Rey blinked, feeling herself coming alive again. But it was only to the feeling of beating on her head that her eyes opened. She had felt peace for a moment, but the throne still came back to haunt her. As she opened her eyes, she saw Ben lying on the floor in front of her, his back turned to her. 

But, he began to move. 

She felt his presence rush over to her, seeming to check on her for a moment. It warmed her system and she attempted to move herself to lay on her back, but her arm immediatly ached.

Ben was having no such problem. 

He rolled onto his stomach, sitting up onto his knees to try and get to his feet. Then, he moved quicker than she could keep up with her. He was brought off of his feet, floating above the ground against his free will. Rey's eyes strained as she looked up as high as she could on her side, looking at his fear stricken face. 

When the Emperor spoke, it sounded like her ears were clogged.

"As once I fell, so forth the last Skywalker."

Rey felt her insides squeeze as Ben was shoved violently through the air and out of her sight. The ground rumbled and lightning flashed as something hit the surface of the cavern hard. She felt a tingle come to her entire left side before a fierce pain hit her head. She bit her tongue hard to stop from crying out as her tear filled eyes searched the ground for a long time, waiting for Ben's presence to come back. 

But it didn't.

Just like you he will not be able to escape his fate.

"Ben?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

"Do not fear that feeble attack my faithful," the Emperor's voice said from afar. Suddenly, mass pain hit her head, a headache that would bow to no other. Rey couldn't stop from slightly whimpering, her toes clenching in her ripping boots. She squeezed her eyes shut. 

Was this the feeling of Ben dying? 

The Emperor said something else, but it was cut off my a bright light and a sound so loud it sounded like silence. Rey felt herself becoming overwhelmed. She shut her eyes tightly, clamping her lips together at the sour taste in her mouth as she rolled over to her back, ignoring the pain in her sides. 

But, then the voices came. 

Warmth flooded through her system and the blaring white light dimmed from her eyes. She cracked them open, peering into the sky and found herself staring at the war going on overhead. Lightning painted the sky, and Rey watched as the bright electricity stopped Resistance ships, enabling them from continuing their hope filled mission to destroy the large star destroyers. She pushed her mind past the sight of the war, needing to look for the peace she had felt before. It was what every one of her teachers had told her to look for, Luke, Leia. Look for the hope, look for the peace. 

She let her vision go past the lightning, past the destruction and past the ships. And beyond everything, balance. Beyond everything, a force. She felt everything but nothing at all. She heard the roaring of the ocean but the silence of the night. And she saw millions of stars but somehow the great wide galaxy was still so empty.

"Be with me," she whispered. "Be with me."

"Rey," a young girls voice said. It powered her and she felt the girls presence softly pushing her back down. The light of the lightning could faintly be seen as Rey blinked. 

"Be with me."

"Rey, you are not alone," a man's voice said. It gently guided her back down. The ships of the resistance were frozen in place, the lightning the same. She felt like she was spectating, she had just took a picture, looking at it in the future.

Powerful light, powerful darkness.

When darkness rises and light to meet it.

"The light, find the light," a woman's voice told her. She glided farther towards the ground, seeming to gracefully fall towards the ground. Rey blinked, letting the Force guide her perception. 

"In the heart of the Jedi lies their strength," said another man. Rey followed the frozen column lightning back into the large structure where the emperor would soon wait. 

"Feel the force flowing through you, Rey!" a man who had already spoke said. 

"These are your final steps, Rey," a familiar voice said. She had heard this man's voice in Luke's memories. A sharp british accent filled with knowledge. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke's master.

"We stand behind you, Rey," a different man's voice said. Her lips parted, blood flowing into her mouth from the crack which ran down the middle of the bottom one. 

Her vision snapped back into her body and she let out a heaving sigh. Rey felt herself getting choked up at the sound of so many familiar voices. Tears rushed to her eyes and she let out a cry. But she was growing stronger, her muscles returning to their normal feeling and blood flowing to the tips of her fingers and toes. She slowly moved the joints of her fingers, feeling the rough rock beneath her.

"Alone you are not," Yoda's unmistakable voice said through the Force. Rey nodded, raising her hand and arm to weakly role to her side. But she was not weak, not with them. Together, she felt like she could take on anything.

"Every Jedi that ever lived, lives in you," another man's voice said. Her heart fluttered and she felt strength course through her veins. Her hand slammed down on the rock, the dust flying in all directions. She stared at her blood and scratch filled skin, but they wandered to something else in the corner of her eye. 

Breathing hard, she got to her knees, pain spiking through her kneecaps but she ignored it. 

"The Force surrounds you, Rey."

She felt multiple presences around her, but she couldn't see them. As she struggled to get to her feet, she looked around. Her eyes landed on the Emperor who sat on the throne, new robes flowing down his pale figure. He was frozen mid laugh, lightning sprouting from each of his new fingers. 

Then, she felt a clear, familiar presence appear behind her. She was careful as she turned on her heel to face them. A man stood in front of her, his figure slightly transparent. The smallest smile laid on thin lips as he looked upon her. Shoulder length brown hair fell to his shoulders, Jedi robes wrapping around his figure. 

"Rey," he said. 

But, his eyes were what she recognized. They were dark almost black, just like Bens.

"Anakin Skywalker," she whispered. He softly smiled to her.

It was almost encouraging. 

"Rey, bring balance to the force as I did," he said. She was about to nod, but the feeling of other presences caught her attention. She turned farther to her right to see figures appearing out of the air. They were dimmer and more transparent than Anakin, but she could still faintly see them. All wore Jedi robes which stood still around their bodies. One of the more solid men of the group had eyes she recognised from Luke's memories. Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Rise in the Force, Rey," Yoda said as he appeared at Anakin's feat. The small green creature had a small smile on his face as he held onto his stick cane. 

More Jedi came before her, all facing Palpatine but their gazes were on her. 

But someone was missing. 

She searched the crowd of smiling faces for one man. Then, she locked eyes with Luke's sparkling blue eyes. He was the most solid figure, looking much like his normal self if it weren't for the blue aura surrounding him. 

"Rey," he said, a smile coming to his lips. "The Force will be with you. Always."

She softly nodded to him and she felt her bottom lip tremble as she ran her eyes over the fallen Jedi once more. They stood behind her. She would not do this alone. As she turned back to the Emperor, squeezing her eyes closed as she waited for the noise to flood back to her. She waited, but it never came.

"Rey," a new voice said. Her eyes shot open at the woman's voice. In front of her lay Leia. She stood on her feet, her body draped in a light white dress. Her long grey hair lay over her shoulder, free from any sort of pin or clip. She had a kind smile on her face, her hands, free of jewelry, clamped together in front of her. "Look at you," she said, a giggle leaving her as her faces crunched from her smile. She extended her arms and Rey quickly jogged over to her to embrace her. She felt reach, the fabric feeling like silk against her hands. She squeezed her tightly, feeling tears run down her eyes. 

"I'm sorry," Rey whispered to her. Leia immediately pulled away from her, her eyebrows arched. 

"Now what are you saying sorry for?" she asked. Rey smiled, giggling a bit as she quickly wiped her eyes. 

"I just..." she whispered. "For anything I did wrong, I've been acting like such a brat the last few days and I want to say sorry to everyone but-" she said, her eyes looking up at the frozen scenery above them. Leia smiled to her, placing a hand on either of her arms. 

"There's nothing to apologize for, you were finding who you are," she said. "And you can tell them, we will be behind, you don't need to do this on your own."

Rey nodded, sniffling.

"Thank you," she said. Leia smiled. 

"That's better."

Then, she disappeared from in front of Rey. She quickly whirled around to where the rest of the Jedi lay to find her standing beside Luke, both having their arms wrapped around the other. Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi stood nearby, seeming to be bickering with each other even in the serious situation. 

Rey let her eyes wander the crowd for one moment, searching for someone but couldn't find their eyes anywhere in the crowd. 

"Let your death be the final word in the story of rebellion," the Emperor's deep voice hissed to her. She whirled around to find him standing from his throne, arms being lifted into the air. The sound of war resumed above them as lightning sprouted from his hands, going at her instead of the fleet fighting above. Quickly, she reached a hand out, calling on the force. Leia's lightsaber flew into her hand and she quickly raised it, igniting the lazer as lightning was hurled at her. She squeezed her eyes closed, her arm tense as she waited for a horrible blow of pain, but none came. 

"We stand behind you, Rey," Luke told her. She opened her eyes to see the electricity flying into the lightsaber blade, not harming her. She took a deep breath as the Emperor's glowing yellow eyes turned angered at the sight of the Jedi standing behind her. 

"You are nothing," he hissed. "A scavenger girl is no match for the power in me." 

She groaned out a breath, the power finally beginning to weigh on her. She gripped the lightsaber tightly and it took all her strength to keep her arm up. 

But suddenly, the familiar warm presence surrounded her. It smelled like vanilla. It wafted around her, healing her wounds and relaxing all her muscles, giving her strength with peace. She held onto it tightly, never wanting it to leave, but it gave her power to reach her other hand out, grabbing hold of Anakin's lightsaber with the force. 

"I am all the Sith!" Palpatine bellowed.

Rey felt herself calm at the feel of Ben surrounding her. She missed him and she was glad he was still alive. Her eyes were watering with tears of thankfulness as they met her grandfathers.

"And this," she breathed. "Is all the Jedi."

With a groan the lightsaber came flying into her grip and she ignited it, placing Anakin's on top of Leia's. The family bonded lightsabers worked beautifully together, absorbing Palpatine's power. The Jedi behind her reached out with the Force as far as they could go, holding Rey steady and making sure she didn't get overwhelmed. 

Ben fed her power and Rey took a small step forward. The Jedi passed their power to her feet, surging her forward. She took another step and another. Palpatine faltered back as Rey groaned again, shoving her lightsabers forward with all her might. A bounce of electricity came flooding from the lightsabers, coursing back up Palpatine's power line and into him. He groaned and she shoved the lightning again. A large amount of power flowed at Palpatine and he let out a shriek of surprise. She surged forward again, pushing as hard as she could as she switched to offense. 

Palpatine let out another shriek, but this was of pain. She opened her eyes and found Palpatine falling apart. Lightning surged towards him instead of her and she realized the force pushing against her was close to nothing. She took another step and extended her arms as hard and as fast as she could. A large bunch of power flew towards him and Rey lost her breath, her limbs going numb as the last blast took her everything. Palpatine screamed and fell back, exploding into the largest crack of lightning Rey had ever seen. The power she had shot at him was a powerful wind, knocking the entire sith throne down and breaking apart the wall which guarded the cloaked figures from the fight. Lightning struck around the throne room, tearing apart the stone statues and the floor. Rock crumbled into the abyss surrounding them and fell from the ceiling as the ground shook.

Rey watched as destruction ran through the entire throne room, everything being torn to pieces, the cloaked figures being crushed by the falling rubble. She felt her vision darkening and a soft smile came to her lips as Ben's presence became stronger. She crumbled to her knees, feeling the Jedi's presence fading along with her consciousness. 

"You did good Rey," Leia's voice whispered to her. She smiled even wider, nodding. 

She blacked out to the sound of Leia sighing sadly over her and one thought on her mind.

Ben. Safe.