Ren: A Collection of Kylo Ren One Shots

{TROS} An Ending

Wow, an update? How incredible.

TROS SPOILERS. Don't read unless you've already seen it.

*

Rey would never have guessed death to be peaceful. When she faded away into the black abyss filled with quiet solitude, she had expected something else. Anything other than this... peace. Something was meant to disrupt it-- she couldn't feel worthy of such an offering. She was a Palpatine. She didn't deserve a peaceful death.

That's when it hit her: maybe this wasn't peace at all. Her leftover thoughts flashed to her time on Jakku-- a scavenger alone, deserted in sand made of memories.

Empty. That was a better word for death.

The rebels had won in the end, but with a cost. Sacrificing herself was the least she could do, and she only wished she could do more. Her grandfather-- her own blood!-- had destroyed so much of the fleet. She mourned for the lost lives that she should have been able to save.

Save. Just as Ben Solo had tried to do for her. In the end, she had failed him as well. Would she find him somewhere in this dark abyss, perhaps looking for her too? She imagined the boy and his family. No, he would be in a better, happier realm with Leia and Han. They deserved that much. He deserved that much.

Lonely. Another word to add to death.

She was and would always be lonely. The sickening feeling stayed with her wherever she went, hiding in the shadows. Loneliness was easy enough to ignore on Jakku, but here Rey felt every crack, every brittle lie of having family. Someone to know. Someone to love.

Still, step after step, Rey ventured further into the darkness. Guilt overflowing. She knew she deserved this pain-- this inevitable conclusion to her story. Redemption was never a que for her bloodline. Her power should never have entered the galaxy-- it needed to be destroyed. Her death was destiny fulfilled. The emperor was gone as well, and much too far away from even her abyss. However, she would forever be haunted by him, taunted by his medieval grin that somehow resembled her own.

Rey.

Ahead. An opening? Or was it just a trick? A mirage. It had to be.

The dark tunnel cracked. A swelling light, but not enough to hope. This wasn't an ending in the pit, it couldn't possibly lead anywhere, and Rey almost decided to turn around. But then--

A glimmer. A voice. A hand.

Ben!

*

He looked at the girl in his arms. The scavenger. The hope of the rebellion. Dead.

But, how? This wasn't meant to be. This story, their story, couldn't possibly end. Not this way.

Impossible tears filled his eyes as he hugged Rey's lifeless body. His chest ached, his heart dull. The force seemed to cry in anguish around them, and for once Ben wished he hadn't been a weilder at all. Upon his shoulder, all the lives of past Jedi wept for their child. Ben felt useless. There was nothing to do. Unless...

Try, Ben.

The thought was not his own, but it entered his mind so suddenly he didn't have time to decipher the messenger. Still, he held onto the plea with everything. He needed to do something. Whether it ended up a failure, he had to try. He had to try for the messenger. He had to try for Rey.

He looked once more into the cold eyes of the scavenger. Searching. His hand slowly went to her stomach. Reaching. His eyes closed, his breathing calmer than it had ever been.