Between Two Suns

Chapter 4 (Destination.)

"I'll come back, sweetheart... I promise..."

( X )

'It was him all along.' Rey thinks, her lips parted as a tear slowly rolls down her cheek. Her breathing has stilled at this point, at the realization of just how long Ben has been her other half, and her shadow in this world and the next.

The fact of this warmed her heart, and sent a chill down her spine as she came to terms with knowing that the voice in her mind was never her father, or her mother... But it was always the one person that assured her that she was never alone.

Mindlessly, Rey's hand slowly reaches up and softly touches her warm cheek, right in the spot where she could have sworn she felt something... Could have sworn she felt him; Ben.

His force signature seemed to hover near her, a ghost that refused to part and leave her be. She both loved it, and hated it, wishing with all her might that she could have just one moment with him, a silent goodbye at the very least...

Anything at all, to be able to look into his eyes once more.

Again, as it had been since the day it happened, Rey's heart heaved at the thought of not being able to tell Ben how she felt, really only realizing it with certain since she decided to kiss him...

The thought of that touch, so different from when they had touched hands through the bond, makes her skin warm and in return, awakens a need deep within her that first bloomed when her lips touched his.

Sitting in the pilot seat of the Falcon, Rey smiles as she remembers how it played out.

She had died.

She felt it, she knew it, even as it happened while the force drained from her being, leaving her cold and empty on the broken grounds just feet away from the throne that was now rightfully hers.

Even with the chaos and aftermath of the war, surrounded by death and darkness, her last thought had been of Ben, and how he'd shown up to help her... To save her.

In their darkest hour, their bond illuminated the stars around them, giving life, taking life, and protecting them when they had both needed it most.

As the life faded from her, Rey remembered his dark, mesmerizing eyes, how they always seemed to be studying something or someone, and how his gaze always pinned her where she stood, how his eyes always gave him away, and she guessed, that's why he wore his mask.

She remembered the look of his thick, raven-black hair, and how she'd thought of touching it on a few occasions now, of running her fingers through it, similar to how she did her own.

She admired him, in all of his brute, feverishly protective, and beautiful, handsome glory.

To Rey, Ben Solo was so perfect in his imperfect ways, and she loved him for it; Because she, too, was imperfect, and together they created something great and powerful that it seemed to outmaneuver the force itself, and deep within that bond, she nestled herself as she took her last breath.

Rey wasn't sure how long It took, or how long she'd been dead to the galaxy.

But when she came to, when she felt Ben's large palm press against her abdomen and his life force seep into her veins, she first felt shocked.

It was as if she were taking a breath of fresh air for the very first time, and she felt her blood pumping harder and faster, energized with a new degree of the force that overtook her senses, clearing her vision and intensifying every breath she took.