Steady On.

Chapter 3.

(Edited 04/01/2021)

It had been such a long time.

Rey shook her head. No, it was weeks. Months? Yes, that's what Finn taught her. Months. Seven to be exact. Briefly, she wondered how many tallies that'd be, reflecting back on her days living on Jakku.

Yes indeed, seven long months since she had last seen Ben, the night of his nightmare having been their most recent connection through their force bond.

At times, she wondered if it was supposed to be that way, only glimpses of one another at the most unexpected times. By now, she had long accepted that the vision she experienced on Ahch-To was simply a mind trick of the force, but why, she wasn't sure.

This man that now testified to be the new Supreme Leader was not the partner she had envisioned. He was truly her enemy, on a mission to hunt her and her friends. Even if she felt some sort of compassion towards him, for who he used to be, she had to remind herself of who he was now.

It had been going alright, she thought, giving herself those mental notes. Seven months now, and the ghost that is both her bond mate and enemy, was only present in her mind when she pondered on their connection for far too long.

With a huff, Rey wiped at a bead of sweat from her forehead and bent to pick up her staff that lay on the ground.

Today was a hot and muggy day and she was in a nearby forest training by herself, her staff giving a helpless tree the beating of its poor life.

These days, it was all she could do to help the tension that covered her mind and body. Train, train, train. Practice, and practice some more.

Glancing down to the trusty staff in her palm, she rubbed her thumb along the side of her weapon, imaging that her lightsaber took its place.

The desire caused her teeth to clench out of frustration that she couldn't figure out how to repair quite yet. The casing never gave any issue, however the crystal that lie inside was still lifeless and shattered to bits, some that she was not yet able to recover.

Having asked General Organa already, and coming up with no answers, Rey was still left with no hint of what to do next with the saber, or how to repair it. All Leia could advise was to ask C-3PO, or even R2-D2, though after hours of scanning, neither droid had any data on such a thing.

In the end, Rey knew the only person that could be of any help at this point, would be none other than Kylo Ren, the name so tasteless to her mind and tongue that she nearly cringed as her mind whispered it.

He was the Supreme Leader now, the galaxy's own devil, the bringer of death, the cause of destruction, the prince of darkness... Rey knew he would never help her with something like this, let alone accept another connection between their bond.

Though the bond still left so many unanswered questions itself, over the past seven months, Rey was able to reach out to his mental shield, briefly, and a barely-there touch from her mind to his, but she knew it was his nonetheless; Dark, heavy, and on the run.

It wasn't quite a bond connection...But it was something.

She was never able to settle on his mind long enough to explore any other ability, never able to fully relax the stretch of her senses to his. No, his powers in the force were far too great, and he felt the attempt right away, throwing up a mental block so thick that Rey's powers were useless.

Though she had only attempted it twice in the past months, she decided she wouldn't try it again, and instead focused all of her energy into helping the Resistance grow and rebuild from the ground up.