The Force of the Dyad

•Surrender•

Time was passing slowly, as Rey dragged through her ninth month of pregnancy. She felt heavy, languid, the opposite of her usual dexterous and agile self. She walked around day and night in shorts and a tank top, or else a comfortable sleeveless sleep shirt, despite the chilly outdoor weather. She always felt hot, and thirsty, but when she would drink anything, she would go rushing to the bathroom within five minutes. Basically, the last month was kriffing difficult.

Her emotions were getting harder and harder to control as well. Ben watched her now, mostly in brooding silence, following her from room to room, always ready to give her a helping hand, back rub, or whatever else she needed. His face was usually lined with worry, but when she would glance his way, that look dissolved as he quickly gave her a reassuring smile. Maz kept herself busy in the background, temporarily running the house and farm with C3PO. In this state of things, Rey's estimated due date came and went, with no clear of signs of the actual birth being any closer.

She would randomly feel a small, uncomfortable tightening in her abdomen, and she would grow excited, thinking labor would start soon. "Practice pains," Maz called them. But the mild contractions never grew in intensity or picked up a pattern, and after the third false alarm, she broke down in tears in Ben's arms.

"Why is this taking so long?" Rey wailed to Maz, who sat there patiently at their side, a sympathetic look on her face.

"Well my child," she spoke, "birth is a mysterious thing, strongly related to Force and feeling, and much of it has to do with the mind. You need to relax and be patient."

"How can I be patient?? Or relax?" poor Rey whimpered.

Maz stood up, walking over and gently rested a hand against her forehead. "Perhaps you are keeping something inside you, preventing your body from the submission to the process it needs. The throat muscles form a mysterious bond, a dyad if you will, with the muscles associated with birth. If one is tightly closed, how can the other open?"

With that Maz left the room, leaving Rey pondering thoughtfully in Ben's arms. She looked up, straight into his concerned eyes, and started to cry again.

"What is it Rey? Maz is right, you have to talk to me baby," he pleaded with her, his hands gently twirling over her neck, hair, shoulders, back and arms, relaxing and soothing her. "Ben, I'm just so worried..." Rey started, before being interrupted by an uncontrollable sob. "It's natural to be nervous about birth..." Ben started. "No!" she interrupted, suddenly cupping his jaw with her hands, tilting her head as she memorized his face with her tear filled eyes. "No. I'm worried about YOU." She paused, as the dam holding back her fears and hidden thoughts broke under the pressure of the moment. "Look at you Ben, something is changing... your blue glow has been getting more and more dim, the farther along I get in my pregnancy... you're fading away. What if I lose you at the birth?"

"I noticed it too Rey, but I didn't know how to bring it up without worrying you. I feel so guilty for keeping my thoughts from you, it was wrong of me, but you've been so emotionally charged... and I'm fine, stronger than ever!" The words rushed out of Ben's mouth, he was so glad to finally find his own release in speaking the truth to her.

"Ben... I have this horrible, terrible fear. I don't know how to even voice the words out loud, it's so awful and monstrous.... it's keeping me up at night and torturing my every waking moment..." she started, tears flowing again.

"Don't voice it then Rey, open your mind, feel it and impart it to me that way," Ben murmured, placing his forehead against hers. Rey closed her eyes, and tried her hardest to relax and let Ben in her thoughts. When she felt his presence planted firmly in her mind, she started to relate the terrible, unspeakable fear.