And I say what I know to be true...
Rey stood with her back to Kylo's, a short wooden staff in each of her hands. She had already tried complaining to Kylo, asking him to give her a quarterstaff like her saberstaff, or give her just one like the Skywalker lightsaber. She had been using a wooden staff of that length before and felt like she was getting better with it. Kylo couldn't be persuaded in her favor, insisting that Rey train with one weapon in each hand. What made it worse was that Zora had been using a quarterstaff. Even Kylo was using just one like his own lightsaber. With one weapon in each hand, Rey had to constantly concentrate on what to do with each and could barely focus on more than one opponent.
She wasn't sure if she preferred the "every man for himself" style fights she, Zora, and Kylo would have, or his new method of Rey and Kylo versus his knights. Most of the time she felt like Kylo was protecting her while she tried to figure out how to fight with two weapons at once. During these brawls, if Rey strayed too far from Kylo, his knights would brutally pick her apart.
If fighting all the knights at once taught Rey anything, it was that she always left her back open. When she felt like she had control of both her weapons, Rey could try and concentrate on keeping her back towards Kylo. It wasn't the perfect strategy, with how much Kylo would spin around he would accidentally strike Rey if she was too close to him.
Another downside to fighting more than two people at once was her inability to recognize any patterns. If she didn't have at least three of the knights attacking her, Rey was most likely on the ground or scrambling to dodge painful blows from the wooden staffs.
Lastly, Rey was afraid to use the Force to aid her with training. She knew full well that she was capable and it's what Kylo wanted, but after what she had done to Zora, when General Hux had caught them, Rey was fearful that she could actually harm one of them.
In the middle of one of their fights, Rey was trying to balance her attention between Anda and Jasreil. While focusing on Anda, Jasreil had caught her unaware and knocked her to the ground with a powerful blow to the middle of her back. Rey held back her pained scream, temporarily feeling as if her spine had caught fire, while her weapons flew across the floor.
"Rey?" Kylo called as the fighting immediately ceased.
"I'm fine," she groaned, watching Stegunn stop one of the short wooden staffs with his foot and the other rolling to a stop near Brieand. Pushing herself off the floor, she noticed Anda's hand offering help and she accepted, the taller knight pulling her up quickly.
"Keep your feet spread for balance," Jasreil instructed, nudging one of her ankles with his boot. "And keep one of your hands defensive," he showed her a stance and Rey mimicked the pose, one of her fists held in front of her and the other held back, ready to swing down.
"That makes sense," Rey mumbled before dropping her arms and standing straight. She quietly thanked Stegunn for returning both of her weapons before following Anda back to the middle of the storage wing. She stood again with her back to Kylo's and watched Zora stand before her, a cross of boredom and vexation on her face, the staff Rey should have was held loosely in both of her hands in a stance that didn't show any interest in fighting.
"Ready?" Kylo looked back to her, as she took up the stance that Anda had just shown her. She nodded before looking back to Zora, and then to Brieand who stood next to Zora, her wooden staff at the ready.
When Kylo moved forward to meet the knights before him Rey did the same to Brieand and Zora. Zora, however, just stepped aside, still holding the quarterstaff loosely in her hands. Wary of how Zora was acting, Rey sparred with Brieand and had a feeling that she was only allowing Rey to expand on what Jasreil had shown just her, staying strictly defensive.
Rey's breath suddenly caught in her throat, sensing Zora finally move at her once she had been all but forgotten. Rey had to turn quickly, holding up both her short staffs in a cross above her to keep Zora's weapon from coming down onto her head. Immediately Rey realized her mistake and when Brieand moved to strike Rey's ribs, she had to duck and ended up on the ground to avoid them both. She rolled away and struggled back to her feet, trying to ready herself for both women. Rey also noticed briefly that Kylo and the rest of the Knights of Ren were now merely watching the exchange.
"Leave her to me," Zora purred to Brieand before calmly walking towards Rey, twirling her quarterstaff in her hands, a motion that Rey recognized from when she would practice on her own on Jakku. When Rey tried to time Zora's movements, she was caught off guard by Zora lunging at her and was barely able to dodge the end of the staff from the quick strike.
Rey was able to parry Zora's strikes but found that her two shorter staffs weren't long enough to counter attack. Almost like Zora could read Rey's movements, she was ruthless in her attacks and seemed to have her onslaught planned out as if the fight was choreographed.
White hot pain shot through the back of Rey's left hand and she lost one of her staffs. In her shock, Rey gripped the base of her remaining weapon with both palms, but it was much too short to be used like the Skywalker lightsaber. She began to feel like Zora wasn't simply training with her, the fight didn't feel like before when Rey had fought her. The thought crossed Rey's mind that Zora actually wanted to hurt her.
"That's enough," Kylo called as Zora continued her malicious assault and Rey felt immediate relief. Zora only paused for a moment, glancing to Kylo before looking back to Rey, her blue eyes dark and hateful.
"Zora?" Rey asked with a heaving chest. She nearly missed Zora's sudden attack, the quarterstaff being swung at where her jaw met her neck. Rey ducked and had to move quickly to try avoid another strike from Zora, this one narrowly aimed at the back of Rey's knee. Rey fell and lost her second staff, but managed to land on her hands and knees instead of falling onto her back.
"Zora!" Kylo called, impatient with her disobedience. This time, however, Zora didn't stop, she didn't even look like she was considering listening to her master. Zora swung at Rey's head again, and with her powerful strike Rey had no choice but to grab onto the end of the staff, something that would have burned the palms off of her hands if she had been using a real saberstaff.
Zora paused then, looking from Rey's hands to Rey's face, at first shocked and then growing enraged. Baring her teeth, she tried to yank the staff out of Rey's hands but she held fast, using Zora's momentum to pull herself back to her feet.
"What are you doing?" Rey asked and received no response other than a frustrated growl and another harsh tug from Zora. Unfortunately for her, Rey was back in familiar territory, no longer having to pretend that the quarterstaff would burn her with it plasma blades.
Rey pulled on her end of the staff as roughly as she could, nearly yanking it out of Zora's grip. Using her momentum she moved her grip to the middle of the quarterstaff and knocked Zora to the ground, finally winning the weapon from her.
Across the storage wing, Kylo watched Rey and recognized the anger she had, remembering when Rey had won their duel in the forests on the Star Killer Base.
Zora didn't stay down for long, looking at Rey's anger filled eyes before grunting as she rolled to grab one of Rey's discarded staffs. Rey quickly realized it was a mistake to have stopped attacking Zora and in a matter of seconds, she had the second staff in her hands. Quickly preparing for Zora to attack her again, she didn't realize that Zora was back in her element as well.
With both of them fighting using the weapons they had grown up with, the ensuing fight did not last long. Unlike Rey, Zora had no issue attacking her opponent with her short staffs, and Rey was able to thwart her attacks as well as try to strike Zora down. A moment or two later, Zora had nearly struck one of Rey's hands and she had to let go of the staff, moving it lower to it's end as it was knocked low by Zora's strike. Rey had a clear shot for Zora's chest and immediately tried to take it.
When Rey's hand came back up, she overshot her target and her fist, still firmly holding the end of the staff, collided with Zora's jaw. Instantly Rey froze, watching Zora stumble back and drop the shorter staffs she had picked up to hold her mouth.
Spiraling back down to reality, Rey's face softened. "Zora, I'm sorry-!" Her words caught in her mouth as she watched Zora spit blood onto the floor and wipe the rest from her lips.
Zora looked from the blood to Rey with a truly murderous glare and in an instant her hand reared back and flew at Rey's face. The sound Zora's palm made against Rey's cheek rivaled the cracks that the wooden staffs were making, and left a sharp ringing in her left ear to serenade her shock.
"Zora!" Kylo immediately scolded his knight, completely losing his patience with Zora's insubordination, taking quick strides over to where Rey and Zora were. Zora, however, turned her hateful glare onto Kylo before making her way towards her cloak. She angrily snatched it up and headed for the exit, ignoring Kylo when he shouted, "Zora Ren!"
Rey was frozen in place, tears flooding her eyes from the pain and humiliation, and she dropped her quarterstaff, hearing Kylo's quick and heavy footsteps following Zora out of the storage bay.
The rest of the knights were coming down from the shock a thousand times faster than Rey, and Brieand approached her first. "You did good," she complimented Rey and she turned to face the knight, trying to wipe any emotion from her face. It was growing more difficult by the second not to cry from the pain and emotional shock of Zora outright slapping her. Out of any of them, Zora was the closest she had to a friend, she was the only Knight to spend any time with Rey apart from Kylo.
"Next time Kylo says stop, stop," Anda offered and Rey glanced to him, suddenly wondering if Kylo was going to be angry with her as well.
"Zora should have stopped," Brieand shook her head, "She deserved that hit, and shouldn't be training if she can't take it. Kylo nearly broke Lisryk's hand and he didn't throw a tantrum," Brieand pointed to the silent knight.
"Fair point," Anda nodded and Brieand turned back to Rey.
"Don't worry about them, it's just some lover's quarrel."
It was sudden and more painful than Zora's slap when Rey heard what Brieand said. Rey's gut twisted and she felt like she might immediately throw up. She couldn't respond, she couldn't move her tongue in her mouth, let alone breathe.
Brieand caught the change in Rey's expression immediately, it had changed from embarrassment to heartbreak in a split second and Brieand's own jaw went slack.
"Wonderful," Anda muttered, noticing Rey's demeanor as quickly as the rest of the Knights of Ren. Lisryk tossed his weapon aside with a sigh and on top of her humiliation, Rey realized that she had just given her and Kylo away and a whole new fear crept up her spine.
Rey looked away from the knights, her vision growing blurry from tears, and tried to say something, anything, but a shaking breath was all that left her mouth. Frighteningly, it almost sounded like a sob.
Before the knights could react, before Rey would let herself cry in front of them, she turned and ran out of the storage bay herself, leaving behind the cloak Zora had let her borrow.
"Rey!" Brieand called after her.
"Should we follow her?" Stegunn asked but Rey was already too far to hear the knights' decision.
It was the first time Rey had been alone on the Finalizer and she hoped that she could navigate the massive Star Destroyer on her own while tears clouded her vision. Rey managed to find an elevator without much trouble or any Stormtroopers brave enough to try and stop and question her.
Desperately trying to get the door to slide closed behind her, Rey backed into the corner and slid down the walls with a loud cry, the elevator slowly starting its ascent to the living area on the Finalizer.
Rey held her knees to her chest and hung her head low, her forehead resting on her arms as she violently shook from weeping. Thoughts of trying to escape crossed her mind again and she took them seriously now. Rey felt as if she had no place on the Finalizer anymore, without Kylo, without Ben Solo, she had no need or want to stay. She looked up to the elevator's controls then, wondering if she would be able to sneak onto one of the flight decks and steal a TIE Fighter. Finn and Poe had managed to do it once, and the First Order wouldn't be able to shoot her down. Snoke's wrath would deter them.
Formulating a quick and sloppy plan, Rey jumped up from her corner and quickly rerouted the elevator to the lower levels of the Finalizer where she knew the flight bays were. Rey planned on abandoning everything but the clothes on her back, she was even leaving her saberstaff behind in her room. Anything to get away from Kylo's betrayal quicker.
By the time the elevator stopped, Rey had wiped the tears from her face, leaving her eyes raw and cheeks damp. If she was calm enough she could deal with any questioning Stormtroopers and officers with her mind tricks. Rey didn't have much trouble for the first few minutes of her scheme. The Finalizer was so vast that most hallways were deserted. There simply wasn't enough room or supplies on board to house and feed the Stormtroopers it would take to man every corner.
Just as Rey was beginning to gain confidence in her foolhardy plan, she rounded a corner that she believed would lead her to freedom, only to come face to face with General Hux and a half dozen Stormtroopers. Rey's confidence quickly vanished, both she and Hux immediately freezing in place as they stared at one another. Rey's face quickly resorted back to fear, while Hux's grew red with rage, and Rey quickly spun on her heel and ran back the way that she had come.
"Stop her!" Hux commanded and Rey could hear the Stormtroopers running after her. Before she could reach the elevator and isolate herself again, she felt two strong arms wrap around each of her own and pull her back. Two more grabbed onto her, their grips nearly leaving bruises on her skin, while the last two had their blasters pointed at her.
"Let me go!" Rey cried, too panicked to have any effect. Still she tried again, as General Hux briskly walked down the hall, his arms behind his back. "Let me go!" She took in a deep breath, trying to level her fear. "You will let me go," she sounded much more calm this time.
"What should we do with her, sir?" One of the Stormtroopers asked the quickly approaching general.
Rey closed her eyes, feeling the Force settle around her and repeated one more time with a calm and commanding voice, "You will let me go."
She felt the Stormtroopers immediately release her and they stepped back, chanting, "We will let you go."
Rey opened her eyes, once again to watch the shock flash across Hux's wild blue eyes, before she tried to turn and bolt for the elevator. Hux was already too close and caught Rey himself, violently slamming her against a wall with one arm, pinning her down, and the other hand over her mouth.
Rey tried to fight but she was too weak and defenseless without her voice, her calm vanishing with the Force surrounding her. "What are you doing?" Hux asked, debating on removing his hand from Rey's mouth so she could answer. Instead he felt that it was safer to command his Stormtroopers to detain her.
"Hold her, keep her from escaping and speaking," he looked back to the six Stormtroopers, who remained still and deaf to his order. Hux looked back to Rey, watching her brown eyes water, her eyebrows raised and furrowed together in fear.
"Tell them to listen to me," Hux spat, but was almost afraid of removing his hand from Rey's mouth. He only hesitated for a moment before releasing Rey's mouth, but Rey was silent. "Tell them," Hux urged. He knew his will was too strong, but there was nothing stopping her from telling the Stormtroopers to gun him down.
As Hux feared, Rey didn't issue the orders he wanted. "You're all dismissed," Rey sniffed, her eyes still locked with Hux's and full of terror and ... Heartbreak.
Recognizing the second, more prominent emotion in Rey, Hux couldn't bring himself to scold her, he was too perplexed. Instead he asked, "Where is Ren?" Rey's only response was tightly shutting her eyes, as if his question was acid on her skin. "What are you doing down here alone?" Hux tried.
"Please, I just want to go to my room," Rey plead with him, her voice quivering and weak.
"You expect me to believe you're simply lost? You were headed straight for a flight bay," Hux reprimanded her.
"Please," Rey asked again, extracting something close to pity from the General, who had felt no pity in his young life. The thought crossed his mind that this might just be her bending his mind to her will, but he didn't feel dumb or out of control. Instead he slowly released her and stepped back, watching Rey's face, tears rolling down her cheeks while her big brown eyes drank up his confusion.
They both waited, Hux waiting for Rey to try and control him or try to run again, and Rey for Hux to verbally abuse her or possibly smack her like Zora had. Both of them ended up holding their ground for a long moment before Hux reached slowly out to Rey. He had waited long enough to know that he was acting on his own accord and not of Rey's will.
Rey flinched as Hux grabbed onto her shoulder, surprisingly gentle, as he pulled her off the wall and turned her so that they could walk to the elevator together. He operated the controls to start the elevator up towards the living quarters on the Finalizer, and only let go of Rey once the doors were closed and she could not escape.
"Where is Kylo Ren?" Hux tried again, and the elevator slowly lifted them through his Star Destroyer.
Rey still didn't answer him and Hux glanced over to Rey. She was staring at the ground, holding her arms over her chest. She looked miserable and freezing cold. Hux briefly wondered if she may have killed him, but then realized how stupid the thought was. It was much more likely that Rey had been victim to one of Kylo Ren's infamous tantrums.
Shrugging off his First Order coat, he handed it to Rey, patiently waiting for her to take it from him, remembering Kylo doing the same with his cape the first day she had boarded the Finalizer. "Take it," Hux had to coax her and, slowly, Rey gained enough trust for him to accept the coat and drape it over her shoulders. "Once we reach the Supreme Leader, you can be rid of Ren." Rey looked up to his face then, shocked, thinking that he somehow knew her secret, the romantic affair she and Kylo were involved in. "You can ask to continue your training under Snoke directly, I'm sure he'll oblige." Hux looked away from Rey then and to the closed elevator doors. "He's very interested in you and your power."
"Do you know what he wants with me?" Rey quietly asked, holding his coat closed around her body. It wasn't meant to be full length but it was on her, Rey was swimming in the warm fabric.
"No. We believed you were going to become another Knight of Ren, but Snoke has since disproved that consensus." Hux only glanced over to her before returning is gaze to the elevator doors.
With a moment passing in silence between them, the doors opened. Hux replaced his hand on Rey's shoulder, only this time he had his arm wrapped around her, and silently escorted her back to her quarters. He stopped them once he neared her door and noticed that there were no Stormtroopers guarding her door, as he had ordered weeks prior.
"How long have they been 'dismissed'?" Hux asked, looking down to Rey, who kept her eyes on the floor.
"A while. Two weeks?" Rey replied quietly. He was going to order more, but realized that Rey could just get rid of them again, so he sighed instead.
"Your quarters," he moved towards her door and opened it for her.
Rey stepped inside and turned to face him, looking at his face once more, her eyes were red and eyelashes damp with sticky tears. "Thank you," she mumbled, removing his coat from her shoulders.
Hux debated taking it back, but realized that if Kylo showed up later, he'd most likely be after him and not Rey for it.
"Keep it for now, until I can get you warmer clothes," Hux placed his arms behind his back, ignoring the confusion on Rey's face. "Please don't try a stunt like you just pulled again, Rey," he continued before closing her door and making his way back down the hall alone. He felt that he should return to his duties but after his encounter with Rey, Armitage Hux felt drained. He decided instead to head to his own quarters instead.
He was not lucky enough to make the journey in peace, however, and as he backtracked towards the elevators, he was met with none other than Kylo Ren, exiting one of them alone.
Immediately, both men halted their movements as their eyes befell one another's. Any sympathy Hux had felt for Rey was not shared for Kylo and instead, his jaw tensed with rage.
"Do us all a favor on this ship, Ren, and leave that girl alone," Hux seethed, finding it easier to scold Kylo when he didn't have his helmet to hide behind. He wasn't feeling patient enough to wait for Kylo's reply, though he saw his scarred face twist with anger as he walked past.
Hux only stopped walking when he heard the elevator doors slide open once more, and he turned to watch Kylo reenter. General Hux smirked, for once having Kylo Ren obey him, and continued on his way to his quarters.
Finally reaching his own door, he unfastened his collar as the door slid open. While the door closed behind him, Hux barely noticed the other occupant in his room. He stilled when he saw her, Zora Ren in his bedroom, seated on his bed. She had one of her arms wrapped around her knees while the other was undoing the braids in her long blonde hair.
The general was silent in his surprise, watching her blue eyes fall on his. It was obvious that she had been crying as well, her eyes and nose were as red as Rey's. What in the galaxy had Kylo Ren done?
"General," Zora's voice was low, purring, as her hair fell loose around her shoulders, left in waves from her braids. She stood from his bed and Armitage immediately realized why she had come.
"It's been a while," Hux swallowed, watching Zora as she began to unzip her uniform, the mesh and fabric slowly falling away from her body. She looked displeased with how hesitant he was, but Hux wanted answers more than he wanted the woman before him. "What did he do?"
"Shut up," Zora warned, stepping out of her clothes and walking over to Hux. He tried to keep his eyes on her face, but her lack of modesty was drawing his attention lower. Maybe his answers would have to wait.
Hux didn't have time to do anything as Zora advanced, looking like a wounded predator stalking her prey. She reached around Hux's neck and pulled him down into a feverish and starving kiss, wrapping her bare legs around him when he bent lower to pick up the shorter woman.
"He doesn't deserve you," he mumbled into her lips, deciding to give Zora exactly what she wanted while walking her back to his bed. Her only response was gathering a fist full of his ginger hair in her hand.
Rey's eyes shot open when she heard the door to her room slide open. They ached something fierce and she realized that she had cried herself to sleep, something she had grown used to on Jakku.
Without turning around, or asking who had come, she knew it was Kylo. Quickly, though it was futile, she pulled her bed covers up over her head and remained silent. She heard him walk inside, and she swore that she could also hear what sounded like an older droid following him. Kylo was still for a long time, and Rey remembered that she had left General Hux's coat draped over a chair at her table in the other room, and it had most likely caught Kylo's attention.
"Rey," Kylo's natural voice sounded, and Rey didn't respond. He didn't sound angry with her at least, but he knew that she was no longer sleeping. She heard his boots step into her bedroom, the droid rolling after him, silent say for the gears turning its treads.
"Rey," Kylo tried again, and she could feel his eyes on her, even through the blanket she had over herself.
"Please go," Rey's voice cracked, sounding dry and spent.
Kylo stood still for a moment, but he wasn't contemplating whether to oblige her request or not. Instead he was wondering what Hux had done, what he had told her.
"Rey," his voice was softer as he moved to the edge of Rey's bed and knelt before it. "Talk to me," he asked of her, reaching out with his right hand and laying his palm gently on her waist over the blanket she was hiding under. She tensed under his touch but Kylo didn't remove his hand.
"When were you going to tell me about her?" Rey asked suddenly, keeping her back to him but raising her voice. Kylo may not have been angry with her, but she was angry with him.
Of course, Kylo thought silently, of course Hux told her about him and Zora.
"Not Hux," Rey corrected his thoughts and Kylo was confused for a second, he wasn't even aware that she could read his thoughts, despite having his hand on her.
"Let me explain that to you-" Kylo began to offer but Rey threw his hand off of her waist before sitting up and pulling the covers off of her. Kylo felt his heart break at the sight of her face. Her eyes were red and swollen, her nose was raw, and her mouth was set in a deep scowl.
"Would you have told me if your knights didn't first?" Rey asked him, fuming.
Kylo blinked up at her in surprise, honestly not expecting to hear that it was his knights that gave him and Zora away. Now wasn't the time to wonder why, he realized, and instead answered Rey truthfully.
"I didn't find it relevant-" he began.
"Relevant?!" Rey nearly screamed back at him and Kylo closed his eyes for a moment, the tone of her voice piercing his skin like daggers.
"That's not what I should have said. Zora and I haven't been together since before I met up with you on Takonda," Kylo quickly clarified, but Rey was still seething. "I can prove it to you," Kylo removed the glove from his hand and offered it to her, pleading with his dark eyes.
Rey didn't take his hand, but her face still softened. The trust she had for him was evidence enough that he was not lying. Suddenly, Rey felt stupid, and not to mention guilty herself. "So I'm the other woman then?" She asked Kylo, her voice once again weak, her bottom lip quivering as she spoke.
"No," Kylo answered quickly. "What Zora and I had, it was never... It was never this," Kylo couldn't explain it any better. He had never felt this kind of passion with Zora, she was only another means of relieving his stress and rage. What he and Zora had was the same as Kylo ripping apart a control panel or choking out one of the Finalizer's generals. He would never, let alone be capable, of seeing that in Rey.
"She loves you," Rey responded while Kylo was coming to a sudden and abrupt realization.
"I know," Kylo responded, Rey finally placing her hand within his. Kylo felt instantly flooded with relief, her light growing and bringing him in closer to her. With his left hand, he unclasped his cape and stood up, abandoning it on the ground. "Come here," he mumbled as he sat next to her on the bed, pulling Rey into his lap and holding her there. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder while Kylo gingerly kissed the side of her head.
"When was Hux here?" Kylo asked, feeling ready for any bad news Rey might give him, he felt like at that moment everything would be alright regardless of what she said.
Rey took forever to gather the courage to respond, but Kylo was patient instead of prying into her mind to find the answer himself.
"He caught me while I was on my way to try and steal a TIE fighter and leave," Rey decided to be truthful with him. If she began lying to him now, there was no point to her staying with him. She might as well have tried to escape again once Hux had left her alone.
With her admission, Kylo realized he wasn't ready for whatever Rey had to say, he never thought that he would drive Rey away so fast and it was frightening. The thought left his body frozen, blood turning to ice in his veins. He couldn't bear to lose her.
"Kylo," Rey removed her head from his shoulder to look at his face. "...Ben, I'm sorry."
Kylo's eyes snapped to her with the shock of his real name, but he couldn't properly react, he didn't even care she had used it. His body had still not fully processed what Rey had admitted, he hadn't even taken a breath. In a sense, it would have been easier to keep her safe. Rey would have no doubt been able to escape, and after a berating rant from Snoke, Kylo would have been sent after her once again. After that they could disappear, but...Would she even want him?
"I won't leave you," Rey whispered to him, bringing one of her hands up to his cheek and gently wiped away a stray tear that had fallen down his shocked face. "Don't be afraid, I won't leave," Rey tested a smile on her own lips and finally, Kylo relaxed.
"I'm not afraid," Kylo gently shook his head, examining Rey's face. He had to tell her. "I've been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life," Kylo admitted and watched the smile fade from Rey's mouth. Rey leaving now would be nothing compared to what Snoke had planned for her, and the thought was killing him inside.
"What are you talking about?" She looked afraid, as if it were literal, what Kylo admitted.
Kylo's voice shook as he continued, watching Rey's eyes water as he said his next words, "I love you."
"You love me?" Rey blinked in shock. "We... You can't. N-not with Snoke, or the First Order. They won't let us..." Kylo couldn't deny that she was right, but Rey didn't know of his plan to keep her away from Snoke, she didn't know what Snoke wanted from her. "They'd destroy our lives," Rey added and Kylo tightened his grip on her, protectively.
"I think our lives have been destroyed already," Kylo told her, slowly watching the shock fade from Rey's face from his initial confession. He was no longer Ben Solo, and she was no longer the little girl he knew over a decade ago. "I truly, deeply, love you. And before we reach Snoke, I want you to know."
Rey stared back at him, this time she was in shock at what Kylo had told her, unsure of what to say or how to respond. Instead, Rey decided on a different reaction entirely and pulled Kylo forward to kiss him, pressing her lips to his gently in a physical manifestation of her response; that she loved Kylo.
