Silence.
Utter, painful silence. Kylo Ren shuddered and took a deep breath. Not again, he thought to himself.
Rey was facing the wall, away from him, and he felt a sudden impulse to tap her on the back and get her to look at him. But he held back, because this was the way it had been, every time.
Silence.
Though Snoke was dead, Rey and Ren still seemed connected, linked. Force bond. Snoke had opened a doorway that couldn't be closed ever again. Ren saw her back shudder, and he sensed the quiet sadness within her.
He blinked and swallowed his breath, guilt flooding his being.
"Supreme Leader?" Hux was practically sneering at him.
He snapped to attention, and back into reality. "Yes?"
Rey recovered from their force bond moment much quicker, and in most circumstances she was fine afterwards. But this time her cheeks were wet. Rey still felt that he could change. But her spirit was drenched and tired, and the sore aftershock of what Ben had said about her parents still gnawed at her. She was certain he was wrong, and yet his words seemed as if they had a ring of truth.
And she couldn't believe that he would say something that would hurt her so much. She told herself she didn't care; put on a brave face every time the Force Bond happened.
But the Force Bonds were happening more and more, and yet Rey had not yet told anyone.
They had found a new base, and were safe for now. At least from the First Order.
In the medbay, Rey found Finn and Rose, Finn updating Rose about the events that had occurred since leaving Crait. They were a sweet couple, Rey admitted. Though Rey once had a... certain fondness for Finn, she found her attention was taken by someone else, though she could hardly admit it to herself, and certainly would not to others, especially considering who he was.
Turning her attention away from... him, she reflected on the rest of the Resistance.
Poe was slightly less Poe-ish, and like the rest of the Resistance, he was mourning the Vice Admiral. Rey suspected he felt some guilt for having been so harsh to Holdo, and she sensed something even more than that.
Leia was Leia, leading a resistance and ever so busy. Rey hardly got a chance to talk to her, but looked upon her as a mother. The irony, she thought. She seemed to find parents in the ones who Ben felt betrayed by. And so far, they died because of it. Rey felt a stab of guilt and she quietly said goodbye to Finn and Rose, who were in their own world, and went outside to think.
Ren watched his troops march, but his mind was elsewhere. God, he wished that Rey would talk to him, say anything.
Silence.
Speak of the devil.
Briefly he met Rey's eyes, and just as quick she turned away.
His heart fluttered in his chest, and he drew in a sharp breath and mustered up the courage to talk.
"So."
No response. It was as he expected.
"How... How is the General?"
Rey whipped around and glared at him. "The general? You mean your mother?"
Ren froze, then nodded slightly, as if afraid someone would see him admitting it.
"As you might expect a woman in her state to be."
Ren was not sure what she meant by that, but the edge in her voice was a sharp blade that cut him deep. "And... You?"
That threw Rey off gaurd. "Me?" Her voice quavered slightly.
"Yes."
"Why do you care?"
"Because I do."