Kylo laid on the ground, his face a bloody, burned mess. He felt the ground crumbling beneath him as he looked up to the scavenger who'd just bested him. He sensed even more raw power in her, something he'd not felt since his own rise to the dark side. As the land split between them, he looked on her with intrigue.

"I can show you the ways of the Force!"

She sat on the island when a familiar presence entered the hut. She looked up to see him sitting before her.

"Why is the Force connecting us?"

They looked into each other's eyes. He reached his hand to hers.

"You're not alone."

He looked on her, naked body. The remarkably alluring, healthy, young girl of just two decades gracefully walked under the stream of hot water.

"Neither are you."

She stood almost frozen in the doorway, eyeing Ben's bare chest. His beautifully crafted body lay on the dark bed. She tried to deny herself the pleasure of the sight, but couldn't resist as his hand beckoned her to join him. They opened their feelings to each other before she found herself clinging to his side for warmth. He felt her hair glide across his chest. She felt his hand land lightly on her thigh. They could feel their connection to each other grow around them, like a strong force pushing them closer and closer. The force grew immense. They looked into each other's eyes once more.

Ben was quickly jostled from his slumber, his breath quick and short. He looked to his side where Rey sat in a cold sweat. She looked back up to him.

"Ben?" she asked softly.

"You felt it too?" he asked, unsure of exactly what it was.

Rey didn't know what to say. The shared dream filled her mind with his thoughts, and his with her own. In those moments they felt as if they were a single entity. One mind between two bodies. She soon realized that the feelings they'd revealed to each other weren't the only ones they'd shared for each other. There was a deeper, more physical longing as well, but neither could see clearly until now.

"I felt you." She began to speak. "Your feelings. Your thoughts. I saw things…" she paused, briefly smirking, "through your eyes."

Ben turned his head away from her, his eyes wide and cheeks blushing in embarrassment. He realized now that the dream revealed him staring at her outside of the shower. His mind raced, not sure of how to explain his actions.

"I… It was an…" He could barely speak. She saw his ashamed expression and reached her hand to his chin to turn it back.

"And I know you saw through mine." she said quietly, with unintentional, but sincere lust in her voice.

He looked on her again, this time noticing more than the beauty at the surface. He understood that she saw him physically they same way he did her. Now he saw more than her pretty young face, but the alluring expression it had. He slowly turned his eyes lower, scanning her body in the robe, now looser over her chest than before. He spotted the binary curvature of her breasts, nearly fully exposed under the black fabric. He continued looking down to her legs, noticing then that her muscles were tense, just like his. He felt her lingering hand on his chin, before quickly shooting his eyes back up to meet hers. As they gazed deeply into each other's eyes, time seemed almost frozen between them. Ben's hand slowly reached forward before finally landing softly on her cheek. Her skin felt as if froze around the light touch of his fingers. She felt the subtle movement of his face as it began to move toward her at a seemingly dragging pace. Her hand slid from his chin around to the back of his neck. Ben's eyes closed slowly as he approached. Even then, he could still see her in his mind, just as clearly.

Within a fleeting second, he felt his lips meet hers. The feeling of her tender skin pressed so lightly against his was so much more tantalizing than he ever expected. At that instant he felt something inside he'd never felt before. He had no idea what it was that he was feeling, but he adored it immensely. He quickly forgot about the galaxy around him. Every thought, aside from those of her, left his mind. Nothing else mattered right now. No First Order. No Resistance. Nothing but the girl. For what felt like an eternity, they were connected at the lips. Soon, though, he slowly receded, trying not to linger too long even though he felt like he could stay there forever. He let in a breath and opened his eyes. He saw her again, sitting just in front of him. She opened her eyes, just after his. Neither of them moved now. All they could do now was stare at each other. For both of them, this was the first time they'd experienced such affection.

Rey didn't know what would happen next. Her strongly intimate moment with Ben filled her with a rush she'd never experienced before. Her mind raced. Never had anyone ever seen her the way he did now. The feeling of his lips on hers made her happier than she thought anything in the galaxy ever would. The companionship she'd longed for her whole life had finally manifested as the man she looked at, just a couple of inches away. Such a short time ago on Jakku, she didn't expect for someone to find her and care for her the way Ben did. She knew that this kiss was just the first taste of their time together and she didn't want any of these feelings to flee. She began to move her face toward his, again locking her lips to his. Blood rushed about her body. She had no idea that his touch could feel even better a second time, but it did. She moved her arm around his back. He followed suit, wrapping his strong limb around her, grabbing her opposite shoulder from behind as the intensity of their kiss grew. She let herself become lost in Ben's grasp, her body naturally swinging over his, landing in his lap, her chest now against his.

Ben was unfamiliar with the subtle nuances of this kind of romance. He didn't know exactly what to do, given his lack of any experience. He was usually so obsessed with detail. He wondered where his hands were supposed to go? What type of pressure does he put on her lips? Where does this lead next? These questions were tossed aside within a short time as he realized that his anxiety was misplaced. As they continued, he felt a sort of natural flow to their movements. He began to stop worrying, letting his body think and move for him. With the pressure off of his back, he simply savored the moment with her. He could sense that she had already accepted this, as well. The only thing he wondered now was what came next. He retracted his lips again, letting her up for a breath. He looked at her face as her mouth curved into an innocent smile. Without thought, he did the same.

"Ben Solo." she said, almost diviantly. "You seem a little experienced at that than I would have guessed." He found himself somewhat proud that he was apparently so pleasing in his classical romance, but wanted her to be sure she was his first.

"Honestly, you're the first girl I ever…" he paused, unsure of what word to use.

"You could have fooled me. I never would have thought my first could come from someone so…" she paused, also unsure of what to say. She looked down to his body again. "There's nothing like you where I'm from. Mostly lowlifes and scum." She returned to his eyes. "Nothing quite so beautiful in a graveyard of sand and garbage."

"I disagree." He smiled and raised his brow. "Right now I'm looking at the most beautiful thing that planet had to offer." Rey blushed at the kind words.

"So what happens now?" She asks him.

"I don't know." Ben answered honestly. "And as long as it's with you, I don't care."

"While right now I could sit here and kiss you forever, I think we still need to consider how we're going to get off this dreadful ship." Ben closed his eyes, a little disappointed as reality came back to his mind. He hadn't thought about their escape at all.

"You're right." He begrudgingly agreed. "Where can we go? The First Order is moving in on systems across the Galaxy. Once I leave, they'd be after me."

"Surely the Resistance has some sort of sanctuary nearby." Rey was quick to mention.

"I doubt the Resistance is too fond of me, either."

"Ben, they don't have any quarrel with you. It was Kylo." She said, prompting Ben's head to drop after hearing that evil name. "Your Mother would explain it all to them. In fact, she has a beacon! After we jumped, surely they escaped to somewhere away from the First Order's watch!" She said excitedly.

"No." Ben shot his head up again. "I can't face her." he shook his head.

"Ben, you know she would-"

"I can't!" He raised his voice. She looked as tears began to gather in his eyes. "Not now." he said softer, regaining control of himself. "Maybe some day, but not now. She knows he's gone…" Rey understood he was referring to the dark Knight of Ren. "I felt her before we jumped. She saw me, I know she did." Ben placed his hand on her shoulder "But I can't bring myself to her yet. All I want right now is to be somewhere with…", he looked to her eyes again. "With you, Rey." he finished tenderly.

Rey stopped for a moment. She realized this was the first time she'd heard her name spoken in his voice. She accepted his words. She empathized with him. Her past was something she didn't wish to ever return to and she knew she couldn't bring him to do the same thing she wanted to avoid.

"Ben," she grabbed his hand in hers, "I won't make you a slave to your past like I was. All I want is to discover what the future holds." She raises their coupled hands between them. "And I want to continue to discover it with you." Ben looked at their hands. He nodded, relieved that she shared his thoughts on moving forward instead of dwelling on the past.

"The imperial archives." He muttered, turning his attention back to Rey. "The old star charts could hold some potential. We could find a place no one would think to look."

"That's half a plan." She replied, climbing off of Ben's lap. "What about transport? Surely they'd track any of their own ships leaving."

"Not all of them." Ben's face lit up. "There's plenty of smuggler craft the First Order confiscated and keep on board. They keep them in a storage hangar. There wouldn't be much security."

"And what timeframe would we have to leave? As big as this ship is, it still won't take long for them to learn their supreme leader is missing." An inquisitive look came to Rey's face. "What did you tell them happened to him?"

"I told Hux he was recovering from an injury in the infirmary."

"What happens when Hux asks them of his condition?" She asked. Ben sat still. He hadn't planned that far ahead. He began to stand up from the bed.

"Well," he pulled a cloak from across the room to his hand, "hopefully we'll be out of here by then."

"That's not very reassuring." Rey halfway joked, standing to her feet.

"Grab your clothes." Ben said as he fit his own on over him. "We can retrieve a star map from the archive, then head down to the hangar." He turned around, looking down to the short girl beside him. "You're gonna have to play my captive again, in case we run into anyone like last time."

"I'm yours." Rey said, looking back to him as she walked back to the next room to gather her clothes.