AN: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing! And sorry it took so long for 3PO and R2 to enter this fic – I love them, but it always seems like I have to remind myself to include them.

EDIT: Stupid me accidentally uploaded the document with the ending cut off. It's fixed now.

"Dyad's Blessing, Dyad's Curse"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 29

"Do you need anything else before bed?" Renda asked as Ben spat into the basin and placed the toothbrush back on the tray.

"No," said Ben, shifting his eyes to the side momentarily. He and Rey hadn't linked all day, but instead of relaxing him, that only put him further on edge about when she might appear.

"All right," said Renda, picking up the tray. "Just give me a moment and I'll be back with the sleep aid."

He expected Rey to appear as soon as the doctor left, but no, still there was nothing. Was the Force trying to lure him into a false sense of security and make him think he might not dream of her memories tonight? He stared at the emptiness next to him as if that would make Rey appear . . . did that mean he wanted her to appear?

Maybe he did.

In fact, why wouldn't he?

After all, when they linked, it meant he wasn't alone.

"All right," Renda said, entering with the pill in one hand and a paper cup of water in the other, "if you need me during the night, just buzz me."

"Do you ever sleep?" Ben asked as she handed him the pill and the water.

"Occasionally, but tonight I've got a late shift."

Ben twisted his mouth. "So it's okay when you don't sleep, but if I don't do it, I get into trouble."

Renda gave him a smile that reminded him of the smile Leia used to give when Han tried to remind her that she was only human and couldn't take care of the galaxy all by herself. "I do believe I'm the doctor and you're the patient here."

"You said I remind you of your daughter. Well you remind me of my mother. She was so wrapped up in the galaxy's well-being that she sometimes seemed to think things like eating and sleeping were things you only did if the galaxy was in a stable enough state."

A small snicker escaped Renda's mouth. "I'm flattered, but I don't have half your mother's endurance."

Ben let out a sigh as he looked at the blue pill in his hand, remembering his mother's words from the coma. "You needed a mother. Not a senator, not a general, a mother." "I admired her," he murmured, "sometimes I wanted to be like her, but I knew that was impossible."

"Why?"

Ben popped the pill in his mouth, but his throat still felt dry even after gulping down the water. "Because I felt too much. A kid who was scared all the time and got angry at everything couldn't hope to be like her."

"Oh, you think she never got angry or scared?"

"Sure she did, but she could handle it better than me. Why do you think she's the only Force-sensitive in our family to never get tempted by the dark side?" He handed her the empty cup. "Good night."

Renda looked like she didn't know how to respond to that, but being the doctor she was, she tried anyway. "Your mother was still a person. She was flawed like all the rest of us."

Ben dug his head into the pillow, closing his eyes and trying not to remember that moment when he heard Leia's voice in his mind before feeling her die. "Good night."

He sensed that she wanted to say more, but thankfully she knew when to back away. "Okay, good night. Remember, buzz me if you need me for anything – and that includes a shoulder to cry on."

The door closed and Ben already felt himself drifting off, but in the back of his mind the uneasiness remained.

Where was Rey?

. . .

"Be with me . . . be with me . . ."

Rey didn't know how long she had been sitting cross-legged on the couch in the far corner of the hotel's lobby, but her legs were beginning to ache. "Be with me," she repeated, her spirit reaching out, imagining itself freed from her body, freed even from the confines of the world, calling to the Jedi who came before her. "Be with me . . ."

But she heard nothing.

It didn't exactly surprise her – it wasn't like the dead Jedi just came when they were called, but couldn't one of them take time out of their afterlife to talk to her about dyads?

"Mistress Rey, might I ask what you are doing?"

Rey opened her eyes and there was 3PO standing in front of her, R2 and D-O accompanying him. "Tr-tr-trouble?" D-O stuttered, rolling back and forth on his wheel.

"No," said Rey, "I'm not in trouble. I'm just . . . wondering about things." She looked up at 3PO. "I don't suppose you know anything about Force dyads?"

"No, I am afraid my databases contain no information about Force dyads." Though the protocol droid couldn't actually change his expression, his slight lean forward indicated concern. "Why do you ask, Mistress Rey?"

Rey took a deep breath, seeing no reason why the droids shouldn't know about her bond with Ben. To her surprise, 3PO didn't interrupt once as she explained the dyad as best she could. R2 and D-O stayed equally quiet, intensely listening. How much did droids understand about the Force, anyway?

"Oh dear," 3PO said when she was done. "Poor little Master Ben."

"Little Master Ben?" Rey couldn't stop her eyebrows from raising. "You knew him before?"

"Of course," said 3PO. "Before Master Luke started his Jedi training temple, we would visit quite often."

R2 beeped that when Ben was little, he used to love playing with them.

"When little Master Ben turned to the dark side, Mistress Leia and Master Han were quite devastated, but for some reason they ordered me not to tell anyone about it," 3PO continued. "Master Han even threatened to have my memory wiped if I told anyone. Humans can be quite confusing."

"Yes, they can," said Rey, painfully uncrossing her legs and letting her feet rest on the green-carpeted floor. "Well, do you have any ideas on what to do?"

"I'm afraid not, Mistress Rey," said the protocol droid, the hotel light reflecting off his metal plating. "Even Master Luke knew very little about dyads."

D-O craned his little neck upwards. "Ca-can I help?"

Rey was about to say that she wasn't sure how he could help, but then Leia's words echoed in her mind: "Never underestimate a droid." She thought back to when they'd found him, battered and abused, unwilling to even be touched.

Maybe he'd like to help another battered soul.

"Actually," Rey said carefully, "I think you could help."