Chapter 16
Swirls of light glistened across Elsi's gaze as she floated in an endless abyss. There was nothing around her. No sound. No smells. The path was empty, yet the lights still flickered by as she moved forward cautiously. She reached out her hand to one of the lights and it broke in two before floating away. Elsi moved forward eager to find out where she was and what was going on.
"Hello". She called out. There was no reply. "Can anyone hear me?" Again, there was no response.
She continued walking. She did not know for how long. Eventually she reached a bridge. Above the bridge the lights continued to float around. Below it there was nothing but dark grey smoke. As her gaze returned to the bridge itself a figure appeared on the other side.
"Who are you? Where am I?"
The figure did not respond. Elsi could not tell who it was. They were shrouded in darkness. Elsi took a cautious step out onto the bridge but stopped immediately when the figure appeared to hold up their hand and shake their head.
"Why am I here? What do you want from me?" Again, Elsi edged herself forward to step onto the bridge.
The figure again did not respond, but this time instead of signaling to stop Elsi from coming any closer, the figure walked further forward until their feet rested at the start of their side of the bridge.
The dark fog slowly drifted past the figure and Elsi could make out the faint outline of a woman. The woman had extremely long hair that reached right down to the tops of her ankles.
Elsi could barely see her face but there was only one person that Elsi knew who had hair that long. The figure shook their head again as if saying 'no' as Elsi rushed forward to the centre of the bridge.
"Mum!" Elsi cried out reaching forwards. In a matter of seconds, the bridge collapsed beneath Elsi's feet and she fell back into the darkness.
The air was crisp and clear as silence graced the room that Elsi opened her eyes to. The room was really bright, so she immediately shut her eyes. Without opening them again she decided to speak out, hoping that there was someone else nearby.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" There was no response but a few moments later she could hear footsteps of someone enter the room.
She tried sitting up but flinched when soft hands reached out and softly grasped her arm to slowly ease her back to lying down.
"Where am I? What's going on?"
"Rest, lay back. You need to relax, my name is Sumbra." The voice sounded like it belonged to a woman, it was soothing and immediately set Elsi at ease.
It took a few moments for the pain to register but when it did Elsi fully rested back into the pillows behind her and let out a small gasp of pain. Her stomach hurt, why did it hurt again? She couldn't remember.
"What happened?" Elsi lifted her head slightly and quickly clutched it as a splitting headache rushed upon her.
"Take it easy. You are still recovering."
"Where are we?" without moving her head again Elsi slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room to observe her surroundings. She was lying on a single bed in a small hut style house. The furniture was modest, but all made of what appeared to be dark oak.
Elsi was so confused. It took a few moments, but it came back to her as she looked to her right and there he lay. Ben was resting on a single bed to her right with a single foot gap between the beds.
He looked very pale and a little worse for wear, but Ben was alive, as was she, and that was what mattered most. But was he wholly Ben again? Or was Kylo Ren still a part of him? Would he always be?
Elsi tore her eyes off of Ben to look at the strange, hooded figure that sat on a chair to her left.
The figure shifted under Elsi's gaze. "It appears that you have both been through quite an ordeal. We found him posed in front of you ready to defend you by fighting us if we got too close. He lost consciousness shortly after we entered your ship. You both had abdomen wounds though both looked partially healed by the time we looked you both over."
Had Ben healed my wound with his life force and taken part of the wound onto himself? Elsi had heard about that before but it was not common. Only truly powerful force users were said to be able to do it.
"Our healer patched you both up as best as they could but just let us know if you are feeling any worse and we will help the best we can."
"Thank you." She looked over at Ben again and he looked peaceful. "Is he okay? Has he been awake yet?"
"He woke a few times already. He refused to leave your side, not that we would let him leave this room anyway."
At Elsi's questioning look the figure continued. "There are guards posted outside. They are here for him, not you."
Elsi felt touched that Ben wanted to stay with her. She dragged her gaze down his body and stopped when she saw unusual cuffs wrapped around his left hand and what she assumed was around his right as well, though she couldn't see from this angle. The cuffs glowed; she hadn't seen anything like them before. The figure followed her gaze and noticed the cuffs that took her attention.
"I won't apologise for that. We can't remove them."
Elsi shot her gaze sharply back at the figure. Those cuffs did not look comfortable.
"What are those cuffs?"
"They dampen force sensitive powers. As for how they work, I'm afraid that's classified. We know who he is. We know what he has done, what his master, the emperor he serves, has done to our people. We only took the necessary precautions to ensure everyone's safety."
Sometimes Elsi would forget how much merely the name Kylo Ren would strike fear into the hearts of people. But she knew that the man lying in the next bed was not Kylo Ren, it was Ben, Elsi's Ben. She could sense the shift in the force. It was him and she was sure. She just wasn't sure how he would react when he woke up.
She reached out her hand and gently took his in her own. It was a little awkward with the cuffs around his wrists, but she didn't care, she just wanted to feel that he was alive and there with her.
"He's not the same man. He has a good heart. He just needs someone good to guide him and walk with him side by side. Not someone who will corrupt him."
The figure seemed to hesitate for a moment before she nodded to herself before responding.
"If he truly has changed, then we will take your word for it and I will speak with the council. He will not be able to walk around freely but I'll see about getting the cuffs loosened when he wakes; provided he behaves."
That shocked Elsi, why would this person listen to her, who was she?
"Why would you take my word for it? Why are you helping us? I don't know you, do I?"
"Oh my, I apologise." The figure lowered their hood and to Elsi's shock revealed a Cisanee. She was the same race as Elsi just older. Her blue skin was slightly paler, and her purple hair was darker, more black than purple. Elsi's whole race was wiped out by the emperor's Empire years ago, or so she had thought. Yet here was another one of her kind sitting in the chair next to her. "My name is Sumbra."
"I'm Elsi. I-I thought I was the only one left." Tears entered Elsi's eyes as she was overcome with emotion.
Sumbra leaned forward and gently clasped her left hand.
"Oh my, sweetie you must have been scared and alone for a long time."
"How did you escape the planet exploding? Are there any others left? You mentioned a council, are they Cisanee too?" Elsi leaned slightly forward, eager to know what had happened.
"Sweetie there are many of us alive." Elsi gulped and choked back the tears that stung her eyes at the fact that there were others of her kind that had escaped that dreadful horrific night. She was so relieved that she was not the only one left.
"There were some escape pods that made it out of the planet's atmosphere before the explosion hit them, though the aftermath of the explosion knocked our escape pods through space and we all crash landed here. The planet was safe, beautiful and sustainable, so much like our old planet Soris that we decided to stay. Many wanted to settle down and start afresh here, so we never left, and we have been here ever since. No one else knows where this planet is, nor how to find it. That is unless you know where to go. It appears that you found us by accident when your ship was shot out of hyperdrive mid-flight. Our patrol ships followed you when you crash landed."
The Cisanee had been here this whole time. If only she had known she could have found them and lived here among them. She knew her parents hadn't survived the planet's explosion; she could feel it in the force that they were gone. They had died in the house right in front of her when a blast was shot by an Empires ship during their initial search on the planet. The Cisanee were a technologically advanced race. Merely weeks before the planets' explosion the Empire had killed many Cisanee, looking for new technology to progress them in battle.
Elsi guessed that those force sensitive power dampeners were something that the Empire were after, it was a threat to them. Perhaps the emperor was scared the technology could be used against him. Millions of deaths were caused by the Empires greed and fear of people who were only desperately trying to protect themselves.
Elsi had been quiet for a long time, clearly taking it all in.
Sumbra could see that and decided to give Elsi some space.
"I will be back soon; I'll give you some time to process this. Feel free to move around the hut though don't strain yourself. And please don't leave the hut for now." Elsi was on edge for a moment as she wondered if for a moment they were trapped here. Sumbra saw this hesitation and immediately reassured Elsi. "We trust that you won't harm anyone because you are a Cisanee, but many people don't trust him, so they are very wary of you at the moment. We are a peaceful people but for everyone's safety if you could both stay inside for the moment. I will return soon."
With that, Sumbra left the hut and Elsi was left alone with Ben next to her.
It took her a few moments to get herself into a more comfortable position that did not hurt as much.
As she moved around, she looked to her right and stopped frozen in place as her eyes caught the gorgeous brown eyes of her best friend staring right back at her.
He looked normal again, like he was before he left to join emperor Snoke. Elsi couldn't explain it but he felt real, like he was a new person. She could sense the light side shining through him. Her plan had worked, the darkness was gone.
Though he looked normal again he also had a terrified expression on his face. Though he knew she told him it was okay when had stabbed her, he still appeared to be fearful of her response now that she was fully conscious. His eyes blinked deeply once before Elsi could see a tear form in his eyes.
She moved to lean forward but flinched when the pain hit her at the movement.
Ben flinched upwards as well and leaned towards her to seemingly help her but was stopped by the power dampening cuffs keeping him from moving too far forward. He knew what they were. Sumbra had explained the power dampening cuffs to him as soon as he woke up and started panicking that he was powerless to protect Elsi.
"Are you okay?" His eyes flickered down to her stomach, to where her wound was.
"You're asking me if I'm okay?"
"Yes." Ben whispered back. "I did this to you." He looked defeated, staring up at the ceiling in regret for his actions.
"You know how I feel about this Ben. You felt it through the force, you know that I forgave you straight away because I know that it wasn't really you. Snoke was influencing your actions."
"I don't deserve your forgiveness, after everything I've done to you." He looked deeply into her eyes and his gaze pierced hers, but her eyes didn't waver.
"You heard me Ben, you know that it's okay. You know that I forgive you for this, for everything. Though I may need a little time to get used to the change. But I'm willing to try for us." She reached out her hand to his and he gently grasped it in his own.
"I know." He whispered back.
There was silence for a few minutes as neither of them spoke and they merely took in the situation. She wasn't as scared of him as she thought she would be after suffering such a devastating injury. She could feel his love, feel his regret and she knew how much he currently was torturing himself and how much he would in the future.
Elsi finally decided to break the silence.
"This was the vision that you spoke of wasn't it. The one that Snoke showed you?"
Ben didn't respond at first and instead merely nodded his head after a short while.
"You did it Ben, you saved me, I would never have wanted it to be done this way, but you did save me."
Ben's facial expression turned harsh.
"No! I am the reason you are like this. I – Snoke he – he deceived me all this time. I fell for the darkside as my grandfather did before me and I –" Ben paused and turned his head to face away from her. "I'm not the same man I once was Elsi. I have changed."
"I know." She quietly whispered. "We have both changed." She softly tugged on his hand so that he would look back at her. "But I would quite like to get to know the real you and you the real me, if you'd let me Ben." Elsi tilted her head up as though in thought. "Besides this place seems as good a place for a fresh start as any."
After a while of silence Ben decided to speak again.
"They're like you, they're Cisanee, your people. They are good people, they trust you."
"And they will trust you as well, just give them time. They are good people, they've just had some bad experiences with the empire and once they get to know the real you, they will give you a chance."
"But what if I don't deserve any chances Elsi?" Ben retorted.
"Then prove to them that you're no longer the man they think you are. Show them you have changed and don't take no for an answer."
The fierceness in her eyes reminded Ben of their lives together as children when they were rivals.
"There is the stubborn streak I love."
Elsi blushed at his words.
"I didn't know that they were alive Elsi, I promise you that. The first time I found out who they were was this morning when one walked by the window with their hood down."
Elsi believed him, she trusted that he would have told her if he knew that the Cisanee were still alive.
"I know Ben I trust you."
"As soon as I saw they were Cisanee and that they hadn't cuffed you I knew that they trusted you and wouldn't harm you. The fact that they healed both of us implies to me that they're not going to kill me, yet."
"Ben they're not going to harm you." He looked at her, questioning the sincereness in her words. "I spoke with Sumbra earlier. We just have to show people that you are no longer a threat to them. She's going to speak to the other Cisanee. She said that she would try to convince them to be lenient towards you because they trusted my judgment that you wouldn't harm them."
"Thank you Elsi. I don't deserve it but thank you."
Elsi sighed, he still didn't believe in himself yet. Good job she could change that.
Ben spoke carefully with his next words.
"Do you think that there is anyone that you know here?"
"I don't know, I doubt it. You know that I – I saw my parents die. Though I was young I still remember that day clearly." Elsi shook her head to get rid of the negative thoughts of her family's deaths. "But that's not what's important right now. What is most important is getting them to believe that you have changed. I know we can do this Ben; together."
Slowly Elsi leaned forward so that her head rested within the gap between their beds, their hands still intertwined.
Straining against his cuffs Ben leaned his head over as well to rest his forehead softly against hers.
"Together." Ben agreed squeezing Elsi's hand tightly back.
Author's Note:
Hiya everyone, soooooo sorry for not updating in so long. Lots has been happening recently, so I have not been able to update. I will be finishing this story; I won't just leave it. My next update will definitely be quicker than this last one was. I also have a new story that I wrote years ago but I am now editing and will hopefully upload that one soon as well. It is a Hobbit fanfic with a Thorin/OC storyline. I will let you know when I post that for anyone who is interested, but I will still be finishing this story as well.
Thanks to my new followers and favourites since the last update. I really appreciate your support and I hope you are enjoying the story. Please leave a review to let me know what you thought about this chapter. It would really encourage me to update quicker if I know that people want to read the next chapter.
So Elsi is not the last of her kind and she and Ben are both recovering from their force healing. I am so happy that Ben is back to the light side. Now hopefully Elsi and Ben can be together again. I know not much happened, but it was an important progression for the story. Next chapter should have more romance and some look at the aftermath of the destruction of Starkiller base.
Thanks for reading. ZV.