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—
Rey was dying.
Rey was dead.
The battle with her grandfather, the battle with herself, it was finally over.
Battles aren't won by bargains, battles are won through sacrifice.
And to end this fight, Rey paid with her life.
No….
Rey felt her body go weak, she was just about to look down at herself when she jolted suddenly and saw someone staring back at her.
It was the face of Kylo Ren, but as Rey looked into his dark eyes, full of concern and hope, she knew that was incorrect.
Kylo Ren, the villain, was gone.
Rey realized who was looking back at her…..
"Ben?" Rey asked hopefully.
"Yes." Ben Skywalker nodded quickly.
Rey looked into Ben's eyes and Ben looked back, curious and joyful at the same time.
There, in that foreboding, crumbling, desolate place that would serve as a tomb for all the sith, Ben Skywalker kissed Rey Palpatine as their lips met sweetly.
When they finally broke apart, Ben clung to consciousness while Rey helped him slowly to his feet.
Ben's wounds were serious and he had used a startling amount of energy to pull Rey back from the edges of oblivion….
But Ben felt like it was certainly worth the trouble.
"I never thought I'd get to meet you." Rey remarked as they stumbled back towards the ship.
"You met me when we first saw each other, now I finally understand that." Ben grunted.
Rey tightened her grip to steady the wounded man, helping him to gently lay on a stretcher once they reached the ship.
Ben closed his eyes to rest and was quickly whisked away to receive medical attention.
Rey stood watching them carry Ben away until he was no longer in sight.
Quietly, Rey smiled to herself.
Yes, maybe she had met Ben Skywalker from the start, not Kylo Ren.
Maybe that was what had spurred her to keep fighting all along…..
—
The first thing Ben saw when he opened his eyes was light.
Bright light.
Ben furrowed his brow and turned his face away from the sun streaming into the small tent that he was currently occupying.
"You're finally awake." A voice happily noted.
Ben looked over and saw Rey sitting in a chair at his bedside.
It took Ben a moment to get his bearings.
"...Where are we?" Ben asked.
It made Rey smile that he was automatically grouping them both together.
Where are we, Ben had asked, not where am I.
"We're safe, this is the place…..." Rey cleared her throat as tears of grief threatened to pool in her eyes. "This is the last place that your mother was, and I was here with her for a long time."
Once Ben recovered his senses, his dark eyes drooped with sadness as he and Rey exchanged a look.
The loss of Leia weighed heavily on them both.
"She forbade me to go and join the battle, but I went anyway. I went because it's what she would have done." Rey said quietly, breaking the heavy silence.
Ben's deep eyes were intent as he looked at Rey and spoke, "You came for me."
"Yes." Rey nodded, meeting Ben's gaze. "And I'm glad."
"So am I." Ben added.
Ben tried to sit up in his makeshift bed and groaned, clutching the tight bandages that had been carefully wrapped around his chest and torso.
"Relax, relax!" Rey said quickly, jumping out of her seat and laying a hand on Ben's shoulder to ease him back down gently.
Ben grit his teeth as pain surged through his broken ribs.
"I wish I could tell her that I'm sorry." Ben hissed through his pain.
"I think she already knows." Rey reassured Ben soothingly.
Rey found herself gently stroking Ben's hair out of his face.
Rey paused for a moment until Ben shakily lifted a hand and clutched Rey's tightly.
"I am... truly sorry." Ben admitted quietly.
"Me too." Rey said with a disappointed look, thinking back about all of the violence and suffering that had taken place even years before either of them were born.
"I can't change the past." Ben sighed, letting his hand fall away.
"No, but we can change the future." Rey mused.
"Together?" Ben asked hopefully.
Rey smiled.
"Together." She nodded.
A Skywalker and a Palpatine.
It was a mostly unlikely match, but sometimes, the most unlikely of things compliments one another the best.
—
Rey spent the next few weeks helping to care for the wounded, repairing ships and droids, and checking on Ben daily.
Ben's recovery was slow.
The former Sith Lord's energy was depleted, and his wounds were bothersome, but as time passed, he began to make some gradual progress.
Ben recovered the ability to sit up, then to stand, and eventually he learned how to walk again, very carefully, with Rey helping to guide him at first.
It was not easy to get Leia's subordinates to welcome, let alone accept, her son that had chosen the dark side and slaughtered many of their family and friends.
There was a lot of convincing to the general public on Ben's behalf that Rey, Finn, and Poe took part in, but eventually, Leia's supporters began to speak to Ben in passing.
They started to sit with him and share meals.
They started to laugh with him and engage in pleasant conversation.
One evening, at a large party celebrating the fall of the sith several months afterwards, Ben noticed that he had been entirely accepted and absorbed into his mother's society.
And Rey was right beside him…..
Ben turned away from the group of fighters he had just been talking to and watched Rey for a moment.
Ben admired the way Rey smiled and laughed, the way she stood, the curves of her hips as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other since there was nowhere to sit it was so crowded…
Ben's grew soft as he watched her.
Rey…...
Maybe Rey was right.
Maybe they could change the future together.