KYLO REN
Kylo Ren watched as the ramp to the Falcon closed, and Rey disappeared from view. The events of the past few hours had changed him irrevocably. He had killed Snoke, fought with Rey as if they shared one mind. She had pleaded with him to join her and save the resistance, she had seen a vision of them together, him back in the light. But he had rejected her and she had run, and now the First Order were bent on destroying every last breath of the Resistance. Only it hasn't gone to plan. Kylo hasn't even killed Luke Skywalker. He had fought with a vision, a ghost, and he had lost. Luke was dead - he had felt the shift in the force - but it was not by Kylo Ren's hand. Everything he had fought for, to destroy Luke and the Jedi, had failed. And he was Supreme Leader. But Supreme Leader of what?
Kylo heard footsteps coming into the room, and he stood to face General Hux.
"You let them get away Ren!" Hux accused.
"They won't get far," Kylo snarled. "In that heap of junk they can't get far."
Kylo walked out of the run down control room before Hux could respond, into the hangar that was still smoking from the attack with the Battering Ram Canon.
Seeing Rey's face looking down on him from the Falcon has unsettled him. She had fled Snoke's throne room, taking the remains of Skywalkers lightsaber with her, and he had been seething with anger. She had abandoned him just when he had been so sure she would join him. Feeling her presence become distant as she escaped, he realised it wasn't just anger he felt. It was disappointment. He had been so close to someone who had understood him, even cared about him. And he had lost her, Rey, his glimmer of hope. He had let his guard down, in a moment of weakness. He vowed silently to himself, he would never let her in again.
REY
An exhausted straggle of resistance fighters filled the Falcon. Rey had seen Finn again, and helped find his new friend Rose a comfortable place to rest her injuries. Poe had introduced himself, but of course she knew who he was before he had opened his mouth. And General Organa, weakened but wise, had comforted her as she spoke of sensing Luke's passing. There had hardly been a moment for Rey to think about the dark face she saw as she closed the Falcons entry ramp. As soon as she had a chance, she sunk into a spare bunk to rest. Rey closed her eyes and Ben Solo's haunted face appeared before her. He was full of fury, she could see it in his eyes. He had thought killing Luke would finally quell his doubt and squash what was left of the light in him, but Luke had taken that away from him. Did this mean there was light in Ben Solo yet? It pained Rey to think about how she had let Kylo Ren in, she has seen the potential for good in him. She had fought so fluidly next to him, she had felt they were almost one mind. The pain she felt as she pleaded with him not to go that way, not to let the darkness win. But he has let her down, and she had only just escaped the throne room with her life, and the remains of the lightsabre. She silently let a tear drop for Ben Solo. Rey fell into a fitful sleep, she couldn't shake the feeling of Ben near to her. Finally, she kicked the blanket off that had become entwined around her legs as she tossed and turned and sat up in her bunk. She couldn't stop thinking of Ben lying on the throne room floor as she made her escape. She let out a sob.
"I thought I could save you," she whispered. In the darkness, a familiar voice responded.
"You were wrong."
Rey's eyes snapped up to see the dark shape of Kylo Ren appear opposite her.
"Ben…how…" she wondered aloud.
"You should know how this works by now," Kylo Ren spat back.
The two measured each other up. Rey was clearly saddened by the events that had led them to be apart again, but Kylo Ren seethed. He had been curious about the connection at first but now it was just a reminder of how he had failed, and how Rey had betrayed him. Anger bubbled up inside of Kylo Ren. In the Snoke's Throne Room he had felt so protective of Rey, he had seen the two of them fighting together as one, he had defended her and killed for her. And she had run away, abandoned and left him, just like his father. Just like Luke Skywalker.
"You are dead to me Rey," he spat. "You are nothing." Rey looked into his dark eyes. Underneath the hate she saw the hurt and turmoil he was in. He was lying. He still felt the unexplainable bond between them, stronger than anything either of them had ever felt. This was no construct of Snokes. This was bigger than either of them.
"I believed in you Ben. I still do." Rey said quietly.
"You made a mistake. You underestimated me, just like Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo, and even Snoke before you. I am the Supreme Leader now. And I will not rest until I have destroyed the resistance. And you."
Tears fell from Rey's eyes. She could feel the pain Ben was in. The force was so heavy with hate, emanating through time and space straight to her, and she could feel how it was consuming Ben Solo until there would be no light left at all.
"No, Ben…" was all she could manage to whisper before the connection between them broke.
Rey reached, searching for Ben again, but she couldn't find him. She sunk back into her bunk and let the tears fall.
