Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that are featured in this story, neither do I own the universe it happens in.
Cover photo credit to Fishik on DA
Chapter 1: Running Away
Rey's hazel eyes surveyed what was left of the rebellion around her. The Millennium Falcon had the entire Resistance on board, as it was whizzing away from Crait at lightspeed, and no one said a word. People dressed in orange and brown suits sat on the floor, their elbows on their knees, looking at the floor, not completely still with the vibrations of the ship around them. The air was heavy with despair; only the dying beacon of hope was what kept them from suffocating under it now.
No one spoke the question on every man's mind: what are we going to do now?
No one had the answer. Rey couldn't stand being alone with her own thoughts, and got up and went to the cockpit, where the General Leia Organa was sitting, along with Chewbacca, Finn, and Poe. They held quiet conversation at least, unlike the silence of the main deck where everyone else was housed. Rey knocked quietly on the metal doorframe as she was walking in, to announce her arrival.
"Rey...how is everyone holding up?" General Leia asked, genuine concern on her face and worry.
Rey didn't know how to answer. Scared? Worried? In despair? Those weren't good answers. She couldn't answer that question.
The general gave a solemn nod at her lack of response, and turned back to Poe, Finn, and Chewie. "How much further?" She asked, quietly.
"It shouldn't be much longer. We are nearing the Outer Rim, so maybe an hour at most?"
Rey looked from Leia to Poe and back again. "Where are we going? What happened?"
Poe turned to Rey. "One of our allies returned our signal, after it was too late, but we might as well go. There is no where else at the moment, anyway."
Rey nodded. "Where in the Outer Rim?"
"Just ahead. After an asteroid belt, where we will have to drop out of lightspeed."
"Ah."
Finn looked back at Rey. "Rey, how are you doing? You look...I don't know. Depressed."
Rey gave Finn a soft smile. "I'm just tired, and a bit worried."
Finn nodded. "You should go to your room and get some sleep. I'll come and wake you just before we arrive."
Rey gave a genuine smile. "Thank you, Finn. I'll go sleep then." She turned and walked out of the cockpit into the hallway that lead to her room. The Falcon was cold from space travel, but the incessant humming and occasional spout of steam from the floor under her feet showed it was still alive. She walked down the hallway, with the faint clang and echo of her feet hitting the floor, until she came to her room.
Unlike most of the Resistance, Rey was given a room. I guess being a rebellion hero and Jedi has its perks, she thought. She walked in as the metal door automatically opened for her with a hiss. Her room was not very big, but certainly better than the main deck. She had a bed that was built into the wall, and a small table nightstand next to it, but that was about it. She walked over to her bed and sat down, sighing in exhaustion, and turned her eyes to the broken lightsaber on her nightstand. The one she broke, while fighting with Kylo Ren.
~0~
"Supreme Leader, Commander Hux wishes to speak to you. Should I let him in?"
"Go ahead." Kylo Ren sat on the rebuilt throne of the dead Snoke, ashen robes cascading to the floor, while his lightsaber was held in his hand. His hair fell all over his face, as if he just woke up from an unrestful sleep. The room was rebuilt to have his throne his size, but he refused to get bodyguards. The more people you trust, the more people can betray you, he thought.
The messenger brought Commander Hux in. "Supreme Leader," Hux said, before bowing low, resentment in his tone. "The Resistance is headed to the Outer Rim, according to our tracking system. Should we follow?"
Kylo Ren sat in silence for a moment, before ordering one of the droids in the corner to display a hologram map of the galaxy. "Show me which planet they are headed to."
Commander Hux pointed to a small one on the edge of the galaxy, in an area the First Order had conquered before but then let go of, because it didn't bring them any benefit. "This one, here."
"Send a few boarding ships to this asteroid belt. They need to exit lightspeed to get through it." Kylo Ren thought for a moment. "We should be able to reach there first, because we have a few ships positioned here," he pointed to a nearby solar system.
"Right away." Hux nodded, his eyes icy, before turning briskly on his heel and walking out.
Kylo Ren sat back on his throne, before putting his head in his hand, the other hand leaning off the armrest, holding his lightsaber loosely in it. He shivered, feeling torn between wanting to crush the Resistance under the heel of his boot, and wanting...his father. His mother. Rey. He didn't know what to think about her anymore.
As if on cue, he felt something. Something he hadn't felt since the last time Rey was on Ahct-To. The Force hummed vividly with energy, surrounded him and...someone else. He sensed her presence. Looking up quickly, he saw her. Her back was to him, and she was holding the two halves of his dead uncle's lightsaber. He sensed her surprise as she noticed his presence, and she turned around, confusion written in her hazel eyes, mirroring his own obsidian ones.
"Ben…?" Rey said, not grasping the situation.
"How are you here?!" he demanded, standing upright immediately. "Snoke is dead! This is not supposed to be able to happen…"
"I am as lost as you are," she responded.
He didn't know what to think. Here was Rey, in his throne room, standing there...but Snoke was dead...he couldn't grasp how this was possible. Unless someone else strong with the Force did it. Who could it be? His mother? Unlikely...he thought. She wouldn't risk Rey for me. Rey is her new child, not me. Like a cold wave the memory of him in his fighter, about to pull the trigger and kill his mother came back. He remembered the dread he felt, and the shiny rush of fear, like a well-polished blade to the back.
Remembering Rey was in the room, he turned back to her. He realized with another stab of guilt she almost certainly sensed his remorse, and would undoubtedly pounce on it. But looking at her now...would it be so bad? No! Stop thinking that! Self-loathing hit him again, before he stamped it down. He was not going to fall apart just because she was in the room! He sighed, and then looked back at Rey. She was watching him with a look of deep intensity, as if she was trying to understand him. A look of compassion on her face. His eyes averted themselves to the floor, as he took a step toward her. And another. Until he was standing right in front of her, with his breath becoming uneven. He looked down into her eyes, and quietly he said, "My offer still stands."
Rey's gaze met his own, her breath slightly uneven too, as she opened her mouth a few times, only to close it again, as if she was unsure what to say. Eventually she looked him in the eye and replied, "I cannot accept it."
Kylo Ren's features conjoined into a mask of icy fury. He walked away from her, and then turned back to her and shouted, "I am this close to destroying you and your Resistance! I will wipe them out of the galaxy, and I give you a chance to live, a second chance, and you deny it!" His pleading eyes turned to hers, which he was shocked to find had the same begging expression.
"Ben, please...my place is with the Resistance. Come back to us, please Ben. Your mother misses you…"
She never said she wants me. Only about my mother. "I won't!" He took his lightsaber and slashed his black mirrored floors, seething with rage and hurt. He reached out with the Force and pushed her back to her ship, he couldn't stand the sight of her at the moment. When he felt she was gone, he went back to his throne in the middle of the enormous, cold room, and put his head on his hands once again. For a full five minutes, he sat there, unmoving.
His eyes fell on the floor, with the glowing red crack from his lightsaber, as if it was bleeding.
A replica of the scar on his face.
A mirror of the one on his heart.