The next time Anakin Skywalker appears to her, Rey of Jakku ignores him.
It is easier than she thought. Though she often denies the darkness within her, she allows herself the savage satisfaction that his confusion and frustration stir in her. If Anakin avoided Ben for fifteen years, then Rey can avoid Anakin for a few days.
Serves him right, she thinks, grinning as she hears him try, yet again, to speak with her.
Ben does not agree. He nearly chokes on his soup when Rey informs him of what she has been doing.
Rey scrunches her nose. "I thought you were angry with him."
Across the table, Ben sets his spoon down, violently swiping his napkin across his mouth. "I am."
"Then what's the problem?"
"You can't ignore a Force ghost, Rey."
She snorts. "Apparently you can."
"Rey."
"What? Why is this a problem for you?"
"Force ghosts don't appear without reason," he explains patiently. "If Anakin is reaching out to you, then you should listen to what he says. It's probably important."
Rey shovels more soup into her mouth. "Yeah, but we already know what he said. He explained this." She waves her hand back and forth between them, indicating their bond. "We're a dyad."
Ben sighs, raking a hand through his hair. "We don't know what that means."
"So? You're the Supreme Leader of the First Order, and the soon-to-be emperor of the entire galaxy. Don't you have access to a library somewhere that can explain it for us?"
Ben simply looks at her for a few moments. Then, he leaps to his feet, their dinner all but forgotten. Rey hides her grin behind her napkin. For all that Ben is a fearsome warrior, he has the heart of a scholar. If anyone can uncover the texts that speak more of their dyad, it is him.
Ben rapidly types out a message on his data pad, keeping his eyes on the screen as he speaks. "We'll have to take a day off from the coronation preparations. Coruscant has the last remaining collection of Jedi and Sith knowledge, and a journey there will take three hours one way."
Rey laughs as a thought crosses her mind. "You know what we should do? Leave Hux in charge. We can see how loyal he truly is when we're not around."
Hux will probably grovel, too, if they do that. Rey finds it terribly amusing when he does, though she knows she shouldn't.
Ben looks up from the data pad, dark pride glittering in his eyes. Softly, seriously, he says, "You will make a brilliant empress."
Rey fights the blush she can feel on her cheeks, holding his gaze for a few seconds before focusing even more intently on her soup.
In the week since Crait, Rey has learned several important things about Ben. He is intelligent and sensitive. His temper, when provoked, is like a beast roaring to life after a long slumber. Though he is prone to violence, he has never – nor will he ever – harmed her. He seeks out her touch and comfort like a man in the desert seeks water.
Most startling of all, though, is his penchant for compliments.
He thinks highly of Rey, and he is not ashamed to let her know it. She will master a saber form quickly, disarm him while they're training, suggest something at one of their political meetings – even if they are surrounded by high-ranking officers of the First Order, he will praise her.
Rey doesn't quite know what to do with his compliments. She has gone so long without companionship that his words are foreign to her, his pride in her even more so. Still, it is not unwelcome. Just...unusual.
"I know I haven't told you before," she says, looking back up at him, "but I truly believe you'll make a good emperor, too."
Ben gives her a half-smile. "Only because you will be with me."
"Well, I wouldn't be any good without you, either. We need each other."
"Yes. We do."
Coruscant is not like Rey imagined. She has seen the old holos – she knows what it was like, once.
Now, the darkened streets are empty, echoing and deserted as she and Ben make their way to the ruins of the Jedi temple. Broken glass and trash litter the ground, the windows of once-beautiful buildings smashed and doors ripped from their hinges. Rey drifts closer to Ben, so that her arm lightly brushes his as they walk.
"Where is everyone?" she asks, her voice seeming too loud in the eerie stillness.
Ben frowns. "Hiding from us, I'd guess. Since the fall of the Empire, Coruscant has been overrun by criminals and gangs. Even so, I'm sure they have heard of the First Order. They wouldn't dare attack us." He glances down at Rey. "Don't be afraid."
"I'm not afraid," she stubbornly retorts. And she isn't.
Not with Ben by her side, that is.
Despite how decrepit the old temple is, the turbolift inside still works. Rey can't help but be amazed by the machinery, eagerly inspecting it as it carries them down to the library without so much as a clank.
The library itself is huge. It, too, seems untouched by the devastation that the rest of the planet has experienced. Ben easily leads them to a relevant section, pulling several large volumes off the shelf and handing Rey a few. They settle into one of the dusty tables in the center of the library, flipping through the pages in search of any information about their bond.
Ben is the first to find it after an hour of unsuccessful research. "Rey." He beckons her around the table, sitting forward in his seat. Rey hurries to his side, leaning over his shoulder as he reads aloud from the ancient tome.
"Even more rare than a Force bond is the dyad, a near-mythic concept of balance personified. One being, born of darkness and drawn to light, and another being, born of light and drawn to darkness, will find their souls bound together upon meeting. Matched in strength, they will only achieve peace if united in cause and purpose.
"There are only two known dyads in the history of the galaxy. Should another arise, its power would be like that of life itself. The union of the dyad would bring peace and balance to the Force."
"That's what Anakin meant!" Rey exclaims. "He said that we were the Chosen One. See? I knew we could find it on our own!"
Ben eagerly scans the next few pages of text. "There's even more here. Tales of the other dyads, cross references to different texts... we'll have to take them with us. There's too much to study it all now. The citizens of Coruscant may know who we are, but we still should not be here after dark."
Rey nods. They gather their materials and head back to the turbolift, their bond singing with the triumph of their discovery. Ben's excitement strengthens Rey's. Grinning, she presses the control panel of the turbolift to call it down to their level.
Nothing happens.
Grin fading, Rey tries the panel again. Still nothing.
Impatience growing, she jabs the button several times in quick succession, but to no avail.
"Going somewhere?" a voice asks from behind them.
Rey groans. Will Anakin ever let her be? She turns to find him standing only a few feet away from them, smirking. She lifts her head defiantly, prepared to ignore him some more – or tell him off; she hasn't decided yet – but he is not looking at her, as she had expected.
He is looking at Ben.
Rey turns to Ben, her eyes wide. "Ben? Can you see...?" He nods. Wordlessly, she reaches for his hand, and he grasps hers tightly in response.
"Hello, Ben," Anakin says. He clasps his hands together before him with a sigh. "I suppose I owe you an apology."
Ben's grip on her hand tightens. Rey laughs humorlessly, her surprise quickly morphing into disbelief.
This should be interesting.
A/N: Thank you for your favorites, follows, and kind reviews! They made my day! :) Inspiration for this chapter comes from this quote from the TROS art book: "Instead of finding his way to Exegol, in the early November 2017 version of The Rise of Skywalker story, Kylo Ren instead takes his shuttle to a desolate, ash-covered Coruscant, the once bustling city now overrun by giant wolves. Inside the abandoned Jedi Temple, Kylo takes a central elevator down to the temple's deepest level."