Bonded in the Silence: A Reylo Fanfiction

Chapter 2: Intersect

Rey dismissed herself at the midday meal in the base after sharing the hour with Poe Dameron, Finn, and Rose. Her heart painfully twinged as she watched Finn and Rose smile at each other across from one another, laughing while their eyes twinkled with secrets of their personal time together.

Poe attempted to make small talk with her, asking questions about her homeworld, for which she gave short answers to. His charming smile warmed her as he'd attempted to divulge more details in order to paint the picture of her young life; feeling uncomfortable and insecure by his pursuit, Rey excused herself from the table.

Poe's bewildered expression was the last thing she saw in her peripherals upon exiting the room bustling with conversation.

Unsorted feelings whirled through her on her brisk walk from the mess hall, some she tried to shush and suppress, others she internally examined the possibility of their origins.

All Rey had ever known on Jakku was survival. Life was taken one day and one need at a time. Existence was basic and simple; scavenge for objects of worth to receive food portions, protect against those looking to get ahead, and stay warm at night.

Eat, sleep, and live to see another day.

The monotony of it all wore away at her desire for unnecessities. There was no gain in wasting the day to care about love or loneliness, except at nighttime while she was lying awake listening to the eerie quiet of the desert, broken occasionally by creatures gnawing on one other.

Only the hope of her parents returning motivated Rey through the days, the numbers counted on the wall of her home. Finding Finn and the Resistance had given her something new she'd never had nor experienced; they gave her something she'd only dreamed of.

Friendship.

She was not even acutely aware of the expanse of her emptiness until knowing the special people from the Resistance. She felt more alive than ever, but as time went on, even their straightforward friendship did not satiate her need for deeper relationship.

Only one man understood the depths of similar isolation, her yearning for belonging, and had personally seen the recollection of her sleepless nights in the cold desert of Jakku.

"Please."

The dark, pleading eyes of Kylo Ren haunted her still, vividly lingering in a memory when the Sith apprentice stretched out his hand in an offer to join him.

Rey swallowed against a dry throat, continuing on with her journey away from her friends.

She had wanted to take his hand, especially after what the vision revealed.

What would have happened if I did?

All sorts of interesting ideas seemed to fill her head every time she mentally tread this path, curiosity always getting the better of her.

Rey shook her head in silence.

Garbage, her thoughts hummed as she categorized rapidly rising feelings under that word. Aggressively pounding the buttons for the code to her dorm, she ducked inside the door as it opened.

Her heart was still faintly aching, betraying Rey's desire to put the past behind her.

Why? She wished it would stop.

Leaning her side against the wall, the usual emptiness quickly set in. Rose and Finn kept flitting through her mind, and it bothered her how their relationship worked its way under her skin. Finn had been her friend, but in her time away he'd had an entire adventure with Rose that obviously left its mark on him. Rey couldn't help but feel replaced.

Her brow furrowed in thought. She hadn't thought of Finn romantically, but deep down she hoped that his friendship would fill the hole left by...

Her thoughts went silent. A flashback of intense, hazel eyes filled her vision, and the brush of fingertips against hers.

"You're not alone."

She couldn't say his name, his real name, even if she wanted to.

"Join me...please."

Covering her ears, Rey pushed his pleading voice away, barely catching the drowning clamor in the air that assailed her simultaneously. She dropped her hands back to her sides and stared at the far wall.

Luke Skywalker had found his peace after projecting himself on Crait to face Ben, but she wished he was here to help her find hers. Peace was a hot commodity in this galaxy.

All was finally silent in the room, and Rey released a long sigh as the stress dissipated.

Grieving Luke perhaps..

The deep voice spoke curiously to itself instead of her directly, but it alarmed her entirely that it was actually inside her head. Rey whipped her head to the side to see...him.

Ben.

Rey leaped away from the wall in surprise as she registered the full presence of the towering man in black. Except he wasn't Ben like before and it was obvious he had stepped back into the role of Kylo Ren.

Scowling, she crossed her arms over her chest and squared her shoulders defiantly. He didn't move so much as a single muscle.

Ren's eyes were wide, and silently begging her not to run away. His chin tilted up as his lips parted. No words were spoken, but his eyes never left hers. The Force was swaying and churning powerfully between them.

Rey...

Guarding how her heart lurched hopefully and painfully in response to his voice echoing. Ren said nothing, but the torment in his heart carried clear across the connection.

Her eyebrows knit together in sadness as she let her jaw relax. Her eyes lingered on his for a moment longer, but then she felt the bond close and he faded into nothing.

She dropped to her bed behind her as the tension dissipated in her chest, and she began to cry.

Rey did not expect that seeing him would affect her so deeply, but it demonstrated the extent of the connection they had formed long ago and she could not easily forget it. Her hope for Ben had diminished after he asked for her to join him.

This will not go the way you think, echoed Luke's words in her memory.

No, it didn't go the way I thought. I assumed it would be easy for him to leave it all behind. Rey wiped the tears from her eyes.

She saw Ben's face in the throne room, his hard swallow as he extended his gloved hand to her. How badly she desired to take it, and make the choice easy. No one had ever asked for her in such a way her whole life, and the temptation to put all her desires above the fate of all her friends was so strong.

Rey forcibly wiped her face with her tunic and steeled herself. She called upon the Force, and it filled her with calm at the center of her core. She buried her feelings under the hard soil of her soul, in her familiar place of survival.

Until Ben Solo left the First Order of his own will, she could not lean on hope to turn him. He needed to do it of his own volition.

With closed eyes, she inhaled long and deep, and slowly released the air in her lungs with control and ease. She opened her eyes and felt an ease in her spirit.

Focus and clarity were to be at the forefront of her mind from now on.