A/N: I really want the novelization to know what was going on in Rey's head when she woke up after their tug-of-war battle with the lightsaber in Snoke's lair, but until then I have to make my own conclusions.

Enjoy!

The Necessary Restoration

Chapter 1: Omnipresent

When Rey opened her eyes, she saw embers falling once more, and the ringing in her ears hummed like a soft lullaby. She felt the consequences of what felt like an eruption and her dazed mind began to recall the room, deep red in its color and widely spherical. Lethargy was weighing her down, but something was awakening once more, revitalizing her, flushing under her skin and through her body, causing her muscles to twitch and reanimate.

The energy danced through her to the tips of her fingers, and when she fully came to, she knew what was done could not be undone. For Luke's lightsaber was shattered, torn apart by the force of them, and Ben had wanted the past to evaporate and be erased. These were two very transfixed truths. Things that simply could not be reversed or repaired, which she concluded somberly.

But the past was what shaped her. It was what shaped Kylo. It was what would shape the future. To deny it the opportunity was to renounce logic.

But she had never seen Ben so desperate…Please…

Rey exhaled with a weak sound of effort, her body slowly and nimbly turning so that she might shift her weight enough to sit, and eventually stand. Her fingers curled at her side and she pushed enough to do just so, before her head turned slightly to glance at him across the way.

Ben's body was a mass of tumbled black linens and unruly raven waves of hair. Strands of it covered his closed eyes, and the sweat matted it to his skin, making his face look considerably more distressed. He had tumbled far from her, and far from the remains of the broken lightsaber.

Soft eyes fell upon the one hinged to his belt, and for a moment she could remember what it felt like to grip it as if her own, the hilt dwarfing her small hands, while the instability of the crystal hummed in her ear like a rasp and igniting emotions in her like a surge.

Rey kept her gaze firm, wondering perhaps if he too would wake once more, and what would happen then. But he remained still, his body only moving slightly with the rise and fall of his breathing amidst the constant silence. Yes…what would happen next?

Join me.

She winced as she stood, her posture wobbling as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

Rey…I want you to—

A low rumble brought her out of her reverie, her eyes flicking over to the magnifying dome, and witnessed yet another escape shuttle as it became engulfed in flames. She darted closer, moving to a degree that only marginally weighed the pain against her in her efforts for urgency.

She needed to leave and help her friends. She couldn't sit idly by, she wouldn't turn her back on them for his promises of…of regality and…companionship…and…

She pondered her nerves alight with anxiety at the thought of his extended hand and his proposal. Because Ben Solo had come forth, and she had seen him in a composed form unlike any other; a mold of true character foreign to his agonistic behavior. Ben Solo will turn, and she believed it.

But Kylo Ren had shadowed Ben, as he always had, and denied his existence, as he always would. She couldn't entertain his ideas for the future. At least, not when she understood the failures of the past. And the dangers of denying them.

His reality had become new. His loyalties were once mirrored in the extent of Snoke, and his act of killing him he believed enough to sway her loyalties to tie to him. But it was Ben Solo she wished to solicit. And it was Ben Solo Kylo wished to snuff out.

She couldn't save him. She wouldn't.

Rey wiped sloppily at her wet cheeks, trying to swallow the weight in her throat from the pain as she knelt slowly to gather the remains of the lightsaber, the one split in two, and examined it briefly as she rose to stand once more.

She was still holding on. He was right. But as she looked at him, the memory of his hand extended to her in an offer to join him, and...well…she wasn't entirely convinced he had let go either. She wouldn't entertain his idea of what it meant to unite.

She left him there, and the embers continued to fall.

The visions of her were becoming clearer than those that came before them, her presence could be felt at a great distance with no delayed effort. But as he examined her, and vice versa, he noticed her eyes seemed to deaden and deny themselves of any empathy she might have shown him before. She closed the door to the Falcon and she was gone, no longer vivid before him, somewhere far beyond his physical reach.

Kylo looked down to the dice in his palm, and watched them fade away before he curled his fingers into a tight ball.

Standing swiftly, and turning on his heel, he exited the control room.

So…this is what it has come to then.

The lightsaber halves felt a heavy burden in her palms. They seemed trivial in her pursuit to rebuild all that she had lost.

It was true that she could rebuild the lightsaber should she find the necessary parts. She was quite able in the business of mending things, especially from her experience on Jakku. But this felt different. She felt less hopeful. She felt less inclined to begin.

Finn was adjacent from her seated position, attending to a girl she hadn't seen before. She watched him behaving almost hospitable, furthermore caring and concerned. It made her stomach twist slightly, flushing her mind with fresh memories that she tried to push away.

She watched him cautiously, but earnestly, imagining all the things she could have had. All the things he had offered her.

Leia sat down beside Rey, and she looked up, feeling the sting of her body's resistance to the emotions. She mustered enough strength to smile, and Leia did the same. Rey addressed Master Luke.

Leia had already lost so much, but she wasn't afraid. Peace and purpose, those emotions were the truth. She faced what she knew to be the truth. It was time Rey did the same.

And so, when Rey asked how they could rebuild, Leia assured her they had all they needed to do so, tightly gripping one end of the shattered lightsaber.

Finding the necessary parts to begin mending the lightsaber was a much more difficult task than Rey had initially presumed. It seemed to her the lightsaber almost didn't want to be repaired. Wasn't a Jedi meant to have the pieces called to them, and found without such utter difficulty?

She would have to make do with what she found, which wasn't much, and work with patience, which was wearing just as thin. But she found time to work on it, when she was alone, secluding herself away in a small cave of the shore of a beach by the base, where the only sound she heard was her own thoughts.

The crystal was undamaged enough to build something new around it, but when she finally had enough parts to assemble the revised hilt and cautiously ignited the beam, she found it hissed and crackled with a violent, familiar sound, and it heated the metal so quickly that she had to drop the weapon before it burned her hand severely.

She quickly reached out, channeling enough power in the Force to switch off the beam, before she stared at it, dumbfounded. That sound was so undeniably familiar, that she couldn't prepare herself for the conclusion she made, and her body went stiff with the revelation. The beam of her revised lightsaber sounded just as unstable as Kylo Ren's.

She concluded that it was not wise to wield a weapon of such instability, and she left it alone for some time to allow the metal to properly cool so she might hold it once more. But her frustration lingered, making her all the more aware that she couldn't consult Master Luke for guidance. Especially when she needed answers the most.

She huffed loudly with irritation, wanting to disassemble the saber in one swift motion, but settled for tightening her fist until her knuckles whitened, wincing after remembering her tender skin.

She debated asking around in search of answers, but who would she ask? Who out there would have the answers—

She felt her thoughts drifting and she stopped herself before she could entertain the questions she would ask, and the person to whom she would ask them.

Suddenly, feeling as if she was being examined, she turned quickly…looking for the only person she knew to come around unannounced. But alas, she was alone.

She formed a thin line with her lips, kneeling to retrieve the lightsaber for it had cooled off enough to touch once more. She shifted her weight to stand again and found her way back towards the cave entrance.

The crackling sound of the beam still lingered in her thoughts as she begrudgingly wondered how Kylo Ren had built his, hoping her newly learned defenses were strong enough to keep those thoughts to herself. It was then that she noticed the imprints in the sand, impressions of what looked like….footprints.

He hadn't allowed himself the time or the opportunity for distracting himself with thoughts of her since they had left the Rebel base on Crait. But he couldn't always help it.

The First Order was not a collected Empire, and that was the first thing Kylo decided to begin to change, upon his newly ascended position as Supreme Leader. Infiltrate a new system of power and incorporate better operated bases to accommodate the growing fleet, as more and more alliances were formed.

When he began, he had merely wanted to snuff out the Resistance. But his ambitions had grown into something more. He was understanding, deeper, the extent of his power as he reigned. And his hunger was not yet satiated.

It was a slow process, and one that took up most of his attention. He could not be plagued with distractions.

He looked down at the map beneath his palms, when, suddenly, the atmosphere became increasingly dense and humid. A soft ringing in his ears droned until he heard something else…His eyes darted upward, knowing what the shifting sensation implied, and braced himself. His eyes searching what looked like a cave, searched until he turned and they fell on her, her body rigid with shock. She quickly dropped what he assumed was her mended version of Luke's lightsaber to the ground.

Ren felt a sharp pain in his palm and immediately flinched, gripping his right wrist, tightly. He looked down at his hand…it stung as if…burned.

She was frantic as he stood there, witnessing her lips part in shock and her arm raise to channel enough power to switch off the beam without having to touch the scalding metal encasing the weapon.

He had begun to announce his presence, when the he remembered the sound; the hissing, tempered noise the beam had made, and it caused his whole body to pause, turning his gaze down at the new formed saber.

Had it just—

He began moving forward, seeking, when he looked up and found he was no longer in the cave. His environment the same as it was just moments prior. The strategy room greatly contrasted in color and width and occupants.

But the sand that made an unpleasant crunch beneath his boots along the tile was just the same.

He curled his fist tightly, not remembering the stinging skin of his hand, which made him wince. His eyes casting themselves downward as he brought his hand to examine at eye level, trying to fathom the consequences of her injuries on his skin.

A voice provoked his attention.

"Supreme Leader, all is prepared for your voyage…shall we commence?"

Kylo looked up, before slowly giving a firm nod of approval and dismissal. When the messenger had left, he looked down at his palm once more, before carefully curling his fingers in.

The sound of the refurbished lightsaber, the unstable hiss lingering in his ears.

"Well, what else can we do to prepare?"

The question seemed pivotal in negotiating the terms at hand, but Finn shook his head fervently at her.

"No, no you see, our best bet is to rally our troops and set up base where we can. Which for now is here. We tried relaying out a distress signal on Crait, it didn't help. There's no one out there we can go persuade in a timely manner, especially not when the First Order is becoming more established in organized government. We need to build from what we have."

Rey opened her mouth to protest when Poe interjected.

"We can't begin separating our forces…and we need you, Rey." He looked at her, his gaze softening, "We need to start seeing the bigger picture. General Organa knows what she's doing."

Rey nodded, "I don't doubt it, Poe. I just—"

"Look, let's not worry about leaving just yet." Finn said softly, whispering. "We just got you back."

Rey lowered her eyes at that, feeling almost ashamed. She had been gone so long. She had missed everything. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Finn patted her shoulder, and looked on somberly, before he composed himself and lifted his spirits. Making small conversation to side-step the subject and move on.

Rey smiled weakly, only mumbling something in response when the conversation was directed at her. She just couldn't understand it…a distress signal sent from Leia Organa undoubtedly should have prompted a response, of any kind. But the fact that she found out that no one had come to assist the Resistance during the Battle of Crait, despite the signal being reached at multiple points…it just…

What allies did they have out there, if not the allies of General Organa? She couldn't blame the urgency of the matter as a reason no one showed up…because that was not the case in the past.

The Resistance was low on members, and lacking hope. They took up refuge on an alliance planet called Corellia; the home planet of Han Solo. Leia thought it a strategic move, seeing as it was the administrative center for its entire sector and it was synonymous as an industrial world. It could provide them a safe place to rebuild.

But the fleet was barely even a fleet. The Resistance would be crushed under the First Order within days with the amount of members they possessed, especially as he deftly was establishing his supremacy more and more into society. She—

"Rey, are you feeling okay?"

Finn's question caused Rey to focus once again, her eyes finding his and taking a minute to adjust her thoughts back to him.

"Uh, yeah…why?" She tried to smile something reassuring.

Finn leaned closer, his eyes plagued with concern. "You're sweating."

Rey blinked, confused. "What?" She lifted her hand to wipe her forehead and felt the moisture and the heat.

She looked at her glistening fingers and frowned, about to utter something when Finn reached up abruptly and touched the back of his fingers to her forehead.

"Rey, you're burning up!" He stepped back to examine her.

"Oh," Rey began. "I..uh..I don't know how that happened." She began wiping her face with her sleeve, suddenly feeling rather uncomfortable and warm.

"You need to lie down." Finn urged.

"We can escort you to the Med Bay." Poe offered, but Rey shook her head.

"No need. You're right Finn. I…I think I just need to rest. Excuse me." She gave a soft look of reassurance before she made her way to her makeshift residency aboard the base, thankful that they chose to respect her decision.

The perspiration caused the hairs to cling to her neck and forehead, leaving her with an uncomfortable sensation as it tickled her skin. She felt so warm, the atmosphere around her feeling thick and condensed.

She crept inside her residency, letting the door slide behind her to latch. She wanted to rip her clothes from her skin, let the air touch it instead. She wiped her face with the back of her wrist, muttering in annoyance as she walked over to the fresher and twisted the knob of the water basin to let the stream begin flowing. Cupping her hands, she splashed the water and wiped rather furiously at her skin, splaying her fingers to reach the far edges by her temple.

She turned off the water, lifting her face and reaching for a towel, lightly dabbing the droplets away. Her skin felt refreshed, but the atmosphere remained thick and warm.

She moved from the fresher, lightly brushing the towel against the hairs she had dampened from the water as she sat on the edge of her cot.

She needed to slow down, and search her body for answers. If she wasn't feeling well, her body would let her know why…she just had to listen. She closed her eyes and relaxed her breathing.

I'm ready to understand…

She sat like that for minutes, her mind in a slow, meditative state, before a soft ringing formulated in her ears, and she opened her eyes.

Her body shot up so quickly, she very nearly lost her balance. Her eyes searching around frantically, taking in the molten, orange liquid that surrounded the black shoreline her feet were planted on. She was no longer on Corellia, or if she was, she was far from the base.

The fumes and heat waves rippled off the ground and practically burned her skin. The heat a much different temperature and temperament than the Jakku desert.

She turned, her pulse quickening and her movements becoming frenzied when she suddenly locked eyes with him, Kylo Ren, his expression just as confused and frantic as hers.

He was just up the shoreline, his body rigid from the shock of her presence.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Kylo made no delay of reaching for his lightsaber, and Rey fumbled at her waistline, only to remember the condition of hers. He inched forward, slowly, igniting his weapon and keeping it low. He stopped when he was close enough. She knew fleeing wasn't an option. She had to be smart.

"What is this place?" Rey offered her question in an effort to stall, her eyes leaving the bright red of his weapon to shift to address the molten liquid that licked the shoreline with flames.

Kylo paused, his movements stilled. He couldn't hide his surprise. "You can see it?"

Rey nodded, slowly. Her voice small and filled with panic. "Where are we?"

He seemed dumbfounded, "Before…before we could just see each other…" His eyes locked onto hers, curiosity pulsing through him. "I wonder if…"

Her reality shifted, and suddenly she was back in the base on Corellia, and he was there too. She calmed slightly, her surroundings familiar once more, but her eyes flashed to his. His lightsaber was still ignited, the sound filling the room, sounding harsher than before. He silenced it, gripping the hilt sternly.

"Ah…yes." He murmured, his eyes finding hers again. "I can see yours too."

Rey didn't know what to do. She stepped backwards. "What was that place?" She asked again. Watching helplessly as he inched closer to her.

Kylo narrowed his eyes. "What is this place?"

"Why could I feel it?" Her tone harsher than before. "I don't understand—"

"Where are you?" He pressed, ignoring her, his eyes scanning the room for any indicating signs. Rey panicked, not willing to risk what he might find, when suddenly the environment changed again, placing her back engulfed in the heat of the planet. Kylo looked up in annoyance, his face beginning to darken.

She eyed his lightsaber, still gripped tightly in his hand and her fingers twitched, feeling more vulnerable and susceptible to harm without hers. Kylo moved forward, now merely steps away, his looming presence peering down at her. Rey found she couldn't inch away without touching the flames.

"Your lightsaber…" He started, his eyes inspecting her face as he stepped forward. "You can't fix it, can you?"

He was so close. His hair was matted to his skin from the sweat, as she was sure hers was as well. She felt her jaw instinctually clench as her eyes kept his gaze. "No." she stated simply, swallowing her initial embarrassment at her incompetence to glare at him.

His eyes shifted quickly after a long look at her, before nodding slowly. And once more, he stood before her, but on Corellia, her body leaning from him, but her legs trapped by the frame of the cot. The edge grazing the backs of her thighs. She twisted her head to look behind her, any further movement backwards and she would fall into it.

Turning her head back to look at Kylo, his face was closer than before, engulfing her vision. She could smell the scent of him, charcoal mixed with sweat and exhaustion and greed. And somehow, she could feel the electricity emitting off of him like static, increasing with each moment that passed.

"That's a shame." He said, finally, the sentiment spoken in a deep, brazen tone and practically vibrating in her bones, as his breath could be felt against her face. "I can."

He stepped back, never breaking her gaze. She took a moment to straighten her posture and solidly inhale, her eyes not being able to resist locating her lightsaber across the room. She turned her gaze back to where Kylo was, but he had vanished.

She sat slowly, her skin still radiating from the phantom warmth that vanished the second that he did.

He was baiting her…taunting her with his knowledge and capabilities. But her curiosity was alight and vivid within her…and she dared to admit that she considered letting him help.

But only briefly.

She would have to face what that revelation meant in her own time. For now, she couldn't help but feel transfixed by the fact that he had been here, he had seen her world, and she had felt his breath lightly caressing her face from the proximity in which he had just stood, while his actual presence remained planets away. And she wondered, what this bond was becoming, and how much closer he could truly get to her from such a distance.

A/N: I very strongly believe that if Kylo Ren does not take up base in Mustafar in Episode IX, I will protest until I die.

This will be a multi-chapter series and I will update soon!

Until next time...