Just Us

Chapter 2: Just Us

The last thing Ben remembered was the feeling of Rey's hand holding his.

Then he had felt the warm and welcoming embrace of the Force. He could sense his mother, his uncle, his grandfather, all the Jedi, welcoming him back to the light where he belonged.

He had begun to rise up.

He had seen white light all around him.

He had felt power surrounding him.

And then, it had stopped.

The white light had faded away as Ben heard gentle voices saying, "Go back.....Ben.....Go back....." and he felt as if he was no longer rising up.

And then he was back.

He was alive.

And he didn't have a shirt on.

Ben did not sit up immediately, he did not gasp for air. He simply lay on the ground for a second feeling the sensation of the cold stone floor.

Then he felt a presence that was stronger than the ones he had felt before. It was right there with him.

Rey.

She was still there. Ben sat up slowly and looked around. He saw her standing only a few paces away, his shirt in her hand. His heart leapt the way it had before when she first smiled at him.

Ben stood up, not sure how to call out to her. It occurred to him that she still didn't know he was alive.

So he asked, "Hey, Rey? I know this is kind of awkward but, can I have my shirt back?"

Rey turned around and Ben watched as her eyes grew wide with surprise and tears sprang to them. No sooner did she see him, did she run toward him.

"Ben!" she shouted as she leapt into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Rey was crying, and Ben started to cry too. They held each other, frozen in a moment of pure joy.

They had finally found one other. A true dyad in the Force. Two that were one. The balance between the darkness and the light.

It was perfect.

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Rey didn't want to let him go. She had hoped and wished for so long that Ben would return to the light and now that he was back, she wanted to hold onto him for as long as possible.

She looked at him, tears still running down her face. "You did it Ben. You did it."

Ben smiled. "Yeah. I guess I did." he said laughing a little bit, "And it's all because of you. You saved me Rey."

"And you saved me."

They stared at each other for a moment in silence before Rey looked away in surprise.

"Finn, Poe, the fleet. Their ok! Their alive!" She said letting go of Ben and walking towards the exit. "Come on let's go celebrate!"

But Ben didn't follow her. He stayed still looking slightly nervous.

"Hey, what wrong?" Rey asked. Ben didn't say anything but his thoughts told the whole story.

He was afraid to go back.

He was afraid of what people would do to him. He knew they would not accept him. He knew they would still think he was Kylo Ren.

"They'll understand." Rey said out loud, "I'll just tell them who you are now and the'll be fine with it."

But the more she thought about it the more Rey realized that it was more complicated than that. She knew about the things that had happened to her friends while in the presence of Kylo Ren.