Transformation: Becoming Ben Solo (A Reylo Fanfic)

Chapter 25 - Plans

A/N - Hello Lovelies!  Thank you for all of the votes, comments and love from everyone who has been reading so far.  It's inspiring - and the things you like help keep me focussed - so please keep 'em coming!  Thank you to all! Enjoy!

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The next few weeks flew by for Rey.  Two days after her return, her cast was removed, and she felt that shecould start getting back to normal again.  Well, her new 'normal' with Ben.  During the day, she kept busy with her typical routine on the base.  Ben even showed up one morning to train with her, which ended up being the highlight of her day.

Poe still hovered around her almost every day, but she generally kept things distant between them, and their friendship was starting to feel a little strained.   Finn was his usual cheerful self, but sometimes she would catch him staring at her warily.  She was usually able to coax him out of any 'weirdness' between them by joking with him or teasing him.  His favourite subject to talk about lately was Rose - how amazing she is, and 'did you know that Rose can reprogram an actuator in less than a minute?'.   He was completely smitten, and when he was like that she couldn't help but laugh at how cute it was.

The nights were the favourite part of her day now though.  Her and Ben would connect to each other through the bond; usually she would go to him, since it really was more comfortable for the two of them to sleep in his huge bed versus the cot in her room on Dantooine.  The bond had definitely grown much stronger – never disconnecting them until after they were asleep.

Rey marveled at their newfound closeness, but almost every day she learned something new about him, and was amazed at how much better they were still getting to know each other. Mostly it was just silly little things that she would notice, such as when he concentrated intensely on something, his left brow would furrow and he would clench his right fist.   She also discovered that Ben could write in Basic and that he liked to write things down on paper.  Writing by hand was almost a lost art, and so she was a bit awestruck that Ben was able to do it. She'd never met anyone else who could.

Spending time with Rey every night was also an enlightening experience for Kylo.  He looked forward to when she would suddenly show up in his quarters, and each afternoon he would feel his anticipation grow, knowing that he would see her shortly.   As soon as she would arrive, her presence immediately calmed him, and her beautiful smile never failed to lighten his mood, even after the worst of days.  It amazed him at how simply she had slipped into his life, a piece that he didn't even know was missing for so long, but felt like it should've been there all along.

Most nights they would make love, but sometimes they just liked to lay in bed, wrapped around each other, talking about anything and everything, content to simply be together.  It felt so right, and she knew that for once, she was truly happy.  She couldn't help feeling that it was the same for Ben.  They weren't quite where they needed to be in terms of figuring out their future – if they had a future, but she decided to take it one day at a time, rather than stressing about it.

Regardless of their deepening relationship, she could sometimes sense that he was troubled and anxious about the different initiatives that he was trying to accomplish within the First Order. One night about two weeks after Lothal, she could feel that he was very distracted, and his mind kept straying.  They were lying in bed, naked, arms wrapped around each other, and he was silent for a very long time.  His hand was stroking her arm absentmindedly, and he seemed lost in thought.

"Something's troubling you."  She stated.  He was quiet, but she could hear his breathing change. " Do you want to talk about it?"

Sighing heavily, he rolled onto his back and scrubbed a hand over his face, staring up at the ceiling.  "I've been working on proposals for truce negotiations with the Resistance, with one of my younger Generals.  We'll be presenting them to the rest of the officers tomorrow.  I'm not sure how they'll react."