Gift for kmanion on AO3 for the Ring in the Reylo gift exchange! Hope you enjoy!
Prompt: When Rey first meets Kylo, the novelization said, "She had seen this man before, in a daydream, in a nightmare." What was the daydream, or the nightmare? It sounds like it was before Rey's force vision. Did Ben/Kylo dream of Rey too?
Rey scratched the sharp tool against the wall and wiped away the shavings in a practiced motion. She stared at the newly formed mark, letting out a long breath. Her stomach twisted and clenched uncomfortably, and she snatched the meager portion of bread from the little table. Stuffing half of it into her mouth, she looked back at the scratches that methodically marked the wall.
Ten years, if she had scratched and counted the days correctly from when she had been left with Unkar Plutt and the day she had taken over her AT-AT home. So roughly ten years on Jakku. Plutt hadn't seemed sentimental of the anniversary when he only granted her a quarter portion for the fuel cell she had fixed herself.
She took another bite of the bread and thought about playing in the flight simulator, but the sun was already down and exhaustion pulled at her limbs. The days were short again, and she pushed herself to get to the big salvage areas before sunrise and race to the market before others could vie for Plutt's portions.
Stuffing the last of the bread into her mouth, she took a small sip of precious water and climbed into her makeshift hammock. She curled under the small scrap of fabric she had found in the heap of a Star Destroyer and listened to the sand blow against the sides of her dwelling.
Her body screamed for sleep, but her eyes remained fixed on the scratched wall. Her family would be back soon. Years before, she had almost convinced herself they had gotten caught up in an amazing adventure with the Jedi and Luke Skywalker. She later realized the Jedi were lies the other, older scavengers told her to get her to stop asking so many questions. Her family probably didn't have the means to provide for her just yet, but as soon as they could, Rey knew they would come back for her. It wasn't like she was going to leave Jakku any time soon for them to lose where they'd left her.
Rey reached out a hand and pressed it against the wall to make the hammock swing gently through the air. The movement settled her ever-growling stomach, and she forced her eyes closed.
She wondered if her family would ever take her to an island like the one she'd seen in a holo that sparked and fizzed but still gave enough to show her a piece of land entirely surrounded by water. More than she could ever drink. She would never be thirsty on an island.
Her hammock swayed as she shifted her arm under her head. She licked her dry lips, her eyes opening to drift to the canteen of water next to the ripped net that held her scavenged goods. She forced her eyes shut again as she reminded herself the water was needed for scavenging in the morning.
The water surrounding the island would keep her in business selling to other scavengers and residents of Jakku. All the portions she could fit into her stomach. It would be nice to be fed all the time. She could read the holobooks she'd repaired from the big Star Destroyer. Or fix up a better speeder. Or rig a cooling system in the AT-AT to survive the unbearable summer months without as much water. Maybe she could make her own communications system and finally be with someone who cared about her…
A man stood with his back to her at the edge of the island. A tattered hood covered his head and hung from his shoulders, waving in the warm breeze against his black attire. His stance and frame seemed… familiar.
Her breath caught for a moment. She shouldn't get her hopes too high. "Hello?"
The man shifted on his feet but didn't respond. Rey moved closer to him, keeping her steps light in case she needed to run. Power radiated from his dark figure. Not the authoritarian power of Plutt doling out food portions, but something else that Rey couldn't quite pin-point.
"Hello? Do I know you?"
The man turned, and Rey paused. Instead of a smiling face, a cold black mask with silver around the eye slit met her. His hand clutched something metal, and a red blade crackled to life.
Rey backed away, reaching over her shoulder for her quarterstaff to find it wasn't there.
The red blade glinted dangerously off the silver in the mask as the man stalked toward her. Rey backed away and felt her foot catch on a stone and roll awkwardly to the side. She tumbled to the ground and snatched the stone, throwing it at the man.
The man's arm lifted, and the stone burst upon impact with the crackling blade, showering Rey with small pieces. She scrambled to her feet and ran up a hill, her ankle screaming in protest with each step. The sand quickly changed to hard ground, and she sped up.
The crackling sound of the man's blade followed her. She spared a glance over her shoulder to see the black-clad figure continue his slow stalk toward her. He was taking his time. Almost as if he was playing with her.
Her heart rate sped up, and she turned back to her path only to skid to a stop and slide across the ground to avoid falling from a sudden drop into the expanse of water.
The man was almost upon her, the blade sizzling as it cut effortlessly through a plant. Rey glanced around for an escape route or a shuttle. Anything to get away from the man who seemed far too familiar, but the island seemed to have gotten smaller than she remembered.
Glancing to her side, she decided she could always use a drink and rolled. The cold water enveloped her, and Rey woke with a gasp as she hit the floor of her AT-AT.
Her ankle smarted as she pulled herself to her feet with help from the wall. Her hands brushed away the grit that covered everything on Jakku, and she stared at her reflection in the metal.
She felt as if she knew the masked man. As if she belonged with him. Shaking her head, she turned away from the metal and climbed back into the hammock.
The island was just a daydream. The man was a nightmare.
"Hello?"
Something in the girl's voice stirred something inside Kylo. Her presence through the Force felt different than the multitudes of First Order officers and Stormtroopers he dealt with daily. She felt vibrant. .
Yes "Hello? Do I know you?"
Hopeful. He had not heard nor felt such hope since his childhood. Shame he had direct orders to kill anyone on the island.
Kylo took the lightsaber from his belt as he turned to face the girl. He was suddenly thankful he wore his mask, for he hesitated upon seeing a beautiful young woman. She was dirty, covered by a thick layer of sand, and dressed in thin clothing designed for a hot climate. He did not know her, but her Force signature felt familiar. As if she were an extension of his own powers.
He took an involuntary step toward her, igniting his lightsaber as though it could fight off the conflict within him. A look of shock crossed her face, and she groped for a missing weapon. His heart lurched as she backed away in fear and fell to the ground. Fear spiked through the Force, and Kylo felt the urge to help her up, to make sure she was all right.
The girl threw something at him, and the strange fog over his mind shattered as he automatically raised the lightsaber to deflect the small stone. He watched the girl scramble up the hill and followed her path without haste. She couldn't go far on the island.
The girl glanced back at him in mid-run with a determined expression. He ignored the small part of him that did not want to see her dead.
Kylo adjusted his grip on his lightsaber as he reached the top of the hill. The girl was sprawled near the edge of a cliff, her eyes wide as she looked up at him. He willed his arm to move, to bring the lightsaber down on her as he had on so many others, but it didn't move. He steeled himself, drawing on the power of the Dark Side, but paused as the girl suddenly rolled off the side of the cliff.
The water enveloped him as he jumped after her without a second thought.
Kylo heaved a huge gasp as he sat up awake in his hard bed.
Something crashed nearby. He waved a hand, and the lights flickered on by the doorway, but the darkness near his bed told him he had broken the other lights with the Force. Kylo raked his hand through his hair, his sides still heaving from the dream. He was supposed to contact Snoke if he was having Force visions.
The same part of him that didn't want to kill the girl in the dream told him he didn't need to contact his master. It was just a dream, after all. He doubted there was anyone in the galaxy with that kind of Force signature that Snoke had not found. It couldn't be a Force vision if the girl only existed in his mind, and Snoke would not care to hear about some unimportant fantasy dream of his.
He lay back down on the bed, his heart still pounding in his chest. As he closed his eyes, he saw the beautiful face behind the sand and dirt in a ray of sunshine on the island.
It wouldn't hurt to dream of her again.