This was dangerous; for him, for her, and for the outcome of this war.

She threatened everything he had worked for, what he had built for himself… after all that was sacrificed to bring him to where he was today. This wasn't the time for distractions; and Rey was a big distraction. He hadn't expected to sleep with her last night, he hadn't anticipated sleeping with her ever. No, that wasn't true. He had anticipated it, only it had been different and further in the future. He opened his eyes and stared unseeing into the pitch of the sleeping cabin. His emotions swirled dangerously around her, she had an effect on him that was frightening. He could feel Rey's tranquil mind wander aimlessly in her sleep from across the room. He focused on her unconsciousness and drifted along with it. He hadn't felt this manner of calm since he had renounced his uncle's academy. Her mind was peaceful and he had to leave it, Kylo came back to himself with a great amount of will power.

He may have completed his apprenticeship, but Snoke would sense a change in him if he allowed himself to linger in her light for too long. He couldn't allow himself to be swallowed up in the girls allure, he must cling to the darkness.

Instead of relaxing dangerously in her mind, he would meditate, re-center himself in the dark side of the Force. He pulled himself quietly from the floor and left the room careful not to wake her. Kylo walked into the lounge. The lights grew to a soft glow at his movement. His eyes lingered on the sofa and the memory of the previous evening replayed vividly in his mind. Kylo allowed himself to feel the rekindling desire for her. Passion gives me strength. He told himself. He knelt stiffly in the center of the room and rested his palms flat against his thighs. He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to seep into the Force, felt the tendrils of his mind wind their way across the vastness of the universe. It wasn't long before he was lost in the tide of the Force and he rested his mind in its embrace. Time compressed here, more than an hour had passed before he was tugged out of his commune by a disturbance. She was awake he realized and he pulled himself off the floor to return to the dimly lit sleeping cabin.

Upon entering he found her sitting, hair rustled and untidy, and hazel eyes wide awake and alert. He walked to her without speaking and began to release her from the restraint that held her wrist to the bed frame. Kylo felt her apprehension radiating off her. He remembered that he said they would talk in the morning, and suspected that their mutual lapse in judgment last night weighed heavy on her mind. He wanted to assuage her fear.

"I apologize for last night." He said quietly, hoping to distract her from her worry. Her apprehension turned instantly to distress, he hadn't spoken plainly. "I'm sorry that I kept you awake… I'm not at all sorry about the sex." He clarified realizing his mistake. The relief that flooded her was palpable. He released her left wrist.

"There's nothing to apologize for." She said, and a blush tinted her chest. He noticed the violet shadow of the bruise that had set on her neck. It was a sobering sight, he would have to remember to be more gentle with her if there was a next time. She was giving him a searching look and he could tell she wanted to say more. He sensed several questions she wanted to ask him clambering inside her mind and knew she was trying to decide which one to ask first. Her unspoken words hung on her lips threatening to spill out.

"What do our actions make us?" She asked finally, in a terrified whisper. He must have looked confused because she added. "I hate you." She looked away, "But I also-"

"You should hate me," He confirmed, cutting her off quickly. He sat next to her on the bed.

"It's disgusting, I'm revolted by myself." She said looking at her twisting hands in her lap. "I wanted you, and it's wrong."

He took a steadying breath. "Things I have done, the things I am capable of, are deserving of your hatred." Kylo told her seriously. There was a heavy silence. He should make his practiced argument quickly before he lost his nerve. "Hatred is not embraced by the Jedi," He was watching her, waiting to see a sign that told him he'd gone too far. "Nor passion." She stilled quite suddenly under the hand that he lay on her lap. He slowly trailed his hand further up her thigh.

She was quiet, and he could feel her inner turmoil and a spark of desire.

"The light you cling to does not shine as brightly as you may think. I can see the shadows in you. They may be small, but the exist." He got up from the bed. Kylo thought she looked crestfallen. "If you desire to remain the padawan of Luke Skywalker, you will crush the feelings you have towards me, and I will continue as though last night never happened… I will deliver you to Supreme Leader Snoke and he will decide your fate." He brushed some of her hair from her face. "If you realize you cannot extinguish the flames of your hatred and passion, but you embrace them, we will move forward as Master and Apprentice." He turned away from her. "It's your choice." With those words he exited the sleeping quarters, leaving Rey to her thoughts.

He wasn't sure what he would do with her if she rejected the darkness now. He would be disappointed if she chose Skywalker, destroying her he thought, would be nearly as difficult as destroying his own father. Supreme Leader would certainly command him to dispatch of Rey himself. Kylo went to the cockpit to check the conditions report. He ignored the R9 unit that beeped at his arrival and sat in the pilot's seat with a sigh. He read the monitor, nothing had changed while they had slept. There wasn't a multitude of activities to distract him as he waited for Rey and her decision. Kylo allowed his mind to wander and he remembered how she felt straddling his hips; she had felt powerful when her light had intertwined with the dark. He wondered if she had felt it too… surely she had.

~)o(~

Rey couldn't bring herself to move. She sat on the bed, devastated. He was right… about everything. How could she hope to be a Jedi when she allowed her emotions to dictate her actions so easily, when she felt so deeply. When she had succumbed to him. Rey looked at her open palms and an uncomfortable tingle ran along her spine. What had she done? What had possessed her to kiss him, to become one with him? She pressed her will against the Force. She reached for Master Luke, he would know what to do and she desperately needed his counsel. However, it was difficult to focus. Her emotions were running high, she was afraid, and she could not push the fear aside. Fear leads to the dark side. She heard her master's words reverberate in her skull.

She lacked control… she needed a teacher.

After some time, Rey gave up on contacting Master Luke. Apart from suspecting that Kylo Ren was still interfering with her attempts to contact him, she felt her own inability to subdue her emotions hindered her efforts. She found herself contemplating the unthinkable. Only until I can escape. She told herself fervently. If I can convince him, he will begin to trust me and I'll be able to escape. It was a brittle tale to tell herself, Rey wondered if she would be able to undo the damage of her imminent treachery. She knew Kylo Ren was awaiting her choice. She expected he was a man of his word, if she rejected him, she knew he would bring her directly to Snoke; and Snoke wouldn't hesitate in killing her. There wasn't a point in letting him wait, she knew deep down that this is what she had to do. There were no alternate options that brought her nearer freedom. Rey gathered her wits and strode purposefully from the room to find him.

He was on his knees in the lounge with his eyes closed and hands resting on his thighs. He looked perfectly serene, but she could feel the disguised emotions that ran through him. He didn't acknowledge her presence though she was sure he knew she was there. Rey walked toward him. He still showed no inclination of addressing her. She stood only a meter from him, and not sure what to do, she chose to mirror his stance. She lowered herself to the floor and arranged her limbs, closed her eyes and began to take deep measured breaths. In. Out. In again. Until she lost herself to the expanse of the Force and drifted. She felt out around herself. She could feel Kylo, dark as empty space, and then nothingness stretching ever outward.

His mind brushed gently against her own; it was a polite greeting and she didn't refute him.

"I sense much conflict in you." his voice whispered in her mind.

"I am betraying all that I know," she answered, angry, "betraying my friends and all that I have learned from them."

"In time, you're guilt will give way to gratitude." He said in a comforting tone. She wasn't comforted, she could feel how pleased he was that she was angry.

"Time will be the judge of that… Master."

Rey felt his rippling sense of surprised triumph and contentedness at the title she had addressed him with.

"I will not fail you as Skywalker has." He promised, "First, you will learn our words. Listen and remember them well."

She agreed however hesitantly.

"Peace is a lie, there is only Passion." He paused expectantly.

Rey repeated the words to him and her stomach turned over unpleasantly.

"Through passion, I gain strength... Through strength, I gain power."

Rey sent the words back to him again, they rasped against her mind painfully.

"Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken." He continued.

She took a breath in an attempt to center herself, and echoed the words.

"The Force shall free me." Kylo finished with furious resolve.

"The Force shall free me." Rey spoke aloud. She blinked open her eyes feeling as though she had lost her moral compass.

Kylo, she noted was looking at her and she wondered if he had been watching her from the moment he had begun speaking to her. She hoped not.

"Good." He told her. There was a fire in his eyes. He should have frightened her in that moment, she knew, but she was oddly attracted to him.

"Where do we begin?" She asked quietly.

"With breakfast." He answered, standing. He offered her his hand, Rey hesitated for a moment, but accepted it. He pulled her from her knees and released her. She followed him down the hallway and into the second compartment on the starboard side. It was a galley.

"Are you hungry?" he asked as he pulled a canister out of a small compartment.

Rey nodded. He opened the canister and removed two nutritional packets and retuned the canister to it's place.

"We must eat quickly, we arrive soon." He said, matter-of-factly.

He had opened the packets and pressed a button on the wall. Rey was confused.

"I remember you telling me we are going to Arkanis, we couldn't possibly arrive so quickly." Rey scoffed and leaned against the doorframe. "Unless you drugged me in my sleep and more time has passed than I am aware of." She said suspiciously.

"I lied." He said, as he pressed the button again. Superheated water poured out of a small tube, and into the opened food packets. "We are on course to Dathomir." He confessed, and handed a steaming food packet to her. The ghost of smile still lingered on his features. Rey eyed the gray contents that he had handed her with uncertainty.

"Why would you take us to that hellish place?" She asked. "I've only heard stories of Dathomir, told by junkers in passing… but none had a nice thing to say."

"Because no one will come looking for you there." He answered simply. Kylo made a show of squeezing past her and made his way back toward the lounge. Rey couldn't argue with that, there were no ties that either of them had, to her knowledge, that connected them to Dathomir. She paced along behind him, through the lounge and into the cockpit. He sat in the pilot's seat and began toying with the controls between bites of the gray mush. She sank into the co-pilot's chair and began eating also.

"You will need something more suitable to wear." He said offhandedly. Rey looked down at herself, and she silently agreed. She had rolled the hem of the tied pants up around her ankles and to say the shirt was overlarge for her was an understatement. She looked ridiculous. "When we arrive, I'll find you something more appropriate." He offered.

"You're going to leave me with the shuttle, alone?" Rey asked in disbelief.

"You won't be alone, R9 will stay too." He said.

"That isn't what I meant, and you know it… You aren't worried I'll fly away?"

He turned to look at her seriously. "I've said before, you need a security code to fly this shuttle. You aren't going anywhere, and I don't enjoy the prospect of leaving this ship unsupervised."

Rey took a bite of the gray mush, it was nearly tasteless.

"It wouldn't be unsupervised," Rey reminded him sarcastically. "R9 will be here." She gestured lazily to the droid.

Rey could feel his restrained amusement as he looked away shaking his head slowly and continued to manipulate the dash controls.

~)o(~

The shuttle exited hyperspace and the hulking red mass of Dathomir loomed before them. Kylo maneuvered the craft steadily into the atmosphere, and they set down not far from a small settlement. He taped a series of buttons and switches and heard the engines spool down into silence.

"I won't be gone long." He told her, as he unharnessed himself. He picked his helmet up from the communications seat and pulled it over his head. It sealed with a hiss. "R9, keep an eye on her. Alert me if she attempts to leave." He directed the droid. The astromech beeped dutifully at him and it's optical dome swung around to fix on Rey, who hadn't spoken since their exit from hyperspace. Kylo eyed her up and down. He felt confident that he could guess her measurements, but then he looked to her naked feet. "What size shoe do you wear?" She shrugged her shoulders and lifted her foot, wiggling her toes.

"I always made my own. I don't know what size I am." She answered, unhelpfully.

"Let me see." He said as he grabbed her foot in his gloved hands and laid his palm flat against her sole. His middle finger reached just past her small toe. That would be enough to make a guess. Kylo released her foot and she set it back to the metal floor. "Stay here. I don't want to chase you through a forest, again." Rey only blinked up at him.

"I'll stay here as you asked." She assured him. He couldn't feel any deception.

His boots rang loudly against the loading ramp and red dust blew in violent swirls around him. Dathomir was a decidedly unpleasant place. The flora naturally appeared dead or dying, with little to no leaves and the hulking trees sprouted nothing more than large dried pods. The atmosphere was a blood red and it's two small moons shone faintly through the clouds. Kylo made his way into the run-down settlement. Dathomir had become a breeding ground for bounty hunters and the slime of the galaxy. Many inhabitants scurried away into shops, behind booths, and disappeared down alleys at his approach. A few of the more menacing looking characters had only stopped to watch him. Kylo made his way toward a pale and tattooed man sitting relaxed in a chair outside a crumbling canteena, who he assumed to be a local. The man's orange eyes watched him unblinking while he approached. Kylo stood a meter from him. The man's lips pulled up in a snarl revealing sharpened and yellowed teeth.

"I'm in the market for new attire and weapons." Kylo said, seeming bored. "If you would point me in the correct direction," he showed the man several druggats casually, "I would be most appreciative."

The man straightened his back and leaned forward, and outstretched his hand. Kylo tipped the druggats into his empty palm. "You will find a dealer two alleys down from here, toward the swamp." The man hissed and tilted his head in the mentioned direction, "His name is Gavlint, a dug. He will have the wares you are looking for."

Kylo bent his head slightly in thanks and moved quickly toward the dealer's shop. It didn't take long to find the ramshackled place. Kylo entered the dimly lit structure and looked around. There was a modest selection of weapons, fabrics, outerwear, and boots. Kylo removed his gloves and strode through the cramped space, testing the weight and texture of the garments as he passed. There was a clattering in an adjoining room and a dug came bustling out waving his lower limbs before his face, warding off the dust that billowed out the open door. He was swearing loudly in his native tongue. The dug's watery eyes settled on him.

"What can I do for you?" He asked sharply.

"I've found myself in the market for new attire and weapons. I was directed here." Kylo spoke slowly through the filter.

The dug's eyes narrowed. "You've come to the right place." Gavlint raised his lower limbs and motioned about the dark shop. "Whatever you are looking for, I'm sure to have it. I'll leave you to my wares."

Kylo turned away from the dirty creature and set about finding something suitable for Rey to wear. He settled quickly on a rust colored tunic with wide three quarter length sleeves, a long heavy black vest coat, a wide utility belt also black, dark grey high waisted pants made from a durable fabric, a long black hooded cloak, and a pair of heavy knee length combat boots. As he approached the counter he also noticed a pair of dark durasteel staves he pulled them toward himself using the force. They were balanced nicely and Kylo decided arming his new apprentice may be to their advantage in the coming days. Dathomir was less than hospitable.

"You have made your selection, then?" The dug asked, pacing his way to the counter.

Kylo didn't answer, only laid the items down.

The dug's eyes widened slightly in surprise and then a sickened and guttural laugh tore from him. "You have come across a new toy perhaps?" He mused, twisting one of the tendrils that hung from his upper lip.

"It is no concern of yours." Kylo said acidly, while he moved his hand carefully through the air.

The dug looked confused but repeated, "It is no concern of mine."

"You will offer these item to me, free of charge." Kylo told him. Kylo had intended on buying the items but the dug's comment had irritated him.

"I offer you these items, free of charge."

Kylo collected the clothing and staves from the counter and left the shop, eager to get back to his shuttle.

"R9, take us into some mountains." Kylo ordered as soon as he entered the shuttle. He threw down the weapons and tossed the long dark hooded cloak and boots to the floor. The loading ramp came back up and sealed itself. "And keep us low, I don't want to be followed." He added when he felt the engines fire-up. The droid beeped back at him in an affirmative. Kylo removed his helmet and set it down on one of the plush chairs and ran his hand through his black hair.

"You were fast." Rey said. He looked up to see her leaning in the doorway to the sleeping quarters wearing only the long shirt he had given her. "I was about to wash up." She offered lamely, not meeting his gaze. He felt she was embarrassed and a little aroused by being caught half dressed.

"Here, take these… while I like you in my shirt, these are better suited for your training." He said, walking to her and handing her the clothes he had collected for her. He watched her test the texture of the fabric between her thin fingers. She seemed pleased.

"The color is a little dark for my taste, but thank you." A blush was creeping over her cheeks and Kylo couldn't help but notice the bruise around her neck again. He reached out to trace his fingers delicately around the shadow of ruptured blood vessels.

"You should have told me I was hurting you." He admonished, searching her face. A heat was beginning to form within him. He wasn't sure if it was simply her proximity or her half-dress that got to him. Rey took a step back and her own free hand touched her throat.

"You didn't." She said, her blush deepening. He raised a brow. Unless that blotched skin was a result of self harm, and he knew it was not, than she was a sad liar; though he wasn't sure why she would lie about this.

"It doesn't look that way." Kylo said, moving past her into the sleeping quarters. He was trying to mask his feelings from her now, though he suspected he was doing a poor job. He sensed her attraction growing stronger. He was sick with himself that he was aroused by the sight of the bruise he had left on her. Rey spun around and the door closed.

"I liked it." Her voice left as a whisper, but crashed upon his ears like a gale. He turned to face her then as a heady mix of lust and anger ran through him.

"You liked it." Kylo hissed in disbelief, and stalked around her, gauging her response. "You enjoyed being strangled… as I ravaged your body and spilled myself inside you?" his voice sounded oddly strained, almost unhinged. Kylo had come full circle and stood before her again.

Her lips were parted and she exhaled, her pupils dilated. Kylo could see the freckles that dotted her cheeks and nose stand out plainly as the color flushed from her face. Her arousal was overwhelming his senses. He didn't peg her as a masochist, this was something else. His chest tightened and he shifted uncomfortably in his suddenly restrictive pants.

"Yes." She sounded lascivious, but felt ashamed in his mind.

The responding sharp intake of oxygen made his nostrils flare and he grasped her upper arm, pulling her nearer. Rey collided hard with his chest and dropped the clothes he had brought her.

"Tell me 'yes' once more and I will take you again, here, against this wall." His eyes ran longingly up and down her form. "And this time I won't be so gentle." He growled. Kylo wondered why she liked this. Was it because it made her feel powerless? He didn't think so… she would have had enough of that by now. Maybe she liked the pain? He couldn't be sure. Was she punishing herself for something? That one felt closer to truth. If he was going to be her Master, he would need to understand her better… he reached for her mind and brushed against it curiously. It opened before him, so easy to look into someone who is unaccustomed to their own emotions. What met him quickly tempered his longing for her.

Kylo felt her tremble, physically and mentally, against him. He tucked one of her stray hairs behind her ear and ran the pad of his thumb along her high cheekbone. When Rey closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, he nearly lost his resolve.

"I won't allow you to pretend that I'm forcing myself on you." He told her softly, and he backed away from her.

"I don't know what you mean." Rey gasped. There was a note of genuine confusion to her voice.

Kylo considered her for a moment. It was probably true, she may not understand her own motivations.

"No, perhaps you don't. I can identify your feelings better than you… I've had practice." Rey had lost some of her fire with his words. That was alright, he would restrain himself, if only to keep from being the monster that she wanted so desperately. "Consider, for a moment, that what you feel for me is natural and biological. The hatred, the lust you harbor, will take time for you to process and accept." Kylo stooped to pick up her clothes, and he handed them back to her shaking hands. "You want me to show you force in this to help ease your conscience about your decision. You want to tell yourself you don't have a choice." He sat on the corner of the bed and took a calming breath. "It's tempting for me to give into that, ignore your feelings and your attempt to justify your actions, but I won't submit to that. You do have a choice, Rey."

He knew she was digging through her thoughts and sifting through her feelings, searching for the truth in his words. Her eyebrows had creased and her eyes had gone oddly blank. He stood from the bed and made his way back to the door. He wanted her to feel comforted, Kylo didn't want this to be a refusal of her affection, but a lesson in recognizing and wielding her emotions and motivations. She needed to become more aware of herself and he only just noticed how much younger than him she was.

"As much as I'd like to have you again… I can't. Until you have come to terms with your choices, I won't touch you… I'll leave you to your thoughts." he said as he passed, and he left the room.

When the door closed behind him he readjusted himself and began willing away his arousal. His heart was racing and he shook with the effort to calm himself. It was difficult. Her flesh was a temptation he would have to temper, he told himself. The act of leaving her there, while they were both wanting, was a promising first step. He wouldn't allow her to be a distraction, for both their sakes.

He found R9 in the cockpit, spinning the navigation and control dial. The droid chirped an unreturned greeting as Kylo sat in his pilot's chair. He watched the red scenery pass through the viewing shield, they were approaching a range of mountains. He turned to look at the astromech. "These mountains will do, R9." The unit beeped an affirmative and the shuttle maneuvered lower in preparation to land. Kylo watched through the viewer and spotted a large cave opening in the distance, it seemed large enough for the shuttle to fit. He directed the astromech to set them down there, the cover would help conceal them from any passing search droids. He knew full well that the resistance would know of their flight and would be looking for them, he didn't want to be easy to find.

When the shuttle was set down and the engines had died Kylo got up from his seat and marched back to the sleeping quarters. The door slid open for him. Rey had dressed in the new clothing and was laying on the bed, face down, her shoulders tense and her face hidden in the crook of her arm.

She radiated defeat.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Author's Notes:

Thank you everyone for your patience with my updates, and thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed! I appreciate you guys! As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts.