Kylo made his way down the hall, he had to get to Rey and his mother before it was too late. He decided that it was best if he just slipped away without telling anyone that he was leaving that way there would be less questions.

Just as he neared the landing bay where his TIE silencer was kept, Hux approached him. Kylo groaned inwardly but maintain an emotionless expression.

"Supreme Leader..." he used the title in a voice that had undertones of pretense as if Kylo was a child playing a game and he was going along with it. "... I have a list of things that you need to attend to."

Kylo groaned.

"These are the Supreme Leader's duties," Hux added sharply, as if he was trying to make Kylo want to give up his position.

~🌋~

The next morning...

Rey leaned on the stone railing looking out over the lake as dawn's golden light reflected on its smooth surface. She heaved a deep sigh, Ben had promised to come back to her; but he wasn't here. She couldn't help but worry that it was just another broken promise like the one her parents had made to her.

Just then the world went silent and she felt his presence.

Ben stood watching her as she looked out across the horizon, she had the top half of her hair pulled back in a bun, but the lower part of her hair hung loose on her shoulders. The loose strands of her hair were a little wavier than usual. She was wearing an outfit just like the one she had worn on Jakku, but it was a pure, bright white that was drowned in golden rays of sunshine.

She was beautiful and bright in Ben's eyes, brighter and more beautiful than all of the stars, suns and moons that filled the galaxy. He wanted to tell her how he saw her, but no words would leave his mouth.

She turned around slowly to face him, seeming to notice his presence for the first time. As she looked at him, a faint smile touched her lips and Ben felt his heart dance. He came over to stand next to her.

"Why haven't you come?" she whispered, her smile now gone and only sadness remained.

"Hux has a thousand things for me to do. I can't get away right now, but I promise I will come," he said gently.

She smiled again.

Ben reached up to clutch the chain around his neck, seeming to be in pain.

Her brow creased with concern, she noticed that he had the ring on the end of the chain. She could tell that it was quickly becoming a burden.

"I have to keep it secret...I have to keep it safe," he explained, replacing the ring where it was hidden under his shirt.

"It's a heavy burden," she whispered.

"But it's my burden," he replied.

"Then let me help you bear it," she whispered.

"I can't. This is something that I must do alone, I'm afraid of what the ring would do to you...what it's already doing to me." He looked down, unable to meet her eyes.

She looked at him for a long moment before reaching over to take his hands in hers. "Do not be afraid." She reached up and gently moved a stray strand of his hair out of his face. "You're not alone."

Ben was about to reply: "neither are you," but as he looked up, she was gone. He felt a void in his heart, couldn't the Force allow them one more moment? It was all he would need to tell her how he truly felt about her.

Now he was alone, the ring seemed heavier now that she wasn't at his side.

"You're not alone." Her words echoed soothingly in his mind. Throughout his life there had been many voices in his head, but never one so compassionate as Rey's other than his mother. But in his shame he blocked her voice from his mind, he couldn't face her after what he had done. She would never forgive him, could she even bare to look at him? What would she see if she did?

"The face of my son..." his father's words flooded in. His uncle had been right, his father had never left him. He was always there to remind him of the monster he truly was.

Destroying the ring would most likely claim his life, but it was the only way to save the galaxy and perhaps make up for the wrong he had done. He didn't want Rey to come with him, he would only endanger her life and he couldn't live with that. Yet he didn't know if he could do this without her. He was strong on the outside...but within he was weak, Snoke had been right about that. But his weakness wasn't his compassion ... that was his strength. Rey was his strength and he knew that he truly did need her.