AN: Some serious stuff is about to go down. Gear up.

Reference from Lost. All credit to writers. It was a perfect line for this story though, so I couldn't resist…

Breann Hill - Thank you for your kind review! Do let me know what you think of this chapter, as it is quite darker than its predecessors.

Chapter 7

[Rey]

We stay on Naboo a few more days, practicing different swimming techniques and exploring old vineyards and villages. He explains more of Naboo's history, particularly of his grandmother Padme. My chest tightens every time he mentions her as I remember my own similarities to her; our shared interest in our volatile dark princes.

"Did Padme have any family?" I ask as we walk through a fruit orchard.

"Yes - her parents, of course, and I believe she had a sister," he answers absentmindedly.

"What happened to them?"

He shrugs. "I've no idea."

I feel a twinge in my stomach at how carelessly he writes off members of his own family. I shove it down though, determined not to let anything disturb this time with him.

He doesn't kiss me again.

Occasionally he reaches for my hand, or circles an arm about my waist. He offers smiles more freely, but speaks less. He has stopped his daily proposals and I once again find myself staggering, aching to keep up with him in this arms race of strategies.

But he is always ten steps ahead.

After a week on Naboo he informs me that we will be returning to the destroyer; Hux has sent an urgent message regarding a possible Resistance base. I think of Leia and hope she has set up provisions in case they really have been found.

We board Kylo's personal ship; there are a dozen troopers on board and Kylo is back in his First Order ensemble, mask included. I already feel him slipping from me. I pull at the fabric of the tight red dress he insisted I wear. My hair is styled in an intricate braid, a few loose tendrils framing my face. I feel that we are both playing a part, that we left our real selves back on Naboo.

And I feel my heart crack, just in the slightest.

We arrive on the destroyer and I am immediately escorted by troopers to my old rooms, where I am left alone for several hours. A trooper comes to deliver a meal but it is not the nervous one - this one is much more cold and formal. He drops the tray and leaves quickly without a word. Immediately I grab my napkin to check for the crudely stiched B. There is none, confirming my theory. While at the lake lodge I checked every napkin I was handed; none of them had the B. So it cannot be a logo of any sort. The nervous trooper must be sewing them on himself - but why bother? Is it the first letter of his First Order name, similar to Finn's FN-2187? Why wouldn't he just tell me, instead of offering me the napkins?

...I let out a cry of frustration and throw away the plain napkin, followed quickly by the entire tray of food.


Ten days go by, and I continue to be ignored except for meals, only four of which included the anxious trooper and the B napkins. I try to question him but he stays silent. I pace my room, trying to convince myself that Kylo is simply busy with the First Order, that surely he would make time for me if he could.

But at night, when I try to sleep by reliving memories in the waters of Naboo, a strange presence visits me, blocking out the memories, forcing blackness to enter my mind. He is male; that is all I can be sure of. He stands just on the edges of my consciousness, where I cannot see him; cannot respond to him; only listen to him.

And he whispers doubts.

This is simply another game to Kylo. You mean nothing to him. The proposals, the kiss...all have been ways to manipulate you. You are nothing more than a prey to be hunted; a prize to be won. He will never care for you in the way he has led you to believe.

It becomes harder to stifle the presence the longer I am left alone, and by the tenth day, when Patch finally retrieves me for training, I am beginning to believe it.


I pound my fists into Patch's gloved hands, over and over again until my muscles are shrieking and Patch himself asks me for a minute to recover. The rest of the squadron is long gone, Patch and I continuing to train at my request. I bend over, my hands on my knees, breathing heavily. I feel my knuckles splinter slightly from the worst of the punches I've thrown toward Patch and I revel in the pain - much better to feel it in my hands than in my heart.

You mean nothing to him.

"So, Kenobi," begins Patch in as friendly a voice as he dares to use just now, "I sense that something is...troubling you."

I glower at his obviously sarcastic statement, resenting the teasing, though I know it is just to lighten the heavy mood. I smooth my hair and nod quickly though, remembering that it was not Patch who kissed me and left me for dead the last ten days.

"I'm a great listener, I promise."

I roll my eyes at his blatant overconfidence but still find myself cracking a small smile, reveling in his calming, laid-back presence. "Oh really? And who says that?"

His face breaks into a lovestruck smile. "My wife, Kalina. She's back on our home planet - I get to see her every few months."

Patch is married? I think back over our conversations - no, I'm sure he has never mentioned his wife before. I would distinctly remember that. I turn to him, a genuine smile on my face. "That is wonderful, Patch. I had no idea you were married."

"This may come as a shock, Kenobi, but this isn't really the place where one can gush about such things."

I laugh in spite of my own despair. "Yes well," I say, "You can always gush to me."

He places a hand over his heart and spouts dramatically, "Her hair is as fair as a thousand suns, and her eyes are as blue as the calmest sea -"

"Never mind," I laugh, "I pray for your wife's sake that you've never shared your poetic talents with her."

He grins at me as he walks to a corner of the room, where training mats are neatly stacked. He hops onto them and pats the space next to him. "Come here, Kenobi. Tell me what's bothering you before you break my hands with your punches."

I tell him. Not in extreme detail, but enough for him to understand my emotions. True to his word, he is an exemplary listener, only interrupting me to ask clarifying questions. His face darkens at the mention of the lake house on Naboo, but becomes impassive so quickly I begin to think that I may have imagined it. At the end of my speech, he sighs and tilts his head to look at the white ceiling.

"Well, Kenobi...it sounds like you are well on your way to becoming Lady Ren."

I balk for only a second before taking in a breath, ready to argue this idea with everything I've got.

"But," Patch speaks louder, commanding my attention again. "But - that means you will be granted - dare I say are currently being granted - certain privileges with that title. If Ren really means to make you his wife, then he should know better than anyone that that means making you his equal. Go to him. Tell him what you've told me and get the answers you deserve. It is not worth your own pain to simply wait him out."

I sit in silence, digesting this new perspective. "You know him, you've seen him around base. Do you really think talking to him, demanding answers will solve anything?"

"You'll never be happy if you're always fighting for the upper hand," Patch says gently.

I chew on this thought, reminded of Kylo's question on Naboo….do you think you could be happy? At the time, yes, a thousand times yes. But he switches his character so rapidly I fear I would go to sleep in love with him and wake the next morning ready to kill him. These thoughts make my stomach churn. I think of Patch's suggestion - to talk to him; to demand to be an equal. The idea of equality seems almost laughable to me at this point. I'm reminded of the presence from the last few nights, trying to convince me that I mean nothing to the dark prince; I'm just a toy to be played with until he's bored. I shake my head, not wanting it to be true. He would have given up long ago if that were the case, I'm sure of it. I remember him on Naboo, holding me so tenderly, speaking such sweet things to me, asking me if I could enjoy a life with him. We were equals there.

And how many times has Kylo spoken of me becoming his empress? Doesn't that mean becoming his partner, his confidant? In the bargain - I taste bile at the word that has been used to manipulate me more than once - that is marriage, shouldn't I get something out of it too, not just him?

I intend to find out.

I leap from the mats with renewed vigor and turn to Patch, who is gathering his things. "Thank you, truly. This has helped me so much more than you would believe."

He offers me a genuine smile and I feel such relief at the display of true communication that I impulsively leap into his arms for a quick hug. I've felt a gaping hole since the death of Han, and Patch seems to be filling it, slowly. Someone who wants nothing more than to take care of me and ensure my happiness, with no ulterior motives. He laughs and hugs me back briefly, pulling back but grasping my elbows.

"You'll be fine, Kenobi. You are stronger than you know. I've no doubt about that."

"I surely hope so. Oh!" I grasp at his arms again, willing him to stay another moment to answer one last question. "What of the Resistance base? Have they found it?"

He scowls. "No, it was just a decoy. Your Kylo led the mission and informed us that there has been another possible lead -"

So that's where Kylo's been the last week. I just begin to feel some relief when -

The door behind us is blasted off its frame, landing with a shudder on the opposite side of the room. My heart immediately begins to pound - are we under attack?! I swiftly turn around to see -

A masked Kylo Ren shaking with anger, no doubt staring at the entwined arms of Patch and me.

II. [Kylo]

How. Dare. They.

I've just barely returned from the mission and - after searching her rooms, the halls, the archives, everywhere I can think of - I find here here.

With another.

I can barely control my anger as I see Rey and Instructor Tannis, their bodies close, their arms entwined as if just finishing a long embrace. I want so desperately to kill him, how dare he touch her when he knows full well who she belongs to -

Patch steps away quickly, coming to attention. "Sir, I was just answering a few - "

I cut off his voice with a wave as I stalk toward the traitorous pair.

"Get out of here Tannis," I growl through the mask, "before I send you to the front lines to die."

The instructor keeps his eyes on the floor as he exits as quickly as possible. I watch him go before turning to Rey.

I scan her form quickly, as if that would help me to see where Tannis touched her. How long has it been going on? Did they truly think I would never find out? I am tempted to rip through her mind for the memories but no, I want to hear it from her own traitorous lips.

I've left her alone for a few days and - after everything I confided in her; after the way we grew close on Naboo - she betrays my trust, turns to the first man she can find. The dark cloud in my chest nearly bursts with anger.

She will pay.

I reach up and rip off my mask, tossing it carelessly to the side, my eyes focused on her. I pull off my cape, my gloves. I form my hands into fists, my eyes still boring daggers into her.

"Let's resume your training, since you seem so interested in it. Fight me."

III. [Rey]

I would have laughed if he didn't look so completely unhinged.

Fight him? Why? Is this truly the first reaction he has after not seeing me for almost two weeks? I was expecting an apology, a proposal, perhaps even another kiss - but certainly not an invitation to battle with him. I feel the mental whiplash from his ever-changing moods and begin to anger as well.

I don't even try to speak to him, to explain the situation with Patch; that it was (obviously) innocent. One look into my mind will take care of that nonsense. I curl my fists, angry at him for my own reasons, and perfectly willing to let off some of my tension. At him.

I swing first, aiming for his jaw, but he ducks at the last second and grabs my other hand tightly, pulling me to him. I let out a cry of pain at the strength he uses; he makes it clear he will not go easy on me.

I throw my head back, slamming it into his own and hear him let out a grunt of pain. I spin out of his grasp, immediately kicking his legs out from under him. He recovers too quickly for me to inflict any real damage though; he is back on his feet in less than a second, blocking my punches and kicks.

"You could have told me you were leaving!" I shout between movements.

He blocks a kick from me. 'There was no time! I thought of taking you with me," he says, then pauses. "Now I wish I had," he adds bitterly.

No, I will not let him make me feel guilty over nothing. I continue to throw punches as he continues to block them; only twice do I land a blow - once to his shoulder, and once to his jaw. Blood trickles from his mouth and he spits it out, barely noticing.

Some small part of me is screaming at me to stop, to calm down, to talk this through like rational adults. But I ignore it, wanting to hurt him now as much as he has hurt me over the last ten days.

No, more than that. Over the last five months of my capture; the last four years of my life. I think of how many people he has stolen from me, how many doors he's slammed shut to my future so I could be a part of his. I feel something dark, sinister overtake me as I continue to throw myself at him, hoping to injure him, to leave him bleeding.

Just as he's done to me, over and over again.

I see a hunger in his eyes as we battle each other, communicating in a way that is, to us, as natural as breathing. The time on Naboo becomes a faded memory in this fight. This is how we are meant to be - at odds with each other, fighting on opposite sides. My light to his dark; my summer to his winter; my jedi to his sith clashing twice, a thousand times. How did I ever think we could make each other happy?

I feel myself slipping, losing ground. No matter my skill, my agility, he is bigger, heavier, stronger than me. And he is not holding back.

How I wish I had my light saber.

I continue to step back as my own movements become defensive, as he searches for a way past my blocks. I see him hesitate for a fraction of a moment, staring at me, perhaps contemplating his next move. He hasn't landed an offensive blow yet; only attempting to disarm me. To capture me. Again.

I swing my left fist at his waist, hoping to land a strong enough blow that it will knock the breath out of him. He grabs it before I make contact and pushes back , so that I slam forcefully into the wall behind me. I duck my shoulders, my head, trying to get out of his hold but he pushes me back against the wall, pinning my wrists next to my face. He breathes heavily and I take some satisfaction in knowing I'm not the only one worn out by this fight.

"How dare you," The venom in his voice is enough to paralyze me.

"How dare I what?" I shoot back. "Talk to one of my few friends on this forsaken ship? One who is married, no less? Are you really so insecure that you would lose complete control over my friendship with a married man?"

I check his face for a reaction to this, but he betrays no emotion.

"All men grow lonely," he states.

"Oh don't you dare speak to me of loneliness, Kylo Ren!" I snap, feeling truly disgusted at his insinuation of Patch and me, especially after the time Kylo and I shared on Naboo. "How difficult would it have been for you to visit, just once, instead of kissing me and then abandoning me in the same breath!"

A moment of frustration. "I couldn't! I was on a mission for the Order -"

"This is about more than the blasted mission, Kylo!" I cannot stop myself from screaming at him, "Why are you putting me through this? Why are you keeping me from everyone except you?!"

"Why? You're asking me why?!" He growls, and I see clouds of darkness return to his eyes, see the monster return to his features, the one that has been absent for so long. "After everything I did to get you here, after everything I've done to keep you here, how could you possibly not understand that you are mine?!"

I breathe, one two three seconds.

"I don't belong to you," I whisper.

He lets out a humorless laugh. "You certainly don't belong to anyone else, scavenger." The affectionate term has turned to the harshest insult. I feel only shame as a tear escapes my eye, trickles down my cheek. He lets go of my wrist, for a moment, to catch the tear on his thumb before bringing it to his lips, tasting it. I feel bile rise in my throat. He brings his lips close mine but doesn't close the gap.

"You are mine, and you will always be mine," he breathes into my ear.

III. [Snoke]

From his own remote base the Supreme Leader watches their fight unfold, watches as their heated words are thrown as carelessly as their punches.

They have listened to his seeds of doubt, planted in their nightmares.

They are turning on each other.

Losing what little trust they've gained.

He smiles.

IV. [Kylo]

I leave her in the training rooms.

My only relief comes from knowing she's not hurt. It was never my intention to harm her, just to disarm, to make her listen. I'm still not sure if I accomplished my goal.

I begin to understand my grandfather's complete anger at his wife, at her betrayal just before she passed. How could someone so important, so necessary, betray me so harshly?

I cannot get the image of Tannis holding her out of my mind, and, though I am loathe to admit it, I cannot stop myself from seeing Tannis become Dameron, holding the one woman I've truly cared about so closely. I should be the one holding her that way. And no one else. The complete rage I felt at even imagining her with another man is certainly justified. She is mine.

I refuse to entertain the thought that I overreacted. This fight was coming anyway, the tensions between us since the kiss running high. Regardless of whether her relationship with Tannis is romantic or not, I am still infuriated that she would confide in him and not me.

I pull out my light saber, entering a random room and slashing it to pieces, until only the scars of what it used to be remain.

V. [Rey]

I stomp back to my rooms, worn out, upset, but otherwise unscathed.

We fought. We fought like a pair starving children over a loaf of moldy bread. I wince as I imagine what Master Luke would think - everything I did in that room went against all of his teachings.

How could someone as volatile as Kylo Ren make me lose my control like that? I cannot deny the sinister feelings that overtook me as we fought. Could my time here be affecting me more than I realize?

For the first time I let myself worry about Patch. Would Kylo go after him? Surely he will see that Patch did nothing wrong, was just comforting me in a moment of weakness…just as Kylo should have done, if he really cares about me as he claims.

You are just a prize to be won.

I resist the urge to punch the wall and further injure my knuckles, instead biting my tongue as hard as I can to keep from shrieking. I taste blood in my mouth but ignore it.

I breathe in deeply, determined not to think on it for another moment. Troopers let me in my room and I seethe and pace. I try to remember every detail of my AT-AT on Jakku; of the many tools I used to fix the Falcon; of the buttons on Finn's jacket - or was it a zipper? I cannot remember now. But it doesn't matter. I just want to think of anything else. Anything but the horrific fight I just had with Kylo.

A knock on my door and my heart skips for a moment, thinking it must be Kylo. But no, it is just a trooper, bringing a meal. At least Ren hasn't resorted to starving me.

I bite the inside of my cheek when I realize it is the nervous trooper. I certainly do not have the patience to deal with him today.

It takes colossal self-restraint on my part to accept another napkin from him without screaming. He places the tray of food on the table and turns quickly to leave. I automatically feel for the stitched B - there it is, in the left corner, as always - and I cannot hold in my temper anymore.

"Stop!"

The trooper turns around abruptly, but makes no other moves, offers no words.

"I recognize these napkins," Is it just me, or does he stiffen at my words? "They all have the same letter on them, B." I watch for a reaction but he does nothing.

"Won't you speak to me? Tell me something," I beg. "What is your name? What are your responsibilities here, besides delivering meals? What is your favorite color?"

No response.

I sigh angrily and lift up my mattress, pulling out the other seven napkins. I hold them all up in front of him, crumpled in my hands.

"You know, I've received eight of these little B napkins so far and I would very much like to know why you're…."

I stop breathing for a moment as everything clicks into place.

Eight napkins.

Eight Bs.

BB-8.

My breath returns in shallow gulps as I remember the loyal droid, my first true friend. I scan the mask of the trooper, as if that would reveal anything.

"All this time, you've been sneaking these to me, waiting for me to understand..."

The trooper nods his head, ever so slightly.

A tear escapes, splashes on one of the napkins I'm still clutching so tightly.

"They told me you were dead," I whisper.

He shakes his head. No.

I take a step forward. "Please, take off your helmet. I need to see…"

He reaches up, slowly grasping the edges and tugging off the helmet in one fluid motion. The shock of curly dark hair is longer than I remember, and his face is covered in many more scars than when last I saw him.

But it is him.

"Poe?"


AN: I promise this is still a Reylo fic! Stay with me! To be honest I am really nervous about this chapter. I rewrote it four times. Please leave me a review to let me know what you think. As for me, I really don't think that Rey and Kylo's relationship will be perfect after one perfect moment, if that makes sense. I think they both have a lot to still work through and they are both being tempted by the dark side. Kylo's biggest fear has been realized (in his mind) that Rey found someone better. And as far as their fight, the night is always darkest before the dawn, right? :) And...POE! I've been waiting on this since chapter 2, I'm so glad he can finally make his well-deserved debut!