Summary: Rey saw the darkness in him, but she also saw the light. She just hoped that when they met again, she would see Ben Solo and not Kylo Ren standing in front of her. Set after The Last Jedi.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any characters affiliated with it.
Cover art by elithien, permission to use art was given.

Quick A/N: Hey! If you got a second alert about this chapter, please ignore it! Some sort of error occurred and I had to reupload this chapter :)

"A broken heart, my God, my King,
Is all the sacrifice I bring;
The God of grace will ne'er despise
A broken heart for sacrifice.

My soul lies humbled in the dust,
And owns thy dreadful sentence just:
Look down, O Lord, with pitying eye,
And save the soul condemned to die."

Psalm 51 part 3, Isaac Watts

Keep Marching On
04: Hands

He was in a meeting when he felt the beginnings of the connection, and he knew that if he didn't leave now – actually, he didn't even want to think about the consequences of arguing to an empty chair from everyone's perspective would be. Most already thought he was crazy; he didn't want to add more fuel to that rumor.

Kylo shot up from his seat and stormed out of the room, ignoring the strange looks he received from the people he left behind and those he passed in the hall. At least everyone was smart enough not to disturb him – for that, he felt thankful for.

He managed to find an empty room before fully connecting with Rey. The moment the door shut, he whirled around and faced her, expecting an angry shout or a glare – perhaps her even ignoring him. What he didn't expect was for Rey to be asleep faced towards him. Kylo saw only her and the bed she slept on in the room he stood in, the rest of her surroundings hidden to him. Seeing her sleeping face caused his anger to quickly disappear, only to be replaced with something he hated more than anything – regret.

Regret for what he vowed to do to her when fighting Luke and for not being enough in her eyes. There many things Kylo regretted in his life, and not having her by his side was one of them.

Taking a step closer to her, he began studying her face for reasons unknown to him. Rey...she had freckles speckled across her nose from those long, harsh days in the desert planet Jakku, and yet, she still had a hint of a smile on her face despite all the hardships she was forced to face during this short lifetime. It was clear that the light favored her – she was practically shining in it.

Without warning, he saw a flash of her smile in his memory from his vision and felt his hard stone exterior crack at the way his heart longed for it.

...Kylo couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have her smile at him in real life, even for a second.

He stood above her as she remained oblivious to the bond, deep in sleep. His gloved hand hesitantly moved until it was next to her face, hovering above the side of her cheek – the same cheek he forcibly grabbed a week ago. There was such a stark difference in how it looked, with his black glove only millimeters away from Rey's pale cheek. Without giving it an extra thought, he pulled the glove off, returning his now uncovered hand back to its former position.

...What was he even doing?

Kylo, as if he had touched a fire, quickly pulled his hand away, breathing heavily. Turning around, he slid down onto the floor with a loud sigh, his back quietly hitting the front of Rey's bed. He allowed his head to fall forward between his legs as he rested hands on the back of his neck, closing his eyes.

...What the hell was wrong with him?

These past few days, he was barely able to sleep without his nightmares haunting him. It wasn't the dreams of all the death he caused, thought – the death of random civilians, the death of his fellow comrades in that Jedi temple all those years ago, the death of his father – these dreams were nothing new to him. These were one of many he saw on a daily basis. No, it was the dream that contained the one person who was the worst of all of those who haunted him, someone who tortured him even in death – Snoke.

Out of all to haunt him, the ghost of his former teacher was one Kylo did not think would bother him like this. Yes, Snoke had formed him into who he was now, and yes, the man inflicted fear and pain into him when alive, but why did the man's death leave such an impact on his mind to the point where he showed up in his dreams every night?

Raising his tired head, Kylo turned to look at Rey. Her face was void of any harsh lines he was used to seeing whenever she talked to him; instead, she was at peace in her dreams. But...seeing her, he now knew the answer to the question that had been bothering him all these nights.

She was the reason for Snoke appearing in his dreams, Kylo realized. He betrayed everything he had known because...because of a lack of self-control when it came to Rey. Seeing Snoke torturing her and being commanded by him to kill her...compiling these with the fact that Snoke dared to say he was the one who forged their bond – it had broken Kylo in ways only the death of his father had. This, he knew, showed the power Rey had over him just through these meetings alone – and this scared him. But the worst revelation to come out of this bond?

It was the realization that he would do it all over again if it meant she would be safe.

Now sitting on his knees facing Rey, Kylo allowed his hand to hover over her face once more.

He knew her emotions had bled into his during these meetings they had with one another, and with this meeting, he felt her calmness wash over him like a gentle ocean breeze. He appreciated this change of pace for a few seconds as he quietly took in the quietness she brought. However, the peaceful look Rey had was quickly ruined when she frowned in sudden distress as she began shifting in her bed, the blanket that had been covering her falling to the side.

With no hesitation, Kylo gently placed his hand over Rey's cheek without realizing what he had done. The moment his hand touched her, she stopped her shuffling and her frown quickly disappeared, returning back to her small, yet gentle smile. He stilled his body for a few moments, only to move when he sat a little straighter to lean over her to fix the blanket, taking care to cover her again.

Standing up, Kylo didn't know what came over him when he brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. He did know for a fact, though, that he wasn't expecting the name that left her mouth the moment he fixed her hair.

"...Ben."

Kylo took in a sharp breath. At this exact moment, the connection between them broke, returning him back to the present, barely processing what had just occurred. He was alone in an empty storage room on a large destroyer once more, leaning over absolutely nothing with his hand hovering over empty air. If someone were to walk it on him, it would only confirm the rumors for many of his deranged mind, of how he was an unstable human whose power was driving him insane.

If only they knew how close the rumors came to the truth.

04

Hours passed between the encounter between Kylo and Rey, with the later still having no idea what had occurred in her bedroom.

Rey had woken up feeling refreshed more than ever and for some reason, with a smile on her face. She couldn't remember the dream she had but...it was one full of laughter and happiness, of peace and contentment. She had been with someone in her dream but she couldn't recall who it was, much to her frustration.

But the day started and ended like usual – with her fixing the Millenium Falcon while assisting Leia and Chewie as they plotted a new course for the Rebellion.

Around the end of the day, Rey returned to her room, prepared to retrieve one of the tools she had somehow forgotten. After rustling throughout the small enclosure, she decided to take one last look at her bed. It was when she bent down to look underneath it that she saw a black glove, stopping her in her tracks.

"A glove…?" It looked too big to be hers...as fast as she could, Rey pulled it out, forgetting all about the lost tool. Instead, the moment she was able to truly see the glove, something within her knew immediately whose it was, despite all odds saying differently. "...Ben."

With his name, their bond suddenly connected in a speed she never experienced before, as Rey found herself staring at a sleeping Kylo from across the room in a matter of seconds. He was dressed in loose clothing, his blanket piled at his waist. Despite being asleep, his face displayed the raging war of his emotions and control through the various scowls and sighs he made.

She cautiously neared the bed that contained him, unsure of her next actions. Maybe she should just...wake him up? No, she didn't want to deal with his anger when he awoke.

Rey wasn't sure what to think of the sight in front of her. A dark part of her wanted to simply leave the room and pray that it would be enough to sever the connection, but another part of wanted to help him, to ease his suffering in his sleep.

Taking a look at the glove in her hands once more, Rey tilted her head in confusion. Just...how did this glove appear in her room? She was systems away from Kylo, there was just no way –

Unless...unless he showed up in her room, just like she was doing at this exact moment, through this connection.

But she would have woken up – she was always aware of every meeting they had. Her emotions ran wild, which was so unlike her – it was more like him, she noticed – and she could barely contain what she wanted to say or feel, similar to how she felt now.

And even if she didn't wake up, what explained the fact that a damn glove was left behind? Sure, they could touch each other, but she believed that the feeling was more mutually mental than anything. Physically manifested something...that should've been impossible!

Yet...there the glove was, in her hand – it was a damning piece of evidence, that was for sure.

Rey pursed her lips before stealing another look at Kylo's face. His eyes were shut with heavy creases on the side of them, displaying his distress, as his pillow was soaked with his sweat. "I…" she silently said, unsure of what she wanted to say.

Although Rey didn't know, she perfectly mirrored Kylo earlier with her hand hovering over his face – and when she touched him, all of his thoughts and fears transferred through their bond like ice water, causing her to wince. Yet, she suffered these raging emotions that typically caused her to lose control because she saw that it was helping Kylo – the frown he had was slowly disappearing, along with the large wrinkle in his forehead.

Then, in a spur of the moment – because why not; the laws of physics and reality were clearly not being applied here today – she did something so unexpected that it even shocked her.

She kissed Kylo's cheek.

Rey moved her lips away to take one last look at him as the bond between them broke, leaving her alone in the bedroom, hovering over an empty space. She remained frozen for several seconds as she processed what she had done. Straightening her back, she looked down at her hand before muttering a quiet curse at what she saw. "Damn."

She had forgotten to return the glove.

A/N: For some reason, I freaking LOVE the way this chapter turned out. It was longer and I felt that it gave way for you to see the internal conflicts going on with each of them a little better. If you're tired of these types of chapters, don't fret! My next chapter, (at least planned, for now) should be slightly more action-pack *wink wink*

You guys are awesome, by the way! It makes me so so SO happy to see all the email notifications for this story, whether it be a new follower or a new review 3 I wasn't expecting this kind of response to this story so...just wow! You are amazing, I hope you guys have a great day!

Thanks for the reviews: Allied Hero, Guest (1), HinaLyka, Guest (2), cresswellshipper17, duke15atm, MHGenova, Silmaril666, Manwathiel, ilovegodmusic777, LoveFiction2017

Until next time!~

:)