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The sky is blinding when she opens her eyes. It’s as if the sun itself has traveled millions of miles only to find her face, and the instant she realizes this, she’s closed them shut again, feeling a pounding in her skull unlike anything she’s ever felt before.
It’s almost like a hangover, if only the hangover were less pleasant.
So she falls back asleep again, drifting away to the sound of the breeze in her ear. Underneath it, she registers the sound of something else, a low, deep voice whispering to her softly, telling her a plethora of words she doesn’t understand at first.
Then, clear as the scent of the sea breeze, she hears it, having just enough energy to turn her head as she hears him whisper, “Hold on, I’m here.” And she doesn’t know who he is or where here is located, but his voice is nice, it’s soothing, comforting, like a lullaby.
Like a baby, she falls asleep to it, and though it’s not a song, it gets stuck in her head to echo in her dreams.
*
Rey wakes again to another pounding headache, though she’s fairly certain this one is the same one from earlier. When was earlier? Yesterday? Days ago? Hours? Minutes? She isn’t sure, all she knows is she’s afraid to open her eyes for fear of the sun, that she doesn’t know where she is, or if she’s even alive.
The last thing she can recall with any degree of clarity is the hurricane which swept her overboard. She remembers clinging to the ropes for dear life, telling the crew to ride full sail into a colossal, fifty foot swell, and the boat pitching up and up and up until—
A powerful current pulled her under, something struck her head, and everything went black. Now all she knows is pain. Maybe she’s in hell.
“You’re not in hell,” the low, deep voice from earlier says, the sound echoing through her mind like they’re in a great, hollow chamber. Did she say that out loud? “Yes you’re talking out loud.”
Now she’s curious. Suddenly willing to risk further discomfort for a chance to see where she is, she lets her eyelids flutter open, and takes her first look at where she’s washed up. This time, it’s dark. Well, darker than it was. She’s in a cave now, dark, onyx walls rising up all around her and converging about twelve feet overhead, the floor half covered by a small stream running along the left hand side.
And the stream—well, the part directly in front of her—is covered by a man. Or rather, it’s covered by the half naked chest of one, his chest and arms, which are crossed over the ground to support his chin as his dark eyes look over her in concern. “Hello,” he says, his voice rising slightly in pitch.
“Hello,” she replies, too stunned to say anything else, and also too curious as to whether her hero is fully naked under the water, since she can’t see much beyond his waist. There’s something dark under the water that looks suspiciously like pants, but she’s not sure. “Where am I?”
“You’re my guest.” His voice is slightly teasing now, but she’s in no mood to play games.
Groaning, she shifts, propping herself upon her elbows to look at him better. He has a handsome face; red lips and a constellation of moles framed by thick, raven waves that rival the night in their darkness, but the aloof grin he’s giving her now kind of makes her want to shove him into the water. It also makes her want to kiss his cheeks, she’s not sure which she’ll do first. “Listen, mate, just tell me what happened.”
His face growing more serious, he nods. “Do you remember the hurricane?”
“Of course.”
“I found you in the water,” he explains, worry furrowing his brow. “You were unconscious, not breathing, so I pulled you to the surface and drew the water from your lungs.”
“Drew the water from my—“
At that moment, her mysterious rescuer gestures down into the water, her eyes following until she peers more closely at the darkness starting at his hips. Oh, he isn’t clothed at all, he simply has a—
As if to drive the point home, his tail flicks out of the water, the fin at the end waving proudly in the air for a couple of seconds before it retreats beneath the surface, and his cheeks flush a deep pink. “Needless to say, I have my talents with water.”
“I’ll bet you do,” she whispers, then, remembering too late a formality she’s forgotten, she thrusts out her hand toward him. “I’m Captain Rey Palpatine of the SS Resistance, and you are?”
A shocked look passes through his face, but he gathers himself quickly, and takes hold of her hand. “I’m Ben Solo, uh, I suppose if we’re also giving away our titles, I’m Prince of the kingdom of Alderaan.”
“Alderaan? The lost city?”
He shakes his head. “No, not lost, simply overtaken by water during a storm. My people inhabit it now.”
“I-I see.”
“I suspect your people are not lost either. When you were thrown overboard, the ship sailed on, they made it over the wave. I would have followed, but you needed to be on land, you needed to rest.”
Hope fills her, blossoming like a flower as she thinks of the faces of her crew, the people she’s been so worried about since the moment the wave took her over. “They did?”
“Unless they were felled by another wave, I would like to think them still alive.”
“Can you take me to them?” Rey is sitting up fully now, alert and awake more than ever before. “As you took me to this island?”
His brow furrows again. “I am not certain that is a good idea so soon after your last brush with death,” he says, seeming to genuinely care about her well-being already even though they’ve only just met. “Please, give it a little more time.”
“I’m a captain, I have duties to take care of, shipments to see taken to shores far from here, and are you not a prince? Do you have nothing more to do than to watch me, your highness?” Sighing, she allows her voice to soften as she leans forward, and takes hold of Ben’s hand. “I would love to let you help me rest, but I can’t rest until I know for certain that my ship and crew are safe.”
Giving her one last look that asks whether or not she really intends to do this, he nods. “As you wish, captain,” he says, then he grins again. “But at least let me feed you before we go. It’s a long journey out past Jakku Island.”
Rolling her eyes, she leans forward, and places a hand on his cheek. “I won’t forget this kindness.” Then, before she can stop herself, she kisses his other cheek, just near the corner of his mouth, and pulls back in time to catch the awestruck look on his face that fills her whole body with pride.
“Nor shall I, Captain,” he says breathlessly, then he pushes himself away from the edge, swimming back out into the water to prepare them for the journey ahead.