Author's Note: So this is my first fic in a reeeeeeeaallllllyyy long time. So long, in fact, that I have a fresh new account (because my old one is filled with half-completed stuff from forever ago). This is also my first Star Wars fic, and I know that it's probably going to seem OOC for a bit. That said, this is going to be a Reylo fic, through and through. Although you might see some Poe/Finn/Rose in there too. It'll probably be long. And it won't go quickly (I'll try to post at least once a week). And even I don't know how it'll go. But thanks anyway for taking a chance and I hope you enjoy the ride.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Star Wars, its characters, etc., etc.


Chapter 1

Finally, Rey thought, as the music in her mind reached a soaring crescendo. She had spent the better part of a day searching the cave, with nothing but a small light and the Force as her guide. She and what remained of the Resistance had touched down on Lothal two days before, but instead of helping Leia and the others fortify their latest base and scramble for resources, Rey had been unable to do anything but seek out the source of an insistent pull. She felt she couldn't do anything until she first quieted the cacophony in her heart.

The whispers had begun as they traveled through hyperspace, tugging her this way and that, yammering insistently through all hours of the day and night. In the end, Rey had confessed her discomfort to Leia, who gently reminded her that such messages could not be ignored. In the days it took to reach their destination – after following a convoluted path meant to keep the First Order's inevitable pursuit at bay – Rey lost endless hours of peace, unable to eat, unable to sleep, unable to even think.

Yet in a way Rey welcomed the noise. It prevented her mind from turning to him. And so she had occupied her time instead by pouring over the Jedi texts, hoping to learn more about the Force and continue the training Luke would now never be able to finish.

The moment they landed at their destination, Rey jumped from the pilot's seat and walked away from the Millennium Falcon with quick, hurried steps. Finn had followed, concerned, but at a brief word from Poe Dameron, he demurred and returned to the side of the still recovering Rose Tico. Left to her own devices, Rey found herself in a nearby cavern, searching for who-knew-what.

But, as she gazed upon the crystal half-buried in the earth, Rey understood what the Force had led her to.

At first she feared it had broken, split apart, its power corrupted. But as she took it in her hands, Rey realized she held two distinct crystals, formed together so closely as to create a cohesive whole. The stones sang against her skin, shimmering in the dim of the cave, and she knew she had found what she needed.

Rey closed the door to her bunk and sank down onto the floor, a crystal in either hand. Taking a deep breath, she slipped uneasily into meditation. She knew from the Jedi texts that refining kyber crystals took an immense amount of concentration and energy. But something wasn't right. Although the stones in her hands hummed in perfect harmony, a discordant note jangled at the edge of her awareness.

Following the thread, Rey focused on the broken pieces of Luke's old lightsaber and the fractured kyber within. Even though it was broken, torn apart by fear and sorrow, it cried out to her. Weeping, it begged her to mend what was broken, to adjoin its now disparate and fading halves.

Opening her eyes, Rey gave in to the demands of the Force and retrieved the broken lightsaber from its place on her bedside table. Placing it in front of her on the floor, she resumed her place and tried once more to allow her mind to drift in meditation.

It took her but a moment to tune herself into the greater sea of the Force, to let it wash over her and through her. To guide her in her efforts to address the crystals in her possession. She felt each one distinctly – the pure stones in either hand, and the tired and broken one before her.

The Force seemed to control her movements as Rey brought the new kyber towards the old one. It whispered at her to place the perfect stones on the fractured one, to help her accomplish a feat even the ancient Jedi manuals claimed could not be done. The Force guided her to heal the crystal from Luke's lightsaber, to forget the past and fuse the broken pieces into a seamless, balanced whole.

Rey did not know exactly how long she remained in the solitude of her room, pouring her focus and energy into the damaged crystal, but after a time she became aware of the stiffness in her limbs, the tension at the base of her neck. She felt on the cusp of triumph, so very close to healing the rift that had rent the kyber in two, but time after time she fell short of accomplishing her goal. Though the Force and the crystal itself demanded she complete the healing, she simply couldn't. Something was missing.

She huffed out a frustrated breath, unwilling to lose hope and give up. But what else could she do?

It was in that moment that she felt him. Ben. Kylo Ren. Who he was she did not know anymore. And in her heart she wanted nothing more than to abandon her task and to hide away from him, from the question of what still lay between them. But, as surely as if she were a reflection of the broken crystal before her, Rey felt torn in two. A second part of her reached out for him, yearned for his companionship. And yet she feared. She worried he would repeat his entreaty from the Supremacy. But most of all she was terrified that she wouldn't be able to deny him.

But he said nothing. Instead, he merely dropped to the floor beside her, breathing ragged and shallow. Noiselessly, he placed his hands over hers, stopping a hairsbreadth short of contact, and nodded at her to continue her work.

Surprised, yet too drained to protest or question, Rey turned her attention back to the rent kyber crystal. As she reached out once again through the Force, she felt Ben's own power blend with hers.

This time, it took but a moment before the crystal lit up with a brilliant flash of light. Energy poured from it, bathing Rey's cramped bunk in blinding sparks.

As the lights faded and Rey's vision returned to normal, she saw the fully healed crystal laying inert on the floor. But rather than feeling elation at her accomplishment, Rey felt only loneliness. For as the kyber's strength had returned, her awareness of Ben had disappeared, and she was left alone in her bunk once more, the two crystals in her hand now singing in harmony with the third.

Rey had healed the legacy kyber crystal. For all she knew, she had accomplished the impossible. But why did she still feel so terribly hollow?

Back in his own quarters on Mustafar, Kylo Ren rose from where he crouched on the floor. He flexed his hands, thoughts shying away from what he had just witnessed. What he and Rey had just done. In all his research, he had never come across a verifiable account of anyone healing a kyber crystal. And certainly never by anyone so new and unskilled in the ways of the Force.

Ostensibly, Kylo Ren recognized this feat made Rey a formidable and terrifying opponent for the First Order. Yet he could not help but feel a certain sense of pride in the young scavenger. Time and again, Rey proved herself incredibly resourceful, turning the old rules and strictures of the Force upside down.

Every time Kylo thought he could not desire her more, Rey pushed beyond the boundaries of his heart and he could do nothing but fall helplessly further under her spell. What other evidence did he need than the fact that he stood in the dark fortress of his grandfather, mind filled with the thought of her? The turmoil that had so long been his companion had left him, and he now remained unsure of himself. The chaos that had fueled him had abandoned him and Kylo felt only longing and fear. Longing for a girl who stood as his opposite in everything, and fear that she might never look at him with acceptance.

Always he had been cursed by his own identity, smothered under the weight of legacy. First, he had been Ben Solo, son to the heroes of the rebellion, nephew of the last Jedi. And then Kylo Ren, master of the Knights of Ren, heir apparent to the last Sith Lord. But now, as he stood gazing out at the volcanic terrain of Mustafar, he did not know himself. He felt adrift, lost – no longer running from the past, nor chasing his future.

Suddenly, Kylo straightened. He might not understand his own self or feelings, but he did understand his goal. Although his mother had sent him away at an early age, Ben Solo had not completely ignored Leia's lessons. After all, he was the son of a consummate politician. He had grown up in a galaxy filled with greed and chaos, inherently understanding the failures and foibles of the past generations. Now, with the destruction of the New Republic and the decimation of the Rebels, the First Order could finally bring about peace and stability through centralized rule.

Although he disapproved of the fanatic and nearly genocidal actions of Armitage Hux, Kylo Ren firmly believed in the doctrine of the First Order. And uniting the galaxy under a single, stable banner might serve to give him the direction he craved. He could carve out his own legacy as the iron pacifier, neither bound by the laws of the Sith or Jedi, nor beholden to them.

His decision made, his resolve solidified, Kylo Ren had found his path. So why, then, did he still feel so lost?


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