Star Wars: Episode X - The Rescue Mission

Chapter Five: Reunited

Rey shuddered as the Falcon approached Exegol's surface. The aura of the dark side was strong, and it made her feel cold both in her body and in her heart. Last time she had been here, she had felt this revolting spirit of evil, but she'd been full of adrenaline, so preoccupied with the coming confrontation with Palpatine (what a joy to know he was not her grandfather!) and stopping his plot to take over the galaxy that it had faded into the background.

Now, though, she was almost overcome with the sinister energy that pervaded the place. She thought of Ben, of their bond, of seeing him again and rescuing him, and the despair subsided. She thought with pride and happiness about his triumph over the dark side and how he had thrown away his Kylo persona and come to rescue her. Every thought, every memory of the light beat back the darkness even more. She needed that as she landed her ship outside the giant trapezoidal Sith temple and was flooded with awful memories of the last time she had been inside it.

Entering the structure, she made her way to the throne room. She walked over to the place where Ben had died, but there was nothing unusual about this spot in the room. She looked around and saw nothing to indicate where the portal might be, or where Ben might show himself. Frustrated, she dashed around, finding nothing and seeing nothing, before realizing that she was letting panic take over and wasn't relying on the Force to guide her. She stopped, closed her eyes, and tuned in. Even through all the pollution of darkness, she could still sense the unsullied Force. She calmed her mind and reached out. She thought of her bond with Ben. She thought of him and tried to sense him. She tried to discern whether there was a place that felt different in her surroundings.

Rey felt something; it was faint, but it was undoubtedly different from what was all around her. She turned her head to the side and looked at the rock wall in that direction. It wasn't so different from the cave wall on Ahch-To. She walked over to it, and her sense of something much different grew. Then...Ben! Yes, it was! Just the faintest feeling, but... She reached the wall and put her hand up to it. The surface of the wall was changing, moving! It looked more and more like the cave wall, and then...a shadow in the distance. The shadow came closer. It was Ben, she knew. He put his hand up; so did she. The wall cleared. He was smiling.

"You made it," he said simply.

Yes," she breathed. "What do we do now?"

"Let's try to open our bond, and if that works, you walk through it to me. We'll pass you through the way you passed the lightsaber to me."

"Can we open our bond at will? Our meetings in the Force have never been our own doing before."

"We never worked together to make it happen before."

"True." Rey took a deep breath. "Here we go."

Ben closed his eyes and Rey did the same. Somehow that always seemed to help her see what she was truly supposed to see. She tapped into the Force and reached out to Ben.

It was like a light turning on. She felt the unmistakable connection and opened her eyes. She and Ben were no longer touching opposite sides of a wall; their hands were held outward with nothing but space in between.

Ben turned his hand palm up and held it outward. "Rey." His voice was tender. "Will you join me? Please."

Rey remembered the last time he had said that like it was yesterday. That time, his hand had been covered by a black glove, so symbolic of the way his heart had been cloaked by the darkness that was Kylo Ren. But now he was Ben, fully Ben, not the little glimpse she had seen in the hut on Ahch-To when they'd touched hands. He'd given up the shroud of darkness, and she could take his hand now. There was nothing she wanted to do more.