And so the next few months passed by. Rey and Ben would work on her shields, explore their force bond, and lots of meditation. Ben told her about the Jedi texts and codes, and tried to teach her to levitate as well as the beginners exercises of moving pebbles and using the force to deflect those same pebbles when he launched them at her lightly.

They talked about everything and nothing while Rey was awake. Luke came everyday and worked on healing with her, and occasionally gave small updates on his research. He wasn't ready for Han and Chewie to make the run to Onderon despite what he'd told them. He had found a holocron and needed to decipher how to open it and get it to reveal more about the artifact and the Onderon moon. Han and Leia were on and off the planet, seeing to political situations that came up and the fine art of smuggling. Han had a reputation to keep up after all, and contacts weren't happy when he just stopped coming around.

Rey and Ben never spoke about their feelings, and although she slept in his arms and they had near constant physical touch, holding hands, Ben would trail his fingers up and down her arms, but there was never anything like the dream Rey had happen in real life, and she worried that it wouldn't be welcome. She figured the constant need to be touching each other might be the result of their bond, and nothing was ever anything but pure. The gentle touch of what Rey thought a friend might be like, and she realized that is what they were. Friends at the very least, they made each other laugh and smile. They both enjoyed when Ben brought in a book and read to her. But she didn't know if it would be anything more than that, and resolved that was okay.

The dark was never far away, but with Ben and Rey together, they were mostly able to keep it at bay. It had not been able to affect Rey like it did the first time, and Ben had learned that distance helped when he would hear the whispers start, and he wasn't able to draw on their combined power to suppress it. He would usually make up an excuse that he was hungry, needed to train or needed a shower, and he would leave her and go across campus or find Luke, who had actually been really helpful in finding ways to strengthen the shields. They had been able to fend off the worst of the headaches as well, creating a sort of feedback loop. Luke had easier access in his shields and could also draw on Ben's own power.

As much as Ben wanted to stay by her side, he had started training again. He was working on finally building his own lightsaber, and he'd found someone who was willing to spar with him even though Ben usually dominated the matches. He had almost started to gain other student's respect because he would invite them to come and face him, singles or in groups. He was able to keep his cool, and even if taunted, he would take a deep breath and ignore it. He attached with all he had, especially when they came at him in multiples but was able to be in control, tempering his movements at the last possible second, or using the force to protect his opponents from injury, while still managing to make it clear that he'd won the match. He did have a reputation and his pride to maintain.

One day they were talking about how Ben felt more at home at the academy than he ever had. "When you are healed, you know that Luke would accept you, if you want a place here, that is." Ben was so afraid that she would reject him, or want to go back to Jakku. That the bond was something that she didn't want. But he was also loathe to say any of these things in case she hadn't considered it, but when it was said out loud, it resonated with her. Ben had been reading as much as he could about the bonds. Why they existed, (no one knew-although there was speculation that people of great power were drawn together, yet others said that it might be all about balance of the light and dark) and it broke his heart, but trying to find out if they could be broken. He didn't want Rey to feel like she was trapped. He'd already seen that the darkness in him can affect her, and he didn't want to hurt her or cause the light in her to dim. Hopefully when they found the artifact that could break the hold of the sith into Ben's head it might not be as much of a burden. That she might keep it, even if mostly closed, even if she didn't stay. Ben knew it was selfish, but he cared about her. Her presence made him happy, and he hoped that he made her happy as well.

His mind had wandered, and it startled him when Rey finally spoke. "Why? I'm a nobody from Jakku, a scavenger. I have nothing to offer here."

"Don't say that! You have come so far in a short time with the force. You impress Luke and believe me, that's hard to do."

"What if I don't want the force? It scares me the power it has, and the power I could have. I know nothing of the world. Who gets to decide who gets the force? Why me? Why not someone who can use it to make the world a better place?"

"If you know that you don't want to become a Jedi, then there are other options. My mom didn't complete her training, although she used to love it, she will never tell anyone why. But she left it behind. She only uses it occasionally to reach out to me or Luke. She adores you, you know. You could be with her in the Senate. I am sure that you would have valuable input on how change could be effected to help people on planets like Jakku."

"I think that you are blinded by the bond. I'm nothing special. I'm no one special," she replied firmly.

"But, Rey…"

"Can we please talk about something else?" she pleaded. Ben could deny her little, so he moved on, but told himself to try to revisit this, to make her see that she was special. She had so much light in her, so much fight, and so much to offer no matter what she decided to do.