A/N: so the first time I saw TROS, I just thought, Ben really shouldn't have died. But after watching it for the second time, I thought, no, you know what? They should have fought Palpatine together – it wasn't just Rey's fight (not when Palpatine had literally been "every voice you have ever heard inside your head" to Ben.)

Also, can you imagine how awesome it would have been if they had defeated him together? Think the throne room scene, only with lightning and more evil cackling. *sighs deeply and stares dramatically into the distance*

Anyways. I've tried my best to do Ben, Rey and the Emperor justice in this fic, as well as to give everybody a happy ending, because seriously. We all deserved better.

"Long have I waited," said a voice that sounded like something from her worst nightmare, "for my grandchild to come home."

Rey looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a man in a black cloak suspended from an intricate claw-like apparatus. His face was ancient and impossibly wrinkled, his eerily blank eyes seeming to stare right through her.

"I never wanted you dead," he told her, as though the notion itself was ridiculous. "I wanted you here."

He lifted a hideously scarred hand to point at something behind him, and Rey felt a pulse of dread as she saw the throne from her visions standing black and menacing at the end of the hall.

"Empress Palpatine," he said, drawing out the phrase with evident relish as he looked her up and down.

She wondered, briefly, what she saw. Did she look strong or scared? Confident or weak? Determined or lost? Light or dark?

"You will take the throne," said the Emperor, his voice so full of evil certainty that she had to suppress a shudder.

"It is your birthright, to rule here," he went on. "It is in your blood. Our blood."

Rey felt her fists clench at the reminder that she was related to this… thing, but forced herself to remain calm as she replied. "I haven't come to join the Sith. I've come to end them."

"As a Jedi?" Palpatine asked mockingly.

But instead of being insulted, Rey drew strength from the assumption. "Yes," she said simply.

Palpatine studied her, then his wizened face broke into a cruel smile. "No," he said, drawing out the word far longer than what was strictly necessary. "Your hatred, your anger – you want to kill me."

His every word fell like a crippling blow, but Rey willed herself to stay standing straight and defiant.

"That is what I want," the Emperor said with exaggerated slowness, taking twisted delight in her shock.

"Kill me, and my spirit will pass into you, as all the Sith live in me," he said, and she felt a shiver of horror ripple up her spine. "You will be Empress. We will be one!"

Turning away from her, Palpatine spread his arms and appealed to the hordes and hordes of black-robed figures in the stadium. "The time has come!" he cried.

To Rey, he said, "With your hatred you will take my life, and you will ascend."

Rey thought of Leia, and of how she had trained her despite knowing she was a Palpatine.

"She saw your spirit, your heart," Luke had said.

Leia believed in me, Rey thought. She believed I wouldn't choose hate.

She was right.

"All you want is for me to hate, but I won't," she said, and she held Leia's smile in her mind as she spoke. "Not even you."

"Weak," Palpatine spat. "Just like your parents."

"My parents were strong. They saved me from you," Rey countered, her words ringing powerfully through the stadium. She was impressed by how confident she sounded, how sure of herself.

That's what finding out you were right all along will do for you, she thought dryly.

Palpatine sneered. "Your master, Luke Skywalker, was saved by his father. The only family you have here… is me."

Stars, but he liked his dramatic pauses.

Palpatine lifted a hand, pointing up at the roof, and Rey followed the path of his fingers with her gaze, puzzled.

And then the roof of the stadium opened, revealing the Resistance engaged in a furious battle with Palpatine's Final Order.

A losing battle. They had to be outnumbered a hundred to one, and the Destroyers were armed with deadly superlasers.

"They don't have long," Palpatine said smugly. "No-one is coming to help them. And you are the one who led them here."

Rey took half a step back, catching herself just as she started to shake her head. This wasn't her fault, it couldn't be!

Palpatine watched her distress in triumph. "Strike me down. Take the throne. Reign over a new empire, and the fleet will be yours. Only you have the power to save them. Refuse, and your new family dies."

Oh, how well he knew her weaknesses. She would gladly die if it meant he didn't get what he wanted, but if her friends' lives were involved, she had no choice.

Rey nodded, helpless tears burning the back of her eyes. But she refused to let them fall – she would not give this monster the satisfaction of knowing just how deeply his words had affected her.

"Good," said Palpatine in a pleased drawl.

"The ritual begins!" he shouted at the gathered Sith, whose chanting rose in volume. "She will strike me down, and pledge herself a Sith. She will draw her weapon."

Rey ignited her lightsaber, the blue plasma casting an eerie glow over the stadium.

"She will come to me."

Feeling as if she was in some awful dream, Rey walked up to the Emperor, who dangled helplessly in front of her in the black claw.

It would be so easy, she thought dully, hearing Palpatine's next words as if from very far away.

"She will take her revenge. And with a stroke of her saber, the Sith are reborn. The Jedi are dead!"

But Rey was no longer listening, because as he had begun to speak, she had recognised the lightyears-away feeling that enveloped her.

The Force-bond flared into existence, and she saw him, his face covered in blood but instantly recognisable.

Ben? she sent through the bond, hardly daring to believe it.

It's me, he replied, and her heart soared. Are you ready?

He didn't have to explain what for – Rey gave him a quick nod, a tiny smile flickering across her face.

He nodded back, and his eyes were full of reassurance. You can do this.

"Do it! Make the sacrifice!" Palpatine's demand cut into her mind, and she blinked, steadying her breath in preparation for what she had to do.

Rey raised the lightsaber behind her back, and Palpatine's eyes gleamed with triumph – only to narrow with fury a few seconds later as she showed him her empty hand.

I can't believe that worked, Ben thought, and she rolled her eyes even as she drew Leia's lightsaber from her belt.

Your confidence in me is astounding, she sent, raising the lightsaber to block the Praetorian Guard's attack.

His reply was instant, and playful enough to bring a grin to her face as she ducked under the hissing vibroblade. Always, sweetheart.

And then he was beside her, flinging the last of the Praetorian Guards away from her, the Skywalker lightsaber humming in his hand.

In a moment that felt like it lasted a hundred years, but couldn't have been more than a second, they looked at each other. A thousand thoughts and feelings passed between them, and they nodded to one another, acknowledging it all.

Then they turned as one to face her grandfather.

Who, predictably, looked furious. "Stand together, die together!" he snarled, using the Force to throw them both viciously against the wall.

Both lightsabers clattered to the floor, and Rey strained uselessly against Palpatine's hold.

Palpatine raised his hands, lifting them both so that they were on their knees in mid-air in front of him, and looked at them with an expression of such pure evil that Rey shuddered through her paralysis. Then he did… something that had her dropping to the floor, feeling as though the very breath had been sucked from her lungs.

She was acutely aware of Ben in the same situation to her right, and tried desperately to reach out to him. But it was as though she had lost the ability to do anything other than scream soundlessly as Palpatine did it again.

"The life-force of your bond, a dyad in the Force," Palpatine said with excruciating smugness, raising his skeletal hands. "A power like life itself, unseen for generations. And now, the power of two restores the one true Emperor!"

Rey watched with absolute horror as Palpatine's hands, formerly shrunken and scarred, morphed and grew into fully functional digits.

"Look what you have made," the Emperor gloated, standing up from his life-support apparatus with triumph etched onto every line of his cruel face. He watched with sickening glee as both Ben and Rey collapsed to the floor.

Her eyes fluttered treacherously, refusing to stay open long enough for her to get an accurate picture of what was going on. She was vaguely aware of Palpatine speaking, but her mind was too hazy to make out the words.

A hideous crackling sound snapped her to her senses, and she forced her eyes to open, nearly crying out at how much pain flooded her system.

She blinked with painful slowness to see that the sky was awash with lightning, shooting out of her grandfather's fingers and over each and every Resistance-aligned starship.

It's over, she thought, feeling very far away as she watched through eyes that struggled to remain open as the Resistance ships fell, one by one.

No, it's not, a voice said in her head, ragged and desperate but still one of the sweetest sounds she had ever heard.

Ben, she breathed, turning her head slightly so she could just-just make out his dark form sprawled beside hers.

I can't fight him alone, Ben said, and she sensed it was true. He was too weak; they both were.

He's too powerful, Ben continued heavily. If I try to face him alone, he'll just Force-throw me off the nearest cliff.

There's nothing we can do, Rey thought, hissing out a sharp breath as a fresh wave of pain washed over her. He's all the Sith.

But even as she said the words, she knew what she had to do.

"Be with us," she murmured.

Ben's surprise flooded their bond, quickly followed by understanding.

"Be with us," he said quietly.

Calm filled their bond as they breathed in simultaneously, then breathed out and spoke together.

"Be with us."

And they were.

Voices – more voices than she could think to count, more than she had ever hoped for – echoed through the bond, filling it with their clarity and purpose. Some she recognised, some she didn't, but each one brought strength back to her failing body and hope to her despairing heart.

"Rey."

"Ben."

"These are your final steps. Rise and take them."

"Rey."

"Ben."

"You must bring balance to the Force, as I did."

Rey sensed rather than heard Ben's sharp intake of breath, and for a moment, awe eclipsed all other feelings in the bond. Grandfather.

"You're not alone," the voices promised.

"Alone, never have you been."

"Every Jedi who has ever lived, lives in you."

"The Force surrounds you."

"Let it guide you."

"As it guided us."

"Feel the Force flowing through you."

"Let it lift you."

"Rise."

"We stand behind you."

"Rey."

"Ben."

"Rise in the Force."

"In the heart of a Jedi lies their strength."

"Rise."

"Rise."

The last voice that spoke was achingly familiar, dry but warm, and gave them both the last shred of inspiration they needed.

"Rey. Ben. The Force will be with you," Luke Skywalker promised. "Always."

Rey reached out her hand, gasping at the sheer amount of strength such a small action took, and felt confidence flood through her as her hand landed in Ben's.

Slowly, painfully, they dragged themselves to their feet, supporting and drawing strength from each other as the echo of the Jedi's voices whispered encouragement through their bond.

They rose together, piece by painful piece, and turned, hand in hand, to face the Emperor.

"Let your deaths be the final words in the story of rebellion," Palpatine snarled, raising his hands to turn his lightning on them.

Rey and Ben acted as one without even thinking about it – Rey called Leia's lightsaber to her hand, and Ben summoned Luke's.

Palpatine's lightning crackled against the barrier of the twins' lightsabers, threatening to overwhelm them at any moment, weak as their wielders were.

"You are nothing!" Palpatine shouted. "A scavenger girl and a fresh-renamed boy are no match for the power in me. I am all the Sith!"

Rey closed her eyes and breathed in, slow and deep, Ben's hand in hers her anchor.

"And we," she said, opening her eyes to meet her grandfather's gaze squarely,

" – are all –" Ben said, tightening his grip on her hand,

" – the Jedi," they finished together.

As one, they crossed their lightsabers, drawing on every last shred of Force ability in them both to push the lightning back into Palpatine's body.

The Emperor screamed, his face beginning to melt away under their combined onslaught, until finally he exploded. A nova of black energy erupted from his falling body, shattering the black throne of the Sith and sending earthquakes shuddering through the stadium.

The lightsabers dropped to the floor with matching dull thumps, and Rey and Ben followed, all their energy spent.

There were stars around them, more stars than Rey had ever even imagined possible, lighting up the blackness with pinpricks of dazzling, brilliant light.

Rey seemed to be floating among the stars, but at the same time, separated from them by a sort of bubble-like window.

She turned slowly around, finding that the sensation was something like swimming in air. She could control her movements, but she wasn't exactly moving freely, either.

It was extremely strange, and she felt innumerable relief flood through her as she saw Ben revolving slowly in the air behind her.

Are you okay? she asked him through the bond, relaxing a little more when it worked as well as it always did.

Yes, he responded, and her heart soared. You?

Never better, she answered dryly.

Ben's amusement filtered through the bond, and the way he thought his answer reminded her poignantly of both his parents. I rather doubt that.

"Where are we?" she wondered aloud, turning around again so she could see the place properly.

"An interesting question," said a new voice, its rich alto cadence breathtakingly familiar.

Blue light gathered in what Rey assumed to be the centre of the room (if it could be called a room), condensing into the figure of a white-robed woman.

"Hello, Rey," said Leia, her smile warm. "Ben."

Ben had tensed behind her, pain and regret flooding his Force signature. Almost unconsciously, Rey drifted back a step or two to stand by his side, lacing her fingers with his. I'm here.

Leia's eyes twinkled as they dropped for just a moment to their interlaced hands. "It's good to see you," she said warmly. "As for where you are… well, to be quite honest, I'm not entirely sure."

Ben and Rey raised their eyebrows at the exact same time. Leia smiled. "The two of you did quite a remarkable thing," she told them. "The amount of power you channelled would certainly have killed one person."

"But we did it together," Rey said.

"Exactly." Leia nodded, smile warm. "If I had to guess, your minds and bodies have been temporarily overloaded by the sheer amount of power that flowed through you. This is the Force's way of recharging you, if you will."

"Recharging," Ben echoed flatly. "We're not datapads, Mom."

A sad smile flickered across Leia's features. "Oh, Ben. It's so good to have you back."

"Mom," Ben said, his voice ragged from pure emotion. "Mom, I'm so sorry –"

"I know," Leia said, holding up a hand to stop him mid-sentence. Her eyes were still sad, but the love in them as she looked at her son was undeniable.

Ben bowed his head, and Leia stepped forward, quick and light, as though the strange gravity of this place didn't affect her. Standing on her tiptoes, she placed a gentle hand on Ben's cheek.

He let out a sound that was half sigh and half sob, dropping Rey's hand to wrap his mother in a tight embrace. A confusing rush of emotions – grief, regret, love, and the sensation of safety a child could only find in his mother's arms – flooded the bond as he bent to bury his face in her hair.

For a moment they stood like that, mother and son, holding each other close in this place that wasn't a place.

At length, Ben pulled away to look at his mother. "Thank you, Mom," he said, so softly Rey could barely hear him. "For everything."

Leia tenderly brushed a tear from his cheek. "You're a good man, Ben," she said, her eyes shining with a mother's pride. "And you have a long, happy life ahead of you."

She turned her eyes to Rey, who found herself overwhelmed by the love in the former General's brown gaze.

"Rey," said Leia.

Rey swallowed hard past the lump that had settled in her throat. "Master, I –"

"There's no need to call me that anymore," Leia interrupted. "And please don't apologise. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"But I –"

"Saved the world. And saved my son." Leia's expression as she looked at Rey was full of affection and pride, not dissimilar to the way she had looked at her son.

Rey could feel her eyes welling up. There was so much she wanted to say to this woman, who had taken her in and trained her and trusted her despite knowing who her grandfather was, but her tongue stuttered in her mouth and she couldn't find the words to thank her.

Leia's eyes softened, as though she could tell exactly what Rey was thinking. "I told you once before, never be afraid of who you are," she said, placing a gentle hand on Rey's cheek and smiling warmly down at her. "Because who you are, Rey, is a hero."

Stepping back, she watched with a warm, loving smile as Rey and Ben reached for each other's hands again.

Rey couldn't remember ever feeling safer, or more comfortable, than she did at that moment – her fingers laced with Ben Solo's, both of them wrapped in the warmth of Leia's love.

"I am so, so proud of you both," Leia told them, her figure beginning to glow with a soft blue light. She gave them a last loving smile… the blue glow brightened, and she was gone.

So, so proud of you both… The echo of her words filled this strange starry place, getting louder and louder and louder until –

Rey woke up.

Everything seemed to be bathed in a soft blue glow – moonlight filtering in from the roof, she realised belatedly, blinking to gather her bearings.

She was in the ruins of the Sith throne room, lying on the cold stone floor, and next to her –

Ben.

She sat up slowly, and he mirrored her actions. For a moment they just looked at each other, breathing raggedly as they tried to wrap their heads around what had happened.

Rey smiled, her first real, genuinely happy smile in a very long time. "Ben," she said, raising her hand tentatively to his cheek.

His lips twitched slightly as though he might smile, too. "Rey," he said softly, his dark eyes searching hers.

She traced the hint of a dimple in his cheek, hardly daring to believe that this was real, that it had really happened –

It did, Rey, he said softly through the bond. It's all real.

She took a shaky breath and let herself believe it for the first time.

Ben was back. Palpatine was dead. Leia loved them both.

She smiled, pure, perfect happiness flooding through her from top to toes.

They had done it.

They had really, truly done it.

And with the happiness still pulsing through every fibre of her being, Rey leaned forwards and kissed him.

Ben wrapped an arm around her back, pulling her close to him as the bond sang with delight.

Rey pulled back, unable to stop the giddy smile from spreading across her face. This is real, this is real, this is real, her thoughts sang.

Ben looked stunned for a moment, then his face split into a smile that could only be described as radiant.

She brushed her fingers along the little smile-crinkles on his cheek, and he leaned down and kissed her again.

They broke apart after a few seconds, gasping for breath and laughing slightly.

"I love you," Ben said, brushing his thumb across her cheek.

Rey grinned, letting him help her to her feet and tangling her fingers with his. "I know."

She leaned her head on his shoulder, and they walked out of the throne room together.

The past was in the past. It was high time to leave it behind.

And as for the future – well, as long as they had each other, they could face anything.

"Mama?" Her daughter's soft call stopped the Ixcheli as she was about to walk out of the bedroom.

"Yes, sweetheart?" she asked, walking back into the room and sitting down on the bed next to her daughter.

The young Ixcheli drew the blankets up to her chin, staring at her mother with wide blue eyes. "Tell me a story, please, Mama."

"What story, sweetie?" her mother asked, tucking a strand of ebony-black hair behind her daughter's left ear.

"The story about Rey Skywalker and Ben Solo, Mama." The little girl's blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

Her mother smiled affectionately down at her. "That's a good story, Ishi."

The little girl nodded, eyes shining.

"Well," the mother began. "A long time ago, the galaxy was ruled by a very evil man. His name was Supreme Leader Snoke."

The little girl gave a dramatic shudder of horror.

"Snoke stole his way into the mind of a young boy, telling him lies about his family. He told the boy that his family didn't love him anymore, and the boy ran away from them."

"Nasty, nasty," the little girl said, her forehead wrinkling adorably as she scowled.

"The boy's name was Ben Solo, but Snoke gave him another name. He called him Kylo Ren, and he made him into a powerful, but evil, warrior."

The little girl gave a small, sad sigh.

"Under Snoke's evil control, Kylo Ren terrorised the galaxy. But then he met a girl in a forest."

"Rey," said the little girl with a contented smile.

"Yes," her mother agreed. "Rey. They didn't like each other at first – in fact, they had quite a battle. But something happened that neither of them expected – the Force bonded their minds."

The little girl nodded along, blue eyes rapt.

"And although they hated the bond at first, with time they came to understand each other. They saw that they were not so different, after all, and that maybe they had been wrong to hate each other."

"Rey sensed that there was good in Kylo Ren, and left her master Luke Skywalker's island to go to him."

"She was right," the little girl cooed happily.

"Almost," her mother corrected. "Kylo Ren took Rey to Snoke, who tried to turn her to the dark side. But Rey was too strong for him, and so Snoke ordered Kylo to kill Rey."

The little girl's hands flew to her mouth as she gasped.

"But Kylo Ren couldn't do it. You see, he had grown to care for Rey through the bond. Instead of killing Rey, he turned against Snoke."

"And they lived happily ever after," the little girl said dreamily.

Her mother suppressed a smile. "Well, not quite. Snoke's poisonous words were still stuck in Kylo Ren's mind, and he chose to take over as Supreme Leader instead of joining Rey as a Jedi."

"Dummy," the girl said, sticking out her tongue.

"It's not over yet," her mother assured her. "Well, Kylo Ren found out that Snoke was not the biggest evil in the galaxy, after all: the mastermind behind it all had been Emperor Palpatine!"

The little girl shrieked and dived under her covers.

"Palpatine ordered Kylo Ren to kill Rey, and so he tracked her down to the old Death Star on Kef Bir. But while they were fighting, Kylo's mother, Leia Organa, reached out to him with the force."

"Leia," the little girl whispered reverently, peeping out from under the covers with a dreamy smile on her face.

"Leia told her son that Snoke and Palpatine had been lying to him all along, and that she still loved him very much. Kylo was so moved that he dropped his lightsaber, and Rey used it to stab him in the stomach."

"Rey, no!" the little girl protested.

"I know," her mother said sympathetically. "But don't worry. Rey sensed Leia's death in the Force, and realised what had happened. She used her power in the Force to heal Leia's son."

"Ben Solo!" the little girl said happily.

"Ben Solo," her mother agreed, ruffling her hair. "Together, Rey and Ben went to Palpatine's planet, and defeated the Emperor once and for all."

"And then they lived happily ever after."

"And then they went back to the Resistance, and Ben Solo apologised. It took a while, but eventually they accepted that he really had changed. Rey and Ben built a new Jedi academy together, and after a few years, they got married and had three children."

"Happily ever after," the girl said contentedly.

"There were a few hiccups along the way, but yes, happily ever after," her mother agreed. "Now, Ishi, what can we learn from this story?"

"Don't listen to creepy old guys who say your family doesn't love you anymore?" the little girl suggested, her brow wrinkled with thought.

Her mother laughed. "Well, yes, there certainly is that. But the real moral of the story is that love is the most powerful force in all the galaxy. Two people in love can do anything, even save the entire galaxy."

"Love saved the galaxy," the little girl said, her eyes shining with sleepy contentment.

"That's right," her mother said, leaning down to press a soft kiss to her daughter's forehead.

The little girl snuggled into her blankets, blinking sleepy blue eyes up at her mother. "Love you, Mama."

"I love you too, Ishi," her mother said, reaching down to tuck the blankets a little tighter around her daughter. With a quick kiss to the little girl's brow, her mother turned and walked softly to the door.

"Goodnight, Mama," the little girl called, just as her mother was about to reach the door.

Smiling to herself, her mother flicked off the lights. "Goodnight."

A/N: I've always loved the ending of The Last Jedi – even though none of the main characters were even on the screen, the consequences of their actions are there to bring you and the whole galaxy hope. To me, that's a real feel-good ending, and I've tried my best to emulate it in this fic. Please do let me know if I was successful! There's nothing quite like reviews for encouragement, and meeting fellow Reylos always brings a smile to my face.