The Lanais were the caretakers of Ahch-To. They had been cohabiting with the new inhabitants for several years now, the female inhabitant Alcida-Auka remembered from when the last outsider had been residing with them. He'd said it was his niece, but Alcida-Auka hadn't been sure how honest that was. Before the woman had been a rude, destructive girl destroying the rock face and blasting holes in the huts, but she was different now. Like the last outsider, the girl had learnt their language, as did the tall, dark man with her who appeared to be her companion. They did chores and gathered food alongside the Lanai, and they appeared each month at the Festival of Return.

When the pair had first arrived, they had taken up accommodation in one of a cluster of huts and later, they had requested permission from the Lanai to merge together several of the shelters. The man had even made a covering for the huts using mud, sand and water from around the island to make the shelters more weatherproof. Their presence didn't affect the island as the woman had when she had resided here; it was in harmony with the island. Alcida- Auka had seen the pair walk together staring out over the sea or meditating high up on the cliffs, or during the warm summer months, she had even seen them swimming and bathing together in the shallows.

The woman had returned the old religious relics thought lost from the lightning hitting the ancient Uneti stump, bursting it into flames. As a sign of gratitude, Alcida- Auka had taken the pair to the store where all the belongings of past inhabitants were kept. The man, in particular, had seemed moved by the robes, star compass and a pair of golden cubes on a chain that the last outsider had left. It turned out the previous outsider had been his Uncle, which meant the woman couldn't possibly have been that former outsider's niece- these companions were not brother and sister. Right there in the store beside Alcida-Auka, they had embraced in shared grief. Alcida-Auka was not Force-sensitive, but she knew it flowed through this pair more strongly than anyone else who'd been on the island before; they were two halves of the Force that together made one. Not long after the moment with the belongings, at one of the Lanais' monthly Festivals, the Lanai had performed a ceremony of sorts at the pair's request where the two had made life vows to each other.

Sometime after that, Alcida-Auka, her daughter and a few other caretakers had supported the pair in bringing babes into the world. A human child had never been born here in all her time on this island. There were no such stories of human babes, not even in the old songs, they sang to each other.

Surprisingly, even the babe's presence had not affected the daily life on the island much. Although it was less peaceful at times, chores were still done, the moss was still cleared, and the maintenance of the island went on as it always would, ready for any who came to this sacred place.

-X-

Rey sits at a driftwood table in a stone hut. The domed shelter is sparsely furnished and old; the stones are dark with stains from the moss, which has long since been cleared away. Since they've lived here, changes have been made to make it a home- a table, a fireplace, benches, the open holes for windows have shutters and cloth to keep out the wind and rain during the storm season. They have combined several of the huts, with the Lania's permission, of course, so there are sleeping quarters off this main one. One quarter belongs to her and Ben and the other to their children, furnished with simple beds and handmade blankets. A simple, peaceful life.

Their trip to Tatooine had been the end of the Jedi when they had buried her and Ben's lightsabers and Leia's bracelet. She reaches her chest, where Leia's blue and gold signet ring hangs on a leather cord about her neck. Tatooine had been like Jakku, a desert planet of burning sand and a harsh world. The simple home where Luke had been brought up on was once a moisture farm. Very little of it remained when they'd travelled there. Black scorch marks had still been visible on what remained of the homestead from where the farm had been burned by the Empire, by Vader. They'd buried the lightsabers and bracelet next to the burnout remains before watching the binary suns set. This planet was where the legendary Skywalker bloodline had been born. The bloodline wouldn't end, but the legend would. No more Jedi and no more Sith. Without them, perhaps peace could finally be maintained.

Ahch-To is the perfect home for them now. At times peaceful, at others, wild and torrid. The island represents them and their presence in the Force. Here they are finally what they were meant to be. Since their arrival on Ahch-To, the woman Rey was is a shadow of the woman she now is; now, she is Ben Solo's wife. The Lanais held a ceremony for them at one of the monthly festivals on the beach below them. However, the word wife was too weak to encapsulate the truth of their situation. She belongs to Ben, and he belongs to her. They are two in one, souls forever bound. Ben's love for her is a direct, unashamed passion. He shared his deepest feelings with her honestly and openly, without doubt, or shame, including his darkest fears. Rey knew his faults just as he did; he was no longer the prideful entitled man he'd been but joyful, generous and passionately devoted. He could still, at times, be moody and quick to anger. Ben was and will always be a wild animal tamed by her hands. The island helps him control those elements of his personality. He took relief from the simple life, the daily chores and especially the cleansing rush of air sprinkled with saltwater on the cliff's edges. He'd be there now, she knew.

Maz had been right all those years ago. The belonging she'd sought had not been behind her; it had been ahead. At the time, she had thought it was in reference to finding Luke and becoming a Jedi. She knew now, however, it had been about Ben. It had always been about Ben.

Rey rose from her position at the table; she wanted to watch the suns set before night fell with her family.

-X-

Ben crouches down on the cliff edge. A large dark hooded cloak covers his entire person sheltering him from the wind. Despite the cloak's hood, Ben's dark hair whips in front of his eyes, but it doesn't affect the focus of his gaze. The wind has turned cold, singing to him of the snow that will be covering the island soon enough. They've been preparing for this with the Lanais for months, salting fish and drying kelp. Opposite him, the focus of his intense gaze are his children. Bail sits crossed-legged, his eyes closed, breathing deeply. Ani, ever the more daring of the two and lacking in patience, is about to remove her one hand from the ground as she balances on the other upside down. Ben's children smell of this island- salt and grass and peace. Despite how long they've been here, however, to Ben, Rey's scent is reminiscent of Jakku, her beautiful skin forever warm and freckled from years in the blistering sun and sand.

"Focus and breathe; let the Force flow through you," he says to them both encouragingly as Ani removes her hand, balancing perfectly on the other. Her dark hair hangs from her face as her body readjusts its balance.

Around Bail, rocks scattered around him from earlier practice begin to float, and he stacks them in the air. Bail opens his eyes and smiles at Ben.

"Well done, my boy," Ben smiles back genuinely.

Next to Bail, his sister also opens her eyes smiling proudly at her father.

"I did it!"

Ben nods, "You did."

Smiling has become more common to him now. He knows he is still quiet and reflective, but joy, smiling, and actual laughter have become commonplace in his day to day life. Happiness and belonging were never something he felt he deserved or could have, but he has it, and he is grateful.

Ben senses Rey joining them before he sees or hears her. Knowing her every thought and move gives him peace of mind; even when she leaves the island to visit the Republic and old friends on the core worlds, he can still feel her across the galaxies and hear her inside his head as he meditates high up on the cliffs or in the caves. She's in his soul, bound forever.

"Congratulations, sweethearts, I'm so proud... lifting rocks?" She laughs, and Ben beams at her from beneath his hood.

Her hood is up, protecting her from the vigorous breeze, but a few long strands of silken brown hair have escaped and flutter freely around her face. Her beautiful oval eyes are warm and serene. To Ben, she's glowing, but to him, she's always beautiful; her aura within the Force shimmers. He rises to stand at her side, possessively placing an arm around her waist. He gazes down at her allowing himself to fall deeply into her eyes, losing himself in her beauty as she traces the scar that runs across his face with her hand and her eyes glisten. She is thinking of the past. He leaned down and kissed her softly, her body pressed against his. His arm wrapping just a little tighter around her waist as he deepens the kiss, he could lose himself here. For a moment, and it's just a moment, there is a deepening of shared emotion; they are one. To them, these moments are almost an eternity as their minds become one through the Force. When the kiss ends, he scoops the boy up with one arm and embraces him tightly, ruffling Bail's hair with his face and breathing him in deeply.

Ani, now standing upright, goes to her mother. He looks over at them. Ani has her mother's skin freckled and a shade warmer than his own, but it's his mother's eyes he sees staring back at him, strong, willful and determined. His mother the great strategist. Their children will be formidable in the Force, but not as Jedi. He and Rey teach what Suncas told them of on Pasaana- the Grey. Ben reaches to his daughter and ruffles her hair; she hates it, he knows, but she smiles at him as she swats away his hand, complaining.

Placing that hand back around Rey, they watch as the binary suns set over Ahch-To, casting the world into crimson, pink and yellow hues, before walking back to their home.