This was a one shot in a contest on AO3, but has now became a chapter of my growing story.

Chapter 2: Bonding Time

One thing that Rey knew that she would never get used to was colors. Especially all the glorious colors of Naboo. Never, not even in her dreams, had she ever seen a more beautiful planet in her life. The lake water that was only a few steps away from the balcony on which she was standing on was shimmering in the sunlight. It was almost transparent; it's tiny waves twinkling like glass as they moved over the beach. Even the sand on the beach was a brown that Rey wasn't accustomed to, even with living on a planet that was made of nothing but.

The trees were greener than those on the planet Takodana. Some were fruitful, bearing fruits that Rey had never seen before. Some had blossoms of various hues of red, purple, orange, and yellow. As Naboo was a planet of peace and tranquility, nothing threatening of such wonderful nature had been on the planet since before the Clone Wars.

Rey gazed out at the water. She was currently residing with Princess Leia, Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, Finn, Chewy, and the other remaining rebels at the castle that Leia had said belonged to her mother, Padme Amidala. What's more, her actual room was that of the Princess's mother, as Leia insisted she use it, much to Rey's adamant refusal.

Rey turned and walked back into the large bedroom. Her curiosity got the better of her as she opened up one of the doors to a huge walk in closet. Leia had said that if she could fit any of the clothing inside, she was more than welcome to wear them.

Rey looked at the racks of dresses that seemed to surround her. She had never seen such beautiful garments in her life. In fact, she had never seen dresses before at all. There weren't any uses for dresses on Jakku, especially of this finery. The material felt like water rippling over her fingertips, and the colors were vibrant and seemed to have a glow of their own.

She spied a dress of cerulean that stood out to her the most. She gently removed it off the rack and held it out in front of her. She couldn't help but be nervous about putting it on, but it was something about this dress that was calling to her. As if it wanted her to wear it.

She had taken a very luxurious shower in the refresher the night before, so she hurriedly stripped out of the pants and wrap that she had on and slipped the dress over her head. Perfect fit. She couldn't help but let a childish giggle out as she spun around, admiring how the dress flowed out and then back in when she stopped.

'So this is what it feels like to be royalty.' she thought as she approached a floor length mirror in the corner of the closet.

She felt like she was looking at a stranger. Surely this wasn't her. How could she, a lowly scavenger, pull off something so gorgeous, so special?

It was at that moment where she felt it. That familiar pull that she last felt a week ago before she and the others had left Crait. She had hoped that when the door told the Millennium Falcon had closed, she would never feel that pull every again. Everything in her body wanted to shut it off immediately, and at the same time, it also ached to see his face.

"Allow me." she heard being whispered gently in her ear. That voice, that baratoned voice that she was determined to forget gave her goosebumps. Or maybe it was the feeling of his bare fingers on her back as he slowly buttoned the dress up to her neck.

"You'd make a beautiful Empress, Rey," he said as she turned and faced the scarred marble that was the face of Be- no. Kylo Ren. This was Kylo Ren. She had left Ben Solo on Crait.

"Why are you here?" asked Rey, trying desperately not to let her face show her feelings of bitter elation.

"I don't know," said Kylo honestly. "One minute I was in my room, the next, I'm looking at your back."

"I thought the bond was severed when Snoke died," she said.

Kylo Ren shrugged as if the thought hadn't crossed his mind. "Apparently not if I'm here."

"You don't have to be a smart ass about it." huffed Rey.

"I can be one if I want to. Do you really deserve kindness from me right now? Especially after you left me?" said Kylo, frustration beginning to wash over him.

"I left you?! You gave me no choice! I had to save my friends, and you chose to not come with me!" huffed Rey, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Your friends, huh?" scoffed Kylo. "Or were you just excited to get back to the traitor."

"The traitor? You mean Finn? He's my best friend. My first friend! You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Is that what they call it now? Best friends?"

"Are you jealous?" said Rey with a smirk.

"For me to be jealous would imply that I care for you and your wellbeing." growled Kylo, instantly wanting to take the words back. Of course he cared for her. Hell, he just recently killed his leader over her, how could he not?

Rey felt like she had gotten stunned with a blaster by his words, however, his feelings were screaming loudly through the Force at her, letting her know that his words were contradicting how he was really feeling. She turned from him to hide the grin that was threatening to creep upon her lips.

"You don't mean that," she said.

"You don't know that for sure."

"I can feel your emotions just as strongly as you can feel mine, Kylo. You can't fool me."

"I offered you the galaxy, Rey. I offered you a chance to rule beside me, and you were the one who rejected me." growled Kylo.

"Bullshit!" snapped Rey, turning back to face Kylo. "I had went there to bring you home, you knew that. I went there to help you come back to the light! I don't want the galaxy, I only want...it's not too late. It's never too late."

Kylo stared intently as Rey raised a timid hand up to his face. She lightly placed her hand on his right cheek. her thumb grazing over the scared that she had given him. He involuntarily closed his eyes at her touch, his face seeming to melt against her palm. This feeling was so foreign to him, and yet, so comforting. He had been so stressed out over the week with him having new responsibilities as the new Supreme Leader, as well as dealing with Hux. He hadn't felt a peace like this since...well...since ever.

"Ben." uttered Rey, causing his eyes to pop open. He hated that name. He hated it when his father called him that the last time he seen him. He was enraged when Luke had called him that simply to antagonize him. However, his name sounded melodic coming from Rey's lips. It sounded like a thousand peaceful days of just him and her, lounging around, speaking of nothing and everything at the same time. It sounded like late nights of her laying securely in his arms as she slept. He knew nothing of that life, nor the pleasure of having a woman in bed with him, but with Rey, he was eager to find out what it was like.

He lifted his hand and wrapped it around hers. Her hand seemed so small and delicate in his, he was afraid he would crush her fingers.

"I don't think I can give you what you want, Rey," he said sincerely. He moved her hand from his cheek, but twisted his hand and intertwined his fingers with hers.

Rey breathed in deeply. Anything to keep the tears that were welling up from falling. "You can't or you won't." she whispered.

"I can't. The darkness, I'm completely consumed."

Rey grabbed Kylo's other hand. "That's not true, Ben. I saw your future, I saw you turn. I saw you come to the light and be happy. I saw you living a peaceful life."

"I saw your future too, remember? And it was the same for you as well, only, you were by my side."

"I never said that you were by yourself in my vision, Ben," said Rey, her cheeks staining with blush as she thought back to everything she had seen when they first touched fingers in Ahch-To. She wasn't ready to tell him that they were walking hand in hand in vast fields of flowers, laying outside at night trying to count the stars and name various systems that they could make out, and that her smile was making him smile. For her to tell him that would mean for her to admit that they had something deeper than simply a force bond going on, and she didn't think she was ready for that.

Or was it that she didn't feel deserving if it...

"Then why won't you join me?" asked Kylo, his voice almost pleading with her.

"Because I refuse to have a future in darkness, Ben. That is not the future I see of ours. And you know this, don't you?

"Why do you insist on calling me Ben?" asked Kylo. He didn't mean it in a vindictive way, he was genuinely curious.

Rey gave a tiny shrug. "Thats who you are, isn't it?"

"I don't know who I am. Not anymore." said Kylo, dropping Rey's hands from his grip and backing slowly away from her. He looked her up down, his heart beating quickly in his chest, as if it wanted to leap out of his body.

"You really do look beautiful." he complimented.

And then he disappeared, the bond closing.

Rey looked at the spot where Kylo was just standing in. She finally allowed the tears to fall down here cheeks and onto the floor.

Back in his quarters, Kylo touched his cheek and wiped away the water that had escaped his eye as well. Once again he was alone. Confused and alone. The Ben Solo that he had been trying so desperately to bury was slowly resurfacing, begging to be closer to her. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't give into the temptation of the light. Not for some scavenger.

But he knew that she was more than that to him. She was very much the light to his darkness, the morning to his evening. Every since Crait there wasn't a moment that went by where she wasn't in his thoughts in some way, shape, or form. Be it him cursing her to hell for making him feel weak, or him wanting to be where she was.

"Supreme Leader?" came a timid and annoying voice from behind him, breaking his train of thought.

Kylo turned and glared at the bothersome face of General Hux. He rolled his eyes in disgust and turned back away from him He had been avoiding him for the past two days, as he had wanted nothing to do with the man that seemed more power hungry than he was.

"What is it?" said Kylo in a voice that clearly stated he did not want to be troubled with Hux's harping.

Hux sneered. He hated having to report to the oversized baby, that spoiled and pampered prince who couldn't keep his emotions in check and properly do his job.

"We have reason to believe that the rest of the rebel scum have set up residence on the planet Naboo, sir."

That got Kylo's attention. "Go on."

"We have tracked the Millennium Falcon to the planet. We may not have enough fuel to jump to lightspeed yet, but we can still get to them and annihilate them and anyone who dares stand in our way," said Hux in a ruthless and bloodthirsty voice.

Kylo sighed, glad that his back was turned so that Hux couldn't see the hopefulness that was threatening to appear on his face.

"We will fuel up on the nearest planet," said Kylo. "However, I will be investigating Naboo myself."

Hux's jaw dropped slightly. "Y-you? But sir, you will need-"

"All I need is myself and two of my Knights." interrupted Kylo. "We don't need an entire army to take out a handful of rebels. Especially on Naboo. Besides, I would rather deal with Snoke's murderer on my own."

"Are you sure you can kill her this time?" snarked Hux. "Didn't she already get the better of you twice?"

Kylo lazily reached out his hand, force grabbing Hux by the throat and lifting him off the floor. "You dare speak to me about my failures, general?"

Hux gasped for air as he shook his head. Kylo turned and watched as Hux started to turn color.

"Summon my Knights and do as I say." ordered Kylo. "And the next time you question my authority, your brains will be decoration on my ceiling."

He moved his hand quickly, flinging Hux into the hard metal wall. Hux coughed, desperately trying to catch his breath.

"Yes sir." he croaked out before crawling helplessly out of the room.

Kylo smirked and went back to his thoughts. So, Rey was on Naboo? This made things a bit tricky. Naboo had long been a planet of peace. He was not welcome there, despite his grandmother twice serving as Queen Amidala there, as well as his mother having strong political ties there. He had no desire to rage war on the planet, no matter how easy or would be to do so. He really only had one objective on his mind.

The Force had kept their bond forged for a reason. Weather it was for better or for worse, he couldn't say for certain.

All he knew is that be it light or be it dark, he had to go and make her see reason. He had to be with her.