If it hadn't been for the fact that at least one of them needed to pay attention on how to get to the village, Ben would've much rather watched Rey. She had been so enchanted by the forest as they followed Eir that if he hadn't been holding on to her he was afraid that she would've stopped and gotten left behind somewhere. He couldn't say that he minded, however, as it was actually adorable to see.
When they reached the village and she still hadn't noticed, he decided it was time to unfortunately break her out of the enchantment that she seemed to have fallen under. She answered him in a distracted way, looking over at him, a look of wonder still present in her eyes.
Would now be a good time to kiss her?
"We're here." He said, looking back towards the village and trying to ignore the fact that his cheeks were growing uncomfortably warm. "I know you've been to a forest before; why is this one any different?" He asked, trying to distract himself. The first time they had met had been in a forest, and he had the feeling that the resistance base had been on one as well.
"Each forest is different, each one with their own unique plants. They all have so much life to them, so much to offer. I love being surrounded by it." Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, the look of wonder still ever present from earlier.
Well, that...didn't help
"Welcome to the village of Ekair." Eir said with a smile, as if she had noticed the need for a distraction. Maybe she had, if Rey's theory was right.
The village was a small place, with buildings built both into the trees on the ground level and suspended in the air above them, connected by pathways that were made out of what seemed to be living vines. People could be seen milling about, going about their day, doing chores, having average conversations – it was as if nothing from the outside had touched it for generations; a place lost in time.
"How did you manage all this...?" He marveled, staring up at the vine pathways. They weren't static creations; you could see them move and grow subtly with every step someone took. These weren't some vines that had been cut and weaved together, these were alive, each vine still connected and growing from its respective tree.
"It's quite simple really," Eir began with a smile, "we tune into each plant's life and help it grow. We have found that we get better results working with the plant life, not against it."
"Life, huh..." he muttered. The concept of working with life was still a relatively new concept to him. It wasn't until Rey had healed the lightsaber wound she had given him on Kef Bir that he had even considered the idea, so used was he to taking by any means necessary. If he thought about it he could vaguely remember hearing the concept from his old Jedi training days, but had never had the chance to explore it. It was surprised really, that he had managed what he had back on Exogol with Rey, having only seen the technique once before.
"It is rather impressive," Rey said from besides him, "it's one of the things we wanted to talk to you about."
"Including what you said last time right before you left." Ben added in, finally looking back over at Eir. Even if Rey had talked him out of really doing anything about it, he still wanted to find out more about how Eir knew and what she planned to do with the information.
"Oh that! You must forgive me; I was a bit excited." Eir gave a sheepish smile. "It's been several generations since I last got to talk to a Dyad, and I had a bit of trouble containing myself when I realized that you were a complete pair."
"But how could you tell?"
Eir smiled softly, "Everything has an energy that ebbs and flows about them. Usually, they remain self-contained," she reached out then, grabbing onto their intertwined hands to hold in her own, "but the two of you are connected, you're energy indistinguishable from the other. One being, two halves." She sighed, closing her eyes briefly, "There is balance."
While he wasn't sure he entirely liked the feeling of someone else holding onto him, Ben also wasn't entirely sure it was a bad thing. Eir might not actually mean anything by it but
Those claws of hers would hurt if she decided to sink them in
All it would take was one wrong move and I'm sure she would
"Where did you learn about that?" Rey asked, breaking through and giving him a much needed distraction.
"I learned much of what I know from a woman called Kaine." To his great relief, Eir let go of their hands then, looking wistfully into the sky, "She called this energy 'the force', and that there is only balance when you see it as a whole, light and dark, one not able to exist without the other." She looked back down at the two of them, "That is what the two of you embody."
/
"Is it possible to meet Kaine?"
Eir shook her head, a darker look passing over her face, "I'm afraid not. Kaine has been gone for many years now. She...she was the dyad that I mentioned earlier. She is why I was so excited to see the two of you together; I had never before gotten to meet a complete pair."
"What happened to her partner?" Rey asked, almost afraid of the answer. She felt Ben grip onto her hand tighter; she knew he felt it too.
"...She died." Eir whispered, looking at the ground. "It was from the heartbreak, I'm sure. I never got the full story because it always made her cry too much, but I got that an accident happened and her partner had died shortly before Kaine arrived here."
"Did she...did Kaine ever recover?" She hated asking it, but she need to know the answer. Need to know if -
If I had lost Ben back then, would it ever get better?
Or would there always be...
Eir didn't answer her, instead choosing to look away, hugging her arms and watching a few kids that were playing in the center of the village. Her silence spoke volumes, and Rey found herself whispering, "How...how long?"
"...I only got to know her for a few short months." Eir said in an equally quiet voice, still refusing to look at them.
It doesn't get better...
Rey swallowed hard, trying to push down the rising panic that she could feel rising from the pit of her stomach.
That didn't happen didn't happen he's fine
Rey
She looked up at him then, feeling him grip her hand tighter, sending her as much comfort as he knew how. It was only then that she realized that she had started crying; she was about to reach up and wipe the tears away herself, but Ben pulled her close, wiping them away with the thumb of his free hand.
Are you ok?
I will be, thank you
She gave him a weak smile, trying to reinforce the idea.
If you say so
He placed a light kiss on her forehead before pulling away, and Rey could feel his warmth begin to fill her. Yes, this was definitely worth waiting for.
/
After making sure that Rey was ok, Ben turned to look back over at Eir, who was watching them with a soft smile.
"What?" He had meant it to sound a bit intimidating, as if daring the older woman to do something about what she had seen; but instead it came out more awkward and a little bit forced.
"It's a pleasure watching you two." Eir said, seeming to have recovered a bit from whatever depression had gripped her earlier, "I feel privileged getting to watch a complete bond in action."
"You should." He muttered, trying to keep the heat from returning to his cheeks. He would've said more on the subject, but he heard Rey laugh softly next him, quieting any other protests he might have had. If this is what it took to make her feel better, then so be it.
"I learned many things from Kaine, to which I made sure to write down. If you want to follow me to my house, I would gladly show it to you."
"We would appreciate it, thank you." Rey said as they followed after the older woman.
Eir's house was located towards the back of the village, inside the trunk of a large, ancient tree. Her house was sparsely decorated, with table and chairs, a modest kitchen, a bookcase, and a bed placed against a far wall. On top of the bookshelf was a single framed picture of two women, and while she looked considerably younger, Ben could still recognize Eir as one of the two. The other woman in the photo was sitting in a chair next to Eir, looking incredibly tired and far older then she probably was in reality. There was a deep despair to her eyes, as if she was missing a vital part of herself.
"Is that Kaine?" Rey asked, motioning over to the photo.
Eir nodded solemnly. "It is. Poor dear was always so tired, I wish I could have done more for her." She spoke as she reached up, pulling a book from the top shelf, "But in the end I don't think anything would have helped short of her other half returning."
She turned back around then, opening the cover of the book and pulling out a photo from within its cover, "Before she passed, Kaine insisted that I keep this."
Rey took the photo from Eir, holding it so that the two of them could see it. This new photo depicted two women, one who was calm and serene with a hand on the others shoulder, as if holding her in place so that she would not burst from pent up energy. Looking at the faces closely, it became clear that the excitable one must have been Kaine before the accident that her taken her partner's life.
Looking back over at the photo on the bookshelf, the difference in Kaine's appearance was striking; like night and day. Seeing that, he found himself thinking once again how glad he was that he didn't die thinking that he had saved Rey only to end up leaving her to a worse fate. On this matter he believed Eir completely; he didn't need to have seen the photos to tell the difference. It wasn't something that he liked to think about, but back on Exegol, when he had been climbing up from the crevice he had been thrown into, he had felt it. It was as if something had snapped, and he just knew that something bad had happened to Rey. It was the worst pain he had ever been through and did not want to go through ever again.
"I believe that the two of you should keep this," Eir said, holding the book out to them, "I've read it many times, and I think that the two of you would get more use from it then I would at this point."
"Are you sure? Isn't it really important to you?" He heard Rey ask a question from next to him, but he was more interested in the book's its contents, taking it from Eir. From the first time he and Rey had connected and could see the each other across the lightyears, he had been fascinated about how it worked. He knew they could make it stronger, going from simply seeing each other to being able to touch, to hand items over to each other; but how?
He held Eir's book in one hand, while using a few fingers from the one holding Rey's to flip the book open. It would've been easier to just let go, but he wasn't about to do that, not when she had been feeling so unstable about his existence earlier.
'Dyads' is the term that Kaine used to describe her and her partner. A term she said is two who are uniquely connected through the lifeforce of the universe. Although she called it just 'the force' it seems no different than what I am used to.
The first few pages of the book were filled with information that he already knew, so he skimmed over them, looking for something new. At one point he thought he heard his name, but ignored it in favor of continuing to read.
Kaine mentioned about their balance today. Not in the physical sense, but one that came from their connection, their bond. She spoke as if they were two halves of a greater whole, and with it they brought balance. She told me that while she was always going after anything lighter and softer, her partner was fonder of the dark -
Ben!
He looked over at Rey sharply then, trying not to show how started he felt at her sudden outburst. "Y-you don't have to yell."
"And you weren't paying attention." He thought she might be annoyed, but instead she looked amused, and he began to wonder just how long she had been trying to get his attention. He glanced away, feeling a bit sheepish.
/
"Are you sure? Isn't it really important to you?" Rey asked Eir, a bit more unsure about taking the book then Ben seemed, who had wasted no time in taking it and beginning to flip through its pages.
Eir nodded. "I am. Kaine was deeply experienced with the bond she had, while the two of you seem to be fairly new at it. I'm sure that if she were here, she would gladly share her knowledge. I feel like this is be the best way to honor her memory."
"Thank you, we'll be sure to take good care of it. Won't we, Ben?" She looked over at him, only to see that he hadn't moved, eyes fixed on the page that he was currently reading. So enthralled was he that she doubted that he had even heard his name. She sighed and shook her head.
"He's the studious type, isn't he?" Eir asked with a small laugh.
"I... guess he is." She looked back up at Ben's face, watching him as he read. It was with a strange feeling that she realized that despite how close they were, she didn't actually know much about him. What were his likes? Dislikes? What did he like to do to relax? Did he know how to relax? She frowned slightly, deciding that needed to change. They had all the time in the world, and she determined that she would devote it to finding out more about Ben Solo.
She heard the door open behind them then, and turned to see a man in his late forties enter through it.
"Eir is – oh, you've got company." The man changed what he was about to say upon seeing more than just Eir in the room. "Are these the ones who came in the other day?"
Eir nodded. "They are. I was just about to mention that they should go and met everyone else. Rey, this is Ranulf."
"A pleasure, my lady." Ranulf gave a small bow. "And who is your companion?"
"The distracted one here is Ben." Rey looked over Ben again, somewhat amused that he still hadn't noticed anything.
Things really have changed. Before he never would have let anyone come from behind like that
"Ben," she tried getting his attention again, but still received no answer. She shook her head, deciding to try a different tact; one that would be a lot harder to ignore.
Ben!
He jumped slightly, looking over at her. "Y-you don't have to yell."
"And you weren't paying attention." He glanced away then, and she could tell he was feeling a bit embarrassed so she decided to change the subject. "Ben, this is Ranulf." She said, motioning over to the man, "He's one of the other refugees that Eir mentioned earlier."
"Glad to see that you have finally joined us, Mr. Ben." Ranulf said with a teasing grin. "That aside, it really is good to meet you both. That was quite the ship the two of you flew here in; naturally there have been rumors floating around."
"What kind of rumors?" Ben asked, and while she doubted anyone else noticed, Rey noticed he had slipped into a more defensive stance; ready to fight to escape if need be. It was understandable in a way; after all it would just take the right people to recognize the Millennium Falcon and start asking the right questions that would lead them down the path to being discovered who they were.
Ranulf shrugged. "Most people who make it here do so in smaller ships, just big enough for one person, but what the two of you came in was much larger. It's a little odd, don't you think? Do the two of you really need such a large ship?"
"We stole it," Rey answered before Ben could say anything, "we needed an escape and it was closest one." It wasn't technically a lie, but Ranulf didn't need to know that.
"Is that so? I guess that would make sense," Ranulf said with a thoughtful look, "after all, I'm sure most everyone came here using something stolen. Although..." He eyed them closely, and Rey suddenly felt as if they were under inspection, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that ship was one that was pretty prominent in the war. Are you -"
"Ranulf, remember that it is not polite to pry." Eir spoke up suddenly then, voice stern yet kind, "Remember that no matter who anyone was before they came here, Ekair is a place where one can get a fresh start. If they do not wish to tell you all the details, then they do not have to."
"Right, right, but you can't blame an old man for being curious." Ranulf said with a dismissive hand.
"True," Eir began, a pensive look on her face, "but if I recall correctly, you were quite keen to take me up on the offer. If I am mistaken, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind sharing your own story before they share theirs."
Ranulf's face went pale at that, and it took him a moment to recover, leaving Rey to wonder what was in his past that he was so eager to forget. "Right, of course, I would rather not do that. So…" He coughed awkwardly before starting to make his leave, "aside from that, we will see you at the tavern later, right? You must have some news from outside on the war, and we would like to hear it, if you're willing to share."
