Meant To Be »Reylo

| Part One |

“Rey.”

    His voice is soft, pleading for me to stay with him. He is the man who has come close to killing me multiple times, yet somehow held his flaring temper at bay for me.

    He has recovered Ben from the darkness that once smothered him, reborn into a body and mentality that slaughtered hundreds and ordered destruction of countless others.

    This man is not Kylo Ren, apprentice to the once Supreme Leader Snoke. This man is Ben Solo, a caring man who was once lost because of an attempted killing by none other than Luke Skywalker. Luke Skywalker, the man I thought I could trust, look to for advice and guidance. I sought him out on a hidden island, begging him to come back to society and teach a new generation of Jedi to defeat the man who stands before me.

    I no longer trust that man, for he once tried to stop Ben’s heart years ago.

Ben and I have what you could call a connection, but the reality that is our bond cannot be explained in words. Days ago, Supreme Leader Snoke connected us through the force in hopes of luring me to the Dark Side. This plan didn’t work. I came to talk with Ben, of course, flying “solo” to come see him. However, Ben wasn’t completely turned at this moment, and escorted me to see Snoke when I landed on the base. Little did I know, he had a plan on how to best Snoke.

    And thus, now we are here, standing in the middle of the rubble left from an epic battle we fought against furious Praetorian guards, Ben begging me to join him in ruling the galaxy. His hand is extended towards me, beckoning me to accompany him in leading our universe.

    Instantly, I’m taken back to a scene only in my mind, in which Kylo Ren tells me, “You need a teacher! I can show you the ways of the force!” 

    Kylo Ren had just killed Han Solo. Of course I wasn’t going to extend an olive branch to the monster who had murdered my only parental figure.

    So we fought, my lightsaber against his, ending in injury to both of us and a sad intervention where Leia was told that her husband was killed by the same man who murdered her son’s soul.

The memory of that fateful night makes me stutter, hesitate before glancing down at his hand. An olive branch, extended to me. I hadn’t given him that same courtesy. But here he is, pleading.

    “You do realize I can’t let them all die, right?” I say softly, glancing up from his callous hands to see General Hux shooting down fleeing transports. They contain the last of the rebellion. The last of the cause I’ve dedicated my life to.  

“But you have to.” Ben insists. 

“Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. That’s the only way to become what you are meant to be.”           

Ben. Why do you think like this?

“Ben.” I state, locking eyes with the man staring into my soul. “I can’t live like this. You know I can’t. Leading an entire galaxy? It’s not ours to rule, not yours, not Snoke’s. The galaxy belongs to the people. Why can’t you look beyond power and see the light?”

    He drops his gaze from me and turns away. “You don’t get it. I truly thought you would.” He glances at the screen, displaying more transports being blown to smithereens. 

    “What don’t I get?” I ask, reaching out my hand to console him before I realize what a boundary I’ve crossed. My fingers gently brush against his rough arms, and he flinches. “Sorry,” I whisper, looking down as he turns back to me. He shakes his head.

    “Rey, the light tries to restrict my power, and the dark encourages it. I can’t live my life with the Jedi breathing down my back and telling me who I can or can’t love. That my duty to the world is stronger than my personal feelings.”