Part XXIV

Ben wasn't sure how to function when Rey stepped out into the light of the entry. Her tan skin glowed under the midnight blue of the gown and her hair was swept up in a fashion that fondly reminded him of his mother. The dress moved like liquid around her slender legs and he wanted to fall at her feet before running his hands under the silky fabric.

The cape of the gown flowed out elegantly behind her and all that was missing was his mother's nebula opal on her finger and a crown upon her head. She was every bit the Empress that he knew she could be and he was even more in awe of her as her nervousness stretched out to him through the bond.

"Breathtaking," he whispered out as he finally stepped up to her and placed a kiss upon her perfectly blushing cheek.

Rey swallowed thickly, his normal scent was intensified, more woodsy and less recycled and ionized air. He also had a few sprigs of lavender pined to his lapel and she almost swooned at how much she loved him.

Davin stepped up from behind Ben and held out the Empress' gray cloak that she had last worn on Noonar. Ben took it and swept it around her shoulders, "We won't be taking the MK3 into the city, but still want to be careful."

Rey nodded, still not having uttered a word, she just simply slid her hand into Ben's outstretched and waiting palm, as he led her from the home and to a nondescript shuttle.

Ben seemed nervous, which was quite contrary to his normal cocky bravado. He cleared his throat and turned to Cale, who passed him a thin black box. Ben ran his fingertips over the soft velvet case, "This belonged to my grandmother."

Her breath hitched as he pulled up the lid. Within the dark case sat a ruby the size of her palm. It was set in a pale metal and studded with diamonds. Rey reached out to touch it but was hesitant like it would burn her upon contact.

"It was once set into one of her headdresses, but I had it made into a necklace." He lifted the piece from the box and moved it around her slender neck, fastening it with a simple hooking clasp.

The jewels felt heavy and cold against her overheated skin. The large stone sat just below her collarbones and she reached her hand up again, finally touching her fingers to the ruby.

Her sight blurred and she was pulled into a vision, one of a young Queen who was fair and kind. A Queen that was fearless and didn't balk at danger or adventure when the Jedi came to her world. This Queen became a Senator, wise and tenacious, and fell hopelessly in love with a Jedi.

Rey felt Padmé's joy and fear, her love and the excitement when she discovered she was with child. She felt the late Senator's deviation when Anakin turned to the Darkside, she felt Padmé's pain, her heartbreak when she lost her other half, the love of her life, only shortly knowing the love of a mother towards her children before she died from the greatest sorrow.

A tear slid down her face as Ben cupped his hands around her shoulders. His forehead was pressed to hers, witnessing what she was seeing, absorbing what she was feeling, his heart was gripped just as tightly as hers, and he vowed to never let his Rey ever experience that kind of pain.

Finally, Rey's vision cleared and she blinked a few times, stray tears painting her cheeks. "Thank you, Ben," she spoke softly, stroking the stone again. Rey knew that she could feed an entire world with the worth of the necklace, but also that the value of the piece was more in the sentiment of it. The jewel held the spirit of an amazing woman and Rey would strive to be as just and benevolent a ruler, loving and devoted to her soulmate, but she also would protect Ben from the darkness, vowing to never let them slip into such despair.

"Emperor, Empress," Davin caught their attention. "We are coming upon the palace."

Rey gazed out of the shuttles windscreen and saw the sun beautifully setting just beyond the turquoise-hued aged copper domes of a vast palace. It was perched on the edge of a cliff and mist from the surround waterfalls cast prisms of colors across the sky. She reached up again, placing her hand over the necklace and as they started to land, she almost felt a sense of coming home.

There was a semi-private landing area off to the left side of the place and the shuttle easily touched down. Ben patted at his love's cheeks, clearing them of any remaining wetness and she looked down at his chest bashfully. He tipped her chin with the knuckle of his forefinger, her long and lovely lashes flicking up as her hazel eyes caught his dark but soft gaze. "You are everything to me," he whispered and then gently pressed his lips to hers.

Arlan helped to raise Rey's hood without compromising her perfectly primped hair. "You'll do splendidly, Empress," the female trooper said with encouragement and squeezed the hand of the young woman she dared to consider a friend.

"I've told you a hundred times, please call me Rey." Her tone wasn't harsh, but rather matched the smile that crossed her lips.

"You'll do splendidly, Rey," Arlan repeated, not only to use the Empress' name, but also to reassure her words as true.

"Thank you Arlan," Rey returned the slight squeeze of the other woman's hand. "Thank you for being so kind…for being a friend."

The guard beamed back with a smile of her own before placing her Empress…her friend's palm upon the back of Ren's waiting hand.

With all the grace of his upbringing, Ben led her from the shuttle. Her head was tilted down, completely concealed by the hood of her cloak but she took each step with confidence as if she was moving as he was. He took a brief moment to look down upon her veiled figure feeling utterly humbled in her mere presence.

Rey heard the footsteps of Ben's guards behind her but also some approaching them and tilted her head up just enough to see sets of legs covered in rust-colored pants with matching boots. "The Queen's guard," Ben said in a whisper.

The couple seemed to float up a low set of stairs before the floor beneath them changed from rough stone to polished marble and then they were coming to a halt. Rey lifted her head and before them was a young woman, or at least Rey assumed she was young but it was hard to tell under the opaque white makeup.

Thick golden robes were wrapped around the Queen and Rey wondered how she moved in them. A headdress that added at least eight inches on to her height sat upon a crown of black hair. Two red dots sat in contrast on her cheeks against the pale face makeup and the woman's lips were also stained a red color.

"Emperor Ren," the Queen said, dipping at the knees slightly and also inclining her head.

"Queen Pendrahan," Ben answered back, bowing at the waist. "May I present my Empress, Rey."

At the mention of her name, Rey lifted her hands and lowered her hood before also giving a shallow curtsey that she had seen many do in Ben's presence on the holonet. She wasn't sure the proper way to address a Queen and cursed herself for not asking Ben, so she just decided to be herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you," was her simple reply.

The Queen nodded to an attendant off to the side of the hall and a man stepped up to take the Empress' cloak. Pendrahan let her gaze roam over the other woman's form, taking in her proud shoulders under silk and lace, but also the way her hands clasped and fidgeted under the royal inspection. A smile broke across her face, "You did well Ben."

Rey choked on her own spit as the Queen used his birth name, thinking that she would have to deescalate a situation shortly. But she was surprised when Ben chuckled and ran his hand through his hair.

"I still have to pinch myself at times to believe that she actually accepts me," Ben said in reply and he watched Rey's wide eyes move between him and the Queen with anxiety and confusion. He smiled again, "Less formal introductions…Rey, this is my third cousin Irris."

"Cousins?" Rey asked in a choking tone.

Irris stepped forward, linking her arm through Rey's and they started to move down the hall as Ben and the guards trailed behind them. "Ben's grandmother's father and my grandmother's mother were siblings," she explained and then giggled. "Poor Ben had to put up with me when my family would visit Coruscant twice a year for the votes."

Through the bond, Ben showed her a memory of him as a lanky pre-teen having a small girl no older than five years pestering him relentlessly and Rey couldn't help but turn to look over her shoulder and give a snorting laugh.

Perhaps if Ben had told her about the family connection and how their visit would be more informal, she wouldn't have worried as much. She listened to Irris talk about how moody Ben was when they were growing up and Rey mused that the Queen was only a few years older than herself.

"After Leia separated from the Senate, I didn't hear much from that side of the family and boy was I surprised when Ben unveiled himself as Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order and Emperor of the New Order." Irris turned to look over her shoulder as well, smiling kindly at her cousin, "He was always bossy and with that Skywalker blood, I shouldn't have expected anything less."

"That coming from someone who had managed to be the first Queen in the history of Naboo to be elected for a third term," Ben grumbled back.

"You are elected?" Rey asked with interest.

Irris nodded, "Even though Leia was the daughter of a past Queen and Ben the grandson of one, it does not give them any right to rule Naboo." She shot the Emperor a look, "Something that you should take note of."

Ben held up his hands, "Why would I want to take your world when I have an entire galaxy?"

The Queen hummed with a slight upturn of her lips. About a year ago when Kylo Ren had shown up on her palace steps, she had been prepared to die defending her world from the First Order, but when he had removed his helmet and she saw the crooked nose, dark eyes, and large ears of her cousin Ben Solo, she took pause.

It was only after they had sat in her private quarters and he had laid out his plan for his New Order, gushing about the woman who would stand by his side and make the galaxy great again, and asking for her support, not only as some of the only family he had left, but also as the beloved Queen of one of the most influential Mid Rim worlds.

She had returned the Naberrie estate back over to Ben, presented him with Padmé's crown jewels, and signed a peace treaty with him. The New Order had contacted with the world that used to turn out some of the finest pilots and the TIEs that now escort food transports were some of the first graduating class from the Naboo Aeronautic Academy.

The boom in the economics on Naboo and the peaceful and plentiful arrangement with the New Order had put to vote term limits for the monarch and Irris was voted into her third term just earlier this year. The Queen has been anxious to meet the woman who changed Kylo Ren's heart and even though Rey was draped in fine silk, she could tell that the woman came from a life of grit and struggle. Who else could keep her fanatical cousin in line, she mused.

They ended up walking into a cozy dining area, not the large banquet hall that Rey was expecting and Ben helped both of the ladies to their seats. As he watched his cousin and his love lean into each other, laughing and sharing stories, a place in his chest that was constricted tight seemed to ease.

He had always thought that Irris could be a helpful role model for Rey, help his Empress feel more comfortable in her role as a leader. While Arlan could be a confident and a general friend to Rey, Irris could help with the aspects that only effect woman in power. He knew Rey was worried about being judged, about being adored but questioned by trillions of people across the galaxy.

Their conversation during dinner was easy and Ben often watched in content silence as Rey and Irris chatted about the Rim worlds, the changes, and programs that Rey had implemented through the New Order, and Irris offered for Rey to attend any courses that interested her at Theed University.

Rey blushed at the mention of education and Irris stabbed at a piece of fruit on her plate, "Ben told me that you grew up on Jakku and have practical knowledge of Imperial ships." She threw the piece of melon into her mouth and chewed loudly, "That's better than what we learned a prep-schools. Who cares which is the prawn fork or how to waltz."

"I know how to waltz," Rey offered slightly raising her hand.

Irris' gaze slid to Ben who was blushing, "Of course you do…"

Ben shrugged in defense, "She was being taught to dance by a defector trooper."

"Liberated trooper," Rey corrected pointing her fork at Ben before she smiled at him fondly, "Ben's actually been a very patient teacher, in history and government, in the Force, and other things…" her voice trailed off as her chest heated.

Irris looked between them, pressing her lips together and a knowing quirk to her brow. "So when are you two going to make this thing public?"

Ben wanted to present his Empress to the galaxy right there on the steps of the palace, but he knew that it would always be Rey's choice so he turned and looked to her to answer. Rey looked down at her plate for a long moment before speaking, "Soon I hope. There needs to be a peaceful end to this war."

"Right," Irris nodded, taking a drink of wine. "You are the Resistance's Jedi that has foretold their victory and righteousness in this war."

Rey's face screwed up, "Is that what they are saying now?" She looked at Irris and then to Ben. She didn't pay too much attention to the Resistance propaganda since it was mostly only sent out through encoded or lower broadcast waves. "The Force is not with them," she said with conviction. Yet another indiscretion she will have to talk to Poe about.

"No one here is doubting that they are misguided," Irris said reaching out and placing a hand over Rey's.

"There have been some issues with the command that is going to lead them down the path of darkness," Rey said softly.

"The Force was not in the Naberrie bloodline so I don't assume to understand what it is like to be connected to everything in that way, but I have learned to put my trust in those who do have the Force." The Queen gave Rey's hand a squeeze before releasing it.

At this Ben stood, placing his napkin on top of the table. "I would like to show Rey some of the grounds," he announced. He walked over to Irris and bent to place a kiss on her cheek before going and holding his hand out for Rey to take. "My guards will stay here," his order was short.

Irris leaned around the floral arrangement at the center of the table, "I'm sure I can find them some sort of entertainment." Her gaze dragged over Davin who stood at the far end of the room.

Both Rey and Ben surpassed smiles and laughs having sensed the Queen's intentions and Davin's heated reaction to Irris' suggestion.

Exiting what Rey was later told was the Queen's private dining room, they meandered down hallways, and into room after room as Ben told her stories about the palace and the history of Naboo. Before long they ended up in the west wing of the palace and they went through a gilded arch and walked hand in hand down a staircase that wound around one of the many cylindrical annexes.

Something about descending into the dark depths of the palace calmed Rey. She didn't feel the need to speak or ask for the history of this part of the building, she just opened herself up to the Force, welcoming in the warmth of Ben's signature, but also feeling joy, love, worry, and fear within the stone walls around her.

They ventured down a long hallway, countless alcoves set into each side. Ben continued to hold her hand, not in the proper fashion where her hand just rests lightly on top of his, but he had his fingers intertwined with her, exchanging feelings and thoughts through the bond as their palms pressed together.

Suddenly Rey stopped, still facing forward down the hall but directly in front of an open arch that led into one of the alcoves. Just as the saber had called to her in Maz's castle, just as she had known what room and what chest to find the relic of Anakin Skywalker, she knew, the Force was telling her that something important was just beyond that stone arch.

Ben knew where they were going, knew which alcove to go to, which turns to make, but he wanted Rey to find it herself through the Force, and just like any other task she endeavors, she performs beautifully. But she was unsure, not knowing what lies through that arch and he squeezed her hand, a ghost of a smile on his lips as he turned and led her into the alcove.

What she noticed first was the breathtaking stained glass window that centered the room. It's shape mirrored the arch of the doorway and it depicted a woman in a light blue wrap dress and a golden headpiece. It almost looked as if a halo was encompassing the woman's head and Rey was taken by her soft expression, just almost smiling. Her hands were clasped in front of her hips and there were white flowers swirling around her in streaks of blue and green glass.

Finally, Rey looked down and there, lying under domed glass, as if in eternal sleep was Padmé. Ben came up behind her, placing his hand to the glass, closing his eyes and sucking in a deep breath before looking down upon Rey, "All of the Kings and Queens of Naboo and laid to rest here."

Rey looked back down at the glass-topped coffin and she was taken by the rosiness that still painted Padmé's cheeks, as she expected her to wake up at any second, not having been dead for close to fifty-five years. "Why is she like this?"

Ben knew that Rey had more than one meaning to her question, so he reached up to tuck a curl behind her ear before answering. "As Irris said, their family didn't have the Force, so their physical body stays behind. As for how she looks…no one knows. She is the only one of the hundred and seventeen rulers interred in the catacombs that looks as she did the day she passed."

Apart from the flush on Padmé's cheeks and the natural pout of her lips, her cascades of curled hair looked soft as silk, dotted with white flowers that had also stood the test of time, not a single wilting spot on any of their petals.

Her blue dress looked like flowing water under the brightest night sky, shimmering and glowing all its own. Her hands were folded just under her bust and Rey laid her hand on the glass over the noticeable bump of Padmé's abdomen under the layers of silk. Rey turned her face up to Ben, her brows pinched together.

"She carried twins almost to term and a woman's body does not magically return to the way it was prior to a pregnancy," Ben blushed at this knowledge. "Or so I'm told," he added as Rey's brows creased further. "Or they wanted it to appear as if the babies had died with her so that Vader would not come looking for his children."

"I don't remember my mother, even if I did have some time with her before being left on Jakku, but I feel for Luke and Leia in that aspect…"

Ben scoffed, "My mother was raised as a princess with a loving mother and father. Luke was given to his aunt and uncle…he was raised on Tatooine, but he still had a loving home to go to."

Rey's hand was still pressed to the glass, "But it is not what she would have wanted. I can't think of a mother who would willingly give away her children to be scattered to the galaxy."

"Your mother did," Ben didn't mean for it come out as it had, but the words left his lips before he could think. He had given up having sympathy for his mother and uncle a long time ago. Even if he had forgiven them, they were both raised with two parents, two people who loved them and guided them, and that was more than he was ever offered.

He had been honest with her about her parents back on the Supremacy and he was being honest now, but that didn't stop the words from stinging. Rey knew she was nothing, she knew that she had been thrown away, without a second thought from her parents if she was to live or die, but she could empathize with Padmé on this level. "We can't repeat their mistakes, Ben," she decided to say quietly, knowing that anything else might spur them into a fight where neither would be the winner.

Ben hated hurting Rey, and while she had not verbally or physically lashed out at him, he could feel through their bond that his words had cut her. So he sighed and his shoulders slumped, he had brought Rey here to share more of his past, of his family's history. Since Rey's family was still a mystery, he was offering her his, he was offering to be her family, offering to make their own history.

As much as he sometimes wished against it, his children would be Skywalkers, and with that came the beautiful woman in the glass coffin, the crushed helmet upon the Finalizer, the public legacy of Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker with the private disappointment, the shame of Kylo Ren and the redemption of Ben Solo. At times he wondered if Rey truly knew what she was getting into with loving him.

But his kind, his loving, his light Rey just reached up and cupped his cheek, running her fingers along the scar that marked the start of their unconventional courtship. "We won't make their mistakes," she said with more conviction and she needed him to believe her words as much as she did. She feared that he loved her just as fiercely as Anakin had loved Padmé and while Rey never thought that she deserved a love like that, it also was ingredients in the recipe for history to disastrously repeat itself.

So in the tomb of his grandmother, Padmé Amidala Naberrie Skywalker, a woman who ruled, who lead, who loved, who sacrificed, in a space that he hoped his grandfather had visited to see and learn from his mistakes, Ben now slowly bent, bringing his mouth to Rey's soft, waiting, yielding lips. "I won't make his mistakes."

His breath warmed her face as he spoke and then his lips were touching her forehead and Rey closed her eyes, feeling the truth in his speech within the bond. The love of Anakin and Padmé was forbidden and it burned hot and fast and in the end, it was their love and the misguidance of a Sith that was their downfall. Rey needs Ben to be stronger than Anakin against the Darkness that still lived within his soul.

In her entire life of relying only on herself, Rey never thought she would find it necessary to have another, but she needed Ben. She needed their bond, she needed to feel his dark pulse just under her skin. After feeling how hollow her soul was when she had closed herself off to the Force, she needed him to survive this war and have a long and fruitful life with her.

Pulling from his embrace, Rey moved back towards the archway, knowing their time with Padmé was over and that she had learned from the Force everything she needed to from past mistakes. As she turned back once more to admire the beauty of the Queen's resting place, she saw Ben bend and press his forehead to the glass that kept his grandmother in her everlasting sleep state.

When Ben was done saying a goodbye and a promise to Padmé, he jointed Rey who was waiting for him in the main hall of the catacombs. She slid her hand into his and spoke, "Do you think that Anakin and Padmé are together in the Force?"

Ben sighed, "I want to believe they are. While non-Force users leave their bodies behind, the energy of their souls has to pass back into the Cosmic Force, as it binds all energy from the Living Force together."

Rey looked up at him as they reached the stairs, "Will you find me in the Cosmic Force?"

He stopped their forward motion, she was already up on one step, putting her more at eye level with him and he cupped her cheeks, "We will have a long and happy life together in this realm, the Force has promised that to us. But if you are to join the Cosmic Force before me, I will not be far behind as I don't think my heart can beat without you."

A tear slipped from her eye feeling that she was just as vital to his survival as he was to hers and she pressed her forehead to his as they exchanged and wrapped themselves in a cocoon of their love. But the still form of Padmé flashed in Rey's mind, with her plump stomach and what it signified.

She swallowed and pulled away just enough to catch his gaze, "Ben, you have to promise me…if I die like Padmé…you can't leave our children alone in this galaxy. You can't turn to the dark like Vader, you can't join me in the Force, you have to stay with them, make sure they know the light and the dark, make sure they are gray, make sure they remember me and know how much I loved them."

Ben's heart was breaking and if not for her perfectly braided hair, he would run his hands through her soft locks, but he settled for stroking her cheeks, neck, and laying his left hand over her heart, feeling the strong beat under her ribs. "That is not our future Rey. You will be here to teach them, to love them, to watch them grow."

"But if I'm not…" Rey sniffled.

It pained him to vow something that would cause him so much agony, but he would promise her his dying breath if it would only take the misery out of her hazel eyes. "I will assure that our children know their mother and that they know the Force. They will not be Jedi and they won't be Sith, they will be in the between and their light will shine just as brilliantly as their mother's." He watched her shoulder relax at his words, "But once they are grown and settled, I will come to you. I will find you and we will live eternal in the Force."

Rey knew that was the best he could offer her and perhaps deep in her soul she felt the same, but with tear stained cheeks she just nodded and sealed their vow with a kiss that bound their promises within the Force, a power greater than any law.

AN: So I think I am going to try to keep my uploading schedule to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Part 25 is written and I think Part 26 will see Rey returning to the Resistance. With the way I'm going, we will be looking at close to 35 parts.

To those of you who came over from First Order of Business, thank you for hanging in there and I hope this story has helped some of your Reylo woes. As soon as this story is "complete", I will get back to work on FOOB, even though my Muse had demanded a follow up to this story.

So thank you for reading if you have gotten this far and I think I have the kindest readers out there. Thank you for your love and support.