The Broken Ones | REYLO [Complete]

Epilogue

A new day dawned over Tatooine, bathing the small moisture farm in red-gold light. In the distance, the Millenium Falcon stood watch over the scavenger as she knelt on the ground before the old Skywalker home. So much had happened in the modest structure. She felt every memory as if it were her own. The pain, the suffering, the happiness, the love.

It was fitting, to have everything come full circle. Such was life, and the Force. Rey held the lightsabers of her mentors tenderly in her hands, feeling the ache of their loss deep in her soul. She missed them dearly, despite knowing their absence was not absolute. No one's ever really gone, Luke had said once. She wrapped the hilts securely in the leather binding that had held Ben's mother's lightsaber.

Ben.

Another ache in her chest, this one different. Not the pain of loss; no, this ache was from the fullness of her heart. Two more hands joined hers over the lightsabers, and she looked up to find Ben smiling sadly at her. A tear fell from her cheek onto the leather, and they each said their goodbyes. Letting go of the weapons felt like accepting the deaths of Luke and Leia, and it was bittersweet. They had become one with the Force. In a way, death was not the end; rather, it was the beginning of a second life. A stepping off point into something much greater.

Using the Force, they pushed the bundle down into the sand, burying the sabers deep within the planet.

Ben stood and helped Rey to her feet. She had yet to recover her strength completely, and he was more than happy to watch over her. His own wounds were still healing, and pain plagued his every step, but he hid it from Rey as best he could. In time they would both heal.

"I haven't seen anyone around these parts in some time," came a voice from across the dune. The two Jedi turned and saw an old woman crossing the sand, peering curiously at them. "Who are you?"

Rey glanced at Ben, but her eyes were drawn beyond him to three blue-tinged figures. Ben followed her gaze, and his heart swelled at the sight. His mother, his uncle, and his grandfather, all together as it should have been all along. They beamed at him with pride written clear on their faces, and he began to feel whole again. None of them spoke, but they didn't have to. The Force carried their words into his heart. They forgave him. He could feel it.

"I'm Rey," she finally answered the woman. "And this is Ben."

"Ben and Rey who?" Came the curious reply.

Ben was still looking at the ghosts of his family. His mother nodded in encouragement, and he turned back to the elderly traveler. "Ben and Rey Solo."

Rey took his hand then and held tight. She never wanted to let go. At last she had found her family, her soulmate, and herself.

"What now?" Rey asked Ben as they made their way back toward the Falcon.

Ben looked down at her, the scavenger who had pulled him from the depths of darkness and taught him to love, and he smiled. He pulled her into his chest, holding her tight as he looked out over the rising suns. Rey let herself relax in his arms, and they watched the binary sunrise in complete peace for perhaps the very first time. Relief settled over them as if the universe was telling them, It's okay to be happy now. You deserve to rest. They had come a long way, after all, and the future was so bright.

"Let's go home."