Star Wars Episode IX: Force Link ✔️ (Editing)

25| Your Father Loved You

"Ben?" There was a question that she needed to ask him, and though her hate for him had returned slightly, she found that she could call him by no other name. She didn't want to talk to Kylo Ren, she wanted to talk to Ben Solo and calling him by that name seemed to bring him out. And while she was angry, her voice didn't show it.

"Yes, sweetheart?" he asked, in a soft voice.

His gentle reply made the anger towards him that had sparked in her vanish. She realized that the question she was about to ask was a sensitive one. She would have to handle this gently. He seems so happy. Maybe I should ask later. I don't want to upset him by bringing this up, she thought. But she needed to know.

"You once told me that you never stop needing your parents, were you just talking about me, or were you also talking about yourself?" she asked.

He sighed, his face was filled with pain and she regretted asking him the question, when he had been happier than she had ever seen him. "I do need them, and I still love them," he admitted.

"Then why did you kill your father?" Rey asked, unable to stop herself. Her eyes filled with tears.

"I didn't kill my father. It was Kylo Ren. Snoke told me to kill him. I wasn't strong enough to resist the Dark Side, or to stop Kylo Ren at the time," he said, his eyes filling with tears, and his voice breaking. "I couldn't stop him, Rey. I couldn't stop him from killing my father."

Tears were pouring down his cheeks now, and Rey wasn't sure what she should do. She didn't know if she should comfort him. She didn't even know how to comfort him. She didn't know how to comfort someone, because no one had ever been there to comfort her. She only knew to do the same thing he had done for her when she was in pain. Listen to him, and be there for him, the way he was there for her. That was the first time she had truly felt comforted, it was the first time she had felt belonging of any kind.

"Then I heard Snoke's voice in my mind. He told me to kill my mother. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't make the same mistake again. He told me that killing my father would make me stronger, but it only made me weaker. It made me feel weaker than I have ever been in my life. And it broke my spirit, it broke my heart. Snoke sensed it, and mocked me because of it. I couldn't kill my mother ...And I couldn't kill you. That's why I killed Snoke, ...to save you."

"I thought you killed Snoke for power, so you could lead the First Order, and rule the galaxy," she said.

"No. I killed him for you Rey, I couldn't let you die," he said. "When we touched hands I saw your past. But I also saw a glimpse of the future. I knew you would come to save me. I knew that if you came, I would have no choice but to bring you before Snoke. And there was only two things he would do. Either he would kill you or he would let you become his apprentice." Pain filled his eyes. "And believe me, being his apprentice is worse than death. I knew that I had to save you."

"But, after we defeated the guards you were talking about ruling the galaxy," she said.

"With you, Rey. I wanted us to rule the galaxy together. No more fighting, no more war. No Dark Side, no Light Side, just the Force. No First Order, no Resistance, just us. We would be on the same side because there would only be one side. What good is it to rule a galaxy if you're all alone?" he asked.

"You're not alone," she said, trying to comfort him in the same way he had comforted her.

"Neither are you," he answered.

"Just because we're not on the same side, doesn't mean we have to be alone," she said. "I'm here for you, Ben. I'll always be here for you. Even if we have to fight, I'll still be there for you."

"I'll be there for you too, Rey," he answered. "I liked fighting with you a lot better than fighting against you."

"Me too," she answered. "I never got the chance to thank you for saving me from Snoke. He could have killed you. I didn't realize it at the time, but you risked your life to save me. Thank you, Ben."

"You're the only friend I have ever had," he answered.

"We're friends?" she asked, smiling at him. "Not enemies?"

"I never saw you as an enemy," he answered. "In my vision I saw that you were lonely. But I never knew how lonely, until I tried to take the map from you. Then I saw how lonely you really were...I know how it feels to be lonely."

Rey nodded. "My parents abandoned me," said Rey. "They left me all alone."

"So did my parents," said Ben. "But I guess they had good reason to. I am so dark and cold. But you, Rey you are so warm and bright, I don't understand why anyone would abandon someone as wonderful as you."

"Ben, you needed your parents just as much as I needed mine."

"Still your parents shouldn't have abandoned you, Rey. My parents were only trying to help me. I see that now. Your parents thought only of themselves. I don't understand Rey, how could anyone abandon you?"

Tears poured from Rey's eyes, and Ben regretted mentioning her parents. But that wasn't the cause of her tears. "I promised I would never leave someone. That I would never abandon anyone the way my parents abandoned me. But, I left you in the throne room. After the battle of Crait I regretted not taking you with me," she said. "I left you, I abandoned you. I'm so sorry, Ben." She was becoming more and more upset. She looked down, her cheeks streaked with tears.

Ben gently lifted her chin so that she would look up at him. "It's okay Rey."

"No. It's not," she said, crying. "I did what I promised I would never do. I abandoned you, just like my parents abandoned me."

Ben gently wiped her tears away. "But you came back. You came back to me, Rey. That's more than anyone has ever done for me."

Rey hugged him. "I still regret it. You risked your life to save me, and I left you."

"Rey it's okay," he whispered. "You saved my mother. I didn't know that she had survived. If I had known that she was still alive, I would have ordered the First Order to stop firing on the Resistance. They might not have listened to me, but I would have tried if I had known."

"Your parents regretted leaving you, Ben. They told me so." She pulled away to look into his eyes. Then she took Ben's hand. "Your father loved you, Ben."

He looked at her, his eyes filled with tears.

"So does your mother," she added. Then she disappeared.

A tear fell from his eye. He looked down to see his father's dice in his hand. He expected the dice to disappear, as they had before. But to his surprise, they remained in his hand, even after Rey had disappeared. He gently rubbed them with his thumb, then he began to cry.