Darkness Rises

Chapter 9 Going home

Once Chewie picked Kylo up, he quickly fastened binders around Kylo's wrists. He didn't blame him at all. For all the Wookie knew he was sent as a spy. What he hadn't expected was to be taken directly to the rebel base on Crait. He protested with the Wookie trying to explain that Rey needed help, but Chewie ignored him. His only response was that if he indeed was being honest then they would need more than just the two of them to rescue Rey. Kylo knew he couldn't convince Chewie to help him and he knew he couldn't mount a full-scale attack against the might if the First Order with a saber and an old ship. So, he sat, and he waited for them to land, waited as everything he had fought to destroy suddenly became his only means to survive. The metallic whine of the ships landing gear brought panic to the forefront of his mind. He was, up to this point, the most ruthless murderer in the galaxy, one who would surely be gunned down the minute he stepped off the ship. Chewie watched his every move as he lowered the ramp. Kylo knew he expected him to do something ridiculous but he was frozen in place. Not by fear, but by regret. He was not afraid to die, in fact he had been trained to be ready for death at any minute. This was so much more than an instant death. This was having to look into his mother's eyes and beg her for forgiveness, to see the woman who's heart he had broken so many years ago and ask her for help.

Chewie slowly escorted Kylo down the ramp, his bowcaster prodding him forward like the prisoner he was. The resistance was less than half of what Kylo had expected. Each face he walked past held a different emotion ranging from fear to seething hatred. Kylo, being who he was, he paid them no mind and walked with his head held high, showing no fear. He may be captive, but he was no coward and he would look them in the eyes if they moved to attack. He focused his gaze now on the tiny frail woman who stood only a few feet away. As worn down as she looked he could feel her strength as it flowed through her. The years of battle and heartbreak were etched into her face. Her once deep brown hair was streaked silver as bright as the salt that surrounded them. Her chocolate eyes were the same ones he remembered as a child. They were warm, always caring. She didn't smile, he didn't expect her too. Her gaze swept over him and he suddenly felt like he was eight years old again. She stepped forward. He stopped moving, almost stopped breathing. General Leia Organa, his mother.

"Ben" she whispered so softly, as if any louder she would break. "Ben is that you?"

Kylo's walls crashed in an instant. He turned his eyes to ground unable to face her, there was no galaxy in which he deserved forgiveness, nothing he could offer in payment of his heinous crimes.

"Mother" he finally said, the tears he had kept away for so many years suddenly spilled over.

"Ben, my son, is it truly you" she placed her hand on his cheek and willed him to look at her.

"It's me, mom, I'm so sorry, I......I'm so sorry" He was shaking. Realization swept through him. This was his mother, and he was Ben Solo. Ben who had loved following his mother as a child, Ben who loved her more than anything, who would probably never again deserve her love or kindness but would try to earn it back in time. He would never love anyone as much as his mother, save for possibly the girl who saved him. But she was far away, and Ben Solo could only pray his mother would help him.

"Ben, I know, and I forgive you, and I am sorry that I couldn't protect you from that monster, that I sent you away" she, the ever-strong general of his sworn enemy was forgiving him. He felt an enormous weight lift from his shoulders. The most powerful man in the galaxy was crying before his mother and for once he didn't care, it didn't matter that he was broken, it didn't matter that he was a monster, all that mattered was his mother had forgiven him.

After the emotional reunion, the General had been swept back into her duties, she turned to a man standing next to her and gave him several commands. Chewie approached her, and she and the Wookie stepped away from Kylo to talk. Kylo stood there, not knowing whether he should say anything. Finally, Leia motioned for him to follow and he did.