This is my first try at Stars Wars. I have never been inspired before but I like the characters of Rey and Ben. Also I am not well versed in the Star Wars world. I will do my research as best I can before I commit to details. Curteous corrections are welcomed.

This will be easily noticed, but this takes place after everything. I mean everything. He died y'all. Kylo died. Everything on Exogol happened. Bearing this in mind, here we go.

1. Afterlife


He died. He knew he died. He fell back from her arms, from her kiss. That kiss that he never knew he had waited for. That kiss that had flared their bond to life like never before. He didn't think that in death he would feel any of this; missing her, resentment for the way his life had turned out. Resentment for dying, because only in his last few minutes of life had he known what he wanted. Her. A life with her. Yet, here he was. Wherever he was.
Feeling all these emotions that he thought death would give him sweet reprieve from.

Not even in death could Kylo Ren find peace.

He had done too much. Hurt too many. Though he had attempted to redeem himself, in the end could that really ever be achieved? Redemption is a romantically tragic concept. The thought that vindication could come from acts of altruism was one of the many sweet lies life fed you. There was only truth: You could change your actions, change allegiances, change your mind, but in the end your past was fact. How did that saying go? A chameleon could change its colors, but in the end it was still a reptile. Still the same chameleon with a different tint.

His last few hours alive were the only ones of his life he didn't regret. The last few minutes were the only ones he clung on to.
The moment her eyes blinked and he looked at her hazel orbs he knew relief, happiness. When her hand was still warm and it touched his he knew she was alive. It was real. He also knew that bringing her back to life would cost him. He had been severely injured. The Force did not conjure things from nothing. Everything had a balance. A price to be paid. A trade: a life for a life. Because Kylo had not intended to heal Rey. What was there to heal? She had died. Their dyad bond shattered the moment she stopped breathing.

He did not even blink at this fact.

When she sat up and looked at him, called his name so sweetly he had but minutes to look at her. He drank in the color of skin, the gaze of her eyes, the soft look of her lips. He tried to prolong this moment that he was hearing her breathe. He knew he was going to die. The deal was done. What a sweet death though!

He was in the arms of his other half. The other part of his dyad bond. The one who felt what he felt, talked to to him from across the galaxy, the one who had tried to save him in that forsaken ship what felt like a lifetime ago. Then in those precious last minutes of life, she did the unthinkable. She had kissed him. Put her small hand on his face and brought her soft lips to his. He tasted the life he traded on her lips. He brought his hand to the back of her head to give permanence to this moment. What a crock.

The bond flared after a few seconds of their kiss. It was solid for a split second. Tangible. Something that it was not even with them materializing before each other.
He truly felt her. For a modicum of time the dyad bond was tethered. No longer fleeting. Emotions, thoughts, senses were seamless. Like liquid mercury just flowing with ease. They both knew then what would happen inevitably. He knew that Rey knew he was going to die. She let him go and they pressed their foreheads together. Ben smiled at her and in that moment, for once in his life, he thanked the Force. For her, for giving him what he knew he didn't deserve.

He looked again in her eyes and said nothing. She already knew, their bond was wide open and seamless. She knew everything he felt. Then it started; Kylo's vision was beginning to blacken. His breathing slowed. His heartbeat dimmed. He lost strength and felt his body fall. He was dead. The dyad bond broken. He no longer felt her as he did after he kissed her.

That brought him back to current conundrum. He was dead.

So how was it that he was feeling...anything? He had done nothing to warrant him becoming a Force ghost. He had only changed his actions the last few hours of his life as opposed to following the Jedi teachings like his...uncle. So what gives?

Did he have a body? Kylo tried to move what he thought were limbs. Fingers. Wiggle. Check. Toes. Wiggle. Check. Ok so he wasn't a disembodied mass.

"You could try opening your eyes," he heard an amused voice say.

Kylo did just that. Surprisingly he had had his eyes closed. He had eyes.

He looked around for the source of the voice and finally noticed a young looking man with brown hair, an amused smile, and Jedi robes. A Force ghost, but one he didn't know.

"Oh no, you know me. At least you think you do. You know a version of me, after I lost my body that looks like this," he said spreading his arms as if saying 'ta da.'

"I am sure I have not seen your face before? When from the Force are you from?" Ben asked walking closer to the other young man. Huh, he could walk in...well wherever he was.

The young man smirked, "Not far before your time. You are right, you do not know my face, but you've seen my mask...Held it in regard and spoken to it for direction."

Kylo stopped and looked before him incredulously. "Grandfather?"

Anakin Skywalker let out a small laugh. "Never thought I'd hear anyone call me that, but yes, I am your grandfather."

Kylo had a million thoughts run through his mind, but one was sticking out more than the others.

"I never appeared to you before, because the person, entity that you wanted no longer exists," Anakin said responding to the unvoiced question.

"What do you mean he doesn't exist? You're here. In front of me. You exist," Kylo stated frustratedly.

"No, Darth Vader is dead. I am Anakin Skywalker. The Sith do not get this perk of being around after death."

Kylo processed that. "Then how am I here?"

"Same process; Kylo Ren is dead," Anakin stated simply.

Ben...Ben Solo existed. He was Ben Solo.

"Let me clarify one thing before your thoughts stray away. Kylo Ren is dead, but his actions the things he did are factual, historical. Because you are here with me does not mean that those you affected with your doings as Kylo Ren have forgotten you," Anakin stated softly. "The persona of Kylo Ren...the one born of the Sith, he's dead."

Ben scoffed. "Doesn't matter what you call me. Doesn't change the fact that I am dead."

Anakin laughed at that. "I supposed you're right, but it is Kylo Ren who will stay dead."

Ben stilled his thoughts as he saw a twinkle in the eye of his grandfather. "Explain that last part please."

Anakin walked up to Ben and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You my dear grandson will live again."

Ben shook his head. "That's not possible. I traded my life. I knew what I was doing. There is no going back."

"Well...normally that is what would happen, but you see life within the Force has a very loose definition."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that another trade will take place. Me for you," Anakin said cupping the face of his grandson.

Ben's eyes widened. "Why?" he uttered bewildered. He did not understand this. The level of sacrifice that was being bestowed to him did not register in his mind.

Anakin let go of Ben and chuckled wryly. "You and I are very similar. We walked similar paths for different reasons, but in the end we had one very big thing in common. We fell in love. I know about your dyad bond. I know of the girl you fell for. I am sure you know you had a grandmother," Anakin said, his voice tightening, "She was not a force sensitive. So she is not here with me. Luke and Leia are here, but the have each other."

Anakin looked back up at Ben with sadness in his eyes. "I miss your grandmother. She is all I ever think about, all I want. Even now. Padmee...I don't have her here. Existing only reminds me of that. In a way, this is penance. My penance. And I am tired of it. I wish to cease existing. Having all this emotion, memories...I don't want to do this anymore."

Ben understood that to his core. He wasn't not sure how long he had been dead, but knew it was less than his grandfather. Even so in the background of his mind, behind all the information his grand-father was giving him was the incompleteness of the broken bond. Rey. He wanted Rey.

"Please don't over think this. I really do wish to be released from this prison. I know you are hesitating because of me, thinking that you are somehow ending me. Don't you see my grandson," Anakin said clapping Ben's shoulder once again with tears in his eyes, "You are feeing me."

Ben shook his head in disbelief. Disbelief that he was dead, that he was talking to his grandfather, that any of this was happening at all. More importantly, disbelief that the Force was being kind to him yet again, and giving him this gift.

"How do we do this?" Ben asked sniffing once.

Anakin let go of him again and smiled. "All you have to do is shake my hand. Like a business deal."

"No hidden clauses to this deal? I am not getting screwed in some other way you're not allowed to tell me?" Ben asked warily. He knew Force ghosts like to talk in riddles. He also knew that they were not allowed to divulge much information.

Anakin shook his head. "This is cut and dry. I guess the only thing I can give you is a disclaimer," Anakin looked Ben in the eye sharply, "Time passes differently for us. Usually we are aware of time because we are omniscient, but you did not get to that point. You are unaware of how much time has passed with her...with Rey."

Ben furrowed his brows. "How long has it been then? I am not going back to her being an old woman am I?" That would be the ultimate fuck you from the universe. Yeah you get to back to your bond mate only you have to watch her die of old age.

"No...1 standard year has passed since your death. Rey is 21 years old now. I cannot say more."

Ben nodded. He could work with that. He gave his grandfather a once over. "Thank you...for everything."

Anakin shook his head, "No, thank you. You truly don't know how much of a mercy this is."

Ben nodded. Anakin put out his hand. Ben looked at his and blew a breath out nervously. Why was he so nervous? He had been alive longer than he had been dead. The last thing he saw was the sincere smile of his grandfather before everything went white...


The lights were beautiful. They twinkled brilliantly and elevated the atmosphere of the night. People were drinking, laughing, dancing...

She felt off. Like her skin was too tight. 'Its just nerves you idiot,' she told herself. However this was a lie, a story she told herself so as not to dive into the real reason. She closed her eyes hard. No. She couldn't go there. Not tonight. Not ever again after tomorrow...

"Hey..."she heard softy from behind her, "there you are. I was wondering where you got to. They're about to sit down. Let's go inside," Finn said smiling at her radiantly.

Rey smiled and nodded. "Yes of course...just too much champagne I guess. Let's go," She said taking his hand as he led her back to the beautifully decorated hall. Rey looked at their joined hands and couldn't help it. She let her mind wander, compare the hand currently in her hand to the one that had touched her abdomen and sent life back into her body. The hand that was larger, rougher, and yet had felt so vital in hers. She looked ahead to the hall that was filled with people in celebration...for her. How different would it have been? How would she have felt if this were being held for her and Ben? She mentally shrugged her thoughts. She wouldn't do this to Finn.

She plastered on a smile and went to sit in the chairs reserved for her and the man who currently held her hand. She looked around as the toasts started. She laughed mechanically at the jokes from Poe Dameron's speech. She leaned in closer at the appropriate times to show Finn affection. Her body was on autopilot. Inside, she was screaming...or was it something else screaming. The Force...it knew that this was wrong. The was not how things should have gone. Not how it was written out. The bond lay broken within her. A constant reminder of what she had lost on Exogol that day. 'Then why is he gone? You didn't want this? You're telling me that this is wrong? Go fuck yourself,' she thought to the Force. She had let her body be used that day on Exogol as a conduit for all the power of the deceased Jedi masters so that they could, through her, kill the ultimate practitioner of the Sith. What had she gotten in return? Dead, for one. Then she was shown the most wonderful thing to have ever blessed her life only for it to go in the same instant.

The speeches ended. Music started again and Finn stood and held out his hand for her. He wanted to dance. Melodic music was playing. She hadn't noticed. She let herself be held by the man in front of her. They began to sway. It should be him holding her. It should be him dancing with her. Laughing at the speeches being made...if there were any. He was a war criminal after all. She snorted inwardly at that. They wouldn't have had a party. There would have been no guests at their event. There would have been him, her, and a witness...

Rey let her thoughts runaway with her. Her eyes now staring out the windows to the patio where she had been standing about an hour ago. 'What was that?' Rey focused her vision and mentally shrugged herself again. The bond...it hummed with life. Tears wanted to well in her eyes. 'Not now please. Not now,' she begged. It was torture. Sweet torture to feel the bond flicker alive on this day. She blinked away the moisture in here eyes and let her gaze fall out towards windows again. How many times had she imagined this? To feel anything from the severed ghost limb in her mind?

Rey furrowed her brow. Her gaze became unfocused again as she felt a tug at her broken bond. It was stirring. Her breath hitched. It was trying to heal itself. It was attempting to anchor itself, to solidify. And it was painful. Like regrowing a body part must be. 'This is impossible. He's dead Rey. You saw the Force take him. He's gone.' Finn finally noticed that there was something wrong. He stopped them dancing and saw the look of confusion, almost pain on his beautiful girl's face.

"Darling...are you alright? Something hurting?" he whispered concerned in her ear.

Click.

The air was finally knocked out of her as the bond met its mate. 'He's dead, he's dead, he's dead,' she kept reciting in her head. This wasn't happening right? She was imagining this. Her phantom limb felt real now, corporeal. Her mind was still reciting her mantra, her eyes were unfocused, but through all this going on her physical senses were trying to tell her something...

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she felt the air shift behind her. Like another room had opened up to her back. It was familiar to her body. This had happened many times before. Her mind was beginning to catch up with her senses when she felt a large warm hand grip her arm tightly, twirl her, and pull her through. The last thing she heard was Finn's voice in protest.

Rey looked down to the hand on her arm. She followed it up and knew who it was before she saw his face, but again, impossible. He was dead. He was dead. He had died.

"Ben?" she gasped softly.


I don't know where I want to go with this, but I know I am writing more. Please let me know if this is an interesting premise. If not I'll let it go.