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Distance

A rabid cur, Snoke had called him. A cur's weakness, properly manipulated, can be a sharp tool.

There was only one truth in that statement, I knew now just as well as I did then when the words had been spoken: Hux was a rabid cur at best. But even with all his weaknesses, his shortcomings, and his faults to exploit, there was still nothing he could produce that came even close to sharp, except maybe the shrill wailing of his voice when he was strapped down for interrogation and begging for mercy.

That we share a rivalry is no secret even on a ship as massive as ours. The only difference is that I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to stay on top.

"You're insane," The man spewed in his whiny, nasally voice. His face was as red as his hair and the thin trail of blood at the corner of his mouth, and there was spittle on his chin.

I gripped the hilt of my saber at my belt. I saw his eyes shift to my hand and they widened in fear and anger.

"You won't scare me like you do the others," He lied.

"No," I agreed with an air of calmness overlaying my dangerous intent, "You are not sophisticated enough a creature to be frightened."

Hux sneered at me and tried to turn his thin nose up at me, but it wasn't especially threatening.

"You never were good at anything else but terrifying everyone around you with your childish tantrums and freakish abilities. You lead with fear, I lead with respect."

"And yet I'm the Supreme Leader now," I pointed out, "Funny how things work out."

To be frank, this man exhausted me. I had no patience for him and his righteous, holier-than-thou attitude. Everything about him, from how he strutted down the hall like a stiff-necked peacock to how his weasel-like eyes would glower at me from across the room, made me question how much I needed him exactly. Unfortunately, I have found myself in a position where I do need his military expertise, if you can call it that.

Which is how he ended up constrained for interrogation.

"You let them go to infuriate me," I accused. Hux spat a wad of blood at my feet.

"I have as much reason to hate the filthy rebels as much as you," He seethed, "Why would I let them slip away yet again?"

"There's no other explanation," I insisted, "It's one ship with two dozen people on board. We have the most advantaged technology in the galaxy. Our people are positioned on every heap of rock floating through space, all waiting for the damned Falcon."

"You're delusional."

And so it began again.

Perhaps I was delusional, I mused as I left the room, leaving him there for now. He had no means of escape and no one would dare set him free. Increasingly over the past few weeks I have found my temper to be even worse than usual and my patience especially thin. Physical torture had never been something I enjoyed or even employed. At least, not by my hand. Exerting my influence on the Force was a far more satisfying tactic to get what I wanted and always worked, except in one very special case, which I admitted to myself was what had me so angry. They were eluding me because of her and her inexplicable affiliation with the Force.

Rey.

An invisible wall slammed into my gut, taking the wind from my lungs and throwing me to the cold floor in a heap. I clutched my abdomen as I gritted my teeth, wondering what had hit me out of nowhere.

" – sorry, I'm so sorry, are you –"

The apologetic voice stopped suddenly. It was feminine and genuine, and I immediately recognized it.

I leapt to my feet, wheezing, and my hand twitched over my lightsaber as I stared her down, standing there in the middle of the hall like she was meant to be there. I hadn't seen her in nearly three weeks.

In her own hand, she held the silver hilt of her saber, but it was not ignited. Still, I could see her thumb was ready. Her clothes were thick, comprised of white and grey leathers and fur, and her dark hair was tousled and stuck to the sweat on her forehead. Her cheeks looked on the verge of frostbitten. Even from here, I thought I could feel the bite of wind on my skin.

She was somewhere cold and brutal.

Rey's expression was tired and unfriendly. Mine must have looked quite similar. This bond, however useful it may be in locating the rebels, had to end.

"It thought it had stopped," She said, echoing my thoughts. At least we were on the same page of this particular book.

"Snoke is dead. It should have died with him."

The girl stared at me hard. It made me uneasy. I'm not sure why. Maybe I wasn't used to seeing my own intensity thrown back at me from someone who may actually be an equal.

"I see you've repaired the lightsaber," I said, changing the subject. Rey raised the saber in her palm and studied it.

"No," She replied, "I don't know how."

"I can teach you."

Rey glared at me and shoved the hilt back onto the clip at her hip. I didn't actually expect that to work anyway. I glared back when she said, "Considering the quality of your saber, I don't think I would turn to you for help, even if I didn't hate you."

I was already done here, but the bond was still resonating strongly between us, stretched so tightly that I could have plucked it and heard it reverberate down the hall.

"We need to find a way to end this," Rey continued, surprising me. I regarded her with interest.

"What do you propose? I've never heard of anything like this before."

"That doesn't mean it can't be broken," She insisted. I began to hear that determination that characterized her every effort, absent since she betrayed me that day on Snoke's ship. "There must be a way. If it can be made, it can also be unmade."

I crossed my arms. "It will take more than wishful thinking."

Rey's lips thinned in irritation. "I'm open to ideas."

"Breaking it was your idea."

The girl started to throw her arms up but tried to play it off as peeling off the hair on her face and tucking it back behind her ear. "What were you doing when we connected?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Nothing. I was walking down a hallway."

Her lips puckered in thought. "What were you feeling?"

"Anger. Frustration."

"What a surprise."

It was my turn to grit my teeth and try to not wring her neck. "What were you doing and feeling?"

"Walking," She replied, "I was also feeling frustrated. Maybe it connects us when are feelings are in sync."

"Or distance," I proposed, suddenly having a clever thought, "Maybe it's triggered by our proximity to each other. Where are you?"

Rey scoffed immediately, "Tell me where you are first so we can be sure to stay clear."

"The Atterra system."

It was a lie and a gamble. I wasn't stupid enough to give away our actual position, but I was hopeful that by being forthcoming and eager to be rid of the bond as well, she would place her trust in me again. And then we could end all of this. Unsurprisingly, though, Rey seemed only more suspicious.

"That's not possible," She said cautiously, "We were in that region of space only hours ago."

I began a mental checklist of all the planets and chunks of rock in that area that also would require the sort of attire she was wearing. "Where are you now?" I asked again, hoping to narrow things down a bit more while I had her feeling cooperative, "It must be cold there. I can feel it."

Rey squinted her eyes and looked upwards, and suddenly I had a strange stinging in my own eyes that I couldn't blink away. A drop of water hit my forehead and rolled down my nose. Snow. As frustrating as this bond was, it was equally fascinating.

"Rey?"

The girl looked at me again, suspicion still curving her lips downwards, but there was something in her eyes that made me think she was about to place her trust in me again. There was a part of her so desperate to be rid of me and this bond that she would invite me to come even closer. I pressed my lips together and implored her with my gaze to give in.

But then I blinked and she was gone. I stared in shock at the space she had occupied half a second ago, so close to trusting me, to giving up the rebels once and for all. My chest began to heave as disbelief gave way to anger.

Screaming in mindless rage, I reached for my lightsaber.