Ben settled into the copilot's seat next to Rey, who was bent over the navicomputer. She's so beautiful. I think that's everything," he said. "So where are we going?"

Rey glanced over at him. "I'm not sure yet. How about you take a look? Maybe the Force will tell you where we need to go."

He stood so he could see the navicomputer over her shoulder. It showed the entire known galaxy. Ben narrowed his eyes in concentration and felt a pull towards the Outer Rim. He zoomed in on the map and then pointed. Rey knew the name on his lips before he spoke it. "Dantooine."

"Let's get going," he said.

Rey powered the Falcon up, and they rose from the jungle floor. She could only just make out Poe and Finn standing below to see them off. They had wanted to come-as much to protect her from Ben as anything else-but she sensed this was a journey she and Ben must take alone. Still, part of her wished she could stay with them.

They exited the atmosphere and made the jump to hyperspace in silence. Rey was lost in thought; Ben, on the other hand, seemed like there was something he wanted to say, but couldn't quite bring himself to. Once autopilot took over, Rey stood to leave the cockpit, but Ben stopped her.

"Are we going to talk about this?"

She looked sharply at him. "Talk about what?"

"What happened on Exegol."

She scowled. "Some other time, perhaps. Once things have settled down."

"Rey, things aren't going to settle down. There's too much to do. You can't put this conversation off forever."

She scowled and sat back down. "Fine. What, exactly, did you want to talk about?"

He took a steadying breath, knowing there was no going back. "Did it mean anything at all to you?"

"Did what-"

"The kiss."

Rey's expression was stony, her mouth set, her eyes hard. "I'd rather not discuss this now." She turned away from him and stared out the window into the blue, whirling tunnel of hyperspace travel.

"Why not?"

"I don't know!" Rey shouted. "I'm just not ready to sort through all that yet. We have more important things to do right now."

"Oh, like sit around waiting to get to Dantooine?"

"No, I meant-ugh, you're impossible!" She got to her feet and stalked out of the cockpit. He could hear her rifling through the toolbox, looking for something to fix. He closed his eyes and slowed his breath, grabbing hold of the connection that always stretched like a taut rope between them. He crept along it towards her, probing her mind for answers. Why won't she talk about it?

Through her blind anger, Rey sensed Ben's presence at the walls of her mind, searching for a way in. She dropped the tools she held and strode back to the cockpit.

"Ben, stop it!" she shouted. His eyes opened, startled. His face was full of confusion. "Leave. Me. Alone." Then she was gone again. He sat back in his seat, wondering what he had done wrong. Wasn't their connection meant for that? Weren't they supposed to understand each other? He shook his head and rubbed his face. I'm not sure I'll ever understand her.

Rey didn't return to the cockpit until they were on final approach to Dantooine. Ben was busy examining the hologram of the planet. "Where do we land?" she asked tersely.

"Here," he said, pointing to a spot beneath its equator.

Without another word, she eased the Falcon out of hyperspace and brought it to the planet's surface near the place Ben had indicated. They landed in the middle of a wide meadow with a stream running through it and surrounded by a thick forest on all sides.

"I think this is where we part ways," she said, not at all displeased with the prospect of being away from him.

He stood. "Great. I'll see you back on the ship, then."

Rey strode down the gangway and into the grass, following the stream straight to the trees. She didn't care so much where she was going as long as she could get away from him and his prying. She hated the connection between them, hated knowing she could never be fully rid of him. They were bonded in a way she didn't understand, and that lack of understanding galled her.

She broke into a jog once she reached the trees, unable to calm her restless mind. Faster and faster she ran, wanting nothing more than to get away. She leapt over the stream and tripped on the other side, but rose immediately and continued on..

Ben remained in the cockpit for some time after she had gone, mulling over what had happened. He wanted to reach out to her again, to probe her mind for what she was thinking and feeling, but he didn't want to make her angry again. How are we supposed to explore this bond if she refuses to talk to me?

He sighed and turned to leave the ship, hoping things would sort themselves out. He could see where her steps had pressed the grass down in a straight line to the edge of the forest. He scowled. Fine. We'll do this alone, if that's what you want. Then he turned and walked in exactly the opposite direction.

Rey came to a stop next to a large boulder, her breath spent. The pressure in her mind had abated only slightly. She scowled back the way she had come. You'd better leave me be, Ben Solo.

She walked on, her mind still too restless to find any real connection with the Force. Every time she felt she had grasped it, it slipped away from her. She screamed in frustration and anger. Why today, of all days, did he have to bring it up?

Ben stalked through the forest, caring little about the plants he crushed under his boots. He had ruined everything, just like he always did. People had never made sense to him, and despite the connection they shared, Rey now seemed further away than ever. He swung his fist into the nearest tree, and it quaked from roots to leaves, but remained standing. His knuckles ached so badly he could barely move his fingers, but he pushed the pain away and punched the tree again. He hit it with his other fist then, pummeling the tree until he'd lost the feeling in his fingers. Tiny bark chips flew off of the trunk, but the tree was otherwise unaffected by his assault. He collapsed next to it, cradling his head in his bloody hands.

Finally, Rey made herself stop moving. She was here for one thing, and one thing only: her kyber crystal. She couldn't let anything, not even Ben, get in her way. She sat cross-legged on a boulder and closed her eyes. She forced her breathing to slow, and brought her focus to the sounds of the forest around her. She heard a faint breeze rustling the leaves, a creature rummaging through the undergrowth. Then she sunk deeper. She let the Force pull her into the very being of the forest. She sensed every life force around her, down to the smallest insects. She sensed the slight sway of the entire forest. She could even sense the history of the place, the experiences of each plant and creature.

She lost all sense of her own body and her own consciousness in that of the forest. It lived and breathed all around her, vibrant with the Force. She narrowed her focus, returning her attention to her crystal. Where is it?

Ben sat up, his back against the tree. He stared at his own hands, now trembling. He had fought so hard to put Kylo behind him-his confusion, his rage, his anger, his pain-but there he was, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. He scowled. He had been weak and undisciplined. It was time to forget about Rey and get what he came for: his crystal.

He shifted to kneel, closed his eyes, and brought his attention inward. He became aware of every sensation in his body; the sharp pain in his hands, the tension in his chest and shoulders, the breath coming in and out of his nostrils. Deliberately, he gathered the tension and released it into the Force. He allowed his focus to widen, to encompass the ground underneath him and the tree at his back. He felt the bark digging into him, the water in the soil seeping into his trousers. He widened his focus further, searching for a beacon of light amid all the forest's noise. Show me where you are.

Rey stood slowly, her eyes still closed. She stretched a hand out to sense her crystal's pull, turning this way and that. Finally, she felt a distinct tug, almost like a rope had been tied around her hand and was pulling her towards it. Opening her eyes, she moved towards it.

Ben sensed a warm glow off to his left, almost like a beam of light. He stood and watched as a path seemed to open up for him. Obediently, he followed it through the trees and bushes, stepping over the meandering stream when it crossed his path.

The rope grew more and more taut the closer Rey got to her crystal, and Ben's light grew brighter and brighter the closer he got to his. They could feel their crystals pulsing. Rey's path took her straight to the edge of a sinkhole. She placed her feet gingerly on the crumbling edge and looked down. It was deep, so deep she couldn't see the bottom. She picked a rock up from the ground and threw it in. After what felt like ages, she heard a plunk. Water. The rope led straight down, into the sinkhole. She glanced up and around her, looking for dangling roots, vines, anything to help her get down. And then she saw Ben. He stood on the opposite side of the sinkhole, between two massive trees. His gaze was still fixed on the sinkhole below.

Rey stepped back from the edge, back into the shadow of the trees. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted him to know she was there yet. She looked back into the sinkhole, wondering if there was a way down without being seen, but no such luck. Her side was awash in sunlight. He would spot her the moment she stepped out of the trees. Why shouldn't he? Why should I be afraid to let him see me? Why should I be afraid to face him? Stiffening her spine, she stepped into the sun.

His head snapped up. "Rey?"

Now the rope pulled taut between the two of them. They walked towards each other, around the sinkhole's edge. They met and faced each other silently, eyeing each other. Ben was the first to speak.

"They're down there."

Rey nodded.

"It's funny, I went in exactly the opposite direction you did, and we still ended up in the same place."

"The Force seems to have a way of doing that to us." Her eyes were hard, her mouth set.

He sighed. "Rey, we can't do this. Not like this."

"Well I'm perfectly content to go it alone, but the Force seems to have other ideas." The way she spat it out, it sounded like she blamed him.

"What did I do wrong?" he cried.

"You tried to take what I was unwilling to give," she replied, stepping closer to him. "You think you get to dictate how and when things happen. Well, you don't. You're so twisted inside that you can't even see what's wrong with what you did."

He was silent, and his face was stony, but his eyes spoke volumes: hurt, shock, confusion, doubt.

She let her eyes fall from his, and folded her arms. "Look, Ben, I want to explore this connection as much as you do, but not like this. It has to be something we do together. As equals."

His brows drew together. "I'm just trying to understand you."

"It doesn't work like that. You can't just peer into my mind and know everything there is to know about me. You have to take your time just like everybody else. Next time you want to know something, wait until I'm ready to tell you."

"All right," he said, because there was nothing else to be said. Then, after a long silence: "I'm...sorry, Rey."

She nodded in acceptance, her eyes softening. Then she glanced down. "What did you do to your hands?"

He looked down at them, now crusted with dried blood. "I, uh, fought off an army of….porgs."

A beat passed, and then they both burst out laughing.

"Porgs? That's the best you could come up with?" Rey managed.

Ben shrugged good-naturedly.

"Here," she said, holding out her hands for his. He placed his hands on hers, palm-to-palm, suddenly realizing how much larger his hands were than hers. She held them gently and breathed deeply. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. The way her eyes narrowed to pinpricks of concentration, the way her thumbs gently caressed his battered hands, the way the tendrils of hair framed her face. A tingling sensation overwhelmed his hands, just like when she had healed his stab wound just weeks ago. The skin seemed to knit itself back together, and the blood faded away.

"Thank you," he said.

"Of course," she replied. "Now, shall we go after our crystals?" A small smile touched his lips, and they both turned to the obstacle at hand: making it to the bottom of the sinkhole in one piece.

"Can you sense what's down there?" he asked.

"Water," she replied. "I threw a stone in earlier."

"We can't risk jumping since we don't know how deep it is."

"No, but those vines might get us close enough to find out." She pointed across the sinkhole to a recess in its wall where vines had crept over the edge and hung down in a tangled mess.

"Works for me."

The two of them set out for the other side of the sinkhole. Neither of them spoke, but their thoughts and feelings were in harmony, focused on the goal of getting their crystals. They could sort out all that lay between them once they had succeeded.

When they reached the edge the vines sprouted from, they glanced at each other, gave an encouraging nod, and started their descent. Rey was nimble and quick, her instincts honed from years of scavenging. She made quick work of the vines and soon reached the bottom, where the vines twined away into nothingness. Ben was a little slower, but his strength did not fail him and he made it to the bottom not long after.

They hung there together for a few moments, their breath the only sound breaking the silence. Both gazed down into the pool of water that awaited them, sensing the call of their crystals beneath the surface. It was almost completely dark where they hung, the dim sparkles of sunlight on the water few and far between. The water looked almost...oily. Thick and heavy. Not the sort anyone would want to swim in. And yet, their crystals beckoned.

So without another moment's delay, they released their grip on the vines and fell into the still water below. Under the water, Ben found Rey's hand and they burst to the surface for air together.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Are you?" she challenged, her eyebrow arched.

Taking a deep breath, they dove under again, the pull of the crystals stronger than ever. They could see nothing, but the Force was enough to guide them. Down, down they swam, until their lungs screamed for air and the weight of the water felt like it would crush them. And there, at the very bottom of the sinkhole, lay their crystals. Ben thought he was imagining it at first when the tiny pinprick of white light reached his eyes. But it grew brighter and brighter by the second, and soon he could see it clearly, nestled in the alcove of a larger outcropping of rock.

They braced themselves on the rock and reached for it at the same time, but Rey took hold of it first. She held it up, and it illuminated her face. Two crystals, fused together, nearly the size of her fist. They locked eyes for a moment and then pushed off the bottom to begin their ascent to the surface. They gasped for air and blinked the water from their eyes as they broke the surface. Rey held their crystals out of the water, and Ben took her hand in his to bring them closer. They both gazed at the crystals, so unmistakably theirs, and yet inexplicably joined together.

"It seems we can't escape one another," Rey managed between breaths.

Ben chuckled. "Let's get out of here."

Rey nodded and tucked the crystal away in her pocket. They reached for the dangling vines, but couldn't quite reach.

"Here, I'll brace myself on this rock over here and push you up. Then you can help me up."

"How do you know I'll help you up? Perhaps I'll just leave you here and take the crystals myself." She said it with a spark of humor, but her words still cut into him. Pushing his doubt and uncertainty away, he boosted her up to the vines, and once she had a solid grip, she reached down to help him up. He braced himself against the rock, then leapt towards her outstretched hand. She caught his arm and gripped him tight, surprising him with her strength. He grabbed hold of the dangling vines and hauled himself up the rest of the way. They made the climb in silence, both squinting as the sunlight reached their eyes.

They crested the top and lay there on the dirt, gasping from the effort.

"We did it," Rey said, taking the crystals from her pocket and gazing at them.

Ben smiled. "Yes, we did." If he could have, he would have made that moment stretch out forever. The way the light caught the crystals and danced in her eyes, the overjoyed smile on her face, the Force enveloping them in its embrace. It all felt so right.

"Now all we have to do is figure out how to separate them."