Author's note:
This chapter took much longer than planned. My vet school classes have started up again, so I won't have as much time to write. I will continue though and I apologize in advance for the sporadic nature of chapter postings. I hope this chapter was worth the wait!


Through it all
I can see
We are too different
Two Different Sides of the Force


Jana Ren tilted her head to the side and frowned as she sensed Kylo's Force signature. It was so rare that she got a chance to observe it. He habitually kept a concealing barricade over his Force signature to keep prying minds from seeing the truth. She absently raised a hand to her head and adjusted the crisscrossing cloth that covered her empty eye sockets.

Jana sharpened her mind on the clear shimmers of Light that marbled through the otherwise shadowed man that she knew. The marbling had always been there, but the veins had gradually thinned ever since Kylo destroyed what Skywalker had built. Something had changed, however, because now they variegated extensively towards his core. A deep-seeded worry for her Master unfolded in her gut. His Light had only ever caused him pain and he paid a deep price each time he let it in. She had been able to help him return to the Darkness that saved him last time, but only just. The Dark may have the ability to consume him, but it was his connection to the Light that had the potential to completely tear him apart from the inside out.

She moved her focus to the edges of his presence. These fringes crackled in their familiar fashion, much like the volatile nature of his light saber. Ever since he had sat in his chair after leaving that planet, these spark-like projections were more erratic than usual, extending further out from his core.

The communicator sounded, rousing her from her deep concentration in her connection to the Force. Kylo took the call.

"Hux. Was the attack successful?"

"That depends on how you define success."

"Just report the attack. Did we take the base?" His voice was irritated, but his presence was… apprehensive?

"The base is smoking pleasantly."

"And the people?"

Jana noticed a clear bright vein flare out and undulate erratically as he waited for Hux's response.

"We estimate only ten were on it at time of attack. All signs of life now gone. Curiously, fifteen of their fighter ships dropped out of lightspeed only after the base was destroyed. They left as quickly as they came."

Kylo's core settled measurably at the news of the Resistance escaping. Jana probed deeper as their exchange continued. Why..?

"Trackers?"

"Unsuccessful."

Kylo's previously agitated edges settled further down to a low hum. The relief he exuded was a stark contrast to how he verbally laid into General Hux.

"You imbecile! How did you manage to screw THIS UP TOO?" Kylo's voice rose to a furious thunder, but his signature remained calm. He was and almost… satisfied? happy? No. That's something he hadn't been since the early days of their Knighthood. He was no longer capable.

Kylo tore into Hux for several minutes. When he was done, Jana twisted her chair around to face him. She reached out a tendril of the Force to hook around one of his smaller Force flares and tugged gently. She sensed him make his way over to her.

When she knew he was in front of her, she spoke in a low tone, "You are walking on dangerous waters. What happens when Hux finds out?"

"I'll worry about that when the time comes, Jana." His force projections bristled at her intrusion. He had reprimanded her on multiple occasions for meddling in his Force signature. Not that it ever made her stop.

"And when were you planning on telling us?" She sharpened her tone, making it clear she was upset about his reluctance to share his plans with his Knights. He was silent for a moment as he worked his shell of control and concealment back into place.

"Knew I could count on you to spread the word for me," he relented. Kylo briefly nudged her with his elbow, reluctantly granting her permission to share what she had discovered.

"And what about you? Her Light could destroy you. I can already see it. You remember—"

"Enough, Jana. Don't cross that line." He cut her off emphatically while simultaneously placing the final stone to his barricade, and his signature once again disappeared. He became as dull to her Force Sight as a passing stranger.

She shook her head as she heard him stand and make his way over to the lithe figure of Maika returning from talking to the young force-sensitive boy.


Kylo passed the hallway that led to a small navigational ship and entered his small living quarters, seeking solitude from his Knights. They were raucously playing a game of cards that they had learned on Canto Bight. He had watched a couple rounds from the pilot's seat, but had left to contemplate how to train Tavion, the young force-sensitive boy.

It had taken a bit of coaxing to get him to talk. Maika had made a small headway with him, but he was fixated on the Resistance. Ren had talked to him next, only to discover that Tavion had met FN-2187, knew all about Crait, and wanted nothing to do with him. Jana had better luck and had eventually convinced the boy to join them in playing cards under the pretense of getting to know the Knights first and making his decision later. Much to his Knights' dismay, Tavion was beating them handily. Dornan had commented that the kid could probably swindle Canto Bights entire casino without them knowing. It really wasn't fair for the rest of them to play against Tavion and Jana, who was so attuned that she could read the dealer like a book.

Kylo looked around at his quarters. The room boasted a small bed and a lounging chair across from each other, with a simple sink in the other corner. He opted for the chair, knowing he wouldn't be able to quiet his mind enough to sleep. He closed his eyes and focused on the hum of the engines for a while, trying to dim the sound of his Knights yelling as they played a hand.

The sound of the engines and his Knights laughter faded and a familiar hum rose in his ears. Kylo's eyes snapped open and raked across the room. His stomach dropped when he felt her corrosive anger. She had changed back into her normal attire.

"Ren," her voice cut through him like ice. Her whole body was wound and ready to strike. Kylo felt a pang of remorse that he was the cause of her imbalance.

"I trusted you." She reached to the empty space to her right, her thumb pointed down. Her expression was unnervingly calm, but her eyes blazed with heat that could challenge a newborn sun. Kylo rose from his seated position, wondering how deep their bond could now reach.

"You kidnapped a child." She closed her hand and her staff appeared in her clenched fist. There was something else hanging on the end of her accusation.

"Destroyed our base. How could you? Your mother just died! We said goodbye to her only this morning." He flinched marginally as another pang dove through him at the mention of his mother. He kept his eyes trained on hers. There was another emotion just beneath her anger and Kylo tried to identify it between the lines of her cutting words.

"You couldn't have waited one day before murdering all my people?" The emotion just beyond reach was something inexplicably painful that she refused to say. He waited, sure it would work its way to the surface. Their connection had a way of leaving them vulnerable.

Kylo shook his head once as his eyes cast down to the floor, then back up at Rey.

Her calm expression broke and her face contorted with her anger. Blindingly fast, she crossed the space between them as she spun her staff around to strike at his left temple. He instinctually snapped his arm up to catch it.

A sharp crack pierced the room as it made contact with his gloved hand.

Kylo's eyes widened. Rey's expression mirrored his shock for a moment before twisting in fury once more.

"Why did you do it?" The venom in her voice was harsh, but it was the gaping wound of the betrayal she felt that branded him. She spun around and ripped the staff out of his grasp. It whistled around her head for a second strike. Another crack stung his hand. She didn't understand, but how could he explain?

"SAY SOMETHING BEN!"

This time when the staff collided with his hand he held on, trying to bury the lance that drove through his countenance at her use of his old name. He didn't explain, instead he pulled at the emotions he felt broiling just below the surface of her fury. "Everything you've said. It's not why you're angry with me."

He did not let go, but tugged her staff toward him, forcing her to step closer. His words had delved right through her armor of anger. He could now see her barriers beginning to crumble as her eyes flicked back and forth between his. "Tell me why. The real reason." Her ire crumbled to reveal something much worse.

"You." An accusation. "You know the darkest part of me. And after everything I did for you. That we did together. Then today…" The storm of her emotions escaped her and tumbled over him. The fear she felt made his throat constrict. "The smoke…" Her hands briefly flexed around her staff before she let go of it, as if she was losing her grip on reality. The weapon disappeared and a tear began falling down her face. "…I am alone again. All by your design. As if I mean nothing to you." He preferred her anger to the hollowness now in her voice. She looked past him, no doubt seeing the smoke still rising. Smoke from the base whose destruction he had ordered.

He felt her anguish as his own, a hollow pit devoid of air. He searched her eyes in earnest until her focus was again on him. He spoke, "My design was everything I could do to ensure that you were not alone. Rey, everything you think. Every reason you have placed behind my recent actions. Forget them."

Rey moved her hands to hold the end of the string around her chest. She was folding in on herself in an effort to protect herself from what he had done, but also leaning towards him as if his comfort was something she had sought before.

"How can I forget? When…" He raised his hands with the intent to settle them on her shoulders, but stopped and let them hover inches from her skin. He caught a flicker of light escaping from the pendants clasped between her fingers. She was unconsciously drawing closer to the comfort he offered, even though he was the reason she was breaking.

"You are so strong. Use your strength to understand." Everything in him told him to reach out for her. To close the distance between his hands and her shoulders. He then froze when he noticed that she was holding on to two crystals. He sensed them through the Force and his eyes widened as he recognized the essences they held. He continued to speak in earnest as he looked at the crystals in her hand. "You already know. You are not alone. Everything I did was to be sure of that. You know."

He looked back up at her face to see that Rey had seen the recognition flash across his face. Her guard flew back up and the pull between them vanished.

"It was you, wasn't it? You located the base," Rey accused him as she took a step back.

He shook his head, refusing to answer her question. "I am not your enemy, Rey," he implored, his voice low and genuine.

A knock sounded on the door to his quarters. He turned his head to the door and Rey followed his line of sight, seeing only the space beside him. "Enter." The door opened as Jana walked in.

Jana spoke immediately, "Hux has called a meeting of all commanders…" she trailed off when she noticed his Force signature wasn't concealed. She could sense a bridge extending out, reaching for something. He immediately threw his barricade back up. Overtly concerned, Jana whispered, "That Light. It's bleeding into you."

"I told you not to cross that line," he reprimanded, his voice like stone. Kylo glanced back at Rey, who was glaring at him in silent accusation. Her previous question was still burning behind her irises.

"Prepare the holo-transmitter and clear the communications room. I will not be overheard." And he strode out of the room as Rey disappeared.


Not believing his eyes, General Hux moved to play the security holocron again. It had taken ages to recover. He initially thought it to be wiped from the system. Only after deploying a debris recovery mission did he find the circuitry that still contained the data.

The projection came to life again.

He watched closely as the scavenger remained still. Leaning closer, he enhanced Kylo's hand as it turned slowly in unison with the lightsaber next to the throne. It ignited as Kylo's finger twitched imperceptibly, cleaving the repulsive monster in half. Armitage grinned as he watched the two fight the guard together. Watched as Ren offered his hand to the scavenger, only to be refused.

The projection cut out as they struggled over the saber. This must have been when that woman with purple hair sliced through their ship at light speed. He started turning away from the screen, the last pieces of his plan quickly finding their place in his mind.

The feed came back on. It cut in and out as lines of static rose periodically through the spherical image. The scavenger stood over the unconscious Kylo Ren, her back to the security camera. She knelt down and hovered an ear over Ren's mouth. A nearly imperceptible sag to the girl's shoulders signified Ren's continued breathing. The girl pulled back and moved her hand up towards Ren's scar. The footage cut out again. When it came back on, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the girl at the edge of the view, running away.

Armitage called a meeting of all unit commanders. As he waited, he spliced out the relevant footage from every existing memory databank and stored it instead in his personal chip. He was placing the chip in his pocket as the men and women arrived. When they filled the room, General Hux turned to address his subordinates.

"As you well know, our attempt to eradicate the Resistance was… unsuccessful. We have reasonable suspicion of one or more traitors within our ranks. From now on, all commands and intellect will remain within the knowledge of those in this room and our Supreme Leader. All Stormtrooper units will report for psyche scans. No mercy will be shown. No reconditioning." He turned his chip over in his pocket. "Do all commanders give assent?"

Each individual in the room responded in kind. He felt a rush at how these commanders accepted his authority without question, granted this was without Ren in the room. That would be remedied in due time.

As if on cue, Kylo Ren's projection appeared into the space to Hux's left. Ren's expression was carefully constructed. "Supreme Leader. In time for our next order of business."

As Hux spoke again he watched Ren's face closely, "Our next action will be to rid the Resistance of their last Jedi. We have been gifted with the perfect opportunity." The miniscule tightening of Ren's eyes told Hux he had hit his target.

"We have visual confirmation that the girl is still in orbit around the Arvakai base." The commander standing closest to Hux moved to inform Hux of a development. Hux continued after the brief interruption. "She has now descended towards the base. As she is currently separated from the Resistance, it is the opportune moment to eliminate their asset."

Hux turned to Kylo, lowering his head and torso in a sign of respect and submission, if only to hide the upturned corners of his lips.

Ren said nothing for a long moment as he focused on something other than what was in the room. Then he gave his orders, "If the scavenger is investigating what remains of the base, there may be something of value on it. Send two squadrons to the ground, one to permanently disable her ship, the other to search the base for anything of use. Do not engage. I will not have us losing troopers over the likes of the scavenger. Once squadrons are removed, destroy the entire surface of that planet. I assume the Phlogiston is in position?"

"Yes, Supreme Leader." A commander left to set the orders into motion.

Ren spoke once more before he ended his projection, "The Knights of Ren were successful in obtaining the force-sensitive boy and we will begin his training. General Hux, the Phlogiston remains yours to command for the imminent future."


Rey shifted through the rubble, her eyes burning from the lingering smoke. She had been climbing through the mounds of broken concrete for over an hour. Her portable radio was attached firmly to her belt and it still crackled periodically as it received nothing but the waves of empty space.

She had found several bodies, all charred and in pieces from the force of the explosions. She counted no more than ten, but felt the loss all the same. Guilt boiled inside her at the small relief she felt each time it wasn't Finn, Poe, Rose, or Chewie.

The other ships that had left this morning were nowhere to be found, on the hangar or elsewhere. This gave her the strength to listen to the crackling of the radio that she knew would eventually come through with a familiar voice. It had to.

She descended the pile she was on with the practiced ease she had developed on Jakku. Halfway down, she felt an odd tug. She paused, trying to make sense of the familiar, yet foreign feeling. It was like a small hook that pulled at her connection with the Force. Rey swiftly finished her descent and assumed a defensive posture, removing her staff from where it had been strapped to her back. She had seen a couple of First Order ships descend a while ago, but she was determined to find any survivors before they did.

She felt the pull again and decided to follow it. Rey made her way through the rubble, keeping a low profile. She constantly scanned her surroundings for signs of movement.

The pull on the Force led her to a small valley in the rubble. Towards the end of the valley, a sheer wall extended and the chunks of concrete surrounding it formed a sizable alcove. She felt the presence inside and recognized who had been pulling her towards the formation in the rubble. Rey tightened her grip on her staff and made her way in.

Bits of light peaked through the cracks, making it easy for her to see Kylo filling the small space. He was forced to bow his head to avoid hitting the sharp edges of concrete jutting over him. He seemed to take up much more space in person. He wore no cape and his black attire lacked the normal sleeves and gloves.

"Rey, you came," he said with relief in his voice, which surprised her considering the brittle tension from a merely an hour before. "Are you hurt?" His eyes raked over her, searching for wounds.

"Why would I be?" she said warily.

"The First Order is here for you. Hux saw you land. They've already disabled your ship."

"You talk as if you're not one of them." Her brain worked frantically to think of a way off the planet. The few ships she had seen in her search of the rubble were damaged beyond repair.

"That's complicated, but the last thing I want is you as a captive of the First Order."

Her curiosity got the better of her, "Then what do you want?"

"I want you to join me," he said without hesitation. The memory of their last real face-to-face encounter echoed between them.

"How could I trust you?"

Kylo moved forward suddenly, whipping his arm up in her direction. Rey quickly raised her staff to defend herself. Simultaneously, she heard the unmistakable sound of blaster fire. She turned around to see the streak of energy stalled inches from her head. Ten yards away in the valley of rubble, a single Stormtrooper was frozen, clutching at his throat.

"Rey. Your staff. It can't look like it was me," he conveyed with urgency. She hesitated, her mind reeling from the sudden change in circumstances.

"Go. Now!" Rey ducked below the streak of trembling energy and sprinted across the rubble toward the trooper. Her feet never faltered as she picked the most stable rocks without conscious thought. Once she was close enough, Rey vaulted off a slab that was angled upwards. She whipped her staff around to hit a pressure point between the trooper's helmet and shoulder pad. The trooper slumped as Kylo released his Force hold. Kylo appeared behind her moments later. He picked up the blaster and quickly discharged the weapon to the left side of the white helmet.

Rey began to protest, "He was knocked out already, you didn't have to—"

"I told you, they can't know it was me. Besides," Kylo dropped the blaster on the ground, "he tried to kill you."

Frustrated, Rey made to pick up the blaster. A long-range weapon could be useful.

"It won't work. The blaster. When the armor detects the trooper's death, their assigned blaster deactivates until another trooper picks it up. Safety mechanism. Troopers can also manually deactivate them through their armor if they are disarmed."

He watched as Rey instead lifted up a block of concrete with the Force and dropped it on the blaster, leaving it in pieces. "One less weapon to use against me," she said to herself before turning to walk away from him.

"Rey, they'll locate the beacon of that trooper. You have to leave this planet. I'll help you."

They heard the sound of marching troopers in the distance.

"I'll find another way off. I can evade them until the squadrons leave." She kept walking away.

"When the squadrons leave, our destroyer will make this planet uninhabitable within seconds." Something about his tone made Rey pause. She turned around to see him standing with a bare hand extended towards her. He continued, "Come with me. I'll find a way to return you to the Resistance. I promise."

After a long moment, Rey made her way back to him. She walked past his offered hand and began climbing the pile of rubble behind him. He joined her and they hurriedly scaled the rubble. She could only imagine the consequences of being seen together near the prone body in white armor. Particularly for him.

Once they were out of range of the resulting explosion, Kylo released the frozen blaster fire. The wave of condensed air still jolted them as they climbed, catching Rey off guard. She stumbled for a moment and Kylo quickly grabbed her arm before she could fall to the jagged mess of broken metal architecture to her left. He removed his hand as soon as she was steady and they resumed their climb.

"Thanks," Rey said, looking at him briefly.

He glanced back at her and nodded. "My ship is a half mile outside of the rubble zone, opposite where the troopers landed. I'll explain what I can when we are off the planet."

She said nothing this as they reached the top of the pile. There were three others to traverse before they could reach the planet's natural rocky terrain.

They began descending the pile they were on. Halfway down, Rey noticed a group of four troopers approaching from their left. At the same moment, rubble began tumbling down. Rey roughly shoved Kylo behind a larger slab to get out of the line of sight as a trooper stopped to look up.

She turned her back to him to push them further into the shadows.


Kylo grunted as he was shoved against the hard stone. He noticed Rey was breathing easily despite the exertion of scaling across the rubble. He found himself distracted by her back and shoulders moving against his chest as she pressed them into the shadows. Kylo rested his head back against the concrete to regain his focus.

Rey took a small step forward and peaked around the stone wedge that concealed them. He released a slow breath, glad there was space between them again.

"Are you okay?" Rey was peering back at him.

"Yes," his voice came out low, "have the troopers passed?"

"Just far enough to knock them down." She flashed him a small wicked smile. Before he could say anything, she had crouched and navigated down to the Stormtroopers.

Kylo stepped forward to watch her. Rey moved nimbly between the larger pieces of concrete, looking completely at ease in the unstable pile. He watched in amazement as she crept behind the troopers that were oblivious to her approach. They didn't even have time to pull their blasters as her staff moved in a blur. She knocked two out with her staff and the other two with some well-placed kicks. Kylo hurried down and stopped when he was next to her.

"How many troopers are down here?" Rey inquired.

"Enough to find us if we don't get out of here soon." He took a blaster from one of the troopers and shot them each in the same place as the first one. "Let's go." Kylo stalked away before she could protest.


They made their out of the rubble without another incident and stepped onto the flat, slightly rocky terrain of Arvakai. They set off in a run and Rey easily kept pace with Kylo's longer stride.

When they were twenty yards from the ship they heard the roar of engines far behind them. Kylo turned to see the Stormtrooper ships rising out of the planet's atmosphere and towards the hidden space where the Phlogiston lay in wait.

"Frack. Rey, we've got about two minutes to get out of here before—"

"Then shut it and run!"

They sprinted the remaining distance to the ship, nearly stumbling over each other as they boarded. Rey found the power panel as Kylo activated the shields. They worked around each other like a well-oiled machine as they readied the ship, but it was slow to power up. As Kylo continued to work on the flight preparation, Rey chanced a glance out the front viewport. A long red beam was expanding from the reaches of space with seemingly no origin.

The ship lifted, but was rocking unsteadily.

"Ren, what's the hold up? There's a giant ball of destruction headed towards us!"

"The lateral stabilizer's circuitry is deficient." He was investigating the associated panel controls.

The explosion blinded them momentarily as the beam made contact with the planet only mile away from the ship.

Moving beside Kylo, Rey dropped to the floor and removed the side panel below the appropriate lever. She immediately saw the faulty wires, sparking erratically. She pulled herself under the control board to reach them and set to work.

"Rey they released another blast and the concussion wave from the first one is about to hit us!"

"Almost…" The last two wires were just out of her reach. She pulled herself further under the control board to reach them and quickly rerouted the circuit.

"Now!" Rey yelled as she pushed out from under the board. She made to stand, but was thrown to the side as the concussion wave hit the ship, hitting her head on something sharp.

Rey stood and swayed as she made her way to the seat next to Kylo. She had just sat down as he threw the thruster to the forward position. The ship began to move as second beam made contact with the ground and the fire from the explosion engulfed the ship for a moment before they shot away from the planet.

After narrowly escaping the now volatile atmosphere, Kylo quickly set the navigational system to their destination and made the jump to light speed.

After setting the ship to autopilot, he turned to look at Rey. He was about to comment on her work with the lateral stabilizer, but saw she was holding a hand to the side of her head. When she pulled it back it was covered in blood. He immediately moved to help her, but she halted him by holding out her bloodied hand.

"I'm fine. I've had worse." Rey gestured again for him to keep his distance. "Where the frack did that destructive beam come from? There was no ship."

"Our new destroyer is… hidden."

"How is that even possible?"

Kylo rattled off the complex astrophysics involved in bending space and gravity to create the wormhole that the Phlogiston resided in. He looked up expecting her to be confused, but she had understood every word.

"How did you understand all that? You've had no training."

"Same way I knew how to fix the lateral stabilizer. I've spent my whole life around old ships, most of them Dark, and some of them still had material stored on their drives I could learn from."

Rey made to stand up, but swayed dangerously.

Kylo again moved to help her, but she shook her head as she sat back down, wincing as she returned her hand to her head. "I told you I'm fine. Now you said you'd explain so answer my questions!"

"I won't answer anything until you at least let me clean you up," he implored. They glared at each other as a blood began to drip from over Rey's left eyebrow. She gave in with a nod.

He left the cockpit area for a minute and returned with the ship's medical kit. She reluctantly removed her hand from her forehead to let him see the wound. Kylo pulled out a gauze soaked in a blue liquid, then pushed her hair back to assess the cut. "It's not too deep. Just needs to be cleaned up so it doesn't fester. My Knight, Maika, has a propensity for healing with the Force…" he trailed off when he saw the expression on her face. "Where else would I take you? You have no inclination as to where your traitor friends are. The First Order is definitely not an option, not to mention nearly every planet has a bounty on your head."

"All thanks to you," Rey rebuked.

He gave her a pointed look. "You can stay with my Knights until you find the Resistance. I assume that radio still works," he gestured towards her hip, where the radio was miraculously still intact.

"You haven't left me much of a choice, despite your intentions."

"You always have a choice," he responded, referring to more than the moment they were in.

Rey let his comment hang there as he cleaned her wound. He was gentle about it, but didn't treat her like she was fragile either. Once it was clean, he pressed gauze to the wound to stop the bleeding. He bent his knees into a crouch, his head now lower than hers in her chair. They sat like this in silence for a while. Rey closed her eyes as the warm pressure he applied with his hand provided some relief for the pain in her head. Eventually, Kylo peaked under the gauze to find a descent clot forming. Rey opened her eyes at the movement to find Kylo looking up at her.

"It was me," he stated, a confession. Rey's brow creased, causing the cut to bleed again. Her thoughts were fuzzy, making it difficult to follow what he was talking about. "You need to keep your face still if I'm going to patch you up."

Rey forced her face to relax, finding their situation bewildering to say the least and still not understanding what Kylo was referring to. He applied a pressure bandage and stood up, still looking at her.

"It was me. I located your base." He never broke eye contact. "I can't tell you how."

"Can't or won't?"

He let his silence answer that question. You'd never forgive me if you knew how. She had subconsciously reached for the crystals that hung around her neck, not knowing she held the answer in her hands.

After a beat, he said, "I made sure there was as little damage as possible."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, "Your little damage killed ten brave and innocent people. They were teenagers in training that were just keeping the base operational!"

"Would you rather I attacked and obliterated everyone? Rey it was the only option that could end the way—"

"What are you playing at, Kylo? Minimizing our losses, but still attacking? Killing your own troopers just now? Who are you even loyal to?"

"I am loyal to my Knights as they are loyal to me… And I know how all of this looks, but the First Order is just a valuable tool. If I revealed my intent to them, they would become my enemy, just as yours. For now, my position is solid. I can mold their plans and keep their intelligence to my devices."

"That doesn't make it right." She stared him down, but his indomitable expression did not break.

She sighed before asking her next question, "Canto Bight. Why did you tell me about the boy if you just wanted him for yourself?"

"Not for myself, I did it for him. It's his best chance to train with my Knights. But it wasn't about the boy, not entirely."

"Then what…" she trailed off, still holding on to the crystals that hung around her neck, holding a piece of him. She looked so lost.

"Rey, you are becoming an extremely powerful Force user. You are an asset to the Resistance. They don't stand a chance without you." His eyes cast down and his bottom lip quivered as he chewed over his thoughts before deciding to continue. When he did, a new raw emotion in his tone conveyed an entirely different meaning. "Neither do I."

Her expression changed from one of disapproval to that of vulnerability, her mouth opening slightly. His eyes met hers again and air between them changed, as if the poles on repelling magnets suddenly switched. Their energy once again flowed toward one another instead of pushing them apart. Neither of them had moved, but they somehow seemed closer together. Something passed between them and despite everything, Rey found that she trusted him.

The planetary approach alert went off and they reluctantly broke from the moment that had consumed them.

They looked out the viewport as the ship dropped out of hyperspace and a small planet came into view. Rey sat in silence as she watched the approach, still unsure what to say.

It was a relatively hot and humid planet, with low sparse clouds that formed a near constant haze. As they approached closer to the ground, Rey saw enormous slow-moving veins of lava flowing from volcanic mountains. The mountains were at most a half-mile high, but most of their diameters stretched across many miles. There were sparse patches of green scattered throughout the surface in the valleys between them.

Kylo piloted the ship towards one of the green patches, then veered to the cold and dark dormant volcano that stood unforgiving beside the rich tropical forest. There was something arcane about the forest that raised the hairs on Rey's back.

Once they were closer, Rey could see multiple caves on the looming face of the volcanic mountain, large enough for ship storage and landing.

As they neared one of the dark caves, Rey glanced at the smaller active volcano across from their destination. It was relatively close, only about a mile away. It wept a slow and steady stream of lava from a cavern halfway up its peak. A black and rocky ridge spanned between the two peaks, connecting them halfway up. The odd swirling patterns that rose and fell across the ridge almost seemed out of place.

Kylo navigated into the lowest cave and Rey struggled to see in the sudden darkness. Looking out in front of the ship, she could barely make out several figures cloaked in black as they touched the ground. She suddenly felt very apprehensive as she the reality of her situation hit her. She stood, still swaying slightly from her head wound, and moved towards the exit.

He seemed to sense her discomfort as he pulled the lever to lower the ramp. "They know how important you are. My Knights won't harm you, Rey."

Kylo stepped behind her, his hand moving to rest on her back as it had once before.

With her next step, she was sturdy once again and together they descended into the darkness.


Note: Thank you for reading!
Throughout that last portion, Rey and Kylo's viewpoints kept switching back and forth on me, but it seemed right. Almost like the more they are together the more fluid their bond becomes?
What do you think of Jana!? Of her insight into how the Light affects Kylo? She is intriguing to write, and we will definitely get to know her better.
Why didn't Hux immediately use what he found?

Next chapter:
I can't wait to introduce you to the other Knights and Tavion!
We may also start to see some other sides of Kylo that he has so far kept under strict control.
Comments are welcome; I love to hear what you think!