Hux found him after the duel, cold and injured and defeated in the dark forest, the very ground collapsing underneath them. They fled the destruction of the base with what was left of their troops, slinking back to Snoke with tails between their legs. Starkiller turned newly born sun behind them.
A med droid, sterile and indifferent, examined him. A few bacta patches and a sedative were all that were required for his physical wounds- and even now felt like too much concession to weakness. He was not only mere flesh like that traitor he had cut down or like Solo.
He saw her when he closed his eyes.
A dream, a vision, a hope- it made no matter. She shone with power and resolve, blue and green and brilliant. Her stellar form all encompassing and drawing him close, burning him in her presence.
He would close his eyes to see her.
Snoke doubled his training, clamped down on his temper, polished his pain tolerance. He would spend days in a row invading susceptible minds, over and over until every last dream and desire was laid bare before him, and then erase it.
What did they know?
He had her before him, confined and outmatched. The map in such easy reach…
She had pushed back, swatted him aside like nothing and had reached inside him. So easy for her to just pick up those small hidden places in him like the scavenger she was. So easy for her to just crush it in her hand.
What did they deserve?
He grew stronger, harder than he had ever been before, had ever known he could. The First Order had regrouped and recovered, planning the next operation to victory when the holonet exploded with incredulous shouts of Luke Skywalker and his new apprentice.
She had been found.
He put on his mask, covering up the scar she had given him. It was time.
A:N I regret nothing.