For allbingo
Dec. 21st, 2021 04:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofleithianTitle: The Second Try
Summary: In which a time loop gives Ben Solo a second chance to reunite with Poe.
Prompt: Thank God It's Friday… Again: Time Loops
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
It was the second iteration of the events of Exegol. The first iteration — the bad iteration — had begun when Ben had followed Rey to Exegol. When he ended up once more on the Death Star wreckage, his father having vanished, he decided to both keep the crossguard lightsaber (maybe he’d change the crystal later) and head back to the shores of Kef Bir.
Poe, Finn and another woman that Ben didn’t recognize captured him for his efforts.
Ben was in the brig of the Falcon. Ben Solo supposed that it was fitting, had some degree of symbolism in there, that he was having a second chance at life — only it was some sort of prison. He supposed he didn’t know what exactly he expected right here, right now — did he expect anyone to welcome him back with open arms? Did he expect them, right here, right now, to just forgive him?
Leia was gone. Leia was vanished, after she had reached out to Ben, in her last moments having given him more love and forgiveness than he really deserved. She had reached out to him, and he could still hear her voice in his mind.
Ben.
And his father.
Your mother’s gone, but what she’s fought for — that’s not gone.
Ben was at least glad that he got to see his father, at least at the end. He was glad that he got to reconcile with Han, even though he didn’t know whether or not it was a memory.
But it happened, didn’t it? It doesn’t make it any less real.
Footsteps. Poe’s. Even as Poe knelt down in front of Ben in the brig, he said, “I just…wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I…” There weren’t any words right now for what Ben was feeling. “I died. In my vision.” Metaphorically true, he supposed. He could still remember how he had hated Obi-Wan Kenobi for a long time for the whole “certain point of view” thing. The truth was — he almost understood. Obi-Wan had some hard truths to deliver, and he hadn’t even been atoning for any war crimes. Ben Solo, meanwhile…if Poe knew that he was part of some sort of time loop, he’d probably think Ben was insane, and justifiably so.
“I’m not okay,” he finally said. “I’m — I’m not even close to being okay.”
Poe sighed. “I’m sorry I put you in the brig — ”
“No, it’s not that,” Ben said. "It’s…I felt Mom die. She died reaching out to me…”
“Are you sure?” Poe said. “How can your mother possibly be dead?”
Ben swallowed. “I just felt her. Also, Rey stabbed me." He smiled, a bit grimly. “She regretted it. I guess I deserved it a little.”
“And then she ran off,” Poe said, bitterly. “What a surprise.”
Ben shook his head. “It wasn’t…dodging responsibility. I felt like she…well, she genuinely felt guilt for what she did.”
Poe’s face softened, a little. “I can feel sorry for her, just for that. I don’t have the Force, but I know what it’s like to kriff up and be afraid.”
Ben nodded.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Poe said. “I don’t know if I can trust you. But…you did a noble thing, coming back.”
Ben doubted he could describe what exactly he was feeling right now. That feeling of lightness, of absolution. “It wasn’t that noble.” He still remembered the event that started the timeline: what had he done, besides kill the Knights of Ren and die saving Rey? He’d been unnecessary to the whole thing. Unnecessary. That was a hell of a thing.
“You did the right thing when it matters,” Poe said. “I’d say that’s noble.”
Ben, despite himself, smiled. “I think you’re noble too, Poe.”
***
Poe decided, much to Ben’s affection, to sleep outside the brig on their way back to Kef Bir.
“You know,” Ben said, “You don’t have to do this for me.”
“I do,” Poe said. “Really.” Then, “Solitary confinement can drive people mad. I don’t want that to happen to someone I…”
He trailed off. Ben could sense the answer, though for Poe’s sake, he didn’t say he knew the answer.
“You’re a good person,” Ben said. “You always were. And…it wasn’t your fault what happened on the Finalizer. You were one of the bravest men I ever knew. And…I’m sorry, with all my heart, that things happened as they did.”
Poe looked, momentarily, like he didn’t know how to react. Then, “Thank you, Ben.”
Poe wasn’t close to forgiving him, but appreciating his apology…that was a start. There were so many things Ben wanted to apologize for. Killing his father. Killing a village. Things of that nature. So many things he wanted to apologize for not stopping as well. Hosnia Prime.
An idea struck him. He had felt Kijimi’s destruction, through the Force. Was it possible to save Kijimi, before it was destroyed?
“Do you want me to tell you,” Ben said, “About what I saw?”
Poe nodded.
***
“I guess, first of all, I lied to you,” Ben said, “About it being a vision. I thought the alternative would sound too crazy. We’re…repeating the events of Exegol. I don’t know how it happened, but…” He wet his lips. “In the original timeline, I die. Snap dies, one of your pilots. Rey temporarily dies — but I sacrifice myself to save her. You win, at least.”
“I could save the galaxy and lose my friends. And a whole planet. That’s…not a victory I can live with,” Poe said. “I want you to come out intact, Ben.”
“I don’t deserve this.”
“You do.”
***
It was one thing feeling Leia fade. It was another when D’Arcy (with some gentle urging from Poe) allowed Ben to see her body. She looked so very frail, lying there, drained of life. It was a reminder of what Ben's own self-sabotage had wrought.
Maz was there. Ben didn’t deserve the way she looked at him, with those kind, tired eyes. “She wasn’t alone,” Maz said, “In trying to save you. Your uncle was too.”
“Him?” Ben said. “I thought he hated me. For the longest time, I thought he hated me. I thought that there was something inherently unworthy about me…”
“Never, Ben,” Luke’s voice said.
Ben turned around to see Luke’s ghost. There were so many things he wanted to say, but the first thing he said was this.
“That is the ugliest beard I’ve ever seen.”
***
To Ben’s credit, Luke seemed to find that mildly amusing. “Yes, I know,” he said. “I never thought I’d have the Obi-Wan look either.”
“Well, you look marginally better aged than him,” Ben said.
Luke smiled a little. Then, “Maz was right. I did set out to save you. It wasn’t some mission from the Force — I was trying to contact you for quite some time, but the Force…something in the Dark Side was blocking me. I did wonder why Obi-Wan couldn’t help me on Bespin. I know now.”
“Makes your ‘strike me down and I’ll always be with you’ comment ring rather hollow,” Ben said flatly. Then, “I did terrible things, Uncle. Monstrous things. There’s no excuse that will justify them. But that night…I was just having a bad dream. What was so horrible about me there that I was beyond redemption?”
“Nothing,” Luke said. “I only…it’s far from an excuse, Ben, but I was tricked. I was able to resist Palpatine’s tricks on the Second Death Star, but I couldn’t resist him here. I saw it as a point of pride that I resisted on the Second Death Star, but now I’m wondering if it wasn’t because of any moral superiority to your grandfather like some people would claim. If Palpatine had just been overconfident.” He paused. “It was a split second. I ultimately decided not to kill you — ”
“ — did I hear you right — ”
“ — but I didn’t turn off my lightsaber in time. It’s a shameful part. The part I didn’t tell Rey.” Luke looked, unexpectedly, vulnerable and alone. “I wasn’t strong, Ben. I even went to Ach-To because of fear.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Ben said. “About being weak.” Then, “You could have killed me, but you didn’t. It was because of bad luck, and yes, I’d say it exists, that I woke up to that lightsaber. You think you're the only one who was vulnerable to Palpatine? So was I, Uncle. But you resisted. Even if only I know, and Rey knows, and Poe, and you…that doesn’t diminish you fighting back.” Then, “Uncle…moral superiority is overrated. So is purity. You did the right thing when it counted.”
Luke smiled, if faintly. “So did you, Ben.”
“So this…repeat…”
“A loop," Luke said. “The Force likely sent you back here because your work was far from over, Ben. Divine interventions from the Force are not common, but not unheard of.”
“I failed at Exegol, first time around.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. And,” Luke said, “I’d say you were very brave, Ben. Even in that doomed future.”
***
They had to multitask. Rey was off at Ach-To; Finn volunteered to pick her up. After all, he reasoned, he had been worried about her since Kef Bir; it was about time he checked on her. Ben could sense Finn still didn’t trust him. Rose Tico had contacted Zorii Bliss in order to lead the evacuation effort of Kijimi, and Aftab Ackbar was off holding off the ships about to destroy Kijimi. It was, in the end, a start.
But Ben stood before the Resistance, and told them about Exegol. About Palpatine’s weaknesses. “Palpatine’s resurrected,” he said, “But he’s in a vulnerable condition. He’s a shell of his former self. Pale-eyed, drowned-looking, hooked up to life support…”
Beaumont Kin spoke up. “If I may,” he said, "That’s usually a consequence of Dark Side cloning like he likely tried. The Dark Side energy in him was likely too strong for a clone body, so it started breaking down.” Ben didn’t miss Poe’s wince. “It rendered him just as rotten on the outside as within.”
“Lovely,” Kaydel muttered wryly.
“I suppose in a way killing him would be a mercy,” Ben said. “If he was in that much pain…wouldn’t killing him be a gift?”
"I doubt Palpatine realizes it,” Beaumont said. “Immortality is far from a gift. In Palpatine’s case, at least. Death…to a sane person, one who was not Palpatine, death would be a mercy.”
Ben knew he ought to hate Palpatine. He still did. But in addition, he felt at least the tiniest flicker of pity for him. Palpatine had no sympathetic or redeeming features, but the knowledge that he had condemned himself to a painful, Sion-like existence…
He thought back to Vader. To Sion. To even, in a way, punching the bleeding bowcaster wound at his side to keep from passing out. No sane person would want this — but Palpatine was far from sane.
Ben hoped, at least, Palpatine’s death would be his final one. Not only for the galaxy’s sake, but for Palpatine himself.
***
Poe ultimately went with him, after Rey and Finn came back. Ben turned to him. “You don’t have to come with me.”
“I don’t want you to die separated from me,” Poe said.
“If I die.” Would it just keep repeating, until Ben finally got it right? He shuddered to think.
“Still. I can’t lose you.” Then, “You’re…everything to me, Ben. Don’t forget that.”
There were so many things Ben wished he could say, right here, right now. He hoped that he’d have time to say them, after Exegol, when fear no longer held him back.
***
Exegol, again. Even as Ben entered the stronghold, Rey, Finn and Poe at his side, he knew at least why he was doing this. He wasn’t about to have collateral damage fighting Palpatine. Even the Snoke clones — they probably had no knowledge of what they were about to become.
“Young Solo,” Palpatine rumbled, even as he descended from his platform, hooked up to life support. “I felt your betrayal as soon as you made it. And I know what you’ll do. I know my granddaughter will kill me,” and Ben noticed Rey’s shame, all too clearly, “And not on the terms I want.”
“You can’t get what you want all the time,” Poe said wryly.
Ben spoke up. “What kind of existence are you living, where you’re in perpetual pain and can’t die?”
“Can’t die? That’s reversible, at least,” Palpatine said. “I know about the dyad you share with my granddaughter. I foresaw it, in the vision that was the previous loop.”
Ben nodded, even taking in the others’ shocked expressions.
Rey spoke. “My status as your granddaughter makes no difference. Leia saw who I was and still trained me.”
“Purely sentimental reasons,” Palpatine sneered. “She saw you as a charity case, like a survivor of Alderaan. The fact the Skywalker and Palpatine lines are forever linked in blood…that does not help.”
“Then,” Rey said, “I’m proud to be part of Leia’s family. I am Rey Skywalker, and I defy your will.”
“So be it,” Palpatine sneered. “Skywalker.”
***
He used the dyad to revive himself. What changed was a lightsaber duel as opposed to a duel with Lightning. Even as they fought, Ben found himself leaning on old techniques from Starkiller — leaning into Palpatine’s grip, forcing him back.
Poe and Finn provided back-up, as did Rey. Blaster shots, the Force.
“Impressive,” Palpatine sneered. “It’s as if you actually improved from your previous duels.”
Ben steadied himself. Palpatine was trying to unnerve him. That he knew. He was trying to remind him of when he’d been under Snoke’s thrall. Broken, defeated. No more.
“If I can quote a man worth twenty of you,” Ben said, “I’m a slow learner.”
He pressed into the lightsaber. Further, further. Was it possible, he thought, to do what Grandfather did to Dooku?
It would be poetic justice.
He concentrated. Unlike on Starkiller Base, though, he was steady. Clear-headed. He’d also learned from Snoke.
He summoned Palpatine’s lightsaber to his hand.
***
“I have to admit,” Ben said, “I’m surprised you didn’t see that coming considering that you had Grandfather do the same to Dooku.”
Palpatine laughed. “You would kill me? You would let the spirits in my body pass to you? My consciousness?”
Ben took a deep breath. The alternative was them passing to Rey. His cousin, he knew. Rey Skywalker, who had believed in him.
“Ben,” Poe pleaded. “You don’t have to do this.”
Ben turned to Poe. "It’s the only way."
He decapitated Palpatine.
***
Palpatine’s spirit — of all the things to happen, he did not expect the spirits of Darth Maul and Count Dooku to show up, along with the spirits of Han, Leia, Luke, Anakin —
“Sidious,” Maul said tightly, “Does not get to win today.”
Ben was already struggling for control, right here, right now. He fought tooth and nail — it was for Rey, Finn, Poe, everyone here, right here, right now — but he said, “How?"
"This,” Anakin said. “Once again, Palpatine made a grave mistake hurting my family.”
The Light was hot, searing, and at the same time, comforting. It drove the spirit of Palpatine out, a violent expulsion of black smoke.
Maul was the next to speak. “Kenobi said Skywalker’s son would avenge us,” he said. “My turn.”
“Our turn,” Dooku agreed.
A blast of Force Lightning, and Palpatine was vanquished.
***
The Knights of Ren showed up. Despite being exhausted, Ben pulled his weight — he fought against them, even though it hurt knowing he had to kill them all over again. When he was done, he found himself swaying on his feet. He wasn’t dying; he didn’t get to die today. But he got to fall unconscious, at least.
***
He awoke on the Falcon, Poe standing over him, his hand in Ben’s. “Thank the stars,” Poe murmured. “I thought…I nearly thought…”
“I’m here, Poe.” Ben said, softly. “I’m with you.” Then, “I love you. With all my heart. I thought you’d know that, right here, right now.”
“You…aren’t afraid?” Poe said.
Ben shook his head. “Not anymore. I love you, Poe, and I’m not afraid anymore.”
Poe hugged him, right then and there. “You saved us, Ben. You saved us all.”
And Ben knew that in addition to that, he had saved himself as well.
Summary: In which a time loop gives Ben Solo a second chance to reunite with Poe.
Prompt: Thank God It's Friday… Again: Time Loops
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
It was the second iteration of the events of Exegol. The first iteration — the bad iteration — had begun when Ben had followed Rey to Exegol. When he ended up once more on the Death Star wreckage, his father having vanished, he decided to both keep the crossguard lightsaber (maybe he’d change the crystal later) and head back to the shores of Kef Bir.
Poe, Finn and another woman that Ben didn’t recognize captured him for his efforts.
Ben was in the brig of the Falcon. Ben Solo supposed that it was fitting, had some degree of symbolism in there, that he was having a second chance at life — only it was some sort of prison. He supposed he didn’t know what exactly he expected right here, right now — did he expect anyone to welcome him back with open arms? Did he expect them, right here, right now, to just forgive him?
Leia was gone. Leia was vanished, after she had reached out to Ben, in her last moments having given him more love and forgiveness than he really deserved. She had reached out to him, and he could still hear her voice in his mind.
Ben.
And his father.
Your mother’s gone, but what she’s fought for — that’s not gone.
Ben was at least glad that he got to see his father, at least at the end. He was glad that he got to reconcile with Han, even though he didn’t know whether or not it was a memory.
But it happened, didn’t it? It doesn’t make it any less real.
Footsteps. Poe’s. Even as Poe knelt down in front of Ben in the brig, he said, “I just…wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
“I…” There weren’t any words right now for what Ben was feeling. “I died. In my vision.” Metaphorically true, he supposed. He could still remember how he had hated Obi-Wan Kenobi for a long time for the whole “certain point of view” thing. The truth was — he almost understood. Obi-Wan had some hard truths to deliver, and he hadn’t even been atoning for any war crimes. Ben Solo, meanwhile…if Poe knew that he was part of some sort of time loop, he’d probably think Ben was insane, and justifiably so.
“I’m not okay,” he finally said. “I’m — I’m not even close to being okay.”
Poe sighed. “I’m sorry I put you in the brig — ”
“No, it’s not that,” Ben said. "It’s…I felt Mom die. She died reaching out to me…”
“Are you sure?” Poe said. “How can your mother possibly be dead?”
Ben swallowed. “I just felt her. Also, Rey stabbed me." He smiled, a bit grimly. “She regretted it. I guess I deserved it a little.”
“And then she ran off,” Poe said, bitterly. “What a surprise.”
Ben shook his head. “It wasn’t…dodging responsibility. I felt like she…well, she genuinely felt guilt for what she did.”
Poe’s face softened, a little. “I can feel sorry for her, just for that. I don’t have the Force, but I know what it’s like to kriff up and be afraid.”
Ben nodded.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Poe said. “I don’t know if I can trust you. But…you did a noble thing, coming back.”
Ben doubted he could describe what exactly he was feeling right now. That feeling of lightness, of absolution. “It wasn’t that noble.” He still remembered the event that started the timeline: what had he done, besides kill the Knights of Ren and die saving Rey? He’d been unnecessary to the whole thing. Unnecessary. That was a hell of a thing.
“You did the right thing when it matters,” Poe said. “I’d say that’s noble.”
Ben, despite himself, smiled. “I think you’re noble too, Poe.”
***
Poe decided, much to Ben’s affection, to sleep outside the brig on their way back to Kef Bir.
“You know,” Ben said, “You don’t have to do this for me.”
“I do,” Poe said. “Really.” Then, “Solitary confinement can drive people mad. I don’t want that to happen to someone I…”
He trailed off. Ben could sense the answer, though for Poe’s sake, he didn’t say he knew the answer.
“You’re a good person,” Ben said. “You always were. And…it wasn’t your fault what happened on the Finalizer. You were one of the bravest men I ever knew. And…I’m sorry, with all my heart, that things happened as they did.”
Poe looked, momentarily, like he didn’t know how to react. Then, “Thank you, Ben.”
Poe wasn’t close to forgiving him, but appreciating his apology…that was a start. There were so many things Ben wanted to apologize for. Killing his father. Killing a village. Things of that nature. So many things he wanted to apologize for not stopping as well. Hosnia Prime.
An idea struck him. He had felt Kijimi’s destruction, through the Force. Was it possible to save Kijimi, before it was destroyed?
“Do you want me to tell you,” Ben said, “About what I saw?”
Poe nodded.
***
“I guess, first of all, I lied to you,” Ben said, “About it being a vision. I thought the alternative would sound too crazy. We’re…repeating the events of Exegol. I don’t know how it happened, but…” He wet his lips. “In the original timeline, I die. Snap dies, one of your pilots. Rey temporarily dies — but I sacrifice myself to save her. You win, at least.”
“I could save the galaxy and lose my friends. And a whole planet. That’s…not a victory I can live with,” Poe said. “I want you to come out intact, Ben.”
“I don’t deserve this.”
“You do.”
***
It was one thing feeling Leia fade. It was another when D’Arcy (with some gentle urging from Poe) allowed Ben to see her body. She looked so very frail, lying there, drained of life. It was a reminder of what Ben's own self-sabotage had wrought.
Maz was there. Ben didn’t deserve the way she looked at him, with those kind, tired eyes. “She wasn’t alone,” Maz said, “In trying to save you. Your uncle was too.”
“Him?” Ben said. “I thought he hated me. For the longest time, I thought he hated me. I thought that there was something inherently unworthy about me…”
“Never, Ben,” Luke’s voice said.
Ben turned around to see Luke’s ghost. There were so many things he wanted to say, but the first thing he said was this.
“That is the ugliest beard I’ve ever seen.”
***
To Ben’s credit, Luke seemed to find that mildly amusing. “Yes, I know,” he said. “I never thought I’d have the Obi-Wan look either.”
“Well, you look marginally better aged than him,” Ben said.
Luke smiled a little. Then, “Maz was right. I did set out to save you. It wasn’t some mission from the Force — I was trying to contact you for quite some time, but the Force…something in the Dark Side was blocking me. I did wonder why Obi-Wan couldn’t help me on Bespin. I know now.”
“Makes your ‘strike me down and I’ll always be with you’ comment ring rather hollow,” Ben said flatly. Then, “I did terrible things, Uncle. Monstrous things. There’s no excuse that will justify them. But that night…I was just having a bad dream. What was so horrible about me there that I was beyond redemption?”
“Nothing,” Luke said. “I only…it’s far from an excuse, Ben, but I was tricked. I was able to resist Palpatine’s tricks on the Second Death Star, but I couldn’t resist him here. I saw it as a point of pride that I resisted on the Second Death Star, but now I’m wondering if it wasn’t because of any moral superiority to your grandfather like some people would claim. If Palpatine had just been overconfident.” He paused. “It was a split second. I ultimately decided not to kill you — ”
“ — did I hear you right — ”
“ — but I didn’t turn off my lightsaber in time. It’s a shameful part. The part I didn’t tell Rey.” Luke looked, unexpectedly, vulnerable and alone. “I wasn’t strong, Ben. I even went to Ach-To because of fear.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Ben said. “About being weak.” Then, “You could have killed me, but you didn’t. It was because of bad luck, and yes, I’d say it exists, that I woke up to that lightsaber. You think you're the only one who was vulnerable to Palpatine? So was I, Uncle. But you resisted. Even if only I know, and Rey knows, and Poe, and you…that doesn’t diminish you fighting back.” Then, “Uncle…moral superiority is overrated. So is purity. You did the right thing when it counted.”
Luke smiled, if faintly. “So did you, Ben.”
“So this…repeat…”
“A loop," Luke said. “The Force likely sent you back here because your work was far from over, Ben. Divine interventions from the Force are not common, but not unheard of.”
“I failed at Exegol, first time around.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. And,” Luke said, “I’d say you were very brave, Ben. Even in that doomed future.”
***
They had to multitask. Rey was off at Ach-To; Finn volunteered to pick her up. After all, he reasoned, he had been worried about her since Kef Bir; it was about time he checked on her. Ben could sense Finn still didn’t trust him. Rose Tico had contacted Zorii Bliss in order to lead the evacuation effort of Kijimi, and Aftab Ackbar was off holding off the ships about to destroy Kijimi. It was, in the end, a start.
But Ben stood before the Resistance, and told them about Exegol. About Palpatine’s weaknesses. “Palpatine’s resurrected,” he said, “But he’s in a vulnerable condition. He’s a shell of his former self. Pale-eyed, drowned-looking, hooked up to life support…”
Beaumont Kin spoke up. “If I may,” he said, "That’s usually a consequence of Dark Side cloning like he likely tried. The Dark Side energy in him was likely too strong for a clone body, so it started breaking down.” Ben didn’t miss Poe’s wince. “It rendered him just as rotten on the outside as within.”
“Lovely,” Kaydel muttered wryly.
“I suppose in a way killing him would be a mercy,” Ben said. “If he was in that much pain…wouldn’t killing him be a gift?”
"I doubt Palpatine realizes it,” Beaumont said. “Immortality is far from a gift. In Palpatine’s case, at least. Death…to a sane person, one who was not Palpatine, death would be a mercy.”
Ben knew he ought to hate Palpatine. He still did. But in addition, he felt at least the tiniest flicker of pity for him. Palpatine had no sympathetic or redeeming features, but the knowledge that he had condemned himself to a painful, Sion-like existence…
He thought back to Vader. To Sion. To even, in a way, punching the bleeding bowcaster wound at his side to keep from passing out. No sane person would want this — but Palpatine was far from sane.
Ben hoped, at least, Palpatine’s death would be his final one. Not only for the galaxy’s sake, but for Palpatine himself.
***
Poe ultimately went with him, after Rey and Finn came back. Ben turned to him. “You don’t have to come with me.”
“I don’t want you to die separated from me,” Poe said.
“If I die.” Would it just keep repeating, until Ben finally got it right? He shuddered to think.
“Still. I can’t lose you.” Then, “You’re…everything to me, Ben. Don’t forget that.”
There were so many things Ben wished he could say, right here, right now. He hoped that he’d have time to say them, after Exegol, when fear no longer held him back.
***
Exegol, again. Even as Ben entered the stronghold, Rey, Finn and Poe at his side, he knew at least why he was doing this. He wasn’t about to have collateral damage fighting Palpatine. Even the Snoke clones — they probably had no knowledge of what they were about to become.
“Young Solo,” Palpatine rumbled, even as he descended from his platform, hooked up to life support. “I felt your betrayal as soon as you made it. And I know what you’ll do. I know my granddaughter will kill me,” and Ben noticed Rey’s shame, all too clearly, “And not on the terms I want.”
“You can’t get what you want all the time,” Poe said wryly.
Ben spoke up. “What kind of existence are you living, where you’re in perpetual pain and can’t die?”
“Can’t die? That’s reversible, at least,” Palpatine said. “I know about the dyad you share with my granddaughter. I foresaw it, in the vision that was the previous loop.”
Ben nodded, even taking in the others’ shocked expressions.
Rey spoke. “My status as your granddaughter makes no difference. Leia saw who I was and still trained me.”
“Purely sentimental reasons,” Palpatine sneered. “She saw you as a charity case, like a survivor of Alderaan. The fact the Skywalker and Palpatine lines are forever linked in blood…that does not help.”
“Then,” Rey said, “I’m proud to be part of Leia’s family. I am Rey Skywalker, and I defy your will.”
“So be it,” Palpatine sneered. “Skywalker.”
***
He used the dyad to revive himself. What changed was a lightsaber duel as opposed to a duel with Lightning. Even as they fought, Ben found himself leaning on old techniques from Starkiller — leaning into Palpatine’s grip, forcing him back.
Poe and Finn provided back-up, as did Rey. Blaster shots, the Force.
“Impressive,” Palpatine sneered. “It’s as if you actually improved from your previous duels.”
Ben steadied himself. Palpatine was trying to unnerve him. That he knew. He was trying to remind him of when he’d been under Snoke’s thrall. Broken, defeated. No more.
“If I can quote a man worth twenty of you,” Ben said, “I’m a slow learner.”
He pressed into the lightsaber. Further, further. Was it possible, he thought, to do what Grandfather did to Dooku?
It would be poetic justice.
He concentrated. Unlike on Starkiller Base, though, he was steady. Clear-headed. He’d also learned from Snoke.
He summoned Palpatine’s lightsaber to his hand.
***
“I have to admit,” Ben said, “I’m surprised you didn’t see that coming considering that you had Grandfather do the same to Dooku.”
Palpatine laughed. “You would kill me? You would let the spirits in my body pass to you? My consciousness?”
Ben took a deep breath. The alternative was them passing to Rey. His cousin, he knew. Rey Skywalker, who had believed in him.
“Ben,” Poe pleaded. “You don’t have to do this.”
Ben turned to Poe. "It’s the only way."
He decapitated Palpatine.
***
Palpatine’s spirit — of all the things to happen, he did not expect the spirits of Darth Maul and Count Dooku to show up, along with the spirits of Han, Leia, Luke, Anakin —
“Sidious,” Maul said tightly, “Does not get to win today.”
Ben was already struggling for control, right here, right now. He fought tooth and nail — it was for Rey, Finn, Poe, everyone here, right here, right now — but he said, “How?"
"This,” Anakin said. “Once again, Palpatine made a grave mistake hurting my family.”
The Light was hot, searing, and at the same time, comforting. It drove the spirit of Palpatine out, a violent expulsion of black smoke.
Maul was the next to speak. “Kenobi said Skywalker’s son would avenge us,” he said. “My turn.”
“Our turn,” Dooku agreed.
A blast of Force Lightning, and Palpatine was vanquished.
***
The Knights of Ren showed up. Despite being exhausted, Ben pulled his weight — he fought against them, even though it hurt knowing he had to kill them all over again. When he was done, he found himself swaying on his feet. He wasn’t dying; he didn’t get to die today. But he got to fall unconscious, at least.
***
He awoke on the Falcon, Poe standing over him, his hand in Ben’s. “Thank the stars,” Poe murmured. “I thought…I nearly thought…”
“I’m here, Poe.” Ben said, softly. “I’m with you.” Then, “I love you. With all my heart. I thought you’d know that, right here, right now.”
“You…aren’t afraid?” Poe said.
Ben shook his head. “Not anymore. I love you, Poe, and I’m not afraid anymore.”
Poe hugged him, right then and there. “You saved us, Ben. You saved us all.”
And Ben knew that in addition to that, he had saved himself as well.
