Force Dyad

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to their respective owners.

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

Chapter Thirty-Seven-World Between Worlds

Ben's chin wobbled slightly as he looked down at Rey's face. She lay on the bed, tucked in as if it mattered, perfect "hospital corners." There was no greyness in her complexion, simply a lack of the usual pink in her cheeks. Ben's hand found hers without thinking and he recoiled slightly at the lack of warmth, he rubbed his thumb over her palm, hoping to infuse some of his own body heat into hers. He was rewarded with a slight blush of red where his thumb connected with her skin, but her hand remained limp in his.

Ben let his other hand fall to the cotton sheets covering Rey-they were clean, stiff, functional, just like the sterile room. He wondered how anyone was supposed to recover here, the room was so devoid of beauty, of anything remotely welcoming. He glanced at the stands for intravenous drips and the monitors keeping a constant check on Rey's vital signs. At the door resided dispensers for rubber gloves, hand sanitizer and soap. It was an awful, awful place. How could this possibly claim to be the most prestigious medical facility in Hanna City?

Pulling up a chair, Ben lowered his weary body into it, his hand still holding tightly onto Rey's. When he had first stepped into the room, he had been hoping for a miracle, hoping that once she sensed his presence she would simply wake up and greet him with her usual vibrant smile. Ben knew he was being naïve, ridiculous even. Miracles were something dreamers believed in, and he wasn't a dreamer.

He would just need to reach her another way.

Still holding onto her hand, Ben closed his eyes. He breathed in. He breathed out. Ben could feel the breath entering and leaving his lungs as his surroundings dissolved around him. He could feel the life circulating within him and without, the energy of a calm breeze, a gentle sun, echoing through his heart-space.

"Be with me. Be with me, Rey." He murmured. "Know you are not alone. Know you are loved. Know the galaxy, vast as it is, recognizes you and cherishes you. Know where you belong…with me…here…now…be with me."

With his mind emptied of everything but Rey, Ben felt the Force, buoying him. He sent his awareness into the void, just like he had before, peace and calm were the key. He felt the gossamer thin thread of his connection to Rey unravel before him, pulling his mind in a certain direction, guiding him, steering him toward something significant.

Unaware that each breath that left his body - each slow and steady heartbeat was being matched by the girl lying comatose in the hospital bed - Ben concentrated on several paths that were opening up a gateway in his mind, like an impossible maze. One path began to shine as if it were made of the rays of the sun itself and the others paths melted away like so much ice in a sudden unannounced return of summer.

And there she was…

Rey….

Her form was tangible, like she was her own personal sun, she glowed bright and clear in the cave like structure that surrounded her. Several tunnels diverged from the main cavern. Even though Ben called her name, she remained crouched in front of one of the tunnels, her mind and gaze focused on the sweet singing voice that emanated from the darkness….

Ben concentrated his energy on that voice. It was smooth and clear and quiet yet powerful. Soothing, in a way. It was a woman's voice, singing a lullaby that Ben didn't recognise, but which Rey clearly did. She seemed mesmerised by the voice, her eyes wide, haunted, glistening tears threatening to fall on her pale cheeks. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, because Ben instinctively knew that the voice belonged to Rey's mother. The woman's voice continued to sing, echoing in sorrowful waves, floating directly from Rey's past.

Then Rey was singing too. Swells of power rose up in her throat. Ben couldn't even tell if it was words that came from her. Her voice was music, and grace, and the haunting feeling of knowing that her voice was brought out in a fit of indescribable pain. Her hand went to her heart and her head rose as she belted out the final notes as the woman's voice faded into the ether….

"Mama!" Rey fell to her knees, her hand outstretched toward the darkness. "Come back! Please, come back!"

When there was no response her eyes closed in despair and her fists closed tightly in agony. That's when Ben heard a sound that almost stopped his heart. From one of the other tunnels came a voice he recognised as his own, echoing from the distant past just like Rey's mother. He watched Rey's eyes flicker open in confusion as she began to crawl on her hands and knees toward the other tunnel. "Ben?" She whispered uncertainly.

"It's really me. I've come to get you, just like I promised."

There was the sound of sobbing from the tunnel, like a small child who'd lost all hope.

"Ben?" Rey said again, her voice cracking slightly. "I don't understand. Where are you?"

"It's alright now. I'm here."

"Where? I can't see you." Rey faltered as she crawled inside the tunnel and disappeared.

Ben was despairing when he watched her fade out of sight as she followed the distant echoes of her past. His epiphany never arrived because it had been within him all the time. Rey was trapped, somewhere, in a world between worlds, a mystical plane within the Force that served as a collection of doors and pathways existing between time and space, linking all moments in time together. If he wanted to bring her back then he needed to find an entryway and he knew just the place.


After disconnecting Rey from the machines monitoring her vital signs, Ben swung her up in his strong arms as if she weighed nothing more than a feather. Her head lolled on his shoulder, her long brunette hair slipping across her face, hiding it from view.

Ben hadn't walked two steps before his mother appeared in the doorway. He saw the shock register on her face when she saw what he was doing. He felt his throat tighten as he levelled his gaze with hers. "Please, I'm begging you to just let me take her and go."

It was the look that Leia gave him that broke Ben. Those warm brown eyes, so full of empathy, probing into his soul, desperately wanting to see what was going on inside him, to understand. She came to stand by his side, listening to his words as he tried to explain, to make her see why he needed to take Rey with him and go, now. Her compassion burned stronger than any pain that had corroded his heart in the past. It was the look that she gave him, telling him, "I know something's not alright; and when you're ready, we can work it out together." It was her hand upon his shoulder, the realization that he was not alone. And this time, she wasn't here to judge. She was here to help.

"I remember when you first brought Rey home with you. She was no more than five years old." Leia said wistfully as she dared to rest her fingers tentatively on his cheek in a sign of affection. To her relief, Ben let her. "You tried to explain to me then what she meant to you, about the bond you shared. I didn't listen, believing that I knew best. I let you down and forced you to run. And I'm sorry for that. I promise I won't again."

"Mom…." Ben's chin wobbled slightly as he spoke.

"Hennix has already gone to fetch Luke. You don't have long. I'll try and stall him as long as I can." Leia promised. She took her hand off Ben's face to gently push Rey's hair back from her face. Leaning forward she pressed a gentle kiss on Rey's forehead. "I'll see you soon, young one." She murmured, before stepping back and raising her eyes to meet Ben's again. "I still have much to say, but I'll save that for another day. Just know that I love you. Now…go."

Ben's throat was so tight with emotion that he could hardly speak. "Mom…" He said again.

Leia smiled sadly, her eyes glimmering with moisture. "I know." She said, copying something Han would sometimes say. She saw her son nod his head subtly in understanding before swiftly leaving the room.

Seconds later, Tai appeared, his body language uneasy. "Master Skywalker is not going to be pleased we just let them go."

"Master Skywalker is not thinking clearly right now. I don't think he has been for a long time. In your heart I think you know that's true." Leia said steadily as Tai cast his eyes to the floor in defeat and nodded in agreement.


Returning to Tython was like coming home. Ben was breathless from the long hike up the mountain. By the time he reached the ancient jedi temple's ruins, nightfall had arrived to awaken dreams within its quilt of starlit black. The darkness took on a mystical quality as he carried Rey toward the six giant monoliths surrounding the large dome-shaped stone in the centre. The runes written around the bottom gleamed brightly and for the first time he understood them. As he climbed up onto the stone and sat in a cross-legged position with Rey draped across his lap, Ben heard a voice he didn't recognise echoing in the darkest recesses of his mind.

"Tython is beautiful and powerful, enigmatic and dangerous, filled with mysteries and open to those comfortable with the Force. It was here long, long before us, and these mysteries persisted with no eyes to see them, no minds to contemplate them."

"Until now." Ben thought as he secured Rey's hand in his and closed his eyes.

As he fell into a mediative state, sending his awareness out into the void, a dozen blue butterflies appeared, circling around his head on their gossamer thin wings, summoning a force field around the stone, caging him and Rey inside.

A/N-thanks for reading! I know some readers already picked up on the little hints I'd dropped about Tython being a gateway to the WBW. Anyway, please review.