Chapter Two
A small alarm set to a timer on Kylo's wrist beeped in the darkness. He had been lying there in the darkness for what felt like hours. He had been willing the Force to re-establish his connection, but the drug did exactly what the top Federation bio-chemist had promised that it would. Complete unconsciousness. Kylo had asked for the best and had gotten it. He sat up in the dark and brushed his damp hair out of his eyes. The concentration had caused him to break out in a sweat.
He then reached out to flip on the small screen beside his bed. The pale light reflected in his dark eyes as he stared at the image it projected. He did not blink as rey began stirring on the couch he had laid her on. She pushed herself upright slowly and looked around the room, her every gesture telling him that her body was on high alert.
"Give it time Rey." He whispered. He pictured her exploring the island and gradually losing the fear that gripped her. He told himself that he thought she would like it. On the planet where it was situated, the island had had a long history of therapeutic practice. It was managed and run by two guardians who had been trained in healing They worshipped a deity that valued submission over confrontation
He smiled a little then, in the dark. Rey had gotten up by that point and had walked out of the view of his camera.
Kylo rolled onto his back, still smiling. Soon, it would begin again.
Every since Rey had escaped capture on the ice-planet with the other rebels, she had grown even stronger in the force. It had no doubt been due to Luke's influence but now that he had gone Kylo suspected that his mother (though untrained) could still have been responsible for the way in which Rey had been becoming so successful in blocking him. The recent memory of it alone caused his his body to tense a little.
He did not want to take away her liberty, but she was a hazard to herself. Not to mention the fact that the rebels might see some hope in her, the last Jedi. All it would do was result in more death and it would do little to slow the growth of his empire. None of it was worth building up her hatred of the dark side. This was in desperate need of a remedy: she should be proud to know him, proud of the efforts he had taken to ensure her safety. The safety of the last Jedi.
Kylo brushed his hands through his hair and imagined everything going along the way he had planned. It had been his one comforting thought regarding Rey, throughout this whole period since the ice-planet. He imagined her reflecting on her actions on that island. He imagined her going through her options over the time that followed. And yes, he could imagine that slowly she would grow a little desperate for information about the greater events in the galaxy. And in that moment she would have to admit to herself that she did, in fact, have an option of getting that information. The same option that she had always had. Only this time time she might have the motivation to take it a bit more seriously, to take him more seriously.
It would take some time. Although knew that he had to get up and deal with a lot of the business of being Supreme leader that had, embarrassingly, been put off he allowed himself two more visions before he rose.
The first was when the tranquilliser dart had struck Rey's neck as she was scouting through the rocks on Chariansta. All the planning and preparation it had taken, just to watch that dart strike true and to see her legs weaken beneath her. Although he had thought he might resist going to her side as soon as she'd succumbed to the dart, there had been no hope of that as he was watching it happen. The team he had bought with him took care of any dangers resulting from his haste. He had picked her up from the ground, took the dart from her neck and brushed the sand from her hair. It had taken a few reminders from his lieutenants before he could gather himself and walk back to the ship. He remembered the feel of the weight of her in his arms. It had been dead weight. Part of him had wanted her to move against him to be aware but to simply have her there with him after all of that time separate was a consolation. He had allowed the bio-scientist who had custom designed the tranquilliser to inspect her body and that had been difficult enough.
Reluctantly, Kylo sat up. He had to get up. His next vision was the one which would get him through his day.
His second vision look like this: Rey was standing by his side. It reminded him of that brief moment before she had spoken those words that had splintered all of his hopes. But in Kylo's vision she wore black like him and she had turned her head, she was looking at him with such… trust, and more that that. He felt her fingers clasping around his own. He felt the force flowing through those touching fingertips.
Smiling Kylo finally got up. He knew of a certain bio-scientist who would be very happy that Rey had awoken without lasting side-effects. Today would be a good day.
