Dream
There was no 'him'. There was no individual. There was no mind, no spirit.
There was only the Force.
There was only everything. The connections between each mote of dust and the heart of every star, every mind, every drop of water, every grain of sand, all the vacuum of space and all the empty space in matter and all energy.
But, in time, something of the Force changed, and curled in on itself, and closed. In time, the idea of the individual reasserted itself, embracing the notion of being something separate. It was entirely a fiction, an illusion, it was still a part of the greater whole, and yet in time... slowly, slowly, Ben returned into being.
He was walking alongside his mentor, old Ben Kenobi. It felt like they’d been walking together for hours, long enough for companionable silence to lapse between them.
Of course, he knew he wasn't really walking here, wherever 'here' was. This was a metaphor. This was an interpretation. He didn't have a body to walk with.
In time old Kenobi spoke to him, gently and easily, as if continuing something from before. “You must remember to never give in to despair. No matter how dark times may seem, you must always remember.”
And he was gone, and in his place was his second teacher, a diminutive green-skinned being walking with the help of a gimer stick. Ben’s pace had slowed, and it was like he had been walking for hours with this companion. “Never alone are you, young Skywalker. At all times the Force is with you, and a powerful ally it is.”
And he was gone, and in his place was a human woman, blonde haired and wryly good-natured. They walked with a little distance between them, and something about her made his heart ache. “Just don’t rely too heavily on it. Be able to go on alone, if you have to. Here’s a secret: the universe has a will, and a sense of humor.”
And she was gone, and in her place was one of the Duinuogwuin, the vast, many-limbed Star Dragons. Ben’s breath fogged his helmet faintly as they floated together in vacuum. :Little teacher, the Force is vast and carries within it many contradictions. You must remember that very little is predestined; and yet, in a sense, it is still guided.:
And they was gone, and in their place was his father. Anakin Skywalker. Ben... didn't look directly at him, but he was tall and dark and imposing. A fire raged wild in him, and he wasn't easy to be near... and yet Ben loved him, all the same. “The Force is strong in you, my son. You must beware the Dark Side, and all of its manifestations.”
And he was gone, and in his place was Leia, his sister, small and intense. The fire that was nearly unrestrained in their father burned as hot in her, but it was banked, controlled. Centered. “Don’t ever despair, []k. Don’t you ever give up. It looks bad, but you can never stop. There’s a time for sorrows. It ends before it can take over your life. You have to keep moving.”
And she was gone, and in her place was the Sword of the Jedi, a woman very like Leia in some ways, entirely different in others. There was a martial edge to the way she walked, and her shadow was stark and heavy. “We’ve been through the wars, Uncle []k. You don’t remember them, but it’s still part of you. You taught something important, during and between them, that helped a lot of us to survive.”
And she was gone, and in her place was his son. Ben. Teenaged, red-haired, on the surface blithely disrespectful. “Well, you taught a lot of things, and some of them ended up kinda pointless. Plus, how many times did you change the Jedi Code?” He grinned and sobered a little to say, “But you did share a lot about energy and matter and the will’s power over both, when the Force is involved.”
And he was gone, and in his place was him. Not his other. Not a doppleganger. They walked shoulder to shoulder with the same pace, and this was entirely comfortable. Entirely normal. He'd done this before. He'd done this for his whole life. That was his own voice, gentle and still certain. “And surrender-” or was the word ‘submission’? -“is yet stronger than will. The Force will guide you, if you let it.”
Who was this? Ben didn't stop or look at him, let alone speak, but he felt his companion smile. "Search your feelings. You know what I am, and why you see me like this. You know that I'll always be here."
And he was gone, and in his place there was the green-eyed one. She was a human woman about his height, with red-gold hair and a signature cynical, acidic intensity. “It’s about time to go. In life we had this whole cute, cheesy keyword, so if one of us needed to be woken up out of just about anything, the other could say it. Remember what it was?”
For the first time, he stopped in his tracks. She halted in that same instant. They faced each other, and he spoke, his lips curling into an unselfconscious smile. “I love you.”
“That’s right. Now get out of here. Try not to get killed again until it’s over, Farmboy.”
The dream faded to black as he rose to consciousness. His last sight was those green eyes following him into the dark.