All of the Stars - Reylo

Chapter Three

Chapter Three
Two Become One

Rey

I kept my hand behind his back, trying to protect Ben from slamming onto the rock ground. It didn't matter much though, he was so much bigger than me. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was inhaling and exhaling sharply as I looked down at him. "Ben." My eyes quickly flooded with tears. Everything had just happened so fast. He gave me his life. "No, no." I muttered frantically, shaking him slightly. "No, Ben!" I cried out, holding back a flood of tears.

   I rested my head on his chest, closing my eyes and breathing shakily. He couldn't possibly be gone. He couldn't leave me like this. He had just come back, Ben had just come back. And now he was gone, right before my eyes. I closed my eyes, praying that I would hear a heartbeat, but I knew it was too late. "Come back to me."

Everything was quiet and lonely. I couldn't even pick my head up. I was coming to terms with all of the things that had just happened. I couldn't process any of it.

   Almost out of nowhere, I felt a pressure against my face. A gasp cut through the silent cave. I sat up quickly, looking at Ben now. His chest was moving up and down... he was breathing. "B-Ben?" His hands began to move, finding their place on the bumpy ground, pushing himself up. "Ben!" His eyes fluttered open, them finally meeting mine again, and my heart skipped a beat.

I helped him sit up again, like he had been before. After really coming to, figuring out where he was, he smiled at me. My heart rate sped up as an instant as his lips parted and formed a smile. He laughed ever so slightly, seeming to be in awe of his situation. "Rey." His Smile was contagious. Before I knew it, I was smiling too, perhaps even wider than him.

My hands fumbled as I gripped his forearms. Maybe if I held onto him, he wouldn't slip away again. "How? How are you here right now? You-"

"Died? I know, Rey." He nodded slightly. "I died, but my mother... she saved me. She gave her life for mine." My heart grew heavy. Leia was dead. My smile faded quickly, thinking about the woman I admired that had just passed away. She did it though, so Ben could live. And now he's here, with me. Alive. "I'm here."

   I sighed slightly in relief, one of my hands moving up from his strong arm to caress his cheek. Without hesitation, I pulled him closer to me, our lips locking like perfect puzzle pieces that completed the picture. His arms were wrapped around me, holding me close to him in his strong grasp as our kiss deepened and fireworks went off inside my head. The weight of every tragic moment that had just happened lifted off my shoulders. I had never felt freer, I had never felt more alive. I was afraid to pull away. Like if I pulled away, Ben would slip through my fingers and disappear forever.

   When we broke, he looked like he had been in a trance. He looked more scared than he did when he passed. I held his face in my hands, caressing his cheek with my thumb. I kept my eyes locked with his, nodding slightly at him. It's real. With that, the widest smile I had ever seen appeared on Ben's face. It lit up the dark, wet cave we were still seated in. I exhaled, laughing softly at his grin.

I got to my feet first, looking down at the man I had been searching for all along. Throughout space and throughout the darkness, I had found Ben Solo. I stretched my hand out for him to take, smiling at him. As he took it, I felt my heart race again. He towered over me now, like he naturally did, forcing me to look up now. "Well what happens now?" He asked, looking down at me with a smile that seemed permanently plastered there. I had never seen him smile before this, and now I never thought he'd stop.

I thought of the Resistance. They all must be celebrating the defeat of my grandfather and the First Order. That part still hadn't sunk into me yet. Finn and Poe must be worried about me. They don't know my condition. We could've just gone back there, but how would they react to seeing Ben? I wouldn't be going anywhere without him at my side now.

   We took a few steps, moving closer to an exit from this cave. "How do you feel about going back to the Resistance base on Ajan Kloss?" I watched as Ben presser his lips together. I couldn't stop looking at them since the kiss we shared.

   "They all hate me there, don't they?" He looked down at me, smirking ever so slightly. "Won't they kill me on the spot?"

   I shrugged. "Hate is a... subjective word." I liked to think he was just being dramatic in how everyone would react, but in reality, I had no clue what they'd think. "I'm sure they don't hate you."

   He exhaled, cracking a smile. "You're telling me that the pilot and the stormtrooper don't hate me? That's optimistic."

   "Maybe not calling them the pilot and the stormtrooper to their faces would be a step in the right direction." Ben still looked skeptical. He was definitely nervous, and understandably so. They just don't understand though. Ben wasn't Kylo anymore. Ben was Ben Solo. He was really him.

   "Are you sure you want to bring me there? I can just go-"

   "Go where?" I stopped in my tracks, instinctively grabbing his wrist to stop him from walking. "Ben, you just slipped away from me." I swallowed hard. The fear of losing him again came over me.  "You can't go again."

   I knew Ben could sense my panic. He intertwined his fingers with mine, giving my smaller hand a small squeeze. It reassured me. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I shouldn't even have said that. I'll go with you to Ajan Kloss." He squeezed my hand again, tilting my head up gently to look at him. "I'm sorry."

   "Don't apologize. I suppose I'm just scared."

   He nodded. "I'm here, Rey. I'm here." He gently stroked my cheek with his thumb, easing my tension. I felt at ease. I felt safe again.

   "Okay, lets go."