This one took a while to write. I wasn't sure how I wanted it to go . As always please review! I haven't had a review yet and I am dying to get some kind of feedback, any at all!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Star Wars Story. Just a fan wanting to write.

Chapter 7

I wake up from the same dream. It starts with me holding him in my arms. Then he slowly collapses to the ground and I use my body weight to catch him. Today though, I didn't quite feel the same effects that it had before. I had seen him, spoken to him only hours ago. I get out of my bed and get ready. I feel better than I had the previous days. Although I still have a red mark from where the saber struck me, the pain had subsided significantly. I was still unsure of why I felt the wound outside of my dream.

I grab my canteen of water and head towards the door. I was excited at the thought of seeing him, but I was also terrified he wouldn't be there. I make my way down the cliffs to the entry of the cave. I travel along further inside until I see the entrance. The darkness still calling my name. I should ignore its call, but it radiates within me. I can't forget that the darkness at the center of the island will never stop calling. I should be mindful to be here, being careful that I do not get persuaded. There is also the possibility that Ben isn't real, but rather just a ploy. I am vulnerable. It wouldn't take much to persuade me at this point. If I could just bring him back… No. I need to stop these thoughts.

I push forwards until I reach the cave mirror. I wait a few moments, but I don't see him. I turn and walk to the edge of the water. I place one hand on my hip and the other on my face. I would spend all day in here if I needed to. It was dark, cold, and there was a slight breeze that came in from the blowhole that made me shiver. Everything about this place felt awful. Being here feels like a weight is placed on my head and I am being pushed downward. A gravitational pull.

I turn back and walk towards the mirror wall. I reach out my hand and slowly place my fingertips against it. "Please Ben, come back". I feel a nervousness in my stomach, a sinking nauseous feeling. I gulp and fight back tears. He wasn't here, he wasn't going to come. I close my eyes and feel a tear fall down my cheek.

"Why are you crying?" he asks. I fling my eyes open at the sound of his tranquil voice. A big smile spreads across my face, all anxious feelings had floated away.

"I… didn't think you were coming back" I told him. I was ecstatic he did, even if he was stuck behind the wall. I had kept my fingertips against the mirror. He reached out his hands and place his fingertip in the same spot as mine. I still couldn't feel his touch, but the fact that his hand was there was comforting.

"Of course, I would come" he said smiling.

"Did you get some rest? You still look tired..." he questioned showing concern.

"I did… I still dreamed of you thought" I told him. He blushed at this, his cheeks grew red and he dropped his eyes to the ground. I could hear a small chuckle leave his lips. We drop our hands from the wall simultaneously.

"Well, I hope I was good…" he laughed. I could see what he was insinuating. That thought hadn't even crossed my mind.

"Obviously not like that…" my face feels hot with embarrassment. I drop the smile from my face. He didn't realize the reoccurring dream I had nightly wasn't particularly pleasant. "It was actually of you on Exegol… when you faded away" I said. I could see the smile disappear from his face. He didn't realize that my nightmare was of him, dying in my arms, or what I thought to have been him dying.

"Every night?" he questioned, avoiding interrogating me about that moment.

"Every night…" I take a deep breathe. "Every night I felt the same loss that I felt on Exegol. Like half my soul left my body. It never really got easier. Except the other night… I wasn't alone" I looked at him with confusion.

"I know, I felt it. That was the first I had detected your presence in I guess… a year of being gone. Before that I couldn't see you, but I could feel you. I felt the pain you felt, the struggle of the battle. I wanted so desperately to be there for you… to help you Rey" I could feel the frustration in his voice. I know it all too well.

"I…" I didn't know what to say to him. "I wished you had been there too". I see his face shift, he felt guilty that he wasn't there. I didn't want him to feel guilty.

"I'm sorry" I say. "I shouldn't have said that it isn't your fault". I turn away from where he was standing behind that mirror like wall.

"Don't be. I understand. If there was anything I could have done to be there… I would have been" he says. He quickly changes the topic.

"I am going to ask you again Rey. How are you doing?" he asks.

I turn back to look at him "I am fine" I tell him.

"You look frailer than I remember… Did you eat this morning?" he inquired. It was so strange that he was asking these questions. We had spent the majority of our time beforehand battling each other, now he was concerned for my health?

"I am not frail! And no if you must ask, I did not eat this morning… I was in too much of a hurry to see you…" I give him as much attitude as I could. Although I appreciate his concern, he wasn't my caretaker. I had raised myself the majority of my life, I knew what I needed and when.

I am glaring at him, but I knew I couldn't stay mad at him. He is so handsome. His long dark hair falls and frames his face. It is ragged but I imagine it to be soft. I can't stop staring at him. He laughs at my response. It's wonderful to see him laugh, I hadn't seen it much before now.

"I just want to make sure you are ok… You're out there, and I… am in here" I felt ashamed to think that he was worried for my well-being but I clearly wasn't concerned for his. I never stopped to ask him how he was doing or if he ate or slept properly. I was only concerned for my own selfish reasons... to see him again.

"I am sorry Ben, I should have asked how you were?" I say shamefully.

"I can't explain how I feel. I feel weak, sore almost like, I have been wandering for days without rest, or food, or water. My fingers feel… numb" he lifts his hands up and rubs his fingertips together. "Everything is dark all around me… there isn't anyone here" he says. He must have felt lonely.

"And you can't tell where you are? No clue or indicat—" he cuts me off before I can finish my sentence.

"I don't know where I am. A cave maybe? There are endless tunnels and at the end of every tunnel I am reliving these memories as if I am a third person" he says.

"Memories? Of what?" I ask him.

"Mostly of when I was Ren… and with you. A few from my childhood" he tells me. I would have liked to relive those with him. I want to see his childhood, his memories with his mother and his father. I can't imagine what It would have been like to be raised with both parents.

I also didn't know him as Ben Solo. We only realized not long ago about our connection, a dyad in the force. Most of our encounters were between me and Kylo Ren, and he wasn't always the most compassionate. I wanted to build a relationship with the kind and caring person I thought Ben was. I would die to get to see some of him as Ben, rather than Kylo Ren.

"I don't really want to talk about my memories… they aren't all pleasant" he tells me.

I understand what he is saying. I wish I could be honest and tell him that I wanted to hear them. I couldn't push him too much; I didn't want him to disappear. This all feels so temporary. I don't want to talk to him behind this glass like wall for the rest of eternity. I begin to feel the pressure build in my chest… I try to change the conversation.

"I have a garden" I don't know why I said this, it seemed like such a silly thing to mention. I didn't want to bore him with monotonous things. I see his body language change from tense to at ease at this bit of information. I think he was happy the topic was changed from something so gloomy.

"Oh, do you? I never pegged you as a gardener" he chuckles.

"Luke had it mostly set up. I just continued and expanded with it" I told him.

"I see" he said.

I had never really socialized with anyone before let alone someone I felt a deep connection with. I was abandoned on Jakku, an orphan who isolated herself out in the desert. I wasn't used to small talk or attempting to hold a meaningful conversation. I didn't know what to say next.

"I have to return to the resistance base tomorrow morning" It slips from my mouth. I honestly forgot about the trip I needed to make. I didn't want to go now. I have had less than two days with him, I wasn't ready to give this up yet.

"How come?" he is standing there with her hands at his sides. He is still wearing the dark blue sweater; it still has the shreds and holes from the Battle at Exegol. I can't say enough how seeing him gets my pulse racing.

"Poe said that there have been attacks. They don't know who, or if they are targeting specific groups or planets. They are killing everyone and taking the children..." his face twist with anger. I couldn't tell if he was angry because of innocent lives being lost or if it's because someone else is trying to rule when he didn't.

"No idea who?" he questions.

"No, I think everyone is going to convene tomorrow at the resistance base" I tell him. I wanted him to ask me to stay. Not to go so we could spend more time together.

"If they need you then you should go Rey" I feel disappointed as he says this. "But please Rey, be careful"

"I don't need to leave yet" I tell him. "I still have some more time here with you".

"But you do need time to prepare. I will still be here when you get back" he throws his arms out to his side and looks from left to right "I… can't go anywhere" He isn't wrong. At least I hoped he wasn't.

"I'll stay here a little longer with you… then I'll go" I tell him. I knew he was right, but I wanted to stay. I wanted to get to know him. I wanted to learn about his past, and work to understand how we could have a future… together. If he wasn't dead, then there ought to be something to do to bring him back.