To Place Upon His Brow

Part 1: The Vision

Ben wrapped his arms tighter around Rey, and pulled her closer into his chest. Rey sighed into his skin, a tingle racing down his spine. Rey traced the scar on his side from Chewy’s bowcaster.

“Are you still in med bay?” Rey asked.

Kylo sighed, “Of course. I guess the bowcaster did a lot of damage, and if I move too much, it'll rip open, and reverse everything. They asked if I wanted a skin-graph for my face, but I refused. I won't have any other skin on my face besides what I already have there. Plus, I want the scar. It's a reminder. It reminds me of you,” Kylo whispered, petting her hair.

“I'm sorry, Ben,” Rey whispered back.

Kylo tensed, and pushed Rey away so he can look in her eyes, “That's not my name anymore, Scavenger,” he hissed, trying to sound intimidating, but it didn't work on Rey. She heard every bit of softness in his voice.

A large boulder crashes onto the ground, shattering to pieces sending shrapnel into anything within a 50 foot radius, and that included the one who dropped it.

“Concentrate, Rey,” Luke barks at his young apprentice.

Rey starts pulling small pieces of stone from her bare arms that she used to block her face.

“Yes master” Rey mumbled.

She couldn't concentrate though, her mind was wandering elsewhere, mostly to the one place she dreaded thinking about, the one person, but she couldn’t help herself. Kylo’s presence brought her solace. She felt.. comfort? A murderer brought her comfort, and she was no longer in denial, she just couldn't or wouldn't tell Luke. She was remembering her last dream she shared with Kylo. She hadn’t slept in days. When Kylo didn't sleep, neither did she, but when they did sleep, Rey could feel his warm arms embracing her, and smell his scent as if he was there. That’s how she had been sleeping for the past few months on Ahch-To, in the presence of Kylo Ren. He sent away nightmares and brought peaceful sleep. She knew something was wrong, because she hadn’t been able to sleep in days. Her concentration was off, and it didn't help that today was the first sunny day in weeks on the dreary rainy island in some ocean on the water planet of Ahch-To.
The moss on the rocks was steaming in the heat and sunlight, and it was beaming down on Rey, almost sun burning the skin on her back that has become pale since she left her previous home of Jakku.

Rey sits, trying to absorb all the sunlight she can, and begins again. A boulder on the cliff in front of her starts to shake, and then lift. She moves it so that it's levitating above her and luke. She concentrates, and slowly lowers it to the ground.

“Much better, padawan. That is enough for today. You are free to do what you please”, Luke says, a smile crinkling the skin around his eyes.

Rey jumps to her feet, and immediately starts running down the mountain side, stripping her top layers of clothes. She makes onto the pebble beach, and slows as she reaches the water. She never learned to swim on the desert planet of Jakku, and she was too embarrassed to ask Master Luke to teach her. She had grown close to the cranky hermit, but still feared his disapproval.

She waded ankle deep into the cool water, and sat down. The cool water lapped at her waist, bringing goosebumps to her arms and sent shivers down her back. She opened her mind, and reached for the force, while still keeping a protective barrier around the outskirts of her mind. Ever since she learned of the force bond with Kylo Ren, she has kept her walls guarded.

She had felt his rage, his anger, she knew it was not her own, and yet, she fed off of it, needed it, she used it while sparring with Luke, or when she had to meditate. It especially helped during her battle meditation, which Luke said was a rare gift, and the most likely reason that she was able to defeat Kylo Ren on Starkiller Base. She trained often with her particular skill, and knew that Kylo knew of it. It was hard to block him out, but of she concentrated enough, and put up big enough walls, Kylo couldn’t read her thoughts so well, and couldn’t see through her eyes. She could see visions of his sometimes, not quite dreams, just little snippits of his life. He was mostly in the med-bay, angry that he had to stay still. The rest were indeed dreams. She knew when it was his dream they were sharing if she didn't recognize a place, and her dream when Kylo teased her about the surroundings.