I do not own Star Wars

Something was not right.

There were not many moments in which Kylo Ren's mind was so muddled with immense confusion, at least moments he had wished not to recount. He was quite aware that this confusion was definitely not the kind that caught you momentarily off guard before clarity quickly returned. No, what he was experiencing was the kind of befuddlement in which the brain struggled to process the situation and could offer no valid explanation for what had occurred. It was as if his brain cells froze, stunned, and he was only left with the ability to register the one emotion he had become far too familiar with over the years: anger. His emotionless visage did not hint at his inner turmoil as he trudged over the course orange, sand. However, upon a closer inspection one would notice how his gloved hand tightened into a fist as he studied the back of the scavenger as she walked a few paces ahead of him.

The scavenger, the young woman he was forced to follow like a leashed animal, she….she was the source of his confusion. He despised it…no he hated it, vehemently. The girl was full of surprises, very few of them being understandable or foreseeable. First she demonstrated that she was somehow naturally gifted at utilizing the Force, second she defeated a trained Force user like himself, then she decided to spare him, and ultimately save him, her enemy. Then she does it again, and again! Mercy according to Snoke was one of the greatest forms of weakness. Someone who had true power would have ended their enemy, right then and there. But…she didn't. Why? There was once a time in which Luke Skywalker had explained that mercy was not a sign of weakness, but strength. However she had never met him nor suffered under his meaningless tutelage. So what was she thinking?

He recalled how she had ruined his plan when she intervened during his torture on the pirate's ship. He could withstand the pain and suffering if it meant the First Order would be able to locate him before aiding in the retrieval of the girl from wherever she had hidden upon the ship. He had everything under control, sure the electricity was becoming unbearable to the point even he was having trouble processing the pain, but he trusted the idiotic brothers were not stupid enough to kill the one person who could ensure a hefty reward from his people. Yet the girl recklessly exposed herself to fight the pirates all by herself, to help him of all people. She was in way over her head, and because of this, it only further ruined his plans. When one of the buffoons attempted to kill her he knew he couldn't allow it to happen. It would have been a waste of potential to see such a strong force user be ended so soon, plus the girl needed to be delivered alive to his master.

Perhaps that was why she was always risking her skin for him. Maybe the girl wished to keep her gift for the Resistance alive. It could have also been for a more personal and selfish reason. Maybe the scavenger simply wished for him to survive so she could continue to revel in the fact that he had such a powerful and widely known figure under her control. She might have seen him as another shiny part that she had salvaged from a ship for all he knew. The idea was not too far-fetched considering she had already demonstrated that she could be quite crazy at times. Picking fights with pirates that outnumbered her and jumping out of moving ships was enough proof.

Thinking of the jump caused the already excruciating headache he had suffered to drastically increase. The fall, he had not forgotten nor forgiven the scavenger for that. Not only did she nearly kill him, but the way she looked at him after he woke only amplified his confusion to an entirely new level. Her eyes…they looked almost…relieved that he was alive. This clearly contradicted what he assumed her intentions were. If he was alive to be her prisoner why did she allow herself to demonstrate concern for his behalf? She had said it herself, he was a monster. Yet why had she looked a monster in the eye and momentarily demonstrated no hostility…only concern, another weak emotion he used to so desperately hunger for.

No he corrected himself. Another weak emotion Ben used to so desperately hunger for.

The girl was more troubling then he cared to admit, and he would never say it aloud but her actions were getting to him. An inconsequential girl had managed to ruffle his feathers and he did not like it one bit.

"Are you going to quit staring at me anytime soon?" the girl suddenly asked, pulling Ren out his musings. As she looked back at him with sharp eyes, numerous loose strands of her chestnut hair danced around her sand coated face in the dry breeze. She looked quite pitiful to him at the moment, but he knew he probably didn't look much better.

"Why? Does it bother you?" he dryly inquired. "I can't say there is much more to look at besides sand and rocks."

The scavenger rolled her eyes at him. "Well just stop, would you?"

Ren narrowed his eyes at her. "Or what? You'll electrocute me?" he quickly asked as he held up the wrist that the cuff was locked onto.

The girl's eyes widened and she fumbled to reply. "What? No!" she finally managed to say.

"Then why don't you just remove it if you don't intend to use it?" Kylo Ren offered. He was beginning to doubt whether the girl even had the guts to actually press the button if he tried to overpower her. Still, he did not enjoy the potential threat wrapped around his wrist.

She finally stopped walking and abruptly turned around to face him. "Because I don't trust what you'll do without anything to hold you back," she angrily returned.

Kylo Ren smirked at this and took a small step towards her. "So you admit that you fear me then?" he quietly asked meeting her hazel irises with his own gaze. As if to challenge him she took a bold step towards him without breaking eye contact. She was so close now he could see where her sweat had carved small trails through the sand that clung to her rosy cheeks. When he looked into her eyes he was slightly amused to find no fear in them as she closely watched him. All he found was hardened resolve that probably matched his own. So the vulnerable girl who had been present when he awoke after the fall was gone?

"No, I fear what you would do to others," she bitterly replied before she swiftly turned around and began walking again.

Kylo Ren scoffed. "Who could I even hurt out here?" he mockingly asked. "There's nothing but sand dunes for miles," he mentioned while gesturing to his surroundings with a sweep of a hand.

Rey ignored him as she continued to walk across the powdery sand.

"Where are we even going?" he demanded remembering how she had asked a similar question back on the pirate's ship. They had been walking through the desert for about an hour now and she hadn't once given him any idea as to what she was planning to do. As soon as he was able to pull himself from the sand the girl simply told him to follow her, and when he protested she brought up the blasted cuff again.

Even after a mere hour the heat was becoming unbearable and his throat burned with dryness. "You owe me that much, considering I saved your life," he said throwing her own words back at her.

Without turning around the scavenger tensed before speaking. "I don't owe you anything. You only saved me for your own selfish reasons," she spitefully returned.

"And you didn't?" Suddenly something occurred to him that he never considered. "All you did was spare yourself the guilt of letting me die. If you think keeping me alive will somehow justify how self-righteous you think you are, you're clearly more of a fool than I thought."

The scavenger stopped once again, clearly fuming this time. "That's not it!"

"Then why are you always trying to help me? Even when your own life is on the line!" he fired back.

"There's no law that says I have to explain myself to you of all people". The girl angrily sighed before tightening her hands into fists. "Besides, if I answered a question would you even honestly answer one of my own?" she suggested.

Ren scowled at her words. The scavenger was trying to be crafty and he knew it. The girl probably wanted confidential information regarding the First Order that she could feed the Resistance. Anything he could tell her would only work against him. Despite his willingness to understand her motives he knew duty came first.

"No, I wouldn't" he harshly replied.

She turned back around and resumed walking. Without facing him she calmly said, "You see, that's why I won't answer your question. Answers go both ways."

She was being absolutely infuriating and Ren clenched his teeth to calm himself down. Fine she didn't want to answer him? Well it didn't matter because he did not care what a lowly scavenger thought or why she did what she did. He told himself there was nothing to be confused over and he shouldn't have been getting this riled up. He tried to push aside his confusion by creating possible escape plans in his head but nothing seemed to work.

Something was not right, and it still bothered him.

It had been another few hours since Rey had quarreled with Kylo Ren and he had not uttered a single word. It's nice to know I can make him quiet every now and again she thought triumphantly. However she did wonder whether it was truly her words, or the desert heat that had silenced the Force user.

Two suns were now directly over Tatooine's surface and Rey was keenly aware that the heat of the planet felt slightly more scorching than even that of Jakku. Therefore it slowed her pace and even caused her to wipe sweat from her brow more than she normally did. It didn't help that she was severely bruised all over and hadn't had anything to eat or drink. Back on Jakku it was common for her to spend a few meal-less days when her scavenging resulted in no treasures for Unkar Plutt. However water was more of a necessity in a hot, dry climate and if they didn't find it soon she knew they would be in a lot of trouble.

Rey risked a glance back at Ren and found him staring at the ground as he followed in the footsteps she had left in the sand. He seemed almost in a daze as he walked, but as usual his face did not reveal what he was feeling. Her gauzy white clothing was breathable and even had UV protection, but Ren's clothing…well she couldn't understand how he hadn't shed a few layers yet. Wearing all that dark clothing in the heat must have been unbearable, but she knew he would never admit it.

She bit her lip as she considered what she should do. Should she ask if he was alright? Rey took another quick peek at him. For once there was no anger or irritation in his eyes, only a blank, empty look. That couldn't be good.

Lost in her thoughts, Rey hadn't realized she had stopped walking until she felt Ren's tall figure collide with her back before collapsing onto the sand. Her eyes widened in shock and she whipped around to see him crumpled at her feet.

"Ren, are you there?" she asked poking him with her foot.

As if he had been electrocuted again Kylo Ren quickly shot up into a sitting position and looked around with a wild look in his eye. "How did I get here?" he accusingly asked.

"Hey don't look at me, you collapsed on your own," Rey said defending herself. The last thing she wanted was another argument over something she didn't do no less.

The Force user looked utterly confused and the daze from before seemed to be claiming him once more. As Rey looked down at him as he sat in her shadow she noticed that his usually pale face was quite flushed. Unlike her sun kissed skin, his was likely suffering to handle the sun rays since it was usually protected by a mask. How powerful the suns were here combined with the lack of water was taking its toll on him faster than her. Because he had collapsed she knew dehydration was beginning to set in.

"Come on we need to keep moving," she urged. If they didn't find water soon the dehydration would quickly turn into heat stroke. Though she hadn't gotten to Ren's point yet, she was starting to feel the beginnings of a headache and knew that she desperately needed hydration as well.

Instead of hearing her words Kylo Ren suddenly stared off into the distance as if he had spotted something. His gaze was transfixed on the horizon but when Rey followed his line of sight she found nothing but more sand dunes. The scavenger scratched her head in bewilderment. Perhaps he was already in worse shape than she assumed.

Rey quickly gestured in another direction. "Ren, we have to go," she insisted. "We have to find water," she explained, urgency seeping into her voice.

However, he seemed to be in another world.

There he was.

Han Solo.

Solo was smirking at him while his eyes screamed of judgment and disappointment. Despite the immense heat of the desert, he seemed to not be bothered by it at all. Not one gray hair was out of place. "Wow Ben, you look horrible. You're mother always told you to wear sun protectant when you were outside," he chastised.

Ren's eyes dangerously narrowed at the smug captain that stood before him. How dare he treat me like a child!

Solo took note of his frustrated expression and raised his eyebrows in amusement. "What? You thought you could get rid of me so easily? It'll take more than some light saber to strike me down," he casually explained.

The Captain just chuckled and shook his head. "Ben, you can't kill your own father. No matter what you do. The fact that I'm here still means I'm not gone yet," he pointed out. "You're going to have to try harder kid."

Kylo Ren quickly rose to his feet and was just about to reach Solo when he felt a small hand roughly grab his shoulder. When he spun around to see who dared to stop him he found the girl. "Let go of me scavenger," he barked shoving her hand away.

"What were you doing?" she asked. "What made you take off like that?"

Ren turned to look back at Solo so he could point him out, but found nothing there. He hadn't even left any footprints in the sand. There was no evidence that indicated whether he even existed to begin with. The force user must have imagined him.

"It was nothing," Kylo Ren quickly said.

Rey raised an eyebrow. "It didn't look that way to me," she explained.

"Just forget it," Ren snapped before rising to his feet and beginning to walk in the direction they were previously moving. The girl just paused for a moment before finally she hurried to reach him before slowing down to match his pace. Silence rose between them as they continued to wade their feet through the sand. He could tell the scavenger had something more she wished to say, but thankfully she was being quiet for the time being. If she pressed him for an explanation, what was he supposed to tell her? That Han Solo was alive-

"You know what I never understood Ben? Why did you think that killing me would help you feel better?" Solo asked as he suddenly appeared where the girl had previously been. "So I didn't win dad of the year, but that still doesn't explain why I exemplified your call to the light".

Ren tried to ignore Solo and remind himself that what he was seeing wasn't real.

Solo realized his son was ignoring him and continued his speech. "When things got tough you just had to blame somebody, didn't you? Why is it that the moment you question who you really are you figure it's justifiable to kill someone? Kill me?"

Despite his instincts telling him that Han wasn't really there, his words were cutting into him. How dare Solo tell him that he had killed him because of his own inner turmoil? Didn't he realize that he represented the Light side of himself? The he was a part of his life when the allure of the Dark side felt so far away and all he thought he needed was his family? By killing him he was killing that part of him!

As if hearing his thoughts Han sighed and shook his head. "You're wrong kid. You can never kill the light inside of you because it will always be a part of who you are. You just selfishly decided that by killing me you could rid yourself of it," he explained.

"No, you're wrong!" Ren exclaimed.

Before Solo could respond, he disappeared into thin air and all that was left standing was the girl from Jakku. His outburst surprised her and she brought her hand to rest on her light saber in response.

"What are you even talking about?" she speedily questioned.

Kylo Ren angrily sighed when he realized that Solo was an illusion again and stiffly turned his head to look away from the scavenger. "Just don't talk to me," was his only reply.

Rey stopped walking and threw her hands in the air. "I know you're not telling me something. What's up with you? Is it the heat?" she asked.

Why did she care? The girl was demonstrating that annoying sentiment of hers again and it was doing nothing more than annoy him. Why couldn't she just leave him be? The situation was bad enough as it was, and she was only making it worse. The reason they were even on this backwater planet was because of her.

He silently glared at her before muttering "drop it," with every ounce of finality he could muster.

However the girl challenged him. "We could always sto-"

"I'm fine!" he hissed and increased his pace as if to prove his point. However, the rapid movement caused him to feel light headed and a wave of nausea overtook him. Despite this he did not let it show as he continued to move despite his body's protests.

Rey returned his glare from before, but thankfully stopped pestering him. He could tell she was infuriated with him for his behavior, but he honestly didn't care. There was no reason to tell her he actually felt awful and could have used a break. If he did this he would be admitting a weakness to an enemy which he would never allow himself to do.

I have to be discrete though he told himself. She can't know what…who's bothering me.

Rey knew the dehydration was getting to him, but he wouldn't admit it. If he wanted to stop she would have, but the fact that he was being hard headed and wouldn't admit it was frustrating. She was no slave driver like those on Jakku, who forced their workers to scavenge for hours in the heat with no water until they practically collapsed from heat stroke. Rey didn't like the guy, but she wasn't a monster.

Only five minutes after they had last spoken and he was back to sending quick glances at thin air as if something was watching him. Maker only knew what he saw, but she knew better than to question him about it again. Clearly the heat was getting to him faster than she assumed.

He must not have had any water the last time I offered him some she thought. Up until the pirates boarded their ship she had eaten and had some water she found. But Kylo Ren?

Rey stole a glance at the force user as he seemed to almost drag his feet now and stare off into space again. Judging from the mess he made back on the ship I don't think he ate or drank anything.

It didn't help that her headache was worsening and knew it would only be a matter of time before she started to act like the other force user. If one of them wasn't coherent, they were doomed.

Suddenly as if the Maker wanted to reiterate her thought she saw Ren randomly stop walking and sway in place. Before he could fall she dove to grab his arm, but his dead weight was too much and she collapsed along with him. As she lay across Ren's broad chest she sighed. This was happening far too often. Not wasting another moment she got off him, but when she was finally able to check on Ren she found his eyes closed and his breaths shallow. He was out cold.

Rey panicked and rose to her feet. How was she supposed to make it across the desert with Kylo Ren when he was unconscious? She didn't have a speeder this time and knew she couldn't support his weight. Rey was already too weak as it was. She looked at him once more then returned her gaze to the landscape around her.

Back on Jakku similar scenarios were often common. She had heard stories of scavengers' speeders suddenly malfunctioning in the desert and their occupants having to make their way back to Niima Outpost on foot. These tales often featured one of the scavengers passing out from the heat while the other may have been fine, but now responsible for the ill one. The healthy individual would experience a courageous streak before leaving the partner behind in order to find help. Sometimes they returned with aid in time, others times it did not turn out that way.

Rey wondered which of the two scenarios could occur if she left Ren behind. Would she arrive before it was too late? What if she found creatures on this planet that she couldn't communicate with or were hostile? She shook her head to push aside these thoughts. It didn't matter; all that did was that she at least try to find help.

She looked down at Kylo Ren one last time. "You better not be faking-" she warned "-because if you are, it'll be me hunting you this time."

With those final words she began to walk away towards parts unknown. The sand dunes ominously lay before her. Rey would have never tried to conquer such an expansive landscape without her speeder, but she had to try. As she took a few steps that were quickly swallowed up by the sand, doubtful thoughts began to plague her mind. Sticky situations were far too common to Rey, but she always managed to escape them at the last moment. Hopefully this time wouldn't be any different.

Rey walked and walked and walked.

She walked until her headache pulsated with pain so aggressively that her eyes watered. She walked until she felt the soles of her shoes starting to loosen and tear allowing the hot sand to pour into them. She walked until the wind began to draw up sand and pelt it against her skin, causing it to continuously sting and her hair to come loose from its buns. She walked until she could only stumble and fall before dragging herself to her feet until she could no longer walk.

Then she crawled until the two suns began to sink beneath the horizon as it took all the warmth from the day with it, leaving the air immensely frigid. She crawled until she could crawl no more and she lay on the earth, puffs of smoke leaving her mouth as she clung to herself in order to repel the intense shivers that attacked her body.

She stayed conscious as the stars twinkled high above her and offered her company as she tried to protect her fingers from frostbite. She stayed conscious until she was bathed in a milky blue light that may have been the moon for all she knew. She stayed conscious until she realized that the light seemed to emanate from a figure.

Then she let darkness claim her.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I wonder if the characters will meet some of Tatooine's interesting inhabitants next time? They already had some quality time with the sand, but I think it's time we take advantage of the other things the planet has to offer. Please review guys, it makes me type faster!

Lastly, thank you to crzykittyfangirl, WindrissQuinn, Earial13, megumisakura, Mitil Tenten, Anon, firerosedreamer67, christos200, PagesOfHappiness, AngelLover88, Lady Krystalyn, GreyGlassEyes, and the Guests for reviewing! You guys are all awesome!