Steady On.

Chapter 2.

She focused again on settling her thoughts and sleeping again, trying her best to soothe her mind with thoughts of the future, and still, it did not work.

'Keep your eyes closed, and stop thinking.' she thought, chanting the words over again in her mind.

Stop thinking...
Stop...

Abruptly, Rey shivered, her body sending chills from head to toe, though still snuggled beneath her blanket, she couldn't understand why it was happening.

Before she could determine the reason on her own, her bed shook.

With her eyes flying open, Rey instantly sat up, her hand stretched out to call her lightsaber, and was quickly reminded that it lay broken on the desk across her bunk.

Cursing, she turned to see what happened, and her body immediately stilled, her breath catching as eyes fell upon Kylo Ren, sleeping shirtless with a black, satin sheet covering his lower half. His black, wavy hair lay in wisps across her pillow, lips parted slightly, and his brows furrowed

His sudden presence isn't what stilled Rey, though. It was the harsh darkness that surrounded his mind that caused her heart to skip a beat, the feeling that washed off of him and onto her, as if she they were both drowning.

It dawned on her right then.

He was scared. He was having a nightmare, and was absolutely frightened.

"Ben?" Rey whispered, his name rolling off of her tongue as if she had said that very name a million times.

Besides a short huff, she received no response before his body shook again against the bed, a violent thrash that vibrated throughout her room.

Whatever he was dreaming of was terrifyingly haunting the man. The fear was radiating off of him at this point, she nearly wanted to stand from the bed and run away, but she couldn't. She couldn't just leave him... Not again...

Her hand moved to touch his arm, but knew that could possibly make matters worse if he were to startle away, unaware of his own surrounds. Instead, she timidly pushed into his mind.

Unlike the times she had previously pushed into his mind, there was no barrier. Hid mind was open, as if he was waiting, begging, to be saved from his own thoughts.

All Rey could see was red, all she could hear were screams.

Bodies lay in piles throughout a foreign land, the trees and flowers all brown with decay. She could hear screaming in the distance, children crying. The mix of it made her want to sob, to run and help, to run and hide – From what, she did not know.

Gasping, Rey backed out of his nightmare, slamming a mental door so she could never see those images again, to never hear those cries for help.

Against her previous instinct, she moved her hand to his arm, gripping what she could of his bicep. The moment their skin touched, she felt a sharp strum of electricity run through her veins and into his, connecting to him once more.

Before she could even realize what was happening, Rey was emitting a foundation for him to lean on, a platform of warmth and peace where he could safely fall into the grips of their bond. In exchange, she took his tension and fright, storing it away deep inside of her being, as if to cage up an untamed animal that would explore the land at a later time.

She swore not to think of it now, not to cast her worries or curiosity on it. Instead, she watched as he relaxed for a moment, seemingly against his will as her force power drew him into calmness.

Kylo's breathing slowed, as his wide eyes settled on her fully for the first time.

Rey couldn't do anything but stare as she tried to breathe again.

It felt so ... Intimate to Rey, who had never experienced such closeness to another before. The light she felt within her transferred to Ben, and she felt the same wave of hope and purpose that was shown to her in the vision back on Ach-To. She marveled in it. Was she giving him her light? If so, would that mean-

In the pit of her soul, of her being, she felt a rumble of power, a thrill of darkness, and knew for certain what had happened.

She quickly uncurled her hand from part of his bicep, cutting all physical contact to him as she sat, shocked. It meant that she absorbed his dark side, even if for a moment, it had happened.

She looked at Ben's face, who seemed to be in as much shock as she, though he was much better at composing it. Still, she heard his small gulp and watched as a bead of sweat rolled down from his temple.

Rey looked away, unsure of what this ability meant.

She had so many questions, with no one but Ben to ask. Luke was gone. And though the General told her that Masters can come in a Padawan's time of need, Master Luke had yet to show despite Rey's constant pleas to the force.

Glancing back to Ben, who had moved into an upright position, she tried to figure out what to say, what to ask, but couldn't help admiring his face, her eyes following the trail of the scar she had left him across his cheek, along his neck and leading towards his chest.

Had it really been only a year or so since she had delivered that to him? It seemed to have healed nicely... And it didn't look terrible across his pale skin. At the thought, Rey felt warmth cover her belly, nerve endings coming alive in places she had not given thought to.

Rey cursed herself for whatever she was feeling, her mind in a battle against her two realities that were Ben and Kylo, one person that was both her bonded and her enemy.

Nevertheless, she felt a blush threaten her heated cheeks, and when her eyes tried to meet his, she saw he was already watching the redness spread, fully aware of what was happening, but unsure why.

Inhaling sharply, Rey moved on.

"Are you alright?" She quietly asked, glancing away, trying her best not to focus on her thoughts, or the events that had happened only moments ago with their transfer of light and dark.

For a long moment Kylo didn't respond.

She shut her eyes for a moment, almost annoyed that he was giving her the silent treatment. She was about to give him an earful as she met his gaze again, but was surprised to find his expression was soft.

"Don't do that again." He said, and though the words could have been said out of anger, his tone showed otherwise, as if was not an order, but a plea for her benefit.

For a moment, Rey was caught off guard. She knew he wouldn't be one to say any words of gratitude, but the fact that he did not snap at her for invading his mind during his nightmare, or for unwillingly giving him some of her light, still shocked her just as much as the soft expression on his face did.

In the blink of her eye, he was gone, and the bond between them had been shut so tightly, there was no chance of opening it again any time soon.

( X ) End of chapter ( X )

Author's notes:

New edit as of 03/31/2021! Hope you all enjoyed, this was actually edited a lot more than I thought it would be. Previously, Ben stayed asleep and there was no verbal interaction between them. Fixed some typos and added about 1.1k words :D

Any love, new or old is always appreciated! Thank you for reading, my friends!

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