Rey isn't aware of what time of the night it is, only that her dreams seem to fade and her mind is distracted. She suddenly opens her eyes and looks around the empty Falcon from where she lies on one of the beds. It's silent as death, and only the occasional metallic creak or sound from outside disturb that silence.

It's dark in here but she has always had remarkably good vision despite that. She can see barely a cool blue glow that comes from the cockpit, suggesting very very early morning. But... what woke her?

She sits up in a flash as if she feels someone in the room.

Chewy?

No...

Suddenly this feeling is making her uneasy and she stands up, looking around in the dark corners and shadows... as if prepared to see a ghost.

Eerie energy holds the air still as she stands hesitant and walks further into the room.

Now... now she's sure there are eyes on her.

She turns abruptly to see Kylo Ren himself standing there behind her seemingly caught off guard.

But her reaction is panic and she stumbles, her eyes wide as she doesn't know how to react, shock taking her.

She suddenly gets a flashback to the forest of Starkiller, when she left him there with that nasty gash down his face. Now it's only a scar, healing faster than a non-Force-user would heal. But his eyes are the same; cold and unfeeling. And he no longer wears the outer floor length vest that he did before. He is pale and looks tired, the loss of the battle not taking well with Snoke. No doubt he's been whipped a bit and given more to do in order to make up for the loss. She was almost expecting Snoke to banish him after it. But of course that would be foolish since he's really the only reason the First Order has any power.

Little does she know it's not only the loss that has him sleepless. His father's death, his mother's call, his uncertainty of his position in the Order, the rocky terrain they are on in this war, and... this girl that won't leave his thoughts. All of it an internal torment to him.

He seems just as shocked and confused as she does but not wanting to ask herself why, her first reflex kicks in and she Force pulls her blaster to her hand, instantly firing it at his heart.

He flinches as if expecting it to hit him, his hand at his heart after his feet had stumbled back just barely.

Rey's eyebrows furrow and she looks behind her when Chewbacca comes into the room sleepily wondering what is happening. She faces ahead again but... Ren is gone. And her expression becomes even more puzzled. The only thing left here is the plasma mark on the wall where she shot...through him...?

But... he was here. Plain as day. Is she losing her mind?

Conflicted, she runs to the ramp and down it after opening the hatch of the Falcon. Her boots hit dirt as she jogs out into the open, the deep blue sky complimenting the water underneath it as the fresh ocean breeze chills the girl's skin. She looks around to see nothing but the view, the grass, and the Porgs...

Walking a bit further out as if headed towards the temple, she hesitates and... that feeling of eyes on her comes back.

Knowing it's from behind she turns and sees him again there before her. And her blood boils. She brings her saber to her hand and ignites it, fuming with returning hatred as she looks at the man who killed Han and almost killed Finn.

"How did you find me?!" she demands with rage, not understanding how he could possibly be here and unsure if he's only a projection or maybe a dream. But she won't take that chance.

His frown is unmistakable as he shakes his head slightly, eyes glued to hers. "I didn't..." he says with confusion. He seems to remain more calm as he tries to understand why he is able to see her, standing there in his war room of his Star Destroyer. He's aware she's only a phantom. But why? Why is he seeing her clearly and why is she seeing him? Does she think he's on the island with her?

Rey is just as puzzled and since he's reflecting the same attitude, she realizes that neither of them caused this and for some reason, they can see each other like holograms. Except this feels... much more real.

This is a Force connection.

Rey hesitates as she looks him up and down, as if searching for a way to determine he's not in front of her. "...You're not here..." she says in almost a questioning way, too confused.

"Why is the Force connecting us—?" he asks with more of a harsh tone than before.

"You tell me!" she snaps back, anger in every fiber of her being. She does not want to see him.

Her words don't affect him. Instead he stays indifferent and squints a little, almost tilting his head to the side when he speaks. "You haven't changed at all. You look just as you did that night on Starkiller... so full of rage, passion... and untapped power. You had such potential," he says calmly, in that menacing way like when he spoke to her in the interrogation room.

"Potential for what, exactly?" she spats. "To be like you? To destroy entire planets and kill trillions for the sake of peace? To murder my own father in cold blood—?!"

"I did what I had to do for the sake of the galaxy—"

"You did it because Snoke told you to do it! Don't you understand?! You're his puppet! You walk around doing his dirty work for what? The feeling of false power? Do you really think it was your destiny to be a slave to a maniacal Sith Lord?!"

"You wouldn't understand devotion. How could you? Your parents left you when you were a child. Abandoned you like you were nothing. And you've been running from responsibility ever since."

"Running?! I've been fighting this war ever since I knew I had a part to play in it! I've found Skywalker and I've been training to end it all and I will!" she fumes. "You have no idea what's coming for you."

"You might want to relax, scavenger. Anger isn't the way of the Jedi," he mocks her with his cold stare, unfeeling towards her. After all, Kylo Ren wasn't the one who cared for her...

That makes her even more angry. Is this guy even alive? Or is he merely a shell full of pure evil?

"Anger is inevitable! It's what you do with that anger that matters."

"Those are Luke's words," he says with almost a snarl, spite in his tone.

"That's right! Luke who you left here to die after you killed all of the other students and ran with your knights like a coward to form the First Order! You betrayed everyone who would have done anything for you, as if they were nothing! People who spent their lives for you to only watch you break their hearts or kill them—!"

"They gave everything for me? Is that so? Did Luke tell you what happened?"

That makes her eyebrows furrow a bit when he says this, not expecting him to say it but also wondering what he means.

He notices her hesitation and he smirks with almost a small snicker escaping his lips. "I knew he wouldn't tell you. Perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to believe everything your precious master tells you. We are not good versus bad, Rey. We are all on a spectrum of both. My parents left me like they left you. I took my destiny upon myself. I knew what I had to be to save the galaxy; to calm the chaos that was the New Republic. They were a bunch of rebels and nothing more. The galaxy must have balance. And that's what I'll bring for the good of it, whatever the cost..." he says, not caring to hide his motives. He thinks there is nothing wrong with them, of course. But acting on nothing except the strive for perfection and no passion for the love and peace in the galaxy, will create something more terrifying than chaos; emotionless conformity. That is something that Kylo Ren doesn't understand.

Rey is lost for words. She didn't consider his reasons before, not knowing them of course. But she understands why that would drive someone to madness and how impressionable his mind must have been to evil. Snoke has convinced him that what he is doing is the right and only way he has. No choice. Only fate. And as he grew he developed crooked morals on what was good and what was wrong. How could he not? Being in a place of such corruption and darkness, at that point there was no turning back. But could there still be some of Ben left in this monster?

Of course she is only thinking about what he said when he mentioned something Luke did... What information did Luke keep from her? Or is Ren toying with her? He's done many terrible things but Rey has yet to hear a white lie from his mouth. So could he be telling the truth?

"Rey?" Luke's voice cuts her thoughts and she turns her head to see him standing on the path looking at her oddly, perhaps thinking she was sleep walking.

She only glances for a moment before looking back at...

He's gone.

She lowers her gaze in deep contemplation of the moment she just experienced with the villain she's set out to defeat...

Should she tell Luke?

Maybe.

But let's get through the morning lesson first.