Star Wars: Edge of Hope

Chapter Twenty One: Whether By A String...

"I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it."

He knew the choices. He knew the pain it would bring him. And those he loved. But he also knew what waited for him, what he would lose if he didn't see it through...to the very end. He had never felt more alone as he did without her next to him. The world he had made for himself was moving and alive all around him...

"Will you help me?"

And through it all her words came back to bring him hope. Ben looked out the energy shield into the darkness of the void sky...where no stars lived...And no Light could shine. But he could look past the dark. He closed his eyes and reached out for the memory that brought him solace in this dark place. He focused in on her face, on the way her eyes looked without fear right back into his, and the way her hand wanted to reach out for his. He could feel her breath on his face, he couldn't look anywhere but here lips...he could feel her soul reaching out to his. That moment had lasted long, and faded just a fast...but ever so often when he looked back into the past. It was the memory he held tighter to than any other, her memory was the one he wanted to make last, never releasing the way they shined against the will of the world regardless.

Rey: Ben...I'll help you...

Beneath it he could tell what she was trying to say without using the words. He knew all about saying things which seemed impossibly trivial, but held a secret meaning between two people. He'd seen it between his parents his entire life...and looking at her face it was so clear.

Rey: Ben...I love you...

Ben Solo: I know...

There were worlds and words separating them, but in that crystalized moment there was no space between his heart and hers. They were One then...
Ben didn't know what to do...but he hoped he wouldn't be too late this time.
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Maz focused her eyes on the lightsaber, fully aware of the history tied to it, the good...the bad...and the heart breaking. So much pain..but also so much promise, Maz only hoped Rey would find her path, and not be drawn into the shadows of the past. Objects carry their own memories, the heartbeat of times when they became tied to more spirit than physical, and they held onto those images, freezing them in time until they were called on again. Maz could sense this sabers spirit was rising back to the surface. When it had called to Rey the first time, Maz knew there was something special about that child, but she had no idea it would bring her to this moment so soon. She was glad Leia had found her, more so than with Luke...Rey seemed to fill a void in Leia and she seemed to do the same for Rey. Luke had held onto his regrets for so long that he had feared to build bridges only to have to tear them down later. The saber's voice was older though...it was sending off vibrations Maz could feel emitinating from deep within its core. The crystald still burned as brightly as if it had never left his hand. The saber of Skywalker was waking up and it was calling again, but this time...it wasn't calling for Rey. The Force had chosen Rey and brought her to Ben Solo, together they made each other whole, body, mind, and soul. The Force had deemed it to be so...the words of a long forgotten Prophecy foretold the One to bring Balance back to the Force. They had thought it would be Anakin...But things don't always travel in straight lines, as Maz had seen over her many years, and perhaps now the time had come for the heir to the Skywalker saber to come back home.

Maz Kanata: It's ready to serve again. Are you sure about this, Leia? If what your brother has told you is true...sending her to face this test may not be wise. It could put her in the path of the Darkside, and with the Force in chaos, she might be drawn into a trap. One from which there maynot be any return from..