Descendants: Dyad Reborn
Greetings. Another chapter out in two days. This chapter is shorter than the previous two, mainly because I just wanted to focus on the day after Ben's 7th birthday. Then the next few chapters will kick off Ben's journey. Enjoy! And please leave a comment or review if you like it!
Chapter 3: Post Birthday Fun
Ben woke up the next morning feeling stronger than he ever had in his new life. He sat up and looked over his injuries and was shocked to discover that the cuts on his arms disappeared. He got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He was shocked to see that all the cuts on his face were gone. Ben rolled his pajama pant leg up and undid the wrapping on his knee and saw that the wound on his knee was almost gone, just a little bit of a scab left.
"Looks like you heal fast." Ben looked up to the mirror and saw his uncle, Luke Skywalker, standing next to him. Ben sighed and turned to face his uncle and said, "Hello to you too, Uncle. I assume this is proof that my Force connection is fully back?" Luke nodded and answered, "Yes. Actually it seems a little stronger than before. Almost like it wants to protect you from any harm. Interesting. I wonder if this will have the same affect on magic used against you." Ben was about to ask what his uncle was talking about, but then he remembered what Agathe told him when his soul arrived here over seven years ago and said, "Agathe did say that I would have a natural immunity towards magic. Is that the Force's doing?" "I believe you are correct," Luke said. "The Force is stronger than the magic of this world. Thus it would help you defend yourself from it." "Wait," Ben said remembering an event from his past. "When I started to get my past memories in the form of dreams and nightmares, Fairy Godmother gave my parents a calming drought that I didn't want to take and my body didn't agree with. I remember sweating profusely and stopped when I felt the drought was fully out of my system. How could that have happened if my Force connection wasn't reawakened yet?" Luke thought for a moment then answered, "Perhaps because you didn't want to take it and the fact that you needed to start having those dreams, the Force must have helped you get rid of the magic another way. Your soul still had a weak connection to the Force. Regaining your memories and powers reawakened your connection fully. I suspect if anything like that would happen again, then the process of defending your body against the magic will be a lot quicker and much less painful. Like you didn't even know it was there. However, from what Agathe told you, if you wanted the magic to work, you could have let it. It's just the matter of control.
Ben nodded as he realized, "Wait. How am I going to explain to my mom and dad that my injuries healed overnight?" "That could be a problem," Luke answered. Both Force users thought for a while when Luke got an idea, "Perhaps a little mental persuasion could be the key." "The Jedi mind trick?" Ben asked. "Doesn't that only work on the simple minded?" "That is true," Luke answered. "But this is a bit more than that. If they bring it up, I can appear next to them and plant the suggestion in their heads." "Why can't I do it?" Ben asked. "They'll be looking straight at you," Luke answered. "Even they would realize something is amiss. Just make sure you have all their focus while I plant the suggestion in their minds. Now what should that suggestion be?" "I have an idea," Ben said. "When my father was cursed as a beast, he healed quickly from non-fatal injuries. I could have inherited some parts of his beastly qualities." Luke smiled and said, "Not bad, nephew."
Suddenly Ben felt the presence of his parents closing in on his bedroom. "My parents are coming!" Ben whispered. "Quick, back to bed," Luke commanded. Ben ran back to his bed and got under the covers and pretended to sleep. He heard the door open and his mother calling, "Ben? Are you awake?" Ben rolled over and gently opened his eyes and whispered, "Yes, mom. I am now." Belle chuckled and walked into the room with Adam following behind her. "How are you feeling, son?" Adam asked. "Better," Ben said sitting up. Belle looked over Ben's face and said, "The cuts on your face are gone. Weird. Let's look at your knee." She pulled the covers off of Ben and pulled up Ben's pant leg and unwrapped the bandage and saw that his knee was mostly healed. "Your knee is almost good as new," Belle commented. "That is interesting," Adam added as Ben looked over his father's shoulder and saw Luke nodding to him and walked up to Belle as Ben asked, "Why is that interesting?" Before Belle or Adam could answer, Luke waved his hand over Belle and planted the suggestion in her mind. He walked over to do the same to Adam as Belle said, "Perhaps he got some of your abilities, Adam, from when you were a beast. You did have fast healing. Remember that wound you got on your arm when you rescued me from the wolves?" Luke planted the suggestion in Adam's mind who replied, "Ah yes. That could be it. My boy has gotten some traits from me indeed since I still have some beastly abilities." Ben quietly sighed as Luke gave him a wink and disappeared, merging back into Ben's body.
"So Ben," Belle asked. "Are you up for some post birthday fun?" Ben smiled and said, "Yes. We still have all of my presents to open and blow out the candles on my birthday cake and…" "Whoah, whoah," Adam interrupted. "Slow down, son. One thing at a time. Let's just start with breakfast." "OK, Dad!" Ben shouted as he jumped out of his bed and ran out the door. "Ben, slow down!" Belle shouted. "You need to put some proper clothes on first!" That stopped Ben in his tracks. He turned around and walked straight to his closet with his parents chuckling at him.
Ben enjoyed his post birthday. Mrs. Potts made him all of his favorite foods for all 3 meals, he got presents of all shapes and sizes, and got to blow out the candles on his big birthday cake. This was the kind of birthday he'd rather have; not some grand ball that his parents planned for him yesterday. He was smiling the whole day, all the way up until his parents tucked him into bed and kissed him goodnight. Ben was surprised that they didn't mention the betrothal contract to him at all yet. But he technically wasn't suppose to know about it, so he stayed quiet about it. He laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes. But then he heard someone humming a lullaby and felt fingers brushing through his hair. He opened his eyes and saw the Force spirit of his original mother, Leia, sitting next to him on his bed. Han was sitting on the other side of him smiling down on him. "Hey, kid," Han said. "We wanted to wish you a belated happy birthday. Well, your new birthday, that is." Ben laughed and sat up as Leia hugged him and whispered, "Oh, Ben. I wish I was there for you more in your original childhood. I saw how happy you were with your new family and it made me remember what ours could have been. I should have been a better parent and listened to you about the voices in your head and your powers. I shouldn't have shipped you off to your uncle. Please forgive me." "Mom," Ben hugged her tight. "I did things too that I'm not proud of. I wasn't the best kid in my first life. It's me who should be asking for forgiveness." Han chuckled and said, "We all have done stuff we aren't proud of. We need to learn from them and move on. So calm down, princess." Leia whacked Han on the head as Ben laughed.
"Ben," Leia said. "All of us Force spirits wanted to give you a gift for your birthday." Suddenly the other six Force spirits surrounded Ben's bed. Chewbacca roared softly a few times as Han translated, "Chewie's saying he's proud of the choices you have made so far in this life. He's says you've earned this gift." "What gift?" Ben asked. Luke stepped forward and held out his hand. In it was a Kyber crystal. "I'm pretty sure you know what this is," Luke said handing the crystal to Ben. The prince held the crystal in his hands and said, "My own Kyber crystal? Thank you." "You are most certainly welcome, grandson," Anakin said. Ben examined the crystal and said, "There aren't any cracks in it. My last one did." "You haven't done any actions to make it crack and bleed," Obi-Wan said. "Since you were given a second chance," Yoda added. "New crystal you are given. Protect it, you must." Ben started to tear up in his eyes which Leia noticed and hugged her son saying, "You've earned it, Ben. With it, you can build a new lightsaber. One that reflects the new you. Until you can do that, keep it safe." "I will," Ben said.
Padme stepped forward and said, "And we would like to give you this as well." She held out her hand that had another Kyber crystal in it. Ben took it and asked, "Why are you giving me two?" "This one isn't for you, young Skywalker," Yoda said. "This one is the other half of the dyad." "This is Rey's….Mal's?" Ben asked. The Force spirits nodded as Leia said, "We trust you to guard this until the Force deems it time to give it to her. Maybe as her own birthday gift one day." "When is her birthday?" Ben asked. "Why," Obi-Wan answered. "It's today." Ben gasped, "Her birthday is the day after mine? I want to wish her happy birthday." The Force spirits chuckled as Han said, "You made be an old soul, but being in the body of a 7 year old has regressed your behavior somewhat." That earned another whack in the head from Leia.
"Then let's have this be your first lesson," Luke said. "Meditation." "Really?" Ben whined. "I always hated meditating." Han chuckled under his breath as Leia glared at her husband. Anakin laughed and said, "Don't worry. It's easier than you think. Besides, this is how you can connect to Rey." Ben stared at his grandfather and asked, "Really?" Anakin nodded and said, "The Force Bond you two had in your first life is still there, but now you can control when you two connect. However, you must be careful. She does not have the strong connection to the Force that you do right now. So you are going to practice connecting with her through mediation. If you are doing it correctly, you will be able to see her, but she won't be able to see you. Once her Force connection is reawakened, then you two will be able to see each other through the Force. So, close your eyes." Ben obeyed and closed his eyes. "Take a few deep breaths," Luke added. Ben breathed in slowly, then out slowly. "And think about who you want to see," Leia added. Ben concentrated on wanting to see Mal. Eventually, a vision came to him. He saw Mal, sitting on a window sill, looking down to the Isle below her. Ben could hear her mother cackling somewhere else in the house Mal was in and saw Mal sigh. He could tell how sad she looked, and he can feel her feelings of loneliness, that even though she put on a tough face to those around her, it was just a cover. Ben wanted to make her smile, especially since it was her birthday. "Happy Birthday, Mal," Ben whispered. He was shocked to see that Mal sharply turned her head around, as if she heard the voice and was trying to find its source. "She heard me?" Ben thought. Mal looked out the window again and whispered, "I don't know who said that, but thanks." She turned and walked away.
Ben came out of his meditation and opened his eyes. "I saw her," Ben told the eight Force spirits around him. "I can feel everything she was feeling. She was sad so I wished her happy birthday. And she heard me." "Interesting," Obi-Wan said. "So Agathe might have been on to something," Luke said. "She did say that the magical force field around the Isle might not completely block out the Force," Anakin said. "Whatever the case," Yoda said. "You did well, young Skywalker." "You have taken your first step into a larger world," Obi-Wan added. "Tomorrow," Luke said. "Is when the work begins. Not only will your training start, but taking the steps for your destiny will also begin." "How so?" Ben asked. "Let it go for tonight, son," Han said. "Time to get some sleep," Leia added, giving Ben a kiss on his forehead. The Force spirits glowed and merged back into Ben's body as the young prince looked at the two Kyber crystals in his hand. "Don't worry," Ben whispered. "I'll keep both of these safe." He put the two crystals under and pillow and laid down on it, closing his eyes and falling fast asleep, ready to start the first step of his destiny.
