A/N: Wow, wow, wow... I seriously am just overwhelmed by all the love and attention this short little story received. I never really intended for it to be anything more than a one-shot, but so many people have requested a continuation—specifically, a look at Ben's perspective of the same scene—that I grew inspired to write one. Thank you so much for all the favs, follows, and reviews; they seriously mean the world to me. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! :D
Tears glistening on her cheeks; hair slightly disheveled; wrapped up in a blanket to ward against the chill of the island... Ben couldn't help but think she'd never looked more beautiful.
It wasn't that she was in pain... No, that was the furthest thing from what he wanted for Rey. It was the way all her vulnerabilities and fears were laid bare before him, without hesitation or anxiety. She had come to him in trust and confidence... something that, as far back as he could recall, had never happened to him before. At first, he'd been wary of this seemingly unconditional confessional. If his life thus far had taught him anything, it's that nobody wanted nothing; everything had its price, and he'd continually paid it.
And so when he'd felt that now-familiar gravity come over his being, he'd fully expected to receive another one of her infamous tongue lashings. The words "murderous snake" still rang in his head, along with all the threats she'd made against him; promising to make him pay for what he'd done. Did she not understand he already had? And still was?
But instead of fury and flame in her eyes, he'd found only heartbreaking emptiness. That spirit he'd come to admire in her—perhaps even more than admire—was broken, seemingly beyond repair. Her shoulders sagged and the warmth in her eyes he'd come to long for had retreated. This was not the same woman who'd stood up to him on Takodana; not even the same woman who'd viciously and fearlessly fought against him in the forest upon Starkiller Base.
It had come as a surprise when he learned she'd journeyed to the pit, seeking out answers she thought to find in the darkness. Rey had always seemed to possess every ounce of what he did not: light and goodness. So why then would she tempt herself with the dark side? Was discovering the truth of her origins really worth abandoning everything she'd presumably believed in? Ben knew it was something he would have done, but he'd never expected that of her.
Rey had admitted to him that she knew how she should have felt... trapped and panicked... So then why hadn't she? Was there a similar conflict within her that he himself knew all too well? Did she... Could she really understand?
"I'd never felt so alone... " she choked out quietly past her tears, eyes trained on the floor.
Ben felt his heart clench in his chest. Whether it was from their bond or from the feelings battling inside him, he couldn't be sure. But he knew then that she did understand; she always had.
"You're not alone." His voice sounded odd to his own ears—soft and reassuring—as if it didn't truly belong to him. But he quickly realized that it did... It belonged to Ben Solo, the boy he thought he'd killed when he'd murdered his own father; the boy who'd stayed his hand from killing his mother.
How a lonely scavenger girl from Jakku had managed to resurrect him, he couldn't fully understand. For as long as he could remember, he'd felt like an outsider, no matter where he was. First, with his parents. Then, with his uncle at his new Jedi temple. Even with Snoke and the First Order; whatever he'd done, it was never good enough. Either the Supreme Leader of General Hux was questioning him at every turn; doubting him and scorning him when his back was turned.
But Rey... somehow, she had been able to look past the preconceptions she'd initially believed of him. Somehow... she had found something inside him she thought worth saving. It was almost enough for him to believe it too, that he could be saved... redeemed.
Her eyes found him, rimmed with tears but sparked with a bit of her characteristic hope. "Neither are you," she replied softly. She inhaled deeply, eyes scanning his face and searching for something he might never know. But he watched her lips move as she spoke again, and the words washed over him like a gentle wave. "It isn't too late..."
Emotions he couldn't distinguish from one another bubbled up in his chest, thrashing and mixing together into some unnamable thing. Ben felt tears prick at his eyes, burning and salty as the anger left his body; a strange tingling numbed his right hand, spreading up his arm. He watched in wonder, looking down as her own hand moved towards him, an unspoken request. She didn't tremble as she reached towards him, an image he was achingly unfamiliar with. Was this really happening? Was it possible... ?
It'd been a long time since he'd touched another soul without the armor of his gloves to protect his ruthless façade. The less human he appeared, the more he was feared. But with Rey, he knew it was possible for him to just... be. Whether that was as Ben Solo or as Kylo Ren, it didn't really matter. She was sitting here in front of him, willing to trust that he was not truly the monster they both thought him to be.
He peeled off his black leather glove without a second thought, reaching out his right hand with slow curiosity and only mild uncertainty. If this was supposed to be some kind of trap or snare, he didn't really care anymore; it would be worth it just to feel her like this, the Force binding their beings together. He could feel the Force bridging the space between their hands, pulling them closer and closer like a magnet. A moment of breathless anticipation hung between them, him staring into her eyes and she into his. Their singular selves seemed to melt away, and the world only consisted of their life-forces swirling together in a brilliant display of energy.
The moment their fingers finally touched, an icy cold wash of calm settled over him, blanketing the turmoil within his heart and cooling the fiery rage he'd always clung to as his power. His breath seemed to leave his body, though he didn't struggle against it. Instead, he welcomed this alien calm as perhaps the only genuine thing he had ever known.
Rey gasped slightly and gripped her fingers about his wrist, soft and tender and agonizingly cathartic. Seemingly against instruction, his fngers—rough and calloused and once ruthlessly cruel—traced along her wrist, drawing small circles against her skin. She was watching his face with the same wonderment he felt stirring within his chest, and he knew then that she really was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
His surroundings suddenly melted away, replaced by a flat, empty desert. Rey was still in front of him, clutching his hand like a lifeline, but she seemed somehow shrouded. Was she seeing the same thing? Where were they?
A group of people materialized out of the sand: two humans with their little dark-haired child, and a squashy Crolute standing before them. The girl was easily recognizable; his heart told him that he was witnessing Rey's past... a past she had no memory of. In detached anger, he witnessed the humans push the girl towards the Crolute, even as he handed over a wad of currency in exchange for his newest little worker. Their dress and demeanor told him all he needed to know about the parents Rey had never known. Junk traders; worthless drunks; cold-hearted clods who'd traded their only child for a little drinking money; they were no one.
The Crolute grasped Rey tightly around her wrist, telling her to be quiet as she screamed while her parents walked away. The bastards didn't even look back before they climbed back onto their starship and blasted into the sky. Her screaming filled the air and burrowed its way into the darkest parts of his soul, settling there like some aching hurt he himself had experienced.
The vision shifted then, quickly transforming into a place he was uncomfortably familiar with: Snoke's throne room upon the Supremacy. The Praetorian Guard melded into the curtained red walls of the room, but Snoke himself was nowhere to seen. There was his throne, shining and black and completely empty. Ben stood in front of it, on the floor before the dais. Rey was in front of him, that trusting smile she possessed plastered on her face. Her dark eyes danced and sparked as she looked at him, free of her inhibitions and reservations.
"We did it," she whispered, squeezing his hand. "It's over." He looked down at their intertwined fingers, and then back at her face. What was this? The future?
He hesitated only slightly before saying, "Nothing is ever over." His voice echoed hollowly around the chamber. What's going on here? Had they... ?
Her forehead crinkled slightly as she said, "We'll finish it then... together." The depth of the vision hit him full on then, flashing before his eyes so quickly that he couldn't fully make it out. But in every glimpse, there was one thing in common: Rey. She was standing tall and proud, fierce and beautiful at his side. There wasn't a force in the galaxy that could withstand their combined power.
But it was more than that. She was more than that. As the vision faded away, and he was faced with her again—grasping his hand as she sat cross-legged on the floor of his chambers—he felt an overwhelming panic and excitement, all at once. His future was full of her... and she had wanted to be there; had wanted to be with him.
His mouth opened, curling into the barest hint of a smile, and his breath came out in a whisper. "Rey..."
But she didn't hear him. A spike of her own fear coursed through him, shattering that cool calm he had begun to cherish. Rey looked to her left as she snatched her hand away, and Ben followed her gaze. A voice screaming for her to stop echoed dimly, but faded quickly into nothing. But as before... he could see nothing of her surroundings. She disappeared then, pulled away by the disturbance... But Ben's hand remained steadfastly extended in front of him. He could feel the ghost of her fingers still...
White hot fury filled his chest as he realized it had been Luke that interrupted their bond. His own uncle, who'd once tried to kill him out of fear for what he might become, now knew Rey's true intentions. He'd once thought that Luke would be the answer to his quest for power and acceptance; providing him with the family he'd so desperately longed for. But Ben was beginning to think that his search for belonging would end with the lonely girl who'd just held his hand and quieted his tempestuous world with her own steadfast, unwavering hope.
Once again, thank you everyone for all of your support. I may expand on this a little bit more, if the inspiration finds me. But until then, I do hope you enjoyed. Please let me know what you thought!