A strong clean scent woke Rey as she opened her eyes slowly, recollecting her vision from a blur. Where am I? what...Slowly, as her eyesight was becoming clearer, she could tell that the room was far too bright and the viridian blue reflected far too much of the outdoor sun. The strong hygienic smell uncomfortably stung her nose. It was too clean to her comfort...where am i?..am I...She tried to look around and move her arms, ...a prisoner?... but the excruciating pain settled in her chest, spreading in her whole body. She gave up trying to move when her left shoulder felt as if someone was weighting on her, thousands of knives piercing deep in her skin, yet it didnt feel numb...rather felt like a deep, insistent throbbing pain that refused to go away, only fading slightly within intervals, only to return more agonizing than ever. A defeated sigh left with along with her breath and she gave up trying to move.

Memories and flashes of red, ever coming closer to her face kept coming back to her, the four of them charging at her hungry for blood and death, and Luke...where was he? Was he still alive? Were the others alive? She knew she was. She caught herself hyperventilating and her eyes watering over her vision once again. How was she alive? How?!

Rey wished she had died.

She had failed...she had failed miserably...She had wished the pain away from the moment she opened her eyes. Her eyes couldn't hold the tears that were tracing her face anymore.

At first, her sob was quiet. Then her tears bursting with her every breath hurting her lungs and her shoulder. She clenched her right fist, and turned her head to the side. Everything hurt. Every bone in her body shivered with pain, anger and loathe. A nauseating stomach followed her cry, as if it wasnt enough of a punishment her body was giving itself. Between her agony and a blurry veil that her tears had laid on her eyes, she saw a dark figure approaching. Her heartbeat followed her panic and became more and more frequent with each step the figure was closer to her.

''Who ar-'' after the words that she was about to say stung in her throat, she decided that they werent worth the pain. Rey figured that if they wanted her dead by now, she would've left this world long ago. She was wounded, helpless, a feeling she'd sworn years ago she would never have to face again. Yet she felt a warm touch in her left hand. Her eyes widened, and the stillness helped her focus on the fact that she could feel her left hand. A sigh of relief left her lips.

Channel the Force...let it help you...heal yourself.- Kylo Ren's voice echoed in her thoughts, and she could not help but shiver at the feeling, as the deep voice materialized the energy inside her. She couldn't possibly gather herself to think that that voice belonged to the hand that was holding hers. His voice, was the voice of the enemy. His voice...He was trying to heal her. His deep, soothing, profound voice... As her eyes were clearing the tears away, she saw his figure sitting by her side. She blinked once or twice to take a better look at him. He had changed.

His long, sharp face had no trace of innocence anymore. The pale and fair complexion was covered with olive undertones, and many more freckles. It seemed rougher and even more tired than it used to be. The crows feet near his eyes were the testament to his sun exposure, a too well known feature to her, as they seemed like they gracefully streaked his eyes with his earlier fair hue. He felt her presence inside his thought and lifted his head, locking his eyes with hers.

His eyes, they had remained the same.

''Wha...what am I doing here?'' She managed to cough out the words, despite the pain extending to her ribcage and torso. ''What happened...out there...why..? She squinted her eyes to adjust herself to the brightness, ignoring the tears that burned her eyes. She wanted to look at him, and show that she was able of some grace, even in her worst.

''You were hurt badly. You were impaled by two lightsabers but you managed to recover. You are going to be fine.'' He said softly, as if he was keeping his voice low to not agitate her hearing.

''How am I...alive?'' her breaths were slower now, but her chest would shiver once in a while to keep up with her tears.

''You are not someone to run when things get dire. You...you stand your ground.'' He shook his head. His voice always low, yet clear. ''You have passion and you are...uncompromising. Ive seen it. Ive felt it.'' She didnt need to invade his thoughts to know that he was telling the truth. he means it.

''It was not how It went in my mind'' she whispered ''But why do you care? You try to kill us'' her voice, trying to pitch higher, almost broke. Every move and breath she took put her in pain. She felt her body trembling. ''Where are the rest of them?" Rey spoke lastly, as she heard her voice being followed by a faint signal in the monitor.

''You need to rest. I will put you to sleep now. Focus your Force on you flesh and bones, for a faster healing process'' He said while getting up and looking at the monitor next to her bed. He pressed some buttons on the health monitor and checked her side monitor, before he made his way out of the room. Rey traced his figure as he left her eyesight, and sensed his aura leave the room. Her eyes started to become heavier and heavier and her pain slowly fading away, leaving room for a numbness she was wishing since she woke up.

Finally.

He would come ever so frequently to check on her. Sometimes, while hibernating, she could feel him pace around in her room. His presence didn't concern her anymore. What concerned her were the reasons he did what he did. It had been the second time that he took it upon himself to save her life. All she had done was trying to kill him, every time they'd met, with no intention to give up even in the future. But he seemed to ignore the fact that they were enemies, even that she owed him the scar that lied across his face, a permanent reminder of their interactions.

After a while, she learned to relax when he was around. It hurt her to admit that his company made her days more bearable. It reminded her that life existed outside the purgatorial she'd built inside her thoughts. She once even tried to probe into his mind, and he let her. His thoughts were unwelcoming. But he wasnt. She knew he was trying.

She knew that when he wasnt training, or in her room, he'd spent a lot of time in his room, fixing something. The scars and wounds in her body had made her weak to use the Force, for she couldn't bring herself to discover what.

She knew it was him, who saved her and Luke. She knew it was him who carried her, with a wounded body about to give up,to his ship. But she didnt know why. Does he still want to teach me? Has he not given up yet? What is it with him?

Between days she felt Luke's presence nearby the base. He was waiting for a wrong move from Kylo Ren, as of this far he'd only help her with medicinal supplies that Luke didn't have. He had other ways to communicate with her, even when she was asleep, encouraging her Force, and showing her new ways to use her healing abilities. Her wounds were healing fast with Luke's guiding, but she knew enough about the Force to know that having Kylo Ren heal them too was probably the reason she healed so fast. He'd also deliberately contributed in teaching her how to do it. It was hard for Rey to admit what a powerful and extraordinary being he was.

Rey felt his presence before entering the room, she knew she coincidentally would slip into his thoughts, but not because she wanted to invade...it was rather too easy for her to understand what he was going to do, or say or how he felt. She did not have this sort of power over Luke. In the corner of the door his figure appeared and she noticed that he still used his dark clothes from the First Order, apart from the helmet and the mantel. Kylo Ren was a large man, and to her the sleeveless arms made him appear more intimidating than usual, giving him the doubt of humanity and manhood as he carried himself big and stern. Rey couldnt explain why, but to some degree it gave her a sense of security. It made him seem unshielded, uncovered...more transparent, more intimate, the more skin he would show.

''How are you feeling?'' he said as he headed towards the medical monitor, on her bedside.

''I feel rather good today. As if I wasn't impaled to death by your friends and didn't have two holes in my body just three days ago'' she said sarcastically. He looked at her, his face muscles forming what was the beginning of a smile.

''You should hold on to that sense of humour. Not all Jedi's have the will to keep up with it as their training goes by.'' he said as he went on to check her other outputs. ''All your vitals are well. The only thing you need to do now is concentrate on growing part of your flesh back, as soon as you can, if you don't want to have those dents forever.'' He said, drawing her attention on the medical monitor, to later point at her wounds, ''I speak from experience'' he said lastly, turning around to make his way out of the room

''Am I your prisoner?'' Rey asked, not expecting an answer of any sort, only to find herself surprised as he stopped and turned to face her.

''You are my guest,'' he said, repeating the same words from a year ago, when they'd first met. '' and also my patient.'' his voice followed, pointing towards the monitors that Rey was linked to. ''I only ask that you let me show you something before you leave'' he said with a soft voice, and then heading towards the door again.

''What are you trying to fix in that room?'' the words vomited out of her mouth, just in time to stop him from walking too further away.

''Nothing that would matter to you'' he replied, his voice showing slight tones of annoyance.

She didnt say anything else. His attitude always shifted once she mentioned anything happening in the ship. She knew it was a ship only because she'd mentally scanned it. It was a KR32 F.O. unit, constructed in the very Starkiller base Finn and Han Solo helped destroy. Rey might not have known medicine or monitors, but she knew her mechanics even if she'd been dead. And yet something was happening, just a few steps next to her room, but something was interfering, preventing her of using her abilities to see what was happening there. She decided to let it go for the moment and shift her attention into healing herself, meditating but slipping into a slight somber.

.

She was running towards it. The fire. The smoke.-You couldve saved us!...Rey felt the need to breath deeper as she looked around her. She was surrounded by hundreds of carcasses, fallen bodies... dead...Resistance...theyre dead fighters of the resistance!...-Rey, run!...their only hope...gone... she felt her heart was pounding her chest, about to break it open...Kylo was next to her...his lightsaber...gleaming...not red, amethyst...it was his crossguard...then fire rose and burned her lungs...the pain was too much...

.

She got up, barely normalizing her breathing. He shoulder and torso hurt from the sudden movement, but she did not care. The vision..no It cant be...do they?. She grunted. The pain was kicking in again and spreading itself like a leech on a Jakkarian feast.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before gathering all the strength in the upper body to fight her pain and get herself off the bed.