Rey awoke early at sunrise the next morning, a soft haze of natural light pouring through the cabin's rear window. Candles that were once burning brightly now had tufts of smoke rising from their wicks, narrow streams of melted wax spilling down from their caps. Not the usual view she'd grown accustomed to seeing upon waking on the Silencer every day.

The tubular creatures were missing from the overhead rafters. Peace in the room wasn't disturbed by obnoxious loud snores. And she wasn't in her hammock downstairs, swaying side to side. Instead, there was a steady rhythmic rise and fall of the sleeping figure's chest she was lying against. Sitting on his lap, her back supported by a muscular arm as her feet dangled over the chair arm with a familiar claw draping across her thighs.

Ben... She was inside the cabin with Ben.

Her memory foggy from sleepiness, Rey forgot she had asked him the night before if she could spend the night with him. Without a bed in the cabin, a desk chair had sufficed. Even if it was a tad uncomfortable and cramped for two people to share, Ben hadn't cared; neither had Rey.

Allowing space for her head to rest on his right shoulder, his tentacles had migrated left, meticulously weaving themselves over and under, in and out, as a loom would have functioned. Operating as if each was wired with a mind of its own. She found that fascinating.

Her skin prickled at the memory of how his fingers had lovingly caressed her ribs while they talked, tracing mindless loops and curves over the material of her vest. As both drifted into their own quiet slumber later in the night, Rey dreamt of their kiss.

Before Ben, nobody on Jakku had ever held her interest. Never came close to experiencing this type of intimacy or emotional connection with someone. To Rey, the feeling was so new, so unorthodox. She hadn't the faintest idea what she wanted to do with these emotions bubbling inside. 

Like now, for instance, since she was wide awake, was she supposed to wake him up also? Or did she let him sleep a little longer? Having accepted Ben's offer to teach her a few basic sword-fighting skills, practice was set to begin this morning. She was desperate to change her clothes sometime before then; however, waking the captain was inevitable if she were to move.   

Deliberating her options, Rey eventually found herself enamored by the constellation of beauty marks on his face. Beneath the black bandana that he wore under his hat, was a mole directly above his left browline and a trio where his nose would be. The discoloration and flaws on his skin made them fairly difficult to see, but they were there if anyone cared to observe closely. She may have been slightly jealous of the long eyelashes on his lids.

Smiling, she wondered what else there was to Ben Solo's true identity.

As it were currently, she only had enough pieces to create this vague picture of who he was in her head. Someone that was strong in both stature and mind, a man who loved and cared so deeply he had cut his own heart out after becoming what he and his family despised. His honey-brown eyes, eyelashes, and beauty marks. And his voice—God, she'd begrudged that sultry voice of his since the first day she met him.

At this point, it should have been easy to admit she was crazy about him. If she were to read between the lines, Ben had all but confessed his love for her the night before. Yet she still couldn't decide if the palpitations he made her feel were acceptable or not. It felt so right being here with him, but what if her instincts were serving her wrong?

She wished she could talk to someone. Someone who could assure her it was okay to feel so strongly for this man; who also happened to be responsible for instilling fear into the hearts of many.

Shit. How did this get to be so complicated?

Exasperated, Rey sighed as she pressed her cheek to his shoulder again and closed her eyes. Thinking maybe the extra sleep and relishing in his closeness would do her some good. Or maybe she just needed to stop thinking altogether...

Her eyes sprung open then as she felt a thumb lazily stroking her side. Lifting her gaze higher, she saw Ben peering down at her, fatigue brimming his eyes. "Morning," he greeted, huskily.

"Good morning," she hummed sleepily. Pushing the prior thoughts of him aside, she leaned upright and met him midway for a kiss. Warmth flourishing inside her chest, she felt as if her heart was being squeezed. "I hope I didn't wake you?" she whispered as he drew back.

"No." He gave her a tired smirk. "I'm a light sleeper. You doing alright?"

Worrying her bottom lip, she briefly considered sharing her prior doubts with him. But considering he was already warding off hoards of his own inner demons, she quashed the idea and figured it was best she didn't pile more onto his shoulders.

Anyhow, she'd gotten this far in life alone—coming to terms with these feelings for him was nothing she couldn't tackle by herself, right?

Alas.

Nodding, she smiled reassuringly and put her hand on his claw. "Yeah...I'm okay. Thanks for letting me stay last night."

"Sure." His smile broadened—roguish, almost. "Safe to say, I think it's something I could get used to."

Pink coloring her cheeks, Rey averted her eyes, deliberating to ask if he really meant that. Before she could comment further on staying here with him again, he began shifting his hips in the seat, grimacing. It must have been his way of implying that his ass was numb after sitting in the same spot for hours but wasn't bothering to ask her to move.

Which was fine, she reasoned, her limbs needed to be stretched too. And she could go change without feeling guilty for waking him.

She apologized and told him as much. Grasping his shoulder for leverage, Rey swung both of her feet from the chair to the floor, ignoring the captain's feeble pleas for her to wait. It grew into this awkward transition of her having to plant a boot on the ground for stability and wriggling her buttocks over a hard lump on his groin; which she initially thought was that fancy buckle on his belt. He sucked in a breath as she pulled herself upright, oblivious as to why she heard him stifle a moan.

She faced him the instant she was on her feet. Scoffing, she noticed he was oddly redder than a beet peel in the face, knuckles a pale sage from his hand firmly clasping the chair arm. Her mouth parted to ask if he was okay till her eyes dipped lower and landed on the tented material at his crotch.

Oh...Oh! W-Was that? Had she...? Oh.

Rey dry swallowed and pulled her gaze from what was definitely a severe case of morning wood. Fighting the urge to laugh, she cleared her throat, cheeks flaming, and began stretching her arms behind her shoulders, fixated on a knot in the floorboard beside her left boot. As Ben stood to readjust his—problem, she reminded herself it was most certainly rude to stare when temptation thought it was funny to taunt her with stealing another peek at him. It wasn't like she hadn't seen a dick before!

But, damn...

"I, uh—Lessons. This morning," he stammered. Rey took it as a sign that it was safe for her to look. His face didn't appear to be quite as flushed though judging by how his now unraveled tentacles were fidgeting and the clenched fist at his side, he was clearly humiliated. He stood there at an arm's length, grounded beside the chair like he had some sort of deadly viral disease he didn't want her to catch. "We're still on, right?" 

Rey nodded and wet her lips. "Yeah! Yeah, absolutely," she assured, casting a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the Silencer's bow. "I just wanted to change real quick. If that's okay?"

His browline furrowed. "Right, of course." He proceeded then to add, "Take your time. There's no rush."

**

Closing the cabin door behind her, Rey puffed out a breath in the cool morning air. The vacancy of the upper deck was peaceful at this hour. Perfect for harnessing her thoughts of the morning while crew members down below in the barracks were still rising from their sleep.

Rey knew this training was important and that Ben had every reason to be concerned for her safety should the Supremacy return. She had to focus and give it her hundred percent today. Even if it meant her feigning awareness of the captain suffering a massive boner and to stop questioning what he was doing now that she was gone.

It wasn't helping her earlier predicament any, either. Above all else, if anything, it would result in her doing something embarrassing around the captain. She couldn't let that happen: for both their sakes. 

Striding across the quarterdeck to the stairs, she heard a man's voice calling her name. She craned her neck toward the sails as she was stepping off the bottom step and found Poe climbing down the closest mast, leading straight to the crow's nest. Bee-Bee, clambering ahead of his master, leapt to the ground and landed on all fours in front of her.

Rey grinned at the creature screeching wildly. Grateful for a distraction from her lascivious thoughts about Ben, she knelt before the cursed monkey and greeted him, her hand extended for his to slap. "Hey there, buddy."

"You my relief for the day?" jested Poe, joining the pair.

"Ha! No," she snorted and rose to full height. "Since when did you start holding night watch?"

Poe shrugged his shoulders loosely. "I volunteer on occasion. When you've been on a ship for nearly a decade, you gotta spice up the old routine somehow." Crossing his arms, he squinted at a sail. "Gives me a chance to think about shit, too."

Rey frowned and nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean," she conceded softly. Seeing this could be an opportunity for her to seek some advice, she nibbled on her bottom lip and folded her arms. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he affirmed, knitting a brow at Rey. "What's up?"

"It's...kinda personal. I understand if you don't wanna answer." A pause lingered in precedence then. "Before the curse, did you have anyone back home? You know, that you were seeing?"

Taken aback by the query, Poe spent a minute or more scanning the sails. "Um...no," he said, blinking. "Well, yeah, there was someone but not on Jakku. It's been a long time. A really long time. Like, back when I was younger and very stupid." Pinching his lips, he shook his head and sighed. "We didn't exactly leave on good terms last time I saw her either."

"Oh..." she scoffed. It wasn't what she had been hoping to hear; apparently, Poe was as good as Rey at this whole relationship thing. "I'm sorry, I was just wondering..."

Poe studied her intently. "Why do I get the feeling this has to do with you and the captain and not me?"

Her nose wrinkled at that and began toeing the floorboard with her boot. "I've never been through this before." Thinking, her tongue slid across her top molars. "The problem is, I don't know if I should be doing it?"

Poe hesitated. "Because of what?" he gently pressed. "Of what he's done? Of who he is?"

Rey flattened her lips and nodded. Yet by doing so, she felt ashamed, hypocritical for letting her knowledge of the captain's horrific past to betray what her heart was informing her of Ben in the present.

"I won't ask you to forget his crimes," said Poe in earnest. "I was there through the worst of them and not a day goes by where the guilt doesn't eat at you. You constantly feel like you're falling down this black hole but you never come close to reaching the bottom, and you wonder what will happen when you finally do. Until you realize, one day, you never want to find out cause you've been given a reason to fight for something that's bigger than your hatred. Or in his case, someone ."

Allowing a minute for his words to process, a warm smile curled on her lips. "Has anyone ever told you you should've been a scholar instead of a pirate?"

Poe chuckled. "I do have my moments. Did it help at least?"

"Yeah, pretty sure it did." Still smiling, she bowed her head. "A lot, actually."

"Good." At that, Bee-Bee scrambled up the pirate's sleeve, assuming his perch on his master's shoulder as if the gnarly creature had sensed beforehand that Poe was readying to leave. "Anyways, I better get. Even the undead must sleep. Got any plans today?"

"Training," she mumbled. "Ben insists that I learn to use a sword after last night."

Poe grinned at her mentioning the captain's given name. It didn't occur to her that the captain had always been referred to as Kylo Ren, by the crew and first mate, till a second afterward. "Can't say that I blame him either. Ben's got a good arm," he winked. "Don't let him be too hard on you."

Rey chortled a little and bid him farewell for the morning. As Poe retired to the officer's chamber at a level underneath Ben's cabin, she turned and hurried toward the bow stairwell to retrieve her clothes from the crew quarters. Swapping her ruined apparel for the khaki trousers and white linen tunic she'd worn the first day she came aboard. And the compass she'd tucked away inside her pocket.

The compass...

Of course, how had she forgotten about the only gadget in the universe that was capable of showing her where her heart truly lies? Could guide her to what she had been desperately wanting to find.

Love. Family. Her belonging in all of this craze. 

Weeks ago, Rey had believed the compass was leading her to her parents. To the cure which would free Ben Solo of his curse and bring him home. Yet when she emerged onto the Silencer's upper deck, compass in hand, its needle pointing north, she had never been more certain of her feelings for the captain when the gadget confirmed she had already found her belonging.

Her home.

And Ben was waiting for her there on the quarterdeck.