Star Wars Episode X: The Last Skywalker

10| A World Between Worlds (Part 2)

As Ben stood with his grandfather, a young woman with white flowers braided into her long brown hair came over to them. She wore a beautiful blue gown fit for a queen, but her neck was adorned with a simple piece of jewelry that appeared to be handmade, perhaps by a child.

She gently slid her hand into Anakin's and he smiled at her affectionately.

Ben quickly realized that she was his grandmother.

"Padme, this is our grandson, Ben." Anakin gestured towards him.

Padme turned to look at him and smiled. "He's so handsome." She looked back at Anakin, smiling warmly. "He looks so much like you, Ani."

Anakin smiled again. "You were right Padme, all I needed to save you was my love. Ben saved the woman he loves, Rey, he used his love to bring her back."

Padme smiled at Ben. "I'm so proud of you."

Ben offered her a warm smile and she came over to him, reaching up to place her hand on his cheek. She placed a soft kiss on his cheek then removed the necklace she was wearing. "Your grandfather gave me this."

Ben nodded as he looked at it, he realized that his grandfather was nothing like how Palpatine had painted him in his mind. He was just like him, dark but not without love or compassion.

"I wanted to give it to one of my children, but I didn't get the chance. I want you to have it," she said placing it in his hand.

"But...why are you giving this to me?" Ben asked, wondering why she didn't give it to his mother or uncle.

"I want you to give it to the woman you love, like your grandfather gave it to me."

"Are you sure?" Ben asked.

"Yes, something for her to remember you by," Padme answered.

"And she can pass it down to your son, one day," Anakin added.

"I'll give it to her," Ben promised.

Rey sat with her hand stretched out, the hilt of her new lightsaber floated in front of her and she used the Force to put the final pieces together. With the Force she was able to move the inner parts of the lightsaber without dismantling it. Finally after a week and a half of working on it, as well as training, she was finished.

She reached her hand out, palm up and allowed the lightsaber to fall into her hand. She stood and moved the hilt in her hand experimenting with the weight of it. It was light and well balanced. She ignited it and a beautiful golden blade emerged from the hilt. She swung it in a high arch, then thrust it forward before doing a series of overhand and underhand strikes.

She turned to see Ben standing there watching her with an affectionate smile on his face. "You finished it?"

She smiled and nodded, then held it out for him to see. "What do you think?"

He stepped towards her. "It's beautiful, bright like a ray of sunshine," as he spoke the words he gently caressed her cheek.

She blushed and smiled shyly at him. Then she extinguished her new lightsaber and placed it on her belt. She sat down on the ground, pulling him down with her. The sun was setting and she wanted to watch it with him, one last time. This was the last day they would spend here on Yavin-4, they were leaving tomorrow and she wanted to cherish this moment with him. Strange how death makes life seem more valuable, because it wouldn't last forever.

But she was looking forward to it, then she could be with the ones she loved... her parents, Han, Leia, Luke...Ben. She laid her head on his shoulder, she was glad that he was here with her but he wished that he was still alive so that she could be with him all of the time.

"I have to leave Yavin tomorrow," Rey whispered as they watched the golden light dance on the horizon.

"No matter where you go, I will be with you," he answered, gently rubbing her shoulder.

She smiled. "I know... I'm going to Tatooine."

He looked at her, wondering why. He didn't want her to end up as a hermit like his uncle just because she'd lost him.

"When my parents died, I felt it. But I couldn't bury them, I couldn't have that closure. So I buried something that belonged to them in the sand. That was the graves in the Jakku desert that you saw, it wasn't their real graves, it was the graves I made for them."

Ben looked at her, listening intently. He had known that something didn't add up he'd seen the graves in a vision, but her parents left Jakku to save her, how would their bodies have ended up there without Palpatine finding Rey?

"It's the same with your mother, your uncle and..." she trailed off, stopping herself from saying 'and you' she was trying not to let him see how badly his death had stung her... how much she wished that he was still alive. "...and I want to bury their lightsabers on Tatooine."

"Why Tatooine?" he asked wondering how she knew.

"Last night I had a dream... a vision. I saw your grandfather as a child on Tatooine, and I saw your uncle there as a teenager watching the twin suns set on the horizon. Tatooine is the birth place of your bloodline, of the Skywalkers. It's where your family's story began and it's a fitting place for it to end."

"Our story doesn't end there," he placed his hand on her stomach, though her belly hadn't begun to swell yet he could feel the child growing within through the Force. He was bound to the child just as he was bound to Rey. "I will not be the last Skywalker."

She smiled and placed her hand over his. "Ben, I want to have our baby on Tatooine where your grandfather was born."

Ben smiled at her and then he leaned over to kiss her.

Did you know?

~ In the novelization of The Rise Of Skywalker Rey and Ben were called "the dyad" this is the meaning according to a post I found online:
"Dyad: describing two Force-sensitives who collectively share the power of one individual, connecting them across time and space.
Rey's and Kylo's dyad allowed them not only to strengthen their physical bond, but their mental and emotional bond.
If one of the individual dies and the other one lives, they can't become one with the Force; they have to wait for the other half to die.
For this time the individual lives in the 'World Between Worlds'"