Stargaze [Star Wars Sequel Trilogy] ✔︎

LI. Death

Ben Solo couldn't believe it. Rey was alive. She was here living and breathing in his embrace. And she kissed him, expressing her love and gratitude for him. They parted as Rey smiled again with a hint of nervousness. Did he not like it? Rey patently waited for an answer and he grinned. The only and biggest one, all for her. She caressed his face once more, drumming her fingers against his warm and smooth cheek. Ben assumed now would be the moment in some odd universe where he would fall backwards while Rey tried to cling to him and he went to the force. But it didn't. He felt stronger than ever before, full of more life than ever despite his still broken leg. Then there was a strong pain in the force, the last shred of light flickering away. He could tell Rey felt the same when her smile faded. Rey slowly turned her head to see Lillian lying on the cold ground, her complexion alerting, beginning to grey.

"Lilly!" Rey cried scrambling off of Ben's lap to her side. Ben was with her. "She's-" Rey began as tears rolled down her face. Ben shook beside her.

"Rey. I wanted to give my life to you." Ben said. "I didn't want her to do the same." She could tell Ben was holding back tears. He was the last Skywalker now. The legacy resting upon his shoulders as it always did but now the weight was almost too much to bear. "Neither one of us did." Rey said as they both sobbed. Ben then looked to Rey. Force, he loved her so much. But Lillian needed to live. Ben reached out his hand and laid it on her chest. Rey laid her's on top of it. They would bring Lillian back. Even if it killed them.

...

Poe Dameron looked at the falling destroyers in amazement. "Their fleet is stuck here! They're toast! Come on!" He yelled to their fellow resistance members. "Finn, you seeing this?"

"Finn didn't board the lander." Connix said through the comms. Finn, Rose, and Jannah were still on the main destroyer, that was beginning to explode. "They're still on that command ship?" He realized. "I see them. I'm going to get them." "General, you won't make it." Someone said. "Trust me, I'm fast!" Poe assured them.

"Not as fast as this ship." Lando cut in. "I'll get those 3. Go get your girl. She's in the cathedral." Lillian went there. But how did she even get there? He shook his head and turned around, landing on the platform outside of it. He saw Luke's x-wing and a forgotten empire tie beside it. Ok what was going on?

It immediately felt dark at the cathedral literally and figuratively. Poe braced himself and walked in, removing his helmet before. He flicked on a flashlight to see an elevator beside a fallen statue. He allowed it to lower him somewhat and continued. After continuing more, he tripped over something. Shining the light in that direction, he realized it was the body of one of the Knights of Ren. It still had a smoking hole where a lightsaber once was. He swallowed his fear and got up running to a clearing. And there it was. He noticed a throne on one side of the room with a pile of flesh and bones on it. He grimaced before looking back over at something else. 2 figures sat looking at a crumpled body. One of the figures stood. It was Rey. She ran to him.

"Poe!" She said breathless. "Rey?" He asked. He then noticed the dried tears on her face. "Something has happened with Lillian." She took in a shaken breath. "She-" The pieces began to connect looking beyond the last Jedi and the fallen figure. The mass of red hair was a giveaway. At her side was the man that once tortured information out of him before this whole journey even began. "Kylo Ren, get the hell away from her!" Poe said raising his blaster and pushing Rey aside. Ben scooted away from her as Poe knelt to her side. "What did you do?" Poe asked the former supreme leader. "I-" Ben began. "He didn't do anything. She gave her life. To save ours." Rey said. She would tell him about everything later. "Well we need to do something." Poe exclaimed. He looked down at her face, she looked almost as if she was asleep. He began to press onto her chest and press breaths into her.

"It won't work." Ben said quietly. "I don't care what you think." Poe said as he continued to do the chest compressions. "He's right." Rey said. "It won't work." Poe then went to apply pressure again before almost falling over. Instead of pressing against her chest, they pressed against the ground. Lillian had disappeared into the force. Like her mother, leaving only her clothes behind.

Poe sighed as more tears ran down his face. The 3 of them scrambled to hold it down when a gust of wind came in, threatening to blow the remains away. Poe then ran his fingers along the chain around his neck. A necklace his mother gave him with her engagement ring from his father. She had given it to him for he to eventually give it to the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with. He yanked the necklace off and stared at it for a moment. He caught Rey and Ben looking at him and so he laid the necklace down where her neck would be at the collar of her tunic. Rey slugged over to Poe and hugged him, allowing the general to cry into her shoulder. She noticed Ben just wrap his arms around himself and weep. She herself closed her eyes and grabbed Lillian's sleeve. This was the one thing, she could never fix.