The blue lightsaber clashes against Snoke's. Rey's lightsaber. In his mother's hands.

"You monster," she seethes.

"Mother!" Ben lunges forward as a swipe from Snoke barely misses her head. She can't—I'm not worth—Mother, no!

Snoke blasts him back against the wall as Leia aims her lightsbaer like she's been trained as a Jedi. Except she hasn't, and Ben is more afraid than he's ever been. It's a different kind of fear though—fear for someone else.

Father, please! Grandfather—anyone— He cannot let her die for him. Slowly, Ben crawls closer.

"You think he still loves you?" Snoke screeches. "He doesn't! He's too far gone—this Light will burn out too, just you watch—and this time I won't intervene and he'll be as dangerous as—"

"That. Is. A. Lie!" Leia shouts, landing a thrust against Snoke's shoulder.

It's his only opportunity. Ben leaps to his feet, ignoring the agony in his ankle as he flies at Snoke and stabs him with the cracked, crackling lightsaber Snoke helped him create.

Snoke whirls about, wrenching the lightsaber out of his side. He meets Ben's eyes and stares at him as if he no longer recognizes him.

You've lost, Ben thinks. I'm not Kylo Ren anymore.

Doubled over, but armed with two lightsabers now, Snoke slices at them and jolts Ben out of his stupor. Ben grabs his mother by the waist, diving behind what used to be a brick wall separating the corridor from a room.

Now.

Ben wills all of the energy of the Force within him and Rey, his mother, Maz—and Luke now, he must be awake—all push for the same thing.

Light, fiery and red and shooting embers like arrows, explodes. Ben clutches his mother, shielding her body with his as debris and dust fall around them. Darkness falls and smoke permeates the air. Ears ringing, Ben lifts his head. "Are you all right?" he asks.

"I'm fine!" Mother cries as, through the ringing, the hum of more bombing planes soars. "And now we've got to get out of here!"

"Ben! Leia!" Luke yells as they scramble out from behind the wall. He leans against Chewie. Rey clutches Maz, her face smeared in dirt and Maz's glasses cracked. One lens is missing entirely.

R2 bleeps and turns to leave down the hallway. BB-8, antennae crooked, wobbles after the older droid.

"What about him?" Luke asks, glancing down at a crumpled Hux.

Leave him to die.

No, Ben thinks, recalling Snoke's last words. No, I won't listen. Not anymore. Not ever again. "Take him prisoner," he says.

"Chewie, if you carry him, Leia and I can help Luke," Rey suggests.

Light filters in through the hole in the side of the building. Through the glass, Ben sees Poe and Finn in the cockpit of his father's ship.

Even now, his father is still rescuing him, Ben thinks.

Once they're on board and Hux is chained next to Phasma, with Finn tying a tourniquet to the General's leg, Chewie approaches Ben.

"Going to punch me again?" he asks, staring at the wookiee in apprehension.

Chewie raises his hand, but instead of curling it into a fist, he ruffles Ben's hair like he used to when Ben was a boy and played a joke on Han, or won a race, or did basically anything to make Chewie chortle.

"Thank you," Ben whispers.

Chewie rumbles.

"Wait, that crazy lightsaber exploded? I didn't know the Force could do that!" Finn's gushing.

"Mission successful," Lando's voice relays to Leia.

"Yes!" Poe high-fives with Finn. Rey sinks onto the padded bench in relief. Leia shakes her head as she grabs bandages to wrap around Rey's arm.

"The First Order's gone?" asks Phasma's voice, monotone.

"Not yet," Leia says. "But soon." There's fire in her voice, and hope.

"You did it!" Finn crows, hugging Rey, hugging Luke, and Ben.

When they pull away, Finn grins at him. "Hey man, we're friends now."

Ben smiles and laughs. Finn hugs him again.

"No," groans Huz, stirring to life. "Where am I—where—you—you all—you scum! Where's the Supreme Leader?"

"Dead," Rey informs him. She winces as Leia tightens the bandage.

"What?" Devastation cripples his face—it's as if Hux cannot move, breathe, think. And then it erupts and his mouth opens, spewing vitriol.

Chewie punches him.

"Chewie!" Finn exclaims in exasperation. "Now I'm going to have to fix his nose, too."

"Time will tell if his soul will mend," Maz mutters as she tests Ben's swollen ankle and begins wrapping it. "If I tear out his tongue, though, there'd be no hope," she adds so only Ben can hear.

"I've been tempted," Ben admits. Maz winks.

"Ankle okay?" Leia asks Ben as she finishes Rey's arm.

"I'll be fine."

"So will I," Rey adds.

Finn gives Ben a pointed look.

"What?" Ben asks.

Stepping away from Hux, Finn crouches down and whispers in Ben's ear: "Don't blow it."

"What, no death threats?" Ben hisses back.

"I'm leaving that for Poe." Finn nods at Rey. "Make a move, man."

Finn wasn't even there when they fought Snoke, and thus far no one else has acknowledged what they heard between Rey and Ben. But Rey's looking at Ben, a smile playing with her lips and with complete joy in her eyes.

He doesn't deserve her. He wants her anyways.

Ben grabs Rey by her uninjured hand, pulling her just out of sight.

"Are you okay?" she asks him.

He nods. "I'm—fine." That's the truth. He might've said he felt free because that was what he expected, but he doesn't feel any freer than he did before Snoke's death. He was right. I killed Han. I made all those choices.

And now I can make new ones.

"I meant what I said," he says hastily. "Before my mother—"

"I meant it too," Rey says. "I love you."

He needs her to know. "You know that the guilt—it's not going to leave me so easily. Snoke's death—vengeance—it hasn't made anything better. I'm glad he's gone, but I'm still… I'm going to be—there's still pain ahead. A lot of it."

"I know, and I love you," she repeats.

He lowers his lips to hers, her fingers clutching his shoulders as he wraps his arms around her waist.

Why someone so good chooses him, he doesn't know, but he loves her. He loves her for her bravery, for her kindness, for her compassion and her intelligence, her self- sufficiency. He loves her because she's Rey, and because she sees him whole, even if he's not quite there yet. She believes he'll get there.

Claps and whistles finally break them apart, both breathing heavily.

"I knew it," Poe says, smirking.

Finn winks as BB-8 dances around. Chewie snuffles and nods in approval.

"What's going on?" Mother calls.

"Nothing," Ben calls back, Rey's arm still slung around him and his hands still on her waist.

"That answer is never honest, coming from you."

"He's just embarrassed Poe and I caught him and Rey snogging," Finn explains.

"Finn!" squeaks Rey.

"What?" Luke hobbles around the bend as Ben and Rey quickly let go of each other.

A smile spreads over Leia's face as she watches Ben and Rey glance at each other, at the ground, all around. She nods as if in approval.

Ben finally meets her eyes. A boyish smile tugs at his lips as pink spreads down his nose.

"Obi-Wan would have approved," Luke declares.

Rey's hand sneaks out to grab Ben's, and she pulls him closer for another kiss. "Happy now, those who missed it?" she asks.

Behind Rey, Ben notices something he's never seen, something—someone—he's always wanted to see. A young, long-haired Anakin Skywalker, standing next to an older man he doesn't recognize. Judging from the way the older man looks at Rey, though, Ben can hazard a guess.

He kisses Rey again. When he looks up, the ghost have vanished, but he can tell from the sparkle in Rey's eyes, in Luke's, in Leia's and Maz's, that they all felt their presence.

Thanks to everyone who read/favorite/followed/reviewed! Each one meant a lot to me. I hope you all enjoyed the ending (I couldn't live with myself if I killed off Leia in this story—she needs some happiness). Endings aren't my strong suit, so I hope it's okay!

After I finished writing "Only Light," I realized within like a day that I really missed having an outlet for all my feels/missed writing these characters. Sooo I created an entirely new story, also set post-TFA but with an entirely different plot (though it's still a Reylo and FinnPoe/stormpilot/whatever it's called these days story). It's a bit darker and follows a slower pace, and it's more angst/romance focused (with some fun Star Wars adventure thrown in too). In some respects, it will have some more mature themes, but it should still safely fall under a T rating. The prologue should be posted later tonight—feel free to check it out!