A/N: I love the Star Wars movies, but I haven't read the books or seen the cartoons or... So, this is canon to the movies, and the bits and bobs I'm looking up on Wookiepedia to make sure I've got the details right. As for the rest of it... Not in this story.
"Snoke is dead. You shouldn't be here," Rey says to the image of Ben before her.
"I agree."
They watch each other, but nothing happens. Neither of them blinks away from the other's mind.
"I still can't see where you are. Can you see where I am?" Ben asks.
She sighs. He'll be here, or she'll be there, or… whatever… until they aren't. "Not really. I can see you. You're sitting on something, cross-legged. You're… in a pair of pants. Do you just throw your shirt off the second you're out of sight of the rest of your command?" She's annoyed as she says it. Why is he always half-naked?
He flashes her a slightly annoyed look in return. "What else am I doing?"
"I don't know. You're… calm. Or as calm as you get."
Ben nods. He shifts position, uncrossing his legs, leaning back against… Something. Whatever it is, she can't see it.
Her annoyance has bled into curiosity. "Were you… sleeping? Dreaming?"
"Meditating. The Sith are over. Gone. I won't be one, nor will I train them. I will take what's of value from them. Anger, hate, jealousy. Passion. There's power in those emotions. They're flame. Channel them, and you can do anything. Let them take over, and they'll eat you alive. Or let you make stupid decisions so someone else eats you. If I don't want to burn out, fast, I have to have quiet time. Meditations to learn to control the flame, to use it."
"There's power in peace," Rey says.
Ben snorts at that. "Peace is death. Those Jedi… so peaceful they died. The Sith didn't kill them, they couldn't have, not if they'd been strong with the Force. They sat in their towers and turned so inward and so peaceful and so controlled the Force abandoned them. That's what killed them; the Sith just cleaned up their corpses."
Rey's never heard that version of it, though… given what Luke said… Ben might be onto something with that. She remembers the feel of the dark place on Ahch-To. Remembers Luke talking about the Force and really feeling it. Balance and tension. Power coming from the pull of cold and warmth, life and death, light and dark.
Then she's alone, in the Falcon, hurtling though space, looking for whatever comes next.