AN: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing!
"Dyad's Blessing, Dyad's Curse"
By EsmeAmelia
Chapter 30
If Ben dreamed anything the night before, he didn't remember it, though he wasn't sure if he should be relieved about that or anxious about what might come tonight. Maybe the Force gave them a night off because it had something extra-frightening planned for tonight. Maybe tonight he'd dream he was Rey as her parents were abandoning her.
Maybe she'd dream about having villages murdered.
"Finished?" Renda asked.
Ben wondered why his doctor felt the need to ask if he was finished when the only thing left on the breakfast tray was the crusts of his toast, but he still nodded.
"All right," said Renda, taking hold of the tray. "Let me get rid of this and then we can start you walking."
Start you walking. Those words settled in his stomach like rotten food. He pinched the sleeve of his cheery light blue hospital gown and imagined it was a drab gray prison uniform: tight-fitting, squeezing his body, labelling him as someone who could never be part of the real world again.
. . .
"Are you sure about this?" Rey asked D-O as they rode up the hospital turbolift.
The little droid craned his head up at her "I-I want to help," he said, and despite the stutter in his voice, he sounded full of resolve. Rey found her breath speeding up as the turbolift came to a stop and the doors slid open with a whoosh, revealing the hallway of doctors and nurses bustling this way and that. By now she had the route to Ben's room memorized, and while she expected D-O to shy away from all the strangers, he dutifully followed Rey down the hall, though occasionally he stuttered incoherently. Rey couldn't help but feel proud of the little droid facing his fears.
Room 5042, and there was the medical droid stepping through the door. "I'm here to see Ben Solo," said Rey.
"Rey?" Ben called before the droid could answer. "You can come in."
Rey did so, with D-O rolling behind her, his wheel slowing to what would be called a creep if he had legs. She expected to find Ben either in bed or practicing walking on the parallel bars – but she didn't expect him to be walking on his own.
"Ben!" she gasped.
His face was flushed and glistening with sweat and he was wobbling with every step, but he was walking. Next to him, Renda was smiling warmly, though she had her arms held up to catch him in the event of a fall.
"Ben . . . I can't believe it!" Rey exclaimed.
Ben only frowned at her. "You think this is something to be happy about?" he shouted, taking a series of hurried, wobbly steps towards her, seemingly unaware of how his body was swaying. "You and I both know what's going to happen once I can walk out of here! We both know that . . . gah!" With that, he tripped, his large body suddenly slumping down on Rey's, causing her to grab his sides and step around in small circles in an attempt to balance his weight on her and causing D-O to wheel backwards towards the doorway.
"Ben, I told you not to overexert yourself!" Renda exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his back and pulling him off of Rey. "Come on, I think you've had enough for today. Let's get you back to bed."
As the doctor helped Ben walk to bed, D-O cautiously rolled up to Rey and looked up at her. "Fr-friend?"
Rey slowly nodded, rotating her shoulders, which were suddenly sore from Ben landing on her. "Yes. He's the one who needs a friend."
Without any further coaxing, D-O rolled up to Ben's bed. "H-hello. Friend. I-I am D-O."
Ben pursed his lips, cocking his head at Rey. "What's going on now?"
Rey carefully made her way to his bed and sat on the edge. "We found him on Pasaana. I think his previous owner abused him – at the beginning he wouldn't even let anyone touch him." She did her best to give Ben a warm smile. "And, well, I told him about you – about us – and he wants to help you."
"Friend!" D-O exclaimed, rolling back and forth on his wheel. "Friend!"
Ben snorted as he looked down at the droid. "And did she tell you about how I tortured people probably far worse than how your owner treated you? How I killed hundreds – possibly thousands – of people? How I did nothing to stop Hux from destroying the Hosnian system?" His eyes were welling up. "Did she tell you what I did to my own father?"
With that, he broke down crying once again, burying his face in his hands. Renda was quick to hand him a box of tissues, but she said nothing. Rey could only stare, not knowing what to say or how to say it.
"Sad," said D-O.
Ben sniffled, wiping his nose with a tissue. "And you think being sad makes anything better? I made lots of people sad!"
The little droid craned his neck up to its limit. "Friend."
"And even if I deserved a droid friend, do you think they'll let me have a droid in prison?" Ben shouted through his sobs. "Do you think you'd enjoy living in prison?"
Still D-O didn't waver. "Ben Solo. Friend."
"Do you even understand what I'm saying?" Ben screamed, his nose red and his eyes puffy. "I'm worse than the one who abused you!"
D-O kept staring up at Ben, making Rey hold her breath. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all – maybe it would even set D-O back and make him distrust people again.
"Help," said D-O. "I-I want to help."
"Why?" Ben sobbed. "Why would you want to help someone who's no different from your old owner?"
"A-are different," said D-O. "Sadabout it. O-Ochi never sad."
"Like I said, sad fixes NOTHING!"
"Ben, please," said Rey. "He wants to help. We both do."
There was that look in his eyes again – that hopeless, heartbroken look. "What if I can't be helped? In fact, I shouldn't be helped. None of you should be wasting your time on me!"
He broke down in sobs again, burying his face in one hand while digging into the tissues with the other. Renda glanced at Ben, then at Rey, then at Ben again before saying, "Maybe you should leave for now."
Rey nodded, but D-O craned his head up in Renda's direction. "C-can I stay?"
"That's up to Ben," said Renda.
Ben sniffled, blinking down at the droid, looking like a child nervous about making a new friend. "Fine," he finally said, "you can stay."
The droid excitedly rolled back and forth. "Friend," he repeated. "Ben Solo. Friend."