Disclaimer: Star Wars is the property and creation of Lucas Film and Disney. I own none of the characters and places mentioned in this story.
Special thanks to my beta-reader Chridder (from AO3) for helping me out with this chapter.
Kylo Ren was livid. Worse than livid... he was down right murderous.
What was supposed to be a short trip to Coruscant regarding his marriage contract to Rey Kenobi went south pretty fast. War, interrogation, torture — these are challenges he can manage, challenges he lives for. But chit chat and sitting around? These things make his blood boil.
Two days after meeting with Tao, Rey and Ken, he was preparing to return to the Supremacy when he received a transmission from his master informing him he'd been relinquished of his duties until further notice so he could spend time with his betrothed.
A gift, his master said, to get to know her better before their marriage. A gift could be turned down, but Kylo knew better than that. Long years serving Snoke have taught him that regardless of the form it comes in — suggestion, advice, gift — anything his master says is to be taken as a demand. In Snoke's mind, a request is simply a delicately — worded order. Anything he asks, he expects to be done, no exceptions.
This supposed gift was just a thinly — veiled humiliation.
Kylo hated idleness and didn't have a clue how to talk to a woman, let alone spend leisure time with her. Yet a few hours after receiving the transmission, here he was, seated at a fancy restaurant in a wing reserved only for couples, hidden from prying eyes.
This was where he asked Rey to meet him, to let her know about his master's gift.
To say she was unhappy would be an understatement. As soon as he shared the news, she froze in shock. She stood still a moment, then took a water glass and threw the contents in his face... well, his mask. He had no intention of ever showing her his face.
Then she got up from the table and went outside to the balcony where she watched the lights of Coruscant while Kylo stayed behind. He never took his eyes off her, watching as she gazed at the city, dark clouds gathering in the sky. The rain started suddenly, heavy drops trickling down on her, but she remained still.
Kylo mind tricked a passing waiter into taking his black cloak and giving it to Rey, so she wouldn't get soaked to the bone.
He watched her reaction through the glass wall. She received the cloak graciously, exchanging a few short words with the waiter before he left in a daze. Then, she stood there, collecting herself. Based on her body language, Kylo could tell she wasn't pleased with his trick with the waiter.
Well, he didn't care. He only cared about not looking worse than he already did with the people of the First Order. His master and Tao Kenobi would berate him if he allowed his betrothed to get sick standing in the rain, and he could already imagine the gossip among the lowers officers about him neglecting his future wife. That won't do. He had a reputation to uphold.
Rey stood on the rainy balcony, jumping when a shadow appeared beside her, covering her with a black cloak. She relaxed when she realized it was only a waiter and not Kylo Ren.
As the cloak shielded her from the rain, the waiter blinked, collecting his bearings, then looking at her with knitted brows. "How did I get here?" he asked no one in particular.
"You don't remember how you got here?" Rey asked worried.
"No. The last thing I remember, I was passing by a black figure in the private wing, then I found myself here." The waiter appeared dumfounded.
At this point, Rey realized what Kylo Ren did. He mind tricked the poor waiter.
Asshole. He was too lazy to bring the cloak himself, so he resorted to mind control.
Rey swore she never loathed anyone so much as she loathed Kylo Ren in that moment.
"It's alright." She smiled assuringly. "He asked you to bring me his cloak. You probably just forgot in your hurry to serve everyone. It's quite busy today."
She hated herself for the lame lie, but what else could she do? She couldn't mind trick him with Kylo so close, and she couldn't tell him the truth either because of volatility of her betrothed's behavior.
"You're probably right. Thank you for your concern," the waiter replied sheepishly as he went back inside.
Rey resumed her positon before the sudden appearance of the waiter, her elbows supported by the railing, and began to repeat the Jedi mantra in her mind, calming herself so she wouldn't strangle her future husband.
Once she felt her composure restored, she went back inside, feeling Kylo's gaze on her all the while, watching her every move.
As she took a seat at her table, she couldn't help shooting Kylo a cutting glare. "You are a pompous ass, you know that?! Instead of bringing the cloak yourself, you mind tricked a poor waiter and let me deal with the fallout!" Rey said through gritted teeth.
"Well, what did you expect? For me to act like a gentleman after you threw the contents of your water glass in my face?" He smirked. "You needed to be taught a lesson about respect, scavenger princess," Kylo mimicked caustically.
"My name is Rey, not scavenger princess," she added in a growl.
"I'll call you by your name when you will learn to respect me," Kylo shot back.
"Respect is earned, not blindly given, and so far, you've earned nothing!"
Kylo darkened, and his temper snapped. Rey's water glass got cracks all over it, floating up with two candles and the flower vase from their table.
Rey thought fast, eager to calm him down before the rest of the restaurant fell victim to his emotional instability.
She leaned in, touching his right forearm gently and pleading with her eyes.
In an instant, the floating items settled back on the table. He covered her hand with his, seemingly on instinct, like he was trying to soothe her. He jerked back the moment he realized what he did, getting up from the table and leaving Rey alone, his cloak long forgotten.
Rey felt... Well, she didn't know what she felt in that moment.
Kylo Ren was an enigma, that was for sure. Most of the time he behaved like a brute with a heart cold as ice. But on rare occasions, like today, he proved he could be gentle.
Rey got up and went to pay for her drink only to find out that Kylo Ren had paid for everything beforehand.
As she was leaving, she gripped the cloak tighter around herself.
Unbeknownst to Rey or Kylo Ren, two cloaked figures spied on them during their interaction. Well, one of them, did anyway, through binoculars.
The two figures were on their stomachs, atop a rooftop, in a building opposite to the restaurant.
The first person lied idly, tufts of auburn gold hair peaking from under brown cloak, blue — green eyes sharp and watchful. The second gripped the binoculars, black hair falling over hazel eyes. Both figures were slim and clearly female.
The hazel-eyed one watched Kylo as he exited the restaurant, stopping briefly to look at the entrance before walking into the rain without any cover whatsoever.
After he vanished from her peripheral vision, she put the binoculars aside, got up, and started stretching her limbs.
"So you have all the information you need?" the other woman asked.
"Yes, Garma, I think I have all that I need. Now I must find a way to get close to Kylo Ren, so that I can kill him," the young woman added confidently.
"You're still on to this?!" Garma asked, clearly exasperated. "Revenge is not the way of a Jedi!"
"I don't care! He killed my father and the man I loved! And I never finished my training, so I'm no Jedi," the young woman replied bitterly.
"He was my father, too, you know?" Garma rose to her feet. "And I know he wouldn't want you to get consumed by revenge... to lose yourself, little sister," she pleaded.
"It's easy for you to talk. You have a family of your own, something to hold on to, while I have nothing left. I lost everything!" the young woman added angrily.
"You still have me, our two other siblings and our mother," Garma added with a sigh.
"No. You know very well what happened to our family. Plus, you know how I came to be...," she added, agony lacing her words. "I will do it. I will kill Kylo Ren," the young woman finished with finality as she began to walk away.
"Oh, little sister..." Garma shook her head sadly.
Author notes:
So what are your thoughts regarding Kylo and Rey's first date ?
Who is Garma and the mystery woman (these are OC characters) ?
The mystery woman will be important for the plot later on. Just wait until you'll find out more about her background. You'll be shocked.
Italics used in this chapter are to highlight some hints about spoilers that will appear in the future chapters (I'm talking about ending of this chapter).
Feel free to leave a review.
Until next time!