**Last time on WO: They find a good source that may help prepare them to retrieve the artifact. They spar for the first time, and the parents have talks with our space couple because they don't know exactly how quickly they are moving along in their physical relationship. **
They'd moved her clothes and a plant that the doctor gave her to a room much closer to Ben's own room, the cafeteria, and the classrooms. Ben felt a wave of sadness at her lack of belongings, but Rey seemed to think nothing of it. He'd asked her if she had anything of her parents or that she loved back on Jakku but she'd answered no. She explained that they really never had much besides the necessities and they'd pitched in for a heavier blanket that they all shared. Rey told him that the blanket, her flight simulator, the BTL-A4 display, her toolkit, and cleaning tools she had kept in the AT-AT, plus her speeder would have been long ago scavenged.
"Is there anything you want?" Ben asked. Jedi and padawans were discouraged from clinging to or putting much value in personal possessions, but he knew that most students had things in their rooms. Journals, trinkets, mementos from home, and what Ben had the most of-books-and not the Jedi text variety.
"Well, I did like my flight simulator. But that's no big deal. I have enough to do," She said. Then she considered for a moment and her face lit up. "Oh! I did think of something. Do you think that Han and Chewie might let me help with repairs? I miss having parts and tools in my hands."
"We can ask them, for sure," Ben answered. He knew that she'd done things like that to keep herself alive, but he didn't know if Han would agree so easily. He was determined to speak to Han first, so he would have time to think about it before Rey asked. Ben was pretty sure if she was told no, she wouldn't ask again, and Ben loved the way her face was so happy at the prospect. Their conversation was interrupted by a knock even though the door was wide open. Ben smirked and guessed that Luke wasn't taking any chances of seeing a repeat of earlier that week.
Soon, the three of them were in a small private courtyard, right by Rey's new room, sitting cross legged in a small circle. "Okay, take a deep breath and relax, like any normal meditations," Luke instructed. "When you reach out to the force, still be aware. But do more than just let it fill you. You need to ask it for help. Try chanting help me you should feel a new awareness when it acquiesces. It will fill you up, your mind and body. Probably your bond as well. Then ask it to show you the truth. When you feel like you've gotten it under control, just nod at me. I will try to enter your mind, you should let me. I won't force it though, it's still so new."
It was the second day of trying it, and they quickly figured out that doing this new kind of meditation surrounded by other padawans of all ages was not viable. Some of them squirmed, some of them giggled, whispered, and many of the youngest just followed Luke around. Nothing had changed about the situation, under normal circumstances it was easy to block out, but when trying something new of this magnitude on top of needing more of Luke's guidance-it just didn't work.
Rey found the courtyard quickly, she loved to be outside, and especially if it was a place that other padawans didn't frequent. Most of them liked to go to the open space between the front of the academy and the path through the woods; Ben and Rey had mostly been avoiding that because the confrontations like they'd had before wouldn't do either of them any good. Any time they were doing meditation, some sort of class, or visiting the library, the other padawans mostly kept clear. There were too many adults around and they had enough sense of self-preservation that they kept to their whispers and pointed looks.
"Rey?" Luke whispered in her ear. "Are you okay?" It was a gentle chastisement. Luke had more than enough practice to tell when someone's mind was wandering rather than trying to meditate.
Rey nodded and tried to focus on her breathing and the force all around her. She could feel a center of calm that Ben radiated on his side of the bond, and she let that center her. She whispered for the force to help her and guide her but she felt nothing change. Rey could be patient though, so she stretched out her senses and sensed the wildlife all around her. She felt something change in the bond, and she opened up to it, but found herself frozen in space and in her thoughts.
Ben felt himself opening up to the force, and thought that he was making progress when he felt a tugging. It wasn't the bond with Rey but it still felt horribly familiar. The lightness of the force began siphoning away, and it left him feeling drained and weirdly exhilarated at the same time. It was no longer like turning his face to soak up the sun but dipping it into frigid water on a hot day. He was being drawn to a well of pure power. He could feel it pulsing under the grass, soil and through the core of the world itself. It tickled the edges of his senses, a siren song to grab a hold and draw from it. It promised power, greatness, being respected, revered, wanted, and worthy. It was calling his name, begging him to do something.
His thoughts were all over the place, and he couldn't focus. It whispered discordantly in his ear, a voice that he should know but at the moment he didn't care. It was power. The cord thrummed, tantalizing him, it was waiting for him. Untapped, pure, not light or dark, but untainted.
Just reach for it. Tug. You have to take it to reach greatness.
The voice was right, Ben thought. There was a barrier, and he banged on it, not accepting that he was being denied entry. Still, the voices buzzed incessantly and he became irritated. Maybe if they would just shut up he could figure out how to get through. If he could just pull the rest of the power inside himself he might finally have a chance to live up to Vader's name and legacy.
Ben. Another voice was calling him, but he pushed it away. He was almost there.
Yes, you've got it. Now, pull.
The power was slippery and fighting him, hard. But he managed to get a firm grip, he could feel tendrils flowing through the cord, feeding his power.
Ben! It hurts. Please.
Ben paused, though it was one of the hardest things he could remember doing. He could feel himself getting stronger and that was the goal. To take, conquer, be the strongest. Wasn't it? He was confused and the connection to the power was unstable, trembling, demanding to be released.
But where? Restore the previous balance, or to let power grow in him? That was the answer. It had to be.
Ben. The voice was weaker this time.
The voice-the sith- was never weak, always loud, strong, distinctly male. And it never said please. Ben's brain was still struggling to put the pieces together. He needed that power. But he'd heard a different voice- it was weak, pleading, trusting. It was everything the other voice was not. It was light, pure, but it felt emptier?
He couldn't tell. He knew that there was something he was missing, but he felt so frantic from trying to hold this live wire that demanded to be released, it didn't care where at this point.
He felt a stinging slap, and he tried to ignore it. He needed… Something? You're weak, take the power and you won't be anymore. The girl is making you weak. I'd hoped to use you both together, the bond is strong, I could work with it. Just don't kill her. Take the power.
The girl? Ben thought, trying to make sense of the storm in his mind. The two voices, the quivering bond that didn't feel right.
There was a smack again, harder and he shook his head trying to dismiss the pain.
Ben? I love you. I'm sorry.
Love? Sorrow?
Rey.
More pain, this time in his nose. He vaguely felt the bone break, and blood gushing down his face. He fell from some distance, he wasn't sure if it was a great drop or a small one, but it still felt jarring, if not painful.
He couldn't open his eyes, but he tried to probe the bond. Rey felt so far away and he needed to see what he'd done, but it was blocked. It wasn't Rey's normal shield, it was colored strangely and coming from outside the two of them.
Ben let go of the cord of power, and it snapped back into place. He threw the doors in his mind wide open, and focused on the light. Rey's light, that was dimming slowly. He pushed power into her, and it didn't brighten but it didn't get any darker. His eyes opened, but it took him longer than it should to focus.
When he finally sat up, dizzy from the piercing pain in his skull, and a bone deep pain and emptiness that he knew came from Rey- because of him. He was having trouble making sense of what he was seeing. Luke was sitting by Rey, his hands on her temples. The bond still felt off, and he slowly realized it was Luke who was blocking the shield. He must have felt the surge of light and let it in but then shut it again. Ben tried to find a crack so he could break through and see how she was.
But he was either too weak or Luke was too strong. Or both at that moment. Ben tried to stand but he was too dizzy and depleted. He remembered falling face first on his nose, more sharp pain, then passing out.
When he woke up he was on a stretcher, a med-droid on each side. He started to sit, but one of them put a hand on his chest. "Master Ben, you are weak, please lie down."
Ben shoved the hand away, and used all of his focus with a hefty force boost to sit up. "Where's Rey?" The droids stopped when he insisted on sitting up, and he pushed himself off the cot to stand.
"She's just ahead, sir. If you would please sit down, we can catch up quicker," the droid toned.
Ben ignored him, and stalked forward. Nausea and weakness washed over him, but he put it aside. He'd deal with it later. He caught up with Rey and she had more droids around her. He had no patience for being kept from her though. The bond felt abnormal, and not just because of Luke's interference and his own mental and physical state. He shouldered his way into the ring around Rey's stretcher and was shocked at what he saw.
Rey was laying on her side with her eyes wide open and glassy. They darted back and forth, barely landing on his face before blinking sluggishly and settled looking straight ahead. She had blood coming from her nose, ears and mouth. One droid's sole job was keeping suction going for her nose and mouth to keep her airway clear. He took her hand, shaking away the fatigue and shakiness in his legs. "Where's Luke?" he growled at the droid nearest him, who looked the least busy. The other was scanning her body, but kept returning to her brain and heart.
"Master Ben, he is meeting us in the med room. He's speaking with the doctor and one of the other instructors. Sir, please come back and sit. You seem pale and shaky. You could be in shock."
Ben spared a moment to roll his eyes and give it an icy look. He kept hold of Rey's hand and followed the cord in him to the place where they usually connected. The wall was still there, but he did the best he could to send healing and comfort through to her.
Her body jerked a little and he didn't know if that was a good or bad sign. "What's wrong with her?" he demanded of the same droid that told him where Luke was.
"Not sure, sir. Her heart is slow, and although we don't see any abnormalities there or in her brain. We still aren't sure why she's bleeding, but we've given her meds that should help stop that."
Guilt swirled sickenly in his stomach. Something had happened. He was sure that the cord he'd been pulling on was hers. He had been draining her force, maybe even her life from her. It hadn't felt like he had much of a choice, but that was a cop out, because it was him that stopped it. Eventually.
He wasn't sure what went wrong, he hadn't felt any darkness before when he was calling the Force. But he remembered the storm inside, the whispers, and the way the power had beckoned him to take it. He ran a hand over his face, wincing when he hit his nose. It wasn't his first broken one, but it still stung.
The droids kept up their quick pace until they entered a room much like Rey had been in before, with the exception of all the medical equipment here. Ben didn't know what even half of it did, but he felt a little more comfortable to see Luke, the doctor and Knight Ashby. Ashby was the most proficient at healing besides Luke and she had just returned from a mission to the outer rim to help with a medical crisis. He heard them talking and stood at the door while they took Rey inside. He had fragments of memories but didn't know what happened or what it looked like from the outside.
"She just froze. One minute she was trying to get in a meditative state, and then I could feel her force signature fluctuate. She is usually so bright, but she became blank. Not dark, not at first. The bleeding started as a trickle from her nose, and then her ears. She didn't start coughing up blood until the darkness started taking over the bond. Her force signature became fainter as Ben's became stronger. I hit him a few times to try to snap him out of it. It wasn't until she'd passed out and I broke his nose that the power balanced out. I had been trying to shield her and keep him from taking any more from her, he was close to killing her."
"It sounds like we need to protect her from him," Ashby reponsed. "She just got out of a coma, and now this? I knew that he made trouble before and played with the darkness."
"You don't know what you're talking about. They're force bonded. You know what, just stop talking. If you don't want to help, then get out." Luke snapped.
Ben smirked. It was not often that Ben heard Luke lose his temper, much less defending him at the same time.
"Of course, what can I do?"
Ben walked in and joined them around Rey.
"Okay, I am going to drop my shield on her. Ben, don't alter the bond if you can help it. Keep your side protected as much as you can. We're going to press healing throughout her body. We'll join our force signatures together and try to smooth out and hopefully erase the darkness," Luke instructed.
Ben and Ashby nodded and Luke gave the go ahead. They all channeled healing into Rey, gathering the strength of all their light to helping her. But the strangest thing was, it was almost like her side of the bond was consuming the light. "I think we should stop, and try something else," Ben said.
But at that moment Rey gasped, opened her eyes and floated as if suspended by puppet strings above the bed.
