Chapter 8: So You Really Do Care for Her

Rose watched as General Leia led Kylo Ren to someplace private to talk, away from the prying eyes of the Resistance. It was interesting to see how she didn't even move to make him a prisoner, but he had come willingly to the Resistance, begged even.

No doubt Poe was going to have a million questions.

She made her way to Poe and Finn—Poe bombarding his friend with questions and Finn struggling to answer them.

"Why is the General alone with Kylo Ren of all people? Why is Kylo Ren even here?" Poe asked through gritted teeth.

Finn scratched his neck. "Um well…"

"May I remind ourselves that you yourself witnessed the man murdering his own father?" Poe said. "Forgive me for not really trusting him, especially near his own mother."

"I barely trust him either, believe me."

Rose stepped in. "But Finn here trusted him enough in the moment to give him a lightsaber and spare his life. General Leia said she wanted to speak with her son privately."

"You gave what—you know what I don't want to know," Poe said, rubbing his temples. "And where is Rey? Or is the presence of Ren an indication?"

"She ran off, stole the Knight of Ren's ship and fled," Rose explained.

Finn nodded. "Ren seems to have some ideas of what's going on with her. He asked to come here to explain."

"Even so, he's… The former Supreme Leader and we just let him waltz right into our base, armed and unguarded."

Finn's hand reached to his back. "Yes but..."

"But what? I trust you man but you gotta give me something other than 'somehow understands what's going on with the Last Jedi.'"

Rose rolled her eyes. "You're forgetting the bigger picture. He willingly came to us. He was at the very top of the First Order and he wants to help us. He even controlled our prisoner—a Knight of Ren."

Poe stared at Rose in disbelief. "Seriously?"

Finn shifted his feet. "He even interrogated her. Something about the First Order's new plans."

Poe tapped his fingers on the map, deep in thought. "If that's true…" A wide grin slowly grew on his lips. "We're gonna win this war," he declared. "We are going to win."

Leia brushed away her son's tears from his cheek. "We have a lot to talk about, Ben."

Indeed they did, even after all the shared apologies. Kylo nodded, but he didn't know where to start with everything that had happened. Rey. The First Order. Snoke. What happened with Luke—if he'll ever admit what happened at the Jedi Temple to Leia. The coup. The Knights of Ren.

How he was abandoned for most of his life.

Leia decided to broach the topic, standing up and moving to the door. "Come Ben. You look exhausted."

He followed after his mother through the Resistance Base. Was he actually that exhausted? What even was the time anymore? It was morning when he dueled with Rey but the trip to Ajan Kloss was long enough for him to interrogate Ap'lek. Had he even eaten?

Sitting him down in a comfy room around a table, Leia felt his forehead with the back of her hand. "You still feel hot Ben, it has to have been hours since you were on that planet."

Of course, leave it to his mother to start fussing over him immediately. He leaned on his hand, mustering up the energy to protest the implication that he was ill. "I am fine Mom."

She rolled her eyes. "You need to eat and drink."

Food was brought to them. Kylo went straight for the water, his lips parched from spending so much time on the desert planet. He was thankful to be rid of that place too, even if it was only slightly better than the cursed Exegol.

"What happened with Rey?" Leia asked, placing a warm hand on his shoulder.

His eyes were like glass in the harsh lights of the room. "She is in possession of a Sith holocron that's manipulating her. If I can destroy that holocron she might snap out of it."

Might being the keyword. A shivering fear reached the back of his neck at the thought of what would happen if Rey got close enough to Exegol.

"Interesting. We had two Knights of Ren appear here. You brought one of them back as a prisoner?"

"Ap'lek Ren. She will be valuable since she was witness to Hux's plans, from what I gathered from my questioning." Kylo took a deep breath as he thought about who the other Knight could have been. Vicrul was in a pit on Exegol. Trughen was incapacitated. But Ap'lek tipped him off about who would have been here. "Ushar Ren was the other Knight. He must've planted that holocron here in hopes it would lure Rey to the dark side. In any other world, Rey would resist…" Kylo's heart clenched thinking about how it was ultimately his fault this was happening to her. "But it was… I…"

Leia nodded, listening, for what feels like the first time since he was a child. "She was unhappy ever since Crait."

He ran his fingers over his temple. "I pushed her."

"It's not too late for her Ben. For one thing, you're here. For another, you care about her," Leia reassured him.

He pulled his hand away, taking a sip of water and staring down at his cup. "I don't know where she is."

"You'll find her."

He took very little comfort in those words. "The longer she has that holocron the darker she is in the force." Her pull had completely flipped. Rey's light was dimming, being swallowed whole.

"And another matter," Kylo added. "We have one week before this base is possibly destroyed by the First Order."

Leia sighed. "Of course... What is Hux up to?"

Kylo reached into his pocket and pulled out a small drive. "He has plans for a portable cannon that can be used on a dreadnought. I thought I had destroyed all versions of it but clearly, I was mistaken. It won't destroy a planet; it will blast a giant crater three times the size of this base, perhaps even larger."

"Do you have the plans?"

"I do, just in case." He placed the drive into Leia's hands. "We need to get onto that dreadnought and dismantle the device."

"Where do you think it's being built?"

"It's on the dreadnought Executioner, but I do not know its current location now, Hux had to move it behind my back to hide his activities."

"You know codes and the layouts of the dreadnoughts, yes?"

He nodded. "I can give details to your lieutenants."

"What are you going to do now, Ben?" Leia asked.

He didn't know. He was still lost and very much terrified of the future and what it all meant. Would he ever atone and get Rey back? Or was this his just punishment?

No, Rey didn't deserve that. She deserved the galaxy. She deserved to be free and make her own choices. She deserved to have a family who cared for her as much as he did. His mistakes, his choices, they should have never been thrust upon Rey.

"I want to help plan for the assault on the dreadnought, then find Rey," he declared. "But… After that…"

"You don't know, do you?" Leia said.

He sighed. "No, I don't."

Maz walked into the room, holding a book. "Ah good!" Her eyes widened and a hint of a smirk grew on her mouth at Kylo as she strolled over to the table. She plopped the book on the table and Kylo glanced at it, wanting to roll his eyes as he knew immediately it was a sacred Jedi text.

"Ben Solo," Maz greeted him, flipping through the pages. "Did you notice anything odd between you and Rey? Any weird occurrences?"

Kylo's chest tightened. He never spoke nor considered telling people the special connection he had with Rey. How the force had bonded them together in a link that allowed them to see one another. "Perhaps," he stated, not willing to divulge the information.

Maz rolled her eyes. "If my instincts are correct, you and Rey have something so rare and so special that it was only seen once before, thousands of years ago. A dyad."

Kylo crossed his arms. "And what does that mean?"

"It means," Maz stared at him with a dead-serious expression. "You're bonded as two halves of one whole. Two as one. The force seeks balance with you two at its crux. Rey was born with much light and you were born with much darkness."

Kylo scoffed. Was Maz seriously implying they were soulmates? He didn't deny that the force wanted them to be connected, but to go as far as to say they were destined from the start was ridiculous. "That's not how the force works."

"Don't be like your father. There are many things we do not know about the force. But it's the only explanation for that shake in the force Leia and I felt earlier during the skirmish. Light reaching for the dark, trying to meet in the middle."

When Kylo touched Rey's hand through their bond. He sighed and buried his face into his hands. "That doesn't prove anything."

Or, maybe it did. The light and dark bled at that moment when they touched hands, both times. A mutual forming from the stark contrast. Understanding.

Grey.

His heart clenched at the thought. Rey tried severing their bond. He caused her enough pain that she couldn't stand him anymore.

But the bond remained. Rey had reconnected herself, and even though she heard voices—perhaps similar ones to Snoke—the force was still showing them to each other.

His only way of saving Rey was through this.

Kylo stood up abruptly and walked out of the room without another word, running his hand through his hair as people stopped and stared at him.

Night had fallen. He walked outside the base into the forest and found a rock to lean against as he sat down. The soft chirps of the wildlife were all he had for company.

Traces of Rey lingered. She had been here for months training herself, alone. He could have helped her if he hadn't…

No, he had to let the past die. Dwelling on it was only bringing him pain.

He closed his eyes and breathed.

Just breathed.

The lingering presence of Rey around him was overwhelming, but he kept his focus.

"Be with me," he whispered.

He could have sworn he heard her voice answer the sentiment in kind.

Rey stalked her way through the Finalizer, Kylo Ren's lightsaber on her belt, the holocron in her bag, and her own lightsaber in her grip.

An officer walked right out of a room with a datapad in his grip. He stared at her with wide eyes and struggled to say something. Rey raised her hand and gripped him in place, pulling upon the dark side to do her work. She delved into his mind.

Kylo Ren's plans for the First Order. Him asking this man to recover any intel regarding the Resistance.

Too angry still at what happened at Pasaana she pulled back, still keeping the man—Mitaka—in place.

"You will take me to the Knights of Ren," she said in her monotone voice, waving her hand over his temple.

"I will take you to the Knights of Ren," he responded. She released his body and he began promptly walking in a straight line down the hall, entered a code into an elevator, and she followed him inside.

Reaching the upper floors of the dreadnought, Mitaka stepped out and led Rey to a training room. He stopped in front of the door, and Rey waved her hand again.

"You will forget about this exchange and go back to your duties," she ordered.

"I will forget about this exchange and go back to my duties," he said, walking away and out of sight.

Rey opened the door to the training room and was faced with two Knights of Ren in training gear, their helmets removed as they sparred.

The two stopped upon Rey's entrance.

"The Last Jedi," one of the men said, his voice coarse and gruff, deeper than Kylo Ren's baritone.

The other one looked extremely young, even younger than Kylo, with wispy blonde hair but no less held an expression of neutrality and a willingness to kill.

Rey remained indifferent to their shock and began her interrogation. "What are your names?"

The two knights said nothing.

With a twitch in her eye, Rey froze the blond in place. "What is your name?"

"Cardo Ren," he gasped out. Rey released him, looking to the older knight who answered without hesitation.

"Kuruk Ren. Why are you here, Last Jedi?"

Rey reached into her bag and presented the holocron. "Do you know what this is?"

Cardo and Kuruk glanced at each other before looking back at the golden pyramid. "A Sith holocron," Cardo said. "I thought they were all destroyed."

"This one obviously wasn't," Rey said, her patience wearing thin.

"Vicrul…" Kuruk muttered under his breath.

"How do I get it to work?" Rey questioned, catching the name.

"You must use the dark side of the force," Cardo explained. "A Sith holocron is dangerous, however."

"Dangerous how?" Rey pressed. "Is that why your former master tried to destroy it?"

Kuruk glanced at his comrade before speaking. "Kylo Ren tried to destroy it?"

Cardo scoffed. "Of course he did. He would never be a Sith, not now."

They're against you. Don't forget that.

"How is it dangerous," she pressed again. "Because the Sith offers power? Because it might lead to what I want?"

"Did Vicrul fill your head with this nonsense?" Kuruk demanded, reaching for his saber.

Rey clutched the holocron tighter with her fingers. "The Sith are the dark side no? Kylo Ren imitated a Sith Lord for years!"

"We the Knights of Ren followed the dark side, did as it wished. The Sith are poison to the galaxy!" Cardo exclaimed. "They let their emotions rule them, as Kylo Ren struggled with. He refused to kill his emotions, his weaknesses."

"Then why was he your leader?" Rey tilted her head in confusion.

Kuruk spoke up. "He killed our previous leader, Ren."

Rey looked down at her hand. "Why am I not surprised…"

"He let us do as we wished until suddenly Snoke dies and we detected his weakness," Kuruk said. "And now I realize you were causing his weakness."

The two Knights activated their lightsabers, walking closer and closer to her. Rey shoved the holocron into her bag and her staff ignited with volatile red energy.

They stalled at the color, then proceeded anyways.

Rey raised her hand and flung Kuruk across the room. Her blade clashed with Cardo's into a hold, but Cardo was no match for her. She parried him to the side, twirling around so the other end of the saber met his again. Tugging onto the dark side of the force, the power surged around her, and the lightsaber left Cardo's grip. The tip of her saber grazed his palm, making him stumble back in pain while grasping the cauterized wound.

Kuruk Ren got back up, lifting his saber up with a steady two hands to bash in on Rey. She took a step back and tightened her grip on her staff as she deflected the forceful hit at an angle. Squeezing one hand out, she lifted Kuruk in the air inch by inch before knocking his saber away. He pushed back against her using the force, but she brushed it off. She shoved him against a wall and put her blade to his neck.

Cardo recovered to grab his lightsaber but Rey without even looking threw him into the air with a sweeping gesture of her arm. His robes caught on the overhang from the ceiling.

"Who is Vicrul?" Rey demanded to Kuruk, breathing ragged. "And where can I find your new Supreme Leader?"

Don't bother trying to lie.

Easily she could shove her way into his mind the same way Kylo Ren invaded hers, but she refused.

She was stronger than Kylo Ren.

Kuruk flinched as the red blade got closer and closer to his neck. Sweat dripped off his chin. "Vicrul and Ushar are both Sith-obsessed fools. As for the Supreme Leader, he left for the Executioner a while ago."

Rey backed away, keeping Kuruk's lightsaber out of reach still. Her goal of finding the new leader and sending the First Order into chaos would have to wait. She needed to open this holocron first. "Where would I find Vicrul and Ushar?"

"I don't know," Kuruk said.

"You know something," Rey's eyes narrowed, closing in with the tip of her lightsaber again. "You have some vague idea of where it is."

He flinched again. "I don't."

He hides.

She inched the red blade closer to his skin. "You know, and now you'll give it to me or I shall take it."

It was a hollow threat but Kuruk would never know that.

"The death place of the Sith. They go off on their own all the time, they might be there."

Rey took steps back slowly, having gotten what she wanted.

"That's it?" Kuruk questioned, his brows tight in a glare, fingers twitching for his lightsaber on the floor. "That's all you want?"

"I wanted information," Rey said, returning the sentiment.

Cardo spoke up from the ceiling. "Not to kill us like our weak master would want for betrayal?"

Weak.

Kylo Ren wasn't weak.

Rey turned and glared at the blond before yanking him down to the floor with a jerk of her palm. "Shut up."

Kylo Ren was strong.

But so was she.

She was stronger than all of them.

Only your equal will truly test you.

With that, she left, moving her way back to the stolen ship and leave before anyone really noticed the Last Jedi was aboard the Finalizer.

Rey stumbled to her ship, fatigue rattling her bones and finally catching up to her. Aching muscles made it hard to move as she sat down in the pilot's seat and tried to start the engine, but her eyes began to sting. Tiredness was overwhelming her.

She needed a place to sleep, now.

Stumbling out, she found a man in front of her dressed in a First Order uniform.

It was the same damn lieutenant—Mitaka—that she had ordered around earlier.

"The Last Jedi," he said, throat dry. "You…"

"Do you have a place for me to sleep?" Rey said in slow, annoyed syllables.

"Um yes, of course."

Mitaka led her—willingly this time—through the Finalizer to a small room just big enough for a bed and little else.

"Why were you expecting me?" Rey questioned, trying to fight a yawn.

Mitaka swallowed. "It was on the orders of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren—" Her glare at the mention of his name stopped him in his tracks for a moment before he continued, "That you are to be accommodated should you ever come aboard the ship. This is the best I can do for you as of now…"

"I don't need excuses," Rey said, irritated with the placation. "Just… Leave me be."

He couldn't leave fast enough.

Tossing her bag to the floor, she flopped her body onto the bed, thoughts of Kylo Ren plaguing her even in her drowsiness.

Her head on her pillow, she could only think of how this was all for Ben Solo.

All for him.

"Be with me," she whispered as she fell asleep.

Be with me.

Ben's voice echoed in her dreamless slumber.

A/N: Hello yes my endless stream of KH quotes never ceases.

This chapter took so much pain to edit haha.

Now back to your regular schedule—hopefully.

I am so blown away by the responses to my previous chapter. Thank you all!

maushaushase: Thank you! Finn has instant regrets giving that lightsaber to Ben no doubt haha

Agent N: Thank you! That is actually how I'm picturing Ben at the end of it, in pure black clothes like Luke in ROTJ.

Kagami420: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying this story :)