Star Wars: Edge of Hope

Chapter Sixteen: The Ties That Bind Us...

Back at the Resistance headquarters, Rey was making her way through the Jedi texts she found safely hidden aboard the Falcon. She'd been looking through the volumes for answers, answers to the Force bond between her and Ben. Mostly she looked for Hope...Hope she would find for Ben to come back to her, but the well was beginning to run dry. Now only the ghosts were left hanging over her head haunting her. As she sat trying to focus in on the texts, and then the opposite book to decipher what the other book said, her head began to ache. Looking away from the book Rey rubbed at her eyes  tired eyes which were beginning to blur under the mounting pressure in her temple. She tried harder to focus pushing the pain down,but the more she stared down at the words on the delicate pages the stronger the throbbing became. It wasn't until Rey saw three drops of blood hit the page in succession that her hands flew up to her face. When she pulled it back down the bright crimson coating her calloused finger tips was red.  She hadn't felt that kind of shift in a long time, but she knew it was only the beginning. Over the past four years, the headaches and nosebleeds...the loss of control and the call to the otherside of the Force, she knew it was Ben. But as comforting it was to have a confirmation the thread hadn't broken yet she knew this wasn't natural. The Force could give life, but it could also...take it. She'd witnessed it...it drew on the last drops of life left in its victims until there was nothing left but and empty shell for it to pour itself into. She could feel it looking for her, looking for a weak spot in her defenses, always probbing around waiting for the moment she would be weak enough to succumb. Rey hadn't heard Finn walk up behind her, he just stood quietly, and waited for Rey to realize he was there.

Finn: It's getting worse isn't it?

Rey closed the book, and turned to smile reassuringly at Finn. She knew there wasn't anything she could say to him to make his not worry. So instead of trying she just smiled and pretended she didn't know what he was talking about. Which in most cases with Finn only led to more questions.

Rey: It's fine. I'm fine. Really, Finn it's just a nose bleed...I probably slept wrong earlier.

Finn: I may not be a Jedi, but I can tell when you're trying to hide something, Rey. You have a horrible sabacc face. So unless you punched yourself in the nose or fell on your face, both of which are highly unlikely in my opinion. Something's going on with you, tell me...You know you can always tell me anything...I mean, after the Merkur incident you should know I'm good with secrets.

Finn had made some choices after the battle on Crait. Rose's words had hit close to home for him. Watching over Rose after she got injured he felt he owed something more than to man a post or aim a weapon. Weeks after Crait Finn had begun to have nightmares, old memories coming back to the surface and old voices haunting him from the dark. The blood hand of his friend as he lay dying, and there was nothing for him to do. He remembered the smell of the burnt plate armor, he remembered the way this voice sounded through their communicator. He remembered the smell of the blood as his hand swiped down the front of his visor. The sounds, smells, even the faces of the people from the village as Phasma ordered them to fire, but it wasn't her order that made Finn concerned when it came to his friend. When it came to Rey...Finn had known there was more than what she'd told them all about her escape from the command ship. But he didn't want to make Rey lie anymore or keep anymore secrets than she had too. Becoming apart of the Resistance meant having to learn a completely new set of skills if you wanted to survive. And one of those lesson was that sometimes the person you are, can't be the person you share with everyone, it was a hard truth. But a necessary one if you wanted to survive.

"That's how we're gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love."

Having lived as a soldier, been conditioned to the necessary numbness one had to accure to stay focused and maintain discipline, and to disregard feelings. Stormtroopers had a short life expectance, so feelings or connections were pointless, almost as pointless as they were for a Jedi. Finn Didn't want to be a robot or just another mask for the First Order to terrorize the galaxy. He wanted to be something more, something human...something they never would have let him become. So when the time presented itself for a new story to be written, Finn had made FN-2187 a thing of the past. Finn was more than a number, more than a pair of legs and hands, he was more than they'd ever considered possible of a soldier. So after Crait, Finn made the decision to take his skills away from the battlefield, and become a Medic. He wanted to spend the time he had saving what he loved rather than fighting what he hated. After all he was well aware of the abundance of hate there was still left in the world. Finn looked at his friend and new there would be a choice she'd have to make too...He only hoped the choice would cost her more than it would award her. Just like himself, Finn believed that Rey had earned a life of her own, and a life of peace...

Rey: It's nothing to worry about, Finn. If it was I'd tell you...

She stood up from the chair and moved to toss the books back on her desk, but her hands felt numb and the weight of the texts was too difficult to grasp.

Finn: Rey...You're bleeding...

Rey's hand flew instintively to her face. She turned away from Finn before another wave could fall on her. She reaches out for the makeshift desk in front of her. Finn rushed to catch her before her legs gave out and she fell into the stiff corner of the desk. Finn settles Rey onto the floor, she takes in big gulps of air like she can't breathe, her eyes fog over and go white as milk, blood begins trickling down her nose, it oozes from the crease of her right ear.

Finn: Rey? Rey? What's...

Leia enters quickly going to Rey's side. She took Reys hand and held her face steady as her head had begun to wobble as if she'd been stricken blind.

Leia: Rey? Rey...What do you see?

Rey: I see you...

Ben Solo was on his knees looking off in the distance past Dark Rey pacing around him, standing over him, looking down on him like a caged animal delighted in the pointless struggle of its prey.

Ben Solo: I see you, Rey.

Rey: Ben...

Tears began pushing their cubby thick bodies over the edge of her milk white eyes. They began streaming down her face becoming mingled with her blood...one pain and the other sorrow. Both unequeally mixed...

Ben Solo/Rey: I feel it too. Don't be afraid..

Ben: Rey...Stay Away...Rey...rey...stay...

Leia: Rey...Come on now, Rey, you stay with me! You're not going anywhere...come on...REY!