Force Dyad

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A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.

Chapter Thirty-Five-Mother and Son

Leia stared at her brother's haggard face as he delivered the devastating news to her and Han about what had happened at the jedi temple. In just a short amount of time Luke had aged beyond measure. She was shocked by his transformation, but not as shocked as she was by the unfounded accusations he was now making against her only son. His grief was absolute, that was clear, his old confident self burned clear away, leaving a shell of a man behind. Leia couldn't imagine how traumatising the whole experience had been for him, to be confronted with such destruction and carnage, to find everything he had dedicated his life to building lying in ruins around him.

And those poor students, some of them still no more than children….

Leia glanced at her husband, seeing her own thoughts reflected on his face. When Luke had unexpectedly arrived at their marital home in Hanna City on Chandrila- transporting a severely injured Rey and a small retinue of students, who had survived the massacre at the temple-Han in particular had been deeply emotionally affected by the sight of Rey barely clinging to life. Leia knew that Han had a struck up a close emotional father/daughter bond with the young teenager when she and Ben had joined him on the racing circuit. He often spoke about Rey with great affection as well as his pride in Ben's piloting skills. Of course, all that had come to an abrupt end when the shocking news of Leia's familial connection to the former Sith Lord, Darth Vader, came to light and was broadcast to the entire galaxy. She didn't think she would ever forget the sight of Ben's stricken face as he was confronted with the startling news with millions of cameras pointed directly at his face, capturing the moment for posterity.

Even though Leia had tried desperately to reach out to Ben, pleading with him to give her a chance to explain her side of things, in his devastation, he had cut off all contact, instead fleeing with Rey to somewhere remote and essentially going into hiding.

Only now Ben had resurfaced and her brother was accusing him of such horrific crimes that it tore her heart to shreds and made it suddenly difficult to breathe. Rey, and another one of Luke's female students that Leia didn't know the name of, had been moved to one of the most prestigious medical facilities in Hanna City. They were being treated by some of the most eminent physicians the facility had to offer. While the older female student was well on the road to recovery, Rey's prognosis remained dire. Rey's skull had been fractured by the falling masonry and she had suffered some brain damage. To what severity, the physicians were still unsure, so she remained in a medically induced coma to reduce the swelling in her brain. All they could do now was wait.

"You're grieving-so I'm going to show you some consideration-but if you ever accuse my son of such wicked and cruel things again, I promise you, I won't hold back next time." Han told Luke curtly. His jaw tightened as he tried to keep his anger in check. "I'm the one who has spent the most time with Ben recently. He worships the ground Rey walks on, there is no way he would ever contemplate putting her in harm's way. Or anybody else for that matter."

"I agree with Han." Leia said, surprising herself as well as him, it had been so long since they had been on the same page about anything. She felt his fingers curl around hers when he reached for her hand. She gripped his back tightly as they stood united. "I know my son. He would never do the things you are accusing him of." She said firmly, exhaling slowly, her faith in her son remaining strong and true despite her brother's attempts to sow the seeds of doubt in her mind. "I don't pretend to understand why Ben and Rey were at the temple that night, but what I do know is that my son played no part in what happened."

Luke remained convinced that his sister and her husband were the ones in denial. He didn't have irrefutable evidence to back up his claims, but in his deep-seated grief he refused to see beyond the surface facts, persuading himself to the point of conviction that his nephew was responsible for the temple's destruction and the ensuing massacre of the innocent students.

"Leia." He demanded. "Have you forgotten the reason why you sent Ben to train with me in the first place? You sensed the darkness inside of him, just like I did. Even with my best endeavours I couldn't prevent it from taking root. Over the years I sensed it building in him. I'd seen it in moments during his training…"

"No more, Luke!" Leia met her twin's ravaged gaze as she battled old feelings of guilt. She felt Han tense by her side and she held fast to his hand for emotional support. "Sending him to you is one of my biggest regrets. It's where I lost him. I can assure you I won't be making the same mistake twice."


Ben sat cross-legged; eyes closed. He didn't remember rising off the ground, but he was vaguely aware that, somehow, he'd ended up floating. Pebbles and small boulders hovered around him, like a field of asteroids orbiting their sun. The Force flowed through him, buoyed him, connected him to everything. As he concentrated his mind, he thought about his life, the way it had pushed him to near breaking point until it seemed there was no way he could put himself back together.

Ben inhaled through his nose and sent his awareness into the void. Peace and calm were key. He reached, he searched, he felt the warm breeze on his cheeks, he smelled the burned and charred remains of the ruined temple, damp from the recent rain. He held onto the gossamer thin thread of his connection to Rey and let it guide him toward her.

"Be with me." He murmured. "Show me where you are."


Leia and Han sat on either side of Rey's hospital bed, each holding one of her hands. The hospital room was as devoid of beauty as it was functional. Its walls were painted a simple cream colour, there was no decoration at all, the only furniture the two chairs Leia and Han currently occupied. The machines monitoring Rey's vital signs provided a melancholy background noise in the grim room.

Leia swallowed thickly as she looked at Han's ashen face. His whole attention was focused on the sick girl in the bed. After a while Leia had to turn her head away, no longer able to bear the silent anguish shining in her husband's eyes. A faint undertone of bleach made Leia feel sick as she looked at the grey floor at her feet. At the far end of the room, windows in brown metal frames, only openable at the top remained firmly shut. She wished she could open them, but was reluctant to move and disturb the fragile silence that permeated the room.

In order to concentrate her mind, Leia called upon the old meditation techniques that Luke had once taught her to calm her mind. She felt immediately disquieted about the way she had left things with her brother; she didn't think she could ever forgive him for the things he had accused Ben of. He was wrong, so wrong. Leia had witnessed the uncomfortable expression on one of his young apprentice's faces as he spoke so derogatorily about her son-Tai was it? Whatever the young man was thinking in that moment, it was clear that he had misgivings about what his master was saying. Leia vowed to speak to Tai to gain more insight into his private thoughts on the matter once Rey showed signs of recovery…

Leia had meant it when she had vowed not make the same mistakes twice with Ben. She would not give in to fear like she had the first time. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind in a vain attempt to feel his presence through the Force. Leia wasn't hopeful for success, but maternal instinct made her continue to try anyway. She reached out to the Force, let it flow through her like blood in her veins. Everything became background noise as she concentrated hard, her brow furrowing slightly as she pushed through the limitations in her own mind.

And then she felt him-for a brief instant- his presence so solid and clear, Leia felt she could touch him.

With focus, and with delight, Leia raised herself off her seat, only to lose her footing, her form collapsed, and she opened her eyes to find herself on her knees with Han looking down at her with worried eyes.

"What happened, Leia?" He asked gruffly as he helped her to rise.

"I felt him, Han." Leia told him as tears clouded her vision. "I felt our son."


Ben tumbled to the ground, barely avoiding the small pebbles and rocks that fell with him. He lay stunned for a few seconds, doing his best to steady his breathing. He hadn't secured his connection with Rey like he had hoped, instead he had made a surprising one with his mother. He had felt Leia Organa Solo reaching out to him voluntarily through the Force, desperate to make a tentative connection with him. The shock of it had severed the fragile connection just as quickly, but it had still given Ben a brief glimpse of his mother's deep feelings of regret, her anxiety over Rey's wellbeing, and her yearning to be reunited with him.

Ben climbed unsteadily back onto his feet and looked down in elation at BB-8. The jittery little astromech let out a series of anxious beeps and whistles. "I'm fine." He rushed to reassure the droid. "I know where Rey is, BB-8. She's with my mother. Come." He took off at fast sprint toward Grimtaash, his desperation to get to Rey diminishing his body's urgent need for rest.

BB-8 let out a high-pitched whistle of delight as he hastily followed in his wake.

A/N-thanks for reading!