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Chapter Ten
Kylo Ren watched her pace her bedroom floor, still in the dark of the morning, her thin lips pursed in anxiety. She hadn't even tried to sleep last night, her heart now in a constant drumming. Sometime at around two in the morning her hair had fallen completely down from the buns she had tied it in, her soft hair spilling down to kiss her shoulders. And ever since, Kylo hadn't been able to look away.
"Rey?" she looked up to see Leia standing in the doorway. Kylo immediately left Rey's mind, never wanting to see the ever-present pain in General Organa's eyes. "Luke is loading the shuttle. Ready to put your stuff on?" she asked and Rey swiftly collected her bag that she had barely unpacked, her short stay here cut even shorter by these awful turn of events.
"You aren't coming, are you?" Rey asked as she saw Leia's similar bag slung over her shoulder. Leia held the door open as she and Rey stepped into the hall and began to walk towards the loading docks.
"I have decided that while you are away, I will journey to several different planets that have requested my presence for some time. Meanwhile, the base will pack up and begin preparations for a relocation. You will be dropped on a mostly uncharted planet, where you can train with Luke and prepare for your..." Leia sighed and shook her head. "How different life has turned out than what I first expected when I held him in my arms." Rey decided not to reply, she did not know how. "I saw him grow up, get married, have a family." She sighed and swallowed thickly, arms wrapped protectively around her as if that would keep the pain away.
"He can still have that." Rey offered, not believe a word of what she had just said. Leia looked over at her, eyes bleary and cynical.
"Rey," Leia reached out and put her hand gently on her arm and they both stopped walking to look at each other, a few yards from the exit of the base, "I once held out hope for him. I prayed every night that someone could change his mind. Han used to promise me that someone, just someone could change him. Of course I thought when Han went it might have been possible…but the boy killed his own father."
"The man that killed Han Solo is not Ben Solo." Rey shook her head.
"I have accepted the fact that I shall never see Ben again." Leia nodded bravely and took a shaky breath. "You would do well to guard your mind, Rey. Kylo Ren is dangerous. He takes what he wants."
"I'm not afraid of him." Rey replied, feeling a lot less strong than she sounded. "I know he can return to the light. There's good in him." As soon as the words had left Rey's lips, she gasped, the memories of her dreams like a cut just reopened.
"There's good in him." Padme's dying breath gasped. "Obi Wan, there's good…"
"Rey." Leia's eyes were probing. Rey looked away, her eyes seeking the light of the flight dock.
"I should hurry." Rey choked out, trying not to faint. The connection had jarred her. She had just said the exact thing Padme had. About two very similar people.
"Be safe." Leia whispered as she walked Rey out to the ship and stood at the bottom of the ramp as Rey trudged up it.
"Train hard!" Poe called, already waiting at the ship.
"Come back in one piece!" Finn waved and Rey nodded and stepped into the shadows of the ship. The door closed firmly behind her. This was not how she had imagined her visit to the base going. She squeezed into the pilot's area where Luke had just ignited the engines. Rey looked out the window as they took off, Poe and Finn now standing by the door back into the base, but Leia stood exactly where the ship had taken off from, her eyes locked on Luke's, her face a twist of fear and pain. She was letting another person she cared about go and try to reason with Kylo Ren. But Rey didn't intend to let Ren anywhere near her master. She also didn't intend to reason with Kylo Ren. She was going to kill him.
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"They didn't know where we were going." Rey spoke once she and Luke had cruised out of the atmosphere.
"Leia thought it best not to tell any of your peers." Luke explained. "Safer that way."
"They wouldn't have let me go."
"That's not their choice."
"Did I have a choice?" Rey asked. "Any other option?"
"You could have returned to Jakku." Luke replied, hands tightening on the steering handles.
"Not while the First Order is a threat to the Resistance. Especially not while Kylo Ren does what he pleases and torments my fellow fighters." Rey shook her head. "I do what I have to."
"That is an admirable trait." Luke nodded his head. "I knew you would not return to Jakku, even when you suggested doing so last night."
"It seemed like a good idea before I truly considered everything. I still haven't fully wrapped my mind around everything that has happened."
"Maybe some meditation would help with that." Luke's friendly hint at another lesson made her roll her eyes.
"So you're saying 'go meditate'." She shook her head and got up to go back to the aft end of the ship where there was room to sit on the floor and connect with the Force in the space. But as she settled down, she grew worried. Not again. She couldn't stand to see him again. Hear him again. No. That was a chance she would not take.
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Kylo paced the dark room, General Hux sitting at the head of the table, Kylo's chair long abandoned as he had turned to intense pacing. He couldn't take it. Her words flashed in his mind.
"You like the way I felt in your arms…" her soft tone pushed and prodded at his mind. And the enraging thing was, she was right. She had fit perfectly in his arms. He could feel her chest beating, her soft cheek resting over his heart.
"Kylo Ren." Hux's voice pierced the image and Kylo looked up and paused his pacing. "The girl has left the base, has she not?" Hux clarified.
"She has." Ren nodded, aware of the fact that Rey was no longer staying with the Resistance. He had seen her this morning, packing.
"You complete fool!" Hux bellowed, Kylo's head shooting up. "Now the girl knows we were looking! She left, and Skywalker with her!"
"In order to see where they were, I had to speak to her!" Kylo yelled back, his anger beginning to boil. "I told you where the base is, now leave me alone!"
"No." Hux shook his head and swallowed, hands placed on the table to balance himself after his rant. "Your work is not finished. The girl and Skywalker. It is time to take action." Kylo had been expecting something like this. It was no longer possible to avoid the fact that Rey was becoming too strong to continue to let her roam. She needed to be annihilated. "Figure out where she and Skywalker are. Once we have him, the girl will follow. She has a childlike dedication to that man, God only knows why."
"He was greatly loved by all of his students." Kylo muttered.
"Not all." Hux sneered back and Kylo glared down the table at him. "But, find the girl and her master and all will fall into place. Without the two, the Resistance shall fall." Hux continued in confidence. "I am sure of it. Skywalker was the cornerstone on which the Resistance was reestablished. Take away the cornerstone and the building falls." He chuckled evilly, the turned to Kylo Ren. "Find them! And once you do, gather your men and bring me Luke Skywalker!"