Chapter Text
The liquid dripping into her face wasn’t rain. No, it was too warm, and — sticky? Rey slowly blinked her eyes open.
Two eyes glared back at her belonging to the being that was quickly becoming her number one nemesis.
The damn horse.
“I hope you’re here to apologize.”
~
A scream pierced the quiet morning air.
Ben sat up quickly from his sleeping place curled up with Chewie and turned to the source of the noise.
The horse that has chased them through the mine tunnel was— trying to steal Rey’s boot?
“Hey! Let go of me you dumb horse!”
The horse only pulled harder in response.
“No! No!”, Rey yelled.
He jumped up and ran over to Rey and the troublemaking horse.
Ben stood to his full height and drew his brow down at the horse, “release her!”
The orange and white horse froze, turning its head to look at Ben.
“Release. Her.”, he repeated.
It relaxed it’s mouth and Rey fell to the ground sans her boot. She hopped up quickly trying to grab the apparel but the horse whinnied at her. It appeared like an almost human-like snarl. Weird horse, Ben thought.
Ben rushed in between the two before the fight could get any worse. He raised his hands in a non defensive gesture.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” the horse settled slightly, “easy boy, easy,” the frantic look in it’s eyes settled.
Ben smiled a closed lip smile.
“That’s it. Good boy. Now sit.”
The horse titled its head like a dog.
Ben rolled his eyes and moved a bit closer, “sit.”
The big creature plopped itself down, exhaling through its nose.
“Good. Now drop the boot.”
The horse vehemently shook its head.
Rey crossed her arms and huffed at the scene in front of her.
“Ben, this isn’t going to wo-“
“Shhh”, he interrupted, “drop it please.”
The horse dropped the boot.
Ben continued his way over to the animal. His eyes stayed on the horse as he knelt to the ground and tossed Rey her boot. He righted himself and calmly reached his hand out towards the nose of the horse.
It hesitated for a second and pushed its nose into Ben’s hand, inviting him to pet it.
He chuckled, “Good boy. You’re such a good boy aren’t you?”
Rey threw an unsavory hand signal at the pair, Ben definitely not missing it either. Why not have a little fun?
He returned his eyes to the horse and scratched its chin, “are you all tired from chasing the bad bad thief all over the place?”
“What?! Excuse me?”, Rey butted in.
Ben ignored her.
“Nobody appreciates you, do they?”
The horse’s eyes looked almost like Chewie’s when he wanted a piece of Ben’s dinner.
“Rey, you act like he’s a monster, but he’s just misunderstood,” he smirked.
She threw her hands in the air, “Oh come on! He’s a bad horse! You are then when he fought me. With a sword!”
Ben tried not to laugh and returned his eyes to the horse. It lowered its ears.
“He’s just a big sweetheart. Isn’t that right-“, Ben looked down to the nameplate on it’s chest, “BB-8.”
“Ben stop joking around and leave the damn horse alone.”
BB-8 immediately perked his ears up at the comment and flared his nostrils. He dug a front hoof into the ground.
“Guys, please,” the horse and Rey looked at him, “today is kind of the biggest day of my life.”
He pointed towards BB-8, “can you keep her from getting arrested for one day?”, and then towards Rey, “then you can get on with this nemesis thing and chase each other to your heart’s content.”
Rey turned her head away from BB-8.
“Please?”
She pouted her lip. She has pretty lips, he thought.
“It’s also my birthday, you know.”
She stuck her hand out to the horse, “fine, whatever.”
BB-8 raised his hoof to shake her hand.
“Thank you. Now, c’mon Chewie.”
Ben and Chewie took up the front of the group, Rey trailed behind trying to shove her foot back into her slobbery boot. She started to trip as it slid into her foot and fell toward the horse for support only for BB-8 to push her over the other way.
“Hey!”, Rey yelled as her butt hit the rough ground.
Ben chose to ignore their fighting. Chewie turned his head and growled at the two.
Rey’s head tilted to the horse, “be good.”
BB-8 feigned innocence as he walked away from her.
She dusted off her pants as she scrambled to catch up to Ben.
~
It was right in front of him. His dream.
Well, technically not his dream, but it was getting closer with each passing minute.
Ben, Rey, Chewie, and BB-8 stepped off of the giant stone bridge into the beginning of the Kingdom village. Purple banners with golden suns hung from every building, some strung through the streets. Street vendors sold their products to adults and children alike.
Shocked, Ben stood still. He had never seen so many people in his life. What if they knew about his powers? What if Snoke was right?
Someone brushed past his shoulder and he jumped. He was in the middle of the busy street blocking people.
“Ben!”
Rey waved him over to an empty area of the street.
“Are you okay?”, she asked.
He nodded, “uhh yeah. It’s just a lot, ya know.”
Rey brushed her fingers up his sleeve; she still looked concerned. Ben looked down at her hand in disbelief.
The rough exterior personality Rey had built around herself hid so much of her true self. Over the fire the night before they had shared so much; he knew she hadn’t had an easy childhood in the orphanage. It was as good a reason as any to hide yourself away. But he wanted to know more about the real Rey.
And if he was beginning to want to kiss her and share all of his deepest thoughts with her? That wasn’t important.
“Ben? Are you even listening to me?”, she shook his shoulder.
He had started daydreaming. Again .
“I was saying we still have plenty of time before the lanterns start. We could go somewhere quieter?”
“Okay.”
Rey looked surprised that he finally heard her, “good. There’s a library not far from here.”, suddenly she seemed almost shy, “only if you want to go. It is your birthday.”
“That’d be nice,” he reassured.
Rey’s eyes shined with an unknown emotion as she gazed up at him for a few seconds before speaking again, “follow me then.”