Ben Solo wouldn't say that he ran away from Rey, no, he wouldn't say that at all. He would specify that he exited the temple at a fast speed and with determination, alone. Yes, he was aware that due to his height his strides were possibly longer, hence he was hard to catch up with…

Okay fine, he ran away from Rey. He didn't know why she had to see his memory of the fight in the throne room, he didn't understand why the bond decided to share that tidbit with her. He didn't want to examine his intentions of that moment. He was concerned, he couldn't help Rey when they were in battle. He had his own three that he had to deal with and every now and then he did risk a glimpse over to Rey and he would see holding her own, sure, he did feel his stomach drop when he heard her yelp.

But again, he didn't want to think or even try to analyze as to why. Too much has happened since then and he needed some time to catch up and actually evaluate what was going on. Even tonight was something that he had to find time to digest, he was just told that he and Rey weren't allowed to be at odds. She was his equal in the light, sure, but he wasn't going over to the light so how on earth will he be in the same page with her? How do you balance their odds?

Ben shook his head, too much has happened today alone that he would have to think about. He felt a tug on the bond;

"You can't hide from me, Ben Solo," she grumbled.

Ben sighed, "I'm not hiding from you. I'll meet you outside your hut."

He was near the huts anyways so he might as well talk to her now. He will be careful as to how to answer her questions. He wouldn't lie to her but he wouldn't give her the answers that she wanted. Mainly because he didn't have the answers to them himself. He stopped right outside her hut and leaned his back to the wall, there was a term that Master Yoda that he hadn't heard of even with his training with Luke. Prime, it sounded very familiar but he couldn't remember exactly what it was. He had read it somewhere but something about it stuck in his head. He will likely have to ask one of the many Masters that will teach them.

"Ben Solo! Why did you run?" she demanded as she made her way towards him.

"No, didn't run, walked," he clarified as he gave her a grin.

She stood right in front of him, suspicion written all over her pretty face. He would have to be very careful as to how to respond. Hopefully their bond wouldn't rat him out, again.

She narrowed her eyes, "Right, I just wanted to ask you about that memory. If there was a reason as to why I saw it?" she asked, hand on hip.

Ben shrugged, "Rey, I honestly don't know why. Clearly the force has been trying to send us a message and you and I haven't been receiving it," he answered, face serious.

Rey took a step towards him and poked him at the chest, "Ow!" exclaimed Ben, playfully. He grabbed her hand, gently and kissed her finger.

Rey looked at the hand he was holding to his lips, " You can't distract me," she stated, defiantly.

Ben shook his head and dipped his head towards her, "not trying to," he whispered to her lips before he placed a slow kiss.

Rey kissed him back, her lips asking for entrance by lightly nibbling his lower lip. Ben granted her access and they both started exploring each others mouths. Rey tasted like he thought he would, nothing but sweetness but she kissed like a hunter. She nipped at his lips multiple times, both of their tongues fighting for dominance.

Ben placed his hands on her hips and lifted her up, she wrapped her legs around his waist and he twisted them so she was against the wall of her hut.

He started kissing her neck tasting her skin, this made Rey groan, her hands on his hair, she tilted her head back to grant him more access to her neck. He left a trail of hot kisses alongside her long neck, he made his way down to her chest where he kissed the valley of her breast. He used his nose to move away the fabric to expose her chest band, with his lips he tugged away some of the top material and kissed the tops of her breasts, she arched her back towards his mouth, groaning. Ben was stroking the length of her hip bones on either side when his hands raised her tunic over her head and threw it to the floor, and with a tug he was able to bring down her chest band exposing her breast.

Ben immediately kissed her nipples, licking the buds and blowing them so they peaked, this made Rey moan, loudly. His mouth abandoned her breasts instead replacing it with his big hands, massaging her breasts while he returned his attention to her mouth, kissing her with all the passion he could muster in the kiss, Rey sucked on his tongue while Ben moaned into her mouth. Rey broke the kiss and hungrily lifted his simple shirt over his head and was discarded to the floor, she brought their bodies closer so her breasts rubbed against his bare skin, making both of them moan. Ben captured her mouth again asserting his dominance, Rey surrendered and started grinding against his hard manhood. He grabbed her ass with both hands and helped her increased her speed. He could feel how wet and ready she was, the friction felt so good. Rey moved her lips to his chest and lightly nipped at his skin.

This was starting to feel too good for him. Ben had to stop himself from going further. He gently grabbed her hips and stopped them. He looked up at Rey, her beautiful face illuminated by the nights bright moon. Her mouth was open, breathing heavily, eyes dilated, the picture of temptation. He placed his forehead on hers he couldn't find the strength to speak so her reached out through the bond;

"I can't go further, not right now, not like this," Ben told her softly, he looked deep into her eyes, Rey nodded.

Ben helped her with her breast band and gently put her down, making sure she was steady. They both looked to the ground for their respective clothing.

"When we both are ready, until then?" she asked, her eyes looking deep into his, both of them wearing their clothing, he nodded.

Ben sighed, looked in the direction of his hut and closed his eyes, "Your question from tonight, I can't answer because I don't have an answer, not yet," he glanced at her direction, she nodded.

"Goodnight Ben, I"ll meet you at the temple in the morning" she said, giving him a small smile before entering her hut.

Ben stood outside her hut for a few moments until his body had calmed down. He couldn't believe that he rejected this opportunity with Rey, but it didn't feel right. There was a heaviness to his chest that he didn't want to analyze at this precise moment. He turned around and made his way to his hut, shaking his head.

Ben was already in the temple when she arrived. She felt herself blush at the memory of last night. She had felt right and alive, she loved the way he had treated her body and what he had done to it. She can still feel his strong body on top of her, it had felt so right.

She walked straight up to him and gave him a deep kiss, "Good morning," she whispered at him, he had embraced her waist and bringing her to his chests.

"Good morning, Rey," he greeted back, looking into her eyes. She could see that he looked relieved.

"Did you sleep okay?" she teased, it took her hours before her body calmed down and let her sleep.

Ben winked at her, "Slept like a baby," he smiled, releasing her waist.

"Morning," said a voice that Rey didn't recognize.

Both her and Ben looked up to see another force ghost but this man, from what she could see had a kind face, it didn't carry any brooding the way Anakin's did or the familiarity of Lukes, Ben's face remained still, not expressing any emotion.

"Good morning," she replied, Ben said nothing and continued to stare at the man.

"My name is Obi Wan Kenobi and most likely the last Force Ghost you'll meet, I'm pretty sure that you've met all of us, well maybe except one but you'll never see him, you might hear him, though," he chuckled to himself, as he motioned for them to sit down.

Rey and Ben sat facing each other, "Now, meditation, a state of mental being that can help center, balance and communicate with the force within you and most importantly it is your guide, especially for you both, it's your one and only guide. So go ahead, close your eyes and find your center, find the force within and reach out." Master Kenobi instructed, pacing around the room, Rey closed her eyes.

She reached out and felt the strong life force of Ben sitting right in front of her, she can feel his heart beating, she can feel him in their bond humming, strong, and content. She reached out further and felt the caretakers, scattered all around the island mending and cleaning. She felt the livestock of the island, the porgs, the sea animals and birds. She recognized the bright light of the Jedi temple where they were currently at, a blinding concentration of light.

"Focus on the Force, let it guide you," instructed Master Kenobi

Rey focused on that same source of power that she sensed all over the island, within her. She can feel it the—her— light surging through as she summoned it she can also sense another power source, smaller than her light but it was there, like a dent on a wall, her darkness. She frowned when she reached out to feel it, it was a combination of stoic, chaotic, and velvet….she compared the feeling with the one of her light and when she tried to gather them together she quickly saw an image. It was quick, it was a picture of a Kyber crystal, she recognized it from the split one she had from the Skywalker lightsaber, she opened her eyes.

She looked at Ben who had opened his eyes at the same time, she wondered wether he saw the same thing she did.

Master Kenobi looked at the both of them with raised eyebrows, "what did the force show you?" he asked curiously.

"Kyber crystal," replied Ben, Rey nodded in agreement.

Master Kenobi looked thoughtfully from Ben to Rey, "Rey, Master Yoda said that the lightsaber that you were using is now broken in half. You haven't been able to fix it, I gather," he questioned, Rey shook her head

"Then that's settled. In a few days time you should be able to go and find your crystal. Well, this lesson went by faster than I thought. Ben? could you please go down to the caretakers and ask them to show you where they stored the sparring gear? We will meet you by the Jedi Library, Anakin will meet you there. Rey? Please stay behind.

Ben " looked at the Jedi Master with suspicion at the end he nodded, stood up and exited from the temple.

Rey stood up to face Master Kenobi, "Rey, just wanted to recap with you about balance and it's important that you understand what balance is."

Rey didn't understand what Kenobi was trying to tell her, "Equal light, equal dark is balance. Isn't what Ben and I are?" she questioned, now actually confused.

Kenobi eyed her thoughtfully, "Yes, you and Ben do represent the equals of the light and dark. But it's something that you also have to balance within yourself. Knowing the limit, understanding when to back away and reassess. You do have darkness in you, Master Yoda has seen it but it's not something we want you to grow with. It's something we want you to understand. It's so much easier to fall to the dark side then it is to climb out of it and into the light. What Ben has to do to balance himself is different from what you have to do. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?" he asked, watching her closely, his blue eyes glued to hers.

She frowned, "What is the dark side of the force? I mean I know that it's killing and being cruel, like Snoke but how did I end up with Darkness?" she knew she wasn't a sweet angel but she hadn't hurt anyone or done anything that would cause someone harm

"A great question, the basic definition is allowing an emotion to overwhelm you and fueling your actions through it. That's the most simple answer I can give you but it is something we will talk about with you and Ben, Anakin will most likely be there because you know, former Sith Lord and all," he said lightly, smiling.

Rey nodded looking thoughtful

"Now head down over to the Jedi library and I'll meet you there," instructed the Jedi Master as he disappeared leaving Rey to her thoughts.

Rey had been lost in thought as she made her way towards the Jedi tree reviewing that conversation she had with the Jedi Master. She was curious to know how she got her darkness and what that meant because she still felt like herself, she felt like she still had her own moral code so what changed?

As she got closer to the grass she spotted two blue hued figures which she immediately knew were Anakin and Kenobi and off to the corner was Ben swinging what looked to her a bamboo stick.

"Hello Rey," greeted Anakin, wide smile. Rey gave him a small one in return. She turned around and noticed that Ben was walking towards them.

"Okay now that we are all here todays exercise is more of an assessment. We have to see how you two fight we know what happens when the both of you are at odds so please don't actually try to hurt one another we just need to see how well matched you are," explained Anakin

"We will be using bamboo sticks since Rey doesn't have a lightsaber," explained Kenobi as Ben handed her a bamboo stick.

Rey smiled at Ben, "Don't think I'll go easy on you," she teased while Ben shrugged not saying anything. This was so unlike him he hadn't said a word since meditation earlier she didn't want to reach into the bond to pry, she will give him space and hopefully he will come to her.

Ben and Rey stood a few feet away, bamboo sticks at the ready.

"Go." instructed Kenobi

Rey breached first took a side swing towards his ribs while Ben deflected, Rey then swung towards his chest and Ben blocked the stick down with a downward blow. They both circled each other waiting for an opening, Rey could see that he was thinking really hard trying to come up with a strategy.

He lunged forward and Rey engaged him bamboo sticks cris crossing blocking and attacking. Her arms had started to ache she had forgotten how strong Ben is and how much taller than her he is, it made reaching him more difficult. She saw an opening when Ben lunged for her stomach and she grabbed it and with her own stick she hit the back of his knees making him stumble forward. He raised an arm up in defeat and Rey helped him get up.

"Good one," he smirked at her, Rey smiled at him teasingly.

"Ben!"

"Rey!"

They both turned to see Anakin and Kenobi walking towards them, Anakin frowning gestured to Ben to follow him and Kenobi doing the same to Rey.

"He held back on you, a lot" Kenobi told Rey, looking concerned and amused. Rey frowned, she looked at Ben and Anakin, Anakin looked annoyed at Ben while he looked guilty?

"He did?" she asked Kenobi, the Master nodded.

"Clearly he didn't want to hurt you but that doesn't help you. You have to look at his weakness, he's a tall guy with a long reach you have to hit him with precision and speed. You're lighter on your feet you have to have him chase you and tire him out. He can't and shouldn't make it easy on you its all about balance between you two. Go again, don't be afraid to lose," he instructed.

Rey was half listening to what Kenobi was telling her she was watching Ben— thinking out loud to him—

"You've been holding back on me?!" she growled at him

Anakin and Ben were standing on the opposite side of the grass clearing and they were both very deep in their conversation, Ben turned his attention to her looking slightly ashamed, he shrugged. Anakin turned to see her, he shook his head, smiling.

Rey glared at the pair of them.

She turned her attention back to Kenobi to find him watching her exchange with Ben, he raised an eyebrow.

"You know what is interesting?" he asked looking at Ben and then at her, she shook her head.

"You two fight very similarly. Almost identical technique which is odd because as far as we know you two never trained together," he said, thoughtfully.

"We do?" she asked, shocked. She's seen Ben fight and he becomes something different he can be very elegant and precise or a complete savage.

Kenobi grinned, he looked over her shoulder and nodded, "Ok, so they're ready, are you?" Rey nodded.

Rey walked towards the middle of the grassy field facing Ben. There was something in the way that Ben stood and was looking at her that made her believe that he wasn't going to hold back this time.

"Don't be gentle," she spat at him.

"I don't plan to."

Ben was back in his own hut looking at his reflection in a small mirror, razor in hand and was slowly shaving off the first signs of a beard coming in.

He had been dismissed after the fighting assessment while Anakin and Kenobi had asked Rey to hang back so they could talk to her. After the first initial fight they had where Anakin called him out on being way too easy on Rey he reminded him that he was harming Rey. He scolded him for challenging her in something she needed to get better at. Ben begrudgingly agreed with Anakin and when they faced off again Master Kenobi had to call it a draw; he and Rey genuinely gave it their best. There were times that he could sense her exhaustion but she was very stubborn and refused to let him best her.

There was a tug in their bond—a warning—he could sense that she was coming to him, in a mood.

Just last night, he and Rey were getting along perfectly well and now, she's most likely ready to throttle him, what a change a day can make. He knew that she would likely want to say something to him about what had happened out in the field but he didn't know why it mattered so much to her. Yes, he was reluctant to really engage her in a fight because he just couldn't see her in a way that he normally would see an opponent. Usually the person on the other side of his saber rarely survived and he just couldn't put that image in his head. He wanted Rey to fight with him, like they had done back in the Throne Room.

He was finishing cleaning his razor when Rey barged into his hut.

"Ben Solo how dare you?!" she whispered, dangerously.

She stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. Ben had to hold in an eye roll because he had a feeling that would anger her more.

"Hello Rey," he greeted as he placed his razor inside a pouch, he turned to her to give her his attention.

"Back in Starkiller Base, did you let me beat you? Did you let me give you that scar?" she asked, her voice low as she eyed his scar.

Ben took a seat on his bed, looking at her closely considering how to answer her. He didn't want to say anything that would trigger or insult her.

"I"m not a masochist, Rey," he answered her simply, hoping that this would satisfy her questions.

Her hazel eyes looked confused she was nibbling her lower lip as she took a step closer to him.

"That doesn't really answer the question. You fought me and it felt like you really wanted to.."

"Rey, in Starkiller base I didn't want to hurt you. If you recall I wanted to teach you. There was a few opportunities where sure, I could've had the higher ground and I didn't take it. Okay, believe it or not I didn't want to hurt you let alone kill you," his patience was wearing very thin, his breathing was getting heavier and the darkness in him was swirling within his chest telling him to blast her away from his hut. But instead he closed his eyes and looked for the light. He no longer tried to suppress the light but instead would occasionally reach for it whenever he felt the darkness wanting to overwhelm him, like right now.

"You wouldn't kill me but you would kill your father?" Rey murmured, looking down at her hands

Ben's eyes flew open and glared at Rey, "Yes, I killed Han Solo. We've been through this. You know I didn't hate him," he said in a low voice, his control slipping.

"And you never answered why," she said, voice flat.

"Why does it matter now?" he countered, watching her not meeting his eyes.

There was a voice, a light one, like a whisper or the feel of the wind that said to him:

Show her everything

"It matters because I still don't understand why! You had parents that didn't abandon you in the middle of nowhere!" said Rey, her eyes filled with tears.

Ben ran a hand through his hair, he knew that if he tried to tell her everything she wouldn't understand. He considered what the whisper had told him, to show her everything, would he be able to withstand it? Would it overwhelm her? He searched within and felt out his instinct and it was bright with approval. He checked the bond to see if it was strong enough to endure what he wanted to do, it hummed approvingly.

He looked up at her and extended both of his hands, "You want to know my relationship with the great smuggler, war hero, owner of the great Millienium Falcon? Or the great Senator Leia Organa who happened to be the twin sister of the man who redeemed Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker? I'll show you, but know this — I'm not censoring anything, you'll see everything," he warned, he watched her face looked shocked and slowly it became more determined.

She grabbed the chair he was sitting when he was shaving earlier and placed it right in front of him, she sat down and reached for his outstretched hands, face determined.

"Show me."

AUTHORS NOTE: I appreciate so much all the support you guys send! amazing seriously. next chapter is gonna take me awhile to write so within a week. Thanks !