To Be So Lonely // Ben Solo

30

Rey took his ship and his Wayfinder, but Ben didn't need it. He had been there so recently he navigated it from his memory alone. When he arrived, Exegol remained quiet, beyond the cracks of lightning, and he breathed a sigh of relief. There was still time.

He landed the old TIE Fighter next to an X-Wing, wondering briefly where Rey dug up that old ship, but having no time to think about it. He could sense her anxiety as he exited his own ship and hurried down the path to Palpatine, only a blaster in hand.

He had no time to wait for the wacky old elevator. The suspense, the tense atmosphere was over for him. It scared him no longer. He just had to find Rey, hopefully before Palpatine could speak with her, and devise a plan to kill him.

Ben looked down the circular shaft of the elevator and spotted a thick, rusted chain that he could climb. Hiking in a quick deep breath, he gripped his blaster, and jumped from the edge of the platform, smacking against the chain hard. It was cemented, rotting, enough for him to find footing quickly before he slid down it.

Despite surviving, he could not resist the annoyed, "Ow," that left his lips.

"Smooth," he heard a distant voice.

Ben looked up, finding nothing above him, but when he looked at the ground beneath him, he saw her, at last. A real, genuine smile broke across his lips when he saw her, the one he had always wanted to let her see, but never could allow himself to do. Cyra's smile only grew when she recognized him. She could see in the simple way he smiled at her that she no longer had to look for signs or remnants of Ben in him. That was her Ben.

Ben climbed down the chain. When he jumped off and hit the ground, he started to jog once more on the same path he and Cyra took to find Palpatine. She followed beside him.

"I thought I'd wait to make an appearance until you needed me most," she said cheekily, flashing him a smile.

Ben slowed. He ducked behind a broken down wall, enough to hide from sight, if there was anything around besides Palpatine. He looked at her, really looked at her, and he needed to apologize to her.

She cut him off before he could speak with a shake of her head. She reached to touch him, but then remembered they would not be able to feel each other and withdrew her hand. "I don't need an apology, my love. I did what I could for you and I don't regret it. You were right, Ben, the Force will guide us both home. Believe in that."

"I love you," he told her, instead, and when she bit her lip to stop the absolute joy that tried to light up her face, he wished more than anything he could take her into his arms. "I'll be with you soon enough," he said quickly, then rushed off again before he could see the look of assumed protest on her face.

As he ran, he interuppted the patrol of a Knight of Ren. He ran past him, at first, before he felt the presence of a foe behind him, and he used his blaster, shooting lazily behind him. When he felt the hard drop of the body behind him, Ben pushed on.

He turned the corner to the Throne Room sharply and was forced to skid to a quick stop when he saw the remainder of the Knights guarding it. Ben noticed their surpluss of weaponry and his own single blaster, and he chuckled quietly, unsure of how he was going to beat his way past them, but sure of it in the same sense. He shrugged his shoulders at them as they surrounded him like prey waiting to strike, and he delivered the first blow before anyone else could.

He sent a quick blast of force at the Knights in front of him, knocking a few off of their feet. He tried to throw punches and kick, but the truth was he was weaponless, and it did make all the difference when the Knights carried weapons that were mere extensions of their bodies. It didn't take long for them to subdue him with a blunt knock to his face, dropping him to his knee, and another just to shake his concentration.