"Please, I'll do anything," The man cried out, "just do not hurt my family." Then the sounds of machines of torture followed by horrid screams filled Rey's ears. It has been four days since she has seen Kylo Ren. Four days since she left her room. Four days since she got the freedom of leaving a space that was more than fifteen feet by fifteen feet. But it had been four days of unbearable sounds of suffering that caused her the most mental pain.
The closeness of the room was driving her towards insanity. Now, after ninety six hours without any form of human contact, she began to make stories for the victims. Not only were they given a story, but a face that matched their screams. Sometimes the story would be so magnificent that she would feel a connection form with the borderline corpse. This was rare. At least she hoped that their deaths would not affect her to a lengthy extent.
Two days ago, she heard a woman, crying out in pain. Rey heard the usual speech, "don't hurt my family" followed by an "I'll tell you anything you need to know" and then the inevitable death. But this woman was different. Her cries were not of fear, but something she could not describe. They were cries of bravery. She walked headfirst into the base, knowing full well what lay before her. She was that, brave, something many of these victims were not.
Rey let this woman's resilience flow throughout her as she withstood the death of another.
The deed had passed.
As Rey knew the man's pain had ended, she heard a buzz from above.
"Starkiller Base to Hades Vessel do you copy?" She perked up.
"The man is dead, his body will be disposed of in twenty minutes, so there is no chance of seeing him again." A form of outside communication. It existed. There was still hope.
Rey rolled over in her bed as a plan began to form in her mind and her possible escape did not seem as intangible as before.
On the other side of the ship, Kylo Ren lay restless on his bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering.
What is she….
He had never met anyone this strong before. Never before had he met someone that nearly matched his power, the ability to let the force enrapture their soul. Her power was so intense that he felt himself go weak in her presence.
Weak. Like a damn coward.
He stood up in anger and let the feeling pulse freely through his body as his teeth grit together. He took the nearest thing he could wrap his hands around, a glass, and tossed it roughly against the wall, letting the shards cover the ground. Kylo Ren stared at his mess, feeling soothed after letting his anger be moved into an action. He sat down on his bed, digging his fingers into his scalp while his mind attacked him with thoughts he did not need.
Her strength in the force.
Her natural lightness.
Her ability to accept his past.
Her cleverness in dire situations.
Her.
A scream radiated throughout the room as he smashed yet another object, this time a lamp. Kylo strode quickly into the bathroom and splashed water on his face, and stared at himself. Who was he anymore? If there was any form of weakness in him, what would Snoke do? He watched his eyes turn from anger to terror at the idea of Snoke and the possible punishment he could receive from affection. He shook his head. No. This is not affection, only lust. It had been years since Kylo had been with a beautiful woman, and he knew love was no longer an option. It will never be an option again.
Kylo Ren looked at the clock on the wall above the mirror and it read 2:35 am. He let his eyes close and let her presence overcome him. She was awake. He opened his eyes and gazed back at his reflection, knowing full well his responsibility towards her.
"If you can not kill the beast, tame it."
An aggressive knock pounded on Rey's door, she knew who it was. She got off her bed and let him in, feeling uneasiness in his aura.
"Good, you're awake." He always seemed to get to the point.
"Good morning to you too," She sat back down on her bed, "For all you know I could have been asleep or falling asleep."
"But you weren't," He looked into her eyes, "You're too distressed to." Rey averted her gaze.
"I could say the same for you," She read him against his will.
"Never do that." His voice was not threatening, but rather anxious, like a child not wanting his favorite toy to be touched.
"Never do what?" She knew what she did.
"Go into my mind," She looked back into his eyes. "The darkness you have not even thought of uncovering in my mind would drive a priest insane, do you really want that?" Rey was surprised at this reaction. Though the words were harsh, his tone was soft and warning, as if letting the truth through would cause more pain.
Kylo knew his words radiated within her because she did not retort and there was silence. Intimate silence. He shook off the silence.
"Now we must practice, come." He ushered her in his direction and she followed. The silence of the walk made their footsteps sound louder than anything Rey had ever heard, they were, in her mind, the loudest things in the universe.
"Yael, how did you meet her?" Rey always hated silence.
"I saved her."
"How?" Kylo Ren looked back at her, letting their steps stop. His eyes flicked from arrogance to pain back to arrogance in seconds.
"Some things will be told in time, and right now is not the time." And with that, the silence continued. Then they reached a familiar door. "I'm guessing you remember this room?"
"How could I forget?" Her excitement of the room excited him. They both entered and again, it was dark. She could hear his breathing and let it calm her so their breaths were equally paced.
"This exercise is different from the last," Rey was intrigued, "Rather than going into the mind of a sith, you will spar a Sith." This shocked her.
"What?" Why would he have to spar her? Then an idea hit her, "You just want to hit me because I asked about Yael."
"No." His tone overturned her idea, "I want you to feel the emotion put into sparring since many will come into your mind, but some are less helpful than others." Rey let relief spread throughout her mind as she got ready to fight.
"But first," Now what? "Close your eyes."
"Why?"
"So all you're fighting is the emotion, and not me." And with that their eyes closed and she let her hand fly forward and touch his open palm. In this touch, a familiar spark radiated from their hands. She then felt a hand going for her abdomen, she blocked it as she grabbed his hand and let herself bring it behind his back. Her breath tickled his neck before he flipped her onto a hard surface. She was down for a minute and Kylo sensed this.
"Are you ok?" Eyes closed, she responded.
"I think so." She then stood up, feeling his presence in front of her. She punched for his solar plexus, but he felt her intentions and blocked the punch.
Spark.
He aimed at her shoulder, she blocked.
Spark.
She let her hand fly back towards his abdomen, he blocked.
Spark.
Her leg flew up for a kick, and he caught it and flipped her over on to the floor, letting his body come down with hers. She felt his presence on top of her, and she felt comfortable, much more than she had felt at any other time on this ship. No one attacked as their breath danced together. She was calm and she knew he was too. It was an uncommon form of calm, especially from the likes of Kylo Ren.
She opened her eyes.
His eyes were already opened.
He stared at her and she stared back, taking in his painful handsomeness that glowered from his hurting eyes. And for one moment, they were more similar than Rey would like to admit. She had never felt this intimate with a man, and she enjoyed it. Until he pulled his body off of hers.
"You should be getting back to sleep." She helped her up. "You have a long day ahead of you."
"Yes." She didn't know what to do, so she stared at his outline in the darkness. She could sense he was doing the same. "I'll go now." Rey began to back towards the door.
"Rey," She turned back, "I saved her from her father."
Rey nodded, knowing what he meant before leaving the room.
She heard the spark in his voice.