Ben walked in a world between worlds, a place somewhere in the Force between life and death. Whenever he wasn't with Rey, this was where he was, in a land where a bright white light forever filled the sky. A place where the ground seemed to be made of shiny black rock that shown with starlight as if he were walking across the night sky.
It was a beautiful place and had the thing he had always longed for...peace and freedom from the voice of Palpatine which had filled his mind since the moment he was created in his mother's womb. In life he had only known a few moments of freedom from the menacing voice.
Even better... his mother was here and even though his father was not Force sensitive, he could feel his presence.
He could still remember when he first arrived here to find her waiting for him.
He had seen her, clad in long flowing white robes, her light shining bright even in the shimmering light that surrounded her. He had been both glad to see her and afraid to face her, though he had felt her forgiveness, her love for him just before she died.
He had approached her slowly and as he drew near to her, she pulled him into a tight embrace. He leaned down, resting his head on her shoulder. How he had missed her, for so many years he had longed to go back to her.
"I knew you would come home, one day," she said.
He couldn't find the strength to reply, he could only hug her tighter.
"I love you, Ben," she had said, rubbing his back.
"I love you too, mom," he answered. Then he had told her everything, how he felt her presence and it had fed the spark of light within him, how he had seen his father and made amends, and how he had fallen in love with Rey and died to save her.
Leia had listened intently to every word, smiling sadly as he described how much he loved Rey. She was happy that he had found love, she only wished that he and Rey could have had a life together, she would have given it to him if she could. She would have given anything to have seen them happy together.
"I know you must miss her, but you will always be together," she told him. "You share a special bond through the Force, and now that you have given your life to her, that bond has grown. Long ago a Jedi named Bastila gave up part of her life to save a Sith called Darth Reven, and her act of compassion formed a bond between them so strong that they felt each other's pain. You and Rey already share a bond through the Force, but now it is even stronger. So strong that even death cannot sever it."
It was then that she showed him how to become a Force ghost, so that he could visit her in a physical form. His presence was always with her, eternally bond to her. But in physical form he could speak to her, touch her and she could see him.
Ben could remember the way his uncle had approached them. While he had felt joy at the sight of his mother, he wasn't ready to face his uncle. There had been forgiveness, amends with his mother. But he and his uncle had never set things right.
As Luke approached Ben had taken a small, involuntary step back.
Luke looked up at his nephew. "I failed you Ben. I thought that your fate was sealed, that you were bound to the darkness, but I was wrong. I went into hiding not because I was afraid of you or Snoke or the First Order, but because I failed you and I was afraid that I would only make things worse. I couldn't live with what I did...please forgive me Ben?"
"I forgive you, uncle. I hope that you will forgive me in return."
Luke nodded. "Of course I do, Ben."
Luke reached out to him and Ben accepted his embrace.
Now Ben walked across the starlight, his dark eyes filled with the marvelous white light overhead. A tall figure came into view, pulling him from his thoughts and memories.
The figure approached him and he saw a young man with shoulder length dirty blonde hair. His eyes were blue and he wore the familiar robes of a Jedi.
Ben had never seen the figure before, yet there was something familiar about him.
"I'm proud of you Ben," he said.
Ben looked at him, unable to hide his confusion.
"I am Anakin Skywalker, your grandfather."
"Grandfather," Ben whispered. He was nothing like the visions he had seen of a masked man clad in black, but he realized that it had been Palpatine who had manipulated him, Palpatine's voice who had spoken to him not his grandfather. He was trying to finish what he started, to complete his unfulfilled goals. He had always thought that it was his duty to do so as his heir. But now he knew that everything he had done in his grandfather's name had been Palpatine's goals for Vader, he was nothing but a replacement to do Palpatine's dirty work.
He had failed his grandfather. "I failed you grandfather, everything that I did was for you, but I know now that Palpatine was only using me for my power. My father was right."
"Palpatine used me as well, but you overcame him just as I did," Anakin replied. "And in a way, you did finish what I started."
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't turn to the Dark Side to concur the galaxy, I turned to the Dark Side to save the woman I loved from death. And you have done that, you saved Rey from death when I could not save Padme. You learned what I never did, great power cannot stop death only an act of love in it's purest form can. And sometimes saving someone you love means giving something up, sacrificing a part of yourself for them. I told Padme that my love could not save her, now I see that it was all that I needed."
"Rey was the one who showed me how, she gave me something to live for...something worth dying for."
Anakin smiled. "Then she has given you the greatest gift of all."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Did you know?
~ Darth Reven and Bastila's Force bond was so strong that if one of them died, the other would share that fate. (Because Ben gave his life to Rey and they already had a strong Force bond, their connection is probably one of the strongest ever even after Ben died.)
What do you think?
~ do you think that Rey and Ben's connection grew stronger after the end of The Rise Of Skywalker?
