Kylo's POV

Side by side they walked through the desert. Their feet sunk into the sand almost constantly; and while Kylo's affinity with the Force allowed him to gracefully keep moving, Cara had a much harder time navigating through the ever-shifting fields of sand that infected the entire planet of Jakku. The slow pace irritated Kylo to no end - he was constantly having to help her forward, lifting her up by her arms to place her back on less fickle ground, or catching her by her waist whenever her body threatened to tip over. He tried not to let the proximity overwhelm him, but even beneath the heavy and rough fabric of her clothing, he could feel the goosebumps spreading across her skin and the shiver of her spine, and it almost became his undoing. He needed to remain distant, if not physically, than emotionally. He had already said too much yesterday, before silence had befallen them. He had a small sliver of hope that she had not heard his final words, that sleep had overtaken her at just the right moment - but something about the way she had looked at him this morning as she tended to the wounds of the sickly villagers surrounding them for the last time told him differently. He had asked her not to change. She would heed his plea.|

"Thank you for letting me stay until the morning, Kylo. It meant a lot to them. It - it meant a lot to me." Cara called from behind him.

He had gotten so lost in his thoughts that he had barely noticed that she had fallen behind once more. He stopped walking, not bothering to turn around to watch her clumsily try and match his pace. He had said as little to her as possible this morning, the physicality of his actions enough to speak for themselves.

"How much longer?" Cara asked, another one of her attempts to make conversation with him. It was clear that she was curious as to what Snoke was truly planning with her. Kylo wished he knew. Yes, he knew that she was his final test. That was what worried him. He had no idea what the test itself was.

"Not much further." Kylo replied curtly - they had already started on the slight incline behind which his chosen TIE Fighter awaited them. The journey home would be a long one. He hoped that the walk to the ship would have tired her out too much for her to ask him any more questions. Last night, they had been surrounded by witnesses, people who would have defended Cara from any of his outbursts. If he had even hurt one of them in a fit of rage, Cara never would have trusted him again. He had held back, his voice opting instead to take on a tone of pleading, a tone that he was not used to. Whenever he could not speak in anger, it was hard for him to choose a different emotion which he could turn to. It vexed him that the mere sight of her face and sound of her voice made it harder for him to control himself, for him to remember who he was.

He was Kylo Ren. The man who had found his own way to the Dark Side, the man who had murdered Han Solo. He was Kylo Ren. That was who he was meant to be.

"Kylo, stop, please. Just for a moment."

He ignored her, continuing up the steep slope. He did not want to talk to her until they were well on their way back to base, until he was out from underneath the glare of the blinding sun and away from the irritation of the swirling dust.

"Kylo, come on. I just need a minute."

"It's not much further, Cara. There are worse things waiting for you in this galaxy." Kylo replied, projecting his voice so that she would be able to hear him without having to face her.

"I am well aware, Kylo. I have seen worse things in the past too."

"Then this hike should not bother you so much."

"I do not need a minute because my legs are too stiff or my feet feel too heavy, Kylo. I need a minute because I still haven't completely accepted the fact that I am returning with you to a base where it is quite clear that your superior, emperor, leader, or whatever it is you would like to call him, is intending to either alter who I am completely or make sure that I cannot affect you in any way, or in whatever capacity your future has in store for you. And I am following you because I have nowhere else to go Kylo - not without you, anyway. I am intending to take you back to D'Qar, and if this is the way to convince you that it is time for you to come home, to come home with me, than this is how I will do it. But that does not mean that this is easy for me, or that I am making this choice lightly."

He finally stood still, having reached the top of the hill. The reflection of the sun in the wings of the TIE Fighter hurt his eyes, and he had to turn away from the sight of his ship, finally turning to face her for the first time since they had set off this morning. She was hunched over, holdling her hand above her eyes, trying to block the sun from her own gaze. He suddenly felt a clench in his gut, a reminder of a memory that Ben Solo had once had of her. Images crossed his mind's eye, images of Cara chasing him in the fields outside the Resistance's base, shielding her eyes from the sun.

"Ben, slow down! Let me catch up to you!"

He turned around, never slowing his pace, running backwards while grinning broadly.

"Are you trying to tell me that you can't keep up with me, Cara Nova?"

"Yes, Ben. That is exactly what I'm trying to tell you. Now slow down!"

His smile stretched out further, a laugh escaping him as he watched Cara bring her hand up above her eyes to shield her gaze from the brightness of the sun.

"Cara, you know very well that you could keep up with me if you tried."

"Not when I'm being blinded by the sun. I do not understand how some people survive on desert planets like Jakku and Tatooine and face the wrath of that blazing star for hours on end."

He laughed again, feeling the most carefree he had in a long time. Dark thoughts had been clouding his mind as of late - the time for training was beginning to dawn upon him, and the voices, or rather, voice, in the back of his mind kept telling him to go sooner, to start on the path he was destined to be on. The voice was telling him to distance himself from his family, from Cara - but when he looked at her angry face right now, he asked himself if he would ever be able to leave her on her own. He hoped that she asked herself the same thing. Perhaps he would gather the courage to ask her himself.

"Why are we out here again?" She asked, finally mustering the strength to sprint towards him. She linked her arm through his when she finally reached him, leaning on him more heavily than he suspected was necessary. Not that he minded. He enjoyed being this close to her. Sometimes he allowed himself to think about getting even closer to her. He would never act on it, though. Not until he was desperate enough to remember her in as much detail as he possibly could.

"Because I wanted to show you something."

"Another lightning storm?' She asked, excitement and confusion evident in her voice all at once. 'It doesn't smell like there's a storm coming."

"There isn't. That's not what I wanted to show you." He said, slipping his arm out from under hers, only to lace his fingers between her delicate ones. Suddenly, he pulled her along, earning him a loud gasp as she struggled to regain her balance. He smiled again, more to himself than for her before turning right without warning, plunging them into the edges of the forest.

"Where are we going?" She asked, a slight tinge of fear worming its way into her words. He had been expecting the change of tone, however, and squeezed her hand reassuringly before leading her further between the trees.

"Ben, you know I don't like being in here."

He knew. Of course he knew. The last time he had brought her into the forest she had almost had a panic attack of sorts - something to do with a memory of her parents. He had never forced her to talk about it, never forced her to relive the past. He had led her out of the forest swiftly and quickly, and they had never talked about it again. It was one of the few topics that remained unexplored between the two of them. He thought it was time for that to change.

"I know, I promise, this is worth it."

"Ben..."

"Cara, I wouldn't force you to do something that I didn't think would help you in some way. I wouldn't force you to do something if I didn't think you could handle it."

"Things can change." Cara said, catching him off guard.

"Do you think so little of me?" Ben asked with a raised voice, feeling slightly offended. He could feel his fingers slipping from hers, even without meaning to do so.

"No - Ben, that's not what I meant."

He felt himself draw a deep breath, suddenly regretting the loss of contact between their hands. He looked her straight in the eye, and he could see the tinge of blush gracing her cheeks as he did so. He shook his head, thinking nothing of it. She was scared, she felt flushed. That was all it was.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." He started walking again, only looking back to make sure that she was following, feeling slightly awkward at the idea of taking her hand again. The moment had passed. The tense air that had surrounded them the last few months had returned.

"I do." She whispered, probably hoping that he would not hear her. But he did, and he flinched at her words, hoping beyond hope that she had not noticed him distancing himself from everyone he knew, and everyone that cared about him. The voice in his head had been telling him to do so. She was the only one he was truly having trouble staying away from.

They kept walking, Ben checking behind him to to make sure that she was still following every so often. They did not exchange another word, and he passed it off as them enjoying each other's company in silence. They were almost arriving at their destination anyway. She would have enough questions for him then.

"Stop." He said suddenly, and she walked straight into his back. He had sensed it coming and had been able to brace himself, once more enjoying the feeling of warmth that her body brought with it. She looked over his shoulder, remaining behind him, and he could feel the light fanning of her breath across his jaw.

"Why are we stopping here?" She asked, genuine curiosity in her question. They had stopped at the edge of a perfectly circular clearing, the canopy of trees above it thicker than anywhere else in the forest, plunging them into a deeper darkness than could be seen behind them. He could feel her body start to shake behind him, a clear sign that she was getting anxious once more, and he turned to face her so that she could tether herself to the familiarity of his face.

"This is what I wanted to show you the last time I tried to bring you in here."

"Oh." She said, quite simply. He wondered if she felt embarassed about her panic attack last time. He wanted to tell her that she should not.

"Take a step forwards."

"Why?"

"Just - just do it, Cara. I know that sense of adventure is still within you somewhere."

"Oh please, you know that I can't resist a mystery. Maybe I'm not as obsessed with them as you are, but..." She said, smiling slightly, beginning to relax as their usual banter returned. She stepped around him, turning towards him, walking backwards into the clearing. All of a sudden, the smile was wiped from her face, and she yelped out in a pitch much higher than he had expected.

"It's freezing. Why is it freezing? Why didn't you warn me that it was freezing?" She yelled at him, rubbing her arms furiously to try and keep warm.

"That's the surprise."

"Well, I certainly am that. What the hell is this place?"

He laughed at her choice of words, knowing that she hardly ever used certain types of language to express her anger, or shock. He stepped towards her, but the cold did not affect him as it would have done in the past. It surprised even himself, and he could hear the voice in the back of his mind saying once more that he was only beginning to discover the breadth of his power. He blocked out the sound, focussing instead only on her face, on her eyes.

"The biggest mystery on this planet."

"You're mocking me." Cara said, staring at him intently.

"I promise, I am not. I would never mock you, Cara. I am genuinely telling you that this is one of the few mysteries that even I have never been able to solve. Nor has anyone else on this planet, or anyone outside of this planet. This circle we are standing in right now is the ultimate mystery."

"Even I..." Cara scoffed, looking at him with a smile on her face.

"Yes, even I." He said, a hint of humour in his voice.

"So is this the ultimate goal?" She asked him seriously now, knowing how much this kind of thing meant to him.

"This could be our ultimate goal."

"Solving the mystery of the clearing."

"Yes, solving the mystery of the clearing."

They both knew that he was leaving soon. They both knew that neither of them knew for how long they would not see each other. They both knew that they had no control over what happened to their relationship in the future, especially not with the Jedi vows that Ben would need to take. Right now, however, in this moment, they needed to know they would have one last mystery to solve, together.

"It worries you that you do not know what kind of fate will befall you once confronted with Surpeme Leader Snoke."

"Yes, of course it worries me, wouldn't that worry you?" She asked, the look in her eyes making it clear she was trying to see a part of Ben in him. A part of Ben that Kylo was having a hard time surpressing after being reminded of that memory.

"Think of it as a mystery to solve, Cara. Think of it as a mystery we can solve together."

He did not wait to see her expression, did not wait to hear her reply. He stalked down towards the TIE Fighter, the confusion of his own thoughts and memories making it harder for him to maintian his poise and step down the hill of sand without falling to his knees.

A/N: I'm really glad I had the time to post another chapter! Let me know what you guys think, as always. Feedback is greatly appreciated. I really liked writing one of the memories from Ben's POV instead of Cara's. Reading reviews always puts a smile on my face. Hopefully I'll be able to give you guys another chapter soon! X