Chapter 31: The Deck
The next morning I shower, put my hair in my 3 buns but my hair is getting noticeably longer. I put on all the proper First Order attire and my cloak. I think Kylo had it made because he knows I'm always cold. I pull it tight around me, I wait by the window for him, I know he's close. The door slides open and I'm happy to actually see him. I'm curious of what he wants to show me. He tilts his head to motion me to follow him. I do as I'm told, following behind him. I'm in a good mood today and I dont know why. He can tell. He keeps looking at me as we walk the halls. And I smile up at him each time. This must be amusing to him. Before I know it we are standing at the entrance to the main deck.
I have never been on a first deck of one of these.
'This is actually my favorite part of the ship' he's looking right down at me. I hate that I can't see his face. I follow behind him as he walks through the bustling deck. Some stop and stare. He has quite the impression on people. Some look at me with such confusion, others pay no attention at all. I like them the best. We walk across a small bridge to a set of Windows that span 5 times the width of my room.
It's breathtaking Kylo. The stars here look so bright, and the vastness of space is always such a wonder to me. Could my family be on one of those planets. Kylo is just watching me, leaning against the wall by the end of the windows with his arms crossed. From here you can also see parts of the destroyer and small fighters flying around in and out of ports.
'Not all things on the dark side are bad Rey' and I'm thankful for our weird telepathic thoughts because even though there are so many people around, I feel like it's just me and him up here. I place two hands on the window and just look at everything. Soaking it in.
I look at him, and smile just letting him know I appreciate him bringing me here and showing me. I look behind me to all the people working about and then look back at the stars. I always imagined what it would be like to stand up here on one of these. The hair on the back of my neck stands up and I look behind me and the General is standing in the doorway, his eyes locked on me. I jump when I see him. Kylo stands strait up but doesn't move from his spot.
"General. I came to check on your progress with the clones. I was expecting you to be here. I don't like having to wait." He booms across the room. Kylo has no shame here, no one even looked at him, some cringe at the sound of his voice. Everyone knows their place. He walks over to me, puts up two fingers to motion me to stay put. He walks past me down the bridge to the General. Under the bride are computers and people moving around talking into headsets about nothing I can understand. I focus my attention back to the stars out the window. Pulling my hood up. I have no interest hearing about their clone army. I count 6 shooting stars before I notice Kylo is standing by my side again. I'm smiling.
"What?" He asks.
"Nothing." I say. Even though I'm thinking about how mouthwatering he looks standing here in the glow of the stars and off planets. I know he cares for me, and I'm lucky that I have him to protect me. He doesn't try and pry at my thoughts right now. He just looks at me while I count 3 more shooting stars. He goes to walk away.
I had a vision of you before you found me on Takodona. When I touched Luke's lightsaber the first time.
He turns back around and looks down on me.
'What did you see exactly' People around us must wonder what's going on, two people standing in silent staring at each other. I take notice the General is still in the room.
Maybe this isn't the time to bring it up.
'Tell me. What did you see?' His tone gentle. He looks at the General and back to me. 'Can I see?'
I close my eyes and bow my head and let him search for the memory. He tilts his head to the side when I look back up to him.
'Hmm, interesting' He looks at the stars.
"Let's go, Arsland is back early with reports." He turns and walks away. I follow him, the General and I make eye contact, his eyes cold. So I lower my head and walk faster to walk side by side with Kylo down the corridor. I don't know how he always manages to avoid Stormtroopers but they can appear when he needs them. We reach the bridge at the top of the hanger and he stops to look down at me. "You better bite you tongue, I don't care what you think about FN-2187. He is the enemy now. Stop defending someone you don't know anything about." He snaps.
"Okay." I say to just spare argument because I can't make any promises I won't open my mouth in there. He shakes his head. We continue walking towards the corridor and he stops one more time just to remind me to be quiet.
"I'm serious Rey. I don't need you questioning me in front of my Knights. There are some sides of me you don't want to see." He says and we walk through the door. "Sit." And he points to an empty chair. The Knights don't pay attention to me this time. They all turn to look at Kylo. I'm thankful.
"Arsland. Your back sooner than expected. What did you find?" Kylo asks, standing in a empty spot around the table where a chair should be.
A hologram in the middle of the table flickers on. The knight stands up to point at some building in the middle, his hand moving about detailing a layout beneath the ground. It's quit impressive they got this information so quick. It's the resistance base alright. "There are 6 underground levels Sir. And a hanger located in the hill it rests on. I'm guessing more than half the remaining Resistance is there. If we want to attack we can start with an initial bombing and the go to the ground and take out any remaining survivors." He stands up strait and looks right at Kylo. "An insider tells us they are planning an attack soon Sir." The knight states.
Kylo whips his head to Arsland's direction. "Where?"
"Here sir. Their New General has made it a priority to take this ship down." Arsland sits down. Kylo looks at me but I refuse to speak.
It's probably a rescue mission.
"When?" Kylo states without breaking his look from me. I can only imagine the face he is making behind his mask. His anger overwhelms me, I start shaking with chills.
"3 days." The knight says. Kylo looks at Arsland and then to another knight I remember as being the first knight I unarmed in the chamber. He's smaller than the other Knights. Im guessing younger and less experienced.
"Jeremiah and Arsland, you are to go to Kamino and gather all the clones you can, you will all go to the base in 2 days time. We need to get to them before they come to us. We can't have another big loss. The Starkiller almost cost us all our lives and it cost us endless troops. I'm taking my apprentice off base for the time being. She is of no use in this fight. I'm expecting you all to step up and complete the mission."
He slams his fists on the table. The hologram flickers off.
"Is the New General on the base?" Kylo looks at Arsland.
"Yes Sir." Arsland answers. Kylo glances at me again which catches the attention of Cornelius.
"Why not put her out there? She's obviously powerful enough." Cornelius barks. The other Knights don't dare to chime in. Kylo straitens up, about to ignite his lightsaber but stops.
"The time has not come, the Resistance doesn't know she is working for our side yet." he says. And he's right, or they wouldn't be attempting a rescue mission. Maybe he doesn't want me here because he's afraid they will take me back to their base, in the case he wouldn't be able to just blow it up and go crazy. What if they found out about me and Kylo, they might kill me. Knowing I'm his weakness. Kylo holds back his anger to his Knights. He must find them very valuable. I can't imagine him letting anyone else get away with that comment. "We are done for today."
The Knights get up and leave the room. Leaving only me and Kylo. He turns the hologram in the middle of the table back on and starts walking around the table. He doesn't speak, just circles around it twice. I follow him with my eyes. He turns the hologram off and removes his helmet, setting it on the table. He was probably waiting for his Knights to get far enough away that he felt comfortable enough to take it off.
"Will you just keep making up excuses for me to not fight? Won't someone catch on that I refuse to work for The First Order?" I ask quietly. He is looking down at the table, hands spread apart, palms flat on the table. He picks his head up and raises an eyebrow.
"Not unless you tell someone." He says coldly. I doubt he can keep this up much longer. What if the general finds out? He would tell Snoke in a heartbeat. He doesn't like that I'm here.
"Do you wish you could be there? With your Knights on the Resistance Base." I ask him. I can tell how bothered he is by not going.
"I do." I hear him say.
"I think you should go. If you keep taking me away by yourself during these big battles, someone will notice and I don't know what would happen to me then," I frown and look down. I hear him walk around the table. He swings my chair around and crouches in front of me.
"I can't leave you here, not with General Green. I'll take you to the lake house tonight, but tomorrow I must leave. Promise me you will stay there and wait till I come back." He says. I relish in the idea of a few days alone there, the place is so peaceful and warm. I could walk in the meadow and have time to think. I can always talk to Kylo. If I like it or not, 6 other Knights are going... What's one more. The Generals warning echoes in my head.
"I promise. It's not like I can go anywhere without you noticing anyways." I say back. Still refusing to make eye contact with him. I can't believe I'm telling him to go destroy the Resistance while I wait for him. I close my eyes and turn my head, tucking my chin into my shoulder. He reaches his hand up and touches my jaw with his thumb and wraps his fingers around to the back of my neck. He moves my head to look at him. When I open my eyes, his eyes are soft. He lightly licks his lips and pulls my head down to his kiss. It's soft and gentle, his lips move slow against mine. His leather gloves warm against my cold skin. His other hand reaches to the curve of my hip, his hand spreads wide. I can feel the warmth of his hand along my side, it's comforting. I relax and wrap my hands around his neck. My fingers finding his hair. We are in an awkward position, him crouched on the floor while I sit in the chair still, he's lower than I am. His kiss is thanking me. Not that I could of stopped him if he really wanted to go. He parts his lips and lightly bites my bottom lip. Then he pulls away and stands up.
He proceeds to walk over and puts his helmet on. I'm still light headed from his kiss when I manage to look at him again. I wish I could see his face right now. This is not how I was expecting this meeting to go. He tilts his head motioning me to follow him. The only thing I can think about now is having a few days to myself.