Hello everyone!
Let's make one thing clear straight away: I do not ship Reylo, and I have no attachment whatsoever for Kylo Ren. However, the few minutes we got of Ben Solo at the end of the Rise of Skywalker made me discover a whole "new" character that I really loved, and would have liked to see more of.
I wrote this as a Christmas Present and commission for one of my friends, and I thought I could eventually share it here for you all. I won't be offended if you don't like it considering the fact that I make a clear distinction between Kylo Ren and Ben, and don't even like the pairing, but if you wanna give it a try... you're welcome to!
English is not my first language and I apologize in advance for all the mistakes I might have made in this text. Enjoy! x
Palpatine's big and final plan had been to wipe out the last of the Jedi. By doing so, he'd managed to wipe out the last of the Skywalker, as Ben had given up his life for Rey's in the end.
Rey stood still on the pilot seat of the Millenium Falcon, eyes closed and breathing even. The control room wasn't particularly cold in this period of the year, flowers of all sorts barely starting to blossom as winter slowly but surely left place to spring, yet she could feel her body hair rising with goosebumps on her forearms. It was strange, the Force. For years it had terrified her to no ends, this unwanted Force running through her veins and powering her every breath. From the moment she'd realized that she was different from everyone else on Jakku, finding comfort and strength in an instinct that no one around her seemed to understand or even grasp. When Finn had barged in her life though, she'd been forced to face this unparalleled energy guiding her every steps, to the Resistance and to Luke Skywalker himself, until now.
Learning that she was a Palpatine should have been more of a shock. After all, he was the one who'd turned Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one, into a Sith. He'd been the one who had forged Vader himself, the one who'd wiped out the jedis for so long. Knowing that they shared the same blood should have terrified her to no ends. But it turned out that she had been scared for so long, of herself and her power, that it didn't really matter in the end. this lack of reaction should have said lengths about her at this point, but looking back now, Rey wasn't surprised at all. She might have shared the same blood as the Emperor Palpatine himself, but he would never be the only one driven by the force, so strong that it drove him mad. She'd been taught by Luke Skywalker himself, a Jedi so consumed by grief and failure that he'd thought about giving up on everything and everyone, and she had learned. Blood might have mattered to some extent, but the force and her heart would always decide of who she was.
Outside of the Falcon, Rey could clearly decipher some voices as people walked past. She'd asked not to be disturbed, feeling the strong urge to go sit on the pilot's chair as she'd woken up the very morning. Finn had understood, as always. His calming hand on the crook of Poe's back as he meant to follow her had made him understand, too. She needed to be alone, as often these days. Weeks had passed since the fall of the First and Last Order, and the death of Ben Solo.
The thought made her shiver even more violently.
She had hated Kylo Ren from the moment they'd first met. From the moment she had laid eyes on him, as he tortured her for informations on his ship, she had hated the man with her entire being. Her hatred had only worsened every passing day, with each and every one of his actions and acts against the rebellion. For the first time in her life, Rey had felt like she could actually kill someone out of pure rage and hatred as she had gazed upon his black mask, a pitiful imitation of Vador's. Learning that Kylo was the son of the infamous Han Solo and the General Organa herself had come as a surprise, but not even her profound love for the both of them had changed the unmistakable hate she felt every time Kylo Ren crossed her path.
Then, one day, he had offered her a hand. And this day, amongst her rage and deception and through the force, she had been able to hear a cry for help. Ben's cry for help. Kylo Ren was all the voices in Ben's head, from the moment he'd been old enough to recognize the force running through his entire being and hear the voices in his head tormenting him to no ends. And at that moment, she had understood.
A bridge was created between them. Two sides of the same coin, two anomalies in the Force. Rey had felt and connected with Ben and Kylo Ren, that person she so strongly hated, was standing in the way.
It had taken her a while to understand and differentiate Ben and Kylo. She'd seen Kylo Ren, fought him and confronted him many times. But Ben, Ben was hidden deep inside the Force and all she could feel was his silent cry for help. Until the very moment she'd felt him arrive in Exegor, just as she was about to give herself to the dark side, and her destiny.
She had truly understood at this moment what it meant for them to be two sides of the same coin. Skywalker and Palpatine, together against the greatest enemy. She'd felt the buzzing of the Force under her skin as he stood next to her to face her grandfather, as one. It was jarring, unforgiving and verging on painful to feel the Force in her pulse in synchronization with Ben's. As she stood by his side, ready to kill Palpatine and end the Last Order, she was almost dizzy with it.
She had spared a thought, in a fraction of second, to the legend that told of Darth Vador's ancestor. The Sith Lord was believed to have been born of the Force itself as he had no father, and at this moment, Rey had understood. Such a raw and pure feeling felt capable enough to move mountains, and undeniably strong enough to create life itself.
Giving her life for the Resistance was her choice. She'd been guided by the Jedis, their voices in her head and their strength in her body as she stood up one last time to her grandfather. But the Force had decided against it. Cradled against Ben's chest as he brought her back to life, she had taken one more breath along with the rise of the very last Skywalker. When they had been two sides of a coin before, they made one at this very moment. As she gazed upon his face, all she could see was Ben .
Ben, Han and Leia's son. Ben, the little boy who'd been so terrified by the Force when he'd heard the voices in his head as he was just a child, the little boy who realized his uncle who was supposed to help him get rid of those voices had betrayed him. The little boy who'd lost hope, giving up his life to Kylo Ren to ease the throbbing of the Force deep inside his veins. With his hand on her, she could feel everything. The joy, the loss, the hope, the pain. She had been able to feel all of him, even just for a moment, as he had given her not a glimpse but the entirety of his soul. She had seen Ben Solo, and he had offered her his life through the Force.
Rey took a deep, shaky breath as she realized she had started crying. Alone, sitting cross legged on the pilot's seat of the Falcon Millenium where Han Solo himself had stood before, she started crying. She mourned for the loss of Ben, and for what Kylo had taken from her. The Force was strong and undeniable in her veins, still, but it didn't feel the same without Ben. When Kylo's presence in the Force had been something she ran away from, painful and insistant in the back of her mind, Ben's had been soothing. Just like a balm would have been on a wound, the buzzing presence of Ben Solo at her side in the Force had felt like a weight had finally been taken off her shoulders. Skywalker and Palpatine, they stood together one last time.
She felt before she even heard the door of the Millenium Falcon opening. She knew it was Finn, mostly because of her unmistakable loud steps but also because she could feel the Force shift slightly when he entered the space shift. With a shaking hand, she wiped off her tears strained cheeks and straightened her back with a sigh.
"Rey?" Finn asked as he entered, "are you okay? I felt…"
Of all the people in the Resistance, Rey was glad that the Force had chosen Finn. Although he'd doubted it and himself first, he was extremely sensible to the Force and would make a tremendous Jedi one day. Finn had the tendency to doubt himself enough not to recognize what he called his "instincts" as a manifestation of the Force, and this time was no exceptions.
"It's okay" Rey replied with a smile. "I needed to be alone for a moment."
She gestured at him to come closer as he hovered around the entrance of the pilot's cabin.
"It's strange" she said in a sigh, now looking out of the windows and into the forest in front of them. "Ever since the end, ever since we won… I feel like the Force is trying to tell me something. Palpatine is dead, the Order is finally gone, yet I feel like it's stronger than ever inside of me."
She gestured at her entire body with a dismissive hand, finally looking up at him. Their gaze bore into each other, and she saw the way he clenched his jaw as his fists tightened by his side.
"I do not know what happened when you were down there, with Palpatine and Ben" he finally exhaled, conflicted. "But I felt you die, Rey. I felt it in the Force, and suddenly you were back." He sighed, sitting down carefully next to her. "But you don't feel the same anymore, Rey. It's strange, because you're literally standing there in front of me as we speak, but I feel like something changed in the Force when you came back. The energy around you, it's just not the same anymore."
Rey nodded. She had felt it too, afterwards. Her energy; this never ending buzzing in her veins and bones just wasn't the same anymore. It was calmer, somehow, but just as strong.
"I can feel it too" she finally admitted.
Finn nodded. "What Ben did… it changed you. I don't know how, but it did change the way you move with the Force."
"It drove me to Tattooine" Rey added. "It drove me here this morning, and drove me to Naboo last week. I don't understand any more than you do, Finn. All I can say is that I'm safe, I can feel it deep in my bones and my entire being."
Finn smiled.
"Different does not have to be a bad thing, you know" he whispered. "Just because you came back changed doesn't mean we should mourn."
The sun was still shining outside of the Falcon, its rays illuminating the small command room. It was a beautiful day to take it out for a spin or two, and Rey knew that Poe and Finn were waiting to do exactly that.
"I know" Rey finally said, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Thanks, for coming up to see me."
Finn didn't need to mention the tears streaks on her cheeks, neither did he point out her swollen eyes. He was a good friend, a good brother, and Rey was so grateful for him and the rest of her family.
"We should go" she said, mentioning at the Falcon. "Go get Poe and the rest of them, I'm ready."
She wasn't, entirely. But if Finn felt it, he didn't say a single word as he exited the cabin, and left the ship. Rey was left alone once more, and she took yet another deep, calming breath. She did feel different since Ben had passed. It was weird, if she was completely honest with herself. She felt it in the Force, she felt in in her bones and in her chore. Whatever Ben had done to bring her back to life had changed something within her, and when the idea should have terrified her, it simply didn't.
Almost as an automatism, she gently put a hand on her stomach, on the exact same place that Ben had touched not so long ago. She could almost feel his touch still, gentle yet desperate as he had given her the rest of his Forces to bring her back to the living, life pulsing inside of her.
Life .
Rey opened her eyes in a gasp, hand falling on her legs as she realized what it really meant.
Palpatine had wanted to wipe out the jedis, and he had killed the last of the Skywalker… or so he thought. With a shaky hand, Rey pushed her fingers against her lower abdomen, closing her eyes in concentration.
Be with me, she thought, pressing.
And there, under her hand, she felt the energy she sent ricochet back, sent by a small flicker of life in the depth of her belly. Kylo had deprived Ben of a life he could have lived. Now, in a final act of rebellion, Ben had given her life through the Force. Quite literally.
Rey hadn't realized she was crying again until the moment she felt a single tear run down her cheek, nuzzling her chin only to fall down his legs. Anakin Skywalker was rumoured to have been born through the Force, and it was only logical for Ben to be able to do the same. Yet, it still felt unreal as she shakily pressed the flat of her palm against her still muscled stomach. There was a disturbance in the Force, no doubts. The Skywalkers were not yet dead, as the life within her would push through the world as strong and unforgiving as they were.
The child of a Skywalker and a Palpatine, making one with the Force.
As she heard Finn return with Poe and Chewie, she wiped out the last of her tears with a determined hand, planting her feet on the ground of the Falcon Millenium. She would live, and teach for the sake of the Jedis and of Luke and Leia. But she would also pass on the legacy of the Skywalker, in more ways than one.