Epilogue – Ben
Four Years Later
Ben looked out the front windshield of the Millennium Falcon as it descended onto the lawn in front of the lake house. He smiled at what awaited him.
"He's actually jumping up and down in excitement," Han laughed. "I remember when you used to greet me like that after a job."
Ben chuckled, then took off for the ramp the moment the ship touched the ground.
A little blond-haired boy with rosy cheeks ran towards the ship with arms raised. "Daddy!"
"Finn!" Ben scooped his son up into the air and spun him around.
The boy giggled with abandon.
When Rey had gently asked him about naming their son after her lost friend, Ben couldn't think of any reason why not to. He had seen the black man in Rey's memories, knew he'd been the one to get her off Jakku originally, even if it had been inadvertently. For that, Ben owed Finn a great debt. His other self hadn't liked Finn, called him a traitor, but Ben Solo was not Kylo Ren. And he'd seen how sad Rey had been when she realized she'd never find him here. Ben hoped wherever the man was in this universe, he was happy, like Ben.
Ben put Finn down, who immediately ran into Han's arms as he walked down the ramp. "Grampy!"
Han hugged his grandson, a huge smile on his face. "Hey there, kiddo!" Then he looked at Ben and said with pride. "You know, he's got the same color hair I had as a youngling."
Ben rolled his eyes. "Yes, Dad. You've only mentioned that like nine hundred times." He took Finn's hand and started across the lawn. "Where's Mommy?"
"Right there," Finn pointed at the front door.
As if on queue, the front door opened. Rey stepped out, her belly huge with their second child. She padded slowly towards them, a small smile on her face.
Ben closed the distance between them and kissed her sweetly on the mouth.
"I missed you," she told him as they broke apart.
"I missed you more. The plague on Sorgan has been really rough. I'm glad Master Skywalker let me take a break to come home for a bit. How's our girl?"
Rey rubbed a hand over her stomach. "Kicking me a lot. I thought she broke one of my ribs the other day, but it was just bruised. And she gives me heartburn whenever I eat anything that tastes good."
"I think our little Padme is going to be a handful."
"If she's anything like her mother and grandmother, she sure will be!" Han commented as he joined them.
They all laughed, even Finn, who didn't really understand why. Then they went back into the house.
Ben left them to go shower and change clothes after the trip. Even though the plague didn't affect humans, he felt the need to wash off any remnants of sickness. As he put on his shoes, Rey's emotion hit him.
Astonishment
He bound down the stairs looking for her. "Rey?" He found them in the playroom. The sight before him made him stop dead in his tracks.
About twenty miniature x-wings flew threw the air. They battled an equal number of miniature tie fighters. Tiny little lights mimicked lasers as the tiny spacecraft soared around each other. Some of the ships broke off in separate fights and some crashed to the carpeted floor as they got hit, bouncing off the carpet unharmed. The elaborate scene would have astonished anyone.
In the middle of it, three-and-a-half-year-old Finn laughed as we waved his hands around controlling the toys.
The level of power displayed by his son dumbfounded Ben. At that age, Ben had been able to float his little x-wing toy through the air. But just one. Even that display of power had worried some people, and it was nothing compared to this ability.
An immensely powerful child with all the gifts of both the Palpatine and Skywalker lines.
The Emperor's words floated through Ben's mind, but he pushed them away. It nagged at him that this was around the age the voices began speaking in his head. All of them the Emperor's voice. Ben reached out with the Force and touched his son's mind. It was something his parents wouldn't have had the capability to do for him. He found no darkness there, no malice, only happiness.
Rey gripped his arm.
"It's okay," he reassured her, covering her hand with his.
"I know. It's just…he's only three."
"Do you like it, Mommy? Daddy?" Finn looked over at them, his face suddenly unsure. The ships never stopped their battle.
"Finn, you are absolutely amazing," Ben told his son.
A wide smile spread across the boy's face. All the toys fell to the carpeted floor. Then Finn launched himself into his parent's arms.
The End
A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who read this story! I really hope you enjoyed it. I especially want to thank those people who commented. It means so much to an author to hear feedback. So thank you to DarylDixon'sLover, 86, RedPandaJoy, Aaron Leach, Joys, megumisakura, pyschosae, jayjay0815 and HGRHfan35.
It took three months all devoting all of my very limited free time to writing this story. So I was happy to take a writing break and dive into some lovely fanfiction. But my brain is now playing with an idea for another story, a completely different type of time travel Reylo fix-it. The summary would go something like this:
What if just as Ben dies but before he disappears, he and Rey get transported to Naboo 54 years earlier? Rey runs to get help and finds a pregnant Padme to assist her, even though she has no idea who Padme is.
What do you think? Sound like it could be good or should I just let this idea fade away (although this idea for "Rewriting History" refused to fade away and just tortured me until I wrote it)? Anyway, I would write the entire thing before posting so it could be a few months.