Ben pulled away first, panting, a rosy flush painting his cheeks. It gave him a boyish charm which made Rey want to start kissing him all over again, but something gave her pause.
She sensed a change in him. His eyes, though locked onto hers, were somehow turned inward – he was focused on something within himself. The look passed quickly and he wrapped his arms around her in a protective embrace. So she stood, head tucked against his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heart as it slowly returned to normal.
"You need to train." Ben's voice was husky when he finally spoke and she could still feel the tendrils of darkness curling around him. "If the Knights of Ren find their way in to what I saw, if they see that you have so much light, they will try to destroy it." There was a raw desperation in his tone. "They will try to destroy you."
"You said I needed a teacher," she said, giving him a coy smile. "So teach me."
He pulled out of their embrace, hands holding on tight to her upper arms. "This is serious, Rey. You will have to learn how to close your mind off to the light in their presence."
"Why?" She studied him, looking for the reason for his seemingly instant emotional shift. "Who are they? What happened with them?"
A flicker of pain twisted his features and he broke their touch. He turned and pressed his palms against the wall, leaning against it as he spoke. "I am their leader. They followed me after… after I left Skywalker. I thought they would follow me anywhere. They thought I was power incarnate, that I would be the one to snuff out the last of the Jedi."
Rey debated saying something, but anything that came to mind would only rile his temper. So she just listened.
"But Snoke got to them too – twisted them against me when he saw that I couldn't kill you. They know about my conflict with the light."
"Even if you can train me, then what about you, Ben?" She had felt him reach for it, the bright corners at the edge of the dark abyss that was his Force. "Won't they sense it?"
"I can handle myself against them." But the telltale twitch of his jaw was enough to give her pause. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"It will be fine," he said, trying to sound convincing. "I know how to shield my true thoughts from them. Kezzik is strongest with the Force of the six, but even he is nowhere near as powerful as Snoke. And I managed to keep Snoke out at the end, even if was only for a few seconds as I turned your lightsaber against him."
His eyes dropped to her waist, where she still wore the weapon clipped to her belt.
"You'll also need to build yourself a new lightsaber. They will recognize the blade you carry and will expect something, with a darker energy."
She nodded. She'd thought of it earlier, but hadn't gotten around to asking him about it.
Her stomach rumbled, a low angry growl. A roll and fruit hadn't done much to fill her belly.
"Can all of this wait until after breakfast?" she asked.
His lip twitched in a smile.
"It's dawn in some system, right?" she encouraged.
She saw his shoulders relax as he loosed a breath.
"Breakfast at oh-four-hundred?" Ben Solo offered his arm, like a true aristocrat. "Well, Lady Rey it's a little early, but I suppose arrangements can be made." She threaded her arm through his and he led the way through the quiet halls of the Finalizer to the private quarters of Kylo Ren.
His "room" was far grander than the little officer's space she'd been given. They'd have to have a talk about that eventually. The luxurious entry was lined with crystal vases larger than she was. Rey was surprised they'd lasted this long with Ben's wild temper, but maybe he only took his anger out on electronics. A smile tugged at her lip and Ben looked down at her with a questioning eye.
She wasn't going to tell him what she was thinking this time.
Just past the entry was the formal dining room, bordered on either side by four twisting pillars of polished silver metal. The smooth dining table, carved of glassy black stone, had enough room to seat twelve. She and Ben sat at one end facing each other, as he called for plate after plate of decadent breakfast dishes.
Omelets made of a variety of exotic eggs, fruits, hotcakes, panna cakes, and porridge with honey. And pastries. So many pastries.
Ben's dark eyes glittered with amusement as she scooped up a helping of each, scraped her plate clean, then added two more pastries. She'd never tasted food so rich. Ration packets were enough to keep someone alive, but with food like this she truly felt alive. She ran her finger over the edge of the plate, scooping some of the berry puree that had spilled from the last pastry, and licked the sweetness from her finger.
She looked up to find Ben staring at her. "You eat like a gluttonous rancor."
Rey raised an eyebrow, making a show of repeating the motion, except this time, she licked her finger much, much slower.
He swallowed and she gave him a sly smile.
She could swear she saw that blush back in his cheeks before he turned his attention to his omelet again.
A few minutes later, they were lounging at the table, Rey's belly full to bursting, when there was a knock at the door. Reflexively, Rey reached out through the Force to feel for the presence behind it.
"You may enter, General," Ben said. He'd obviously done exactly as she had. Rey figured he was used to flaunting his Force powers in front of his officers. Even little things like feeling for a presence behind a door was evidence that Kylo Ren was no ordinary man, a good lesson for Hux to learn as often as possible.
"Good morning, Emperor." Hux stopped mid-stride, his jaw slackening when he saw Rey sitting across the table. Maybe he'd assumed the whole engagement thing had been a show as well. Rey had to give Hux credit though, he never remained off balance for long. "And good morning Lady Rey, what a pleasant surprise."
He'd even gone a little farther than usual with the pleasantries to cover for the momentary slip in his expression.
"My apologies if I'm interrupting, but I was accustomed to reporting to Supreme Leader Snoke at oh-five-hundred for our morning briefing. If another time would be better –"
"What is it, Hux?" Ben asked, curtly.
"The prisoners, Emperor. They have refused food since they arrived. I fear they may weaken before we can pull any real information from them."
Rey's stomach twisted, suddenly fighting the urge to vomit all of the pastries she'd eaten into her lap.
"What are you suggesting then?" Ben said.
Hux moved in closer, laying a hand flat on the table between them. "We should begin their interrogation immediately."
No. She couldn't allow that. She'd brought them here. She would not stand by and let them be tortured for information.
"Kylo," she was speaking before she knew what she was doing. "I do not think it would be wise to use ordinary means of interrogation against these Resistance scum."
A smile claimed Hux's expression – he obviously liked where this was going.
"I would like to deal with them, personally," she heard herself say.
Oh stars what was she doing?
"I like our future Empresses do-it-yourself attitude." Hux let his gaze settle on her, just long enough to make her uncomfortable.
Ben shot Rey an approving look and she knew they would figure it out. She would have to buy them time, find a way to explain to her friends what was happening. It would have to be her, it was safer that way, though she dreaded what their reaction might be.
"Anything else, General?" Ben already spoke the dismissal with the seasoned indifference of a leader.
"Reports from the Attera System have indicated a swift takeover of the mining operations there."
"Good." Ben nodded. "Well done General. Lady Rey and I will work on the prisoners."
Hux nodded, clasping hands behind his back before striding confidently from the room. The man was playing nice. Was he that frightened by their joint connection to the Force? Or could it be he had no reason to try to undermine Ben? After all, Hux held the might of the entire New Order military in his hands. Perhaps that power was enough for him for now.
When the door closed, Ben leaned in from across the table. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Better me than someone else."
"You'll need practice. For your friends and for the Knights of Ren." His chair slid back, scraping the floor as he stood. "Follow me."
He led the way down a hall, past a sitting room with black walls and lush, red carpeting. Built in floor to ceiling bookshelves dominated one entire wall. There were more books than she'd ever seen in one place before and she hesitated, trying to take them all in at once.
"I'll show them to you later," he promised, taking her hand and leading her on, down the long corridor.
"You like to read?" she asked. The last thing she would have pictured when she first met Kylo Ren, was the second-most feared man in the galaxy sitting peacefully in his study reading a book.
"Don't tell anyone," he said. "It might ruin my reputation."
She laughed, an unexpected thing that felt free coming from her lips. Was he actually joking with her? If all Ben needed was a little snogging to balance his mood swings, she'd gladly give it to him anytime.
Rey sensed something as they neared the last doorway – echoes of the Force in the walls all around. Rey took a steadying breath as he led her into a small room with black walls, black floors, and a single black chair in the middle. She wanted to joke about the color scheme, but sensing the intensity in him, she didn't push it.
"This is where I come to meditate," he said. "The darkness helps me to focus." He gestured to the chair in the middle of the room. "Have a seat."
She wasn't at all sure about this. The last time she'd tried meditating, on that altar rock on Ahch-To, she'd almost lost herself to that cold place. It had happened so fast and she wasn't sure she had that much more control now.
"You don't need to be afraid of the dark anymore, Rey." And his eyes had become black as shadows themselves as he regarded her. "You're not alone, remember?"
He pressed a button on the wall and the only door sealed shut, bathing them in absolute nothingness. This was not the dark of the night, because at least at night there were stars or moons. There were shadows. Here, the sensation of sight simply did not exist.
She felt a chill snake up her spine. There was something thrilling about being alone with him in a room that was pitch black.
"Your eyes can deceive you." His voice was smooth – completely at ease. He was comfortable here. "Keep me from breaking through into your thoughts, Rey. But not as you did before."
A shudder tore through her along with the memory. He'd interrogated her when they'd first met. He had been so cruel, trying to tear the map to Luke Skywalker from her mind, but she'd seen him then, too. She'd seen his fear and it was how she made him let go.
"You can't push back," he warned. "You can't use the light either. If the Knights of Ren reach into your mind, you have to shield yourself in the dark or they will see the truth in your light alone."
"I understand," she said.
"Let's begin."
She felt his entry into her thoughts almost instantly, and panicking, she pressed him out with the Force of everything around her. She could still feel him pressing against her, but she'd raised a barrier of sorts against him. She'd managed the accomplishment in mere seconds and it was easier than she thought it would be.
"This is going to be difficult." His voice was low, far away. "Your natural response is to pull at everything. You do well shielding your thoughts, and it should be enough to get into the minds of your friends, but I can still sense the nature of the Force you are pulling from. It's not dark enough. That alone will give us away to the Knights of Ren."
She exhaled loudly – a show of frustration for this task she still didn't really understand. "Tell me how you do it."
"I think it starts the same for everyone. Reaching out with your feelings, but that is when you can choose which energy to draw from. Jedi hide from the dark, they see it and always resist. Fear, lust, anger, passion, jealousy, we all have these feelings. We are only human. And so, unlike the Jedi, you must learn to use these feelings."
"Again," he instructed.
This time she was ready, reaching out and feeling the push and pull of the energy all around. She saw greed in the men playing cards nearby, fear in the storm troopers in their bunks preparing for a mission, lust in the eyes of a man watching the swaying hips of a holodancer. She reached out, pulling on these emotions around her and within her, allowing herself to feel the cool shivers that accompanied them. That was when she felt the press of Ben's mind.
She had slowed him, but he was stronger, and soon he was in her mind, searching for a memory. She knew which one he wanted. Their kiss. He wanted to see what she thought about their kiss. He was playing dirty. This was not fair at all.
Rey pulled at the anger he'd stirred, finding darkness there within it, one last urgent push to block him out, but he held on.
The memory flashed through her mind, her thoughts about the softness of him, how sweet and tender his lips felt against hers.
"Get out of my head," she snarled through gritted teeth.
But he was still there, watching the memory of her need for him as she tugged him by the shirt, desperate for him to be closer.
Then she felt his hand on her leg. "Make me," he said. She needed more power, more of that irresistible darkness she sensed from him. But she was so distracted by that pressure from his hand on her leg, with the heat of his body behind it, oh stars she wanted him close again… and she let herself sink into that feeling, pulling herself deeper into that desire.
A sudden wave of darkness crashed over her. She felt the hypnotic pull of it inside the very core of herself as an energy she could wield, and she didn't turn from it. She allowed herself to grasp for it, to feel the passion it ignited in her. Her own lust for his touch was like a coiled serpent ready to spring and she used it. She collected the feelings, no guilt, no hiding from her own baser needs, and she used that pulsating darkness to push Ben Solo out of her mind in one cold, violent thrust.
Somewhere far away, Ben's body slammed against the floor.