"Be with me," Rey whispered. "Be with me." She rocked Ben's body softly. Her sobs filled the great hall with sadness. She felt half of her died with him, as if her soul had been torn in two. Why had she not realized her feelings earlier? Why had she not realized she loved this man with every breath she took? "Be with me, Ben," she sobbed. She wanted him back.
"R—Rey."
She slowly looked up and saw Maz watching them. Beside her, Finn, Poe and Rose stood, yet there was something wrong. When she looked closer, she noticed their faces were gone. The candlestick was just a candlestick. The duster was just a duster. The clock was just a clock.
"Maz," Rey gasped, her eyes growing wide.
"It is—is okay, child," she said, struggling to speak. "In the end… he learned to love."
With that, Rey watched her eyes close and turn into a normal teapot. She stared at the teapot, her heart ripping once more. Ben was gone. Her friends were gone. Rey slowly laid her forehead on Ben's and continued to purge her pain.
"Why are you crying?"
With a gasp, Rey looked up with a start. There was someone walking towards her from the shadows, someone she had never seen before. Bathed in blue, a woman of great beauty walked towards her. She tightened her hold on Ben's body, wondering if the woman was here to take him away. She wasn't ready to give him up… not yet.
The woman approached her and stopped. Her blue eyes looked down at Ben, a look of sadness crossing her face for the briefest of moments. As the silent moments rolled on Rey realized who the woman was.
"You did this to him," she said low.
"He did this to himself," the woman answered, simply.
Rey shook her head, looking down at Ben. With shaking hands, she slowly closed his eyes. Pain erupted from her chest in a sob. "He changed. He chose the light in the end and he still died."
"Why do you cry for him? A beast?" the woman asked, intrigued.
"Because…" Rey said, but choked on her words. She swallowed the lump in her throat several times before speaking again. "Because, he was never a beast, not really. He was my friend. And then he was my very soul. I cry because I love him with all that I am and he is gone."
"And in the end the light snuffed out the darkness," the woman whispered.
Rey looked up at her. There was the most beautiful smile upon her face. Tears sparkled in her blue eyes as she raised her hands above her head. Light appeared from nowhere and floated towards Rey and Ben. The light's heat warmed her cold skin and she gasped as she looked down and watched it engulf Ben like a blanket.
The light lifted him into the air. Rey was too shocked to do anything but watch. The light grew until she could not see Ben within its grasp. She shielded her eyes, her heart pounding erratically against her chest. The light shot out in every direction dancing around the great hall. Rey watched pieces of the light surround Maz, Poe, Rose and all who were in the room. She even saw it shoot out of the room. The light dimmed and pulsed, the heat flowing everywhere. When the light touched Snoke he desintagrated into ash. He blew away into nothing.
When she looked up, she saw the light build in momentum. She stood to her feet and took a few steps back, desperate to see Ben's body. The moment she thought the light would burst it began to dim. She lowered her hand from her eyes and watched as Ben slowly floated to the ground.
Rey held her breath, her eyes wide and waiting. His back was to her, and at first there was no movement, but suddenly his shoulders rose and fell slowly as he breathed. She covered her mouth to keep her scream in check. Could it be? Could he be alive? Rey knew there was movement around them, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Ben.
He raised up on one elbow, shaking his head lightly as if coming awake from a long sleep. She took a step towards him, her hopes coming to life. She begged him to look at her, begged him to allow her to see him, so that she knew this was real.
She gasped as he moved suddenly, his face searching the great hall. "Rey," he choked.
When he turned towards her their eyes met. His eyes… they were different. Still dark, yet she saw a peace within them. A peace she had never seen shine from those eyes before. She searched his face and saw his clear, healed skin. Gone were the scars and marks that hurt him every night. His beauty shown from him now.
"Rey," he whispered, tears springing in his eyes.
She couldn't move. As much as she wanted to go to him she was trapped in place by shock. He had died, yet here he was alive and staring at her. His hands came out, beckoning her to him. Rey came back to herself, realizing he was alive. Ben had come back to her.
She walked towards him and fell to her knees, tears spilling down her cheeks. Shaking fingers reached out and lightly made their way down his cheeks. His eyes closed, breathing her in.
"Ben," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
His eyes opened, and the love and devotion she saw within them almost took her breath away. No one, not even her grandfather, had ever looked at her with so much love. There was only one thing she could do in that moment.
Rey crushes his lips with hers. She drank him in, drank in every movement of his lips upon hers. In that moment she vowed to never leave his side again. She vowed to make a life for the two of them. Her heart was made whole, her soul merging with his. He had become her light in the darkness too.
"Ben. Rey."
When their kiss ended they looked up. Surrounding them were Ben's servants. All of them had been changed back to who they were before the curse. She heard Ben's strangler sob as he jumped to his feet and embraced them.
"Poe! Finn and Rose!" he said, grabbing them in a hug. His eyes moved to the woman watching him with a watery smile. He turned to her, his own emotions raw. "Maz," he whispered. He took the small, strange looking woman in his arms and wept. Rey's eyes moved to the back of the room, to the shadows. She saw the beautiful woman from earlier watching the scene unfold. Her smile was soft, genuine.
"Thank you," Rey whispered, knowing the woman could hear her.
Her eyes cut to Rey, her smile growing. "No… thank you," she said, just before slipping into the shadows and disappearing.
The curse was lifted that day. The people of Jakku awoke from their dream to remember their king. There was no question about where he had been or why they had forgotten, for none of them remembered they had forgotten him. The castle was open to all, and all came to see their king and to rejoice in the changes that would come to Jakku.
The weeks past since that fateful day Ben had defeated Snoke and Rey had declared her love. Ben's first order of business was to destroy the Lenders and their business. It was found out that the Lenders had more than enough food to feed the people, but their greed had blinded them. Ben punished the Lenders to exile, sending them far away from Jakku. His people rejoiced, for none of them would go hungry again.
Ben and Rey became man and wife in a ceremony at the castle. The people of Jakku watched as their king gave them a queen. A good queen, she would become. She would bring out the best in their king. Laughter had replaced anger in the castle. Light had replaced the darkness. There was nowhere you could go in the castle that you would not be kissed by the sun. The East Wing was renovated into a nursery, for the king and queen were expecting their first child. Where there was once hopelessness there was now joy.
One particular night, Rey roamed the castle looking for her husband. She spotted Maz and Obi-Wan talking. Her grandfather had decided to move into the castle to be closer to her, and she could not have been more happy.
"Have you guys seen Ben?" she asked, rubbing her swollen belly. Just a few more weeks and the little prince or princess would be here.
"I saw him going upstairs towards the third floor," her grandfather responded.
She kissed her grandfather and squeezed Maz's hand as she passed them. She knew where Ben had gone. She just didn't know why. She climbed the stairs to the third floor. It wasn't as easy as it used to be with her carrying a baby. She stopped to catch her breath for a moment.
When she made it outside she was overwhelmed at the stars as she usually was. There were so many, and they were so close. Ben looked up at them and hadn't noticed her presence. The smile on her face slowly fell as she noticed the way his shoulders were shaking. He was crying.
Rey wrapped her arms around him from behind and laid her head on his back. She wanted to take his pain away, but she wanted to know what was wrong. He rubbed her arms, bringing her hand up to slowly kiss it, before turning around and facing her. She wiped the tears from his face, her own pain shooting through her for her husband.
"Ben, what's wrong?" she asked, softly.
He touched her stomach, his face crumbling as she watched. A sob wrecked his body as he threw his arms around her. She held him for a while as he cried, all the while telling him over and over that she loved him.
When he was in control of himself he released her and looked up at the stars again. "I realize how lucky I am to have you and this baby, and how I don't deserve either of you. I've done so many bad things in my life."
Rey took his face in her hands, so that he would look at her. She gave him the biggest smile she could muster. "You're the strongest person I know. You overcame the darkness and turned to the light. There isn't many who could do what you've done. Because you chose the right path you deserve love and happiness just as much as anyone. You chose life," she said, reaching for her stomach, "You chose life over death."
Ben kissed her forehead, his lips lingering. When he pulled away, Rey grabbed his hand to lead him back into the castle, but he didn't move. She turned to speak to him again, but she stopped. He was looking back at the stars. She could still see sadness in his eyes and knew there was something more going on here.
"Ben, tell me what's really wrong," she said.
"Would—would they be proud of me, Rey?" He whispered.
His words were like a dagger to her chest. The emotions pouring out of his words sucked the breath from her. He sounded like the scared little boy he used to be. Rey cut the distance between them, grabbing his face gently again. When she pulled his eyes to hers she smiled. She poured all of her love and devotion into that look.
"There is no doubt in my mind that wherever they are right now they are looking down upon you with love in their hearts. Your parents are so proud of the man you've become. Their little boy came back. He came home," she whispered.
He fell into her embrace, his hold on her tightening. He needed to hear those words, needed to somehow find the strength to forgive himself. Rey would be there to help him every step of the way, and to see that Han and Leia would be more proud of him than any parent could. It would take time, but she would help him realize he was the man they always wanted him to be.
Three weeks later, the castle erupted in a flurry of movement. A baby's cry could be heard throughout the castle. The future of Jakku had just been born. Rey, tired and worn, handed the small bundle to a scared looking Ben. His eyes were wide, tears glistening in his eyes as he looked down at his son. He held the small baby to his chest and the baby stilled. Rey smiled at her husband.
"Hi, I'm your dad," Ben said, smiling the most magnificent smile she had ever seen. "There's so much I'm going to teach you. I don't really know what I'm doing here, but I do know that I love you."
"What did you name him?" Maz asked, smiling at Ben.
Ben looked over at the woman, a single tear running down his cheek. He smiled, the room lighting up. Rey smiled with him, knowing what caused that smile. She would allow him to say it.
"Han," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "Han Obi-Wan Solo."
—
"And that, boys and girls, is the story of how my great-great-great grandparents met and fell in love."
An old woman sitting atop a throne in the castle of Jakku looked down at the boys and girls who had come to see her today. They had sat quietly as she had told them the story of King Ben Solo and his love Rey. For the most part, they had enjoyed the story, but there was one little boy in the back of the group whose face was drawn up.
"You there," she said, pointing to the little boy, "you didn't like the story?" she asked.
"It was okay, Your Grace," he answered.
"But?" she asked, a twinkle in her eye.
"It's a love story," he said, visibly shuddering. "I'm more of an action guy. Save the love for the girls."
The old woman laughed. There was always one in the group when the boys and girls would come hear her stories. She put her finger to her mouth, as if in thought.
"I assume you would like to hear the story of the Star Wars that happened generations ago?" she asked him.
His eyes lit up, his face smiling. "Yes!" he said, excitedly. "About the Jedi and the Sith?"
"Well, let me see," she said, with a deep sigh. "How does it begin again? Oh yes… A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
A/N: Thank you guys so much for reading this story. I know it took forever to end it, but i enjoyed every minute! Now that this is over I can move on to more adventures with these two! Again, thank you so much for reading.