Firstly...thank you for all the support and comments over the last few chapters. It has been so crazy lately that I have hardly had a chance to breath let alone write. Between work, and trying to teach/wrangle the kids it's been super busy. I've also been struggling with writers block now that I finally got to the point where I had thought of since the beginning. Luckily a conversation with my Dad help put me on the right path and this chapter finally flowed.
I hope you all are staying safe and keeping your distance. Let me know your thoughts as usual, and I will do my best to respond to each of you in turn! Thank you for sticking with this epic story, commenting, liking and following!
Chapter 32
Poe delivered in a huge way, having transports arrive within a couple hours, all in holding patterns to land and pick up people as soon as they were packed up.
Ben and Rey met with the Lanai counsel for an emergency meeting to advise them of what they had felt, making arrangements to have all of their people packed up, except for a handful that had insisted to stay, as they had been teaching and heavily involved with all the sensitives.
Ben was organizing a group to head to the landing pad when Jek tackled his leg, tears in his eyes, "I lisen good Master Ben, like you said." His small voice cracking with tears as Tsaro shuffled up, huffing, out of breath from chasing the boy.
Rey glanced over to see Jek clinging to Ben's leg, crying with a desperate and heart breaking look on his face and she could feel Ben's heart squeeze at the sight.
Ben crouched, gently unwrapping the boy's arms from his leg, face softening as he regarded him, "You have. We aren't sending you away because you were bad. I promise." And Jek's breath caught in a sob at his words and he threw his arms around Ben's neck tightly to his surprise.
"I stay? I keep you safe..." Jek whispered in Ben's ear, causing him to wrap his arms around the boy and give him a squeeze.
"I need you to keep the other's safe. You are in charge of them." Ben said in a gentle tone, not quite trusting his voice as he felt a lump of emotion in his throat.
Ben moved Jek away from him, holding his arms gently as Tsaro gave the pair some space, "Can you do that? Can you keep the others safe?" He asked again as the sound of a ship landing rumbled over them.
Jek sniffed and wiped his nose across his sleeve, and straightened his shoulders, "I do for you Master. I keep all safe." He replied firmly and Tsaro stepped forward.
Jek tossed her a glance and moved to leave with her, but stopped and turned to Ben once more, "You come get me right? You my Master." He asked, his voice small and eyes worried, flicking to Rey for support.
Ben stood torn as he didn't want to outright lie to the boy about the danger they were about to face, as Sordi's premonition nagged at the back of his mind.
"I am your Master, Jek, and Master Rey and I will do everything we can to make sure we can get you when it is safe." He said with a nod of encouragement.
Jek pondered his words carefully and bowed deeply as he had been taught, before he trudged off with Tsaro. "I be back, young Master Ben." She said with a firm look and both Ben and Rey started with her words.
"No, absolutely not." Rey said striding forward to the three, Jek blinking at surprise with the force behind Rey's words.
Tsaro frowned and stood her ground, "I teach you, I stay. Final word." Tsaro insisted physically digging in her heels as she did.
Ben towered over her, "I will not have you stay and risk your life Tsaro. We will do this and you will go and look after these young ones." Ben's face had turned to stone, his whole demeanor shifting to a level of authority that would have put his old personna to shame.
Tsaro balked at his words and set her jaw, "I stay….for now. Go on last ship." She said finally as if actually had a say in this, but appearing as if she had more to teach the pair.
Ben titled his head at Tsaro for a moment before his gaze flicked to Rey for the briefest of moments, we need to have a conversation about the connection when we…Ben shot to Rey his ears burning red as he did.
Rey nodded sharply, "You are leaving, but we need to have a talk first. In private." Rey relented and felt her cheeks burning at the thought of the conversation that was to come.
Tsaro nodded and turned to Jek who reluctantly followed, shooting Ben and Rey one final look before being swallowed up by the people rushing about.
Ben and Rey organized a few more groups until they spotted Tsaro returning from sending the kids off with a few other Lanai, and they headed towards their hut, after leaving final orders with Finn, Nelo and Sordi to finish the evacuation.
Once in the hut, Tsaro muttered as she shuffled around, cleaning up items that were strewn about, and setting tea on the fire.
Once finally settled in her familiar seat on her stump, Tsaro fixed a pointed gaze at the pair, "Question of how to draw full power." She stated as if reading their minds.
Ben shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Rey studied her mug intently, "It seems our connection has been most powerful….when…ah.." he stumbled clearing his throat and searching for the words. Being at a loss for words was difficult for Ben, but their time was running short, needing as much help as they could get.
"That is to say, the most intense feelings…..are, um…" Rey tried, her face feeling on fire as she tried to come up with a way to help Ben.
"Oh, for love of force….power you find when mating?" Tsaro finally stated bluntly with a huff. "We adults, and nature respond to your action first night of Visitors festival. I not blind or innocent of young love." She chided them with a snorting laugh.
Rey barely contained the nervous giggle that bubbled out of her as Ben floundered, his ears bright red with embarrassment and frustration with her pointedness.
"Why isn't it like that all the time?" Ben finally asked, recovering before Rey and managing to have his curiosity override his awkwardness of the topic. "My feelings for her don't change outside of those moments."
Rey's giggles were silenced immediately with his words and she turn to look at him stunned by his casual outward admission of how he felt for her.
Tsaro nodded and pondered her words carefully, "I not know exact reason. Have thought to it since call happened at beginning, why I not say anything till now." She started by way of apology, shifting to poke at the coals as she did while she reflected on her thoughts.
"You both very…..controlled, in own ways. Practiced, honed, set. But in moment of….love," she stated with a wry grin, "Unrealized walls drop. Force flows…..is in you, part of you and you of it." She said gesturing with her hands to show the movement of the force between the two.
Ben sat back in his chair and cupped his chin in his hand, lost in thought over her words, "You think we are blocking a true connection until that moment, when we allow our baser instincts to take control?" His words more of a verbal train of thought than an actual question.
Rey nodded slowly, feeling the trueness of his words while still dealing with the awkwardness of the conversation, "In the moment, we completely…..merge, as if we become one." Rey flushed further at her double meaning, while trying to articulate her reasoning.
Ben abruptly stood and started to pace in further thought lost in the attempted understanding of the situation in a analytical way, "We don't have much time to find that connection and harness the combined power of the sensitives. The darkness has cracked the shell…I can feel it." He stated, trying to trouble the problem as he walked.
Tsaro stood, "Last help I offer in this," she started reaching a hand out to Ben and Rey, waiting for them both to take her hands before continuing. "Faith, trust, hope….love….as strong as elements of nature. Power still you both have not tapped, I believe." She said squeezing both hands with surprising force, tears brimming in her large eyes.
A deep thunderous rumble started off in the distance again and they all lifted their heads, knowing the coming quake a sign of more trouble. The frequency of the quakes was increasing along with the severity and they knew their time was growing short.
"I go, as promised. You come, when darkness gone. You promise." She rushed, tears finally spilling down her wrinkled cheeks.
Ben coughed on his surge of emotions as Rey shamelessly cried with their matronly caretaker, "We will see you soon Tsaro." Ben stated quietly as Rey leaned down to hug her.
"I want to promise..." She whispered, words trailing off and Tsaro moved to pat her on the cheek gently.
"No stronger two I seen in all my years." She whispered back before gruffly patting down her skirts and turning to leave before stopping and gesturing to their hut, "Don't have such mess for when I back, Young Masters." She barked and swept out of the hut.
Rey hiccupped a laugh and stood, swiping away the last of her tears as Ben moved to put his arm around her comfortingly. She turned her face in to his chest, breathing in his scent and leaning on his strength for a moment.
The rumbling neared and the ground vibrating as they headed out of the hut, the sound like a freighter neared causing rocks to shake loose from the peak and tumble down the hill. The sensitives and Lanai who stayed, gathered to the far corner of the field, away from any of the tumbling rocks, worried faces throughout as Ben and Rey arrived.
The final shuttle lifted off with a roar, adding to the noise before it all calmed and a merciful silence seemed to be an eerie foreshadow of something to come.
Damia stepped forward with a slight bow of her head to Rey and Ben, "Please, Masters, tell us what will happen." She stated softly as others murmured with her words in agreement.
Ben directed them to the partial shelter as it was solidly built and away from the base of the mountain offering them protection from the darkening sky and clouds that were gathering. Everyone made themselves comfortable before Ben started, forcing his tone to remain encouraging and soft instead of as if he was barking orders.
"We gave you all a choice when you came, explaining about the darkness that was threatening the universe. Master Rey and I have managed to stall it until now, but we can't banish it alone. We need everyone's combined strength of the force to stop it, here." Ben said clearly, trying to sound that he was sure in what they were about to do.
There was murmuring throughout the group as it seemed that even though the dire situation had been explained on their arrival, some hadn't quite believed, or understood the consequences of what could happen if they didn't succeed.
Finn looked around at the worried faces of the group and overheard snippets of conversations before he glanced up at Rey and Ben, meeting Rey's eyes. He looked at Nelo who nodded imperceptibly and stepped forward the group instantly quieting, eyes turning to the men as they moved to stand with Ben and Rey.
"We know this is an uncertain time, and that I am, relatively, new to this group," Finn started quietly, obviously uncomfortable with speaking in front of the group, "But I believe in….in Ben…and Rey. They will lead us to beat the darkness." He stumbled on his admission of trusting Ben, but when he lifted his eyes to the group the look was firm and assured in his words.
Nelo's smooth voice echoed Finn, his stance calm, and hands folded in front of his waist, "We have a chance to rise up from where we were found." His eyes flicked to Ann's for a brief moment and she hung her head and nodded slightly. "This gift was bestowed on us for a reason. This is our calling."
The group murmured again, worried looks eventually easing to a more assured place. The group quieted and looked to their Master's for the next directions.
"Please, sit. To start, we need you all to be in a meditative state." Rey said, holding out her hands inviting them to find space.
Slowly everyone moved as another slow rumble approached the island, causing the waves to kick up adding to the sound of what was coming. Ben turned to Rey with a deep breath and sat, as she followed his lead. He reached out to her, his hand coming to rest over her heart, Rey's warm hand finding it's place over his as the rumbling hit the island.
The rest of the sensitives watched this in silent awe, all feeling like they were witnessing something intimate and rare happening between their Masters, and it created a sense that flowed out to the group. It was the sense of the power of the dyad, the calm and balance that was found between Ben and Rey as they merged their force, and beings as one.
With a few glances around, one by one, each person settled and closed their eyes, slipping into the meditative state they all had been diligently practicing. Ann was the last to regard the group as they followed the strength at the head of their gathering and she felt it. The darkness approaching, cold, strong and ominous, causing a chill to ripple through her. She glanced back at Ben and Rey as they sat, calm and serine, the force doubling back towards her and she gasped. The darkness in the back of her mind seemed to burn away, to be filled with a feeling of calm that she had never experienced before.
With that feeling filling her, warming her very soul, she settled into place, hands relaxing on her knees as her eyes drifted shut, the image of her Masters last in her mind.
Ben and Rey slipped into the grey, their bond igniting with sharp acuity as if it sensed the coming darkness and the need to be strong against the onslaught. Ben tensed as Rey's anxiety leached through her whole being and into him making him feel unbalanced.
Rey, you need to calm and center. He said, resisting the urge to speak through grit teeth. He was just as on edge as she was, but it seemed grate on him a little more as he watched her close her eyes and take cleansing breathes, the weight of their destiny pressing in on him.
Rey breathed, for once, reaching out to Ben's light to bring her back to a calm place before she opened her eyes slowly and focused on his face. His eyes burned a warm brown, and his face had its familiar stoic look, but Rey saw the small lines that had formed at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth from smiling and laughing. The thought alone seemed to bring her light flaring the surface, burning through her to rest in her chest where his hand rested.
Ben took a slight shuddering breath in with the radiant force that welled up in Rey as she looked at him intently. Her hazel eyes practically shone and it flowed through his hand, wrapping around the powerful dark inside him, like the balanced opposite of his being. She was the other half of his soul and here in this moment he felt complete.
Ben….Rey breathed, her attention finally being drawn away from his face to their surroundings. The grey was no longer dark and thick, but light and filtered, a glowing coming from all around them as a rumble was heard off in the distance.
The glowing orb that they recognized as Nelo, parted through the mist, floating slowly towards the pair as a more diffuse orb floated just behind and to the side. The rumbling started to get louder as more orbs, appeared through the mist, beginning to create an orbiting pattern around Ben and Rey in a slow circle, the light growing with each orb that joined the flow.
Masters, we are here. We are with you. Came a purring voice came from another orb that Ben placed, surprisingly, as Sordi, while each other orb echoed with a, we are here.
Rey looked around in awe at the orbiting lights that gave off far more than just a warm glow, she could feel the power of the group, pulsing, just under the surface. It was diffuse, blurred, but strong as they slowly circled the pair and she turned back to glance at Ben. His face mirrored hers as the spark of hope ignited inside of him and Rey realized how hopeless he had become over the last few weeks.
Ben couldn't believe it, not truly as he watched the glowing balls of light float slowly through the grey mist that seemed to retreat from them. He was so enraptured by the sight that he hardly registered the rumbling that was nearly upon them, or the way the grey seemed to swirl angrily just outside the glow.
It's beautiful. Rey said, her tone slightly breathlessly at his side, their hands still over each other's hearts, feeling them beating as one.
It was the feeling of her heartbeat that brought Ben around and aware of the thunderous roar that approached and he turned back to Rey.
We need to focus and draw on their power before the wave gets here. Ben said urgently as the sensation of what was coming started to press in on the both of them.
Rey closed her eyes and concentrated on the power just outside of thier reach. Without meaning to, her mind floated, chanting, be with me...be with me.
The light flared in the grey, Ben's dark rising to meet it, as if it had a physical presence in the moment, swirling and ebbing out of them in a harmonious surge of waters, reaching their tendrils out to the circling orbs.
The rumbling seemed to hesitate at the display of power before a low laugh took the place of the ominous approaching vibrations.
What is this? You brought me a gift have you? The voice mocked inside both Ben and Rey's heads. Did you feel bad for treating me so poorly that you are giving me an aperitif to the worlds I will devour?
Ben frowned within his concentration, feeling his focus flicker and waiver with the taunting. We are here to put a stop to you. Was all he managed as he pulled on his darkness harder, pushing it outwards to wrap around the group, drawing Rey along with him.
Rey's hands clenched on Ben's shirt as he pulled on their bond, yanking her further towards the orbiting globes, Ben, easy...together. She warned, fear, creeping in on the edges of her thoughts. Be with me...she repeated slowly, projecting her words to him.
His brow furrowed further as the pressure of the approaching darkness closed in, the light getting darker on the other side of his closed eyelids. He could feel his sweat trickling down from his temples as his breathing slowly started to move out of sync with Rey's. He squeezed his eyes tight and drew on the fear inside of him, his darkness springing forward, overtaking the edges of Rey's light as it reached the orbs.
There was a collective groan from all around them as his darkness touched each person, his pain, fear and past leaching to all in the group. Damia gasped in a physical response to the pain as a tear trickled down her cheek, Sordi groaned, sweat sliding down his face as he bore the weight of the choices that Ben had made, and Finn felt the grief and loss of everything and everyone in Ben's life that had held meaning.
Rey's head blistered with pain of their imbalance and her eyes shot open, Ben's stoic look replaced by the angry countenance of his former persona. Oh, Ben, no...don't give in now. She said as she felt him pull on what he had known, the dark, the fear, the pain and anger to fuel his power. His focus was absolute and Rey struggled as the darkness cackled with joy in her mind.
The moment in the Sith temple played in Rey's mind, her desperate hope that she could beat her grandfather, but knowing deep down she couldn't do it, and she felt the darkness playing it all out for her.
I couldn't do it. She spat back diving into the memory being played for her, HE came for me. HE stood by my side when my hope was all but gone. She said triumphantly, feeling the sneer of the darkness as it started to be burned out of her mind.
Rey stepped moved forward and gripped Ben's shirt, slamming herself against his solid mass. She closed her eyes and focused her thoughts, her light, her soul into the memory of seeing his face, his battered and bruised face across their bond. He had been her anchor, her light in that moment and she whispered to the other half of her soul, Ben...be with me.
The words echoed through his mind, shattering his inner focus in an instant and snapping it to the grip Rey had on his shirt and the force in which she clung to his body. Be with me, she whispered to the deepest parts within him and his light flickered, sparked, and roared to life, edging the darkness back to meld slowly into an equilibrium.
In the normal space of the field the whole group of sensitives slumped forward with the release from Ben's grip of darkness, their breathing easing as a whole, as they all slid back into a state of meditation. The worried glances of the surrounding Lanai teachers easing as the carefully walked through the group keeping an eye on the tumbling boulders that continued to fall from the top by the temple.
Ben's cheek came to rest on Rey's head and the scent of her filled his lungs while his arm wrapped around her waist tightly, melding her to him in all senses in the grey. I am with you. I will always be by your side. He responded, feeling the darkness snarl and push forward.
You think you can defeat ME?! The voice roared again as the rumbling continued to rise making the grey vibrate with its intensity, I am older than time, stronger than hate and fear, and IT IS MY TIME!! It screamed and surged forward.
Ben flinched and focused on Reys warmth in his arms and the feel of her heart, hammering against his chest. There was a flicker inside of him that was snuffed out as the vision of Rey, lifeless in his arms was thrust into his mind.
You have done nothing but prolong her inevitable outcome. Give her to me and I will make it quick. The darkness purred to his heart, flashing visions of Ben's dream of her head snapping to the side with a sickening crunch.
Rey felt the conflict and pain washing over her and she saw the nightmare, mixed with Ben's view of her lifeless body, cradled in his lap. You saved me Ben, and...and I would never trade a day since that moment. I have never felt more complete that I have with you. Rey whispered back to him, her light pushing forward to the orbs a little more.
You, daughter of darkness, have no hold on him. The darkness bit back, pushing harder towards the group just out of the edges of its reach. And it flooded Ben with the image of Rey's darker alter ego, her dual ended saber glowing red across her skin. You fear what is inside you, you fear who you truly are! It hissed and Ben gasped against her crown.
Rey gripped Ben tightly and wiped the image from their mind with astonishing strength as the words tumbled forth without thought, that is not me. WE are all the Jedi and We are all the Sith. WE ARE THE DYAD.
Rey felt the force of her words shudder through Ben as their connection locked them together and his mind sharpened on her and what she had meant by her words and confession. She was his whole, not just his other half and it had healed his heart, and his very soul over the last few months.
Not only did they have the power of the group around them, they had the power over the fabric of life and nature itself, and with that thought, the walls fell away.
The Lanai that watched over the group gasped as Ben and Rey slowly floated up into the air and the island shuddered, the side of the mountain splitting the red glow of lava scaring a jagged path down towards the landing pad.
The bond between Ben and Rey at last was complete, wholly and truly complete. Ben marveled at the dual sensations and openness of Rey's mind. He felt, saw, though all that she did in a seamless manner, nothing hidden or kept from him, and he knew she felt the same. All his past memories, experiences and slights, no longer pushed away for her never to find, but laid bare at her feet as if it were an offering to what they had become.
The darkness raged around them and battled against the shield that their bond had created, slamming and battering against it with all its malevolent fury. NO! I WILL NOT BE HELD BACK ANY MORE! It screamed with so much force that the whole group winced at the force of the words.
Ben raised his head and looked around him over Rey's head. The force around them was no longer a yin and yang flow, mirroring their duality, but now was fully intertwined, a smooth grey, that reminded him of the ocean after a storm.
Rey. He said, reaching up to cup her chin where it was buried against his chest, Look...his low voice smooth in her mind as if she could see his thoughts and actions just before he said and did them. She had seen the grey though his eyes, and lifted her head to see it herself, keeping her cheek against his chest as she did.
Their force was like the grey when they first entered, dark, thick, swirling around them, and reaching out in tendrils in a circle, encasing them and the orbiting group in a hard shell of protection as all other light beyond was snuffed out by the thundering darkness battering away at their shield.
Ben and Rey closed their eyes and took a tentative step away from each other, hands clasped, breathing deep. As they inhaled, the shield around then flexed out further, the darkness rearing and renewing its thrashing against the surface.
Their force reached out, extending as if branches off the main trunk of a tree and slowly, ever so gently touched each of the glowing lights that hovered to a standstill in a circle around them.
One by one the sensitive's faces, smoothed over, a serine look settling as each of them slowly lifted off the ground where they sat hands clasped in their laps still, to hover almost a foot off the ground. The island around them rumbling and shaking as the Lanai cowered within the group as it was the only calm space. Huts succumbed to the violent shaking and crumbled, and the angry red scar started spew sparks and slow flows of hot molten lava near the peak.
Rey felt the power of the group as each tendril touched each orb, doubling upon itself with each contact till it peaked. Goosebumps raised over both Rey and Ben's skin causing them to shiver at the power that coursed through them.
Gently...we can't pull too much. They said at each other, locking eyes before focusing on the darkness.
We will banish you, Great Darkness, the world will know balance and peace in the life and death, shadow and light that already exist here. You have no more place in this world. Ben said pushing with Rey further, expanding the reach of their protection.
You have no say in this!! The darkness screamed, Your power cannot exist without me! It doubled back at its words, thrusting forward again with pinpoint force, creating a spidering crack at the point of impact.
Rey's face mirrored Ben's as the force reverberated back through the force, sending a hairline splinter through their connection. Rey's eye flew open at the pain that burst through the back of her head and she met Bens pained stare.
We can do this. He encouraged and showed her how to lock walls around the pain, pushing it aside to focus on the power of the group. They tried to pull a little further but the power seemed to diffuse out, bleeding away before they could harness it, and the darkness recoiled again to build for another attack.
Rey strained further with Ben as they gripped each other's hands tightly, sweat running freely down their temples and down their spines. We can't pull it all from them....Rey cried with the strain, the slinter cracking further in their bond.
The serine look on the faces of the sensitives became pained, and they dipped from their height as the island rocked again with the force of another quake. The Lanai huddled together closer, looking to Ben and Rey as they grew more and more pale, drenched in the sweat of their efforts.