A/N: guys, thank you so much to everyone who has R&R'd the previous chapter! I'm stunned (delighted, but stunned) by the amount of positive attention this fic has gotten so far. I do hope you all like the next chapter, and please don't kill me for the ending. All will be well eventually, I promise.
The clunky, awkward TIE-cum-skimmer somehow managed to make it through the gravitational mess that was Exegol's atmosphere unscathed – Ben couldn't be sure, but he could have sworn he felt a hint of his uncle's presence each time the ship narrowly avoided crashing.
It could have been just wishful thinking, but some small part of Ben whispered that maybe this was Luke's way of making amends.
He pushed the thought away, ignoring the pang of guilt that rose as he did. Rey was close, her sense filled with thinly-veiled horror and fear. He couldn't afford to be distracted.
He landed the clunky ship without a mishap, but he was pretty sure he heard something break as he rushed down the ramp. He flatly ignored it and took off at a dead run towards the stadium.
As he rounded the corner, he found himself face to face with… the Knights of Ren. Of course.
And the only weapon he had on him was a blaster, of all things.
Just perfect, Ben thought to himself, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes.
But then, suddenly, he grinned. I'm not Han Solo's son for nothing, am I?
He pulled the blaster from his belt and fired at the nearest Knight of Ren – it looked like Cardo – knocking him back against the wall.
As the others converged on him, vibro-weapons humming menacingly, he fired backwards, trusting in a combination of the Force and reckless blind luck to guide the blaster bolt to where he knew Kuruk would be crouched, sniper rifle ready.
Before he could get off another shot, Ap'lek knocked the blaster from his hands with his vibro-ax. Cursing under his breath, Ben lashed out with a foot, knocking the knight's feet from under him.
Ap'lek recovered quickly, lashing out with his vibro-ax and slashing the side of Ben's face open.
He cursed again and retreated back a step, only to feel Ushar's war club pressed into his back.
The Knights closed in, masked faces impassive as ever, but cold triumph radiated from their Force signatures as they hemmed him in, vibro-weapons humming greedily.
Then he was wrapped in the familiar sensation of his world tunnelling, narrowing to just the sound of their breathing and her.
Rey.
She stood in front of him, clear as day, her face bathed in the blue light of Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber.
He saw her eyes widen fractionally, their bond flooding with surprise and amazement, and the ghost of a smile flickered across her face as she gave him a tiny nod.
He nodded back, condensing everything he needed to say to her into that one small gesture. It's me. I'm here for you. You can do this. I believe in you.
Rey's expression gave nothing away, just the right mixture of excitement and fear to fool Palpatine, but her eyes brightened with a surge of affection that was meant just for him. Thank you, Ben.
She raised her lightsaber behind her back as if to strike at Palpatine, and Ben felt the monster's triumph dark and gleeful through the Force.
Not today, he thought grimly, mirroring Rey's actions.
They reached into their bond at the same time, Rey with a push and Ben with a pull, and the lightsaber leapt from her hand to his.
Ben felt a rush of pure satisfaction at the dumb shock that radiated off the Knights of Ren as he slowly raised his hand to reveal the lightsaber.
Unable to help himself, he spread his arms in a ta-da gesture and gave his most Han-like shoulder shrug.
Then he whirled on his enemies, knowing as well as they did that the tide had turned.
He got Ushar first, the hum of the war club abruptly cut off as the lightsaber cut it clean in half. He felt a grim satisfaction as the cruellest of the Knights fell to the floor after his weapon, but it faded quickly as Ap'lek and Trudgen attacked.
The lightsaber was a blur of blue as it deflected first the vibro-ax and then the cleaver, and he ducked down just in time to avoid a vicious slash from Vicrul's scythe. The vibro-weapon glanced off the lightsaber, held protectively over his back, and Ben huffed a relieved breath as Vicrul staggered away.
Reaching into the Force, he flung the Knight backwards and into the stone base of a pillar with a heavy thunk before he had time to gather his wits.
Trudgen, distracted by his comrade's fall, momentarily lowered his enormous vibro-cleaver. A fatal mistake. Ben stabbed him through the chest with his lightsaber before the Knight had looked away from Vicrul's prone body.
There was only Ap'lek left now, and Ben leapt high into the air to avoid a sweep from his vibro-ax. With the Force to boost him, he flew high over the Knight's head, stabbing him from behind before he could re-gather his bearings.
He didn't let himself savour his victory – sensing a flash of anger from Rey, he charged headlong into the entrance of Palpatine's stadium, throwing himself towards the entry platform without pausing to consider his safety.
He hit the massive chain with a bone-shattering smash. "Ow," he grunted when he had regained his breath.
But even that was a luxury he didn't really have time for – Rey was fighting for her life, and unlike him, she was squaring off against more than competent attackers.
I have to get to her.
Letting go of the chain, he dropped to the floor, using the Force to soften his fall as much as he could. Even so, the shockwaves sent jarring waves of pain up his legs.
Gritting his teeth, he ran through the statues and bubbling vats, lightsaber ready at his side.
He reached Rey just as she was turning on the last of her attackers, and used the Force to fling the man as far away from her as he could. Somewhere at the edge of the stadium, he heard a dull thump.
Rey turned to him at him, panting, and words couldn't describe the look he saw in her eyes. It was the same look they had shared in Snoke's throne room after she had caught the lightsaber, right before they turned to fight the Praetorian Guards together. It was surprise, and relief, and hope all at once, underlined with the sensation of understanding each other so well in that moment that no words needed to be spoken.
As one, they turned to face Palpatine, raising Luke and Leia's lightsabers to their sides in perfect synchrony.
Palpatine snarled. "Stand together, die together!"
He raised his hands, yanking them into the air with the Force, and try as they might, neither of them was strong enough to shake off the Emperor's hold.
Ben sensed Rey's angry frustration at being this helpless as clearly as if it was his own, and tried his best to send some reassurance through the bond.
A fatal mistake.
He had never seen an expression of such pure evil as the one the Emperor wore as understanding dawned about their bond – their dyad.
Raising his hands slowly, Palpatine reached into the bond and pulled.
Pain exploded in Ben's head, pain the likes of which he had never known before, not even under Snoke. And coupled with the pain came an awful feeling of wrongness – no-one but him or Rey had ever touched the bond before, it was theirs, and Palpatine's very touch was an invasion.
"The life force of your bond, a dyad in the Force," said Palpatine, looking down at his skeletal hands with a slow, cruel triumph etched onto every line of his face. "A power like life itself, unseen for generations. And now, the power of two restores the one true Emperor!"
He tore into the bond again, and this time the agony was so intense that Ben's vision whited out completely for a few seconds.
Painpainpainpainpain – and what made it worse was that it wasn't just his pain, it was Rey's too.
Rey.
Ben forced himself to open his eyes, shoving the white spots out of his vision with sheer, overwhelming stubbornness. Have to protect Rey.
He heaved himself to his feet, ignoring the way every nerve ending in his body screamed in protest. Have to protect Rey.
Holding out his hand, he reached into the Force, winced at the sheer amount of effort it took, and called his mother's lightsaber into his hands. For Rey.
The weapon seemed to hum in his hands, and for a moment, his mind flashed into the past. Leia had held this lightsaber in her hands, but she had loved her son, loved him so fiercely that she had laid it down and ended her Jedi path.
He felt the echo of her love as he gripped the lightsaber, a jolt of fierce protectiveness so powerful that it nearly knocked him off his feet.
He ignited the lightsaber and let the feeling fill him with power, turning to face Palpatine with deadly intensity.
For the space of a split-second, the Emperor looked afraid.
Then he raised a hand and heaved Ben into the air, forcing him to drop Leia's lightsaber. He shuddered at the raw power of Palpatine's hold – if the Emperor had been strong before, he was unbelievably so now.
Palpatine looked at him, and there was more hatred in that blank stare than Ben had ever encountered before. Chillingly, there was also a cold, steely sense of triumph.
"As once I fell," said the Emperor, "so falls the last Skywalker."
The Force around him flooded with the satisfaction of a hatred that had waited years to be unleashed as he hurled Ben across the room, sending him flying into a chasm he hadn't even realised was there.
Ben felt a lot at that moment – anger, helplessness, a crushing sense of defeat. But more than anything else, he felt… acceptance.
The thought startled him even as it crossed his mind, but once he reached into himself to really examine it, he found it made perfect sense.
He didn't care if he died. Not really.
Not as long as Rey lived and won.
He could have tried to use the Force to stop or even to slow his fall, but he didn't. Instead, he focused all his power on a mental shout, pouring everything he had into the fragile shreds of the bond: Rey!
Her end of the bond seemed to become a starburst of light as she regained consciousness.
And as he struck the floor of the chasm with a shattering crash, Ben Solo smiled.
Ben.
He knew that voice.
Ben.
Everything hurt, and the voice just made the pounding in his head worse.
Ben, you have to open your eyes.
"Mom?" he breathed, incredulous.
He got a sense of amusement from the person, whoever it was.
Not quite. But I'm flattered you see the resemblance. Few do, you know.
"Wha… who are you?" he asked, feeling stupid.
Come now, surely you can guess.
"Um…" His head felt like it was being pounded by several enraged Wookiees, and certainly not up to guessing the identity of a mysterious voice he was probably imagining, anyway.
The person, whoever it was, seemed to wince.
I'm sorry for your pain. Ben, I'm Anakin Skywalker.
Shock. Overpowering shock.
"Anakin Skywalker?"
That's what I said.
"You're my… my grandfather," he managed to say through a throat that felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton wool.
Yes.
"Why are you here?" Try as he might, Ben couldn't keep the note of resentment from his voice. Why now? Why not when I needed you most?
Anakin's presence in his mind seemed heavy with pain.
I tried to reach you before, Ben. How I tried. But you were always calling so strongly to Vader, not Anakin, that I couldn't make contact.
"What's different now?"
Rey.
The word felt like an electric shock. Ben jolted, opening his eyes for the first time.
He was at the bottom of an impossibly tall cliff, and at the top of the cliff…
"Where is she?" he asked, feeling panic begin to bubble in his throat as he realised he couldn't feel Rey.
His grandfather seemed to hesitate. Then –
She's gone.
"No." Ben's throat tightened, his vision tunnelling to black as a wave of grief washed over him.
You might still be able to help her.
His grandfather's voice cut through the fog that had enveloped Ben's mind, choking him in a flood of grief so intense it completely overwhelmed his surroundings.
"What?" he breathed.
You and Rey are a dyad in the force, two halves of a whole. Just like she healed you once, you can heal her now.
Slowly, painfully, Ben heaved himself to his feet, nearly collapsing to the floor again as a bolt of pure agony shot up his left leg.
Gritting his teeth, he hurled himself to the side of the cliff, resting his head against the smooth rock and inhaling deeply in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain in his broken leg.
"Thank you, grandfather," he whispered into the darkness around him, closing his eyes in silent gratitude.
Anakin Skywalker's voice spoke for the last time in his mind, solemn but filled with stirring emotion.
I had to lose the woman I loved. I will not let my grandson suffer through the same.
His grandfather's presence faded from his mind, leaving behind a lingering echo of Anakin's determination. Ben focused on that, using it as a sort of shield against his pain, and begun the climb up the cliff.
It was agonising. Every push sent white-hot flares of pain shooting through his leg and up his spine, and his arms shook and burned with the strain of heaving his body mass up the cliff face.
But he made it.
Dragging himself over the edge of the cliff, he limped towards Rey's motionless form at the shambles of the black throne, his hand gripping his side tightly to try to alleviate some of the pain there.
It didn't work, and he clenched his teeth as he stumbled under a fresh wave of pain, crashing to the floor. The action had his pain levels skyrocketing, but he forced himself to his feet despite it. Rey. Rey is more important.
He staggered the last few metres to her side, dropping to the floor beside her and bringing shaking fingers to her arm to feel for a pulse.
Nothing.
Closing his eyes, he drew in a shuddering breath, pulling Rey's limp body into his arms and tucking his head into her shoulder.
"Can you hear me?" he whispered softly, knowing it was useless but wanting to try nonetheless.
There was no reply.
He drew another deep breath. "Hold on," he told her softly, lowering her limp body to prop against his knee with infinite gentleness.
He placed his hand on her stomach, closing his eyes and letting the light side of the Force wash over him just like Luke had always told him to do.
I need to heal her, he thought into the flow of the light.
Memories flared in his mind, and suddenly he could hear Luke's voice in his head as clearly as though he had said the words yesterday: "But for this one, Ben, you're going to have your first lesson in the ways of the Force from your mother. Leia was always much better than me at Force-healing."
And then his mother's voice, warm and dry – "it's not about strength, Ben. It's about love. You can't heal if you don't love."
I love, Ben thought, an image of Rey's smile flashing unbidden into his mind.
"Then use that love," the memory of his mother told him. "Focus on what you feel, and let your love flow through the Force. Let it heal what is hurt and mend what is broken."
Rey's smile flickered across his mind again, and he was overwhelmed by how much he wanted to see it again.
He focused on the memory of that smile, and felt the Force flow from his hand into his body.
He could feel his own life draining as he restored hers, but he accepted the fact as soon as he understood it. Of course there would be a price – you couldn't just restore somebody to life and expect no retribution – but if it meant Rey got the life she deserved, he would do it a thousand times over.
Rey's hand dropped onto his, its weight warm and reassuring and alive, and despite everything, his mind flooded with happy triumph. He had done it.
He opened his eyes and looked at her, inhaling sharply at what he saw. He hadn't realised how much it had affected him to see her face limp and ashen until there was colour in her cheeks again.
She sat up a lot quicker than he had expected, confusion etching lines into her forehead, her eyes searching his.
He swallowed hard. It was unbelievably good to see her again.
It's okay, he tried to tell her without words. It's okay.
Something must have gotten through, because Rey's face split into a dazzling smile. "Ben," she breathed, reaching out a trembling hand to brush his cheek.
He felt his own lips tug upwards in response to her smile. "Rey," he said softly.
She inhaled shakily, her thumb brushing gently across the corner of his lip –
And then she kissed him.
For a split-second that seemed to last a lot longer than it probably had, Ben was frozen in absolute shock. Then he regained his senses and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close and kissing her back with everything he had.
As a young boy, Ben had read and watched more than his fair share of holodramas, much to his father's endless amusement. But he had never thought he would actually get to experience the whole fireworks-behind-his-eyes, moment-of-pure-triumph kiss.
The holodramas didn't do it justice – no words could describe the pure, unfiltered joy that flooded through him, the sensation of absolute rightness that sang through their bond.
After a few moments, Rey pulled away, her thumb still tracing little patterns onto his cheek. Her smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen – wonder, joy and just a hint of embarrassment wrapped up in one perfect package.
Ben smiled back at her, really smiled, for the first time in literal years. He couldn't remember ever feeling this happy.
But the moment couldn't last.
He had brought her back when it should have been impossible, and one couldn't just go around doing the impossible without paying some form of a price. It had been a mercy of the Force to let him stay just long enough to share this kiss with her.
It didn't really feel all that merciful to him – the reality of what he would lose stung a lot sharper now that he knew what he could have had.
But there was nothing he could do about it. He had given everything he had to bring her back, and no matter how much it hurt him, he would do it a thousand times over again.
He fell backwards, all his strength spent, and felt Rey's shock and horror above him. He reached for her hand, using the very last shreds of strength he had left to wrap his fingers around hers.
Peace filled him – a reluctant kind of peace, but peace nevertheless. If he had to go, this was one of the best ways to do it.
Her face was the last thing he saw, and her fingers wrapped around his the last thing he felt.
Ben closed his eyes, and let himself fade into the flow of the Force.
A/N: And he died. The end.
…. Well, if you're JJ Abrams. Fortunately, I'm not.
BEN SOLO IS NOT DEAD, GUYS! You'll just have to wait until the next chapter to find out how. *ducks barrage of furious reviews from enraged readers* All will be well, I promise! Just… not quite yet.
Meanwhile… changes. What changes did I make to canon in this chapter? Well, first of all, I made Anakin appear to Ben, because seriously. It's just ridiculous that nobody came to help Ben when he needed it most, but every single Force Ghost flocked to Rey's aid.
Secondly, I gave Ben a bit more dialogue. And hilarious as it is to have Ben's last word be "ow," I didn't think it was a fitting tribute to the character at all – in this fic, I changed it to "Rey," which is just SO much more meaningful.
I'll try my best to have the next chapter ready for you guys as soon as possible, because Ben Solo dead is not something I want any more than you do. Until then… I'd love to hear what you all thought in the reviews!