AN: Written for the "mind control/possession" square for my hc-bingo card. 1 of a 3 part story. Post TLJ.

The Temple in Our Minds

As Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren did not foresee Snoke's indulgences to carry over to his reign, though General Hux had taken some enjoyment in continuing this legacy much to Kylo Ren's discomfort. In particular, Hux assumed Kylo Ren would benefit from Snoke's fondness for slave girls to lavish in his own dark desires and needs.

Kylo Ren had no such preferences, and actually abhorred the idea. When his general presented Snoke's usual girls, a blue Twi'lek adolescent and sickly looking albino human, Kylo Ren hand waved them away, feeling sick at the notion that Snoke had once made use of them.

Temptations of the flesh never moved him to any outrageous degree, and he had no reservations about sex over power. Kylo Ren cared for the ways of the force, and squashing the weaknesses that dwelled inside him. He knew that General Hux still harbored disdain and doubt for him, and made steps to undermine him since Snoke's death.

Kylo Ren kept abreast of Hux's actions, and preferred silence and autonomy to the noise of others and wartime minutiae. He forbade anyone from disturbing him in his throne room, and as he lowered the lights and dismissed his knights, he sat in his lonely chair and saw an interactive view of the galaxy twinkling over his head.

He reached out through the stars, searching for one signal.

After he had last seen her, Kylo Ren had to know if the force connection with Rey was still strong, even after Snoke's death. He had to believe that it was, and in his throne room, he used the time to meditate and hone his skills, strengthening the conduit of their bond through lightspeed.

Rey had become skilled herself in keeping the bond intact, yet hiding her location and the whereabouts of her friends. She did allow him to peek inside her mind a few times, and Kylo Ren had guessed the allowance was only out of curiosity. Yet, they both were on equal ground with force energy, so her limitation in powers mirrored his own, thus making the connection even sturdier.

He was not expecting an open channel to her this time he had sought her out. The nausea of seeing Hux's smug face as he presented the slave girls, had Kylo Ren reaching for Rey almost immediately after his general vacated the throne room.

He would never admit it, but Kylo Ren found solace in Rey's energy, even if the girl was his enemy. For now.

Within the force connection, Kylo Ren opened his eyes into a light, sunny scene with a background that rivaled the beauty of Naboo. He looked around, searching out the sounds. He heard a babbling brook to his left, and he shielded his eyes from the sunlight bearing down at him.

"Peaceful, isn't it?" said a familiar voice beside him. He sensed her presence, so he was not surprised by her words. He turned to her slowly and studied her face as she looked forward.

"When I come here, I don't feel as lonely. I feel hope and confidence. I'm renewed to go back into the dark world and fight."

"You created this place?" he asked, awed at the progression in her mental abilities.

She nodded once. "I did have a little help. This place is from our future," she said, and his gaze swept over the peaceful landscape again, seeing a modest looking villa just ahead of them. A stone walkway stretched out beyond their feet.

"You made this place around me, in our minds, so I wouldn't find where you were. I can't see anything around you but this place," he said.

She grinned at him. "That wasn't really the main point, but yes. That was part of my motivation. I need to protect my friends."

He understood, though he found her trust and love in them to be useless, almost beneath her.

"Our future is this peaceful?" he said with a huff. "This seems like a dream, not something real at all."

"It can be," she said, and he knew what she meant. After a long pause. "You can come here, if you like. Just focus on it, and it'll be here for you. If you're feeling cross, it'll soothe you."

"Why share this with me? Once I find you, we're going to be enemies. I've already promised to destroy you," he scoffed at her.

"Have you?" Rey said. "I thought I was important to you. Last time we saw each other… Ah, I suppose that feeling is all gone now."

"No, I feel the same. You're important to me," he said.

"So you want to destroy what's important to you? Like your father. And your uncle," she said.

"My uncle was not important to me," he said, shaking his head with anger rising in his voice. "Not the way you are."

"Forgive me if I don't understand," Rey said, and before she could move ahead of him, he reached out and grabbed her arm. The touch felt warm at first, like a burning pan, and then it dulled to a chill that felt like the depth of space. He almost forgot he couldn't really touch her.

"If you would stop this nonsense and listen…"

"Nonsense... this place is not nonsense, Ben!" she said, meeting his eyes defiantly. "I shared this with you because our connection is real. Forget the lies of Snoke. Whether or not he made this bond, he's gone and it's still strong! Don't you see? We are better together. Our future depends on it."

"But you wouldn't join me at my side. You would rule with me…"

"I don't want to rule, Ben. I want to live in peace. I want to discover the good and bad. I don't want oppression, I want freedom for everyone. No more bloodshed, no more power or supremacy. I want you, Ben. Not as this persona, but you, as I've seen in my visions," she said.

"As Ben Solo," he said with a dark laugh. "He's dead, Rey."

"Not to me," she said, and her words sounded familiar. He let go of her arm, but she took his hand, unable to sever the touch. "I promise you, there's something here between us. We don't have to rule the galaxy to prove it."

He broke away from her gaze and looked around this manufactured space, the place she made with her mind. He felt a lull of complacency in the moments he was here, and he had to admit, he felt surrounded in her peace. He knew it wasn't the same as being with her. He remembered the day when they teamed up against Snoke's guards, the synergy they had and the power they possessed together. It had been invigorating, and for the first time in his life, he'd felt the thrill and excitement of a man who'd found his equal in a woman, a partner.

But she had rejected him, and the wound was still sore.

He released her touch and stepped back, meeting her with dark eyes. "You should know these kind of mind control games would not work on me…"

She shook her head, "Ben…" she interrupted, but he went on.

He smirked at her. "You're going to have to try better than this."

She glared at him, feeling slighted. He hoped she knew how he felt when she'd denied his hand and the rulership at his side.

"Very well," she said, and she looked at him determined. She swept her arm up and down in a caressing motion. He felt it against his cheek, as if she'd touched him tenderly in physical form. She dropped her hand at her side, jutted out her chin, and exhaled. He felt breath on his lips like a deep kiss, and she motioned with her hand again. A phantom finger combed lovingly through his long, black hair.

"You...you're touching me," he said simply, but with more shock than outrage.

"Of course I'm touching you! With the force," she said. "I can do more than that." He felt her phantom fingers on his skin now, underneath his clothes and down his chest. They moved to the back of him, settling on his shoulders and kneading out the knots. He held himself back from giving her a sound of pleasure. He began to sweat as he felt her.

The sensations enticed him, the possibilities of touching her in this space also piqued his interests, but her audacity also infuriated him.

"Seduction," he spat out. "Really, Rey. I thought better of you."

Rey laughed. "Intimacy, Ben." A shudder ran through his body, and she pulled her arms back at her side, releasing her touch on his mind.

Kylo Ren knew that he enjoyed the touch. He wanted more of it, and he was aggravated at the lack of physical contact. It was just a force-touch, strong and affectionate over light years in space. It was impressive skill, and he could not quash the thrill it brought him, but he didn't want to make her cocky. He didn't want her to win.

"Enough," he said. "I get your point. Frankly, I'm shocked by you."

"Why? I told you, this is what I saw in our future. You saw it too; you're just not admitting it. Your blinded by the dark side, and you fight the balance I know exists within you, vibrating like a newborn star. If you gave into it, you know you'd lose all that you've worked for to be this scary creature that rules over us poor fools in the galaxy. You'd become a man again, and you would no longer fight a war with your identity."

"You presume too much," he said.

"I presume nothing," Rey said, unshaken by his resistance. "I only know what I saw in my vision of us. I know that my place in all this is by Ben Solo's side."

He stared at her, conflicted by her words. Her meaning, her reason for inviting him into this tempting mindspace, is part of her further efforts to redeem him and bring him to the light. He didn't want to even address her touch.

She must know that if she touched him anymore, he'd be unable to control himself and he'd crave more from her. He felt too much toward her, and he didn't want to give her the satisfaction. It was true; they were too balanced, too much alike in their powers. She offered him the missing pieces in his life the same as he did for hers.

"Let's take it slow, Ben. You can come here when you want to talk to me," she said. "I should be getting back. I was reading those dusty old Jedi books. Stars, I'd rather stay here with you, but my friends would be worried if they found me talking to the air."

He watched her, saying nothing. She met his eyes as he nodded once. Finally he said, "You can bring those Jedi books next time. I'll help you decipher anything you need. Though most of the text is garbage."

"Right? I thought so too," she said, and he noticed she treated him like an old friend. He almost got lost in the emotion. He almost fell into her trap as she gifted him with a smile and bright eyes.

"You make your own point of view. Don't let those old masters hold you back," he said.

She cocked her head. "Not at all. You didn't, after all."

"You already made it clear you're not ready for my example," he said.

She grinned. "Not the current one, anyway." She willed the force around them to fade out their peaceful world. She started to retreat along with the sunshine and babbling brook. Kylo Ren resisted the urge to hold out his hand.

She left him with a teasing smile. "Until next time."

When she was gone, he stood in his dark, cold throne room. The stars twinkled at him from above. His eyes landed on one particular star, bluer and brighter than the rest.

He closed his eyes, and reached inside him to the light that was burgeoning, just as she'd said. He reached his spirit out to it, and he let the light warm the tips of his fingers before he retreated again into blood and black. In that blackness, he saw a flicker that looked like the shape of Rey's smile.

He let her energy burn like a kiss on his tortured mind. Did she really believe he could be redeemed? It was too dangerous for him to even believe...

END