It was through sheer force of will that Ben Solo ripped himself from the nightmare, the face of his father lingering before his eyes long after they were open.

Desperate, Ben grabbed onto the woman sitting next to him in bed. She had been in the process of getting up but became still when she felt his frantic heartbeat beneath her fingertips.

"Ben, you're all right," Rey soothed, her voice like a lullaby. "It was just a nightmare."

He leaned into her touch his voice trembling when he whispered, "I wish that was all it was."

She never stopped her steady rubbing of his back. Her hair was sticking up every which way, and her face was splotchy. Ben didn't notice the tear-stains glittering on her cheeks, for the moment far too caught up in his own despair to notice Rey's.

He should have noticed.

"Look at me, Ben." She tilted up his chin, and he became entranced by the infinite galaxies inside her eyes. "You're safe. No one can hurt you, I swear it."

Maybe it was the sleep drunkenness that made him whisper, "You could, if you wanted."

She planted a kiss of his forehead, her lips rough against his skin. "But I never would."

"Liar." Kylo Ren ran his fingers through his hair, blood bubbling up as he tore at his scalp with his too long fingernails.

He hadn't showered in a week, hadn't eaten for days. He injured any of the servants who spoke to him, and killed anyone who dare mention her.

Kylo slammed his head against the side of her coffin. "Liar! Liar Liar Liar! You promised you'd never hurt me!"

Rey did not reply, because she was very much dead. His star-his queen-had slit her wrists in the dead of night when the moon had glowed bright. Looking back on it, Kylo should have known she wouldn't be able to stand knowing she let the Resistance (her friends!) die that day.

But Kylo had been a fool, made blind by his delirious love for her.

He reached in to place a hand to her ashen cheek. The half-moon earrings he had bought for her hung from her earlobes, and she wore the finest silks even in death. Rey's face had never looked so peaceful.

Kylo glanced at the Stormtrooper guarding the door before holding out his gloved hand. The blaster flew from the clone's grip and into his.

Kylo turned to look at Rey as he shoved the blaster to his temple and shed only a single tear of fear before pulling the trigger.