Work Text:
Don't say I didn't warn you...
Ben’s body hit the ground hard.
“Ow” he said as he tried to regain the oxygen back into his lungs that had been knocked out of him.
“Palpatine will pay for that” he said quietly to himself as he looked around at his surroundings He had landed on a ledge in the chasm that the emperor has thrown him into. He could hear the skirmish above him happening on the other side.
Ben looked into the sky to see it lit up and riddled with lightning. He breathed a sigh of regret. He’d brought Rey here. He’d told her about Exegol. He’d told her about her terrible upbringing and the truth behind her family. He’d led her to death. He deserved to die here, not her.
As he continued to look into the battle, voices started to echo. Ben could hear them.
Anakin, Qui-Gon, Obi Wan, Luke, Yoda, and so many others it was overwhelming him. He knew. He knew in that moment she was summoning the Jedi’s that past on to the force.
He turned frantically in circles the moment he heard the clash of the lightsabers. He had to get back to Rey.
***
Rey collapsed to the floor. She’d done it. Palpatine. The sith. They were no more. She felt the force flowing around her as the last breath left her body.
Ben’s large hand gripped the side of the wall and he used all the strength he could muster to pull himself up. He fumbled weakly over to where Rey’s body lay lifeless.
“Rey, no, Rey,” he said as he collapsed next to her. Her eyes remained open as she laid before him.
Ben gathered her body in his arms. His sobs coming out in little huffs as he pulled her close.
‘You can’t be gone, Rey. I’m here, Rey. I’m here.” Ben desperately tried to push through the force.
The force.
He thought of Rey’s use of the force to heal him just after they felt Leia die. She had force healed him. He wasn’t dead, but she’d given him a bit of her life force to heal him. He’d do the same for her.
As Ben pulled Rey to his chest, he nestled and supported her head. He couldn’t let his girl go. He’d spent all this time protecting her. The girl he’d heard so much about. The scavenger. The Last Jedi. The girl who was nothing, but not to him. She was always Rey. She’d been there from the beginning. She’d stand by his side. She had to. She was part of him. The emperor had said it himself. They had a force dyad. Two beings sharing one force. His soulmate.
Ben concentrated on the force, the energy. He forced away any thought of the sith trying to penetrate his mind and focused all on the power of the force. He focused on his mother, Han, Luke, and Rey. His love for Rey.
Suddenly he felt her force signature begin to emit again. It was like a heartbeat, it was weak, but present. She was coming back to him.
Ben looked down to see the pink returning to her tanned skin, and her glazed eyes blink - once, twice, three times - before focusing on the new man in front of her.
She gasped as she stared at him intently. Her hand reached up to cup his cheek.
“Ben” she said as if she was so relieved to see him. She stared at him for what felt like hours, with surprise and relief in her eyes.
“Rey,” Ben glanced down at her lips before once again looking into her hazel eyes. The gap closed between them as their lips came together in a much longed for kiss. One that felt familiar and right.
Rey pulled Ben closer as he separated her lips with his tongue. The embrace causing a hum through the force.
Rey separated from Ben and looked at him with love in her eyes. Ben took a heavy sigh just before collapsing onto his elbows.
“Ben? Ben!” Rey nearly shouted at him.
“It’s alright, sweetheart. I think this is just part of the dyad,” he breathed heavily as he looked up into her worried eyes. They now shared their one force. It’d take time to build it up again, but they could do it. And they could do it together.
Rey got up weakly and held out her hand toward Ben.
“Are you offering me your hand?”
“Yes, Ben. Will you take it?”
And just like that Ben took her hand.
Rey supported the large man by his abdomen before slinging one of his arms around her shoulder to support him as they hobbled back to the x-wing.
Once arriving, Rey helped Ben into the aircraft before climbing up into his lap. She leaned into his broad chest as she fastened the safety restraints around the two of them.
Rey could feel Ben’s head resting in the nape of her neck, his soft breathes even against her skin as she started the engine.
***
Rey landed the x-wing as she watched the celebration of everyone around her. The base was a bustle with cheering and embracing at the site of the war being over.
She powered down the x-wing before undoing the safety restraints. Ben’s force signature was weak, but continuing to glow before her as she helped pull the large man out of the cockpit. Rose and Connix raced over to her and began helping her and Ben down the stairs.
Connix looked at Ben with wide eyes. She gasped as Rey cleared the hair from his eyes.
“Ben. Is it really him? What happened to him?”
Rey looked at the lieutenant, hesitant about what to tell her.
“He saved me. I saved him. We are one.”
“Rey!” Suddenly she heard and saw Finn pushing through the crowd with Poe on his tail. She looked over to Ben who was watching her closely as the man he once called “traitor” barreled through the crowd toward them.
Finn seemed unfazed by Ben’s presence. In fact, he put his hand on Ben’s abdomen to help support him as he embraced Rey in a tight hug. Poe then joined the group hug, followed by Rose and Connix. Rose snuck under Finn’s arm, earning a kiss to the temple, followed by a tap to the shoulder of Jannah standing behind them.
“Finn I have a feeling,” she said as the group began to separate, Rey off into a confined space to care for Ben, Poe off to find Lando and Chewie.
“What is it Jannah?”
“During our rebellion toward the First Order, I had visions of a brother who I got ripped away from, something told me that he’d break away too and we’d find each other once again.”
“Yes, Jannah, I think you’re right.”
***
The Falcon stirred up the Tatooine sand that lay below as it whizzed past Mos Eisley SpacePort.
Rey pointed down to the small moisture farm that lay ahead and landed the Falcon just nearby.
As she wandered up to the seemingly abandoned farm she looked around, finding a piece of scrap metal that she used to slide down the sandy hill, much like she did during her days on Jakku. As she wandered around the farm, it was clear the sandstorms had taken over and much of the structure was beginning to be drenched in sand. She climbed back up the hill to find a woman standing before her.
“My gods. It’s been ages since anyone’s been here. Been empty for years.”
Rey regarded her with a smile, the woman’s wrinkly face almost seemed relieved to see someone here.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Rey”
“Rey what? Who are your people?” she asked, unimpressed with Rey’s first answer.
Rey looked just beyond the old woman to see two figures beginning to appear before her. Luke and Leia…
“Rey Skywalker”
“Solo”
Rey heard the voice coming from behind the old woman. Ben strolled up, finally emerging from the Falcon and stepping foot onto the moisture farm.
“Rey and Ben Skywalker-Solo.”
Ben wrapped his arm around Rey’s waist as his grey tunic flowed in the wind of the Tatooine evening breeze.
The woman continued on her way as the young couple stood before her.
Rey looked up to Ben and he handed her a small pouch. Rey sat down on the sand, opening it to see Luke and Leia’s lightsaber hilts. A tear ran down her cheek as Ben sat beside her and his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Rey looked over to him and gave a nod before wrapping the saber’s up and placing them back on the sand, sinking the pouch with the force.
Ben kissed Rey’s temple before standing back up and offering her his hand. She took it proudly. Ben then whistled.
Seven younglings came running out of the Falcon followed by R2 and D-O.
Rey smiled at the newest padawans as she squeezed Ben’s hand and they look off into the distance of the setting Tatooine suns.