NOTES: I recommend "Bloodstream" by Transviolet for this chapter. Also, it will make my day if you leave me a comment!

Kairos (n.) - the perfect, delicate crucial moment; fleeting rightness of time and place

He hadn't been able to wait for long. Snoke's intentions seemed unclear to him, but Ren's mind was too focused on a singular purpose now. There was nothing else. The third brush with her mind, even from such a distance, had opened a wound raw, festering now within him. She was in his every waking moment, her brown eyes defiant in the back of his mind, challenging his resolve. He was feverish in his intentions. And he was determined to do this his way… no interference by Hux or the Order's personnel. His personal ship was to be left behind, in favor of a smaller, more covert vessel. He would go alone. Unless he ran out of time… This was his mission, and his alone.

He left quietly in the middle of the night, patrols did not ask as he climbed into his vessel, not commenting on the rushed movements of his normally unhurried pace. A hush had fallen over the station, and while he soared out of the hangar, he felt a small weight lift from his shoulders. As he jettied into the atmosphere he tested the link, nudging to confirm she had stayed. There was no change, she was still there, no movement. But she did not reach out again. She was waiting for him.

The dark ship stretched, shrunk and disappeared into a vortex of stars.

The stars sparkled in the distance from the viewpoints. The unease was palpable, as the young man gripped the silenced weapon, his white knuckles masked within black gloves. The mask recycled his breath back to him.

"Well done, Kylo. You are so close, brilliant boy. Look at what you have accomplished! In two years, more than what these miserable generals could do in ten. Only a few left…"

The sound of the blood rushing past his ears could not drown out the sounds… the last ship had been spotted. The last rogue member of Luke's little academy. Who, like him, had left prematurely. Into obscurity, so they thought. But no wielder of the Force could be left unaccounted for. This target and those traveling with them were not allowed to carry on.

In the western reaches, they'd finally caught up to the failing ship, no ammunition remaining, nothing. They had boarded quickly. The craft, poorly piloted by a single passenger, whose eyes reflected their fate as clearly as if they were already slain.

"One life form, confirmed sir, no more."

"What about the other.. the girl."

"What girl?"

The debris of the Jedi's ship shrunk in the distance as they disembarked, distancing themselves from the inconsequential little planets surrounding the white star in this remote system. The Jedi Killer had struck again, and only one remained for him to pursue…

The vision had given her cause to contemplate. Her mind ached from it, something familiar to her, in the dead eyes of the slain Jedi. Brown eyes she could recognize… that she would never see again. Her stomach churned, but she did not allow herself to go hungry. Too many starving days on Jakku.. she would never deprive herself of food when it was readily available. How much longer it would last, she did not know, but she hoped she would not need to wait long for the First Order to make an appearance. It turned out to be less time than she'd anticipated.

It was almost morning. She tensed as she felt the shift. Even though she'd been expecting it, his presence, so near again, caused her to feel as if her chest constricted. Her breath caught in her throat. He was here. He was close. Her hands gripped the long hilt of her saber, and she clenched her teeth together, steeling herself for the encounter, as she carefully exited the ship. She would meet him on her own terms.

The first star had begun to peek above the horizon, as she squatted against the rocky edifice, her eyes staring West-ward, as she waited. The bond between them was closed, but like the roaring sandstorms of Jakku, she could feel him buffeting against the barriers of her mind, scraping with an insistent desperation. Eventually, as if, to hope to wear through the metallic wall encircling her consciousness.

"I should have guessed you'd find another dusty hellhole. Do you have any idea the significance of this place?"

She had been so concentrated on keeping him out of her head, she'd nearly missed his arrival. The black figure stood, a few dozen paces away. He was unmasked, hands empty. The repaired weapon at his hip. His gaze, that unsettling, penetrative gaze, locked on hers. She did not answer. As expected he had more to day.

"I'm came alone… to finish what we started. A show of faith."

At this, Rey stood, and ignited her own saber. The thrum of it ignited in the hot air around them, as she glared, her mind brimming with anger. How dare he approach, as if with good intentions, after she'd seen what he'd wanted to do to her? The spillover augmented, giving him a lick of her own intent. She was angry. She was expecting a fight to the death. Met with discussion… she wasn't sure what to do. But the anger was stronger than her bewilderment. And the strange dreams, pieces of Ren's history?, she could do nothing but push them aside, no matter how they snagged her conscience.

"Luke didn't get very far… You still need a teacher." Ren's voice was mocking, but his words were true. She had much to learn. She was, like him, unfinished.

"You're not a teacher. You're a monster."

You're a monster.

He felt the sting of that. Her own words, from his own memories, from her own experience, thrown back toward him. Unbidden, the vision rose again, of him holding her chin, his hand caressing her face. The two of them experienced it simultaneously. Rey couldn't decipher her feelings on the matter, other than it unsettled her, like sinking sands beneath her feet. Ren's desire bleeding into her subconscious, mixing with her fear to muddle her emotional response. Her mouth felt dry. The vision lasted only a moment, and she was spared the more cruel parts that she knew would follow.

"I can't stop thinking about you, Rey." He struggled to say her name aloud. He took another few steps toward her, his shoulders hunched, his breathing deepened. "You won't leave me any peace."

I don't want to destroy you.

The words come unbidden, unsaid. But they're as clear as the rising second sun. Rey recoils inwardly, at the intent that seems to thrum into her subconscious, that she wants to kill him then and there. But she shouldn't. She is at an impasse. She cannot move as he closes the distance between them. The lightsaber hums and he stands just outside of its reach. His eyes search her face, and she feels him probe her soul, feeling around her edges again, but with less insistence than before. As if asking for an invitation, to be allowed inside. The loneliness…

The loneliness…The desolation that wasn't hers. So lonely, alone at night. He felt that same aching emptiness. His own emptiness and solitude finally breached her walls, and their mutual feelings flooded each other. Just… one more step. Just take my hand…

Her heart was in her throat, and she felt the tears come unbidden, as the lightsaber's beams disappeared, her hands shaking. Ren's own eyes were glassy, his breathing irregular, as he took another step, and another, finally close enough, he could feel her warmth, radiating back from her skin. He did not hesitate, and took her hand into his.