"Ben."

She could feel his smile before she saw it. He stood before her. In the white fog they had met in before. She mirrored his smile, proud she was able to reach him again. The Force must be willing her connection to.. wherever he was. Before she could say a thing his body enveloped hers and he rested his chin on her head and gently stroked her back.

"How long has it been?" He asked as they pulled apart. She studied him curiously and held tightly to his arms to keep their physical connection. "Three weeks. How about you?" she asked. He seemed far away, "I'm not sure. I don't feel time pass here." he answered simply.

She breathed for a moment, recognising the familiar scent of leather and smoke on him. "I've missed you.." She lifted her head to meet his gaze. "It's like I'm missing a piece of my soul. Like I'm always tugging on a loose thread." His brows lowered in sympathy as he moved to pull her into an embrace, he tucked his head into her neck and took a deep breath. "I've been reliving the same memories over again. My nightmares. The only good part is seeing you and sensing our bond in them."

Rey couldn't believe this was the same man she had known before. His harsh demeanor had vanished and transformed into someone she would very much like to get to know. She pulled back and instinctively reached for his face to pull it towards her. He eagerly leaned down to join their tender kiss. This was much different from the first one. Less desperate, less awkward.

They smiled sweetly at each other when they broke apart and rested their foreheads together.

"I'm always with you, Rey. Even when you can't feel me. My thoughts are always on you." he whispered sweetly in her ear before kissing the tears that had suddenly sprung to wet her cheeks.

He caressed her face and held her closely, breathing in her smell of soft spice. They sat like that, unspeaking for a long time, basking in the warmth of the other before Ben pulled back inquisitively. "How are you here now? Any leads on the stone?" He looked intently down at her.

She met his gaze. "Finn and I have been going to all of the ruins and temples you and I had talked about." she faltered for a moment, remembering the reason she had come to meet him. "We were in the Imperial Palace Library on Coruscant when we finally found a mention of the soul stone." she stopped for a moment to take a breath, Ben could see the concern on her face.

"What is it?" he asked calmly, as his thumb absentmindedly brushed over her hand in his. "It's a Sith artifact Ben. I'm not sure where it is, but wherever it's been hidden can't be easy to find, and we don't know what will happen if we try to use it." she finished. He could tell from her tone that this was the true reason she had come to him. Unknowns flashed through his mind. Why would Luke point them in this direction? Why hadn't he mentioned that the Soul stone was crafted by a Sith? Did it matter?

Thoughts raced through his mind but none of it registered on his face. Rey waited patiently as he contemplated. She had hoped he would have more information. Something that could help her justify what she was going to do. He sighed deeply. "I don't have any answers Rey. All we have is the information Luke gave me. I'm not sure why he didn't tell us more, or why he hasn't appeared to either of us again." he said.

Her face hardened with determination. "Then it looks like we're going to have to find it and use it. I don't see any other options." she paused for a moment. "I can't take Finn with me. He can't know any more about this. If something goes wrong I need to make sure the Resistance isn't involved."

Ben's heart lightened at her words. Despite everything, he was still the broken man he died as, and as much as he wanted to believe in the love from the woman in front of him, old fears of abandonment would rise up without warning. Her assurance was needed far more than she would ever know.

They stood there in silence for a few more moments. Just enjoying the other's company before Rey took his face in her hands. "I have to go back. I'm not sure when I'll be able to see you again. It took finding a massive amount of Force energy to be able to reach you and I'm not certain if or when I'll be able to do this again." she knew her mind was taking an extreme toll to stay in this deep meditative state.

His eyes met hers and he pulled his mouth to hers in desperation to try and convey all of the things he felt and saw. Damn the Force bond that seemed to have been taken from them. It was able to tell her more than he was ever able to express with words and actions.

Rey pushed just as hard to his embrace. Running her fingers through his soft, black hair. Feeling his steady hand pressed against the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. They could feel each other's desperation as their kiss turned more aggressive, each probing and pulling the other as close as they could.

In a moment, it was over, they pulled back for air and their eyes met again. Rey felt a small smile grow to match Ben's and tried to swallow her embarrassment at the aggressiveness of their kiss. His sweet smile, still foreign to her, pulled her out of her reverie. She took a deep breath and squeezed his hand for a final time she began to pull her consciousness away.

"I'll always be with you, Rey." she heard him whisper as she came back to her senses. "Rey." She heard again as she felt her body begin to reconnect with her mind. Reality crashed before her and her eyes snapped open.

"Rey! Oh thank the Force you're finally awake." Finn's voice called desperately to her. "We've gotta get out of here, whatever you did disrupted the energy flow and this place is crumbling to the ground. She quickly took in the room around her and felt the vibrations of the weakening Force Spire around her. The pull had made everything around them unstable. The ground vibrated as though it was about to crack open.

Quickly, she grabbed Finn's hand and pulled him behind her like she had on Jakku, back up the twisting and turning halls they had descended to get back to the Falcon but she soon realized he couldn't keep up with her. She turned when she sensed his pain and found him limping, a gash cut into his legs from one of the falling stones.

"Why didn't you say anything!" She yelled at him as the room around them crumbled. "It doesn't matter. We have to get out of here before this place falls down on us." he yelled back limping as the adrenaline began to leave his body and the pain began to settle in for the first time.

She swallowed her anger and placed her hand above the wound, pulling the Force around her to heal him. Thankfully it only took a few moments before she felt it was complete and she sensed the room around them about to cave in. She grabbed his wrist before she knew what was happening and pulled them as fast as she could into the next room, just as the ceiling crumbled around them.

Rey and Finn, both panting heavily and lying on the ground didn't have time to think about their next move. They both shot up and started to make their way forward out to where the Falcon would be waiting.

They watched as the Palace crumbled below them. Rey winced as whole sections fell, wondering what secrets would lay buried under the rubble she had created. She mindlessly set the course to take them back to the Resistance base where she had already decided to leave Finn so she could continue her search.

"That was amazing!" Finn yelled from the co-pilot's seat "I can't believe it was real." He smiled over at her but stopped ."Wait what happened to you?" he asked when he saw the look on her face.

It softened for a moment. "I found him." she said with a small smile. Lost in the memory of his sweet touch she so craved to feel again. "It worked?" Finn asked bewildered. "That's good right? You guys were able to figure it out?" he paused and waited for her to answer, but sighed when he was met with a small shake of her head.

"Neither one of us knows why Luke would lead us to a Sith stone, and they don't seem inclined to give us more information." she said firmly, fiddling with the controls in front of her. "Well what's the plan then?" Finn asked, but could tell by her disposition he was not going to like the answer."

"I'm dropping you off at the base and I'm going to finish this by myself." she said quickly and raised her hand up to stop the argument she knew he was about to make. "Please Finn, I don't want you to get hurt, or worse." anger flared up inside her. She didn't know where this journey was going to take her but she knew she wouldn't be able to fully concentrate on what needed to be done if she was worried about taking care of Finn, and she couldn't handle it if something were to happen to him.

"Absolutely not!" He exclaimed and folded his arms in defiance. "Please Finn." She pleaded. "You can still help me from the base. I'll check in with you, whatever I need to do, but I can't handle if something were to happen to you." he scoffed and shook his head. "I can't let you do this alone Rey." his brows creased together in determination.

"I'm not alone Finn. The Force is with me. Ben is with me. I promise. This is for the best." be reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "I'd never forgive myself if anything bad happened to you. You'll be more help to me and The Resistance this way. Please say you'll stay there." she tried her best to amplify her feelings to him through the Force. His gaze softened when he picked up on it. He was certainly not happy about it, but he knew this was a losing battle. She would leave him with or without his consent, and she had a point, he had an obligation to the Resistance as well. "I don't like it one bit." was all he said as he abruptly left his chair to go to the back of the ship.

Rey sighed. She knew it hurt him to have to leave her, but she needed to make sure he was going to be okay. She just needed Finn to trust her, even if he didn't fully understand. She could take care of herself. She trusted the Force, and would follow where it led.