The Pivotal Moment

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A/N-thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I hope this is not going to be too confusing. This has turned into one complicated plot…

Chapter Twenty-Nine-Rey Palpatine and Ben Solo

Their fight was like a choreographed dance of destruction. Ben Solo and Rey Palpatine duelled furiously for a few minutes, their sabers clashing violently together in a whirlwind of red and blue sparks. Dark Rey was fast, very fast. Ben was struggling to keep up with her frenzied movements. They broke apart to regroup, and in that frozen fear between stand off and fighting, he saw Rey's eyes flick to his momentarily, showing no emotion at all. Her face was unreadable, there was no fear, no invitational smirk. She came at him again, the plasma blades of her wicked weapon swirling like twin flames. Ben circled her, his own saber held defensively in front of him as he waited for the right moment to launch his counterattack.

Rey Palpatine charged him with a mighty cry. Ben dodged to the side in one fluid move. Rey swivelled in his direction. Her menacing eyes were dark with intent while her dark hood made the rest of her features indistinguishable as she used the shadows to her advantage. She thrust forward; Ben parried her. They both backed off again, circling each other slowly, never taking their eyes from one another.

"You've lasted longer than I expected." Rey Palpatine sneered as she rushed toward him again. Ben deflected her whirring double bladed saber and in a surprising move, he flung his arm around her neck, drawing her back against him. Rey struggled, shooting her right leg out in an attempt to trip him up. Ben pushed her roughly, causing her to stumble. Hissing like an angry wildcat, Rey managed to break free, her saber swinging madly as she slashed at his shoulder, tearing through the flesh and bone.

Ben groaned in pain as he felt the blood seep through his tunic. He was forced to switch the saber to his good arm, the other was now swinging uselessly by his side. The burning pain from his injury was disabling.

Dark Rey laughed cruelly as she circled him again slowly. "It's impossible for you to win. You can't beat me." She boasted. "I have the power of all the Sith!"

"Rey!" Ben cried in his head as he tried to forge a connection with his beloved. "Where are you, sweetheart? I need you!"

He was met with a wall of silence. Just like all the other times he had tried to communicate with her. It was like she had fallen out of existence. His brain was screaming for her. She was fine. She had to be fine. He couldn't contemplate her being hurt; he couldn't bear the thought of it. She had to be okay. There was a simple explanation for why he couldn't hear her, why he couldn't feel her. Rey Palpatine was messing with his head. He just had to find a way to kill her and then he would be reunited with the girl he loved, the girl he adored above everything else, the girl he couldn't live without. Ben's brain was on overdrive but his concentration was shot. He clumsily deflected another blow from the demon wearing Rey's face and staggered backwards.

"Pathetic!" Rey Palpatine scowled as she paused in her attack to glare at him. "You're making this all too easy!"

Ben could feel it, the fear building like an unstoppable snowball in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't concentrate on anything else but trying to forge his connection with Rey. Without that connection he felt lost. He needed it like he needed air to breathe. His heart began to beat harder and faster, adrenaline levels rising, his brain began to fire a relentless stream of negative thoughts like a blaster gun. Sweat broke out on his hot skin. The deep wound in his shoulder ached and throbbed.

"Where is she?" He screamed at Rey Palpatine. "What have you done to her?"

Dark Rey's wicked laughter echoed around the cavernous throne room. It struck Ben's ears, sending them ringing. He winced at the new source of pain and stumbled as he tried to keep his footing. She began to swing her double bladed lightsaber in front of her so fast that the bright red plasma blades burned his eyes. He couldn't see. He couldn't think.

"You want to know where your precious lover is?" Dark Rey's cruel voice bit brutally into his ear.

Ben lashed out in horror at her closeness, unexpectedly landing a hit. He heard Dark Rey hiss in pain as she whirled away from him, blood streaming from a deep cut on her left arm. His lucky blow had infuriated her to the point of madness. She withdrew to a safe distance and snarled in his direction. Her crazed eyes narrowed in concentration as she extended her right hand and used the full power of the dark side of the Force to create a cavernous split in the earth under his feet. Ben didn't have time to avoid the deep pit that opened up beneath him. He stumbled and fell, his lightsaber falling from his nerveless fingers and into the never-ending darkness below him. In a desperate attempt to stop himself from suffering the same fate as his lost saber, he swung his body around, his hands clawing at the sides of the deep pit, somehow, he managed to find a foothold. His fingers bit into the hard rock as he clung on, his breaths coming in shallow gasps as he tried hard to fight his budding despair.

A suffocating darkness fell, so thick and impenetrable, that he struggled to breathe. "Rey, where are you? Rey?" A choked sob left his throat as he screamed her name in his head. He conjured up her lovely face in his mind. He let her inner beauty wash over him, letting it light up his whole world. She was his guiding light. His way out of the darkness.

Then….

"Ben!"

At last! The sound of her sweet voice saying his name energised him. The sweat completely covered his skin as he strained every muscle in his body to drag himself to the surface. His heart exploded in his chest when he felt a pair of soft hands touch his face. Ben's breath caught in his throat as he focused his eyes on the angel kneeling in front of him. Even covered in dried blood and grime his Rey was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He reached for her at the same time she reached for him. He didn't know how or why she was there. He was just so grateful that she was. Ben drew her toward him, eagerly searching for her mouth as he kissed her, a full on, open-mouthed sexual kiss. He loved it. He loved the way her small body melted into his. The way their lips fit like two puzzle pieces. The way she relented as he pulled her tighter and tighter. When they broke apart after what seemed like ages, he opened his eyes to look at her and his heart slammed violently in his chest when he found Rey Palpatine smirking back at him. Seconds later he felt the burn of her lightsaber as she stabbed him in his abdomen, the cruel smile never leaving her face as she killed him.

Rey's lips quivered as she slowly raised her right hand toward Kylo. She kept a steady eye-contact with him. His brown eyes shone brightly, reflecting the warmth of the sun. They were such a unique colour, a mix of light and dark. He looked directly into her hazel eyes, so big and beautiful, so much emotion held inside. Their fingertips brushed, their fingers gliding over each other, until Kylo's gently closed around hers, drawing her toward him like a moth to a flame.

Kylo leaned in, so Rey's forehead rested against his. They closed their eyes at the same time. Both their breaths shaking. "Thank you." He said, his voice low and husky.

"For what?" Rey's response was barely more than a whisper.

"For being you." Kylo's voice wavered, exhilarated by the tension between them. "For taking my hand. For believing me."

Rey gently leaned in and kissed his warm lips. They pulled apart and took shaky, shallow breaths. Unable to contain themselves anymore, Kylo cradled Rey's head in his hands and pulled her into a fiery and passionate kiss. Her hands worked their way around his body, feeling each crevasse, each line along his perfect physique. Their Force bond flowed around them, uniting them, pulling them together as one, tightening their bond, making them stronger. They pulled apart again and gazed deep into each other's eyes. Kylo's full of wonder and love. Rey's full of curiosity and passion. No words were spoken other than a whispered 'Ben' falling from Rey's parted lips, but a story worthy of them was communicated all the same.

"I love you." He projected into her mind.

Rey tucked her head under his chin as she closed her eyes and let her tears fall unchecked. So much had happened in so short a time that she didn't think she would ever be able to stop grieving for all that they had lost, all that they had suffered, together and apart. And all those that had suffered right along with them. "Ben." She held his name in her heart, clinging to the precious memories she had of him, even as she let him go. Kylo hadn't lied. She could sense that the Ben she had married on Ahch-to was gone. The wretchedness she felt, the guilt that couldn't compare to the elation of being reunited with the man who she had started this whole journey to find, would forever scar her heart.

"Rey." Kylo whispered her name again as he worked his way back to her tender, smooth lips. He kissed her again, pulling her closer until there was no space left between them and he could feel the beating of her heart against his chest.

Suddenly everything went dark….an impenetrable evil rolled toward them, pulling them apart….

"Traitor!" Dark Rey's hate filled scream ricocheted off the stone walls of the throne room as she appeared out of the gloom, her white face a mask of jealous insanity as she glared at Kylo embracing Rey. With one swooping motion of her arm she used the Force and sent him flying through the air, his head slamming violently against the opposite wall. He dropped hard to the ground, groaning in pain.

Rey felt her heart lurch in her chest as she watched her dark counterpart's lips draw back into an angry snarl. Dark Rey ignited her wicked twin bladed saber, and with a feral roar, she brandished her weapon at Rey and attacked.

A/N-thanks for reading! I hope it makes sense, sighs. Please review if you like.