She wondered if she had provided enough for Rose and Finn in the baby bag she left with them. Maybe she should have sent along four instead of three...

Suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Her head shot up and she dropped the linens she was holding. The atmosphere in the room was changing. The sounds were becoming warped and the temperature dropped. Could it be???

She whirled around, finding Ben standing in front of her. He smiled at her as if nothing was wrong. As if he hadn't been gone for months. His face began to fall when he saw she did not return his look of happiness. She looked angry and partially fearful.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" She yelled at him. She could not contain her emotions.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, feeling hurt and confused.

"Do you know how long its been since I last saw you???" She snapped. He was starting to get angry.

"Why does that matter?" He shot back. Her eyes raged.

"It matters! It matters a lot!!!" She yelled. She grit her teeth before opening her mouth. She was about to tell him what had happened. About everything that had occurred since that one night of wild passion. She closed her mouth shut tight. No. He would not know. He would never know.

"You wouldn't understand." She said, turning away from him. She reached for a linen and he grabbed for her arm. Her head snapped up towards him, eyes burning. She tried to pull her arm away but his hold tightened.

"Tell me what's wrong." He asked. She continued to tug at her arm.

"Let me go!" She snapped at him. He dropped her arm like it burnt him. He glared at her.

"Something has changed you." He said cautiously. Rey fumed as she avoided his gaze and angrily folded another diaper.

"You left me." She said, trying to hold back tears.