*artwork used does not belong to me*
Still sitting in her meditation spot, Rey fell backwards, snapping back as the connection broke. The motion hurt her head. The world felt like it was spinning.
She closed her eyes and controlled her breathing until she felt the motion ease away. She went to stand up, her side painful from where Ben had hit her. She sighed in frustration. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. While Luke hadn't taught her much, he at least wasn't, well.... Kylo Ren.
She grabbed her staff and bag off the ground and trudged up the hill to the Falcon for the night.
XXX
Ben angrily went to bed. Not only did the Force connection keep breaking while they were being physical, he had spilled to her how he had been intentionally keeping the troops off her scent.
Sure, training exercises were essential in preparing to take down the Resistance, but he needed time. Time to figure out how to get Rey on his side, to fight with him, without Hux trying to kill her in the process. It was proving to be difficult. His feelings for her overpowered his initial task at hand. She was turning him to the light more and more each day and he was unable to control it. The dark still flowed through him. He could certainly still feel it, though it was quieter than the loud rage it had been before.
He dreamt of his vision. It was still a bit blurry and vague. He couldn't tell where they were. Their sabers were both ignited. Ben lunged and Rey dove, whipping her saber at a shadowy mass of black. Blasters echoed around them as the Resistance continued to shoot.
Then he saw it clear as day- Rey was hit. She screamed out in pain and sunk to the ground.
"REY!!!!!" He shouted. He gripped his saber tightly and hacked at the shadows. He glanced back and she was losing consciousness. A shot went past, narrowly missing him. He looked back again, her linen turning red with blood.
"REY!!!!"
He woke up drenched in sweat. In a panic, he felt his bed in the dark. It was empty. He wished she was there. He needed to make sure she was okay. He calmed his breathing and sought out her light within the Force. It was still there. She was fine. It was only a dream.
He was unable to sleep after that. He took a shower. Got dressed. Paced a bit. Ordered coffee. Wrote another note for Rey. He eventually headed down to the training quarters.
Hux was there to greet him with Herrera. The bandage on his nose was smaller and the puff around his eye had gone down.
"Supreme Leader." He said to him with a curt nod and a death stare.
"Get the medical droids again." Ben said, taking off his gloves and throwing them at Hux. "I'm having a bad day. Don't make me it take it out on you instead of them."
"It's 8 in the morning." Hux sneered.
"I've been up since 5." Ben said, igniting his saber. Hux snapped his fingers at the commander troopers.
"As you command, Supreme Leader." Herrera said.
XXX
Ben winced as he walked stiffly back to his suite following the training.
"Dismissed." He angrily told the trooper standing guard at this room. He entered and headed straight for the bathroom.
He flinched as he took off his jacket and shirt, tossing them to the side. He examined the spot of burned flesh on his side, wet with blood.
He fumbled in a drawer for a clear bottle of liquid. Grabbing a towel from the counter, he emptied the contents of the bottle onto it and held the towel to his side. He grit his teeth as it soaked into his wound.
The door hissed open and shut quickly. It was Hux, carrying Millicent like a prized possession.
"Well, today didn't go as well as you planned, now did it?" Hux smirked as he observed Ben tending to his injury.
"What do you want." He asked. Hux let Millicent down to the floor.
"You and I both know QN-2610 can't even aim at the urinal, let alone successfully hit a target with a blaster."
"He got in my way." Ben said.
"You were distracted." Hux accused.
"I didn't sleep well."
"You say that all the time." Hux said, peering over at Ben's bed where Millicent was sniffing around. "Do you need a new mattress?"
"Get that fleabag off my bed." Ben ordered. Hux gasped.
"She doesn't have fleas." He defended. He went and whisked Millicent off the bed. She let out a growl.
"Does your lack of sleep have anything to do with what you came to see me about the other day?" He pried.
"Do I need to kick your ass again?" Ben snarkily asked. Hux glared at him.
"Keep the task at hand your focus. It's almost been a month since we lost track of the Resistance. They need to be found."
"Any word on Cloud City?" Ben asked.
"The bridge is keeping tabs on the City as we speak."
"Extend the search to Tattooine." Ben said, finishing wrapping his wound.
"Splendid idea, Supreme Leader."
"Is that all?" Ben asked.
"For now." Hux said. He strode off towards the door. Millicent was hanging off his shoulder, giving Ben a stank face.
"There, there, Millie. Daddy knows you don't have fleas..." He cooed to her as he left. Ben watched grumpily as the door shut after them. He looked at the clock. It was getting late. He sent for his dinner before training was to start.
XXX
Down in the training quarters, Ben stiffly paced as he waited for Rey to connect. When she did, she scrambled to stand up from her meditation position. She was holding her staff, bracing herself to be attacked.
"No staffs today." Ben told her. Her eyes narrowed at him.
"Is this a trick?" She asked cautiously.
"No."
"Is this because....." She trailed off. Ben prodded her thoughts. She was thinking of the times the connection broke when they were kissing.
"No, though I'm not too happy about it either." He told her. She blushed. She lowered her staff.
"So what am I learning today?"
"The Force."
"But I already know the Force." She said, frowning.
"There is more to it than you know." He told her. He stepped closer to her.
"You said the Force told you that you need to train with me."
"Yes."
"What else does it tell you?"
Rey thought about it, closing her eyes.
"It tells me...... It tells me where to find the best scavenger parts... It tells me which way to turn when I'm lost... It tells me....."
"Go on." He told her. He watched her as her eyes clenched in concentration.
"It tells me..... I have a destiny I need to fulfill."
"Which is?"
Rey opened her eyes.
"I don't know..... I can't get past it." She said, shaking her head. He frowned.
"What about that thing you did the other day?" He asked.
"Could you be more specific?"
"Excuse me?"
"I did a lot the other day. Do you mean when we were-"
"Get your mind out of the gutter." He interrupted her. "What you did when you broke the Force hold I had on you."
"Oh that?" She asked, like it was no big deal.
"Try it again." He said. He held up a hand. She could feel her ankles tighten.
"Try to come to me." He said, taking a step back.
Rey concentrated on the hold he had. It was weak.
"You're holding back again." She told him. He looked impressed. The hold on her ankles tightened and she could feel them almost beginning to redden and bruise.
She concentrated on the hold, sensing the Force and how it wrapped around her ankles, pulsing as it held her legs in place. She sensed the flow of it, and when she sensed it vulnerable, she snapped the connection. She took a large step forward.
"How did you do that?" He asked her.
"I sensed it until I felt a weak point. At which point, I severed the hold."
Ben thought for a moment.
"Think about the Force again. Think about your destiny." He told her. She closed her eyes again.
"Now what." Rey asked.
"Do the same thing that you did just now. Except in your mind. When you can't get past the message, find the weak point."
Rey let out a long breath. She repeated the process of seeking out the Force. She ran through all the different paths the Force wanted her to focus on until she felt a heaviness within her.
"Focus." Ben whispered.
'What are you trying to tell me?' She asked it. The feeling almost danced away from her. She followed its sense, her fingers twitching as she closed in on it.
"I've got it." She told Ben, eyes still closed. Rey sought out its weak point.
"Now break it." He told her.
She pulled with her mind and with her heart.
A vision flooded her eyes. Rey and Ben were caught back to back, surrounded by a mass of shadows. Ben was angry. Rey felt threatened. She looked over at him. He looked back. He nodded as if to assure her she was ready for it. Ready to complete her destiny. Ready to fight with him. She could sense her friends amongst the shadows. They were going into battle with the Resistance.
She stumbled back as she opened her eyes, Ben catching her arm to hold her upright.
"What did you see?" He asked. She looked up at him. She was confused. And most of all, sad.
"I.... I saw what you've seen." She whispered. "What you've been telling me all along."
She felt like she was going to be sick.
"I saw us fighting with the Resistance." She said. "I joined you." she said softly, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Ben stepped forward and wiping the tear from her face.
"Please don't cry." He told her, pulling her close to him. He lowered his head and let his forehead rest against her head. She trembled as tears still continued to fall.
"Oh, Ben." She said, wrapping her arms around him for comfort. He flinched and let out a hiss of pain.
"What? What's wrong?" She asked, quickly stepping back.
"It's nothing." He said. She sniffled back her tears.
"You're hurt." She said. Ben grumbled.
"I thought I told you not to fight." She scolded. "Let me see it."
"I wasn't fighting." He said through gritted teeth as he lifted his shirt for her to see his wrapped wound. "This was from training."
"Lesson two." She said. Ben smirked.
"Lesson two." He repeated. She gingerly touched the gauze. He flinched again.
"That hurt." He grunted.
"You need to get this dressed properly." She told him, wiping at her face. "Where's your room?"
"What?" Ben asked, pulling his shirt back down. "I can't just take you there. Someone is going to see you."
"Are you sure about that? I'm not really here, remember?"
"Then how can we--"
"Like you said, there is more to the Force than we know. Just go with it. That's what I've been doing this entire time."
Ben narrowed his eyes at her.
"I thought I was the teacher here."
"How about if anyone does see me, you just kill them." Rey said, shrugging. "You'd like that, right?"
"I think you're hanging around me too much." He told her.
"Is that a bad thing?" She asked. Bens lip twitched with a small smile.
"No. No it's not."