Sorry for the wait, I finished my class for the semester and now things are getting crazy for us hospital workers (wear a mask my friends!). Finally, I've got to putting the finishing touches on this chapter (even though it is a bit shorter than my normal posts) and got a little bit started for the one after.

Chapter 9

Ben almost faltered at the strength of the blow Rey landed, causing them to lock in a blue cross of sabers. Her playful face had suddenly turned fierce, and she gritted her teeth, her face only inches from his own. He took a few steps back, nimbly parrying before he pressed his own attack, causing a few singed branches to fall to the ground around them. It was like a dance, a show of strength, but also of how balanced they had become. The flashes of blue began to blend together, and Ben couldn't help but notice the stark contrast it was from the angry red and blue sparks that had once been between them.

Rey took a wide swipe and Ben leapt back, letting out a small laugh and deactivating his lightsaber while holding up his hands in surrender. The hum of Rey's own blade was loud in the surrounding quiet of the deep jungle. Her chest heaved from the exertion, but still she managed a lopsided grin, knowing full well that neither of them had won or lost. Her thumb moved to deactivate her own saber when something caught her eye behind Ben, making her freeze.

Quickly, he noticed her gaze was not at him, but behind him, and he tensed, igniting his lightsaber once again and whirling around to face whatever had crept up on them. The jungle around them had darkened with the oncoming night, and the glowing blue figure stood out like a beacon as it approached them. Ben walked backwards, closing the distance between himself and Rey, keeping his eyes on the figure. Somehow though, he knew it was not there to harm them.

As it came closer, the figure began to take on more detailed features, showing the face of a young man with a long scar over one eye.

Ben felt Rey's hand lightly touch his arm, a silent question, but he remained both entranced and puzzled as he continued to study the figure. There was something so familiar and yet so foreign about the silent specter.

"Ben," The ghost stopped a few feet in front of them, a wry smile visible on his face.

"Who….?" As he began to speak the question, a sudden sensation ran through him, and a deep sense of realization dawned on him. "Grandfather?"

He felt the shock run through Rey as well, her hand gripping his upper arm a little more in wariness.

Anakin Skywalker let out a small laugh of acknowledgement and nodded his head.

Normally, the unnatural quiet would have alarmed him, but Ben felt a harmony from within the Force, an overwhelming blanket of peace surrounding them all.

"For so long I spoke to you, pleaded for your guidance, but you never answered. Why are you here now?"

Anakin frowned while crossing his arms, the action darkening his boyish looks, "You were speaking to a version of me that has long since been gone. You were not yet ready to truly understand."

Rey watched this exchange in trepidation, knowing how complicated the emotions were around Ben and his family. She thought of the warped, melted mask that she had found in his quarters on his ship that night in Kijimi. He had it placed on a pedestal, an idol for which he had framed his life around, along with the malevolent aid of Snoke. Now, that path had been shattered just as the pedestal had shattered with the blow of their blades - together.

Ben remained silent, contemplating.

Anakin spoke again, "But now, you have achieved something that took me decades to even fathom, Grandson, and even then it was too late for me. You have turned your conflict to love and balance and light. You now have endless opportunities to live your life as your own, and not as a pawn in the Emperor's game, as we both have been."

The glowing Skywalker patriarch then turned his gaze towards Rey, his face softening. Her frightened grip had loosened, and she had trailed her hand down to Ben's, linking their fingers together without taking her eyes off of the being in front of them.

"Rey," Anakin continued softly, "none of the balance in both my grandson and the galaxy could have been realized without you. You are very much like my…" he faltered for a moment before finishing, "…my Padme. I am proud of you both."

A blush crept into Rey's cheeks, and her chest felt tight with emotion from the praise they had both just received. She looked up to Ben's face, and could see his profile relaxing, his lips twitching upwards into a smile. Through the Bond, she felt a surge of warmth and a swelling of pride and recognition that he had so yearned for at last.

Words were swimming through Ben Solo's head, but nothing seemed to fit for a reply. All his life, he had sought to find his proper place within the legacy of the Skywalker family. The darkness in him had been amplified and manipulated by the Emperor through his creation, Snoke, and he mistakenly had sought out to be the wrong version of the right man. Now, he was half of a dyad, but had never felt more whole.

Ben took a step forward towards his grandfather before finally speaking, "Thank you…But, my mother…Do you? Have you? Will you tell her –"

Anakin lightly laughed, his face full of love and understanding at his only grandchild's jumbled reply, but knew what was being asked, "I have seen and spoken with her, yes. And she knows, Ben, she knows with all her soul."

Ben only nodded and squeezed Rey's hand tighter, both assuring and needing reassurance from her as well.

The figure in front of them began to shimmer and fade before Anakin spoke once more, his voice becoming quieter, "I am with you both, always. We all are."

Ben toyed with the hilt of his mother's lightsaber as they walked silently, hand in hand, back towards the base. He felt noticeably lighter, another weight lifted from his heart.

Rey, too, felt a lifting of a weight from her own chest. She had not realized how much she had yearned for someone to be proud of her, to say the words out loud. It made the ache at the loss of her parents all the more apparent.

The Bond spoke for itself, and once they made it back to their quarters, they maintained the peaceful silence. They showered together, not requiring intimacy, but simply the closeness of one another as they washed the sweat and grime of the day away. Tomorrow, they would leave and face a whole galaxy to search for the mysteries of Rey's life.

They laid down on the bed, legs linking together and finding a puzzle-piece fit between their bodies. Quickly, Rey fell asleep, and Ben could hear her soft breaths in the quiet of the dark room. He was both eager and anxious about the days ahead. Their failure would put them no worse off than their current state. Their success, however, would be priceless to the person he wanted the happiness for most.

Thank you so much for reading, Happy Holidays!