Despite Kylo's urging that she leave the Resistance base as quickly as possible, Rey decided to search for Temiri and the other children. Now that Maz knew about her presence at the base, there was no need for her to be as careful to hide her Force signature as before. As such, she used the Force to scan the base in search of Temiri's well-known signature.
"I want to tell him about what we're planning," Rey said.
"Can he keep it a secret?"
"Has he not proven to be trustworthy in the past?"
"Fair enough. Just…be careful. I don't trust Maz to just leave it at this."
"I promise I'll be careful, Ben," Rey agreed.
She gave him a short kiss before setting off towards where she'd found Temiri. Kylo returned his consciousness to the training room.
"It worked," he simply told Phasma when he left the room. "Maz is not amused and Rey got her warning through loud and clear."
"That's good," Phasma said, relief clear in her voice. "So she left?"
Kylo shook his head with some exasperation. "She insisted on going to see Temiri," he answered. "And she's going to stay the night on the planet, sleep in the ship and leave early tomorrow morning."
"Why not sleep while the ship is flying?" Phasma asked.
"She said she's not comfortable doing that. A pilot through and through. She promised she would let me know once she arrived back at the ship."
"What if Maz has her followed?"
"To what end? To attack her? Maz should be smart enough to know only a fool would try that. One person is no match for Rey and, if they send a group of them, Rey would notice and mind-trick them all."
"You are right, sir."
Kylo hummed. "Let's go find Derek and see if he has anything else for me to do before we head back to the base tomorrow."
The rest of his day was a slow affair, with Derek taking the opportunity to get a few more decisions out of him. Kylo was looking forward to returning to the base. The first new Knight had arrived not long after he'd left Rey to do her thing and he wanted to be there to prevent or contain any problems that might arise. He trusted Ember to keep her own, but it was a unique situation they were in.
Most important, however, was that he would get to properly hold Rey again. She would arrive about two to three hours after him.
When he finally arrived at base the next day, he had the distinct feeling of coming home. It took him somewhat by surprise. He hadn't expected to get so attached to the place. When he still lived with his parents, they'd moved around a lot; Luke's Jedi academy had never managed to make him feel like home, and under Snoke he had, again, moved around a lot. It was an odd feeling, but he decided he didn't mind it. Not at all.
"How are things?" he asked Ember and Hux, who were waiting for him in the hangar. "Has everything gone according to plan?"
"Do you not trust us?" Ember shot back, earning herself a glance from Hux.
Kylo just gave her a look that clearly stated exactly what he thought of that comment and Ember just huffed at him.
"Everything is fine," she said. "Yedor of Ren has arrived and has been settled. He seems to be going along with whatever we tell him right now. I'm not sure what he's thinking. Other than his arrival, nothing has happened whatsoever."
"So you're telling me you were bored," Kylo teased.
Before Ember could answer, Hux spoke up. "The rooms for the Knights that will be arriving have been prepared. So far, I've heard of none downright declining. Some have expressed doubt but I've prepared them a room nonetheless."
"Good. Let's hope they come," Kylo answered.
He'd been kept up to date about the Knights' answers as well. So far, nothing unexpected had happened and he hoped it would stay that way.
"I will meet with him now," Kylo decided. "He can meet Rey later, tomorrow even."
Ember smirked at him in a knowing way, but he ignored her. He set off to his office, Phasma and Hux in tow while Ember went to fetch Yedor.
"Has Yedor been given a tour of the base?" Kylo asked Hux.
"Yes, sir. He seemed to take it all in stride. He reacted very little, even when he saw the trainees being trained in the Force."
"He's hiding his thoughts?"
"I'm not sure," Hux answered, the hesitance in his voice underlining his words. "He seems to just…accept it?"
Kylo looked at him. "That sounds unlikely."
"I know. As Ember said, he's really difficult to read."
They didn't have to wait long before Ember escorted Yedor into Kylo's office. The man was of average height and lean. There was a fluency, an elegance to the way he moved. Even the way he fisted his hand against his chest as he greeted Kylo had something rounded to it.
"Welcome to the base, Yedor of Ren," Kylo said. "I'm glad you've decided to accept my offer." Kylo waited for an answer but none seemed forthcoming. "We've had little interaction in the past," Kylo continued. "May I ask what your speciality is?"
"Evasion, Supreme Leader," Yedor answered.
His stance and facial expression was of the same blank perfection as that of all the Knights as they'd first arrived. It was slightly jarring but Kylo ignored it. It also meant there was nothing of note accompanying the answer and Kylo was at a loss for what Yedor might have meant.
"Evasion?" Kylo echoed.
"Yes, sir."
Ember, seeming to catch on to Kylo's confusion, stepped forward to face Yedor. Without warning she threw a punch, then another, and then another. Kylo's eyes widened as Yedor evaded them with a grace that almost made it seem like he was dancing. His movements were small and energy-saving, yet Ember didn't even graze him. Yedor had his hands behind his back as he stepped, ducked and twisted.
"Evasion," Ember eventually ground out.
Kylo laughed. "I see," he said. "You should spar with Burman once he gets back, Yedor. He would love trying to catch you."
"I said the same," Ember commented before turning to Yedor. "We will spar for real some time soon and I will nick you," she stated with determination.
"As you so please," Yedor agreed.
"You seem to be taking everything in stride," Kylo commented.
"There is no use in resisting what is to come."
"You do know you have a choice, right?"
"So I was told."
"And so is the truth," Kylo insisted. "If you do not wish to reconnect to the Force, then you don't have to. There will be no repercussions."
"Are there other things I need to know?"
"One more," Kylo honestly answered. "There's one more person you need to get to know. Said person currently isn't here though, so that will be for tomorrow."
"Supreme Leader is wise."
Kylo tried not to show his confusion at those words and then decided to ignore the remark altogether.
"It's good to get to know you, Yedor of Ren," he said instead. "I hope to see you at meditation tomorrow."
"Supreme Leader," Yedor greeted, his rounded motion making more sense now that Kylo had seen him in action.
"Is he a friend of Quicksilver?" Kylo asked once Yedor had left the room.
"They're about the same age," Ember answered. "But I don't know if they truly know each other."
Kylo shook his head and leaned against his desk. "Right," he said. "Now, give Phasma and me a full report of everything that happened in the month that we were away, please."
There really wasn't much to be told, as Ember had pointed out earlier. It left Kylo with very little to do as he waited for Rey to return. He told himself not to worry as the two hour mark came and went. The estimated time of arrival had been between two and three hours after his own, not on the dot two. When the three hour mark passed by, however, he became antsy, and at the three-and-a-half, he caved.
"Rey? Is everything okay? You should have been here already."
"Everything is fine, Ben," Rey's immediate answer came. "Just running a bit late. Half an hour more and I'm there."
"How can you be running late?" Kylo asked. "Did you oversleep this morning?"
Rey laughed. "I'll explain when I'm there, I promise," she said. "Don't worry."
He spent that remaining half hour pacing in his room. When Phasma notified him that Rey had contacted the base that she was incoming, he didn't hesitate to march off towards the hangar. As soon as her ship was standing still, he was next to the door to pluck her out of it. She laughed as he turned her into a circle.
"Really, Ben," Rey giggled. "Either put me down or give me a kiss."
Kylo decided on the second option and kissed her. He only pulled away when Phasma coughed. Looking at her, Kylo spotted a red-faced crew-member waiting to take care of the ship. Not feeling any remorse at all, Kylo finally put Rey down. He took her hand, intent to drag her off to their room, when Rey resisted.
"Wait," she said. "I need to grab something."
"Grab what?" Kylo asked, letting go of her hand.
Rey climbed back into the ship and retrieved a small box.
"What's that?"
"Not here," Rey answered.
Getting the hint, Kylo merely raised an eyebrow before taking Rey's free hand in his again and walking towards their room. Once there, Kylo plucked the box from Rey, dropped it on the far corner of the bed, picked Rey up, and went in for a proper snog. Rey greedily answered, pulling on his hair as she hummed into their kiss.
"I missed you," Rey said once they broke apart again.
"I missed you too," Kylo answered. "How did your talk with Temiri go?"
"He was excited to see me," Rey said with a beaming smile. "The Resistance has started a school and some of the children from the nearby village have joined it. The Force Sensitive ones are still meditating under Sirena's guidance but, without me there, they've obviously not learned much about the Force. They're levitating rocks and the like, but nothing more. Temiri sounded intrigued with the idea of a Force school, although a bit wary that it was with the First Order. I didn't really have enough time to explain it all. I said there would be a large broadcast from the First Order in the near future and that he should keep his eyes and ears open."
"I'm sure he will," Kylo answered. "And this?" he asked, reaching for the box.
"Ah," Rey said, sitting up. She looked almost sheepish as she accepted it from him. "Don't get angry?"
"Why would I get angry about a box?"
"Well," Rey said, moving to sit cross-legged and placing the box in her lap, her fingers absently running over its surface. "I picked this up along the way back."
"You made a stop?" Kylo exclaimed.
"Yes? But it was as safe as it could be," she was quick to assure him. "I arranged it with Derek so it really was just a quick stop to pick it up. Absolute minimal human interaction. And it was an outpost, really. Nobody would have recognised me. Let alone in First Order clothes."
"Derek agreed to this?" Kylo asked.
"Don't be angry with him either," Rey said with urgency. "He's not to blame. It was all my idea."
"Which he shouldn't have kept from me."
"I told him to."
"Still."
"Ben. You can't control everything I do."
Kylo blinked and realised how he was sounding. "No, you're right," he admitted. "I'm just worried for you, Rey. No matter where, when, or arranged by whom, you made a stop at a First Order base. The First Order still thinks of you as the Resistance's Jedi. It was dangerous." He dragged a hand through his hair. "What did you pick up anyway that you thought it worth the risk?"
He'd expected a quick answer, not how Rey seemed to turn hesitant, biting her lip and looking down at the box.
"Rey?"
"I had an idea," she eventually said.
"Okay?"
"I don't want to take anything away from you," she said, looking up at him again, "but, I thought…"
"Rey," Kylo said, soft. "I'm not going to get angry. Whatever it is, we'll talk about it."
With a sigh, Rey thrust the box his way. He tentatively took hold of it.
"Open it," Rey said.
He did and stared down at its content, slightly uncomprehending.
"A kyber crystal?" he eventually asked.
He didn't understand why Rey seemed to think he needed a kyber crystal.
"I thought," Rey started. "We are going to start a new order, right? Neither Jedi, nor Sith, right? You told me about your saber. About how you made it when you were with Luke and then rebuilt it and cracked the crystal once you arrived at Snoke's side. I was thinking that maybe you would want to start anew too? With a saber that's neither Sith nor Jedi?
"Like I said, I don't want to take anything away from you. That saber is important to you. But I thought that, maybe, you might want to have the option? So I asked Derek to find me a kyber crystal. And when he found it, it was easier for me to pick it up than to have it transported here with one of the supply ships. Faster too."
Kylo stayed silent for a long time, staring down at the crystal in his hands and contemplating Rey's words. How attached was he to his saber? Could he let it go and create a new one? His saber was part of his image. But maybe that was a good reason to change it? So that it would become clear that he'd become a different person? It had a certain symbolism to it. But his saber had been with him since he'd been eleven. It had been there through all of it. Could he really let it go and wield another?
"You don't have to," Rey said when he stayed silent too long. "It was an idea, nothing more. I know I'm surprising you with this."
"Give me some time to think about it," he said, closing the box and reaching out to still Rey's nervous fiddling. "I need to think about it," he repeated. "It's…got merit. It would certainly add symbolism to what we're doing, but I don't know if I'm ready to let go of my saber. Give me some time."
He stood to store the box in a safe place. Back on the bed, Rey nodded at him.
"You're not angry?" she asked.
"No," he answered. "Surprised, yes, but not angry. Why would I be angry at you for going through all that trouble to give me an option I didn't even know was a possible option?" He sat back down on the bed and pulled Rey against his side. "Now, where exactly did you pick it up?"