Rey couldn't find Kai.

The girl had been missing since morning, and Rey was becoming worried. Rey's heart raced as she asked around to see if anyone had seen Kai, but the answer was either a 'no' or a 'maybe'. Rey's frustration built, and she didn't understand how hard it was to find a Sith- after all, most people still despised Kai.

"Where are you?" Rey growled lowly, mostly to herself. She was partly angry at Kai for disappearing and not letting Rey know where she went, and also because Kai had left her to wake up alone.

And Rey hated being alone.

Finally, Rey found Kai talking to Poe and Finn outside by the ships.

"-It's something important, can you handle it?" Kai finished, as Rey hadn't heard the first part.

"Of course we can," Poe grinned. "I'm the best goddamn pilot there is."

Kai smiled as she watched Poe and Finn go, and turned as Rey spoke.

"There you are!" Rey scolded, like an angry mother. "I've been looking all over for you. You didn't let me know where you were going!"

Kai frowned, "I didn't think you'd mind."

"Well I do!" Rey snapped, then pulled Kai into a hug, nuzzling her face into the hollow of Kai's throat. "Don't you ever leave me again." She growled lowly, only for Kai to hear.

Kai grinned and hugged back. "Don't worry, I won't. Oh, and Luke asked me to train you this morning. He'll take over this afternoon. He has to oversee something with Leia."

"You're going to train me?" Rey asked, grinning but also a little incredulous and surprised.

"Um, yeah. Do you see any other Jedi around?" Kai teased.

"Jedi?" Rey asked with a grin. "No.. no Jedi, just a girl with a lightsaber."

"I'll get you for that." Kai warned playfully, but she didn't mind, Kai found Rey's teasing adorable.

"You'll have to catch me first."

"That's a challenge I'm up for."

•••

"The Force is a living being," Kai began. They were sitting cross-legged in a small clearing the two had found, devoid of noise or people. It was perfect for focusing. "It lives within us all, as the Light... or the Dark."

Rey listened, curious as to where Kai was going with her teaching.

"We are all born with the Force, some more than others, and we are all born with the Light. However, we are also born with the Dark and a darkness inside of us. Some people erase it," Kai spoke gently, placing her fingers against Rey's forehead as she referred to her lover,

"Some fight it," at that point Kai was referring to herself,

"And some even embrace it." This time she spoke of Kylo, remembering his hate.

"But where there is Dark, there can always be Light." Kai breathes out softly, "The Light guides us, and it can never truly be erased. Where the Dark destroys, Light creates. There is also a fine line between Dark and Light, and it is the Gray. It is neutral, and it exists, too."

Kai paused for a moment. "I remember the Sith code, Kylo made me recite it. 'Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion I gain strength, through strength I gain power. Through power I gain victory. Through victory my chains will be broken and the Force will free me'..." Kai paused again, exhaling softly as she remembered the creed she lived by for so long.

"But the Jedi also had a code, and I remember a voice whispering it to me softly, quietly, from long ago. 'There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force'."

Rey found herself listening far more closely than she had to Luke. She wasn't sure if it was because Kai was her lover, or if it was because Kai had experienced both sides of the Force.

"But both codes are true- neither are wrong. There is passion in peace, and there is strength and ignorance in knowledge. There is power in serenity, and there is victory and chaos even in harmony. And there is death, but there is also rebirth. The Force molds us all, shapes us. The Force is emotion, it is life.. but, it can also bring death and hate. That is why where there must be Jedi, there must be Sith. The chaos and harmony bring balance, and neither can survive without the other."

Kai took another pause before admitting, "I do not agree with the ways of the Jedi, but I also do not agree with the ways of the Sith."

For a while Kai did not speak again. Instead, she gently lifted Rey's chin.

"What do you feel?" Kai asked softly.

"Nothing," Rey replied.

"Close your eyes and focus... Feel around you, feel the Force tugging at every living being; keeping everything in motion." Kai said gently as Rey slowly closed her eyes. "It calls to you, it calls to all of us.. Do you hear it?"

"Yes," Rey said in a hushed whisper.

"What do you hear?"

"Everything.. I hear everything."

Kai smiled, she decided if she could ask Luke to teach Rey more often.

"I think my lesson has been covered." Kai said after a few moments.

"You're not gonna teach me to fight?" Rey asked, frowning.

"No, I think that's Luke's job." Kai said with a small grin.

•••

"Come," Kai whispered. It was nightfall, and Kai was leading Rey out of the base. She had said it was an important surprise.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Rey asked, her voice just as low, as the duo snuck around the Resistance guards.

"Of course this is a good idea!" Kai hissed, grinning. "All of my ideas are good ideas!"

Rey could've laughed at that statement as Kai led her away from the base and into the trees.

"Where are we going?" Rey asked, her voice a little louder now, trying to keep up with Kai's longer strides.

"You'll see."

Rey could hear the mischief in Kai's voice, and it's at this point that Rey knew Kai had something planned as her lover led her through the underbrush.

"Kai," Rey growled in frustration- itching to know what Kai was up to.

"Hush," Kai replied, taking Rey's hand as she led the girl towards a ledge. Rey was confused for a moment as she watched Kai sit down, pulling Rey down with her.

"We're sitting on a rock?" Rey asked, incredulous.

"Look up." Kai replied with a laugh. Rey did as she was told, and grinned.

"That's a lot of stars," Rey whispered.

"Mhm, tons of them." Kai responds with a grin as Rey sidled closer to her, leaning her head onto Kai's shoulder. "Give me your hand," Kai said quietly after a few moments.

Slowly, anxious to see what Kai was doing, Rey complied; giving Kai her hand, palm up and fingers open. Kai pressed something into Rey's palm, pushing the girl's fingers closed over the cold, smooth object.

"What is it?" Rey asked, her voice an excited, strained whisper.

"Well, look at it." Kai grinned.

Rey looked at Kai, grinning excitedly, before looking down at her palm. Slowly, her shaking fingers pulled back to reveal a small, shiny ring encrusted with...

Kai's red lightsaber crystals.

Rey covered her mouth, unable to contain her smile. But, she was also worried.

"How will you fight? Don't lightsaber run on crystals?" Rey asked, her tone hushed.

"Don't worry," Kai said with a chuckle. "I asked Poe to go on a run for me while you were busy training with Skywalker. I rebuilt my blade. It's no longer a sign of the Sith. And, uh, I hope you don't mind that those crystals are red."

"No, no.. it's beautiful. What exactly is it?" Rey asked, still grinning.

"It's a promise ring," Kai explained as she slipped the ring into one of Rey's fingers.

"A promise ring?" Rey hadn't even ever had a normal ring.

"Yeah." Kai said, "You give it to someone as a promise."

"What kind of promise?"

"Well," Kai began to think of how to explain. "A promise to marry someone."

Rey froze, shocked. She forced the words from her mouth in a barely audible whisper.

"You.. want to marry... me?"

Kai laughed softly. "Of course I do. I love you."

Rey grinned again, throwing her arms around Kai and kissing her. It was one of those kisses where there noses were squished together, and it was heaven.

Or, at least it was until the sound barrier cracked, being broken by a rather large and familiar ship.

•••

Kai and Rey ran as fast as they could, lightsabers at the ready. They had known that Kylo would attack, but they hadn't known when. But it as happening, and Kai felt the familiar animalistic fury rising in her that she always got when Kylo was near.

"You find Finn stick with him," Kai told Rey, "I don't want you out of his sight. I'll fight him alone."

Rey nodded swiftly, though reluctantly, her eyebrows knitting together in anger and hate for Kylo as she darted away. He had taken things from both of them, but Kai had a greater hate for Kylo than anything.

She would kill him.

Kai ignited her blade, a bit surprised from the now purplish tinge to it. The red was gone, she reminded herself.

For a while, there was only the sound of blasters. The troopers who had landed first shot at Kai, but as her anger built Kai slashed and deflected the lasers, returning them back to her enemies. Gone was Kai's tranquility from before, and she began slashing down enemies one by one.

Before long he was in front of them.

"Kai..." Kylo's distorted voice spoke in a bored tone.

"You," Kai growled.

"Miss me?" Kylo taunted, igniting his own blade.

"Not particularly, I'd be more pleased if you stayed away."

"Don't lie," Kylo seethed false hurt as he raised his saber, bringing it down. Kai parried it, snarling, as purple and red clashed. Kai cannot tell what Kylo is thinking under his mask, but she read his intentions just the same.

He probed at her mind.

She probed back.

He swung at her, and Kai thrust underneath his blade. Kylo moved just in time to have the purple energy graze his left shoulder rather than impale him. He hissed in anger, and Kai took the opportunity to sink her fingers underneath his mask and yank upwards, ripping Kylo's helmet from his face. Kylo screamed, more in rage than in pain. But Kai had hurt him, and she relished that.

Kai swung the mask, smacking it into Kylo's nose before throwing it.

"You're no Vader," Kai growled as she watched the blood run down Kylo's nose like a crimson river.

"You're no Jedi," Kylo retorted as he slashed his saber at Kai. Kai parried it again, shoving Kylo back a few steps. The force of the blow caused Kai to take a few steps back as well, and she waited for Kylo's move; panting. Kai felt Kylo's anger beginning to grow, and he brought his lightsaber down a second time. Kai thrust his blade back, growling again. Kylo suddenly screamed, throwing swing after swing at Kai, each blow becoming stronger and stronger. Kai felt herself weakening as Kylo began riding the crest of his hate, his lips pulled back in a silent scream of fury. Kai stumbled, sliding back onto her knees as if she's in an awkward lunge. Kylo didn't hesitate to attack, and he struck the butt of his saber's hilt across Kai's cheek. Kai collapsed onto her side, groaning, before crying out as Kylo's foot struck her ribs.

Soon he's kicking and kicking her, and Kai felt the blood spurt out of her mouth. She gritted her teeth as she heard Kylo's voice speak in a dark, ominous tone; calling out to the Stormtroopers as Kai's world began to fade.

"I have the girl. Fall back."

•••

Rey watched the Stormtroopers pulling back, a silent growl stuck on her features as the rest of the Base whooped Sith victory. Some shouted obscenities at the fleeing ships, others just screamed. Rey expected to hear Kai's voice or feel her touch, but nothing came. A sudden panic settled over Rey and her mind reached out for her lover's, but she felt nothing.

"Finn, we have to find Kai."

•••

Kai awoke in a familiar setting, with the familiar feeling of cables around her wrists. For a moment she thought it was a bad dream, and she tried to blink herself awake but it didn't work. Her face hurt from Kylo's saber, and she felt the bothering feeling of dried blood on her chin.

Kylo was staring at her, and Kai made a point to well a mixture of blood and saliva in her mouth and spat it onto Kylo's boot. Her growled silently at her, his lips peeled back in hatred.

"You're nothing without your mask." Kai spat, lunging forwards only to feel the cables bite into her skin.

"You're nothing without your precious little Rey." Kylo spat back. "She isn't here to comfort you or save you."

"Rey will find me." Kai insisted, snarling. "You have nowhere to take me, the Starkiller Base is gone."

"Don't be so sure of that." Kylo threatened. "And even if she does find you," Kylo's voice became grim and ominous, and he grinned like the sick bastard he was, "I don't think she'll want you back. Rey won't be too happy when she's learned what you've done."

"What are you talking about?" Kai demanded, straining against her bonds.

"Bring the stuff." Kylo ordered a trooper, who handed him a small syringe filled with a blue liquid. Kai had never seen the substance before, and she bucked against her restraints only to have the cables tear open old scars. Kylo examined the syringe, his twisted grin plastered to his features. "I warned you, I always get what I want. And I want an apprentice who's completely ruthless and loyal... however, Snoke has decided we only need one Sith. And, since you've been living on the Resistance Base believing you're in love with that filthy scavenger, Snoke believes you have information we can use."

Kylo was coming closer now, staring at Kai's neck. He didn't hesitate to plunge the needle of the syringe into Kai's neck, injecting the liquid into her system.

"With time, you'll find yourself craving that stuff.. it's crazy." Kylo laughed, returning the syringe to the trooper. "You'll do anything to get it. We'll check up on you later, maybe bring some more of this." Kylo spoke as Kai felt her eyelids grow heavy, some feeling washing over her that was both terrifying and pleasant.

•••

"Did you find anything?" Rey asked Finn nervously.

"No one found Kai, no one's seen her." Finn responded, just as nervous. "But.. they did find this," Finn added, holding up the ravaged mask of Kylo Ren.