[Rey]
Rey waited until after breakfast the next day to approach Kylo. If he knew why she was keeping her distance, he didn't indicate it, but he hadn't pursued her, either. He'd stayed where he was put, accompanied Lando around the base, and according to Poe, showed a lot of interest in the few ships they'd managed to cobble together in the wake of Crait. The problem was she didn't know why she was keeping her distance. So she confronted him.
She caught him returning to the quarters he'd been assigned, carrying a set of linens. They saw each other at opposite ends of the hallway. Lando, who was following behind him, said, "Oh, hey, I think I forgot to get some shaving cream. I'll be back in a little while." He about-faced and left.
Rey felt her face heat at how fast Lando had bailed. Kylo fairly swaggered her way, which was ridiculous. She told him in a superior manner, "There's no one else to see you but me."
He smirked. "Exactly."
She rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the way her heart was thudding. "You said you were going to do some meditation to try to see the future?"
"Is that why you're here, to see me meditate?"
"Of course. There's no other reason!" He was too close to her, or rather, it felt like he was too close and yet he stopped a few paces away. It was a reasonable distance. She wanted to object to it anyway.
"No other reason," he said softly. The smirk was gone. "Of course."
She swallowed. "Right."
His swagger faded and she was damned but she regretted seeing it gone. He told her, "I said I would see if the First Order was planning to attack this place."
"Yes. That's the future. Right?" Her words sounded too harsh to her ears. She found herself angry all over that she was obsessing on every little thing they both did. She gritted her teeth.
He tilted his head, regarding her quietly.
"What difference does it make?" she asked. "If it's the future or what the First Order is going to do?"
He shrugged. "It helps to have a target. Otherwise, you can get distracted seeing things the Force thinks you need to see."
"Well, aren't those things you'd need to see?"
"Not necessarily. The Force doesn't choose your future for you. You do." He opened the door to his quarters and walked in. She followed him without thinking. She glanced around. It was a personal space. On Jakku, she would have never just walked into someone's sleeping area, not without permission. But here she was. He glanced over his shoulder at her. His smirk was softer this time, almost a smile. "How far are you willing to follow me?"
"How far do I need to?"
"I'm not running from you."
"You should!"
He raised his brows and half-smiled. His voice was deeper when he asked, "Should I?"
She cleared her throat, mouth suddenly dry. "You offered to teach me. I happen to be in need of a teacher." She adopted an airy pose. It felt easier and more natural. It also felt like she was … flirting.
"Would I survive it?" he asked. "Since your last one died."
So much for flirting. She sputtered, "That wasn't my fault!"
"Oh? Wasn't it? Without your involvement, Luke would have stayed on that island for years more."
"And the First Order would have wiped out the Resistance – your mother among them!" Her voice was heated now.
"Possibly. If you hadn't fled the throne room I would have never staged a ground assault on Crait."
"You were destroying them! Shooting them out of space. I saw it!"
"The Supremacy wasn't firing on anything when you left!"
"I left because it was firing on them before and you didn't stop it!"
"I wasn't in a position to stop it." He shook his head a little, but his outrage was gone. He knew he was wrong.
"Yes, you were. You could have tried. I would have helped you."
"I didn't know … I didn't know if …I didn't know you would help me. Why would you?"
She sat down on his bed and buried her face in her hands. "We're talking about different things. I went to the Supremacy to ask you to help us. To leave the First Order or make them stop being evil. You refused."
"You didn't ask me that."
"Yes, I did!"
"No, you didn't. We killed the guards. You asked me to stop the barrage. I asked you to join me. You refused. Then you tried to draw a weapon against me. That's what happened."
"Why didn't you say yes? Why didn't you stop them? People were being killed."
"Without your help, I couldn't have stopped it. Without your help, I was deposed within a week and slated for execution."
Rey swallowed hard, because that was also true. She'd left him alone when she knew how deep that must have cut him. Yet even so, he'd come here for her.
Kylo went on, "You wanted to use me to protect people whose mission was to kill me. You wanted me to save people who'd given up on me, a mother who is barely willing to be civil to my face. You still want me to do those things."
"You said you would help us," she said after a long pause to process the hurt she felt at his words. "You told Leia you'd look into the future and see if the First Order was planning to attack here."
"Why don't you look yourself?"
"I don't know how."
"I think you do."
She started to give him a sour look, then realized he might be right. She hadn't tried – because she simply hadn't thought about it. A lifetime of not being able to do something meant it wasn't automatic. She pondered.
Kylo put a blanket on the floor. "Sit there." He put another one behind him and sat on it.
She sat. "You're going to show me anyway?" she asked in a small, wondering voice.
"You know most of it anyway. It's more like … reminding you of what you already have. Relax. Open your mind. I'll show you."