The Bond

Rated T permanently. I decided to not make this one M at all; it didn't work with the characters and the feels and the plot and lots of other things. I want to make this enjoyable and readable to all age ranges of readers.

TFA spoilers. Reylo!

Kylo Ren's intrusion unto Rey's mind to divulge the map has led to an unforeseen consequence; the pair seemed to have performed an extremely rare Force bond, and everything is open upon the table. Together they must overcome, or together they will both fall.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! They're great!

Chapter 10: Lovers

Kylo Ren suddenly realized how tired he felt from their day of traveling and visiting the town. The planet's sun seemed to zap all the strength out of him, and he just knew his cheeks would be fairly red with sunburn tomorrow. He made his way over to Rey, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed, kneeling at her feet and wrapping his arms underneath her knees, tilting his head to the side so it could rest on her lap. Rey's hands strayed to his hair, carding through the long, dark strands as she sighed deeply.

"You are a good man, Kylo." He stiffened slightly at her words. Confused thoughts tumbled around his head as he tried to comprehend what she meant. He was a Sith Lord, a Dark user of the Force, murderer of innocents, sworn enemy of the Resistance. His life was filled with darkness and suffering, with mountains of rage and valleys of unfathomable anguish. Yet this beautiful Light-side Force-wielder had named him good. Ren looked up at her, unable to understand what she meant.

Because of the bond, and the fact that she had spent the last few weeks constantly at his side, Rey understood what he was thinking and feeling at that moment. She could read his eyes, encased by captivating brown hues and flecked with gold. She lost herself for a moment in the deep depths of his face, the real one that had emerged from beneath the cold mask just for her. Without entirely meaning to, her very soul started to answer Kylo's unspoken question through the bond.

Pure, unconditional love flowed to Kylo through the bond, seeming to color their mental link the exact shade as the flecks in Kylo's eyes. She smiled at him again, eyes crinkling slightly as she took in the expression on the raven's face, which had turned from confusion to awe as he felt the love she had for him. It flowed easily from her, Rey knowing now more than ever that it was time. It was time for this all to come together. For them to truly connect. She showed him how good he had been to her, the protective, almost feral side of him emerging when someone would look at Rey wrong, or make a rude remark. She showed him all he had given up for her, and how thankful she was that he had done so. He had given her his time, training and teaching her, his energy, watching and guiding her, and his love in return, the gentle affection he occasionally pressed upon her so very unlike how a person of the Dark side should be. 'You are good,' she repeated, hand coming up to caress his face, his eyes locked with hers as he was flooded with the outpouring of Rey's pure heart for him.

Ren saw she loved him back, that she did not view him as a monster. To her, she was a part of her world, something she was happily attached and grounded to. He saw the two of them, light sabers drawn and sparring in the training room, a look of fierce passion and unguarded obedience on Rey's face. He felt how she felt as Rey consoled him that one broken afternoon, the pain that welled up within her from seeing him in pain. Tears began to well in Kylo Ren's eyes, from the images laced with emotion. The nights that they had spent together, staying up late talking, always waking in the other's arms. He knew she did not feel safe alone on the ship; but she showed him then how protected and secure she had felt as she rested in his arms, night after night. He realized that she had actually never spent a night in her own room, that she had always come to him and he had welcomed her to the land of dreams and safety. The tears broke out of his hold and slipped down his cheeks, but Ren didn't care.

There was nothing that he would ever care more about than his bonded one. She considered him her safety, her shelter, her mentor and strength that was slowly being drained from her while she had been on the ship. She needed him, had grown to depend on him without reserve or hesitation. She trusted him, with more than just her life; with her love as well.

Rey watched the tears slowly fall from the face of the man who still knelled on the floor, cradling her legs and staring up into his face. The first time she had seen him, racing and battling him through the forests of Takadona, he had been the living figment of death and pain itself. He had been a terrifying, imposing sith who had maliciously chased after her with his fiery lightsaber. Rey had not feared death by his hand, rather, she was scared of the horrors he carried with and about him. Now almost a month later, Rey would have stabbed herself with Ren's own lightsaber before thinking the same man could be huddled at her feet, weeping silently at love.

Rey pushed a stray section of Kylo's hair away from his eyes. "You are good, Kylo Ren. You are good, Ben Solo. You may call yourself Dark and follow the ways of the Sith, but to me, you are love. You are life, not death. I love you, for all of the things that you are." Tears ran freely from both of them now, Kylo burying his head in her knees, trying to hide how moved he was from everything she had let him feel, and see, and hear.

Kylo could feel both the Dark and the Light within him, the Ben and the Kylo facing off against each other. But Rey made him feel like an entirely different, third person. He pushed away his conflicted feelings and the tugging power of both Forces. He concentrated on the third entity, the him that he was now, the bonded mate to Rey, the gentler, but still passionate person he had been shaped into through the Bond and through Rey. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and looked back up at the tanned, exquisite desert flower he had been gifted with, that he was to share the rest of his life with. He reached up and brought her down to him, her weight comforting and warm on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him, pressing his face against hers. She embraced him back, the bond now showering them both with feelings of affection and happiness.

Rey drew back for a moment and looked at him, an unidentifiable expression on her face. She leaned in and softly kissed Ren, eyelashes just barely fluttering against his cheek. He kissed her back, drawing her impossibly closer to him. They separated and Kylo moved his mouth next to her ear. "I love you too," he confessed.

The rest of the night was spent deep in the throes of passion. The bonded Force-wielders finally sealed their fate together as they connected and became one under a sea of unfamiliar constellations. Whispers of love mingled with the sounds of night as the two lovers explored and worshiped and pleasured the other. It was not until the dawn began to break against the sky that Rey and Kylo Ren finally fell asleep, exhausted and satisfied in each other's arms.

Kylo awoke to the feeling of a bare body pressed against his. He opened his eyes and saw Rey snuggled close against him, hair loose around her face. It reminded him of the first time he had awoken with Rey in his arms, except this time, they were both unclothed and sleepily recovering from a night of unrestrained love. The young man gave a soft smile, pressing his lips gently against Rey's forehead before drifting off to sleep again.

Kylo awoke again with a start, hair dampened with sweat and breathing heavily. Rey was awake beside him in an instant, pulling a sheet around her and looking worriedly up at her lover. "What's wrong?" the brunette asked.

"I had a dream," Ren said hoarsely. "A dream about death."