I don't own Star Wars. I'm only writing what I think should happen after TROS
Chapter 4
Ben's POV
When Ben felt Rey's presence fade he turned to see what had called to him. His eyes searched for anything that looked out of the ordinary. There was no way of telling time in this place and it almost felt like time didn't even pass. He knew it had been about a week since he... died? Was that even the right word? But the only reason he knew that was because Rey let him go through her memories and unlike this place, they had a sense of time.
Rey's memories made his chest ache. He saw her nightmares and how broken she was. Loneliness radiated from her. He was all too familiar with it. It was such an ugly feeling and he hated to see her like that. He had to get out of this place.
Then something caught his eye. He couldn't quite tell what it was. The thing was a few yards away from him. It looked like a mirror. It was reflecting light but it looked like it was flickering and shifting. He took a few steps toward it and the flickering stopped abruptly. He could see himself. He looked so... different. Without the hate and bloodlust Kylo Ren possessed he was a different person. He looked like Ben.
His eyes scanned his reflection until the reflection dissipated. He was left with what he thought was a memory. It was like he was seeing it from someone else's perspective.
They were on Exegol inside the throne room. Rey was laying lifelessly on the ground. He was limping horribly trying to get to her. When he finally reached her he saw himself look at something behind him. Ben followed the memory's gaze and his eyes landed on an opening in the wall. He strained his eyes to see further into the opening but only darkness greeted him.
Wait, was that always there? He didn't remember seeing the opening before. Maybe it opened up when he... died? No, there had to be a better way to say it. Dead was too extreme but he wasn't exactly alive either. Relieved of his life duties? No, too formal. His life force left his body? Well, there wasn't really a body that was left behind. He was just gone. That was it. Maybe the opening formed after he left. But Rey would have seen it. It probably formed after she went back to the resistance or maybe during the past week.
The memory ceased and he was left with only his reflection. He knew what he had to do. He had to tell Rey to go back to Exegol. He didn't want to but he knew that was the only way he could come back. He couldn't tell her to go just yet though. She was in too much distress and pain. She needed to rest before he even thought about telling her to go back to that awful place. That place holds so much darkness and fear that if she were to go now the darkness would suffocate her.
Ben then realized that he had no idea how much time had passed out there. It could have been days out there since he had seen her. What if it has been years and she's moved on? He let out a frustrated sigh and no longer had the energy to worry about such things.
Ben sat on the floor and got into a meditative position. Maybe if he just meditated he would get some answers. He just needed to be patient.
Author Notes:
Ugh this was a difficult chapter to write. I did have an alternate way that this chapter would have gone but after re-reading it a few times it just wasn't very good. I was just getting frustrated and I knew if I tried to make this chapter better it would just get worse. We will be seeing Benny boy in the future but it's mostly going to be about Rey for a few chapters (I do plan on having a chapter just for Poe hehehe) As always thanks for Reading!