If pushed, she'd never be able to explain what had made her do it.
One moment, she was glaring up at Kylo Ren, teeth bared and eyes flashing as they held his livid gaze. Their lightsabers were locked, each using all their energy to hold off the other.
She felt no fear. Anger, on the other hand, was lurking dangerously at the edges of her mind. Perhaps that was what made her do it.
Perhaps not.
Perhaps it was his eyes. This close, she could see they were soft brown, ringed with green. His pupils were blown, wide. But she had been this close to his eyes before.
He was speaking, words ground out in that low, growling monotone.
It came over her in a rush, a flare of Force power that made her tingle as she pushed him backwards, causing him to temporarily lose his footing and stagger. His lightsaber dropped to his side, but it would only be a second before he raised it again.
She could run him through.
She didn't.
She lowered her own weapon and lunged at him, wrapping one arm around his neck and reaching up with her mouth to his.
He froze, and she could sense the utter shock he was feeling. What am I doing? She forced away the questions and lived in the moment, focusing on the cold, soft lips beneath her own. He was absolutely still, like granite, for what felt like a lifetime.
Then he kissed her back.
He devoured her mouth, lips working furiously against hers. His free arm wrapped around her lower back, pulling her flush to him, and she shivered at the contact, whimpering slightly into his open mouth. He tasted of snow and ice, bitter and intoxicating.
When their mouths disengaged, he staggered back from her.
"Why?" he demanded. His dark hair was ruffled from their embrace, eyes narrow and suspicious. His white cheeks were tinged pink.
Rey wanted to hate herself in that moment, but all she could feel was confusion. She didn't know why, only knew that she had to do it. She opened and closed her mouth stupidly.
They both heard his support approaching. She knew she should raise her lightsaber so that this could be finished before his Knights arrived. Her arm felt like lead. She couldn't raise it. Glancing towards the icy trees, she guessed there were perhaps two minutes before she was surrounded.
Kylo Ren took advantage of her momentary distraction to step closer to her, and when she looked back his face was looming above hers. She gasped, but there was no malice on his hard features. Instead, his eyes looked almost tearful.
"Go." He almost whispered the word.
This was a trap. It had to be. She felt like was wrestling with something very big within herself.
"Rey, please. Go."
If pushed, she'd never be able to explain what made her say it. As he lowered his mouth to her forehead to brush an impossibly tender kiss against her skin, she curved her fingers around his jaw. "Ben," she breathed.
Kylo Ren was wounded. She could see it clearly on his face as he stepped back from her, lips slightly parted and a tear breaking free to trail down his face.
Her heart broke as she looked at him.
Then she fled.