I do not own Star Wars or the characters. I got this idea from the piano scene in Corpse Bride where Victor and Victoria first meet. I hope you like it, please review!
Sweet Melody
Staring out of the window of the cockpit at the amber glow of the sun setting on the horizon, Rey was vaguely aware of Poe arguing with Leia. Ever since the Resistance had taken refuge on the first desolate planet they came across, once the Millenium Falcon's fuel tanks were practically dry, their days had been monotonous at best. They woke, they trained, they argued about what to do next. With no one else in the galaxy to come to their aid, minimal resources and fuel, and the melancholy spirits of the rebels, everyone was becoming irritable.
Turning her attention back to the heated exchange before her, Poe was arguing with Leia about the need for repairs on their few ships, while Leia was more concerned about the need for food and health resources, as well as the well-being of the Resistance members. Rey agreed with both, the need for repairs and resources both equally important, but sitting next to Finn, who had his chin balanced on his fist, trying not to fall asleep, while simultaneously pretending to be interested in the argument, she knew that it was futile to voice her views. Both of them were brilliant leaders in battle, but when it came to meetings, they were too stubborn for another opinion to have much leverage on their final decision.
Sighing, Rey rose from her seat, as quietly as she could. The atmosphere must have been as bad as she thought, because Finn didn't even seem to register her exit. Walking through the halls of the ship, the Rebels stared at her as she passed, murmuring of their last hope, the last Jedi. The pressure of their stares and their blind faith in her, weighing Rey down as she dragged her boots to the cabin she shared with Rose, who tended to be awake all hours doing repairs on the Falcon, so Rey didn't see much of her. She didn't mind much though, it gave her some time to herself, time away from the stares of others.
Growing up on Jakku, she wasn't used to having friends, people who believed in her. It was something she had always craved for, but having a group of people be dependent upon you in the middle of a war wasn't what she expected. They expected her to win their war for them, to bring down the First Order, their Supreme Leader, but she couldn't even entirely understand the power she possessed, what she was, let alone allow herself to feel a part of the family they had formed. That's why Finn was her closest friend, he understood what it was like to be the newcomer to the Resistance, to feel the stares of others due to his past, his time in the First Order.
Sitting on the small bunk bed, Rey combed through the Jedi texts she took from Ahch-To. Having no master, no one to guide her and tell her whether her understanding of the texts was correct or not was problematic. She had managed to meld the two pieces of the lightsaber back together, but other than helping her with that, the texts mostly left her confused. Having been a scavenger for all of her memorable life, Rey found herself drawn to more practical, hands on tasks, while the idea of theory and studying seemed too trivial to her. Reading a book would have never gotten her rations on Jakku, so trying to do so now, the echoes of her long-lasting war pressuring her and no one to guide her, took much more focus than Rey thought herself to possess.
Sighing once more at the open book laying in the lap of her crossed legs on the bed covers, Rey read the same sentence again, unable to focus or process the information, her body too still in comparison to the life she was used to. Just as she turned the page, the sound of a drill filled the room, undoubtedly Rose fixing the air filtration system that spanned the Falcon. Groaning, Rey turned the book over and lay it face down on the bed in order to keep her page, before rising to her feet and leaving the bunk, taking the lightsaber with her.
Leaving the Falcon, Rey headed for the forests that spanned the planet, the Falcon in the valley behind her growing smaller with each step. Keeping her eyes on the dense greenery, Rey could feel the stares of those around her as they collected resources, simultaneously judging her and in awe of her.
Rey strode through the forest until she could no longer see or hear any of the other members of the Resistance, the peace and tranquility of the silence allowing her to feel as though she could finally breathe again, as though the pressure upon her had relieved slightly. After taking a few moments to selfishly enjoy the silence around her, the chill of a cool wind brought goosebumps to the exposed skin of her arms, startling her out of her reverie.
Pulling of the lightsaber, Rey examined it in her hands, the distorted fracture running through its midsection a reminder of the events not so long ago, a weight in her chest manifesting the longer she remained on the brim of examining those memories. Shaking her head, Rey refused to acknowledge the no doubt painful memories, instead igniting the lightsaber, casting a cerulean glow upon herself and the greenery encasing her within her own peaceful paradise. Practising her balance, grip and stance, Rey ran through a series of training exercises that she had seen illustrated within the Jedi texts, no doubt for a Padawan much younger than her, but the training still essential to developing lightsaber skill.
As the sun was nearly fully set, Rey remained focused on her training, hoping she was doing it correctly and just focusing on what felt comfortable, controlled and right, qualities she believed to be the most important, or at least hoped they were to the Jedi.
As an animal chirped in the trees above her, Rey found herself distracted from her current stance, looking up to see where the noise had originated. Having grown up on Jakku, she didn't encounter many creatures, let alone the vast greenery surrounding her now. Her curiosity had simply won the better of her. Continuing to stare up into the trees, another breeze ran over her, colder with the sun that had now set, the blue glow of the lightsaber igniting a small area in front of her, the only light she could see around her. As yet another breeze ran over her, Rey decided to head back to the ship, only for the wind to carry an unusual echo with her. Turning back around to ascertain the origination of the noise, she could hear the faint echo of a series of harmonious noises coming from in the distance. So intrigued by the noise, she decided to follow it. They had been on this planet for a few weeks, surely if there were anything malevolent in this forest it would have been encountered by now.
Moving upwind, the echoes of the sounds grew louder and louder until the dense forestry revealed a small valley, barely bigger than the recreational area of the Falcon, but obvious enough that the space seemed as though it was exclusively his. Remaining at the edge of the tree line, hidden in the darkness of the evening, Rey realised that she had stopped noticing the chill of the wind, her mind focused solely on him, as the air around her to seemed to vibrate, the telltale attributes of the force bond she had few encounters with but had come to recognise the feeling of.
Keeping the lightsaber ignited, her only source of light, Rey examined him. With his back to her, he sat on a stool wearing what appeared to be a dark grey, cotton ensemble that resembled thermal under clothes rather than Supreme Leader robes, his raven hair fanning his face as he focused on the instrument he was playing. Rey had never seen a piano in person, only faintly remembering it mentioned during her time on Jakku, the planet having had many visitors over her lifetime there. It was completely black, apart from the stark contrast of the white keys. The instrument as so big, Rey found herself in awe of something so undoubtedly expensive. She was a curious creature, and anything she had never seen before only drew her to it more.
In her awe, Rey lost what little focus she had left of her surroundings, stepping on a stick that cracked under her weight, causing Kylo to press an obviously wrong key and sharply twist his body to face hers and rising to stand, his body seemingly ready to attack an intruder. They stayed like that for a moment, his face completely emotionless, before his shoulders simply slumped and he avoided eye contact with her again, the edges of his mouth turned downward, as he returned to sitting back down but not playing anymore. He was seemingly just waiting for the connection to end, unwilling to fight any longer, the will not in him at this time.
Seeing him so vulnerable, the opposite of the Supreme Leader had been hearing rumours of and had expected to encounter, she felt the weight grow in her chest, the same weight that she had felt earlier as her mind remained on the boundary of the memories of their last encounter. Sighing, Rey kept the saber ignited, her only source of light, approaching him cautiously. When she reached him, she stood beside the stool for a moment, as he remained still, refusing to meet her gaze. Tensing her jaw, Rey sat beside him on the stool, the blade on the other side of her. His demeanor didn't change beyond a slight tensing in his hands and shoulders at her proximity.
Keeping her eyes on the instrument before her, Rey's free hand fidgeted slightly until she gave in to her curiosity and brought it up to the white keys. Feeling the surface, her mouth fell open slightly in awe at the sensation she had never experienced before. Applying pressure to the key, a soft note echoed through the air, carrying along the breeze around her, causing her to softly gasp. Moving from middle section of the keys all the way to the right, the ever-growing lightness of the notes intriguing, her soft smile broke through the tension. As she continued to press random keys of the instrument, her shoulders relaxed, the tension melting away as she became increasingly excited over experiencing something new, a scarce occurrence until this last year of her life. Amid her eagerness, she became oblivious to the movement of her companion, his brown gaze having settled on her face, captivated by her reaction.
As she placed the lightsaber along the top of the instrument to use both hands, parallel to them, the hilt of the blade so well-balanced that it kept the entirety of the blade from touching the wood of the instrument. The unexpected movement of the instrument causing him to flinch, expecting her to strike at him. Although the force bond disallowed any physical harm, they could still feel the pain of an injury. The sudden movement startling her from her awe, her face turning to face his, frowning at the flash of fear escaping his face before his facade of emotionless stoic returned. As he faced straight ahead, Rey took a moment to gaze at his face, her momentary confusion at his reaction becoming understanding as she studied the length of the scar that ran down his face and disappeared beneath the grey cotton of his tunic, the sky-blue glow cast across his hardened features emanating from the very weapon that scarred him.
Moving her gaze away from his scar, Rey bowed her head, noticing his hands still fidgeting in his lap. Before she even realised what she was doing, she grasped one of them to cease their movements, the appendages becoming deadly still at the startlement of her touch. The warmth of his hand encased within hers was instantaneously noticeable, her own hands chilled by the night around her. Still grasping his hand, she moved her right hand back to the keys and pressed random ones, captivated by the sounds, and cringing at a few that didn't go well with the previous. Eventually, his grasped hand relaxed, giving hers a single reassuring squeeze before his free hand returned to the keys, hesitantly resuming his melody, albeit in a lower key as their hands remained adjoined between them.
"I've never felt so alone," Rey blurted out, unsure as to why she suddenly said it, but realising that he would understand, as like herself and Finn, he was an outsider himself, a hereditary member of the Resistance turned to the dark side, now the unwilling Supreme Leader of the First Order that she had left him to become.
"You're not alone," He softly reassured, the deja vu of her particular choice of words not lost on him, as he recollected a memory of one of their earlier force connections, in the small stone hut, a threadbare blanket around her shoulders as she shivered by the fire, droplets of wave still clinging to her skin. The first time they acknowledged each other as human instead of monster, with feelings and emotions, their bond having purpose for the first time.
"Neither are you," She whispered in return, a faltering smile meeting his eyes as he glanced towards her. As they gazed at one another, encased by the surrounding forest, the small valley gave them a moment of solitude.
Moving forward, Kylo placed his lips on hers, causing her to gasp before kissing him back, pulling back after a moment to rest their foreheads together. The knowledge of their impending requirement to fight one another weighing heavy on their shoulders. Tears beginning to well in her eyes and overflow down her cheeks as she struggled to contain her sobs, he slowly moved his hand from hers and to the back of her neck and pulled her to his chest, cradling her.
His thoughts moved back to their connection in the small hut. They may have realised that they were both more human than monster, but the war had not ended with that conversation. Now that they knew each other, cared for one another, made it so much harder.
They would have to fight, perhaps kill the other, and the thought alone brought tears to even Kylo's eyes as he cradled a sobbing Rey.
Neither of them had asked for this. They both simply wanted to be wanted, to be loved and protected, but now that they had potentially found that within each other, one of them was going to have to be the one to strike down the other. One of them would have to strike down all chance of happiness, love, protection and being wanted.
Rocking back and forth, the star-crossed pair from opposites sides of a galactic war held onto each other, the only sound being the rustle of the trees and the echo of their sweet melody carrying on the wind.