Rey had slowed down to a purposeful walk by the time she made it outside of the base's buildings. She crossed the base's runway quickly, cutting straight for the gate in the fence that led to the forest outside. The sight of the trees weren't enough to distract her from the thoughts swirling around in her mind, even though she still rarely saw them. Luke's island boasted only a couple of small bushes.

She wasn't sure where she was going, but she knew that she had to get away.

Stumbling through the gate, she let it bounce shut after her. Soon she was overwhelmed on all sides by trees and brush, though she hardly noticed. She didn't stop moving until she suddenly found herself in a clearing, and it was only then that she broke from her thoughts.

She pulled herself up, standing straight and looking around her at the forest. She took the sight in as she breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. It was moments like these that she wished she were any good at the meditation techniques that Master Luke had been trying in vain to teach her. She would rather sit and meditate, but she supposed she could take the time to practice her fighting forms and attempt to meditate that way. At least she could do that much.

Pulling out her lightsaber after she limbered up with some stretches, she settled into the most basic form, planning to work her way up from there. Her lightsaber made harsh buzzing sounds as it swiped through the air, and on most days she found them comforting. The sound would often assist her in finding a meditative state that Luke called a 'battle trance' or 'battle meditation', but today it was proving elusive.

By the time she reached the end of her fifth form, she was sweaty and relaxed in body, but her mind would not quiet down.

She couldn't stop thinking about Kylo Ren.

Giving up the possibility of meditation, she opened her mind to her inner turmoil as she continued to practice.

The man was an enigma; a frustrating enigma, at that. Everything about him screamed of some sort of conflict, even from the little she'd been in his physical presence. She'd heard plenty over the last year from overheard conversations on visits to the Resistance, but she was mature enough to take some of it with a grain of salt. Plus, much of it had been about the boy 'Ben Solo', and many of the speakers seemed to have no clue that he and Kylo Ren were the same. She'd kept her mouth shut on the topic out of respect for General Organa, and Finn had complied in a likewise manner. She was sure that Poe Dameron knew, but his near hero worship of Leia kept his mouth sealed just as effectively.

Rey wasn't sure why, but she was currently feeling rather protective of the man known as Kylo Ren. There was something about him and his experiences – the little she knew of them, at least – that spoke to her and her own life growing up. She had been abandoned and grew up alone; much the same as she imagined the then-younger Ben Solo felt abandoned and lonely.

She'd only had to look into his eyes during their fight to see how much pain he was in.

None of that excused the things he'd done, but… there was more to him than people were giving him credit for.

Her mind briefly flashed over the death of Han Solo, but she quickly veered her mind away from the topic. It would help no one, right now. Instead, she became entrenched in thinking about what Luke had been doing to Kylo Ren before she'd run off.

The anger suffusing her allowed her to slip into battle meditation without her even realizing it.


Kylo Ren's eyes snapped open and he lurched to his feet with the sudden flare of rage swirling around in his mind. It was the same feeling he'd felt earlier, probably not even thirty minutes ago, if the way his body felt was any indication.

He used the anger within him, even though he knew it wasn't his, and focused it. He felt powerful, and closed his eyes momentarily to relish the feeling. The strength was… captivating.

Curiosity awoken, his mind tracked down the thoughts in the back of his mind that were slowly rising. He knew that he was feeling Rey's emotions; he'd read enough in the Dark, arcane tomes at the Knights of Ren's archive to recognize what was going on in his mind. He'd always wanted to have an apprentice, and part of the reason was exactly this: a Force bond. The thought of it was exciting; no matter how the bond had occurred. But he did have a thought on how it could have occurred…

He recalled a specific passage that spoke of one Force user teaching another to hear the Force again after over a decade of not being able to hear it. The act of re-learning to hear and use the Force had caused a bond to form between the two without the years it would have otherwise taken. Perhaps, when he had attempted to enter her mind during the interrogation, she had felt the drive to emulate him and open herself to the Force, after so many years of obviously not knowing that she could even wield it.

But that was another topic for another time.

Slowly adjusting his meditation, he spread his feet to shore up his balance, and sunk towards the edge of the bond in the back of his consciousness. It was nestled behind his carefully fortified walls, and he had no idea how he had not noticed it before this. Perhaps it had been the tiniest of threads before they had entered each other's presence once more.

Suddenly, he could see through Rey's eyes in a mildly disorienting double vision. He could see her hands gripping the hilt of his grandfather's lightsaber, the blue light glowing strongly in the dimness of a forest clearing. She was practicing the first form, Shii-Cho, and was moving through the different aspects of the technique with a speed he wouldn't have expected from her.

Her mind was filled with emotions but she seemed to be focusing them, internalizing them, and using them to strengthen her movements.

Kylo was suddenly struck by a thought and decided to test another aspect of Force bonds that he had read. Moving his hands in front of him, mirroring Rey's position through the strange double vision, he strengthened his connection to Rey and slowly started to follow the phase of Shii-Cho that she was currently moving through. At the first opportunity, he morphed his movements into that of Juyo, the seventh form; one of his personal favorites.

He smirked as Rey's body followed his movements seamlessly. He was taking the form slightly slower than he normally would have, as he wished to take the time to monitor the woman on the other end of the connection.

She was mirroring every move he made, and he was sure she had never even learned the basics to the form. And yet, under Kylo's direction, she was moving effortlessly through some of the more advanced aspects of the vicious form.

Kylo Ren let his excitement briefly overwhelm him as he continued to move in his cell. He tried to stamp it out quickly, but it was too late. Rey had noticed something was wrong.

'What are you doing!?' her inner voice practically screeched at him. She had stopped all of her movements, and her hands gripped the hilt of her lightsaber so hard that her knuckles were turning white. She held it in front of her eyes as if she could fend him off with it.

Kylo sat down in the chair once again, hands falling to his knees, his back straight. He chose honesty with her. If nothing else, he would always be honest. He hadn't lied to her before, and wouldn't start now. 'I decided to test a theory,' he replied mildly.

He could sense her marvel at the way his voice just seemed to appear in her mind. It was a truly unique experience; he could agree on that.

'A theory?' She asked after a momentary pause. Her hands were starting to lower, thought the saber still blazed.

'It seems we're Force-bonded.'

Her shock came through the bond in a rush, quickly followed by a flash of curiosity, then… rage. He could sense her thoughts, clear as day, before she even spoke them. 'Force-bonded? What in the galaxy does that even mean? All I know is that you are intruding in my mind where I did not ask you to be, controlling my body, and… and… I stood up for you, and you return the favor this way!?'

With that last, pointed remark, Rey gathered as much of her knowledge of mental barriers as she could, and slammed the connection shut.

He stood up from the chair, stretching his arms above his head, and let a sense of achievement float through him. His side twinged slightly and he looked down to see that his bandages were starting to seep through with fresh, crimson blood. But he didn't care.

Kylo Ren could have forced his way in again, but he decided to leave well enough alone. For the moment.