Author's Note: I do not own Star Wars!

As he lay on his cot in his tent, he stared at the ceiling. He was thinking of his family. His father was off somewhere, the smuggler he was. His mother being a senate, was busy working with the government. His uncle was busy being his Jedi master.

As he cycled through his family members, the loneliness that had sparked within him, engulfed him like fire to paper. He missed his family, but unfortunately for the twelve year old, he could not find any evidence that supported that his family shared the same feelings.

Hearing a commotion outside, among the other Jedi, his mind snapped harshly back to his present surroundings, causing him to rise in to a sitting position. With his face in his hand, he heard a young girl cry out, causing him to rise to his feet and leave the tent to satisfy his curiosity.

Pulling aside the thick, cloth material of his tent, he saw two other Padawan's crowding a young girl, at least a year younger than himself. From where he stood, he could see that the rest of the Jedi students were either in their tents or avoiding the commotion altogether, allowing their gazes to avoid the confrontation.

The older boy pulled the younger girl's hair, saying cruel remarks regarding her parent's abandoning her. Despite the Jedi way, bullying still occurred among them, as unlikely and illogical as it should be. He knew that first hand, as being the nephew of their shared master led to accusations of favouritism and jealously. Master Skywalker would banish such feelings, but until they reached a more mature age, these feelings would still be present, until they accepted the way of the Jedi and banished such feelings themselves.

Feeling furious that this poor girl was left to fend for herself against two cruel individuals, he burst forward and pushed them both away from her. He succeeded in pushing one to the floor, while the other just took a few steps back, a smirk on his face. Neither parties had followed the way of the Jedi, so an argument seemed futile, but the bullies stepped away and left the two.

As he turned to the young girl behind him, he saw tears in her eyes, but a fierce determination that stopped them from escaping. She looked about ten, but she was quite small and slim.

"Thank you," she whispered timidly, her arms wrapped around herself.

As Kylo opened his eyes, still cloudy with sleep, he recognised his surroundings as being his room, despite the darkness. It had been eight years since this room had become his own, after all.

Once he had risen in to a sitting position, he rubbed his eyes in an attempt to become more awake. Rising off the bed, he padded to the bathroom that was attached to his quarters. Once he had relieved himself, he washed his hands, splashing some cold water on his face. He leaned his weight on to his hands, which were on the edge of the sink, while staring at the water now dripping from his face. Looking up, he looked at his reflection. Although he was still slightly cloudy with sleep, his eyes didn't look tired. They looked the same as they had done after leaving Skywalker's temple, when the realisation of the events that had taken place, hit him at once.

Betrayal. Loneliness. Misery.

He always hated his eyes, for they were so expressive, that he believed them to be a weakness. He could not afford to be weak.

The Supreme Leader is never weak, he thought.

Padding back in to his sleeping area, he froze halfway through his path at the sound of someone crying.

Immediately, turning on the lights for his quarters, his eyes locked on her immediately. She was sitting in the corner, with her face buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs.

Still frozen where he was, Kylo was unsure of how to act, surely their encounter would still involve their unresolved anger from Snoke's throne room. Despite the fact that she had rejected him and attempted to use Skywalker's lightsaber against him, seeing her reduced to this state caused an ache deep within his chest.

He started to approach her slowly, with extreme caution, as though she was a creature in the wild that he feared would sprint away upon noticing his presence. Warily approaching her, Kylo kneeled down on to his knees, so that he was at the same level as her. Despite being directly in front of her, she had still not seemed to register his prescence.

Carefully, Kylo reached up his hands and wrapped them around her wrists gently, pulling them down to the space between them, moving to hold her hands. Her posture stiffened as soon as she felt the touch, but she allowed him to move her arms without restrain. Her eyes remained focused on her hands tears still streaming down her face, causing the ache in Kylo's chest to throb more intensely.

"Oh, Rey," he whispered, reaching up to wipe the tears from her left cheek. However, the action never came.

As soon as she heard his voice, she froze, the sobs halting. Her eyes slowly followed the hands holding her own, up the bare arms, to the bare chest. As soon as she saw the beginning of the scar at his collar bone, she swallowed harshly, visibly wincing. Following the scar, she reached his face and locked on to the brown eyes, filled with intense worry, that stared at her intensely. It only took a few moments for her to register that their force bond had formed another connection, before she ripped her hands away harshly. As soon as she rose her feet, she paced to the other side of the room, before she looked back towards his back. From his position on the floor, Kylo looked back at her and could see that she was clearly angry and embarrassed. Her fists were clenched at her sides, a blush covering her cheeks, while her eyes glared at him.

"Rey..." he started cautiously.

"No."

At her blunt reply, Kylo winced and turned away from her. She hadn't used that tone since their first connection, and he had definitely not missed it. He stayed kneeling where he was, facing away from her. He didn't want to argue, not when she was in this state, because it would only make things between them impossibly worse. They were both damaged. They had both had lonely childhoods, under different circumstances, of course, but he understood what she must have felt. His parents had been busy for the majority of his childhood, so he saw them very little, even more so when they had sent him to his uncle.

He understood her for who she was, and that scared him. He hadn't allowed himself to ever get that close to someone before. Being a Knight of Ren, didn't give him the opportunity to form friendships, nor did his time as a Padawan. He had never had a friend. The closest he had got to friendship was with Chewie, but he had seen him the same amount as he had his father, so it could never really be classed as a friendship.

In moments of immense weakness, he found himself craving for a friend, for someone to care about him and believe that he was worth something. He had thought that she would be that person, but he was wrong. She couldn't take his hand. She had rejected him, so why did he find himself caring so much?

As he turned to look at her again, he saw that she had calmed down. Her fists were unclenched, and her gaze was looking at his shoulder, rather than his face.

She wasn't prepared for me to stay silent, instead of arguing back, he realised.

Rising back to his feet, he took a step towards her, but seeing her eyes narrow, as they returned to his face, caused him to abort attempting a second. So he just stood there, staring at her intensely. She fidgeted momentarily beneath his gaze, but then decided to return it to the same intensity.

In the final moments of their connection, they remained that way, her eyes narrowing as they looked at him, as he stood before her in just pyjama trousers. Seeing the same look in his eyes that she had seen in the elevator, a look of care and concern that he was trying his hardest to hide, her gaze softened slightly, before the connection severed.

As the familiar feeling of loneliness enveloped him again, he sighed as he looked at the floor. It was only a few moments before he decided to turn off the lights again and return to sleep.

He couldn't afford to think of her, for he feared the emotions it may provoke.