Brown met brown, as she stared into his gentle gaze.

For a long moment, everything was silent and then suddenly, they were kissing.

Locked in an embrace, they passionately- desperately- came together, making Rey realize that his lips were softer than she'd expected. She liked it.

Then, almost as soon as it began, it came to an end like all things and Ben - no longer Kylo Ren- laughed. It was pure. It was perfect . And at that moment she knew that she was in lo- he fell.

Her chest burst with pain, as the Force Dyad shattered, making Rey feel as though she was about to die.

"Ben," she cried, "please Ben, don't do this to me, not now. Not after everything. No. No no no no no NO!"

He didn't move, no breath escaping his now still mouth.

Rey screamed.

She screamed for her pain, her losses, her hatred, her wishes, her hopes, her dreams, her Ben .

And then, a bright white light emerged from the darkness and she collapsed, right next to him.

Together .

"Rey."

She snapped awake only to be met with nothingness.

"Who's there?" Rey's gaze darted around her, but still, she was met with a vast expanse of nothing.

"You've underestimated your power Rey."

"You didn't answer my question. Who are you? And... and where am I? What's happening?" She demanded to know, as a flicker of annoyance burst through her, before she released it into the force.

This time, the voice was silent and yet again she was given no answers.

And then, there was darkness.

Ben Solo awoke with a gasp, scrambling backwards into a dirt-coated wall, as he desperately worked to remember what exactly had happened.

Kef Bir. Mom. Dad. Exegol. Rey. Anakin's Lightsaber. Palpatine. Rey's Death.

She'd died. She was gone, his Rey. Rey Someone.

He brought his hands to his face, as he choked on his own sobs.

But then, he felt someone laying right next to him and turned his head to see Rey.

Unconscious, but breathing.

He let out a sob of relief, as more memories flooded his mind with no mercy. He'd saved her... and The Kiss. That perfect kiss. One that he knew deep down he didn't and perhaps never would deserve, but was at the same time one of the only things he'd ever really wanted.

Before Rey, he'd been alone for what felt like his whole life. His parents had always seemed too caught up in their quarrels and work to ever really pay much attention to him, up until the day he was discarded to his Uncle. Luke. He still didn't know how exactly to feel about him. Luke had tried to kill him and yet, sometimes Ben wondered if he should've, because then Kylo Ren would've never existed and so many lives wouldn't have been extinguished in his wrath.

His fists clenched and he worked to blink back tears, when suddenly Ben remembered something else too.

Hadn't he died?

The world was black and bleak.

She did not dream.

"Rey," a new voice, yet this time a familiar one whispered, as it worked to pull her from her unconscious state.

She did not wake.

"Rey," the voice whispered again, this time a little more desperate. "Rey, please wake up."

Slowly, her dazzling brown orbs blinked awake to meet Ben's own.

She smiled, "Ben."

Wait... Ben? How the kriff was he here? Ben was... Ben was dead.

She decided she didn't care and was just grateful to have him here again- alive. Rey jolted upwards, grabbing him in a desperate and warm embrace, to which Ben immediately reciprocated. Holding her like he was holding on for dear life.

"How are you alive?" Rey whispered. "How?"

"Does it matter?" Ben whispered back, "We survived Rey. We kriffing survived!"

Tears of happiness cascaded down both of their cheeks. "I know," she murmured back, as she slowly left the embrace, to grab his face in her hands. "I know," she sighed, "but a question still remains. Where the kriff are we? And next to that, what are we going to do with you Ben? You're a wanted man. You'll be executed."

A somber feeling fell around the two, as they pondered this. "Perhaps, I should be," Ben whispered quietly, but not quite quiet enough.

"Ben!" Rey's eyes rounded in terror before she glanced sadly at her feet, "yes, you made mistakes, but in the end, when things mattered the most, you realized that you were wrong. You once said to let the past die. To kill it if you have to." Rey paused, "we can't just focus on the past forever Ben, we need to move forward. All of us. We will find a way to work this all out, I promise."

Her gaze crept back up to met Ben's eyes, only to find that he was staring into the busy city, from their position in the alleyway, his eyes glued to a sign.

Rey let out an exasperated breath. "Ben, did you even listen to a thing that I just said?"

He didn't respond.

"Ben," Rey demanded, grabbing one of his shoulders and jolting him back into reality. Suddenly, she was met with an expression that she'd never seen on his face before. A mixture of confusion, awe, wonderment, fear and something else.

"That sign..." Ben mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?" Rey questioned, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"That sign," Ben began again, "it says it's 3255 LY... Rey, why are we in 3255 LY?"

A mixture of fear and confusion raced up her spine, like tendrils of electricity.

"Ben... what are you saying?"

His gaze rose to meet hers, "we'll first off it looks like we don't have to worry about me being a wanted criminal here, but we're in the Clone Wars, Rey," he paused, "I don't know how or why, although I'd assume it has something to do with the force and Exegol." Ben sighed, "no matter what though, it's late and it probably isn't too safe to be wandering about these streets at night. We need to get cover and quick."