Kylo Ren would later muse- somewhat sardonically- that this was turning into quite a strange morning.
He had carried the girl bridal-style in his arms onto the Falcon; he was hit by vivid flashbacks of the last time he had done such a thing. Glancing down at her mangled body, he felt a bit like Death cradling his latest victim. The image invoked a somewhat painful irony.
He had placed her gently in the co-pilot's chair and looked at her for a long moment. What the hell was Skywalker playing at? There was no logic behind a decision to give the girl to Kylo Ren. He had captured her, tortured her and at one point had a damn good attempt at killing her. Yet for some reason he was now trusted as her caregiver.
He felt angry on her behalf, and knew he was being ridiculous.
He reached out tentatively with the Force, probing her mind, but it was silent. She was completely unconscious.
Feeling awkward, he had touched her soft hair briefly before settling down and taking off.
He could take her to Snoke. Nobody even chased them. He could arrive back at the Supreme Leader's base, clutching the girl as his prize. Despite ignoring the instructions he had been given, he was confident he could talk his way out of trouble and even paint as this as a victory. They had this Force bond now- he would be given the responsibility of overseeing her training.
The only issue would be talking her into it.
She wasn't all light- he had tasted anger, fear and fury in her. And he had tasted her kiss. However, he didn't think he could bring her over the darkness. It was a constant battle not to give into her light.
He pictured his mother's face.
If he was going to bring her over, it would be in his own way.
Being on this ship was making him feel uncomfortable. As they stretched into the blue of hyperspace, he took a deep breath and inhaled the still-familiar scent of the cockpit. He had briefly been back aboard the Millennium Falcon back at Starkiller, and that had been bad enough, but now sitting here in the silence, he felt broken.
For a second, he was a small boy with an unruly mop of dark hair, sitting on his father's knee in this same chair.
His cheeks were wet, and he reached up with shaking fingers to brush away a tear.
Come home. We miss you.
He had thought that killing his father would solve everything, would finally seal off his connection to the light side of the Force.
It was still there, that pull.
He shook his head, trying to focus. He needed to land somewhere safe so he could concentrate on checking the scavenger's wounds.
Rey cried out as she woke up. Her ribs were stinging. Her mouth was swollen and sore. Her shoulder throbbed.
But she was alive.
She sat up slowly, looking around the Falcon. It was empty and still. She was almost naked from the waist up, the wrappings around her chest the only things remaining from her outfit. Her ribs were bruised- dark purple spots glared lividly from her white skin. The blaster wound to her shoulder had left a nasty pink patch of shiny, raw skin. Someone had rubbed something medicinal into the wound.
Who had done this? How had she got here?
Her memories were a haze, but she remembered feeling something soothing during her beating on the floor.
The presence of Kylo Ren.
She was actually losing her grip on reality.
Luke had gathered her up when she had stumbled… and given her to Ren.
She felt a surge of anger. Why had he done this? Surely he wasn't foolish enough to trust the man who had murdered his own father?
Suddenly, she needed air. She staggered to her feet, wincing at her stinging ribs and the cool floor beneath her bare feet. She briefly considered redressing, but there was no point- her enemy had already seen her battered body.
Stepping outside was a new and wonderful experience. She had never been cold in the daytime before, but it was freezing. A bright white sun glared down from a clear grey sky. A delighted shiver ran through her as she watched the white flakes cascade gently down to add to the crisp white blanket on the ground.
Snow.
She stood still for a moment, enjoying it, before glancing down at Kylo Ren, who was sat in the snow by the entrance to the Falcon.
He was hugging his knees, sitting perfectly still. His hood was up, framing his sharp white features, which were drawn with pain. Even as she sat down in the cold, surprisingly wet snow, he did not turn to acknowledge her.
She had sat far enough to be out of arm's reach of him, but she didn't feel any threat from him. His lightsaber was on the ground at his feet. She had dropped hers during the fight, and had no idea where her staff was. If he decided to turn on her, she was in trouble.
Mimicking his position, she wrapped her arms around her knees. It really was freezing. She tried to focus, to clear her mind, but it seemed to be something she couldn't quite grasp.
Instead, she looked at Kylo Ren. There were pink rings around his eyes. He had been crying recently.
Gingerly, she reached out across their connection, and she felt that she collided with his block with an almost physical pain.
"Don't," he said quietly.
She pitied him. She found the feeling disconcerting. Trembling against the cold, she wrapped her arms more tightly around her legs. Goosebumps erupted on her skin.
"Thank you for tending to my wounds," she said softly.
He glanced at her then, frowned as he saw her sitting frozen. "You little fool," he murmured, reaching up to unfasten the outer robe he wore. He flicked it off smoothly, and leaned over quickly, wrapping it around her before she could even think about pushing him away. He pulled the hood up around her face before returning to his original position.
She tried not to nestle into the surprisingly soft folds, tried to fight the desperate urge to breathe in his scent. It was spicy and warm, and strangely comforting.
Silence fell. It was hard not to stare at him. She had always been startled by how young he was, but now he looked no older than her. Just as confused and lost.
"I've never seen snow before," she said, then immediately felt ridiculous.
She felt him in her brain. It was gentle, probing, and not unpleasant.
"You've tasted it before," he replied finally.
He had put an image in her brain. They both watched their kiss again, and she felt the hairs stand up on her the back of her neck as she remembered thinking he tasted of snow. She poked her tongue out and a flake landed upon it. Not unpleasant, but not as nice as his kiss.
She didn't hide these thoughts from him, and he frowned.
"Why?" he asked. It had been the first thing he had asked after the kiss.
"I just felt like I had to." She turned away from him. The smooth white surface of the snow stretched to the horizon.
"If seducing me is your strategy to bring me to the light side, it won't work," he said seriously. She could feel his eyes burning into her.
She laughed despite herself. "Seduce you? I'm a scavenger, you said it yourself. I'm hardly in the business of seduction." A pause. "I don't think I'd know how."
He sent her another image. Her face, blazing up at him, damp with sweat, eyes sparkling as she lunged at him. You know perfectly well how. His voice in her head was clearer than it had ever been.
"Are you angry with me?" she asked incredulously. "Because we kissed?"
"You've done something to me," he snapped. "Everything has changed since you."
"I think it's just a coincidence."
He was on her in less than a second, one hand on each shoulder, kneeling over her. His eyes were flint. "No, you don't."
She stared up at him. He wasn't handsome like any other man she had found attractive; his features were narrow, and right now, filled with rage. His inky hair framed his face in soft waves. The fingers digging into the curves of her shoulders were not gentle.
I want to kiss you. For a moment she didn't realise the thought was her own. She had transmitted it to him like a beacon.
He blinked, eyes trailing down to her parted lips, then rising. He moved back. "I told you- that won't work, girl."
Stung, she glared back at him. "My name is Rey."
He lifted his lightsaber in his gloved fingers. It wasn't intended to be threatening; he wanted to distract himself from looking at her. "I'm aware of that, scavenger."
Note:
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