Rey fussed over him the entire next morning, despite Kylo reassuring her several times that his headache was gone and that he was perfectly fine. He found it utterly adorable that she was so concerned for him.
The severity of the backlash of Sahrsa's reconnection meant they had a busy morning. The entire crew had been spooked by the equipment going haywire, so Kylo spoke to them all to reassure them nothing had gone wrong and that there was no danger. The trainees had been settled by the Knights the evening before so it was decided Rey would talk to them before their meditation session. The Knights themselves had been updated by Ember the evening before.
Despite how the Force had raged through the complex, none of the damage had been permanent. Once the Force had calmed down, the systems had rebooted themselves and come back online. The sudden outage, not supported by their back-up source of power, had set off some emergency protocols. Elisa and Hux had worked long into the night to come up with excuses and prevent things from exploding or causing excessive gossip.
Phasma had explained to Kylo how she'd dealt with the situation. Their comms had failed, as well as their connection to Efren. After her explanation—to which Kylo had nothing to say other than a job well done—she had promptly excused herself to rework some of their response strategies for scenarios as the one they'd dealt with.
So, by mid-morning, there was only the research team that still needed sorting out. They'd been pestering the Guard at the entry of their section, demanding to know what had happened and complaining about test results now being compromised.
"I can go alone, you know," Rey muttered as Kylo and she walked towards building K. "I'll just tell them you ordered me to say this and that. It should be fine."
"Either I come along and explain myself, or you reveal yourself as the Supreme Duchess, in which case I still come along because they probably won't believe you."
He grinned at her and Rey grumbled a few well-chosen words, causing him to laugh. As they reached the researchers' section, Rey slowed down to walk a step behind him.
"None of that Supreme Duchess reveal," she said.
"Once they find out, they'll think you were a spy."
"Nonsense," Rey countered with mirth. "They already know I'm reporting back to you. I'd be spying in broad daylight."
Kylo chuckled at her. When they arrived, he took a fortifying breath before entering the research lab.
"Supreme Leader," the team leader immediately cried out, rushing up to him. "There has been a disturbance last evening."
"I am aware," Kylo dryly answered.
"Of course you know, of course, of course," the man immediately said. "It caused quite the ruckus though. May I ask what it was?"
"Something that reacted harsher than expected," Kylo answered him, dismissive. "All equipment has automatically rebooted itself afterwards, without error. I don't see why it would be any different here?"
"We were conducting an experiment at the time," another team member spoke, earning them a small glare from the team leader.
"Part of the helmet short circuited," Juan dryly added.
"Part?" Rey asked, already moving towards the table.
"Yes, only part of it," Juan answered following her. It seemed something had shifted within the research group as most simply followed and didn't pay attention to the team leader. "The outer part."
Kylo joined them at the table and studied the helmet that bore a few marks suggesting there had been sparks flying as the helmet short circuited.
"As you see," Juan said, "the outer part is done for. I'm not even going to demonstrate how burned the electronics are. With your understanding, of course, sir," he quickly added.
Kylo merely nodded.
"You were testing the energy field?" Rey asked, putting two and two together.
"Indeed," Juan answered. "I don't know what exactly happened yesterday evening but it only affected the outside of the helmet. All components on the inside of the shield are unharmed."
As if to prove his point, Juan hooked the helmet up to a power source and a buzz was heard as the energy field lit up, as well as a few control lamps on the inside of the helmet.
"I count that as a success," Rey giddily exclaimed through their bond. "This thing withstood Sahrsa's tantrum."
"You're calling it a tantrum now?"
"What else would you call it? And that's not exactly important right now. They did it!"
"The casing still melted though."
Rey threw him a look that had him bite back his grin.
"Sir?" Juan prompted.
"Congratulations," Kylo said.
"Sir?"
"Your helmet did what it was supposed to do." He looked at Rey. "They'll need the Force for further testing," he said. "They have to know."
"Ugh," Rey complained. "Must we now?"
"Which is what?" the team leader asked, regarding Kylo's statement.
Kylo glanced at him. "Build a new helmet and we'll talk," he answered, already turning to leave.
"Apologies, sir," Juan spoke up. "But if we know, we might already work on some improvements when we rebuild the helmet."
Kylo sent the mental equivalent of a raised eyebrow at Rey over their bond and she nodded minutely in answer.
"Run Miss Rey through the design and what you think went wrong. She knows what to look out for."
The entire team turned to regard her and Rey grinned at them. Kylo shook his head with mirth, and promptly left.
By the time evening fell, Sahrsa still hadn't woken up. The Knights were growing restless and tense, clearly wondering whether or not reconnecting Sahrsa had been the right thing to do but unwilling to voice their doubts.
Reor reported that nothing was physically wrong with Sahrsa. The fever and the elevated heartbeat had gone down during the previous night. He reiterated that he assumed things were similar to when the chip had just been removed and that they simply had to be patient.
There had been no more surges of the Force but Kylo and Rey had agreed it would be best not to try to enter Sahrsa's mind. If it was indeed her mind rearranging and hopefully healing itself through the Force, it was better to allow it to happen undisturbed.
The following days were tense until, during meditation, there was a sudden flaring of the Force. Kylo opened his eyes, tense, and noticed all the Knights around him had done the same. He questioningly reached out for Rey at the same time as she reached out as well, telling one another it wasn't them.
"It's Sahrsa," Rey exclaimed.
Kylo could tell she was already on the move, having told her band of trainees to stay put.
"Be careful. I'm coming too," he urged her. "It came from Sahrsa," he told the Knights. "Let Rey and I do our thing. One of you needs to take over Rey's meditation class."
Trusting they would do what was needed, he stood and left, jogging through the building with Phasma at his back.
"Who's guarding her today?" Rey asked. "I'm almost there."
"Daze wasn't at meditation."
"I'm here."
She fell silent and even though Kylo could sense nothing was wrong he still picked up his speed. He knew she could defend herself and she had plenty of backup in case something went wrong—Daze, the Guard at the med bay and Rey's personal Guard. Still, he worried. Sahrsa was a Knight, after all, and could be completely unpredictable if she was drawing on the Force. Not to mention the risk of her tapping into the Dark due to fear and confusion.
He arrived to find Rey still standing just inside the doorway, Reor hovering nearby, and Daze sitting sideways on the bed, facing Sahrsa.
"Wait," Rey said, whispering even through the bond.
Kylo surveyed the scene again. Daze was murmuring to Sahrsa, who had her eyes squeezed shut and occasionally nodded. It was the most focussed he'd ever seen Daze outside of practice, and by far the most words he'd ever seen the man speak. He guided Sahrsa through a few, deep breaths, then asked something to which Sahrsa nodded.
Daze looked over his shoulder, nodded at them, and turned back to Sahrsa. Kylo assumed he'd told her about their presence as Sahrsa's eyes abruptly opened and her gaze turned their way. He spoke again, firmer this time, allowing a few, random words to reach their ears but not enough to make sense of what he was saying. Eventually, Sahrsa nodded again.
"Reor," Daze spoke up. "You can come check on her now."
Sahrsa glanced at Kylo and Rey, as if expecting they would either join or be upset, but Rey merely smiled at her and Kylo continued observing.
"I think she panicked when she woke up," Rey told him. "Daze was already with her when I arrived but she looked frantic and confused. I decided not to interrupt."
"Do you know what state her mind is in?"
"No, but her actions seem less restrained, don't you think? There's no hesitation."
Kylo had to agree with her. Sahrsa was readily answering whichever question Reor was throwing her way.
After a moment and a few more words, Daze stood and made his way over to the door.
"Sir, Miss," he greeted. "We did the right thing. I'll tell the others."
And without waiting for confirmation, he brushed past them both and disappeared down the hall.
"I remember the memories you showed me from back when they'd just arrived," Rey said, looking after Daze. "They're so much more relaxed now."
Kylo hummed, smiling and thinking back to those first days. Rey was right. All the Knights had become comfortable around one another, sharing thoughts and emotions. They would probably never start bantering like he found the mechanics doing sometimes, but he didn't think that was necessary.
He was pulled back to the present situation as Sahrsa spoke up. "Sir, Miss," she greeted.
They both walked up to her.
"How are you feeling?" Rey asked.
"Overwhelmed," Sahrsa said. "Like there is more information stuffed into my head than my mind can handle. It's giving me a headache."
Rey's smile turned brilliant and Kylo grinned as well. That Sahrsa had so openly answered the question was an immense improvement. Not to mention that she'd admitted to her headache without having to be prompted.
"The chip's influence?" Kylo still couldn't help but ask.
"I don't feel like it's there anymore," Sahrsa answered. "I still don't remember the time in between when it was implanted and taken out though. And my memories after that are hazy at times."
She moved to get up but Reor beat her to it.
"Stay in that bed," he growled at her.
"I feel fine."
"And I'm not done testing."
"She sounds like you," Rey giggled.
Kylo mentally poked her in retaliation but quickly turned his attention on Sahrsa again. She made an official bow, as good as that went while still sitting on the bed.
"I cannot express my gratitude enough for freeing me from that chip, Supreme Leader; I am in your debt and would like to, at the earliest convenience, pledge my allegiance to you."
"I am happy to see you free from the chip's influence," Kylo said. "I will gladly accept your oath whenever you wish to give it but know that you are in no way obliged to." He hesitated. "Would you allow me to enter your mind and see how it has changed?"
"Of course," Sahrsa easily agreed.
"Must you?" Reor protested.
"Would you check a person's temperature after the fever's gone?" Rey countered.
Reor merely grumbled in response but refrained from further protests. Kylo put his fingers against Sahrsa's temple and fell into her mind. He was shocked by the difference. The forest obviously still bore scars, but it looked like several years had gone by. The trees that had been barren now carried leaves, albeit sparsely spread in comparison to the healthy trees that were around as well. Many of the craters and scars in the ground didn't seem so rough around the edges anymore, grass and a few bushes covering them.
There was a strong wind blowing through, tilting the trees this way and that. He guessed that was why Sahrsa felt uncomfortable and he hoped it would die down in time.
He walked onwards until he encountered the stretch of land that was the chip's influence. The rift was even more jarring to see, barren as it was between a thriving and a recovering forest. Yes, the grass seemed more lush and the few bushes he'd seen earlier more full with leaves, but it still felt horribly wrong.
He gently pulled himself out again.
"It looks much better," he said, smiling.
He moved aside as Reor bustled in again, getting Sahrsa to take a few pills and checking her eyes. In the meantime, Kylo quickly showed Rey Sahrsa's new and improved mindscape. The sheer joy that bubbled up through their bond was contagious and they found themselves grinning at one another.
When Reor finally moved away again, Kylo turned serious.
"Now that you're reconnected to the Force," he said, "there are a few things you should know and rules to abide by. These are for your own safety."
Sahrsa fisted her hand and Kylo started explaining, like he did to all that were reconnected. It was even more important for Sahrsa to not reach out to the Force on her own as she had no meditation base to fall back to if things went wrong.
Now that she seemed fully herself again, she would join the other Knights in their day-to-day schedule, apart from the Force-training in the afternoon until she was ready. She would join them in meditation training and help them with the trainees.
Kylo realised he would have to ask Hux to set up schematics for room distribution during the process of getting the chips out of the Base Z Knights, the situation once they were all back to normal, and once the research team would be dismissed.
He also needed to check up with Thomas as the man had been working on the schematics for the new buildings needed for taking in Force sensitive children. He delivered weekly reports of his progress to Derek, but they would need to start checking the stability of the ground around the current base and make sure their plans were feasible.
He decided, however, that those were worries for the next day. That day, they would celebrate their success and welcome Sahrsa into their band of Force Knights.