The air was tense as the two former co-students began their duel.
Sofie could sense Ren's desperation as they fought. The only thing standing between him and Mortis' power was her.
Sofie blocked attack after attack, trying to fit an offensive move in. Despite the training with the Resistance, unsurprisingly, the Supreme Leader of the First Order was a difficult opponent.
They both swung to kill now-a stark difference from their previous fights.
They went back and forth for minutes on end and could sense fatigue sneaking up onto them both. Fighting to the death resulted in aggressive strikes and extensive defensive maneuvers.
Finally, after a particularly long back-and-forth, they both separated to breathe. The air was filled with their deep, heavy breaths.
"You know, you could just drain my life-Force energy," Sofie said between breaths.
"I'm not a coward, I need to prove that I can beat you fairly because I'm better than you," Ren replied.
"I'd challenge that part about being a coward," Sofie asserted, "destroying planets and civilizations is a pretty cowardly thing."
Their chat was short, and their fight continued as emotions rose.
Sofie struggled to dodge Ren's moves. She could feel her muscles becoming weaker and knew Ren was trying to take advantage of this.
Suddenly, Ren began to run towards the back of the temple. Confused, Sofie ran after him, jumping broadly up the steps. She considered trying to throw her lightsaber, but the thought was stopped short when Ren turned towards her.
Ren swung upwards continuously while taking broad steps towards Sofie. Sofie stepped back defensively, but struggled to focus on avoiding the steps.
Ren swung again, but this time Sofie barely moved in time and missed blocking him. Ren's saber grazed her, slicing diagonally through her face. Ren watched wide-eyed as his lightsaber effortlessly went through her jaw, nose, and eye, melting anything in its way.
Sofie screamed from the pain, stumbled backwards and fell. She felt her body go into a shock and gingerly put her hands up to her face, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
"Ben-oh my god, Ben! " Sofie screamed at him, realizing he had sliced through her nose and rendered her left eye useless. Doing her best to not hyperventilate, she tried to wipe away the blood that had appeared, but instead quickly ripped part of her clothing to press against her wound. The heat of the lightsaber had cauterized her wound slightly, but blood still managed to escape.
Ren stared at her wound in disbelief. He opened his mouth to say something but struggled to find the words.
"Y-you... why didn't you move out of the way?" Ren stammered.
"Shut the fuck up," Sofie said through a rough throat and gritted teeth. The pain intensed in her face as her body began to come out of shock. She held the cloth from her pants firmly against her face. She was losing blood, and the faintness creeping into her head confirmed that.
A tear dropped from Sofie's right eye and she sobbed. Blood streamed down her face and down the back of her throat uncomfortably.
Although she couldn't move her mouth, she used what energy she had to speak into Ben's head.
"I hate you, Ben. I hope you know that. You're heartless and you've ruined so many lives. I'm sure your soldiers have brutalized countless people like you did to me. All I ever wanted to do was help you," Sofie lamented. Ren didn't respond, instead, he deactivated his lightsaber and began to walk towards the back of the temple.
"You had so many grievances about your father-and yet you ended up a worse one!" Sofie yelled in his head as he walked away.
Ren focused on the half-pillars towards the back of the open-air temple and walked faster.
He walked quickly up the steps but froze when an apparition appeared in front of him. Luke. Still trying to sabotage him.
"You're just going to leave her there to die? Pathetic. The Skywalker name has truly been tarnished," Luke snapped, "you still have the power to stop this, Ben."
"I told you to leave me alone," Ren growled and continued walking past Luke's Force ghost.
Luke's ghost looked sadly towards Sofie's body, on the ground and struggling to keep blood.
" Sofie," Luke tried to reach her via the Force, " you can't give up yet."
He reached towards Leia as well, asking her from afar for any kind of help she could give.
" Sofie," multiple voices echoed through Sofie's head. She slowly opened her eye and observed the grey sky above.
" Please, I know you're in pain but the galaxy is with you, we need you," Leia's voice said in Sofie's head.
Sofie did her best to sit up. The pain was intense, but numbing as time went on.
She ripped the other leg of her pant leg and tied it tightly over her wound to stop the bleeding.
Her body shook as it tried to stand up.
" Take our strength," Leia's voice said again. A chill ran through Sofie's body. Her legs almost had a mind of their own as they began to walk towards Ren again.
Her stumbling turned into a walk, which turned into running.
Sofie used the last of her energy getting to Ren, who was now approaching the half-pillar.
Ren stopped in front of the half-pillar which held a small stone box.
Finally, Ren said to himself, this is it.
He removed the top.
He froze.
The box was empty. Ren stood in silence.
"No… it's empty?" He said to himself. He wondered how he was supposed to harness Mortis' power. Where were the hints?
Ren threw the box to the ground, shattering it. In the same moment, Sofie caught up.
An unprepared Ren tried to turn, but Sofie knew her time was limited. As soon as she got close enough to Ren, she swung her lightsaber towards him.
Sofie missed everything but his palm.
Ren watched as Sofie's lightsaber sliced through the middle of his palm.
" Fuck!" He cursed out loud, cradling his injured, cauterized hand. His vision became blurry and he barely saw Sofie also fall near his feet. She had truly used every ounce of energy left, but only managed to injure Ren.
" It's finished, Ben," a familiar voice entered Ren's mind.
His mother.
He closed his eyes, embracing the darkness. His pain slowly faded away. It was replaced by something different.
He opened his eyes again. Had he died? Entered into a coma? Was he dreaming?
Ren's eyes slowly opened. He stared at the scene in front of him as his eyes focused.
Incomprehensible.
He stood in front of his much younger mother and father cradling a baby. They looked at the child with awe and wonder, smiling ear to ear.
Ben rubbed his eyes, bewildered by what was happening. Was this the Force? He looked down at his injured palm. His injury had mysteriously disappeared.
" Ben, " his father said out loud, " he'll be my little fighter."
Ren rubbed his head, feeling a headache coming on.
A tension gripped his entire body, but he also felt a softness in his chest.
He was connected to them; their thoughts and feelings.
In fact, he felt exactly what they felt.
He felt pride, hope, and love. He could sense their devotion, their willingness to sacrifice anything for the baby that slept in their arms.
Ren blinked and was greeted with a new scene.
It was him playing with his father and pretending to fly a ship. His father pretended to crash the "ship" and Ben squealed with joy as his father picked him up and "flew" him through the air.
Ren closed his eyes and tried to push away the approaching emotion.
Despite his resistance, he felt the joy of his father and his regrets. His fleeting hope of spending more time with Ben.
He felt the weight of his parent's love. The happiness they felt from raising a son, and the joy of seeing their child learn. It also came with sadness. Their sadness of being occupied with work and other duties at the expense of time with him.
Blink.
Now he was at the Jedi Academy. He gasped as his mind placed him in the middle of the sparring field at the academy. It was vivid, and so real.
He walked carefully through the field, admiring the buildings and landscape. It felt as if he was home. The buildings felt familiar and safe.
Ren walked into the main building with the library and offices. The door to Luke's office was open.
He wandered towards it and looked inside. Luke was busy scribing.
Ren sensed his pride as he made notes on each student, noting improvements, shortcomings and more.
His uncle loved him. He was impressed by Ben and noted that he was the best student there.
Ren exited the office and leaned against the wall. His uncle's desperation to help him filled his mind. He wanted nothing more than to keep him from the dark.
His uncle's thoughts went through his head.
" I have to act, or they will hurt him. They will use him and abuse him."
Blink again.
His mind placed him in his old hut at nighttime. He observed him and Sofie's younger selves sitting on the bed, chatting. Ben leaned up against the wall next to his bed as Sofie lazily laid back in his lap.
Ren looked around the room while listening to the conversation. His desk was decorated with his old possessions. The objects on his desk were no longer relatable.
"...And I think Voe just needs some confidence, because she's one of the best students, even Master Luke thinks so," young Sofie explained. Ren must have caught the tail-end of their conversation.
Past Ben and Sofie sat in silence for a few moments.
"When did you know you liked me, Sofie?" Ben asked her. Ren paced around the hut, looking around while the conversation happened.
"Mmm, I think I knew you were a good person when you came back from that mission with Master Luke, trying to be kind to me. But giving me the ring and pendant definitely gave me a soft spot for you, " Sofie recalled. Ren looked towards the two of them and read the expressions on their faces.
His younger self only beamed euphoria. The awkwardness of giving a gift and being forward had paid itself off.
Ren smirked slightly, reflecting on the naivety of his past self. He had been so focused on his life at the Jedi Academy and forgotten about the outside world back then. It had created an ignorant bliss.
Ren sat in the desk chair and observed the vision as he felt a tiredness come over him. He closed his eyes briefly.
When he opened his eyes again, he was still in the hut, but a younger Ben and Sofie had been replaced by a different figure.
His father.
Upon realizing who it was, Ren stood up quickly and tried to leave the hut. The door was locked.
Unrealistic , Ren thought , my hut never had a lock .
"Hey kid," the vision of Han said to Ren. Ren nearly jumped out of his skin. None of the other visions could communicate with him. He had simply been a witness previously.
Ren cheated his body towards his father but didn't look at him directly.
"What is it?" He asked his father.
"Come sit down first," Han continued and motioned to the desk chair.
Ren considered finding another way to escape the dreamscape that he was stuck in, but instead sat back down in the desk chair.
Ren sat and faced his father. He felt himself crumble upon meeting his eyes. His expression was soft and understanding.
"So, how's it going?" Han asked him.
Ren struggled to find the words describing his dreamstate experience.
"Why are you... forcing me to relive my past?" Ren asked. Han blinked at him.
"This isn't the work of anyone else. It's you." Han replied. Ren frowned. " Your mind made this. This is what's important to you."
"Even if it is mine, what's the point? I trained under Tor Valum, made it to Mortis, and-" Ren paused briefly, reflecting on Sofie.
"Sofie, I injured her-badly," Ren stuttered, "soon she'll become just a memory."
Ren looked past Han and at the bed. He blinked slowly, realizing the significance of his innocent, first-love.
He would never feel anything similar after leaving the academy.
"Luke always said I was the best student at the academy," Ren recounted, "he said that I was almost the perfect student- almost ."
"Then I made the mistake that a perfect student would never make, and after that it was too late to redeem myself," Ren continued and looked towards the ground.
Han put a comforting hand on his son's knee.
"It's not too late. You can still help Sofie, the Resistance, and your daughter, too," Han told him.
"But I don't deserve-" Ren started, Han squeezed his knee and put his hand up.
"Ben, this isn't about deserving, it's about doing the right thing," Han told him.
Ben sniffled slightly and rubbed his eyes.
"Dad, I-"
Before Ben could finish his sentence, his father's figure vanished and the hut around him began to fade into a darkness.
He closed his eyes, wishing silently that he could be sent back to finish things.
But when he opened his eyes again, he wasn't back at the temple. A new darkness had surrounded him. An unrecognizable figure stood in front of him.
"I thought I told you not to come back to me with your regrets," the figure said. Ben tried to identify the figure, but he was not recognizable.
"Who are you?" Ben asked. The man slowly came towards Ben. Something about the man felt familiar, but he couldn't place it.
"I'm the one who tried to warn you about your actions and the pain it would cause. I made the same mistakes," the man continued. Ben looked at him curiously.
"You're... Vader? Grandfather?" Ben asked.
"Yes, but Anakin Skywalker," Anakin replied.
"I didn't choose to come into... whatever this is," Ben motioned towards the darkness.
"You didn't, your mother did. She sacrificed everything to give you this," Anakin explained.
A realization dawned on Ben. He felt his eyes moisten and his throat begin to close.
"I could've stopped it," Ben blurted out.
"You've already stopped more than you know," Anakin replied.
Ben closed his eyes and felt silent tears rolling down his cheeks.
He vowed not to open them until he was back at the temple.
Sofie moved her hands through tall grass. A breeze blew over her as she slowly opened her eyes.
Once she realized the absurdity of the situation she sat up quickly from the grass and immediately felt her face. It was healed.
"I'm dead," she squeaked, "I failed."
She looked around the field she had been laying in and recognized the surroundings. The Jedi Academy. This was supposed to be her perfect afterlife?
"It's not," a familiar voice said behind her. Sofie turned around and stood up.
"Master Luke-" Sofie tried to ask questions, but Luke stopped her short.
"Wait, Sofie. You need to make a decision. Yes, you passed. But not completely yet. You can choose to go back, or you can stay here."
Sofie lowered her brows.
"Why would I want to go back? I was dying and Ren was more than happy to let me die. It'll just be more unnecessary moments of pain." Sofie recalled.
"You might be surprised by what happens if you go back, but I can't promise you won't come back here," Luke explained.
Sofie looked towards the familiar academy buildings and then gingerly touched her nose.
"He changed, didn't he?" Sofie said. She had mixed feelings. She had tried many times to get Ren to see her perspective and show an ounce of empathy for her and Lana, but they had always failed.
She wanted them to fight for the same cause, but it was hard to put aside her pain.
Despite this, her pain had always been secondary to her hope of his redemption.
Sofie hugged Luke tightly.
"I'm going back."
Silence permeated the air at the temple. Sofie and Ben both laid on the temple floor, motionless.
Ben's eyes slowly fluttered open. His eyes adjusted to the ground and he searched for Sofie.
His good hand lifted him up. Sofie laid motionless about eight feet away from him. He scrambled over to her and tenderly touched her arm.
He said nothing and gently squeezed her arm. Warm tears rolled down his face as his breathing became shallow.
As Sofie came to again, she felt his hand. Her eye opened to him leaning over her. Moisture came to her eye as well.
"Why are you crying?" She croaked. Ben jumped.
He looked at her with amazement. How was she still alive? His mouth was agape.
"You're still-" Ben stopped himself and frowned.
"I want to apologize but I know it will never be enough," Ben sighed.
"Maybe, but I still want to hear it," Sofie reassured him.
Ben stammered and didn't know where to start.
"I- there's too many things," Ben looked over Sofie worriedly, wondering how much time he had.
"You believed in me and listened to me when everybody else was afraid of me. You always had hope for me," Ben explained, "no matter how many times I wronged you, you tried again."
Sofie smirked slightly. "And I was right- somewhat."
Ben meekly smiled back at her, but Sofie then watched as his face turned serious.
"Sofie, I think I can save you still," Ben stated, Sofie scowled.
"Look at me, Ben," she sighed. She was teetering on the brink of death and only able to talk with Ben because Luke sent her back from death.
"Dark transfer," Ben muttered, "it's a dark side ability but if it can save you, I'm willing to try. Tor Valum taught it to me along with what I was going to use to take over Mortis. The Force is so strong here, it has to work.."
Sofie sighed. Could there be side effects that were worse than death? Would it cause Ben to turn again?
"I'm stronger now, don't worry," Ben told her and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly.
Sofie squeezed back and closed her eye. She felt a strong energy enter her body. She felt small amounts of pain as Ben Force transferred his energy.
Sofie felt the energy gradually stop. She opened both of her eyes and felt her face. She was completely healed.
She sat up abruptly and looked at him in awe.
"Ben, this is amazing," Sofie started to praise him but her face turned solemn.
"But Ben... if you go back, I don't think people will celebrate. They'll throw you in prison and probably find every excuse to execute you," Sofie said.
"I know," Ben replied, "it's just justice."
Ben had done so many atrocities that it was probably morally wrong for Sofie to even take his help or talk to him. Despite the fact that she could tell that him and Kylo Ren were fundamentally different, they were still Ben's mistakes.
"I want to go back to try and fix what can be fixed," Ben explained, "I want to be there for you and Lana too, if they will let me."
Sofie eyed his injury, nothing that they should be getting him help, but she still took a moment to hug him tightly.
"I never gave up my hope for you," she said quietly into his shoulder. Gentle tears rolled down both of their faces as Ben held her tightly back.