Force Dyad

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to their respective owners.

A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.

Chapter Thirty-Eight-A Journey of Self Realisation

Lost.

Confused.

Alone.

So alone.

Rey felt like she had been wandering through the tunnels following the ghostly voices of her past for a lifetime. Every twist and turn always brought her back to the same point – a wide cavern, eerily lit by wooden torches, whose flames never seemed to flicker or die. Time seemed to have no meaning in this strange place, she suffered neither hunger or thirst, exhaustion was just a distant memory. The only thing bothering her was her emotions. She felt like she had run the gamut of them since landing in this mysterious place.

Rey was beginning to worry that she was never going to escape back to the real world. What did that even mean anymore? She wasn't sure whether she was dead, alive or trapped somewhere in-between. If this was a test of her endurance, physical and mental, she had failed so far. When she had first heard Ben's beloved voice echoing from one of the tunnels, she had eagerly followed it, convinced that he would be waiting for her around every corner. She had made sure to take in every detail no matter how small, any chance of finding the bread crumb trail was better than nothing at all. But the further Rey travelled, finding no sign of him at all, she became discouraged when she exited the tunnel to find herself back at beginning, and curled up in a corner and wept.

It was then she heard her mother's voice, singing the familiar lullaby she once used to soothe her to sleep. Like a long-forgotten memory buried from her childhood had been reawakened, Rey found herself gravitating toward the sound. She stopped outside the tunnel, the familiar refrain of her mother's melodic voice teaching her brain how to flow, how to be so peaceful. It was if the slowly changing tone touched different parts, a sort of auditory massage for her mind. It was an invitation to dwell for a while and bathe in the memory of her mother's love.

Then Rey found herself singing along with her mother. Their voices wove together to form a tapestry of the heart, Rey's rising and falling in pitch, her desolation at the loss of that maternal connection evident in every spoken word. When her mother's voice began to fade into the ether, for Rey, it was like losing her all over again. Like a small child, when she opened her mouth again to speak, the words came out fitfully as she called out to her mother, the sounds half swallowed by a sobbing noise. To her dismay she was crying almost too much to be coherent.

"Mama! Come back! Please, come back!"

Rey was crouched down on her hands and knees with fists closed tightly in agony when she heard Ben's voice again, calling her toward another tunnel, speaking words that gave her a renewed sense of hope. "Ben?"

"It's really me. I've come to get you, just like I promised."

This was followed by the sound of sobbing from the tunnel, like a small child who had lost all hope.

"Ben?" Rey said again, her voice cracking slightly. "I don't understand. Where are you?"

"It's alright now. I'm here."

"Where? I can't see you." Rey faltered as she crawled into the tunnel, clinging tightly to the faint hope that this wasn't just another delusion and he was real this time.


Rey had been lost for so long she was getting used to the feeling of bitter disappointment when confronted with yet another dead end, kind of like a person who gets used to being beat up, she supposed. It's not that she had accepted it, quite the opposite. Being lost was terrible. There was nothing lonelier, nothing that brings more desolation to the soul. But she'd never stop looking for a way out, never let that small spark of hope become extinguished. Ben was out there somewhere; she knew he was. He wouldn't believe she was dead. He was out there looking for her, too. She could still feel him, feel his love still and that couldn't be a lie. She had to find her way back to him somehow, find her way back to the real world.


"Here in this place, I can change things. I can stop Kanan from dying."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. If I can change your fate, I can change his."

"Ezra, Kanan gave his life so that you can live. If he's taken out of this moment… you all die."

"You don't understand what you're asking me to do."

"Yes, I do; you can't save your master, and I can't save mine. I'm asking you to let go."

The voices raised up from the tunnels as if on ever spread wings. Rey listened intently to them, realising that many of them were not connected to her, or her past at all like she had first believed. She considered the tunnels more like portals now, leading to different planes of existence, the portals converging toward the large cavern which served as the pivotal point. It was both intriguing and mysterious. She got the sense that if somebody else ended up in this strange place, they would have experienced something completely different. They would have heard different voices echoing. Rey guessed she would never really know. All she longed for was to go home to Ben.


"The Emperor has been expecting you."

"I know, father."

Was that Master Skywalker? Rey listened intently to the voices echoing down the tunnel, holding her breath when she heard the deeply modulated response from Skywalker's companion, heavily synthesised and breathless.

"So, you have accepted the truth."

"I've accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father."

Rey crouched down, her heart beating so fast that she thought she might pass out. Was that Darth Vader? Ben's grandfather? It had to be. She waited in stunned silence for more, but nothing else was forthcoming. The voices faded into the ether just like all the others.


Rey felt like her soul had been adrift for so long, it had forgotten the feeling of being rooted inside her mortal body. As more time went by the hazy recollections returned and with them the longing for the feeling of soft grass beneath her naked feet. A great weariness descended on her, purely mental, she was more desperate than ever to return to her physical form and be reunited with Ben. How many more voices would she have to hear before she could go home?


"Take her, Luke!"

"Mara, I can't…."

"I'm dying, Luke. I won't be around to care for her. Darran saved your life. He died…. because of you! His sacrifice ruined my life. You owe me!"

The woman called Mara sounded angry, defiant in her grief as she continued to rage at Skywalker, demanding that he fulfil the life debt that he owed for her husband's sacrifice. Soon he crumbled and gave in to her request.

"I cannot refuse you, Mara. What is her name?"

"Voe…after Darran's grandmother."

"She's force sensitive?"

"Yes. I implore you to take care of her as if she were your own daughter, Luke. I warn you, if you don't, I promise, I will come back and haunt you and make your life a living hell for all eternity."

As Skywalker and Mara's voices faded into the ether just like all the others, Rey reflected on what she had just heard. Mara had sounded so resentful, so full of bitterness and anger toward Skywalker. If this was indeed Voe's mother, then Rey had finally gained an insight into where Voe's ability to hold a grudge came from. She was full of bitterness and hatred just like Mara. Did Voe know that her father had sacrificed his life for Skywalker and the repercussions it had for her family? If so, it would explain her strange attitude toward the Jedi master and would give her a good reason to want revenge against him and all that he stood for. It also partially explained why Skywalker was so willing to give Voe the benefit of the doubt all the time and was so wilfully blind to all her faults. Guilt was a heavy burden for even the strongest to carry.


Solitude is what comes when the pain of loneliness gives way to a calm confidence, a self-reliance and a realisation that when you can take good care of yourself, you can take good care of others. Rey felt like she had reached that point. She had gained an insight into herself, into her inner strength and fortitude, her ability to survive against the odds that made her strangely proud of herself. She had also garnered a few useful bits of information on the way. She believed she was ready. She was ready to go home.

As soon as the thought entered her mind, she saw the butterfly. If ever there was magic powder, it was the iridescent blue glow of the butterfly's wings. It cast a spell on her eyes, so that her soul felt lifted, filled with a fullness of spirit and energy that could only be compared to an adrenaline rush. She felt as if her thoughts were more tuned in somehow, as if they were a comm signal that had found a frequency that was both more calm and more intense all at once.

As she focused on the butterfly's delicate wings, she heard the distinct tenor of Ben's voice. Its vibrations were so strong and clear, so full of emotion and honesty, that Rey felt moisture welling in her eyes at the beauty of it.

"Be with me. Be with me, Rey. Know you are not alone. Know you are loved. Know the galaxy, vast as it is, recognizes you and cherishes you. Know where you belong…with me…here…now…be with me."

He was calling out to her to come home.

So, she did.


The forcefield surrounding Ben and Rey dissipated as he opened his eyes to the early morning sunlight, soft and diffuse, giving way to the first strong rays of the day, the ones that bring true warmth. He slowly cast his eyes down to Rey's face, his expression tentative and unsure, anxious that the miracle he had been searching for had been snatched from him once again. He sighed with relief when he saw her hazel eyes open, radiating brown sun warmed with inner gold as she looked up at him.

"Hi." He greeted her softly.

Confusion clouded her vision, her brow furrowing slightly. "Who…who are you?"

"You don't know me?" Ben's heart began pounding hard against his ribcage as his pulse pressed outward, jerking the veins within. He felt like he was going to pass out. His long fingers wrapped tighter around hers in dismay. This couldn't be happening. She had just woken up. It would take her while to get her bearings. That was all. Once she had time to absorb everything, she would recognise him. She wouldn't have forgotten...she couldn't…impossible….

"Ben, I'm teasing." Rey's laughter, so free and pure, made Ben smile in delight as he pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.