Halo

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A/N-thank you very much for the kind reviews on this story. Sorry I can't reply to everyone's review personally like I usually do. The site is glitching again and not showing them, though thankfully I can still read them in my emails. :)

Chapter Twenty-Nine-Bitter Memories

The nightmare was more of a night terror, Rey felt she might die from the pain in her brain. The light from Skywalker's weapon cast a sickly green glow on her face as she slowly opened her eyes and gazed up in confused horror at her Jedi master-her own uncle-standing above her with his lightsaber raised. Her immediate reaction was panic, as the terrifying realisation that Skywalker intended to assassinate her while she slept, sank in. Instinctively Rey called to her lightsaber, it flew into her opened hand, and she ignited it, intending to strike her uncle first, but Skywalker blocked her killing blow. In an act of pure desperation, she used the Force to collapse the entire hut on her master to try and save herself.

Rey was reliving Kylo's memory in real time. She was like a living thing inside him, like their souls were one. She emerged from the hut believing she had killed Skywalker, and raged in anger and confusion over why her own uncle had tried to attack her. She raised her smarting eyes to the clear night sky and pointed her lightsaber at the Jedi temple looming in the distance. Anguished tears burned a fiery path down her face as she shouted questions, knowing that no answers were forthcoming. The red mist of her anger clouded her vision as crimson storm clouds began to form in the previously clear skies above the Jedi temple. Then to her increasing horror bright lightening erupted from the strange clouds and set the Jedi temple, and the buildings surrounding it, ablaze.

Rey screamed into the void as she charged toward the temple, intending to rescue those within. But another lightening strike caused an explosion that rocketed Rey backwards and scattered debris and bodies of dead students. Rey sobbed wretchedly as she climbed back onto her feet to make another desperate run toward the burning temple. But her efforts were all in vain, she was thrown back by another explosion. She surveyed the death and destruction around her, crying she never wanted this.

While she continued to fall apart an insidious voice began to make itself known at the back of her mind. In her torment, she latched on to it, listening in a terrified trance as the voice began to drip its poison.

"I never…I didn't want this!" She wept.

"And you did not choose it, Ben. The Jedi did. Skywalker." The wheedling voice sympathised. "My boy."

Rey and Kylo's communion was interrupted by the arrival of Han, Chewie and the eponymous, Luke Skywalker. Still caught up in Kylo's nightmarish memories, Rey acted on instinct when she opened her eyes and saw the instigator of all the horror that had unravelled the night the temple was razed to the ground. She pulled her hand out of Kylo's and quickly reached for her saber as soon as her horrified gaze settled on Luke's confused face. She ignited the blue blade, her arm swinging in a wide arc as she slashed it clumsily in Skywalker's direction.

"Rey! No!" Kylo yelled in alarm when he realised that Rey was still heavily under the influence of his nightmarish memories. His uncle seemed frozen in place as he stared in stunned silence at the girl brandishing his father's own saber at him. Kylo had no choice but to use the Force to send her flying backwards before her blade landed the killing blow.

As Rey was flung through the air, she lost her grip on the legacy saber. It clattered onto the floor, landing directly at Luke's feet. Rey made a rough landing a few feet away, emitting a faint moan as she lapsed into unconsciousness.

"This is all your fault." Kylo raged at his uncle, the anger from his eyes showed the scared child within, the boy who was taught to fight and starved of the love he craved. Kylo's soul was drowning in his own guilt as he ran over to Rey and tenderly cradled her in his arms. He was inconsolable that he had inadvertently hurt her. Once again, his uncle was the catalyst for the pain inflicted on someone he loved.

Anger boiled deep in his system, as hot as lava. It churned within, hungry for destruction, and was becoming too much for him to handle. He knew he had to get out of everyone's way before he erupted in his furious state. Kylo knew that this feeling would eventually pass, but while it still coiled within him, he was well aware he could really hurt his uncle. He needed to get out of the pressure cooker the Falcon had become. So, clutching Rey tightly in his arms, Kylo took the only avenue of escape open to him. He ran.

Luke's horror swallowed him whole as he stared down at Anakin's old weapon. He hadn't seen or wielded it in years. His fingers shook as he bent down and retrieved his father's lightsaber. His mind was in turmoil as he tried to process what had just happened. He tried to order his brain to function, to demand answers instead of this crazy-making circling fear. His rheumy gaze remained riveted on the ancient weapon as he examined it.

Who was that girl?

Why did she have his father's saber?

Why had she attacked him?

Ben's face!

Luke flinched at the memory of the murderous anger that had twisted his nephew's handsome features as he raged at him. After Ben's vicious display of temper, Luke was convinced that Han could no longer deny that his troubled son was still riddled with darkness.

"You've seen it for yourself now, Han. The darkness inside him." Luke said gravely as he finally summoned the strength to face his brother-in-law. "You should never have brought him here."

Han glared back at him defensively, his breathing coming in short, shallow bursts. "It was you." He growled, stepping forward. "You tried to murder him. My son. You did it. You created Kylo Ren!"

Luke's lips thinned into a stubborn line. "Leave this island now." He ordered as he began to turn away.

Chewie let out a warning growl as Han lunged at Luke, using all his strength to shove him. Unbalanced, Luke fell backwards, the breath knocked out of his body as he stared in disbelief at Han looming above him with a raised blaster in his hand.

"Tell me the damn truth." Han yelled at him.

A tremor wracked Luke's body as he looked up at Han in despair. His gaze drifted inward as he began to speak. "I saw darkness." He said bleakly. "I sensed it building in him. I'd seen it in moments during his training. Then I looked inside and it was beyond anything I ever imagined." He pressed his eyes closed, unable to look at Han's face anymore. "Snoke had already turned his heart. He would bring destruction, pain, death, and the end of everything I love because of what he will become. And for the briefest moment of pure instinct, I thought I could stop it. It passed like a fleeting shadow. And I was left with shame and with consequence. And the last thing I saw were the eyes of a frightened boy whose master had failed him."

Luke opened his eyes again to find Han still glaring down at him. "You did more than fail him." Han accused as he put his blaster back in its holster. "You attacked my son because of some unsubstantiated Force vision! And your pathetic excuses don't wash with me." He shook his head in disgust as he stormed out of the Falcon and went in search of Kylo.

Kylo sat amongst the old Jedi ruins, cradling Rey on his lap. He stared bleakly over her shoulder as he hugged her to him tightly. He'd hurt her. Not intentionally. But he had still done it. After he had vowed to himself to always protect her. He rocked Rey a little, his eyes tightening as he drowned in remorse. The guilt sat not on his chest but inside his brain. What he had done he could not un-do. He was a monster. His horrific memories had spurred her on to attack Skywalker and she had suffered the consequences. He had put her life at risk by opening up the lockbox of his darkest memories.

Rey moaned breathlessly as she slowly drifted back to consciousness. Her head hurt abominably. She squirmed in Kylo's tight grip until he relaxed his hold on her enough so she could breathe. She opened her eyes to find his devastated face looking down at hers. Disorientated, Rey took a moment to sort through her tangled thoughts, until comprehension dawned.

She had attacked Luke Skywalker!

As the guilt came to haunt her, she drew in an unsteady breath. "Ben, what did I do?" She pleaded.

"You didn't do anything." Kylo enfolded her in his arms again. One second passed. Two seconds passed. Three seconds passed. Guilt was eating and pestering him. A fire burned in his mind and throat. Remorse hitting him like a sledgehammer. "It was all me. I did it."

Rey tried to make sense of the confusion clouding her mind. Why was he blaming himself? He wasn't responsible for her actions. "I was the one holding the lightsaber, Ben. Not you."

"You were reacting off my memories. I should never have shared them with you." Kylo's voice was thick with regret. "And then…. I…I hurt you."

"No. You stopped me in time. You had no choice." Rey's mind was slowly clearing. She sat up on his lap, rubbing her aching temples.

"I hurt you."

"I'm fine." Rey sighed regretfully. "Next time we'll be more careful."

"There won't be a next time." Kylo retorted. "I am not going to risk this happening again."

"Like you have any control over it. We still don't fully understand this connection between us." Rey's eyes snapped to his and she glared at him. "Will you stop feeling sorry for yourself! What happened wasn't your fault. Get over it and move on."

Kylo opened his mouth to argue when he sensed his father approaching. "This conversation is not over." He warned her quietly.

As Han appeared on the horizon, Rey felt her cheeks grow warm with embarrassment at the compromising position she was in. She was sitting snuggled up on Kylo's lap, pressed up against his broad chest. The situation was only made worse when she saw the knowing smirk Han flashed in his son's direction. Scowling, Rey climbed out of Kylo's lap and rose unsteadily to her feet. Mustering up her remaining dignity, she avoided looking directly at either Han or Kylo as she led the way out of the temple ruins.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.