Author's Note: I haven't written fan fiction in a very long time. But sometimes it just overcomes you. So yes, I loved The Last Jedi. And while I was unsure about Reylo before and can see the arguments against it at a certain point, the moment he became 'Ben' to her I was a gonner. There is so much chemistry, so many parallels can be drawn to previous movies and even popular tropes and it made me fall for them. I also think the actors are both amazing. Daisy Ridley is lovely and Adam Driver is probably my favorite part of the new Trilogy. I'm a bit rusty when it comes to writing, especially in English since I'm not a native speaker, so be please be kind. The Rating is only to be sure.

I'm not sure if that should stay a one shot or get a second or third chapter. You tell me. Reviews are very welcome.

Disclaimer: I only own my thoughts. Everything else belongs to Disney, Lucasfilm and whatsoever.

Bonds

"Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice
You've made it known"

- Falling Slowly

She was alone. Finally, alone. They retreated to another old rebel base on yet another small planet no one would be looking for them. She withdrew from the others into one of the empty chambers and fell on the cold hard bed. It was better than nothing.

She buried her head into the dusty pillow and closed her eyes. So, this was what her life was going to be like from now on. Walking into the footsteps of the legendary Luke Skywalker, being the last Jedi to fight for the resistance, every day another fight, always running for her life.

She knew she chose this, yet she wondered if that was really what she was supposed to be. Luke died before she had the chance to really learn from him, before she could truly ask him what her path would be. But then again, didn't he make the choice for her? Wasn't it him who indirectly put her into this position? Be the new him?

She sat up and groaned. She was tired and sad and angry. And lonely. Oh, she felt so lonely. Despite having Finn back and BB-8, meeting Poe and being with General Leia again, she still felt lonely. There was a void in her heart and she was terrified to admit what caused it.

"He is dead."

A deep voice suddenly said from behind her.

She jumped on her feet, reaching for the lightsaber that wasn't there anymore. "What are you doing here? Get out of my head!" This couldn't be happening again, not with Snoke dead.

"I'm not doing anything. I thought it was you." He said causally, but she could see it in his eyes, he was just as tired and defeated as she was.

"Snoke is dead. How can this still be happening?" Her voice was more controlled now, she didn't have the strength to yell at him anymore.

He shrugged. "Guess Snoke was not as in touch with the Force has he thought he was." He studied her for a moment, she stiffened under his dark eyes. "They think you killed him." He confessed.

"I don't care" And she meant it. Did it really matter anymore? Ben Solo might have killed Supreme Leader Snoke, but Kylo Ren still chose darkness over light. "Congratulations to your new position, Supreme Leader." She snorted.

He flinched, only for a second but she could see it. What was it? Regret? Sadness? Uncertainty?

"I thought I'd feel free once he is dead."

"Snoke? Or Luke?" She asked, her heart growing heavy thinking about the Master she only shortly had. She didn't spend much time with Luke, only caught glimpses of the man she heard about in Legends, his loss wasn't as crushing as Han's, still she grieved, not for herself, but the Galaxy and Leia and yes, even Ben.

She sat down on her uncomfortable bed again, locking eyes with him. He quickly looked away.

"I don't know." He confessed. "Both, I think."

She understood. She didn't want to admit it, but she understood. He has always been torn between two masters, two sides, two lives and now both of them were gone and yet the liberation he wanted didn't came, he was still lost.

"I'm tired." She said and lay back, with her eyes closed.

He didn't say anything, but she could still feel his presence. She wasn't scared or unnerved, despite everything that had happened between them and eventually she fell into a dreamless sleep.

She wasn't so tired the next time he appeared to her. This time she had time to let everything that had happened sink in and she was done bottling it up.

"You could have chosen the Light and yet you decided to fall deeper into the dark!" She shouted. "I wanted to help you, I promised you, you were not alone!"

"I offered you my hand!" He shouted back. "I wanted to –"

"Rule the Galaxy with me?" Her voice was desperately high pitched now, "That is not the right way and you know it!"

"What is right then?" His voice was calmer now, he ran his hands through his dark hair, trying to steady his breathing. She had a way to unnerve him without even trying. "Dark, Light…what does it even matter?"

"What matters are the choices we make." She stood for that, but he had a point, hadn't he? In the old days they might believed in a simple distinction between Light and Dark, but was that still a given? Wasn't Ben Solo himself a walking contradiction? Wasn't she herself pulled into different directions?

He laughed quietly. It was a sad laugh, filled with pain and sorrow. "Are we even making our own choices or are we just doing what everyone expects us to do?" This time it was him locking eyes with her. His intensity was undeniable, there was so much within these eyes it was almost crushing.

She studied his face, looking for an answer. Was he right? Were they just walking a predestined path everyone expected them to choose? The Jedi and the Sith, the hero and the villain?

When she didn't respond he turned around. "Goodnight, Rey." The way he pronounced her name made her heart skip beat. He was a monster, she had to remind herself, he was the enemy.

"Ben, wait!" She grabbed his arm, holding him back. She wasn't sure why she did it, it just felt right.

Electricity shot through him. They were light years apart, yet her touch felt so real, as if she was right next to him.

"That's not my name anymore." Ben or Kylo? If he was being honest he had no idea who he was, he lost that sense of self a long time ago.

"To me you are." She whispered, her voice so sweet, so full of hope. He turned around, locking their eyes again. What was it about her that always drew him back into her orbit? Was it the Force influencing them or were they influencing the Force?

"Why are you doing this?" He asked quietly.

It confused her. "Doing what?"

So innocent, so strong. She deserved better than to be bounded to his shadows. "Acting like there is still good in me, like I'm still redeemable." She opened her mouth, but he didn't let her talk, not this time. As much as he wanted her to join him, in this very moment his wish to protect her from the darkness that grabbed him was stronger. Maybe she would ultimately be the one to end him, but not at the cost of that Light inside of her. He didn't understand his own feelings, but he needed her to see that what she was doing would most likely destroy her. "I killed my father. I killed rebels. I killed innocents. I don't need your help. Nor your pity. I chose this. This is who I am."

She stared at him. She reached out her hand to touch him, but decided against it. "I know." Her trembling voice almost broke him into a half. "And I should hate you, should want you dead…But I have seen a different future."

"The future is what we make it, not what the Force decides." With that their connection broke and he disappeared.

He didn't see her for a couple of days, he thought maybe their connection was broken for good this time. He knew he should feel relieved by that, their bond was a liability and a distraction and that weasel Hux only waited for his chance to get the better of him, yet it was only sorrow he felt.

Rey might have been his enemy, but she was also the only person he ever truly felt connected to. There was something about her. Kindred spirit.

He went into his room. The day had been long and exhausting. He hated to admit it, but being the new Supreme Leader didn't give him the freedom he wanted. He still felt empty.

He tossed his shirt aside, ready to call it a night, to give into his long-suffering nightmares when suddenly she was there again.

"Not that again." She quickly turned around with a blush on her cheeks.

It shouldn't amuse him that she obviously felt some sort of physical attraction towards him, but it did. In fact, it delighted him, and he didn't remember to have ever felt like this before.

"Put on a shirt!" She hissed at him.

He chuckled, genuinely this time. He cursed the Force for bringing her back to him again, he told her he was beyond redemption and whatever they were doing would only cause harm, but deep down he was glad that for some reason he got to see her again.

"You crashed into my room and make demands?" He raised an eyebrow.

She turned around, her eyes fixed on him. She didn't want to look, but she couldn't help it. When they first met she expected to find a monster under his mask, something uncanny, instead he was just a man. A handsome man that is. Her eyes went over his body. She gulped, heat spreading all through her. He shouldn't have this effect on her.

"You're starring." He stated.

"No, I'm not." She laughed nervously.

It was intriguing to him, a new side of her. He had never seen her flustered before. She had always been this strong and smart warrior, compassionate and kind, but never nervous like this.

She walked towards him, his eyes following her curiously. "I was worried." She confessed and sat down on his bed.

"Worried?" He carefully sat down next to her. She looked so small next to him, he never noticed that before.

"Yeah. I didn't see you for a couple of days."

It astonished him. She was worried, despite everything he had done, everything he had told her, she still worried.

"Shouldn't you be glad if the connection is broken?"

She shrugged and played with her hands. Still nervous. That woman seriously confused him. "I was…at first. But…I guess I've gotten used to you…besides…" She stopped herself from saying more. It would just go back to the same back and forth between them, her wanting him to come back to the Light and him trying to get her to join the Dark Side or convincing her he was beyond redemption, so she decided against it. Instead she let herself fall back on his bed, starring at the ceiling.

"Ben?"

He looked at her. Something was different today. She was more relaxed. She didn't talk about the Force or the Resistance or the War.

"Hm?"

"Your bed is way more comfortable than mine."

His eyes widened. He expected anything but that. "What is going on with you?" He asked.

"Nothing." She rolled on her side, looking back at him. "I just felt lonely."

He hesitated for a second, before he lay down beside her. It was so intimate, so vulnerable, so very unlike everything he ever felt. "You are with your friends."

"I know." Guilt washed over her face. She loved Finn and Chewie, Poe was a great guy and she started to adore Rose, but she couldn't help what she was feeling inside. They would never truly get her, not completely. They didn't understand the constant struggle, the pull and push, the confusion of that larger than life energy growing inside of her. "I kept it a secret. Our bond."

"Me too." There was no way he was going to tell Hux or anyone else about it. They would try to use it against her and the resistance and he wasn't going to allow that. This bond, our bond, her voice echoing inside his mind, was personal.

She carefully reached out her hand, for a moment she thought he would get up and pull away from her again, but to her surprise, he stayed still. She intertwined their fingers. Again, that spark. The same spark she felt in front of the fire place when they first touched.

"Stay" He said so quietly she almost didn't hear it.

She closed her eyes. "Yeah"

She accepted that they could not shake their bond. If she was being honest, she was glad that whatever it was, it kept going on.

She trained during the days, went on scouting missions, fought off First Order soldiers and spent time with her friends, rebuilding the rebellion, but it was the nights that she came to cherish most.

The nights were theirs. It went against all her better judgement. She was aware of the terrible things he had done, aware that one day they would meet on the battle field again and that nothing, but tragedy could come out of this, yet she needed it. Needed him. She felt like a traitor for even admitting it to herself, but it was the truth.

The night she appeared in his room changed everything. It wasn't that she purposely decided to change tactic or anything, she just chose to not to speak about their different sides anymore, not to pressure him for a decision or ask questions he won't answer. Instead she decided to get to know him. The real him. And he responded by wanting to get to know her.

"You are fidgeting tonight." They were in her room this time and she couldn't sit still. She was walking up and down, moving the few things she had around and redid her hair about every five minutes.

He sat on her bed, watching her curiously.

She groaned and crashed down next to him, her feet landing loosely in his lap. It was a familiar gesture, too familiar for two enemies, but she didn't care. She was beyond caring what was considered norm at this point.

Her behavior still made him uneasy. He never experienced that kind of familiarity and intimacy before, except for when he was little. It was a jolt that rushed through him whenever she touched him and every morning when he opened his eyes and was alone again, he feared that he would never see her again, would never feel like this again.

Whatever it was between them, it wasn't just about Darkness and Light or First Order and Rebellion anymore. It was just them. Not Jedi and Sith. Not enemies. Just Rey and Ben.

"We are in the middle of a war." She said in a matter of fact voice.

He didn't dare to look at her. Was that the moment they would finally come back to their eternal cycle of different sides and never-ending arguments?

"And yet my friends are acting so…. strange." She didn't have another word for.

He raised an eyebrow, still deciding against commenting. He knew her well enough now to notice that sometimes he needed to let her keep going.

"It is like one of those stories some girls told each other on Jakku. Rose is in love with Finn and Finn doesn't know if he feels the same and it is awkward and then Poe tries to help and makes it worse and then they ask me for advice, like I would know and I'm just…"

She rambled away. He listened, fascinated by the normalcy of their conversation, of her trust to share those mundane things with him, to discover yet another side of her, a side she maybe wasn't aware of herself. For a moment he got a glimpse of the girl she could have been growing up under different circumstances.

"I also think Finn has a thing for Poe…" She said more to herself than to him now. "I'm sorry, I must be boring you."

He shook his head. "You are more entertaining than Hux squeaking orders any day."

"Before you…." What was she going to say? Before you joined Snoke? Before you chose Darkness? It all sounded wrong in her mind.

"I never had friends like that." As if he could read her mind and wanted to save her from that uncomfortable question, he answered it.

"Not even when you were a kid?" She had been alone her entire life, but it surprised her he had been to, despite being born in a family that was considered somewhat like royalty throughout the Galaxy.

"The perks of being the son of war heroes and legends." He hissed with distaste and for a second Ben vanished and Kylo Ren appeared. "I was always treated with kindness and respect, but no one wanted to come too close to the Prince. People walked around me on eggshells. They either had too much respect for my parents and uncle or later feared me for my…" He stopped himself, "Either way, I was never treated like just a normal child."

He started to rob her feet, without even noticing that he was doing it. "My parents loved me as much as they could, I guess. She was warm and kind and he was…well he was what he was." He avoided calling out their names as if they had such an immense power over him that he would shatter just letting them roll over his tongue. "But I don't think they ever truly wanted to have children. Or rather were made for it." He carefully placed her feet aside and got up.

"They were born into war, born into a rebellion. She was their Princess, their leader. There was always another meeting, another crisis to deal with and when the First Order rose, another rebellion to command. He…he was the outlaw through and through." He closed his eyes, imagining different times, affection and laughter. He quickly shook it off. "He was gone a lot. She never tried to change him, loved him the way he was. Me on the other hand…I didn't understand."

"You were just a child, how could you?" The compassion in her voice almost killed him. He didn't want her to pity him, he owned up to his decisions, yet her softness was oddly comforting.

He walked towards the small window in her cabin, looking into the darkness. This room had become has familiar as his own. At first, he couldn't see his surroundings when they connected, but just like her physical form became realer each day, places appeared to. "I always felt like an outsider. People pulling and pushing, expectations and destiny thrown at me. Is he a fighter like his father? A leader like his mother? I just wanted…"

"To be a normal kid." She finished his sentence. Her experience was different from his, yet she understood where he was coming from. They were both just looking for a place to fit in, to feel loved and safe and to be a part of something. He never opened up to her like this before. It filled her heart with happiness and sorrow at the same time. She was glad that Ben, the man finally decided to reveal his past to her, yet her heart cried out to Ben, the boy whom she desperately wanted to tell that everything was going to be alright.

"Luke felt that the Force was strong within me from a very young age. My father was against me training to be a Jedi. Despite everything, I think he wanted me to…be more normal. Mother was excited. Of course, I would follow my Uncle's famous footsteps."

He smiled for a second. It was a blink and you miss it moment, but Rey caught it. There was no hatred in his voice, there was only admiration.

"The other younglings still treated me differently, but I found something I excelled in. Something that gave me purpose and direction."

He hesitated to continue. She knew what would come next. Snoke.

"Snoke talked to me through the Force."

She gasped.

"Not like this. What we have is different."

Her heart beat faster. What we have. What exactly was that, she wondered.

"He tried to tempt me. Of course, he did. I was from the Skywalker bloodline. Vader's bloodline. And I felt the pull towards the dark side. The voices…"

She shivered. She heard them too. Felt that pull as well. She knew exactly how hard it was to resist it. She didn't dare to think about what could have happened if Snoke found her before she met Finn, met Han, met Leia.

"I tried to resist. But this frustration…this anger I carried since childhood was still there. I had nightmares. Terrible ones. Blood and destruction and death." His hand started to tremble. Memories of days gone by were still haunting him. "One night I wandered around. I overheard Luke talking to someone. An old man…but he looked different, like he wasn't really there…"

"Like a ghost?"

He nodded. "Sounds crazy. Though the Force…"

"I believe you."

He smiled, though she couldn't see it. "He asked about my grandfather, how he was acting when he was my age. The old man he…" Part of him knew who this old man was, what his name meant, but he didn't dare to think about it. "He said I was a lot like Anakin."

Rey noticed that for the first time he wasn't talking about the legendary Lord Vader, but the man he had been before. Same person yet two entities as well. Like with Ben Solo and Kylo Ren.

"Raw strength, anger, confusion –"

"Passion." Rey added absentmindedly.

He stopped, trying to examine what that meant. Passion.

"Strong pull between Dark and Light." He then continued. "Luke admitted he was scared. That he had no idea how to handle my power. I was naïve. I thought that being as strong as my grandfather meant I would achieve greatness, I wanted to use it to stop this war."

She could picture it inside her mind. Young Ben, enthusiastic about his strength, hoping to bring peace to the Galaxy, just so his parents would notice him.

"But Luke started to hold me back." Bitterness was back in his voice. He clenched his fist. "He was too scared. Terrified to train me. Fearing he would lose control. He was holding me back. I started to realize that I would never reach my full potential with him and so I…" He was ashamed to admit it, "So I let Snoke inside my head."

A tear fell down her cheek.

"He promised me power, so I could change the course of destiny. Bring peace to the galaxy. But more than that he promised me…" He held back for a second, "freedom."

She slowly started to understand, started to see behind all of his masks. He didn't really believe in the cause of the First Order. He didn't care for it at all. First Order or Rebellion, Light or Dark. Now she understood. The only thing Ben Solo wanted was his own freedom. Free to be himself without the attachment of a legacy, despite trying to follow his grandfather, that was never the real goal. Free from different masters pulling his strings. Free from absentee parent's expectations. She was looking for her place in this world, but so was he. She came from nowhere, he was born into royalty, yet they were the same in many ways. Where you came from truly doesn't matter, it's what you choose that does.

"I hadn't made up my mind. Whatever Luke saw that night was not a decision I made…"

She knew the rest. His uncle, his hero, he made one fatal mistake and Ben Solo decided to die and be reborn as Kylo Ren. One mistake was all it took to push him over the edge.

"Luke made a mistake. He regretted it ever since." Rey said.

"I know. It was the one thing he couldn't take back."

She knew what he was referring to. Han. That was the thing Ben himself couldn't take back. It was what should have been his final step into the new life as Kylo Ren and yet the conflict remained. He would carry that guilt around for his entire life now and that was his punishment.

"I know what you want me to say. Leave the First Order, join the Resistance and choose the Light." He didn't say it without his usual mockery. "But I can't."

She got up from her bed and walked towards him. He was still facing her with his back, so she slowly wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his back, inhaling his scent, feeling his shaking body.

He stood stiff for a moment, before he relaxed into her arms.

"I know." She said. "I understand now." And she did. This was so much more than just choosing a side. It ran so much deeper than the fight between Resistance and First Order, it was so much more personal. "Maybe there is another way."

"You think so?" She could hear the fear in his voice. For the first time she got the true picture of the boy he was before Snoke got to him. Shy and kind and ambitious.

"I hope so."

She was gazing out of his window. "There is a whole galaxy to explore."

His was lying on his bed, head buried in a book. He liked to read, it was a thing she discovered about him. And he liked to study. New fighting techniques, new languages, new cultures. Small discoveries like that made her happy. "The galaxy is infinite." He said dryly.

"No sense of romanticism, I see."

He put the book aside. "I have no time for that."

"Because you are so busy pushing your underlings around with the Force." The was no judgement in her voice, he was almost sure it was more a kind of amusement.

She strolled over to him and crawled into bed next to him. "Back on Jakku I always dreamed about being a pilot, so I could get off that planet and discover new worlds."

He imagined a little Rey. Lonely and abandoned and looking at the stars. "I'm sorry about your parents." He knew it hurt her when he told her the truth, though he still stood by his decision that she needed to know to move on.

She shook her head. "I was upset, but I'm not anymore. You were right about one thing…some things we need to let die."

He was surprised by her acknowledgment of his words. "Maybe one day you will explore foreign worlds."

She smiled at him. "That is a nice dream." She closed her eyes. "What are you reading?" She asked half asleep.

"Something about artifacts found during the beginning of the republic and how no one know what they are." He felt shy about his interests, though it was an odd sensation sharing it with someone. He never talked so freely with anyone besides mother and uncle. She wasn't mocking him, she was sharing her own stories with him. How she loved to fly and is interested in engineering and craftsmanship.

"Can you read to me?"

"Yes."

She stood under the shower. Hot water was hitting her body, yet she was shaking. Her whole body was numb. It happened all so fast, yet she was scared someone beside her had picked up on it.

She cursed the Force for not letting her influence their connection. She needed to know he was alright. "Dammit!" she held and hammered against the wall. "Just let me see him!" She was near her breaking point. "Please."

"Rey"

His voice. Tears started to stream down her face as she turned around. "You are alive!" He stood there just wearing his pants, a familiar sight to her now. He was bruised, but nothing more. "I thought…" she threw her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his. "I was so scared." She breathed against his neck.

"Rey" He said again. His hands carefully touching her bare back. Water was trickling down on him. Suddenly he became very aware of his surroundings. "We are under the shower."

She looked up to him. "What?" Then her eyes darted back to her own body. She shrieked and quickly turned around. "I forgot…how…?"

He quickly turned his back to her. "I didn't…" What was he about he to say? That he didn't see a thing? He didn't see much, but enough to be aware that her naked body was pressed against him. "I'm sorry."

"No…no that's my fault…I called after you…" She looked over shoulder, noticing his face was turned the other wall. "I needed to know you were alright."

He didn't hear her voice calling for him, yet he felt that she needed him. The Force bond seemed to grow stronger. "Just bruises." He answered quickly.

"That's not what I meant."

He knew that she was talking about something else. About what he did today. The decision that put them both on the line within their respective groups. Yet so far no one seemed to have noticed.

"I think we are the only ones aware of it."

She wanted to believe him, but she was scared. They met on the battlefield today. It was supposed to be a rescue mission for captured allies, she wasn't even supposed to be there, but Leia asked her to go last minute. The moment she entered the base she knew he was there. She was afraid that might happen one day, that they would meet in person as enemies. When the fight broke lose she tried to avoid him. It was cowardly, but she couldn't face him, not after everything they shared. He did the same. She quickly noticed that he was always going into a different direction, avoiding eye contact. Even more so, he avoided to hurt people she considered as her friends. He didn't kill one rebel that day, only knocked them out. Then it happened, she was fighting two Stormtroopers when a third one started to shoot at her out of nowhere. She didn't have time to react. Yet, the laser never hit her. Instead the shooting soldier hit the ground, hit by his own fire. It was the only time that day she locked eyes with him. He looked as shocked as felt. It was a blink of an eye decision, one that could cause him is post as Supreme Leader and get him killed for treason. He killed his own man to protect her.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"He would have hurt you." Killed you, he added silently. The thought alone of losing her drove him over the edge, he would never let that happen.

"If someone besides me noticed –"

"They didn't! They think one your people shot first." He quickly added. He didn't know it was true, he heard some soldiers talking about it and just assumed he got lucky.

"Why did you…?"

"You really need to ask?" He sounded almost offended.

"No." She fought back her tears. "I was so scared they killed you for it."

"I'd like to see them try." The cockiness in his voice drove her crazy.

"You are not invincible!" she screamed, "Yes, you are more powerful than the rest of them, but there so many of them and you are alone and how do you think I would feel if you get killed because of me? You can't just go and risk your life for –"

She felt his arms wrapped around her. His back pressed into hers. Skin against skin. "I couldn't lose you." She felt his hot breath against her neck. "I don't care if anyone finds out that…" That what exactly? What were they? There was no definition in the galaxy that could put them into words.

"Ben…" She whispers, her voice shaking, yet there was an undeniable strength and grace she carried around.

For the longest time he hated the name that was given to him at birth, he thought he was done with it, now he couldn't hear it enough. It sounded like a prayer coming from her lips.

It was like his body reacted on its own. His mind went numb, he let instincts take over and like so many times before, his emotions.

He placed a shy kiss on her shoulder. He was aware of the intimate, sensual position they were in, yet that, this small kiss, felt like a line was being crossed. He waited for her reaction, for allowance to continue or for the line be drawn back between them.

She knew in her head that he was not really there, that the Force was connecting them, still she felt his lips on her skin, felt his whole body move against hers. Maybe this was real, who really knew what the Force was truly capable off? He waited for a signal, she was aware of that. Her body ached for him to continue, screamed for his touch, begged for more, yet her mind knew that if she allowed this to happen there was no coming back ever again, if she allowed it the prize would be her heart. She opened her mouth and tried to get the words out, she was the good girl, the reliable rebel, the resistance hope, she couldn't do this no matter how much she wanted it. Maybe it was the Force testing her, maybe that was the ultimate temptation and she had to pass it to become a true Jedi.

"Rey." His deep voice rang in her ear and she knew if that was a test she was about to fail miserably.

She leaned back into his touch, pressing her body even closer to his. Maybe for once she should allow herself to choose what she wanted, not what was expected of her.

His heart started to beat faster. She wanted him, truly wanted him. Him. He couldn't place that feeling, didn't understand what was going on. Someone chose him. She didn't run, didn't reject him, not this time. Because this time it wasn't about anything but them, maybe that's what it should have had been about this entire time.

He kissed her neck, her shoulders, down her back. She softly moaned his name over and over again. His hands slid up, she softly placed her own hand over his, guiding towards her chest. She allowed him to touch her there, before guiding his hand again to the lower part of her body. He was careful, not wanting to hurt that beautiful creature in his arms.

His touch made her lose her mind. She whimpered, not wanting to scream out and risk being discovered. His hands worked magic on her. She couldn't find a different word for it. She never felt bliss like this before, passion, hunger.

"Ben…" suddenly she turned around, she searched for his eyes. She had a look on her face he has never seen on her before, burning like a fire. His eyes travelled down her body, she was so beautiful, he had no idea how he deserved to be with her.

"I'm sorry…" Despite touching her he still apologized for looking.

She smiled at him, the most real smile he had ever seen on her face. She reached out her hand, touching his scar, before gently raising the other and cupping his cheeks. She stood on her tip toes, moaning softly before pressing her lips against his.

He grabbed her around the waist, pulling her closer. Her tongue gently touched his lips, beginning for entrance. He complied, deepening the kiss.

What started sweetly soon turned into an explosion. Force or not, it felt so real to both them that they didn't care where they were anymore.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, he pushed her against the wall, placing kisses all over her neck, collarbone and lips. He hands wound his pants, tugging at them until they loosened. When she touched him, his world started to crumble. Nothing in his life ever felt as right as this, being with her. "Rey." He gasped her name.

He looked deeply into her eyes, silently asking for permission once again. Her answer was as simple one, she pushed him closer to her, capturing his lips once more. His hips met hers and for the first time they both felt something they never did before, they felt whole. Gone was the loneliness, the anger, the regret. The world disappeared and there was only them.

They lay awake in her bed that night. His pants were drying out over the lonely chair she kept and she snuggled against him, her finger painting small circles on his chest.

"I don't think Luke and Snoke had that in mind with us…" She giggled.

He laughed. The first genuine laugh she ever heard from him. "Darkness and Light clashing gets a whole new meaning."

She supported herself on her elbow to look at him. He gently tugged her hair out off her face.

"Ben Solo, did you just make a joke?"

He shrugged and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I never said I couldn't be funny, you just assumed it."

"Hm…" she lay back on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. "You never fail to surprise me."

He caressed her bare arms. He still couldn't believe she was truly here, in his arms, with him. Who needs to rule the Galaxy if you can have that? For the first time in his life he felt at peace. He wasn't Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. He wasn't even Ben Solo anymore. He was just Ben. Rey's Ben and if it were up to him he could continue to be just that for the rest of his life.

"We need to end this war." She said suddenly. "And we need to end it on our terms." There was a sudden determination rising inside of her. Too many lives were already lost in this senseless fight, too much was destroyed, if they just continued like before nothing would ever change. She wasn't going to accept that, not now. She finally found her place in the world. It didn't matter that she was a nobody, everybody was born that way. Actions determined people and despite fighting for the rebellion she had been passive for far too long.

She placed a kiss above Ben's heart. Kylo Ren did horrible things and he would carry them on his conscious forever, but Ben's heart was still beating inside his chest and she would fight for it. For him, for her, for his mother and for a different future. Not the dark future he saw, not the light one she got to witness. They would create their own future. No light side, no dark side, just them in between.

"And how do you want to do that?" He didn't argue with her this time, didn't try to change the subject or convince her that there is no hope.

"I don't know yet. But we will find a way."

He took her hand and placed a kiss on her palm. "Together."

She smiled. "Together." After all, they were not alone anymore.