Searching For You

Chapter 33: Gray

Ben's POV:

I marched into the Gray Jedi Temple, letting the force guide me through the Temple itself. The Temple was so run down, there were moss and mold caked on almost every surface and what appeared to be large scratchers on the walls. I'm surprised there were any stable areas left. What intrigued me though were the shapes of everyday objects that were still laid about everywhere covered in the thick blackish goo as if the people who used to be here were left in a hurry. I somehow found myself in the middle of the Temple, carpet laid all over the floor and natural lighting flooded the room from the glass ceiling, Words were written all over the walls in the ancient language of the Jedi. I started to grow in frustration, I had more important things to do then explore these ruins. I followed the force's guidance because I knew that what Rey would have done but I felt I was nowhere closer to coming up with a secure plan to rescue her then I was earlier that day, I needed guidance now more than ever. Rey was the one that normally was my guide to what was right, but with her gone, I'm quickly sliding back into old habits. I sat done in the middle of the room and I spoke aloud the words that were written on the walls.

"Flowing through all, there is balance

There is no peace without a passion to create

There is no passion without peace to guide

Knowledge fades without the strength to act

Power blinds without the serenity to see

There is freedom in life

There is purpose in death

The Force is all things and I am the Force"

I focus on the words as I begin to meditate wondering if this was the reason why the force guided me here. The force showed me a vision of the past.

My grandfather had come to the temple many years ago, not long after order 66. The Gray Jedi were at peace in their own little corner of the galaxy but they knew that the day of Darth Vader's arrival was to come and knew how it was going to end before it even began, they stood strong together knowing their time had come. When Vader asked them to turn on their ways and join him in the Darkside, their hearts couldn't help but break for the broken man in front of them. A bell rang in the distance and they kneeled before my grandfather. Vader thought he succeeded in his mission but only for a brief moment until he realized it couldn't be that easy. The Gray Jedi began to chant the words on the walls over and over again. The words angered Vader and he knew this was their refusal to join him and his master on the Darkside. Fully angered by their actions he killed everyone that recited in the Temple, he made quick work of them since they refused to fight back, it was like younglings play. Little did Vader know that this was a distraction, to give a young boy no older than six the time he needed to escape. The boy found his way to Maz and gave her their sacred safekeeping, in hopes that one day the Gray Jadi order may return to bring balance to force once again. He was about to leave and journey towards Ach-To when my grandfather had found him. He offered him a chance to be his apprentice, to join the Darkside and to have a new family in his own master Darth Sidious and The Empire. The boy smiled up at him, he felt sorry for the man who stood in front of him, mourning the loss of Anakin Skywalker. He pulled a small bell from his pocket and rang it and he sat down in a meditated stance and began to chant the ancient words just like the rest of his friends and masters and had before their deaths. Angered by the boy's refusal my grandfather killed him, ending the Gray Jebi order in the galaxy.

I had visions of the future. I saw Rey and I standing at an altar, the Temple had been restored to its former glory. Then the scene changes to one of many children running around playing, their cheerful laughs filling the air as Rey and I watched them. Then another scene of Rey and I teaching them the ways of the Gray Jedi. Then the final scene was of Rey as she sang softly to the three little babies in an attempt to get them to sleep.

The visions had helped me understand what had happened here but they brought so much hope which I was so thankful for. The balance inside of myself had been restored and I could focus on the task at hand.

I got up and began to march towards the Falcon to get it ready for lift-off. Rose spotted me from a distance and quickly ran up behind me. "Wait. If you are planning on doing what I think you are going to do then take my ship. They are expecting mine to return anyways. If you take yours you won't even be able to get your boots on the ground." She explains. I turn away from the Falcon and follow her to her ship knowing she's right. Behind her ship on the wall is an ancient text from earlier yet again.

Rose spotted the writing and asked what it was. "It's the Gray Jedi code. The Gray Jedi are the ones that bring and maintain balance in the force." I explain as I climb into her X-Wing. "The force chose me and Rey to be Gray Jedi, to enforce and keep the balance now that the war is over. Rey doesn't know this herself because I was going to explain it to her when we got here." I continued. "So what's the plan?" Rose asks. "You ask a lot of questions," I say, closing the hatch and taking off towards the Resistance base.

Rey's POV:

"Oh my dear, oh how you always look so ravishing in black." My husband says pull me close to him and run his fingers through my hair. "Oh, Seth, stop it, you're making me blush. I must focus on my training if I am ever going to get revenge for our child." I say while lightly biting my lower lip, I have been wanting to ask him a question. "Dear." "Yes, my love?" He asks as he plants kisses down my neck. "I have been having these strange feelings of being in a dream-like state. I don't like it," I hiss. "It's just your body getting used to the new medication the doctor has given you to help you heal faster, my love. Which reminds me it is time for your next dose."He explains. I tilt my head to the side and allow him to place the injection near the base of my neck. "Let me help you get to bed, you know how this medication makes you drowsy." He lifts me up bridal style, I wrap my arms around his neck and lay my head on his chest, my limbs begin to ache with exhaustion as he carries me till we finally make it to our room. He gently lays me down on our bed and kisses me once more. I can't get past the feeling that something is still wrong. I love this man but at the same time physically I do not feel the same spark I used to.