Daylight

79. Where We Come Alive

A's/N: Chapter inspired by Where We Come Alive by Ruelle

THIRD POV:

Amara had known deep within her gut something was off. She could feel the victory of the Knights of Ren capturing something, someone, but who? She could feel Chewie's defeat and capture but couldn't understand where he was. She could sense the First Order was closer than she thought possible. But worse, she felt the heavy and magnetic pull of Kylo Ren just beyond where she left his Fighter in the ditch. Worse than Kylo pulling at her, she felt her friends were in danger. Stuck in a pickle, she picked the latter and headed straight for her friends, caring less about Kylo for the time being. She could feel he was physically fine, though she could sense his idiocy towards what he attempted with her. Smirking as she picked up her speed, she allowed Kylo to feel her emotions towards his doing, that there was nothing he could do now to cause her fear. At least, not by his doing.

Seeing ahead, Rey was stopped by Finn as the words left Finn's mouth. The First Order did have Chewie; his emotions confirmed it as a transport lifted from the ground near the distance. She could feel Rey's terror when there was once a calming state washing over her. Amara could feel the familiar pressure radiating from Rey as she sensed something powerful-dark- from within the other Jedi of the Light. A pressure, like a balloon, expanding. Bigger and bigger as Rey reached out towards the transport, and the force was used. Imagining herself grabbing onto it, Amara could feel Rey pulling it towards her, the ship high off the ground. It started to slow as the ship fought against the energy holding it back. Amara watched with astonished eyes, yet...there was something that caused fear. It wasn't the power of the force that caught her attention, but the balloon inside of Rey.

Something about it felt terrible, like a bad nightmare she hadn't escaped from yet. Amara tried to search her memories, figure out why the darkness of this particular balloon expanding was familiar but came up with nothing. Sure Rey had her darkness to fight against, and Amara felt it. But this...was on another level, Amara's level. She felt Kylo's presence behind her, more than a few feet away, as he too began to pull the transport away from Rey. But also, he could feel the raging storm inside of both women. But Amara's was different...unbalanced. Her emotions were something he'd never seen or felt as she focused only on Rey, uncaring about the ship above her.

Kylo was able to see clearly in her mind. Half her thoughts were blocked as usual, but something about Rey's power through the force caused her to become...petrified of the Jedi in training. Using the force to pull his bonded towards him, she acknowledged him for only a second, but it was gone with the wind like dust. Something about Rey was overpowering her mind to focus on something else. He didn't like it. Because he knew, once Amara concentrate on something too much, she'd lose control, and that's precisely what he was feeling. Could the power from Rey be too strong to ignore? Did she have the capabilities to siphon from Rey? Continuing to watch what both women would do, he kept his sight set on Amara, but his power set towards the transport, ready for one or the other.

Amara watched as both sides of the force, behind her and in front of her, fought for the transport. One pulling towards the other as the transport barely moved. Both strained to gain control, mostly Rey, as Amara was urged from the Light to guide her, but she didn't. Something told her not to, and it wasn't coming from the Dark Side. Amara could faintly hear a woman's voice behind her, but once she turned to see who it was, she saw nothing and no one. But she heard someone there, a whisper in the wind. A siren from the caves, maybe? Another force ghost? But who would it be this time? Not once did she feel Hope's presence, so it wasn't her. Sensing the ship tilt towards Ren, a pull to the Dark Side seeped through Amara, like the wind blowing through her hair.

A familiar feeling she hadn't felt in over a decade, not since she was a child. The feeling brought up a bad memory, something her father was dealt with while protecting her. A power that only a few could use with ease, her father being one of them. She remembered the utter fear and strength that came with it as the balloon inside of Rey became clear. Her blood boiled out of red rage, she felt the darkness within her heart take over, and for a minute, she lent Ren her power. Feeling him use it as a kickstart, it was gone in seconds as something else overpowered her. A light, a golden halo-like the sun as Amara raced towards Rey. The balloon was going to burst, and Amara couldn't take another second to avoid it.

Too many voices shouted against her actions, but it was too late as she grabbed onto Rey, begging her to release the transport. Amara wasn't one to beg unless another's life was in absolute danger. Sadly, only she felt it because she knew the consequence. With the rage that Rey felt, it felt like Amara could feel everything, and she did. Anger for Han's death, rage against Kylo Ren, the First Order, terror for Chewie's life, pain for her friends' lives being endangered. A rage that Amara had gone through so much pain, everything heightened all at once. And with it, their shared power backfired. Amara was sent flying backward through the air, hit by raw and true untamed power that she always felt from Rey.

Seeing streaks of blue lightning radiated from her body as it swirled around her, causing endless pain that pricked her like sharp needles. She could feel her body become hotter than the sun's dying heat of Pasaana as distant voices could be heard. But all Amara could hear was her heart beating in her ears, her pulse racing from the sudden attack. The ground vibrated with an explosion that followed, and the atmosphere changed drastically, but Amara had bigger problems. Whatever she was attacked with, the second was becoming powerful as the force around her became heavier to carry, stand, and breathe. Dropping to her knees as her own body betrayed her, she huffed loudly, like running a race. Looking down at her hands, everything was blurring together. Bits of lightning whipped around as dark veins appeared in the palms of her hands. She could feel the shaking as her vision darkened with each passing minute.

Another voice rang through her ears, but it was someone she didn't recognize. Feeling water, maybe sweat, dripping down her face, all she could feel was a fiery pain, but the moment she went to wipe the substance off her face, someone else's hands stopped her from doing so. Seeing a bright light illuminating her body, she slightly gasped at the woman before her. With a smile, Davina Djinn drew the power that held Amara down away from her but only for a fraction of a second. Without words, both mother and daughter knew Amara could handle this. All she needed to do was focus. Balance the power and transfer it to both sides of the force. That was the key to her training years ago—the key to being in control of what she could siphon.

No one moved an inch as Amara was swarmed with lightning and a sand storm. Her body was hunched forward, as if in severe pain as she stayed on one knee. Her hands were out in front of her, and her head down. Everyone's focus was off the exploded transport as Finn, Monroe, Poe, and Rey screamed for Amara. But not once did she move or acknowledge them. Frozen to the desert floor, even Ren called for his lover and received nothing in return. But all three force-sensitive beings felt it. The overwhelming power she was absorbing.

Believing that Amara was killed for a second, Rey's fear heightened at her friend's unmoving position as Monroe tried to move. He'd seen this before, and he didn't like the ending. The last time she did this, she had almost killed her father in the process when someone from the Dark Side threatened him when they were kids. No, this wasn't the first time she'd been hit by force-lightning. Scared, absolutely terrified for her life, Monroe raced towards her before being pulled by Rey and pushed by Ren. Without thinking, both had pulled him away from his partner. Oddly enough, both did it for protection, but their reasons were different. Kylo, out of safety, Monroe understood that instantly but Rey concerned him. Hers was out of pure fear. As if Amara was a monster.

Both men that loved her in some way watched her as the storm raged on, a power so beyond their grasps, not once did their eyes move away from her body. Dark fought against Light. But as Amara started to move on her own, as if being lifted by an unknown force, everyone saw it. The lightning that Rey hit her with swirled around in her hands, like a ball of energy. From Ren's view, he could see her holding it out from her body as he could sense her pushing the energy ball away from her stomach but in unison, absorbing it. Monroe screamed at his friend to stop what she was doing, the terror from within him growing stronger and louder. Ren didn't understand it but knew why he was feeling these emotions. Amara was known to lose control after siphoning large amounts of the force around her. He'd seen it too many times, but this was different...life-threatening. Even Kylo wanted her to stop. But then, the darkness was gone with a light emanating from the center of the lightning sphere. Ren felt it more than the others but only because he was closer. He felt someone push Amara into the Light with force, something stronger than her. Who was it, though?

The group watched as Amara's eyes became normal, her violet eyes glowing under the sun as the sphere of lightning vanished into her skin, her hands glowing a golden yellow. The color of the sun as Monroe was a few feet away from her, shocked to his core. They all felt it as she looked at each of their faces. Suddenly, the veins that etched their way onto her face receded like the tides of a storm, down her neck, and vanished without a trace. Monroe was angry yet surprised, yet-there were so many emotions, he couldn't rely on one to cover what he saw and should feel. Though one thing was for certain, Monroe needed to make sure Amara didn't run. That was the reason behind his fear. The moment he stepped towards Amara, she stepped back. Gulping down the thought of her running again, like the first time, Monroe eased his mind. With his emotions, he revealed to Amara he would be gentle. Just like the first time this happened. Ren wasn't there. He didn't exist yet. But Monroe was.

I'm here Mar. He spoke through the force. He was always there for her, even when she didn't realize it.

By now, Ren could hear his words, soothing yet rushed. But all he could do was stand there, watch someone take away his lover. But he felt her hesitation, fear, and Ren could see into her thoughts and found the worst of them all: she wanted to run and exile herself. Ren could see into her mind further as the old memory, haunted and painful, resurfaced. Something attacking her father, Amara being pushed away out of protection, seeing her dive in front of her father's body, catching the lightning as she had just done. Monroe was reaching out for her, for comfort and protection, like their first time. Kylo Ren could see it now, why their connection was so strong, why Monroe was always there for her. Her bond was blood deep with Monroe, something Ren couldn't have given her because he didn't exist back then. Not yet, and neither did their bond with the Dyad. No wonder her love for him was as deep as his, Ren thought as jealousy came up through his throat like bile.

With Monroe coming into view, the few minutes felt like a year as reality set in. Amara could feel the sun's warmth again, Monroe's calming presence circling her as Ren's dark cloud roared behind her. Glancing down for a few moments at Monroe's hand, the thought of running was there, but the force that had visited her made her think differently. Her mother came to her, and with this, she let Monroe see into her mind, unknowingly Ren and Rey had done it too. The confusion was clear in her friends' eyes, but they held something else. Understanding. Being in tune with Poe's words of escape, Amara quickly grabbed onto Monroe's hands before racing off together towards Ochi's Freighter.

By now, everyone had seen something they didn't have a clear understanding of. Amara had taken this ball of energy, given to her by an attack from Rey, and siphoned it, into her skin, into her force. Something that hadn't been known to anyone or life itself. Even within her mind, Amara didn't understand it, but in a way, she did. Because it happened before, but she never grasped the concept of balancing the power she siphoned. Until now, until she realized that's what she was meant to do all along. Self-control was never easy. Nothing came naturally to her, except being beautiful—a gift from the women in her family. 

But this ability, something she was born with, was unknown to others. Her parents, Luke, Leia, Monroe, and Stefan, now felt it from newcomers. Kylo Ren and Rey. No wonder Snoke wanted her dead. No wonder Palpatine sees her as a tremendous threat to his rule of power. The closer she got to the ship, the more she wanted to look back at Ren. And when she did, she didn't regret it. Seeing something reflect in his eyes, she knew a conversation was coming between them. A cosmic one as his curiosity grew every step she took away from him. 

With one last glance before she stepped inside, Amara opened her mind to what she saw, who she saw. The person who helped her balance the force she absorbed. His mind was chaotic in seconds, trying to wrap around what she was showing him. Her mother helped her balance the power out between two sides of the force, but three: dark, Light, and the Gray Area. To everyone, including Ren, the Gray Area had been the unknown world that only existed because of her. And now, she could feel his understanding. She was the power that stood in the dark, like a star in the night sky. She was the power that stood in the light, a shadow on the ground. And now, she was the power that held the forces together...gravity, like the universe, brought them together. Bonded them to the force for life. With one last hopeful and meaningful glance, Amara and Ren knew this wasn't the last time they'd see the other as their spark erupted like fireworks. A spark in the force that will never cease to burn out. As the doors closed on Amara and Monroe, the freighter took off as Davina Djinn's words came to mind. And with it, a whole new outlook on her life and the power of the force.



Out of the shadows and into the light. Bringing the unknown- this is where we come alive.