The Pivotal Moment
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A/N-thank you so much for the kind reviews!
Chapter Twenty-Five-Rey Solo
Rey's brow furrowed as she concentrated all her attention on the Millennium Falcon's scanners. The scanners started to beep as they alerted her to an in coming craft. "Ben, we've got company." She warned him.
"Who the hell is it?" Ben slammed his fist on the console in aggravation. Couldn't they have a moment's peace just to breathe?
Rey's brilliant hazel eyes widened in surprise as she studied the schematics and recognised the digital scan of an X-wing starfighter. It wasn't just any old starfighter, it belonged to Luke Skywalker. "He followed us here." She said in amazement as she motioned for Ben to take a look.
"He must have put a tracking device on the ship!" Ben cussed in disbelief.
"Why would he do that?" Rey questioned in confusion.
"Isn't it obvious?" Ben's dark eyes reflected his bitterness. "Skywalker doesn't trust me, so he had someone bug the ship while he kept us occupied."
"I don't believe that." Rey murmured. Ben's assumption that Luke mistrusted him was based on old wounds that didn't apply in this universe. He was still failing to separate the Luke from his world and the Luke from this one. They were like two entities, completely different from each other in every way. "There has to be another explanation."
"Like what?" Ben demanded.
Rey shrugged helplessly. "Maybe it was Finn. He was about to arrest me. Luke's hailing us."
Ben was conflicted. He felt lost and confused. He wasn't sure what his uncle's intentions were. He wasn't ready for a confrontation. He was like a ball of tangled yarn. The parts that are untangled are available, useable; the rest is a mess unless its untied. That mess felt endless and at most times unyielding. He just wanted to breathe, but his throbbing heart wouldn't let him.
"Ben." Rey's gentle cadence was like a soothing balm as she pulled him back into the moment. He turned and stared into her brilliant hazel eyes, the smooth green on the edge contrasted beautifully with the amber colour in the middle. His throbbing heart stuttered, slowing and easing its painful beat as he drowned in her loving gaze. "It's okay." She said as she placed her hand over his. The dark void inside him closed at her touch and he was able to focus again.
"Patch him through." Ben said weakly.
Rey smiled at him encouragingly as she flicked a few switches and answered Luke's hails. "This is Red 5. Come in Falcon." Luke's voice crackled as Rey adjusted the signal. When there was no immediate response from them, Ben and Rey heard Luke cuss under his breath. "What the hell are you doing, Ben?"
Ben cleared his throat before responding. "This is the Falcon, Red 5."
"Ben!" Luke said impatiently. "You took your time."
Ben scowled at his uncle's harsh tone. His fingers itched to break the connection, but one warning look from Rey chastened him. "You shouldn't have followed us."
"You didn't give me a choice. Why did you leave so abruptly?" Luke appeared genuinely confused.
"Finn was about to arrest Rey!" Ben retorted. "What did you expect us to do?"
Rey was forced to adjust the signal again as it dropped out, cutting Luke off mid-sentence. She sighed, boosting the signal as high as it would go. She made a mental note to fix the problem when she had some spare time.
"You should be used to Finn's overreaction by now." Luke's frustration was clear even over the comm. "His heart's in the right place, even if it takes a while for his brain to catch up. He cares about you, Ben. He thought he was doing the right thing; don't worry I've given him and Poe the ticking off they deserve. You didn't need to take off to make your point."
"I wasn't trying to make a point." Ben said roughly.
"Then what are you doing?" Luke asked huskily. "Why didn't you just come to me, Ben? I may have been busy but I've always got time to listen. You know that."
Ben wasn't used to Luke caring so much. He couldn't handle it. When the emotional pain came, he tensed, his hands resting rigidly on the console for a little while…just long enough to feel the emotion and gain a new perspective on it. This was huge personal growth from him, before he would have refused to deal with his emotions, instead locking them down for later, until they came bursting out of him in the worst way. This new perspective he had gained was more solid, more real to himself and others, yet not wallowing but allowing him to embrace those negative thoughts and feelings in a healthy way, reaching forwards with confidence.
Rey felt what he felt. She closed her hand over his, sensing that he was too choked to respond. "Luke?" She said softly.
"Hi, Rey." Luke responded. Rey could almost sense the smile on his face. "How are you doing? I'm sorry about Finn. Believe me he regrets his actions."
"I hope you weren't too hard on him." Rey was saddened as she recalled the way Finn had looked at her. This was so far removed from the man who she had once claimed as a friend. She couldn't deny how much it hurt that he thought ill of her. "It wasn't his fault."
"You're very kind and forgiving." Luke replied gently. "I sensed that about you as soon as we met…and other things."
Rey exchanged a worried glance with Ben. "What do you mean?" She faltered.
"It means that I can sense you're deeply troubled, Rey. You are hiding a secret that is so powerful its tearing you apart inside. And I sense that my nephew knows what that secret is and is prepared to risk all he holds dear to keep you and that secret safe. I think that's why you really ran away. I don't want you to be scared, Rey. I'm here to help, if you'll let me."
The compassion in Luke's voice was Rey's unravelling. Her tears burst forth like water from a dam. She felt the muscles in her chin tremble like a small child as she felt Ben's arms close around her, pulling her to his chest as if attempting to make her a prisoner of his ribcage. He whispered soothing words of love in her ear, but even that didn't drown the static inside her head, the side effect of her constant fear, the constant stress of hiding her cursed legacy. She could hear her own sobs, like a distressed child, raw from the inside. Everything was raw, raw tears, raw emotions. She couldn't stop. Why couldn't she stop crying?
"I'm here. You're not alone." Ben's comforting voice filled her head. Aloud, he said to Luke. "We were heading to Ahch-to. Follow us." He ordered before cutting off communication with his uncle altogether.
It was like they had come full circle. Ben expertly landed the Falcon on Temple island. The ruins of the first jedi temple loomed above them as Ben and Rey descended the opened ramp of the Falcon, hand in hand. Luke's old X-wing fighter was parked a few meters away. He was already walking toward them, his jedi robes fluttering in the gentle breeze coming off the ocean. Ahch-to's changeable weather was being kind to them today.
"Maybe it's fate that we ended up here at the site of the first Jedi temple." Luke mused as he came up to join them. R2D2 followed behind him faithfully. Luke's blue eyes lingered on the old temple ruins before travelling back to his nephew and Rey. "It's been a long time since I've seen this place." He spoke directly to Rey. "Ben and I travelled here a long time ago in search of the ancient Jedi texts."
Ben's eyes widened slightly at this revelation but he remained silent as he watched his uncle lead the way up the rocky stairway to the ruined monastery above. He and Rey followed after him slowly. Luke stopped when he reached the top, clasping his hands behind his back as he gazed thoughtfully at the ocean.
"I meant it when I said that I knew your unique bond would draw you together during a pivotal moment, and that will be the key to winning this war." He began carefully. "I also believe that what you're hiding is tied up in this somehow." He turned to face Ben, his twinkling blue eyes appraising them both. "Whatever it is, you don't need to carry the burden by yourselves. I'm here to help. You can trust me."
Trusts are broken, lies are told, Rey thought. Being sad made her realize how valuable being happy is. Feeling weak had taught her to know what it means to be strong. Being helpless made her more determined to carry on fighting, no matter how desperate her circumstances got. Mistakes happen, awful things might happen in one's life. But sometimes you had to take a leap of faith. Rey decided to do that now. She didn't need to look up at Ben to know he felt the same. It was time.
"You don't just have power. You have his power. You're his granddaughter. You are a Palpatine. My mother was the daughter of Vader. Your father was the son of the Emperor. What Palpatine doesn't know is that we're a dyad in the Force, Rey. Two that are one."
Rey's eyes remained solely on Ben as she admitted the truth to Luke about her parentage. She saw the pain etched on Ben's face as he witnessed the memory in her head of Kylo Ren revealing the news that had broken her heart and nearly broken her spirit. He hadn't done that to her, he had to remind himself. It was the other Ben-the one who had died in her arms in Exegol-the one she had been so desperate to save before she landed in his timeline, thinking she had gone back into her own past so she could save that Ben Solo from himself. But instead she had found him-he was the one she had saved. She had intervened in time to stop him committing the same act that had haunted the other Ben until his dying day. His head spun with the weight of it all.
Luke's complexion went grey when he learned that Palpatine-Darth Sidious-was still alive. It meant that his own father, Anakin's-or Darth Vadar, to give him his Sith name-sacrifice had been in vain. Palpatine had survived to torment the next generation, hiding behind his creation, Snoke, to wage war on the galaxy.
"I can't believe it." Luke said in horror. "I saw my father throw him into the pit."
"You must hate me." Rey whispered desolately.
Luke's eyes snapped to her face. "Why would you think that?" He asked gravely.
"Because of who I am."
"All I see before me is a brave, tenacious, and compassionate young woman." Luke replied earnestly. "Rey, some things are stronger than blood. Don't be afraid. Where you come from does not define who you are."
Rey basked in the warmth of Luke's words. Even as her eyes brimmed with tears, she felt a fullness of soul and breath that could be regarded as hope. She watched as Ben looked at his uncle with a fresh set of eyes. The old bitterness was gone from them. He was gazing at his uncle anew.
"The question is what do we do now." Luke murmured, stroking his beard thoughtfully.
Ben's gaze left his uncle and landed on Rey. She made eye contact with him, surprised at how different his eyes were in moments like these, softer than she could ever imagine. They were the eyes of one who loves deeply, and that love was all for her. "You okay?" He projected into her mind.
Rey nodded, taking in every moment and memorising it, knowing his love was the medication she would need to survive the next few days. In all the galaxy there wasn't another like him, or her for that matter; they were two souls that were one. "I know what I have to do." She answered him through their bond.
"What we have to do." Ben corrected her with a sad smile. He turned to face his uncle, who was gazing at them both curiously. "We already have a plan." He said aloud.
"What plan?" Luke asked cautiously.
After another loving glance in Rey's direction, which only solidified his resolve, Ben outlined their intent to confront Darth Sidious on Exegol. Luke's blue eyes widened as he expressed his concerns about their impetuous plan. Ben cut him off mid-sentence with a calmness he had never felt before. "Isn't confronting fear the destiny of a Jedi?" He asked.
"Ben." Luke's eyes moistened as he reached out and put a hand on his nephew's shoulder. For the first time in his life, Ben didn't flinch at his touch as a soothing warmth spread through him. "I can see no words of mine are going to dissuade you from this plan. I want you to know you won't be alone…either of you." His watery gaze encompassed Rey as well. "While you confront Darth Sidious, the resistance and I will engage Snoke and the First order in battle. Working together we can end this war." He stated firmly. Luke transferred his hand from Ben's shoulder to his cheek, while his other reached out to Rey to draw her into their inner circle.
Ben's palms were sweaty. He couldn't understand why he was feeling so nervous as he approached his uncle nervously. "Can I ask you something, U…Uncle…Luke?" He stuttered over his words, feeling like a small child again. He couldn't remember the last time he had addressed Skywalker so familiarly.
"Of course, you can." Luke regarded Ben with mild amusement, wondering why his nephew was so agitated. "What is it?"
"Um…I know there isn't much time…but before we leave, I want you to…" Ben took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I want you to marry me and Rey."
This was the last thing that Luke had been expecting. His eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline in surprise. "Marry you? I'm not a marriage officiant, Ben."
"You're the best we've got." Ben gave him a pleading look. "Please, Uncle. I need this. Rey needs this."
Luke was lost for words momentarily; he had never been so astonished in his life. "If that's what you want. Then I'll do it." He said finally, recovering his composure.
Ben's face relaxed into a bright smile. It was the purest thing that Luke had ever seen. It extended right to Ben's eyes and deep into his soul. "Thanks." Ben said gratefully as he left his surprised uncle and ran off to find Rey and tell her she was about to become a Solo. He had no doubts that she was going to say yes.
A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.
