As a side note & personal head cannon, Rey and Palpatine's biological link in this is based on "Legacies" by Inksplosion. Well worth the read!

Feel free to ignore the rant at the end of this... I hope you enjoy it!

Rey could only watch in dazed horror as Palpatine, her grandfather by blood, her kin, used her stolen life force to reconstruct his half-dead, rotting hands. His awe at the discovery curdled her insides further. In that moment, Rey realised that in their euphoria at finally being on the same side, she and Ben had been caught off guard. Now they had given their greatest enemy his greatest wish rather than the destruction he deserved. Rey couldn't even register Ben's presence beside her anymore as she shivered on the ground, feeling a sense of violation and invasiveness she'd not experienced since her younger days surviving on Jakku. These feelings were soon joined by fearful helplessness as her sharpening gaze locked with Palpatine's malicious yellow irises and he grinned raising his hands to take more from her.

It was worse the second time.

Lasting longer and with a harsher pull, Rey could feel her vibrancy, her light, her life, being ripped from her very core and dragged raggedly through her pores until she felt like a tattered, sullied scrap of herself. It was agonising. She couldn't breathe to scream or beg for it to stop. The longer it went on, the more desperate and disjointed her thoughts became, until she was mentally pleading for the sith to pull on her life force faster, just so it could be over and she wouldn't feel anything anymore.

Until one noise stopped it all. Stopped her thoughts, stopped her pain, it even stopped the pull.

Ben Solo's soul cried out.

He could no more move or breathe or think than she could, but they were still connected and for all that Ben had trained as a sith, this was a new level of torture. His agony rippled along their bond and snapped Rey back into the present. Back into her present self.

She was no longer that scared little girl, trapped helpless and abandoned on a desert planet. She was more than that. She was a Force sensitive Rebel fighter, one of the best. She was the equal of Ben Solo, of Kylo Ren, the Supreme Leader of the First Order, each of them strengthened by their bond, not weakened by it. She was a Wookie's friend, a General's apprentice, a Storm Trooper's sister and a Pilot's go-to mechanic. She was not alone and her grandfather was out-numbered by people with more value to her than his blood. People who matteredand were her true family. People who would be hurt if she gave into her fears, forgot the lessons of her youth and let this monster take from her without consequence. Because at the heart of it all, she had grown up a scavenger and they were a territorial breed. Blatant theft was not taken lightly among them.

Rey wrenched open her eyes, searched through the shimmering grey haze of life force still suspended in the air until she caught and held the yellow gaze of her ancestor once again. Frustrated confusion painted his visage until he realised the source of the block on his powers. Only then did she Pull. Back.

The effect was instantaneous. The flow of the life force reversed, Palpatine let out a monstrous snarl and the two younger force sensitives dropped to the ground. Ben landed on his back with a low groan but didn't seem quite aware. Rey landed on her feet and raised her arms in an imitation of the sith in front of her, attempting to direct the flow of energy. A sliver of relief breezed over her as she felt her own life force settling back to her, soothing her ragged edges as it flowed back into her core. The relief didn't last long as the flow became a tidal wave and Rey soon realised that Ben's life force was rushing into her too, having nowhere else to go. Palpatine's confusion didn't last long either, as he began fighting to redirect the flow of the force yet again, though his frustration remained as he found his granddaughter to not be as easy a victim as before.

The tidal wave slowed but didn't falter as Rey continued to pull the stolen life force into herself. Distantly, she tried to reach Ben through their bond but the majority of her mind stayed on task. She had a people now, a mix-matched family to call her own. And she would not let this relic steal a single one of them from her. Or her from them, not when she hadn't had the chance to properly enjoy the bounty of her finds. She was a scavenger of Jakku, strengthened by the Jedi, tempered by battle and training and she would not this high-born wraith steal from her when he didn't even know the rules to the scavenging game! She had found Ben Solo and Ben Solo had found her in return, so Ben Solo was hers. And she was keeping him!

These thoughts, near animalistic in their possessive and basic nature, spiralled around Rey's mind, continuously strengthening her resolve not to let Darth Sidious win. It was also these circling thoughts that Ben heard when he was finally able to follow the whisper of Rey's voice back to awareness. It took a long time for Ben to work out what Rey was actually managing to do with her thought process; having discarded the initial thought that she was delving into the Dark side to combat her grandfather. Rather than bending to the will of the Force, Rey was purely using her stubbornness to pull back on the energy flow. There was no knowledge, control or finesse being used on her part. It was working for her too, but she was clearly struggling under the weight of the energy; the strain of the fight showing in the beading sweat on her brow and the slight tremble in her outstretched arms. She needed help. She needed his help.

And Ben knew a thing or two about being stubborn.

Trying not to distract either combatant in their battle of wills as he struggled to his feet, Ben began his own cycle of thoughts using Rey's as a template to build on. She was right. He had been the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Before that, he had been the successful apprentice of a Sith Master. And before that, he'd been a General's son. He had commanded armies, endured training through the Dark side and learned the basics of the game at his mother's knee. Then, he had finally clawed his way back to the Light so he could join his partner in taking down the true enemy of the galaxy, their shared personal demon. And now that he had a potential future, a chance at exploring the galaxy with his equal who had never given up on him, he was not going to let this ghost of a bygone era feed off them anymore. He had spent the majority of his life on the Dark side. If he wanted something, he took it. And if something was taken from him, he would take it back.

Finally standing straight, shoulder to shoulder with his partner, Ben stretched out his arm and joined in the struggle. His first pull had him staggering into Rey under the weight of pure Life rushing in his direction. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders to keep himself upright, Ben marvelled at Rey's ability to stay standing under the assault.

His interference however nearly turned the tide in the struggle, Palpatine being able to drag the energy to a standstill in Rey's distraction. Ben worried momentarily that he had ruined their chance of winning when he felt Rey drop the arm closest to him to wrap it around his body so her hand gripped his shoulder in support. Then they were drawing on the energy together. Standing tall under the rushing wave of life energy, focusing solely on their spiralling thoughts to fuel their indignation which strengthened their hold on the direction of the force, they were only dimly aware that Palpatine was beginning to look a bit perturbed.

The revived Emperor used all of his knowledge, power and years of experience to turn the tide of the living energy flowing around them but could not stop it as it sailed through his fingers, leaving them to wither and rot into their previous state. His anger at this was used to add to his power, as he had always done, only to stutter at the sight of his hand rotting further, down to bone and dust. He was suddenly overwhelmed by an emotion he hadn't felt in over a century.

Fear.

Palpatine increased his effort to regain command of the exchange so he could put a stop to it but his panic made him sloppy and lost him even more ground in his bid for control. His use and experimentation with the Dark side of the Force meant he'd didn't feel the excruciating agony of his life force being ripped from him but he was aware of his body crumbling to dust under the determined eye of his granddaughter. The last thoughts hissing through his mind were that his wretched granddaughter's potential had been wasted and ruined because of the coward that was his son and the weakness he called his wife.

Ben noted, dimly again though with a sliver of satisfaction, that he had been right in his assessment. Rey had no idea what she was doing. She couldn't stop pulling on the tide of the life force or Palpatine would just take it from her again. So she had kept pulling until there was nothing left to pull on. Ben watched as the black cloak collapsed in on itself and hung limply over the robotic arm that had been holding the sith up. Letting this spiralling thoughts disintegrate into nothing, Ben wondered if Rey realised what she was going to do or if she had been too deep into whatever scavenger instinct she had been drawing on. A tug on his spirit made him turn to look at her and the answer to his musings became abundantly clear.

Her form literally glowed with life, giving her skin a luminous mythical shine but even that wasn't enough to distract from how her whole body vibrated violently, as if it were about to burst. What truly worried Ben however were her eyes. Rey's usually bright brown eyes were difficult to look into, as they were glazed with the grey shimmering veil of Life Force. An unfocused wildness could be seen through the glazing however and it did not go well the desperate expression on Rey's face. Her jaw clenched tighter, as if she didn't trust herself to voice the words she sent to him through their bond.

Ben…

A powerful tremor rushed through her already shaking form, making her sway on her feet enough that Ben was swiftly wrapping his other arm around her, holding her to him rather than leaning on her for support. He tried to ignore his rising alarm at seeing her deep coloured irises hidden away further by a sheen of watery tears.

Help…

Ben wasted no time in delving into their bond to do ask she asked. Her side of their dyad was a swirling, overflowing vortex which told Ben that while he may have helped somewhat in the struggle against Palpatine, Rey had taken the brunt of both the effort and energy. Had they not been as connected as they were in the Force, Ben would've had a difficult time finding Rey's voice in the chaos. As it was, once he entered the eye of the storm, he had to coax his partner's consciousness out from under a layer of feral instinct. Gently, Ben convinced her to share the weight of the energy with him and supported her in how to go about it. Rey was better than he ever would be at sharing her life force, particularly for healing. However, the added excess and different emotions wrapped within the life energies meant it wasn't simple as it usually would be. Rey was nothing if not an accomplished student though and Ben was a very willing guide in this particular case.

Within moments, life force rushed towards Ben's side of the bond and though he was relieved to recognise his own recovered energy settling gratefully back into his centre, Ben braced himself for a further onslaught. For all that he tried to ready himself, Ben was unprepared for the magnitude of insidious spirit that clearly defined Palpatine's life force. Even in death, it seemed Darth Sidious still had to leave his mark and spread his darkness, Ben thought to himself. It was almost guaranteed that if either Ben or Rey or both of them tried to incorporate the excess life force into their own, the darkness that saturated it would begin to corrupt them. The best case scenario was that they both suffered long term negative effects while their own life force tried to slowly purify the foreign darkness. That was not something he was willing to even consider for either of them. It had to go.

Rey shuddered against him again, bringing Ben back to physical awareness. He was disconcerted to notice he matched Rey in glowing with life now. It had dimmed in her case, but they were still glowing with energy. He could feel it vibrating under his skin, the excess looking for somewhere to go, something to do. He trembled with it and his trembling echoed into Rey. Ben held her closer in his arms, tucked against him like he could protect her from the galaxy. Not that she needed it. Rey could take on the galaxy by herself with nothing but her will as her weapon.

But I don't want to.

Ben smiled at her voice in his head, rubbing her back in reassurance and trying to think of how they could safely release this toxic, excess energy before it tore them apart at the seams. Movement in his peripheral, had him looking over Rey's shoulder to see the restless, fanatic sith followers starting to swarm. He was struck by a crazy idea worthy of Han Solo. Grief lanced through him at the thought of his father's name but he ignored it by focusing purely on his idea, so that when Rey's mental presence came to check on his grief the idea was all she could see. After all, their dyad didn't need or want the contaminated energy. If the fanatics wanted Palpatine's legacy that badly, who were they to deny the fanatics what they wanted?

Will it work?

Ben could only think of his father once more, stating casually that he never asks that question until after he's done it. He suddenly gets a memory that isn't his, of Han sitting in the Captain's seat of the Falcon preparing to go to light-speed and saying exactly the same thing. Though, in the memory, the casual tone seems more forced in the heat of that moment. He feels Rey's melancholy fondness at the memory when another violent shudder rattles her frame and distracts her. Ben thinks her memory seems more appropriate, considering that if this doesn't work, they'll be in a heap of trouble and pain.

He forcefully shakes that thought from his head, not willing to entertain that idea after all he and Rey have gone through today. Fortune always seemed to favour Han Solo when it counted and he's Han Solo's son. This will work. It has to work.

How do we do this?

Once again, Ben can only be grateful that the Force saw fit to connect him to Rey, as her practicality distracts him from his doubts. He focuses on how he hopes they'll be able to get rid of Palpatine's remaining presence. Ignoring the technicalities of what happened and keeping it in simple terms, they just pulled the life-force into themselves. Keeping it simple is probably their best bet, so all they should need to do is push the excess life-force out. The trick will be only pushing out the excess and not their own life-force while they're at it. They don't have much time to prepare with the fanatic swarm surrounding them, cutting off their escape routes before closing in on them.

Ben closes his eyes, blocking out the visual of the oncoming swarm to focus on gathering together all the life-force that is not either his or Rey's. It's not gathering in the physical sense, more like accounting for where all of these sections of life-force are. If it were with anyone else, Ben figures he'd have a harder time explaining what he's trying to do so the other could do it in turn. But through their bond, he can feel Rey following his lead and doing the same with very little trouble. As soon as all of the excess life is found, he starts pushing it out of his core to simmer under the surface of his skin. The concentration of force under his skin burns, but it would be best if they release it together when they're both ready, so he suffers the ache and hopes that Rey won't have to suffer it the same way for too long.

Ben can't tell if the whimper he hears from Rey at the burning sensation is through the bond or out loud but all he can do is rub her back reassuringly again and try to ignore how brightly they're both glowing again. It's almost over. They just have to get rid of these last remnants of Sidious and they'll be free.

Ben…

Just a few more moments and they'll be free of this last burden.

Ben, let go…

The burn is starting to sear and the glow is so bright Ben has to close his eyes and even in doing so, he can still see the light shining behind his eyelids.

Ben, we're ready. Let everything go!

Rey's words finally register as Ben hides his face in her neck. He does as she bids and lets go of everything. All the remnants of Palpatine, all his doubts that this will work, all his sorrow at never reconciling with his parents, all his regret that he couldn't turn back to the light sooner and join the woman in his arms – Ben lets it all go into the force. He pushes it out together with Rey in a bright shockwave of Life, with their dyad clinging to each other at the epicentre.

He tracks the feel of the shockwave in his mind's eye, watching as it sweeps out and collides with the first line of fanatic followers. The swarm, which had been a constant source of rumbling, malcontent noise since they started advancing on Ben and Rey, rises the pitch of their rumble upon being hit with their force-wave before disappearing. The wave seems to grow in strength with every new being it collides with and ultimately silences. Ben stops tracking it within the first few followers, not wanting to know their fate and more interested in focusing on the solid form in his arms.

It takes a while for Ben to acknowledge the ringing in his ears. It's the only sound he can hear and he's not sure if it's the ringing that's deafening or the silence. He lifts his head from its resting place in the crook of Rey's neck and feels nothing but relief. Even though he's still blinking white spots from his vision, he can see that Rey's skin has returned to its normal colour; not a mystical shimmer in sight. He ducks his head slightly to catch her eye and can't help the wide grin that takes over his face when he sees her bright brown irises clear as day. Those brown irises blink slowly and travel his face as if she's trying to memorise every inch of his expression before suddenly darting to the side. Rey's grip on him tightens a fraction and Ben realises he should probably check his surroundings too. He can't sense anyone except the two of them but considering how much force energy they've just blanketed the area with that might not mean much.

Thankfully, the dark chamber they're standing in is just as empty as he sensed. Even the darkness in the air has quieted, the malicious murmurings that haunt the place seeming to have had their fill of destruction for the moment.

"Ben."

His head whips around at the sound of her whisper and finds her smiling up at him from her position in his arms. That's when he feels her emotions wash over him.

Her relief. We did it…

Her awe. He came back for me…

Her joy. We're alive!

Her hope. We're alive… It's over…

This time it's Ben who tightens his hold on her as he allows her emotions to wrap around him like a blanket and encourage his own relief, awe, joy and hope. He hadn't noticed his eyes closing to savour the feeling until he hears her laugh. Ben opens his eyes to watch this incredible woman express their overwhelming emotions through her laughter. It's a contagious, euphoric sound and he can feel his own laughter bubbling up from his chest. He leans closer as he frees the sound from his mouth and Rey reciprocates, so they're resting their foreheads together as they laugh in each other's arms.

Peripherally, Ben is aware this is not the end of it. Rey will need to return to the Resistance and check on her friends. Ben's not sure what will happen to him. Or to any of the other First and Final Order survivors for that matter. But that doesn't matter right now. Right now he has his partner by his side and they just beat the greatest evil this galaxy has seen in recent history. They are alive, together and balanced. Everything else can come later. For now they can just be.

Be with me…

Okay, did I enjoy the movie Rise of Skywalker? Yes, yes I did.

Did I think it was a Star Wars movie? Mmm, not sure.

It was a good enjoyable movie with humour, action and feels. However, whatever makes Star Wars films "Star Wars" just didn't seem to be there for me. It didn't help that I saw other fandoms popping up around every corner. I mean really, having one of the Hobbits help out the Resistance was one thing but the freaking Knights of Naz Gul, too?! Despite Rey earning her Disney Princess crown healing that snake creature, twas still a Game of Thrones in some bits and I definitely saw an ape from Planet of the Apes working on a helmet at one point. And do not get me started on the Harry Potter vibes I was getting in the final boss fight. I'm sure there were others, but it's been a while since I've seen the film now. Now these crossovers didn't really bother me, I found them quite funny when I saw them but I think that's what made it feel less like a Star Wars film to me.

What did bother me was that final fight scene. Yes, it's the Super Evil Overlord, Darth Sidious. Yes, two on one isn't impressive odds when the two are inexperienced, emotional younglings. But come ON! Big Bad started pulling on their life-force, stopped, then started again and they just lay there and took it? What?! What happened to those stubborn assholes who were convinced it was their way or the highway for nearly 3 films? Surely they would've done something! Anything!

You can probably see where this story came from now…

I also wasn't sure how I felt about the end of Ben and Rey's story. On the one hand, Ben gets what he's always wanted. To be just like his grandfather and turn towards the light right at the end. And Rey is a kickass lady Jedi now. She's totally got this.

On the other hand, they built up this force connection for 3 films. They share minds, they share hearts, they are one in the force. They are a Dyad. Then 'poof!' no more force friend or force connect calls. And this is not a problem at all for our lady Jedi, she just goes back to a desert… Like, what?

It really bothered me that this was bothering me at all. I can totally get behind Rey being completely set to take on the world by herself. She's a strong independent woman, (has been for years!) and she don't need no man… So why am I still bothered?

I had a thought recently that my bother may stem from the fact that they kissed.

Right up until that point, and I do mean right up until then, I hadn't really cared if they were into each other romantically or not. They were connected in the force. That was enough of a story point for me. Maybe their force connection was all I was supposed to read into it, so that's all I did read into it. They could've been spiritual compasses, moral guides for each other for the rest of their lives and if one went with the force like Ben did, Rey would pick herself up just like she did in canon. Yes, it would hurt – she lost a friend and confidante. That always hurts. But she'll figure it out, like she always does.

Adding the kiss, the romantic aspect, adds this whole other dimension to her hurt and stand in the desert that I'm not sure I'm quite fond of. I'm sure she saw a future with Ben if romantic is the way they were going to spin it, like the way she saw a future where her parents came back for her. That future with Ben suddenly went 'poof' and aside from possibly Chewie and maybe Lando, no one's going to understand her feelings on that future disappearing. And as we all seem to fixate on, Rey holds onto that shit. So her standing tall by herself in a desert? Doesn't really fill me with the warm on fuzzies….