Author's Note: Oh. My. Gods. It's been forever since I updated! Lol I bet everyone thought I had just given up! Nope not in the slightest. Just that thing we call 'life' getting in the way. But I'm back so on with the story...
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. Never have, never will I simply play in their world.
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"How I knew it was love?
It was as if I had
fallen asleep
inside her soul
and awoke
to a string of dreams
rather than just
life."
-Christopher Poindexter
Kylo Ren
Stay. Please.
I know she hears me. I can see her tormented eyes, the way she bites her lip in indecision.
Her friends came back and I admit their appearance is...unexpected.
I thought they would have taken the opportunity I presented to escape.
Proving once and for all to Rey that the bonds of friendship are just fragile illusions.
But here they are despite fearing her power, of what she could do with a single thought or a flick of her wrist.
"REY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? COME ON!"
Her eyes seek mine and I glimpse the silent war raging within.
My hand trembles as she steals the air from my lungs.
Does she even know how she's looking at me?
I have never seen such terrible longing, a need that hollows my heart and I'm straining against the gale the Falcon's engines have created.
I will not be moved from this spot until I have my answer.
Despair carves her face in perfect beauty. The Force moves between us, around us...and I sense her reaching out to another.
I stagger when she is answered.
By my mother.
Her presence is unmistakable in the Force.
A luminous light that is akin to staring into the sun and try as I might, I cannot turn away.
Just as I cannot turn from her voice, the cadence of Alderaan royalty that is undeniable. Compassionate yet a core of unwavering strength that does not diminish with the passing of time.
Let the Force guide you Rey...
I knew our Bond had become stronger...but to hear my mother's voice again...memories from a year ago unlock and sweep across my vision and I cannot hold them back.
"Ben...come home son..."
Han Solo standing across from me. I am disturbed to see him looking so...old. He has always been this immortal figure in my memory. But I see where regret and sorrow have aged his face in sharp lines.
"Son...," he's holding his hand out to me, "come home. Your mother misses you."
His words, his countenance...a fierce ache in my chest where I thought I had torn out my heart.
I thought I had destroyed the ghost of Ben Solo when I took up my title as Kylo Ren.
But here he is, my father, asking me to come home.
The weight of our years apart settles in my bones and my own regret has me in steel-tipped claws.
I...want to take his hand.
To finally go home and end all of this.
To believe that my parents didn't abandon me.
That I can still be forgiven...
I blink and shove the memory of what-might-have-been far away from me.
That path is closed to me. Forever. There is no going back, no redemption for my actions that day and every day afterward.
There are some things that cannot be forgiven.
A gentle touch to my scarred cheek and my mother's love filling me until I ache with it.
You will always be my son. Nothing you do will ever change that fact.
Her words whispering to the boy I used to be, the one who believed that his mother was the strongest, bravest person he ever knew.
Something hot and wet slides down my face as remorse and grief strangle her love.
Mother...
She's gone before I can do anything else. Nothing more now than a lingering echo in the Force, reminding me that we are still connected.
The fragile moment shatters as my men rush in, firing upon the Falcon in a hailstorm of blaster bolts that do little but bounce off the hull.
She is just out of range to not be in immediate danger but hovers precariously near the edge.
Where Rey is standing.
Waiting to be rescued. But something has changed. I no longer see the war in her eyes, the indecision that keeps her from moving.
She has made a choice and I note the subtle shift of her grip on the saber.
She preparing to fight and the ache in my soul, the relentless grip on my heart tells me that I've lost her.
Again.
How many more times will she force me to watch her walk out of my life. How many times must I bleed to prove myself to her?
She pivots, facing Finn who hangs off the edge of the gangplank, his hand outstretched in supplication.
"REY! TAKE MY HAND! WE CAN'T STAY HERE!"
I grit my teeth and drop my hand as his emotions roll over me.
Fear, an acrid tang in the back of my throat. The punch of adrenaline, a line of fire down my spine.
Fierce, smothering protectiveness that closes around my throat and I clench my fist and push back the chaos.
Rey has dropped to one knee, head bowed beneath the Force-sending this boy is casting wildly.
She was right about him being Force-sensitive but he lacks control that is dangerous.
He is like a child stumbling in the dark, reacting blindly around him.
A blaster bolt goes wild and I thrust out a hand, turning the deadly energy away from Rey where she kneels motionless, deaf and blind to the dangers surrounding her.
My head is pounding as Finn's outpouring emotions crash through the Force, slamming back into me.
Again that acrid tang of fear and beneath that, confusion that burns in my gut and the thread of betrayal that is honed to knife's edge, carving bloody grooves beneath my skin.
"GO! FIND THE WAYFINDER! GET OUT OF HERE!"
Rey is on her feet as her words make no sense beyond the deafening noise of the Falcon.
She takes a single step back from the edge and my mind blanks, uncomprehending what I am looking at.
She's...turning away from her friends.
The boy looks as though she just delivered a death blow as she pivots, her saber raised to fend of the deadly energy pounding away at the Falcon.
I watch as Finn stumbles back into the ship, a sharp mix of grief and grim resolve still hovering in the Force before he disappears from my sight.
The firepower of my Stormtroopers is too much for a single Jedi. I can see her feet sliding back to the edge where she had moved away from and a red haze settles over my vision.
"Stand down."
I snap the command out to my troops, wrapping the Force around my words so that they are not lost in the cacophony of noise and their response is instantaneous.
The hailstorm of fire ceases immediately and the air has the sickly scent of charred ozone.
A single, blast of emotion rolls through the Force and I hear her gasp even as my ears ring, my eyes watering.
It was akin to standing next to a bomb going off.
ENDOR.
A strange voice inside my head, young and male and full of repressed fury, speaking a single word.
I blink the moisture from my eyes in time to see the Falcon make a sharp dive before climbing into the sky and punching their hyper drive.
A single bright spark against the cloak of night before disappearing completely.
Rey is gazing up at the stars, her face a calm mask.
My head is reeling from the outpouring of that renegades Force-sending and I cannot tell what she is thinking...or feeling.
She stayed. She didn't go with them but neither did she take my hand and her saber glows like a beacon at her side.
What new game is she playing now?
She turns as if sensing my confusion and her luminous gaze meets mine.
My heart stutters to see the vulnerable yearning so clearly.
I don't...understand.
"Why?"
A trembling of her lips but she remains mute and my own chaotic state has me immobile.
Her anger from before is gone yet I wonder if I am still regarded as the enemy.
Her lightsaber shuts off abruptly and with a deft, flick of her wrist she holsters it.
I feel as though I am caught in her gravitational pull, unable to escape the hold she has on me.
She moves closer, her haunting grace in the shadowed hanger almost hypnotic.
She doesn't stop until we are inches apart, bringing with her the scent of dappled sunlight and midnight blooms.
Her eyes roam over my face with such intense longing that I can practically feel her stroking my skin.
She is tormenting me with a single look and I don't want her to stop.
But I have to know.
"Rey," fractal amber flickering momentarily, "answer me."
Shaking hands on my chest and I can't tell if I'm breathing when her lips part and her eyes soften as she lifts up on her toes.
She wants to kiss me.
I'm already lowering my head, needing to feel her mouth on mine.
To know that this is not some fever dream.
Warm breath over my chilled skin, silken lips sliding against mine and the chains around my pent-up emotions snap.
I need her.
She's in my arms and I tangle my fingers in her hair, holding her in place as I take back the air she stole with that single look.
She sighs into my mouth, soft and yielding and all the doubts and confusion regarding her previous actions fade away.
Mine, my soul whispers insistently, mine.
She is pliant in my arms, all warm woman and stroking my need with the flick of her tongue.
My fingers grip her hair and I just barely remember that we are not alone.
At least a hundred of my men have eyes on us and reluctantly I pull away.
She blinks up at me, mouth swollen and eyes dilated.
She's trembling in my arms and I swallow hard.
"Rey..."
A flicker of awareness creeping back into her gaze, a slash of heat across arched cheekbones as she presses calloused fingers to my lips, effectively silencing me.
She leans closer, an intimacy just for the two of us.
"I heard you asking me to stay," a tremulous smile as calloused fingers slide away from my mouth, "this is my answer."
She's pulling the ground out from beneath my feet.
"Why now?"
I mentally curse myself for the accusation creeping into my words. This is not how I wanted to ask that question.
But after being rejected on the Supremacy...on Emphameira...a year of agony as she danced just out of my reach...
I have to know why she is finally saying yes.
A shuddering breath and I can feel the rising fear in her, smothering my senses and before I can take back my question I see the spark of defiance lighten her eyes.
"Because I'm tired of running," murmured words for my ears alone, "From you. From me. From my past."
Her eyes search my face and I wonder what answers she seeks when she looks at me.
"You said you know who I am...," not a demand but a gentle plea that destroys whatever resistance I might have had against her, "please Ben, I need the truth."
Of all the requests she could have made of me...of all the reasons she chose to stay...
A stab of disappointment piercing my soul and I sigh softly, chiding myself for my unrealistic expectations.
She's here. That's all that matters now. Everything else will come with time.
I release her so I can press a kiss to her fingers, a promise of what's to come.
Now that she's chosen to stay I will give her what she wants.
"We have much to discuss."
This was not going to be easy or pleasant. But she would not be alone, I will be right here with her when she learns the truth of who she is.
A quick nod and my soft, yielding lover transforms into the capable warrior I know so well. Clear-eyed and chin lifted to face whatever challenge comes at her next.
She steps back just as the wind dances in the icy breath of snow from Kijimi.
A shiver as she rubs her arms, trying to warm herself.
Her clothing is made for warmer climates and offers no protection from the frigid temperatures now dropping in the hanger.
I could have easily closed the door, effectively sealing out the winter winds but my mind is not entire rational where she is concerned and I pull of my cloak to guard her from the cold.
She stands there, fingers gripping my offering, lips parted in surprise and I see pleasure darken amber to striking topaz.
She wears my mantle for all to see and the vision I had a year ago of her standing by my side is now a reality.
She's here with me.
No longer fighting against me and the jagged edges of my tattered soul settle and I am filled with a strange, buoying strength as I take up her hand.
I have felt this stirring before. When she and I battled the praetorian guard side by side. On Pralis as we took down the slave traders.
On Emphameira.
I cannot look away from her, this other half of my soul.
"Supreme Leader...do we escort the...prisoner to her cell?"
The monotone voice of the platoon captain snaps me back to the present and the reminder that I am not alone with Rey.
Her eyes no longer sparking with pleasure, she levels him with wary regard, fingers curling around mine protectively.
As if I would send her away like a common criminal.
"No, Captain K'Tath. She is not a prisoner."
I settle her hand firmly in my own making certain that everyone can see us clearly.
She is to be my Empress and the entire galaxy will know this truth.
K'Tath glances once at our clasped hands and there is a short but noticeable nod of his head in her direction as he steps out of our way.
It was time to leave this place and Rey falls into step next to me.
I hold back a growl of frustration when I see another obstacle blocking our path.
Pryde on the threshold effectively blocking our route.
He doesn't waste time with pleasantries and gets straight to the point.
"Lord Ren, what is the meaning of this?" His demeanor is just shy of insulting, "I've been informed that General Hux is dead and you have allowed the Millennium Falcon to escape."
I am neither impressed nor amused at his audacity to lie directly to my face regarding his so called 'informant'. I am well aware that he has tapped every surveillance feed on the Steadfast.
No doubt he's been watching these events unfold for quite some time.
Waiting to betray me to Palpatine should I 'fail' in my mission.
Pryde's flinty stare turns to Rey and quiet rage builds as he curls back his lip in obvious disdain.
"At least you haven't lost the emperor's...prize."
His contempt quickly turns to puzzlement the longer he gazes at her.
I glance at her from my peripheral vision, her profile giving nothing away but calm defiance.
Her eyes have a slender ring of gold appearing around the edges, something that only happens when her temper begins to build.
No wonder Pryde looks confused. Since he served beneath the old emperor he must have had the 'privilege' of seeing the man up close.
I squeeze her hand, a silent reminder that she doesn't have to face everything alone anymore.
"Allegiant General Pryde you have not had the pleasure of meeting Rey."
I've tried to keep her association with Pryde as minimal as possible considering his connection with Palpatine. Now that she has chosen to stand with me I see no reason to hide her existence any longer.
"No I have not."
He hides it well but the telltale signs of his growing ire is evident. The slight flair of his nostrils, the slight creek of wood as he grips his cane.
He moves closer to Rey, staring at her with an intensity that is almost obscene if I didn't know the cause behind it.
Rey's nails dig into my glove as the ring of gold spreads a little more.
"You stare at me as if you have seen a ghost, Allegiant General." Caustic words she flings at Pryde, "Is there something wrong with my face?"
A subtle shift of the Force and I wonder if Rey is aware that she is wrapping her power around Pryde, subverting his will to her own.
The general takes a step back, his face ashen as his throat tightens imperceptible and I give a slight flick of my hand, unseen, to release her hold on him.
I don't want him dead yet.
He still has his role to fulfill.
He turns from her without answering and looks at me with ill-concealed wrath.
"What secrets have you been hiding from me." My temper that I've kept a tight hold on slips free at his berating tone, "Who's daughter is she?"
I am not a child to be scolded and I let go of Rey to address this man who forgets his place.
For a brief moment I let the Force flow through me, allowing the keen edge of my temper to be felt and watch with cool detachment as my power slowly erodes his self-control.
"You forget yourself Allegiant General." I have no need to raise my voice, let him see his death in my eyes, "I am the Supreme Leader and I answer to no one."
I have no desire to kill him but if he chooses to set his will against mine, his life is forfeit.
Just as Hux learned prior to his death.
A single bead of sweat slides down his temple and he has finally become aware of just how close to the precipice he stands.
He steps back, a differential tilt of his head that is without insolence.
"So I have." I check the impulse to raise my brow, this is the closest to an apology I've heard from the man, "But as the commanding officer of your flag ship, I have a duty to fulfill and I cannot do that while being kept in the dark."
There it is. The aristocratic arrogance of one who has always given orders, who believes himself to be the equal of an emperor.
His eyes flicker back to Rey as if somehow unable to keep himself from looking at her. A furrow of puzzlement that marks his brow.
As if he is seeing a ghost.
I wonder just how much he was aware of Palpatine schemes that took place after the last war ended.
It was time to end this before he starts asking questions that Rey isn't ready hear answers to just yet.
"Hux was the traitor we've been searching for." Pryde shifts his attention back to me as I anticipated, "He was executed on my order."
I doubt the Allegiant General will mourn the man and his response only proves my point.
"I see. Well, no matter. His usefulness had long since come to an end." He waves off Hux's death as no more than an inconvenience, "What of the Falcon? The Resistance-"
I sense her go motionless and I cut him off before she can dwell on her missing friends.
"Is of little consequence now."
I know exactly where they are headed thanks to the renegade shouting their plans inside my head, but I am also in possession of a crucial piece of information that they lack.
I turn back to Rey who lifts amber eyes tinged with gold.
Her anger has not abated. It was time to leave this place.
I offer her my hand without thought and a startling pleasure surges through me as she lifts her hand, graceful as a empress, to lay in mine.
Taking her rightful place at my side.
"We have everything we need General Pryde." I keep my attention on the woman at my side, "Set course for Exegol, the Night Buzzard with rendezvous with us there."
The glint of hammer gold is slowly staring to recede.
"As you wish."
There is a peculiar nuance to his response and I glance back at him.
Once more he is staring obsessively at Rey.
I can almost see his thought process, trying to uncover the secrets of her origins.
I have half a mind to wipe his memory of this particular meeting but Rey surprises me, taking control of the situation herself.
"If you have something to say to me, then say it." The proud tilt of her chin, the lilting cadence of her voice that reminds me sharply of my mother when she is displeased with the pompous clamoring of certain senators, "otherwise get out of our way."
The power of the Force is wrapped in that command and Pryde, unable to resist, complies.
The open shock on the old man's face is almost enough to make me forget my own control.
I look at Rey, a glint of feral satisfaction in her gaze and despite my best efforts, amusement creeps through me.
An unfamiliar tug of my lips and I realize what it is.
A smile trying to break free.
But I am not wearing my mask and to reveal that much emotion before the assembly is unthinkable.
She glances up at me, her own lips twitching and I dig my fingers in warning.
Now is not the time for this.
"You have command of the bridge." Pryde watching us, a frown marring his rigid countenance and I anticipate his next move, "I want no disturbances until we reach Exegol. Is that understood?"
Rey and I have much to discuss and I will broker no interference until the questions between us have been resolved.
Only then will she be ready to face Palpatine at my side when we reach Exegol.
"Yes...Supreme Leader."
I hear the reluctance but I pay it not attention. He has too much invested in this venture to openly rebel against me now.
Our arrival on Exegol may shift his allegiance but I will deal with that when the time comes.
For now I have but one priority and she is already walking next to me as we leave the hanger and the rest of my men behind.
The silence between us is but a brief interlude.
"Well that was...interesting."
Open amusement dancing in her voice and I throw her a look of warning. I can feel that tickle in the back of my throat and it would ruin my reputation as a ruthless killer if I broke down laughing in the middle of the corridor.
She handled Pryde with the skill of a seasoned diplomat and I doubt he has the faintest idea how she bested him.
Lips twitching, her silent laughter strokes my soul with velvet caresses and I am hard pressed to not take her in my arms so I can taste her delight.
But the corridor is not free of personnel and I grit my teeth and tell myself to behave.
The bridge officers are the first to see us coming and they move aside without a single prompt.
I note with mild interest the way many look at Rey, a touch of awe as we pass by.
The ring of gold has faded completely but the Force has settled around her, a touch of warmth, of peaceful Light that exudes without her even trying.
She commands their attention without being aware of it.
"Where are we going?"
I hear the nervous tension, the rustle of my cloak as she tightens her grip around the edges.
For all of her power and hard-won skill I am forcibly reminded that she is younger than me.
There are only somethings that time and experience can bring.
"Patience Rey. We're nearly there."
I wish this to be a surprise for her.
"You're counseling me to patience?"
Her choked-off laughter has her shaking with mirth and I can only sigh at her odd sense of humor.
Granted I am well aware of my own lack of patience but it wasn't that funny.
I look down at her dancing eyes and again that tickle in my throat refuses to go away.
It is well that the juncture we just turned down is empty and we've arrived.
The door opens at my command and I grasp her hand, pulling her through before giving her time to hesitate.
The door slides silently behind us as a field of stars lies directly ahead.
This observation deck has one of the best views of space and I have claimed it for my own personal use.
No one will bother us here.
A soft gasp from Rey as her hand slips away from mine. She is already at the window, starlight illuminating her face.
She is so...beautiful.
An ache in my heart as a gentle smile touches her lips, eyes lipid and slender fingers pressed to the glass as if she would reach out and capture them.
As if their pale light could ever hope to have the radiance of her soul.
I have well and truly fallen. I could stand here for hours gazing at her, utterly fascinated with all that she is.
"Ben," she turns from the stars to look for me, a soft hesitation that is unlike her, "where have your brought me?"
A strange fluttering in my blood, my throat dry and my pulse racing it takes a moment to understand what I'm feeling.
It's been so long since I felt...nervous.
"The Steadfast has five observation decks," I temporize as I try to calm myself, "I took this one for my personal use when she became my flag ship."
Utter bewilderment and I sigh silently realizing that I'm only confusing her.
I might as well tell her.
"This is my meditation hall Rey."
Incomprehension at first and then I see the spark of clarity as she drops her hand away from the glass.
She moves with a sensual grace and despite my best efforts, my pulse is a hammer in my veins as she comes near.
"This is where you come to find peace isn't it Ben?"
I might have laughed but her soft, caressing words have stolen my voice and all I can do is reach for her.
She comes willing into my embrace, her head resting against my chest and I bury my face in her hair.
Sunlight and the echo of moon-drenched flowers.
How many nights have I woken drenched in sweat with that same fragrance locked inside my head, futility wishing for this moment?
It is on those nights that I come here.
"I come here seeking answers, not peace." But the stars give only cold comfort, keeping their secrets to themselves, "I have only found peace in once place."
A shift of movement and I lift my head seconds before she tilts her head up. The lighting in here is minimal, I prefer to mediate in shadows but starlight swims in her eyes.
A celestial light all her own and I find that this particular light is all I will ever need.
"Where do you find peace then?"
Her question is unexpected and I wonder if she is teasing me.
I search her face and there is only beguiling innocence and I realize that she isn't teasing.
She truly has no idea.
A painful beating of my heart, that traitorous creature trying in vain to capture her attention, to remind her that it belongs only to her.
She is waiting patiently for my response and I cannot help but trace the soft curve of her jaw, wondering yet again if this is not some waking dream I have somehow fallen into.
"In your arms." Her eyes widen and I feel the flutter of her pulse beneath my fingertips, "You are my peace, Rey. My refuge."
Her lips part and her fingers press into my chest and I find what little control I managed on our walk here is completely gone.
She is already anticipating my move when she leans up, her mouth yielding sweetly beneath mine.
A soft breathless sigh as she presses into me, the curve of her body nestled against my own.
This craving in my soul, a painful need that I thought would drive me mad, finally letting me breathe.
There is only the silence of the stars as I take my time with her.
We have a lifetime together and I want to savor this.
But my Rey has other plans and she pulls away from me seconds later, her face flushed and her eyes drowsy with pleasure.
Annoyance darkens my mood as I reach to pull her back in my arms.
I wasn't done.
"Rey..."
A flash of mild panic as she shakes her head and continues to retreat.
"I...I can't think when I'm in your arms."
Her flustered response holds me in check and a tinge of amusement tempers my annoyance at her abrupt departure.
"Then maybe that's where you should remain."
A flash of amber fire, her lips not quite smiling but I can hear it in her voice.
"Stop teasing me Ben." Fond exasperation that is starting to become familiar between us, "You're not helping the matter."
I wasn't teasing but perhaps now is not the time to reveal that.
I let her keep her distance so that I can clear my head of her scent but that doesn't stop my eyes from drifting back to her.
It was as if the galaxy took everything that I desire, my most ardent longing, and shaped this woman.
Perhaps something of my desire could still be read because she swallows hard and backs up until she is nearly on the other side of glass enclosure.
"Why did you bring me here?"
I swear that woman could read boring, spatial data and she would still have the ability to seduce me half out of my mind.
I close my eyes to block the vision of starlight playing over her skin.
We need to be alone but she is playing havoc with my well intended plans.
"Because we need time to talk, without interruption, before reaching Exegol." There is still much she has to learn, "My meditation hall is a good place for that."
"Why not your room? Wouldn't that be more secure?"
I know her questions were not meant as an invitation but the image she evokes sharpens my rising lust to an uncomfortable degree.
She standing there, her head cocked slightly to the side, teeth biting her lip in mild confusion.
Her eyes flicker to mine and I don't bother to hide just how much I want her.
I watch her fingers tremble as she clutches my cloak, the sweep of color across her pale skin and remember with vivid clarity just how far that blush can travel.
"Because if I took you to my room," languid heat in my veins as desire colors my view, "I doubt I could control myself and there would be little talking involved."
It was the only warning I could give her to just how far she's pushing my control.
Her back hits the glass with resounding force and she twists so that all I can see of her now is the outline of my cloak across her slender shoulders.
"Meditation hall...good idea."
My instincts sharpen considerably when I hear that breathless response. I remember all to well the look in her eyes with that particular inflection in her voice.
A shimmering haze across my vision.
"Look at me Rey."
She shaking and I hear her nails dig into the glass as if trying to find purchase.
"No."
A thread of need twisting around that charming denial.
Perhaps I can coax it a little further.
"Why not?"
My cloak slips a little and I see the elegant line of her neck, that spot where I know if I sink my teeth just right she'll make those soft, needy noises.
"Because...no." Ardent denial and yet her desire is a brush of fire inside my mind, "Just no."
I should back off, give us time to cool our heads and get back to the real purpose of being here.
However...
"Afraid I might see that charming blush? Read the desire that you are trying so hard to hide from me?"
She told me she was done running from me. From us. Yet I wonder if she has any idea the scope of what her decision entails.
If she is truly ready to accept me and all that I am.
Her head snaps up and I no longer wonder.
There is a terrible yearning alive in swirling amber, a tinge of desperation and something else...something that takes me back to the nights of Emphameira.
"I'm not hiding," quiet words but without the hesitation from before, "I do want you. More than anything else, I want you."
Her eyes hold me captive, her lilting voice the chains that bind my soul.
She could ask anything of me and I would give it to her without second thought.
I feel lightheaded and remember to breathe, a ragged sound that makes her eyes widen.
"You...," you are the dream I dared never to believe in, "do you have any idea what you do to me?"
Her slender form is trembling but her eyes are alight with mischief that tugs on my soul, inviting me to play.
"No," her eyes say otherwise, "but if it's anything similar to what you do to me...I'd say we're even."
That tart bite at the end loosens the hold on the laughter that I've been suppressing all this time.
I can't remember the last time I laughed like this but I know that it's only when I'm with her that I feel this...free.
"Now who's the one teasing?"
I've startled her and that look of astonishment eases back the madness and I shake my head at our foolishness and lean back against the wall, the cool metal barely felt through my armor.
Rey has that delighted look again, her grin unrepentant as she pulls the cloak up around her shoulders and settles on the opposite side.
Her joy is the balm across my soul and I would force time to stop if I could so that she could stay forever in this moment.
But time is an insidious thing and I watch the mirth leech from her eyes to be replaced by a heavy melancholy that rips at my heart.
"What is it Rey?"
What sorrow haunts you now? What can I do to ease your burden?
She rests her head against the glass but her gaze doesn't waver from mine.
"I know what you're doing Ben."
Doubtful as I have only the vaguest notion of what I'm doing right now.
"What is that?"
A small, self-deprecating smile flirts with her mouth but I find no amusement in her pain.
"You're distracting me from my fears. Giving me time to gather my courage."
Is that what she thinks I'm doing?
Granted my initial intentions of bringing her here was to give her time to recover before we delved into the issue of her past but the rest...
I simply wanted to be with her.
"Only in part," I won't lie outright but there is no need for me to explain just exactly how much of a distraction she is to me, "Are you ready?"
We've come full circle and it was time to stop dancing around the real reason we're here.
There is only a handful of hours left before we reach Exegol.
She must be ready for what happens next or she won't survive her encounter with Palpatine.
I see the doubt, the first hint of fear, creep back in. The stiffening of her shoulders, the way her eyes are downcast and refusing to meet mine.
But she is doesn't give into that fear as she pulls away from the wall and I hear the muffled sound of metal on metal.
A pause, the slight tilt of her head and my instincts go on alert when her eyes take on that far-away look.
I know a Force trance when I see one. Her brow is furrowed and revulsion evident as she pulls an object free, using my cloak as a barrier.
The Sith dagger gleams dully in the muted light.
Odd. I don't remember giving that back to her.
I thought I had left it safely stored in my room...but she must have taken the time to search for it before her aborted escape.
"You've read the runes on this," sharp words spoken through gritted teeth snap me out of my thoughts, "can you tell me what they say?"
This dagger...it has nothing to do with the reason I brought her here and her line of questioning has no sense of order to it.
There is something strange going on and I wonder what message the Force is trying to convey to her, to us, now.
I cross the room as all thoughts of mischief scattered like broken beads when I see the harsh lines etched around her eyes.
Her mouth is compressed into a tight line, her lips nearly white from the pressure.
I know pain when I see it. I've endured enough of it over my lifetime.
"What for?"
Her friends are on the other side of the galaxy by now, this Sith artifact should be of no consequence to her anymore.
"Ben, please."
I hear the frustration, the slight growl that speaks of her temper and beneath that, the chocked sound of someone trying not to scream.
There is nothing here that should produce this kind of agony.
"Why do you look like you're in pain?"
"Because I am," angry tears that threaten to fall and a gasp of air, "can't you hear the screams?"
I have no idea what she is talking about. The hall is silent and there is no one here but us.
However given the way she is holding the dagger, my cloak wrapped the handle and thrust far enough away from her that it cannot possible touch her...
It was time to test my theory.
I strip the gloves off and tuck them away. If I'm correct I'll need bare skin for this.
Gently I take the dagger from her clenched hand, the metal cold despite being held and her relief so palatable it echoes through our bond.
The runes have taken on a different cast in this light and I turn them, wondering if there isn't something else buried in their ancient script.
"Ben...can you hear them?"
No longer pain-drenched, her words clearer now.
But...
"I sense nothing Rey."
The dagger remains cold, nothing but ancient metal from a time gone by. I glance at Rey and see the confusion and the disappointment in her eyes.
Obviously what she senses from this and what I do are two different perspectives altogether.
A memory teases from long ago.
Before I became Kylo Ren. Before Snoke and the Knights of Ren.
When I was still the Padawan learner under the guidance of Luke Skywalker.
"What is it?"
I lower the dagger, keeping the alien weapon as far away from Rey as possible. I'm not surprised she picked up on my wandering thoughts.
She knows me better than I know myself some days.
"Something I remembered...," warm sun on the back of my neck, smooth leather in my hands and the smell of old paper, "from my training."
"With Snoke?"
Her nose wrinkles and her lips pull back in feral disgust at the mention of the former Supreme Leader.
A thread of dark amusement that she should still feel this strongly after so long.
I shake my head at the reference. Right idea but wrong Master.
"No...with Skywalker." A burning in my chest that I turn away from whenever I think of that man, "It was something I read in the Jedi chronicles."
Again memories seize me and I am transported back.
"Ben come here."
Uncle...no Master Skywalker motioning to me with his prosthetic hand to come closer. We're in the Jedi temple, a sacred place that is meant to be calming.
I've always felt like an outsider when I come here.
But Master Skywalker is smiling and some of my unease goes away and I do as he tells me.
I can't hide my surprise when I see books, actual books and not holo-spheres, sitting on a wooden shelf.
"Do you know what these are Ben?"
I nod my head.
I've never seen them but the markings were described perfectly to me.
"The Jedi Chronicles. Mother told me about them. They hold the lore and the wisdom of the Jedi from a thousand years."
A soft chuckle and I look up at this man who is both my Master and my Uncle.
"Yes Leia would have told you I suppose, given your heritage. Pick one."
I stare at my Master, wondering if he is playing a joke on me like so many of his other Padawan like to do.
"Which was?"
Rey's question snatches me back to the present and I lose the thread of the memory.
A sense of disorientation and I turn away, the light of the distant stars centering and I take in a quiet breath to realign my thoughts.
Now is not the time to think of Skywalker and all that can never be undone.
Rey needs answers and I search my memories from long ago, remembering a piece of Jedi lore.
"Before the fall of the Council and the Clone Wars the Jedi could be counted upon in the thousands." Unlike now where they are only believed to be myth, "Each with a unique affinity for the Force. Anakin Skywalker, for example, could understand machines and technology to an almost sentient level."
It was how a small boy of ten with no formal training could have built a sophisticated droid from nothing more than spare parts.
"Obi-wan," Ben Kenobi as he would be called later in life, "was recorded to have a natural touch when it came to animals."
Yet another difference between us, just another thing I lacked despite having his illustrious name.
I give a mental shrug and note the look of curiosity and mild confusion in Rey's profile through the reflected glass.
"Such were the abilities of the Jedi."
"What has this to do with the dagger?"
My mother is suppose to be her teacher, her Master and yet there are gaps in her education that even the most basic Padawan would know.
Strange.
"From what you've described, it seems you have the ability to read an objects past." A way of reliving events, "A rare but known ability that preludes the Clone Wars."
This gift came with a duel-edge. The Chronicles spoke of Jedi who had 'lost' themselves in the memories of the objects that were stronger than what they could handle.
Forever trapped within their mind as their body and spirit withered away until the faded into nothing.
This could happen to Rey despite her obvious power with the Force.
I go back to her side, unable to shake the vision of her as nothing more than a lifeless shell, forever lost to me.
"Have you done this before?"
I need to know how many times this 'gift' has manifested itself in her.
Perhaps this is only a one-time event triggered by the residue power left behind by Darth Revan and the mad emperor.
Her eyes cloud over and my skin tightens as my senses prickle.
She begins to wander, a restless energy as her words take on a surreal quality.
"Yes...but only once."
She's hesitant as if confused by something she's remembering.
"When?"
She tucks my cloak closer to her body. Her eyes are closed as she circles the hall.
Like myself, she's turned inward to recall memories.
"When Han picked up Finn and myself in the Falcon and took us to see Maz," a sickening sensation in my stomach at the mention of my father, "he was looking for a way to get us to the Resistance."
I listen, fascinated as her lilting voice walks me through her memory.
"They were talking and I heard a faint voice calling out to me. I followed the voice and it led me beneath the castle, to an abandoned room." She's picked up her pacing and I doubt she is even aware of it, "I found a small, wooden box filled with ancient relics. A lightsaber was among the relics and I picked it up without even knowing what it was..."
She's come to a stop, her hand lifted. Her words go silent and I have to prompt her.
"What did you see?"
She turns at my question, eyes half-lidded but unseeing.
She speaks as one caught between the waking and dreaming world.
"I saw the face of a man whose eyes held terrible secrets, as if he had a burden no one should have to bear...but it was gone and another face appeared."
Her words hold me in paralysis. That description...I know the lightsaber she found at Maz's castle.
It is the one she wears on her belt. My grandfather's lightsaber.
Rey is speaking of Anakin Skywalker and she continues unprompted, once more holding me in stasis.
"It was Master Skywalker...but I didn't realize it was him until I found him on the island. He was younger, he didn't carry the years of guilt and regret that he did when I met him..."
She is tracing the Skywalker bloodline using the lightsaber as her medium.
The Chronicle I read never wrote of this gift being used in such a way.
"Was that all?"
"No...I saw something else...," half-lidded eyes gazing up at me, swirling amber shading into darker topaz and my breath catches, "I saw you."
That's...not possible.
Her gift should only allow her to read the 'memories' of past events from the objects.
"You were surrounded by snow and ice, your red saber glowing and the mask over your face."
She turns away from me as her words tumble over each other, the flavor of her emotions overflowing I don't need to see her face to identify them.
"I was terrified because you were reaching for me...and I forgot about Jakku and my parents, and the reason I had to go back." I can taste her terror, her fear so profound that I ache with it, "When I saw you...all I wanted to do was find you."
The longing I hear is like a visceral punch, threatening to send me to my knee's.
"Why?"
She didn't know me then, we hadn't crossed paths and yet she speaks as if I am the only thing that mattered to her.
She's wandered halfway across the room and I wonder if she can hear me.
She stops and looks at me, pausing for one breathless moment before finally answering .
"I heard you speak a single word. 'No'. It was the same word, over and over again and I heard my own loneliness, my own sense of abandonment in your voice."
I close my eyes and wonder just how much of my life has been preordained. I know now what she's talking about.
The vision that she had seen.
It was shortly after I had taken up the mantle of 'Kylo Ren' discarding my heritage and learning what is meant to lead the Knights of Ren.
The endless violence, the wanton bloodshed.
A single night on some long forgotten world where a few surviving Jedi had managed to flee.
Snoke eventually found them and gave me the task of eliminating them.
It was the battle with Voi all over again.
With Tai, the only Padawan I ever considered friend.
My descent into darkness and my new title of 'Jedi Killer'.
I never wanted the destruction of all the Jedi. I simply wanted to be free from everyone's expectations.
To be seen for who I was not what I was.
"Maz found me shortly after that." I glance at Rey, her voice recalling me back to the present, " She told me that what I was seeking wasn't behind me but in front of me."
Maz. Why am I not surprised.
"What did you say to her?"
Even from across the room I see her lips turn up in a strange, bitter smile that is far too familiar.
I've seen that same look on my own face.
"I told her I wanted nothing to do with the lightsaber. That my place was on Jakku."
Our eyes lock and some of the bitterness fades and I see a spark of her old defiance reemerging.
"Then you showed up minutes later as if I had conjured you from a dream." A shake of her head and a soft sound that might have been a sigh or the beginning of laughter, "you shoved your lightsaber in my face and kidnapped me."
That I remember with vivid clarity.
The soft weight of her in my arms, the connection between us that was a living heat beneath my skin.
At the time I was hunting down the Resistance I simply wanted to find Skywalker and yet the moment I had her...I knew everything had changed.
"I...sorry about that."
I avert my eyes from her too perceptive gaze.
A sound like laughter but far more annoyed coming from her direction.
"Ben you are a terrible liar." I glance at her and she's crossed her arm, cocking that slender eyebrow at me, "You're not sorry at all."
Caught.
Well since I've been found out, there's no point in denying it. I close the distance between us and she stands there, eyes flashing with indignity.
I can feel that traitorous fluttering in my heart and I am hard pressed to keep my amusement in check.
"You're right. I'm not." There are too many mistakes I've made in my life to count but she is not among them, "I have never regretted finding you Rey."
The ire fades as her hands fall to her side and I cannot fathom the mixture of softness and rueful longing creeping through our Bond.
"You're such a thief Ben Solo."
Well that was unexpected. Where was this coming from? I have no idea of what I supposedly stole from her.
I wait for her elaborate but she shakes her head and changes the direction of our conversation altogether.
"We've regressed." A note of confusion, "What does my visions from your lightsaber have to do with the dagger?"
How easily she avoids certain conversations when is suits her.
But I allow her to steer us back to our original topic.
"As I speculated, you have the ability to pull past events from an object...," I pause and decide to tell her the rest, "but it seems you can go a step further and look into future events as well."
The future was a fluid, tricky entity to pin down. There were too many variables, too many paths to know how events would play out exactly. Her affinity merely gave her the most likely scenario.
"Huh. So what else did the Jedi texts say about other affinities?"
Yes because that is what I want to do. Remember information that I spent the past ten years trying to forget.
"I don't recall."
"You seem to only remember stuff about the Jedi when it concerns me." She sounds far too amused and I look down to see a small, teasing grin emerging, "Am I the exception?"
She is the only Jedi to cross my path in ten years and live. I let that knowledge seep into my eyes and watch her fingers convulse around the cloak, a hitch in her breath.
I will allow her to tease me for so long.
"You have always been the exception Rey."
A strand of sable across her cheekbone and reach out to rub the silken lock between my fingers before tucking it back behind her ear.
Her skin is so delicate, soft and warm as I trail my fingers lightly across her face.
A flush of heat and the slow burn of desire alighting in her trembling gaze.
"Ben stop distracting me and tell me about the dagger."
An admonishing plea from her lips but her eyes tell me a different story. I see the yearning, feel her arousal in the back of my mind, a caress of crimson feathers.
I know if I leaned down and kissed her she would not deny me and as much as I want this, want her, I know that she's right.
This is too much of a distraction that we can't afford.
Later, I promise myself as I sigh and drop my hand, taking a step back for good measure.
Her eyes flicker and for a fraction of a second I see the disappointment that I actually listened to her request.
The woman is going to be the death of me, I swear it.
"Do you want the literal translation or jut a general overview?"
I know she can't read Sith runes. That takes years of study and even then it is a proscribed language.
She growls at me and the sparks emanating from her glower tells me I've annoyed her.
Good. If she's annoyed she's not dwelling on her fear of what's to come.
I lift the dagger to make sure that I didn't miss anything during the first translation and except for the few odd marking's, nothing has changed.
No hidden text, no cipher.
Strange but...no matter. I already have a wayfinder there is no need for a second one.
Rey is shaking and I quickly drop the dagger back to my side, tucking it away so that it can't evoke her ability.
It seems she is highly sensitive to energies left behind by the dead.
Better to give her general knowledge of what is written.
"They tell of the Emperor's wayfinder being held in an imperial vault on a moon of Endor." A harsh breath and I know she's remembering her friend's last parting 'gift', "There are coordinates that lead to the correct moon and where to begin the search."
There. That should quell her persistent curiosity regarding the dagger and the location of the wayfinder.
Thanks to that boy's fumbling with the Force she knows why he screamed that particular word at her.
Although I doubt he intended for me to hear it.
But her expression doesn't clear instead I see a storm gathering in her eyes, her teeth biting at her lip.
She only does that when she's worried or deeply confused about something.
I've indulged her enough regarding her friends and their futile quest. It was time to remind her that she chose to stay.
"Rey."
Her head snaps up, eyes slightly glazed over and she blinks as if coming out of dream.
She stares at my hand as if seeing it for the first time.
"It's time."
We've put this off long enough. I've given her as much time as we can spare.
"I'm scared Ben."
Quiet words that tear through my heart as she places her shaking hand into mine.
Our fingers lock just as our eyes meet.
Vulnerable and trusting but tinged with fear.
I pull her close, letting her rest her head against me as I thread fingers through her hair.
"I know Rey," somewhere buried beneath all of her confidence is that lost little girl from Jakku, "but I told you before, I'm going to be right here with you."
You will never be alone. Not while I still live.
"You won't do this alone."
A shuddering breath, her fingers squeezing mine as she raises her head.
The fright has not receded but she is no longer shaking.
"I'm ready. Tell me."
If only it was as easy, as simple as she makes it sound. But nothing about her, about any of this, is so straightforward.
"What do you remember about your parents?"
I can tell she wasn't expecting my question, her pulse has sped up and her eyes are dilated in rising fear.
"I...I don't. Just fragments...nightmares mostly...but you know that."
Her nails bite into my hand but the pain is minimal and easily ignored. My focus is on the woman who's past is nothing but a blank canvas to her mind.
A veil that separates her from the truth.
"Yes you do," it was time to pierce that veil and Rey had to be the one to do it, "think back. How old were you when you were left on Jakku?"
"I," she blinks as I watch as rings of gold appear yet again, "five...I think...I don't know."
She sound confused and lost and there is a part of me that wants to end her suffering, to simply tell her the truth about her past.
But she would never believe me without proof.
"Five." I refuse to let up, pushing her to remember what she has forgotten, "Old enough to remember the faces of your parents." The ring of gold expands by another inch, "think Rey, think of your mother. What did she look like? The sound of her voice?"
"I," pain biting the back of my hand as her nails break the skin but this is nothing compared to the agony I hear lancing through her voice, "I..."
Lightning scattering across her eyes just as she begins to scream, her body convulsing in my arms.
I grab onto her and lower her quickly to the ground before she can do herself harm. Her screams are muffled into my chest.
This...this was more than just a case of forgotten memories.
"Ben...what's happening to me?" ragged words as she looks up at me with imploring eyes, "why can't I remember?"
Our Bond is a two-way path. Just as it allows her to access my skills, my knowledge mostly without her realizing it, I can also tap into her memories and emotions.
I'm doing just that as she continues to stare up at me, her breathing finally starting to calm.
I come up against a mental barrier that is quite...formidable. This wasn't something that was constructed overnight.
This was years in the making and there is only one plausible explanation.
"I suspect that your memories hold information so traumatic that you couldn't handle it as a child."
I can see her trying to fight past the pain, the mental block, to put the pieces together.
"You're saying...I did this to myself? That I'm the reason I can't remember?"
A child strong in the Force and abandoned by her parents because of it.
The parallels between our lives is almost staggering.
"Yes. That is exactly what I think." To be abandoned in a hostile environment without explanation or thought, the shattering of a child's trust would certainly explain the blocked memories, "Rey...we can bring back your memories...but you're going to have to face your nightmares."
Her eyes go blank at our only course of action and there is only mindless panic now. I grit my teeth as her fear spills into me. She's desperate to escape but I have a strong grip on her and she cannot run from me.
A touch of cruel malice, caustic and laced with hate, channels through our bond and the missing piece that has eluded me as to how a child of five, even with the Force, could have put up such formidable barrier is answered.
She couldn't have done this alone. Someone else was manipulating her actions and he wasn't willing to let go of her so easily.
"Ben," tears streaming down her face as she calls out my name in painful desperation, "help me."
I let go of her hands using the Force to hold her immobile and quickly cup my hands around her face. Her quivering muscles tell me all that I need to know.
She would have fled if I wasn't holding on with both my physical strength and the Force.
I close my eyes and open myself completely to her. This time I don't fight her emotions flooding into me.
RUN! RUN NOW!
Adrenaline spiking through my veins, my heart pounding a furious tempo that crashes against my ribs.
DON'T LOOK! DON'T REMEMBER!
The shadow of a hand wrapping around my throat, whispering promises of death and despair if I don't obey.
An endless, looping nightmare without release.
This has gone on long enough.
I have lived in the darkness too long to be fearful of these phantom shadows.
I turn away from the whispers, the icy claws circling my throat. I go deeper into the recesses of my soul, to the point where a single piece of light is guarded jealously.
To the place where Ben Solo still lives and remembers what it means to walk the path of light.
A Jedi is calm.
Adrenaline slows, no longer a fury of mindless instinct.
A Jedi is balanced.
The mind goes to that quiet place where the spirit resides. Life and death but a natural cycle and the cruel, taunting malice of pain cannot be heard.
There is only peace, the stillness between the void.
Warmth spreading over my hands, a gentle weight. The presence of another.
Rey reaching out physically to connect with me.
Calm detachment remains but I am aware of my physical body once more.
"That's it Rey, just breath." Gently I draw her mind into the stillness of the void, beyond the fear and the pain, "Listen to my heartbeat. Feel my touch. Find your center."
The hammer of her pulse slows, her heartbeat syncing up with mine. The ragged gasps of air quieting as she breathes deep.
"Ben."
My name a sigh, a caress of love and I open my eyes to the physical world.
Feathered lashes closed, casting shadows on her skin. Tendrils of hair touching my cheek, her soft breath washing over me.
No longer trembling, the traces of her tears nowhere to be found.
"That's it." Her body relaxing, the fight going out of her, "Now open your eyes."
Her forehead lifting from mine and the slow burn of amber gazing up at me.
The rings of gold are gone, only the fractal beauty of her soul remains behind.
"How do you feel?"
"Better." She sounds relieved but hesitant, "How...Ben how did you do that?"
I hold my silence, my heart quivering, knowing that this day would come eventually. If I tell her the truth...will it change the way she feels about me?
I wasn't aware I was pulling away until her hands grip mine, refusing to let go.
A flash of burning amber that leaves me dazed.
"What secrets are you hiding from me now?"
Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised by her insight but I am.
"What makes you say that?"
I'm aware I'm stalling but the answer she wants from me...it could tear her from my side and even I am not that strong to watch the woman I love turn her back on me.
A strangled noise that is not quite a growl and not laughter.
She leans in and I close my eyes, savoring her warmth.
Savoring her.
"Ben...," a weary sigh, "I know when you're about to hide something from me."
I don't understand.
"How?"
A flash of mirth that is startling but nowhere near the shock I receive upon hearing her answer.
"Because you won't look me in the eye when you speak." dry amusement at my obvious confusion, "You only do that when you're trying to hide something."
I wasn't aware that I was doing anything like that.
Yet Rey was paying close enough attention to realize what is meant.
She is...the only one who see's me.
"It seems you've become adapt at reading me."
No one, not even my own parents, could read me with such apparent ease.
I don't know if I feel flattered or disturbed that I am this transparent to her.
Her warmth fading as she pulls away and lowers my hands from her face.
Startled, I open my eyes to see why.
I've never seen her look at me like this and she takes the breath right out of my lungs.
A tenderness that makes my soul ache just to glimpse it.
"Is that such a bad thing? To know you?"
Has anyone spoken to me with such wistful yearning? As if there was something good, something about me worth saving.
"No, but my soul...," I sigh and realize that I can hide no secrets from her, "Rey, it is a dark, broken thing. I-"
Her fingers press lightly to my mouth, halting my warning.
That tenderness has taken on a fierce protectiveness that take me aback.
"Don't."
She won't remove her hand and refuses to let me continue.
"Ben...what are we?"
I close my eyes and press an ardent kiss to her fingers, lowering my head. This...this could be the last time that she ever lets me this close again.
The thought of losing her...
Is this what is means to be brave? To risk everything in a single moment, to lay my soul at her feet?
I asked her to stop running from me and here she is and now I'm trying to do the same.
She shames me with her courage and if I turn my back on this, what right do I have to stand at her side?
It was time to tell her everything.
I sit up and open my eyes, our hands clasped and I study every delicate line, the way the soft light plays over her skin. The mix of amber and topaz that reflects my own broken image back at me.
"We are a Dyad in the Force."
The truth tumbles free and for a moment I feel a sense of weight lifted from my shoulders. As if a burden I hadn't even be aware of carrying suddenly gone.
A slight trembling of our clasped hands.
"A Dyad?"
I didn't expect her to know what the word meant but the trace of longing I hear makes me swallow hard as a small, quivering spark of hope begins to emerge.
I refuse to look away, to deny all that I feel for her.
"Two that are One." One soul split into two halves, "It allows two Force-users to connect through time and space." Her eyes widen in understanding, "To share each other's power, emotions...and memories."
I wait, holding my breath as she digests everything I've just told her. She hasn't pulled away from me and my traitorous heart is fanning that small spark of hope into a flame.
"How...how do you know that?"
I could give her the long, drawn out explanation but I settle for a single word.
A name actually.
"Maz."
A sigh and I see her lips twitch as if repressing laughter or perhaps the need to curse the old woman.
I admit I've felt the same conflicting emotions.
But the amusement is fleeting as my stomach tangles itself in knots and my shoulders tighten as I watch shadows pass once more through her eyes.
I know that look.
She's thought of something and is making her decision regarding it.
"You said...memories?" I blink at her hands grasp mine firmly, "Ben, can you see my memories? The missing ones?"
She's...not running away from me.
I thought telling her that we were a Dyad, that the Force had decided we were literally made for each other without being aware of the fact would have made her resent the Bond.
Resent me.
But here she is, calmly accepting it.
Wondering what else we can do as a Dyad.
She's waiting for my response and I see the anxiety staring to build and I nod quickly.
"Yes. Your dreams, or in this case your nightmares, spill into me. But they don't affect my recollection the way they do yours."
I know what the faces of her parents look like.
A spark of defiance and she turns our hands over so she can grip my wrists and I cover hers as well.
"Show me Ben."
She isn't running. In fact she seems more determined that ever to stay with me.
Hope flairs and I grasp her wrists.
We are a Dyad.
We can do anything when we're together.
