They made their way back to the main fleet after being picked up by Finn and Chewbacca. The cheering was deafening as everyone embraced in happiness that the war was over, that they had won. Poe pushed his way through the crowd before pulling Rey and Finn into a crushing hug. Ben watched them from the ramp of the Falcon, not wanting to ruin their moment. When Rey turned back towards him, she held out his hand for him to take with a hopeful smile. He nodded, coming down to take it. He let her lead him through the fray, but he noted the silence that was taking over as the sight of him ended the celebration. At the center of it all was his mother. The silence as they stood in front of each other felt all-consuming. One could hear a bolt drop.

Ben couldn't tell what the look in his mother's eyes was. All he knew was that he needed her to do something. Slap him, condemn him, something. He had caused so many problems for this warrior of a woman, and she had spent so long trying to clean it up. Her eyes were tired, and there were more wrinkles on her gentle face than he remembered. He had aged her. He had taken so much from her. She came to stand in front of him, raising her hand to gently rub over the scar on his cheek from his first battle with Rey.

"You've grown," she commented. Her eyes softened as she took him in. Ben's knees gave out beneath him as he landed at his mother's feet.

"I'm so sorry. I've done terrible things," he murmured. "I was wrong, and I hurt so many people. So many of your people. All for people who really didn't care about me for anything other than what I could do for them. I turned my back on the people that loved me, and I shouldn't have. And Dad-" his voice broke.

"Ben," she said softly, holding him.

It was sobering for the resistance members to see this fearful monster of their nightmares cry into his mother's skirt. Maybe he was more human than they had made him out to be. Maybe there was demonizing on both sides of this war so they could come out of it with a clearer conscience than if they had really thought about it. Rey looked around the room, maybe there was hope for Ben and her after all. The crowd began to disperse to continue the party in other parts of the ship, leaving Ben alone with his mother. Rey squeezed his shoulder.

"I'll be outside waiting," she said gently before leaving the hangar.

Ben looked up at his mother before pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and handing it to her.

"What is this?" She asked, unfolding it.

"Everything I've ever done wrong," Ben replied, getting up to face her.

She scanned the list with a sigh. "This is quite the list."

"I know," Ben replied, guiltily looking down at the ground.

"I'll have to turn this over to the proper authorities," she replied, a small smile on her face. "Good thing that's me."

Ben looked at her with a horrified look as he heard the sound of paper being torn to shreds. "Mother, what are you doing?"

"Let the past stay in the past," she smirked. "This is a new start for the galaxy. Let it be a new start for you, too."

Ben looked at her confused. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you're free. Now go and get out of here. Don't make that girl wait forever," she smirked.

Ben smiled, quickly pulling his mother into a hug.

She gave him a squeeze. "It's good to have you back home."

"It's good to be back," he replied, letting her go. His mother gently patted his cheek before he left to find Rey.

Rey was leaning against the wall waiting for him. She heard the celebration echoing off the walls around her. Part of her wanted to feel elated, relieved even, but she couldn't. Not until she knew what was going to happen to Ben. She quickly straightened when she heard the door open.

"Well?" she asked hopefully as Ben walked through. He seemed like a weight had been taken off his shoulders, but his face was unreadable.

"She told me to start over," he replied in disbelief.

"Start over?" Rey repeated in confusion as he walked over to her. She barely had time to register what that could possibly mean when he pulled her in for a kiss right there in the hallway. His arm wrapped around her to pull her flush against him. Her eyes fluttered closed at the action, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck. He lifted her off the ground slightly as he deepened the kiss.

She pulled back for air and asked the important question on her mind. "What does this mean for us?"

Ben gently set her down on the ground, feeling slightly nervous for some reason. He knew how she felt about him, but still, getting up the nerve to ask her something so important was hard. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice argued that she'd say no, that he was a monster who had done such terrible things that she could never forgive him and accept him fully. He swallowed as he dropped to the ground on his knee in front of her. He took off his gloves and tossed them to the side. Gently, he took her hand in his, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

"Sunshine..." He trailed off, before saying more affectionately, "Rey."

"Ben, you're scaring me," Rey said softly.

He looked up at her. "Please... I need to say this," he pleaded. "I know I've put you and your friends through hell in the past. I know I've done things, terrible things, under the guidance of Snoke. I know that's no excuse, but I am truly sorry for it all. I should never have left you on that planet, or blocked those memories. I should have taken you with me and started over somewhere else. Which is what I want to do now. Rey, I want a life with you, if you could ever forgive me. I'm not... whole without you-" his voice cracked slightly- "Rey, I love you more than anything. Would you want to start a life with me?"

Rey's heart stopped as he looked up at her with such hope. How could she ever say no to that? After all they had been through, after how they had both grown since the very beginning of their adventure, after awakening a force of attraction so powerful within them that she genuinely did not think she could thrive without him, how could she say no? She bit her lip to hold back a laugh. She reached down to cup his face, gently leading him back to his feet.

"Ben Solo, yes. A thousand times, yes. I would go to the ends of the galaxy for you," she smiled. She rubbed her thumb over his cheek as his hands covered hers, leaning into her touch.

"I love you," she said softly as he smiled down at her.

Ben had never been happier in his life. He picked her up and spun her around in the hallway, laughing. This was actually happening and he couldn't believe it. He and Rey were going to have the best life together he was sure of it. He felt it in the force, for once, a comforting hopeful feeling and not a voice whispering that he was nothing. With Rey, he could be anything he wanted to be. He put her down on the ground, finally registering the celebration bouncing off the walls around them.

"Let's go celebrate," he smiled.

"Okay, Ben," she beamed, taking his hand and running to her friends. They had earned this, and from now on, anything they would do, they'd do it together.

With the war over, and everyone scrambling to pick up the pieces before a new regime rose, our motley crew of dreamers, believers, and force wielders had their work cut out for them. Rebuilding the Republic into something that was impressive, but not oppressive. A new dawn was beginning for a new generation, one where there was no dark side nor light side, but just the force, balanced as it should be.

The months passed by as the dust settled around the galaxy, small skirmishes were fought here and there, leftover ripples of the war finally catching up. Finn and Poe traveled around the galaxy, the poster boys for the Republic, supporting General Organa's endeavors and helping get everyone on board with the new government. However, Ben and Rey paid the galaxy's happenings no mind. They had started their life together on Naboo, a place where Rey could be surrounded by green. It was a quiet life, but somehow they didn't seem to mind the slowness of it.

Rey looked up at the sky, watching the most beautiful sunset she had ever seen. She leaned her head against Ben's shoulder, a gentle hand resting on the swell of her belly. She thought about how she'd come a long way from Jakku, but then she looked at Ben and smiled, knowing that she was where she was supposed to be. With Ben. Home.

Hey guys! Labyrinth-Runner here. I'm putting this at the end in case you want to skip over it. It's completely up to you. I just want to say that I am grateful to everyone who has ever read or commented on Force of Attraction. I've been writing FOA for four years now. I know my update schedule wasn't always the greatest, especially because of school. I knew that I would eventually be writing this chapter this year, especially with the weekly schedule I established back in January. I didn't expect I'd be finishing it so soon, but a pandemic had other plans. Writing this was surreal. I've grown a lot since I started this. I've learned that EDITING is a good thing since starting this. I apologize for the roughness of the first couple chapters. Those of you who stuck around, thank you. Those of you who have been here since 2016 and put up with my sporadicalness, thank you. Those who started reading in January when I started getting interest back in this, thank you. Those of you who just started because you're stuck at home and this gives you something to do, thank you. This is the first novel-length fanfic that I've finished. Switching the button over to complete is going to be... an experience.

To those of you who like my writing and don't want our relationship to end here, check me out on tumblr (I write on there, too) my URL is Labyrinth-Runner and my icon is Padmé. For those of you who like the prequels and can get behind Obidala, come check out Come What May.

It's been my honor to try my hand at "Bendemption" before I even knew that TRoS wasn't going to give him one. AND RIAN, I CAME UP WITH FORCE SKYPE FIRST. FIGHT ME, DISNEY. I hope you all had as much fun reading as I had writing.

May the Force Be With You, Always.