"Promise me you'll be careful," Kylo muttered the morning of Rey's departure.
She would have to fly for most of the day so he would have plenty of time still to tell her, but it seemed significant that he did it that morning, before she left; before the official start of her mission.
"I will be," she answered him, snuggling against his chest. "And even if they spot me, you know they won't harm me. They can't and they would be stupid to try."
"There might be new people there," he countered. "People who won't recognise you."
"And you think they could harm me?"
"There's always a chance of being surprised, Rey. Be careful."
She sighed. "I know, Ben. You're right."
"What's the plan?" he asked. "You never really told me how you were planning on getting to the base itself."
"Walk."
"Walk?"
Rey hummed. "Even if they've grown, the area they're guarding can't have exploded the past year," she said. "That's why I wanted a one-person ship, even though it's slower. I can land in the woods outside their visual and radar range, then walk to the base."
Kylo pulled back to look at her. "You're planning on spending a night in the woods," he guessed. "That's why you think you'll take that long. Rey!"
She smiled sheepishly at him. "Ben," she answered.
"You can't honestly be thinking of sleeping in the woods!"
"It will make it easier for me to sneak in, when it's early in the morning. I could also sleep in the ship but then I would have to traverse the woods in the dark. I'd rather climb up a tree and sleep there." She placed a kiss on his cheek. "There are no large predators there," she added. "I will survive sleeping in a tree for one night, Ben. I won't be able to snuggle up to you during the night though, I think. It would probably result in me falling out of said tree."
"The Force won't allow you to fall."
"I'd rather not risk it."
"No," Kylo agreed after a moment. "I still don't like it though. Which you know. Which is why you didn't tell me this earlier."
"Sorry?"
He sighed and pulled her close again. "It's okay," he muttered. "Just let me know you're okay in the morning."
"Definitely," she said. "You'll have to be prepared tomorrow if you want to see my confrontation with Maz. If everything goes according to plan it should be, what, right after lunch for you?"
Kylo hummed in affirmation. "So, you're going to sneak up on her while she's still asleep?"
Rey shook her head. "Maz had the habit of always returning to her rooms in between breakfast and the first morning meeting. I'm planning on being there when she returns."
Glee flooded Kylo and he wasn't sure whether it was his or Rey's. He didn't care either way.
"I only have one meeting planned tomorrow morning," he said. "So whenever it happens, I will be there."
They cuddled for a moment longer before Rey looked up, to something Kylo couldn't see.
"I have to go," she said. "Don't look so down," she added. "I'll be bored to pieces while that fancy ship you're providing me is flying on its own. I'll have no other choice but to annoy you during the day."
"Do that," he answered.
"I'll sit on your lap during one of your meetings and give comments throughout."
Kylo opened his mouth to retort, then closed it again with a snap as he imagined it in his head. He quickly came to the realisation that, no matter how tempting, it probably wasn't going to be a good idea. Her comments would no doubt make him laugh, never mind what having her sitting in his lap would do. He wouldn't even be able to hold her because of how weird it would look.
Rey's laughter pulled him out of his imagination.
"Minx," he said. "It won't work anyway if I don't show you my surroundings."
"You wouldn't?" Rey pouted.
He shortly kissed that pout. "Don't pull that look on me."
Rey laughed again and got up. "Talk to you later," she said, brushing some stray hairs from his forehead. "Good luck with your meetings."
"Thanks," he dryly answered, watching Rey disappear from view.
The day was a long one, filled with tedious meetings. He didn't have much time to talk to Rey, and they'd both understood without putting it into words that it would be good for Rey to have time on her own to meditate and regulate the many emotions he could still feel coming through their bond.
She took a moment to notify him that she'd safely landed on the planet and that she hadn't been spotted. They mostly closed their bond after that to prevent distractions while she traipsed through the forest and closer to the Resistance base.
Kylo was nervous but did his best to keep that particular sentiment to himself. It manifested itself as a shorter temperament towards whoever was in front of him but nobody seemed to take particular note of it. After all, his behaviour was still benign compared to what some of them were no doubt expecting. He did still have a reputation for his fearsome temperament.
Relief of his worries came near midnight.
"I found a tree," Rey whispered in his mind. "It's quite comfortable, if a bit further away than I'd wished."
"Why?" he asked.
"They've built a village," Rey answered. "I'm not sure if there are really that many more people, but they've started building houses and there are vegetable fields. I almost bumped into a flock of some type of bird or another, clearly domesticated." She huffed a small, incredulous laugh. "They've properly settled, not like they expect to get attacked or that they have to leave at any given moment."
"It seems like a logical step given that they've had peace for a year," Kylo said, not entirely certain how she hoped he would react to the news.
"It's just…strange, to see them like this." An odd emotion came across their bond and it worried Kylo. "I would never have fit in here," Rey added.
"You would have," Kylo immediately countered. "You would have found your place. You would have helped with mechanics. Or maybe you would have continued to take in children with the Force, teaching them what you knew."
Rey scoffed. "That was very little back when I left."
"You would have discovered more on your own," he tried to soothe her. "You're a curious one, you would have experimented."
Much to his relief, she chuckled. "Probably," she agreed. "But it doesn't matter, does it? I'm with you now and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
Warmth bubbled up in his chest at her words. "Technically," he said, still trying to lighten the mood. "You're several solar systems away."
"Ben," Rey protested. "Don't make me laugh. I can't laugh out loud."
He chuckled at that. "You know," he added. "If your meeting with Maz tomorrow isn't to your satisfaction, I could always order the Supremacy to come pick you up."
"You'd scare the entire planet half to death, appearing with that monstrosity of a ship."
"That would be the point."
"Ben!" she exclaimed again, her contained laughter ringing through their bond. "I. Can't. Laugh."
"Alright, alright," he agreed, grinning. "Are you safe up there in that tree?"
Rey hummed. "I'm still quite a bit within the treeline and up high; they won't see me."
"You should go to sleep," Kylo said.
"So should you," Rey answered. "It must be late for you."
"I don't care. I'm happy to have heard from you. Now sleep. Make sure you're well-rested when you sneak into their Base tomorrow."
"I love you, Ben."
"I love you too, Sandcat."
It was safe to say that, in that one morning meeting of his, Kylo was mightily distracted. Luckily, it seemed Derek had foreseen that it would happen and had thoroughly prepared, needing nothing more but the occasional nod from Kylo to get through it. Derek was in his element and Kylo would have appreciated watching him work and seeing how much his confidence had grown since they first met, were it not that half his mind—and his heart, at that—was lingering on a different planet.
The wait after his meeting was even more excruciating. He occupied a training room, trying to turn his mind away from Rey's continued silence by running through some basic routines. He'd noticed earlier that Phasma was nervous as well, although her helmet allowed her to hide it much better than him.
His knees nearly buckled with relief when he felt Rey open their bond again.
"I'm in her room."
Her voice was filled with satisfaction and he couldn't help but echo it.
"How did it go?" he asked.
"It went okay," Rey answered, widening their bond so Kylo could see the small, sparsely decorated room she was in. She was standing in a corner next to the door. There was a bed on the other side of it and a desk against the wall next to her.
"Just okay?"
Rey shrugged. "Maz switched rooms," she answered. "I walked straight between the guards at the entrance and shadowed most of the way forward, but when I arrived at what used to be Maz's room, it was occupied by four people. I had to risk asking someone about Maz's new room and then command them to forget about me and the encounter. That's…more than I've ever tried. It worked though."
Kylo smiled at her tentative celebration of the small success. He could feel she was still brimming with nerves though.
"You did well," he said. "I'm impressed."
"You're just happy I got to this point without getting detected."
"That too," he admitted. "That doesn't mean that it's any less impressive." He walked up to her and gave her a short peck on the lips before going to stand next to her. "I'm looking forward to the show," he added.
They waited together for Maz to return from breakfast, the silence between them charged with anticipation.
Kylo wasn't sure how long they waited, both Rey and him having slowed down their breathing into near-meditation in order to keep calm and patient, and, in Rey's case, to keep her Force signature as small as possible. Eventually though, the door opened and Maz walked in.
"Hello, Maz," Rey said as soon as the door was closed, her tone dripping with malicious glee.
The way Maz whirled around, eyes wide in shock and her hand going to the weapon strapped on her belt, was most satisfying. The weapon flew through the air and was deftly caught by Rey, who inspected it, paying little attention to Maz as she did so.
"Now why would you have to carry around a gun within the base?" Rey mused. "Well, it's of no use to you now."
Rey tucked the weapon in her own belt, right behind her saber, drawing attention to it. Kylo could feel how the Dark was tinging her, but he paid it no mind. It was clear she had it under control. Maz, however, narrowed her eyes at Rey.
"You're going Dark," she said. "Little girl, it would be wise to be careful of the consequences."
Rey laughed and Kylo glanced at her, feeling her turmoil. He stayed out of it though. This was Rey's moment and he would only interfere if she pushed herself too far away from equilibrium.
"I must be careful?" Rey said, voice filled with vitriol. "That's rich, coming from you."
"I did what was best," Maz answered. "With age comes knowledge and insight."
"You forgot 'wisdom' and 'consequences'," Rey mocked. "And best for whom?" she added. "Yourself, I imagine?"
"For you, of course, you silly girl," Maz countered. "I only wish the best for you. I consider you like a daughter."
"Yes, and you sold me like one," Rey spat.
The way Maz slightly flinched, no doubt realising her own mistake, was oddly gratifying to Kylo. He shifted slightly as Rey took a step forward, then sank down on her haunches, coming eye-to-eye with Maz.
"Ah, Maz," Rey taunted. "Have you realised yet that nobody knows I'm here? That no alarm went off? That no message was sent to alert you of my return?"
She paused for what Kylo guessed was dramatic effect, an eery grin sculpting her lips. Maz remained silent, gazing evenly at Rey. Kylo had to give it to her, the little woman had an extraordinary poker face.
"None of your spies alerted you of my intentions. None of the guards stationed around the base managed to hold me back. And now you can't even fight me."
"Are you here to kill me then?" Maz asked. "Get on with it."
"Oh, no," Rey said, standing again and looking down at Maz. "I'm not that stupid, Maz. Killing you now would cause more problems than it's worth. I came to warn you. There's no forgiving you for the way you treated me. For how you manipulated me and this base so that I would feel miserable enough to go to the only other place that was open to me. One that, for all you knew, could still be hostile, bond or no bond."
Kylo blinked. That was something he hadn't realised yet—that, despite Maz knowing about the bond, she couldn't have known whether or not that bond was a safe one. He frowned and nearly growled at the danger Maz had put Rey in, despite said danger being himself and thus nonexistent.
"A warning, Maz," Rey continued. "That you better hope to never see me again after this day. Because, if that happens, if you do appear in front of me again, then you won't survive."
"Darkness doesn't suit you, girl," Maz tried again. "What has he done to you?"
"Excuse me?" Kylo burst out, unable to hold back at the accusation.
Rey glanced at him and laughed, an action that didn't escape Maz.
"He's here?" Maz asked, looking in Kylo's general direction. "What have you been teaching her? I thought you were better than that, Kylo Ren."
Rey sighed and rolled her eyes. "Stop faking you actually care about me, Maz," she said, letting some of the Dark seep out of her. "It's tiresome."
She was interrupted by a knock on the door and a muffled voice calling out Maz's name.
"Be very careful what you say next," Rey threatened. "I don't intend to spill blood but if you force me I won't hold back either. Imagine the consequences when word gets out that the Resistance's former Jedi turned against them."
Maz narrowed her eyes before turning towards the door. "I'll be right there," she called back.
"A warning, Maz," Rey said again. "One to take seriously." She plucked the gun from her belt and tossed it to the little woman. "Now go control the lot of them. It won't be necessary for much longer and then you can disappear to whichever hole you decide to operate from next."
Maz gazed at Rey for a moment, assessing, then walked out of the room without another word or gesture. As soon as she was gone, Rey sagged. Kylo immediately pulled her against his chest as she started sobbing.
"It's done now," he murmured. "It's done now. And I know you're hurting but you're still in the middle of their Base. You have to pull yourself together so they don't hear you."
Rey nodded against his chest and he continued to hold her for a while longer as she collected herself. He was happy with the outcome but he would only be at ease once Rey was by his side again.