Steady On.

Chapter 16.

The following day, Rey was patiently waiting for Flora and Kai to join her in the forest, where she lay out three old, torn rags to sit on, determined to meditate with them, just as Luke did for their first lesson.

After learning that they are force sensitive, she went over the pages she scribbled on while she had studied with Kylo. Frustratingly, she discovered she must have been too eager to write it all down, seeing now that her writing was a mess.

She sighed, flipping one page over, and saw three words she had wrote very clearly. "One...Force...Me." Is all it said. It confused her as to why those three words were elegantly written in the Jedi texts, the words seeming so random to Rey. She hoped one day, she would be able to figure it out.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she continued to think about the words as she placed the papers down on the dirt, and attempted a handstand, eager to try after seeing Flora do so.

Rey struggled at first, but was very quick to catch her balance, wondering if the spike of anxiety she felt wash away was due to the force taking control. Now, though, fully balanced, she timidly withdrew a hand from the ground, balancing on one. Rey grinned, and heard a distant buzz quiet the air around her.

For a moment, she naively hoped it to be a bug, maybe even a ship landing at the base, but when she lifted her chin to peer up, her view was filled with Kylo Ren's black boots, his cape swirling around them.

Rey gasped and immediately toppled over, cursing at him as dust and dirt flew around her. Rey glared up at him as he studied her.

"Why does this even shock you anymore?" He asked, his hands clasped behind his back.

Rey grunted, still frustrated. "You show up at the most random times. I hate not being in control." She said, and her anger grew as he smirked.

Instinctively, her defense arose as her foot kicked up, trying to jab him in the shin. His heavy boot whirled around her ankle and pinned her leg down to the ground, Rey winced and resisted the urge to cry out, biting her lip.

With her other leg, she swung it behind him, kicking his knee in so he was kneeling on the ground, and she hoped to have higher ground, but even kneeling he was so much bigger than her.

He glared at her, surprised that she even attempted to strike him to begin with, but Rey saw the amusement in his eyes, and unfortunately, was distracted by the look when grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her to him as his other gloved hand went around her throat.

To her shock, he did not grab roughly, or even squeeze. Kylo simply left it there, showing his dominance, letting it be known that he could end her right then if he chose to. A warning.

With wide eyes, she peered up at him, and watched as his now dark and heated gaze flickered to her throat and back up to her eyes, stopping to admire her lip that she was still biting.

With a light shove, he pushed her back and stood above her again, swallowing hard.

Still laying on the ground, Rey regained control of her breath as she leaned back on her elbows, the thought of his hungry , dark eyes still impressed on her mind.

She watched as Kylo looked away from her, readjusting his gloves, and Rey took this time to study him, as he so often did to her.

She watched as his chest heaved with every breath, recalling the time she had seen him without his shirt when the bond connected them. Quickly, she averted her gaze, and right when she was going to let her eyes hit the ground, she noticed his lightsaber gleaming against his hip, nearly hidden beneath his cape.