Kylo Ren was patting Rey... like a pet... awkwardly. She slightly froze. Heat rushed her cheeks as she realized what she'd just done. She wasn't just hugging Ren, she was clinging to him like she was back on Jakku and he was the last drop of water to exist on the whole desolate planet. She carefully pulled back from his chest and opened her mouth to apologize but upon catching the discomfort on his face, she paused.

Her eyes took him in one part at a time. Her unannounced hug left him leaning back while she awkwardly pawed at him. He must have thought she'd lost her mind and maybe she had, but truthfully, looking at him now in all of his awkward glory, she regretted nothing. Maybe hugs and warm feelings was all the Lord of Mood swings needed to break him down.

He was staring at her with wide curious eyes. His hands were at his sides with his arms held slightly away from his body. She could see the tension he carried in them but he refrained from balling his fists. She could tell he wanted to. His eyes searched her astounded face some what suspiciously. Rey expected him to dive into her mind to find out what had possessed her to take such a strange action towards him but to her surprise, he didn't.

Shifting his feet, he pulled at his armor. He flattened the pleats along his arms, which were already tidy. He smoothed over his outer tunic which was already laying nearly wrinkle free against his body and his fingers nervously worked at straightening his belt over the long saber burn across his torso and the two singed blaster marks beneath that. Considering everything that poor armor had been through today, he was rather well put together. By the time she got the full picture of the frazzled male, she was glowing with amusement at the normally brooding Dark Sider.

His nerves amused her and she found herself recalling the first time he'd reacted like this; He'd caught a glimpse at her thigh a couple of nights ago and he practically fell out of her head. The sight left him very on edge but in a nervous way, an insecure way. Like a school boy who had little knowledge about how to handle the subject matter before him. She didn't notice the open mouthed smile creeping over her face until he cleared his throat. Her eyes shot back up to his and he looked menacing. She snorted. Her hand fell over her mouth while she laughed at him. His brows pulled in confusion and his shoulders pulled back while he examined her.

"I'm sorry... I.." She giggled like a child.

His head nodded up and down but there was no amusement in his face. "Yes, I can see how distraught you are by your blatant display of amusement over something I'm clearly missing." He grumbled like an old man.

She bent at the waist, her laughter becoming painful to contain as she watched him. He scowled down at her now, still missing what she found humorous. His eyes were narrowed on her. He watched every tug of her mouth and the dimples that accompanied them. He watched her eyes glow with the light of that humor and every time a snort escaped her throat he felt his annoyance at her outburst lesson. His hand ran through his dark hair and his mouth relaxed.

His hand lifting to his head gave her pause. At first she wasn't sure what he was doing then she was mesmerized. She watched his long fingers run through his thick head of hair and she straightened herself like he'd thrown water on her. She fought a chuckle back as her lungs flexed and retracted to recover from the strenuous bout of laughter that had come over her. His lips pursed while she stared at him. Her lips twitched from random muscle spasms caused by the overwhelming laughter she was now fighting.

"Are you quite done?" He huffed.

She let out another unintentional snort and her hand flew over her mouth. Her eyes were leaking at the corners and she had to suck in a sharp breath to calm the spasms rippling through her diaphragm. Her head slightly tilted and her eyes locked onto his lips. For a brief second she thought just for a moment, that she saw the corner of his mouth curve. Her eyes flickered up to his and sure enough, there was just a hint of amusement in his curious brown orbs.

"Care to share what you found so amusing scavenger?" She jumped and her face blanked when he suddenly spoke through their bond.

She swallowed as his voice reverberated through her mind. This was the clearest moment she'd mentally had since the memories started barreling through her head. His voice dominated the space. It was deep and smooth and it gave her chills. She shook her head still watching the hand that had roamed through his hair as it fell to his side. His head tilted while he watched her. His eyes followed hers and he stood in bewilderment with his brows furrowed. There was something strange going through her head but he couldn't for the life of him fathom what it was. He could peek but that may ruin the moment and it would certainly take all of the fun out of it. He knew one thing though. He enjoyed the sight of her smile and that shocked him as much as it worried him.

If the traitor she had so annoyingly pet named Finn was here, Ren's knights wouldn't be far behind and that meant he wouldn't be stuck here to much longer. He had to clear his head of these thoughts before he saw his Master next. The Supreme Leader couldn't outright read his thoughts but he could glance into his mind. If his Master were able to recover the events of this past day... no... Kylo had to shut the sound of her laughter out of his mind. He had to shut her smile and the little dimples that accompanied either side of her cheeks when she did so, out of his mind. He had to shut out what'd happened when he was forced to decide between her and his Darkness. He couldn't have these things running freely through his mind or there would be literal hell to pay.

Rey watched as his features began to darken. His face shifted with his eyes. He put some kind of mental mask on, some kind of shield for some reason that she didn't want to inquire about while Luke watched. She wasn't use to having to deal with many people back on Jakku, but something was telling her not to inquire about the sudden change in him with their current company which in turn brought her back to the Jedi she still needed to face.

She glanced over at Luke. He looked weary. His normally blue eyes were dull and the white around the iris was red with strain or lack of sleep, maybe both. His aura was weak which surprised Rey with all of the power that was just floating around the area a short while ago. He looked like he hadn't taken care of his hair in a few days and his beard was getting scraggly. Rey sighed.

Kylo watched the stubborn girl inches away from him. She was aware of the uncertainty in Luke's scared, tired eyes. She wanted to fix him as badly as she wanted to fix everything that crossed her path in need of repair. For some reason, even as she struggled with her own emotional pain and insecurities, she was always so concerned about those around her and this situation was no different. This woman never ceased to amaze him. She's a bad influence. A danger to my Darkness. He thought. He could feel her light pulling him into it's endless vortex and as of right now... he did nothing to stop it. The next time he saw him, his Master was going to fry him if he caught even an inkling of his weakness for this girl.

Ren took a quiet step in her direction. He was careful to keep himself out of her line of sight, he didn't want her getting the wrong idea about this situation and if she saw his face now, she undoubtedly would. His chin tilted slightly and his hand rose until it was inches from her back. Her eyes fluttered when his Force crept closer to her but the humming didn't take her away from the moment she was in while she stared at her former teacher with a hopeful longing. Ren rolled his eyes and gave her a gentle push forward before she got cold feet and tried to hide behind him, which now that he was thinking about it, didn't sound so bad.

"Well... go to him!" He said impatiently as though he were agitated with her rather then being encouraging or supportive. When she hesitated Ren gave her a light shove in Skywalker's direction and her feet didn't stop once they lifted to steady herself. She stepped into his welcoming arms and he held her in his embrace until his eyes closed.

"I'm so sorry..." He started.

She shook her head at the old fool. "You did what you thought was best." She squeezed him and he remembered the way her little arms use to feel around him. "You did what any good parent would do for their child... you gave me the best chance you could." Her words broke him down and cracked him open until he was raw.

Tears welled in his eye and despite all of his power, he couldn't hold a single one back. Heavy rolling tears streamed down his face. Guilt and anger and remorse fell from his eyes. His chest heaved while he struggled to breath in her arms. He remembered the last time he cried. It was the day he his nephew killed his best friend the time before that, was when he walked away from Kira.

Kylo could feel how happy it made her when Luke's arms wrapped around her. Hell, she practically glowed. His heart sank. He swallowed a very painful lump in his throat and he shifted uncomfortably. The second she was out of his reach his doubt crept in and his darkness started polluting the light that she'd left in him.

What if your bond isn't strong enough? She will leave you. She will never choose a Monster! He was loosing himself one evil thought at a time.

Something powerful pulled at Rey's insides. She felt it like a weight dragging her down. Rey broke free of Luke's arms and turned to Ren. She knew something wasn't right and she knew it was coming from him. She felt an intense pain constricting around her heart like thorns. She felt waves of nausea rising in her stomach and she winced at the mixture of emotions coming through his end of their bond.

Luke was recovering behind her while she turned her concern towards his nephew. He could feel a powerful shift in the Force around them and it was obvious that it came from Ren. Luke's heart ached for his lost nephew. He was so damaged. The Darkness was buried so deep in him that when Luke viewed him through the Force he could see it running through his veins. It was gathering in his chest, constricting his heart, poisoning his very core and permeating throughout. It secreted from his skin to waft in the air around him as though it were a harmless feather floating gently around his form but it was a toxin and it would effect all life around it if he couldn't control it.

Luke couldn't help but worry about wether Rey would be able to resist the infection that was Kylo Ren's Darkness but he wouldn't intervene from here out either. He may be harmful but her light was just as potent to him. She was slowly changing him and he didn't seem to realize it yet and if he did, he didn't seem to care.

"Ren? What is it? What's wrong?" Rey's brows pulled with worry for him.

She wiped her damp eyes with the back of her hand before she took a step towards him. She could feel the sudden weight of his pain through their bond but she didn't need to. Her eyes met with his and there was so much hurt and torment in them that she had to fight the urge look away. His face was sullen and his mouth pulled together tightly in a hard line. Anger darkened his beautiful features and the depth of his brood caused his forehead and brows to shadow over his already deep brown eyes. She didn't know what she missed but he definitely wasn't going to answer her in front of Luke.

"Ren?" She tried through their bond.

His response was instant and unexpected. He suddenly shut down, causing her to mentally recoil as he closed everything off. Rey couldn't barely feel him anymore. Their Force bond had been open with very little restrictions since she was hanging from the cliff by his wrist and now it was sealed off tight. This must be how he felt after he discovered their connection and she shut him out. She couldn't imagine how he survived for all of that time. To have this loss... this emptiness after being so whole... for all those months. She may as well have tortured him.

Her chest hurt and she felt like she couldn't breath. She felt like half of her was missing. She ached from the loss of him. She knew he was there somewhere, she could feel him like a soft hum in the back of her mind but that was it. There were no snide remarks, no floating thoughts between them and other then his body language she had no way of telling what he was feeling. His emotions were gone. It was just her, alone in a place that now felt to massive for just herself.

Rey watched Ren's jaw lock. His nostrils flared and his eyes burned between her and his uncle. She didn't understand, he was the one who pushed her to him... now he was what, angry with them?

Kylo couldn't feel her joy through his line anymore. He'd rather cut himself off completely then feel how much she loved his uncle. It only validated the whispering doubt in his head. He told himself that his insecurities were only from the Darkness that fueled them. He only had the ideas in his head because that darkness was there and it was pissed that she wasn't with him right now.

Only with you, she's your apprentice now, she's your bond mate, she doesn't need to be with anyone else. Why does she need his approval, his affection or acceptance? His thoughts seethed with jealousy and he could feel it poisoning the way he saw Skywalker, not that he saw him as anything other then a pathetic hermit anyway.

What reason could Rey possibly have to want his acceptance? He betrayed her, abandoned her, constantly lied to her. His head swam with disbelief. She'd happily gushed in his arms like he was deserving of her affection. He wasn't good enough to breath the same air as her, yet her light glowed exuberantly for him. It made Ren feel sick.

She should only glow for us! His dark fueled thoughts taunted him. His agitation grew and his over bearing alpha didn't help, it demanded he take action and it left Ren squeezing his fists at his sides to keep control over himself. It's just Luke, it's not like it's that traitor or the pilot. He really didn't like the pilot. The leather of his gloves groaned while he squeezed his anger out in his palms.

Ren had watched her aura grow in the arms of the Jedi that took her from him once already and he wondered if the theif would try to take her again. He couldn't help but doubt that she would choose to stay by his side. He had nothing to offer her but darkness and Kylo was team dark all the way, at least until he had what he needed from it, but he was still far off from that goal.

He had many reasons for staying on the Darkside but he couldn't find one reason that she would ever choose to join, let alone stay. The little of the Light left inside of him made his stomach churn at the idea of promoting the torment that he found himself living with daily but his Darkness could give a damn less. It wanted her no matter what. It wanted her power, her mind, her will, hell even her body... especially her body. He found that his lust was becoming just as powerful of a motivator as anger and he obviously preferred it more. She fueled his passion and that was a very good thing for a Dark sider. He also recently discovered that he is definitely the jealous type, possibly even a little possessive and right now, even though it was just Luke... he was feeling pretty kriffing jealous.

He needed some space before he made a stupid decision and started tearing the place up. He started down the path that led to the wreckage of his shuttle. It wasn't a far hike but it was enough space to get away from the shit storm that would other wise take place if he stayed and watched her jubilance pouring off of her in waves as she reunited with the man who stole her life from her in the first place. Maker, he hadn't anticipated her reaction to go to this degree. He hadn't expected her to warm to him so quickly. He should have known, she was so pure, so forgiving... too forgiving!

Rey started after him when Luke lightly grabbed her arm. "Maybe it would be best to give him some space." He politely suggested.

Rey turned back to Luke and pulled her arm from his loose grip. "I think almost fifteen years worth of space is plenty... don't you?" She asked him with an accusatory tone.

Luke's eyes softened. They were heavy with the weight of his sins and she didn't mean to be so callous but no matter how happy she was to see him again, she was still very upset with him. "Kira..." He started but she quickly cut him off.

"That's not my name... maybe a long time ago but I'm not that girl anymore." She found herself very protective of her current identity. She wouldn't be lost to the past, not again. She swore to never live in the past from this day forward.

"No, of course not but Rey, he's... he is dangerous." Luke tried his best not to treat her like the child he'd been protecting in the wrong way all of her life but it was a tough habit to break.

She shook her head and answered him with an unshakable certainly in her voice. "Not to me he isn't." She turned from him again but he called out to her just as quickly as she'd answered him.

"Rey, he's not that boy anymore!" He reminded her only trying to keep her safe. She turned and stormed back over to him. "But we can..."

"And who's fault is that?" Her words were cold when they left her mouth but they were the truth and she wouldn't lie to him to protect him from what he'd done to himself along time ago. She marched back up to him and she straightened but he didn't recoil or back peddle as he looked like he might. "You had nearly eight months to tell me the truth... you could have told me everything and we could have been ready for him now! ...But you didn't... why?" The air left her lungs when she realized how much she loved this man, this lost Jedi whom she'd only just gotten back.

She knew her old Master was in there somewhere behind the coward he'd become. He was so terrified that he was going to cause more damage to those around him that he made lol of the wrong decisions. He was just as confused and misplaced as Ben, but both were in there, somewhere, hidden under the surface. His betrayal hurt more knowing how much she still loved him. It also hurt that she didn't know him anymore but that was his fault. Rey was inches from his face and her anger radiated off of her skin as she realized the magnitude of his past choices and what they'd cost her and Ben in the aftermath. Rey had already decided to forgive him over his past mistakes, she understood what he'd been trying to do, mostly, but his decisions now... he had to face those and he'd lied to her from the moment she stepped foot on this Island.

Luke's gaze lowered to the ground while he spoke. "Many reasons... I'll spare you the most obvious because I think now you know I will always do what I think is best to protect you. I guess the truth is... I am as weak and scared now as I was then." He admitted through heated cheeks. "I thought... I thought it would be you or him. I made my choice but before I could train you to..." He choked on his next words.

Her eyes narrowed. It was like the curtain that she'd kept over her eyes pulled open. "To what?" She furiously asked but she knew. She suddenly knew what he was looking for with all of his tests. How could I have been so blind, so trusting? She was disgusted with herself. She shook her head as he continued.

"Rey I thought it would come down to only one of you surviving, I needed to make sure you wouldn't turn Dark and then I needed to make sure you would be the one to survive." He pleaded with her. He reached out to her and she jumped back.

"You weren't going to teach me to survive. You were going to teach me to kill him. You were going to train me kill your nephew..."

She was seething with outrage and hurt. She did what came natural to her. She shut down, locked herself up tight and turned to anger. It was her mental survival on the line and she wouldn't break, not after all those years alone protecting herself. She was supposed to be safe here, with Luke but she clearly wasn't. Maybe she belonged alone, she was better off. It was safer that way.

... But Ben.... A voice in her head reminded her. He's not Ben, he's Kylo Ren. She retorted against her own thoughts. Ren was just someone else who would use her! Some one who would hurt her.

Luke was going to use her. He was going to train her to kill his own blood... it didn't matter how much she hated or didn't hate Ren, Luke Skywalker was going to make her believe she had no choice but to kill him and then he was going to sit back and let her do it. He was going to forge her into a weapon to kill her bond mate with. She paused in her thoughts, momentarily stunned by that term. It was an unfamiliar and new way to describe what they had, but it felt accurate. Maybe it had been something Ren had said before. She thought, dismissing the direction her mind wandered in. As long as one of them were alive, Kylo Ren was her other half and Luke was trying to destroy that. That recognition suddenly made her feel protective of him. She ignored the concern she had for herself and she focused on him. Her bond demanded that she protect him. It was as urgent as her need to breath. She felt him there, in the back of her mind. That soft hum was somehow comforting her but that's all she had. As far as she knew, he was still gone. His end was quiet.

If this is what it felt like to be shut off from him... she couldn't imagine what it would feel like to have him severed through death. Could she mentally survive that? With so little known about this type of bond... could she physically? She realized then that his death wasn't an option. They had to find another way to break the bond, there had to be some other way or they had to bring Ben back. There were no other options. She couldn't live tied to Kylo Ren and she couldn't live without him while they were still connected.

"Rey?" Luke tried.

She was unresponsive. Her feet were planted to the ground and she was blank. Her face slacked and her eyes looked off somewhere into the distance. He stepped closer to her, shielding himself with his Force as he neared the heat that was surrounding her. She was radiating like a super nova. Her power encased her protectively as he neared and he decided it best to keep some space between them. Luke stepped back from the licking flames that were all but reaching out for him. There was a twinge of Darkness in her but she was mostly Light side power. What ever she was going through it wasn't caused by Darkness. Luke could swear that this was Dark side anger but her light blazing round her was clear evidence that it wasn't. He was beginning to think he knew nothing about the Force at all.

"Rey, please... " He reached for her with his voice and she physically pulled away as though she just came back from somewhere far away and the sound of his voice hurt her ears.

"I can't let you hurt him!" Her voice boomed through the space around them and he thought he felt the ground shaking under foot. She shook her head disapprovingly. Her eyes came back into focus and they narrowed on Luke Skywalker. "What happened to you Jedi?" She began moving forward as she spoke. "How can you see the light in Darth Vader, but not your own nephew?" Her face scrunched with disgust for him. How could he even call himself a Jedi? Rey had waited her whole life for a family and Luke Skywalker was training young gullible, Force sensitives to finish off his bloodline.

Luke stepped forward but he felt something pushing him back. His feet slid against the earth underfoot and he leaned forward to keep his balance. His arms shielded his eyes from the brightness of her luminous Light. As she continued to approach him, something beyond her Light moved in the background. It was dark and it was coming right for her. Wisping shadows gathered in a thick smoky mass of purple and gold just out of reach of her. Luke fought against her Force in an attempt to reach her before it did but he couldn't sink his feet into the ground enough to gain traction while her Force repelled him. The dark mass was larger then her and somehow it withstood her light. It pushed through the burning glow without falter.

His eyes widened with worry for her. "Rey!" He was desperately trying to warn her but she responded defensively to him. She didn't even seem to notice the danger at her back. A Force pulse emitted from her and Luke tumbled back to his bottom. He sat on his backside with his palms pressing in the dirt to hold himself from rolling backwards from the wave of repulsion coming off of her. He almost couldn't see what was happening because she was so bright. She turned when she felt the Darkness at her back, just as it's shadow cast over her. It stepped into her and it swallowed her up. She was a bright orb in the dark mass and the two collided. Something inside of the Darkness reached for her with a long arm and she did nothing to stop it. The shadowy fingers lingered over her face and her head tilted back as if to greet them, then on a blinding eruption that left her surrounded by the Darkness, she collapsed.

Luke had to shut his eyes against the burn of the two Forces meeting in the middle. It was an explosion of Light and Dark and they emitted an almost white, no grey light that seared his eyes. They were like staring into an eclipsing sun just before it died. He saw bright red behind his closed lids and there were random white and black spots popping up against the color that was burned into his retinas. He blinked and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the world around him. When his vision cleared he couldn't believe his eyes. Kylo Ren was on his knees and Rey was buckled forward against him. Her head hung over his shoulder and her chest pressed to his. His arms were around her and he was struggling to breath.

Luke had no words, but Ren did. He lifted her over his shoulder and climbed to his feet through strained breaths. His white teeth were locked together and his lips were curled back in a snarl. He stared furiously at his uncle.

"Five minutes... I'm gone... for five minutes." His chest heaved forward while he choked on air that seemed to be suffocating him.

He almost lost his balance, nearly falling forward. He took a couple of steps in the direction he was stumbling towards to catch himself. He shook his head leveling himself before he looked back over at his uncle. He opened his mouth to speak but he found himself coughing on the very air he was trying to suck in. He was gargling through his breathing. Finally with the help of a violent heave of air from his lungs, he spit up a dark liquid. There was a metallic taste in his mouth that he was all to familiar with. His eyes opened and closed against the dizziness in his head. He was stumbling forward when Luke rushed to his side. He looked up at the Jedi with a foggy anger in his glossy eyes. Even while he swayed his hand lifted from the back of her thigh to shoo his uncle away.

"You can't... play nice... for..." He was huffing. His lungs were constricting. His heart hurt from pumping so furiously. He could hear it in his ears but not much else. He heaved Rey up higher over his shoulder. "Five... minuets." He finished through strangled breaths before falling to his knees.

He shook his head again. Despite his resolve his eyes blacked over and he fell backwards under her weight. Luke rushed for her head, catching it as they went down. He guided her upper half to the ground. She was splayed across Ren and they both seemed to be unconscious. Luke reached out for Rey's mind first. He was relieved to find her unharmed. Her mind was locked down under Ren's and he wasn't currently home to bring her back. He would have assumed she would wake once Ren himself was unconscious but this didn't seem to be the case. Perhaps she was exhausted.

His eyes flicked over to his nephew and Luke found himself suddenly panicking. There was a dark red rope of thick fluid along Ren's lower jaw. Blood...

          *Hey readers, I hope you're enjoying the read! Please give it a ⭐️ if you are and comment, comment, comment! I love it 😍 *
          -DarkGuardian-