A while had passed as Cara restlessly paced her room, replaying her prior conversation with her captor – Kylo Ren – in her head. Time had never seemed to move at a slower pace as she had listened to the destruction he caused right outside her door. Electricity had crackled, glass had shattered, and she had heard him yell at a few Stormtroopers that had come to see what all the commotion was all about. After his episode, her room seemed eerily quiet. She made the decision to look through the small window in the door and what she saw frightened her. The devastation she saw in front of her reminded her of who she was dealing with – a man with anger issues who could crack at any moment. She needed to remind herself that it did not matter how he may have acted towards her up until now; she would never be able to predict what he would do next.

She spent hours alone, mulling over everything she knew about the man who had taken her prisoner. Kylo Ren, who had sounded so unsure of his name when he shouted it at her – Kylo Ren, who had traits that she knew were familiar to her and yet she could not place where she recognized them from. There was something about the way his voice changed whenever he asked her a personal question. It had something to do with the way he sometimes shook his head whenever he threatened her, as if he was trying to clear his thoughts so that he could make his next move. It even had something to do with the way he walked; something about his gait and his pacing. It all added up to something, to someone. She just did not know who.

Cara was angry with herself. She knew that he was trouble. She knew that Kylo Ren would ultimately be her downfall. She knew that she had to get off this ship, but she could not help herself. Instead of trying to devise a way out of this hell hole, she found herself increasingly curious as to who the man who had captured her was. All she knew was his name, and that he had a temper. There had to be a reason behind that temper though, a history. Cara was determined to find out.

Without even meaning to, her minded drifted towards another memory. It was the memory that had caused her to put up the barricade in her mind – it was the reason she had fled to Jakku and the reason she had tried to keep herself from thinking about her old friend, Ben. It was the memory of the day she found out that she had lost her friend forever.

She had locked herself up in the same storage room that she and Ben used to hide in. It reminded her of him, and comforted her. She was mad at him for leaving her, leaving her without saying goodbye – but she had tried to remain angry with him and had failed. No matter his faults, no matter how much he may have yelled at her the months before he suddenly left, she still missed her friend. She could almost feel his presence in the tiny closet, surrounded by all the relics they used to love.

One of the officers on base had told her that General Organa had been looking for her. Cara had been feeling particularly out of sorts that day, and had no desire to talk to the only woman who may have missed Ben more than Cara did. They had taken great comfort in each other over the past months, after he had left to train with Luke. Even though she knew it was spiteful, she actually resented Leia for having the goodbye with Ben that she herself had never been given the privilege to have.

It took a while, but Cara finally heard footsteps coming down the hallway, and she knew that Ben's mother had found her. She braced herself for whatever it was she would be reprimanded for: not following orders, hiding out when she was meant to be in training. She just couldn't help herself, though. She needed to be away from everyone for a while.

Suddenly, the door to the storage room was thrown open. General Organa may not have been the tallest woman, but she was strong, and exuded confidence and power even in the toughest of times. This is why Cara was shocked when she saw that Leia's usual self-assured posture had been replaced with hunched shoulders and her head hung low. Something was terribly wrong, and she jumped up from her usual hiding spot to confront the woman in front of her.

"What's wrong? What's happened? Are we being attacked?"

"No, dear, nothing of the sort."

"Then why have you come to find me here?"

"It's – It's Ben. I came down here as soon as I heard. I needed to tell you."

Han Solo had once again been absent from the base for weeks. His adventures had been happening more frequently since his son had left for training. Leia once told Cara that she thought he may have felt guilty about pushing his son away and forcing him into training. Without Han to turn to, Cara was the first to hear the news.

"What happened? You have to tell me. I need to know."

"I know you do. I know. It's just –"

"Leia, please. Just tell me."

"Ben, he's… he's disappeared. Luke cannot seem to find him anywhere."

"What does this mean? Do you think he's coming back home?"

"If that were true, he probably would have been here already."

"Why did he disappear? Something must have happened, he never would have left on his own!"

"Cara, are you sure? If he ever told you anything about any intentions he had, you have to tell me. It will help me find him."

"No, I swear. He didn't tell me anything. He – he never even said goodbye."

General Organa looked at the young girl with deep felt sympathy. It made her feel sick. She did not need his mother's sympathy; she did not want it.

"I believe you, Cara. I do."

"Why do you ask then? Is there something more that you know?"

They regarded each other for a moment – the older of the two women looked as though she was about to say something, but stopped herself just in time. It made Cara angry. She needed to know what was going on.

"If there is something you know that you aren't telling me - I can't take that anymore, Leia. I can't stand the concerned looks you give me whenever we end up talking about him. He was my friend, my family, too. I need to know."

Again, Leia looked as if she was about to say something, but thought the better of it.

"It's nothing, dear. I'll let you know if I hear anything else."

Before Cara could say another word, Leia turned on her heel and sped down the hallway. She could feel that the woman was hiding something from her. She could feel it in her very core. She also knew, however, that if General Organa would not tell her anything, neither would anyone else on the base. She had never felt as alone as she sunk back down the floor in the corner of her favorite little storage room.

Soon after that fateful conversation with Leia, Cara had decided to flee her home planet and start somewhere new. She had little hope of seeing Ben again; and if he did want to see her, she knew he would be able to find her. She had left for Jakku a few days after that and had stopped thinking about the whole situation since she had asked someone to put the barricades in her mind that would protect her from her painful memories.

Another few days passed, and she had seen no sign of Kylo Ren. He had not come to visit her room again, and she had been too frightened to once again get caught if she tried to explore the ship some more. All she had done was stare out the window, imagining what it would be like to escape from her prison and fly straight toward another galaxy.

She had finally decided to eat some of the drab food that they brought her. It reinvigorated her slightly; together with the long nights and days she found herself sleeping through she felt much more energized than she had the day she had finally learnt his name.

It swam around her mind day in, day out. It had not been enough to quench her curiosity about the masked man. Since he had not been around in days, it was all the more surprising when she woke up one afternoon to find him sitting on a stool across the room from where she slept.

"Why do you keep watching me sleep?" She yawned, weirdly feeling less intimidated by him considering the vulnerable position she had just been in.

"I find it easier to probe your mind when you are sleeping." He seemed to have regained his composure since the last time they had spoken.

"Find anything interesting?"

"My name seems to enter your thoughts often."

"Does that bother you?"

"That depends within which context you think of my name."

"I find it curious that you couldn't find that out for yourself."

They were silent for a minute longer.

"So you've told me your name." She stated.

"An astute observation."

She glared at him, annoyed that he would make such a sarcastic remark; the sarcasm, however, once again left her with a feeling of familiarity.

"Is there anything else you wish to share?"

"What else would you like to know?"

"Anything!" She got up, and started pacing the room. "You still haven't told me why I'm here. Why did you single me out during the village raid on Jakku? What purpose could I possibly serve you?"

"You already know that I will not answer those questions. What is the point in repeating them?"

"Desperation, I guess."

"Desperation does not suit anyone."

"How else could I possibly be feeling in this situation?"

"Defiant, angry, impulsive. I think you are all of those things. Desperate is not a word I would use to describe you."

"Because you know me so well." She scoffed, turning around, facing away from him.

"Perhaps." He moved to stand in front of her, a gesture that only seemed to rile her even more.

"All those memories you've seen, all that past pain you've seen me suffer through. That's not who I am anymore. That does not define me."

"Does it not? I've been having a hard time reaching any other types of memories since I first brought you here."

"Brought me here is a polite way of putting it."

"What would you have me call it?"

"Captured, imprisoned, kidnapped! Any of those words. What you've done to me is horrid beyond belief. I am dealing with it in my own way. Maybe the pain makes it easier. Maybe it makes it easier to deal with whatever awful kind of creature you are."

"What if I were to tell you your capacity for anger, resentment and pain is the reason that I brought you here? What if I were to tell you that I could see potential in you?"

"Potential? I don't want any kind of potential that you could associate me with."

"Then I shall keep you here as long as it takes for you to realize what you may truly be capable of."

"There is no incentive in this universe that you could give me that would make me want to realize whatever potential it is you think you see in me."

"None?"

"None."

She gasped a little as she could suddenly feel that he was using the weight of his body to push her up against the wall. Not the Force, nor any weapons, just the momentum of his own form against hers. For once, she was stunned into silence. He had never been this close to her before.

"Do you truly want to know why I brought you here?"

"Yes." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

He moved his head closer to her ear, and she could feel her heartbeat quicken in fear and anticipation.

"I promised I would never abandon you."

A/N: I once again want to thank everyone who's been reading and adding this story to their follow and favorites lists. Your reviews have been lovely, and I'll start replying to them as soon as the website moderators actually fix the problems I know many of us have been having with being able to view new reviews on the site!