Hunted

...Epilogue...

Winds sweeps across the field, sending the wheat undulating in wide waves. Next to the tree, a small house has been built -- the wood old and weathered, but tough, the foundation made from the remains of the base destroyed more than 2 years before.

Kylo surveys his handiwork with pride, clapping Finn on the back with his remaining hand in thanks for his help in building it. The mechanical one -- a perfect replica of his uncle's -- stretches its fingers and lifts to wave at the people standing on the porch. Rey and Serela are in the doorway, looking out to see their men in the field, hands over their eyes to shield them from the sun before Ben comes barreling through the front door to leap off the porch and run to his father, his small toddler legs surprisingly sturdy and they carry him with ease.

All 4 adults laugh and Kylo stoops down to catch him just in time, lifting him into the air and swinging him around in circles, relishing his shrieks of glee. In that moment, the wind caught in his hair and both in plainclothes, they look every bit the image of Han and his son 30 years previous. Serela knows Leia thinks the same thing -- she catches her watching them from the corners of her eyes when she comes to visit, sees the way she still holds Ben as reverently in her arms as she did the day he was born, another piece of Han to cherish and protect in his absence.

The house had taken every bit of two years to build. After Hux's death and the arrival of Luke and Poe, rescue crew in tow, a tentative peace had been made. With Snoke and Hux both gone, the First Order was divided and leaderless. It had been easy to use Kylo and Finn to convince more stormtroopers to become defectors, and after trials were held and the few in power too stubborn to relinquish their ties to the First Order had been executed. The Finalizer was landed near the ruins of the base and much of the supplies on board were used in rebuilding it, along with the scrap metal they stripped from it to use in reconstruction, as well as erecting a monument to the lives lost.

Ben grew. When he became old enough to walk, Kylo began to bring his son along with him, balancing him on his knee during meetings and carrying him on his shoulders between the halls. Massive tent compounds were built to house everyone while the base was reconstructed, and the locals began to return in droves once they'd learned that the danger had passed.

There had been a small double wedding soon after, Finn and Rey on one side; Kylo and Serela on the other as Luke officiated. If all that had transpired showed them anything it was that life is short and they needed to seize the day whenever they could.

Poe stood in the front at the wedding, between Leia and Snap and he smiled wistfully, though much of his animosity had abated and he now visited more regularly. His schedule was still full though with training and running drills with the stormtrooper defectors. Although the First Order had been defeated, Leia and the rest of the Resistance knew it was only a matter of time before the Dark Side found another stronghold from which to build up it's power, and they would be ready for it when it did.

Kylo was given a full pardon for his crimes in repayment for his service in the defence of D'Qar. He abandoned his notions of unlimited power under the shadow of his grandfather's dark legacy in exchange for forging a legacy of his own -- determined to be a better father to Ben than his father had been to him, and a present husband for his wife. Even without her blood he's become stronger on his own; firm in his resilience. Day and night he worked tirelessly to help Leia and Statura in their relations with the First Order recruits and launching a new government in place of the destroyed Republic. Whenever he was free to bring him Ben tagged along too, his mess of shaggy dark hair bobbing by his father's knees, hand held in his.

Their son and the Resistance have his days, but Serela has him for the nights. She walks out to them in the field now, her swollen belly leading the way and she sees Kylo's look of awe at watching her approach, skin glowing in the sun and hair caught in the breeze, her skirts gently catching in the wheat as she skims her hands over the tops.

When she reaches them Kylo pulls her into his arms, holding Ben between them. He is young still, but already very powerful. Luke has explained what the years have led him to believe: that the old ways of Jedi training were not complete, and perhaps it is not possible to raise a child of such power as wholly Light or Dark. Ben will be a new form of Jedi, a Gray Jedi. Neither all light nor dark, but a healthy mix of both with the mental clarity and restraint to avoid being overtaken with zeal for either. He will be the One to lead us to the future and whatever it holds Luke had said.

Finn smiles at them and crosses the field back to the house to give them some privacy. He and Rey's cabin is almost complete too, and on the other side of the field close to the line with the trees. Already she is beginning to show too, the small bump on her flat stomach a testament to their own hopes for the future. She meets him at the bottom of the porch steps and takes both his hands, kissing him gently. They waited so long for this, all of them, and the beauty of the peace they now enjoy is not lost on any except those too young to remember it any different.

Kylo looks out across the field and feels the breeze, rests his chin on his wife's head and holds his son tighter, his hand stroking the place where their daughter grows, already bursting with life herself as she kicks late into the night, voicing her readiness to come out and see the world she is missing. He smiles as he kisses Serela's forehead for the thousandth time and breathes in a sigh of relief.

There will always be times of peace and war, good and bad, Light and Dark. These opposites have played out for centuries and will continue to do so until the end of all time -- but for now, here at home with his family, Kylo knows he has finally experienced the peace that so many people fight the Dark to find again, and he understands that he could never go back. Not ever. This is his peace now, his home and his world. Come what may he will never take that for granted again.