Author's Notes: Update! I know I am so, so late with this and I beg your forgiveness. Hopefully I will be able to update a little more quickly in the future! So without further ado, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned Star Wars. I simply play in their world.
Reviews! Yeah you know the drill..drop me a comment to tell me what you think.
Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away...
Kylo Ren
Hoth. Sixth planet in a long, forgotten system by the same name. I and two of my Knights along with a platoon of Stormtroopers are here at my command.
A thought has plagued me since the Battle of Crait. Of all the places to make a stand, why had my mother chosen that world?
Time spent among the Archives revealed that Crait was meant to be permanent base for the Rebels during the Old War. However it was abandoned when a better planet, Dantooine, was discovered.
Crait was never officially recorded as a Rebel base but my mother knew about it all the same.
Which meant that there could be places the old Rebels used that were never recorded.
Places that my mother knows about and can use to strengthen her Resistance.
So now my Knights and I are scouring the galaxy, going to every known planet from the Old War, looking for clues to these 'hidden' worlds.
Hoth was one of the few places where both of my parents and my uncle were present at the same time.
It was worth my presence and I walked along the ruins of the forgotten Echo Base.
Even after all these years, the ice and freezing temperature could not erase the violence done by grandfather.
Scorch marks from his lightsaber still blackened the walls and I touched my fingers to one of them.
"Master Ren, we've located the main command center."
I drop my hand at the sound of Vicrul's guttural tone and leave the past behind me.
Everything is covered in ice and snow, the terminals destruction frozen in time.
Several of my troopers are scanning the wreckage and I look to the commander.
"Anything?"
"Most of the equipment was damaged in the initial strike by the former Empire, the rest eroded by the weather. We'll keep digging to see if any viable pieces survived, Sir."
I give a nod of my head, I knew from the beginning that this might not yield results but my instincts tell me that it's too soon to turn back.
I leave them to their task and continue my inspection of the Rebel base.
There is little left of value.
I need to go and recheck the Archives and see if any other bases were noted in the logs for this planet.
"Ushar, oversee this operation until I return."
"Yes Master."
My ship is just outside the perimeter and I strip my gloves and cloak off, both covered in shards of ice from the temperamental climate as I tap in the command to pull up the Archive files on Hoth.
This shouldn't take long and I-
Ren...I wish...you were here...
Sunlight on my face, the scent of flowers in my mind.
Rey, reaching for me through our Bond, a yearning that I cannot ignore.
I close my eyes and let the Bond resonate through me, pulling me to where she waits.
"Another green world I see."
I should have known I would find her in such a place. Our scattered Bonding has allowed me to glimpse some of the secrets of her soul.
Rey is in love with anything that is green and growing. The older it was, the more she was drawn to it.
This forest that I found myself in was such a place.
"Ren!"
Delight in her voice that I will never tire of hearing when she calls my name.
She turns to look at me.
She has a wind-swept look about her. Color riding high on her cheekbones, eyes that glimmer with a mingle of frustrated annoyance that quickly shift to excitement when they land on me.
She's wearing her usual outfit that I've come to know at her 'practice' clothing.
Wrapped tunic, tight pants cut off at the knee's and ankle boots. Her hair is pulled back into a practical braid, only emphasizing the lush beauty of her face.
Shadows move in her eyes as she continues to look at me, an almost haunted look passing over her.
I am wondering if she is remembering our last time together. That nightmare that I dragged her into unknowingly.
Exegol. I wonder if she hears that putrid laughter in her dreams...and my hands tighten into fists at the thought of her having more nightmares.
Because of me.
Before she can bring that up, and the reason for my interest in the Sith homeworld, I turn her attention away from me.
"What are you doing?"
I see neither the droid who has become her familiar shadow or the staff she carries.
Her saber is on a belt around her waist.
The shadows flee in her eyes and I see that mingled expression of high annoyance and stubbornness resettle itself.
"Practicing."
She has no weapon in hand and the clearing she is at is nearly empty. I can only contemplate what she is 'practicing' to put that look on her face.
Perhaps I have become lax in guarding my thoughts because she gives me an arched look as she flicks her braid off of her shoulder.
"I've been reading the Jedi manuals I found in the Falcon and they say a Jedi should have great dexterity and stamina when using the Force."
If she has been reading those dry, long-winded books that would explain some of her frustration.
She blows out a breath, her words tinged with a soft growl. "I'm trying to figure out what that means."
"You'll understand better if I demonstrate."
She's giving me a jaundice look as I strip off my armor. The humidity here is enough to give me pause, considering what I am about to show her and I remove a few unwanted layers.
The shirt she bought me weeks ago lies beneath my armor, a reminder that our time together was not a dreams I created to torment myself, and I push back the sleeves out of sheer self-defense to the heat.
The books she is reading were meant to go hand-in-hand with the practical applications a Master would teach in conjunction.
The hill behind her would have to do for now.
"How do you..."
But her question is lost as I propel myself forward, grounding myself in the Force, the focus of my will all that I need.
The rush of the wind, the feeling of weightlessness and just like that I am on top of the hill, staring down at Rey who is looking at me like a gaping fish out of water.
"How the hell did you do that!"
Astonishment and envy wrapped together as she shouts her words up to me.
It was a paltry exercise, the hill isn't even that tall, but I cannot help the thread of satisfaction that steals through me at the look of amazement on her face.
I go down the same way I came up, jumping off the base and using the Force to twist mid-air so that I land smoothly just a meter shy of where she stands.
"You're showing off."
The glow in her eyes made my heart pound painfully in my chest as she leisurely sweeps her eyes over me.
If she only knew how she could devastate me with a single look.
I might have been mildly annoyed at the accusation in her words, even if they were true, except for the delighted grin spreading over her face.
"Perhaps." I give a lift of my shoulder as though her smile wasn't wrecking havoc inside of me.
A flash of fire in amber and she crosses the distance between us, her finger landing on my chest.
"Show me how you did that."
Not a request; a demand. An eagerness to learn, to have wings of her own as it were.
Her passion was a heady thing to me and I could not help teasing her for the feeling's she evokes in me because of it.
"Dexterity and stamina."
Dry words, only slightly mocking as I recite the two things from that dry, boring book she is brooding over.
"Ren!" Laughter and irritation as she shoves me, or tries to, and I can only shake my head at her and catch her wrist, turning her in my arms.
Tendrils of hair that have escaped her braid brush against my skin, bringing the scent of flowers with it.
She smells of home and that tight, guarded part of my soul releases.
"You must use the Force."
She relaxes in my arms and tilts her head up to look at me, exasperation clear in her eyes.
"I kind of figured that out for myself, be a little more specific."
Aggrieved words and I wonder if she realizes she is asking questions a Padawan would only approach a Master with.
Perhaps not. This is Rey with her endless thirst for knowledge.
Well I have come this far and I'm not going to back down now.
But I also have no intention of simply handing her the answer.
"Focus your intent. You want to reach the top of the cliff?" Again that flash of fire in her gaze, "How?"
If she truly wants to learn, to grow, then she must be able to figure this out for herself.
I can only guide her.
The irony is not lost of me. I, the one they call the 'Jedi Killer', teaching her how to be a Jedi.
Her brow furrows and I see her mind working through the answer.
Her intellect is a beauty of its own.
"By...jumping."
Reluctantly I step back and give a nod of my head.
She knows the answer, she just has to put thought to motion.
"For a beginning lesson, trying running to build up your momentum."
I needed no such leverage and simply propelled myself upward and back onto the top of the cliff.
Rey, where I left her, staring up at me with that astonished gaze.
She must believe in the impossible if she is to accomplish it.
I lift my brow in her direction.
Scared of a little height?
A flash of ire in her gaze and she backs up, no longer indecisive.
That's my girl.
I watch as she backs up far enough that she'll be able to get a decent amount of momentum and then she is motion.
I wonder if she will try to run up the cliff but then she angles slightly to her left and her foot touches a boulder protruding from the base.
Clever, to use that for her launching point.
She shoot up towards me, like a blast from a pistol and her momentum is too much, too fast.
Her arm is outstretched as if she would catch the edge. Instead I catch her, using her speed to swing her up and over, her feet now touching solid ground.
Her face is flushed, wild tendrils of her hair cling to her face and her amber eyes are lit up like the dawning sun.
She pulls away from me to peer over the edge.
"Wow..."
Ah, yes. That first spike of adrenaline that hits the blood after such a feat.
"Not a bad first attempt."
Had she managed to grab the cliff at that speed with bare hands, she would be lucky if she had any skin left at all.
She gives me a dour look and smacks me across the arm but there is no malice in the gesture.
"It wouldn't kill you to give me a compliment, you know that?"
Grumpy words that make me want to smile. It seems that she wants my approval and a mood comes over me.
"I thought I just did?"
My words have a slightly mocking ring to them and a soft growl leaves her mouth.
"Oh I am going to make you eat those words!"
Teasing Rey is quite enjoyable, especially when she flashes those eyes at me out of sheer pique.
However she has much to learn if she truly wants to be called a Jedi.
Her annoyance turns to lilting laughter that tugs at my soul.
"You need to work on your agility and your stamina if you want to make impossible leaps."
She has the raw power, an instinctive sensitivity to the Force but that is not what makes a Jedi. She must fine tune her control, call upon the Force at will, not be swept away by the tide.
Otherwise she well never progress beyond that of a gifted Padawan.
"How?"
Hands on her hips, challenge in both demeanor and words.
She should know better by now than to provoke me.
The forests here are ancient, I can feel the natural flow and ebb of its power and deem it a good place to train.
I catch her gaze and feel the adrenaline spike in my blood when she does not turn away, but lifts her chin in open challenge.
"Follow me," I tell her softly, "if you can."
Her eyes widen but I give her no time to argue as I take off running for the woods in the distance.
The tenor of her breathing, the crunch of grass and gravel beneath her weight tells me she is already in pursuit.
I can practically feel her breath on my neck when I reach the forest edge, but there is more to endurance than being able to sprint at a moment's notice.
Vines hang like ropes from tree's, lichen and moss cover the bark in velvet greens and golds.
The air here is damp and moist and I'm already sweating, my skin covered in a fine layer of perspiration.
But there is no time to stop, no time to pause.
A fallen branch bars the path into the forest and I vault over it, ducking before a vine can have the chance to wrap around my throat.
I can hear her now, the glide of leather over rock, the hitched breathing. She does well over flat terrain, let us see how she handles this one.
I turn, in time, to miss being hit in the head by a lower hanging branch.
"Hey!"
I look back to see Rey doing the same turn, startled anger in her glimmering eyes.
Amusement me has me shaking slightly at the outraged look and I pick up the pace.
She's fast, so let's see how much faster she can go.
We fly through the forest and I pick the path at random, looking for obstacles that will trip us up, for vines that will catch us unaware, anything that will test our endurance and our senses.
Each time I feel her breath on my neck, the scent of flowers and sunlight in my blood, I pick up the pace.
The forest sprawls ever onward, and endless tangle of tree's where only motes of sunlight filter through the dense branches.
I am unfamiliar with this landscape and I need to see where we should head next.
Even as I run, I scan the area for a tree that will suit my needs.
There, just in the distance, a giant among the rest.
The lowest branch is at least five meters of the ground.
I turn and leap into the tree, bark digging into me as I settle myself and wait for Rey.
She moves with a lithe grace, her eyes never leaving me and I watch as she makes the leap, her fingers just managing to catch the limb as she swings herself up and next to me.
Sweat runs in rivers down her brow, plastering her hair tight across the back of her neck.
"Better."
She has the strength, she just needs to work on her timing and accuracy now. Something that can only come with practice and experience.
She is still gulping in air, I can see her limbs trembling as she shoots me an aggrieved look.
A flash in her gaze...and she sticks her tongue out at me for my comment.
It is an absurd gesture, utterly childish and I have to turn my head to hide my smile.
She makes me feel...young again, in a way that I never was growing up.
As if anything was possible, my fate yet decided.
The treeline ends in the distance stopping short of a cliff I can see from our vantage point.
"Come on," I tell her getting to my feet on the limb, "we've barely started...unless you're too tired to go on?"
My words have a slight edge to them, just enough of a dig at her flagging stamina.
"Hmph!"
A flair of temper, eyes sparking copper at me and she jumps from the height with a bone-jarring force that makes my teeth ache in sympathy.
She's upright as soon as she touches ground, flashing me that wicked smile that always means trouble when she is around.
"Just try and keep up!"
I blink as she takes off at a dead run towards the cliff I noted only seconds ago.
I'm out of the tree and hard on her heels, the tendrils of her dark hair streaming like a banner behind her.
She doesn't take the direct route, weaving in and around the tree's, leaping over the fallen logs with such agile grace I can only admire her lithe form as I follow in hot pursuit.
She is only scant inches from me as she burst through the tree line with no intention of stopping.
"Whoa!"
The cliff looms ahead of us and her momentum is too great, I see her arms pinwheeling in the air as I put on a burst of speed and grab her around the waist before she falls over the edge.
Her skin is slick with sweat, her body holding the heat of a small sun.
"That was close," my heart is still trying burst through my chest at her near disastrous tumble, "do you run with your eyes closed?"
I cannot keep the disapproval from my words.
A delicate shrug from her in response.
"I thought it was further away than this."
Nonchalant words that make me want to shake her. To tell her be more careful with her life.
She shrugs off my hold and peers over the edge, a soft exclamation from her lips.
From our vantage point, it feels like we are standing at the edge of the world.
The cliff is a sheer drop into a lush meadow redolent with blooming wildflowers.
Again in the distance I see another sprawling forest where the meadow gives way and the reflective light of water, a lake, peaks through the canopy of leaves.
"Well...do we try to find a path down?"
A slight hesitation in her voice as she continues to peer over the edge.
I estimate at least a thirty meter drop to the bottom.
A bit more daunting in height, it was perfect for her next lesson.
Better than that pathetic excuse for a hill from earlier.
"We already have one."
She turns to me even as I back up away from the edge. This was going to be...fun.
Fun. I never thought of training as such a thing.
Brutal, yes, painful, undeniable. But never fun, not until I met the woman with eyes like amber and a soul that burned brighter than the stars.
Those same eyes looked at me with dawning comprehension...and fear.
"Ren...no you can't be serious! That is at least a thirty meter drop!"
I am more than aware of the distance. Thus the appeal.
She was going to have to let go of her perceived limitations if she was to cross the boundary from Padawan to Jedi Knight.
"Just like flying Rey. Trust me."
I remember the delight in her eyes when she jumped from the tree, when I grabbed her on the hill.
The sheer exuberance of it all.
"Ren," fear coats my name on her lips and that is something she has to let go of.
She has to believe in the impossible and I'm going to prove it to her.
I race past her and without hesitation I dive off of the cliff.
For a moment I hand suspended in the air, no gravity, no weight.
Only myself and the wind and it is a powerful rush to my blood, just as gravity kicks in and I plummet.
"REN!"
Rey, screaming my name and I'm brought back to my senses. The ground rushes to meet me but I am no novice Padawan and I wrap the Force around me, sharpening all of my senses.
I twist my body, using the Force to cut through the wind's resistance and slow my fall so that I don't do anything stupid.
Like break my legs when I land.
My feet touch the ground, the Force absorbing the impact so that I rise quickly from my crouch, already staring up at Rey.
She is but a speck in the distance but I can clearly see her leaning over the cliff, staring down at me.
"Come down Rey," I call up to her, lifting my hand to her. "Trust yourself. Trust me!"
I couldn't push her anymore than this. She had to be the one to decide...and this would tell me how far she was willing to go to travel the path of a Jedi.
She had to face her fears...or be forever crippled by them.
Her form disappears from the cliff and I can only hold my breath in anticipation of what she chooses next.
My wait is a short one.
Her body jumps into the void, and I am reminded of a story that my mother told me from long ago.
About a phoenix finding her wings.
That is what I see in my Rey, a phoenix in flight.
I can hear her breathless laughter as she plummets towards me, her body turning in graceful arcs until she is headed feet first towards the ground.
She is close enough now that the laughter in her eyes is shading into panic.
I told her to jump but I never told her how to stop.
As if I would let her come to harm.
I guide the Force to her side, slowing her descent until she slows enough that she practically glides into my outstretched arms.
Her nails bite into my skin as I settle her by my side, letting her feet touch solid ground.
She is shaking in my arms, but there are no tears and the scent of fear is gone from her.
She looks up at me at that moment, eyes alight with dazed astonishment at what she just accomplished.
Laughter in my voice at the look on her face.
"Well done."
"Ren!" Laughter as she speaks to me, "You...you knew that was going to happen to me!"
Of course I did. It was akin to an adult bird pushing their young out of the nest to get them to spread their wings for the first time.
You fell or you flew, there was no middle ground.
"Of course. It's the only way to learn," she gives me an exasperated look, still shaking with laughter in my arms, "If I had told you what to expect beforehand, you would have overthought it and let fear take hold."
The laughter disappears as a thoughtful mien steals over her face and I am more than a little sad to hear that happy sound leave her.
She should always be like this, laughing and free from the weight of universe on her slim shoulders.
She shakes her head and lifts gleaming eyes up to meet mine.
"You're going to pay for that!"
She takes me by surprise with a particularly deft shove and a twist of her ankle across mine.
Something between a shout and a growl leaves me and I can feel myself falling and I take her down with me.
She wasn't expecting that and a strangled shriek from her is my reward as I tumble her into my arms.
The meadow sits at a sloped angle and our combined weight sends us tumbling, my arms locked around Rey.
The scent of crushed grass and citrus surrounds us as we finally come to a halt. I can feel pebbles digging into my back through the shirt, my head fairly reeling from the motion.
Rey is on top of me, I can feel the press of her legs against mine as she straddles me. Her hands lay onto of my chest, grass and flower petals clinging to her disheveled hair.
Laughter spills from her lips and I soak it in. She is impossibly beautiful and my fingers tighten around her hips.
I feel as though I have been captured by a spring goddess.
She looks down at me, mirth still dancing in her face as she taps her fingers on my chest.
"Ha! I win this one!"
Gloating words and she is nearly humming with satisfaction.
She is rather pleased with that little trick she pulled on me.
"Oh what makes you say that?"
"I'm on top."
That lilting voice, the curve of her smile and I am more aware than ever of just not only how she is sitting on me but where.
My fingers dig into her hips and I shift my weight just a couple of degree's beneath her.
Pressing her against me.
Eyes widening, a lush softening of her mouth as she realizes her position on me.
The desire to tumble her back into meadow, press my lips to her skin amid the flowers and grass crawls through me.
Pure, undulated want grips me by the throat and before I can act on the impulse, she is shoving at my chest, scrambling off of me.
I watch her put a few feet of distance between us. Watch her fists clench and release, hear the ragged breathing that leaves her.
She turns back to me, a storm in her eyes as she blows out a breath.
She offers me her hand, a deprecating smile on her lips.
"Come one...I think I saw a lake not far from here and I'm dying for a drink."
The thought of water does hold a distinctive appeal, but I would rather sip from her lips.
A flicker of hesitation in her gaze and I reminder myself, sharply, to calm down.
I grasp her wrist and use her momentum to pull myself to my feet.
A flutter of grass and crushed flowers rain down around us.
We must look a sight, the pair of us.
She is standing perfectly still next to me, barely reaching my shoulder.
There is strange light in her eyes and I wonder what thoughts chase themselves through her mind.
"I'll race you."
I blink, not what I was expecting her to say but she is already in motion, running for the woods.
Her challenge kicks up my heartbeat and I'm in motion.
She looks back, a startled laugh filling the air at my pursuit, just as she reaches the edges of the forest.
She weaves through forest with ease, but she does not look back. No longer running, almost gliding now.
Something has caught her attention, holding her in thrall.
I slip through the tree to find that she has halted before a hidden oasis.
The water shimmers below us, dappled sunlight playing on the surface.
There is a longing in her gaze as she watches the soft waves brush along the shoreline.
The slight incline to the water's edge is not a steep one. It is on my lips to offer her a hand down, no more lessons, but the words catch in my throat.
Rey is pulling off her top, the rustle of cloth loud in the silence around us.
She wears nothing beneath the shirt, only small band of cloth around her chest.
I have to take in a harsh breath, I've forgotten how to breath.
"Rey, what are you...doing?"
She tosses her clothing over a nearby tree limb. Her skin glows against the muted light, shades of fire and sable spilling down her back as she loosens her failing braid.
She looks back at me, vivid amber against dappled skin and I cannot speak.
She drops the belt from her waist holding her saber, the leggings riding low on her waist now.
"I'm going for a swim."
I can barely hear her words pass the roar of blood in my head, but they do penetrate when she turns from me and begins climbing the hill.
Rey is from a desert planet, what does she know about swimming?
She is standing at edge, peering into the water below.
The lake is not a large one, but the shading colors tells me that it has some depth to it.
A brief nod of her head, as though she had come to a decision and considering where she is standing, I have a good idea what she is planning.
"Rey I don't think..."
My words are lost as she dives from the cliff and I rush to the edge, my heart threatening to explode as she hits the water.
From here I can see her body moving in graceful arcs as she swims deeper below the water.
Where had she learned to swim like that? I recall my information on Jakku and there are no large bodies of water on that planet.
At all.
My thoughts derail as she breaks the surface, water streaming from her glistening body as she tosses her hair from her eyes.
She has the impunity to smile and wave at me from below.
I cross my arms over my chest, not at all pleased by her latest stunt.
My heart was still trying to free itself from my rib cage, it was beating so hard against the bones.
"This feels amazing! Come in!"
Cajoling words from her lips, her hands stroking the water with undisguised pleasure.
She looks like one of those mythical creatures my father would tell stories about to tease my mother with when he was gone on other worlds without her.
A mermaid, I recall. A being who lived in the water, luring the unwary to them with sweet words and beguiling eyes.
Only to drown them with their love.
I shake my head at the image and I hear the splash of water.
Rey is sending up a wave trying to splash me by the look on her face.
"Don't tell me the great Kylo Ren is afraid to get a little wet?"
Another splash in my direction, the cadence of her voice changing from cajoling to outright provocation.
The fire in my blood from earlier that had cooled to a simmer from our earlier tumble now stokes to new fury at her taunt.
"You'll regret those words."
She turn in slow circles, keeping herself directing below me and I see her roll her eyes at me.
"Oooh, I'm terrified."
Not in the slightest, all things considered.
Time to teach her the true meaning of provocation.
I strip the shirt from my skin, the slight breeze a small relief from the humidity that still clings to the air, sending it next to Rey's discarded clothing.
My saber follows suit.
My pants are ill-suited for the water, but I can make do.
I glance at her once and she ducks beneath the waves, a look of surprise on her face.
I dive from the cliff, certain that she has somehow hurt herself. The water closes over my head, the cool touch a relief to my overheated skin.
The water here is clear as glass and I open my eyes, looking for where Rey disappeared.
I can see her, the lower half of her legs treading water and I realize that the lake is not as deep as I imagined it to be.
So she didn't slip after all.
Her voice calls out to me, muted by the water. A sense of agitation to it.
I have yet to surface and a bit of mischief creeps into me.
It was time to pay her back for taking a few years off of my life when she dove into the water.
Her movement is becoming choppy, her voice holding a hint of panic and I swim below her.
I surface, the silken feel of cool skin against my hands as I pull her out of the water, a startled yell from her lips.
I have her half-way out of the water, her weight nothing to me as I stare up into vivid eyes.
Her hand rest against my shoulders, as though afraid I might drop her.
She has nothing to fear, I can tread water and still hold her with ease.
"I told you I would make you regret those words."
"Ren," sparkling laughter that is my name, "put me down!"
"Why should I?"
I have her right where I want her, in my arms. Her laughter wraps around my soul and there is no sweeter sound I have heard in my years crossing the galaxies.
Her hands move across my skin, leaving a trail of fire in her wake and she cups my face.
She leans down, her hair creating a shield so that we are cast in shadows.
"Because I told you to."
Honeyed words, a whisper of enticement before her mouth descends on mine.
She slips back into the water, her legs sliding against mine as she literally steals the will from me.
Her hands burying in my hair, her skin silken from the water and I open my mouth to her, giving her everything.
Our tongues tangle and all I taste is her.
A mermaid trying to drown me with her love.
She breaks away, gasping for air, trembling in my arms.
She is no longer dangling in the air, so she achieved what she wanted from me.
But I am not done with her just yet.
I reach for her and she turns, splashing water in my face.
The shock of cold against my burning skin has me pulling up my guard.
She laughs as I release her and once again I've been tricked by the water nymph.
"Ha! You want me, you have to catch me first!"
I have every intention of winning this challenge she throw at me.
I dive for her but she is quicksilver in the water and evades me with apparent ease.
I surface, using her trick and splash water at her unguarded side.
A laughing yell from her as the water sprays across her, throwing water back at me as we chase each other across the lake.
She is so close now I can scent the flowers on her skin but she twists before me and instead of Rey I get a face full of water.
I hear her snicker as water blinds me and I push my soaked hair away from me, a taunting smile on her face.
She thinks she's won but this battle is not decided just yet between us.
"Oh no...no you don't!"
She makes a warding sign with her hands just as I dive beneath the surface.
I noticed that she can dive, but not for long periods of time and she closes her eyes beneath the water.
I have no such hindrance and I can see her legs making graceful arcs, tying to out swim me.
I would have laughed if I wasn't holding my breath.
Her direction shifts and she is making for land, my mermaid trying to escape.
I let her get far enough ahead to make her think she's won...until I see the mud that denotes the embankment just ahead of me.
Far enough.
"Ren!"
Laughter as she shouts my name as I grab hold of her waist, swinging her out of the water...and placing her on grassy edge.
I take in a gulping breath, my lungs burning and I don't want her running off on me just yet.
Her legs dangle in the water and use my weight across her thighs to keep her with me.
"I believe I win this time."
I look up at her, daring her to refute my words.
Eyes like jewels look back at me, skin shimmering from the water as sunlight dapples behind her, illuminating her from behind.
Her fingers stroke my hair, pushing back damp strands as her merriment washes over me.
"Okay, fine, you win." She sound utterly content being caught by me and her fingers stroke me with soft indulgence, "How do you swim so well?"
I pillow my head on my arms, enjoying the feeling of her nails gliding through my hair.
Her question evokes a memory but it is not a bitter one but wistful.
A time when my parents were still in love, the schemes of the new republic not threatening to tear them apart.
My mother dressed all in white...her hair a long veil down her back as my father looked on with soft possession, his broad back a startling tan to her paler skin.
"Come on kid," hefting me under his arm as I laugh and flail my arms and legs, "time to learn how to swim."
"I learned when I was young," the soothing motion of her fingers is lulling and I close my eyes, "it's not something you tend to forget."
I move closer, the water barely reaching my waist as my feet touch ground and I bury my face in the delectable scent of her skin.
If she is going to be dressed like this around me, stroking me with such possession I am not to be held responsible for what I do next.
"Ren," a soft murmur, a hint of a question, "what are you..."
Her words cut off as I press my lips against her skin, silken and cool to my touch.
A hard gasp and her spin arches beneath my mouth, a lush invitation that I take up.
Her fingers tighten in my hair as I explore the flat plain of her stomach. That small, silent demand is all the encouragement I need.
I'm out of the water, my abrupt movement pulling her fingers from my hair as I catch pleasure drunk eyes beneath fringed lashes as she falls back on her arms.
My hand around the back of her neck, her mouth trembling beneath mine as I press our bodies together, the touch of her skin a drug in my veins.
Her arms come around me, enticing me, pulling against her.
She is all I need, everything that I desire and I no longer care if she is not truly here in my arms.
This moment, our tongues tangling, her legs locked around, it is real enough.
Her breath, a sigh into my mouth as she makes soft, needy noises that have my hands roaming her water-slick skin with fervent need.
The taste of her skin, like nectar, and I move away from her mouth down the slim column of her throat, nipping gently at the lush heat of her body.
Her nails score my back, the shock of pleasure mingled with pain have me biting down where shoulder and neck meet.
"Gods...Ben!"
She writhes beneath me, the press of her damp curves obliterates all reason why I should stop.
There is only she and I in this place, in this time.
Her mouth is mine, her body a temple that I will worship with ardent devotion.
Limbs entwine, the heat of her skin against mine, and I no longer know where I begin and she ends.
It is not enough, nowhere near enough to satisfy this craving in my blood.
My fingers find the cloth that separates our skin, I give a gentle tug and her lips begin to shape a word across mine.
I want that word to be 'yes' to show her exactly how much pleasure only I can give her.
"Rey! Where are you? Are you here!"
A familiar, irritating male voice filters through the air and Rey wrenches her mouth from mine, her breathing ragged.
"Rey! Can you hear us?"
Another male calling out to her and this one I know all to well.
Dameron. Calling out for my Rey.
I growl at their interference just as Rey makes a choked noise, twisting in my arms.
Her hair spills over her shoulder, leaving me with a perfect view of her arched spine.
Skin touched by golden light, the outline of small scars at the base of her spine.
I press my lips to those scars, vowing to find the cause of them...and if needs be, eliminate whatever caused her hurt.
Nails digging into grass, a soft moan stealing from her lips and I am not ready for this to end.
Her so called friends can go to hell.
"Ignore them," I murmur, trailing my lips across her skin that make her tremble and moan in that lovely tone, "they can't see me."
For once I am actually glad of the bond that separates us.
Her trembling ceases and there is a stillness to her that I do not like.
I want her writhing and calling my name in that pleasure drunk voice only I can evoke in her.
"I," her voice is shaking, "don't think that's entirely true."
Her words penetrate the haze of lust around my mind and I lift my mouth from her skin.
There is only one meaning I can take from those words.
Our Bond is connected by the Force.
Only another who is sensitive to the Force could possibly detect me. My mother, who is not here, is the only one I can think of right away who would be aware.
She turns to look at me, panic in her eyes now.
"You have to leave, now!"
"Rey what are you..."
Something about the voices calling out to her, Dameron and the renegade, has triggered her irrational panic and it gives me pause.
I stretch out my Force sense, the two men looking for Rey the only other living beings for miles around us.
"Not Dameron. He's deaf to everything around him," the time I had interrogated him told me what I needed to know about the man, "but Finn...the renegade..."
There were reports, classified reports, that spoke of children who had been harvested for the Stormtrooper program not being able to fully integrate into the programming.
For just a brief moment I can feel him in the Force, a single drop in a river, before disappearing.
My concentration split, Rey scrambles from beneath me, her movements jerky.
I am right behind her, both of us reaching out together to call our clothing back to us.
He is no Jedi, this Finn, but the fact that I can sense him at all is disturbing.
Rey makes a frustrated noise as her clothing twist around her still damp body and I fair only slightly better as I pull the shirt back on, the material heated from the sun.
She turns to me, a pleading look in her eyes that I am not interested in hearing.
"He's not a Jedi," our thoughts are running parallel again as she presses her hand to my heart, "but I think he might be Force sensitive. I can't take the risk he can see you."
She speaks of another man, pleading for him and my temper ignites.
"Are you afraid that he will see me," I ask softly as anger slips into my voice, "or see us together?"
I doubt she has told anyone about our...connection. My Rey is closed off in regards to her personal life and this bond between us is far more intimate than that of just physical attraction.
I find that I don't care. I need to know if she is...ashamed...of being seen with me.
Her eyes flash with outrage and she hits me, hard, across the chest. This was no playful tap from earlier.
She was truly angry with me.
"That's not what I mean! They don't see you the way I do," her voice softens as does her touch, "don't know you the way I do."
I am not at all mollified by her answer.
"Ask me if I care."
Cruel words but I am beyond listening to her defend her friends, again and again.
I am tired of being the one having to give way before them.
"I care!" Frustration etches grooves around her mouth as she lifts her hands to my face, "Please Ren...for me. You have to go."
Now she pleads for me...and though I am still furious with the interruption, I cannot abide the sorrow I hear in her.
I cover her hands still holding onto me as I capture her mouth, claiming her. I will be the fire in her blood, the reason she will always feel restless when I am not around.
I lift my mouth from her swollen lips and her friends sound clearer now.
Moving closer to where we are.
"I'll go...but only this one time, for you Rey."
She nods her head and I wonder if she truly understand that I am backing down because it is her.
Her fingers drop from me, the warmth of her skin leaving me colder and bitterness fills me at the forced separation between us.
I can sense her friends not far now and I turn, severing the bond that connects us.
No longer do I stand on the bank of a sun-drenched lake, the sound of lilting laughter sweetening the air, the eyes of woman staring back at me making feel alive.
"Lord Ren!"
"Master...you are not dressed to be out here."
Two of my Knights surround me, handing me a thick, fur lined cloak that I drape across my body against the freezing temperature that is the frozen waste called Hoth.
I don't recall leaving my ship but I must have at one point.
"I'm fine," I tell the men at my side, "The cold gives me clarity. Tell me what you have found."
I listen with only half a mind, but I cannot banish the effects of our last bond so quickly.
The feel of her skin on mine, her lilting voice an echo in my blood, the sweet surrender of her in my arms as I pressed her into the ground.
She is everywhere I go now and it is driving me to madness.
I do not know how much more torment she intends to put me through before finally realizing the truth.
We were meant to be together.
Forever.
It was only a matter of time before that dream became reality.