So much time had passed between Rey's arrival and when she'd been able to visit the palace's ballroom again. Recently her days consisted mainly of Force training and working idly in the hangar bay with Chewie for the sheer means of keeping herself useful. When there was any down time she habitually ran through her saber forms as well as perfecting her expertise in the Force. By the day's end she was more than ready to treat herself to a hot bath, maybe with a glass of Corellian wine as she occasionally did so to further soothe her nerves within the privacy of her own chambers. The following days were always a mere rinse and repeat of the aforementioned. However, today she made it an exception to visit the one room within the citadel she'd fallen in love with upon her initial stay.

The evening stars she had seen during her opening discovery of the ballroom had been replaced with the magnificent scenery of Chandrila's mountainous terrain. The radiance of the mid-day's sun shone through its windows as its light glimmered across the waxed marble flooring; nearly resembling that of winter's frozen lakes. Within the day's lighting Rey was able to make out the intricate, golden damask details in the tapestries that draped across the room's pillars that she neglected to see during her earlier evening visit.

Shifting her gaze around the room a large object sitting off in a corner, draped in a white sheet to further veil its identity caught her eye: something that had been previously hidden amidst the evening shadows. Her curiosity now piqued Rey ambled over towards it, taking a direct notice that it had been awhile since it was last uncovered; the thick layer of dust blanketing the sheet had been more than enough evidence of its neglect.

Coughing from the considerable puff of dust upon removing its covering, she waved a hand in front of her face to air out the dusty haze. Rey was surprised to see a beautiful, vintage harpsichord had been left sequestered underneath its blanketed veil. Its ivory keys were yellowed with age, running her fingers along their smooth surface – and applying just a slight amount of pressure to them - she marveled over the melodious tune each key made, gradually rising in pitch as she worked from one end to the other. Growing up on Jakku, she had never been fortunate enough to see such instrumentation outside of the music box and what she'd heard through holodisks – let alone being able to see and touch such a remarkable fixture.

"You should have seen this place when it was full of people – and music."

Startled by the unexpected company, Rey turned abruptly to see Kylo, joining her. "It was truly amazing when it was all lit up," he stated, a subtle hint of exulted pride and wonder resonated through his voice.

Mirroring his tone, a soft look of wonder sparkled through her eyes upon him at the description of the room in its prime. "I can't imagine it being any more beautiful than it is already," she uttered softly. Her attention returned briefly to the instrument's keys: running her fingers over them once more in thought before her eyes shifted back to him, cocking her head slightly in inquiry, "What was it like?"

Kylo stood silent momentarily sifting through memories that he'd shuttered away in the recesses of his mind, until now. "The last time I was in here – it was my eighteenth year," he started, his voice sounding distant as if he were reliving another time entirely. "It was an Investiture Ceremony Gala to celebrate my coming of age and announcement of my intention to ascend the throne one day. My parents had thrown the ball for the occasion, inviting every renowned family of nobility in the galaxy," he added, although resonating a hint of bemusement at the recollection. "The men wore suits that traditionally formal black-tie, while the women's gowns had been – far more exquisite to say the least," he added with amusement upon remembrance.

A beaming look of admiration crossed over Rey's features, "It sounds amazing." She remarked animatedly, trying to paint a picture in her mind's eye of how the gowns would have looked.

Kylo snorted in a lesser tone of enthusiasm. "Yeah – well, not when you're forced to dance with every eligible female courtier in the galaxy. They were sycophants at best, mostly and social climbers at worst," he growled. "I couldn't wait to get out of there."

Raising her brows in amusement, Rey smiled inquisitively while crossing her arms over her chest. "I never pegged you as a dancer, Ben Solo. You surprise me every day – you know that?" she quipped lightheartedly.

Ren considered her shortly. "My mother taught me," he added softly. "It was one of the more pleasant times I remember spending with her when she wasn't absorbed within her political affairs."

Rey's smile fell subtly upon assimilating his comment, her interest showing in the crease between her eyebrows. She presumed him lucky to have at least had a mother to engage in such activities with. When all hers did was abandon her on a Force forsaken planet in a hellhole of a facility. Although he hadn't initially intended to offend her, the notion pained her to think of how different things would have been if her parents would have stayed – that is, if they hadn't already tried coming back for her.

"I never learned how to dance..." she admitted softly, turning her saddened gaze to that of his shielded look. "But then I guess when you live inconsequentially on Jakku, there's no initial reason to learn – right?"

Ren considering her words carefully. "A noble life isn't as exceptionally easy, Rey." He urged gently. "Sure, the entertainment of a privileged life sounds grand, but beyond that it's just as much of a curse as the one I brought upon myself – legacies to live up to. Your choices are already made for you. It's merely a glamorized prison within itself," he added assertively.

Rey 's concern only grew at his admittance, taken slightly off-guard at his unexpected comment. Her gaze fluttered to the ground in thought, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she glanced back up at him before changing the subject. "So, did you ever choose one?"

Kylo cocked his head in confusion, "Choose what?"

"The courtiers," she added evidently, "did you ever take interest in any of them?"

Kylo remained silent, contemplating his answer. "No," he stated shortly. "No, I didn't."

Rey quirked her brows in astonishment, amazed that he hadn't found at least one suitable suitor for him out of all the hundreds of beautiful women that must have been present. "Not even one?"

Swallowing heavily, Kylo considered her momentarily before initiating a tranquil yet bold response, "Just you."

Rey's cheeks flushed pink at the notion that he'd taken an interest in her. Throughout the years of scrounging to exist as a scavenger Rey always believed she could never hold any amount of significance in life. Her own family had made that solidly clear the moment they left her behind. She was a 'nobody', whom had been thrown away in the likes of garbage at the orphanage's back doorstep. That was until Finn came into her life: whom she always held more of a familial bond with rather than any sort of physical attraction. A mutual feeling of kinship where she could only consider him as being the older brother she never had – and her, likewise, to Finn.

It was then that Rey realized the bond held with Finn was of an entire different sort when compared to the one she shared with Kylo. Something that was much more intense almost tangible between them. Whatever this was it was on a much higher level of sentiment that made their earlier encounter in the training room all the more solid and clear. Her feelings for him could only be similarly compared to how she felt the morning of her awakening from the man in her dream; an inexplicable feeling that words could never wholly explain. In response to his utterly unexpected remark all she could do was smile with a glint of stars in her eyes.

Without a moment's hesitation as he had initially done earlier Kylo gently placed his hands at her hips, urging her closer towards him to shorten the moderate gap between them. All the while allowing him to do so, Rey sited her hands on his biceps: noting the firmness of muscle beneath her fingertips upon issuing them a gentle squeeze. Arching her neck back to stare into his visor, an unreserved sense of hopefulness crossed over her mind that, one day, he would allow her to gaze into his own eyes; that the face of the man she'd grown to love would willingly reveal himself without reluctance and not push her away like he had done that evening in the garden.

Is that what this nameless feeling was – love? She questioned wordlessly within her mind, having never experienced it before made the inexplicable feeling all the more frustrating to come to terms with. But it was the only plausible reason to describe the sense that being here with him, right now, could never have felt more right.

"Come with me," he urged gently. "I want to show you something."

As one who had never been fully keen to surprises, Rey momentarily eyed him skeptically. Throughout her years of experience there were always unwarranted, substantial consequences. But her intuition furthermore assured her that she could trust him and found herself nodding in submission.

Kylo led her towards a massive-in-size pair of double doors within a separate sector from his west wing chambers; elegantly carved with depictions of the sun, moon and stars within their centers. Reaching for the pair of elongated handles to open them, Kylo took pause momentarily as he turned back to face her. "Do you trust me?"

Rey eyed him inquisitively with one arched brow in suspicion. "Yes?" she responded hesitantly, slowly enunciating the word in an elongated form as she contemplated what he was up to.

"Close your eyes," he insisted furtively. "It's a surprise."

Holding her suspicious gaze to his mask, Rey sighed heavily before resigning in acquiescence to his request. Not long after she closed her eyes, she heard the doors to their destination open. Furrowing her brows she listened to the hinges creak from the significance in weight that had been forced upon them; followed by the soft, cool touch of Ren's leather gloves in her hands as he urged her forward blindly. Unable to see past the backs of her eyelids except for the hint of light signaling her that wherever they were must have been a fairly lit chamber. What seemed to be no more than a few strides forward into the chambers in questioning, Ren encouraged her to stop by placing his hands at her shoulders.

"Now can I open them?" she inquired impatiently.

A low, modulated chuckle resonated through Kylo's mask. "Patience," he chided.

Rey huffed in impatience as she awaited his cue.

"Always so stubborn," he added in further amusement.

'Always so stubborn', where had she heard that before? Creasing her brows in confusion Rey mulled momentarily over the time she had heard those exact words before realization struck her. The words were so familiar as they'd been spoken by her mysterious dream lover. The familiarity and intonation were identical, but how could that be? Kylo's distorted voice was still wrong when in comparison to the one she always heard from the man in her dreams. Shaking herself from her thoughts, she brushed it aside as merely coincidental and that maybe she was reading too far into it. The notion itself was entirely impossible – wasn't it?

Kylo's modulated voice broke her train of thought. "Alright," he declared, "open them."

When Rey's eyes fluttered open at his command, the sight before her had been the last thing she expected to see. The stacks of books and tomes surrounding her rendered her speechless. These ancient artifacts had been declared long forgotten even in the age of the Old Galactic Republic, where nowadays only reading via holograms was considered the traditional norm. Cupping her hands over her mouth, her eyes widened in awe as her gaze gradually shifted its way around the lofty walls of books that filled its interior: a library.

Rows upon rows of books lined the chamber's walls from floor to ceiling; ladders were positioned on rollers to further ease one's ability to make their way across the considerably long – vastly elevated – walls. An elegant chandelier hung centralized appropriately from the room's ceiling, with the light of the mid-afternoon sun shining through a circular-shaped skylight from a wall to her far right.

Positioned in a far-off corner of the room was a substantially large, limestone brick and marble fireplace with a fire already set aglow. A rather significantly sized bantha fur rug lined the russet hardwood floor of the hearth's proximity, further accompanied by a couple overly stuffed sitting chairs that made the room feel cozy and inviting.

Allowing the scenery to finally sink in, Rey finally found her voice. "I can't believe it," she admitted flabbergasted. Snorting in astonishment, she flashed him a beaming smile. "I've never seen so many books in my life!"

"And there's more than besides books," Kylo added.

Rey darted her attention back to Kylo, who was already ambling his way towards a glass - enclosed cabinet: filled with various assortments of cuboidal and pyramidal - shaped objects.

"What are those?" she asked inquisitively, carefully studying the tiny objects in the case as she joined him at his side.

"Holocrons." He confirmed as a matter of fact. "The Jedi - and the Sith - used them to store crucial principals pertaining to the Force. These hold far greater knowledge of the Force than any one archive."

Worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, Rey pondered over choosing her next words carefully in avoidance of offending him. "The Sith – you mean users of the dark side?"

Ren turned his gaze towards hers. "The dark side has its uses, as does the light," he stated assertively. "And that's where both the Jedi and Sith went wrong with their teachings through all these years: trying to keep The Force divided when initially that wasn't supposed to be the case. It's what made me begin to question everything I had thought I'd known."

Rey cocked her head, considering his superior knowledge in the workings of the invisible energy shield in questioning. "How do you know all of this?"

A prolonged moment of silence rendered between them as Kylo considered his words to her inquiry, emitting a distorted, wavering sigh through his modulator. "About a year after my curse had been enacted," he started, "Luke went searching through Old Republic archives at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in hopes of finding a way to break it in any way that he could." He snorted in recollection of his uncle's motivation, shrugging his shoulders in indifference. "He felt responsible for my fall so I guess, in his own way, it was him trying to make up for his own failure so to speak."

Rey listened intently as he spoke, crossing her arms over her chest as he continued reminiscing over the earlier days following his fall into darkness.

"Anyways," he continued after a brief pause; nodding in acknowledgement to the objects in the enclosure, "Luke found holocrons from the Jedi archives. Some were from those of the Sith in which my Grandfather had collected in his citadel on Mustafar. He had, throughout the years, searched for knowledge relevant to the dark side and to end his own curse, having suffered my fate as well. But the irony behind them all was every holocron indicated references to a balance in The Force rather than individually distinguishing the sides of light and dark."

Rey furrowed her brows, biting her inner cheek in deliberation of his brief overview of their findings. "So, did you ever find what you were looking for?"

Hesitantly Ren held her gaze. His shielded eyes, considering her inquiry as he deliberated his options. Temptation swelled in his chest to tell her the truth about the curse's cure. With her having the knowledge of ending his anguish had briefly given him hope that, given time, Rey would find it within herself to love him and end the curse he had damned himself to. But it all seemed too easy; almost as easy as the night she'd broken into the palace to free her friend and subsequently when Kylo found himself rummaging through her memories and intentionally taking what he needed. As fast as the thought had occurred to him, Kylo couldn't find it within himself to put that amount of pressure on her shoulders. If there was to be any chance of her falling in love with him it had to be at her own accord and most certainly not out of pity.

"Just one." He confirmed shortly, harboring a degree of sadness within his words. "But it's not anything for you to concern yourself with. It is for now an impossibility."

Rey frowned, while Ren had modestly begun to open up more regarding the secrets he tightly harbored within there were still some he seemingly wanted to leave obscured. Although it was fairly gratifying to hear that Kylo had found the answers he had initially sought after. It gave Rey hope that, she too, could possibly uncover the answers to her parents' disappearance. Curtly nodding to assert her understanding she turned her attention towards the objects within the small enclosure; pondering over the possibilities that could hinder him from the curse's dire effects of prolonged suffering. Forcing herself to her tiptoes she gazed mindlessly in admiration of the many holocrons placed on the cabinet before her.

Tentatively, Kylo studied her reaction. "So, what do you think of it - the library that is?"

Rey smiled in admiration of the ancient artifacts before her, "I love it."

Concealed behind his helmet, Ren smiled at her admission. "Then it's yours."

Rey blinked, her gaze held steadfast at the tiny objects ahead of her before allowing Kylo's words to finally sink in. Abruptly, she jerked her attention back to him. "What did you say?"

"The library," he assured softly, "I want you to have it."

A look of bewilderment washed upon her features. The only time Rey had been given anything to call her own had only been when the person in questioning expected something in return. As was the life of a lowly scavenger who had to barter her way in life to make ends meet. Her instinctive reaction was to question his ulterior motive behind the benevolent gesture. However, her heart told her that Ren was indeed sincere and that he expected no sort of repayment in turn. Without further hesitation or question, Rey threw her arms around his broad torso. Pulling him into an abrupt, forcible embrace as she buried her face into the fabric of his robes; inhaling his deep, masculine scent she had grown to know all too well.

Her unforeseen advancement threw Kylo off-kilter. At first, all he could do was stand there stiffly, arms held out in hesitation from his sides as his brain tried to process Rey's choice of abrupt physical contact and how he should react accordingly. After a prolonged moment of awkward uncertainty, Ren leisurely drew his arms around her, pulling her formally into a tight - and consequential - embrace. As if the mere notion of letting her go would immediately render him into shambles at her feet.

"Thank you," she muffled softly into his chest. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut in hopes of hindering the tears stinging the corners of her eyes. "I honestly don't know how else to express my gratitude." She admitted openly, prolonging their moment of intimacy before she pulled back to offer him a grateful smile. "No one has ever done anything like this for me before."

"It is nothing that requires anything more." Kylo assured softly, ensuring that he was all the more sincere with his intentions. "As much as it pains me to leave you now, I do have other matters to tend to today. Take as much time in here as you'd like. It's your library now."

Rey smiled warmly as she let her gaze linger longer on his before nodding in acceptance, feeling all the more eager to dive into the pages of as many books as possible that the library had to offer. With gentle squeeze of his hands to her waist, Ren begrudgingly pulled himself away to take his leave, pausing momentarily at the chamber's doorway before purposely turning back to her. "There are some books already lying out on one of the chairs by the fireplace. I highly suggest starting with those first."

Nodding her acknowledgement to his recommendations, Rey watched him take his leave before eagerly turning to the library's proposed vicinity he had suggested. Unable to control the brewing excitement within her, she squealed with sheer joy before hurriedly sprinting towards the fireplace. As promised, she immediately found the books that Kylo had suggested.

Biting her lip to contain her fervent excitement, Rey's eyes lit up as she ran her fingers along the smooth surface of the literature's hardback texture. Feeling the indentations of the weathered, engraved lettering of each given title, she turned over each in hand to furthermore scrutinize the given volume's front and back appearance. Each piece possessed a discrete odor of their own; a confirmation of knowing how old they appeared to be along with their distressed appearances.

Roughly plopping down into the chair closest in proximity, Rey swung her legs over its plush arm with the only sound resonating throughout the small reading nook was that of the crackling fire in the fireplace. She eagerly dove into the yellowed, literary pages of the first book in hand: The Journal of the Whills. The same emblem she'd noticed on the temple's flooring had been embellished on the book's title page; the yin-yang rendering a look of an ancient force user deeply engaged in meditation. Her eyes studied the picture momentarily before she began reading the words below it:

First comes the day, then comes the night: after the darkness shines through the light. The difference, they say, is only made right by the resolving of gray through refined Jedi sight.

The scripture itself came across as being encrypted at first but it didn't take long for Rey to fully process its intended meaning, suddenly making the significance of Kylo's verbal teachings all the more prominent. Perhaps, in its own cruel way, the curse had been more of a consequential initiative for him to discover the Force's true purpose. That all those who were sentient harbored a bit of light and darkness within them, and that there was a way for both sides to coexist. Excited with her brief findings, Rey curiously proceeded to dive deeper into more literary discoveries.

The moment she finished a book it had led to one more, then two, then another. It wasn't until Rey put down her last book that she realized the sunlit hours had passed into the descended evening hours of night. Closing the book she was currently reading, Rey made her way back with it in hand to her Eastern chambers, dully noting it must've been later in the evening as the palace's interior lighting had been fully dimmed as per normal evening procedures. Eager to dive into more reading, she quickly changed into one of her newly acquired nightgowns that Maz had presented the other day, intricately fabricated from the lightest of blue Sullustan silk that flowed delicately to the floor. Its mere threadlike straps draped elegantly on her shoulders whilst complemented by a trivial cluster of jewels embellishing the neckline. Her hair hung freely at her shoulders.

Positioning herself on her stomach, she laid diagonally across the bed's coverlet, crossing her ankles together and propped on her elbows Rey pressed further into reading. No sooner than she had attuned herself to the literary findings, she finally succumbed to the rising sensation of fatigue that had begun to weigh heavily over her eyelids. Rey began to drift further into the peaceful void of darkness that initially preceded sleep before a sudden chill crept up her spine. Goosebumps spread across her arms in which further encouraged the hairs to rise upon her arms and neck followed by an eerily familiar voice that she only heard once before.

The unmistakable voice of Snoke she'd heard the day she had unwillingly entered Kylo's mind during training was callously calm and serene behind its resonated timbre.

"Young Rey," his words echoed. "Such a pleasure to finally become acquainted with the girl I've heard so much about."

Rey furrowed her brows in her sleep, unable to speak or respond in regards to what he'd meant behind his words. There was no face, or figure form, to put with the voice; only the vastness of a dark, cold void she had formerly felt in Kylo's thoughts.

"Yes," he continued with a crude chuckle, "I can feel your fear, so much anger but beneath that – raw and untamed power - so much resemblance to the likes of young Solo before his fall to darkness. How quaint. Darkness rises and light to meet it."

Another shiver crept up her spine. Her muscles trembled uncontrollably in fear as she felt the phantom touch of cold, spindly fingers graze over her cheek. She couldn't move, or shake away the unwanted feeling of the apparition within her mind.

"Rey."

That voice. The familiar low, modulated voice she had grown to love ever so ardently – Ben! But where was he? She couldn't open her eyes or shift her focus in any way from the vast amount of darkness behind her eyelids. A knowing timbre resonated through the voice of Snoke as he continued further affront.

"Well, now this is an interesting development. You care for him, don't you? Foolish child," he chuckled with malevolence. "You think you can save him from his torment? Well, Rey of Jakku -," he sneered while heavily enunciating her name, "- it will be your undoing."

"Rey!"

Rey snapped her eyes open, gasping in deep panicky breaths of air as she expected to initially awake from the nightmare alone in her chambers; only to see the welcoming sight of Kylo's mask hovering over her. Unable to hold back the sobs of anguish Rey promptly through her arms around his neck, burying her face into the crook as her body trembled feverishly against him. Her hands clenched the fabric of his tunic tightly as if letting him go would send her back into the depths of darkness.

Kylo firmly enveloped his arms around her, securing her trembling form flush against him as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Please don't go," she managed to speak between shuddered breaths.

"Shhh," he spoke soothingly, rubbing a hand reassuringly over her back. Kylo moved his free hand to behind her knees, gently lifting her from the bed as he cradled her against him. "I've got you, sweetheart." He affirmed softly, "You can stay with me tonight."

With her arms still grasped around him, Rey nodded in acknowledgment into his neck as her sobs eased into a steady cry and hiccups. Kylo carried her down the corridor to his chambers, occasionally whispering comforting words of reassurance, while remaining oblivious of the two men on looking from the dimly lit lobby.

Poe had returned from Yavin lV earlier that afternoon after a week-long visit with his mother, ensuring that her illness had been fully alleviated before his return to Chandrila. When he left initially to Yavin lV, Kylo and Rey had merely been on more civilized terms, only to return and see that the tides between them had turned significantly. Poe and Luke had been taking an evening leisure stroll through the palace when they caught sight of Kylo bridal carrying Rey towards the West Wing's vicinity.

Crossing his arms over his chest Poe quirked his brows in amazement with a satisfied grin. "It looks like things changed rather significantly while I was gone?" he implored heavily.

With a slight nod in agreement, Luke smiled subtly. "He still has a long way to go, Poe. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll get there, but it's going to take some time."

-------------------------------

It wasn't until Kylo set foot inside his chambers when Rey felt herself relax, aside from the occasional sniffs to alleviate the pressure in her nose from the prior inconsolable status of her nature. Still maintaining his hold on her legs, Kylo casually commanded the coverlet and sheets of his bed to fold back with a casual flick of his fingers. Rey sighed deeply in content as he gently placed her down on the bed. Her eyelids now heavy with exhaustion, she felt him pull the covers carefully over her. Before Kylo had the chance to walk away, Rey earnestly grabbed his wrist.

"Please stay." She pleaded her voice heavy with lethargy and longing for him to be close. "At least until I fall asleep."

For a brief moment Kylo hesitated, swallowing thickly as he allowed his mind to fully process what she was asking of him. Without even waiting for him to vocalize his answer, Rey moved over to ensure he had room for his tall frame as he climbed in next to her. As soon as she was certain he had been comfortably situated on top of the covers Rey nudged further into his side, positioning her head between the crook of his neck and his shoulder.

Apprehensive, Kylo draped his arm around her, resting his hand at her waist as he softly stroked the silk of her nightgown with his thumb, ensuring her that she was safe and that he was here. With his head propped back against the rows of pillows he watched Rey's hand move purposely across his torso to his other hand, intertwining their fingers the moment she had made contact. Out of sheer habit from the years of lacking physical contact with someone, Ren felt his muscles tense initially before falling lax. He marveled in the feeling of holding her so close, smiling subtly behind his helmet as he listened to her heavy breathing as Rey began to fall into a deep sleep.

Feeling content with her place beside him, Rey melted into him. Their bodies felt perfectly connected like two corresponding pieces to a puzzle, that perfectly fit. Closing her eyes in submission to sleep, she listened intently to the steady rhythmic sounds of his heart beat. Taking in his scent with every intake of breath she sighed heavily in content.

As he waited for her to fall asleep Kylo stared mesmerized at their fingers intertwined and absentmindedly massaged the back of her head with his other hand tenderly while he mentally played through the events in his head that led to this moment and how easily everything fell into place between them. Had he'd known being this close to her would've felt so right, he admitted that he never would've held off for so long from her persistency. Not long after he thought she'd fallen asleep he felt her shift her weight further into him; so close that he could feel the steady beat of her own heart against him before feeling her lips press to the fabric of his collar.

Kylo froze at the exceedingly sentimental gesture. While it was nothing compared to what they had experienced earlier together Rey always managed to throw him off kilter as soon as he'd become acquainted with a certain notion. A kiss had been the last thing he'd expected. He waited for her to drift further into sleep before slowly moving his legs over to the bedside. There he paused to ensure she hadn't woken before attempting to shift his body from under her grasp. When it seemed certain he'd almost succeed by going unnoticed, he heard Rey moan softly in contempt at the loss of his presence into the pillow where he had been resting against. "Don't go," she pleaded faintly, her voice heavy with fatigue.

Kylo paused, leaning over the bedside he softly grazed his hand over her cheek. "I have to," he admitted softly, gently stroking his thumb over her as he coaxed her back into sleep. "You're safe now, sweetheart. You can sleep."

Rey huffed nearly inaudibly, groaning her displeasure over his absence before finally surrendering. With a slight chuckle, Kylo retreated to the outer veranda of his chambers. Staring briefly into the vast darkness of the evening he closed his eyes in an attempt to urge himself into a meditative state; holding vigil and guard over Rey's dreams to further prevent Snoke from returning.

Rey awoke peacefully the next morning. However, she couldn't help but harbor a sense of disappointment that she had been alone in Kylo's significantly oversized bed. Her eyes roamed over the general vicinity of his sleeping quarters, frowning in acknowledgment that he was nowhere in sight. The moment felt in comparison to when she'd awoken from the fantasy of her dream lover. The only difference now - rolling to her stomach and burying her face in the pillow of where Kylo had been previously – was Ren's faint, manly smell remaining behind as evidence of his former presence.

Rey groaned in displeasure, the pillow muffling the sound as she peeled herself from the bed's warm comfort before slowly making her way through the remaining area of his chambers. She took pause abruptly as she discovered him standing tensely at the center of the balcony, legs slightly apart and hands clasped in fists behind his back Kylo remained silent without showing any acknowledgment of her presence.

Worrying her bottom lip with her incisor, Rey deliberated the idea of approaching him before deciding it was best to leave him be. Not wanting to disturb him, she attempted to back away in retreat before his voice broke the silence, causing her to abruptly halt in place.

"Don't go."

Running the tip of her tongue over her lips in uncertainty Rey considered him momentarily before joining him, crossing her arms over her chest at the slight chill of the early morning breeze. "I didn't want to disturb you."

"You won't." He countered softly, his voice seemingly distant in thought. "Your presence is soothing to me."

Their gazes turned simultaneously to meet the other. "Your force signature: its warmth and light," he continued gently. "I've never felt more at ease until I'm near you."

Rey smiled knowingly at his admission. "I know. I can feel yours too," she admitted softly, furrowing her brows as she deliberated over thoughts. "At first I was afraid of the darkness, but then that day – before I entered your thoughts – I saw there was light, too."

Kylo remained silent momentarily, considering his next set of words carefully before turning completely to face her. "You know..." he started, trailing off in thought. "I was thinking about our conversation earlier in the ballroom."

Rey quirked her brow; suddenly curious as to where he planned on going with this. "Oh?"

Kylo nodded subtly in response. "You said you didn't know how to dance. Is that true?"

"I'm a scavenger, Ben." She retorted gently with a heavy sigh in acknowledging her poor social status. "That sort of life doesn't allow much time for frivolity."

Kylo responded with a short grunt in disapproval. "Well, then we'll have to change that won't we?"

Rey eyed him skeptically. "And how do you plan on accomplishing that?"

Urging himself closer to her, Kylo gently brushed his hand over her cheek. His eyes holding her inquisitive gaze as he contemplated the possible outcomes of her reaction. "Dance with me, Rey. Tomorrow night."

Furthermore, leaning into his touch, Rey snorted at the thought of her even attempting to dance. If anything, she figured herself a fool for even entertaining the thought of such a highly coordinated skill. "With two left feet, I'm sure I'll look ridiculous. And I don't have a proper dress anyways..." she added, trailing off in begrudged disappointment.

Kylo chuckled, lowering his hand from her cheek to her waist as he brought the other up to pull her closer against him as she stood defiantly at the thought. "You'll have a proper dress," he reassured. "And all you need to do is follow my lead. Even if it were possible for you to look ridiculous I'd never allow it."

Rey studied him with uncertainty and self doubt before allowing the corners of her frown to slowly upturn into a smile. Sighing in submission she placed her hands upon his chest, leaning further into him. "Sure," she confirmed, laughing subtly at the notion she was agreeing herself to. "A dance it is then."

Pleased with her answer, Kylo's heart swelled with joy. An exchange of emotions that words couldn't replace fell over them, cupping a hand to her cheek as he marveled over how the morning sunrays played across her features at that moment. He wanted so desperately to kiss her. The fact that they were both so close in proximity to his hyperbaric chambers, the notion dawned over him that he could very well allow her to finally see him without the mask. He could finally show her, without words, how much she meant to him. With great promise, Ren decided he would show her after the dance – and finally tell her that he loved her.

Meanwhile, Poe was on his way to Kylo's chambers to be debriefed on events he'd missed while being away on leave. Bearing in mind what he had witnessed between Kylo and Rey the previous evening, he couldn't wait to press for further details over the sudden change in their relationship. Back when Kylo still went by the name of Ben Solo – before the curse was enacted – Poe had always been the one charming the girls while Ben remained reserved: always self conscious over his appearance. It was one thing seeing his friend finally take interest in a girl, it was an entirely different topic of its own to see him carrying the woman in question to his living quarters.

Just as Poe approached Ren's chambers the door started to open; not wanting to be seen he sunk back into the shadows of an intersecting corridor as he saw Rey emerge into the hallway. Unaware of Poe's presence she passed the vicinity of his hiding spot, merrily humming a harmonious tune with a favorable grin on her face as she made her way to the western stairwell.

A knowing smile played across Poe's features: he couldn't wait to goad Ren for this one. Knocking at the door to Kylo's chambers, he heard a brief, muffled acknowledgement to enter.

"Ooohhh buddy -," Poe taunted as he entered, "- you and Rey, huh? I leave for a week and come back to you taking her bridal style to your bedroom."

"It wasn't like that, Dameron," Kylo snarled in defense. "She had a nightmare."

Poe chuckled, crossing his arms in front of him as he wiggled his brows suggestively. "Oh, I bet you kept the bad dreams away," he lightheartedly mocked. "Didn't know Rey had a thing for the mask, or the gloves, but I'm impressed really."

A low growl in defiance resonated through Ren's modulator. "You're an asshole, Dameron."

Cocking his head, Poe smirked at Kylo's effortless attempt at denying the events of the previous night. "Shit, Ben, you have changed. Before she came here you would have Force-choked me for that joke."

"And I still will if you don't get out of my sight," Kylo sneered in retort.

Suppressing the frivolous grin on his face, Poe held his hands up in submission. "Alright, alright – subject matter dropped. So what else did I miss while I was gone?"

-------------------------------

Rey stood at the entrance to the massive tree before her. Hollowed and petrified to the core with its edifices overgrown with moss, filtering through its ashen bark. As she stood there, she was unaware of her initial reason why she had been led here other than it being what the specters had willed her to do. She had been in her chambers, just settling down at her bed side with a book in hand before the whispering phantoms of voices made themselves known once again. Finally feeling compelled to seek out their originating source; she was led to the colossal-in-size tree just outside the palace grounds.

Taking a deep breath in anticipation as to what she would find, Rey stepped through its hollowed-out threshold. It reeked of old nature: death and decay from life-long years of decomposition. But beneath it all there was also a promising hint of rejuvenating life. The only light of its interior was a shimmering ray of sunlight streaming through a hole in the bark, pointing directly towards an elliptical-shaped mirror hanging at the far side.

Biting her cheek, apprehensively, Rey strode over towards it. The mirror's glassy surface had taken on a frosted appearance; only reflecting that of her shadow from the radiating light deflecting from its surface. Curiosity took her over, compelling her to raise her hand and press the tips of her fingers to its delicate surface. Swallowing down the lump of unease in her throat, she spoke earnestly towards that of her shadowy reflection.

"Let me see them – my parents."

Slowly, the mirror's frosty surface began to fade into a series of vivid-in-color events. Creasing her brows in confusion her mouth fell slack; her eyes darting over the unforeseen images as the scenes shifted abruptly before her eyes. And the initial beginning was one that she'd remembered clear as day:

Rey stood as her five-year-old self at the orphanage's doorstep on Jakku. Plutt tightly gripped the crick of her arm as she begged and pleaded for her parents to stay, desperately trying to break free of his grasp as she saw the backsides of a man and woman walking away from her.

The scene abruptly shifted to a small campsite surrounded by several tents. Rey saw the unmistakable statures of her parents, both dressed in pauper's attire, sitting amongst a small crowd of ragged and unkind-looking members. Her mother's face nearly resembled Rey's, but rounder and fuller in her cheeks with long and stringy auburn-colored hair, hanging freely down her back. Her father's facial features more chiseled underneath a four o'clock shadow from the days of neglecting upkeep. Both held bottles of hard liquor within their grasp, but her father held packets that resembled what she'd only known to be spice.

One thing that remained for certain, the scenery of their location was irrevocably and undeniably familiar as the twilight evening hours descended amongst the rolling hills of sand.

Jakku.

Her parents were still on Jakku – but how? They both had told her that they were going away for business dealings among other worlds!

Rey couldn't hear the verbalization behind the reasoning for the gathering, but the other members surrounding her parents were exchanging currency of sorts with her father as he, in return, exchanged the packets held in his grasp. Only for Rey to see that the scene had visually taken an unforeseen turn for the worst. Her parents were dead: empty-handed of what they had initially held. A clear indication that led her to believe that it was a deal that had gone entirely wrong.

Rey withdrew her hand from the mirror's surface, abruptly ending the scenes before her as the glass began to take on its former frosty appearance. Her chest swelled in anguish as she no longer could hold back the tears brewing behind her eyes. Her parents had left her. They lied to her after informing their initial reasons for leaving her and, on top of it, promised that they would come back for her. Nausea rose from the pit of her stomach as she fell to her knees, tightly wrapping her arms around her torso as the sobs rose from the back of her throat.

In the midst of her sorrow, Rey felt the soothing and much needed presence of someone who knew all too well what it was like to be abandoned. It appeared to her initially that, in whatever state of despair she found herself in, Kylo was always there at her side. Swallowing down her solemn feelings of rejection Rey looked up at him with swollen eyes of tear shed. Wordlessly, Kylo crouched down in front of her, cocking his head as he waited for her to say something in regards to her findings.

"What was that?" she inquired in a shuddered gasp.

Kylo remained silent briefly as he considered her. "This is a force tree," he admitted, softly. "And the mirror only allows you to see what you need to see. Unfortunately, sometimes it's not what you've expected or wanted."

Rey sniffed. For over the past decade she had constantly told herself - reassured herself - that she had to stay on Jakku in hopes of her family returning one day. But reality finally descended over her that it had all been a lie; years of upholding fruitless aspirations had finally revealed themselves to be for not.

"I was nothing to them," she choked out. "Practically left me for spice and drinking money. How could I have been so stupidly naïve?" She asked the question, but Rey couldn't have been certain as to if it was directed at Kylo or herself.

Kylo sat silently. While his words weren't needed to express his thoughts, she could feel his concern and understanding radiating from him. Wiping the sleeve of her shirt over her eyes in a pointless attempt to dry the flooding tears, Rey attempted to get a grip on her emotions. "I've never felt so alone," she admitted quietly.

Wordlessly, Kylo cupped a hand to her cheek; gently stroking his thumb with intention of drying her tears Rey turned her sorrowful gaze towards him. "You're not alone," he reassured softly.

Rey didn't have to question his sincerity. She believed him. Placing her hand atop his on her cheek, she threaded her tiny fingers between his. "Neither are you."