Closed to rampageous

[talentedscavenger]

Ben/Kylo Ren with Rey AU--post TROS

"Ben?" His name fell from Rey's lips, looking into his dark eyes and feeling his arm around her. Both of them surviving Palpatine, putting an end to his plans once and for all. The stone statues were leveled, crumbling into rocks and pebbles. T

he cave didn't echo the sounds and whispers of the Siths of the Past. Though there was Darkness, there was still light, enough to illuminate their area, allowing Rey to take in Ben's handsome face. Stars, they were so close to dying--no, she had died, but he brought her back. He healed her.

"Ben?" she whispered again, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over. Her hand cupping his face, thumb brushing over his cheek.

The First Order was nothing. It was all ash and rubble. The Imperial ships, the Final Order, would never leave atmo, and the rest of the Galaxy would not longer fear the shadows and Darkness of the Empire or its ghosts. Her friends--the Resistance could go home victorious and...have a future.

They could have a future where Darkness didn't linger or cast a shadow over all of them.

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[rampageous]

He'd given her everything.

In between one breath and the next, between the ebb of his own life and the spark of hers, he'd known. The fragile core of light that was Ben Solo had faded to a dying ember-- he wouldn't live through this, but that was fine, that was right, because Rey's hand was grasping his and she was bright and alive, and that was all that mattered. With the cold sinking into his limbs, with the shadows creeping into his vision, Ben Solo finally, for the first time he could even remember, felt... light.

And then, as his own light guttered out, he felt the Force-- pause. For the briefest eternity, there was nothing; nothing, but for the faint impression of a hand between his shoulder blades and an implacable presence at his back.

ＮＯＴ ＹＥＴ, ＢＥＮ.

Reality snapped back to focus. Ben took a shuddering breath, then another, dimly aware that the burnt-out core of himself had been fanned back into existence: weak and sputtering, but alive nonetheless. He dragged his gaze up to meet Rey's, tears of relief prickling his own eyes.

"Rey." It came out wheezed, but hopeful. He tried again. "Rey, it's over."

[talentedscavenger]

Rey had felt Ben's life come to a halt. The light within him dying out. If it came to it, she would figure out a way to bring him back, even if it that meant cutting her life in half. She didn't--couldn't lose him. Not after everything they had gone through. Not after everything he endured. They deserved the chance to have a future, free of their respective bloodlines and simply be themselves.

The hand around his shoulder blades clutched at the fabric of his tunic, willing--begging the stars above for Ben to stay. She didn't want to lose him, not again. His was the hand she wanted to take, to hold, and never let go over.

His name was on her lips again, ready to cry, ready to scream at the injustice of it, but she watched him take that next breath. He was here.

He was alive.

Tears were flowing from both of their eyes. It was over, all of it. She nodded her head at him and closed the remaining distance to hold him tightly, afraid he might slip through her fingers.

"It's over," she whispered back, pulling back ever so much to allow her forehead to press against his. Her eyes softly falling close as she fought back the sob bubbling up in the back of her throat, the gravity of those words sinking in.

[rampageous]

Ben sagged into the embrace, curling one arm around her back, fingers tangling in the loose weave of her tunic. She was alive-- they we alive. Palpatine, the Sith, the Final Order... they were finished, dead or dying as that terrible fleet fell from the sky.

Dropping his head to Rey's shoulder, Ben took a moment to just breathe. The adrenaline and tunnel vision of their impossible survival was wearing off; he could feel the chill of the cavern around them, the knife-sharp pain of shattered bones beginning to claw at his nerves. And worse: the faint rumbling echoing from above, the tremors that shook the stones around them.

They didn't have much time.

"You need to go," he said, reluctantly drawing back. "I'll follow." It was clear what he meant, bond or no bond: between the clearly-broken leg, the snapped ribs, and the utter lack of any reserves to tap into-- well, he wouldn't be moving quickly, that was for certain.

[talentedscavenger]

Her let go of his tunic in favor of tangling her fingers in his thick hair. She pressed a kiss to his temple, wanting to keep him as close to her as possible. However, all good things had to come to an end. The rumbling from the surface caught her attention too. The fleet was falling from the sky. The ground beneath them would soon cave in. The temple itself preparing to collapse as the Sith were extinguished.

"I'm not leaving without you." She wasn't going too far ahead of him. As tired as her body was, she wasn't going to take a chance. Having Ben follow meant the possibility of being separated. Rey was determined to not let go of him. Silently, she was cursing at their lack of time, and her lack of energy. While it wouldn't be a wise thing to try and Force-heal Ben, she would have been willing. At least to help with his leg.

Rey pulled from Ben, quickly getting up to her feet and offered him her hand. The walls and ground shook around them, stones rolling down from the ceiling and statues crumbling. Rey didn't let go of Ben's hand, refusing to let go as they moved.

"I have a ship topside. We need to hurry." A smalls hip, but it would have to make due. She was hoping Poe and Finn were okay. That neither of them were injured or had crash landed during the fight.

[rampageous]

It was useless to argue, he could already tell, but that didn't stop him from shaking his head in muted exasperation. Stubborn-- but then, he couldn't claim to be any different.

Bracing his hands on the stone floor, Ben closed his eyes, taking several deep, centering breaths. It was far from the first time he'd used pain to focus himself, but this time there was no darkness to feed off it, no way to channel the pain into rage and power. Kriff, at the moment even the light felt faint, unsubstantial; the best he could hope for was to merely endure.

With one last exhale, he staggered to his feet, biting back a cry at the grind of bone against bone. It's nearly instinctive to grasp for the Force-- but no, he couldn't, wouldn't, not when the light still felt so tentative beneath his skin. Not in a place like this, steeped in blood and darkness. He breathed out again, shuddering, before finally managing to nod and take Rey's hand. One step at a time.

"Let's go."

[talentedscavenger]

As tall as Ben was, if Rey had to carry him (over her shoulder, bridal style, or any way that would allow them to move faster) she would. She wasn't sure if it the bond was there between them, but she felt an echo of it. Her ribs ached, and there was a faint stabbing faint in her leg. Something else to consider, later, when they weren't in a place that was going to fall in on itself.

Heart beating hard in her chest, they hobbled across the way, trying to get to her ship. The ground shook again once they were close enough. The door hissed as it opened, allowing both of them to hop into the cockpit of a Resistance ship. Everything from there seemed like a blur. Both of them barely making inside, with Rey taking control as pilot. The engines roaring to life and the sudden rush of taking off.

She could see hundreds--seemingly thousands of ships in the air--all of them fighting with the Resistance. A sight to see, but one she could reflect on later. The world beneath them crumbled to dust as they flew past the atmosphere and into space.

Now, they could breathe.

[rampageous]

By the time they reached the old T-65, cold sweat streaked Ben's face and he'd gone dangerously pale. The sight of the X-Wing drew up him up short, just for a moment-- because if there was one ship in the Galaxy that Ben knew almost as well as the Millennium Falcon it was Skywa-- Uncl-- Luke's battered fighter.

It was a single-man fighter, a tight fit for one on a good day, but he'd worked on this very ship often enough to know what could be done without. Hauling himself inside, it was the work of moments to pry open an inner panel and create a few extra handfuls of empty space-- enough to squeeze the two of them in the cockpit.

Ben didn't protest when Rey took the controls - he'd concede, later, that he'd barely managed to keep conscious at all - but merely dropped his head to rest against the cockpit canopy. Without the imminent threat of the temple collapsing atop them both, it was easier to slip into something halfway between exhaustion and mediation: aware and conscious through their bond, if needed, but otherwise trusting her to chart their course.

[talentedscavenger]

It didn't dawn on Rey at that moment how Ben might have reacted to see Luke's old ship. She was focused on getting both of them out alive. Between the two of them, no one else was going to die. Not right now. Her mind was focused on escaping, breaking the atmosphere and then making the jump to lightspeed. Ben's body was behind her, proof that he was with her, that he hadn't faded away into the Force.

His silence though, was concerning. She didn't know if he had fallen asleep, or fell into meditation. The former was more concerning, as she didn't have a medpack on her to help patch him up. If he suffered any injuries to his head...he might not wake up.

No, she wouldn't dwell on that. She focused her mind on that faint, familiar thread--their bond. He was alive...he was okay.

"..It'll be sometime before we reach the Resistance base," she whispered, knowing (logically) that's where they should go. Where she had to go, to see Finn and Poe and make sure everyone else was fine.

But, for Ben...it would be a different story. Maybe she could persuade Poe and Finn into letting her handle Ben. Yes, his sins were great, but...he wasn't that man anymore. He saved her, and that had to count for something.

[rampageous]

He could feel her mind brushing against their bond, bright and concerned, as though reassuring herself that it-- that he was still there. It was easier to speak this way, in a sense; emotions and impressions were less complicated than words by far. So he reached back, offering up a jumbled collection of alive/resting-focus-wounded/apology--

Or, better translated as: he was still alive, merely meditating to keep from leaking pain across their bond and distracting her.

And- ah, the Resistance base. That explained both her eagerness and her apprehension. The only thing he could offer back in response to Rey's words was acceptance.

He wouldn't begrudge them their justice - after all, Kylo Ren and Ben Solo's hands were one and the same.

[talentedscavenger]

Rey released a breath she didn't know she had been holding until he reached back through their bond. It was fragile because of Palpatine, but it was there. A thread or tiny threads that connected them together. A way for them to communicate with each other....and remind herself that she wasn't alone. She sent back a feeling of relief that was still laced with apprehension.

Ben could accept his fate, but Rey....they needed more time. They needed time to figure something out. Time for Ben and their bond to heal.

No. The word came through clearly through their bond as she changed course. Ahch-To wouldn't be too far away. He could heal there. They could have time there. Surely, Poe and Finn would understand? She would send communication to them once they landed, but for now, she was focused on getting them to the planet Luke had sequestered himself to...a planet where she nearly repeated the same thing.

Rest. It'll be okay.

[rampageous]

The force of her No resonated so strongly that it nearly shook Ben out of his meditation; instinctively, he reached back to reassure her - as tired as he was, though, he couldn't even be sure she felt it. For a brief moment, the faint impression of coordinates flickered across their bond-- and then nothing. Nothing, until a very clear order to rest.

It was the easiest order he'd ever followed. He allowed his acknowledgement to filter through the bond, followed by trust, then allowed himself to just breathe and sink deeper into the trance.

[talentedscavenger]

She felt him sink deeper into that trance, resting as she had asked. Well, not so much asked, but ordered. Rey didn't mean for it to become an order, but she wanted to reassure him that things were fine. The sense of trust that was sent through their bond made her heart rise. He trusted her...a trust she wouldn't betray.

Making the jump to lightspeed, she focused on getting them to Ahch-To.

An hour later, they landed on the planet's surface, near the huts. Some of the residents saw her ship land and started to gather. Rey had a feeling they knew Ben was hurt and came prepared to aide in his recovery.

We're here. Maybe she could try to Force heal him now that she was able to focus on him and not flying.

[rampageous]

He was slower to stir this time; Rey's call echoed through their bond, but Ben had submerged himself deep into the wellspring of Force that pooled within. He'd never been particularly gifted at healing - too tempestuous as a padawan and too soaked in darkness as Kylo Ren - but he remembered enough to at least make an attempt. It wasn't nearly enough to mend his broken bones or close his wounds, but by the time they landed on Ahch-To, he was looking a little less deathly pale.

Dragging himself out of the trance took some effort - his body wanted to heal itself - but the gentle thump of the X-Wing landing and the thrum of We're here was enough encouragement. Hauling himself back to awareness, Ben shook his head, before raising his gaze to their surroundings. Oh. He'd seen this place before.

"Your island."

[talentedscavenger]

"Ahch-To," Rey supplied. It wasn't her island. Rather, it was the island she found Luke on. The map to Skywalker that R2 had a piece of. The entire island was alive with the Force. It could help them both...and if not, then the huts had to have a med pack, or bacta on it. Or, as a last resort, she could attempt to heal him once they made it to a bed.

Rey wasn't sure if they could be called nuns or not, but the islanders had gathered by the ship. She opened the cockpit and carefully climbed out. Once on solid ground, she outstretched to Ben's to help guide him down. Her eyes looked at the nuns who seemed ready to help them..or she hoped that was their motive.

"Come on, we can get you to a bed and start to heal you."

[rampageous]

It was the island in her dreams: a rocky scrap of green jutting out of a vast ocean, stark and timeless. Ahch-To, Skywalker's island, the Force's island... the name didn't matter to Ben, who stubbornly clung to it being Rey's, if only to himself. She had a better claim to it any than anyone else, after all.

...well, save for the natives, that is.

Peering down from the cockpit, Ben took a breath, then hauled himself over the side of the fuselage. It was quite possibly the most graceless exit he'd ever made from any vehicle; his arms shook faintly as he lowered himself, sliding down the hull in a vain attempt to keep from jostling his shattered leg on impact. He didn't crumple once his feet hit the dirt, but it was a near thing - his hand trembled when he took Rey's, grip just a little too tight.

"Lead on."

[talentedscavenger]

Rey didn't say anything when Ben took her hand. He could squeeze it as much as he wanted. He could tighten his hold to the point of hurting her, and she wouldn't say anything. He was in more pain than her. At this point, she was close to succumbing to exhaustion, but she was too stubborn to give in.

Palaptine was too stubborn to die....a family trait.

No, she didn't want to think about it that way. She focused her efforts on Ben, holding his hand and attempting to sling his arm around her, to use her as a crutch. Granted, he was taller than her, but she was determined to help him in any way she could.

"This way," Rey murmured softly, careful to walk with him down the grassy path to one of the huts. The nuns parted for them, and followed behind with some darting off to gather more supplies. They could sense how tired both Force Users were.

In hindsight, Rey should have checked to see if anyone was using the hut they came upon, but Ben's injuries were at the forefront of her mind. Luckily, the hut seemed vacant. She tapped into the Force, just barely enough to open the door for them and lead Ben to a bed.