The Pivotal Moment
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A/N-thank you to everyone who kindly left a review on the last chapter. Your awesome feed back keeps me motivated to finish this story!
Chapter Twenty-Seven-Rey Palpatine and Kylo Ren
Luke drew Rey and Ben together; his expression was solemn as he reminded them once again of the gravity of the situation they were now facing. "Darth Sidious is scheming, powerful and evil to the core. You must be wary of him. He will try and manipulate you; he'll twist everything to his advantage. You must both stray strong. Stay focused. And most of all stay together. Do not let your fears or anger cloud your feelings."
When he had finished speaking, he first hugged Ben, telling him he couldn't be prouder of him than if he was his own son. Ben returned Luke's hug; his eyes moist as he felt his uncle's emotional warmth wrap around him. He had carried the rabid scars of their estrangement like open wounds for years. Now they were gone it was like a heavy burden had been lifted. He knew now that the light of compassion shines the brightest in the darkness, showing the courage until daylight comes. This was what Rey had taught him. She was that bright light inside him, showing him that he deserved to be loved.
Luke was hugging Rey now. "You are part of my family now, Rey Solo." He whispered to her. "And us Skywalkers are strongest when we stick together."
Luke stepped back, looking them over appraisingly one last time. "Until we meet again." He said putting one hand on each of their shoulders. Ben and Rey echoed his sentiment. Trying his best to hide the gleam of moisture in his watery blue eyes, Luke took a deep breath and walked back to his ship with R2D2 following faithfully behind him.
Ben and Rey walked up the Falcon's ramp hand in hand. This was going to be their last night on Ahch-to. At first light they would leave and start their journey to Exegol. The heavy weight of this knowledge followed them as they roamed the ship from top to bottom, doing last minute checks, making sure that the Millennium Falcon was as robust as she could be. They reached the galley, an addition that Han Solo had made to the ship after he married Leia Organa. They had lived in the Falcon for a few months after their marriage. Ben remembered Han telling him once it was one of the happiest times of their marriage. Palpatine had just been defeated. They were young, in love, and felt like they were embarking on a whole new adventure.
"Ben." Rey murmured as she shared his melancholy through their bond.
Ben grabbed her by the waist, pulling her up close against his chest. His hand gently glided through her hair, unfastening it from its bindings, allowing the silky strands to fall in soft waves around her lovely face. Rey's eyes were like candles in the night, their spark a light of passion…desire. As a small, but teasing smile lit up Ben's face, goosebumps lined her skin, not the kind that one gets in the cold, but the kind one gets when nothing else matters except right here, right now.
"You're beautiful." Ben breathed.
Rey felt her cheeks grow warm from his sincere compliment. "I'm not." She murmured.
Ben's hands encircled her waist as his warm lips grazed her ear. "You are beautiful." He whispered again. "Completely, totally, insanely beautiful."
Rey's smile spread so wide across her face it hurt. "What does that make you?"
"Lucky." Ben laughed.
"I meant in terms of beautiful." Rey teased him as she gazed up at him from under her thick lashes. "If I'm insanely beautiful, what does that make you? Because I assure you…"
"Rey." Ben interrupted her. "Stop talking." He said right before he kissed her.
As he continued to kiss her the world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words could never be. His hand rested below her ear, his thumb caressing her cheek as their breaths mingled. Rey ran her fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space between them and she could feel the strong beating of his heart against her chest.
Still kissing, Ben lifted Rey right off her feet, carrying her toward the bedroom which was another addition that Han had added to the Falcon after his marriage to Leia. Ben smiled into the kiss as he let Rey fall with a soft bounce onto the thin mattress. They locked eyes with each other for a moment, just enough for them to feel the twin beating of their hearts. Then a mad scramble ensued as they pulled at each other's clothes, their limbs tangling with each other in their desperation to be skin on skin.
Every kiss after that was raw in its intensity-their breathing fast, their heart rates faster. Finally, with the confining clothes out of the way, they were naked, their skin moving softly together, like the finest of silk. Rey felt Ben's hand move sinuously down her body until it was right where she wanted it to be. A soft moan escaped her lips, before his mouth covered hers again, and their tongues entwined in a kiss, and then he was inside, changing her breathing with every thrust, her moans timed to the rhythm of his body moving with hers. Then all at once Ben stopped, cherishing her body with gentle kisses from her breasts to her stomach, worshipping her silken skin, his hands light; then he's licking and using his fingers all at once, watching her reaction, feeling how her legs move, watching her body writhe in ecstasy. He whispered words of love, Rey let out a soft moan, unable to articulate a response. In seconds he was moving again, sending Rey tumbling into a fresh wave of ecstasy that builds and builds until it sent them both spiraling over the edge.
In the twilight of their room, not yet spent from their passionate lovemaking, their fingers caressed each other's skin as if afraid a heavier touch would break the heady magic. Not having the patience to wait, they became one again, one mind with one goal and one purpose, each utterly drunk with love for the other, only stopping when light finally dawned.
Exegol was a dark, barren, and rocky planet with desert flats. Its dry conditions, combined with the rubbing of dust particles in its atmosphere, created enormous static discharges that appeared as lightning strikes from the planet surface. The desolate world was covered with enormous fissures that reached deep into its crust. These were excavated by Sith loyalists who were attempting to reach a vergence they believed to lie beneath the surface.
Exegol's nearby space was littered with the remains of megafauna, resulting in a cloud of red gas and stardust to form before the world, posing a navigation barrier. It was the same now. Even though the co-ordinates were buried in her memory, navigating a safe path to the hidden world of the Sith was proving perilous. There was no Sith Wayfinder to help her this time. The journey was bringing back all kinds of nightmarish memories for Rey. Ben shared her apprehension. This journey was all new to him. Unlike his counterpart in her universe he had never travelled to Exegol. He had only heard rumors that it was possibly located somewhere in the Unknown Regions. He was relying totally on her guidance.
Even though she appeared outwardly calm, Rey was scared. So scared. This was the mirror image of the place where she had lost Ben, where she had begun her crazy journey through the parallel universes in her quest to find him again. Now they were here, together, united in a way they hadn't been before. The Dyad bond flowed strong between them. Rey knew there was no hiding her fears from Ben. She cast him a desperate look and he placed his hand over hers, his touch soothing, his mere presence calming her frantic mind.
"Remember what Luke said. We can't let our fears or anger cloud our feelings. Sidious doesn't know we're coming. We've got the advantage, Rey. Don't be scared. I'm right with you. You're not alone."
Rey took his words and held them close to her heart as the crazy ride to Exegol came to an end. This was it. There was no going back now. As they started the landing sequence, fear once again found Rey. It spoke to her in its cackling voice-sounding so much like Palpatine-it made her legs go weak, causing her stomach to lurch and her heart to ache. She had read once that there was nothing to fear but fear itself, but still she couldn't silence its voice. It continued to plague her as they left the Falcon behind and began to descend into the bowels of the earth, its wicked voice continuing its endless cycle of reservations and doubts.
"The ritual begins. She will strike me down and pledge herself as a Sith. She will draw her weapon. She will come to me. She will take her revenge, and with a stroke of her saber, the Sith are reborn. The Jedi are dead!"
Rey's palms were sweaty and the adrenaline coursing through her system was shutting down her ability to think logically as she became swamped with nightmarish memories of her past encounter with the evil Sith lord who claimed her as his granddaughter.
Ben was becoming more and more concerned with her state of mind. Her fears were infecting him. He let her draw on his strength, hoping that would be enough to quiet the torment she was experiencing in her mind. "Rey, I'm here. You're not alone." He said through their bond. "Focus on me. On us."
Things had changed so much, so fast. Rey was panicking she wouldn't be able to control the ending of their story. What if the same thing happened all over again? What if she couldn't save him again? What if she couldn't follow him this time? Surviving without him would be worse than death.
"I'm here." Ben stated firmly as he broke through her chaotic thoughts. "Its our time. Together we're stronger. He won't win. We'll be the victors this time."
And then they both froze. Colour drained from their faces, both turning white as a ghost. Several bodies lay scattered before them-the Knights of Ren, brutally slain-left to rot on the cold ground where they fell.
"This isn't right." Rey whispered to Ben in horror as she felt his fingers curl tightly around hers. "Ben?"
"I know." He whispered back. "Can you feel it?"
Rey knew exactly what he meant. A sudden darkness fell, blocking out all remaining light. An insidious evil, so all-consuming that it sucked the air out of their lungs and made it impossible to breathe. Blinded, Rey and Ben drew their sabers, igniting them in unison. The blue plasma blades cast a narrow ray of light on another fallen corpse, slashed to pieces, and only barely recognizable from the white milk like haze covering its opened eyes.
"Palpatine!" Rey whispered in terror as she cast a petrified glance at Ben. "He's already dead!"
"Someone got to him first." Ben whispered back to her in horrified disbelief.
"That would be us!" A loud feminine laugh, high pitched and demonic, echoed off the cavernous walls, chilling them to the bone.
Out of the thick, impenetrable blackness stepped two shadowy figures, one much taller than the other. The smaller figure took the lead, becoming more feminine in shape as it approached. Suddenly there was a flash of red as the figure ignited their own weapon-a doubled bladed red lightsaber. Nausea welled in Rey's gut as she was suddenly faced with the same dark mirror image of herself that had confronted her on Kef Bir in the Emperor's throne room.
"I think we've shocked them, lover." Rey Palpatine sneered as she waited for her partner to reveal themselves.
Out of the shadows stepped Kylo Ren, clutching his own red cross-guard lightsaber tightly in his gloved hand.
A/N-thanks for reading! It looks like the vision Rey saw of the dark version of herself on Kef Bir was all too real. More to come soon.
Please review. I would love to hear your thoughts.