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Rey felt many things when she died, but alone was not one of them. Even though she knew her heart stopped beating, she could feel a tether connecting her back to the world, to Ben. The tether was so bright and strong that she followed it back so easily when he pulled on it.
She wakes up in his arms, and realises she never wants to be anywhere else again.
“Ben.” She breathes out, and he looks at her like she is the whole galaxy.
It is so natural to lean forward and kiss him. It feels like coming home.
She pulls back and traces his cheek, and he gives her a smile that breaks her heart. Here is the man she has always seen in him, here is Ben Solo, full of light and love and hope.
She smiles right back.
His skin is paling from the effort of healing her, but he is alive. The bond between them means that their lives will always be tethered together. Rey will never be alone again.
They stumbled out together, the Force buzzing around them and guiding them on.
***
Later, the resistance is celebrating. Rey drags Ben with her, and he is so full of apprehension and fear but she takes his hand and drags him to her friends, and with one looks she says,
“This is Ben Solo. He’s come back.”
Rey thinks they all see the warning in her eyes, and Finn is the first one to shake Ben’s hand. Ben looks stunned, and shamed, but takes one look at all of them. “I’m sorry.”
They are hesitant, and some are doubtful, her Resistance friends, but Rey doesn’t care. Her friends will forgive him, just like she did.
Ben Solo has to live with his mistakes, and that’s the greatest atonement of all.
***
They take the Millenium Falcon, as no one else in the resistance feels brave enough to claim it. Ben shudders and cries the first time he steps foot in it, and Rey pulls him into her arms and lets him.
“I failed them all.” He sobs into her shoulder.
Rey puts his hand on her heart, “You saved us all.”
She pulls him down to the bed and holds him for a long time, and closes her eyes and thanks the force for giving this to her.
***
They arrive on Tatooine. Rey has decided she needs to see it, feels the pull of where the Skywalker line began. Ben is there, trailing behind her and frowning slightly at the sand.
She buries the twin lightsabers, and Ben watches. They had discussed it earlier, in hushed tones on the Falcon.
“Should we keep them?” She had palmed the lightsabers with sadness, but knew the answer already.
“I don’t- too many memories. The force is— done with these for now, I think. Can you feel it?”
Rey looks up and him and smiles. “Yes.”
Besides, Rey isn’t a scavenger for nothing. She’s been building a lightsaber for herself, and knows she can build one for Ben too when he’s ready.
He trails behind her now, and an old woman approaches them both. She asks who they are, and Rey looks at Ben, and takes his hand.
“I’m Rey.” They both feel the flickering of the force and see Luke and Leia standing in the distance, smiling at her. Rey looks at Ben and smiles. “Rey Skywalker.”
He takes in a breath and squeezes her hand, and they turn to take in the twin suns. Together.
***
There is much to do in the galaxy still, but Rey and Ben leave the organisation to Poe and Finn and the rest of the resistance. They can feel the Force at rest now, and they both have given so much for the galaxy. They are both allowed a bit of peace and quiet.
The planet they land on is not one Rey recognises, but it is green and full of water, and she smiles at him with her whole heart. There will never be any more sand for her, only green and lush and Ben and love.
They land somewhere, both guided by a feeling, and walk out of the Falcon hand in hand.
Rey looks at Ben. “Are you ready for this?”
Ben smiles a secret smile at her, and shares a vision of them both in the future, in a house made with their own hands and with the sound of children laughing in the background. “As long as you’re with me, I’m ready for it. Anything we do, we do together.”
Rey laughs, and cries, and pulls him in for a searing kiss. “Yes, I suppose neither of us are ever going to be alone again.”
And she was right.