Rey screamed in frustration as she tried for the millionth time to complete the exercise Luke was driving her through. Instead of lifting the massive pile of rocks, the topmost rock exploded, showering the area with clumps of sizzling rock.
"No, no. That's wrong!" Luke railed. Rey tried to take a furious breath in, but the anger rolled over her body, choking the air out of her lungs. The rocks rattled, cascading to the ground. She screamed again, and rocks soared out of the clearing in every direction. Luke neatly sidestepped one that headed his direction, and Rey collapsed on the ground, sobbing.
"Something is bothering you, I can sense it." Luke said, coming to loom over Rey's inert body. "You have to master your emotions if you're going to make any progress."
"I'm so... cold. A-a-and angry." Rey sobbed. "I-I can't think... straight."
Luke squinted at her in his cold, calculating way.
"We're done here. Jedi do not feel anger, and until you confront and control it, you'll never be able to master your connection to The Force."
Rey miserably watched the old man leave, picking his way over the rocks and shards of stone on the hillside down to where his living compound was. When he disappeared from her line of vision, Rey rolled her face to the sky in time for a drop of rain to fall directly into her eye, mixing with her tears. As the cold rain intensified, she let out a wail of grief and rage.
After Ben had abruptly broken their bond during their... visit last month, she'd cried herself to sleep. Every night since, she couldn't bear to touch herself or even doze off until she was absolutely exhausted, afraid she would have to face him again. The fear, loathing, and exhaustion had finally boiled over, making her training impossible.
"Why are you laying in the rain?" Ben's voice intruded on her senses.
"Go away." Rey snapped, teeth chattering. She was properly soaked now.
"No." Ben replied. She could sense his silhouette pacing around the training ground. "Go inside, you'll get sick."
"I don't want to. I want to lay out here and die." Rey said, not caring if she was being overdramatic. Ben snorted in derision.
"I can see it now. The Resistance lies crushed beneath the heel of The First Order after Jedi hero girl slain by pneumatic flu and stubbornness."
In spite of herself, Rey let out a watery bark of laughter.
"Please, Rey. Come inside." Ben said softly. His form wasn't as corporeal as usual, she could see the island surroundings behind him and the rain sheeting through his outline.
"Fine. Not because you want me to, though." Rey peeled her bruised body off the slick stone clearing and limped down the opposite trail to the one Luke had taken to the compound, stumbling her way down to where her hut was. Ben followed her like a shadow.
Once inside, Rey threw logs onto the banked embers of her fire and lit some kindling. Outside, the storm intensified. Ben hovered inside the hut, eyes roaming everywhere but seemingly on her.
"Why are you still here?" Rey huffed, glaring at him.
"I can't control it." Ben's eyes widened, and he swallowed hard. "Something has been keeping me away, but I was able to find the bridge while I was meditating, and I felt your anger and fear. I thought you were in danger, so I..." He faltered.
"Well, I'm not. So you can leave." Rey snapped. She removed her outer layer and sat shivering as close to the fire as possible.
"Rey..." Ben whispered. He hovered behind her, willing his form to become solid, so he could reach out and hold her. He could feel her pain and anger, and he wished he could take it away, even though he knew it was wrong.
Rey felt an arm tentatively wrap around her, and a warm presence pulled her close. She protested at first, but her greedy body ate up the warmth, sagging into Ben's arms. The air shifted, and the sound of the rain ceased.
With a gasp, Rey realized she was in Ben's quarters aboard The Finalizer.
"Shhh." Ben soothed. "Warm yourself up."
"No..." Rey protested, even though her body was behaving in the opposite manner. "I can't be here."
"Don't be here, be with me." Ben said into her ear. He breathed in the smell of her, a mix of sweat, damp fabric, and strong emotion.
"Ben..." She whispered, pleading.
"Shh." He quieted her, and tightened his hold, ignoring his body attempting an embarrassing response to her proximity. Rey tried to struggle, but her protests were undermined by her body's need for warmth. Ben wanted to feed and warm her, protect her, even as his mind also cried out to destroy her, end her.
"You left." Rey finally said, the accusation lacing the air with disappointment. Ben's stomach flipped against his will.
"I told you. I can't control it. You know I wouldn't leave you like that, I-"
Ben cut himself off, remembering that Rey did not, in fact, know that.
"I wouldn't leave you like that." He restated, petulance creeping into his voice. "I wouldn't."
Rey didn't respond, and the silence stretched. For a moment Ben thought she was ignoring him. Then he noticed her slow breathing and slack muscles. She'd fallen asleep in his arms. He could hear the crackling of the fire almost like it was in another world, and he shifted her body away from any possible popping sparks.
He had suspected that the reason he'd been unable to bridge with Rey for the last month was because she was purposefully exhausting herself to avoid him. The circles under her eyes were a deep purple, and little stress lines had broken out around her eyes and forehead. She was completely relaxed cradled in his arms, against all odds, and Ben felt a wave of emotion well up inside him.
A second later, he was crouched over an empty floor, Rey's scent the only lingering sign she had been there.
Lightyears away, Rey toppled to the damp stone floor and cried out in surprise as she was awoken. Ben heard her, and he reached out toward the rapidly closing bridge between them.
"Rey..." Ben's pained, panicked voice reached her in a whisper. Then she was left in silence, alone and cold. Rey curled up on herself and cried.
