A prominent figure clad in obsidian robes stood behind the helm of the Elstree, his sable orbs staring out upon the cosmos. Some cultures believed a person's fate was written in the stars, but the man in black had stopped believing in fairy tales long ago. After his innocence was cut away, his soul had been left with a void and the darkness had crept in. A darkness blacker than even the endless stretch of space.
While Archais Ren piloted the transport to Yavin IV, the Supreme Leader remained silent. The thrum of the Force was almost deafening, pulsing through him erratically as he counted down the minutes to breach the planet's atmosphere.
For the first time since Crait, he'd hear her voice in his head, as strong and full of light as it had always been. When she had turned, Kylo caught the surprise in her eyes — a surprise which quickly morphed into fear.
At first, he could only marvel at her, at the scavenger who had bested him not once but twice. The year had changed her. He could see the wear the war had taken on her. Her light, though still brighter than most, had dimmed. Her golden skin appeared tired, like the rest of her tense form, but her eyes — her eyes were as vibrant as ever.
She stared at him, peering into his very soul. The anger flaring in her was rather un-Jedi-like, yet he found no satisfaction in the realization. He could see she still thought he'd been the one to make the wrong choice. He could see how the disappointment marred her perfect features.
He could also see her surroundings.
As she reached for her lightsaber — for it truly belonged to her — Kylo began to chart the fastest route to Yavin IV. He'd never had much to thank Han Solo for, but the man had taught him how to navigate the star systems. Kylo found himself thanking his father, though he knew the old rogue would be disappointed in his use of the knowledge.
The second the bond had closed, he hurried from his chambers, alerting the first officer he spotted to prepare his ship. He was done waiting. He was going to take what he wanted and he wanted the last Jedi.
"Come on, come on," Rey urged her students, guiding them over the hill, about a mile from their base camp.
"Where are we going?" Kailale grumbled. "It's the middle of the night."
"Our position has been compromised. The Resistance will be here to transport us to a new location," Rey announced.
The bleary, half-asleep glaze in her students' eyes vanished. They began climbing the hill, packs strapped to their backs with renewed energy. As each one passed, Rey counted. Her heart stuttered in her chest.
"Where's Temiri?"
Everyone stared at her, frozen in their tracks, equally surprised with a hint of guilt.
"When was the last time you saw him?" Rey asked, breathlessly. Her mind was already reaching out across the Force, attempting to hone in on his location.
"He was right behind me," Dar Leem spoke up. The Cathar's ears folded away from his face in shame.
Rey eyed her other students but no one else provided further details. She swallowed the growing lump in her throat, her senses tingling with the incoming danger, warring with her call to find the boy. Her survival instincts had never failed her before, but things were different now. She couldn't only be concerned for her life. She held the lives of six others in her hands. Her choice was already made.
"Ganrum, Windbor," Rey called to her eldest pupils. They immediately stepped forward, both glancing at the other before meeting her stern gaze. "I need you to guide everyone safely to the rendezvous point. Chewie will meet you there. Don't turn back, no matter what you hear. Just keep going. If anyone—," she paused, choosing her words carefully. "If you are forced to engage with an attacker, stay together. Defend yourselves and the others long enough to get away. That is all. Do you understand?"
Both the Bothan and the Ardeenian nodded solemnly.
"May the Force be with you," Rey dismissed them.
"And you," they chorused back.
Rey watched them lead the younger three away, noting how Kailale kept glancing over her shoulder until they disappeared back down into the jungle.
The last Jedi inhaled deeply, forcing herself to turn away from them. They would be safe. Chewie would find them and carry them offworld. They wouldn't fall into the First Order's clutches.
As she focused on the dark energy swirling at the edges of her mind, Rey understood the same could not be said for Temiri.
Or herself.
The jungle made it impractical for Archais to land anywhere but the clearing he'd chosen. The remnants of an old Alliance base sat behind them, while the dark shadows and emerald vegetation of the forest blocked out all other landmarks.
Kylo exited the Elstree, scanning with his eyes and the Force for her. He could feel her, though it was faint. A smirk played across his lips. She was blocking him, but it mattered not. He was able to feel her. He felt a piece of his shattered soul fall back into place.
She was close.
He strolled towards the forest, knowing Rey would never be foolish enough to stay by the base. He'd seen her mind, knew how her scavenger instincts would persuade her to abandon her home for a safer location. Kylo had seen a hill in the distance. The high ground would put her at the optimum angle for an attack.
As he made his way out of the clearing, a spike in the Force alerted him to another presence.
"You're him, aren't you?" the boy questioned, staring up at Kylo with wide, wary eyes. "You're Supreme Leader Ren."
Kylo didn't respond, artfully scanning the human's Force signature to determine his lineage.
Canto Bight. Slave. Orphan.
Abandoned.
He nearly recoiled from the similarities he saw within the child, similarities the boy shared with both himself and Rey. Such power had been unknowingly gifted to them. While those who surrounded both would see them shackled and beaten down, the Force saw them as gifted wielders. Chosen.
The similarities took him by such surprise that he missed Rey's signature, warning him of her approach. Then she was there, appearing at the boy's side.
"What's said is said," he replied, indifferently.
"But I didn't mean it," the boy insisted, stepping forward.
"Oh, you didn't?" Kylo queried with a hint of amusement.
Rey instinctively placed an arm in front of him, holding the child back. Kylo's eyes flickered to her face. The protective nature she had for this one was different than her other students. It was stronger.
Interesting.
"Please, don't do this," her voice came out soft, almost pleading. "Please, Ben."
Rey spoke that name as if she hadn't left him wounded and alone in Snoke's throne room to die, as if he hadn't offered her everything. She used the same tone as the elevator, her eyes the same faultless, hopeful shining orbs he'd fallen into.
Fury erupted inside him. She had no right to play her mind games with him. She'd refused him, left him to die at the hands of that rabid cur, Hux. She'd made her choice.
Now she would find there were consequences for such insolence.
He felt the presence of his knights in the Force as they drew near. They had been ordered to hold back unless he requested their assistance. Unlike the scrappy scavenger before him, they obeyed orders.
"You will be leaving with me," he stated calmly.
"I won't," her eyes hardened.
"You will join me on Naboo and once the Resistance receives word of your capture, I will end this. Once and for all."
"I. Won't." Rey ground her feet into the dirt, her eyes never leaving his face.
Always so stubborn. Always so naive.
"Don't defy me," he snapped and in a split second they both ignited their sabers and were clashing together in the midst of the humid jungle.
He became aware of the unique color of her blades, a violet shade purer than even the most beautiful bloom on Chandrila. The design of the blade was equally distinctive. He'd only come across the use of a saber-staff a handful of times in all his research. Ironically, it's invention was credited to the Old Sith Empire.
Kylo was also vaguely aware of her student, crouching in a defensive position behind her. Of course her first priority was the child. She felt a connection to the boy who shared her tragic backstory. It was evident she wouldn't leave him.
All his training had him latching onto her weakness.
"You're no match for me and my knights," he informed her. "You're outnumbered, Jedi."
"You're not taking him," she hissed, as feral as a loth cat. "You're not taking any of them."
"If you think I came here for them, you're sorely mistaken, Rey."
Her face fell at his use of her name and he pushed against her. The unstable crackling of his crimson blade against hers reminded him of Starkiller. His scar was a constant reminder of their snow battle. Kylo knew not to underestimate her.
She barely gave him an inch before she leaned back and swung her saber-staff around, nearly gracing him with a matching scar on the opposite side of his face.
"Temiri, run!" Rey shouted. She quickly sheathed her lightsaber, backing away from him before taking off.
Kylo watched them shoot off in different directions. "Bring me the boy. The Jedi is mine," he growled at his knights, before stalking through the jungle after her.
He would not leave Yavin IV empty-handed. He'd caught her once. He would do it again.
Rey sprinted through the jungle, leaping over downed trees, ducking under low branches and diving through the maze of thick vines as she went.
Temiri knew where the rendezvous point was and with any luck he'd be able to get there without incident. Once Chewie had him in his sights, he'd be safe. The Wookie would never let anything happen to one of her students. He had a soft spot for children. And her.
They'd argued over the comm the night before. She'd never heard such profanity from her co-pilot, not even when she'd asked him to drop her off at the Supremacy.
Chewie was adamant about her getting onboard along with her students. He howled about her being as reckless as Commander Dameron, which resulted in them both going off on a tangent about the security of the new base. In the end, he promised if it came down to it, he'd deliver them to the Resistance and keep them hidden from the First Order.
Even if that meant leaving Rey behind.
What's one more? she thought bitterly, as she slid along the forest floor to avoid an upturned root. At least this time, it was her choice.
She hurtled over a wide stump, her saber-staff clinking against her hip as she traveled deeper and deeper into the jungle.
When she'd taken off, Rey hadn't had a plan. Going back to the base was suicide and leading Kylo to the Falcon was worse. She only hoped she could lose him in the winding woods. Maybe if she could stay far enough ahead of him, there would be an opportunity to double back and hop on the transport.
Rey glanced over her shoulder, curious to see how close he was. It was a rookie mistake and it cost her. When she righted her gaze to what was in front of her, all she saw was black.
Suddenly her feet were no longer on the ground. Kylo's leather glove was stretched out in front of him, keeping her suspended above the earth.
"Why do you insist on doing this?" he chided her as if she was a disobedient child.
"Why do you insist on denying the light inside of you?" she spat through gritted teeth.
His eyes narrowed, as his fingers curled inward. Rey felt her body shift towards him, bringing her eye to eye with the Supreme Leader.
"Ben Solo is dead," he growled lowly.
His face hardened, empty of any emotion except for his boiling rage. He'd never looked upon her with such a menacing scowl before, not even when she'd breached his mind in the interrogation chamber. Perhaps it was true then. Perhaps the Ben she'd seen on Ahch-To was gone forever.
Rey felt a sharp pain in her chest. The last of the Skywalkers was no more. Was that why the legacy saber had called to her? Because its owner no longer lived?
She heard the sound of an approaching threat. The Force darkened and she knew it was the Knights of Ren before they came into view.
"Master," one knelt before Kylo. "We've secured the boy."
They brought Temiri forth.
"No! You can't have him!" Rey struggled violently against the Force hold. "I'll go with you," she gasped, kicking her legs out and pulling at the invisible threads which kept her bound. "But leave him here. Please."
"The time for negotiation has passed," Kylo informed her. "Take him back to the ship. Chart a course for Naboo."
"Yes, Master," the knight rose, falling in line with the others, who began to escort Temiri from her view.
"No!"
Rey broke free of the Force hold, collapsing to the ground. Within seconds she was on her feet, one hand poised outwards, knocking over half of the knights while the other unsheathed her lightsaber. The purple blades blazed forth, keeping the rest at bay.
She went towards Temiri, eyes defiant as she stared into the black helmet of the knight who held onto the boy's arm. The knight had an electro-whip on his belt and his gloved hand twitched as he determined whether or not he had time to reach for it.
"Release him," she demanded, twirling her weapon slowly to come below the man's jaw. "Now."
The nameless knight tilted his head back slightly. Rey saw the reflection of another closing in behind her, but it was already too late.
A sharp pain erupted at the base of her skull as one of the knights used the butt of his blaster rifle to strike her.
Temiri's eyes widened and he struggled in vain against his captor's hold. It was the last thing she saw before everything went black.
"Feodras," Kylo snarled, encircling Rey's waist before she fell. "I specially instructed the Jedi was to be left to me."
"She was a threat, Master," his knight responded, bowing his head in submission. "She would have turned her saber on all of us to get the child."
Kylo resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his prominent nose. When Rey woke, she would be displeased. While he knew she'd be unhappy be taken, he had hoped he could convince her to stay of her own free will. In time, perhaps she could forget about the Resistance and be persuaded to join him, as he'd always wished.
Of course, that option was less likely since she'd been harmed.
He lifted her into his arms, the feel of her cradled against his chest familiar. If he could go back to Takodana forest, he wouldn't have changed a single moment. Her fire, her fearlessness had called to him. He'd never been impressed before and certainly not by some scavenger from a backwater planet.
She'd taken root in his mind that day. Like the nightbloomers which grew under the harsh Jakku sun, her presence in his mind survived through Snoke's retribution until it was the one piece of himself that Kylo couldn't cut out. More telling was the fact he didn't want to.
Unable to afford a glance at her face, he raised his dark eyes to his knights. "We're done here."
"Why do we need the child?" Cadmus questioned, hoisting the vicious little brat over his shoulder.
"He's leverage," Kylo replied.
The boy spat at his boots. His eyes darkened with wrath but he didn't raise a hand to him. "You're a monster," the brown-eyed child cried at him.
His nostrils flared at the barb; so familiar, yet striking to hear from someone other than Rey. It was nearly as striking as the boy's appearance.
Kylo hadn't taken notice prior, too consumed by his need to capture the last Jedi. The boy had brown eyes, lighter than his own but darker than Rey's hazel orbs. His skin was tanned from hours spent outside, like hers, yet his hair was the color of raven's feathers, like his. His features were a blend of them both — the light and the dark. It was uncanny…and confusing.
"Put him on the spacecraft" Kylo ordered Cadmus Ren.
"And the Jedi?" Feodras queried.
"I will deal with her," Kylo responded in a tone which left no room for further questions.
We have much to discuss.
Rey felt a weight around her. She inhaled deeply, expecting the heavy smell of the planet's humidity and dying embers from their nightly fire. Instead what she smelled was sterile; cold metal and sanitized sheets. On the cusp of it all was something warmer, a familiar scent of parchment paper, ink and loneliness.
Her eyes flew open to inspect her surroundings. The vibrations of the ship had kept her cocooned in sleep, lulling her into a false sense of comfort. She was on a bed, draped in black fabric, woven from what she could only assume was some of the finest material in the galaxy. It was thick, though not coarse, and it served as a blanket, tenderly wrapped around her form. It too was familiar.
"Good morning," a deep voice greeted from the shadows in the corner.
Not this again...
Rey sat up, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at the Supreme Leader of the Galaxy. "Where is he?"
"He's here, onboard the Elstree," Kylo replied from where he sat.
Her chest tightened. If the Knights of Ren held no qualms about attacking her, did their training also permit them to harm a child?
The Supreme Leader must have sensed her unease because Kylo rose from his chair and came to stand before her. "They won't raise a hand to him."
"You and I both know there are ways to cause pain without physical contact," she replied stonily, shoving his cloak off of her.
"I commanded them to leave the boy be," he added, retrieving his garment. "They will watch him. Nothing more."
"Sure," Rey grumbled, one hand absently rubbing the back of her head where she'd been struck.
Kylo watched her, his lips pursed into a tight, thin line. "I apologize. That was..."
"Uncalled for," she supplied.
"Unfortunate," he finished. "You were the one to initiate the attack. Had you not, the Knights wouldn't have felt the need to defend themselves."
"Defend themselves? Against a ten-year-old child?" she raged.
"No," Kylo insisted, "Against the one who brandished a weapon with the intent to kill."
"I didn't wish to kill him," Rey snapped. "I only wanted my student back."
"You have him. He's here."
They stared at one another for a long, tense moment, both their chests rising and falling as they silently came down from their quarrel.
"I want to see Temiri," Rey informed him, standing up. She purposely shouldered him as she moved past him to the door. Slamming her fist against the pad, she waited for it to slide open. It didn't.
"I can't permit you to wander about the ship unaccompanied," Kylo announced.
"Because I'm your guest?" Rey taunted, agitation flooding her senses as she peered at him over her shoulder.
When he didn't respond, she sighed, crossing the room to the viewport. Her breath caught in her throat when she beheld the colorful planet coming into view. The swirls of blues, greens and white interlaced together in a mesmerizing puzzle. She leaned in towards the glass, captivated by the sight.
"Is that Naboo?"
"Yes," Kylo answered, his voice closer this time. Rey jolted in surprise, feeling his massive form as he hovered behind her.
"It's beautiful," Rey breathed, watching the delicate transition of the colors come into focus as they neared the atmosphere.
"I'm pleased it's to your liking," he replied. "I have accepted Theed Royal Palace as my birthright."
Rey turned just enough to gaze up at him.
"My grandmother ruled here for a time," he explained. "This is her birthplace. They were one of the first to join the First Order after the fall of Snoke."
Though he didn't speak his intentions out loud, Rey understood the expectation assigned to her.
"Ben, I can't stay here. My students—."
"If you tell me their location, I will—."
"No," Rey cut him off, turning around fully to give him an icy stare. "I'm not giving you anything. If you want to decimate the Resistance than you should have blown me and that piece of junk out of the sky when you had the chance."
He flinched, clearly unaware she'd heard his contempt-filled vow while they'd been on Crait.
Good, she hoped he felt as disappointed as she had been. When Finn had played the comm recording for her, Rey had barely believed it, first because the Resistance's tech was so outdated but mainly because she thought Ben would come back to the light.
She'd been wrong.
"Rey—."
"I want to see Temiri," she demanded.
His expression hardened at her order. "The knights suggested I cuff you. I informed them it wasn't necessary," he stated flatly, backing away. "Don't force my hand."
With that, he stalked out of the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
