From within the Cosmic Force
Chapter 2:
From within The Cosmic Force, Ben Solo was watching. It was about all he could do at that moment. He wished he could be closer to Rey, but he couldn't. He was dead. Nothing could change this fact.
He remembered how he used to be. He used to be torn between the light and the dark. He thought he could only be one or the other. He was in constant conflict with himself.
He had thought that by killing his father, he could bring an end to his pain. But that only made it worse. He had lost all hope of bring an end to the conflict within him.
And then she had come.
He still did not know how, but somehow a mere scavenger girl had come into his life and changed it forever. While at first she hated him, both had learned to care for each other. She brought out the light in him.
He had tried so many times to turn her to his side. And yet, after all that he had done to her, she had shone him mercy. She had healed his wounds. And when she had healed him, he felt as if this was what began to push him further into the light.
The vision he had of his father only further cemented his change.
He had ended up turning to her side. But it ended up being too late.
He could still remember seeing her lifeless body. He could still remember feeling her life fading away. In desperation, he had put all of the life energy he had had left into her. This had resulted in him dying instead.
At the time, he had not regretted it. He had managed to save Rey, and that was all that mattered. But now... He wished he could be with her, hold her, speak to her. In re realm of The Cosmic Force, he never left her side. However, both were still so alone.
Then he had sensed it. A new life form, growing inside of Rey. He could see it through The Force, a child. Their child. His child.
He was both full of joy and sadness. He was joyed that a part of him was still with Rey, and that she would not be alone. But then, he was sad because he could not be with them.
Over the coming months, Ben watched as the child grew inside of Rey. He, for he new it was a he, was powerful. Ben could see The Force flowing through him.
Ben was there every second of Rey's labor. He smiled with her as their child was born. His heart ached when he saw how strongly the child resembled him. Ben had no idea where Rey had found the name Harry, but he was not about to argue what she decided to name their child. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't.
Then the vision came.
Ben new that Rey had received the exact same vision. He could see it in her eyes.
In this vision, he was able to speak to her, even if for only a few seconds. He had reached for her, as he had done so many times.
"Your not alone." He had said, hoping that she had understood what he had said. He wanted to tell her that he was always with her. But he couldn't. He had only had a few seconds.
His breath had court when she had taken his hand. For that one second, he could feel her as strongly as he had when he was alive.
He did not know what the vision had meant, and had puzzled through it with her for months.
Then, he had a visitor.
"Ben."
He turned around to see his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, standing only a few feet away from him.
"Grandfather." He greeted.
"Ben, you need to listen to me." Anakin continued. "The vision you had Rey received a few months ago through The Force, if it is not fulfilled then the entire balance of The Force may be in danger."
"What did it mean?" Ben asked.
"In the far outer-rim," Anakin began. "There is a system which has a large population of Force users. On this system, The Force is very potent. However, the Force users of this system have learnt to rely on conducts which they call wands to channel The Force through."
Ben furrowed his eyebrows.
"How is this important?"
"Right now, there are two strong Force users engaged in a terrible conflict. One his deeply in the dark, and one is deeply in the light. If either one is victorious, then the balance will be destroyed."
"What can Rey and I do?" Ben asked. "I am dead, and I highly doubt she would be willing to join another conflict with a child."
Anakin frowned.
"That is where it gets complicated."
He looked at Ben seriously.
"Long ago, the old Jedi believed that I was prophesied to bring balance to The Force. However, it is actually the duty of the Skywalker bloodline to protect the balance."
Ben frowned.
"But there is no one left alive who is of the Skywalker bloodline. Unless... You don't mean...?"
Anakin nodded.
"But, Harry can't. He is a child."
"But he will grow." Anakin replied. "When he is older, he is destined to defeat both of these Force users. However, he will not do this alone. He will have both you and Rey."
Ben frowned.
"How?"
Anakin shook his head.
"I cannot tell you yet."
Ben took a deep breath.
"What must I do?"
Anakin's expression became uncomfortable.
"You must be there for your son, for both you and Rey."
Ben frowned.
"How am I supposed to do that? I what do you mean, for my myself and Rey?"
Anakin sighed.
"In order for the vision to be fulfilled, Rey must leave Harry with a Force user family of this system."
Ben shook his head.
"She will never do this."
"She will if she must." Anakin replied. "And as for you, while you cannot be with Harry physically, you can still communicate with him through The Force."
"How?" Ben asked.
"Just let The Force guide you Ben."
And with that, Anakin Skywalker faded back into The Cosmic Force.
While Rey tried to find this system, Ben concentrated within The Force. He needed to do this so that he was able to communicate with those he left behind.
He watched as Rey found the system. He watched as she landed the Falcon and used The Force to guide her to where she had to leave their son.
He watched as she, with much hesitation, placed the child onto a doorstep and knocked on the door until she could sense someone coming. He watched as she ran back to the Falcon and left the atmosphere. Ben listened as she spoke to herself.
"Do not worry Harry," She muttered. "You're not alone."
He listened as she said the words he had said to her. He could sense that she now felt just as alone as she felt after she had went into that cave. And so, listening more to his feels than anything else, he said the words she had said to him.
"Neither are you."
He saw Rey jerk, as if she had heard him. Ben hoped she did.
Over the next year or so, Ben watched as the young couple, whom he learnt were named James and Lily Potter, cared for Harry as if he were their own. He filled him with joy to see that his son was loved and cared for, as he rightly deserved. Even if there was a war happening in their world, they still remained kind and happy with the young child.
Then, the family was forced into hiding.
They were told by an old man that a seer had predicted the end of the dark Force user they were fighting, or as they called him, the dark wizard Voldemort. More importantly, that it would come at the hands of young Harry. So this Voldemort was most likely going to target the Potters.
Ben new that this old man, whom he learnt was called Dumbledore, was the light Force user from the vision. He also new that Voldemort was the dark Force user. So he was concerned when the people who The Force had intended to be Harry's guardians had to go into hiding at the instruction of one because the other would try to kill them.
With an ever increasing sense of dread, he watched and waited. That was all he could do. Watch and wait until Voldemort inevitable came for the Potters, and his son.
And so, almost a year after Rey had left Harry on the Potter's doorstep, Voldemort attacked.
Ben could only watch as the man who for the past year had fulfilled the role that he himself could not, as Harry's father, thought bravely against the dark wizard.
Ben noticed that, in the man's haste, he had forgotten to pick up his wand. Channeling his energy through The Cosmic Force into the material world, Ben assisted by lifting the wand and practically throwing it into James's hand. At first, the man was surprised. However, he quickly recovered in the face of danger. The man thought bravely. But it was not enough. Voldemort was too powerful.
Voldemort channeled The Force and released a beam of energy intended to kill. Ben's heart ached as he sensed James Potter become one with The Force. And yet again, Harry had lost a father in his short life.
With mounting fear he watched as Voldemort climbed the stairs to where Lily had taken Harry. Ben new that he could not do much else. He had been stretching his limits when he had given James his wand, and he could sense that soon, he would need all the energy he could get.
He watched as Voldemort blasted through the nursery door. Now there was nothing standing between the red-haired woman and the Dark Force user.
Ben could not help but be grateful when he saw how Lily begged Voldemort, not for her own life, but for Harry's. She would die for a child that wasn't even her own, and for that, Ben Solo would be forever grateful. So it was with great sorrow that he watched her body fall to the floor and sense her spirit become one with The Force.
Voldemort then turned his eyes on Harry.
Ben new he had to do something. He would not let his child die. He would not let James and Lily's sacrifice be in vain. He had to do something, anything. For the Potters. For Rey. For his son.
So, when Voldemort yet again cast the sickly green killing curse, Ben channeled all of The Force energy he could muster into protecting Harry. The spell was powerful, but he was still of the Skywalker bloodline. The Force flowed strong in his family.
However, it was not enough. He was still beginning how to learn to channel his energy from The Cosmic Force into the Material realm. No matter how powerful he was, it was still not enough to deflect such a powerful curse.
Then, he could sense others joining him.
He turned to see his mother, standing behind him. She smiled at him and he smiled back. He then saw Luke Skywalker appear beside her. Then Anakin straight after him.
All of the past members of the Skywalker bloodline were now joining together to protect Harry. With the hour of them together, a shield of pure Force energy appeared between the child and the dark Force user. The green curse rebounded and hit Voldemort. The dark Force user crumbled to dust. A shade appeared, dark, twisted, corrupted. Suddenly, a small fragment of the fade broke off from the whole. Before any of the present Skywalkers could stop it, the fragment absorbed itself into Harry. Ben went to try and remove the corrupted soul fragment from his son, but he was stopped by his mother.
"No Ben." She said. "This had to happen."
"But..." Ben began.
"Do not worry." His mother said comfortingly. "All will be clear in time."
In resignation, Ben watched as the dark shade escaped into the night.
Ben watched as at first, a man whom was a friend of the Potters found Harry. Then, a giant of a man arrived. The man who Ben remembered was called Sirius gave Harry to the Giant, and said that he could use his flying Motorbike.
Ben watched as the giant flew his son all the way to where there were a gathering of houses. Each of these houses looked practically identical.
Ben then saw that the giant was meeting with Dumbledore and a middle aged woman whom gave Ben the impression of something feline. With trepidation, he watched as Dumbledore placed Harry on a doorstep, with nothing put a blanket to keep him warm and a note to explain the situation. He did not even nock on the door to draw anyone's attention.
As they left, Ben could only stand by his son and try to use whatever energy he had left to preserve the heat around his son to protect the small child from the cold. He could sense that he would need more practice in communicating with those who were still living, as he could sense that the people whom his son had been left with were not as kind as the Potters.
It did not take long for Ben to realise that this was a great understatement.
Harry was excited. He was very rarely excited, because he very rarely had reason to be excited. But today, he had a reason to. For today, he was beginning school.
His Aunt and Uncle had told him that if he didn't go, then the neighbours would get suspicious. And there was nothing that the Dursleys cared more about than their reputation.
Harry was not complaining. He was finally going to be allowed to leave the house. Who knows, maybe he will make a new friend.
Uncle Vernon drove both him and Dudley to school. He had taken the day off work, just to take Dudley to school for the first time.
Harry looked out the window in wonder. He had never seen so many people. There were so many adults and children alike. Harry could not wait to meet them all.
Both they entered the school, Uncle Vernon said his goodbyes.
"Go and have fun now." He said to Dudley. Then he turned to Harry. "And you, don't you dare do anything freakish, or you will be in your cupboard without food for a week."
"Yes Uncle Vernon." Harry replied.
Harry looked around at all of the other kids in the classroom. There were around twenty kids, and they were all hyper actively running around. Then, the teacher came and called the class to order.
"Hello children," She said. "My name is Miss Bennet. Now, I am going to call your name and when I do, I want you to take a seat quietly."
And so she began to call out names. Everything seemed to be going well, until she came to Harry's name.
"Harry Potter?"
"Yes miss Bennet." He said, trying to find a seat as far away from Dudley as possible.
"That's not his name!" Dudley said suddenly, snickering. "His name is Freak."
The rest of the class laughed, but Miss Bennet frowned.
"That is not a nice thing to say Dudley." She said patiently.
"But Mum and Dad call him that all the time." Dudley retorted.
Miss Bennet's thrown deepened.
"Well, I will not tolerate such behaviour in my class."
Harry had to hold back his laugh. This was probably the first time Dudley had heard any word that was related to the word "no".
Harry decided that he liked Miss Bennet. She was nice and didn't get angry when one of the kids made a mistake, not even Harry.
At recess, Harry immediately went to one of the swings at the playground. His Aunt and Uncle hadn't given him any food, so he had nothing to eat with the rest of the kids.
As most of the kids were still eating, the playground was somewhat quiet. Harry liked the quiet. It gave him time to think. He did not know why, but he always felt calmer when it was quiet.
He was thinking, gently swinging himself back and forth, when a voice broke him from his thoughts.
"Hello Harry."
He looked up.
"Hello, Miss Bennet." He said shyly.
Miss Bennet smiled and knelt so she was at his level.
"What are you doing out hear? Don't you have any food?"
Harry averted his eyes.
"I wasn't hungry." He muttered.
He could see Miss Bennet thrown out of the corner of his eye.
"Did your parents give in any food?"
Harry shook his head.
"They're dead."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Miss Bennet replied.
Harry shrugged.
"It's okay, I was only a baby. But my Aunt and Uncle say they were drunks who died in a car crash."
"What?"
He looked up to see that Miss Bennet had a shocked expression on her face.
"What? Did I say a bad word? Is drunks a bad word? What does it mean Miss?"
"No, no, you did nothing wrong Harry." Miss Bennet said, a fake smile on her face.
Harry could tell that she was lying, because there was something telling him that she was still shocked. But she was also beginning to seem angry. Harry was very familiar with the feeling of anger, as Uncle Vernon got angry a lot. And he always took his anger out on Harry.
Harry did not know how, but he could always sense what people were feeling. He supposed it had something to do with his "Freakiness", as his relatives would put it.
A few minutes later, after Miss Bennet had left, harry was broken out of his thoughts again by Dudley.
"Hey, Freak!" He said, a gang of other boys around him. "Get off the swing!"
"But I'm still using it."
"I said, get off!" Dudley said, before walking up to harry and pushing him off.
Harry landed hard on the ground. The other boys laughed. Harry quickly got up so that he didn't get kicked by Dudley. He managed to get a few metres away before he coughed up dirt.
"Excuse me, boys."
Harry, dudley, and Dudleys friends turned to see a teacher walking to them. Harry could both see and sense that he was not happy. Harry shrunk into himself, afraid that the teacher was angry with him. But instead, his angry gaze turned towards Dudley.
"What do you think you are doing?" He said sternly. Dudley was unfazed.
"I'm playing." He replied.
"Why did you push him off of the swing?" The teacher asked.
Dudley merely shrugged.
"I wanted to go on the swing, and he wouldn't get off when I told him to."
"Did you ask him?"
"No," Dudley replied. "Dad says we don't ask Freaks for anything."
The teacher's expression only darkened.
"You shouldn't call people names."
"But Mum and Dad call him that all the time." Dudley argued, looking a! the teacher as if he were stupid. "Honestly, your as dumb as my teacher."
"Well, I will be having a few words with your parents."
"Please don't!" Harry begged. "It's my fault. I didn't get off the swing..."
The teacher only smiled at him reassuringly and took his hand.
"Don't worry, everything will be okay. I will take you to the nurse's office, and then have a word with your parents..."
"My parents are dead." Harry interrupted. "I live with my Aunt and Uncle."
"Oh." The teacher replied, beginning to walk with Harry to the Nurse's office.
"So that boy is..."
"My cousin." Harry replied.
The teacher frowned.
"Does he treat you like this often?"
"All the time." Harry replied. "Don't worry, I'm used to it."
The teacher's thrown deepened.
"What's your name?"
"Harry sir."
"Well Harry," He said. "Who is your teacher?"
"Miss Bennet sir."
"Thank you." The teacher replied. "Do not worry. We'll get you fixed up, and then Miss Bennet and I will call your Aunt and Uncle and have a word with them."
"Please don't." Harry begged. "You'll only make things worse."
The teacher frowned.
"Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
Harry ended up only having a few scraps and scratches, mostly on his face. The nurse still cleaned the dirt from him. His knee was scraped, so the nurse put a band-aid on it.
At lunch, he was called to the Principal's office. He didn't have any lunch, so he was alright with going straight after the bell.
Even from down the corridor, Harry could hear his Uncle yelling.
"What do you mean, Dudley has been behaving badly! It's the boy who's trouble!"
Harry took a deep breath. Nervously, he walked to the office door and knocked before entering.
In the office, Harry could see the Principal, Miss Bennet, and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. Uncle Vernon was a brilliant shade of purple, and Aunt Petunia had a scowl on her face. Miss Bennet was glaring at Uncle Vernon. The Principal sat behind his desk patiently, but Harry could sense he was getting annoyed.
"What I am saying, Mr Dursley." The Principal said patiently. "Is that your son has been bullying other students, most specifically one student. I cannot tell you how disgusted I was to learn that he was his own cousin."
Miss Bennet quietly got up from her chair and walked over to Harry.
"It's okay Harry." She said. "Everything is going to be okay."
Harry had a hard time believing her.
"My son is a little angel." Aunt Petunia snapped. "It is that boy," She said, gesturing towards Harry. "Who is the trouble maker."
"You are mistaken." Miss Bennet replied. "Harry is the best behaved child I have ever met. Whereas Dudley is one of the worst. I have received reports that, during recess, your so called "Little angel", pushed Harry off the swing after demanding the poor boy get off. Dudley didn't even ask nicely."
"He doesn't respond well to requests." Uncle Vernon retorted. "The boy needs to be forcefully told if you expect to get a reaction out of him."
Both Miss Bennet and the Principal frowned.
"I find that very hard to believe." Miss Bennet muttered. "And what about the name calling?"
"What do you mean?" Aunt Petunia asked.
Miss Bennet took a deep breath.
"When I was call role this morning, Dudley told me that in your household, Harry is referred to as Freak."
Both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon suddenly looked uncomfortable.
"Well... Umm..." Uncle Vernon stuttered. "He has obviously taken things out of context."
Miss Bennet raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really." She replied, a note of sarcasm in her voice.
At the end of the meeting, the Principal informed Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia that they would be in touch with child services, and that they should be expecting a visit from them within a week.
For the next week, the Dursleys were on edge. Harry did not know what child services was, but he new it absolutely scared his Aunt and Uncle.
Miss Bennet continued to be nice to Harry. She even organised a trip for the two of them to go on Saturday to somewhere called an optometrist, once she saw that he had trouble reading. She was nice enough to pay for his glasses.
However, this visit that the Principal promised never came.
When next Monday came, Harry's class had a new teacher. When he asked what had happened to Miss Bennet, the new teacher said that she had family issues, and had !o move away.
Harry was sad, as he had come to like Miss Bennet. This new teacher just ignored Dudley's bad behaviour. This was true for all of the teachers. When Dudley and his gang beat up any of the other kids on the playground, mostly Harry, none of the teachers came to stop it.
Harry felt sad. Dudley was constantly hunting him down in the school yard and beating him up. Aunt Petunia was now making him do more chores than ever, which meant he had no time to do his home besides the dead of the night. Harry was now expected to clean the house, tend to the garden, and cook for the Dursleys. At the moment, Aunt Petunia hovered behind him, making sure he didn't make any mistakes. But she said that once she was satisfied with his cooking ability, he would be on his own.
Harry curled up in his dark cupboard and cried.
Why did his Mummy and Daddy have to leave him? Why didn't anyone love him? Why did he have to be such a freak?
Harry could hear things rattling inside his cupboard, but he didn't care.
He felt sad. he felt cold. But most of all, he felt alone.
Suddenly, he could feel a strange warmth surrounding him.
Harry did not know why, but whenever he got really emotional, he thought he could sense another presence. This presence would surround him, comfort him, as if he were in someone's embrace.
Then, a new surprise came. This surprise came in the form of a voice in his ear.
"Your not alone."
Harry opened his eyes, startled. In the dark he looked around, searching for whomever the voice belonged to. The voice had sounded deep and masculine.
"Hello?" He said nervously. "Is anyway there?"
The warm presence surrounding him faded a little.
"You can hear me?" The voice asked. This time, it seemed as if the voice came from everywhere.
"Yeah." Harry replied. "Where are you?"
For a long time, the voice was silent.
"I'm hear." He finally said.
"Where's hear?" Harry asked.
"I'm hear, with you. As I have always been."
"Are you an angel?" Harry asked nervously.
The voice chuckled.
"Not exactly."
"Then what are you?" Harry asked.
Again, the voice was silent. Then, it replied.
"I suppose you would call me a ghost."
Harry looked around, trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of this mystery ghost.
"You don't feel like a ghost." Harry replied. "I don't feel scared of you at all."
"That is because I do not wish for you to be scared of me." The voice replied.
Harry squinted.
"So... What's your name?" Harry asked. "And what do you want?"
"All I want," The ghost said. "Is to make sure you don't feel alone."
"Do you know what happened to Miss Bennet?" Harry asked.
"There are powers, that you do not understand." The voice replied. "They caused Miss Bennet to leave."
"Is she dead?" Harry asked, tears prickling in his eyes.
"No, no." The voice said, the comforting warm presence strengthening around Harry.
"She has just been... Compelled to go away."
"You mean like magic?" Harry asked.
"Some would call it that." The voice replied.
"But Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon say that Magic's not real." Harry said.
"And do you believe them?" The voice asked.
Harry thought for a long time.
"No." He finally said.
"Do not worry, Miss Bennet is perfectly fine." The voice comforted.
Harry shuffled on the thin mattress he called a bed.
"You never told me what your name is." He said finally.
The voice was silent for a long time.
"Call me Ben." He finally said.
Harry yawned a laid down.
"Well, goodnight Ben." He said.
"Goodnight Harry." Ben replied.
"Ben?" Harry asked.
"Yes?"
"Will you stay with me?"
"I am always with you." Ben replied.
And so, with the comforting presence of Ben surrounding him, Harry fell asleep.