It is a strange existence for Rey as the prisoner princess of the Imperial palace. Each morning, she is marched in chains to breakfast with the household. It's a bit like the old days in Snoke's bunker when the Muun Sith would convene his family for a caucus on the day's events. Only this Sith family is far more dysfunctional. She and Kylo start the day by trading barbs while Vanee looks very intentionally unamused. Milo is his quietly disapproving self. Titus looks on mostly in silence. Rey can't tell if her son is soaking it all in or doing his best to ignore them all.
Once the preliminary insults are exchanged, Milo goes over the Emperor's daily schedule. Then Vanee reports on any household matters of note and Milo updates Kylo on his latest Senate shenanigans. Milo seems to have resumed his old role as go-between for graft, blackmail, and patronage. Rey listens in, marveling at how they keep it all straight. But they do. Every now and then, Nestor Flick drops by to join them for more talk of the Senate. Over time, that legislative body has grown in stature, even if it remains firmly under Kylo's control. Still, there are flashpoints. Kylo develops an annoying habit of referring to it as 'her Senate' when things get thorny. As if somehow Rey is the one to blame.
Titus speaks up to ask why one day. "What does the Senate have to do with Mom?"
Kylo gripes, "Your mother is the reason the galaxy has a Senate. She thought a Senate was a great idea every time she got in one of her peacemaking moods."
That earns Rey an impressed nod from Titus. "Wow, Mom. Who knew you were so democratic? You were always a dictator back home."
Rey ignores this comment and reaches for a muffin.
"That's because Biggs is a wuss," Kylo observes. "Letting his wife decide everything. Overbearing women are tiresome. Never marry one, son. Don't make the same mistake I did."
"We're not married," Rey complains between bites. This is an old argument by now.
"Of course, we're married." Kylo smirks over at Nestor Flick who is attendance today. Kylo's Chancellor and best friend had marched in late to breakfast, reaching over to muss playfully with Titus' hair before he plopped himself into an open chair. Nestor looks up now as he hears Kylo say his name. "Nestor was our best man."
"I was?" Nestor nearly spits out the sip of caf he has taken. But he recovers fast. "I mean, of course I was. Kid, when you're older, we'll tell you all about the bachelor party," he improvises.
"Oh, I'm old enough now." Titus is all ears.
"Not nearly," Kylo shoots him down. "But it was legendary."
"Epic," Nestor agrees.
"Sith don't lie, remember?" Rey interrupts.
"It's not a lie," Kylo maintains. "And I have the paperwork to prove it. We are husband and wife."
Nestor hastens to insert himself now, reverting to the original topic. "Anyhow, kid, back to the Senate. Your mother was something of an architect of the Empire," Nestor explains. "She was the brains behind a lot of our initial reforms. Unacknowledged, of course," he amends.
"Yes, well, once you attempt to kill the Emperor, you tend to lose your accolades," Kylo grouses.
"I never tried to kill you. I just cut your hand off," Rey reminds him. "And you deserved it."
"And here I thought you were sticking to the story that it was an accident. Wife, I'm going to keep you in prison here one year for every year you ran away. And then another ten years for my hand."
"It's worth it," Rey hisses.
"Don't you ever get tired of this?" Titus looks first to her and then to Kylo. "Don't you ever get tired of all this fighting? Because I do."
"I'm tired of it, too," Nestor Flick seconds his opinion. "But fighting is all they have ever done, kid. The first time I met your mother, they were having a rip-roaring fight. I think the next time I saw her, she held your dad at sword point after a scuffle with Hux. Once, they had such an ugly fight that your dad sent your mom to live with my family. Look, this is what they do. They fight. It's their thing."
"Oh. Well, I don't like it," the boy glowers first at his mother and then at his father.
Rey quickly inserts herself to change the topic. "How'd the soccer game go last night?"
"We lost."
"The young master scored two goals," Milo volunteers. Milo has appointed himself as stand-in grandpa and he never misses a game.
"You didn't tell me that," Kylo grumbles.
"You didn't ask," Titus grumbles back.
"Eh. Teenagers," Nestor shrugs. "Boss, you're supposed to read their minds. But wait," the thought occurs to him, "you can actually do that." Nestor turns back to Titus now. "When's the next soccer game?"
"Thursday after school. If we win, we make the playoffs."
"Yeah? Well, in that case, I'm there. You and Milo can come home for dinner with me afterwards. My wife Cesi wants to meet you, Titus. And she's dying to see your mom again. But it looks like that's not happening anytime soon."
"Titus is busy," Kylo shoots this plan down. "After the game, the kid will be learning with me."
"Can't he skip the Force homework for one night?" Nestor wheedles.
"Titus is coming home right after his game," Kylo decrees. "He can waste time with you when his homework and training is done."
"Whatever!" Titus interrupts impatiently. "It doesn't matter. I didn't want to go anyway."
And now, Nestor meets her eyes across the table. He seems guilty and sheepish as usual. And he should, Rey thinks, since she now knows that Nestor was the one to rat her out to Kylo. But try as she might, Rey can't muster much anger at Nestor. Maybe it's because he seems so sympathetic. Every time the Chancellor makes an appearance at breakfast, he ends up arguing with Kylo on Rey and Titus' behalf. Today is no different.
"Come on Kylo, give the kid a break. You're stressing him out. Titus is young. He needs some fun and normalcy. Not just the Force and school."
Kylo brushes off this concern. "He'll adjust. Stay out of it, Nestor."
"Things can't go on forever like this," the former Second Knight points out. "With her in chains at breakfast and you being the kid's controlling overlord. Don't you think this 'no fun' rule is a wee bit overbearing even for a Sith?"
"I said stay out of it, Nestor." Kylo's tone hardens.
"You're being a stubborn asshole," Nestor accuses.
"That's what Mom says," Titus commiserates.
"Yeah?" Nestor looks over at Rey approvingly. "She's right."
"Nestor, enough." Kylo's voice is steel.
The big man backs down. And then today, as usual, everyone reports their schedule. It's the last Friday of the month, so the Emperor's afternoon is full of official audiences that Milo skims over. There's nothing particularly noteworthy, he sniffs. The Senate is in recess today, so Nestor is mostly here to hang out, it seems. Young Titus reports that he has a math test and soccer practice. Vanee reports that he will be attending Titus' school conference today.
That last bit gets Rey's attention. "Is there a problem?" she asks fearfully. Rey has been to enough school conferences to know that the news is not always good where Titus is concerned.
"This is routine, I believe," Vanee reports. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
"I want to go," Rey blurts out. "I'm his mother so I should be the one to go. Not Vanee." Not once in all his years of schooling has Rey missed a parent-teacher conference.
"You are a prisoner," Kylo bluntly states the obvious. "You don't get to roam around the city. And besides, it will only embarrass the kid to have his mother show up in chains."
"Actually, the other kids might think it's cool," Titus speaks his thoughts aloud. "What exactly are you in prison for anyway, Mom? Because everyone is going to ask."
"She tried to kill me, remember?" Kylo points out. "That's high treason."
"It was just a hand. Lots of Skywalkers lose a hand. Big deal," Rey makes light of the situation.
Titus persists. "But I thought you agreed that it was an accident, Master? And I remember you forgiving Mom for that too. So, why is she still in jail?"
"For stealing you-"
"I believe you meant to say for living to birth the child you tried to kill along with me—"
"They're at it again." Titus shoots a plaintive look at Nestor as he says this. And seeing her boy's discomfort takes some of the heat from Rey's argument.
She sighs and moderates her tone. "Your father doesn't need a reason to justify jailing me. He can do it because he has the power. Basically, I'm in jail indefinitely for ticking him off. Because apparently, despite being the unacknowledged architect of the Empire, no one went along with my bold idea for habeas corpus," she grouses.
"Habeas what?" Kylo asks.
"Exactly," she hisses.
"Fine," Kylo decides. "Vanee march her into school in chains. Take the whole crew appropriate for an apex prisoner. I don't want our fair princess escaping." Kylo now gives her a rather pointed look. "Rey, I will give orders for security to shoot to kill. If you try anything you had better succeed. Because if you don't and you survive, you are never seeing Titus again. Understood?"
"Yes," she sighs.
She must not seem suitably warned because Kylo raises his voice and waves one gloved finger at her. "I mean it! The kid is dead to you if you try anything, Rey!"
Titus shoots to his feet now to exclaim, "I hate this family! And will everyone stop talking about me like I'm not here?" He starts storming from the room.
Nestor looks concerned. Kylo rolls his eyes. Rey stands to call after him, "Wait-where are you going? Titus?"
The boy whirls as he stands in the doorway. "It looks like I'm going nowhere. I think I'm just as much a prisoner as you are, Mom." Titus looks angry. Very angry. In the moment, his face wears an expression that is very Kylo. "The speeder is waiting. I'm going to school. I'd rather be at school." And that is a telling statement indeed from a kid who has more than one expulsion on his record. Titus storms past Rey's guards who wait outside the door. "Get out of my fucking way!" he hollers.
"Oh," says Rey as she sinks heavily back into her chair. Unsettled and uncertain what to make of this outburst.
Nestor takes it as his cue for his own outburst. He turns to Kylo. "Boss, have you stopped to think about this? Really think about it?" Nestor demands of his longtime friend. "You steal him from school, force the only father he has ever known to walk away, and imprison his mother. Then, it's surprise! Your real father is the Sith Emperor and it will be your job to rule the galaxy one day because you're a magical Skywalker. No pressure, kid, you've got this. Even though you're twelve."
"Don't forget balancing the Force. Kylo wants him to bring balance to the Force," Rey adds.
Nestor shakes his head. "I don't even know what that means."
"No one does," Rey responds.
"Whatever. The point is you're not supposed to fuck him up the way Skywalker and your parents did to you. If you heap too much pressure and expectation on Titus, he's only going to rebel. And then you have a big problem on your hands. So remember—you only get one chance at this, Kylo. And, you know, it wouldn't kill you to make an anonymous appearance at a soccer game now and then." Nestor gives the silent and glaring Kylo a hard look of his own before he heads for the door. "I'll be in my office if you need me."
Two hours later, Rey is garnering quite a few curious looks as she waits her turn outside a classroom with other parents. Rey is in her conspicuous prisoner garb, hair pulled back in a haphazard bun and her face devoid of any makeup. There are stormtroopers guarding all visible exits. Two red robed Force pike wielding Imperial guards flank her while another points a loaded blaster to her temple. All in all, she's quite a sight to behold. Still, despite the shackles and Vanee hovering close by looking like Sheev Palpatine himself back from the dead, Rey holds her head high. Because, really, what else can she do?
When it's her turn, Rey blinks when a teacher pops her head out into the hallway to call out, "Mr. or Mrs. Solo? Is there a Mr. or Mrs. Solo?" Then, the three Imperial guards, Vanee and Rey troop into the classroom with a few troopers following for good measure. And that's how Rey with her clanking chains and gun to her temple meets Titus' lead teacher, the school counselor, and the assistant upper school principal.
"Oh," they all say in shocked unison as they look up to greet the newcomer. Rey watches as one of them mouths the words printed on the front of her prisoner uniform "IN CUSTODY."
After everyone has looked their fill, Rey summons her dignity to begin. "Good morning. I am Titus' mother," she announces in her crisp Coruscant Basic as if she were once more speaking from atop Snoke's throne. "Are you looking for me perhaps?" They are. "Please don't mind my security detail," Rey smiles easily as she gracefully seats herself. She is determined to wear her baggy prison clothes as though they were the designer dresses she used to don as Mrs. Cade Biggs. "You are perfectly safe," she assures the school officials with her best friendly smile. "And so long as I don't attempt to escape, I am perfectly safe too."
"You must be Mrs. Solo," the assistant principal begins tentatively. "We were . . . ah . . . unaware of your circumstances. The emissary from the palace who enrolled Titus did not explain."
"Ah, yes, well my colleague Milo prides himself on his discretion," Vanee speaks using his most grave tones. "I am called Vanee. I administer the Imperial household on behalf of Emperor Ren. Allow me to present Her Sith Highness Princess Renata Palpatine. The princess is Titus' mother. The Emperor himself personally approved her appearance here today. His Excellency is most interested in the progress of young Titus."
Everyone digests this intimidating speech in silence for a long moment. The trio of school representatives look like they are dying to know more. But they are either too scared or too polite to ask. Sensing their hesitation, Rey herself kicks things off. "Please, tell me how is Titus doing."
She hears his progress. How Titus is very facile with languages and excels at math far beyond his years. Were he to complete and return his homework more consistently, Titus would easily have made the honor roll. Could the princess help her son be more organized about his assignments? It's the first of many requests for parent support that all come to Rey. Each time, Vanee promptly chimes in that he will, of course, assist. The fourth time this occurs, the guidance counselor gently suggests that direct parent involvement is best. Yes, I'm sure it is, Rey concedes diplomatically. But that's not possible in this instance. You see, I live in a cell. She hasn't the faintest idea when or where Titus does his homework. Is Titus' father in the picture, the principal now asks with clear trepidation. Might he be available to help? Vanee rushes to explain that Mr. Solo is a very busy man. Mr. Solo works at the palace and he is a great favorite of the Emperor, Vanee divulges and everyone is suitably impressed.
"Good luck, Princess," the principal tells her when the conference concludes. "We will be especially understanding for Titus given his family challenges. It must be difficult for all involved."
"How fortunate that our just Emperor takes a special interest in your boy," the teacher gushes.
"Yes, indeed." Rey's voice is acid.
Vanee correctly reads her tone and starts ushering her out. "Come, Princess. We'd best be going. We don't want you to be late for your daily torture." Vanee imparts this last bit with ghoulish gravitas and an audacious covert wink.
When they are all safely back in the transport, Vanee and Rey collapse into giggles over the whole affair. Did you see the next mom's face, Rey chokes out her words. Lord Vader would have loved it, Vanee approves. Darth Vader loved when things got ridiculous in life. Old Vanee is practically crying he's laughing so hard.
After a few more moments of mirth, Rey suddenly says, "This isn't funny. It's not funny at all. We shouldn't be laughing."
"What else can you do?" Vanee points out. "Crying won't change things. But laughter helps. It always helps."
"Good point." And, on the whole, Rey is satisfied. "Now, no one is going to kick Titus out of school." That's really what she had been concerned about. "He'll have the sympathy vote. That should help when he next gets into trouble."
"Princess, no one is going to kick out the Emperor's son."
"That's what people told me when he was Cade Bigg's son. They were wrong, trust me. And besides, Vanee, no one knows that."
"In due time, my dear. In due time."
Later that same day, Rey is summoned from her cell. You have an official audience with the Master, Vanee tells her. What for? He doesn't know. So Vanee, Rey and her usual parade of thugs make their slow procession to the Emperor's impressive public throne room. They are met at the entrance by the then-lieutenant-now-captain who had once been Snoke's majordomo back in the days when Rey herself had held these audiences. The man stares hard at Rey and looks her up and down before asking incredulously, "Princess, is that you?"
"Yes," she replies somewhat stiffly.
"We were told that you were dead. Have you been a prisoner all this time?"
Rey feels her face flame. She sighs and replies vaguely, "Times have changed since you used to announce guests for me."
"Oh," the man replies softly. "Of course, I see. You're up next. He's in a good mood. You're in luck."
As Rey enters the audience chamber, many hostile eyes watch her slow progress. Garbed as a prisoner and heavily guarded, she merits others' reflexive disdain. For whatever this woman has done, it must be serious to justify the attention of Emperor Ren himself. And judging by the Imperial guard with a lit Force pike to her back, she is dangerous too. Looking around, Rey cynically thinks that some in attendance are hoping to witness an execution.
Rey is not announced by name. Prisoners don't qualify for that sort of recognition. So the majordomo simply says, "This is the prisoner you requested." And then Rey, like all others in the formal presence of the Emperor is expected to kneel. She never gets the chance. Instead, she gets a hard shove from the back that sends her sprawling forward. Hampered by her shackles, Rey struggles to pull herself off the floor.
Kylo sits watching on his high throne in his full regalia. It's been since that first day since Rey has seen him in his mask. It's inscrutable as always. Kylo rises now and stomps down the dais to come to a rest before her. Sinking to a crouch.
"Let me help you," he says softly. And then he puts a hand under each arm and hauls her to her feet.
"Thanks." Rey's automatic response is gratitude. But then, thinking better of it, she glares. "Am I supposed to be impressed? I used to do this, you know. I'm not impressed."
"I remember, Princess. I remember well you sitting on this throne."
She looks around now and sees all the gawking onlookers who are waiting for their own moment with the Emperor. "Not even a private audience, I see. You've lumped me in with all the ceremonial stuff. Are we putting on a show?"
"No. Mostly, this is convenient for my schedule. But it is also for your benefit, Rey. Had I paid a visit to your cell, I would have actual knowledge of the datapad and other contraband Vanee keeps smuggling in to you. And then I would have to order it confiscated."
"Oh. Okay. Got it." Rey really doesn't want to lose her datapad. It's her only link to the outside world.
He must see her eyes wander around the crowd once more because he commands her, "Ignore them. Focus only on me. How was the conference? What did they say?"
"This is about the conference?" Rey hadn't seen that coming. She has been half expecting a formal charge of treason after her lecture to Kylo at breakfast. "You want to know about the conference?" she blinks.
"Yes. Does it surprise you that I want to know how my boy is doing in school?"
"Well, yes, a little."
Her reaction clearly annoys him. "He's my son and I care about his education. You're not the only one who cares about that kid, Rey. And our boy is plenty bright. Titus picked up Kittat like it was child's play. He's actually far more perceptive than he lets on. But he screws up every now and then and shows his hand. So I know he's not stupid despite his terrible track record leading up until now."
"He's not stupid. And there's nothing wrong with him." Rey says these statements with a sincerity that resonates in the Force. "He just needs to mature."
"Agreed. What did they say?"
"It was actually the best one of these conference that I've ever gone to, to be honest," Rey admits. "Titus seems to be doing fine. They didn't even mention any behavioral problems. They didn't complain about his attitude. And that's just . . . odd."
"Not really. I told him he could have a practice sword if he got good grades," Kylo explains. "And if he doesn't, then he gets Force lightning."
"What?"
"I like to give the carrot and the stick, Rey. It works every time."
"If you use lightning on him-" she begins, her voice rising.
But Kylo overrides her concern. "I won't have to. The kid really wants a sword."
And Titus did almost make the honor roll, so Rey backs down. But just when she is getting comfortable with Kylo's incentive, he drops a bomb.
"You know why he wants a sword, right? It's more than just a kid wanting his first weapon. Titus wants to play the hero and go bust you out."
"Oh, no!" Titus will get himself killed. Rey's chains rattle as she raises a hand to grab earnestly at Kylo's arm. She outright pleads, "Kylo—please don't let that happen—"
"I won't."
"Okay." She drops her hand. It is probably supremely inappropriate to actually touch the Emperor. And Kylo had actually kind of flinched. Rey takes a deep breath now, exhales and steps back. Because look at what this fucked up family situation has wrought. "Okay." She steadies herself and refocuses. "What did you tell Titus about fighting at school?" she wants to know.
"Nothing. I don't care if he fights."
"Oh." Rey should have known to expect this attitude. Still, she is confused. "But he's not fighting any more. Do you think he was fighting to get attention? Or doing it to rebel?"
Kylo shrugs. "I don't really care the reason. And if he fights, it might be good practice. I just want that kid to learn. What else did they say?"
"He still has problems turning in assignments on time."
"Some of that is my fault. We go long sometimes at night."
"Teaching the Force," she says softly.
"Yes. But it's not real training. He's too young for that." Kylo shrugs now. "I don't really care about late book reports if it's because he is up learning from me. The Force is far more important than any school assignment." And now Rey sees that parenting with Kylo will be a strange challenge. Because none of the conventional wisdom about teaching responsibility and instilling a work ethic in your child to prepare them for the future really applies for Titus. His future is already determined, whether he likes it or not.
"He's making some friends on the soccer team," Rey continues. "The school counselor said that Titus is pretty well adjusted. She said he seems happy." And Rey frowns because that is confusing to her. For how can her son be happy in this circumstance? He certainly didn't seem happy this morning. Is it all an act? And if it's not, then what does that mean? It's not that Rey is upset that her boy is content and doing well at school, but, yeah, she is sort of upset. It galls her that Kylo appears to be doing something right.
"He's engaged, Rey. The kid has a sense of purpose now. That matters. And it matures him."
"How come you can reach him when Cade and I couldn't?" Rey thinks back to all those learning specialists, psychologists, and occupational therapists she and Cade had consulted through the years. They had tried anything and everything his teachers had recommended. All to no avail. "You don't know anything about kids," Rey complains. "And you barely know Titus."
She can almost see the smirk behind the mask as Kylo replies, "Rey, I used to be Titus. That's the best qualification you can have."
"Well, thank you. For whatever you are doing. At least at school, it's working." Maybe her son's outburst this morning was a one-off, Rey reasons. Just pre-teen hormones combined with a contentious family life and all the emotional upheaval of the past few months.
"I missed a lot of his childhood already," Kylo says softly. "I could have helped a lot sooner had I known he existed."
Are they back to this again? Rey decides not to engage. Instead, she somewhat stiffly says, "Thank you for letting me go to the conference, Kylo. That meant a lot to me. Even with all the guards, it felt sort of normal," she confesses. "I used to be up at school a lot for the girls and Titus. Volunteering and going to soccer games and school plays and stuff like that. I always knew what was going on in their lives. It's hard to do that from a cell. You have to be there . . . " Her voice trails off.
"This is never how I wanted it to be," Kylo tells her. "But it's how it is. Were they kind to you?"
"They were taken aback."
"Naturally."
"But yes, it was like all the other conferences. They could not have been more polite."
"So you were treated like a rich businessman's wife again?"
"Yes. Even looking like this." Rey glances down at her tight tethers that rattle as she moves. She flashes a wry smile up at his mask. "Of course, Vanee kept throwing the title princess around at every opportunity and name-dropping the palace."
"If anyone can be a princess in chains, you can." Kylo tells her. "From the first time I met you, I was struck by how supremely confident you were. You were so poised in your rags. Your Jakku version didn't know to be self-conscious, Rey. I had to take you out of the desert to see you timid. Snoke saw from the beginning the woman you could become. He made you a princess and that's when I saw it too. You were the only one who couldn't see it. You would have been an excellent Empress, Rey, had you tried."
Why are they speaking of this? "That's all in the past now."
"I find you years later and you're some corporate princess now. You have the life I might have given you, but it's with another guy. I could have given you everything Cade Biggs did and then some, Rey."
She looks away. "That's all in the past now."
"Yes, it is. Do you ever think of how things might have been had you stayed?"
She'd be lying if she said no. Especially now given how things have turned out. So Rey tells the truth. "Had I known that I was pregnant, I probably wouldn't have left."
He nods at this. "If Nestor had found just you with Biggs, I would have let you be. It was only because of Titus that I intervened. Rey, I could not ignore what was brewing once I knew that I had a son."
"There was no safe way for me to tell you about him-"
"I know that. But how did you possibly think you could get away with this?"
That answer is easy: because she did. Rey gives an ugly little laugh now. "I kept getting away with it for years. After a while, I stopped looking over my shoulder. And I got sloppy. I went out more. And I came here."
"If you had not come for the party, I would have come for you, Rey. I already knew."
Just the mention of that party has Rey guilty and thinking of Cade. "My folly ruined Cade's life. It ruined our family." Rey looks up into that remote silver and black mask. Somehow, it's easier to say home truths to that mask than it is to Kylo's face, she realizes. "You know, I used to think that you ruined everything you touched, Kylo. But now I wonder if I'm the same way." And that thought terrifies Rey for her son.
"Biggs is bouncing back." Kylo produces a datapad and hands it to her. It is open to a file of pictures of Cade, his girls, and his former wife out and about on the weekend. They are smiling and happy.
Rey hands back the datapad. "That's his ex. They share custody. Cade sees her all the time. At first after the divorce it was ugly. But it's been amicable now for years."
"Biggs will be seeing a lot more of his ex now, Rey. She moved back in last week."
"Oh. But it's only been-"
"A little less than four months," Kylo finishes for her.
"Four months," she echoes unhappily. "I guess I should be glad. I should want him to move on. And maybe it's natural because she's the girls' mother and his ex. It's just . . . " Rey's voice trails off.
"He didn't love you, Rey." Kylo says this gently. But still tears rush to her eyes. "This proves he never loved you. Not the way I loved you."
Rey looks down.
"It took me years to get over you, Rey. Years. Not months. I was still mourning your loss when you had married some other guy and moved on like Biggs is doing now." Kylo crosses his arms now and shifts his stance. He's looming over her, intimidating even though his voice is hushed. "Did you ever love me, Rey? Even a little?"
"I'd like to go back to my cell now." More than anything, Rey wants to go back to her cell to cry her eyes out. For the mess she has made of her life and the consequences that has for others.
"Answer me and you can go."
She looks up, annoyed at his insistence. "What does it matter, Kylo? None of this matters."
"It matters to me."
"Why? It won't change anything now. Not after all that has happened. After all that you've done."
"And all that you've done, too."
Yes, she has made plenty of mistakes. Rey will be the first to admit this. But she can't change them now and talking about them won't help. "The past doesn't matter now." If she could, she would put the past behind her. But apparently, that's never an option when your past is a Sith.
"Don't be a fool, Rey," Kylo hisses. "The past is why we are here. Because if I wasn't so worried that the past would repeat itself again, I might have left you and our son alone. Now, answer me! Did you ever love me?"
He's not going to give up, she sees. And maybe she owes him this answer anyhow. So Rey comes clean. "Yes. I didn't know it then. But I knew it later. When it was too late."
"That's what I thought."
Then Rey is dismissed to be marched back to her cell. And then to breakfast again the next morning. It's back to the old routine unchanged. But in a few days' time when Vanee stops by for his daily chat, he has news. Triumphantly he reports that the Empire has now adopted habeas corpus. In time of peace, prisoners throughout Kylo's realm will now be entitled to know why they are detained and they will have a right to a court hearing. The First Order will no longer cause citizens to disappear, never to be heard from again.
Rey scans the breaking news press release and accompanying legal memorandum issued by the palace. "Who knew Kylo was even listening?" she wonders aloud. "He must have gone and looked it up."
Old Vanee laughs out loud at this. "Probably." Truly, Lord Vader's old flunkey can be quite subversive at times. "What did the Chancellor call you-the architect of the Empire? Well, you are at it again and from a prison cell no less." Vanee thinks a moment. "You're more like the conscience of the Empire, I think. But whatever your role, well done, my dear. Well done."