I'm back again! What can I say. TLJ got my muse all worked up. So, I'm just going to keep writing bits and pieces as the mood strikes. If you guys enjoy, please let me know! Also, just for some context, this is just a hypothetical situation that could possibly take place in future shortly after TLJ.

Warnings: Vague mentions from TLJ concerning Rey and Kylo's backgrounds. Nothing direct or concrete, but proceed at your own risk if you haven't watched the film.

The Millennium Falcon had landed on a planet far in the outer-rim in order to resupply and to give the crew a brief rest. They wouldn't be here long, less the First Order come baring down on them once again.

This place had colors that reminded her of Jakku, deep reddish and orange earthen tones, but instead of mountains of never-ending sand, there were towering spires of rock carved into fantastical and unrealistic shapes thanks to the wind and the erosive power of the sandy soil. Chewy had been complaining endlessly about how the sand would damage already worn down and exposed parts of the Falcon, but the constant dust-storms on this planet would help hide what remained of the Resistance until they were strong enough to risk flying deeper into the galaxy to seek out their allies. Rey had already spent most of the day with Chewy, helping him make necessary repairs and maintenance to the ship, and then after had spent time with Finn hauling water deep from within the mountain cave they were sheltered in. Finn had suggested she use the Force to bring the water up from its deeply buried spring, but Rey had refused, instead helping to rig a pulley-system machine in order to raise the water manually.

"Where are you going, Rey?"

She'd been trying to make a sneaky get-away from the main cave in order to get some time to herself. She never thought she'd want to be away from other people after all her isolation on Jakku, but she could feel the gnawing restlessness eating away at her, that repetitive nudge for quiet and solace.

"I just need some air," she said, hoping it came off casually.

Instantly she could tell Finn wasn't buying it. He stepped over a small droid scuttling by with a bucket of water and approached her, taking her by the hand gently.

"We're going to be ok," he said firmly. "I know it looks bad right now, but we can't give up."

At that moment she almost had to blink back tears. "I'm not leaving," she promised. "I'm not running. I really just need to try and figure some things out."

Relief spread across his face, along with a mix of concern and possibly something darker. "Its the Force isn't it?"

She wouldn't answer directly and pulled her hand gently from his. She tried to take a step back, but his hand fell again on her shoulder to halt her movements.

"Look, I'm no Jedi. But I know a few things. I know that the Force, whatever it is, its a part of you. You can't ignore it."

Rey's teeth clenched, not wanting to take in what he was saying, but she couldn't deny it either. "I know," she whispered. "I just…it's like a door. If I open it, anyone can see inside. Can come in."

"Kylo Ren," Finn surmised. He squeezed her shoulder and she allowed herself the briefest moment to feel steadied at his touch.

"You're stronger than him, Rey. You beat him before you even met Luke, and you beat him again in the last battle. For all we know he's a million miles from here. He can't get to you here."

Rey let her hand cover Finn's for a brief moment. "Thank you." She squeezed his hand once before stepping back and slipping out of the cave.

It took an hour of climbing the rough, unforgiving mountain side before she found a cliff she liked. Solid underneath and shaded from the scorch of the sun behind her, she could see for miles into the desert valley spread out beneath her. Strange vine like plants that had thorns as big as her arm grew in vein like tangles down there, spreading out from the mountain's base where their roots were dug deep for water. The beginnings of another dust storm was on the horizon, but she had time.

She took her place on the outcropping, crossing her legs, letting her fingertips touch the ground, just as Luke had taught her. Her eyes closed and she let her breathing center in her belly before slowly reaching out with that indefinable part of her that was connected to the Force. Slower at first, then faster, it all began to rush into her, like water released incrementally from a damn into a barren lake-bed. She could feel the rush of life from even this harsh environment around her, the plants below, the winged creatures that lived on the walls of the cave they were sheltering in, the hum of the people moving in the cave itself. There was a calming stillness that washed over her, comforting her in a way that even her closest friend could not. She sank deeper into its pull, feeling her heart rate beginning to slow as she took in the serenity of the Light.

But in equal measure, she could feel the Dark below, its shadows a living thing, moving with sinuous strength and hurtful grace that she could not turn her eyes away from.

"Don't be afraid."

Her breath caught in her throat as shards of ice began to solidify in-between her bones. This is what she had been afraid of, knowing that if she reached out to the Force, she would hear him. Feel him. She couldn't ignore the feelings rising up inside of her, tumultuous and raw, like fangs bared between cracking lips, eyes glowing like lanterns in the shadows. She knew what that power tasted like, savory and full of spice, and she couldn't deny that she hungered for it again.

"Leave me alone." She would resist. Finn was right. She was stronger than him.

"You still need a teacher," he continued. "Someone to show you the ways of the Force."

"I had one," she spat back.

"For a few days," he scoffed. "Even if Luke had been the man the legend made him out to be, Jedi train for decades before being considered masters. You are a newly whelped pup in all of this."

"Still strong enough to beat you."

The flare of his power was almost immediate. That spice hit her straight in the nose and throat, singeing the raw, sensitive tissue there. She flinched, retreating backwards into her mind, struggling to find cover.

"Stop running," he commanded. His power closed over her, dragging her forward, and suddenly she could see him, and herself, standing face to face in a pitch-dark room, with a pale silver light shining down in between them.

"Running from what you fear gives it power over you," he continued, his voice becoming calm once again.

"And how would you know?" she countered. "Have you ever truly faced what you were most afraid of?"

"Have you?"

She looked him in the eyes now, her insides were a quivering mess of dread. She had no way of knowing what would happen if they were to come to blows in this space. Likewise, she had no way of knowing if he really would kill her. He had delivered her to Snoke, who would have done so, resisted her attempt to pull him back into the Light, had ordered all of his forces to try and bring her down in the Falcon, and yet she could still feel the conflict within him, the unsteadiness, like walking on ground that was continually moving. But still she stepped forward.

"Yes," she spoke. "Because of you."

A shadow seemed to enter his eyes, darkening them markedly. "You're afraid that we're the same. That you'll fall to the Dark Side. You look at me and see the future."

"No." Her fist clenched as she spoke. "I will never be like you."

"Really?" He cocked an eyebrow up for a moment before he began to pace around her, slowly narrowing the circumference of his circle.

"You were sent away as a child by parents who didn't want you. Used and manipulated for your skills. Betrayed. Drawn into a conflict you never asked for. Scared. Alone." He stood in front of her again, this time close enough she could practically feel the power humming off of him.

"Remind you of anyone?"

Unbidden and unwanted, images began to flash before her eyes. Dark nights on Jakku, huddled in a broken down ship to hide from larger predators that would have done who knows what with her. Hunger pains clawing at her belly because someone had stolen her scavenge for that day. Hoping every morning that today would be the day she'd see her parents again, and crying every night when they never appeared. For years this had been her life, until she'd finally become numb to the pain, numb to everything because if she didn't she'd never survive.

"You don't stay because you're brave" he told her in the softest voice yet. "You stay because you'd never feel again if you left."

Anger scorched through her. She latched onto its heat and swung it just like a light-saber, slicing away the tendrils he'd been wrapping around her into tattered ribbons. She snapped her power once again, visibly forcing him to take several steps back as she kicked him cleanly from her mind.

"And you would use my fears against me, just like Snoke did to you," she snarled. "If that is not the worst cowardice, then I don't know what is."

With an almighty yank, she pulled herself free, hacking the connection in half, opening her eyes and gasping for air. When her eyes adjusted, she saw that similarly on the island with Luke, she had caused a crack in the rock to appear. Except this time instead of just going a few inches, this crack reached ten feet down the cliff-side.

Millions of miles away, Kylo opened his eyes from where he was sitting on the edge of his bed in his quarters. Stretching out in front of him was gouge in the floor, splitting the entire room from the door to his bed.