The Balance Between Us - A Reylo

Chapter 18

Rey

Pain. Excruciating and agonising pain. That's all I could feel in this state. I was trapped. Everything was black. I could see and hear voices but I wasn't conscious enough to understand what was going on. Wait, was I even conscious?

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I had the sensation of running and tingling in my legs. I could feel the warmth of the Jakku desert sun on my face. I smiled into it. I felt happy and peaceful here. But something didn't feel right: I turned around and saw darkness engulfed in a blood red glow. I could feel something else and turned back the way I was facing but Jakku was not there anymore. Instead light engulfed in a light blue hue - I was stood in between. This was the conflict, the Force, I thought to myself. I could see the energy in plants, the planets and myself the way Master Luke taught me but this, this was something else completely. I stood watching, feeling the conflict between the two. Suddenly, I saw two silhouettes in either side of the Force walk towards me, the area in between. The conflict started to fade and instead I felt a balance. The silhouettes looked and felt familiar to me: the one in darkness was tall and stood facing the one in the light holding an outstretched hand, the one in the light was shorter and felt pain and heartbreak. I watched as the space around me blured into grey and the silhouettes walked forward into it. Balance. Complete balance! Everything faded to a vacuum of black.

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Pain. The pain resurfaced and I was heavy again. I wanted to scream out. I was thrashing and crying with the pain but no one could hear me, no one could see me. I'd felt so many emotions in my lifetime enough to cause such pain but not a pain like this. This was physical and I felt fatigued. It was draining me mentally and I wanted to give up. I wanted to be free of this pain!

A new sensation cut through the pain and I was instantaneously soothed, the pain melting away. It felt like someone was holding my hand helping me, pulling me away from the agony.
"Don't leave me, Rey!" I heard the words clear as day for the first time in what felt like forever. And the voice. I recognised it. I won't Ben, I wanted to say to him. But the words didn't come. My consciousness didn't come. My body had shut itself down and I was left in this turmoil to fight for myself. The only true battle I would ever know and I had to face it alone. You're not alone. I think to myself. He said those words to me. Ben was here, I was not alone. But I was trapped in my subconscious in pain and agony. I must fight!

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Time had withered away to nothing in this state. The pain was still there but it was so much less. I was walking on Lothal. I looked down into a small stream and saw myself. I appeared pale, very pale but I was not dressed the way I thought I would be. I had a long flowing dress on. It was white with flecks of grey smudging it and I had off-white wraps on my arms, my hair was loose and blowing in the wind. My lightsaber was at my feet on the ground. Strange, I think to myself, I don't remember leaving it there. I go to pick it up when it flies away from me.
"You don't need it anymore." I turned around and frowned. Ben was dressed in his usual black attire but there's something different about it. Something light about it. He walked over to me.

"But I might. The First Order could find us." I argued.

"The First Order is gone. No one will harm us. I will protect you." He said calmly.

"I can handle myself." I retorted. His demeanour changed and his eyes hardened.

"Then why didn't you see the trooper." My face dropped and a sharp pain returned to my side. I looked at my reflection again and the dress was now stained with blood. My blood. I fell to my knees and I couldn't handle the agony I was in. Everything goes black!