AN: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing! Wow, fifty chapters.

Let me add a little disclaimer before we start. I've never been hypnotized and I've only ever seen hypnosis performed IRL when a stage hypnotist performed at my college (though he was apparently legit since he had books and CDs out about using hypnosis as a relaxation technique), but I looked up some articles about hypnotherapy and the process of hypnosis and I combined material from the articles with how I think they might induce hypnosis in the Star Wars universe and how the Force might interfere. Long disclaimer short: I don't know exactly what it's like to be hypnotized, but the articles said the experience is different for everyone, so hopefully this chapter is at least "in the ballpark."

"Dyad's Blessing, Dyad's Curse"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 50

The next day, Rey and Ben were seated together in Krain's office with D-O settled at their feet and giving hums of encouragement. If it weren't for Rey's presence, Ben probably would have bolted, guards or no guards – but she was squeezing his hand and running her thumb over his knuckles in a soothing manner. Though she was putting on a stoic face, he still sensed nervousness coming from her. Part of him couldn't believe that she'd actually told the counselor about how she was having memory lapses as well and requested that they have hypnotherapy together – it made him want to kiss her again just thinking about it.

"Now," Krain was saying, leaning forward with his hands clasped in his lap, "I don't know much about the Force, but these memory lapses you're both having could be a sign of disassociation and have nothing to do with the Force. This is just speculation, but your lapses could be a result of your shared trauma on Exegol."

"And you think hypnotism will stop them?" Ben asked.

"I can't promise anything," said Krain, "but hypnotherapy can help people who suffer disassociation to settle themselves into one identity. The fact that you're both aware that you're having identity lapses shows that your condition isn't as severe as some other cases. Some people with disassociation can go for years completely unaware of their identity lapses."

Rey gulped. "Do you think we could end up completely forgetting who we are if this continues?"

"I don't know," said Krain. "Hopefully we'll get to the root of the problem before it gets that bad." He took a deep breath. "Are you two ready?"

D-O looked up at them. "R-ready?"

Ben sucked in his breath, suddenly feeling like he was about to be thrown naked into the Hoth tundra. Run, hide, don't do this, don't let your mind be overtaken again! part of his mind was screaming, but again Rey squeezed his hand, looking at him with a warm smile. "It's okay," she whispered. "I'm here." She kissed his cheek. "We're together."

Together.

With another deep breath, Ben faced the counselor. "I'm ready."

"So am I," said Rey.

. . .

After Krain had Rey and Ben sign his datapad to give consent for treatment, he smiled warmly at the couple as if he were inviting them to a party. "Now, contrary to what you might see in holofilms, hypnosis is not about taking over your mind and stripping you of your free will. It's about inducing a relaxed state in which your mind will be more open to solutions."

"That doesn't sound so bad," said Rey.

"It's not," said Krain. "Now listen, I want you two to get comfortable."

Get comfortable? How was Ben supposed to get comfortable when he was about to be hypnotized? Still, he leaned back, letting his head sink into the cushiony back of the sofa, and Rey followed suit.

"Good," said Krain. "Now take a few deep breaths and let them out as slowly as you can. Take a few moments to listen to your own breath."

This was starting to sound like meditation, but still Ben obeyed, listening to his own breath merging with Rey's. In . . . out. In . . . out. In . . . out. This wasn't so bad . . .

"Good," Krain repeated in a steady voice as he took an object that looked like a small handlight out of his pocket. "Now I want you to look at the light. Focus on it."

The light was tiny, soft, flickering . . . easy to focus on despite the slight pinprick in his retina.

"Keep your eyes on the light," said Krain. "Let it relax you . . . Feel your eyelids get heavy . . . heavy . . . let them close . . ."

Yes . . . Ben wanted to let his eyes close. It felt good to close his eyes and block out everything except Krain's soothing voice.

"Yes, good. Just relax, don't worry about anything, let yourself float in the soft, comfortable blackness and don't open your eyes until you hear me clap my hands."

Let yourself float . . . Ben did indeed feel like he was floating, as if the world behind his eyelids was a deep, endless sky. It felt . . . nice, like he could float forever and leave his worries behind. He breathed in, out, in, out, enjoying the sound of his own breath.

"Yes . . . yes . . . now listen to my voice. You are calm . . . comfortable . . . relaxed. I want to talk to only one of you at a time, do you understand?"

"Yes," Ben said, needing no thought to answer.

"Good. Now first, I want to talk to Ben. Which one of you is Ben?"

"I am." Again the answer came without any thought.

"And which one of you is Rey?"

Again no thought was needed. "I am."

Now the voice sounded disappointed. "Listen, only one of you is Rey and only one of you is Ben. Now, I want to talk to Ben."

"I'm Ben." If he weren't so comfortable floating through the darkness, he might have found the questions annoying, but the floating was too nice for anything to annoy him. He breathed in, inhaling a sweet, fresh scent, like a field full of flowers on a sunny day.

"Ben, tell me something about your childhood."

"My childhood?" he asked in a drowsy voice. "Well . . . when I was little I wanted to be a pilot like my dad. I'd follow him around when he was working on the Falcon and I'd play with his lucky dice . . . his lucky dice, where are they now?" There was only the smallest moment of uncertainty before an image came into his mind of the little golden dice hanging once again in the Falcon's cockpit. "No wait . . . they're back in the Falcon again, where they belong . . ."

"I want to talk to Rey now," the gentle voice said.

"I'm Rey." The answer came as naturally as the "I'm Ben" answer had.

"Rey, tell me something about your childhood."

"My parents . . . they left me on Jakku to protect me from my grandfather. I wish I remembered them better. I think that when I was little, back before they left, I remember my mother holding me and singing me to sleep. The song . . . it went like this."

His mind's ear heard a woman's soothing, high voice humming a song with lingering notes and within a moment he was humming along with her. Yes, he remembered her voice, he remembered . . . while floating in this comfortable darkness, he could imagine himself wrapped up in her arms . . .

But then there was a scream.

It was distant at first, so distant that he wondered if he imagined it, but it grew louder and louder. A child's scream, joined by another, then another, then another, screams from every direction, burying him in screams.

"Wake up!" the voice commanded somewhere in the distance, but the screams even drowned that out. Screams everywhere . . . everywhere . . . everywhere . . .

. . .

Ben awoke with a sudden gasp, taking a moment to realize that both he and Rey were lying on Krain's floor, Krain and all the guards hovering over them and D-O nudging his head.

"Friend!" D-O was screaming. "W-wake up!"

"I'm awake," Ben said in a raspy voice, seeing that Rey was also blinking awake and looked as confused as he felt.

"What happened?" Rey asked, pushing a handful of her mussed hair behind her ear.

Krain took a deep breath. "Well first of all, once you were under, you both answered every question at the same time, saying the exact same things. I tried to talk to you individually, but you kept answering in unison, even when I asked you to share childhood memories." He actually looked baffled. "You shouldn't have remembered each other's childhoods."

"I told you," said Ben, "it's the Force that has us joined." He groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "Now how did we get on the floor?"

Krain licked his lips. "You both suddenly started screaming. I tried to wake you up, but then you both tried to stand up and you fell."

"I heard children screaming," said Rey, pushing herself to a sitting position. "Lots of them."

"So did I," said Ben, also pushing himself to a sitting position, groaning as he did so. "Was that supposed to happen?"

Krain's eyes were wide as he shook his head. "I've got to tell you, this is something I've never seen before."

Rey let out a frustrated huff. "Well, maybe we should try again?"

"Get hypnotized again?" Ben exclaimed.

"Maybe the screams mean something," Rey persisted, looking him in the eye. "Besides, maybe it will take more than one session to stop these lapses."

Ben gave a deep sigh. "Fine, but I don't like it." He was about to stand up, but then he remembered something from the trance or dream or whatever it was – it was hazy in his mind, but he was pretty sure he'd seen it. "Rey?" he asked.

"What?"

"Did you . . . did you put Dad's dice back in the Falcon's cockpit?"

Rey nodded. "Luke took them, but before I left Ahch-To, I swiped them when I swiped the Jedi texts." She gave him a small smile. "I gave them to Leia, but after she died . . . I figured they belonged back in the Falcon."

Ben felt his eyes welling up as he remembered how Luke's Force-projection of the dice had vanished in his hands. Without caring that Krain and the guards were present, he grabbed her face and pressed a kiss on her lips. "Thank you."