A/N: Happy Star Wars Day!
CHAPTER 7: THE MAN FROM A.H.C.H.-T.O.
It is hard to care about the fate of the galaxy when you have just had another awakening of sorts. They both struggle to untangle their limbs from the other to climb out of bed and save everyone else from doom.
It is really hard. The situation, that is.
But they somehow manage to do it. Get out of bed, that is.
Rey decides that they need to swing via Ahch-To to talk to Luke, and Ben is happy to go along with this idea so long as he does not actually have to see his uncle.
They choose to take Kylo's Upsilon class shuttle to make the ominous trip, which sees Rey squealing with delight as Ben allows her to pilot it. If there's one thing she has to give the First Order credit for, it's the polished, streamlined look of its shuttles and their glossy, stylish interiors. Not to mention the most advanced technology credits can buy and a caf machine that dispenses more than one type of caf, to Rey's amazement.
She expertly takes the controls and smoothly eases them out of the hangar bay under Ben's watchful and impressed eye, while he clears it for himself and his pilot to leave.
The flight there takes a few hours, which allows them more time for getting to know each other.
Which is nice.
They play a lot of Dejarik.
And chat a lot whilst drinking caf from the fancy caf machine.
All while Ben is not tickling her belly from the inside, that is.
Time flies quickly onboard and, when they finally arrive at the aqueous planet and have a certain island in their sights, they both surprise themselves by becoming unexpectedly nostalgic.
"I see it," Ben remarks quietly, as Temple Island comes into view and a memory of a memory plays in his mind. "The island in the middle of the ocean."
The lure at this point is magnetic as the island calls out to the Force-sensitives – a nexus pulsing like a beacon with an almost palpable concentration of Force energy; it is no wonder to them both that this site became the birthplace of the Jedi Order.
Rey proficiently parks the craft on an outcrop of rocks at the bottom of a steep hill and they open the doors to a refreshing gust, that whips their cloaks around them into a snap.
And then she excitedly grips Ben's hand and drags him down the ramp and up the mountain of steps to show him all the highlights that the island has to offer.
First, she shows him the green-milk booby monster, which Ben seems less than impressed with. Then she shows him her old room, which also makes Ben less than impressed.
Rey pulls him inside and goes all soft and sentimental as her eyes rove around the interior of the corbelled stone structure that has been rebuilt by the island's Lanai caretakers, and she smooths her hand over the masonry of the inside wall. "You don't understand," she explains wistfully. "This is the hut I was staying in the first time The Force connected us."
Ben nods in understanding. "I remember that moment," he remarks, his voice low. "I still have nightmares about a blaster bolt nearly ripping my stomach open."
Rey continues her trip down memory lane unfazed. "It was in this hut that I also felt the warmth of your skin against mine for the first time." Her gaze is drawn to the hearth on the floor, recalling that moment in a new light, lost in her thoughts, with affection gleaming in her eyes and a smile dancing at the corners of her lips… until her face drops, crestfallen. "Just before Luke interrupted and ruined the moment."
Ben takes her fallen hand in his and brings it to his lips.
"Happy times," he remarks, before pulling her towards him for a healing embrace.
They stand wrapped together tenderly in the room that was the source of such a pivotal moment for their Dyad.
Their minds both drift back to that first tangible connection that changed everything, that first sensation of truly belonging to another person, and the vision of a future so certainly entwined with the other's. They keep part of their minds closed to the other as they each recall how they had hoped that moment would continue. If they could touch fingertips, what else could they touch? And if the mere press of fingers was so electric, so exhilarating, then what might have happened if they had wrapped their hands around the other's? Or their legs?
"Your uncle was a bit of a cock-blocker," Rey remarks matter-of-factly.
She feels Ben's chest rumble against her cheek with an unsounded laugh. "That's the real reason you took a lightsaber to him, isn't it?"
Rey doesn't deny it.
An amused Ben pulls his face away to look down at Rey's, cradling the side of her face with a large hand and softly caressing her cheek with his thumb. He holds her gaze with a cherishing look, then he presses his mouth to hers, and the reminiscing comes to an end as gently as it started.
"I'm going to try meditating in Luke's old room," Rey explains, indicating a modest circular stone shelter on the tier above them. "I think that's the most likely place I'll be able to connect with him."
Ben squeezes her hand and leaves her to it as she settles into a meditative pose on the dusty floor of the round hovel, then takes himself off on a wander to explore the rugged beauty of the island.
He quickly finds the burned-out tree library and understands from the vibes as he touches the charred, petrified wood that this used to be an important, sacred building. There is little left to it now, but he realises he is glad that at least Rey had the foresight to scavenge the ancient texts before she left, even if he does want the Jedi Order to end.
Moving on, he chances upon an opening in the rocks and he enters a cavern that seems to be buzzing with The Force, before spying an altar hewn from the same stone perched on the crag beyond it. It is impossible for Ben not to feel the draw into this room that seems to be pulsating with a ripe energy and he finds himself closing his eyes and holding a palm to the walls to tune into that rippling power.
Centrepiece on the chamber floor is a mosaic of the first Jedi, the Prime Jedi – a perfect embodiment of the balance between light and dark – and a perfect example to all Force users. Ben stares at it a while, contemplating balance, before circling past and he walks out onto the ledge and sits cross-legged on top of the platform in a meditative pose as he eyes the colossal umber orb and its smaller binary twin ahead in the streaky, glowing sky.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"KRIFFING HELL!" Ben shouts, as he falls off the rocky seat.
Standing behind him with a huge smirk on his face is the luminous outline of his uncle.
"This is the view I had when I passed over into The Force," Luke reminisces. "It's a much better view from on top of the rock, rather than lying sideways squashed up against the side of it." He eyes his nephew. "And watch your language, Ben, this is a sacred island."
Ben scrabbles for purchase to regain his footing, then stands sneering down at his uncle.
"Still pissed at me, Ben? I'd have hoped by now that killing me would have got all that hate out of you."
Ben remains speechless.
Luke's pale blue eyes twinkle mischievously as he watches his nephew try to compose himself.
"You've changed," Luke observes. "We wouldn't be able to have this conversation, otherwise. I was hoping we would be able to put the past behind us, now. We've both done things we regret. Me, doubting you. You, being the death of me."
Ben breathes deeply through his nose. "Why are you here?"
"To save you." He shrugs. "I changed my mind. Though I probably would have stood a better chance while I was alive if I'd had longer eyelashes and pretty eyes."
Ben gets the point his uncle is trying to make, but it still makes him cringe.
"How do you think you can save me, Luke?"
"By giving you some advice. Also, you should know there's another lightsaber – your mother's."
Ben furrows his brows in confusion.
"Your mother used it while I was teaching her many years ago, but she gave it to me when she chose to end her training. It's here on the island, hidden in the walls of one of the huts. I think it's time for you to take it. You will need it if you are to defeat Palpatine."
A croaky voice adds, "Hmmm, and also trust in the power of the Dyad you must!"
Ben whirls round and stares down at a glowing, robed frog on the floor.
"Who the fuck are you?!" he asks.
"Hmmm, tongue your watch must you," the frog chips in.
"What the – ?!"
"Master Yoda is saying don't swear!" Luke chides, clipping Ben around the earhole.
"Wait! You just touched me?!" Ben exclaims, holding a hand to the stinging side of his head.
His uncle smirks as he elucidates, "The Force is strong at certain locations in the galaxy. Ahch-To is one. Exegol will be another. At these locations it is possible for Force ghosts to take on a more corporeal form."
Ben shakes his head in disbelief.
"Remember," Yoda adds, poking Ben's leg with his gimer stick for greater emphasis. "Use the power of the Dyad you must, to defeat the emperor in order to."
Ben looks to his uncle for a translation.
"You've got to work together with Rey if you hope to take him down," Luke interprets.
Yoda hmpfs at Ben, before closing his eyes and disappearing back into The Force once more.
As Luke remains, there is an awkwardness that has settled between him and his nephew. Ben is tolerating his uncle as it is the right thing to do, and he wants to do the right thing. And Luke finds he enjoys making his former padawan squirm as he glares at him without a word.
As Luke studies his nephew's face, a part of him wants to tell Ben that he is proud of him for working with Rey and for using his power to try to work for the good of the galaxy… but it is still a little hard for him to admit anything like this. He is a Force Ghost, not a saint. Likewise, Ben feels torn between wanting to forgive his uncle for being the straw that broke the camel's back and to ask for forgiveness in return… and also wanting to see if he can shove Luke off the ledge given he has now has more of a solid form and stands maybe half a foot and fifty pounds lighter than him.
But neither can say what they really want to. They are Light enough to be able to have a conversation, but not Light enough to actually have it. And, it turns out, that is fine with both of them.
"So," Ben – ever the smart strategist – wonders out loud, "if you have more of a solid form on Exegol, then why can't the Jedi just appear and kill Palpatine?"
Luke tuts. "Oh, Ben. If only things could be so easy."
But Ben's curiosity is unfaded, even with his Uncle's typically vague answer. "Why not?" he questions.
Luke smiles widely. "Exegol is the homeworld of the Sith and they have placed a powerful hex across the surface of the planet that prevents any Force ghosts from appearing in solid form. Otherwise Master Qui-Gon would have shanked Darth Sidious decades ago."
Ben nods slowly. "I guess that's the only reasonable explanation."
Luke nods too. "The hope of the Jedi now rests in your hands and Rey's." He grins. "No pressure."
And with that quip, Luke leads Ben back to the hut to show him the exact spot where Leia's lightsaber is hidden, and they meet Rey still sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"Master Luke!" Rey says as she catches sight of his luminescent form entering the hut, and she rises to stand and welcome him.
"Rey," Luke greets cordially with a small nod, his arms clutched together in front of him in superior, monk pose. As Ben lumbers in behind him, Luke's impish eyes dart between her and Ben. "Working with the enemy, I see?"
"I, uh…," Rey stumbles, desperately trying to prevent her disloyal cheeks from colouring, "we have formed an understanding," she proclaims with a grin, incredibly pleased with herself for finding just the right words.
"Is that what they're calling it nowadays?" Luke teases. "All the Jedi in the afterlife became aware of your first 'understanding' last night as it sent a shockwave of energy rippling across every dimension and plane of existence."
Rey's cheeks have gone from being mildly disloyal to downright turncoats, ablaze with colour. And the ground beneath the three humans rumbles as Rey tries to make it swallow her whole.
Luke continues, indifferent to the effect his ribbing is having on his two-lesson padawan, pointing out the hidey-hole where the spare lightsaber is stashed for Ben to retrieve.
Rey half watches what happens, too flustered to even remember what she wanted to say to Luke in the first place.
"You're good for each other," Luke pronounces as he eyes the young couple. "Maybe there is hope for the galaxy yet."
And with these words, as his lifeform wanes into transcendence, Ben catches Luke's audacious wink just before he fades into the ether.
…
Ben insists on taking the helm for the second leg of their journey, while Rey takes on the role of co-pilot, and his dexterity and speed with the controls is a something of a masterclass for Rey.
"You're pretty good at piloting," Rey notes.
"I'm pretty good at everything," Ben replies dryly, turning to her and winking.
Rey smirks in reply.
He shrugs, adding "I guess it helps that my father, grandfather and uncle were all pretty good pilots."
"I guess so," Rey replies quietly.
There is a noticeably different, more subdued mood for the second leg of their journey as they steel themselves for the biggest fight of their lives, and Rey isn't sure how to busy herself over the next few hours.
Early on she is quite excited to discover a couple of stowaway porgs that had slipped onboard while they were sightseeing on Ahch-To. Rey has always found them to be strange-looking birds, that appear to be dead behind the eyes. She picks up one and watches it tremble in her hands, letting out a soothing trill that reminds her of the therapy fathiers her therapist used to talk about. She tries sharing it with Ben, but he just stares down into its vacant black orbs and confesses, "I make it a rule never to eat just before a fight. But, maybe on the way back…"
Rey opens her mouth to explain, until she realises how ridiculous she would sound, and instead promptly returns the bird to its companion.
If Ben is nervous about the battle ahead, he isn't showing any signs. And, whenever Rey feels herself worrying about the meeting in front of them, she receives a calming balm projected across their bond to take the edge off.
She wants to feel numb to it all, but instead is waging a war with nerves and is too wired to even consider meditation.
She slips away to the crew quarters and takes a book out of her backpack – "Colour Your Way to Less Stress: The Starships of Naboo". Rey spends the best part of the next quarter of an hour trying to distract herself by colouring in minute detail a J-type 327 Nubian Starship swooshing over the Nabooean countryside with a romantic waterfall as the backdrop.
Naboo, she thinks to herself. If I live beyond today, I want to see Naboo.
But there is also a small swooshing in her stomach, as the nerves have returned and she's having another feeling – an uneasy one this time. Rey drops her head into her hands and breathes deeply.
The tension seems to evaporate almost immediately as she feels a sturdy hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she sees Ben standing next to her, concern etching his features; concern that morphs into amusement when he sees her colouring book.
"Don't!" she warns in a low voice before he can make any jokes.
His endearing smile just spreads wider.
"How are you not nervous?" she asks.
Ben's gaze is piercing. "Because I have you."
He is so certain in his reply, so full of resolve that Rey has no comeback.
Something clicks in her mind at that moment and she laughs to herself: the books, the balls, the bags, the birds, the breathing… it's all just a distraction. He is right, she realises – all she needs is her Bondmate: her Ben.
His touch gives her the reassurance she needs as he readily absorbs her doubts and her fears; whatever she needs, it is hers to take from him.
And then she is centred again.
She takes a deep breath through her nose and asks, "Tell me more about balancing The Force. How do we do it?"
Ben smiles. "Good question."
"We need to break the cycle, Ben, once and for all, that's the only way there will be peace."
He nods, but offers no answers.
Rey prods. "Is it about the number of Force users? Can you only ever have the same number of Light and Dark Force users at any one time?"
Ben shakes his head slowly. "It's more complicated than that."
Rey regrets not asking Luke when she had the chance. Although, she's not sure he would have had the answers. Or it probably would have been some infuriating riddle, she decides.
"Okay, what happens if we defeat Palpatine? If his Dark side presence is extinguished, where does that leave the balance?"
Ben chuckles. "Well, we'll have to maintain balance between just the two of us, I suppose. You can be the Light one and I guess I'll just have to carry on killing people to balance you out – for the good of the galaxy."
Rey hopes he is joking. Plus, she doesn't see herself as the complete Lightsider he is putting on a pedestal. "Whatever, sweetheart," she says. "You know, if I were so perfect I wouldn't have survived this long. I can be bad," she argues.
Ben finds her last statement both cute and funny. He smiles and chooses to try and explain how he sees things. "Did Luke ever talk about balance?"
Rey scrunches up her nose remembering her first lesson. "He told me that no one owns the Force and that balance is what lies between everything, between life and death."
Ben adopts a scholarly, serious look that Rey is not used to seeing. "This is how I see it. There is both the Dark side of The Force and the Light side. One cannot exist without the other and neither is good nor bad. It is the Force users who are 'good' or 'bad'. The Sith are ruled by their emotions and fuelled by personal gain, and their use of The Force to achieve this throws things out of balance. The Jedi were created to keep them in check, but even the Jedi are not infallible. They forgot their purpose when they became involved with the Clone Wars. And, when they decided to reject their emotions, they rejected love too – and that's the craziest thing of all. And you think the First Order is evil stealing children from their families and indoctrinating them? Well, the Jedi were doing that for many years before the Order came along. The Jedi lost their way because they lost the concept of balance."
Rey tries to understand. "We both seem to have shades of Light and Dark in us. Maybe that's how it's meant to be."
Ben feels compelled to explain more. "Rey, just by loving me you are bringing balance to the Force. You saw the Light in me that no one else could, that even I thought I had buried. I meant it when I said the Jedi and the Sith should end. Not so we can have ultimate power, but because I want balance. You are my equal and I need you to be my partner in this. Palpatine has created a power imbalance and only us working together towards his destruction will restore balance."
Feeling a bit embarrassed that he is coming across as only seeming to want to recruit Rey as his business partner, he adds a little more shyly, "Obviously, I also find you incredibly attractive and I want you to join me not just because you are the other half of our Dyad, but because I am completely in love with you. I've been completely in love with you for a long time."
He hopes she gets what he means. He hasn't always been the best with words.
But Rey does get Ben; ultimately, she always will. She's just as drawn to him as he is to her, and she smiles optimistically as she responds. "You know, even though we're permanently joined by our Dyad, I'm completely in love with you too for so many more reasons." She holds his gaze. "I love your eyes…"
"Yeah?"
"Yes! They're so intense you don't ever need to talk, they do all the talking for you. And I love your voice."
"Really?" Ben breathes in his seductive baritone.
Rey gulps. "Yes."
"I love kissing your mouth," he returns.
"Really?"
Ben nods, letting his alluring eyes do the talking.
"And I love your resilience," he adds.
"My resilience?" Rey questions, the spell partially broken.
"Well, what would you have me say, your ass?"
Rey's hands move to her arse and she feels somewhat mollified by his second answer.
They gaze at each other for a bit and Rey drops her arms.
"When this is over," she says after a few moments of reflection, "let's revisit talk of balance. I need to know how this all fits in with you being Supreme Leader."
Ben nods in agreement.
A pensive Rey slips away, leaving Ben to return to the cockpit. She remembers at that moment something they have brought onboard with them and has been gently calling to her at the edge of her mind. With renewed purpose, she slips away to take a look at her Master's old lightsaber that Ben had stowed away.
She is quite excited and rather humbled to be in the presence of her Master's old weapon and so she unravels the suede cloth encasing it with the great care and deference it is due, and reaches out with hesitant fingers to touch the hilt.
And then she blacks out.
…
"Rey?! Rey?! REY!"
She can hear Ben calling her name loudly and panicked in the black void. As she comes to, she finds herself gathered in his arms, propped up on his lap.
"What the kark just happened?" he hisses, his heart still racing.
Rey touches her palm to her temple and gasps as her memory returns. "I had a vision when I touched your mother's lightsaber."
Her eyes are as wide as headlamps and her face has gone deathly pale. She looks terrified and Ben can feel her heart too, thudding in her chest – impossibly fast – as she recalls what happened.
"Ben, I - I saw… I saw us facing the Emperor together... But, Ben… we don't survive!"
…
Ben's thoughts are dappled with a mixture of frustration and wrath. Why has The Force deigned to send Rey such a disturbing vision? Is it a warning? Have they been too flippant planning to overthrow Darth Sidious? Is this an actual forewarning of the future or is there a hidden meaning they need to find? If it is a literal prophecy, then can it be changed? Is he supposed to be the one to change things?
Ben, in that moment decides: yes, he is.
"What did you see?" Ben asks, more softly this time.
Rey sits up. "We were standing in front of Him with our blades drawn, ready to attack, when he sent out a… a sort of shock wave with The Force that disarmed us and brought us to our knees. He…" Rey breaks off to allow some tears that have gathered in her eyes to wash down her face. She looks away as she speaks next. "He threw you into a deep pit." She wipes her face with the back of her arm. "And then I saw myself lying dead on the ground."
"You die," Ben whispers. That's the only part he heard.
"But," Rey adds with hope in her voice. "I think he dies too. I think we do it, Ben. Maybe that's the only way to balance The Force," she wonders out loud. "I wish I could remember how… I don't think I was showed. And, the Dyad! I almost forgot, he doesn't know about the Dyad and he mustn't be allowed to find out about it. It helps him somehow to restore his power and make him strong enough to defeat us – and then he won't need to keep either of us alive."
She sniffs before adding ruefully, "I really need to stop touching random lightsaber hilts".
Ben wraps his arms around Rey and she tucks her head under his chin as he envelopes her and processes it all. He takes a moment of quiet introversion as he holds her close, stroking her back, being sure to keep his walls up and his thoughts private. He's thinking about how much he loves Rey and how she should not have been pulled into this mess by The Force. How, maybe he has a chance to do what no Skywalker before him has successfully done. A chance to right all his wrongs. Maybe this is his destiny.
He clasps Rey until her heartbeat settles and gently whispers in her ear "I love you". Then before she can sense any trick he has planned, she is asleep in his arms once more, in the same manner she had been in the forests of Takodana.
Ben cradles her form and studies her face. He remembers with a strange fondness that sensation of déjà vu. It is so clear to him now what matters, how it is different this time.
Ben knows that Rey will be mad at him when she eventually wakes. But he sees no other way that can guarantee her safety and prevent that ugly future she saw.
He lifts her slumbering form into one of the bunks and lets his plush lips gently brush against hers, before heading to the cockpit and navigating the shuttle through the last, hazardous bit of the journey, setting down his glossy shuttle on the planet's surface like a raven come home to roost.
He steps out into the planet's staticky air, each crackle portentous and each intermittent flare a warning that no man should be here.
He is going to face Palpatine alone.
He retraces his steps to the emperor with heavy footfalls and the intimidating crackle of the atmosphere is met by an equal one from his lightsaber as he moves towards the entrance with a scowl and a determined glint in his eye.
Before long he is on the large, open lift being lowered into the den of the Dark Lord.
He is descending into Chaos itself.
…
TW: PM me if you find any
CW: It's a bit fluffy at times
Notes: I read a book recently, "The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse", and it's beautiful. I know everyone identifies with different parts of it, but I couldn't help but think of Ben Solo THE ENTIRE WAY THROUGH. Anyway, it's read on the Internet by a guy called Tim Uffindell if anyone wants to check it out.
P.S. Let me know if this story deserves to be finished.