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.
It was a warm and peaceful morning on Coruscant.
The city was slowly brimming with life, making the city, overall, a quiet place.
But at Vader's castle, a young woman wearing a plain green dress was making a ruckus at the entrance.
"I don't care about those stupid rules! I want to see him!" she said loudly.
"No!"
This was the only answer she received before a black figure closed the door on her.
Rey was furious. Ever since last night when the Force connected her to Kylo Ren and she saw the pain he was in, all she could think about was how to see him. She'll have time later to figure out why the Force connected her and Kylo.
That's why this morning, she decided to go again to Vader's castle and not leave until she was able to see Kylo.
Unfortunately for her, Uthar Ren denied her request once again, closing the door on her.
But she wasn't worried in the slightest. If Jakku taught her anything, it was that those who wait will always get rewarded for their patience.
So that's what she was about to do. Wait at the entrance until she was allowed in.
Uthar, Harth and Vitus Ren were looking through the window at Rey who was pacing outside.
"Since when does she stay there?" Harth Ren asked with mild curiosity.
"Since this morning," Uthar answered, tone clipped.
"That long? But it's the middle of the afternoon. I wonder if she's eaten anything at all?" Harth Ren said to no one in particular.
"She didn't. She only paced in front of the entrance the whole time," Uthar Ren replied stonily.
"Remind me again why she can't see Kylo Ren?" Vitus asked confused.
"Because Kylo Ren it's vulnerable right now and she could easily kill him," Uthar Ren replied with coldness.
"But if she wanted to kill him, wouldn't she have done so when he was wounded in the first place?" Vitus asked quietly.
That was the question Uthar asked himself ever since he arrived at the castle and found out what happened.
Nevertheless, they'd created a set of rules in cases like these and they needed to uphold them, no matter what.
Night has fallen over Coruscant. The liveliness of the day began to die out slower and slower.
But despite the solitude of the night, one soul was still keeping watch. Vigil like an aurean vulture.
Rey was still waiting in front of the entrance, pacing. Earlier that evening, her uncle, Tao, brought her some Nerfsteak sandwiches and tried to convince her to come home without success. Unlike Ken, however, he respected her decision.
As for taking care of her other needs, Rey went to a dinner nearby and asked for permission to use the toilet. That was the only time she left her post.
"You're really persistent, aren't you, Kenobi girl?" a female voice asked.
Rey turned around and saw a young woman with long golden wavy curly hair and emerald green eyes, dressed all in black.
Another knight of Ren, Rey realized with a gasp.
"Who is asking?" she asked with confidence.
"My name is Harth Ren. I wanted to meet Kylo Ren's betrothed in person," she replied politely.
"Why are you still here?" she asked next.
"Because..." Rey started to say and then stopped.
She was at a loss for words. How could she tell her that she saw Kylo in pain through the Force? That she wanted to ease his pain because she owed him her life? Because she still believed there was good in him?
So she went with one simple answer instead.
"Because Kylo Ren saved my life!" Rey said with conviction.
"Fair enough," Harth replied. She turned to go back inside but stopped right at the door.
"Are you coming in or what?!" Harth asked in a harsh voice.
"Can I see Kylo?" Rey asked hopefully.
"No, you can"t. But you can remain here overnight since you're staying on the other side of the city. It would be too dangerous for a young lady like yourself to go all the way back, alone, wouldn't it?" Harth replied mockingly.
"I'm sure I could handle myself. I fought before. I'm not a damsel in distress as you assume me to be!" Rey replied with a smirk.
"Oh... at least Kylo won't marry a weakling," Harth replied stunned.
"If only you knew. If only you knew," Rey thought, quite pleased with herself as she followed the other woman inside.
Confusion. That's what Rey first felt as she woke up and noticed she was in an unfamilliar place.
Then it all came back to her. The wait in front of the entrance of Vader's castle, her first encounter with Harth Ren and the invitation. And finally her argument with Uthar in front of the other knights regarding her sleeping accommodations. He offered to let her sleep in one of the guest rooms, but she had other ideas.
When Harth Ren lead Rey to the dining room earlier, she'd let it slip that Kylo had an antechamber in front of his bedroom. Rey preferred to sleep on a sofa in the antechamber than in a guest room, so she could be closer to Kylo.
After what seemed like an eternity, Uthar conceded to her plea.
Yet, she still couldn't see him. The only way in his bedroom was through inserting a code on a panel next to his door. And the knights still didn't trust her, it seemed.
Even if she slept on a sofa, she was well rested. She slept in an AT-AT walker for most of her life. So, she didn't care too much about the place where she slept as long as she could lie down.
Kylo was sitting in his canopy king bed, propped against the pillows behind his back. All of the curtains of the canopy were shut tight. A bed tray table with an untouched cup of Massassi-blossom tea , Rokarian dirt-fish fillet sandwiches and a napkin sat on the nightstand next to his bed. But he wasn't in any mood for eating, but rather alert.
That morning, he woke up with the sun. With shaky legs, he got up from his bed and went to fetch a glass of water for himself.
Ever since the mysterious woman visited him, some of his strength had returned. He was able to stay awake more and was able to walk on his own, albeit less slowly than normal.
He never fetched the glass of water because the behind closed doors of his bedroom, he felt another presence. One that he had grown accustomed to. Rey.
Why she was here? In the antechamber in front of his bedroom? Why did Uthar allowed her to sleep here in the first place?
These were the questions that crossed Kylo's mind while he used the Force to check on Rey's state. All that he received was an eerie silence.
"He and Uthar will need to exchange a few words, later on," Kylo thought as he opened the door quietly. The sight before his eyes shook him up.
Rey was sleeping soundly on a sofa, serenity etched across her face.
How could she sleep so peacefully with him near by? Wasn't she worried in the slightest that he could kill her in her sleep?
But his line of thoughts was interrupted when he saw the fallen blanket in front of the sofa. He picked it up and covered Rey's sleeping form, but not before noticing her green dress, a color that suited her.
Then he froze in his tracks. What was he doing? That's not what Snoke's teachings consisted of. To care and worry for another person. No, Snoke's teachings taught him to instill fear in the lesser beings, to control them. And yet, he almost died while protecting Rey. He was confused and he knew he needed to take a decision regarding his odd relationship with Rey. He couldn't go on like this.
So quietly, he returned to his bedroom, away from his emotional turmoil. Away from Rey.
Since waking up, Rey took a look around the premises of the castle.
She was in awe when she saw how enormous the castle was. At least five families could live here, and that was only the grounds. The castle itself accommodated a lot of people, too: soldiers, workers and guests. But her last stop was the library. That's where Harth Ren found her to let her know that Kylo Ren wanted to see her.
The walk back to Kylo Ren's bedroom was one of the most anxious of her life.
She asked herself if Kylo realized that she visited him through the Force, or if he was enraged with her, or if the previous coldness between them would change. So when she got in front of his bedroom's door, Rey mustered all of her courage to be able to face on what ever came her way. And so she entered in the belly of the beast.
Ever since he felt Rey waking up and leaving the antechamber, Kylo pondered what should he do. He never reached a conclusion. So even if he was in a vulnerable state, he decided to see Rey and to have a little chat with her. He hoped that by talking to her, he'd decide what direction their odd relationship should go. So when Rey entered his bedroom the only feelings he felt through the Force were fear and curiosity.
Then Rey stopped in front of his door and lingered there quietly.
"Why are you standing there?" Kylo asked with a hoarse voice.
Then he felt her surprise at his inquiry, and noticed her moving, through the curtains of his canopy bed to take a seat at his bedside. Then her stomach decided to growl.
This made him wonder when was the last time the girl ate something.
"Didn't you eat this morning?" Kylo asked baffled.
"I'm sorry, my attention was focused on exploring the area of the castle that I forgot to eat something," Rey replied, a little embarrassed.
Kylo was at a loss for words. Rey was an oddity for him.
And then he found himself doing something he didn't do in a long time. He used the Force to levitate one of the Rokarian dirt-fish fillet sandwiches from the bed tray table towards her.
"Eat!" he found himself saying.
Based on Rey's brief irritation, he assumed his request sounded more like a command. Nonetheless, she started taking small bites from the sandwich.
"This is so good. I didn't have the chance to eat too often Rokarian dirt-fish fillet sandwiches. Only on special occasions. Ken always said that Rokarian dirt-fish are too expensive and not many could afford them so we should be a model to the people we're trying to help," Rey replied with a small voice among bites.
So Ken wasn't a conceited man, Kylo realized with a shock.
He always imagined Ken to spare no credits when it came to the welfare of his family.
But Rey's admission that Ken wouldn't buy something as expensive as Rokarian dirt-fish unless it was for a special occasion, so that he would be a model for the people and also teach his family how to be humble, made Kylo see Ken with different eyes.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts that's when Rey started talking again, it startled him a little.
"Thank you for saving my life. And I'm sorry I was hard on you when we were at the restaurant. I will try, from now on, to keep my temper in check," Rey added softly.
He didn't know what to reply to her. Her gratitude for him for saving her life was unnerving in itself, but added to the fact that she would try to be more patient with him...?
No one thanked him for anything unless they wanted to obtain something in return. But Rey's words were sincere. At least that's what he felt in the Force.
Author notes:
First of all I want to apologize for taking me so long (a month and two days) to update.
Secondly, I wanted to post this chapter and the next one on 20th October (when it was my birthday) but I was unable to.
What do you think about this chapter?
And I will explain here why Rey was irritated with Kylo Ren when she went to see him. In this story Rokarian dirth fish it's an expensive food that not many could afford. So when Rey saw that Kylo had Rokarian dirt-fish fillet sandwiches on his tray table she got irritated because she is against the richness of the upper class of the First Order while so many people are starving in the galaxy.
Also if there are enough eager people I could write one-shots for this fic with moments that didn't make it in the final version of the chapter (for example here I could write an one shot about how Uthar Ren agrees to let Rey sleep in the antechamber in front of Kylo's bedroom).
Feel free to leave a review.
Until next time!