Note: I have been torn up by the ending of TROS, and it compelled me to begin a story just to get my thoughts in a better headspace. Ben lives, and he and Rey begin to ponder what this means for their future. More chapters to come.

A breath rose beneath Ben Solo's hand resting on the abdomen of the woman who meant everything to him. His eyes darted to Rey's face. She was no longer cold, empty, and lifeless. She was here. She was back.

"Ben!", she exclaimed. It was like he had been found after a lifetime of being lost, thrown a life jacket in the middle of a churning ocean.

Ben scanned Rey's face and looked into her eyes, thankfully once again filled with the fire of the last Jedi. He had asked the Force to do something seemingly impossible: bring her back to him. It had been a selfish request, really. Ben didn't deserve any favors from the Force, something he had used to bring grave imbalance to the Galaxy. Ben Solo, once the formidable and unpredictable Kylo Ren, didn't think he deserved forgiveness or happiness in life. He wasn't sure he even deserved a life after the atrocities of his past, and their palpable consequences in the present.

No. He was certain he didn't deserve any of it. And yet, here was Rey.

Rey grabbed Ben's face with both of her hands and kissed him. For a moment, he was frozen, startled by her desire and happiness. His surprise quickly melted into comfort, and he leaned in deeper. He took her face into his own hands and surrendered himself to the joy and passion of the embrace. The Force sang around them, and Ben was furthered thrilled by the thought that maybe his mom would know that he was okay, that someone in this Galaxy wanted to kiss him. He remembered Leia's knowing smile and imagined her coyly winking at the pair somewhere within the Force.

Rey was so alive and so fierce, his equal in every way. The influence of greed and evil that had masked these emotions in Ben were gone now. All that was left was the true Ben Solo, the grief he felt for those he had hurt and those he had lost, and devotion for this warrior in his arms. The feeling-the love- broke into a smile across his face. It was as if his expressions had too been masked by the years of torment and agony. The smile lingered as he looked at Rey.

Rey pulled back from Ben and opened her eyes, still a bit dizzy from their kiss. She was struck by Ben's smile and nearly burst into tears. Ben Solo had dimples! She touched the places in his face altered by the adorable divots in his grin. She silently thanked Leia, Han, and Luke. They knew how much this beautiful boy was worth saving. More importantly, she didn't need the Force to know that Ben Solo was finally free.

Ben opened his eyes to take in the person before him. The face staring back at him was far more earnest and forgiving than he could ever have hoped. He never imagined anyone being relieved to see him ever again. He had given up this part of existence in a quest for command of the Galaxy, for the promise of supremacy. Even his former followers in the First Order were never happy to see him. They all hated one another, bonded through a shared desire to bring their own idea of order to all of the worlds. He had forgotten what it was like to be loved instead of feared.

Being wanted as a wounded, repentant Ben Solo and not despised as the fallen Kylo Ren in the eyes of this powerful, beautiful girl overwhelmed him. He began to weep.

"Ben? Ben. I have you. I've got you." Rey took his large frame in her arms, and let his face rest in her neck. She struggled to keep him upright, and decided there was no reason to exhaust herself further. She guided him to the ground of the destroyed Sith sanctum. He wrapped his arms around her waist and continued to cry. He cried for those he had hurt. He cried for his parents. He cried for his Uncle Luke and the blossoming Jedi order he had destroyed. He cried for Rey, and the sacrifices she would have to make if she intended to keep him in her life. He cried for the possibility of losing her.

She felt his body shake against her, and he burned hot like the Twin Suns. His sobbing was unrestrained, as if it marked the release of years of turmoil and grief. She knew their next phase, if they could even get out of the crypt, would be extremely difficult. Rey had no reason to believe that Ben wouldn't be immediately arrested, or executed, once the Resistance found out he had survived. But what could she do?

No one would understand, but she would make them see. She would make them accept.

"Rey?", Ben whispered into her shoulder, having finally found a bit of peace.

"Yes?", she smoothed his hair gently.

"How are we going to get out of here?" He tried to hide the strain and worry in his voice with a chuckle. Truthfully, he had never been so exhausted in his life. He became even more exhausted at the thought of what life would look like outside of the cave- would Rey give up her friends to keep him? Would she walk away? Could either of them, two equal parts of a dyad in the Force, ever walk truly leave the other behind?

"You rest for right now. I'll try to find some help". Ben expected her to rise and begin to search the rubble of the destroyed sanctuary for survivors of the collapse. Instead, he felt her in the Force. As she gripped him tight in her arms, she searched for a way out with the help of all of the Jedi before.

As she meditated, Ben's mind also wandered beyond the destruction around them. He couldn't help but go through the many undesirable, and extremely likely, scenarios that might befall them in the days ahead. Ben considered that he would most likely be taken as a prisoner, ripped away from Rey for what could be the last time. He also considered that his passionate companion would try to defend him, and imperil herself in the process. The truth was that there existed a world of possibilities for the Resistance, the remaining Sith, and First Order loyalists to exact their revenge. However, the only thing left to hurt him at this point was to lose Rey. The specifics of the ordeal didn't much matter.

The last thing he wanted was to ruin Rey's much deserved life of glory and happiness. Until very recently, she had struggled every day just to survive. With the Resistance, she became their last hope and lost her mentors along the way. She had been lonely and also tempted by the Dark side of the Force. Ben wanted Rey to have an uncomplicated life that she could grow into peacefully. He wanted her to be surrounded with friends and perhaps even a family of her own. He wanted her to take her second life and live it as she desired.

He also wanted her to want him. And the thing that he wanted the most seemed the least likely: living the rest of his life at Rey's side. But a path together would undoubtably be filled with obstacles, and the seeming impossibility of it made him feel empty and foolish. How could this hero take him back to her friends who lost loved ones at the hands of the First Order? Worse yet, how could she bring him in front of those who had lost loved ones to his hands?

Rey stirred beside him. "I've got it!", she said to him as she gently moved his body from hers. "Come on Ben, lets go home." She reached out for his hand to assist him off the ground. His heart buzzed as their palms met. They were going home.

Ben confirmed to himself in that moment that he would follow Rey anywhere. He would follow her through deserts, and into cities. Across raging seas and past systems of planets and moons. He was following her right into the base of thousands of people who had no reason to show him mercy or understanding. But Rey was his only future, and it was time he faced it.