Chapter 11

The decision to go to Arkanis was impulsive.

This time Rey didn't tell her friends, she just hopped into the starfighter and sped away into the skies, hoping that at least if Ben were to appear again, she wouldn't be endangering the last vestiges of the Resistance.

Rey had even left R2 behind, a foolish decision only made because he hadn't been on the roughened tarmac when she had left.

Sleep had eluded her and rather than stare absently at the slats in the upper cot in the Falcon's bunk room, she'd taken to meditating, to the extent that it had been days since she last slept, and her grasp on whatever defence she had against Kylo was disastrously poor.

It didn't seem like her resistance could stop him from appearing, nor her competence in the Force. So, Rey partially allowed herself to be led by the fear that their story wasn't over, no matter how much she needed it to be.

Her head ached with how tired she was, and she knew that even a moments inaction would have her falling asleep. She needed to find a way to block Kylo out completely, or at the very least, she needed to be strong enough to sever the bond.

Rey wasn't sure why she had chosen Arkanis. She had simply closed her eyes and pressed her finger to a flipped page. It was foolish and illogical, especially when her concentration should have been on training – on making her lightsaber – yet she was running from herself just as much as she was running from Kylo.

Touching down at Scaparus Port, Rey felt her mind cool in the steady rain. It was strangely relaxing to feel the cold-water trickle into her anorak and down her neck. The prospect of removing the hood to soak her hair and face was tempting, though Rey trudged forward, looking for shelter, dragging her staff along behind her.

She was aimless as she traipsed the docking stations in what was probably the mid-day grey. Eventually she heard the hustle and bustle of the nearest market and she followed the noise, hoping to get some food or at least a cup of Caf.

Rey settled for a tiny corner table in a dingy looking canteen, with a cup of caf that was clearly made from rain-water and a slice of dry toasted bread that took an age to chew. At the very least, the meagre meal had cost her very little and it wasn't much different from the portions she had spent her seminal years getting used to.

Even as she ate, her cheek resting gently on her hand, she was slipping from consciousness, the world blurring around her.

Rey.

She hummed briefly, nodding her head.

Rey, what are you doing?

'Sleeping,' she slurred, the chewed toast falling from her mouth. 'No, not sleeping, meditating.'

She slammed forward onto the metal table, her forehead hitting her cup and splashing caf all over her – thankfully – waterproof anorak. Rey blinked, feeling as if a lump was forming at the back of her head, and she touched it gingerly, knowing that she had been hit.

Find somewhere to sleep, not here.

Rey sighed, pulling herself up and listening to the voice's instruction. It was better to do so than question exactly which dead old man had come to involve themselves in her waking moments once again, even if they were clearly looking out for her.

The Scaparus Port Inn was as expected. Barely cleaned and almost empty. It didn't seem like Arkanis, with its never-ending rain, was much of a tourist hotspot, and other than that, it didn't seem like the most common place for the most savoury of characters.

It only took a few credits to get a room for two nights, and Rey found herself stripped of her anorak, bindings and tunic, curled in the discoloured sheets of the small bed. At least it wasn't much worse than her cot on Jakku.

Her dreams, however, were less than desirable.

The spot where she had felt a lump throbbed and even her dream self-touched it tenderly, looking about her on the classic landscape of her dreams – the dunes of Jakku. Rey for once knew she was dreaming, so at least the Force could grant her this singular reprieve from her waking problems. Yet that thought lasted mere moments before she was face to face with Obi-Wan once more, looking down at her from the peak of a dune with disappointment.

'How on earth do you expect to attain as good a complexion as mine if you choose not to sleep, Rey?' he asked seriously.

Rey scoffed and narrowed her eyes as protection from the sun as she shadowed her sight with a free hand. 'You can jump into my head now?' she questioned.

'I could just be your subconscious,' he considered. 'Would that make you feel better?'

She nodded. 'Probably. I don't think being haunted by old men is ideal.'

Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head, beginning his trek down the dune. 'Would you prefer Luke?'

Rey was silent, not sure how to answer that. While she had actually known Luke while he had been alive, the relationship she had developed with him was too tumultuous to be considered friendly, or even one between a master and apprentice. He had lied to her, he had been so hell bent against helping her, and Rey partially thought that perhaps all her time on Ahch-To had been a waste. If she had been with the Resistance instead, maybe more lives could have been saved.

She could blame him too for the bond between herself and Kylo, for her being so willing to ship herself to him. If she had never gone to Ahch-To, perhaps she would have never known the truth of what happened to Ben Solo and Luke Skywalker.

Yet he had saved them and sacrificed his life in the end.

'Don't look so glum,' Obi-Wan murmured as he stopped in front of her. 'Empathy, pity, they are human emotions, they aren't anything to hide from.'

Rey frowned. 'The Jedi texts seem to talk a lot about Jedi being free of emotion and attachment.'

Obi-Wan shrugged. 'Well you know how that ended?'

Her brows furrowed. 'That's the problem. There are so many mixed messages and I don't know what I should be doing, where I should be going.'

'Build your lightsaber.'

Rey paused, staring at the old Jedi Master, who seemed unbothered by her fears. 'That's it?'

'Perhaps your friend had the right idea when she suggested that it's just second-nature.'

'Are you ghost-stalking me?'

Obi-Wan burst out laughing, despite Rey's expression of deep trepidation. When he didn't respond, her mind began to cycle through what else he could have seen or heard, and her thoughts immediately landed on Kylo. He seemed to know what she was thinking, and her expression turned steely.

'Don't ask me questions that you don't want to hear the answers to.'

She woke then, the sky out of the tiny window in the room a deep blue, regardless of the incessant rain that seemed to have picked up.

Her chest ached again, and she screamed, her fists tightening in the sheets. Because Obi-Wan had been right. She didn't want to hear the answer, and she knew she'd ignore it.

Kylo stirred confusion in her, and she didn't need a dead Jedi Master's input to figure that out. She knew it by her indecision, by the fact that she'd rather avoid him forever than confront him. Rey would rather never know what the outcome of a conversation between them could come to.

At least now she had rested, and with a clearer head, she removed the holocron from her satchel. Her lightsaber sketches and the pile of items she had managed to scrounge together on the base came out afterwards, and Rey looked at them intently, as if an answer would suddenly come to her.

XxX

Kylo slept, albeit poorly. A ridiculously early sunrise woke him and he shouldn't have expected less, when it had been years of him becoming attuned to automated light waking him. Even on Attera Alpha, where days were three hours long, he'd woken to artificial lighting.

Yet for the fourth day in a row, he was up before even the droids had begun their morning routines and he sat up in the bed that was far too soft for him, and he closed his eyes, stretching out with the Force like.

Chandrila wasn't much different than it had been when he was a child. Even so much as the Force thrumming through the veins of the earth, through the people and creatures, felt the same. The action of letting the world around him sink into his flesh was important, even if it was too much Light, it allowed him to keep it distant. To know that he could so easily crush the Light that surrounded him, because he knew it was there. It could not suddenly sneak up on him, it faced against him and in that, it could be his clear enemy, and one that he could fight.

Rey was a blur to him. She was inconstant, flitting through his mind so easily. Catching a hold of her emotions, her presence even, was like grasping smoke. It was frustrating.

'Supreme Leader, you are up. Shall I prepare your breakfast?'

The droid seemed over-alert and Kylo looked at it shrewdly, immediately being reminded of his mother's ridiculous protocol droid – C-3PO. He merely nodded, withholding the urge to throw the droid across the room, and he shifted from his bed, reaching for his lightsaber.

Almost a week of being on Chandrila and he hadn't heard a peep from Hux. It was obvious the general was up to something, considering he was not even seeking permission any longer. Kylo's better sense told him to consider his next steps, ones that involved leaving Hux completely out of the picture.

The talks on Chandrila had gone well and diplomacy seemed to be the word of the moment, regardless of what Kylo's original intention had been. Kylo had no interest in destroying Chandrila, and he could tell himself it was because it seemed like a pointless waste of resources, though he was truly just unwilling to destroy his childhood home. The thought was irrationally sentimental and Kylo was steadily aware after the talks had concluded, how poorly Snoke would have taken his actions.

Even after, Kylo was half-convinced that he'd be subject to a bout of Force Lightning and when it didn't happen, he shakily wiped sweat from his brow and sat silently in his room, not meditating, just staring out at Hanna City.

He still felt at odds with himself, even though months had passed since the Supremacy had torn in two and he had killed his master. Kylo didn't regret doing so, yet his place now, as Supreme Leader of the First Order, was not what he had wanted, even if Rey had joined him to rule. He didn't know what he had wanted but standing on a balcony over Hanna City wasn't it.

If Snoke were still here perhaps he would have said that he needed blood. Needed to feel death brought by his own hands to feel some semblance of relief. And Kylo remembered when that had worked, when he could mindlessly kill, and it felt like purpose.

Kylo heard the smash of glass and he realised he'd done it, concentrating on a window for too long, his hand tightening into a fist with the thought that perhaps Jojen had been right. That without Snoke he was nothing but a master-less puppet, reverting back to a time where he could be bested in a fist fight. The thought was inherently painful and for several seconds he was lost in his own mind. What brought him back was the generous tug in his chest. His tether to Rey.

The room was a mess when he looked about him, the droid quivering in a corner and his fists were cracked, bleeding steadily. He watched his blood flow and for the first time he felt sick at the sight of it.

XxX

The droid eventually cleaned up the mess that Kylo had made while he showered and got dressed. When Kylo eventually emerged into the central meeting room within the apartment complex, Lieutenant Wynn and the other officers he had brought with him were waiting to brief him.

He took a seat at the head of the table, gesturing for them to begin. Kylo noticed the general nervousness in the air, and his eyes narrowed seeing that the three other officers were almost glaring at Wynn, something he found ultimately suspicious.

'General Hux has sent us a communique. Captain Yagohas informed him that the Supremacy is in good enough condition for travel and will be making its way towards the inner rim. The General suggests he must return to helm the ship.'

'Does he not have any updates on Riosa?' Kylo asked, looking deftly at Sergeant Shep.

The sergeant nodded. 'Production is up 30% and Hux seems to have replaced the management there.'

'Replaced?'

'Yes, Your Excellency.' Captain Nox answered tightly.

Kylo looked about him, studying the eyes of each officer and then glancing at the troopers that lined the room, easily sensing their uncertainty.

'You're not telling me something.'

Wynn swallowed. 'The Chandrilan leadership are gone,' she managed after far too many moments of silence. The room was still and Kylo blinked at her, his face revealing too much.

'What do you mean gone?'

'Dead or…just gone, sir.' Shep murmured.

'Then what about the talks?'

'As far as we can tell, control is absolute.'

Kylo stood suddenly, looking about him. 'Who was it?'

Every single head shook and Kylo couldn't sense any dishonesty, something that worried him immensely. 'How?'

'Several protocol droids in the town hall were unable to find their masters. I did some further digging and they are all missing or murdered. Throats slit in their beds.' Wynn said.

Nox smirked. 'I suppose not to our loss, it is easier this way.'

Kylo, however, was not happy. It was another suspicious occurrence that made him look over his shoulder. This smelled like Hux, and Kylo didn't like that the general could pull something of this magnitude offa under his nose. If he had hired an assassin now…it was a game of guess regarding what the man would do next.

'The Supremacy stays in the outer rim,' Kylo said, moving towards the door. 'Send Hux back to Atterra Alpha and set up an encrypted communication channel in my quarters.'

He didn't bother waiting for a response before he went marching back to his rooms, his fingers pressed firmly into his temples, trying to work through Hux's game plan. Though as he slid the metal door closed, locking it behind him, his head throbbed gently, and his legs pulled him to the centre of the room.

'No.'

It was fast this time. His ears still ringing as he heard her voice, and he turned, barely arranging his expression to remain normal.

She was soaked, shaking from the cold or some unnecessary fear he did not know, but the cotton of her clothes was drenched in water. His eyes narrowed, and he could hear it, the rain, and then he looked to her hands and she held her staff in a tight grip.

Still without a weapon, he thought. Time has not run out yet.

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