Halo

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A/N-thank you for the kind reviews on the last chapter.

Chapter Twenty-Three-A Droid's Loyalty

"Are you ready for the next one?" Kylo fought a smile when he saw Rey trying to take a peek at his next offering. "Stop cheating!" He laughed.

"Fine!" Rey snapped her eyes shut again as she held out her hand, palm upward, in front of her. "This better not be one of those doughy portion bread things again. I ate enough of those things on Jakku. You're supposed to be trying to impress me."

"You're the one who stole the food from the kitchens." Kylo reminded her.

"Not stole. Scavenged."

"I stand corrected. Scavenged then."

"I just took what was familiar." Rey continued as she tried to discreetly peek through her thick lashes at what he was going to place in her hands next. She had to admit she was enjoying the game of 'guess the food.' Kylo said he was trying to improve her palate, but she knew he was getting a kick out of her reaction every time she tried something new.

"Keep your eyes closed." Kylo warned her again when he noticed her eyes were partially open.

"Okay." Rey huffed as she fidgeted slightly to get more comfortable. They were still on the Falcon, kneeling across from each other. She startled slightly when she felt Kylo drop something into her opened palm. Her fingers closed around the object- it was cool to the touch, smooth, shaped like a sphere. "What is it?" She asked curiously.

"Fruit." Kylo gently guided her hand toward her mouth. His gaze became fixated on her lips. Her lips were a pale pink that reminded him of a rose bud. The top lip was thinner, but not too thin, and it had a natural cupid's bow; the bottom one was larger and plusher. He couldn't stop staring. "Try it." He urged, his voice husky.

The fruit was wet and crisp as Rey bit into it, it broke between her teeth with a soft crunch. The lingering sound drifted around her ears, filling her heart with pleasure. Icy sweetness filled her mouth and for a moment, all fell still, as if a wave of content had drifted past and frozen the world solid. She kept on chewing, biting until it was all gone. Then she opened her eyes and blushed a deep red when she found Kylo staring dazedly at her mouth.

"What?" She said defensively. Did she have something on her chin? She wiped it with the back of her hand, just in case.

Kylo blinked rapidly, as if he had just awoken from a daydream. "What?" He said back to her.

Rey felt completely bewildered by his weird reaction. He seemed to have zoned out completely. "You said it was some kind of fruit?" She prompted him.

"Yes."

"And?"

"What?"

"What fruit was it?" Rey exclaimed irritably.

"Oh…it was just an apple." Kylo mumbled.

Just an apple!

He didn't think he would look at an apple the same way again, not without imagining Rey's divine lips wrapped around it. He felt his cheeks growing warm as he chased that thought from his mind. Kylo was grateful that Rey couldn't see the thoughts rolling around his head right now, then panicked when he remembered their growing bond. His dark eyes darted to hers nervously. Gods, he hadn't let that thought slip out had he? He studied her face in an attempt to read her reaction. This bond was so new, so mysterious-there were so many elements to it that hadn't been explored yet. They had already managed to communicate telepathically-how far could it go?

"Ben, are you feeling okay?" Rey leaned forward; her hazel eyes clouded with worry. "You look a bit peaky. Maybe you should eat something. That apple was delicious." Her mouth watered as she spoke. "I think there may be one more. We can share it."

"No." Kylo responded in a strangled tone.

"Why not? Don't you like apples?" Rey sounded genuinely confused.

"No." Kylo shook his head. "You have it."

"If you're sure." Rey leaned across Kylo, her fingers eagerly reaching for the ripe fruit. She smiled as she raised the apple to her lips, the precious dimples on her cheeks making his heart skip a beat.

As he watched Rey bite into the apple, the juicy sweetness spilled down the corners of her mouth. Her eyes closed and she let out of soft moan of ecstasy at the sublime taste. Kylo felt his body react and he was forced to turn away from the intoxicating sight in front of him.

The scavenger girl was going to be the death of him, he was sure of it.

The warmth from Leia's body abandoned her as a deep chill rippled down her spine. She turned her back on Han as she fought to maintain her composure. She reached for the pot of Caf' but her fingers were jumping rhythmically, as if in spasm and she was forced to pull her hand back. Then to her mortification her legs gently folded under her as the shock of Han's words set in. She subsided slowly into one of the empty chairs, ungainly as a marionette.

"Sweetheart." Han's tone was gentle as he looked down at her. "I shouldn't have said it like that, but you needed to know."

It took Leia a few minutes to form words. "Ben told you Luke attacked him?"

Han's guard was up as soon as she spoke. Her tone was so cynical that he could already tell where this was going. "You don't believe him." He said in disgust.

"I didn't say that." Leia defended herself. "I just question his version of events."

Words failed Han as he met his wife's disbelieving gaze, and his heart fell silent. His eyes desperately searched hers… waiting…hoping…. but all he saw was the steadfast belief on her face that her twin would never do such a wicked thing. Han knew he had to say something! He searched his mind for something reasonable to say, something that might possibly convince her, but to his surprise his heart answered for him. "I love you, Leia." He said grimly. "But I have never been so disappointed by you in my life. This is our son."

"I know that!" Leia fired back at him. "Believe me I would love to share your unwavering faith in him, but after everything he's done…."

"Dammit, Leia!" Han exclaimed loudly as he raised his forefinger at her, his whole-body tensing. "He said you wouldn't believe him and he was right."

"Han…" Leia whispered.

"He was also right when he said you didn't want anything to tarnish your perfect image of Luke. You don't want to accept that he can be just as fallible and human as the rest of us. Luke is not some Jedi god, sweetheart."

"That's a low blow, Han." Leia argued. "I've never thought of Luke as infallible, but I also don't believe he would ever consider hurting our son. It doesn't make sense…there's more to this that we don't understand. Ben must have…"

"So, our son is to blame for his own uncle trying to kill him. When did you become so callous and detached? You weren't there when Ben told me what happened- "Han rubbed a hand over his face at the memory.

"Han, he burned down the temple. He killed the other students." Leia used the opportunity to cut in. She stood up, drawing in a quavering breath as she faced her angry husband. Leia cast her mind back to the painful memories of her past, to the feelings of unease and disquiet when she was carrying Ben in her womb. Even then she had been able to sense her unborn son through the Force. She likened his presence to a pulsing living band of light. Sometimes that light dimmed, and other times it was thrust through a vein of darkness. It had frightened her, though when she mentioned it to Han, he had been dismissive, just like he was dismissive of anything to do with the Force. "I felt the darkness even before he was born."

Han stared at her bleakly. "Is that why you couldn't love him properly? You convinced yourself right from the off he was going to fall. He never really stood a chance- "

"That's not true! I love him. I have always loved him."

"But you still shipped him off to Luke when he didn't want to go."

"You agreed it was the best thing for him!"

"You barely consulted me. The decision was already made." Han yelled at her as they revisited the same old, circular arguments from the past.

"You were never there to consult, even if I wanted to. You accuse me of not being there for Ben, but, where were you?"

"I felt pushed out. I didn't know anything about the Force…not like you and saint Luke."

"So, you're blaming me for your own insecurities?" Leia snapped.

"No, I'm blaming you for making me feel like I was never good enough, no matter what I did. You didn't want a scoundrel for a husband, sweetheart, you wanted a damn politician."

His harsh jibe silenced Leia. She sat back down, her hands shaking as she reached for the pot of Caf.' She used her left hand to steady her right as she poured the lukewarm liquid into a cup.

Han's brief flare of temper faded, leaving him feeling deflated. He hated hurting Leia. This was not how he had envisioned this conversation going. It had descended into another one of their slanging matches, with Ben at the centre of it, like always. "He didn't do it, you know."

"Do what?" Leia raised the cup to her lips, letting the warm Caf' sooth her dry throat.

"He wasn't responsible for the temple burning down. And he tried to save the other students. He didn't kill them." Han continued wearily as he settled down into a vacant seat opposite Leia.

"I know you want to believe he's telling the truth, Han. I want to believe him, too. I just…" Leia sighed as she curled her fingers around the base of her cup.

"Just what?"

"I can't believe Luke would do that. It doesn't make any sense. I won't be convinced until I hear it from Luke himself."

"Well Luke's not here, is he!" Han replied sourly. "That shows me he has something to hide, unlike our son, who is right here. You've expended so much effort on trying to find Luke, but its his choice to stay away. If he really gave a crap about your damn cause, he'd be right here, fighting right alongside you. But instead he remains in exile like a coward. Instead Ben was the one who came back and helped you destroy that superweapon."

"For selfish reasons of his own." Leia retorted. "He was focused on saving the girl and nothing else."

"And how were you any different when you forced him to bargain for your help just so you could get what you wanted." Han countered bitterly. He shook his head in defeat. "I'm wasting my time here. Unless we can drag Luke back here kicking and screaming to admit what he's done, you're never going to be convinced, are you?"

Leia's face flushed as she locked eyes with him.

Outside the bridge, they didn't see BB-8 hidden in the shadows. The little droid had overheard everything. In distress, BB-8 rolled away from the bridge, he caught sight of Poe in the distance, impatiently looking for him. The conflicted little astromech avoided his master and shot down the opposite corridor to the one Poe was walking down. He wandered about the ship, his dome head drooping with worry. He wanted to make everything right, but he didn't know the best way to go about it. He kept replaying the recorded conversation between Han and Leia over and over to himself as he searched for some clue on the best way to help Ben Solo prove he was telling the truth, and it was Han's last words to Leia that proved the impetus for the decision he made next.

"Unless we can drag Luke back here kicking and screaming to admit what he's done, you're never going to be convinced, are you?"

BB-8 still held a section of the transgalactic navigational chart that showed the location of Skywalker. He just needed the rest to complete it and they would be able to find Luke and bring him back. BB-8 had a good idea of who might hold the rest of the chart. The little droid's orange and white body blurred as he took off at high speed to track down R2.

A/N-thanks for reading. Please review.