The next time Rey was aware, it came to her more slowly. Not the jolt in and out of this sleep like state she'd come to expect. She didn't like it, but accepted it now.

She took inventory and realized this time she could see. Oh, the light! She basked in it, even if she couldn't move anything except her eyes side to side. Rays of sunlight poured in through a window to her left and she focused on that. The presence- no, it was him, Ben-was missing and she felt a strange sense of let down. She'd been alone for so long, that it made her uncomfortable wanting, needing, someone.

Something pulled on her barrier, almost seeming to touch her soul, and everything shifted.

"Rey? Are you there?" she heard from a distance. Perhaps dumbly, she tried to shake her head but of course nothing happened so she opened her mouth and even though all that came out as a whisper she replied "Yes."

She could feel the tugging getting closer and more powerful. Though she didn't really recognize the voice, she definitely recognized the signature that had become somehow brighter and darker than she remembered. She wasn't sure how much time had passed since he'd been beside her, but something had changed within him. She didn't think it had anything to do with her, even though she wasn't sure how she knew that.

She heard heavy breathing beside her and darted her eyes to the right. She saw Ben, and if possible, he was even more handsome than she remembered from Jakku. He rushed to her and grabbed her hand and while normally she would not accept or like touches from anyone; this feels familiar and comforting to her so she allowed it. Not that she could really do anything about it even if she wanted to but she had the feeling that if she asked him to, he would stop.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Ben asked. He wasn't really sure where this term of endearment came from but it felt right for some reason. Maybe he had been calling her that in his head and didn't want to even acknowledge it to himself.

He heard her say yes. His heart felt like it skipped a beat and a wave of relief washed over him.

"Well, actually I guess not. There is pain in my head that's never been there before. And I can't move. And something has changed, in my head, in my heart-everywhere." She trailed off as she closed her eyes again.

Ben panicked just a little bit hoping that this wasn't the end of their conversation-that he wasn't hallucinating this interaction with her. He had felt a tugging out in the woods, much like he felt when they first touched though it was without the lightning. He came barreling through the academy to reach her side. He felt guilty that he left her and that was the time that she had woken up.

Soon enough, her eyes opened again and when they met his, he felt something. It was powerful; it was deep and he knew that things would never be the same. Not in a bad way, he would accept this kind of change anytime. He knew that his for signature had blended with hers over the barrier in her mind and this felt like the next step, that he was intertwining with her very being.

Her quiet voice broke up his reverie and he heard her whisper "I can sense you. I don't understand it."

"Me neither, but I don't mind. Do you?" he hoped that she would say no but he had a lot of experience trying to block out his mom and Luke and that voice. And thought that he might be able to do the same to her.

"I'm not sure. What happened? Where am I?"

Of course, she wanted to know. Ben almost dropped his head into his hands, but he did not want to break eye contact with her. He tried not to be discouraged that she said she wasn't sure about the connection but there were more important matters to address right then.

"You were hurt badly the day after we met. Through the connection I knew something happened and I went after you. We brought you here to Yavin 4, to my uncle because he is really gifted at healing and we hoped that he would be able to help you."

Her voice was much stronger when she said with dismay "Yavin 4, not Jakku?"

He sensed panic and pain welling up within her and he wanted to do something, anything, to make her feel better. "The facilities back there couldn't help you and I'm afraid what would happen if we wouldn't have taken you off planet."

Tears slipped down her face and Ben reached over to wipe them away. "I was waiting for them. What happens if they came while I was gone?"

He didn't have to ask who she was talking about.

Her parents.