Transformation: Becoming Ben Solo (A Reylo Fanfic)

Chapter 50 - Reconciliation

A/N - And here it is my Lovelies...... Its a bit of a longer one - and hopefully worth the wait.  Don't worry, there's still a little bit more to come.....Thanks again to all of you for reading and sticking with it through 50 CHAPTERS!! (I still can't believe we're at 50!!)  Please let me know your thoughts and reactions -  I LOVE COMMENTS - and please, please, please don't forget to vote.  Enjoy everyone!

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It was yet another beautiful day on Chandrila.  Aside from her heartache and sadness, Rey had found it very peaceful here over the past couple of months, and spent most of her time outdoors when she wasn't sleeping.  Lately, she had felt so tired in the afternoons that she needed a nap, else she couldn't keep her eyes open at dinner.  Thus she tried to get outside early in the morning every day to mediate, followed by a walk through the meadows and fields nearby.   There was also an orchard located a short walk away behind the house, and she would visit it daily to grab a snack before returning to the house for lunch and her nap.

She loved the house that had so quickly come to feel like home to her.   It was the Solo family home, and was the place where Ben had spent the most time as a child – where he had essentially grown up.  On some level, Rey felt connected to him here, and once her heartache had begun to lessen slightly, it made her feel a little bit better.

There were still traces of his childhood presence scattered everywhere around the house.  Numerous books on ship design and propulsion were on the bookshelves in the living room, and small childhood crafts – treasured mementos – placed proudly on display here and there.  She'd found a box of old toys in the closet of his bedroom – model starships, blasters, and other small things, as well as a book with his old calligraphy work, and a set of tools and a dried-up pot of ink used to create it.  When she had found it, she had lovingly traced her fingers over the beautifully formed letters, remembering his large hands.  It was hard to believe such large hands could create such beautiful, finely detailed work....or touch her so gently.  She had shivered at the thought, and decided it was time to put that out of her mind.

She had just finished her morning walk and meditation session, and was strolling aimlessly through one of the nearby meadows behind the house, enjoying the warmth and sunshine.   Feeling her stomach rumble, she turned to make her way towards the orchard, wanting to pick a few of the glee-fruits that were ripening on the trees.

Something was going to happen today.  She could feel it in the Force. It was a ripple - a feeling of impending change.  The feeling was similar to what she'd felt on Coruscant just before the attack, except in that case it was a feeling of foreboding.  Today it felt almost... expectant.

Reaching the orchard, she set down the wide basket that she was carrying, admiring the selection of wildflowers she'd picked earlier.  Coming from a desert planet where almost nothing grew, she decided that she loved flowers, and picked some every day to keep in different rooms of the house.  Strolling through the orchard, she picked a few of the pink glee-fruits and placed them in her basket to take back with her.  Her mouth watered and her belly grumbled at the thought of the juicy, tart fruits.  Unable to resist, she started munching on one as she turned to head back to the house.  She patted the small, but now evident bump on her belly as she walked.   "Happy now?"  She chuckled.  While she normally couldn't resist the thought of food at the best of times, her appetite had definitely grown in the past weeks – to the point that she became ravenous if she didn't eat almost immediately upon feeling even mild hunger pangs.

A feeling of protectiveness washed over her.  She would do anything to protect this child – her daughter – even sacrifice her own happiness - live without a part of her soul.   Her other half - Ben.  Thinking of him, her heart clenched.  She looked down at the ring she still wore.  Unable to part with it, she had switched it to her right hand so it would represent a memory – her memory of him - rather than their promise to each other.