Bonded || Kylo Ren

Episode V: Awakened Souls

The Last Jedi

"he's more myself than I am, whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." - Emily Bronte

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"I should have felt trapped or panicked. But I didn't. This didn't go on forever, I knew it was leading somewhere. And that, at the end, it would show me what I came to see. I thought I'd find answers here. I was wrong." She paused, feeling a numbness overtake her. She felt the words on the tip of her tongue, but she was afraid of what he would think of her. "I've never felt so alone."

"You're not alone," he told her gently. It was almost too easy for him to reassure her.

"Neither are you," she reminded him. A beat of silence before she continued. "It isn't too late."

There was something within her that had awoken in this moment of such vulnerability. The warmth of the fire encouraging her as she slowly raised her hand from her side. Her fingers outstretched as they hovered mid-air. She watched as his eyes flickered to her hand before returning to her, a certain degree of apprehension in them. She waited tensely as he removed his glove, his hand shaking as it extended towards her.

A hair's breadth between their fingertips – and then they touched.

She could see it. She could see his future, the conflict warring within him and the Darkness beginning to engulf him. But she could see the Light, barely an ember.

Snoke's figure towered above him, his vicious remarks tearing Ben apart as he fell to his knees. It was suffocating him. She cried out to him, her voice echoing over the Darkness. His legs struggled against the Force as he stood. That ember grew, sputtering and flickering into an inferno. Where there was once conflict, she sensed resolve. He threw out his hand, willing the Force to bring Luke's unsheathed Lightsaber to him. She watched as it sliced through Snoke in one quick motion.

And then it all gone. A figure beside him appeared and a smaller one in front... It was herself and an unfamiliar child. She was sitting beside him and staring at him with an emotion she could only describe as joy. His hand rested softly on the child's shoulder, the other wrapped around her other self. They were all enveloped in a glowing white.

"Rey?"

She blinked back into reality.

The warmth of his fingertips spreading through her before they separated. Her dried tears now replaced with fresh ones.

"The conflict – it's tearing you apart. You'll turn. I felt it." She swallowed back her tears. "I saw your future. Our future, Ben." Her voice dropped into a whisper. "We were a family."

He seemed to be entranced by her words. His eyes flickered between hers, as though he was searching for deception. When he couldn't find any, he spoke.

"Is it possible?"

"It could be," she answered softly. "I'll help you."

She extended her hand once more. An unspoken question waiting to be answered by his touch. She breathed unevenly in anticipation. His gaze fell to her hand, understanding the importance the question it was asking.

Will you let me help you?

He placed his hand in hers, his hand now shaking with resolve.

Yes.