Shifting Balance
The final few inches of light were cut off as the door to the aged Millennium Falcon sealed closed, shattering the connection between Kylo Ren and Rey. It had the air of finality, but there was also doubt. The Force shuddered.
On another plain, part of the Force itself, the namesake of the former Solo stroked his beard. "At times like this, I regret my limitations more than anything."
Behind him, a tall, tanned man, sighed. "The two have made their choices."
Obi-wan Kenobi, specter in the Force, Jedi Master, former General of the Grand Army of the Republic, and hermit in the sands chuckled. "Anakin, do you really think it to be that easy?"
"Sometimes."
"Forget so quickly the teachings of your past, do you?" A small green Jedi Master asked.
"With all due respect, Master Yoda, my Father was able to make a choice twice. Both times, he chose his family. To save Padme, to save me. Kylo Ren has been given the opportunity to chose multiple times as well. Each time he has chosen himself, his power." Luke replied, retaining his aged appearance, unlike his father who still chose to appear as a youth.
Ahsoka Tano, Togruta, spy, and one who walked away from the Jedi pipped up. "It is not about the fact Ben has been given a choice, we have choices everyday. I have made bad choices and good choices, actions bringing me closer to the Light Side of the Force and the Dark Side of the Force. The issue is what he why he has chosen this path. We may be one with the Force, that does not know we understand what is going on in that young man's head."
"But you do have an opinion, do you not?" Anakin asked.
"Of course I do, we all have an opinion." Ahsoka replied.
"An interesting study they are." Yoda murmured. "Molded by their choices they are. Neither in the Light nor Dark did they start. Now chosen their paths they have."
Anakin sighed, sitting down on etherial nothing. "I am not sure Rey has chosen. Kylo has and had from when Luke made a mistake."
"It is my fault, I forced his choice before I could finish teaching him. And apparently I was not teaching him well enough." Luke lamented.
"Easy there, Ben Solo is his own person. Yes, it was a bad situation, but he made a choice. He could have asked what was going on, instead he acted. Remember, when I was framed by Barriss, I was in a bad situation. My mentors within the Jedi, titularly of the Light Side of the Force, acted horribly. I chose to leave and I chose to dedicate myself to those I was able to save. I chose to find the Light, to understand it better. Kylo Ren trusted in the Dark side of the Force. Yes, you made a mistake, but his actions and decisions are his own."
The Jedi turned to her, causing her to blush. "Look, I trust what I see, what I sense. When Rey called him a Monster, that rang true. He even agreed. Luke, for any faults you have, you were trying to teach him to be a good person. He chose to become a monster."
"Agree I do. Trained many in the ways of the Force, I have," Yoda commented. "Many of my students, powerful in the light they were. Some, disappointed me they did. Found other Masters, became evil. Gave them the tools to be Jedi, twisted my teachings they did."
Anakin snorted. "In the Temple, you were one of the more flexible on the High Council. But still, you let the status quo remain for years. The Jedi became arrogant, stagnant, fearful. Those who were different, Quinlan, Aayla, myself, felt like outsiders. We couldn't challenge the system for fear of losing the title which defined us, for fear we wouldn't be Jedi. Ahsoka is the bravest of us all, she forged her own path."
"Teaching may be the most rewarding activity, but it is hard. I struggled with how, when, and what to teach Anakin," Obi-wan cut in. "Anyway I sense their paths are set, both of them. What will come next is for them to fully define their paths, to take not their first steps, but the next step. Kylo has chosen to seek power, like Snoke, like Darth Sidious before him. Rey has chosen to reject that path, to reject seeking power for power's sake."
"But she has not chosen a path. She has chosen to avoid one path, but there are many ways forward." Luke countered.
"Hehehe, chosen Rey has. Remake the Jedi in her image she will, taken the ancient texts from Ahch-To. Taken the words of young Skywalker, learned from him she did."
Anakin stretched his arms. "Hopefully, she will do a better job than the last two chosen ones. I mean, I killed a ton of beings due to the loss of Padme. Luke did better than I did, creating a wonderful training temple but couldn't create the next generation."
"I failed completely. I lost a number of students to the Dark Side and the students who remained with the Light were not strong." Luke lamented, touching his metallic hand softly.
"Wonderful the Force is. Creates luminous beings, gives them the ability to chose. Allows multiple interpretations of destiny. Interested in what happens next, I am."
The other men nodded, while Ahsoka rolled her eyes and faded away.
Obi-wan's eyes twinkled as he noticed her disappearance, but didn't say anything. Instead, he stroked his beard. "Master Yoda, you said earlier that neither started out as Light or Dark. What do you mean by that?"
Yoda tapped his cane on the mists acting as the floor. "When born, matter and Force we are. As we grow, learn we do from those closest to us. The good, the bad, the Dark, the Light, learn through experience we do. When awaken to the possibility of the Force Rey did, a blank slate she was. Neither Light nor Dark. A being, living as she could. Generous, yes. Selfish, yes. A being, struggling to survive."
The former Grand Master of the Jedi Order paused, looking at the various men he had helped mold. "Balance in survival she found. Her choice was for the possibility of friends, of belonging. A source of hope, she is. Ben Solo, a confluence of Light and Dark. Learned from both as he grew - Luke and Snoke battling in his mind. Feeling alone and adrift, he became Kylo Ren mirroring what he perceived in his family. The quest for power and freedom he took. Before Rey, conflicted he was. After sensing Rey, faced with choices and always chose strength and power, he did."
Obi-wan nodded slowly. "Where Anikin committed atrocities for another, to save his wife, Kylo committed atrocities, to gain acknowledgement. To gain power."
"I am not sure I ever redeemed myself, I died to quickly, unable to attempt to cure my wrongs. Kylo is still alive, Ben is still alive. He has the chance to cure himself." Anakin mentioned.
"It is possible," Obi-wan mused. "The Dark Side can dominate your path, but I have seen and heard tales of too many who were mixtures of Light and Dark. However, Kylo Ren has committed himself and embraced his worst nature. I am not sure he has the willpower to save himself."
Luke sighed. "It may be willpower that he needs, but my concern is not entirely that he embraced the Dark Side of the Force. It is not use of the Light or the Dark, it is why you use them. I sank into my anger to demonstrate my power to Palpatine and my Father, something Dark. Yet, I through away my lightsaber and accepted torture, a Light action, to convince my father of his good. Through the Light, I raised my lightsaber to end my student. Through the Dark, I retreated to my own mind on Ahch-to, cutting myself off from the Force. The difference is why I did what I did, not the tools I used."
"Hmmm, interesting this is. Perhaps a different conversation will help guide us." Yoda said as he waived a hand and through the mists of the Force, the group of Jedi Masters watched as Rey sat alone in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.
Appearing next to her in a hazy blue form, Ahsoka looked at the trainee of her Master's Son. Rey jerked as she saw the ghostly form.
"Relax child, my name is Ahsoka Tano. I was trained by Anakin Skywalker in the Clone Wars and I wanted to talk to you, Rey of Jakku."
"How do you know me? Who is Anakin Skywalker?" Rey demanded, half standing at the visitation.
"Sit. I became one with the Force years ago and I watched. Your General Organa was an acquaintance of mine long ago, ask her later about the first Fulcrum. For now, I want to give you the third lesson in the Force that you were promised."
Rey settled in and waited, silent, eyes glancing up and down the seated apparition's form. At least one of her questions had been answered.
Ahsoka, ignoring the uncertainty emanating from the young Scavenger, continued. "The Jedi failed because they saw only one path, the path of the Jedi. It was a wide path, to be sure, allowing for variations on a theme. Yet, if you were not trained in the ways of the Force by the Jedi, you were not a Jedi. I grew up as a Jedi, but I left."
She paused, as if trying to decide if she should continue on that point. "Afterwards, I traveled the galaxy. Trying to hide, trying to be less then I was. However, my journey was through the Force. I encountered those the Jedi and Sith would call Witches, from Dathomir, as well as the Dagoyan Order from Bardotta, an almost pacifist order."
Ahsoka smiled, "You, Rey, are not alone. You may have inherited the title of Last of the Jedi, but do not feel constrained. The Force is broader than the Jedi. Broader than the Light. Broader than the Dark. Find your path and seize it."
"I feel like I am reacting." Rey said. "Why do I feel like that?"
"Because you have just awakened into who you could be. You are now no longer a nobody from nowhere. You are Rey. You are part of something. It is your turn to define who you are."
Rey nodded as the apparition started to fade. Ahsoka continued. "Within the Force anything is possible. Friends are watching, supporting you."
"Thank you." Rey managed to say as Ahsoka disappeared.
The Torguta's last words followed her into the air. "May the Force be with you Rey."
With a glance at the stars streaking past, Rey stood up. There was time before they arrived. She had choices to make.
A/N: Life has been sucking the creativity out of me. However, I am trying to return with a longer series. Probably not out of this idea, but another. Anyway, like many, I have been considering The Last Jedi. I thought Rey needed encouragement and I wondered how the Force Ghosts might react to Rey and Kylo (Ben) Ren.
Hope to return sooner than the last break.