AN:

I wasn't planning on continuing this, but this is the fastest and most demanding feedback I've ever gotten, so I don't really have a choice. I don't own Star Wars. Review replies at the bottom (there's a lot of them).

"Kylo." I sigh. "Don't do this to me. What did I do to deserve this?"

"I'm not lying to you." He doesn't stand, just watches me pace angrily.

"Then I'm just supposed to believe that after six months you realized that what you did was wrong, unprompted? I'm supposed to believe that the Supreme Leader of the First Order defected, and we didn't hear about it?" This is ridiculous. "What precisely is your motivation for doing this? You know very well that I won't accept you if you have remained unchanged."

"I have changed."

"So, then what? The war is over? Hux is no longer a problem? You're just going to let the Resistance go? We're just going to walk away today and live happily ever after? Kylo, as far as three-fourths of the Galaxy is concerned, you should be executed for your crimes. The other fourth has just somehow avoided knowledge of you."

"And what about you? What do you think should happen to me?" He rises and walks closer to me, we're closer than we were on that elevator. "Am I still a monster?"

I don't reply, just stare at him.

"Do you love me?" He's leaning over, placing his face intoxicatingly close to mine.

"I believe that I could love Ben Solo," I admit. "However, I know that I will never love Kylo Ren."

I take a step back, a step away from him. He's still Kylo Ren. He's still the Supreme Leader. His bare hand grabs mine to keep me from leaving.

"Let go." He shifts my hand in his so that he's just holding to my fingers with the palm of my hand draped over his fingers. He doesn't let go but does slowly raise our hands to his mouth. Never breaking eye contact, he presses his lips to my knuckles.

This is the first actual skin-to-skin contact we've ever had.

The only other time we came close it wasn't real. It was the Force Bond.

His lips slowly leave my hand, and he releases it. I wish he hadn't.

"Come back with me," I beg, taking his hands again. His skin is a lot smoother than you would think. Perhaps it's just that my hands are so rough from scavenging. "Come home."

"I told you, it's time to let old things die. The Resistance, First Order, Jedi, Sith, everything."

"What about your mother?" He tenses. "If you destroy the Resistance, you destroy her."

"I don't mean to kill them all."

"You could've fooled me." I spat. "You practically destroyed the Resistance on Crait."

"I was angry, Rey. You know very well how my temper is." Yes, I do. "You rejected me, I had killed my leader, assumed his position, saw Luke Skywalker for the first time since he tried to kill me in my sleep. I was angry."

"And now?"

"Now I've had six months to get over it. We could put an end to this war, Rey. We could join together, meet in the middle. We could start over, build a new galaxy, a balanced galaxy." His right-hand releases my left and he cups my cheek in his palm. "No First Order. No Resistance. No Dark. No Light. Only Balance."

"I will not take part in a dictatorship. I will not be an empress." I was ruled over practically all my life, I will not allow others to go through that.

"It doesn't have to be an empire, Rey. It can be a democracy. We don't have to rule, but we have to start it. We're the last Force Users in the galaxy. We have to play a part." His dark eyes beg me to join him.

"With the two of us constantly fighting between the Light and the Dark? One of us cannot change if we wish to be 'balanced'."

"We're equals, Rey. We are equal in the Dark and the Light. Together we are the balance. Never mind if one of us changes, if we meet in the middle, in the gray, there will still be a balance." He releases my other hand, and his left-hand mirrors his right.

"And what precisely is your plan for General Hux and the other First Order members? Do you think that they will just accept this? The Resistance certainly won't."

"I didn't say that this was going to be an instantaneous process. It will take time, but we can do it. You go back to the Resistance, I go back to the Order, and we start planting the seeds. We start opening everyone up to the idea of the balance. Once we feel that everyone is willing, we meet and discuss terms of ending the war and starting over. Neither side wins, but neither side loses."

"You've thought this through."

"What do you think I've done for the past six months?"

"Brooded." Stared at me from across a room for hours.

"Well, I have done that as well." He smirks. Wow. "What do you say?"

"I want to believe you. I want this to work. But how do I know that you're telling the truth?" I step back so his hands release my face.

"You don't." He admits. "You're just going to have to have faith in me."

"I have faith in Ben Solo." I take a deep breath. "And I hope that that's enough."

He steps towards me again, taking my face back in his hands, and I have no intention of stopping him. "Rey."

"Ben." Slowly, ever so slowly, like he's giving me a chance to back out, his lips descend upon mine. It's a strange feeling, being kissed. It's warm and soft and kind of wet. It's wonderful.

It's also over way to soon. "You asked why I demanded we have this meeting in person? It's because I didn't want that to not be real."

"You're such an optimist."

Review Replies:

*For guests who don't give themselves a name, I will place the first few words of your review in parenthesis*

stephannieteresa1: Well, you got your wish.

DoubtIcanWrite: Thank you!

Guest (More pleaseeeee): Here you go.

tooLazy2LogIn: Thanks, I literally wrote this hours after coming back from the theatre, so their characters are still pretty fresh in my head.

sguti392: Thanks! Also, cute dogs!

Syliphen: Thank you! I am continuing.

Foxy redhead: As stated several times before, it's thanks to everyone's support that I am going to turn this into a full-fledged story.

Guest (Continue this please!): I am.

cresswellshipper17: No, thank you.

Magenta Brave: I'm going to update pretty often. I'm currently on break, but am going back to college in January.

Dream-Runaway: It is now.

annie: Thanks!

09: The last two lines of Chapter 1 are actually the premise of the Tumblr post this is inspired by. I changed them a little, but not much.

Sweeney1999: The highest of compliments, I'm sure.

Guest (This is so good!): I am!