Cold. Darkness. There had never been anything waiting for him in the beyond. No Force ghosts to guide him, none of his family, no one he could call a friend - he should have expected it, really. He’d driven everyone away from him in his lifetime, made sure that no one wanted him, and he supposed this was the universe’s way of telling him he succeeded.
Oddly enough, the warmth of her lips still rested on his and, for a brief moment, he thought that maybe he’d felt her holding his hand as he died. A passing dream, most likely, just his mind trying to comfort itself in his last moments. It’d been a nice thought though, that maybe she’d tried to give him something to hold on to, but he didn’t hold his breath.
More than that, he was aware of something being said to him. Repent. Atone. Fix. It made no sense to him. He couldn’t fix anything he’d done.
No, he knew that voice. At least, he thought he did. Mom... It was a passing thought. Nothing but stray energy but, if only for a second, he felt a tug on his chest, as if two small hands were pulling him up out of... what?
His soul floated about the darkness, eyes never opening, but he felt the warmth that came with the place. It washed over him and wrapped around him. It felt like her. Rey had been a beacon, she’d warmed him so quickly within those two years, had totally turned his life on its head, had done what he couldn’t. So why did it feel as if he were laying on something? It was solid under his back and, as he started to come to, he felt the heat.
Warmth. solid ground under his back, the shifting of sand. What?
Ben opened his eyes only to find that he was looking at the rusted guts of a metal dome. It reminded him of the old AT-AT series walkers and it certainly got his attention. Only as he shifted did the pain finally blaze through him. His right leg was a mess of pain and his ribs weren’t much better, he was injured. How?
No, he didn’t think Palpatine did this but something did. A pained noise left him as he forced himself to sit up, a shaking hand came up to his chest and he started to pull, clawing at the wound. “The fuck...?” This wasn’t Exegol, the Finalizer, or any place he recognized until dark eyes came up and found the opposite wall.
Tallying the days. Rey. Without a single thought, he got up despite the soul shattering pain in his leg, just to put his hand on the wall. Yes. Yes. He’d seen it in her mind. He knew this place. But how did he get here? Where was she? ...How was he here? Was there another version of himself wandering the Finalizer as he was on Jakku?
So many questions and yet they all fled him when he heard noise behind him. Ben turned quickly, just enough that he fell on the broken leg with a soft whine of pain. But there she was. He couldn’t begin to process anything she was saying as he leaned against the wall, a near hysterical laugh leaving him.
“Feels like I just woke from a nightmare...”