Chapter 23 Let it all Die
A small cruiser headed to the inner core of the galaxy. This was a high-populated area and somewhat risk-taking coming out here. Ben piloted the cruiser towards a planet with Rey next to him. It was just the two of them right now. They had to get away for a little but not for a vacation, which they needed but this was not one. Ben decided that they haven't done much studying and he hasn't done much teaching lately and that was something they needed to do. They've beaten back three Knights but to get to the rest, they were getting stronger so they can fight them. Ben needed to make sure he and Rey were stronger.
Ben came into the planet's atmosphere looking around and Rey scooted forwards seeing the never-ending city.
"Welcome to Coruscant." Ben stated and she continued to look around but she didn't seem impressed and turned to Ben.
"It's ugly." She commented and Ben couldn't hold back a small chuckle but got serious again.
"Yeah, this was once the capital of the galaxy." Ben started to explain as Rey continued to look out and he piloted down the cruiser. They got up from the cockpit they grabbed their small bags as Rey put on the black scarf and they were both dressed as refugees to hide. They had their sabers but hid them. As they left the streets were busy and on this planet it never stopped. Rey and Ben walked side by side together and Rey closed to him. They shouldn't be spotted but there was always a chance.
Rey followed Rey into a building and looked around. Ben pulled out some credits as some tall skinny alien stepped in front of him.
"How many rooms sir?" The thing asked in very proper-pitched voice. Rey stood next to Ben as she looked around the place.
"One." Ben answered as he handed over the credits.
"Honeymoon?" He asked and both Ben and Rey looked at each other and then back to the tall alien.
"Yeah," Rey answered but she had no idea what a honeymoon was. The alien then handed them a key with a number on it and they left. Rey and Ben headed into an elevator and went up to a floor and then looked down the hallways. "What's a honeymoon?" Rey asked as they walked.
"It's…uh…after two people get married they go on a vacation." Ben answered as he looked at the keycard and then to the room numbers and Rey looked to him.
"We're not married though." Rey added and Ben nodded. "But we are together." Ben then found the room and looked to Rey.
"If I took you on a honeymoon it wouldn't be here." Ben added as he opened the door to their room.
"Why not?" Rey asked as they stepped inside the small room as Ben started to look around just to be on the safe side. He then looked to Rey forgetting the question she asked. "Why not here?" She repeated.
"It would be somewhere quiet and nice, something expensive where you and I would not have to lift a finger to do anything." Ben answered as Rey stood there. "This," He looked around. "This isn't honeymoon quality." Rey then looked around as she walked into the small room further.
"You said it's only when people get married?" Rey asked and Ben set his pack down and took apart some of the out clothes he wore.
"Usually." Ben answered as he unclipped his saber from his belt and laid it on the table.
"Did you ever want to get married?" She asked and he almost blurted out yes but held back because these days he wasn't sure. He's traveled the galaxy and seen people get married and split up, he's seen spouses leave one another some for stupid things and others in war.
"I don't know." Was the answer he gave her because he wasn't sure. It wasn't because he didn't love Rey, he did and he can see a future with her. It would be amazing to throw this current life out, marry her, have a family, live this mundane boring life and just grow old with her; watch their children have children, pass away with her. That would be perfect but his life was anything but that. He couldn't marry her though not the way the galaxy is now, there was too much hate.
"Were your parents married?" She asked him and faced him briefly as he was facing the wall unpacking.
"Yes, once," Ben answered as he continued to unpack.
"Once?" She asked wondering what that meant and Ben looked to her.
"They divorced when I went to Snoke." Ben answered without any hesitation. He continued to look at Rey maybe thinking he was going to put up a wall. She felt bad for him because Snoke really did destroy his family. Rey knew she should stop prying for now and sat down on the edge of the bed setting her pack down. She took off the scarf laying it on the bed and just took a moment to realize it was quiet and just them.
Ben then turned around to face her as she looked out the window and she could see the busy streets. Rey then looked at Ben and it hit them, they were alone. He walked over to her and took a knee before her, as her eyes never left him.
"Sorry," Rey didn't want to continue on about a subject that probably hurt him. Ben shook his head a little meaning it didn't bother him but it's not something that does get brought up. Rey scooted herself a little closer to him. "It's strange we're not with the Resistance." And it was, they were always surround by people and now they were alone. They would have to check in once in while to put Leia's mind at ease.
"Don't be sorry." Ben insisted to her. She was only asking because she's never been around people to know what marriage was. She's heard of it but that's it. They had a brief discussion on what people do during times of peace and getting married is one.
"Would…would you ever…" Rey trailed off and wasn't sure if she should ask. "I mean you said you never thought about it but…would you…get married?" She finished her stuttering question and Ben looked at her. No one's asked that.
"If I stayed as a Jedi no." Ben answered. "Jedi were forbade to marry…attachment can cause questionable decisions." Ben decided to explain himself while teaching her the ways of a Jedi but that was not his real answer. "But I'm not a Jedi." Rey didn't like to hear that but he doesn't know where he stands in the Force still. He knows how to wield it, he was powerful in it but to call himself a Jedi or a Sith, he wasn't sure. He was on the edge of a knife when it came to the Force, he could go either way.
"Then as you…as Ben Solo, would you get married?" She took away the Force and kept just him. Ben looked up at her with those haunting and tortured brown eyes. He took a moment to think about it because no ever really asked him.
"I would like to one day." Ben felt that was the most honest answer and it felt right. "Not now…not with the pain and suffering." And Rey understood, she didn't need him to go further because she understood. Rey then gently placed both hands on his face so they made eye contact. He had those same eyes when he began to open to her back in the Force, those same eyes when they first reached out to one another. He gave her the most honest answer he could and she nodded. Ben rose up just a little more to his knees so now they were eye level and he reached out back out and likewise placed both hands on her cheeks.
The two were quiet as it was quiet in the room. They haven't heard this quietness in such a long time. Ben never took his eyes off her and was just thinking to himself. Does she realize how beautiful he found her? That in all this war and destruction and self-hatred she stood out as some beacon of hope for him? He could tell her but it seemed that words wouldn't be enough and neither would actions. He then thought about marriage again and would he do it? Would he marry her if this ever ended?
He wanted to say yes so desperately but what if that puts her in even more danger? What if exchanging vows, devotion to her, devotion of his complete soul to her would end up tearing it apart? He asked these questions on their first night together. He asked once and didn't look back. But since then he has nearly lost her a few times and he felt it. He felt that darkness pulling at him, the fires of hell rising. Would and could he endure it? Could he truly endure the fires if she was gone?
He pushed that aside because nothing has happened right now. In fact he needed to realize just how alone they were. No one was calling for their attention, no COMMs, no constant question asking. They had nothing to do right now, they weren't heading to the old temple until tomorrow. The day was just in its beginning stages of ending and then they were here all night. All they were going to do was make up a plan as to what they were going to find and possibly figure out how many days they wanted to stay.
The hot water was running down on them and even to this day Rey still wasn't use to hot showers. Rey poured some soap in her hands and then started to run them through Ben's hair. He had his eyes closed but Rey was smiling. But the more she rubbed her fingers though his hair the more he started to relax and it felt good. She then just looked at him running her fingers slowly through his hair as he leaned in. She still liked to look at him, he looked liked a prince out of a storybook. And to think some scavenger, a no nothing girl that was just now twenty years old landed herself a true prince of royalty in blood and in the Force; the prince and pauper. He then let the water wash away the soap and he opened his eyes seeing Rey was still there.
In turn he poured soap in his hands and started to rub it through her hair. Rey closed her eyes feeling relaxed as he finished up. She rinsed off and splashed some water at Ben, just being playful. He then pulled her closer to him and thy stood before one another. Rey rested her hand to the scar on his face and they rested their foreheads together. They just wanted to be where ever the other is. Ben pulled her closer and leaned in for a kiss. It was a different feeling kissing under the falling water. Rey pulled even closer to him feeling his massive hands run through her hair again then down her back.
Back on Jakku she always imagine what a real shower was like, to be really clean but she never imagine this. Ben pushed her gently back to the wall as the water continued to fall on them. He then lifted her up a little more so she could wrap both legs around his waist and they never broke the kiss. Shower sex was completely different than what they do normally. Actually none of this was normal. A Jedi and a Sith in love, two people on opposite sides of everything found common ground.
Rey was in his line of site as he had her pinned against the wall and she ran her fingers back through his wet hair. His brown eyes were different now; they had smoldering flame in them. Rey leaned in planting a hungry kiss to him and he accepted and she felt him all over her. She felt that high starting to come on as she leaned back and Ben kissed her neck and chest as the water continued to fall. Rey leaned forwards again burying her face into his neck holding on and took in all the sensations he was giving her. She then went back to kissing him and something about that falling water around them made all this that more exciting and new. It was new found past time for them.
The stars were still out and the hour of twilight was still here. The sun would rise soon as Rey and Ben walked to a building. It didn't stand out as well as the rest. This place was never kept up and left to rot. They got closer and Rey looked to the bridge that led to the entrance. They both stood there seeing the place was not guarded in anyway. Rey then saw a huge statue high in the air. Ben looked straight ahead to the massive building that once was a shining light of hope and justice. The two wanted to walk further but they both hesitated and they didn't know why.
No Jedi, no Force sensitive being has set foot on these grounds since the fall of the Republic. It was left to die out like the Jedi. But there was something in the air some sort of push and pull. There was this energy coming to them and around them. Rey looked to Ben as he continued to stare down that long bridge and she could feel it; fear because she felt it to. So to help him and her, to walk to a place that was sacred Rey held out her hand finding his. Ben looked down as she held his hand and looked to her, they weren't alone. She then felt Ben squeeze her hand a little and she gave him a faint reassuring smile and they both walked towards the fallen Jedi Temple.
They crossed the bridge and stood before two huge doors that have been sealed for decades now. Ben stepped forwards to the door placing his hand to it and it was cold. He stepped back and looked to Rey needing her help to open it and they held out their hands, outstretched and opened into the Force. In the early morning before daybreak when it was the most quiet a sound was heard, a crack and a creak. The solid doors began to move outwards. They were opening it just enough to slip in. They walked towards the open door and Ben looked in first and it was black inside. He went further in and reached out to Rey leading her behind him.
Rey reached for her pack and pulled out a flare and launched it into the air and there was some light. When the sun comes up they will be able to see more. Ben walked into the hallow temple, the temple of his and Rey's ancestors. Rey then saw something familiar as she walked closer to the wall. She reached out and placed her hand on it and Ben noticed.
"I've seen this before." Rey whispered, it felt like they needed to be quiet, to walk not run, to be reverent and still. Ben stood next to her looking at the picture. It was a mosaic and in it was being, you couldn't tell the species but it held a lightsaber, it was seated and all round it was light. "This one is different." Rey noticed. "The one on the island…it was split, one side black the other light." She looked to Ben as he continued to study the mosaic. Rey looked around, as did Ben. Ben stepped back out into the large hall hearing the faint echo of his steps and then nothing. You could hear the wind lightly blowing through the empty place. The flare was starting to fade and soon they would need to wait until the sun rose but it won't take long.
Ben reached for a piece of paper and looked at a poorly drawn map and looked around. There was a tall tower that he was interested in. He then looked to the side and saw a door. There was no power so they would have to walk. Rey looked to Ben and she followed him towards a door. They looked in and up seeing a massive staircase and Rey sighed. They both began to walk up the stairs.
Ben pushed the heavy door open as the small hints of light started to show over the horizon. The wind was much more intense out here. Rey stepped out into the morning and Ben joined up with her. She looked up seeing the covering but all around them was open and they could see the endless city going on forever. Rey walked around feeling a little wobbly being up so high as she grew up so close to the ground. Ben walked around and couldn't help but admire the view feeling the cool wind on him.
"It's a bell." Rey pointed to the roof and Ben walked closer to her looking up and seeing it. They then continue to look around at what the Jedi once had before they fell. Rey got closer to Ben as they looked out seeing the sun starting to rise. "What are we going to find?" She asked turning to him.
"I don't know." Ben was honest but they need to know where they came from. He knows some of his history, a lot of it he found out on his own. Rey wanted to know her place in all this, who she was and he was going to show her as much as he was going learn for himself. Ahch-To didn't hold much other than the text, which they have. It was more of a set of ruins, old stone huts. What was there was a mosaic and the water that takes you to the darkness, takes you to a wall to see what Rey thought was nothing.
"Where Luke is at now, there's no real temple, I think…the island is the temple." Rey started. "It's old and there were only few things I really noticed. A strange looking tree where the texts were at," She then looked behind her back to the temple. "The mosaic on the wall, there's one just like it but the one on the island had black and white on both sides."
"Balance." Ben stated as he looked out. "Equal light, equal dark." Maybe that's why they were so connected, they were so opposite and yet equal in every way.
The two were back in the temple again and there was a lot of ground to cover. Rey and Ben stood before a door and Ben opened it with the Force seeing a chamber, the windows covered the room, twelve chairs sat in a circle like fashion, the room was circular so all could see. Ben stepped inside but stopped as Rey continued to look around. She then turned to face Ben seeing he was still.
"Ben?" She asked and he looked up and she was concerned. "What's wrong?" Ben felt this punch and pain. It was like the air carried a faint cry of help.
"Something happened here." Ben answered as he looked around to the room. He walked in a little further looking.
"So…from what you've said this was the council room?" Rey confirmed and Ben nodded. Twelve Jedi would sit here, the best of the Jedi and they would oversee the temple, they were the ultimate teachers. Ben looked around seeing the dust on the chairs, the floor was dusty and in corner cobwebs. Ben stood in the center of the room feeling a wave hitting him and he looked to Rey, she could feel something too. There was sadness in this room, this loss of innocence and a painful death. It sadden Rey as she looked around and Ben felt unsteady. They both decided to leave the room; it held nothing but despair.
The two walked the temple taking it all in. The temple was empty with only it's bare bones. The light of the sun shined in but as they ventured around they both felt it, death. This temple was filled with it and it's not what Rey thought. She thought coming here she would feel this sense of pride, this energy and spirit of hope but it was just opposite of it. This once proud building that held the most powerful beings was reduced to an empty space.
Ben looked up into the vaulted ceiling as he walked. Once this place was full of Jedi of all races, species, genders, ages; it was the melting pot of the galaxy. It was filled with those believing in the good of the galaxy. They trained to be better than themselves and to fight for justice and fight for those who could not fight for themselves. He stopped walking and stood there for a moment. He let the Force talk to him. He wanted to know what had happened but as he allowed himself to open in the Force something pushed back. Ben looked sharply down the hall feeling this cold wind blow in. Rey then took her place next to Ben as the wind went away and the warm day went cold for a moment.
Rey and Ben sat on the ground together as they made a little camping area for them. They had a little fire going for extra warmth when the night comes. And they brought with them the text. Ben was reading some of it as Rey looked around knowing she should open one of the texts.
"Ben?" She asked and he looked up at her. "You know more about this than me…" Rey looked around. "What were you told?" She asked and Ben marked his page and set his book aside and sat up.
"Most was lost during the Galactic Civil War." Ben started so she knew that what he was going to tell her is only what he knew. "Before that the Jedi reign, thousands of them. During the Clone Wars which my grandfather fought in and…" He paused a little. "Another Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, my grandfather's best friend and Jedi Master, they watched the fall of the Jedi. Anakin Skywalker was turned to the Darkside and helped hunt down and destroyed the Jedi. Luke then restored balance killing the Sith Lord."
"Luke said the Jedi failed because they were so…" She couldn't find the words.
"They were on top." Ben finished. "They were so immersed that they failed to see the Sith rising."
"Ok," Rey nodded understanding. "The Sith, where do they come from?" She asked because she felt Ben knew a lot about that.
"They are Jedi too." Ben started.
"I thought they're evil." Rey was honest and Ben sighed.
"Depends on what you consider is evil." Ben tossed out there. "Rey, think like this because…it's given me more clarity. Equal in both, a Force wielder has both light and dark. Neither is better as long as it's balanced."
"So the Jedi and Sith were one?" Rey asked and Ben nodded.
"It's the legend of the Grey Jedi, that mosaic you saw with Luke, Grey Jedi." Ben finished and Rey felt that made sense.
"If they were so balanced then why?" And that was a good question and Ben didn't have answer. Why if a supposed Grey Jedi was the balance why split it into two parts.
"Sith were portrayed as the Darkside and driven by just emotions; hate, anger, and greed; amassing power no matter the cost." Ben finished and he knew this because he lived it. His emotions drove him and it was easy to get angry, it was ease to hate and at one point he was looking for power, power to rule those around him. It was easy to get lost in emotions and he still does although now it was with Rey. That's why he was afraid, he was so emotionally invested with Rey; he loved her with all he has now and if she was gone his emotions would be his end. When Rey was badly injured he saw red and he killed someone for it.
"Sounds like the Jedi and the Sith are the extremes." Rey added and Ben nodded. There needed to be both in order to have balance and until then both sides fought for power and domination. Jedi are talked about more because they saved people, they would win wars and promote justice. "Where does that leave us?" She asked and Ben looked up at her and he didn't know. Maybe because they were opposite it pulled them together.
Sleeping in the temple was different other than just sleeping on the floor. Rey and Ben sat on their pile of blankets and pillows as they ate out of small pouches. Rey had a sheet around her shoulders, as the morning was cool. They had a small light next to them, as the sun hadn't risen yet to give them enough light yet. They were both looking at the poorly drawn map of the temple to see where they could go next. They had enough food and water for several weeks to stay out here if needed so they will take their time unless the fleet calls them back. Both told Leia not to call unless it was urgent.
Ben truly felt they both needed to do some soul searching. It wasn't just to find out more about the Jedi and the Sith but each other, their own past to move into the future. Rey only heard of Jedi through stories, Ben by word of teaching. What makes the Force so important and why?
The room was cast with shadows from the sun and building. They were in the library of the temple, a place that once held so much wisdom and knowledge that was vast and deep. It has long been reduced to a shell now. Rey sat in a chair while Ben on the desk waiting for Rey. She held a small computer and battery as it was hooked into the system. This library has been dead since the fall of the Republic and the power to ignite it again would take a lot. Not only that, how much of it was wiped out since then.
As Ben sat on the desk he looked around at the busts that still sat on their pillars; busts of probably great Jedi of their time. Once this hall was full Jedi studying different languages, text, history and advancing their knowledge. What would have that been like for him? If Ben and Rey trained here what would that be like? Who would they be now versus what they are currently? Ben looked over to Rey as she typed trying and hopefully restart some the library.
Rey then looked up to Ben and he slid off the desk as Rey pressed a button and flashes of light happened. A small portion of the computer started to turn on.
"We would need more than the Falcon to turn this whole place on." Rey commented as she pulled herself closer to the desk. The library was raided after the infamous Order 66 decades ago, what information was left was going to be little. Two Jedi had managed place an encryption within the library to help preserve some information. "Ok, what should we try and look for?" She asked and Ben shrugged as he leaned in. It meant they could start anywhere and continue to look as far as they could. Pieces and chunks will be missing as they go but they will copy the information and take it with them.
In the dead of night, the quietness rang out into nothing and what could be heard in the empty temple was the wind and the soft cries of two lovers. This was a sacred place…once but it was reduced to a shell of it's former self. Rey and Ben were in their little corner of the temple probably doing something most Jedi did not within these walls. They were wrapped up in the sheets and in each other. Their love and compassion for one another was within the Force and extended out physically.
Ben smiled a little more these days but only when they were alone. He held that half smile right now as Rey looked down at him while they sat together well more on each other. The smile started to disappear and turned into a look of sensation. He pulled her closer and then rested his forehead to her chest and began to fall into the feeling of being high. He couldn't hold back and reached to her lips with his as she pushed him back tangling her fingers in his hair and they continued on with Rey dominating him in the moment. She smothered him with a deep kiss and it was deep. Ben pulled her closer just intensify the already intense moment.
The young couple walked around the dingy temple, learning by sight on what this place was. They wrote down what they saw to take back and add to their collection with the text. They were unsure that when this war ends if they will pass on the knowledge. They could restart the teachings of the Force if they wanted to, make it into what they wanted and learn from failures of the past.
Ben laid awake with Rey asleep next to him. He held her close in the dark temple with just the small embers of the fire they had going for some light and warmth. He knew he needed to sleep but he felt this strange call to him. It was two different calls to him. One was soft and gentle, the other pulling with a dark yet invisible hand. Rey's presence didn't push either away and he couldn't block it out. Ben slowly sat up looking into the dark feeling the pull intensify. Ben stood up and started to put his shirt and a jacket on and then put his boots on. He then called his saber to him as he walked towards the pull.
"Only what you take with you." A voice whispered to him and it was that same voice he heard when he faced himself. Ben looked to his saber wanting it but it might not protect him. Ben gently set it down and started to walk to the dark letting the pull guide him. He walked further into the dark and allowed himself back into the Force as it called to him. The Force wanted to show him something. As he walked letting the Force guide him he looked down a dark hall and went that way. It led him to some stairs and looked down into the dark. He slowly descended taking each step carefully as it got darker. He felt the need to be scared but he didn't.
He reached out to the wall to find his place wondering just how far down he was going to go but then felt himself stop. Something blocked him but there wasn't anything in front of him. He couldn't relay on his five senses now he had to tap into the Force. Ben took in a deep breath and closed his eyes to quiet his mind, to calm and slow his breathing down. He thought of the one thing to get him to peace and it was Rey. He let his body relax and stopped thinking and only focused on his breathing and reached out.
Ben then started to walk again. He took reach step carefully letting the Force guide him into the dark. Just then he came to flat ground once more but kept his hand on the wall as guidance. He continued to walk slowly feeling his surroundings, picking up any hints of danger. He then stopped because he felt the need to do so. He felt that prickling sensation, something he hadn't felt in a long time. He felt that raw power crawling again. It was if it was entity standing near him. Ben focused on the Force to sense his surroundings but the dark began to call to him. He felt the drive to answer it, to look to it. Ben took a knee and deep breath forcing it away. The place felt crowded and the walls were caving in. Ben got up and began to back away feeling for the way he came.
Ben found Rey still asleep, as whatever called to him did not want her. Ben slowly sat down and all his senses were all on fire. He wanted her presence in the Force to wash over him and he closed his eyes. His chest was heavy, it felt like there was a weight on him.
"Ben?" Rey asked and he turned to her. He must have called to her and as always she responded. She scooted closer to him, as he never took his gaze off of her. "What did you see?"
Day light was back as Ben led Rey down to whatever was leading him last night. He stood over it and wanted to know if Rey felt anything. She walked around to get a feel of the place. "What is that?" She asked and he looked around.
"It's like a whisper?" He asked and she nodded as she listened.
"I can't understand it, it's like…thousands of voices talking at once." Rey finished and looked to Ben. For the longest time he felt that it was just him. "What's this room?"
"Seems like a common area." Ben answered as he looked around.
"It goes down." Rey stated as she started to lower herself to the floor because the lower she got the stronger the whispers. Ben then walked to her understanding what she meant. He took out his saber and Rey did the same and they began to cut into the floor. Rey took out a flare and dropped it and watched as it went and continued until it disappeared. They looked up at one another knowing they would need a lot more than a flare.
Ben made sure the rope was anchored and he dropped it down the hole they created. They turned on some lights that would strap to their belts and they made sure they had their sabers ready. Rey grabbed the and sat on the edge and Ben stopped her for a moment.
"Ben, it's ok," She assured him and smiled but he looked worried. "It's ok, I have a Skywalker with me, what can go wrong?" She asked and Ben's face got even more stern. She grabbed the rope and started to go down into the dark. Ben followed her as they continued down into the dark but started to see the flares they dropped. Rey found the ground and stepped aside as Ben made his finally decent. Rey looked around with her light as Ben then joined her.
It felt like a cave of some kind as they stood together. Ben lit another flare and tossed it into the dark adding some light.
"This isn't on the map." Rey commenting looking around trying to figure out what this part of the temple was. Ben did likewise; he looked around to trying to feel his way through this. They stayed close trying to figure out what direction to go.
"You feel that?" He asked and Rey looked to him. She then felt it too, it was a breeze meaning there was an opening. They shined their lights to that direction and started to walk. Ben placed his hand to Rey pulling gently on her belt meaning he wanted her to stay close; he was sensing something she could not. Rey reached out feeling the wall and it was different than those of the wall of the temple from above. These walls felt more like rock. Ben broke something in his hands and dropped it to the ground; it was small flare to guide them back.
Rey and Ben then stopped as they looked around coming into what felt like a room. The lights they had showed what looked it was a part of the Jedi Temple. But it also seemed different than the temple as well.
"Where are we?" Rey asked looking to Ben as he studied the area.
"It's the temple just…upside down." Ben answered and looked to Rey and she looked confused. "The statues in the temple, the high pillars, they reach up in reverence." Ben started to explain and he pointed to one statue holding what looked like a saber but the statue held it in a downwards like fashion. "It's pointing down."
"What does that mean?" Rey asked and Ben walked close to her.
"How much about religion do you know?" He asked and Rey shrugged, the Force is the first one she has really followed and come to know. "All religions have a dark…evil opposite to it. The good side points up in reverence and praise. This…" He trailed off. "It looks like it's restraining something, something evil." Rey looked around then they both looked to what these statues could be restraining. It was a raised portion of the floor but it looked sealed. Ben could feel the pull even more from it. He ignited his saber but Rey stopped him.
"Ben, no," She insisted because he was about to destroy something.
"Rey," His voice was soft. "This place…it's not sacred anymore." That was the truth. "It was desecrated years ago by my own grandfather. It holds nothing anymore, it's just walls and a ceiling." Rey understood what he meant; it was just a piece of the past. Ben drove his saber into the ground cutting an opening for them. "When something like this is done," Ben deactivated his saber and looked around. "When something is considered holy or good, built and buried, it's trying to contain something from underneath." Rey nodded a little meaning there was something here. They looked down and dropped another flare but it landed quickly meaning they could step down into it. This time Ben went first and it was a much more narrow tunnel.
Rey stepped in behind him and they walked the narrow tunnel as it descended downwards. It was a dark walk with only their little lights with them. Rey felt this almost impending doom and stopped walking. Ben then faced her seeing she was frightened by something.
"Ben." She was shaking and he got closer to her. "I…I don't feel good." She was honest. She's never felt this type of fear before. Ben got closer to her and pulled her in for a tight embrace. Her trembling started to subside a little but it worried Ben. He didn't feel afraid and that made him afraid. He then considered going back but something pulled at him.
"You're safe with me." He assured her feeling this gut retching fear off of her and nearly hurt him physically. Ben pulled away setting the light down gently and then turned all his focus and attention to her. He placed his strong hands to her cheeks seeing she was pale and clammy. "I won't let anything happen to you I promise." He whispered and she nodded as he placed his forehead to hers. He felt that whatever they found down here he needed her to do this. He then gently kissed her forehead and pulled her closer as he called the little light to him. He kept Rey close, holding her close as they continued to walk into the dark.
Rey held up her light as did Ben and they were in a room. They looked around and found a chair well more like a throne, much like Snoke's throne. The room was empty other than the throne but the energy was wild. The two looked around and the pull was the strongest here for Ben.
"What is this?" Rey asked and looked Ben.
"It's a Sith Shrine." Ben answered and Rey looked confused.
"Under the Jedi Temple?" Rey asked again because that was confusing.
"They couldn't or didn't want to destroy it…they buried it." Ben answered.
"But…why…why not destroy it?" Rey asked because why not?
"Equal dark, equal light." Ben answered again looking around. He had given himself to the Darkside and that's why he didn't feel the fear from it and that's why it called.
Back in the temple in their little corner Rey and Ben sat together to talk about the Sith or at least what Ben knew of the Sith and his time with the Darkside. But it appears from what Ben was saying it all went back to that image of light and dark balanced out. The shrine was not destroyed to maintain a certain balance.
"I don't understand." Rey spoke up and looked to Ben. "If both were meant to be one then why all this?" She asked and Ben didn't have an answer. Ben knew she wanted more answers to some question he didn't know she had. But he found answer here. Ben then moved closer to Rey.
"Can you be open-minded?" He asked and Rey looked into his eyes. She was wondering what he was going ask or say. "Please?" He asked in a deep but almost a helpless voice. He went from telling her once he could take whatever he wanted and now he pleads to her. Rey nodded because this was important. Ben gulped because asking this, saying this, he felt like he was going to lose her. Her mindset had these high moral values, this optimistic view of good in this world. She viewed the Jedi like that, glory and honor. "Let the past die," He whispered and Rey has heard these words before. "Let it all die." He knew he was losing her now because he could see it in her eyes. "All of it, this place, the Jedi, the Sith…let it die here."
Rey looked into his eyes, he was asking her this because he was going to let it all go to and he wanted someone to be with him when he does. They stared deeply into one another's eyes. They might be the last of their kind, Jedi and Sith and for once in thousands of years those two entities were becoming one; the balance was happening again. The galaxy did not need the Jedi, it needed both the Jedi and the Sith. It can end right now and they can start something else. "Rey," He began but she didn't need him to go on.
She has been searching for her past all her life. She has devoted herself to it that she failed to see her future. She was even told that she will never find her parents, to stop looking for the past because it had failed. But the future, to look at what was ahead, that her parents won't return but someone else will and that was Ben. The Jedi failed, the Sith failed, both have failed time and time again. But what could she and Ben do? Failure can be the best teacher because in failure you learn what will succeed.
Ben was about to pull away thinking she wasn't going to let it all go. She was holding onto something that he may never understand. But before he could pull back Rey held out her hand to him. He looked to her hand and then to her eyes again. And much like the Force bond where they touched he began to reach out to her. He placed his hand to hers and they clasped around one another's. They pulled closer and Rey realized the past was just that the past. There was no changing it but she could move on and see what was right in front of her. She could have a future with him; they can create something else, something more. She pulled herself closer into his arms and held him accepting the proposal. Ben held her tightly realizing what step they were about to take together. They were letting it all go and embarking on something else, unknown waters but they will do it together. They have each other if they had nothing else.
Rey pulled away looking back into his eyes and placed her hand to his cheek and he reached out tucking some hair behind her ear. They pulled together kissing one another starting something new. The fear of the new and unknown was setting in but they can be afraid together. Ben pulled her a little closer and she rested her head on his shoulder as they sat there in the ruins of the past.
Rey and Ben were in the middle of a heated love making session, sealing the deal of letting go of the old ways of the Force, the Jedi and the Sith. They were going to close that door, lock it and walk away from it. As the young couple slowed down a little Rey looked to Ben, looked into his eyes.
"Who were they?" She asked; she wanted to know before she completely forgets. "My parents?" Because it had happened so long ago, she barely remembers. Ben looked at her because he saw them in a vision.
"They were no one." His voice was soft but hurt. He didn't want to tell her because it hurt. Ben did have loving parents; he had some good memories of them. It was true he had a father that gave a damn about him and his mother loved him. But Rey, what he saw it punched him hard. "They…they were fifthly junk traders that sold you…for drinking money." Rey now knew why she was left behind. Ben could see Rey's eyes fighting to hold back the tears. "You meant nothing to them but…" Ben leaned in a little more. "Not to me…" The tears that threaten to fall from Rey's eyes stopped. "You mean everything to me." And she heard and felt the honesty from him. Her parents may have not loved her, tossed her aside because she was a burden. But in this moment she was not a burden to Ben, she meant something to him.
"Ben," She wanted to say something to but had no idea what to say. So instead she leaned in kissing him because she didn't have any words. Ben responded to the kiss and they continued on. Their lovemaking started up again but it was different, there was an intimacy and a tenderness to it not just feverish. The past died then and there.
Rey was looking out on the high tower as the sun began to rise. She felt Ben's presence behind her as the wind blew softly.
"We will need to return to the fleet soon." Ben stated and Rey nodded but part of her wanted to stay. It wasn't just because they had learned together or they were by themselves. But to feel no pressure of war, to feel calmness, it would be hard to return to reality.
"I know." Rey replied and then felt Ben place his hands to her shoulders and then slide down slightly to her arms. She then felt him kiss her head and pull him closer. His arms then wrapped around her chest and she rested in his embrace. Ben was honest with himself, he felt and found solace here. This place held his past and where he came from. He felt closer to the Force, closer to Rey and felt more in tune with himself. Leaving meant leaving something safe and comfortable. But he will have Rey with him still.
A/N: What did you all think of this chapter. Everyone needs to know their past to make up their future. Hopefully you picked up some callbacks and of course all the Reylo moments...some heated ones. What happens next now that they have both agreed to move on and forget the old ways? Are they going to make their own Order? Are they going down a different path altogether? Let me know what you think. Let's discuss.
Thanks for reading, commenting and following. You guys are awesome.