Glitter and Gold
Chapter 40
34 ABY – Ahch-To
"All the things you've done… you're a monster," Rey uttered with a lot less venom than they'd both expected.
Kylo Ren tilted his head to the side. "You don't seem certain of that," he said quietly.
"I'm confused," Rey admitted. He lifted a brow. "I don't understand…"
"What?"
Rey looked to her fingers, playing with them nervously. "On Starkiller, I could feel how frightened you were. For Vex. For your son. You love them," she explained.
"Yes," Kylo Ren confirmed, looking pained.
"Then why do you do such things? Stay with Snoke?"
"I don't have a choice, Rey." Rey had known that on some level. "I have to protect my family first. And as long as Snoke lives – the First Order lives – they're in danger," Kylo explained.
"Everyone's in danger as long as they're around," Rey pointed out.
Kylo Ren didn't respond. "Can you honestly tell me you didn't intend to kill Han that day? Your own father?" she questioned.
"I don't have to answer to you."
Rey's jaw dropped. With those quiet, defensive words, the spell was broken. Sound rushed in all around her.
Kylo Ren was gone.
Rey pressed a shaky hand to her forehead. "People change," she told herself to quell her beating heart.
The Supremacy
When Vex woke, she was finally, blissfully absent of pain. A sigh left her lips as she began to stretch. "My dear child… open your eyes," a familiar voice called.
Her eyes snapped open to find Snoke's gruesome features floating before her.
No.
He was sitting at her bedside, dwarfing her small figure. "You've woken finally, Vex. Our plans can proceed," Snoke said gently. There was no hint of malice or anger in his face or even his eyes. Just warmth.
This must be a trick.
Vex pushed herself up against the headboard with a groan. Her muscles weres stiff and uncoordinated after so little exercise and movement. "I…I don't understand…" she floundered, unsure of what to call him. Master was out of the question, and Snoke was far too bold.
"Father," Snoke prompted her. Vex stared at him in wide eyed confusion. In the many years he'd purported himself as her father, he'd never allowed her to call him father.
"Now I really don't understand," Vex admitted.
"Do you remember what I spoke to you when you were unconscious, daughter?" he asked.
She searched her mind, running a hand through still damp locks before shaking her head. Snoke reached out a hand to her – as if to touch Vex's face. She shrank back, pressing her cheek against the headboard. He let his hand fall.
"I have made a mistake by overlooking you," Snoke said. "You, daughter, are the one I've groomed and trained since a small child. groomed and trained since a small child. You are the heir I've waited for. I thought it was Kylo for so long…but it is you, Vex. You will succeed me as Supreme Leader," he explained.
A gasp left Vex. "No," she said. "I'll never agree to this! I am not your slave anymore, I will not follow your orders!"
Snoke only smiled at her open defiance, the first real hint of anger bleeding through to his expression. But he quickly schooled his expression. "You will change your mind, Vex. I know your conflict. Anakin is far away. As is that man Dameron…" Vex drew in a deep breath. "I've already told General Hux to capture the pilot alive, dear child. Then he can lead us to Anakin. I much desire to meet my grandson,"
She bristled. "I will not bring my son here for you to be cruel to," Vex growled.
"You misunderstand, child. I desire your happiness. I thought you would be if your son and that man you've chosen were with you."
"No," Vex growled. "I would never bring my son or Poe here,"
Ahch-To
"I've been thrown aside," Kylo Ren said, worry etching into his features. "I've failed the Supreme Leader too many times now. He's chosen Vex. She overcame his test. He's pleased, unlike I've ever seen him before. He preens over her like she's truly his child,"
Rey poked at the campfire between them. "Couldn't you escape then? If he's not watching you?" she asked.
He shook his head, seeming to curl in on himself like a child. "There's no way. Hux is watching me. Troopers would see me if I tried," Kylo Ren said. "And I couldn't just leave Vex behind…"
Vex, Vex, always Vex. Rey forced down her irritation, poking at the flames more harshly. "Have you spoken to her? To see where her loyalty lies?" she asked.
"No. She's only just woken. Snoke hasn't left her side," Kylo tilted his head to the side when Rey didn't reply. "What is it, Rey?" he asked.
Rey sighed, unable to help her dark feelings. "Luke said he wouldn't teach me. Because he has to take care of Vex first," she admitted. "You won't abandon her," Rey said, looking ashamed of herself for even voicing it.
Kylo Ren stayed silent. He understood the feeling. Understood her.
Rey seemed to take his silence as criticism. Her expression drooped. "I thought I'd find answers here. I was wrong. I've never felt so alone."
"You're not alone." Kylo Ren said quickly.
She looked up. "Neither are you," she promised.
Rey reached out, patiently waiting for him to reach out in return. Kylo Ren was hesitant, moving to meet her much more slowly – as if it pained him.
The moment their hands touched was like lightning struck. A myriad of images – memories – touched their minds that had them reeling back in shock.
All at once, they'd glimpsed each other's past and future.
Rey had seen it. The moment of Luke's shame. Maddened, standing over Ben as he slept. Lightsaber in hand. "Luke – he!" she gasped.
Ben's face was creased with panic at what she'd seen. Then he sighed, pain in his eyes. "My uncle sought to destroy me for my darkness… but somehow he saw fit to help Vex through hers,"
"He tried to kill you, Ben!"
The door to Rey's hut creaked open, Luke peaking in. "Who are you talking to –" he looks stunned at the sight of their clasped hands. "STOP!" Luke yelled, diving in to pull Rey away.
And just like that, the vision fell to pieces. The warmth of Ben's hand fell away from Rey, as if it had never existed. "No!" she cried.
Rey turned on Luke, jerking out of his hold. "Did you do it, then? Did you create Kylo Ren!?" she cried.
x
A short time later, Luke watched from beneath his cloak as the Millennium Falcon soared away.
Rey had quickly ran off when he'd admitted his mistake. The truth. She'd surely told Han.
Han hadn't come to ask Luke if it was true. He'd just left.
Now Luke was alone again.
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Big things happening! Next CHAPTER!
Much love, Suz Singer.