Chapter 1

It was night, and Rey was sitting on the side of her bed; cleaning a module that she had found recently in one of the old, dirty equipment rooms. She and what little was left of the resistance had made it by sheer luck as far as Lebno-54a9, a moon circling a gas giant. It was a very small underground base of the resistance, that (so a service android informed her) was meant to be built bigger, but soon given up due to its remoteness and the unsuitable atmosphere.

From what she was able to observe through the tiny window in her cabin, the same violent storm had been going on for days now. The wind blew massive amounts of water against it, and it seemed like this planet just had an infinite supply of it. Rey put down the module she worked on and stood up to touch the window. Rey wondered how much longer she would be trapped on this moon. She pressed her palm against the cold glass, almost covering the whole surface of it. She stood there for a while, when she could suddenly feel the presence of someone else in her cabin. She turned around. There was nobody. Did she go crazy?

She could still feel the presence of someone watching her. Rey started to quickly go towards her lightsaber on the table, being ready to grab it and fight any second. But just before her fingertips reached it, she heard a deep voice behind her.

"Rey?"

Without looking, she knew who it was.

"Do you have any concept of privacy? Get out of my cabin" she replied, trying to sound as unimpressed as possible. She now turned around, to look at this tall man, dressed in black, that called himself the new supreme leader. He looked at her too, and Rey regretted to not go to bed in war outfits every night. She didn´t want him to see her in her simple evening robes; it made her look girly and weak.

Seeming not to be bothered by this at all, Kylo responded her.

"I did not choose deliberately to show up like this", he said, in a tone that conveyed pure seriousness.

"Liar. The force didn´t connect us for weeks. I thought I finally got rid of you". Rey had tried so hard to keep herself busy, to forget everything that had happened. All Kylo ever caused her was confusion and pain. She thought she had done a good job at keeping him out of her mind.

Kylo looked like he attempted to walk towards her, but then he decided that Ray looked threatened enough already.

"Look. I did not have any choice. Living through those dreams repeatedly is annoying and I want it to stop. Even I need sleep"

Rey froze.

"What dreams?" she asked, not being able to hide her nervousness. Her cheeks started blushing, for which she hated herself immediately.

Kylo looked surprised for a moment, as if he could not understand her reaction. But this would only last for a second or two, when he realized that she must have missed out on the fingerprint the force had left behind.

"I see. You didn´t realise that we share those dreams, did you?"

Her mind began going all over the place; collecting all memories of the dreams she had in the last few weeks. She always tried to forget them, thinking it was just her sub consciousness playing with her, trying to make sense of what happened between them or simply driving her into madness. The possibility of it having been real, even just to the slightest extend, made her shiver. Rey hesitated to ask him, but there was no way around it.

"Was it real?"

-"yes"

A moment of silence passed, in which Kylo pierced Rey with his gaze, expecting some dramatic reaction from this short fused girl. But instead she still tried to deny the undeniable.

"...All of it?"

-"Yes"

"I don't believe you"

Silence again. Now he seemed to follow his former intention, and came closer. As he did, Rey went a step back, now standing with her back against the metal wall of her cabin. She could feel the coldness of it, and was instantly reminded of the storm that was still going on outside. When she looked back at Kylo´s face, trying to figure out if he was lying, she noticed that he didn´t look serious anymore. That means, not completely. She felt a sense of sadness radiating from his body, but Rey didn´t allow herself to believe that someone like him could have emotions. Kylo Ren, the monster. Mass murderer. Psychopath.

"That you want to be close to"

...Did she just hear his voice inside her head!?

"yes" he said, without moving his lips. Rey just stared at him. No. This can´t be real. It can´t be. How do I stop this? How do I-

"You could try to exclude me from your thoughts. But you won´t succeed, our force bond makes it ridiculously easy for me to enter you mind. Let me show you something."

With Rey being still frozen in place, feeling angry and confused and trying to think as little as possible, Kylo removed one of his leather gloves and reached out to her.

"What are you doing?", she hissed at him.

-"Helping your memory. Touch my hand"

"I don´t need any help. I remember just well."

Kylo left his hand a little bit longer in the air, looking at her doubtfully, but then taking it finally down again.

He looked her straight in the eyes.

"Good. Then tell me. What do you think is the meaning of it?"

-"I don´t know. The force – is playing with us. Trying to confuse us. "

"You´re a bad liar"

Out of nowhere, Kylo grabbed her shoulders, pressing her firmly against the wall. Rey immediately tried to push him back, untangle herself, but he used his force to paralyze her. She should have seen it coming. She should have halved him with her lightsaber when she still had the chance to. How did she get so distracted?

But she didn´t have any more time to think. A vision made it through her mind, pushing away the real world. She saw smooth, round tree trunks. It wasn´t like any planet she had visited before, with its dark purple night sky and a forest that radiated a mixture of both dark and light energy- but still, it felt weirdly familiar to her. The moons of the planet dipped everything into a mysterious shimmer, but it was light enough for her clearly distinguish Kylo, standing with the back to her on the top of a hill. As she walked- no, glided towards him, he turned around and looked at her. As he did, Rey suddenly felt calm. The closer she got, the more she lost herself in his dark brown eyes, being unable to recall any of the fear or nervousness she usually felt around him. As she was close enough to touch him, it came completely naturally to her to put her hand on his cheek, proceeding to stroke along his scar with her thumb. His face looked so rough, and jet his skin was so soft. His gaze met hers and she felt a warm feeling rushing through her body. His eyes expressed just the same calmness that she felt. Not stopping to look at her, Kylo slowly slipped his hands around her waist. Against all of her former instincts, she didn't try to fight against it. She didn't try to get away- she was just standing there.
He was holding her close, his eyes repeatedly lowering to watch her lips. Kylos hands started stroking her body, and simultaneously one of her hands made it´s way to the back of his head, through his black hair, slightly pressing his face closer to hers.

"Rey" she heard him say from a distance. The vision started to fade.

"Rey. Do you remember now?"

From one moment to the next, she found herself back in reality. Kylo was no longer holding her, but instead he was standing in front of her. No forest- just her cabin.

The realisation of what just happened hit her like a comet in the face.

"No- this wasn´t real. You- you manipulated me. You used the force to control my mind, you want to convince me like this to turn to the dark side"

-"I wish I was that good with the force"

"This can´t be- we can´t be together. We are natural enemies, like fire and water. This must be just some cruel joke!"

Without responding to what she just said, he walked towards her bed, sat down, and inspected the module she had tried to repair earlier on. Rey´s anger went up to a whole new level. How could he stay so calm?

"I know. I was thinking the same" he said, still looking at the module. "But after the second or third time that this happened I realised that it was not just a stupid dream. It felt too real"

She sat down next to him. She felt weird standing there, angry.

"So what do you think we should do, Mr. know-it-all? How can we stop it?"

-"We can´t" he replied promptly.

His words echoed in his exact deep voice through her brain, like an unwanted ghost. Did she just hear that right?

"We need to follow our force bond and be physically closer. It will only get worse. I would suggest we meet on Tero34. It is seen as a neutral planet. Don´t worry about your alibi, I will send a trade ship"

Now he casually put the module down, looking back at her. Rey looked at him surprised. She thought this corner of the galaxy was safe.

"Yes, I know your location. No, I won´t kill all of your...friends."

"Could you stop reading my thoughts?"

She wanted to disagree with everything he just said. But something in the back of her mind told her he wasn´t lying. She looked at him, and she could see the honesty in his eyes. But still, she had to protect the rebels; it was her duty as the last known Jedi. She could not allow to get imprisoned; the resistance still needed her desperately.

"How did you find us?"

"I watched you. From your environment I concluded you must be on Lebno-54a9, an (up until now) inactive rebel base. Am I...right?"

-"Wait. So you watched me on purpose? You used our force bond willingly?"

Kylo was so arrogant, so proud of himself, that he didn´t think about his answer well enough. Now there was no turning back, and Rey used it to her full advantage.

"You like me". She smiled at him, watching him burn internally.

-"I watched you to find out where the rebels are hiding"

"You could have killed me a hundred times already, and what is left of the resistance is barely a threat to you! You just said yourself you won´t kill them!"

Not unexpected, he lost his temper, being unable to argue against that. He used both physical and force power to pin her down on her bed. Rey didn´t even twitch, and calmly watched the anger burn inside his eyes. She knew she wouldn't die today either.
He raised his hand, held it up over her- and punched the bed next to her head.

"WHY AREN`T YOU AFRAID OF ME", he screamed.

Voices were heard outside the corridor. His expression went from anger to regret, in a matter of seconds, as he realised what he just did. Someone knocked at her door. Before she was able to say anything to Kylo, the connection faded. She was alone again.