after palpatine takes their power and throws ben off the cliff

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The world seemed dark.

Every ounce of strength she had was depleted. Every breath was hollow.

Rey laid there, barely holding on. She had lost all sense of where she was, why she was there. A sharp pain had spliced through her body not a minute before, she knew that much. Her very essence felt withered and dying, yet there was something else to the pain.

There was an emptiness in her heart. Like it had been drained of all belonging. Of all that she had fought so long to have.

Rey's eyes were glossy, light catching on her tears as she watched the Resistance crumble before her. The force lightning sparked through the sky above, illuminating it with an ethereal glow that contrasted blue against the raining fire. She laid there, a feeling of learned helplessness pooling in her mind.

The world fell quiet for a moment.

The explosions in the nightmare sky dimmed to a slight rumble. They were somewhere far away, in another time and space. The canon fire was now a steady hum. Even the crackle of lightning beside her was reduced to that of a whisper in the wind.

Gathering the last of her strength, Rey breathed the words, "Be with me."

She repeated it again and again, letting her mind lean on the Force to bring her peace. She didn't know how long she had, but in a moment she would be gone. Rey could feel the balance beyond, the soft in between of the Light and the Dark. She sensed them waiting for her, ghosts of the past she longed to reside with in the Force.

"Be with me," she whispered, praying they would take her. Take her home. "Be with me."

An echo of a familiar voice came to her, "These are your final steps, Rey. Rise and take them."

Her chest tightened at the words of the old master. Yet her heart remembered to beat when a host of voices grew, each and every one of the jedi, calling to her.

"Rey," murmured the chosen one. "Bring back the balance, Rey. As I did."

The planet was minuscule. She could feel the stars.

"Alone, never have you been."

She could smell the rain from that night, feel the heat of the fire and his hand.

"Every jedi who ever lived, lives in you now."

The gravel beneath her began to have form. It was cool between her fingers.

"The Force surrounds you, Rey."

She was in a forest, snow transfixed in the air. She remembered what had awakened that night.

"Let it guide you, as it guided us."

Her eyes now saw the sky. Large streaks of white and blue speared through fighters and ships, leaving a cascade of fire in its wake.

"Feel the Force flowing through you, Rey. Let it lift you."

She was back in the transport shaft, standing beside him. Looking into the eyes of a boy that couldn't see past the pain. She wanted to help him.

"We stand behind you, Rey."

As the words kept coming, she could feel her life force swelling with power. Her body yearned to survive.

"Rise," insisted the voices in unison. The masters of the past were filling her with strength.

In the throne room, the air shuddered with heat and power. Yet there was a fragility within it all: an outstretched hand and a whispered plea.

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