Chapter Text
Ben has seen Rey look absolutely, positively unhinged twice in his life. First, on their second battle on Jakku. And now again, as she processes the news that Luke Skywalker has been captured by Supreme Leader Snoke.
Through their bond, he attempts to send her what he hopes is comfort, a sense of calm, but her mind rejects them like poison, and he is vividly reminded of the feelings he felt from her all those years ago, on the worst night of their lives, as her mother was struck down in front of her.
"It was a simple, diplomatic mission," his mother whispers, looking as broken as Rey. "But his ship was intercepted. I'm so sorry."
"Where did they take him?" Rey asks, voice cracking. Beside her, Poe and Finn both take a hand each, supporting her.
"Korriban," Ben replies, reflexively. "Snoke's stronghold. It's the only place where the Dark Side might be overwhelming enough to keep Uncle Luke's powers at bay."
"I'm going," Rey announces, and not even a moment after, every voice in the room rings out in protest.
"Rey, you can't possibly-"
"-Luke wouldn't want-"
"-last of the Jedi-"
"Please, think this through, Snoke will-"
"Enough!" Rey snaps, silencing everyone. "This war has to end, and there is only one way it ever will." She looks directly at Ben. "Snoke's death."
"Rey, you're not ready to-" his mother attempts, but Rey doesn't let her finish.
"I don't care. I am not losing my father to that monster," she declares fiercely, and Ben knows that there will be no convincing her otherwise.
Finn steps forward. "I won't let you do this alone, Rey." The Force thrums, ever so gently, in him, and Ben almost nods in approval. What a different man from the would-be warrior who faced him at Starkiller. Rey's eyes shine with emotion, and she nods gravely.
"You'll need air support, I'm guessing," Poe says. Rey actually cracks a smile.
"Only the best."
Ben's mother looks at the three helplessly, but her eyes hold a newfound hope. She glances over at Ben, but Ben's eyes are fixed on Rey. The little warrior who is willing to face the most dangerous force in the galaxy out of a desperate love for her father.
Then, her eyes turn to him, and he feels it. She wants him to go with her.
"No," he says, aloud, and the others all look at him confused.
"Yes," Rey retorts, challenging.
"Am I missing something here?" Finn asks, puzzled.
"Ben's coming with me," Rey says easily.
"No I am not!" His fear spikes, and he lets her feel all of it. His terror that Snoke's dark presence would overwhelm him, that he would turn on her and kill both her and Uncle Luke. That he would be a slave again, writhing under the burn of lightning for the rest of his miserable existence.
She takes his terror in stride, shockingly easily for someone who, moments before, had been on the edge of a complete breakdown. But now, her mind races with possibilities, a wild hope that she can end all of this in one glorious mission.
Save her father. Save the galaxy.
Prove to Ben that he can be a hero. Make him not want to leave.
"So that's it," Ben realizes, out loud. "You think this mission will make me stay? You're willing to risk your own mission just to make me stay?"
Rey's fury is white hot in his thoughts. "Are you that vain? I want you there because I need you there. I am not so foolish as to believe I can face Snoke alone. Light alone is not enough. I need-we need balance."
Unspoken, she adds that she hopes he will stay regardless.
"I feel like I'm missing most of this conversation," Finn says.
"You are," Rey, Ben, Leia, and Poe all reply in unison. Rey looks Ben straight in the eye, pleading.
"Well, Benji?"
In the end, Rey always gets what she wants.
She and her small team are set to leave in the morning. She, Poe, Finn, Chewie, and Ben will sneak into the base in the Falcon. Poe and Chewie will pilot, Rey and Finn will take the guns. The Resistance will provide a distraction, attacking the First Order fleet above Korriban to draw away most of the troops on-site.
The rest, well, Rey doubts it will go even slightly according to plan.
"Are you alright?" She turns, seeing Finn leaning against her doorframe. She considers lying, telling him she's as calm and serene as a Jedi should be, but she doesn't bother. He knows better.
"This could be my last night here," she admits softly. "I'm trying to take it all in. Relive the memories. Remember everywhere else we've been."
"I know the feeling," Finn says with a shaky breath, coming in to sit beside her on the bed. "Remember the first time you let Poe fly the Falcon?" Rey chuckles.
"I thought he was going to cry." She pauses. "I'm scared. Is that wrong? Jedi aren't supposed to get scared." Finn takes her hand in his.
"I'd be more worried if you weren't." He gives her hand a squeeze. "And Ben? How's he holding up?" Rey reaches into his thoughts, gentle and calm.
"Spend time with your boyfriend," he snaps into her mind. "I'm okay."
"Love you too," she says sarcastically into his thoughts, pulling out to his amused chuckle. "Yeah, he's a mess."
"Did he tell you that?"
"No. That's how I know. He likes to compartmentalize himself. But it's something he has to deal with alone."
"And you?" Finn asks, suddenly very shy. "How are you going to deal with it?" Unspoken, his question, "Can I stay?" rings softly into her mind.
She chooses not to reply out loud, curling into him and letting his arms wrap around her as they sink onto the bed. He doesn't kiss her, doesn't try (not yet, not now), just holds her until her fears subside and she falls into a dreamless sleep.
General Organa finds Ben sitting on the loading ramp to the Falcon, staring at his hands. She doesn't say anything, sitting down beside him quietly. For what seems like a small eternity, it's just the two of them, mother and son, spending quiet time together. Any far-off observer wouldn't be able to tell he had nearly destroyed everything.
"How do you feel?" Leia asks, finally. Her voice is so low now, he thinks, so gravelly. The voice of a general, not a princess. The voice of a woman who has lost everything.
He wonders how much of the haunted expression she always wears is due to him.
"I'm afraid," he admits finally. Should he admit to craving her comfort, so freely given when he was a child? Does he even deserve that comfort?
She nods gravely. "Yes, I would expect as much."
"I don't know if I am strong enough to face him." That fear is the strongest, the fear that in a moment of weakness, he will take away the last of what his mother holds so dear. Han Solo's death will have been for nothing. The Darkness, the Light, all of Leia's strength will be for nothing.
"You're probably not," Leia says bluntly. Ben looks over at her in surprise. "But you're lucky. You're not alone."
"Rey," he surmises, and she nods.
"That girl is strong enough to carry the entire Resistance on her back. And you may not believe this, but she draws much of her strength from you."
Ben snorts, disbelieving. "I highly doubt that. She has never needed me."
"Perhaps not," Leia acquiesces, "But she needs others to keep her from taking the galaxy on alone. Much like Luke."
"Much like you," Ben adds. "That is what Father did."
Leia's eyes glisten. "Yes, very much so. And that is what you must do now." She turns, facing him directly, taking both of his hands in hers and holding them in a vice-like grip. "I did not tell your father that I loved him the last time I saw him. I left so much unsaid, thinking I had all of the time in the world. But no one does. So just in case, I am going to be as honest with you as I can."
"Okay," Ben whispers.
"What you did . . . killing Han . . . that is unforgiveable. He was your father. And I know I haven't talked about it while you've been back, because I wanted to feel like things were going to simply work with you home, but it doesn't change what you did."
"I know," Ben whispers brokenly. "If I could take it back-"
"But you can't. It's done. And your father, he is not coming back," Leia says. "We cannot go back to what we were when I sent you to train. It is impossible. But if we survive this, I want to try moving forward. Because when I said I would love you no matter what, I meant it."
Ben breaks, falling into his mother's arms, tears falling freely down his cheeks, bleeding into his robes. "I love you, Mother," he sobs, "I love you. I am so, so sorry."
"I know," Leia whispers, cradling him like she had done so many times before. "I know."
Rey arrives at the Falcon early, wanting to spend some quiet time in the cockpit before everything becomes too real. But she sees that Ben has beaten her to it, sitting in his father's old seat in contemplative silence.
"I've been wondering something for a while," Rey says as a way of greeting. Ben turns, motioning for her to sit in the co-pilot's seat. She does so.
"And what is it?"
"When did you realize who I was?" she asks.
"The lightsaber," he replies instantly. "It should have come to me. But it just went straight to you. That's when I figured out why you felt so familiar for so long."
"Did you suspect?"
"Of course, your face had haunted me for years. And you were so clearly strong, I had a feeling. But I doubted. Your Force signature was muted, had been suppressed when Luke hid your memories."
"What would you have done if you had sensed me earlier?" she asks.
"Honestly? Let you be. I knew I couldn't kill you. I wanted to forget you even existed. You were my weakness." He glances around wryly. "Looks like I was right to do so."
"Yes, I've very clearly corrupted you," Rey deadpans.
"Absolutely ruined me," Ben agrees with a small smile. "And I couldn't be more grateful."
"You did most of the work," Rey says placatingly.
"No," he disagrees. "You saved me. I mean it Rey, all of this? Everything I have now? It's all because of you. Ever since I found you again, you've been leading me back home. And I will never be able to thank you enough."
"Just try and survive, alright?" Rey requests with a watery smile. "And I'll consider us even." She rises from the seat. "I need to do some checks. Then we need to strategize."
Ben nods, and she makes to leave, but his arm shoots out, and he grabs her by the wrist gently. "Rey?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you." The words are barely out of his mouth when she hauls him out of his own seat and into a tight hug, her face buried in his neck, just like when they were children.
This, this very moment, makes her so grateful that she never lost hope that she could bring him back. This small wonder makes her believe, more ardently than ever, that she can do this. Save her father. Save the galaxy.
"I love you too, Benji," she whispers. "Let's go get our family back."
While the Falcon is in hyperspace, their small group lingers in the common area. Poe and Finn strike up an animated argument on the maneuverability of TIE fighters. Chewbacca stands in a corner, eyes on Ben, who simply stands by Rey, lost in thought.
But after a while, they all end up sitting in a small circle on the common area's floor, trading stories and sharing memories.
"The first time I flew," Poe says wistfully, "My parents grounded me for a month. I stole my mother's X-Wing." Behind him, Chewie moans, and Ben flushes a bit, remembering. Rey looks at him with a grin.
"You flew the Falcon?" she asks, incredulous. Chewie barks an assenting answer.
"Han So-my father, he and I snuck onto it right before I was sent to train with Uncle Luke. He said he wanted me to get to fly it at least once. Mother was very angry when we returned." Rey's grin widens.
"Oh, that's brilliant."
"You got into more trouble than I did," Ben counters, remembering the little girl with fire in her eyes. "You would interrupt training exercises constantly with the jokes you would pull."
"Like what?" Poe and Finn demand in unison.
Ben reaches back, wondering. "I was practicing dueling when I was around thirteen or fourteen with a few of the older students. I was ahead of most of the others my age, so that was pretty normal for me."
"Bet that was a blast for you," Poe snorts. "Teenagers are a damn nightmare." Ben nods, actually managing to crack a smile.
"Yeah, they were. Still are, I assume. Anyways, I was training, and during one of my sparring session, my lightsaber blade just switches off. My opponent, this older boy, he begins to laugh, and takes a swing at me, but then his saber turned off as well. I assumed it was Uncle Luke, a test of some sorts, but when I looked around all I saw was little Rey, hiding behind a tree, laughing."
"Sounds like her," Finn chuckles, eyes warm as he regards Rey, mouth curled in the smile she so easily bears.
"Any stories from Stormtrooper training, Finn?" Poe asks. The other man shakes his head.
"We didn't exactly have any conception of 'fun' in the First Order." All eyes turn to Ben, who shrugs.
"He's right."
"Gods, this is getting depressing," Rey huffs, rising. "How long, Chewie?" The Wookie barks a reply. An hour.
Ben, Finn, and Poe rise as well. Time to get everything in order. They have a Supreme Leader to kill.
"Gonna try and turn him to the Light too?" Ben mutters to Rey as she rummages through her pack, searching for the lightsaber she constructed for herself: a double-bladed beauty with twin bright yellow blades. He elected to keep his own ragged crossguard: a reminder of what he had become and must never be again. The lightsaber that killed Han Solo will now atone for what it did.
"You're funny," she deadpans in response. "If we survive this, you should pursue comedy."
In her seat at the gun turrets, Rey reaches out with the Force as Poe brings the Falcon out of hyperspace, searching for a spark of her father's Force signature. For a brief, blindingly awful second, she feels nothing.
Then it appears. A faint glow, dimmed by the almost suffocating blanket of the Dark Side overwhelming the planet.
He's alive.
"Alright, team, we've got company!" Poe yells into the comms, and Rey hears the now familiar whirr of approaching TIE fighters.
"They won't go down easy," Ben says from his place in the cockpit. "Those aren't just regular pilots."
"Knights of Ren," Rey realizes aloud.
"Well, you were their boss, how do we take them out?" Finn asks from his seat at the other turret. A TIE zooms by and Poe banks, hard, to avoid its rapid fire. Rey brings her gun around quickly, letting the Force guide her, tell her where the small fighter will be next.
"I trained them to take risks," Ben replies curtly. "Capitalize on those risks."
Rey fires, and a TIE explodes. Finn hollers.
"Nice shot, Master Jedi," Poe praises. Rey smiles, pleased, and it only widens when she feels her cousin's approval radiating to her.
She and Finn take out the remaining squadron in quick time. As promised, the rest of the fleet is distracted by General Organa's massive attack on the other side of the planet, and Poe's landing approach is relatively quiet.
Chewbacca hugs her tightly as she leaves the Falcon, staying behind the keep the ship ready for their departure. He ruffles Ben's hair too, and Ben's relief is palpable.
They march through the russet desert landscape in relative silence. Poe grips his rifle and his eyes stay peeled on the horizon. Finn, blaster in hand and vibroblade strapped to his belt, offers Rey a small smile when she catches his eye.
Beside her, Ben centers himself, sending some of his own unstable calm her way. It doesn't help her much, but she appreciates the effort.
"You can feel the history in this place," he murmurs to her.
"Is that admiration I hear?" Rey asks warily. Ben shrugs.
"Old habits die hard I suppose." He glances around. "You feel it too." Rey nods, unable to deny it.
"What happened here?" she asks.
"Korriban is one of the few worlds whose history wasn't purged by the Empire," Ben says. "This is the home of the Sith, for all intents and purposes. A thousand years ago, they even had a full academy established here." He pauses, then adds, "We're about to arrive at the Valley of the Dark Lords. Some of the greatest Sith Lords in history are buried here. There's an empty tomb for Vader here, actually."
"But he turned back to the Light," Rey says, confused.
"Hence the emptiness."
The aura of darkness surrounding the Valley of the Dark Lords is so strong, even Finn comes to her side, concerned.
"How can we beat Snoke here?" he asks. "The Dark Side is so strong."
Ben answers first. "Simple: we beat him at his own game." Poe frowns.
"I'm no Jedi," he remarks, "But isn't using the Dark Side a bad idea all around?"
"No, he's right," Rey says. "The Force is strongest when used in balance."
"Balance?" Finn asks. Rey nods.
"One cannot exist without the other. Where the Jedi went wrong, and where Snoke is going wrong today, is that they thought the Force was polarizing. That it couldn't be a universal thing."
"And you think differently?" Poe asks.
"Yes," Rey replies. "I think that the Force is strongest when both sides are used in harmony. I think emotions and passions are vital to retaining our humanity, but focus and control are necessary to keep them from ruling us completely.
"That sounds complicated," Finn comments.
"It is," Ben replies. "Master Luke tried teaching us students how to find that balance, but I got impatient. Snoke told me that the control he was teaching was meant to hold me back."
"This philosophy is all well and good," Poe interjects, "But how is this going to defeat Snoke?"
"Hopefully, when we get to Snoke, Ben and I will be able to overwhelm him. The Dark and the Light," Rey answers.
"And you know this will work?"
"Of course not," Rey replies. "But it's our only hope."
Ben feels Snoke's hideous presence, and has to ball his hands into fists to resist the urge to punch the nearest thing to him. Beside him, Rey senses his turmoil, her hand gently brushing his in a gesture of support.
"He's in Vader's tomb," Ben growls, fury coursing through his veins. "He knows we're here. He's excited." Rey's disgust is palpable as she reaches out through the Force, infuriatingly calm, though he senses her sharp worry for her father bristling inside her.
"Luke's with him," she says, grim. "Are you ready?"
"No," he answers honestly.
"Good," she says, voice shaking a bit. "Neither am I."
Her mind reaches out to his, searching for something solid, something sure, and he lets her in without restraint. He remembers small moments from their youth: when he held her as a baby for the first time, when they would play before meals, Uncle Luke watching them with fond eyes.
"I can't lose him," Rey admits, voice cracking. "I can't."
"You won't," Ben assures her. "You are strong. Stronger than Snoke."
"You don't believe that," Rey scoffs, but now that he's said the words, Ben believes them more than ever. Rey has something Snoke never will: the ability to inspire. She has no need to rule with fear, she can command the galaxy by simply being. Her strength is drawn from inward, not by bleeding others dry.
She can resist Snoke. She can win.
"How can you have so much faith in me?" Rey asks softly.
Ben shrugs, because her innate heroism is so clear to everyone who meets her. She radiates how special she is without even knowing. "I'm a fool. I've made a lot of bad decisions. But almost every good one I have made has been because of you. I know that if anyone can defeat Snoke, it's the girl who brought his apprentice back from the brink." He puts his hands on her shoulders, willing her to meet his gaze. "You can do this."
"We can do this," she amends. "Now let's go save my father."
"Make sure nobody gets inside once we do," Rey murmurs to Poe and Finn. "The mines we've set should do most of the work for you, but you need to make sure there are no distractions."
Poe looks over at Ben. "None of your minions can stop blaster bolts, can they?"
"No," Ben says evenly, and Rey has to fight to suppress a smile at his annoyance. "I'm the only one who can."
"Good," Poe says, shit-eating grin widening. "May the Force be with you both. Kick the slug's ass."
Ben smiles. "Count on it, pilot."
Rey pulls Poe in for a quick hug, and he presses a quick kiss into her hair. "Stay safe, kid," he murmurs. "We've got your six."
"Always," Rey responds, pulling away. She turns to Finn next, and nearly breaks right there. He pulls her into his arms, hugging her with all his strength, and she returns his embrace with equal vigor.
"Come back to me," Finn whispers, almost pleadingly. Rey shuts her eyes tightly, not wanting to cry.
"I'll be back soon," she promises softly. "We're ending this." She pulls back, pressing a feather-light kiss to his forehead. A promise.
Ben approaches Finn warily and holds out his hand. A peace offering. "Thank you," he says simply. Finn frowns, puzzled.
"For what?"
"For not hating me as much as you are entitled to," he replies. Finn blinks, surprised, and it takes every ounce of control Rey has not to hug him again.
"May the Force be with you," he says, a finality in his voice and forgiveness in his eyes. Rey smiles, and Ben does as well.
The entrance to what would have been Vader's tomb is a large, jagged archway carved into the stone of a menacing cliff overlooking the entire valley. When Rey and Ben wander inside, she feels the aura of the Dark Side slip around her, like walking through a fire and a blizzard all at once. The walls seem to whisper at her, taunting and curious.
But there's the spark, again. Luke's presence. He's still alive. She reaches out, wanting him to know that she's there.
"He knows," Ben assures her, eyes locked forward. "We're getting close."
She feels his dark presence before they emerge into a large cavern. No natural light streams in, several torches provide the vast space's only lighting. A large ornate statue of Vader at the peak of his darkness stands at the room's center.
Luke is at the base, crouched down at the feet of his father's massive statue. His face is bruised and his eyes are bloodshot. Rey staggers, nearly broken by the sight of her father in such a state.
Luke turns, sensing her presence, and he looks utterly heartbroken.
"You shouldn't have come for me," he whispers.
"You would do the same," Rey says back. His lips, chapped and bleeding, curve into a hint of a smile.
"You're right," he admits. His thoughts rush to her, giving her strength, pride surging through him at her bravery. She lets it wash around her, fill her up, brace her for what she knows is coming.
And suddenly, Snoke is there.
She cannot see him, but in a single, terrifying instant he is everywhere. In the blood running through her veins, in her thoughts, her memories, and he's laughing.
"What a sweet child," he sneers, voice almost a disinterested whisper. "Your heart is so full. You fancy yourself a Jedi." With cold ease, he slips deeper into her memories, plucking out the image of her mother's smile and replacing it with her prone corpse, and his laughter multiplies.
Rey falls to her knees, and instantly Ben is there, pushing himself into her mind.
"Resist him, Rey," he whispers. "He fears you. He's trying to weaken you because he knows he cannot beat you without breaking you."
Snoke slithers into another memory, this one of Finn introducing himself to her.
NO!
"OUT!" Rey screams, throwing her barriers up with blind fury. He doesn't get to tarnish anything else in her life.
Ben pulls her up, pulling her into a quick, comforting hug. "Well done," he murmurs.Rey falls into the hug, hands shaking.
"What a touching sight," Snoke's voice rings out, echoing through the cave shrilly. "The all-powerful Skywalker clan, united in misery. Tell me, Kylo Ren, do they still fear you?"
"Not nearly as much as you do," Ben snarls.
"I see their delusion has poisoned your mind, young one," Snoke scoffs. "Just look at you. My biggest disappointment finally proving to me what a pathetic waste he really is. Left without a father and with a mother who hates everything he stands for."
"Your goading is futile," Rey snarls. "Enough hiding. If we are so pathetic, come out and face us. I dare you."
There is a moment of utter stillness and absolute silence, and Rey briefly wonders if Snoke even heard her challenge. But suddenly, every torch is blown out by a violent burst of energy that throws Rey and Ben back, slamming her into cold stone.
She reels, her back almost numb with pain, and gropes around for her lightsaber, thrown off her belt upon impact, when suddenly, Ben is screaming. Rey squints, trying to find where he landed in the darkness, but sees nothing.
She tries reaching into his mind, next, but the agony is so sharp and consuming that she almost faints. Instantly, Ben shoves her out, trying to preserve her.
Blind panic takes over, and she calls out his name in terror.
"A Jedi doesn't need eyes to see," whispers a gentle voice in her mind. Rey whimpers, feeling completely out of her element and in over her head.
"I can't," she whispers brokenly, to no one and everyone.
"You already have," the voice reminds her. "Close your eyes. The Force, it calls to you still." Her eyes shut, and she feels it again. The gentle tugging at the edge of her mind. "Just let it in."
She shuts everything out. Ben's agonized screams and moans are simple noise. Her fear is nothing, and she lets it slip away. But she doesn't let herself become empty. No, Snoke expects that. And she's not that kind of Jedi, anyways. She isn't emotionless.
As Snoke said, her heart is full.
She digs down deep, finding what she managed to keep away from Snoke's cold grasp. She draws it out, letting it envelop her essence, lift her up. The Force is not just hers to command, it is her.
She is not the broken doll Snoke envisions her as. She is not a helpless child.
She is Rey Skywalker, a descendant of the most powerful dynasty in the galaxy. She is a Jedi. She does not hide from her passions, she embraces them. Her passions do not rule her; she rules them.
And so, Rey opens her eyes.
And sees.
Everything happens very suddenly.
One moment, Ben is writhing on the ground, Snoke enveloping his mind and torturing him without abandon. He sees nothing, and hears only the sound of his own screams.
The next, Snoke is out of his mind, and he hears a distant thud as he is thrown back by a powerful blast of energy.
Ben staggers to his feet, head swimming, but he has no time for weakness. At the opposite end of the cave, Rey's figure is suddenly illuminated as she ignites both blades of her lightsaber, casting a soft yellow glow on her face.
He summons his own fallen lightsaber to his hand, igniting it with a twirl.
Through the dim light, Ben spies Snoke, all wasted skin and ancient bones. Rey's push caught him by surprise, and his impact on the stone definitely hurt him. He rises, his rage filling the entire room, and pulls a single red lightsaber from his robes.
"That, my child," he hisses, "Is the last mistake you'll ever make." Then, his black eyes drift towards Luke, who is still sitting in silence, and he springs towards him. Ben moves to rush forward, but as he makes to move, Rey throws something his way.
The lightsaber.
He stands, catching the blue lightsaber, cutting his chains as he ignites it in time to block Snoke's blow. For a split second, Snoke's shock is reflected by the blue and red glows of their weapons.
"Let's end this," Rey says into his mind, and the battle begins.
For all his frailty, Snoke has remained alive for so long for a reason. The Dark Side flows through him fully and completely, and he exudes raw power in every block, every attack.
With her double-bladed weapon, Rey is practically at home in the fight. She moves quickly and efficiently, thrumming with the Force as she and her father attack in perfect harmony. Ben's Niman serves him well, frustrating Snoke, who has likely not had to duel in decades.
The four fight brutally in the darkness, the only light in the cave emanating from their blades. Ben realizes, in the midst of it all, that he has never seen his uncle truly fighting, and the former last of the Jedi is a fearsome sight to behold. No wonder Snoke had been so desperate to have him killed.
Ben feels Snoke summoning his strength mere moments before it happens, and suddenly he and Luke are thrown back, and it's just Snoke and Rey. He feels Rey's focus fling towards him and Luke, and before he cans cream at her to forget him, forget them, she is screaming in pain as Snoke hits her with lightning.
Ben struggles to rise and help her, but Snoke has him absolutely frozen, unable to move. Rey is alone.
Luke struggles violently, writhing beneath his invisible binding.
"Rey!" Ben screams into her thoughts. "You can fight this!"
"He's too strong!" she groans. "I'm so sorry, I-"
"His defenses are down," Ben interjects rapidly, bile rising in his throat as her pain increases. "Look into his mind. See who the real threat is. See who the strongest has always been."
He knows what she will find.
He feels her, with the last of her strength, burst into Snoke's mind, drawing from his own strength as Snoke struggles to comprehend what she is doing. And when she finds it, Ben feels the Force flowing through her once again.
"You," she whispers to Snoke as he continues to torture her under his lightning. "You're afraid. You're terrified." Snoke's strength wavers, and Ben further pushes as much strength into Rey as he can. "You're scared of me. You always have been. That is why you wanted to make me your puppet, make Ben your puppet. You know that you are weak, and I am strong."
"You are nothing," Snoke roars.
"Fight it!" Ben screams, breaking through his bindings enough to yell. "Let your pain give you strength!"
"Remember who you are!" Luke calls.
Through the illumination of the lightning, Ben sees Rey's eyes close, and hope springs wildly, unbidden, into his chest. Snoke cackles, thinking she is finally faltering, but Ben has been the one to make that mistake before.
She is not surrendering. She is preparing herself to win.
Rey screams, drawing all of her energy in, centering it. Her own emotions pour through Ben and Luke both, they are so strong. But one emotion overwhelms all others: love. Love for her dead mother who never got to see her become a Jedi. Love for her father, who is found his way back to her the long way round. Love for Poe, with his kind eyes and enduring compassion in the face of destruction. Love for Finn, the first man to come back for her, the one who will forever be at her side. Love for Ben, who scraped and clawed his way back to the Light.
The power bursts from her, knocking Snoke back long enough for her to call her lightsaber back to her hands.
Her eyes open, and she attacks.
The torches light themselves, perhaps by her own unconscious doing, and Rey really sees Snoke for the first time. Without the shadows to hide him, she sees him for what he really is: a shell, brittle and breakable.
Snoke springs back to her, raw fury driving him as their lightsabers clash violently. But Rey is more in tune with the Force than she ever has been. Darkness and Light both swirl within her. The raw, brute strength she pulls from her own pain focuses her, the love for her family grounds her.
Snoke's Force attacks are useless, hollow compared to her own defenses. The Light protects her against everything he throws her way. The Darkness drives her attack, vicious and efficient.
Finally, she lobs the hilt of her lightsaber right into his head, pushing him down to the ground, stunned.
"You're wrong about me," she says resolutely, pulling Snoke up by the cloak and driving her lightsaber through his heart. "You are nothing."
His death is a simple thing. All at once, his body slumps to the ground, and his spirit is relinquished with a silent scream.
For what seems like a small eternity, Rey just stands there, eyes fixated on the Sith Master's corpse. Then, everything returns to motion.
Ben and Luke both run to her at once, and both pull her into a tight embrace.
"It's over," Luke whispers. "It's finally over."
Victory is a curious thing.
Rey retreats into herself aboard the Falcon, simply curling into her father's side like she used to as a girl. For several minutes they just sit there in total silence, and Ben leaves them be.
He finds himself in the cockpit alongside Chewie, who has barely acknowledged him since his return.
Ben decides to speak. "I know you probably hate me. And I know I deserve it. So I think you're the best one to tell me what to do next." Chewbacca looks at him, eyes lighting with surprise. "Rey wants me to stay. Maybe become some excuse for a Jedi, help fight off what remains of the First Order. But I don't know if I can live with myself after all I've done, if maybe I should just disappear in the Outer Rim and take some miserable job."
Chewie moans softly in reply. "Young Solo afraid of being happy?" he barks in his native tongue.
"I am not afraid," Ben retorts, but Chewie continues.
"Young Solo filled with guilt. Fears his own happiness disregards Han Solo."
Ben swallows the lump forming in his throat. "So what should I do?" Chewbacca regards him for a long moment, blue eyes so old and tired but so full of life.
"Han Solo loved you. Han Solo wanted his Ben to be happy."
"I don't know how," Ben admits. Chewie glances back, towards where Rey has now risen and is tinkering around the ship, making quiet conversation with Finn and Poe.
"Let Rey Skywalker show you."
"I didn't think you would want me to stay. Why would you want that? You saw what I did," Ben protests weakly. Chewbacca shrugs.
"Forgiveness is the way of my people. It is what Han Solo would have wanted. The Ben Solo I see before me now is one who would have made Han Solo proud."
Upon landing on Dxun, Rey spends most of her time alone. Ben debriefs the Resistance leadership for her, and Luke tells her to take as much time as she needs to recover.
Nights are the worst for her. Snoke's awful face haunts her dreams. The horrifying visions he tortured her with swim in her thoughts her every waking moment. Most nights, she doesn't even bother going back to her quarters at all, electing to go to the hangar to tinker with the Falcon or run through combat drills.
She avoids Ben. Or he avoids her. Either way, seeing him proves more difficult than she would have expected. She doesn't want to burden him with her own weakness, not when he's still struggling with his own demons.
Finn and Poe help, sometimes. Finn brings her breakfast, no matter where she is when he wakes, and doesn't try to make her talk. He talks enough for them both, holding her hand in his.
Poe gives her small tasks to complete throughout the day, usually sticking around and making animated conversation while she gets them done. She appreciates the distraction, and Poe's presence is so warm that she often forgets how torn apart she truly feels.
She defeated Snoke. She should be happy right now. Thrilled. But instead, she just feels hollow. She put so much of herself into the ongoing fight, and now she wonders what is left for her to do.
She considers flying back to Naboo, to spend her days in the sunlight, pretending that even after everything, the fight isn't over yet.
"I never pegged you as a coward, Skywalker," comes a bland voice from behind her. She turns, wrench in hand, and sees Ben standing there, leaning on the other side of the Falcon's small hallway.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she lies icily.
"I can hear your thoughts," Ben reminds her. "You're going to run. You're going to do exactly what you told me not to do. You, the Jedi."
"Don't try and guilt trip me," she snaps.
"You did it to me." Rey whirls around, annoyed.
"I just need some time, Ben, okay? At least give me that." His eyes narrow, but he surrenders, backing away.
Rey returns to her work, angrily pulling a few wires, when she feels another presence behind her.
"Father, I'm sorry, but now is a really bad time," she sighs.
"I understand that," Luke replies. "Which is why I'm telling you that leaving would be a mistake."
"It's what you did," Rey retorts.
"When I failed," Luke emphasizes. "And it was the wrong decision. It's not who I am, it's know what our family is. We don't run."
"Yeah, well I've been a scavenger longer than I've been a Skywalker," she says, "So running is looking pretty good right about now." Luke winces, just slightly, and Rey has to push back the guilt gnawing at her.
"Naboo won't make the nightmares go away," Luke finally says, eyes soft. Rey drops the wrench in her hand, startled.
"You know?" she asks, eyes wide.
"I had the same dreams myself after facing the Emperor," he says. "I saw him die. I felt it through the Force. But a part of me never really believed it. A part of me was certain that somehow, he survived. When you were born, I would stay by your crib all night sometimes, because I was terrified he would find a way to take you from me."
"I felt his life slip away," Rey whispers. "But I can't fathom . . . how someone like me could really defeat someone like him."
""I can," Luke says. "You are strong. Not just in the Force, but strong as a person. You are more of a Jedi than the Jedi of the Old Republic, and command the Force with a clarity I cannot understand myself."
"You're just trying to make me feel better," Rey admonishes with a watery smile, which Luke returns.
"I'm a terrible liar. You'd know if I was." He pulls her into a hug, kissing her hair tenderly. "You won, sweetheart. You accomplished what I could only ever hope to: you mastered the Light and the Dark and maintained yourself in the process."
"Did I, though?" she asks, burying her face in his neck, wanting to shut everything out. "I don't feel like me."
Luke pulls back, just slightly, to look her in the eye. "I can see you, Rey. You still have the fire burning within you. You still care for every creature in the galaxy. You still have the greatest capacity for love I have ever seen. You are still you. Snoke can't take that away from you."
Rey remembers, all those years ago, screaming those words to a fleeing ship on Jakku, and again, to Finn on Takodanna. Now, the power to leave, to run, is in her hands.
And so, in that moment, she relishes in that power. The power to be alone, to have nobody relying on her. She lets it fester within her heart, and then, with a deep breath . . . she throws it away.
This is her home. She has everything in the galaxy, and she fought for every damn bit of it. She won't let it go so easily.
"I'm sorry." Ben turns in surprise to see Rey lingering hesitantly at the door to his room.
"For what?" he asks. "Come in, it's okay." Rey slinks in, arms crossed around her body, and sits down in the small chair by his bed.
"Snapping at you. Almost leaving. Take your pick." Ben snorts.
"You're talking to the man responsible for nearly destroying the galaxy. If you want me to be angry with you, you'll have to step up your game." Rey smiles, small and hopeful.
He loves that smile. He remembers her, as a child, giving him the same one countless times over. He marvels at that, at his ability to make someone like her smile. His ability to do something good for the galaxy, finally, after so long.
"I'll work on it," she teases gently. "I was thinking, though. The First Order is still out there. The Knights are too. Our work isn't finished yet."
"No?" Ben questions, eyebrow rising. "What did you have in mind?"
She and Finn are the last to board, lingering on the boarding ramp as Ben goes on ahead inside.
"This all started with us and this ship," Rey reminisces with a soft smile.
"Sounds about right," Finn remarks. She looks up at him, and he leans in, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "See you inside."
By now, Rey has flown the Falcon more times than she can count. She knows the ship like the palm of her hand. It is as much a part of her as her own lightsaber. She can still vividly remember flying it for the first time as an act of desperation. Again, with Han Solo, seeing the galaxy for the first time. And again, off to find who would be her father.
But something feels imperceptibly right as she slides into the pilot's seat, turning and seeing Ben at her side, in the chair that he should have been in from the start. She glances out of the cockpit, to where Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca stand, seeing them off. Several yards away, she sees Poe's X-Wing hum to life, and smiles.
"This is Black Leader to Gold Leader," comes his voice through the comms. "Ready when you are."
Her smile widens as she turns to the comms. "This is Gold Leader to Black Leader." She turns to Ben, who nods. "The Falcon is ready to go."
"Let's take the rest of these bastards down, shall we?" Poe's voice asks their ships take off, soaring into the atmosphere. Rey turns to look at Ben, plotting their coordinates, and her heart feels close to bursting. This right here is how things always should have been. And finally, finally, they have it.
"Making the jump to hyperspace now," Poe says. "See you on the other side."
Finn enters the cockpit, taking the seat behind Rey. Behind him, BB-8 beeps excitedly. "The Falcon won't explode on us now, will she?" Finn asks. Ben shrugs.
"You never know. She's stubborn."
"Must be a Solo thing," Rey teases. Ben rolls his eyes, but he's smiling.
"Are you ready?" he asks. Rey looks out into the galaxy, endless stars ahead of her. Enemies to face, worlds to liberate. A great destiny to fulfill, and she's only getting started.
They are only getting started.
Ben looks over at Rey and nods.
"Here goes nothing," she mutters, pulling the lever, and the Millennium Falcon soars into hyperspace once again.
FIN