@reylo-week-2019 | Day: 05 | Prompt: Legacy
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After everything they’d done, both for and against each other over the last two years, it was incredible to Ben that two of the most powerful Force-users in the galaxy should find themselves at yet another crossroads.
All over something as insignificant as a name.
With the First Order defeated and the last remnants of the Empire purged from the galaxy, Rey believed it was time to pick up where Luke left off. But unlike his uncle, Rey intended to strike a balance between the teachings of the dark side and the light, piecing the broken theologies of the Sith and the Jedi back together into a singular ideology.
But while Ben was more than willing to help her achieve her ends, he wasn’t in favor of naming their new order after his family.
“Why do we have to call it anything?” Ben said seriously, grasping his wife’s hands over the Dejarik table. “Why can’t it just be?”
“You know that’s not how it works,” Rey sighed. “If we want people to trust us with their lives, with their children’s lives, there has to be some credence to our name. And Skywalker is—”
“No!” she denied, tightening her grip. “No, Ben. Your grandfather strayed from the path, but it was only through his actions and the actions of his progeny—” she sent him a meaningful look “— that we were able to defeat the ultimate evil.”
“Oh, and you were there too,” he said dryly.
A telltale crease formed between her brows at his words, but still, she persisted. “I’m not trying to be modest by extolling the virtues of your name over mine or literally any other combination of letters we could choose from. What I’m saying is: Skywalker means something to the galaxy, even if it doesn’t mean anything to you.”
Taken aback by her presumption, Ben finally realized where their disconnect was. “Rey, you misunderstand me,” he said softly. “Skywalker does mean something to me. It means that I’m not alone, that I have family, friends, and the love of my life by my side. It means redemption and hope and peace. But Skywalker also means the opposite to me; it means darkness and fear and slaughter.”
“Which is why I think Skywalker is the only logical way to sum up what our order will be founded on,” Rey said emphatically. “Balancing those forces that would destroy us is essential to our success.”
“It’s still a risk,” he protested, faltering under her logic.
“It’s not,” she promised. “It’s you and me and what we have now, together.”
“But what if the darkness residing in me influences others?” Ben asked, finally voicing his greatest fear. “What if our children stray from the path too? Like my grandfather did, like I did?”
Rey leaned forward and kissed his knuckles, sending a shot of warm through his system. “There’s light and darkness inside all of us,” she reminded him. “We can’t predict the future, not accurately anyway, but finding balance is the key to peace. I’m sure of it.”
“And you think my family name exemplifies that ideal?” Ben queried.
“Alright,” he relented at last.
“Alright?” she repeated hopefully.
“Yes,” Ben smiled. “This is how we begin to make things right.”
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