Authors' note: Lucasfilm and Disney own the characters, we just play with them from time to time. This story was jointly written by DisappointedSon and FeministAwakens - we hope you enjoy it!

Kylo Ren sat brooding on the bridge of his command shuttle. It had been months since the destruction of Starkiller Base, and he had spent most of the time since then on board the Star Destroyer Finalizer, sequestered within his private quarters, vacillating between rage and despair. The one constant - the driving force that urged him forward day after solitary day - was his obsession with the scavenger girl from Jakku. From the moment he woke up each morning, through his daily training exercises and meditation, till he lay his head down at night to sleep, she was never far from his thoughts.

Try as he might, he could not pinpoint the exact nature of his feelings toward her. At times it felt like ice cold hatred; at other times it was something else - hot like fire, and just as elusive. She had been able to summon the lightsaber that should have been his to claim! That thought alone was cause for alarm. But there was more. They were bound to each other in a way that he couldn't understand. It had been the Force that had brought them together; there was no other explanation. Even after hours of meditation on the matter, he felt no more at peace than he had the first moment he'd heard of "the girl" who had helped the droid escape with the map fragment leading to Luke Skywalker. She was always there, in the back of his mind, tormenting him, just out of reach.

Over the course of those months, Ren had ordered many scouting missions to search for her, but they had all returned unsuccessful. All, that is, until now. The most recent group had returned with the news he had been waiting for - they had located Rey, and had the coordinates of her last known location.

So here he was, on his way to the remote planet, sitting in silent rumination. All of his effort had finally paid off and now he was closing in on her - the common scavenger who had given him the scar which now carved a jagged trail across his otherwise fair visage. And yet she was anything but common - he'd learned that much the hard way. And the secret of her true identity was something he fully intended to unveil.

His silent reverie was broken by one of the ship's officers. "We're entering the planet's atmosphere, Sir. We will touch down in a matter of minutes."

He nodded, and from behind the mask he wore, Ren's synthesized voice replied, "Thank-you, officer."

Rising from his seated position, Kylo Ren made his way toward the closed gangplank, eager to exit the vessel and get on with his mission. This would be quick and simple - snatch the girl and bring her back to the ship. He was so confident of this that he instructed everyone else to stay aboard and make ready for their immediate departure. There was no time to be wasted.

As the ship touched down, the entryway lowered onto a desolate landscape - sparsely wooded and mountainous, with dustings of snow clinging to the sides of boulders strewn across the countryside. Ren strode down the ramp, looking around in all directions and reaching out with the force, in search of her energy. He had memorized it, and he could feel her near. With a nod back toward the crew aboard his shuttle, he made his way into the forest.