Blood
Rey was walking down the corridor to her room. There were so many things on her mind, so many things she would have to attend to, but she tried not to focus on that. She was exhausted; she just wanted to get to her room.
She felt it as soon as she opened the door, the shift in the force, and suddenly, she wasn't walking into her room anymore; she was walking into his. Or what was left of it.
From where she was, Rey could see the marks the lightsaber had left on the wall, could see the broken pieces of glass, the dented table, the smashed monitors; but she couldn't see him. Turning around on her heels, Rey gazed upon Kylo Ren. Or what was left of him.
Sat on the floor, with his back against the wall and his head bent low, Kylo refused to acknowledge her presence. He had sensed her, sensed her so deeply that it frightened him. It must have been the pain, the grief that had left him raw, and more sensitive to her presence.
The sight of him scared her. Perhaps that was not a good word; he had scared her before, terrified her when they first met. He had frightened her when he had invaded her mind and this, this was not that. No, the sight of him didn't scare her...it broke her. It broke something deep within her being, something that soon turned into compassion.
And it was that way, with compassion in her eyes, that she decided to look at him. He sat with his back against the wall, but his shoulders were fallen, his head was bent over and his hair looked a mess. She could see, on the hand that was resting on his bent knee, dark bruises forming and dried blood around his knuckles.
"Ben," she said tentatively, her voice only a whisper.
Nothing happened; he didn't move.
"Ben," she tried again, her voice more firm now.
She could see his head move, just the slightest bit; and then she heard it, the snickering. The most humourless and painful laugh she had ever heard. It was accusatory and mocking.
"What do you want, Rey?" His words were intended to hurt her, but they came out suffocated, tired; and her heart broke anew.
"Ben," she whispered again. And there was so much empathy, so much grace and kindness in her voice, that he couldn't help it; he looked up.
His eyes, they were bloodshot and ridden with pain, with deep dark circles around them, as if he hadn't slept in years. She knew she would never be able to forget that look. As he looked up to her, she felt the overwhelming urge to comfort him, to help him mourn his loss. Moving closer, she knelt down before him and touched his bloodied hand.
"I'm sorry," she said, pretending not to notice how he'd flinched when she had touched him, how he'd almost pulled away from her touch.
Ben simply watched her. Watched her hand on his, trying to provide comfort, watched her eyes trying to awaken the connection between them. He just watched her; he couldn't do anything else.
When she realised she was unable to connect deeper with him through the force, Rey knew she had to offer him comfort in a different. Moving even closer, still knelt in front of him, she slowly put her arms about him, bringing him closer to him.
Ben felt his body stiffen at the unusual contact; he couldn't remember the last time he'd been hugged. Gradually, he eased into her embrace and buried his face deep in her hair, inhaling her scent. It was so calming, everything about her: her heartbeat, her scent, the warmth of her arms.
Slowly, Ben put his own arms around her and realised that too soon, he had started clinging to her body, holding on for dear life. He brought his hands to her hair, pushing their bodies closer and burying his face in the croak of her neck. Then, he finally let go.
And Rey held him; she held him for what felt like a thousand years and knew that she could hold him for a thousand more, if he wanted her to.
AN: so I know this is very similar to the last one, but I wanted to approach it from different angles; let me know which one you like best :)
