"So, what do we do?" Han said, always ready for action steps. "Me and Chewie can head to this moon and check it out. Wait… Do you have to be force sensitive to, you know, sense this artifact?"

"Actually that's not a bad idea. I can give you coordinates for the cave I think that it's at, and you two could do reconnaissance. Figure out who or what is guarding the temple, and their schedules. Then we can make more of a plan," Luke answered.

"Wait, temple? Like there are Siths there, worshipping or whatever it is they do?" Han said, shifting his feet, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "I mean, anything for Ben… and Rey. Just, uh, want to know what to expect."

"No, it's a destroyed temple. So no worshipping, and it should be empty save the guards outside. But the temple is still dangerous-with lots of force protection and traps. I don't want you to go in under any circumstance, Han." Luke answered, firm and leaving no room for argument. Chewie vocalized his understanding and that he wouldn't let Han go in.

"Alright then, we will go prepare the Falcon and you'll give us the coordinates?"

Luke nodded, then Han and Chewie exited. Han was talking about parts and Chewie elaborated on what the issues were with the coils after they landed.

"Will they be safe, Luke?" Leia asked, slightly hunched over, her brow creased.

"As long as they don't go in. But Han should be wary enough of the force, and Chewie is smart enough to listen. It will be much more dangerous to go in the temple itself and get this artifact. I need to go and read more about the protections. Maybe do some meditation and see if Yoda will come to me and guide me."

When the room had cleared out again, Rey rested her eyes. She was overwhelmed with the information, with the huge change in her life, the worry that her parents may have come back for her while she was gone. "Rey?" Ben said gently.

She opened her eyes and smiled. Of all the changes, this bond with this beautiful, hurting man was a wonderful surprise. She'd never felt so whole, so complete, so right. She knew that there were so many hurdles to go. Her healing for one, dealing with the Sith in Ben's head, and by extension, her own. "Ben," she sighed quietly.

"Don't be afraid, I feel it too," he said, inching his hand towards hers. She couldn't see his hand, only his face, but she could somehow feel the bond urging them closer. Rey knew he wasn't touching her, but she knew he was getting closer. But too slowly; much too slowly. She concentrated hard on her fingers, willing them to move. She visualized her hand and grabbed ahold of the mysterious power inside her, what she knew must be responsible for how she could feel him in her mind. It worked! She did something right, because her hand did what a hand was supposed to do, it moved. It went right into Ben's hand, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

"Rey! Rey, you moved your hand! That's amazing sweetheart, how's your head? Does it hurt?" Ben met her eyes, a huge smile on his face.

"It feels better, good even," Rey said, tightening her grip on his hand. Ben brushed up against their bond, and then against the barrier she'd erected around her injured brain. The first was stronger than ever, and the second was much weaker, flickering from solid to translucent. Ben noted that her grip was tighter on his hand when the bubble was clearer, and it relaxed as it strengthened.

"I think that you might be conserving your energy by protecting your brain," he tried to imagine what he saw, and attempted to push it gently into the thread where their signatures met. "Do you see that?"

Rey gasped and nodded. "I moved my hand. Ben! I think that I understand. I don't think I am strong enough to completely drop it though."

Ben felt a wave of bone deep exhaustion and knew that it was from her. "Go to sleep, I will stay with you," he murmured to her, pushing a strand of hair from her face.

And if his hand lingered on the soft tanned skin of her face? Well, just an added bonus of being thorough. He had to protect her face… from her hair? Oh Force, I am acting like one of the boy crazy girls from class. But I'm not even sure that I care. Ben nodded to himself, as if deciding that he was hers, and if his thoughts or actions made him look like an idiot, then so be it.

Rey watched his furrowed brows and the out of nowhere nodding of his head. She brushed up against his mind, wanting to know what had him so introverted, then the next moment a wide smile on his full lips. There was a wall up, and she didn't want to invade his privacy if he had put it up because of her, but she did catch the general feel of his emotions. Happiness, amusement, and determination.

"Hold me?" She implored him, shyly. He nodded and instead of gathering her in his arms like he'd done before, he gently rolled her to face the wall, and curled up behind her. They fit just right, and Rey revelled in the warmth and strength of his arm thrown over her, and his legs tangled with hers. She had just noticed his scent- a hint of sweat, something that reminded her of the night sky, and a hint of aftershave- as sleep took her over.

Ben watched the steady rise and fall of her chest and cuddled into her warmth. His brain was racing with the new information, and he felt validated. He wasn't insane, there was a legitimate dark force in his mind, and he wasn't weak, because it had affected Rey as well. He felt even more desperate to figure out answers, he wanted to protect her from the pain. He regulated his breathing, and fell into meditation again. He wasn't convinced how much it could help, but he knew that Luke would want to work with that.

He took deep breaths and reached out with the force. As he relaxed he went through the different saber forms in his head, and then went into a meditative state. He wasn't sure how much it would help at this point. But he did think there was value in teaching it to Rey since it hadn't been drilled into her since she was learning to walk. She was so new to the force that learning to connect with nature and feel how it all works together would be good. He decided that he would teach her when she woke up next, and maybe he would learn something new teaching it to someone else. Luke had talked with him before about working with the younger padawans, but Ben could always feel his hesitation, and actually understood.

Ben felt the dark side of the force more than anyone he knew, and he wouldn't want to influence a child that way, knowingly or not. But Rey's light was so bright, and he knew that through their connection he could sense if she was drawn that way and help her. He'd come up with ways over the years to find his way back into the light when the dark would try to seduce him. It wasn't perfect but he'd never had someone that understood and didn't fear him to teach him. Luke always just expected that the light would be the only option, that if you were doing your training right, then there wouldn't be that temptation. And maybe that's true for others, but Ben also knew that he'd had darkness inside his own mind. A physical entity that was constantly influencing him, whispering in his ear, trying to take over when he used the force.