Kylo Ren tossed his hair back and out of his eyes as he turned violently away, slamming up barriers like doors over the hum. If the stupid little scavenger wanted to lay bruised and trapped in the dust he would let her.
What if she dies?
He threw the thought away and stalked over to the training room towel rack, grabbing one and ruffled off the sweat. It was really more of a rag he mused with a sniff as the anger hardened into something darker. Something cruel.
What did he care if a little nothing from the sandpit of Jakku died alone in a hole?
As soon as the thought formed he knew it was a lie. A terrible ugly lie. He cared. He could feel the long forgotten feeling clinging stubbornly to the underside of his diaphragm. He hadn't really cared about anything in a long time. He had given himself over to the Force. Drowned in it but now he was back, coughing and spitting...and caring.
He knew the scavenger girl would never be inconsequential to him. She would never be a nobody. She was Rey of Jakku, a ray of the Light, the One. He cared.
He cursed her stubborn pride under his breath. He could help her if only she would let him.
He threw the towel in the collection bin and stormed out. He stalked down the hall towards his quarters. He could feel remnants of phantom dust mingling with the all too real sweat clinging under the tight collar of his robes. He needed to change.
It took little time or memory to punch in the access codes to his door once he had made it down the winding paths of the corridors. The heavy metal doors whisked open with a hydraulic hiss. He stepped into his quarters and pressed the door closed behind him.
There was not much to the room. Privacy was the only luxury he indulged in. The space was small and monkishly utilitarian, not much different from the quarters shared by the troopers. He strolled over purposefully towards his narrow cot of a bed and reached underneath pulling out a change of clothes.
He set himself down on the side of the narrow bed and began working on the fasteners of his shirt. He slipped off his outer robe and took a moment to let the recycled air of the ship linger on his rarely exposed skin. He took a moment to breathe. She didn't want his help. He gritted his teeth at the thought. It stung.
He reached down under the bed and grabbed a change of clothes that was stored in the space saving drawers built in underneath. He stripped off his undershirt and got to work wrestling into the new set of all black robes.
Once he was properly bound up again in black he threw the old set out of the way and reached for a holopad. He had been scouring the old Empire databases for anything about the phenomenon of force bonds.
So far all he had found was the equivalent of fairytales and legends. He had found one account that seemed promising of something similar once long ago in the age of the old long gone Republic. He flipped back to the account he had marked and looked over the ancient text. Thousands of years had made the text difficult to translate even with the latest programs. It was an interesting puzzle though and would prove a good distraction. Something to take his mind off the stubborn scavenger girl buzzing angrily in the back of his head.
He wasn't sure how long he had stayed hunched in the bed scanning over data before he had dozed off but he awoke some hours later to a peculiar tugging feeling. He ignored it. He stretched and swung his legs over the side of the bed to rise.
He was knocked off his feet before he could even place his full weight on them. He fell skidding to the floor and rolled over and up, scrambling to stand. The bond flared white hot and desperate.
Rey! He thought. He cursed himself and her under his breath. She was in trouble. She going to die out there without his help. He reached out for her over the hum.
He didn't care if she wanted it or not. He was going to help her. Force her out of that hole if he had to.
Just as he was halfway there he was knocked back by a strong wave of the force. It overtook him and pulled him forward almost slamming him into the far wall. He braced his arms and held himself steady.
Her voice rushed over the wave and shook in his ears, raw with panic.
"I take it back, what did you have in mind?"
His shoulders shook with silent laughter.
She needed him.
—
Rey struggled to sit upright. Her shoulder screamed with agony. She bit back tears till her lip bled. The water was filling way too fast. Her first experience with rain on the island had been magical, almost serene, and she had marveled at the power of water. She wasn't marveling now. She was terrified.
She had laid in that hole stubbornly for hours before the rain had started as a soft misting trickle that ticklishly kissed her nose with wet little dewdrops. Weather rarely stayed gentle on this island though and the rain had been no different. Dewdrops had turned to raindrops which in turn had turned into fat ugly wads of sky spit that had quickly started to fill the bottom of the sinkhole with a substantial puddle of water. It was only till the puddle reached her ears that she had started to panic.
She managed to roll herself upright and sat breath heaving with the effort as she slumped against the now slick mud dirt walls of the sinkhole. This new position would buy her some time but nothing permanent. If she couldn't find a way out of this hole she would drown.
She tried to stand. Her legs buckled under her and she stumbled back down. She didn't have the strength.
She snarled stubbornly. The scavenger inside her instinctively knew of the easiest solution. Kylo. She slammed her fist into the mud wall and grimaced as her hand came away packed with dirt. She rinsed it off hurriedly in the ever rising puddle. Her legs were now almost covered in water.
She didn't want to give him the satisfaction...but she didn't want to drown in a hole either. With a frustrated scream she reached—and hit nothing. Well almost nothing. A thick barrier. He had shut her out.
She could feel the anger rising. She reached out again more forcefully this time slamming her will against the barrier. She could feel it crack slightly. She slammed again and again.
Finally she felt him sitting drowsily and stupidly on his too small cot. She reached out and grabbed for him. Pinned him down.
He was going to help her.
—
"Let me up, Rey."
He asked quietly. As gently as he could muster. He could feel her panic vibrating dangerously over the hum. He could feel the unfettered strength of her will pinning him against the wall. Her strength was exciting. He bit the inside of his lip to steady his thoughts back into focus.
She wanted his help. He wanted to help her but he knew that any wrong word or thought would severe this mutual unspoken agreement completely. Whatever had compelled her to reach for him was thin. Breakable.
He breathed in deep and steady until he felt her ease her grip. He stood and silently reached over the hum for her until he could see her slumped painfully in the mud, soaked with rain.
"My legs got hurt in the fall too. I've sprained something. It hurts too much to stand." She said sheepishly.
"And the rain is coming in fast." He finished for her.
"So what did you have in mind?" She grimaced slightly, as if the question stung to say aloud.
"A variation on what I tried earlier when we met in the trading post. I think I can get you out."
She frowned. "You're not knocking me out." She said her brow crinkling.
"No!" The response came out rather more loudly than he had intended. Rawer than he wanted. He backtracked. "No, you'd be conscious for it...I think."
Skepticism painted Rey's face. "You think?"
It was so hard to be patient with Rey. He bit his lip. "I'm pretty sure you'll remain conscious. Even if you don't I definitely am positive I can get you out. Trust me, please." He said with a husk almost choking on the last word. It was one he used so rarely.
He saw her gap slightly in surprise. Her lips painted and glistening with rain. He swallowed.
She shrugged. "Okay... Just this once." She closed her eyes and took a breath. "What do I have to do?"
He stared at her transfixed. She exhaled through her nose. "Well?"
He quickly gathered himself. "Just stay like that. Don't move." He saw her brace herself. He waited until he saw her shoulders relax.
Then he reached