It was a beautiful ceremony - fit for a queen, if not a princess or a general. And though she was surrounded by friends in their common grief, Rey couldn't help but feel particularly lonely as she watched the general's body in its casket drift by her. Always so quick to attach herself to the people around her, the sentiment that grew between her and General Leia was no different. And now the general, the last of who she could consider a mentor, was gone.

Poe took it the hardest, and in him Rey saw the grief of a son. And there she was again - every thought brought her back to Ben. She tried not to think too much about Leia's actual son, and how he would react when he found out his mother had passed. But she couldn't help it, and she knew - after months of thinking through all their interactions, trying to understand how the bond worked - that it was when they felt most vulnerable and alone that they were brought together. That's why it didn't surprise her when, midway through the ceremony, she felt that silence begin to settle around her. The sad notes of the funeral faded, and she had to excuse herself - Leia was the only one she'd told about the bond, and she wasn't ready to let anyone else know yet, least of all in that moment.

"Rey?" Finn's whisper caught Rose's attention, too, and they both looked at her, brows furrowed.

"I just...need a moment. I'll be right back." Rey was grateful they didn't follow.

She found a quiet alcove in the hall outside the large chamber. Though she knew it was useless, she closed her eyes, hoping the moment would pass and she wouldn't have to face Ben. Not that day - any day but that day.

But when she opened them again, there he was, at the edges of her vision. She wasn't sure what she expected to see. The last time she saw him he'd been defeated, deflated and on his knees on Crait as he watched her close the Falcon's door in his face. Rey's disappointment in him returned tenfold, reminded of how he'd wanted her to leave her friends behind, leave the entire resistance behind. When she turned to really look at him, she saw the dark circles under his eyes, the look of a perpetually lost boy - much like that day on Crait. Exhaustion hung on his shoulders, but he remained composed, as he always was around her. Still, she didn't need the force bond to see the cracks, to see how broken he still was.

"Ben."

"Rey."

Hearing him call her by her name, not scavenger, not girl, brought back those inklings of hope from the throne room. Maybe he really wasn't beyond hope, but she knew better now than to think she could save him.

A heavy silence settled between them, with his eyes simply staring at hers, as if captivated by them. When he finally broke eye contact it was to take in her appearance - her clothes, her lack of a weapon. The funeral attire. Rey didn't know how to tell him, so the words just fell out of her.

"Leia's gone."

Whatever reaction she might have expected - anger, yelling, a demand for how, or why - she didn't expect him to just stare at her, unmoving, unblinking. Stunned. Angry, presumptuous, volatile Kylo Ren she could handle. But this? This was something new, even as she'd seen glimpses of Ben come through in their previous encounters. This - unlike anything else - actually scared her. He always had something to say - even in regards to Han's death, he always got a word in. Stunned silence just wasn't him.

So she kept talking.

"I told her about us, you know. About the force bond, about all the conversations we had. What happened with Snoke." Rey crossed her arms before cautiously approaching him. On the word 'Snoke' he finally reacted. After a blink, his fists clenched and it seemed he wanted to say something, but couldn't get the words out. Rey understood. "She was glad you finally found someone to talk to, that you weren't alone anymore."

"You're lying." But the tremor in his voice told her he didn't believe that. He wanted to believe that, he wanted a reason to be angry at Leia.

"She loved you." Without letting herself think about it, she reached out and placed a hand on his arm. "They all did. Han, Luke, Leia. They loved you, Ben. They failed you - but they loved you."

"And you?" His voice was steadier now as he looked at her again. Her gaze in return was unwavering, but she didn't answer his question. At least not out loud. When he saw she wouldn't speak, he asked another. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you need to hear it. I wish they could have told you themselves."

"Yeah. Me too." Ben's eyes drifted down the hall and Rey's followed, where footsteps started to echo. The ceremony was over.

"I think she went this way." Rose's voice floated to them.

When Rey turned to speak to Ben again, he was gone, her hand hovering in midair where his arm had been.