4. Chapter 4

Carrying Ben was nothing like lifting rocks. Maybe it was their connection through the Force that made it so effortless, or maybe it was her own determination, plain and simple. She floated his sleeping body high above her head as she picked her way through the path she'd made in the rubble. The Temple of the Sith had lost its power to frighten her. The lightning that had danced throughout its vaults was silenced now, vanished with the man who commanded it. Rey passed the clones of Snoke floating in water, dozens of his gruesome face pressed against the glass and leering.

"Should have known you were a puppet," she said as they went by. It was strange to see his face again, when the last time she'd glimpsed it was that night in his throne room, when Ben—Kylo, rather—had ignited her own lightsaber and turned it on his master. His death might not have mattered to the emperor, considering how many copies he had of him as backup, but it had mattered immensely to Rey. It was her first real sign of hope in Ben, that the man he'd used to be, the man that Han and Leia had raised, was still in there somewhere.

And she'd been right to hope. She drew Ben down to waist height and smoothed some of the hair away from his face as she walked. "I've never given up on you," she said. "And I never will."

She knew there would be questions when she got back to the Resistance base. She couldn't very well waltz in with the former Supreme Leader of the First Order and expect everyone to welcome him with open arms. There would be distrust, fear, even outrage when they saw what she had brought back with her.

If only Leia was still here. Ben's mother had given up her life to save him. That would have to be enough for the Resistance to give Ben a chance. Even if they didn't trust him, even if they didn't trust Rey herself, they would do it for General Organa. She had been far too beloved and respected for them not to at least consider her son worthy of a shot at redemption.

Of course, Leia wasn't out of reach for Rey. She understood now that her ancestors, spiritual and biological, were waiting for her amongst the stars. They had spoken to her; Luke had visited her. But she didn't need to speak to Leia to know what she would want for her son. It was what any mother would want for her child.

But first Rey had to get Ben to safety before she could worry about advocating for him. They were coming now to the shaft that led to the surface of the planet. It hadn't been so hard to reach the bottom, using the Force to soften her landings, but getting up was another thing entirely, especially with the precious cargo she bore now. Rey looked up, up, up into the dimness. There was no way she could call Luke's X-wing down to herself—it wouldn't fit through the strange crevice that had brought her here. And she didn't think she could float herself and Ben all the way up to the top. No, she would have to rely on some of her old skills to get her out of this mess. Setting her jaw, Rey began to look around for what she needed to scale her way to the surface.