A/N: A big thanks to SirenBanshee. You are one amazing beta!
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Kylo first turned to the Guard. "Practice the formations," he said before focusing his attention back on Rey. "You know how to use the Force to keep track of moving objects, right?" he asked.
"Yes."
"And you've noticed you're more aware of the people around you when you're using the Force?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Have you tried weaponizing that?"
Rey blinked at him and he grinned.
"I guess that's a 'no'."
"How do you weaponize something like that?" Rey asked, frowning.
"The Force tells you how others are moving and where they're going to go. You already used it too but without realising it."
Rey was still frowning at him. Smiling, he lightly touched her temple. It was unnecessary but it showed his intent.
"Do you remember when I told you Burman wondered about what he could do with the Force?"
"Hmm."
He showed her the demonstration he'd given Burman of how he could use the Force to become a better fighter. Instead of merely showing Rey the image of the memory, however, he pulled her into the memory—his' feeling of the Force.
"Oh," Rey exclaimed. "If you can do that, how come you didn't wipe the floor with me whenever we met?"
"Because you did the same to me."
"I did?"
Kylo chuckled. "Yes, you did." He focussed and changed memory to the first day he'd tested his theory for a Force-fighting style with the Guard. "Do you notice how I'm keeping track of the Guard?" he mumbled.
"Yes. But it's less defined."
"The more people, the more difficult it becomes. You have to learn to trust the Force, much like how you trust your reflexes. Now watch."
He focussed on the moment two of the Guard crossed each other.
"One of them disappeared," Rey exclaimed.
"Exactly. That's what Fu is trying to work with. I've taught Ember this as well and Fu's mostly been training and testing with her. I thought you might want to learn and help as well."
"I do." Rey pulled away from the memories. "Of course I want to help," she said, smiling at him. "But I'm not sure if I know how to do what you did."
Kylo scoffed. "That's where the learning comes in," he answered. "Phasma," he called out.
"Yes, sir?"
"Can you go through some basic forms?"
"Certainly, sir."
"Wait," Kylo said as Phasma fell into position. "Not one of the basic ones," he altered. "Rey knows those. One she can copy with a staff."
Phasma tilted her head minutely, clearly thinking, so Kylo turned to Rey.
"Meditate and follow her with the Force. Only the Force, no peeking. See if you can copy Phasma afterwards."
"You expect me to learn a form in one go only by looking at it with the Force?" Rey cried out.
"At least part of it, yes."
"You're joking, right?"
"No."
"Ben! That's not possible."
Kylo chuckled. "Try. Sit. Meditate."
After some more grumbling, Rey did as he asked. She sunk down to the floor, closed her eyes and regulated her breathing.
"Sir?" Phasma asked.
Kylo nodded at her and watched as Phasma deployed her baton and went through an intermediate, staff-oriented form. Once she was finished, Kylo went to fetch a staff while Rey came up from her meditation.
"Here," he said, offering her the staff.
She blinked at him before accepting the weapon.
"Trust the Force," he added as Rey walked forward to take Phasma's place.
Rey still looked dazed as she took the starting position. She managed to look dazed, surprised and confused, all at the same time, while moving through the beginning of the form. Kylo watched her with pride. Only halfway did she make a mistake and stumble.
"How?" she muttered. "How is this possible?"
"What do you think of her form?" Kylo asked Phasma.
"Not bad," she answered. "Her foot placement needs work and the staff went wide a few times, but not bad."
Rey stared at him. "How?"
"Because watching with the Force gives you more information than watching with your eyes. You learn the movements from within the muscles, so to speak. This isn't, however, a shortcut for going through the movements themselves. Unless you actively move through the form, you'll forget it."
"So it's a shortcut for your short-term memory but not the long-term one?"
"You could say that."
Phasma shook her head.
"What?" Kylo asked.
"It would seem Miss Rey now knows how it's possible, but I still don't."
Rey giggled while Kylo grinned at Phasma, not in the least feeling repentant. He still repeated the two sentences Phasma had missed though. He figured it was only fair.
"So, I should repeat this form a few times now, no?" Rey asked.
"Another time," Kylo answered. "I don't think Phasma will mind showing it to you again. Now, however, you should practice tracking people with the Force while fighting."
He pulled a blindfold out of his pocket. One of the blindfolds the Knights used when training with the ball-shooting droids.
"Spar with Phasma," he said while tying the blindfold to cover Rey's eyes. She didn't even protest once and her trust in him made his heart flutter. "Slowly," he added. "Don't overdo it. You're not sparring to win, you're sparring to learn how to use the Force like this." He threw a look at Phasma, who nodded her head. "I'll be working with Fu and the Guard."
Rey nodded. He reached out to her over their bond and could feel her drawing the Force towards her, then sending it outwards.
"Good luck," he said.
"Go teach your Guard how they can defeat you," she quipped back.
He huffed a laugh and stepped back. Rey tilted her head, looking much like a little bird, before turning slightly and facing Phasma.
"Miss Rey, are you ready?" Phasma asked.
Rey merely hummed in response, causing Phasma to slowly swing her baton to Rey's side.
"Not that slow," Rey protested.
Huffing another laugh, Kylo left them to it. With the preparations of the raid on Base Z, he'd had little time to invest in this particular undertaking. He went through some warm-up exercises before approaching Fu.
"Care to test your tactics?" he asked.
"Definitely," Fu answered. "They seem to have an effect on Ember. I'm curious if it's the same with you. The Guard can practice in a larger group with you as well. Ember can only hold off five of them, when there are three out of her line of sight."
"But she's improving?"
"She is."
After a nod, Kylo stepped into a circle of waiting Guard. The initial group of six Guards was now a group of nine. They weren't all poised to attack, however.
"How many of us, sir?" Joseph asked.
"Start with five, two in front, three behind. Add one every ten minutes."
"Yes, sir."
Kylo drew on the Force and was momentarily thrown off-balance due to Rey's proximity. He could feel her movements almost like his own. The way she stumbled and half turned towards him told him she'd noticed too.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Preparing to do the same as you."
"This is strange."
"It is. And worth exploring."
She sent him the equivalent of a nod, then a shrug. "But maybe not right now?"
"No. Would you mind blocking the bond for the rest of training?"
"It's the logical thing to do, but I'll never like it."
"Me neither."
He shivered slightly as he closed himself off from their connection. "Let's begin," he told the Guard.
It had been a very, very long time since he had such a strenuous fight. Although he could easily keep track of five of them, the Guard was well-trained and he didn't have a moment's rest. When the seventh Guard joined in, Kylo started noticing blanks in the information he received from the Force, keeping him on his toes and having to defend against unforeseen attacks. At eight, he was fighting at his full capacity, barely keeping up and, at nine, one of the Guard managed to get past his defences and nick his arm.
The fight stopped immediately. Kylo blinked the sweat out of his eyes as that same Guard knelt on the floor.
"Supreme Leader, I've committed an offense. Do as you please."
He blinked again, then finally spotted the name on the Guard's armour.
"No," he said. "You've not committed an offense, Blossom." He gulped in some air. "Congratulations."
"Sir?"
"To all of you," Kylo added. "I couldn't keep up in the end."
It hurt to say. Some part of him was still screaming at him that it was because he was too weak, untrained, not good enough. He ignored it and reasoned with himself. This was exactly what the Guard had been training for. And it still took nine of them to get through his defenses. That wasn't weakness.
"Damn."
Kylo looked up, as well as all the Guard, to look at Rey. She was staring at him, blindfold around her neck, eyes wide and lips slightly parted. He opened the bond between them and was hit with a wave of desire, causing him to cough in order to hide his own reaction.
"Really?" he managed to say, voice slightly raspy. He hoped everybody would assume it was because of the fight.
Rey just continued to stare at him, desire still burning through their bond, until her eyes dropped to his arm and worry took over.
"Is it deep?" she asked, rushing over. "Do you need it checked out?"
"It's only a scratch," he said.
"You're bleeding."
"Even scratches bleed, Rey."
"Such wise words," Fu said.
"He's an ass."
"But a useful one." Kylo looked at Fu. "Congratulations are in order for you too," he said. "Your strategy worked."
"It can be better," Fu answered. "It still took nine of them."
"It took only nine of them," Kylo countered, shaking his head. "Phasma."
"Yes, sir."
"I think celebrations for the Guard are in order. This is a big achievement."
"I will see to it, sir." Her voice was clearly pleased.
Rey poked at his arm. "I want this checked out."
"Rey," he protested. "It barely counts as a wound."
She glared at him. "At least cleaned and bandaged," she insisted. "You're bleeding so it's a wound." She cocked her head at him. "And it gives me the opportunity to strip you out of your shirt."
He swallowed. "If it makes you happy," he agreed.
"It does," she exclaimed with a grin.
The way she shortly bit her lip wasn't wasted on him.
"I really do apologise, Supreme Leader, Supreme Duchess," Blossom insisted.
"There's no need," Kylo answered. "We were sparring, after all."
"Really, no need," Rey echoed.
"Reason for the new position when guarding the Supreme Leader's room, exhibit A," Phasma deadpanned.
"Phasma!" Kylo and Rey both exclaimed.
Fu laughed while Phasma remained silent, Blossom shifted her weight and the other Guards followed in Phasma's silence. Rey hid her face against Kylo's shoulder and he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring pat between her shoulder blades.
Deciding there wasn't much he could say or do to salvage the situation, Kylo merely turned and walked off, holding Rey's hand as she followed him. He knew Phasma wasn't far behind but he didn't pay her any attention.
"Do you mind that they got through your defense?" Rey asked him on their way to his rooms.
Kylo thought about how to answer for a moment. "It's disconcerting," he eventually said, "but it's what they've been working for so it was to be expected."
"But you don't like it."
"No."
"If it's any consolation, I thought you were impressive. Very, very impressive."
A trickle of her earlier desire filtered into their bond again, and it did more to alleviate his doubts than any words Rey could have said. Words were just that, words. Emotion, however, he'd learned, was real. Especially desire. If she thought his small defeat was weak, she wouldn't be feeling that way.
Once they entered their rooms, Rey dashed over to where his first-aid kit was stored. The wound really wasn't that bad. It wasn't even deep enough to warrant stitches. But Kylo had realised earlier that it was easier to just let Rey have her way. He reached to pull off his shirt but Rey stopped him.
"No. No no no."
She tossed the first aid kit on the bed and gave him a little shove. He willingly sat down.
"Didn't I tell you that I was going to peel these clothes off of you?" she asked with a cheeky grin.
"Do you know what you're starting?" he asked in return, placing a hand on her hip.
"Do you have any idea what you looked like?" she returned.
As she started tugging up his shirt, her fingers brushing his skin along the way, a memory found its way in front of his eyes. He watched himself, fighting off his Guard, his movements strong and precise, at times almost too fast to follow. He could feel Rey's awe and growing want while she looked at him.
Once the memory stopped, his shirt and undershirt were gone and Rey was looking at him with burning eyes. She leaned down and he stretched up to catch her into a searing kiss, but when he wanted to pull them both onto the bed, she resisted.
"Wound first," Rey stated between pants.
"It's-"
She poked him before he could finish his sentence. With a sigh, he relented. The situation seemed awfully familiar. As he watched her apply bacta on the wound, it dawned on him that this had happened before, back when he'd sparred with Ember right after offering her the possibility of getting reconnected to the Force. Same as now, he'd ended up with a scratch and Rey had insisted on treating it.
"There," Rey said with a smug sort of satisfaction as she secured the bandage. She looked at him and blinked. "What?" she asked.
He smiled. "I love you."
"Oh." She blushed and smiled back at him. "I love you too."
Kylo carelessly used the Force to levitate all the first aid supplies off the bed and drop them to the floor before wrapping both his arms around her and pulling her on the bed, on top of him.
"So, you enjoyed watching me fight, hmm?" he murmured.
Rey bit her lip. "Very, very much," she said, before diving in for another searing kiss.
