Ɓen went back over to where Rey was sitting.

"Are you going with them?" She sounded concerned, like she actually didn't want him to go. He was surprised that she actually seemed to care.

"No," he replied.

Rey tried to hide her relief, but it was all too obvious. "I guess I'm stuck with you," she said trying to sound disappointed, but the smile in the corner of her lips gave her away.

He smirked, knowing that she didn't mean it. "My apologies my lady."

She smiled at him, but noticed that something seemed to be on his mind. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he answered, but it wasn't very believable.

Maybe he really did want to leave so that he wouldn't have to be stuck with her. Or maybe he was only staying because of her, maybe he felt trapped because of her.

"You don't have to stay on my account," she said gently. Though something in voice told him that she didn't want him to go.

"I want to stay with you, Rey," he answered, sincerely.

"Then what's wrong?" she pressed, thinking that there was something wrong, something he wasn't telling her.

Ben looked over at the General, then back at Rey. "I can't talk about it here, but I'll tell you later, when we're alone."

She nodded.

Ben reached his hand out to her. "Will you walk with me?"

She nodded, then she took his hand and he assisted her to her feet. She didn't need help, but now she realized how sweet he was being for offering his hand to her. And how rude it would be not to accept it.

They left the council room and made their way down the hall together.

Rey was lost in her thoughts, she was worried about Ben because of the letter and because how he was acting. But she also trying to think of a way to tell him how she felt. She wished that she could be as brave as him and just say it.

"Rey," he whispered, interacting her thoughts.

"Yes?"

"I have to leave tomorrow..." he began in a low voice.

"I thought you were staying."

Why would he lie to her, especially about something like this? Rey felt anger welling up inside of her, but also betrayal and beneath it all, sadness.

"I'm not going to war with the troops. We're go...."

Rey was too angry to hear what he was saying, he couldn't just lie to her about something so important and expect that she would be happy with him.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" she cut in. "Why did you say that you were staying with me when you knew that you couldn't?"

She knew that he felt like he had to go, but why did he to lie to her about it?

She felt tears behind her eyes, was he going to leave her alone like everyone else? After her father died her friends and neighbors abandoned her to the streets, would he do the same? She thought that he loved her, but maybe she had finally pushed away.

Before it wouldn't have bothered her, but now she was beginning to feel things beyond friendship towards him and she didn't want to push him away. Maybe she should tell him how she really felt. But would she be able to find the words, and if she did would she be able to speak them?

Ben looked down at her, he could hear the hurt in her voice and see the tears in her eyes. This was not what he had intended, especially because they were still going to be together, just not here. Did it really hurt her so much because she thought he was leaving?

Does she really care about me? he thought. Of course she does, she said that I was her friend... but does she feel something deeper than friendship? Does she feel the same things that I feel? Does she love me?

He felt her grab his hand, interrupting his thoughts. "Ben... I ... I don't want to lose you. I...I don't know how to say goodbye," she stumbled over her words seeming to struggle to get them out, and she seemed to be holding back part of what she was trying to say.

Ben stopped and moved to stand in front of her. He placed his hands on her arms just below her shoulders, and gently moved his thumbs to calm her. Then he spoke softly. "Listen, Rey. You don't have to say goodbye, I'm not going anywhere without you. We're going together."

She looked up at him and smiled, then she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him protectively. "I can't let something happen to you, not when I can at least try to protect you."

He looked down at her, her head was rested on his chest.

"Why are you suddenly so concerned about me?" he asked, wondering why she had suddenly changed towards him. He knew that she cared about him to a certain degree, as a friend, but she was acting as if she actually loved him. He didn't dare to believe that she would, that she could. But he hoped that it was true, and if it was he needed to hear it. He wanted to know the truth.

"You're the future king of Alderaan, you're the future of our kingdom."

He looked at her, a small smile touching his lips. "I was the future king three days ago and you weren't so concerned about me then."

"Well, you are my husband," she added in a low voice.

Ben smiled at her. "I was your husband three days ago too," he said in a soft voice, searching her eyes.

She looked into his dark eyes for a moment before she spoke. "You're my best friend," she whispered.

He smiled at her, pulling her closer to him.

She broke their hug and looked up at him. "And I... I..." she trailed off.

"What?"

"I promised your parents that I would protect you." It wasn't what she wanted to say, but it was all that she could get to come out.

She had promised his parents that she would protect him, he should have known it was something like that. He should have never fed that spark of hope that burned within him, that she might actually love him.

"Where are we going?" she quickly changed the subject.

"The King and Queen need us to go to Uncle Luke and ask him to join us. We're terribly outnumbered and what's worse is that we don't know how many of our troops have secretly joined Snoke, Luke is one of the few left that we can trust. My parents said that it was urgent that we go to him, he may be our only hope against Snoke."

Rey nodded, though she felt that there must be more to it than that. Why did she and Ben need to go when a messenger could have told Luke to come back to the castle? "But why are they sending us?"

"They fear that if we stay here Snoke will try to get his revenge against me, that he might hurt you or kill me because I didn't do what he asked."

Rey nodded. "That's what I was afraid of."

She thought for a moment. "I was going to ask you what the penalty was that Snoke mentioned in the letter...now I know."

Ben nodded gravely. He was quiet for several moments before he finally spoke. "We can't tell anyone where we're going, Rey. My parents told me not to trust anyone...except Finn, Rose and Poe, they're coming with us."

"They are?" Rey asked, happily.

Ben nodded. "They're are the only ones that I knew we could trust."

"We have a lot to do before tomorrow, we need to pack and prepare for the journey," she said.

He nodded.

(Art by Karim Madi)