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One week passes until the bond opens again.
Rey feels it first; the sudden shift in the air, that small moment when the universe stretches and aligns itself, bridging time and space, connecting them through the infinity of a million galaxies.
She looks up from the broken saber in her hand. Looks up at him, standing in front of her, mere meters away.
He doesn't speak. Neither does she.
What could they say? What could they possibly say, now that it seems that their sides are chosen, their minds set, the lines drawn in the sand?
You're a monster!
Yes I am.
He looks tired, Rey finds.
He has only been Supreme Leader for a week, but already the responsibility of a whole empire seems to weigh him down. The sinister shadow of the First Order clouds his figure, shrouds him in darkness.
And yet, when his eyes meet hers, they are his. Ben Solo's.
You're not alone.
Neither are you.
She gets up, slowly, gently laying the saber beside her on the bed as if it were a sickly child.
Kylo watches her every move, his eyes open and honest, saying so much, betraying so much.
Pain. Loneliness. Longing.
The tumultuous sea of emotions that is always on the verge of drowning him, all of it is contained in the vast deepness of his eyes.
Rey, I want you to join me.
Please.
They are facing each other now. Contemplating each other. Encompassing each other.
Breathing calmly, both unwilling to shatter the illusion that this moment can endure. That this peace can last. That they can stay like this, be like this, that the only thing dividing them are mere footsteps in the sand.
Don't do this, Ben.
Please don't go this way.
Carefully, Rey steps closer, Kylo's gaze fixed on her. She comes to stand in front of him, and slowly raises her hand to cup his face.
He closes his eyes then, leaning into her touch, taking a deep, shuddering breath. Letting this moment of bitter-sweet tenderness play out as the universe around them comes to a halt, just for a moment, a second, the mere blink of an eye.
You come from nothing, you're nothing.
But not to me.
They don't speak, even then, for words cannot express what lies in the unbroken silence between them. Words cannot capture the way worlds collide, empires rise and fall, and galaxies are born and laid to rest in the vast eternity that is their bond.
And so they remain still in their position, Rey's hand on Kylo's cheek.
Skin against skin.
Soul against soul.
Darkness arisen, and Light meeting it.
The Force in balance, as the two halves connect.
They both treasure this moment and tuck it away in their memories, for soon enough, they will go to war again. Soon enough, reality will catch up, the world will reclaim them, and they will have to shield their hearts as not to see them shattered.
But this now, this instant of tranquility, this is theirs. It is the calm before the storm, the silence before the thunder. The eerie stillness of a wave before crashing ashore.
It is theirs, and theirs alone.
Their small piece of eternity as the Force connects what has always belonged together.