Braze simply nodded at Iris's advice, his lips sealing into a humble smile. He closed his eyes and took a deep, deliberate breath, feeling the air fill his lungs as he inhaled. As he exhaled, he felt a gentle release, the layers of mental noise were being stripped away.
Within the quietude, he felt the Force more intimately—like a soft current of energy, flowing through and around him, connecting him to something greater. It was calming, grounding, and in this moment of stillness, he felt as though he were a part of something much larger than himself.
Braze leaned back, allowing his body to meet the earth beneath him. His gaze lifted to the sky, where clouds lazily passed by, unconcerned with the affairs of mortals. Trees towered over him, their branches swaying in a slow dance with the wind, and beyond them, the infinite sky stretched out, dotted with celestial bodies light-years away.
In that moment, he was overtaken by a sense of profound insignificance, a mere speck in the grand scheme of existence. This realization carried with it a dual sensation—serenity and a subtle form of terror. He felt small, almost inconsequential, in the scope of the universe. Yet, in that smallness, he found a certain peace, a freedom even. His worries, his struggles, his ambitions—they all seemed so minute, so incredibly temporal against the eternal backdrop of the universe.
But the quiet terror lingered, like a whisper in the back of his mind. If he were so small, so transient, what lasting impact could he make? What was the weight of his actions, his choices, if they were but ripples in an endless ocean?
As he continued to breathe, connecting once more with the Force, he began to reconcile these disparate emotions. Maybe it was enough to be a ripple, to make some small difference where and when he could. After all, even ripples could spread far and wide, given enough time and space.
