Chapter 67.

Ladies and gentlemen, the finale of 'Steady On'.

( X )

Numb, and out of breath.

That's all she felt.

She'd never known this kind of heartbreak existed... She had never known she could feel this much, other than the love she held for him...

( X )

Deep within the galaxy, darkness grew, powered by a single, broken heart. Growing, and growing, and growing...

( X )

She didn't know how much time had passed, and she wasn't concerned enough to think about it.

It all had felt so unreal, like she wasn't actually here, wasn't actually experiencing this loss.

By now, she sat in a dark, cold room, only a foot away from Ben's body that now rested on top of a long table, placed in the middle of the room.

The dust and the dirt in the air seemed frozen its place, as if trying to avoid the dark bubble that surrounded Rey.

She felt it all, she felt the darkness entangling within her, soaking her skin and poisoning her blood, and it dawned on her, that this was the dark side, the power and hatred she was being drowned in. Others, she knew, would have ran from it, and for a long time, she did too... but here she sat, finding comfort in it as it distracted her from her pain...

A sudden knock on the door tore her away from the dark she began to delve into, and for a moment, Rey took it as a sign to not go down that path... But the positivity vanished as her eyes sadly went back to Ben's frozen face, tears brimming her swollen, red eyes.

"Hey," Poe said softly to her, standing in the doorway. He watched his friend while she remained mute and still, not taking any chances to look at him, still waiting for a miracle with Ben Solo.

He inhaled slowly, and gulped down everything he was feeling; Confusion, sorrow, disappointment. He wasn't sure which he felt more at this point.

Silence set between them for a long moment, as he shuffled his feet, he wasn't sure what to say.

After a while, he cleared his throat and moved to go sit next to Rey on the broken, stone bench, nudging her shoulder softly.

"The rest of the First Order surrendered, Rey. You did it... You both did it..." He said in a low whisper.

He didn't get any response, and he wasn't really expecting one in the state she was in, so he continued. "We sent a team out to investigate the wreckage... Ended up finding a bunch of those crates with the weapons you experienced on Naboo...None of them were used... Leia suspects Hux wasn't aware of that..."

To his side, Rey remained silent, though she listened distantly, and his statement made her wonder.

Had Hux's troopers sabotaged him? Had they given up the fight long before they were set to end the war? In the end, she guessed they realized it was either kill, or be killed.

She wasn't sure, but she wished she would have known...

Again, she felt the darkness take over...

She would have known, if she was a better Jedi... If the force was actually on her side...

"Rey...I..." Poe struggled, trying to find the words, trying to sort out what it was he was feeling. "I didn't know... I can't understand it, really... Why you chose him,"

As Poe spoke, Rey continued studying Ben's face, as if she was waiting for the moment his long, dark lashes would open, and he'd turn his head and find her, as he always did, and would hold here in her place with his gaze alone.

She so desperately ached for it.

Not wanting to sob in front of Poe again, she turned her head, letting silent tears roll down her cheeks.

Rey never expected anyone to understand their relationship. It was complex, the two of them. It was divine, and raw, something more than words and deeper than love.

"Either way... I'm... I'm sorry, Rey... I'm sorry you lost someone that..." He forced a sigh. "That you cared for."

In a way, Rey understood why Poe struggled to get the words out.

But she couldn't bring herself to care, or to fight, or even thank him.

Eventually, Poe excused himself to go check on the others, and still, Rey didn't say a word, keeping quiet as hot, angry tears continued to fall.

She felt it then, as she began to hate the people that brought them here, began to curse them with vile words and a venomous tone.

She felt that black, cold hand brush over her, the hand that guided all dark things and energized that evil power. She felt it in her fingertips, could feel it color her eyes as she sat in the room that held the only thing that mattered now.

With the company of the dark side, she wept.

( X )

Pure anger was something Rey had encountered before.

But never, ever had it carried the weight of a broken heart.

( X )

Her face was still a mess with dried tears and sweat, dirt filling the creases and pores of her face as she sat there, willing the force to bend and break to her will.

Every time it refused, only fueled her anger more and more, until she could sense the walls trembling and the small particles of dust in the air avoid her with urgency.

Her hand lay on top of Ben's, stroking away and away, waiting for the motion to be returned... Waiting... Pleading...

Rey moved to bend forward, letting her forehead softly rest against the back of his hand as her eyes drifted close, and that's when she felt a hard jolt to her spine, as if she was provided an answer by a teacher that was losing their patience.

Her eyes opened then, slightly wide as her breathing grew ragged.

Her head turned slowly, casting a quick glance behind her, knowing there was not any one there, though she felt something cold and dark anyway...

Focusing back on Ben, she stood over him with her hand now cupping his cheek, feeling the presence around her.

The door began to open, and without a second thought, Rey's mind commanded it to shut tight as a small, fragile voice spoke up from the other side.

"Rey?" Leia called, concerned with tight emotion in her voice.

Again, her mind acted before she could think, and Rey's force locked the door just as her eyes closed again, feeling for Ben.

She'd been there before, in the space stuck between life and death, where the force resided and provided its peace.

No, she wasn't in danger, and she wasn't at risk of losing her life, nor was she already dead...

But she'd been there... She'd known that place...

And she was determined to find it again.

( X )

It wasn't sunny, nor dark here, but the skies were white and grey with light clouds surrounding the area as far as the eye could see, and the ground itself provided cushion with blades of grass.