The Two Of Us (Reylo Fanfic)

Part 10: Struggle

Ben had no idea how long he was out for. By the time he began to feel conscious, the pain in his head had dissipated and, for a moment or two, Ben felt better than he had for years. There was no confusion, no anger. A peace had descended on him, more profound than he had ever known. So many of the petty irritations that would normally irritate him, from the feeling of the hard uncomfortable surface he was lying on, to the strange itching of his clothing, did not bother him at all. For a moment or two, he enjoyed the sensation of peace before he opened his eyes.

As he did so, the images that confronted Ben alarmed him. He had imagined that he was properly awake, lying on a floor somewhere in his quarters on Snoke's massive ship. But a full moon above reflecting its pale light onto the surface of a long white marble terrace surprised him. He was still inside the dream. As Ben stood, he took note of his clothing. These were not the tight, thick black clothing he had been wearing, but the pale cream robes of a Jedi. It had been so many years since he had worn this clothing. It felt foreign and uncomfortable. Eagerly, he looked up and down the terrace. But Rey was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Ben noticed with an ache in his heart, he could not feel the connection with Rey at all. It was as if it had been silenced once more.

Behind Ben, he heard someone pacing up and down. He turned quickly at the sound. Ben was confronted with his own doppelganger. The other was exactly like him, in all but two respects. For one, this other Ben Solo was wearing Kylo Ren's black uniform. For the other, this vision did not have dark brown eyes. The eyes were a cold, ice blue.

"Snoke." Ben muttered.

"Not entirely." The other sneered. "I still need to draw energy from the dark side within you. You can think of me as Ren."

Ben's hand instinctively fell to his utility belt. Indeed, he was carrying a light sabre. It felt unfamiliar to his touch. He slid the sabre off of its clip anyway.

"And what do you imagine that you are going to do with that?" the other asked, curiously.

Ben hesitated.

"You asked the girl a question, not long ago." The other stood, calm and relaxed. "Do you remember what it was?"

Ben considered a moment. "I asked...no...we asked her 'if you kill someone in a dream..."

"'That they die in their sleep?'" Ren interrupted. "Let me ask you a variation on that question: if you kill part of yourself in a dream, do you suppose you will live to wake up?"

Ben waited. He felt wonderfully calm and collected.

"No answer?"

Ben shrugged. Ren would tell him the answer. Ben could see that his doppelganger was practically itching to do so.

"The damage you do here is reflected in the real world, if only on the mind. So you may well destroy the darkness you carry..."

"I could live with that." Ben interjected.

"...but it would also fracture your mind. If it didn't actually kill you, you would certainly wish it had. " Ren continued. "It would be a pity, to let all that power, all that talent that you possess go to waste, don't you think, on a mindless lump of flesh?" the other unclipped the familiar cross-guard light sabre from his belt. "Not that I wouldn't grant you that wish, since you would be of little use to me, or anyone else for that matter."

Ben's eyes narrowed. "I wonder what it would do to Snoke?" He mused aloud.

The other laughed. "I'm just a visitor here, like the girl. I would wake up with a nasty headache and a strong desire to kill you."