Ben Solo Deserved Better - RoS Ending Rewrite

The Rise of Skywalker

"Ben."

He opened his eyes, feeling his light return to life, staring into the once lifeless eyes of Rey.  She smiled at him, raised a hand to his face, before bringing him in for the most passionate kiss he could imagine. He was as surprised as he was filled with joy, the joy he had been deprived from for so long.

Rey pulled back, seeing her love smile for the first time. "You came back for me." Tears filled her eyes, barely able to believe it.

Ben tried to come back with a retort, as his father was want to do, but all that came out was "Rey...I love you."
Rey smiled and held him close once more. "I know." She pulled away to kiss his forehead. "I love you too."

The dyad stayed there for a moment, feeling true love in their hearts, knowing how close they came to loosing each other. Finally, they stood, hands linked, as they escaped the With planet, taking Luke's old X-wing back to the Resistance base.
•°•
A send-off and a blessing from "Uncle Lando" were all that watched the Falcon as it left, arriving in the skies of Tatooine. Rey sat Co-pilot, occasionally glancing away from the controls to see Ben smiling, reminding her of his father. They skillfully landed the Falcon near a small, rounded home, covered in sand from a lack of use.

"Mom took me here when I was little," Ben explained. "This was Luke's home before he joined the Rebels."

Ben placed a metal lid upside-down on the sand, gesturing for Rey to sit. He sat behind her, wrapping his arms around her small frame, and gave a small push forward, a make-shift sled to the bottom of a small hill.

There was much that Ben regretted due to his time as Kylo Ren. He wished he could have spent more time with his mother and father, Uncle Cheque, and everyone else in his family, that now were either gone or may never accept him.  Rey gave a small squeeze to his larger hand, reminding him that she understood, possibly better than anyone, that feeling of wasting time on a false hope.  He'd seen her years of loneliness firsthand when they first bonded, as she had seen his fears. But now, neither of them would be alone.

Together they stepped outside, watching the binary sunset.  Rey produced a ceremonial red cloth, Ben lifting two lightsabers, the sabers of his mother and uncle, Rey's teachers. They gently wrapped the cloth around the sabers and buried them in the sand using the force, a funeral in place of their bodies. As they stood, an old woman approached them

"There's been no one for so long," she accused. "Who are you?"

Rey stepped in. "I'm Rey, and this is Ben."
"Rey and Ben who?"

The couple felt a rising in the force near their side, a line of pale blue figures fading into view. Rey recognized the twins, Luke and Leia, while Ben could see the face of his grandfather and other Jedi he had only heard of in his studies. Leia and Luke smiled and nodded to the dyad, a blessing.

Rey and Ben smiled, looking into each other's eyes, then back to the woman. This time, Ben stepped in.

"Skywalker."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Please forgive this, I've been mentally messed up since I've seen the film, and wrote this in a small notebook while crying at work. I wasn't even gonna type this up but some friends encouraged me to. Thanks Rian Johnson for making me care about Ben Solo, and *thanks* JJ Abrams for making these sacrifices "meaningful" , "hopeful", and "fun".