To anyone watching from afar, the giant snow planet turns in perfect harmony like all the other intergalactic objects in deep space. It's man-made blaster, carved deep into the rock like a belt, has already consumed a star and destroyed five smaller planets within it's vicinity. Yet, it is merely one planet amongst an endless ocean of space.

Millions of objects fly out of it's atmosphere in escape as the planet starts to crack and glow a ghastly yellow. Amongst those objects are the Resistance's surviving X-Wing pilots and the fastest ship in it's fleet, the Millennium Falcon. They cheer in celebration as the planet they escaped from implodes. A layer of debris rockets out into space while the blue planet engulfs itself into a deadly yellow. Starkiller Base is no more. It's a massive victory for the Resistance considering all they have already lost.

The ships make haste for their home base of D'Qar, a mountainous planet, largely nondescript, but it's beautiful and discreet. Had they not destroyed the weapon, D'Qar would have become a pile of rubble and all hope in restoring balance to the galaxy would have been lost.

General Leia Organa waits in the hangar for the return of her heroic fighter pilots, and one ship specifically. A large round hunk of junk that should have been thrown in a trash heap ages ago. A ship that has saved her life on numerous occasions. A ship she once planned on spending the rest of her life in. And when it lands, her heart grows heavy with grief. She already knows. It felt like a knife had jabbed itself into her heart nearly knocking the life out of her. It pains her deeply when Chewbacca exits the ship without her husband at his side. He brings with him two unconscious men thrown carefully across his big, broad shoulders and the medic team rushes to get them to the medical wing in time.

She manages to catch the Wookiee's eye and they exchange a comforting stare. They will always have each other, and for that Leia is immensely grateful. She nods her head and the Wookiee does the same before racing off to see to the wounded.

A girl departs from the ship onto the hangar, looking both too young and too old to have experienced such trauma. Leia can sense the grief hanging over the girl. They share a loss, the two of them, both different but alike in an unexplainable way. The girl senses their connection and walks toward the General, knowing exactly who she is. Without speaking a single word, the two women embrace knowing exactly how the other feels.

Ren is grateful the instant his eyes crack open. He's alive and he knows it was because of her. She chose to save him. His heart pounds at the thought.

The problem is… everything hurts. His side wound still bites with a vengeance despite the treatment. Both shoulders scream in agony when he tries to lift himself off the bedding onto his elbows. Lastly, he notes the scar, a bloody trail that marks him as weak. Ren winces as he tries to examine it's tenderness. A part of him wants to hate it - he's been maimed before but never so brutally - but he can't bring himself to. He deserved these scars, especially because they came from her. They're a reminder of all that's gone wrong. They're a precious gift.

He's been in this room before. The musty smell of earth hangs upon this place thick as air. It was only a day or two ago since he'd last occupied this space, but it feels like a lifetime ago. He'd grown since Ren had last been here. All the furniture, apart from the chair, has been bolted to the floor. Had it been that way before? He can't remember. A sliver of a smirk etches on his face. His reputation as a hothead precedes him.

A prickle on his bare skin. He examines the tiny iron-walled cell more thoroughly. Clearly, he is still considered a high-priority prisoner and yet they healed him. For what, exactly? Through the Force, Ren senses the tension in the air thick as fog, and it's all because of him. The mood is different now than it was then. Before, the animosity was clear, precise, and warranted. Now there's a confusion and pity that twines itself throughout the compound like the vines and roots that plant themselves within the very walls of the Resistance base. It makes Kylo Ren uneasy.

The golden protocol droid delivers his food, much to Kylo's irritation. It prattles on and on about how it puts it's life on the line to serve him food. How unlucky of a droid he is for always drawing the short end of the stick. Being a waiter for prisoners of war wasn't part of his cyborg programming. Kylo considers sending him a dose of fate, but manages a bit of self control, allowing the droid to live another day outside of a scrap heap.

But before the droid leaves, he barks only one request. "Tell your masters, I'll speak to the girl and only the girl. No one else."

The droid cocks itself in confusion. "I'm sorry, Master Ren, but there are many women within the base. Could you be a bit more specific, perhaps?"

Palm up, Ren pushes the droid towards the door with the Force, causing it to yelp and skitter out the cell as fast as it's antiquated legs would allow.

Once the droid leaves, Ren is left to the mercy of his thoughts. One memory in particular keeps playing in his mind and it's one he'd give anything to forget. It's even worse reliving it every time he closes his eyes.

The memory of his father shouting his name echoes across the vast spaces within his galactic mind reaching the far corners and refuses to fade. He remembers the weight of the saber in his hand and the forward thrust… it makes his stomach churn. The wafting smell of the food sitting in the corner of the room makes it worse.

It's the eyes that haunt him most of all. The dying, silent scream they pierced into Ren won't leave him ever again. Not to mention the final caress of his thumb across Ren's cheek - it was the most affectionate his father had ever been with him. Han Solo was not the type of father to give away hugs and kisses regularly. Neither was his mother, for that matter. No, Han was more stoic and would rather punch your shoulder and say, 'not bad, kid,' over 'I love you.'

If only Ren could scrub his cheek hard enough then perhaps the memory would wash away with his sins. Never mind that the Resistance didn't even trust him with a washcloth, but it would only rub his cheek raw. It would have been in vain, much like the death of his father.

Hours crawl by as Ren is tortured by his own mind and sweat lines his brow before he feels her again. Only then, at the resurgence of their connection, does the nightmare end, yet only temporarily so. He can feel her coming his way. Ren peels himself off the cot in anticipation, wincing through the pain.

Rey was full of fret and it killed Ren to know he was the cause of it. If only Ren could turn back the hands of time and make it all right again, he would do it in a heartbeat. Sadly, his training never covered the basics of time travel. Could Force-users work such miracles?

Ren is upright by the time she reaches his corridor and on his feet when Rey reaches his door. She hesitates a moment, reluctant to enter and he feels it as clearly as he feels his own pain. His heart pounds and Ren can't remember ever feeling so jumpy in all his young life - well, not like this anyhow. He dares to step even closer to the door, desperate to eliminate the space between them.

His heart lodges itself in his throat when the doors finally part and Rey crosses the threshold. She's as radiant as ever, despite the apprehension stitched into her eyebrows and stamped into her golden brown eyes. Her soft brown locks are still trapped within the trio of buns on her head but she missed a few strands and they gracefully twist down her cheek tantalizingly. Instead of her desert scraps, she wears a similar outfit, but one better tailored to the Rebel pilot she's become. A sleeveless grey shirt covers her body and Ren can't help but notice how it hugs her feminine curves, but he curses the darker grey vest on top of it which hides most of them. Strips of cloth guard her arms clear up to her shoulders but a patch of sun-tanned skin remains exposed and it's all Ren can do to avoid thinking about kissing her there. He swallows hard, stripping his eyes from the spot. Tan pants that stop just past her knee and solid grey shoes complete her outfit. She smells like lilacs- an intoxicating but strange smell on her. Did he miss that about her before? Drinking every inch of her in, he realizes she had washed and her warm skin glows because of it.

With only a few feet of space between them, the Force swirls to fill it. Their bond yearns for connection and the tension nearly kills Ren.

"You're here," he finally mutters.

She merely nods, taking in the sight of him as well. Her eyes travel down his toned and utterly exposed body covered in red scars, focusing on the bandages that protect the wounds she'd given him. At length, her gaze traces the path of the bloody scar she'd given him, until at last their eyes meet. The bond between them strengthens in intensity.

"You saved my life, Rey," he fawns and bravely takes one step closer.

She doesn't move and Ren exhales in satisfaction. Despite this, she drops her eye-contact and continues to look distraught.

"I'm a good person," she shrugs, crossing her arms across her chest. "Good people don't kill needlessly."

The slight digs in his chest, thin like a needle but no less painful. Ren is at a loss for words. A standard apology feels weightless against the tremendous hurt he's caused her. He looks down at his feet, unable to pull up anything sufficient.

Rey inhales deeply and shifts her weight. It's as if being here was taxing her greatly. "They don't know what to do with you," she tells him with a steely resolve. He cocks his head and lifts his eyes toward hers but she won't look at him. "You held up your end of the bargain but you ruthlessly murdered an ally. The penalty for treason is death."

The need to lock eyes with hers becomes a desperate battle. Her refusal makes his chest heave. Needing a source of comfort, he leans toward her and, to his relief, she still doesn't cower.

"They can't try you for murder," she says, "not until you interpret the map."

He's so close he can smell her hair and that helps soothe his nerves slightly. "You want me to tell them where Skywalker is."

Finally, she looks up into his eyes. "I don't want anything from you."

He shakes his head. "That's not true." He steps even closer, more-or-less bridging the gap between them. Rey's breath hitches in her throat - Ren noticed. "You wouldn't be here if that was true."

"I'm here because the General asked me to be here. I'm just a liaison. Nothing more."

"Don't lie," he snarls, "Not to me."

She tenses. "You've lied to me. Many times."

The strength in his eyes falters and breaks, leaving behind the broken pieces of a tortured ruin. "I'll tell you anything you want to know. No more lies."

Rey swallows hard and tries to break the spell his eyes have cast on her but fails. "Why?"

He waits for her to elaborate but she doesn't. "Why what?"

"All of it," she whimpers breathlessly. "Everything. Why?"

Confusion contorts his face. "I don't understand…"

"Why were you on Jakku?" She interrupts and erupts. "Why were you looking for the droid? Why did you take me from my home and lie to me? Why did you kill him?" She swallows hard and Ren watches as her alluring throat constricts. A timid tear falls down her reddening cheeks. "You hurt Finn but you wouldn't hurt me? Why?"

A calm smooths the lines away from Ren face. He shakes his head and the loose curls on his dark mop of hair sway along with him. "You must know," he says, leaning into her.

Fear and anxiety strike her like lightning and her breathing gets heavier. He notes her heaving chest as she falls back and leans firmly against the iron door. She says nothing in response but her eyes hold so many questions, ones she's afraid to ask.

"You must know how much I care for you," He susurrates sweetly. "Can't you see the effect you have on me?"

Risking everything, he reaches out and places a gentle hand on her stiff wrist and guides her palm towards his bare chest. Holding it against his wildly beating heart, he places his own palm atop of hers, encompassing her thin, dainty hand.

At his touch, the Force bursts forth and fills Rey to the brim. It surges through her like an electric current creating an extraordinary machine out of the both of them. It flows through her like river rapids - a tour de force.

"I know you feel it, the bond we share," he murmurs, hovering mere inches away from her face. "I know you do, because I feel it too. It overpowers all of my senses. It's the only thing in my life that feels real."

She gasps and suddenly she can't get enough air.

"When I'm with you, Rey, I feel more like myself than I have ever felt in my entire life. I don't know who I am when I'm not with you. I fall apart without you."

"And who exactly are you?" She breathes. "Ben Solo or Kylo Ren?"

He opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out. Tongue-tied and at a loss for words, he takes his free hand and ever so carefully indulges himself. Reaching out, he strokes the wispy strands of hair that twist and twirl gracefully down her flushed cheek and caresses the smooth edge of her jaw in the process. "I'm yours."

She averts her gaze, suddenly very aware of the third eye in the room. "Stop," she whispers.

Hurt and a little heartbroken, he stops stroking her cheek and drops her hand, breaking the sublime connection, but struggles to back away.

"They're watching us."

Of course they are. Fuck. He follows her eyes and sees it immediately: a tiny black dot, no bigger than an insect, but with a vision as perceptive as any worthy predator.

He backs away slowly, with all the willpower he can possibly muster, until he reaches the edge of the cot and takes a seat. He glares at the floor because he cannot glare at the camera in the ceiling and he cannot look at her any longer if he cannot also touch her. Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath and slowly exhales it until he finds a moderate sense of calm. "I meant what I said, you know."

Rey, startled and overwhelmed, watches him closely. "Meant what?"

"All of it," he says, lifting his eyes to her one last time. "Everything."