"Alright Squad One, let's move out," Poe's voice sounded over the transmission intercom of Rey's X-wing. Rey flipped on the controls of her ship, readying its engines. "Rey, are you ready?"

"Ready," she answered, adjusting her helmet. She watched as Poe's X-wing before her began lifting up from the ground, the ship's landing stands retracting up as it ascended up from the pavement.

Rey hit the liftoff controls on the panel before her, and her ship jostled slightly as it began to rise from the ground. A loud click sounded below her as the ship's landing gear locked up into place. Rey couldn't help but smile as the ship carried her higher, and she turned to her side to peer down at the silver and orange X-wings lined neatly beneath her on the tarmac. She saw Finn and the other pilots of his group waving her off, and she waved back.

Although Finn had tried arguing against them, Poe and Rey had agreed that Finn should lead the other half of the group to Takodana to pick up a transport ship. Finn was an excellent leader and over the years had become a good pilot, but Rey and Poe had both been afraid that in his current emotional state, Finn would be more likely to make rash decisions in attempting to rescue Jess Testor from the Empire. They had been able to gently persuade him to manage the other group, and though they hadn't told him of their fears, Finn seemed to have understood the reasoning behind their plan.

Rey focused as she steered her ship upwards, following after Poe. As her ship began climbing higher into the sky, she saw four dots appearing on her fighter's motion scanner, the four other X-wings of her group now trailing behind her.

As Rey breached the planet's atmosphere, her fighter began to sail smoothly in space with the lack of wind resistance. She let out a breath as she took in the sight of space again, something she hadn't seen in person for nearly half a year; Luke hadn't allowed her leave the planet, his reason being that he need to train with her every day.

Rey knew that Luke's primary reason to keep her on Trora was to keep her and Ben from finding each other once again. She knew that despite her own current devotion to the code of the Jedi, Luke sensed that she always still felt a pull to the Dark, and he thought that Ben would one day attempt to seduce her away from the Light.

Rey turned over her shoulder, looking back at Trora as it began to shrink behind her. I'm sorry, Luke. Please forgive me, she thought.

"Prepare to jump into hyperspace," Rey heard Poe's voice over her ship's transmission. "Let's go, Flygirl," Poe added, just to her. Rey smiled to herself as she made the necessary adjustments on the X-wing's control panel.

Though she felt a gnawing anxiety deep in the pit of her stomach, wary of coming into contact with Ben again, Rey's heart raced as her feelings were mixed with a puerile excitement at the promise of a new adventure.

….

Jess Testor sat on the small bed in her claustrophobic holding room, her knees pressed up into her chest. She'd been in this room for at least a day, it seemed. She didn't even want to contemplate how long she'd been strapped to the incredibly uncomfortable metal interrogation chair. Her back still ached from it.

Even in this more comfortable room, however, Jess couldn't bring herself to relax, her mind still circling back to the loss of Snap Wexley. At least there's a washroom in here, she thought begrudgingly.

Jess had been astounded to have seen BB-8 on board the ship, and he'd been happy to see her. Interestingly, it didn't seem as though he was being held captive, like her; he had been surprisingly lively, behaving as his usual, sprightly self.

If only Poe knew BB-8 was being kept here, Jess thought dolefully, recalling her friend's grief over the loss of his beloved droid. Ren has probably reprogrammed the droid, the poor thing.

Jess scooted back against the wall on her bed as a metallic clank sounded against her door. Her heart pounded as she waited for Kylo Ren to come in. He's finally come to kill me, she thought, her hands trembling as they gripped around her knees. She recalled the shock and confusion she'd felt at seeing Ren's unmasked face: his ghostly complexion, his atramentous hair, his surprisingly youthful features. He's not far in age from myself, Jess thought. But, those eyes…

She shuddered as she heard a stormtrooper's modulated voice from outside, followed by another clang against her door. The stormtrooper suddenly shrieked, and the door to her room lifted in a whoosh.

Jess gasped in surprise as BB-8 rolled into her small chamber, the door dropping behind him.

"BB-8! BB-8, how do you remember me?" She asked the droid, scrambling to sit on the edge of her bed.

The droid beeped, tilting its head in confusion.

"What—so—they didn't reprogram you?

BB-8 bleeped in response.

"But...you don't seem...you're not a prisoner?" She listened to BB-8's response. "Why would he just keep you—oh…" BB-8 had told her that Kylo Ren had told him he couldn't go back to Poe, since the droid now had too much intel about the Empire. "But you miss Poe, don't you?"

BB-8 released a small sighing sound, lowering its head.

"I'm sorry you're stuck with Kylo Ren," she said, shaking her head in despondency. "I guess we both are, for now."

BB-8's head rose, and he wavered in place as he beeped back at her.

Jess's face contorted. "'Not that bad?!' What do you mean he's 'not that bad?'" BB-8 bleeped in protest. "You can't be your 'friend'—he's our enemy!" She exclaimed.

BB-8's head swivelled back towards the door as it beeped softly, hushing her. It then rolled up to her feet, beeping a lengthy response.

"Are...are you sure he's not just tricking you—us?" She asked, listening as the droid continued telling her his and Ren's plan for her release. Jess sighed, her head dropping into her hands. After a few moments of silence, her face rose to look back at the droid. "You seem awfully trusting of him. But I guess I have no other choice but to believe you, right?"

BB-8 bumped against the front of her shins, one of his usual expressions of affection. She smiled down at the droid, placing a hand on the curve of its metal head. It beeped questioningly, and she nodded. "Okay. I'll do as you say. I won't trust him, though," Jess said, nodding towards the door. "If you're not supposed to be in here, you should go. I don't want to get you into trouble. Go, now," she said, gently pushing the droid backwards.

BB-8 beeped a good-bye and clanked himself against the metal door. A moment later, the door lifted, and Jess saw a stormtrooper outside of her room, pressing the door's controls. The stormtrooper leapt back from BB-8 as it rolled past him, and the door whooshed closed, returning Jess to her solitude. But after BB-8's visit, she no longer felt so hopeless.

….

Rey shifted uncomfortably in her seat, growing restless from having flown in her X-wing for so long. It felt as though they'd been flying for a day. Maybe we have, she thought, losing track of time.

"Let's drop from hyperspace," Poe said, and on his count, Rey and the other four pilots plunged back into the familiar black vacuum of empty space.

"Hey, Flygirl, are we still on the right track?" Poe asked Rey through the transmission.

Rey sighed, her hands becoming clammy. Ben's presence grew stronger as she neared him, and she realized that she'd grown unaccustomed to feeling him so clearly through the Force, to being so aware of their connection.

"Yes, we're getting close," she finally answered, a twinge of foreboding in her voice.

"Should we stop, then, and wait for the others?" One of of pilots asked.

"No, we should keep going," Rey said without thinking. Despite her apprehension, she couldn't resist the pull of the Force, the lure towards Ben.

"Rey, can you estimate how far out we are?" Poe said.

"Mm...I'm not completely sure, but I feel—we're very close," she said.

"I haven't picked anything up on my scanners," one of the pilots said.

"Neither have I," said another.

"This is uncharted territory, let's just hope we aren't near a base of some sort," Poe said. "And if we are, let's hope we can reach that Empire ship first."

The group continued on, and as the pull of the Force grew stronger, Rey's heart began to race.

Ben? She called through the Force, but as she had expected, there was no answer. As usual, she felt a sort of mental block. Ben, where are you? What's happened to you?

….

No...she's not real, Kylo thought, torn between his own attempts at rational thought and the wrench of the Force, the latter of which was telling him otherwise.

Kylo stomped through his ship toward the control room, stormtroopers pressing themselves against the sides of the hallway as he lumbered past them. Kylo's flaring temper was palpable.

As Kylo stormed into the front pilot's section, the three commanders flipped around from the control board, watching him with wide eyes.

"Commander Mitaka, what has come up on our scanners?" Kylo asked gruffly through his mask.

The commander cowered against the control board as Kylo loomed over him. "We, uh—we haven't picked up anything, Sir," he said confusedly, his voice shaking.

"Useless," Kylo spat, shoving Mitaka aside with the Force. Ren moved up to the control panel, scanning the ship's security screen. He was only vaguely aware of Mitaka scrambling out of the room behind him. Though they backed up and away from Ren, the other two commanders remained.

Kylo slammed his fist against the edge of the control board, shaking his head. "We've picked up nothing?" He growled, turning around to peer at the two commanders behind him. They quickly shook their heads. Ren's chest tightened in anger and he gripped the edge of the desk before him. They're not doing their jobs, he thought. Needing to vent his frustration and chagrin, Kylo considered slashing his lightsaber through the commanders, a sudden bloodlust in his veins. So easy, he thought. So quick.

But an image—perhaps a memory—of a Nexu laying in the snow flashed into his mind, and suddenly Kylo felt as if he had been transported away for the moment. His breathing quickened as a familiar, soothing voice chimed through his head: "it wouldn't be fair...that's senseless violence."

He let out a long breath, lowering his head to his chest. It's not their fault, it's not their fault, he reminded himself, trying to clear his thoughts, the well of pain and fury that Snoke had trained him to maintain. Kylo's shoulders lowered as he imagined—remembered?—the sound of the girl's voice. Rey.

Kylo shook his head of the seeming fantasy and turned to face the two fearful commanders. "You need to keep close watch of the ship's scanners," he said flatly.

"Sir, if I may, if there's anything the scanners will pick up, it will be TIE fighters, we're so close to Quarus. We were just making preparations to land. If you sense something, that's all it—"

Kylo abruptly rose his fist, his gloves scrunching. He was losing patience again. "What I sense is no TIE," he spat.

The commander staggered backwards, lowering his head. "Alright, yes, I see," he said.

The other commander spoke up this time. "Sir, what of the prisoner?"

Kylo thought for a moment, silently regarding the man. "Have a squadron of the troopers take her to a holding room once we get to the base," he said. He figured Jess Testor's escape would be less suspicious if it appeared to be the fault of the stormtroopers, rather than of himself.

"Yes, Sir," the commander said, nodding his head obediently, and he and the other commander soon left the room.

Kylo Ren turned back around to stare out the window of the ship. The Force pulled at him so strongly. He turned his masked face and felt a distinct emptiness, a painful twisting in his chest as he looked at the empty pilot's chair at his side.

….

"Son of a Bantha, are you guys reading this?" One of the Organa pilots called through the transmission.

"We must be nearing a planet," Poe postulated.

Rey scanned her ship's control screens, seeing that the gravity detector had risen considerably. "What do you think it is?" She asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to assume we don't want to take a risk and check it out," one of the pilots said. "Let's slow down."

But Rey didn't slow her ship. The draw of the Force was heavy, overwhelmingly so. Right now, she had a one-track mind: to follow where the Force led her. The distance between her X-wings and the others began to increase as she continued on.

"Hey, Flygirl, did you catch that? We're going to wait here for Squad Two," Poe said over her transmission.

Rey didn't answer as she continued ahead. Her breathing quickened as she so clearly felt him.

"What's she doing?" One of the pilots asked.

"Rey! Is your transmission working?" Questioned another.

"It's working just fine," Poe said flatly. "Rey, I'm coming after you," he said.

"No, Poe, I need to do this alone," she said. "I'm going to find Jess and BB-8, you and the others need to stay here so Finn and the other squadron can find you."

"What? Rey, no! This wasn't our plan! Wh—why are you doing this?" Poe asked, his voice breaking.

Rey let out a shaky breath as she saw the dot of his ship nearing hers on her scanner. "Poe, don't make me do this," she said to herself quietly. "Poe, go back, I'm going in alone. I'm a Jedi, I can do this," she said over the transmission. She saw on her scanning screen that his ship was gaining on her.

"I'm not letting you go! They'll kill you—he'll kill you!" Poe shouted in response, and Rey was surprised that he had rightly assumed she was also planning on going after Ben. Rey felt anger growing within her at Poe's rash claim. She was fleetingly tempted to hurt him.

She flipped her head to the side as she saw Poe's X-wing out her window, and she scowled. She reached her palm out, concentrating on the Force, on her own exasperation.

"Rey, you have to let go of hi—" Rey head Poe's voice cut out as she'd forced him into a Force faint. Energy surging through her, she extended the Force further, using it to slow Poe's ship to a stop.

She turned and stared ahead, guilt gnawing momentarily in her stomach, but she shook her head: she needed to focus on what lay ahead. Cutting off her ship's transmission, Rey steered her X-wing forward, following the Force and leaving the others behind.

Soon enough, she saw a small turquoise and green dot appear before her. It grew larger as she approached, though it was still in itself a tiny planet. Staring at it, Rey figured that its color came from its apparent ice and forests. Yet another snowy planet, she observed bitterly. Rey thought of Starkiller Base, then of Drecenia, where she and Ben had fought the Nexu, and where she'd fought him. She shivered as she remembered Snoke standing over Ben in the frost. Ben, and his bloody, damaged body. What have they done to him this time? She wondered, her heart skipping a beat.

As she neared the planet, she closed her eyes, raising her palms as she attempted to create a Force field around her ship, as she'd seen Ben do to his old command shuttle on Drecenia when she'd been inside it. Rey felt the Force encircling her ship, blocking out the elements of the outside. She opened her eyes, taking in a deep breath from the effort, hoping that her attempt had worked.

Upon reaching the planet's atmosphere, Rey hadn't seen any sign of TIE fighters or Empire vessels, but she sensed Ben's presence even more clearly; she knew he had to be on the planet somewhere. Her hands grew clammy as she lowered her X-wing through the cloudy skies of the planet, hoping that the Force field around her ship would keep Ben and any Empire scanners from sensing the approach of her ship, of her.

Breaking out of the cloud layer, Rey saw a thick, snow-blanketed forest below, and she steered her X-wing just above the canopy. She kept her eyes trained ahead, looking for signs of civilization. For a while, she didn't see anything but ice and trees. The sun began to lower towards the horizon line as she soared over the frozen land, the sky turning a light grey.

It wasn't long, however, before Rey spotted dark structures ahead, and she abruptly slowed her craft, veering to the side as she searched for a clearing in the trees to land in. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw a dark, tall-winged ship parked in a clearing to her side, and she wondered if it was Ben's. It looked just like his old command shuttle, only larger. Because of the Force field around her ship, she couldn't sense Ben, and she began nervously wondering if he was just below her.

Rey found another clearing not far off from the black shuttle, and she forced herself to swallow her fear. I'll have to face him at some point. It might as well be now, she decided, preparing her ship for landing.

As soon as her X-wing had touched down into the icy snow below, Rey opened the cockpit, wrenching off her helmet and dropping it onto her seat. As she hopped down from the craft, her boots crunched into the white ground below, and the frigid air burned her cheeks. For a moment, she stood looking upwards, marveling at the remarkable height of the dark green trees towering above her. The trees were framed by the greying sky, and they appeared almost foreboding.

Rey faced ahead, letting out a visible, white tendril of breath as she began to move forward. She realized that once she stepped outside of the Force field surrounding her ship, she'd be able to sense Ben. At this realization, Rey was on edge, apprehensive of just how close she would sense he was.

One feeble step at a time, Rey moved forward through the snow, her hands clenching anxiously as her head swiveled left and right, hoping to catch even the slightest sign of movement.

Suddenly, Rey was able to feel everything, all at once, and her breath caught in her throat. He's so close, she realized, and she froze in her tracks. He's getting nearer… Her eyes scanned around her wildly, and her hand came instinctively to the hilt of her saber at her belt. She felt herself falling into a sort of delirium, and everything began appearing to her as a threat: the white-as-bone snow, the trees still as corpses, the sky turning ashen above her. Suddenly, Rey didn't want to be here. This was a mistake, she thought. What if Poe and the others were right—what if Ben had devoted himself completely to the Dark side? Had I misjudged his feelings before? Do I mean anything at all to him now?

Rey began to back up, her ears ringing with the crunching of her boots in the snow. She shivered as she felt Ben grow even nearer. Ben—or Kylo Ren?

Rey became stock-still as she sensed him behind her. The hairs on her neck stood on end.

Slowly, she turned around, her fingers resting on the hilt of her saber as she sensed him. She couldn't see him, and she stepped slowly, carefully around her X-wing. As she moved around it to the other side, her eyes grew wide as she saw a familiar dark figure standing in the snow a considerable distance across from her.

Her chest heaving, Rey couldn't tear her eyes away from Ben's robed form, the stony stare of his mask. He remained in place as he seemed to stare back at her. She noticed his shoulders lowering, his wrapped arms hanging dully at his sides.

Ben? She probed, but he didn't respond. Tightening her hands into fists, Rey summoned her courage, taking a few steps towards him.

"You're—it's you," Ben said in a low voice. Rey frowned at the modulated effect the mask gave to the normally dulcet tone of his voice.

"Ben," she began, unsure of what else to say. She watched him breathlessly, remaining stock still as she watched his posture grow more tense.

"That's not my name," he said darkly.

Rey frowned at the menacing tone of his voice, and a fiery pang of anger began to course through her. Tears threatened at the corners of her eyes as she continued to stare across at him, sensing his antagonism. She raised her face. "Take off your mask."

"Why should I?" He asked, his head tilting slightly. There was an unevenness in his voice.

Rey took a few defiant steps towards him. "You get to see my face, it's only fair that I see yours," she said matter-of-factly. She moved towards him again, but she stopped as he abruptly pulled out and ignited his cracking red saber before him. Rey scowled at him.

"What do you think you'll see beneath it?" He asked, his voice taunting.

Irritated by his reluctance, Rey pulled out her own saber, igniting the two yellow ends of it before her. Ben's head seemed to crane upwards slightly.

Rey raised her voice. "The face of Ben Organa-Solo. Son of Leia and Han, Prince of the remaining Republic of Alderaan," she said. She stepped towards him again, her hands trembling as she gripped the hilt of her saber, lowering it. "The face of the man I love," she added softly, her voice cracking.

Ben seemed to hesitate before answering. "Attachments are forbidden for Jedi," he returned, and he lowered his own saber.

Rey stepped forward again, ignoring his retort. "Then I'm no Jedi," she said with conviction, her brows knitting together.

Rey stared at him, waiting, her mouth quivering. She let out a surprised breath as she watched Ben disengage his saber, sliding it back into the hilt at his side. His gloved hands moved slowly up to his helmet, and she thought she saw his hands trembling. Slowly, gingerly, he clicked his helmet off, taking his time lifting it from his face.

Rey felt an icy shock shoot up her spine as she met his brown-rimmed, yellowish eyes.

Oh, no...what's in store for our Reylo pals here? How do you think Rey's going to take this? Will Ben let Rey in again? And when's Poe going to wake up? (Poor Poe!) Thanks for reading, commenting, and being patient! Sending my love to you all.