A/N: Finally, some Kylo for you all. I promise there is more smutty goodness very, very soon. And as always, thank you for your support. You all keep me going on the tough days.

Kylo's POV

Finalizer/Kijimi

When I returned to the Finalizer, I felt a bit numb. Not about the truth of Rey, but the impulsive darkness in me. I pushed the thoughts aside while I was in the desert, in her presence. But now, I was frustrated with myself for being overcome with the fury and temptation to run her down. I was undeniably angry with her, but killing her was the exact opposite of what I wanted.

What I needed was to meditate and recenter myself, but there was no time for that. My knights were in pursuit, and soon I'd be chasing after her again. I was confused that she still turned away from me after her display in the desert. She was horrified, but she didn't seem… surprised.

My favorite fighter was destroyed, but the price was worth the reward. To encounter Rey again, to provoke her into a rage. I was awed by her beauty and her power. It was more than I'd hoped, and way more than she realized.

Tit for tat- I'd gotten my vengeance in the end. I'd hurt her. And by her own hand, no less. In that way, I was satisfied. My anger at her cooled. There was so much more shadow, so much more conflict in her now. I just had to be persistent.

The possessive beast in me was still scorned however… he would be much more exacting.

A bitter fear still gnarled it's way in. That even if she turned, she wouldn't want me.

But I shoved it away.

My thoughts were interrupted by an incoming transmission from the Night Buzzard.

Kijimi. What the hell would she be there for?

It didn't matter. I ordered the jump.

Night raids were already in progress by the time my boots hit the ground, but the settlement seemed to erupt into further panic at the sight of the Finalizer. It was snowy and frigid, an unpleasant place. I could feel her, she was there. But where?

I'd already stormed several buildings when finally I felt that tether between us and I pulled. The connection opened, mercifully. I couldn't see her surroundings, but she appeared in front of me facing away from me.

"I pushed you in the desert because I needed to see it. I needed you to see it. Who you are. I know the rest of your story. Rey."

She spun around to face me in surprise, her guard up immediately.

"You're lying." She replied firmly.

Frustrating girl. Why wouldn't she see reason when I presented it to her repeatedly?

"I never lied to you. Your parents were no one. They chose to be. To keep you safe. It's there in your memories." I kept my cool.

She decided she wasn't interested in my conversation, lighting her saber and swinging it downward wildly as she yelled, "No!"

I parred easily, and while her defense was down, surged into her mind to find a memory I knew would be locked away there somewhere.

"Remember them. See them." I said calmly, immersing us into the newly surfaced memory.

A woman in her twenties with light brown hair and a blue cloak, beautiful despite her dirt and tear stained cheeks, knelt in front of a small, female child with brown hair in triple buns.

She spoke, "My love. Rey, be brave."

She wiped away the child's tears with her thumbs. A man also in his twenties stood beside the woman. He had brown hair as well, and looked unshaven, tired.

His hazel eyes were glassy as he croaked, "You'll be safer here. I promise."

They both clutched the child in a hug.

The scene shifts, now a male Crolute clutches the child's arm tightly as she struggles against him and the desert sand. She cries and reaches for the sky- after a ship entering the atmosphere.

"Come back! No!" The little girl sobs.

Rey stood unnaturally still, as though in shock.

"They sold you to protect you." I told her.

I felt some sort of fondness, affection maybe? And appreciation. I softened, wondering if this was to be the moment. Had I broken through?

Then it turned sharply into anger, hurt, distrust.

She swung again ferociously, I blocked.

Over the hissing of the blades, I said, "Tell me where you are. You don't know the whole story. It was Palpatine who had your parents taken. He was looking for you. But they wouldn't say where you were. So he gave the order."

It's the woman again, Rey's mother. She and the father were inside of a ship with an orange skinned humanoid male with strange slits for eyes.

"She's not on Jakku. She's gone." She insisted, her voice trembling.

The alien was displeased, he stabbed the father in response. The father crumbled to the ground clutching his wound, the woman rushed to catch him.

"No!" She cried.

She turned to look at the alien again as he approached, stabbing her as well. She grunted in pain and slumped over the father.

Rey yanked her blade free, drawing it in a long stroke past our bodies. It collided with something solid. I heard the muted thud in the snow, and turned to look.

My grandfather's helmet.

She was in my quarters? How? Hmm. That would do fine, expedient really.

"So that's where you are... You know why the Emperor's always wanted you dead."

Tears leaked from her eyes as she still stubbornly refused to acknowledge reality, "No."

I had seen the recognition in her eyes, she knew who the alien was and the ship they were on. It was the ship she sought in the Pasaana desert.

"I'll come tell you." I replied calmly, cutting the connection.

I turned and stalked away, finding the nearest stormtrooper.

"She was in my quarters, lock down the ship." I ordered.

He stuttered out an affirmation and scurried away.

By the time I got into the hangar, I could see her cornered, in the midst of what looked like an escape attempt. What had she come here for? She reminded me of a frightened animal, like prey caught in a trap.

Fear simmered in the air, she knew she had nowhere to go. Yet, part of her remained defiant, and a smaller part, curious. She wanted to know what I knew. Her resolve firmed.

"Why did the Emperor come for me? Why did he want to kill a child? Tell me." She demanded more than asked.

"Because he saw what you would become. You don't just have power. You have his power. You're his granddaughter. You are a Palpatine." I replied coolly.

I watched the shock ripple across her features for just a second before continuing, "My mother was the daughter of Vader. Your father was the son of the Emperor. What Palpatine doesn't know is we're a dyad in the Force, Rey. Two that are one."

Her lovely face softened with acceptance. There was no denying it, she knew deep down it was true. Her shock ebbed only slightly, mixing with confusion as she processed what she'd just learned.

"We'll kill him together and take the throne." I told her boldly.

This was it, I could feel it in my bones. The final appeal, I just had to figure out the right words.

"I let my mother, the Resistance, live for your sake. So you could see for yourself that you didn't belong there. But it all must be dismantled, destroyed. In order to fix this galaxy." The pitch of my voice rising with passion, more assured than ever that her darkness would beckon her to my cause.

Rey shook her head in denial of my words, "It needs liberation, not destruction." She countered.

"We'll destroy the systems of oppression, restore order, and finally attain true peace." I argued.

Together, no one could oppose us. We could save the hapless, selfish inhabitants of the galaxy from themselves.

I finally removed my helmet, a gesture of trust. I wanted her to see my face, to know I was earnest.

"You know what you need to do. You know." I breathed, I could feel it trickling through the bond.

That she agreed with me, she understood what I intended for my rule. Our rule. Yet, I felt dread and defiance bleeding through.

Frustrated, I closed the distance between us, looking down at her as her mouth started to open, but I spoke first, "They don't see the darkness in you, they'd reject you. They have to. There's no room for darkness with them. I accept you, all of you. I can show you the way. I would listen to you. Give you a voice louder than they could ever offer you. I'll be what you need Rey, just let me." I pleaded, and I was not a man who pleaded for anyone.

My mind harkened back to the throne room incident. Her conflict, and ultimately, her rejection of my offer.

What did she want? What else could I possibly offer to her? How could I convince her?

She scoffed at me. "The great Supreme Leader begging after a nobody."

She averted her eyes, refusing to look at me. Disgust, hurt, distrust, fear, rejection, sadness. The emotions were fast and hard, shifting and melding. They were hers.

Then, it dawned on me. Hit me like a freighter crashing into the sea full speed.

She was an emotional creature. Power wasn't her drive. My mind sped back to our heated little tryst. Lust. Possession.

Ahch-To. The stolen touches, gestures. Affection. Companionship.

I hadn't offered her what she really wanted in the throne room.

After all that had transpired… could she still want me? If I offered myself, my heart, would she take it? But really… Was there anything left to lose?

My stomach clenched in anxiety, outright fear. The beast screamed against it, she'd already betrayed my heart. She turned to someone else. She would reject me, and devastate me again. It didn't matter what I offered.

But for once, I let my brain override my fears and hesitation. This was all that was left to give, it made sense. I had to try it, lest I always look back in regret.

"No, just a man pining after the one he loves. His everything." I spoke directly into her mind.

There were no words for what I felt then.

She didn't even attempt to hide the surprise written all over her face. I extended my hand, palm up, into the short space between our bodies. I looked down at her small hands fisted at her side. They trembled, and the exposed skin of her upper arms pebbled, almost as though she was cold.

Her mind drifted back, I heard her voice from a memory talking to someone. "I need someone to show me my place in all of this."

She was wondering where her place was. I knew the answer.

"Your place is by my side, Rey." I replied softly into her mind.

Rey's POV

Kijimi/Finalizer

With C3PO gone, the group despaired. Only amplified when the Finalizer suddenly showed up over the settlement. We tore back and forth on what to do, but something inside told me I had to go to Ren. To do what, I wasn't sure.

The conflict within me still raged, I needed help and I knew that. But would it mean betraying everything I'd fought for? Everything I once thought made me who I am? Who was I anymore anyway?

But with the dagger destroyed along with Chewie, there was only one option left I could think of. I was sure Ren would have a wayfinder, or know where to find one. At minimum, I could extract that.

I just needed to get on board.

Zorii was surprisingly helpful, and ended up offering me a captain's medallion on the condition I find a way to make the Finalizer leave. I agreed.

The boys insisted on coming with me, but I refused. While I was certain I could escape with my life, I couldn't promise that of theirs and I wouldn't risk it. I told them to go back to base, and wait for me there. Poe was especially reluctant, almost as though he sensed my dread.

Truthfully, whether I joined Ren or not, I didn't intend to return to the Resistance. I knew how that would end. It might hurt Poe a little now, and my friends might be saddened for a while. But in the long run, I'd save them from much more pain and suffering. They were tough and persistent. They'd find a way without me.

I gave each of the boys a kiss on the cheek, and one last long hug. I would miss them. But I gathered my strength and parted from them.

Getting on board with the medallion was efficient, mind tricking troopers along the way wasn't a challenge either.

I followed the draw of the shadow once on board. There were objects there steeped in Sith magics, I could sense them. Surely, one would probably be a wayfinder.

I arrived outside a locked door, but easily overrode it's computer and slinked inside. It was an antechamber of some sort, mostly white durasteel with a small viewport on the far side. There were raised columns and tables scattered around. The ruined mask of Darth Vader on a pedestal held my gaze for a long moment. But I finally set to work looking for something like the drawing of a wayfinder in Luke's journal.

Suddenly, I heard the synthesized voice of Ren behind me. I startled, spinning around.

I'd been caught.

It took me a few seconds to realize, he wasn't really there. It was another Force connection.

I didn't want to hear his words, and I rejected the possibility of their truth. I activated my lightsaber and struck out. It only seemed to egg Ren on further, to the point he forced up a memory from the deep recesses of my mind. A memory I had no knowledge of, I had never seen before, but knew was mine.

I went rigid as my mind struggled to cope with what I'd been shown.

Somehow, I was moved that Ren had discovered this information, and wanted to give it to me as some kind of offering. He could be such a sweet, brooding simpleton. But he was only a fool about women. Nothing was ever freely given when it came to that man. He would want something in return. To manipulate me somehow.

Damn him.

I swung my blade again, he blocked.

He demanded my location, insisting he had more information.

Palpatine was behind my parents' death? The reason they never returned for me? My blood boiled. I already hated that foul creature for setting me on this wild goose chase, now I had more reason than ever. Why was he looking for me?

Ren showed me a vision of their death from his memory.

Why did Palpatine have my parents killed for defying him? I was unbearably sad, confused, and so, so angry.

I jerked my blade free from Ren's, but overexerted. My saber crashed through a pedestal behind me, Darth Vader's mask fell. Ren watched it fall to the ground with interest.

He hadn't been able to see my surroundings, nor I his. But now he knew exactly where I was.

There was something he expected me to realize from the vision and what he'd told me. Was he thinking I'd guess why some long thought dead emperor wanted me dead? But I dreaded the implication I was involved. Surely some worse information was at the threshold. I deeply wanted to know, but I also didn't.

Tears of frustration and loss escaped me, burning my cheeks. I knew Ochi was a Sith assassin, and now knew he killed my parents. But why me? What was my role in all this?

"I'll come tell you." Ren said, sounding more like a threat than a promise.

The connection slammed shut, and a surge of fear rushed through me.

My panicked brain started screaming, 'You don't want to know, just get out of here! Danger Danger!'. My body complied, my feet thrusting me toward the hangar with renewed vigor. I avoided hallways sure to be full of troopers, I had no time for that. Electing to take a shortcut and scale down a wall the final stint into the hangar.

The adrenaline was thrumming in my veins, my fear started to ebb as I sprinted toward the nearest craft. I might slip away before he could catch me.

Wrong.

Waves of troopers flooded into the hangar from all directions, even down the gangplank of the ship I intended to commandeer just seconds ago. I was surrounded on all sides, there were too many to trick.

Only a moment later, he arrived.

Dammit all.

My fear was back full force. I needed help with my darkness, but my instincts screamed against this place. I couldn't just surrender. Or should I? My mind listed back and forth- 'Join him', 'Run!', 'Join him', 'Run!'. Why couldn't I be more decisive? They were both impossible choices, maybe that was the true dilemma.

I wasn't going to let him see my weakness though. And he'd said he'd tell me. So I intended to find out why Palpatine wanted me dead.

I don't know what I had expected, but for him to say he was my grandfather was not it. I stared at him dumbly.

But he wasn't done. He had an answer for the connection between us too.

A dyad. Two beings that shared one soul.

Some intangible part of me recognized his words as the truth, somewhere deep inside me. They shattered me, emptied me of everything I thought I knew. Some of the anger and outrage diffused from my body. Like air from a balloon. Fighting Ren truly was futile all along. That was the tether between us, constantly drawing us back to each other.

But what was I supposed to do with that knowledge? What did it mean for my future? He wanted power, to usurp the phantom Emperor. He deeply wanted to rule. He again insisted I didn't belong with the Resistance and that all had to be destroyed.

And I rejected that firmly.

But he didn't relent, instead explaining exactly what he intended to do. He removed his helmet finally. I hated that stupid thing. He looked more vulnerable, more uncertain.

"You know what you need to do. You know." He said in a low voice.

He was right, it was what was needed. I knew. But what part did he intend for me to play? I wouldn't be his 'apprentice' and beholden to his whims. I would not be used. I was not a weapon or a plaything. I started to tell him off, but then he was suddenly in my space, looming over me.

"They don't see the darkness in you, they'd reject you. They have to. There's no room for darkness with them. I accept you, all of you. I can show you the way. I would listen to you. Give you a voice louder than they could ever offer you. I'll be what you need Rey, just let me."

Was he...begging?

I scoffed. I already knew I couldn't stay with the Resistance, but his desperation for my power turned my stomach.

"The great Supreme Leader begging after a nobody." I muttered, turning my gaze away to stare at the durasteel floor bitterly.

Be what I needed? My mind conjured up his wild face when he'd said, "You need a teacher!" What the hell did he know about what I needed?

This man, who'd proclaimed I was a nobody with no place in the story of this galaxy. Who spurned me on more than one occasion. No, I didn't want to rule beside the likes of him. He didn't understand anything.

It was never about power. I never wanted to rule anything.

"No, just a man pining after the one he loves. His everything." He spoke into my mind, his voice so heavy with emotion.

My jaw dropped.

My skin broke out into gooseflesh, and I stared at the hand he extended for me between us. I knew I was trembling, but reality felt far away for a moment. He loved me? My world's axis tilted. There was no doubt that he meant it, I could feel it.

My mind drifted, back to a question that brought me such stress. "I need someone to show me my place in all of this." Where was my place? Where was I supposed to be? What was I really fighting against?

"Your place is by my side, Rey." His voice soothed, calm and comforting.

I thought about my darkness, my bleeding powers. The chaos I was on the verge of causing.

Love was all I had ever really wanted, but this power was thrust upon me. To fight it, to waste it, it seemed selfish of me. The reality of what Ren proposed was rational. I didn't care about ruling, but if I was honest, I loved him too. That wild passion and ravenous intensity in him. The horrid, the wonderful. The duality of him.

An unkind, ungentle part of me wanted to possess him, smother him, consume him. I could have him. And he'd take satisfaction in me ruling beside him. That would please him. To use our power together, to reform the galaxy. In a way people might not choose, might not want, but was necessary. Even I could see that now.

Luke was right to bow out and end the Jedi, the light versus dark was not only an inane and tired trope, but a futile one that would only perpetuate misery. Someone had to take the reins. The Republic had failed, the Empire had failed. The cycle just rinsed and repeated every so many only way to end the needless deaths, conflict, and destruction was through unequivocal power. We could do it. Together.

I took his hand.

Once I made the decision to say yes, once my hand touched his, it was as though a fog had been lifted. At that moment, I reached for the connection between us. He reached for it too.

Something in me shifted. Clicked. As though the bond was truly and completely open, and it locked itself into place. It was right, it was whole, it was belonging, it was home. Everything changed, I could feel all of him. His energy didn't just surround me anymore, it was in me too.

I'd once called him selfish. That wasn't true. I didn't understand.

He'd give it all to me.

His undying love, loyalty, devotion. He saw me not only as a partner to rule with him, but as his other half- the one to complete him and make him whole.

His pursuit of me was relentless, and though he fumbled throughout, it was with tremendous feeling on his part.

A simpleton indeed.

He appealed to me as he would another man. My own feelings and desires were unfathomable, because life had taught him love was never enough. That it couldn't possibly be what I wanted.

Feelings are selfish, you can't lead with them, so don't let them lead you. You should care about what's best for the world. Don't think so much about yourself. Think bigger.

It was as though I saw a ghost of a younger Leia chastising a young Ben. I could feel her lingering presence inside him, those words etched somewhere deep. She had taught him this. To repress personal feelings and desires, they had to come second to the greater good.

Be tempered, be cool, be detached, be brave, be strong. Lead by example. Passion is for one's work, not public displays. Work comes first.

Echoes of a lonely childhood, of a mother too busy with a failing New Republic, rippled through me.

Things I'd long wondered, things I'd long been confused by, I now knew. I now had the answers.

So many times he wanted to save me from hurt, rejection, disappointment. If I had understood at the time, would I have responded differently? He saw where people had failed him, he who was so much like me, and he had wanted to shield me from it. Circumvent the painful process.

Feelings of being surprised and overwhelmed percolated the air between us. All the confusion, pain, and wretchedness I had felt was washed away, replaced with powerful feelings resonating through my core. Purpose, drive, fervor.

I felt a coolness in my blood, a knowing.

My life before was over, I'd burnt it all down. I was a firestorm that had run wild, growing more and more out of control. A threat, even to myself. Now all that was left behind were ashes, for a new Rey to rise from.

"Lady Rey of the New Order." Ren's voice supplied calmly in my mind, his lips pulling to form a small smile.

This was how it should have been all along. A true dyad.