Chapter 14
There was nothing else between the two best friends in that moment. There was no darkside, no light side, no master Snoke or jedi rules. In that moment there was only love; the love that both Elsi and Ben had missed from the many, many years that they had spent apart.
Their lips met and the kiss that they shared sent a shock wave of energy throughout the room. The force surrounded them both as their passion for one another deepened as did their kiss.
Elsi's heart raced as she Ben's hands slowly moved away from their interlocked fingers, stroked down her raised arms and cupped her face in order to bring her face impossibly closer to his. Her own hands moved to rest against his armoured chest; grabbing what fabric she could as she attempted to pull him closer as well.
They could not get enough of one another and Elsi knew that after this, it would be impossible for her to let him go again. Unknown to her, Ben was thinking exactly the same thing.
Their lips moved together in sync as though no time had passed between them. Elsi could feel the cold wall against her back contrasting with Ben's warm body pressed flush against her front.
One of Ben's hands moves to wrap firmly around Elsi's waist as his lips travel down her neck, leaving butterfly kisses along the way.
Elsi tilts her head to allow Ben access to her neck; her hand entangles itself in his hair, holding him in place.
Her eyes were shut, absorbing the blissful moment, knowing that soon they would both have to return to reality.
After several minutes Ben softly kisses her lips again, before they both slowly pull their faces apart and open their eyes to gaze at each other in awe.
They had both forgotten what their connection fully felt like and for a few sweet moments they both did nothing else but stare into the others' eyes. A lifetime of memories flash before their eyes as each moment whispers the unspoken "I love you" between them.
The sound of stormtroopers running past the room they were in brought them back to the present. Ben's gaze tore from hers for a moment as he tilted his head behind him, almost as though someone had called his name.
Elsi lifted her hand to gently pull Ben's face back to face her.
"Why did you choose the darkside Ben? Was I not enough for you?" Tears streamed down Elsi's face as she stared into the eyes of the man she loved.
Ben's expression twisted in pain. He slowly reached up and stroked her cheek softly with the back of his fingers.
"I- You were more than enough. You were everything."
Elsi was confused. "But- then why did you leave? Why did you do what you did?"
Ben slowly moved backwards and Elsi could see that he was retreating into himself again.
She moved cautiously forward trying to keep herself from losing him for good.
"Please Ben, please talk to me."
He turned his back on her, hands on hips, head raised to the ceiling. He didn't speak for while but Elsi gave him time to respond.
"Snoke deceived me." She knew it took a lot for him to say that so she stayed silent and let him continue. "He had been communicating with me for years, he convinced me that I would not be good enough, not strong enough."
"Not strong enough for what?" Elsi whispered.
He turned to look at her. "Not strong enough to save you."
That shocked her. "Save me from what?"
He was silent. He wasn't making any sense.
"Ben. From What?" She stepped forward daringly placing her hand on his arm.
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, eyes illustrating his broken state. "I was young, naive and stupid enough to believe him."
Elsi waited and let him continue.
"He showed me a vision. He showed me -"
Sounds of an alarm blaring cut him off. Ben tore his tortured gaze from her and his stature changes instantly. Kylo Ren was back.
"You were distracting me."
"No, I wasn't, I came here for you, you have to believe me."
His hand shoots out and force grabs her by her neck. His darkness had returned. "You planned this. You got me to talk so that they would escape."
"No Ben, please!" Elsi gasped out, hands reaching to grasp at the invisible force gripped around her neck.
Ben ignored her and with a flick of his wrist he knocked her out. Catching her in his arms, he slowly lowered her to the floor. He moved her hair out of her face remembering Snoke's vision that he would ensure would not come true. In said vision her face had looked just like this, peaceful, but still. Yet in the vision life no longer ran through her veins. He would ensure that the vision of her dead would not come true, even if he had to lose himself to do it.
He would finish what his grandfather had started, he would learn to stop the people he loved from dying. Kylo Ren would learn to save the love of his life.
He was brought out of the moment by the blaring alarm that still echoed across the vicinity.
He grabbed his mask and lightsaber and marched off rushing towards where he sensed the rebels were in the base. Specifically, he went to where he knew his father was.
He never looked back at the woman he left unconscious on the floor. He was worried that if he did, he would never leave her side.
10 minutes remaining until the weapon is fully charged.
Han and Chewie head to the oscillator structure and divide the explosives between them.
"We'll set the charges at every other column." Han explains to Chewie in a hushed tone. Chewie disagrees and Han reconsiders.
"You're right. That's a better idea." Han checks his detonator. "You take the top. I'll go down below. We'll meet back here." Both friends nod at each other in agreement then head off in opposite directions.
A couple of minutes later Han places his sixth explosive and hurries down to the next level, checking that the coast is clear. Chewie climbs up a level.
Han was nearly finished setting his last charge when he hears a noise nearby. He quickly hides behind a large ceiling support. He peeks around the corner and is shocked still as his son appears and stops at the railing, looking down into the fire below.
A tortured look graces Han's face as he watches his son get closer and closer to his hiding place. Kylo Ren unknowingly passes by Han. He shifts his position and watches as Kylo turns to walk slowly onto the flat bridge suspended over the planets' fire pit.
As Kylo reaches the other side Han begins to leave in the other direction. He stops as he realises that Elsi had gone after Kylo earlier. Did he kill her? Or did she just fail to convince Ben to return and then fled for her life back to the ship. Either way, he owed it to both Elsi and his wife to attempt to bring Ben back.
He quickly made the decision and moved out onto the bridge and called out to his son. "BEN!"
Kylo hears his old name and turns to see his father walking towards him. "Han Solo. I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
At this point Finn and Rey arrive through an open hatch on a walkway far above the bridge. Chewie also appears at a railing above them and watches from above.
"Take off that mask. You don't need it." Han calls, moving towards Kylo.
"What do you think you'll see if I do?" Kylo responds.
"The face of my son." Han retorts.
Kylo complies and takes off his mask for the second time that evening.
Han jolts slightly at seeing his son's face for the first time in years.
"Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish, like his father. So I destroyed him."
"That's what Snoke wants you to believe but it's not true. My son is alive." Han struggles to word the next sentence. "And what about Elsi, did you destroy her too?"
Those words annoy Kylo as he remembers the woman lying unconscious in the room not far away from this one.
"She's alive." Kylo's revelation reassures Han for a moment before Kylo continues. "And no the Supreme Leader is wise, he knows as well as I that Ben is dead." Kylo ignores the fact that only moments ago Elsi brought Ben back for a short time. He knew Ben was not dead, but that didn't stop him from burying him deep down so that as Kylo Ren he could get stronger.
Han continues to move closer, now near the centre of the bridge. "Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he'll crush you - you know it's true. He will take everything away from you, including all that you love."
Kylo hesitates. "It's too late."
"No it's not. Leave here with me. Come home. Be with Elsi. She misses you, we all do." Kylo appears to be conflicted and tears flood his eyes.
"I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I need to protect her." They both knew that he meant Elsi. He was torn between being Ben and being Kylo. The problem was he was too scared to find out if Ben was strong enough to keep her safe.
Han takes one last step toward his son until they both stand together in the middle of the bridge.
"I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?" All Han hears is Ben's voice, his son's voice, vulnerable and begging for his help.
"Yes. Anything." Han replies. He hesitates for a moment seeing Kylo unholster his lightsaber, but when it appears that Kylo is holding it out to him he reaches his hand out to take it.
Kylo desperately attempts to block out the evil from entering his mind. He knows truly that Snoke was using him, that he needed to start by getting rid of his weapon and give it to his father. But he was conflicted. The vision that Snoke had shown him shot across his mind and he let his guard down for a moment. That moment was all it took for Snoke to sneak his way back into Kylo's mind.
"Destroy whatever holds you back from reaching your full potential. Take control of your full power, let it consume you so that you can protect the woman that you love. Finish what your grandfather started. Kill him. KILL HIM!"
A few moments earlier.
Elsi woke to a massive headache.
Why did Ben always have to knock her out.
Looking around she noticed that he was nowhere to be seen. Where was he anyway?
She reached out to him in the force and noticed that he seemed to be putting up a wall. He was blocking everything out, but she could tell that he was hurting.
He had taken his helmet and lightsaber with him. He was angry when he left.
Elsi pushes herself up from the ground and grabs her own lightsaber. Luckily he had left hers behind. She could still feel his lips on hers, feel the pressure of their fingers intertwined. She only hoped that he would leave with her so that she could kiss him again.
Walking towards the door she felt a shadow of evil flare through the base.
She could sense that something bad was going to happen. She needed to get to him, quick.
As she rushed through the corridors she was intercepted by a couple of stormtroopers. Not wasting any time Elsi quickly used the force and her lightsaber to strike down any enemies in her path. Through the force she could tell that Ben was speaking to his father nearby.
She was almost there and she could sense that Han was getting through to him but it could still go either way. Ben was on the edge and Elsi had to ensure that the side that he went down was light and not dark.
Elsi rushed into the large space where she could see Ben seemingly holding out his lightsaber to his father on the bridge. She could sense the evil in the air as the voice of Snoke travelled through the force and towards Ben.
"Finish what your grandfather started. Kill him. KILL HIM!"
Elsi knew what Snoke had intended, he wanted Ben to kill his own father so that it would destroy the last part of light left in him; the last part of Ben that was left. She had to stop him, whatever the cost.
Elsi had nothing left in her life. What was the point in bounty hunting or helping the resistance if she couldn't save the one person that she loved the most in the world.
If it meant that she had to sacrifice herself to make Ben see that Snoke was using him, then so be it.
She had made up her mind. She would fulfil her mission this time and save Ben from Snoke's grasp.
Without thinking twice, Elsi holstered her lightsaber, took a few steps back from the railing and ran towards it. At the last second she force jumped over the fire cavern intending to land in between Ben and Han. Time slowed and Elsi's life flashed in front of her.
Memories of her family laughing happily on the planet Solis.
The memory of Luke as he pulled her towards his ship to escape her dying planet.
The memory of meeting Ben for the first time at jedi training, as he defended her to the other students, and they became rivals.
Memories of her and Ben as they competed throughout the years to become the best jedi ever.
Memories of all the times that Elsi cried as she mourned the loss of her family.
Memories of Ben holding her close every time she was sad.
Memories of the many times that her and Ben pranked people, especially Han.
The memory of being accepted by Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie and Ben as her new family.
The memory of the first time she realised she had a crush on Ben on her 18th birthday when he gave her the purple Kyber crystal.
The memory of the first time she realised that she was in love with Ben, the day he saved her during their first mission together.
The memory of her first kiss with Ben.
The memories of all those times they snuck off to meet in secret.
The memory of the first time that Elsi admitted to Ben that she was in love with him and he admitted that he was in love with her.
Her cherished moment of the last night before the destruction of the jedi temple where she rested her head on Ben's shoulder as he held her in his arms.
Memories of all the sweet moments in between that made Elsi's life worth living.
Those sweet moments that were destroyed as Elsi landed and red light blinded her as Ben's lightsaber ignited and pain engulfed her entire body.
"NOOOO!"
Author's Note:
Dun dun duuuuunnn. So sorry for the cliffhanger. Don't worry this story is not over. The next chapter will be emotional but it will be interesting to see what happens next, sometimes even I don't know what is going to happen when I am writing it. I am so happy that this story now has over 1500 views. I would really appreciate some reviews as well so that I can get feedback on my writing and on what you think of the story. Do you think Kylo deserves Elsi? Would you forgive him for turning to the darkside? Let me know. Thanks for reading. ZV.
