Reassess

Rey lifts herself off of her knees and stands in an empty room. Not knowing how to feel about what just transpired. Confused about how a man, like Kylo Ren, could ever come to his enemy in a time of raw, unfiltered emotion and show a side of vulnerability, weakness. This Force bond they share connects them. Ties their emotions and thoughts together. The images he shared with her replay over and over again as Rey tries to analyze them. Trying to figure out who Kylo Ren is. Who Ben is. "To see him as a boy, before he became this sick, contorted monster was so innocent and untouched by darkness is so- so strange. Seeing that shows a different side of the story of the Dark Knight. A sense of vulnerability and the need for love and attention. Nothing more. Just for someone to look at him and see him. Really see him. Like me. Sure I am surrounded by friends like Finn, Chewie, and Poe, but it feels as if they look only surface level, Rey. Not at what is inside begging to be brought to the surface." Rey catches her thoughts turning sour and she relaxes her contorted face. She takes a deep breath as she sat her staff up against the wall next to her bunk. She turns to the dresser to her side and pulls open the top drawer. The broken lightsaber rolls to the front of the drawer. She looks past it to the clothes folded neatly in the left corner. Pulling out a basic tunic and linen pants, then shut the drawer.

After she got dressed she slipped her only pair of boots on and laced them up. The door opens with a hiss as she walks up to the chamber exit. She steps out into the corridor of the Millennium Falcon. Rey walks the main corridor, heading to the center of the old freighter. The small lounge room doubled as a kitchen and sitting area. Rey opened the cooler to find leftover rations and pulled it out, unexcited to eat it. BB-8 rolls into the room and beeps a greeting to her.

"Good morning, Rey!" Rey smiles at the robot. Happy to have some company after her interaction with Kylo Ren. It was still weighing heavy on Rey's chest, unable to share with anyone, in fear of how it would look if they knew that she and Kylo Ren had a Force bond. She sighs internally as she scooped a spoonful of tasteless substance into her mouth, cringing.

"Rey," BB-8 bleeps "We are about to arrive at the Resistance base on Ahch-To." Rey nods at BB-8 as she replies with, " Thank you, BB-8". She pats the little robot's head and continues to the cockpit. Out the window Rey watches the stars whiz by as they travel through hyperspace. Rey is anxious to return to the planet. To return to her friends, Finn, Poe, and her mentor General Organa. Rey loves the fact that this woman is fearless, strong, and yet elegant and graceful. All of these qualities make up, Leia, a seasoned General that leads the Resistance to combat the First Order. After Snoke's death, the First Order has been in disarray. This is in part why Rey must return to Ahch-To. Their limited numbers after General Hux's attack has left them in hiding. General and Rey knew that they need to stay out of sight.

A notification alert bleeps through the communication system.

"This is base one to YT-1300, state your business. Over." a masculine voice bleeds through the intercom. Rey pressed the button attached to a microphone "This is YT-1300 to base one, this is Falcon. Requesting permission to land. Over." Rey lets off the button to hear static, waiting for a response. "This is base one. Permission granted. Over and out." the voice ends the link with her ship. Rey Sets herself down into the pilot's chair and stears the old freighter towards the oceanic planet.

Rey gently eases the old freighter to the ground of the main island. She lets down the landing gear as the ship settles to the island's grass-covered rocky surface. Rey shuts off the engines and heads to her bedchambers. The corridor leading to her chamber was cold from prolonged space travel and that damned heater that seems to not ever work properly. Her hands instinctively wrapped around her arms, rubbing them for warmth as she approached the door. The door hisses open. Rey gathers her wooden staff and her canvas knapsack. She looks around the room, to where Kylo Ren had sat only hours ago. The memory causes a strange whirl of emotions to come flooding back to her as a shiver ran down her spine. She forces herself out of the room, wanting to push that moment away from her mind. The door hissed open as she stepped back into the corridor. Rey began to walk to the ramp when she called out for BB-8. BB-8 came zooming from around the corner to Rey's feet, bleeping happily. The sun of Ahch-To was warm as it caressed her skin for the first time in what seemed to be a lifetime ago. The ship's ramp closed slowly, the hydraulics whining in the process. "Damn ship. This thing is older than me."

Rey was met by Finn and Rose, anxiously awaited by Finn for her return since the First Order hunted down the last bit of the Resistance. "REY!" Finn yelled in excitement as he ran to her giving her a friendly hug. "Man, I have been worried about you. Where have you been? We were all supposed to meet back here to regroup." Rey pulls away from her friend as Rose comes up.

"Rey, I am so happy you are alive. We missed you." Rose goes in for a small hug and Rey takes it, happy for human connection. "I have missed you too. I am sorry I did not let anyone know where I went after that day I-" she fumbles with her words, reliving the terror of the throne with Snoke and watching General Hux destroy the last bits of the Resistance. "I needed some time to reassess everything. Meditate." she lets out, not making eye contact with them. Rey takes a deep breath in, feeling the force flow through her and exhales the remnants of the memory. Her eyes lift up to her friends, Finn wears a worried face, but he knows not to push it.

"Come on, we will show you to your room so you can get settled before the meeting." Finn puts a hand around Rey's shoulder as they begin to walk into the ancient Jedi temple. She lets the Force balance her as she walks in, letting everything go.

Kylo woke in his bedchambers alone with a great sense of embarrassment that looms over him like dead weight. He is beside himself. If Snoke were still alive and had seen what he had let himself succumb to then Kylo could expect a thrashing. Not in the physical sense, but psychological. Snoke would torture Kylo with dreams of sick, twisted natures. Showing him his worst fears and contorting them to play over and over again each night he tried to sleep. When Snoke had done this in the past, Kylo would not let himself sleep. The sleepless nights led to hours of thinking. He would sink deeper into his anger and hatred. Allowing the warm, easy grip of the Dark to grab hold of Kylo's soul. It's grip snuffing out anything left of Ben Solo.

Kylo ached as he swung his long legs over his bed. His feet hit the cold metal floors of the ship. Thoughts of her drift into his head. The way she was curled up on her bunk and her hair, loose, draped across her tanned, youthful face. Her lips where perfectly parted, letting out soft sighs as she slept. She seemed so peaceful. So pure, basking in the power of the Light. Kylo was so envious how effortless it was for Rey to be at one with herself. How she seemed to perfectly balance the Light and Dark that dwells within herself. So-, no he won't let himself even think it.

Kylo pushes off his bed and peers out the window into the great expanse of space outside. The command ship is slowly drifting into the Inner Rim. Kylo preemptively turns his as the tight pull of the Force bond tugs at him. Rey. She seems to be sitting, cleaning something in her hand. Pieces of loose hair fall over her face as she focused on the task at hand. Her eyebrows pushed together working the details of the object. Her head snaps up so suddenly it startled him from his observant state. He straightens his posture, placing his hands behind his back. Rey looks him over. It has been weeks since they last bridged. He does not take his eyes off her. Rey clears her throat, placing the object down behind her.

Neither of them breaks the silence. The still air between them reaks their last encounter. Kylo can feel her heart beating hard through the bond like an echo. "Ben-" she says softly that Kylo almost did not hear her. Rey looking into his almost black eyes, catching the slightest glimpse of the Light fighting, trying to claw its way out. But in an instance, it is gone. Fear and hatred burn bright. Rey bites her lip, fearing what comes next.

"That is not my name, Rey," Kylo says so calmly that it makes Rey shiver with fear. Collecting herself, she stands up straightening her clothes. Kylo watches her every movement, every microexpression. Trying to put the pieces together. He couldn't help but be intrigued by this nobody from Jakku. This young woman is so naive and yet she wise. Rey closes the gap between her and Kylo. His breath hitches with the proximity, but he does not dare to let the anticipation rebound through the bond. She is so close that if he took a deep breath, his chest would brush up against her.

"Ben, I can feel the fight inside. I can feel it tearing into your soul. Let me help. Come with me. I can help you balance the fight inside." Rey speaks soft and he can sense that she is speaking with sincerity. Kylo looks down at Rey's eyes. She was staring up waiting for his response. Her offer is so tempting. Ben is reaching out to Rey from the depths that Kylo has tried so hard to keep him for fifteen years. He closes his eyes, exhaling a long sigh.

Rey can feel him wanting to take that step towards the Light. She can feel his want for redemption. To wash his hands of Snoke, the blood, the fear, the hate, his father. "Ben, you have to take the first step. I cannot do it for you. It has to be you. I can only be there with you along the path." her words pull at the inner want to break free from the darkness. Her hand trails up to his arm. The heat seeping over his skin makes him close his eyes, not knowing when the last time someone touched him. He retracts his arm, almost jerking back from her. Rey takes a step back. Her eyes are pleading with him, begging him. Kylo can feel her emotions welling up in her chest, feeling them echo through the bond. He balled his hands into fists, digging his nails into the skin of his palms. The sharp, dull pain snaps him out of Rey's tempting offer.

"No." Kylo Ren snaps back into control. Anger swelling up from the Dark. He turns to the wall and punches it. Causing the solid rock to crumble and create a crack in the solid block. The skin of his knuckles splits as blood pools from the seems. Rey falls to the ground gasping, feeling the pain echo back through the bond. Grabbing her hand gently as the pain throbs. Rey, stands unwavering, pushing the pain of her hand aside. She watches Ben unravel back into Kylo Ren as blood drips down his hand onto the floor of her bedchamber.

Anger rises in her chest, "Why even save me from Snoke! You could have let me die, but you didn't. You saved my life. For what? So you can toy with me, make me turn into you!?" Rey was furious. He could feel the heat through the bond as he clenched his fist tighter, relishing in the pain. Rey stood before him, her chest rising and falling with quick heavy breaths.

"Rey, I see you, see that you come with me. We ruled the galaxy together. You turned for me." Kylo relives the vision in his head. She looked so poised and elegant in a long flowing black dress, hugging her waist and expanding outward. He could almost taste it. Wanted it so badly. He let himself relax as took a small step towards her, the uninjured hand outstretched to her.

"No, I will not turn to the Dark side for you, Kylo Ren." the words were like a slap across his face. Rejection. Kylo's face twisted. His eyebrows furrowed again casting a shadow over his black eyes. His chest tightened. Anger burning his ears, turning them bright red beneath his black locks.

"And I will not turn for you." Kylo spits out coldly. He turned away from Rey as he cut the connection. The warm tug of the Force bond now gone. His chambers seem so cold and barren. He is alone. Again.