How it Should Have Ended

This Can't be the End

DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE WATCHED THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

Rey's body lay lifeless on the cold floor. Her death is a ripple in the force, a wave reaching all who are connected. As her soul leaves her body and the ships cheat in victory the last Jedi is dead.

    Except Rey is not the last Jedi.

    A pale, bloody, hand catches hold of a cluster of dark rocks, climbing his way up from the bottomless pit. It shouldn't be possible. None of it should. But a broken boy crawls, lumps desperately to a broken body of the girl who turned him. Her eyes stare into a distant her mind can't see. She is empty, a shell of the girl, the scavenger, the last Jedi, the heir to the sith throne. The last shred of hope in an endless, bitter war.

    She is dead, and he his holding her.

    He holds onto her with everything in him, as if his arms could squeeze life back into her corpse, as if the sheer power of his will could tie a lasso around her soul and bring it back from the place where lost heroes go, wherever that may be. And he loves her effortlessly, the kind of bruised, pure love you hear about in fairytales, the kind you bury beneath a cold mask, a facade of darkness to protect a sad child. But his mask is off, his lightsaber is gone, and love flows freely out of him like a waterfall. From all sides, from all faces, from battles and scars and wounds unexpectedly healed, from ben solo. His vision is blurred as he stares at the body in his bloody, tired arms. His body is weak and his mind is cracked.

    He lays a hand on her stomach, and his love is confused and broken but not beyond repair. His love is powerful and simple and complicated and tragic. His love lives and breaths and feels and flies as it sinks below her skin. As every ounce of ben solo, of heartbreak and mistakes and misery and guilt and new found joy and love poured into her. As her soul is taken back into that body, restoring life that was so recently gone. He does not think or try as he does this, only that the girl he was fought against and for is dead, and he is alive, and that is the most terrible thing imaginable.

    And it can not be.

    Her hand holds his and darkness is washed away as two souls finally unite. He opens her eyes, bloody hand holding on to for dear life. She has awoken from what was meant to be a darkness that lasted forever and all she can see is him.

    Ben Solo.

    Just minutes before they fought side by side, Ben weidling the lightsaber he had finally earned. The moment Rey waited for, fought for, almost lost hope for. It wasn't like she pictured. There was no obvious turning point, no snap, no wave across every living thing saying Ben Solo is alive. Because he ever died. Kylo Ren was a facade, a hurt boy betrayed by his mentor, swayed over to be a piece in a centuries long chess match. A pawn in someone else's game.

    But this is Ben before her. He is bruised and betrayed and confused. But there is light behind those teary eyes. A light that was always there. She had seen it since the moment he first took off his helmet, revealing his true face. She had always seen it. And she had always pushed it away, reminding herself of the atrocities he had committed, all in the name of everything should be fought against. The only time she let herself see the good in him was when they touched hands by the firelight, each seeing what they needed to see. He saw the truth about her lineage, a fact which would shake her to her very core and ultimately make her stronger, proving no jedi is completely pure and good, and it doesn't matter who you come from. She had seen a warped version of his future, that he would turn to the light.

    So here they were. Emotions tearing them apart, a war won behind them, and he is holding onto her, still.

    "Ben". She whispers into the darkness, into his eyes. And only then does she finally let herself believe it. Her face lights up in a way she has never felt, and he was never seen. It's joy dancing across her lips. And she is happy, and alive, and relief floods the both of them.

    And without thought or hesitation, she kisses him. He kisses her.

    And there is nothing more beautiful than two twisted souls, neither dark nor light, bonded by the force that flows through everyone and everything. They are united. They are strong and beautiful and bright and broken. They are angry and they have been betrayed. They never thought, never imagined in their wildest dreams or nightmares they would end up here.

    Ben, loving so strongly that he pours his life into her, the girl he wanted to hate so desperately and somehow never did.

    Rey, the last hope for the rebellion, a scavenger turned jedi full of anger she never knew was in her, kissing the enemy wanted to give up on so desperately but somehow never did.

    Confusion washes away like sand swept by a wave, and as they pull apart the air is thick with joy and light and the past is a memory and the future is a promise.

    "Rey." He whispers back, his words laced with disbelief, that he is here, kissing her, that the love he buried has been returned, the light he feared for long wrapped around his soul like a blanket. The far he harboured in his heart is gone, and he has never felt more alive. He knows what will happen next. And he is not afraid. Because he smiles, no he grins, and he can not remember the last time he had smiled. He knows she will be okay, she will thrive and survive and be happy. And he reached the end of his journey, sacrificed himself for the woman he loves.

    Ben Solo falls to the ground. He hand weakens around Rey's, and his soul leaves his body. His last thought is for her.

    Pain ruchottes through Rey's heart, through her soul. Happiness ripped away. But she knows he was happy, he was in love and he was Ben Solo. Kylo Ren was long gone. And the body of the broken boy she was learning to love lay before her. A part of her was being forced out of her body, the dyad she shared with Ben tearing her soul into two. She could feel he wasn't in pain, he was happy. In love. She knew he cared for her but she had no idea how much until it was too late.

    She had finally seen him smile, wholesome and pure, and now she would never see it again.

    She would not allow it.

    Instinct shot through her veins, her blood pumping, mind racing, heart yearning. It wasn't right, it wasn't right that the boy who finally felt a moment of true happiness had to die immediately after. It wasn't right that she had been gifted with such great power and she was not able to save him.

    She was weak, and tired, and unstoppable. She forced every ounce of energy into her, pleading to the Force, to anyone or anything listening to her cries, to bring him back.

    Her thoughts were too jumbled for words, so instead she sent out every feeling, every emotion that was clouding her mind. She sent them out, out into the far reaches of the universe in a wave of misery. She prayed to the energy flowing through every person and every thing, the string that held together life and death so fragile. She took that string that weaved through his heart and soul, his mind and body.

    And she tugged.

    Gently, she tugged that string. She poured her strength and courage and power into her connection with Ben, realizing only now this was why the force had connected them. For this moment. She imagined a world in vivid detail, a world where peace flourished and love was valued over profit, over control and power. She imagined a world where Ben Solo was a force of good, not evil. Ben with his uncle's lightsaber, keeping the universe in balance. But really, beneath it all, beneath the darkside and the lightside, beneath the Force and the string, all she wanted was to see him smile again. The world had been too cruel to Ben Solo, and she would not let him die.

    She would not let him die.

    Bump.

    A sound caught Rey's attention. A single, weak sound coming from the body beside her.

    A heartbeat.

    Hope fluttered in Rey's chest, but not for long. Adrenaline kicked in and she was dragging his body to their ship. He was still deep unconscious, perhaps even comatose, but he was breathing. The galaxy had answered her plea. She soared through the stars, following the trails of the resistance fighters returning to base. She hoped with everything in her that she would make it back in time. His heartbeat slowed with every minute as she zipped across the galaxy...