The second his lips parted from her own Rey knew she would never want for anything else again. No longer bound by the chains that was her past, her lone identity as the scavenger girl from nowhere. Here he was not Kylo but Ben, his weighted frame dangled across her lap where she held so tenderly. He was weak, but alive and most importantly he was with her.
Still holding his frame close Rey raised her head to the dark lit sky, filled with ships of all shapes and sizes and all celebrating the victory of the rebellion. A small but honest smile creased the corners of Rey’s lips while her eyes stung with overwhelming tears. The war had been won, but at what cost? Ben had returned to the light, to himself and despite this profound joy Rey could not deny Ben’s crimes. She could understand them, accept them even but not everyone would. “ I know what I must do” Rey uttered softly, almost to the wind, as if it was the force guiding her.
Rey flew throughout the night to take them both to Tatooine, a place where his legacy had started and a place where Leia had once foretold to Rey. The planet was dull in colour and light but it would do for now, until he was safe once again. Rey settled Ben into a single bed, his forehead glistening with beads of sweat. Rey took this moment to walk outside into the open, taking in the landscape that would a warm sunset rising for a new day.
“Rey?” she heard him speak her name
Rey turned around to take him in, his dark curly waves were tangled and fell hopelessly across his cheekbones. And then there were his eyes, his dark brooding eyes that pierced her soul, that had always. Rey stood close but kept distance between the two of them, wanting to give him time to adjust. “ You collapsed after you healed me…after you” Rey spoke slowly, to embarrassed to mention the kiss, the first she ever had. “I think it’s best that you stay here for now, until the galaxy has made it’s peace again”
Ben’s soul had found its way back to his body and he still felt disorientated. The hum of the Force was different than in the between worlds, but he sensed it stronger than ever. And Rey. She was like a sun to him now, and he felt drawn to her. He wasn’t sure if it was love or their bond, the Force... or all of it together. He walked up to her and kissed her, then pulled her into an embrace. “I was so lost... but I came back for you, sweetheart.”
Ben pushed his hand into Rey’s hair, and pulled the buns free. He had wanted to see her with her hair down for a long time now. He wanted the hair to be free and flowing. It was an intimate act, to put down someone’s hair. In Alderaan it was, and he remembered his father doing it to his mother when she came back from diplomatic trips.
“You didn’t give up on me. I was dead but... you brought me here. Why?” It would have made sense to leave his body there. The Skywalkers had caused so much havoc in the Galaxy, it would have been great to leave that chapter of the worlds behind. But Rey still saw something in him and brought him with her, and he was able to find his way back to the living.
