Keep Him There

  LAST WARNING: TROS SPOILERS AHEAD

Rey woke up crowded by a thousand faces. No two were alike, and yet all held the same knowing look in their eyes. As if they saw the entire galaxy at once.

She gasped as recognition hit her. The Jedi.

All the voices in her head, all the power she had felt in her veins. They all were there, standing before her.

She knew she had never met any of them, and yet felt like she knew each of them as an old friend.

Another wave of knowing hit her.

"I'm dead, aren't I?"

Her answer came from a hobbled, green figure. Yoda, she remembered distantly. "Dead, you are not. No death can there be. Only the Force, young Rey."

"Indeed," another man intercepted, holding a hand to his chin, "You have only just begun Rey, you are now part of the living force."

The young woman's jaw dropped, surely her grandfather couldn't have killed her. She had beaten him, she knew it.

"Defeat the Sith you did." the decrepit, green being spoke to her again. "But time it was for you to come."

"No! It can't be true!" Rey cried vehemently, "I cannot leave Ben behind! He was alive, I felt it! I need to help him!"

"Attached to the boy are you?" Yoda continued. Somehow Rey knew that he already knew her answer.

So she answered him simply, "Yes."

"Prepare you must, to lose what you love."

A taller man now emerged from the crowd. A scar ran through one of his eyes, similar to the one Rey had given Ben on Starkiller.

"Your attachment for my grandson must be controlled, Rey. It is not evil itself, but do not let it control you as I let mine control me."

Though she had been listening to every word the man spoke, Rey only picked up on one word.

"Grandson?" she repeated.

The man smiled, "Yes, I am Anakin Skywalker. But you might know me as my more infamous self, Darth Vader."

Rey bobbed her head once.

The next voice to speak was familiar to her.

"My father is saying that we are giving you a second chance. You are to live the life that he and my mother were not able to." Luke added, placing a robotic hand onto his father's shoulder,

"You are the most light of us, if anyone can live it it is you."

Rey nodded again, her heart pounding with anticipation. A warm feeling started in her stomach, a warmth kindled by her thoughts of Ben.

One more being stepped towards her, kneeling to touch her face. The figure had beautiful brown hair and eyes that Rey would recognize anywhere. They were brown and hard as an asteroid, yet soft enough to instill hope in anyone who looked into them. The same eyes that she had seen in Ben.

Leia.

"Han and I brought him back to the light, but you must keep him there. As we have watched over him, please keep watch over him. The transition will not be easy."

A tear ran down Rey's face as she looked once more at her teacher. The now raging fire stoked within her grew as she silently swore to Leia that she would protect her son. It's heat continued to consume her until it was all she could do to keep from clamping a hand down on her side. Leia watched her discomfort with a knowing smile. She answered Rey's confusion with a equally confusing answer,

"He wants you."

"Perhaps not the time it is for you to join us, young one." Yoda agreed solemnly, "But time it is for you to return to the living."

At once, all the Jedi stepped around her, placing hands on her back, head, and shoulders. Flame raged inside her body, consuming not just her stomach but its entirety. But it's warmth no longer hurt her, instead it gave her comfort. She felt it strengthen her, return her body to its full potential.

At once, the Jedi bid her farewell.

"We are with you Rey"

A moment later, she woke again. No faces crowded her this time, no fire burned her. Instead she found herself cradled between the knees of one person, just one face that stared down at her. Coincidentally, his hand lie on her stomach where the fire first blazed. He'd healed her, Rey realized. Leia's passive look now made sense, she knew that Ben was helping her.

Still incredulous she asked him, "Ben?"

He gave her the slightest nod, seeming to not believe it himself.

Rey reached her hand to his face, unable to help herself. Her hand did not go through him, as she half expected it to. Her curious fingers actually met his skin, cradling his cheek in the same way he held her.

"Keep him there." she remembered Leia instructing.

There was nothing in the galaxy Rey wanted more.

Without further thought, she pulled herself closer to the man in front of her and captured his lips with hers.

Ben received her kiss with equal fervor, kissing her back avidly. When they broke apart a moment later, he grinned cheekily at her, reminding Rey of a little boy.

She giggled back at him, gracing his lips with one more peck before standing and offering him her hand. But he didn't take it right away, something held him back. His face paled and his eyes weren't focused. It was almost if he wasn't fully aware where he was.

"Ben?" she called again, anxiety etching her tone. His eyes shot to hers, color rushing back into his cheeks. Rey still held out her hand to him.

The gesture was not lost on the former Supreme Leader, she was offering him the same thing he had offered her so long ago. But this time, he was not shrouded by darkness or too far for redemption. He was her Ben. The boy both Rey and Leia had loved all along.

He took his second chance as eagerly as she offered it.

"I love you, Rey."

Now hand in hand with him, Rey grinned.

"I know."