Alright , this chapter is a big one for me, figuratively and literally. This chapter and chapter 11 are going to be pretty huge so prepare your body *wink* let me know what you think in a review!
When Rey was dropped back at the villa, she had no idea what to do. Wait for Kylo to come back with baited breath? Lay naked on the balcony to get some sun on her pale body? Several staff members met her at the door and bowed.
"Thank you." She bowed back quickly, to the staff's surprise, and began to walk back towards to the bedroom.
"Ahem, Lady Rey?" a stout man coughed lightly. Rey turned around, wondering if she had heard correctly. "Yes, Lady Rey…" Yep, no mistakes, this guy had called her a lady. "Sir Kylo has asked me to direct you to prepare for dinner on the dining balcony this evening. He will be back in just a few hours time."
Rey, amused, looked down and gestured at her tunic and pants. "This not good enough for his highness?"
Caught off guard, the man sputtered and stumbled over his words. "Um, yes, ma'am, Lady Rey, Sir Kylo made it seem as if tonight would be a, uh, more formal affair."
Rey tilted her head up to the ceiling and sighed, exasperated. She had been looking forward to the training tonight, getting to know the real Ben Solo and his past, not a stuffy dinner between acquaintances.
She nodded, thanking the staff. A young, mousy girl approached Rey timidly. "Lady Rey, I will help you with your hair and face for the night."
Rey spat back in defense, unable to hold back her offense. "What's wrong with them?"
"Nothing, nothing at all. Its just Sir Kylo requested I help you…" She was obviously taken aback at her defensive. Rey sighed apologetically.
"I'm sorry. Just let me get myself together and you can help with whatever our dear Sir Kylo has asked you to." She could hardly hold back the sarcasm in her voice.
The small girl smiled and bowed. "I have placed Kylo's requested outfit on your dresser. I hope you find it to your liking." The girl leaned in close and her grin spread wider. "If you ask me, Lady Rey, you are going to look radiant!"
The girl continued to beam as she scurried away to the kitchen.
Rey began to walk toward her bedroom. She pressed her mind out, seeing if she could even possibly reach Kylo at this distance. Silence. She could sense his general aura if she real tried but no luck figuring out what he was up to.
As she entered the bedroom, she immediately shed the stiff tunic and pants, allowing her naked body to stretch sideways and up and over. Everything she had been limited to doing in the impractical outfit. She reached the dresser and spotted the large box situated on the dresser.
She snarled to herself and refused to look and see what monstrosity Kylo had picked for her. She searched in the drawers and found some black shorts and a thick chest wrap. How could he know her so well to know that she needed a chest wrap and not well enough to know she would detest the white tunic?
She wrapped her tiny chest, as if she needed to, and pulled on the shorts. She remembered Kylo's cloak as the curtains blew into the bedroom and a chill ran down her near-bare body. She draped it around her shoulders and she breathed it in, searching for his scent.
She wandered out on to the shadowed balcony. The sun was not as strong here, the trees shielding and absorbing some of the sting the rays bore. She opened her mind once more, pushing it harder, aching for Kylo to return. It was as if he was meeting her halfway.
Rey?
Rey laughed, surprised at herself.
Ben. Are you there?
Yes, but this won't hold, you aren't strong enough to control this far of a bond.
We were on different planets when we were bonded before, don't tell me I can't hold it.
Ah, but we did not control those bonds.
Rey begrudgingly accepted and understood he was right. He was beginning to break away.
Just checking in. Her heart picked up a beat as she realized he was worried for her, making sure she was safe at the villa. She could feel him looking her up and down. While I love this look on you, I would rather you change into what I picked for you.
Make me. Rey chided
Don't tempt me. He left her head echoing with his acceptance of her challenge and her core hot from his tone.
"No. Way." Rey shook her head adamantly at the staff girl, who she found was named Sora. "You cannot put makeup on me. The hair was enough."
Rey was sitting on a tall wooden stool in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom. Sora stood, deflated, leaned against the dresser. "Lady Rey, please allow me to fulfill Sir Kylo's wishes." Her eyes begged Rey.
Rey sighed, completely dispirited. "Fine, do what you need to do."
As Sora began to work her deft hands eagerly, transforming her face as she had already done her hair.
Rey could not believe that Kylo had requested this. Her hair was simple, yet delicately and intricately designed. It laid in simple soft curls down her back with what looked like hundreds of thin braids weaving to a small, loose bun at the crown of her head. Sora had picked some tiny, white wild flowers native to Naboo and placed them expertly throughout her hair. Rey had to give kudos to her for being so detailed.
"There! Time to slip into the dress of yours." Sora whisked away to grab the dress that she had hung up against a hook on the far wall. Rey's stomach turned.
Rey stared at herself in the mirror to distract herself from the impending doom that was "slipping into that dress of hers". Who was she? She looked downright delicate. Her eyes were hooded with light shadows and dark liners. Her brows lay perfectly and were filled in, giving her face definition. Where there were once imperfections, Sora had buffed and powdered over. Her chin and jaw looked more pronounced, especially when she leaned forward and nervously swallowed.
"You're a miracle worker, Sora." She turned in her seat, afraid to rise, knowing that meant that it would be time to dress.
Sora held the wooden hanger above her head in order to keep the floor length gown from brushing the floor. The evening sun trickling in from the curtain danced over the thin, yet substantial dark navy fabric. Rey made it a point not to dwell on the high slit that traveled up the left side of the skirt. The halter bodice had a plunging neckline, almost down to her belly button, with a matching plunge in the back. The bodice cinched at her hips and the skirt flowed down, down, down, the slit running up her leg, making Rey more nervous by the second.
Sora grabbed the sandals and began to tie them up Rey's leg. "We'll start you off small," Sora had said when she replaced the strappy toothpicks that Kylo had mistaken for shoes when picking her outfit.
After tweaking her hair and patting her face once more with a puff, Sora clapped her hands together. "There." She spun Rey around to look in the mirror. "Perfection."
Rey was taken aback. The dress was beautiful, however impractical, and she couldn't help but twirl once, admiring Sora's handiwork and the dress that seemed to be made just for her. She looked like a princess. Her stomach rolled once more at the thought of looking even halfway pretty… then she realized this was for Kylo. She grinned to herself, forgetting that Sora was in the room, thoughts of all sorts wondering to him…
"Dinner will be served shortly." The stout man poked his head in the door, pulling Rey from her trance. She collected herself, looking in the mirror once more, and turned on her heels to exit the bedroom, Sora hot on her heels.
Kylo had been surprisingly silent in her head after he came back from Theed. He made his presence known while Sora was braiding sections of her hair, leaning into her headspace. Before she had the chance to respond or pull him in deeper like she so wished she could, he interjected.
Can't wait to see you.
And he pulled away, leaving her desire sparked and stoking.
Now, as she stepped onto the dining balcony to meet Kylo, she could feel his restraint pressing against her mind. He was dressed in a black suit - what else did she expect, really? – and his dark hair slicked back.
He was leaning casually against the railing until Rey stepped near and he popped up quickly, straightening himself, his eyes running up and down Rey, hungrily. The awkward stumbling mixed with the longing stare and sharp dress drove Rey insane. She was pushing at his doors, begging for him to let her in. She knew he was trying hard not to.
She strode slowly across the balcony to him. "Give in, Ben." He visibly shivered at the sound of Rey's voice wrapping around his name.
Kylo closed the distance between them quickly. Rey's throat had turned to linen. The Force arched and cascaded between them, imploring them to move forward, to close the gap. He hesitated for several seconds before taking her hand in both of his and bringing it to his lips.
"Not yet." He tantalized before kissing her fingers gently. "You are ravishing." His mind was racing, Rey could feel it, even at the fringes of his headspace. Her head even felt fuzzy and high from the inflection in his tone.
She challenged him, projecting her voice into his thoughts. What are you thinking?
He shook his head and widened his eyes to look her up and down once more, a roguish smile creeping onto his lips. He bit his lip. "Oh, you don't want to know."
Rey swallowed hard and parted her lips, willing him to share all the things that were rolling through his mind.
He final tore his eyes away from her after what seemed like ages. He gestured toward the glass dinner table, laid out with a mountain of delicacies, fruit and vegetables sprawled over heaps of unusual meats, even sweets that looked alive. He led her to her chair and placed her gently at the opposite head of his chair.
Rey crossed her legs at the legs like she had seen other, more refined women do at one point. Kylo's eyes caught the movement through the glass and he fixed his stare at the length of thigh that had been exposed. His head began to pulse outwards and he audibly gasped. Realizing what she had done and what Kylo was looking at, she quickly uncrossed her legs and looked around, coughing quietly.
Kylo collected himself and pulled himself away to sit in his chair.
"So, where are we going to start?" Rey piped up, finding strength returning back into her throat.
Kylo brought his hand to a musing spot on his chin and leaned back in the chair. "Where would you like to start?"
Rey considered this, not realizing she would have a choice in any of these matters. "I want to know about Vader. You wouldn't be sitting where you are without him." And Rey wouldn't have a hollow mind at the moment if it weren't for him.
Kylo swallowed hard and wiggled his chin as he began. "My grandfather was born immaculately on Tattooine as Anakin Skywalker. He was discovered in early childhood by the Jedi and brought up as a knight. He met my grandmother, Padme and the fell madly in love here on Naboo against all rules and allegiances they had. They got married…" Kylo turned and point directly behind him another corner of the balcony, "right over there."
Rey nodded and shuddered, remembering and now recognizing the deep darkness that filled her brain last night. "And then they got pregnant with Luke and… my mother. Anakin was being seduced by a Sith lord and eventually gave in, giving up everything, destroying everything, to save my grandmother, who he was having premonitions of her impeding death in childbirth. She did end up dying shortly after his turning to the dark side and he became Darth Vader. The rest is quite literally in the history books."
Kylo barely took a breath while telling the story. He shrugged and leaned forward in his seat. "Any questions?"
Rey shook her head as Sora and the other staff began to fill Rey and Kylo's plates, placing them in front of them. Then, Rey couldn't begin to decide where to start, so many thoughts pacing back and forth in her brain. She thoughtlessly picked at spots on her plate as she cycled though questions.
"Did he never stop to consider the fact that his darkness may be the thing that would do Padme in?" Rey twirled an orange vegetable in the air, exasperated. "Also, how did the Jedi's not sense the darkness in him before recruiting him?"
"Like I said last night, his love became his darkness. He drew all his energy, good and bad, from his love for Padme. It destroyed him. It wasn't always bad. He was supposed to be the Chosen One to bring balance to the Force. But he couldn't live without her and it just spiraled…" His voice grew quieter and it seemed as if he was lost inside himself.
"Ben?" Rey felt like she could read his mind and, for once, she was scared and unwilling to.
He shook himself and nodded. "I just… our story is the same."
Rey tilted her head, questioning and accepting all at the same time. She understood, but didn't want to. She closed her eyes as the Force quivered with energy, realization filling the space.
"Yes, but backwards." Kylo laughed, staring across the table at Rey, intently. "Snoke said it himself, 'Darkness rises and light, to meet it', right? We are the balance."
Rey caught her breath in her throat. We. The heat that she had felt so softly earlier was being fueled. It spread to the confines of her heart and her pulse quickened.
"Rey, Vader's love was his downfall and I think mine is my gain. My love is becoming my light." His face softened as he gazed across the table, softness and warmth spreading across the Force to Rey, enveloping her. A tear sank down her cheek. "Rey, this is the new order, I was talking about. You and I, bringing balance."
Rey couldn't speak. His love. He loved her. He had told her without saying it. Her heart swelled with pure euphoria and liberation as warmth washed throughout her body.
Kylo was still lost in thought, inside himself.
Suddenly, his dark eyes fell back to Rey's. The Force slammed down onto Rey. The birds chirping in the background, the staff rummaging and talking inside, the lake water crashing against the cliff faces… all mute. Rey couldn't tear her eyes from him.
"Rey." His ravenous expression was back. "I want to try to control it with you, mix the dark and the light."
Consciousness struck Rey like a gong and the Force seemed to be growing violent with yearning, as did her own desire. "I thought you said baby steps."
He shook his head definitively. He rose from his seat and made his way slowly to the frozen Rey. She looked up at Kylo, petrified. The setting sun cast shadows through the tress and onto Kylo's scarred, pleading face.
"I promise, I will keep you safe, Rey." He held out his hand to her and he parted his lips. "Please."