A/N: I'm referring to Ben as Ben when he's Light and Kylo Ren when he's Dark.
-o0o-
Twenty Four
Lightning tore the sky, the roar of thunder surrounding the four humans and one droid as they clustered around the black basalt altar and the white-clad shape lying supine and unspoilt. Rey was as she had fallen, dressed in the white that she always felt uncomfortable in, her hair in its unique three buns and beautiful, lightly-freckled face in repose. Her lips were still a greyish colour but otherwise, she could just be asleep. Clipped to her hip was Leia's lightsaber and her staff lay alongside her side. Another burst of lightning washed all the colour from her face as Ben bowed his head.
"I'm sorry it took so long," he groaned.
It's okay, she told him. You're here now.
His head snapped up and he danced around, as if expecting to see her, but there was only the raging Dathomir sky. Finn frowned.
"Rey?" he murmured and Ben's head snapped round, his brows dipping.
"You can hear her?" he asked, his tone verging on jealousy. Silently, Finn nodded, his face pale.
"So could I," Rose mumbled and Poe nodded as well. Frowning, the former Supreme Leader rose to his feet and peered at the Holocron, strengthening his mental shields to suppress the vicious whispers that swirled around him.
Traitor.
Weakling.
Failure.
Pathetic boy.
You are nothing.
The act designed to make you stronger, whole, instead has riven you to the bone.
His eyes snapped wide and he spun, hearing Snoke's words, Snoke's voice. The malignant presence was swirling around him, causing him to flinch as memories of so many punishments-some earned and many not-reared up. His hand instinctively dropped to his lightsaber, even though he knew it would be useless against the ghost. Breathing hard, he jammed the Holocron into a depression on the altar and looked at the others.
"You okay, Ren?" Poe asked as he nodded.
"Are you?" he asked. The General looked over at his friends.
"I think we all are," he said. "Whatever it takes to bring Rey back. She slew the Emperor and saved us all on Exegol."
"She's my sister," Finn said firmly.
"And my friend," Rose added. BB8 gave a little volley of beeps that added his determination. Nodding, Ben turned to the silent body and leaned forward, pressing his lips lightly to her forehead. Then he pulled back and murmured a few words that he had memorised from the Sith Holocron. The lightning howled and the other three flinched.
What are you doing?
Ben frowned, seeing a ghostly shape, shimmering on the limits of his vision. She was tall, over two metres with her elongated shape typical of a Nightsister, her robes stained with blood. He gestured.
"I thought it was obvious, Mother Talzin," he said, recognising the ghost. Her eyes narrowed.
We have been betrayed by the Sith before.
"I am not Sith," he asserted, his voice lowering to a growl.
You look like a Sith. You act like a Sith. You even dress like one.
"And yet…I helped Rey, this woman, destroy Palpatine, Darth Sidious," he told her. "The Sith are no more. Nor are the Jedi. All is dust. All is balance."
You use a Sith artefact. You carry a Jedi lightsaber.
"I am not meant to live," he told her. "She is. She is the last Jedi-but she is a balance of Light and Dark. She is the Balance. She is the one who accepted all the Jedi and spent her life to defeat Palaptine. She deserves the life, not me."
You understand the dangers?
"I welcome them," he said quietly.
You are soaked in Darkness and blood. They follow you. Your nemesis waits. You know what must be done? You understand the price?
"I understand," he affirmed, feeling her presence recede. Then he gestured. By Rey's feet, a single spike of metal jutted up, the edges still wickedly sharp. "Touch that and think of Rey," he advised. There was a momentary pause and then Finn walked forward. He opened his hand, jabbed it against the metal and murmured 'Rey'. Poe's approach was more swaggering, though his expression was just as serious. Finally Rose walked up to press her hand to the spine, the red gleam of blood dull in the gloomy light. She closed her eyes.
"Come back, Rey," she breathed.
Ben nodded-and then he suddenly gestured, his hand flying out to suddenly freeze them in place. All three tried to struggle, instinct fighting against any trust for the man who had brought them here. Poe's eyes were filled with accusation but Ben shook his head, feeling their anger through the Force. Even Rose was looking at him as if he was a monster…but that was okay because what he was doing was monstrous. Quietly, he land his hand over Rey's stilled heart, fingers splayed over her cold shape
…Poe twitched, recalling the brilliant smile on the women who fought at his side, the scavenger who repaired ships, fought like a demon, trained like a Jedi…who he had seen first as the hesitant, almost-broken young woman emerging from the Millennium Falcon, her eyes shimmering with tears as she approached the newly-widowed Leia, sharing her pain and her guilt at preventing the murder of Han Solo…
…Finn's heart broke as he recalled her hug after they had been reunited, her gratitude as he came back for her on Starkiller…and the young woman he had first seen on Jakku, beset by two thugs but who handled herself with ferocity to release herself and the droid before she chased him down and dumped him on his ass, accusing him of stealing a jacket…
…Rose's eyes shone with tears as she recalled the woman who had sought her out as a fellow female, a comrade in the garages, a friend who had willingly shared her story with the grieving mechanic; the girl she had first met when she woke from her coma, sitting by Finn and greeting her with a shy but brilliant grin as the shattered remains of the Resistance headed for safety…
…images blanking like old holos being erased…
Ben looked up, seeing the sky almost on fire with lightning and ships descending through the atmosphere, the uniform minds of stormtroopers focussed on their missions as they came in for landing.
"Hux," he growled, feeling the confusion and fury of his three prisoners. Gently, he lifted Rey's hand and jabbed the skin onto the spine. "I'm sorry, Rey," he murmured. "But for you to live, you have to give up something as well." He lowered her back into position. "And you give up our bond, our connection…and everything that comes from it."
Our love.
He staggered and almost fell, feeling the link severed, the ends flailing wildly, blackness beyond. The sudden sense of dislocation, of pain and loss and loneliness almost unendurable. And he realised that he had always felt her, even after her death…but this was the final loss he had feared. He was truly alone.
He had never felt so alone.
Finally, staring up into the sky, he blinked. This was the hardest. Alone, with only the corpse of the woman he had loved and who had saved him-saved them all-he had to give up the Light he had worked so hard to regain. He had to surrender. Ben Solo had to die.
He swallowed, then jabbed his hand on the metal, feeling the keen edge bite into his skin. Briefly, he touched her chest one last time.
"Goodbye," he whispered and dropped his shields.
The Darkness flooded in.
-o0o-
Rey watched, stunned as she witnessed her friends imprisoned by Ben and forced to participate in some strange ritual. But when she saw him say goodbye and felt the Darkness swirl around him once more, she screamed.
But there was a light, a pathway and an almost irresistible force, pulling her back down and into her body, the sudden feeling of light and warmth…
…and cold and evil as she sensed another presence-the foul, cruel individual that she recognised from the Throne Room. The mind that had brutally and irresistibly tortured her, laying everything bare and slicing her open for fun. The same psyche that had controlled and groomed and moulded Ben into Kylo Ren, tormenting and training him until he became his weapon and enforcer…Snoke…
He was there, his acidic, icy presence occupying the same space as her as she fought for the possession of her own body. Snoke was powerful, vicious and ruthless but she wasn't the same person that had faced him a year earlier. She had faced Palpatine, possessed the power of all the Jedi within her and she had honed her powers so that she was far more powerful than he could have imagined. So as he descended, she drew on all her energies, calling for the powers of the Jedi she had met.
Be with me. Please.
She felt Luke and Leia, Anakin, Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn…and others she couldn't name but had felt before on Exegol…all electrified with the power, she flung the challenger aside, shaking off his attempts at Force lightning and burning away his darkness as she dived home. The body was hers, in tune with her soul and she felt it coming up to reach her, welcoming her back. His howls of rage filled her ears as she felt her heart beat again, the momentary weakness and disorientation filling her.
Her eyes snapped open and she took a breath.
-o0o-
Poe Dameron felt himself released, collapsing to his knees on the rocky plateau on an alien world.
Dathomir? How did he know that? How did he even come to be here?
What he did know was that his friends Rose Tico and fellow General Finn were at his side, looking as confused as he did. What he did know was that, despite the fact that the First Order and Palpatine had been defeated and the Resistance had won, Kylo Ren was standing a few yards in front of them, standing over the body of a young woman dressed in white on what looked like an altar.
Poe felt his face pull back in a leer of disgust. He had travelled widely and been in all sorts of unusual and precarious situations in his work as a top Resistance pilot and agent-and before-and to him, this looked like some sort of arcane sacrifice that he had vaguely heard about in some of the remote and primitive worlds of the Outer Rim and the Unknown Regions. It was almost as if Ren was trying to slay the young woman-who seemed to have a lightsaber clipped to her belt-as some sort of sacrifice.
His hand automatically snapped to his blaster and as he looked, she took a deep breath and her eyes snapped wide open. She looked around wildly, her eyes falling on the dark shape of Ren and her lips parted in a gasp. Instinctively, he drew and fired, trying to keep the Supreme Leader away from the young woman. There was something familiar about her-had she been part of the Resistance at one time?-but she was vulnerable and at Ren's mercy. The Supreme Leader glowered and his hand snatched a lightsaber from his belt, deflecting Poe's shots. Rose and Finn joined in, trying to protect the young woman, the young Jedi. Then, Ren's hand swung up and flung them all back, their weapons skittering from their hands.
But as he turned away, the young woman rolled off the altar, her hand snatching at her lightsaber.
"Get away from them, you monster!" she spat as the green blade ignited. "Poe, Finn, Rose-are you okay?" The General blinked and stared over at Finn.
"Sorry…who…?" he began as she glanced over at them.
"Poe-this isn't funny," she said in exasperation. "Get back. I can handle him!"
Ren gave a grim smile.
"You can't," he said shortly, his eyes dark with anger.
"Murderous snake!" she spat, eyes sparkling with anger. "What have you done to them?"
"You should worry about yourself," he told her equably, the lightsaber humming as he circled around her. Unconsciously, he rolled his wrist and the small movement merely emphasised his skills with the weapon. "I can sense the First Order ships approaching. Soon, you will be at my side-as my student or as my slave…"
"NEVER!" she shouted and leapt at him, the impact knocking him back a few paces. His eyes glittered with an unreadable emotion as the three Resistance officers tried to understand what had happened. Quietly, BB-8 rolled towards them and offered a stream of worried beeps, causing Poe to stare at him.
"Whaddya mean 'Friend Rey' needs our help?" he asked, glancing to the others. There was a pause as they all shared looks.
"She's fighting Ren and she seems to know us," Finn murmured. "I know Ren can do all sorts of weird stuff with the Force-apart from choking people, throwing them around like dolls…"
"Ransacking their minds," Poe growled, his eyes darkening.
"You think he's done something to us?" Rose asked, her eyes troubled. She felt as if there was something very important she had forgotten to do…
"I think that is exactly what he's done," Finn said decisively, scrambling through his own memory to find out the truth. Something felt very off. "But she's fighting him and she seems to know us. BB-8 knows her. I say we help her bring him down!" Poe nodded, scrabbled for his blaster and fired again at the Supreme Leader. This time, Ren grabbed the blaster bolt, holding it motionless and a very familiar memory swirled around him…
…a burning village, an old man cut down by the demon in a mask, capture, torture, escape, crash, return, reunion, a world consumed by fire, a world become a weapon, flying inside an Oscillator, the planet breaking apart, landing back on D'Qar, the Millennium Falcon landing…
…nothing…
"He did tamper with our memories," he growled and fired again. Ren ducked and the energy shot past his head, exploding a rock behind him. His face twisted in fury and he gestured, the Force tossing them around. But Poe was up on his feet again, grabbing Rose's blaster and firing-as Ren gestured and the General found himself suddenly wrenched off his feet, something gripping him by the neck. He found it almost impossible to breathe, his throat being crushed by some unseen hand. But as he watched, Ren raised his hand, the clawed position tightening slowly and inexorably.
"NO! GET OFF HIM!" Rey yelled, leaping forward. Unexpectedly fast, her saber slashed across his shoulder and he grunted in pain, turning away to face her. Poe fell to the ground like an unstrung puppet, gasping desperately for air as Finn sped to his side.
"Poe!" he breathed. "You okay?" The former pilot gave a weak nod, a hand pressed tenderly to his throat.
"Been better," he rasped. "That never happened before…"
Even when you faced him in the interrogation chamber.
Finn looked up, seeing the young woman and Ren fighting expertly with lightsabers, the hum and clash of the weapons loud above the rising breeze and lightning. Rose dropped to a crouch by the two men, handing them back their blasters.
"If we know her, if he's affected our minds, then we owe it to her to help her," she said in a determined voice.
"You want to get in between them, then go ahead," Finn commented, gesturing to the ferocious battle. "Personally, I think we should be ready to help if we can…"
"You've been practicing," Ren told her, his eyes dark with contemplation.
"We've been fighting ever since we met," she spat. "I have never lost."
"Until now," he told her, his tone darkening. "Because I wasn't trying to kill you."
Why?
"You killed Snoke," she growled, parrying and matching his attack. He was taller, heavier and stronger than she was, his blows powerful and reach longer. But she was fast, lithe and furious, her access to the Dark Side instinctive and lending her the strength and skill to match him.
"Sith always kill their masters to assume the throne," he told her.
"You're not Sith," she spat.
"I'm standing on Dathomir with a Sith Holocron fighting a Jedi," he reminded her in a snarl. "What else would I be?"
Ben. Your name is Ben.
"Han Solo's son," she breathed. "General Leia Organa's son."
"That man is dead," he spat. "He died on Starkiller Base."
No….
"I'm looking at him," she hissed, taking a step back, her lightsaber raised. "You're a monster."
"Yes. Yes, I am," he told her bitterly. "And you. You imagine spending some time with Luke makes you a Jedi?"
"He taught me what I needed to know," she retorted.
"You need a proper teacher," he reiterated, his eyes boring into hers. "I offered my hand to you twice. I offer it again-because I can sense the Darkness in you. I can help you reach your ultimate potential."
"By becoming someone who kills whatever is in her way? Like you?" she spat. He gave a small shrug.
"Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. And never be afraid to do what you have to so you can become what you were meant to be," he told her.
"You have taken my friends from me!" she screamed, her pain flailing around. He almost recoiled, an unexpected sense of shame stabbing through his chest before he crushed the feeling.
"Attachments make you weak," he told her shortly.
"Love strengthens you," she retorted.
"So lonely," he taunted her. "So alone. Clinging on for years and years, scratching marks on a rusting wall in the hope your dead parents would come back for you. They sold you! They were never coming back. But you had to cling to them, when you could have left and made so much more of your life."
"And I would never have honed my skills or been in the right place at the right time to meet BB-8 and Finn," she told him flatly. "I would never had realised I possessed the Force, met Han, met Leia and met Luke. I would never have realised I had a place to belong. I would never have made friends. And I would never have been able to go to Exegol and slay Palpatine!"
"And die," he spat.
How had he known that? Had he been there? He just couldn't recall anything…
"Then why did you bring me back?" she snarled, her face twisted with fury.
He recoiled, his mouth hanging open as he struggled for words. The expression of rage looked so wrong on her and his heart tugged in a strange manner. Then he shook his head.
"I wasn't…" he tried and then frowned, circling around her. She matched his movement, pace for pace, her eyes never leaving his face.
"And where the kriff is your lightsaber?" she hissed.
He stilled, eyes drifting to the brilliant blue blade in his hand. The power hummed through his arm, the familiarity of this blade horrific.
It was the blade that had hovered over him all those years ago, the blade that had reflected in Luke's eyes as he saw the Darkness in his nephew's soul, as he made his judgement that Ben Solo was irredeemable. He, who had clung to the hope that even Darth Vader could be turned back to the light-and had achieved it-determined there was absolutely nothing worth saving in his sister's son, the young man who had been given into his care for all those years. Why had he abandoned him so badly when everyone else had rejected him? Was it any wonder that he had chosen the Darkness when everyone who was supposed to care for him, supposed to love him had thrown him away like a broken tool?
He stared, eyes wide and he stumbled back. His confusion was palpable and Rey paused, feeling him brutally unbalanced. Voices were whispering in her mind that now was the time, while he was distracted, to strike the killing blow.
…waves higher than a freighter, crashing mercilessly over the wreckage of a death ship from an old war. Cold, spray, slick metal underfoot. The ghostly halo of red as he walked through the spray, his raven hair soaked. Eyes focussed only on her face. Furious exchanges, slowly wearing her down. Falling to her knees, and staring up, their bodies heaving with the effort. Distraction, the brush of Leia across his mind. Looking up, the red spitting lightsaber falling from his hand…
…and caught by her hand to drive lethally through his body…
"No," she mouthed, a pain striking her heart at the memory. What had happened? How was he alive? He should be dead. She backed up a step. "No."
You are a disappointment, my apprentice.
Kylo Ren blinked. The voice of Snoke had him on edge, instinctive fear of his abusive master almost overwhelming his confusion and the knowledge that Snoke was dead.
"I killed you."
You are conflicted. Pathetic. A boy hiding in a mask. A child playing at being a monster.
"I AM A MONSTER!"
The girl is still your superior.
"I CAN DEFEAT HER!"
No. You cannot. I should have chosen her.
"YOU CHOSE ME!" he screamed.
Rey recoiled, watching him unravelling before her eyes. He was screaming at nothing, at a hallucination that his deranged mind was supplying. She backed up another step and reached to get her staff to fly to her hand...and then she felt it: a pricking at the back of her head. The temperature dropped precipitously and the wind rose further.
And then, above the altar, the attenuated and malevolent shape of Snoke coalesced. He lifted his misshapen head, his pallid blue eyes sweeping over his raging apprentice. Then, chillingly, he grinned a death's head smile.
"I'm back."