Chapter Thirteen

Rage rippled through him threatening to shred him to bits.

Kylo was so angry, and he wasn't even exactly sure on why he was.

Everything had gone rather well with the planning, they knew where they were headed, and marked down their locations. They had assembled troops and put together numbers, and made arrangements for if something happened to wrong.

So why was he feeling so angry? Why did he feel like tearing apart the galaxy in that moment. Even more he wanted to tear into Falynn who was laying on her back on their mattress, her sea-colored eyes wide.

She was the reason he was angry.

Floundering around wherever she so pleased.

Not that he minded that she had been on the training deck. The two officers had told him she was weaving her way through the troopers, going to each station and lingering for long periods of time. That wasn't what had bothered Kylo, it was where he had found her. He was infuriated at the fact she had been sitting so comfortably inside of his command shuttle. It was the most comfortable Kylo had seen Falynn since their marriage, soon as he arrived that had changed.

Blood boiled beneath his layers of dark clothing, his voice ripping up from his throat, "what do you think you were doing?"

Falynn arched an eyebrow as she slowly sat up, "Are you referring to where I was?"

"Yes!" he snapped and repeated. "What do you think you were doing?"

Falynn sighed sitting her body the rest of the way up and sat herself on the edge of the bed looking up at him. Even on their soft mattress his wife seemed much more uncomfortable than she had in one of those stiff chairs on his shuttle. Falynn's body was straight and rigid, he could easily see from where he stood that she was tense.

"Am I not allowed to survey what goes on this vessel?" she inquired quietly. "Or am I to be locked away in our bedroom until you deem otherwise?"

"That's not what I meant," he hissed clutching his helmet tightly in his hands. "I have no issue with you being on the training deck." He actually rather admired his wife for taking the initiative for surveying the troops. He would tell her as much if he hadn't been so angry with her.

"Than what is it?" she tilted her head. "What is the issue we are having then?"

"Who you were with just now," he snapped out, his other hand moving into a fist. "What were you doing with them?"

Falynn's eyebrow remained arched her expression turning baffled. "You mean with Bax?"

"You know his name?" Kylo seethed out.

Falynn's arms moved folding over her chest answering, "yes."

"Why?"

"Because I asked."

"He is just a technician."

"He is a person, Ren," her eyes narrowed as she stood. "He is just as important as your generals, officers, Stormtroopers, and your other officials. I was simply on board the shuttle to see how it was doing. Bax was the only one on board. He was nice and willing to teach me a few things on how the shuttle worked."

Another trimmer rippled through Kylo.

The way she spoke about him seemed so natural...the way she talked with everyone but him seemed so natural. Even with Henne. He had seen her with the handmaiden. Relaxed, smiling, and happy. She never showed him those expressions, not once.

She was either timid with him, or stone willed.

He wanted to ask her why it was difficult to be around him. Why wouldn't she just allow herself to take a breath around him, but there wouldn't be a point to ask those questions, because he already knew.

Kylo knew who he was to his wife.

He had seen it on the day Darred had brought his daughter to his Supreme Leader. It had not been a mutual agreement. Falynn hadn't seemed happy with their union then, nor did she seem happy now. She didn't want to be married to him, she didn't want anything to do with him. It hadn't bothered him he had just left it be, acting that everything would still fall into place despite of it. Knowing that by his side, she wouldn't be able to go anywhere, she would not be able to leave him. Kylo thought she wouldn't be able to become close to anyone else, not with him as her husband. He hadn't thought of her going off and making connections of her own. He wasn't expecting her to look so comfortable with someone that wasn't just Henne. Her eyes were soft, softer than he had ever seen them. She somehow related to that boy, more than she related to him.

Kylo didn't know why, but that made him furious.

"You are not to go on the hangar by yourself again," her ordered tightly.

"I am not your object, Ren," she tore back at him taking a step away from him towards the door. "I won't be treated as such. I may be your wife but that also makes me the Empress. If I wish to go to the Hangar I am going to. I have a right to."

Falynn made her way closer to the door.

Further from him.

Clenching his teeth, Kylo let out a yell and threw his helmet across the room.

He tossed it so hard, that he could hear it as it cracked against the wall.

Falynn stopped at the entrance ready to leave, then turned back in the direction of their room.

"Is this what you want!" he almost screamed at her as he spun towards her. "For me to be completely be vulnerable in front of you! Is that what it is going to take!?"

Falynn's attention wasn't on him, but on the now broken helmet that laid on the ground.

She was shaking, he had scared her.

He didn't care. Perhaps fear is what it would take, perhaps fear is what she needed. What the two of them needed. He stormed over to her roughly grabbing onto her shoulders, his fingers digging into the fabric of her tunic.

"What the hell do you want me to do, Falynn!" he leaned down his breath caressing across her face. "I don't know what you want me to do!"

"I-I want you to let me go," her voice barely came out in a whisper her eyes still focused on his helmet. She wouldn't even look at him.

"N-no!" he shouted causing her to flinch beneath his touch. "I am not going to let go. Look at me, Falynn!." she didn't. "Falynn...I need you..." he swallowed his words coming out in a strain. "I need you to look at me."

Her sea-foam eyes slowly drifted away from the helmet and up at him sucking on her bottom lip.

Falynn technically had done nothing wrong. He wasn't sure why any of this mattered or why it was causing him so much rage. She wasn't worth this rise coming out of him. Loosening his grip on her shoulders Kylo's hands fell to his side. Running his fingers through his jet-black hair he turned away from her, and moved himself to the bed. Sitting down on the bed Kylo bowed his head, placing his hands on the back of his neck as he took a deep shuddering breath.

His body suddenly felt like pins and needles his energy and emotions probing and poking at him violently. Darkness loomed over him, blocking out any signs of lights or stars. Another deep shuddering breath then a jerk when he felt a hand on his knee. Heavily lifting his head Falynn's face came into view. Her brow had become creased but her lips had now softened. She was kneeling in front of him, the black of her tunic flowing over her legs. She didn't say anything just lifted a hand that was about to touch his face, until he batted her hand away.

Frowning his wife lowered both her hands and set them on her folded legs. However, she made no attempt to move away from him. Falynn remained silent, her eyes questioning. After a long moment of not uttering a word Falynn took a deep breath through her nose, and Kylo paused at the slight shift he felt in the air. Kylo attempted to break beyond her mental barriers but he was still unable to do so. Even with her sitting there right in front of him. Her full lips twitched for a moment, then she lowered her head.

"You tell me you don't know how I am supposed to know how to fix it," she whispered. "I don't know what I did wrong, Ren." Her eyes that were now wet and bright looked back up. "Were you possibly upset that I was alone with someone else?"

Kylo's eyes narrowed at her assumptions. It was true she had been alone with another man, but that wasn't exactly what had bothered him. What had bothered him was the fact of how at ease she had felt with him. That the atmosphere of the shuttle was quiet and calm, and it did not change until he had spoken. Until she had heard his voice. Falynn was his wife, and yet somehow he was the only being that made her seem truly miserable.

Possibly even more than Hux.

Compared to everyone else she acted numb with him.

Last night was the first time her body had been truly relaxed around him. That was because she had been asleep, not to mention her body was tired from the previous events. That had nothing to do with him. Kylo's hazel brown eyes met his wife's face tracing the soft lines of her jawline and of her lips. Perhaps he had been upset she was with a man, a man who was close to her age, but it was also a man that she didn't seem to mind being around.

Kylo was going to ask her if she wanted to leave with him, he was going to give her the option of whether or not if she wanted to go with him. Now he didn't want to give her that choice. No he wouldn't gift her with that freedom, because if he let her stay on the Star Destroyer alone who knew who she would turn to. What other connections she would make, just to realize how much she actually hated the man who was before her now.

His thoughts went to his parents, his uncle.

Rey.

He had wanted them, he had wanted them so badly that it ached deep within him.

He remembered nights where had laid there crying because all he wanted was a goodnight kiss from his mother. The golden dice he had held on to when he had missed his father. The disappointment and hunger he had felt when Rey had shut off their connection leaving Kylo to realize that he was alone once again. Falynn would be no different. She would be like the rest, unless he held onto her tightly enough where she wouldn't be able to leave his side. To where he wouldn't have to be alone in this power.

Leaning forward with a sigh escaping his lips, Kylo pressed his forehead against Falynn's.

He felt another hum through the air, as her breath caught between her lips. However, she didn't move. Falynn remained utterly still as he slowly moved his hands up and grasped either side of her head. He listened and heard her swallow.

"You're not the one who needs it," Kylo whispered closing his eyes as he lingered on the soft feeling of her hair against her fingertips.

He didn't elaborate and Falynn did not push for him to explain.

Instead he made his next words a quiet demand. "You and I are going to go to Dantooine together."

"What?" she sounded surprised then after a quick pause asked. "Why?"

"We have a lead on the Resistance," Kylo replied his hand slowly moving to cup the nape of her neck. "I want you there with me."

"I have to go?" her voice slightly shook.

"You do."

"I can't stay on the Star Destroyer?"

"You can't."

Something inside of him guttered when she asked. "Is it because you don't trust me."

He couldn't tell her that was what it was. Kylo couldn't say it was because he was afraid of what would happen if he left her behind. The Supreme Leader did not want to admit that to her or himself.

"I want you with me," was the only answer he gave her.

"Why?" Falynn's voice came out so quiet he wasn't even sure if the stars could hear her.

"Because, you," he leaned in, "are my Empress."


Falynn's mind went blank, the room around her fading out and the only thing she could focus on was the warmth of Kylo's mouth on her own. It happened so quickly she wasn't sure if it was real. Just as quickly as the warmth was on her lips it was gone, leaving them cold.

She couldn't move, think, or comprehend what just conspired between the two of them.

Falynn had known that Kylo had been angry, but she had not been expecting him to snap. She fought the urge to look at the broken helmet that still lay on the floor. Kylo had thrown it hard, hard enough where Falynn heard the cracking sound as the helmet collided with the wall. Almost like bones were breaking. Her shoulders still burned from pain, from where his fingers had dug into them.

His actions had seemed so malicious, but the way he looked at her as he had held her so tightly was so soft that it had not matched his actions. Falynn didn't have to reach out with her powers to know what her husband had felt, no one did if they saw that expression he had worn.

He had looked terrified.

Terrified, lost, and broken.

Kylo's eyes had been pleading, resembling a lost child.

She didn't know what to make of it. She didn't know herself if she should be sympathetic of her husband or terrified. Kylo's hands still lingered on her face. His fingertips felt warm on her cheeks even through his leather gloves.

Kylo had kissed her.

I want you with me.

His words repeated themselves silently in her mind squeezing themselves around her thudding heart.

He wanted her to go look for the Resistance with him. It was as she feared. Falynn wasn't ready to face the members of the Resistance quiet yet. Her mind felt like it was being split in two, creating oncoming head pains. She lifted her own hands placing them over Kylo's. She didn't miss the quick change of his breathing, before he quickly evened it back out. Everything felt like it was crashing down on her, into jumbled pieces that were confused on where to set themselves into place. She looked back up at Kylo whose hazel brown eyes were still focused on her. Falynn's heart stopped for a moment wondering if he would try and kiss her again.

"You are wanting to leave in a week?" she asked.

Kylo nodded. "Yes, as soon as the command shuttle is ready, we leave for Dantooine."

"There is no way I can convince you for me not to go?"

Kylo leaned back straightening his posture while he lowered his hands. "Why don't you want to come with me, Falynn? Shouldn't it be natural for me to want my wife to be with me in my travels?"

Falynn shook her head. "It's not that...I am just not sure if I am ready to leave the Star Destroyer yet."

"And why is that?" his voice came out harshly.

Falynn flinched, but answered. "We have only been on it for a little over a week. Do we need to leave so soon?"

"Business needs to be taken care of," he replied then tilted his head forward. "Plus I don't believe we have had our honeymoon yet."

He was teasing her, Falynn knew, but it didn't stop the heat from rising to her cheeks as she mumbled out. "Taking our military troops to hunt down some members of the Resistance. Nothing sounds more romantic."

Kylo let out a sigh his brows furrowing. "I am afraid I can't offer you very many romantic opportunities. Not now anyways."

Falynn lifted a hand and placed it on the scar on Kylo's cheek. She left it there for a moment before she stood. Standing up Falynn headed towards the port window, wrapping her arms around herself as she stared out into the abyss of stars. She held down the trimmer of the force that was threatening to edge its way past her skin. Taking several breaths through her nose Falynn let the air hiss out of her mouth. Anxiety slowly built is way up inside of her, as thoughts of who she might see on Dantooine became obvious. What if they saw someone she knew and she was ordered to fight them, or kill them? She didn't think she would be able to do it. What if they ran into Leia? What would she do then, if she saw her? What if Kylo decided to go after her, would she be able to stop him? Could she even if she wanted to? She turned her body, and faced Kylo who was still sitting on the bed watching her.

A week.

She had a week to prepare, to try and convince Kylo to go without her. For now in that moment she would let it sit, she wouldn't push it. She knew if she did it would only make things worse. She cast another glance at the broken helmet that lay on the floor.

Walking over to where it had fallen, she bent down and gingerly picked up the helmet. Carefully holding the broken helmet between her hands, she turned it over and saw where it had cracked. Right down the middle in the back. Plausibly fixable seeing how Kylo had broken it once before. She brought the helmet it over to Kylo and held it out for him. He looked up at her raising his eyebrows in question.

"I believe," she said quietly. "That you will need to get this fixed."

Kylo wrapped his hands around her own, his rough calluses brushing against her knuckles. Keeping his hands over hers Kylo slowly stood peering down at her. He took a step closer to her where their bodies were almost touching. His hazel-brown eyes traced her face then moved back down to her lips. He leaned down to her, but Falynn took a step back. Kylo's eyes guttered for a moment his lips turning down into a frown.

Before he could comment on the rejection Falynn moved her eyes towards the bed.

"I am still feeling tired," she said.

Falynn actually wasn't feeling tired at all.

She had gotten plenty after she had trained, but she didn't want to give him another reason to strike out at her. Telling him that she was tired was the only excuse she could think of in that moment. Hopefully in the future she could become more creative. Kylo turned and looked at their bed. Rolling his shoulders he nodded.

"I understand," he replied softly removing his hands from hers. "I will deal with the helmet later. Why don't you lay down. I am going to go in the refresher for a bit." Lifting his hand he barely brushed it down her cheek.

Falynn sat down on the bed as she watched Kylo walk through the archway leading into the fresher. She quickly realized that she had set herself up, and that she was now stuck in their bedroom. If she left now Kylo would realize that Falynn hadn't been honest. She moved a hand to her right shoulder, wondering if Kylo had left any bruises, and was he planning on leaving anymore on her? Getting up from the bed Falynn walked over to the wardrobe and opened it looking for something more comfortable to settle down in. Who knew how long she would be here. She might as well make the best of it. She settled on a simple blank dress with a long flowing skirt, and soft flowing sleeves that softly fell off of her shoulders.

Knowing she was short on time Falynn quickly slipped out of her tunic and leggings.

Using her fingers to brush her hair to the side Falynn took a quick glance at her shoulder. A bit red but surprisingly no bruising. His grip had felt stronger than it actually was. She moved her hair again peering at the other shoulder and it was the same. Kylo had not left any marks on her, other than the bruises from their training. Falynn quickly slid the black dress over head, before braiding her hair over her right shoulder.

Dressed Falynn made her way back to the bed and laid herself on her back on top of the silver sheets. She stared mindlessly up at the tall ceiling above her head, trying to process what had happened within the last few minutes. Her fingers lifted and traced over her lips. They had been married a little over a month now, yet this was their first...of any of it. They hadn't even really held hands much in the time they had been together. There wasn't much reason to why he had kissed her either, he had just done it. It had happened so quickly it didn't allow her to even really focus on what had just happened. That Kylo had finally decided to kiss her. He was about to do it again until she told him that she was tired.

Falynn wasn't ready.

Kylo had shown that he would protect her when he needed to, but that didn't stop from how he treated the others around him. Falynn didn't believe she could be physical and affection with someone who murdered so casually. She knew that some diplomacs required sacrifice. It was a constant battle for power, it was a continuous war. That's how politics were ran, this was nothing she didn't already know. Their crew on the command shuttle however, they had not been traitors, they were not threatening his position. It was just cold-blooded murder because he was displeased with the turn abouts of their trip. Falynn looked over to his black helmet still broken, and covered in red cracks. She didn't know how it had broken before, where those red cracks had come from, but she knew it was probably caused from Kylo's own hands. He was unable to control his emotions, and that alone was what made him so dangerous.

Unable to settle Falynn grumbled and rolled herself off the bed. She walked back over to the port window and leaned against the wall resting her head on its cool surface. It was quiet outside of the window, there was no sign of any activity leaving the Star Destroyer to be temporarily undisturbed. She had no idea how far Dantooine was from the Star Destroyer or much about the planet. A frown creased her lips realizing she was uneducated when it came to most planets. She was familiar with Naboo and Tatooine because that was where her bloodline was. Geonosis she learned about when she had somehow ended up there after she had ran from her family.

Falynn suddenly became mystified on how she became the Empress with how sheltered she truly was. If she hadn't left her parents several years ago she would be completely lost. In many was she was grossly unqualified to reign by Kylo's side. Her mother had put her in school for etiquettes which she was able to use, but if she never had left and her father still decided to offer her up would she have been chosen? Falynn placed a hand on her stomach where her scars were remembering where she had gotten them from. Her life had changed so much in the few years that she had been had gone from being a privileged child to a dingy roughian who gambled and got into fights in cantanas.

It was painfully obvious how clueless even than how she had been. She had still been a child, and remained that way until Haymond had found her. Her master who had showed her on how to use the force that she carried. She had buried it so deep within her, it was him who had reminded her that she still had it. Her life seemed like it was put in different parts, much like the plays she used to watch with her family on Naboo. She wondered when it would finally end, and she could just be settled and satisfied where she was.

There was still so much that she needed to discover, what she needed to learn. Perhaps that would never end.

"You aren't resting."

Falynn turned her head to find Kylo shirtless wearing nothing but a simple pair of black pants standing under the archway of the refresher. She fought against the urge to trail her eyes down those muscles. To allow his beautiful build to affect her in anyway.

She gave him a half smile. "I was unable to get comfortable."

"Well…," Kylo went over to the bed then pushed back the covers. "I am in need of rest of myself."

Falynn arched an eyebrow fighting the heat to rise on her cheeks revealing her shyness. "I thought you had a lot of work to do."

"I did," Kylo answered as he crawled underneath the sheets. "But we made a good amount of progress today, so I decided that I would...rest."

Raising her eyebrows she stated. "You say this as if this is something new to you."

"I am a busy man," was all he said, before adding with a twitch of his lips. "It helps when the woman you are married to, puts the idea in your head as well." Kylo extended his hand out. "You told me you were tired. Come."

Falynn stared at the outstretched hand for a long measure of time as she hesitated. He was asking her to lay with him and take rest with him. Regretting the choice of dress to wear, Falynn made her way over to the bed and crawled in laying stiffly on her back next to him. This felt much more different than before when she had snuggled right into his arms and fell asleep. Now that she was fully awake and could hear every breath that escaped Kylo's mouth. She didn't both to scoot closer to him, nor did he make an attempt to get closer to her. The two of them laid there in silence, Falynn shifting uncomfortably beneath the sheets.

She was taken by surprise when Kylo said. "Tell me about yourself, Falynn."

Eyebrows raising Falynn turned towards her husband, who eyes were still focused on the ceiling above them. His mouth kept tightening and loosening showing he was probably just as uncomfortable as she was.

"What would you like to know?"

Kylo turned his head towards her. "Everything."


Falynn blinked at him a few times a bit taken aback by what he had just asked.

This had come out of nowhere.

She wasn't even sure where to begin. She knew what she shouldn't tell him. Couldn't if she didn't want her life put in danger. She stared up at the ceiling thinking of where she should start. Kylo silently waited.

"I was born in Naboo, grew up there my whole life," she began. "I am an only child."

"I already knew those things," Kylo scowled annoyed. "I meant tell me facts about you that I don't know."

"You didn't let me finish," Falynn retorted back . "Not to mention I am not sure of what my father has already told you."

"Other than your birthplace and birthdate not much anything else," Kylo replied. "He did tell me you traveled some."

Falynn tried not to tense at his comment as she continued moving away from the subject. "Naboo is a well known place for the arts. My mother used to take me to plays often when I was a young girl. Plays on royalty and wealth, then I came home and pretended I was some type of princess." Falynn almost scoffed at her younger self. "I guess you could say when I was younger I was a bit of a...prima donna. My father being an officer in the First Order I lived a fairly privileged spoiled life. Least that is what my mother led me to believe." Falynn swallowed her stomach feeling hollow and sick with the false truths she had growing up. Believing that she had everything only to learn the truth as an adult, that horrible things were done to provide that life for hers. How many lives had been exchanged for her family's wealth?

Falynn would much rather be wasting away on Tatooine like her mother had done before her, than be the cause of those sacrifices. Moving her hand to her stomach Falynn instinctively traced the scars that marked her. She would rather be squabbling in some cantana fighting for scraps. It's what she and her family deserved, after everything that had been done.

"You talk as if you are ashamed of having such a life," Kylo spoke softly.

This time Falynn did stiffen.

Perhaps she said too much, given too much away than she should have. She was surprised when she felt a gentle hand brushing some of the hair away from her cheeks. Turning into his touch Falynn note of the lost and broken expression her husband.

"I understand," Kylo dropped his hand. "My parents didn't give me the life I cared for either. Duties...that had always seemed to get in the way. I was often left alone craving for their attention."

Leia had not given Falynn those impressions when she had spoken of Kylo. She spoke of her love for her son, for her sorrow of losing him. Even without the spoken words Falynn was able to see it on the General's face. She wanted to confirm that to Kylo, tell him how much Leia loved him and how visible it was. Saying it though would give her away, along with the Resistance. If Kylo had ever found out of her relationship with the Resistance any plans on helping them would automatically be dispelled.

So instead Falynn reached over and gently traced a finger down Kylo's scar and offered him an attempted smile. "Growing up can be difficult, can't it?"

Kylo frowned with no response but didn't shy away from her touch as he muttered. "Continue."

He was clearly done with the topic and Falynn was to, so she continued her fingers sliding off his face. "My mother taught me the cultures of Naboo and through that I learned to enjoy skills such as singing and a bit of dancing." Kylo raised his eyebrows as she smiled remembering singing with her mother in those simple moments. How her dancing made it easier for her to be limber with her lightsaber. "I never got to serious with any of it." she added with a sigh placing her hands on her stomach. "My mother and father paid for me to have lessons, but due to shyness I never followed through."

"You were shy?" Kylo asked his voice sounding disbelieving.

Falynn shrugged. "Things change."

Being off on her own and fending for herself was a quick easy fix to that. Falynn quickly had to learn to interact with those around her, because if she did it wrong it would easily end up in a fight. Many of those first brawls she had no idea what she was doing and left with a black eye, busted lip, and millions of cuts and scratches.

"Not sure what much else to say," she let out a soft laugh. "There really isn't much to me."

"You are an empress," quietly pointed out.

Her mouth lifting into a half smile Falynn pointed out. "That's because of my father and because of you. There wasn't really anything valiant I did to earn that title." Or cruel.

"That's not exactly true," Kylo said turning his away from her, where Falynn could no longer see his face. "Your father may have brought you to me, but I did choose you over the others for a reason."

Falynn's eyebrow lifted.

That wasn't what she had been expecting to hear.

Turning to her side and perching herself up on her arm she tried to peer around at Kylo's face as she asked. "I am curious as to know why you chose me then."

She had always wondered why he had chosen her out of all the women who had been lined up before Kylo. Many of them being much younger, and prettier in Falynn's opinion. She had always figured it was because, Kylo didn't really care or had the time to look through all of them, or that he favored her father.

"It was your strong will."

Falynn stayed on her side, as her heart hammered loudly against her bones waiting for Kylo to finish. Her husband didn't and continued to face away looking in the direction of their large port window. Falynn opened her mouth about to ask for him to continue, than closed her lips tight together. It wasn't worth prying more out of him, the Supreme Leader had already opened up to her as much as he probably would allow himself to. If he didn't want to answer that was fine she would accept where they had stopped.

Their conversation had quickly fixed her inability to sleep.

Falynn's body and mind felt exhausted as she laid herself back down, and turned her back towards Kylo wrapping herself up in the sheets. As she got comfortable and was ready to drift off a soft touch brought her attention quickly back and Kylo ran his fingers through the strands of her hair that was flowing onto the pillow.

"I saw it in your eyes," he breathed out, sounding defeated. "None of the other woman had that. Only you, so I knew that you would be strong enough to be my Empress. So you became my wife because of who you are. Not because of me of your father."

Kylo's words sung throughout Falynn's mind and blood, each word dropping into place one by one.

She wasn't sure if she believed it, she certainly didn't feel strong.

Falynn felt lost more than anything else.

She didn't turn around to face him, afraid of what she might see, to find that he was looking at her. If he would try searching for that steel in her eyes, the reason he had chosen her only to find that wasn't what was really there. Instead what he would find would be hurt, resentment, fear, and possibly anger. Realizing that she was drawing her strength from all of the wrong places. If he knew that, she would have to admit to herself and realize that her father's cruelty wasn't too far away from her own darkness. The darkness that she did not want. Especially not with the force laying so heavily within her. She pushed it down, pushed it so far down that she could barely even feel it. Perhaps in this marriage she would never really use the force again, and maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

The sound of Kylo's breathing turning soft and steady let Falynn know that her husband and quickly fallen asleep. Maybe it was just from weariness and a tired mind that Kylo spoke those words to her. As she turned to him she studied his face that had turned back around to face her. It was soft with sleep now, and one could easily believe he was just an ordinary man with a broken past not the powerful Emperor that he was becoming. Falynn stayed facing him, and studied her husband until she herself have drifted away.

She did not sleep restfully that night.