Chapter Text
Time is a relative concept for an immortal being. There have been times when Rey has closed her eyes and opened them to a new decade. There have also been single inhalations that have lasted for months.
Each moment of his absence has been a lifetime and a heartbeat all at once. Yes, a heartbeat—the impossible thing which grew from nothing, which she first felt stir inside her chest when he kissed her goodbye. It's been there ever since, growing more robust with each palpitation. She sometimes thinks hers started beating the moment his did once again.
There are moments she hates it, this heart, for it submerges her under waves of inexplicable emotion. She's never known the acute pain of missing something, someone. She's never felt the throbbing memory of a long-ago kiss that still feels fresh on her lips.
Other times, she places her hand over the space above her breast and counts the beats, wondering if his heart beats in kind with hers.
She's standing next to her altar—she employs the enchanted feather now and then to allow herself some time to rest between judging the newly dead—when Connix comes to stand beside her.
"He's here."
And just like that, the thing in her chest tries to escape through her throat. She can't speak around it, so she nods at Connix. Rey's juror takes her hand and squeezes it in encouragement and comfort; no words between them are necessary. Swiftly and silently, they move toward the Hall of Confessors.
When she sees him, he's standing in a slate gray tunic with the emblem of a phoenix emblazoned in gold and black thread on the back. His hair is longer, tied at the nape of his neck with a leather string. As she moves closer, she can tell that he's a few inches shorter, though just as broad in the shoulders.
He turns to face her and the similarities outweigh the differences of his previous physical incarnation. The soft planes of his face have hardened some, and his lips have lost some volume, though they are still plenty pink and kissable. He isn't quite as pale. There are freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose to add to the moles she knows.
But it's his eyes that draw her in: those warm, amber brown eyes that look on her with ancient knowledge, like he's done this many times over and he holds all the universe’s secrets.
This time, when he stares at her with his gorgeous eyes, there is no anger. What she sees in his gaze makes her heart beat that much faster. Is it genuine recognition? She has to know.
"What is your name?"
His lips puzzle over his response for a moment before a deeper-than-expected voice reveals, "I cannot speak the name I came with, for it is not the truth."
Her heart stutters. "What name calls to you?"
The words slip easily off his tongue: "Ben Solo."
"It is you."
“Rey.”
She winds her arms around his neck as his hands find purchase at her hips, bringing her closer so their bodies touch along with their lips. After so long apart and with a different mouth, she worried that it would be strange, but Ben is Ben is Ben.
Connix delicately clears her throat behind them, and Rey reluctantly pulls away.
“It is time that he is judged,” the juror says. “He has already made his confessions.”
She has longed for and dreaded this day in equal measure, but in this moment, she feels hopeful. Taking him by the hand, Rey leads him once more into her throne room. Her sacred cat meets them at the door, brushing against Ben’s hip and purring warmly.
When they reach the scales, he pulls up short. “Rey,” he begins, “before we proceed, I need you to know if you—”
Her fingers press against his lips before he can say it. “I love you, too.”
Instead of ascending to the golden plate, Rey stands beside Ben as he places his heart on the scale opposite to her feather. They stand in silence, hands entwined, as they watch and wait. Ever so slowly, the scales tip. This time his heart rises above her feather, signifying his worthiness.
Tears spring to her eyes. “You can move on to the Sublime.”
His hand tightens around hers, prompting her to meet his gaze. “What happens if I don’t want to go on to the Sublime? What if I want to stay here?”
Rey’s eyes travel around the room, taking stock of her jurors: all former humans who chose to remain when they earned everlasting peace and joy beyond. It isn’t a choice made lightly; it means forsaking fate and working alongside Rey and the confessors in order to help other mortals’ souls.
“You won’t ever see your parents,” she tells him.
“I made my peace with them long ago,” he responds.
“If you choose to leave,” she looks down at the Devourer sitting nearby, “you’ll fade to nothing.”
Somehow he moves closer to her, even though there were only inches between them to start. “I’ll never leave you.”
If this is really what he wants, all she has to do is extend him the offer. She searches his eyes, looking for any doubt, any sense that he is second-guessing his choice. All that reflects back at her is firm resolve.
She picks up his heart from the scale. It must be restored in order for him to stay. Only the offer remains. “Join me.”
He tilts his head down, lips hovering just above her own. “I’m yours, Rey. I always was. I always will be. Yours.”
As she closes the distance between their lips, she returns his heart to him a final time. She smiles against his mouth as she feels it begin to beat again, perfectly in sync with her own.