Chapter Three
Permanence at rest, and permanence in motion, are both active participants in the power that remains.
Pleased wasn't quite the right word for it. Neither was satisfied – satisfaction implied simply meeting expectations, and she had far exceeded them.
Even Snoke couldn't conceal his delight. He could sense the Supreme Leader's elation, rippling the Force excitedly, as he spoke to him shortly after returning Rey to her holding cell. Waves of distortion wreaked havoc on his image and sound as Ren stood before him; the techs had quickly deemed the holoprojector damaged beyond repair and in need of replacement. But it would have to do, for the time being.
"She is most impressive." Snoke spoke with approval, but Ren could sense the underlying hesitation in his voice. The image flickered violently as he leaned toward Ren, his hands tightening their grasp upon on the armrests of the chair. "She will need a great deal of training from a powerful master. I would like to think you are up for the task."
Ren stiffened, nodding his head respectfully. "I know I am ready. The completion of my training under your tutelage allows me to guide her in the Dark Practices of the Force. It would be my honor."
Snoke's posture relaxed as he leaned back in his chair, apparently content with Ren's answer. "Good. Then you will begin with her…promptly."
"Yes, Supreme Leader." Genuflecting dutifully, Ren stood and turned on his heel to leave the Great Hall.
"Kylo Ren."
Surprised, he spun to see Snoke's image standing, towering over him and peering down perceptively. "You will remember what made Vader weak."
Ren curtly nodded. "Compassion."
"Yes…yes. Compassion. Compassion…for those he loved."
Pause.
"You will do wise to remember that." It was an exceptionally pointed statement.
Seemingly perplexed, Ren cocked his masked face. "Yes, Supreme Leader…?"
"Good."
Bowing his head and turning once more, his quick footsteps sounding more hurried than usual, Snoke's final urging would cause Ren countless sleepless nights and boundless restless days over the next year:
"Do not fail me."
….
The vast darkness of space had always brought Kylo Ren deep absolution. Even as a little boy, riding in the Millennium Falcon with his father, a half an hour of watching the streaks of light dance across the cockpit visor would set him to sleep for hours at a time.
"He's got your interest in piloting," he remembered Solo joking with his mother. "Kid helped me for ten minutes and slept for three hours."
But as Ren watched millions of star systems streak by outside of the floor-to-ceiling window in his living quarters, he felt no release, no forgiveness. Not now, not after the heavily baleful observations Snoke had hurled at him earlier that day. About how wise it would be to remember that Vader's ultimate undoing came at the hand of benevolent empathy for family. For those he loved, were his exact words.
Ren had exuded confusion, clouding his mind and conveying a genuine inability to grasp whatever the Supreme Leader was actively attempting to imply. Over the years, Ren had mastered the ability to remain calm, cool and collected whenever public occasions necessitated it. Perhaps it was why he was so violently destructive in private; the throbbing unbalance never withered under his constantly stoic veneer.
The simple fact was that Ren knew precisely why Snoke specifically mentioned Vader's downfall when it came to family, when it came to those he loved. Snoke had always known Ren would fight and die for the Dark Practice; after he murdered Han Solo, Ren sensed that Snoke now knew beyond reproach that his loyalty was unshakeable. For Ren, without question, the First Order came before all else. Even family…especially his family.
All of this considered, he knew that the "loved ones" Snoke was referring to had nothing to do with the Skywalkers or the Solos. It had nothing to do with family.
Ren snorted audibly. Those he loved, he thought distastefully. He hadn't loved anybody in a very long time, and he had certainly never been in love. Romance was for the weak, the idle, the misguided and the unfocused. Childish romance embodied the weaknesses of Anakin Skywalker; resolute disassociation defined the triumphant legacies of Darth Vader.
Snoke was a creature of few words, and Ren learned from the very beginning – usually the hard way – that because of this, it was best to pay exceedingly close attention to the words he did use. So despite the years it had taken him to snuff out emotional attachments and despite the feigned puzzlement, Ren knew precisely whom the "loved one" was that Snoke had so emphatically referred to.
Rey.
But what Ren felt for Rey wasn't love, and to label it as such was a gross misnomer. No, it was…different than that. Much different, but nearly impossible for him to explain...
The desperate pounding on the door of his quarters lurched him from thought. Automatically, Ren reached for his mask, his brow furrowed as he warily wondered what could have necessitated such an interruption. In moments he was at the entrance, and to his surprise, he opened the door into the profoundly panic-stricken face of General Hux.
Hux's presence was a constant thorn in Ren's side, and he had to give himself credit for being able to keep his utter disdain for the man in check as well as he did. Self-important to an almost comedic degree, the general's favorite pastime, in addition to transgressing the bounds of his job description, was stepping on Ren's toes as hard and often as possible.
For the many, countless, inestimable culpabilities this man had, his greatest strength was, like Ren's, remaining composed in the most worrying of situations. In fact, Ren had never seen Hux's face convey much more than mild agitation at any point.
At this moment, however, Hux stood before him breathless, eyes large and face utterly unhinged. He looked…scared.
And it completely and utterly unnerved Ren.
Ren reached out with the Force, tendrils culling through Hux's brain to harvest any information he could. He flung aside the heavy clouds of anxiety and fear that saturated his mind, digging for something…anything…
There it was.
No. No. NO!
Without uttering a word, Ren took off at a dead run down the corridor, and he could hear the click-clack of Hux's boots distantly in pursuit. This can't be happening, he brain screamed. It can't be, it wasn't foreseen, it doesn't end like this.
As he passed stunned Stormtroopers, officers and personnel – none of whom had seen Kylo Ren run so fast or so desperately – he felt himself grow more despondent by the second. Goddammit, is this the longest fucking hallway in the universe?! he thought angrily. Rounding a corner, he sped up to full tilt, with help from the Force, as soon as he saw the Holding Block hangar.
"Out of the way," he snarled as he emphatically Force-pushed past the psytechs, physicians and security personnel gathered outside of Cell 0418. Door already open, Ren stepped inside the claustrophobic room. Squinting beneath his mask in the harsh brightness of the interrogation lighting, he saw her lying on the padded bench in the corner.
She wasn't moving.
He was at her side in two strides, and his jaw set as he looked down at her: chest still, lips blue, one arm askew above her head, the other hanging limply off of the bench.
Snap-hiss.
He hated removing his mask in public, but getting a closer look at Rey would be the only way he would be able to tell if she were dead and, if she were, what had killed her. Setting his mask at her feet, he knelt down next to her, narrowing his eyes, breathing deeply, his face inches from hers.
"Move aside, move aside!" Hux screamed through labored breaths as he entered the room. Panting and sweating, the general approached cautiously, wondering to himself what the hell Ren was doing. "Is she dead?" he anxiously asked.
Ren didn't respond. Instead, he closed his eyes, inching even closer; so close, his lips almost brushed against her forehead. He reached out with the Force, searching…
…and was startled when he heard it. Beating faintly but unmistakably, pulsating slowly but firmly in his ears. As his own pulse synced, he opened his eyes. "Clever," he whispered closely in her ear, unable to hide his amusement. Once again, this girl had impressed him.
"Well?! Is she or isn't she?!" Hux roared, clearly still quite panicked.
Ren stood up resolutely, reaching for and donning his mask before turning around to face the general. "Tsk, tsk, General Hux. Patience, as we have been told, is a virtue."
Hux looked as if his head was about to explode, and Ren was highly entertained when he sensed that the general spent several seconds conducting an internal Cost-Benefit Analysis on lunging at him for being so coy at such a time. Luckily for Hux, his analysis was accurate, so the general quietly rumbled, "I am in no mood for games, Ren. Is the girl alive or do we have some unfortunate news to deliver to the Supreme Leader?"
Ren turned to look at Rey again, and smiled behind his mask. This girl was good.
"No unfortunate news today, general. The girl is just fine."
Author's Note: Thank you to all of my glorious readers! Whether actively reviewing, favoriting, or enjoying from afar, you have made this experience an absolute delight! Just FYI: for your reading pleasure, I have mapped out my updating schedule. It appears that I will be doing so every day or, at the very latest, every other day. So stay tuned, and thank you all so very much again. :)