Yes. I promised to update without fail til I was done, but it was 3:30 am and I had to get my son up for school in three hours! I'm only human! That's why I'mI'm writing an extra long chapter to apologise.
"You first." Ben said quickly. "What was your childhood like?"
Rey snorted. "You saw it already." She tapped her temple lightly.
"Yeah...but I want to hear it from you."
"That's progress. My parents abandoned me on Jakku when I was 6. There, I was sorta raised by Unkar Plutt til I was 12. If you call using me as slave labor raising. Then he kicked me out and told me to survive or die." She brushed a few drops of sparkling moisture from her eyes. "It sucked until I found Finn. He gave me purpose."
Ben shifted uneasily. "Can I see?"
Rey nodded. He had never asked before. He had just taken what he wanted. "Even more progress. Relaxing her shoulders, she lowered her mental shield.
Kylo did likewise, trying to enter her gently. Memories swirls about him. Images of a child worked to the point of exhaustion, walking alone in dunes of sand, her first few months of scavenging. All of this with the shadow of loneliness hanging above her like a cloud.
"Can you feel me?" He had no idea that he had spoken aloud until she answered him.
"Yes. You feel warm. Not hot, just...warm."
Poe pushed his way through the dark foliage. All the General had told him was that Rey was working on some "special project" for her. He wasn't fooled. Rey had been avoiding him for days. He needed to talk to her, to find out if she felt the same way about him, the way he did her.
He pushed a branch out of the way and froze. From where he stood he could see Rey in the spring, eyes closed. A male voice was talking to her.
"Can you feel me?"
Her response of "yes" was said in a soft sigh.
Poe turned on his heel and left. He didn't want to hear anymore. He blindly headed in the direction of his X-wing. He needed to fly. Space was the only one for him.
The golden thread of connection between them snapped as they both heard the noise of footsteps. She sat up an attempted to cover herself as he stood in a defensive posture. In defense of her. How dare someone try to intrude on her during her private time?
"It's OK, Ben. I think they're gone."
Kylo's eyes continued to scan the woods. "It's not OK until I say so." His words were clipped.
Rey rolled her eyes at the display of masculinity, but was secretly pleased. He was trying to protect her. That was sweet. She was making leaps and bounds with him. Deciding to enjoy it, she settled back and watched him. He really was magnificent to look at.
Kylo reached out with all his senses. He wouldn't relax until he was sure she was safe. He had no idea why he felt the need to protect her when she was at her most vulnerable, it just felt...right. A feeling he was not opposed to feeling again. He scanned the whole area around them, mentally, as far as he could go. Nothing apart from the usual wildlife, they were alone. He thumbed off his lightsaber and eased himself to his knees once again.
"Okaaay. It's my turn." The water lapped gently as Rey moved closer to him. She rested her arms on the edge of the pool closest to him. "Why did you turn your back on the Light?"
"Original." He scoffed." You saw it."
"Yeah." She countered, "but I want to hear it from you."
" I didn't have the most stable of childhoods. Who would with a Princess for a mother, an emotionally unavailable pirate for a father and the last Jedi for an uncle? All I did was have an interest in learning about the dark side. It was Luke who freaked out about it. Just because I was related to Vader, He assumed that I would turn." Ben looked up and met Rey's eyes with a wry smile. "I was a self fulfilling prophecy. In his attempts to keep me from turning to the darkness, he drove me right into its arms."
Rey touched his hand gently. "Can I see? It's alright if you don't want to."
"I always want to do it with you."
She was still blushing when she entered his mind. Like hers, his thoughts were chaotically centered around her. Leia walking out the door, her hair and dress elaborately overdone. Han always disappearing for days on end. Luke slapping a red kyber crystal out of his hands. A small dark haired boy saddened and confused as to why he couldn't have the pretty rock that reminded him of his mother's smiling lips. The warm feeling of acceptance from Snoke. Damn. No wonder he was so conflicted. She was too, just from watching.
"Can you feel me?" She asked shyly.
Ben sighed. "Yes. Your mind is cool. A soft breeze blowing across my skin."
The pair stayed like this for a long while before a cold breeze reminded Rey that she was naked in a shallow pool of water. I have to go.
She was gathering her energy in preparation to leave his thoughts when she saw it. The faintest glimmer of light. Without stopping to think, she latched onto it. A much younger Ben, laughing and running, while Chewbacca chased him around. He caught the young child and swung him about. "Look at me! I'm an X-wing pilot!"
"I always wanted to be a pilot."
Rey jumped and looked at Ben standing beside her. "Chewie was always more of a father to me than Solo."
"How are you here?!"
He scuffed his boot like a child caught stealing a cookie. "Your making me remember it."
Rey nodded and slowly withdrew, leaving him alone with his memory.
Both their faces were streaked with tears as they came back to themselves. She ducked her head under the water to erase the evidence. Ben was so entranced by the sight of her breaking the surface of the water that he didn't register that she spoke to him at first. "What?"
Rey laughed. "I said I need to get out." She made a circular motion with her finger. "Do you mind?"
A bit of Kylo came through. "Nope." He crossed his arms and leaned against a tree. "Go right ahead."
"Ben..."
Obediently, he shuffled around so his back was to her. "Happy?"
"Yes. Thank you." She picked her way through the thick vegetation towards him. As Rey moved past him, Kylo grabbed her arm. "Make no mistake, Rey, you will be mine. It's just a matter of time."
She pulled her arm away and tilted her chin. "Was that you tagging me?"
"No. This is."
He slapped her bottom hard enough to make her squeal. "Tag." He gave her a lustful smile and was gone.
Yay! Can you feel the love? Poor Poe. It killed me doing that to him, but it is a Reylo story. Thank you Kahlin, and Kairi for the reviews! My next chapter will actually be an author's note explaining a few things some readers pm ed me about.
