Disclaimer: All characters and plot points mentioned are not mine and from the sequel trilogy of Star Wars
Everything hit her on the flight back to Ajan Kloss. Her adrenaline was fading, allowing her to think about what she had lost. Palpatine was gone. Ben was gone. Leia was gone. Her friends… they must surely still be alive; she hadn't felt anything in the Force to say otherwise. She leaned her head back against the seat, watching the swirling void of hyperspace fly by.
Rey couldn't believe she was still alive. She had hoped, for one brief moment when Ben had appeared on Exegol, that they could defeat Palpatine together. But as she faced Palpatine, as all the Jedi, she was sure that she was doomed. After Palpatine had been defeated, she stood in a daze and thought that it was all over. She blacked out.
The next thing she remembered was a warmth spreading through her, starting at her stomach. As she came to, she felt the large hand and placed her smaller hand over it. She sat up and gazed at Ben, his tearstained face frantically taking in her every movement. Logically, she knew it was a one for one trade and by all accounts and reasoning, Ben should be dead. But she couldn't help that moment of excitement; they were both alive!
"Ben," she whispered, and his glittering eyes affirmed what she believed; he was truly Ben Solo again. She reacted on pure instinct and leaned forward to kiss him. As she pulled away, she watched his face break into a huge smile and she felt something ache inside. This man probably hadn't smiled in years and she was privileged to see him just be happy. But then, his smile fell and his face grew pale. She helped him lie down and tears sprang, unbidden, to her eyes as he faded from this world.
Sitting in Luke's X-wing, in solitude, was the last thing she needed right now. All she could hear was his last breath; all she could see was the boyish grin. She almost cried in relief when the controls beeped, signaling to her that she was almost to Ajan Kloss.
As soon as she pulled into the atmosphere, she could see tiny figures moving around in excitement. She bit back a smile. They had won! She carefully lowered the X-wing into a clearing, where fewer people were dashing about. She saw heads turn in her direction and her smile grew at the sight of the little orange and white droid making its way over to her. She scrambled out of the ship and ran to Beebee Ate, doing a once-over to make sure the little droid had made it through the battle unscathed. She glanced up and saw Poe and Finn making their way over to her. She rubbed the droid's head affectionately and then ran to her friends, grasping them in a desperate hug, needing the reassurance that they were alive and well.
They stood there for what could have been hours, reveling in the fact that all three of them were alive, they had all made it out. As she pulled back, Finn searched her face.
"Rey, I felt it. You died. What happened?"
Rey shook her head, "I need to clean myself up. I must look a fright. Meet me in half an hour? Then we can talk."
Finn and Poe reluctantly let her wander away to the little corner that she had made for herself. She tried not to think about what had happened as she scrubbed the filth from her body, knowing that in mere moments she would have to tell her friends all that had happened since she left them on Kef Bir. Eventually, she couldn't find any more reason to dally and made her way to Leia's final resting place; Leia's body may have disappeared with Ben's, but Rey could still feel the slight imprint of Leia's consciousness still ebbing away. She sat down, rested her hand on the stone table, and let her head drop, "Thank you, Master, for everything."
She heard movement behind her and raised her head, glancing over her shoulder. Poe and Finn had arrived, Beebee Ate in tow.
"We didn't set up a meeting place, but I just knew this was where you would go," Finn told her, concerned, "Are you going to tell us now?"
Rey held their gazes for a moment and then dropped her eyes, deciding she could delay just a bit more. The pain was still too fresh and even the slightest amount of time she could gain allowed her some reprieve, "The real question, Finn, is you said you felt me? How? Is this something to do with the mysterious thing you were going to tell me?"
Finn grimaced, only for a second. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Rey. I'll answer but know that as soon as I'm done, you'll have to tell us what happened since Kef Bir," he said pointedly, "Basically, I've been having these feelings. They are what led me to leave the First Order… to meeting you. It's the Force. I'm not as powerful as you, obviously, but I can feel it guiding me. I felt you slip away. Which brings me back to this. How are you still alive?"
Poe raised an eyebrow at him, "So this wasn't anything to do with feelings for her?"
"As if. More like I knew she was the only person who might understand what was happening to me. You would've thought I was crazy, don't deny it," Finn scoffed.
While they speaking, Rey had lifted both her lightsaber and Leia's and was studying them intently. When the boys stopped, she looked up.
"The short version of what happened was that Ben followed me to Exegol. I did die, but he brought me back."
Poe cocked his head. "Kylo Ren? Mass murderer? Came back and saved you? Doesn't sound like the guy I got to know."
"After our fight on the Death Star, he felt Leia die and in his moment of weakness, I grabbed his saber and stabbed him. Then I felt her and instantly regretted it. I healed him and took his ship to Ahch-To."
She ignored Poe and Finn's incredulous looks, "I don't know what exactly happened from there on his side of things, it wasn't like we had time to talk, but he showed up on Exegol. He killed all of the Knights of Ren. We faced Palpatine together."
Finn's eyes wandered over her face, "You told me that you had a vision of you and him on the throne of the Sith. How did you know he wasn't there for that?"
Rey shook her head. "It's like you said when you were describing the Force. It was a feeling. You see, we had this sort of… Force bond. There have been times in the past year where I could see him. Talk to him. Snoke said that he created it, but it still existed even after Ben killed him, so I'm not entirely sure about that. But regardless, at that moment on Exegol, I could see him. For the first time, Ben Solo was shining out of every aspect of him. Before, Ben only really showed through Kylo's eyes. I knew that he was Ben Solo again."
She paused and looked at the sabers, not realizing that her thumb had been caressing her lightsaber, the one that Ben had used. Rey grimaced and decided to continue on with her story.
"Palpatine discovered that we were a dyad in the Force and used parts of our life force to completely reanimate himself. I don't remember a lot of what happened in the next bit… I was sort of… drained. But eventually, the voices of the Jedi before me reached out to me and I knew that I had to get up and face him. And you're right, Finn. That killed me," she paused and let out a large breath.
"Everything went black. But then I felt this warmth flowing through me. I woke up, and Ben was transferring his life force into me; like what I did with that serpent back on Pasaana, remember? Only he was bringing me back to life, which in return drained him." She neglected to share about their kiss, that moment seemed too private, something for only her to treasure, and she wasn't sure they would understand.
"Then I went back to Luke's X-wing. You know what happened from there."
She was pretty sure that Finn and Poe knew that she glossed over some of the details, but they didn't push. Beebee Ate rolled over to her, nudging her leg gently with its little rounded head and Finn knelt down in front of her, grabbing and stilling her hands, "I believe you."
Poe was standing a bit farther away, looking at the floor, his arms crossed, his jaw clenching. Finally, he looked up, met her searching gaze, and gave a slight nod.
"What are you going to do now?" Finn asked her, "The war is over and won."
Rey gave a small smile that didn't reach her eyes, "I'm going to make a new lightsaber. I think now that both Luke and Leia are gone, I should go back to Tatooine and leave their sabers with their legacy, untouched where it all began."
Rey stood, attaching the sabers back to her belt and caressed the table one last time. She squeezed Finn's shoulder as she moved past him, and nudged Poe in the arm, "Shall we go celebrate with everyone else?"
She offered Poe one elbow and Finn the other. They took them, Finn instantly and Poe with only a slight hesitation. Beebee Ate rolled to Poe's side and beeped an affirmative. The three friends headed back into the fray, smiles once more adorning their faces.