Whoever strayed to this chapter or even more alarming - read everything up to this point: you're a Jedi Master, Yoda level. In the previous chapter, Ben dies, sacrificing himself for the Balance and for Rey and - their children. Yes, I am very sappy and emotional. My first idea was to leave him for dead. But somehow, as the time approached, I found it difficult to kill off a fictional character. Strange things.
Epilogue
Synopsis: I'm an incurable romantic.
Rey accepts to build the funeral pyre on Ahch-to. Although she refuses to connect herself with Jedi and to wield the light-saber, she still feels the soothing call of the Force through Leia's ring. As she prepares for Ben's funeral, she reveals to Poe that she's pregnant with Ben's twins. Poe promises he'll be the father for the children, if she wishes him to, professing his love for her. There is a short memorial in which Poe thanks Ben, on the behalf of the Council and the galaxy restored, for taking the ultimate sacrifice and saving the galaxy from total destruction. He recognizes him as one of the greatest Jedi who ever lived and as the hero of the Resistance.
How much she's changed, he thought. But it didn't make him love her any less – on the contrary. There was a new quality in her that moved him to his core. She was wearing ink blue and black robes – a black tunic bound on the side, over soft pants and leather boots. Her hair appeared darker. Rey pulled it up into two symmetrical braids on both sides of her head. Leia's ring was still on her hand. With her braids resembling a crown and her elaborate ring, she reminded him of aristocracy from the time of the Old Republic.
He was in love with her. First he was attracted to her legend, and then he fell in love with her strength, her wit, her compassion and her bravery.
It broke his heart to see her eyes extinguished and hardened. But he had faith that this wave of change that she has started will eventually bring her back the hope she lost.
And he will be on her side all the way.
"Poe", she invited him in. "Come. We need to talk".
He came into the small cabin and sat next to her on a simple wooden chair.
"Anything", he again promised, and he meant it whole-heartedly.
It took her some time to bring herself to tell him. She instinctively reached for the ring and touched its two gems. And then she said slowly.
"It is necessary for the Council to know, in the light of everything that happened. You see, the truth is…"
She paused and looked at him with something of that old brightness in her eyes again.
"I am pregnant, Poe", she said as the matter of fact. "I am carrying twins. It is still very early, but I know. I sensed it some time ago".
Poe was left speechless – again. But he realized this hasn't swayed him. He probably knew himself already. There was a strong bond between Ben Solo and her. They had that one night on Lothal. It was only natural. He would do the same, given the chance.
He sighed.
"Rey", he said."I know it's hard to raise children in this world – now probably harder than ever. I was an orphan half of my childhood. You know loneliness yourself. I have no family to go back to, so do you. If you wish me to stay, I'll stay. I want to help you. Everything I ever wanted was to help you and to stay by your side. Let me do it now. I'll raise the kids as my own. Give them my name, if you want to avoid all the Solo – Skywalker conundrum. Or don't – I don't care, as long as I'm with you".
"You're a good man", she said and smiled.
"But I'm not him", he replied in a sad voice. "I know. And I'll never pretend that I'll be able to replace him. But I'll make this life easier for you. I'll be there for the kids. It will be good. You set the fire that brought hope to this galaxy. It is only fair that this hope would return to you, thousand fold".
Rey smiled bitterly.
"Fairness and hope don't go hand in hand, Poe", she replied. "Not in this reality".
Rose appeared at the door.
"Rey", she said gently. "It is time".
Rey shuddered and Poe glanced at her worriedly again. But she stood up firmly and decidedly.
"Let's go", she said and strode out from the cabin.
Poe hated this. He did this for General Organa, and now he was burying her son. All the thoughts he had about orchestrating a tribunal for his crimes were washed away by that rain on Korriban.
"He was the greatest among us", he said and meant it. "He was the man who went deeply into the Dark Side and returned as the warrior of the Light. He sacrificed himself so that all the rest of galaxy can stay alive. Resistance has many unsung heroes. Ben Solo won't be one of them. And Ben Solo made sure there are no more dead heroes, sung or unsung. Whenever we commemorate his death, we are remembering all those who died fighting the common enemies and who were left unburied in the dungeons, in the sea, in the open space, on distant planets. May Ben Solo's transformation to the Force be light and blissful. May he be welcomed by his ancestors and Jedi masters to whom he rightfully belongs. May the Force be with him".
Quiet sobbing was heard from the representatives of the Resistance. There was something so raw and essentially human in that last goodbye – and the very fact that these people could mourn once most hated man showed clearly that the Balance was acting on every being in the galaxy. But Rey stood motionless and distant. She waited until Poe finished, and then proceeded to say her final good-bye. She ascended to the funeral pyre and frowned as she put her hands on Ben's covered face, as if she was still inspecting if he is under the covers. Slowly, she removed the linen that covered his face. Poe had to choke on the tears as he watched her caress her dead love's hair. She leaned over him and kissed him one last time.
Luke Skywalker was on her side.
He said nothing. He waited for her to say her last good-byes. But she didn't acknowledge him – she only frowned as if to say: "What are you doing here?"
"I will never forget you", she whispered. "I will never stop loving you. Wait for me".
She slowly descended and touched his cheek from the ground again.
"Good-bye, my love", she said.
Then she gestured to Finn to pass her the torch.
"You don't need to do this", he said, deeply moved by her loneliness and pain.
"I need to", she replied sternly and gestured again to Finn to hurry up. "I sent him there. I need to finish what I've started".
Finn nodded and passed her the torch. She absolutely refused to use the light-saber. There was a single-mindedness in her which, when provoked, could appear terrifying.
Hera saw Kanan with her peripheral vision and she knew Luke Skywalker wasn't far away either. But Rey seemed oblivious or simply seemed not to care.
Hera definitely renamed "Ghost" into "Irony". It made no sense to her that those who had both the will and the reason to live were cut short in their lives while she, old and worn-out, battle-weary and cynical, was left to roam the galaxy like a – ghost. An ultimate irony it was indeed. Now Rey would share similar fate. It was a bitter fate. Both Hera and Kanan knew it. But at least, they had more years in their lives to share – so much more than Ben Solo and Rey.
Hera sobbed in her corner.
Rey slowly and steadily came back to the pyre. The wooden bricks were piled high and she had to climb few steps again so she might set it on fire. She climbed and stretched on the make-shift ladder. But as she came to the top and reached with her hand to cover Ben's face for the last time, she stopped and frowned.
It probably was just the cruel interplay of her nerves, the light and the wind, but for the briefest moment, she thought she could see his chest moving. She touched his neck and checked his pulse and breath, but she couldn't tell anything for certain this time.
"I am going insane", she thought. But something in her made her simply throw the torch away, far into the rocks and ocean. It landed between two Porgs.
"Rey", Poe came to her side. "We don't have to do this right now. We can wait. We don't need to do… cremation at all. There are other ways".
She hushed him.
"Wait", she whispered and put her hands on Ben. Her ring murmured soothingly, she could feel it again permeating under her despair. She could clearly hear its steady and persistent low frequency.
She absolutely refused to go back to the ways of Jedi. Rey again resorted to simple pleas.
"Please, if you can hear me", she said. "Please, come back. Come back".
That child from Jakku cried out again. She was again reduced to that same loneliness and raw yearning.
Poe was deeply concerned and summoned Hera to come to his side.
"Kid", Hera pleaded with her. "Come down, please. It will be alright. It's hell at the beginning, but it gets better with time, I promise".
And she didn't believe herself, not for a moment.
But Rey became completely oblivious to everything else. The hum continued.
"Ben", she said again. "Please. Please, come back".
And as Poe seriously considered pulling her down forcefully, accusing himself for not noticing that her mental state was so frail, something happened. Ben Solo moved and Hera, him, Rey and Finn could clearly see it.
Poe had enough of possessed bodies and deadly viruses for a whole lifetime. He almost stumbled and reached for his gun. But the re-animated corpse wasn't dead.
Ben Solo slowly stood up and sat upright.
"Goodness, Force, and all the deities in the galaxy", Hera exclaimed.
It was hard to explain what has happened. Ben descended slowly with the face of a man awaken from a deep and invigorating sleep. He kissed Rey long and hard and kept her in his arms for a long time. But it wasn't time long enough to make the present parties shake off the complete and utter dismay.
"Where were you?" Rey asked him.
"I was here, all the time", he answered simply and smiled down on her.
"Is this a dream?" Finn asked Rose.
"I don't think it is", Rose replied and kissed him gently. "And if it is, I don't think I ever want to wake up again".
With galaxy recovering from the war, the Council, Ben Solo and Rey agreed that the best place for the young family to reside for some time was Ahch-to. They didn't change the island – it remained as they found it. It was impossible to make past die – and in the end, it was a futile task. The past was now transformed into something new – into new life and new order.
Their children were born on an ordinary day – no great galactic holiday, no great alignment of planets. The boy was named Han and the girl Leia.
With the abolition of the slavery and release of so many child slaves, Rey and Ben welcomed the Force sensitive boys and girls to the newly found academy on Ahch-to. They would start training early and cautiously. It seemed that the island somehow grew bigger with the growing Jedi academy. But it was an ancient island, from time immemorial protected by the Force and physical laws didn't seem to apply.
Rey – now Solo – and Ben adopted many other children in the years that ensued. Among the names they first used to call the adopted babies were Finn, Poe, Luke, Shara, Satine and Jaina.
Poe resumed his duties in the Council. His disappointment very quickly subsided as he saw Rey glowing with happiness that was at last in the alignment with the Balance she restored to the galaxy (although she still playfully reminded him she was never a fully formed Jedi to begin with). He truly loved her until the end of his days, proven by the fact that he never resented her happiness and that all her children loved their Uncle Poe the same way he loved them back. Shara Bey's wedding band was passed on to Kay – their loyalty and friendship growing into steady and loving companionship.
Finn made his fantasy about the moisture farm reality and as he suspected, Rose found it dull to no end. However, with all the surrounding towns on Lothal trying to revive their economies, mechanics were in great demand. They both enjoyed the fact that they were included into building of a new, better society. Finn finally felt what true, unbridled hope felt like and Rose was there to taste it too.
Hera died some years later, peacefully and in her sleep, leaving the "Ghost" to Rose. "Re-name it again, kid", she wrote in the testament. Rey and Rose had no doubt that she and Kanan went to live in the eternity as two soul-mates that they were already during this life-time.
The Solo children were not quite Jedi, but were definitely not Sith or Ren as well. It was truly a new era of Force users – perhaps not as powerful, but definitely more subdued and balanced.
The Dark Side wasn't destroyed – which was yet another futile task considered only by some Jedi fractions long time ago. It has returned to entropy that fed the life of the galaxy and made new stars, planets and matter possible.
Luke Skywalker's ghost remained to appear only on Ahch-to and only so often. He had the steady appearance of an older, frailer but contended man. He could be seen by the Solos and the young padawans from time to time, discussing some indiscernible Jedi truths with Master Yoda – two peculiar solitary figures against the sunset of Ahch-to.