Hello all! I have been smacked with the sudden desire to do some writing. I'm working abroad this summer and could use the distraction.

This will be a series of short chapters about the development of Rey and Kylo's Force bond. Not especially original, I know, but they had to have known what they were doing when they came up with the bond idea. I mean, come on.

So buckle up, kiddoes. This one's gonna be a slow burn. Rated M for future smutty goodness.

XXXXX

Loss

A chill rolled down my spine, rippling my shoulders, like my body thought it could shrug off the growing connection that started hazy and unclear before giving way to the light of overly exposed colors that were only muted around the edges of my vision. The sounds around me were suddenly murky, like I had been plunged underwater.

Annoyed and also surprised to have been disturbed by a bond I had thought dead with its creator, my eyes refocused on the new presence in my quarters.

"Snake."

The word dripped from her curled lips like the venom of the very creature she accused me of being. It twisted her face cruelly, bared her teeth like a snarl, and her eyes were both hot with fury and cold with hate.

"Are we back to name calling then?" I replied as I stared down my nose at her, unperturbed and disinterested. "I can come up with several for you."

"You'll pay for what you've done!"

"You keep saying that."

Rey's fists clenched at her sides. Her stance widened and I could sense that she wanted to hurt me, but something stopped her from trying. I couldn't see of course, but she must have been near someone, to be reining in her anger. A shame, such passion would serve her well if applied correctly.

"I hate you," She hissed, as though that was supposed to offend me. "You had your way out, to find yourself again, and you cast it aside like it was nothing."

I shrugged my shoulders carelessly and took my eyes off her. I wanted to remind her she was nothing. She continued anyway.

"I gave you a chance! You could have come back. You could have put an end to all of this, but you could only think of yourself. You've become so lost in your illusion of grandeur that you can't see opportunity when it smacks you in the face. You've lost everything!"

I refocused my attention on the hilt of my saber, laying now in pieces on the table as I worked to make some minor repairs.

"How interesting," I mused, "Despite me being the one to have supposedly lost so much, the only one I see complaining about loss is you. Are you bitter?"

Rey hadn't answered after several moments, so I thought I had won, but then suddenly all the sounds around me – the creaking of the ship's metal hull, the thudding of boots in the hall outside my door – came back in a rush that was almost deafening and which slowly subsided to normal levels.

I finally looked up and found Rey was gone, and only then did I let my own face contort into a sneer.

"I assure you," I spat, gut twisting in derision, "The feeling is mutual."