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Rey's heart was hammering in her chest, the roar of blood deafening. Her breathing was uneven, and she struggled to keep it under control. She looked to her left at Snoak's dead body, the uper half crumpled on the floor, his face blank and cold. Around her were the bodies of of Snoak's gaurds, scattered lifeless accross the floor. With shaking breath she turned her gaze in front of her at the man who helped her do it.
The tall, muscular body of Kylo Ren stood shaking, sweat glistening on his skin. His dark eyes gazed deeply into hers. Rey was suddenly hit with the meaning of what had just happened. Ben had just killed his master, killed his own men, for her. He had turned against his all that he stood for. He had done it to save her. He had turned for her.
Rey looked out the window and saw the rebel ships escaping down to the new rebel base. Then a green jet of light streaked through the sky, and one of the few remaining ships exploded, sending a wave of dread through Rey's body.
"Ben!" She called running towards the widow. "Ben. Call them off. Tell them to stop shooting. Stop them." She put her hand on the glass, the pain of what she was seeing ran through her with an ache. But Ben didn't respond. He looked at her with a pained expression. Sadness in his eyes.
"Ben?" Rey asked concerned.
"Let it dye, Rey." Ben spoke quietly. "Let all of it die. The First Order, the Resistance, the Sith, the Jedi. Let it all end. We can create a new galaxy, one where we rule together.-"
"Don't do this Ben." Rey pleaded. "Please don't-"
"NO! NO! You're still holding on. You have to let go of it." Tears began to stream down Rey's cheeks. "Do you want to know the truth about your parents? Or deep down have you always known?" Ben looked deep into her eyes, and although there was anger in his voice, his eyes showed only a strange sort of pain. "They were nothing. They were scum who traded you for drinking money. Go on say it. Say it!"
With shaking breath Rey spoke."They were-" Rey's voice gave out before she could finish. "They were nothing." She choked, her breath in her throat.
"That's right. Ben said evenly. "They were nothing. You are nothing. NOTHING!" He yelled, then his voice suddenly turned soft, pained. "But not to me." With a look in his eye that Rey had never seen, Ben held his black gloved hand outstretched to Rey. "Join me." He said, his voice heavy with concealed emotion. "Please"
Rey's heart stopped. She didn't know what to say, or what to think, or what to do. She felt more lost in that moment then she had her whole life. Kylo Ren had just turned for her, maybe not completely turned, but damn close to it. She couldn't abandon him after what he did for her. And she had to admit, she felt more for him then she had thought. She supposed that after spending days talking to each other, and that one unforgettable night, perhaps what they had together could be more than just friendship.
She felt drawn to him, in a way she wished she could deny. It felt like they were ment to know each other. Like it had been pre-ordained. Like it had been planed from the start. Rey found the pull nearly impossible to resist. But there was still dark in him. Rey could feel that too. He had destroyed the mask he used to wear, and for a moment he had removed the one he hid his emotions behind. The mask the he made of his own face. She could sense that he was trying to pull away the layers, shed the dark side of himself. But it wasn't easy. She could feel the darknees coruscating in him. Rey was naive, she believed that he could be fixed. Perhaps it was that naiveity that could save him.
"The perfect balance." Rey said when she finaly spoke. "Light and Dark ruling together, each counter weighing the other. It makes sence. "She looked up into Ben's pleading eyes, then looked down at his awaiting outstretched hand. She closed her eyes, and asked the universe a silent question. She asked if she was making the right choice. She was answered with a feeling. One of balance, the same one Luke had shown her. The Force of the universe, told her it was right.
"Okay." breathed Rey, her voice bairly above a whisper. She softly placed her hand in Ben's, and with an unexpected motion, he pulled her in to his body and held her close. His inbrace was protective and comforting. Rey put her head on his muscular chest, and herd the beating of his heart. That heart that was so powerful, so strong, so strange. Rey found herself drawn to that big beating heart in ways she had never felt before.
"Ben" Rey whispered, a note of worry in her voice. "Ben, promice me - promice me that you mean it. That I mean something. Promice that I'm not just a pawn being plaid." Rey's voice was shaking slightly.
Ben answered her gently but sounded slightly hurt. "Rey, I hate it when people can me Ben. But not when you do. I like it when you say it. You see, other people use my name as a tool, a weapon, to try and hurt me or remimd me of my past. But not you. You say it because it is the name of the person that I was, that want to be again. Not the name if the monster I have become. You treat me like a person, because I think that you can see past what others can't."
Rey looked up at the man who held her, and saw a singulair tear running down his angulair face."You are Ben Solo. You might be lost somewhere, but your coming back, I can feel it." She said, still whispering. Then with a delicate touch, Rey reached up and brushed his pale face with her thumb, and a slight dash of red coloured his cheeks. Ben bowed his head, leaning into Rey's warm hand. He moved in and placed his lips on her's, and Rey raised herself to her toes to meet him. The fireworks that exploded at their toch were enslaving. It captured them and would not let them go. The kiss quickly became more heated, Ben held Rey by the waist, her hands burried in his hair. Passion like fire pushed through their veins.
Suddenly the Command Ship exploded, sending shockwaves through Rey's body. The force of it through them to the floor, the impact jarring her bones. Ignoring the pain, Rey dragged herself to her feet and rushed to the window of the Supreme Leders Ship, and saw the debris of the explosion floating aimlessly in their new, airless environment.
"Ben!" She called, and he apeared right behind her. "It's gone. The command ship. The rebels must have had one last trick up their sleeve." Ben's face was not angry, but the tenderness it had held a minute ago was gone. It was blank, the blank that Rey couldn't read. The mask was back in place. But Rey saw this as an opportunity. She turned round and looked Ben the eye.
"Ben, this is our chance. To bring my people and your people together. The remainder of the First Order and the surviving Rebels. That's is the only way we will have peace in our galaxy. We must unite our peoples and...give them a say. Create a small council, and let them have sway over our rule. We must not become dictators. The Galaxy does not need any more dictators." She looked up at Ben, and for a while he didn't respond. He wore his iron fisaud, making his face so much harder to read. Beginning to be afraid. What if he changed his mind. What if went back to the Sith and killed her right here. But then he knoded his head in agreement, and gave her a small but genuine smile. Rey hated herself for doubting him.
"Are you ready to give your first order?" Ben asked, seeming to have recovered from his brief moment of doubt. Ben walked to the intercom by the door to Snoak's chambers.
"General Niro, to the Throne Room." He spoke into the microphone, and the message went out accross the whole ship.
The throne room? Thought Rey. So that's what they call this place. Rey thought the throne itself was a bit pathetic.
"General Niro was the least loyal to Snoak. I will promote him to Commander, with your agreement."
"You know him better than I." Rey shrugged.
"Yes, but we make our decisions together now."
That sentence made Rey's heart leap a little. He really was ready for this. To come back to the light. To become the man he used to be. She was about to say something, possibly even kiss him again, when the door to the Throne Room opened and General Niro entered.
General Niro was a short and knowledgeable looking man. His hair was the salt and pepper that comes with age, and his eyes were green and deep. He servayed the room, and dispite the turbulent scene, his face remained calm.
"What happened?" He asked, although something told Rey he already knew. Ben walked to Rey's side before he explained.
"Snoak is dead. I killed him. Rey and I killed his gaurds. We are going to start a new order. One without dictators. One where the people have a say. We are going to bring peace to the galaxy. And if you swear your aligence to us, I will make you Commander."
Niro's face softened, and he looked in disbelief at the two of them. Then he got down on one knee, and bowed his head. "I pledge my aligence to The .....New Order. I vow to serve it's....Protecters?" Ben waved his hand.
"We don't have the details worked out." Rey said kindly. "But here is your first order as Commander. Take a ship down to the new rebel base. Invite them to return here, and promice their full safety. They are not prisoners. If they don't want to come, they must be left unharmed. Speak to Leia directly. Tell her that Snoak is dead, and that I wish to speak with her on this matter. If she does not wish to come, leave her and return. No none is to be harmed." With that, Niro knoded and left the room.
"When you talk like that it sounds like you were born to rule." Ben said with a gentle tone. Rey gave him a small smile.
"I like what the Commander said. The New Order, it sounds right." Rey said. Ben reached out and took her hand. He led her to the door that lead out into the corridor, but before he opened it, he leaned in and kissed her lightly.
"Come meet your new people." He said. "The people of the New Order."
*****
Rey and Ben waited in a small council room for Leia to arrive. In the past hour around a hundred storm troopers had declared their aligence to Snoak and the First Order, and where swiftly detained. The rest of the troopers had sworn aligence to the New Order. Rey gave them the oportunity to remove their aroumor and go start a normal life, and leave this one behind. Some took the offer. Most did not.
Now Rey waited anxiously for Leia's arrival. She new it was childish, but Leia was the closest thing to a parental figure she had, and Rey was desperate for her aproval of the new order. She and Ben had agreed to offer Leia a seat on the Council. Rey hoped that Leia would help create a constitution for their New Order. They had also offered Commander Niro a seat on the Council. He had Greaciously accepted.
Ben sat nonchalantly in one of the seats, but Rey couldn't stand to stay still. She paced the room. Waiting, waiting for her to arrive. Rey was starting to think that perhaps Leia had chosen to stay at the Rebel base instead.
When the door finaly opened Rey jumped in suprise. She turned around to see the wise and smiling eyes of Leia looking back at her. Rey was about to run to her. It had been so long since she had seen that woman. But then Ben slowly rose from his chair, and looked his mother straight in the face. Rey knew this was a moment she must not disturb.
"Ben." Leia said softly, not letting herself believe what she was seeing. Her son, who she had not seen for years. Was now standing before her, on peaceful terms.
"Ben." She said again, finding herself toung tied.
"Mother." He responded, in a deeper and softer tone. With those words, Leia threw herself at Ben and wrapped her arms around her now grown son. Ben held his mother close, and a tear began to trickle down his cheek.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, desperation in his voice. "I'm so terribly sorry." Leia too began to cry, and in that moment, that wonderfully painful moment, in the most unlikely place, the remainder of a broken family began to heal.
*****
Many hours later, Leia, Ben, Rey, and Commander Niro emerged from the council room with the begginings of the New Order buzzing in their minds. Leia had accepted the offer to join the High Council, which would advise the Protectors (the name they chose for the rulers of the New Order), and could demote a Protector if need be. The High a council would be given an army of its own, in case a Protector turned dictator, and needed to be forcefully removed. There would always be two Protectors, so that one hundred percent power never given to one person. At the death or resignation of a Protector, a new one would be elected. There was more to be done, but they felt good about their progress so far.
As they four of them split ways, Ben showed Rey the way to the room that had been prepared for her. There was silence as they walked, not a awkward silence, but not a comfortable one either. Simply silence. As she walked down many hallways and corridors, Rey's brain was cluttered with the events of the day, and although it had been a long one, Rey knew she would not sleep. Instead, Rey turned her thoughts to the only recent even that had not been discussed in the past couple of hours.
"Ben" Rey said as he stopped her infront of a door she assumed led to her room. She chose her words slowly, not quite knowing what to say. "We're ruling the Galaxy together....that much is....clear. But are we - are we doing more than that? I- I need to know."
Ben looked bewildered as Rey, his brow furrowed into pale lines. His iron fisaud slipped away, and Rey could almost see the cogs of his head turning.
"I mean - are we doing....other things together?"Then it dawned on him, the meaning of her words.
"You mean, do I want to be a Couple." He didn't say it as a question. He let it hang heavy in the air like an over ripe fruit. This made Rey nervous, and she began to ramble, losing control over her words.
"I mean- it's okay if you don't- I just thought that-" Ben cut her off by placing a finger to her lips.
"I'd have to be a special kind of crazy not to." He said darkly with a spark in his eye.
"You are a special kind or crazy." Rey said with a taunting air. Without warning, Ben kissed her. But it wasn't like last time. If the last one was like fireworks, this was like electricity, hot and powerful. Ben pushed Rey up against the door, one hand beside her head, the other holding her thigh which she lifted up to his hip. She had one of her hands pressed up against his chest and the other holding the back of his head. They couldn't pull apart. Each toch was painful it felt so good. A shiver ran down Rey's spine as Ben's fingers inched higher up her thigh. Passion like fire ran through their veins, burning them with desire. Ben didn't make it back to his room that night.
The two of them fell in Rey's freshly made bed, their clothes scattered around the room. Rey found it amazing how their bodies fitted together like puzzle pieces, like they were born to fit like that. Ben never thought that having a hard time breathing could feel this good. Each toch was like a spark in the dark, never quite enough, leaving them wanting -needing- more.
The day met the night and the two of them danced, lost in a strange euphoria. As their paths collided, they were give on last chance to set things right among the stars.