Rey awoke suddenly in pitch blackness. Sitting up in bed, she realized it must be the middle of the night. She was tired, but she didn't want to want to go back to sleep. Gingerly climbing out of the bed, she wondered if Kylo Ren was sleeping. If he was, she certainly didn't want to wake him up.

Rey tip-toed down the hall, making her way through the dark foyer lit by a single beam of moonlight. She crept over to the windows and peered out front of the house, but it was too dark to see anything but thick, moonlit foliage. Rey made her way into the kitchen and found a light, switching it on. She examined the bowl of exotic fruit on the counter, selecting a bright orange one and biting into it. The fruit was sour, initially, but Rey enjoyed the sweet aftertaste.

After finishing the fruit, she walked over to the coffee table, eyeing the stack of books that sat atop it. She gathered the large books in her arms and sat down with them on the couch, examining each of their covers: The Galactic Credit and Other Monetary Units of the Galaxy; Speeders: New and Vintage; The Physics of Hyperspace Travel. In this last book, a small slip of paper stuck out from the side, tucked between the pages. Rey pulled it out and was immediately flooded with shock.

It was a faded photograph of a younger Han and Leia, both smiling at the camera brightly as if they had just been laughing. A small, very young Kylo stood between them, one hand holding Leia's whilst sucking his thumb with the other. Ben, Rey corrected herself. When was the last time he had even gone by that name?

Rey hurriedly tucked the photo back into place, setting the back down onto the low table. She picked up the glossy Speeders book, flipping through its brightly-illustrated pages for a while. She paused momentarily as she realized what she was doing: casually reading a book at midnight in the house of the enemy. What was she doing?

Rey pondered whether she could use the Force to figure out where in the house Kylo was. Curious, she shut her eyes and focused herself. She extended her mental awareness outside of herself, spreading it outwards, away from her. After a few moments, Rey was surprised as she tapped into clear a presence not far from where she sat.

All of a sudden, Rey recalled Luke's terse words to her before she and the others had left for Takodana: "If you feel the presence of the Force at any time, even if it's calling to you...no matter where you are or what you're doing, get out of there immediately." Rey immediately retracted her mind, opening her eyes. She frowned down at the Speeders book as she absentmindedly continued to flip through its pages, reflecting on Luke's warning, wondering what exactly had prompted him to say this.

"What is it?" A husky voice asked.

Rey jolted, looking up to see Kylo standing in the kitchen archway, rubbing a hand against his eye. His lids were heavy and his black hair looked especially unkempt, waving in all directions. It was obvious he had just woken up.

"What?" Rey asked, confused.

"You woke me," Kylo responded, rubbing his brow bone.

Rey's brows knitted together in confusion. "What—how?"

"You were trying to reach me," he said, but his tone was not accusing. He slowly made his way to the sitting area, leaning against the large chair on the other side of the coffee table. "I felt it."

"That's not what I was doing," Rey said defensively.

Kylo squinted at the book in her lap. "Do you like land speeders?" He asked.

To Rey, this seemed like such an inconsequential thing to ask one's adversary. "I—I was just looking for something to read," she shrugged. She raised an eyebrow. "You did say I was your guest."

Kylo opened his mouth to speak, but instead he seemed to stop himself. He rubbed his neck, closing his eyes momentarily, obviously still somnolent. Rey observed how unthreatening, how placid he seemed in this state.

"Do you...like land speeders?" Rey probed, unsure of what to say.

He nodded slowly. "Yes. I do." He sat down in the chair across from her.

Rey studied him for a moment, wondering if she could break into his mind in his drowsy state. She began pushing into his mind, but she was only met with his now familiar mental wall. He narrowed his eyes at her, resting his head into the side of the chair, as if dejected.

"Again?" He asked.

Rey waited for him to return the mental nudge, daring him to try and access her mind by repeatedly pushing against his his, but she was disappointed that he didn't.

She had the strong, fleeting impulse for their minds to be connected, open and free to one another. Rey couldn't figure out why she had this sudden desire; perhaps it was just her own natural curiosity.

"You know, it's difficult to relax when someone's trying to break into your thoughts every other minute," Kylo said.

"You've done the same to me," Rey retorted.

Kylo raised an eyebrow, straightening his posture. "Speaking of which," he said, "I've seen your training with Luke has been...rather...stagnant?"

Rey tried but failed to conceal the flush that spread across her face.

"And your 'friends,'" he continued listlessly, "the pilot and the traitor...they haven't been able to do much in terms of protecting you."

Rey scowled, pushing her hands into the couch cushions on either side of her. "They're braver than you could ever hope to be," she retaliated, her voice rising, but Kylo seemed unfazed.

"You're so right," he breathed, glancing towards the dark windows. "Although...where were they when you were kidnapped? Without food or water? When you were drugged so those worthless dregs of the planet could use you as a slave for pleasure?" He hissed.

Rey grimaced, the memories from her captivity still fresh in her mind, her feelings of dread as the man's rough hands tore open her blouse-she had tried to shove these memories to the back of her mind. Rey slowly brought her eyes up to meet Kylo's, fury brewing in her eyes.

"They were nowhere to be found," he said matter-of-factly.

Rey stood from the couch as her anger grew, seething, her brows furrowing and her hands tensing at her sides. She had the growing impulse to lash out at Kylo with the Force, to harm him in some way, kill him. Kylo remained oddly calm as he watched her closely, his eyebrows subtly lifting.

Rey suddenly extended her palms out in his direction, intending to send his chair through the glass window behind him, but he instantly held up his bare palm, blocking her attack with his own use of the Force. He kept his hand up, fingers splayed, as his dark eyes seemed to light up at the sight of her.

Rey dropped her hand, letting out a long breath. Her head began to spin.

"I knew you had it in you," Kylo said quietly. Rey dropped back down on the couch behind her, staring down at her hands, breathing quickly now, confused at what had just happened. She looked back up to see Kylo's eyes fervently focused on hers. "You're more powerful than you realize," he said, "but Luke isn't allowing you to reach your full potential."

Rey glowered at him for speaking ill of Luke. "Luke is the top Jedi in the galaxy," Rey snapped.

"And the only one. Yet, he hasn't taught you everything. Why?" Kylo prompted, subtly tilting his head. "He hasn't taught you a lot of things. Only the basics," he said, his tone sharp. "He hasn't even told you about your family."

Rey shot him a look of astonishment. "How—"

"Of course Luke would never teach you about both sides of the Force," he continued. "Although, I guess he didn't need to teach you that," Kylo said, his tone softening. "You already have it inside of you."

Rey lowered her eyebrows at him, appalled. "What are you talking about?" She breathed.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." His dark eyes ardently searched hers. "You just felt it."

Rey's stood back up from the couch, looking across at Kylo accusingly. "You made me do that."

He shook his head, straightening himself again. "I did no such thing. That was all your doing...and you know it," he said, his voice quieting. He stood up from his chair, resting an arm casually atop its back. "It's up to you which side of the Force you want to follow," he said, his gaze unfaltering.

"You know Luke and I are users of the Light," Rey hissed.

Kylo watched her a moment more, then took a few paces back towards the archway before turning back over his shoulder. "It's too bad that Luke doesn't let you choose for yourself," he said, and with that, he moved silently out of the room.

Rey sat back down on the couch, dumbfounded. She let her head fall into her hands as she shut her eyes, turning over in her mind what had just occurred. She felt so confused, and suddenly, so alone. She wanted to go back to her bedroom to go back to sleep, but she didn't want to go anywhere near Kylo. Instead, she remained on the couch, huddled against its back cushion.

Rey blinked repeatedly as she felt her eyes moisten. She was surprised to find that she had started crying. She lay on the couch, silent tears rolling down her face as she waited for sleep. She felt deeply confused, frustrated. She so desperately wanted to be back with Poe and Finn.

But Rey realized she wasn't crying for these reasons; what bothered her most was how easily she'd been able to access the Force out of anger, her realization of the potential truth that rang through Kylo's words, that the dark side of the Force perhaps already existed within her.