After the destruction of Supreme Leader Snoke, Kylo Ren joined Rey and the Resistance. The two continued to train with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker at the new base on an uncharted planet in the Outer Rim. The two had grown close over the past months due to intensive training and late-night chats through their connection in the Force.

However, Kylo Ren approached his master to inquire about a technique that both the Jedi Master and the Supreme Leader had used on him during his early training. Skywalker complied and the two began using the technique to block Rey from accessing their thoughts.

The technique initially worked, and she began to improve using the Force around her instead of focusing on the thoughts and feelings of her teacher and peer. Unfortunately, after a few weeks of this training, the two noticed her becoming more frustrated and more easily aggravated. She was late for training and aggressive in her use of her wooden sabers. She was increasingly agitated by Kylo hitting her when she was carelessly swinging at him. The young scavenger even went so far as to push him to the ground with her bare hands.

Rey's behavior only worsened, and they could see the bags under her eyes. Her face was becoming hollower and seemed to set in an eternal scowl. But there were instances that proved the training was working. Her connection with the Force increased and she easily manipulated the elements at will. It was working, they reasoned, and continued.

"Rey. Get up. You're late." Kylo Ren towered over her at the side of her bed.

She didn't respond. He rolled his eyes. She was goading him to wake her with the Force. She'd attempted this a few times over the past week, but he wouldn't fall for it. The second he'd reach out, she'd be in his mind in an instant.

"Get up." He pushed her with the hilt of his hollow saber. It rocked her, and she grunted but resisted his call.

He sighed. Maybe this form of training wasn't a good idea after all. He thought back to his days still learning the ways of the Force and recalled the times both Skywalker and Snoke put him through this form of focus. Due to his vulnerability in the Force, he had an advantage over his peers and even his masters at times. He spent a lot of time feeling for the answers his teachers had in their minds instead of working for the answers on his own.

Skywalker claimed it was "a neat trick but ultimately tacky." Snoke Force-choked him into understanding that "not everyone would be as easy to defeat as mindless stormtroopers and knights." He knew these men were experts and even though they were from opposite sides of the Force, they used a similar way to reign him in and get him to focus not on his opponent, but on the energy around him. They blocked him from accessing the minds of others. Any attempt was met with a wall crafted by his mentors. An open mind was critical, and focusing in on one mind in the heat of battle would mean ruin.

Kylo Ren knew Rey's connection to him was stronger than that of anyone else's and with the help of Skywalker, he managed to keep her prying at bay. It took their combined efforts to block her from their minds and coerce her into feeling the Force around her instead of within them. Each attempt was met with a wall and he could see her chagrin in the furrowing of her brow. At some points she didn't even realize she was doing it and would be met with the wall unexpectedly. In those moments, he saw her frustration boil over and witnessed the familiar rage he'd experienced in his first days of the training.

It was for her own good, he convinced himself. Rey needed to understand the foundations of the Force without their distracting bond, without her heightened abilities. They would work on that later. For now, she needed to understand the energy of the universe, not the energy between them.

Even with his sound reasoning, he had to convince himself every day as he woke. In those moments, he was most vulnerable and susceptible to her prying. He'd wake, and it almost felt like soft fingers tracing the edge of his consciousness. It was her, ready to steal into his mind. It often took a splash of cold water to form his resolve and block her prodding.

That was an idea, he decided and left her room. He entered the bathroom down the hall and splashed his face with cold water. He'd felt the need as well. It would be so easy to wade into her thoughts once again, to lower the wall and feel her with him unlike anyone before. He splashed again. That should do it. He looked in the mirror and behind him saw two figures.

"You even go to the bathroom together?" He asked them.

Poe and Finn didn't respond and waited their turns to wash their hands after what was clearly a dowsing session for the former Sith Lord.

"Everything alright?" Poe questioned cautiously.

"Fine." He lied, "Great, actually." Kylo Ren wasn't attempting to sound sarcastic, but alas, his natural awkwardness won out.

Poe stepped back allowing Finn to wash next and he grabbed a paper towel, "Ok. Just thought I'd ask. You seem, well-"

"What?" Kylo interrupted.

"Tense." Finn concluded Poe's observation and grabbed a towel to dry his hands.

The three men were gathered around the single sink in the large bathroom and Kylo felt the unease growing between all of them. "I can't imagine why I'd be tense, gentlemen." He made his way towards the exit.

They followed.

"Is this about Rey?" Finn asked. As her self-assigned protector, he always seemed too interested in the connection the "reforming bad guy" had with her.

Kylo sighed and responded curtly, "She's getting reckless. More than she was before training with Skywalker." He continued to her room and the pair followed relentlessly. He sensed them share a look behind him and he stopped abruptly. Kylo quickly turned to them, sensing something. Some secret they were hiding, "Has she been talking to you about our training?"

Poe and Finn looked at each other, holding back smirks and he wished he could take the secret from them but, no, apparently taking what you wanted was wrong.

Poe stammered, "She may have said... some things, off-hand."

Finn snickered. This was killing the former Sith. He actually felt powerless to their social torture.

"What? What has she said?"

Poe and Finn were practically bursting but contained themselves. He suddenly panicked. What were they doing?

"It's not about your training, ok?" Poe attempted to assure him.

Finn smirked, "Yeah, it's more about how she got you to join us to begin with."

He looked at them confusedly. How was there any humor in that? Had she told the truth about his fear? Was she getting back at him by making him seem like a frightened child rather than a dangerous weilder if the Force?

"Keep in mind," Poe said with a toothy sneer, "she hasn't been sleeping so good." He was well aware of the scavenger's sleepless nights attempting to invade his dreams. "She's a little crankier and, well, y'know, honest." They knew.

"You will tell-" he was irate and was close to destroying his pact with his mother that he wouldn't use the Force on her company. He stalled and noticed the quick change in their jovial demeanor. They were afraid again and he felt guilty. He realized his hand was up and quickly lowered it.

The two men looked between each other.

"Sorry, bad habits..." he trailed off, averting their gaze and almost wishing they'd continue their assailment. At least someone was having fun, even if it was at his expense.

"Hey, uh..." Finn continued, attempting to revert the conversation to something more playful, "she's been a little tenser lately too. Maybe you guys can do your Jedi mind tricks and get it sorted out?"

He wasn't sure what that meant but his curiosity at their shared merriment was clouding his thoughts. He almost felt after his momentary faltering that he shouldn't ask but he couldn't help it, he hated being in the dark, "What did she say?"

Finn kept quiet, but Poe relented finally and with a broad, openly sneaky grin replied, "She said she seduced you to the light side."

The lights went out. Kylo Ren was suddenly transported to that moment on Snoke's ship as he slammed his helmet into the wall. Rage engulfed him as he took it out on that damned symbol.

He opened his eyes again and the light had returned to the hallway. Finn and Poe were visibly shaken but continued to watch him, expecting an outburst.
Kylo Ren would not give in, he vowed. No matter how much that little junkrat aggravated him.

"Funny." He retorted with a facile smile.

Finn and Poe exchanged glances. "You think?" Poe asked.

The reforming Sith Lord breathed in deeply and then out, his placid expression unwavering, "Yeah, that's very funny."

Finn smiled nervously, "You sure? Because you aren't really laughing."

Kylo let out a chuckle that he could tell unsettled them. "Better?"

"Sure? But also, the power went out for a second."

"Yes, I noticed that too. Must be the old, rusty power grid we're on."

They were growing increasingly more nervous at his calm and he could feel their fear. He knew that he'd need to remedy this somehow but now all he could think of was swatting the sleeping scavenger mercilessly during her training.

Poe's curiosity was overshadowing his fear. "So, you won't mind if we ask?"

"Ask what?" His thoughts on berating Rey were astonishingly vivid. He saw her relenting to his attacks and almost relishing his onslaught.

"How'd she do it?"

The question hung in the air and he felt his resolve cracking. "I don't know what you mean."

Finn breathed in loudly through his nose as Poe explained, "Ok, clearly we didn't believe Rey. She's exhausted and honestly acting like an asshole. So, we thought we'd ask you: what made you change sides?"

He looked between them, they wanted to know now. Avoiding them was impossible. It would give them the idea that maybe Rey was telling some sliver of truth. That maybe she had seduced him in some capacity. He thought back to Snoke's chamber and that moment he doubted joining her. That call from the throne that held his former master's lower half. Her gaze as she saw his fear. Time stilled, and he was back in that moment.

Rey's eyes were full of pleading. She'd offered him her soul, a bond that he'd never had with anyone before. He wanted it. He wanted power too.

"Ben, please don't do this." She whispered. In that second, he saw his future, a battle for her weapon, her retreat on the Millenium Falcon, her closing the door on their connection forever as he took the First Order for his own. It was a small price for the whole galaxy. It was his to command, and his alone.

But he didn't want to be alone anymore. He saw his future clearly and yet, he didn't want it. He saw himself staring into the depths of space searching for her, for the Resistance, he claimed. But he lied. He was alone and ached for her. For those gentle fingertips. She wouldn't have him. She'd break the connection and though he would hold the stars in his grasp, it wasn't the stars he wanted.

He was afraid.

Don't be afraid. She smiled at him, extending her hand, and he felt a light brush against his cheek through the Force. The future was a haze in her eyes. He could see nothing for him there. There was no certainty in what she offered him. But her hold on him was strong. The Force moving between them could swallow him whole, but she would be there. He wanted the certainty, the power that his future held.

"Ben." She said and even in remembering it, her call was as clear as if he were experiencing it all over again. His name on her lips was all it took to seal his fate. And though he followed her, he knew he would now always be afraid.

"She told me that my mother was alive." He lied.

The answer struck them immediately, like they hadn't considered it before.

"I thought she was killed when your ship was nearly destroyed. She told me what happened, and I had to go to her. I had to know she was alright."

They seemed to take the answer well enough.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have some training to do." He turned and made his way to the Jedi's quarters.

He didn't hear Poe whisper to Finn, "He's so full of shit, Rey wasn't even here when Organa was blasted into space."

Kylo Ren returned to her quarters and found her sleeping form the same as he'd left it. She was in deep. Her powerless form before him reminded him of the time he trapped her in that stupid chair. The first time he entered her mind and when she resisted him. When she'd turned the interrogation around and saw him for the first time. He had to step away from her now. Her scent was so strong. All of it flooded his senses and he was in the moment again.

Again. He could see her gaze turning from fear to intrigue. Rey was a new experience for him. He'd never had anyone use the Force so naturally, as if she'd always known the power inside her. She was effortless, using her power with abandon, feeding on what she found in his closed off mind. He felt her again. Her gentle touch prodding him like sticking a finger in an open wound seeing shrapnel. He broke from her and was back in her room.

He'd been experiencing these memories too well as of late.

Rey? He called to her with his mind.

Her body tensed as she breathed in sharply.

"You've been awake this whole time?"

She turned her head only slightly to acknowledge him.

"Rey, what are you doing?" He was at her side again, this time kneeling beside her bunk.

"I miss you, Ben." She choked out. Her voice was low and fueled something within him, something he'd been missing since the beginning of his experiment. She continued, "Please let me in."

"You have to focus on the Force, Rey. You're distracted by our bond. It isn't healthy."

She sat up and pushed him away indignantly. "Like you ever cared."

Her push was stronger than he'd expected. She'd actually used the Force around him, a clever loophole on their deal. He didn't know what to say to her. He looked in her eyes as she glared at him. She was exhausted.

"You need to sleep, Rey."

"Stop it." She demanded.

"What?"

"Saying my name. Don't say it like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm some child!" She rose up from her bunk and it was she who towered over him now.

The hunger inside him flicked again as he gazed up at her. She was ragged, strung out, fiery, lonely. She advanced with a primal grunt and he had to crawl backwards to keep from colliding with her fury.

"I'm not some aimless padawan seeking her master's approval." She crouched down over him and held a hand up to her eye-level. "You will give in to me."

Her power over him was stronger than the Force. He was prone beneath her and desperately wanted to give in. If anything, he wanted to give her the satisfaction of besting him. She would revel in it, rejoice in her victory, and maybe get some sleep.

He felt her power slamming against his walls. She was an animal he had to keep at bay with swift and powerful blows. She was glistening in the synthetic light of her room. Kylo Ren felt her rage and saw it form into a twisted smugness that tainted her features.

"You've already been receiving our memories. Just give in." Her eyes were wild, that smirk looked out of place on her usually gentle face. His hunger for her changed into fear as he strengthened the walls around his mind.

"Stop. This isn't you."

She scoffed at his panic and it turned his blood to ice. "You don't know me, Kylo Ren." The name, so foreign and venomous, dripped from her canines. It broke him.

He flung her against the wall with a quick extension of his hand. She groaned, and he couldn't deny that the sound was strangely exciting. He was on her in an instant, his hand by her head, urging her to follow his one command, Sleep.

Yes, she replied. She was tensing, but not out of resistance. Something was coiling inside of her, seeking release. She wanted to succumb to his command but not yet. Rey was reveling in his power, in his touch through the Force.

Sleep, he urged her again. His command was becoming less of an order and more of a plea. He was afraid for her. What had he done?

"Ben." She moaned his name and he was starving. What had he done?

Her lips were filling, and her cheeks flushed, wanting something. He felt her desire. He attempted to flee the feeling, retreating behind his walls.

Ben, he heard her cry.

Sleep.

"Don't leave." She attempted to hold to him with the Force, her limbs exhausted and unable to plead for her. You know me.

He was back in the interrogation room, slipping easily into her mind. He saw Jakku, a ship leaving a pleading girl behind. You're so lonely. She resisted weakly. She couldn't leave that place. Even now, she'd been too long. So afraid to leave. A tear stained her cheek. He saw her staring up at the stars, waiting, hoping, knowing they'll return. At night... Every moment she let sleep take her, she was woken by her desperation, a fear that they've come and gone. But only a moment passed. Nothing. Desperate to sleep...

He saw himself interrogating her. He saw her pain. It fueled the anger and regret within him. Enough. He pleaded. And he was again in her room staring into her eyes. She was again, desperate, lonely. He saw no other option. He put his Force-heavy hand to the side of her head. His thumb rested on her cheek, his fingers grazing her hair. She was gorgeous relaxing into his touch.

I won't leave. "Please sleep."

At last, she relented. The unfortunately familiar feeling of her losing consciousness in his arms left him ashamed. He didn't want this. He wanted her to be stronger, not falling in his arms again. In his aim to be the perfect teacher, he lost sight of her. He wanted so badly for her to perform exactly as he wanted, exactly as he knew she was capable of, that he forgot her loneliness. He told himself that it was good, that she needed to be separated from him to feel the true power of the Force around her.

It didn't matter. He'd failed her, and he hadn't even realized until it was too late how poorly she'd done.

Kylo Ren laid her on her bunk and sat beside her on ground. He didn't know how much time passed and he hadn't put up the barrier again. Instead, he allowed her to freely enter his mind in her sleep. She smiled in the sun of some distant planet. There was no war there, no death, no pain. She used her powers to lift rocks and move the waves. It was pleasant to see her childish glee in her own strength. Her eyes locked with his and he felt lightning rip through him in her gaze. She held out her hand playfully and he wasn't sure what was next. He attempted to read for her plan but with a teasing smile, he felt her resist.

"Come on! What are you afraid of?" Her tone wasn't teasing. Instead, it was honest and playful, as though she knew he wasn't truly afraid but rather, like a child, nervous.

He took her hand finally and she pulled him along the beach. The sand was comforting beneath him and he realized he wasn't wearing any shoes. Or his usual clothes. She wasn't either.

"Where are we?" He asked, taking in the surroundings, trying to avoid looking at her bare skin that showed more than usual under her beach attire.

"You don't know?" She seemed genuinely surprised. "I thought you saw it?"

He realized in an instant, remembering the interrogation, remembering the place she longed for, "The island?"

She continued to pull him along the beach. The ocean was vast and seemed to go until the end of the world, as though where it ended the vastness of space was there to meet it.

"Where are we going?"

Rey stopped, and he caught up to her. He was beside her, partially blocking her from the spray of the sea. She stared out at the ocean and he could only watch her looking. She looked up at him and her hand around his shifted allowing her fingers to entwine with his. It was a comforting gesture and he searched her expression for any answer.

"I don't know." She answered. She hesitated, "Is that alright?"

He smiled. "Of course." The wind picked up and a few tendrils of hair brushed her cheeks and flew across her face. Kylo Ren reached up slowly and tucked the wisps behind her ear.

She replicated the gesture and he realized that his hair had been blocking some of his view of her. Rey's fingers were soft and thin, as gentle as the laps of water tickling his toes. He hadn't removed his hand from her face. He didn't want to stop the connection. He felt if he pulled away that it would all fall away.

But even with his fingers caressing her, the foreign sound of a door opening woke him from her dream. He opened his eyes to see their master, Luke Skywalker, enter the room. Kylo Ren quickly checked to see that Rey was still sleeping and apparently, she'd continued her dream without him. He suddenly became jealous of the Kylo Ren she was dreaming about and his master chuckled.

"So you gave in, huh?"

Kylo flushed at his own failure but his master just sighed with a faint smile.

"Eh, I figured it wouldn't work between you two."

"Then why did we even try?"

Luke sat opposite him and stared at him with his smile unwavering.

"To see if it would work? To see if she could use the Force without me in the picture."

He said nothing.

"To test our bond? To test her own strength? To test my strength? My resolve. This wasn't a test for her, it was for me!"

"Does everything always have to be about you?"

He glared at his uncle.

"Ben, did you ever realize that when I was blocking you from the Force, that maybe I was wrong?"

"You? Admitting you were wrong."

"You told me that Snoke performed this on you as well, correct?"

"Yes, it seemed the best way to put me on the same level as everyone else. To get me grounded in the basics of the Force."

"But maybe that was the wrong way to go."

Luke looked past him and at Rey sleeping in her bunk.

"Maybe you two are strong in the Force for a reason. Maybe you are bringing about something new to the galaxy. Something more powerful than the original Jedi Order had."

"I don't understand."

"I made a mistake with you, Ben. If I could, I would do things differently. Maybe instead of keeping you barred from it, I should've embraced it."

"So you're admitting you were wrong and that you ruined me in trying to kill me. We've been over this. How does that help?"

"We have to learn from our mistakes. Don't make them again and expect a different result because it's a different person."

"But she's better than I ever was. She should be able to do better than I ever did."

"You're missing the point. What happened here today? Was she ready for training?"

"No."

"No. How has she been during training?"

"Relentless."

"Right. And how has she been to her friends."

Kylo hesitated. "They described her as 'kind of an asshole.'"

"And to you? How has she treated you?"

Kylo thought back to the moment where all his pity failed, and he was truly afraid of the girl. "It isn't as though I didn't deserve it." He remembered too clearly the fear in her eyes when he first froze her on Takodana.

"You're missing the point. What was in her eyes?"

Kylo looked at his master and felt ashamed. He'd never meant for this to happen. "Darkness." He mumbled.

A silence filled the space and Kylo did his best to hold in his emotions.

"It was the same with you." They locked eyes again and Kylo saw his teacher's regret. "I thought that if I reigned in that power that you would somehow improve. That you would be restrained and understanding of why I was doing it to you."

Kylo looked away and thought for a moment. "I understand why you thought you had to. You were afraid."

Luke Skywalker did not reply.

"You were a good teacher."

They locked eyes again and Luke finally asked with a crooked grin, "So what will you do now, Master Solo?"

Kylo looked away and then back at Rey. He knew that he could never be her master. She was too powerful and had already bested him multiple times. He had the scar to prove it.

Skywalker stood up, "You don't have to know right now. You could just-" he was backing out of the room, "take the day off."

The concept seemed foreign to him. As his master left, he searched his face for an answer, but Luke only responded with a wink as the door closed between them.

Kylo Ren looked back at the girl sleeping and wondered if she still dreamed of the island. He turned to face her now and on his knees beside her bunk, he rested his arms on the mattress and then his chin on his arms.

Would she be alright with him wading back into her dream? He'd enjoyed seeing her in the sun of that strange place. He wanted to be there with her too. He took a deep breath and her smell surrounded him. He heard her laughter, something he'd come across often in those past months. It was usually when she spoke to Finn and Poe or during her training with Skywalker. It was boisterous, her wide toothy grin caused her eyes to squint and light creases formed at the edges of them.

Soon, he felt his own consciousness fading. He too was drifting to the island and feeling the breeze on his skin. Then, he felt her.

Kylo opened his eyes and she was smiling at him. She was close enough to make him blush and at that, she giggled.

"Welcome back!"

"You knew I'd left?"

"Well, yes, I knew whatever you were doing was important. But you didn't leave, exactly. You were still beside me so that was why I didn't wake."

"You can tell when you're dreaming?"

"Can't you?"

"Only sometimes."

"Come on," she held out her hand and he realized he'd been laying in the sand.

She helped him up and he heard laughter not far off. He looked down the beach and saw Finn and Poe approaching them.

Finn had a ball in his hands, "Alright, now it's even teams!" He threw the ball and Kylo caught it immediately.

"What is this?"

"We've been playing since you left but now that you're here we can play for real, come on!"

She ran after the other two and Kylo had no choice but to follow her. They played a simple game and Kylo actually enjoyed himself. He'd forgotten what fun truly was and that this is how normal people would relax and enjoy their days off. A few rounds in, Rey convinced everyone to take a break and enjoy some treats. They were sweet and satisfying. Poe shared drinks with everyone and they were surprisingly refreshing.

They returned to their game and a few rounds later, Poe and Finn had them beat.

"You didn't let yourself win in your own dream?" Kylo asked her.

"What fun is that?"

They enjoyed a few more snacks and drinks before the boys waved goodbye, heading away from the shore. Again, it was the Jedi alone on the beach. The sun was setting turning the sky a delightful pink. He was at peace staring out at the vast ocean.

Rey sat down on the sand and Kylo followed. The two watched the sun set and felt the end of the star's warmth fade away.

"We should find a place to stay. You don't want to catch a cold."

"It's a dream, Ben. I can't catch a cold in my dreams."

He said nothing to that. He'd almost forgotten in that instance that they were dreaming. He continued watching as the sky faded from pink to a deep all-encompassing midnight. The stars twinkled, and he could watch them forever.

"I wish I never had to leave this place." She mused.

"How do you ever wake up?"

She looked at him and seemed sheepish in her answer. "You're usually not here."

"What?"

"I have a hard time imagining you in this place."

"Why?"

"This is a place with no sorrow. And... sorrow is all around you. It consumes you and I can't imagine you without it."

He didn't know how to react. She was so incredibly right that he couldn't argue against her. He was almost hurt though that he didn't invade her dreams the way she invaded his.

"I didn't say I don't dream about you."

He blushed at her obvious intrusion.

She didn't seem to care, "I just never imagine you here."

He looked up at the moon pushing back his hair to absorb more of its light. "Where," a lump was forming in his throat and a pit in his stomach, "do you imagine me?"

Rey looked at him and he instinctively locked eyes with her. She was hard to read. He wanted to see what she was thinking but she seemed to gently push against him. It was a cruel twist of fate but one that seemed justified.

The wind picked up and he had to close his eyes. When it suddenly died down, he heard the lapping of a fire. He opened his eyes to see her in her familiar attire from when he'd first met her. The rags seemed out of place on her now, after their time training together, he'd grown accustomed to her cleaner clothing. They were in a small hut, facing each other in the firelight. He felt the familiar cling of his Sith armor and it almost suffocated him now.

"Where are we?" He looked at her only, he couldn't fight his desire much longer. She was beautiful and powerful and though he felt her strength and knew she could easily end him, he felt her soul. She was so vulnerable.

Rey slowly extended her hand to him and he remembered the gesture clearly in his mind. It was familiar and intimate, like he could truly be free if he just touched her. He inched his hand towards hers and felt the familiar ache within him. He was so close. Her light brushed against him as the static of their skin meeting hit him.

He breathed in quickly and he hadn't realized that he'd been looking at their hands instead of her.

She whispered softly, coolly, "This is how I dream of you."