Benjamin Organa Solo. You have pleaded guilty to one count of unarmed robbery and are sentenced to twenty years. Also, you have violated the terms of your parole and are hereby sentenced to another ten years. You are hereby sentenced to a total of thirty years in Takodana county prison. Given that you plead guilty, visitation rights will be allowed pending a report of good behavior by the warden.
Less than 48 hours after getting caught in the bank those were the words Kylo Ren heard. To add salt to the wound Kylo found out later that day that not only was Hux going to be released on bail but that he already had messages from his parents.
Benjamin Solo,
What were you thinking! You just got out of prison. Your father and I can and will not be helping you this time. Not only did you rob a bank, but I had to find out from the local news that you had been arrested because you couldn't be bothered to use your one phone call to inform me, this was the last straw son, your father and I will not help you this time.
Sincerely
Leia Organa Solo
Benjamin Solo,
Your mother has said it all. You are no longer a son of ours, congratulations from now on you will be Kylo Ren, a stupid man with no connection to his family.
Sincerely
Han
Kylo scoffed and tossed his parent's letters aside. He had not been expecting anything else from them but somehow it still hurt. He leaned against the bars of his cell and looked at what was going to be his home for the foreseeable future. Takodana jail was the smallest jail Kylo had ever seen, yet according to what he had overheard it was the biggest jail in the area which meant many prisoners got transferred there.
To Kylo, the jail, which consisted of 3 levels of 10 cells, 5 on each side of the hallway, with one communal dinging area for the prisoners on the first floor, and a small fenced-in yard, was absolutely primitive, when he learned from other prisoners that there were no cameras in the place and only a half a dozen or so guards on shift it was almost laughable.
Breaking out would have been so easy, he mused on several occasions. He never gave it more than a passing thought though. While his entire time in Coruscant prison had been spent plotting escapes this time he was more than willing to sit back and be a model prisoner and it was all because of her. Because of Rey, who had sent him a letter within a week of his sentence.
Kylo Ren,
I can't help but feel like this is my fault. I should have listened to you; I shouldn't have made your past such a big deal. We all have things about our history that we would rather pretend are not there. We have all made mistakes, and it was unfair of me to judge you based on yours. I am truly sorry and hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive me. However, if I do not hear back from you, I will know that I have forever lost your trust. Again I am so sorry, and I would love to hear from you.
Love,
Rey
When it had first arrived Kylo Ren had read and re-read Rey's letter as if his life depended on it. Sweet Forgiving Rey had done what he had as of yet been unable to do. She had forgiven him for the mistakes of his youth, and his most recent error. He felt as though he could cry as he requested a pen and paper to respond to her. What's more, was the way Rey had closed her letter. She had written Love Rey, love, there was no way to accidentally write that in a letter, no, she had meant it, he was sure of it, and that almost meant more to him than the letter itself.
Dear Rey,
Do not blame yourself. I am responsible for my actions, and in a moment of weakness, I allowed myself to be swayed by a man I do not even consider a friend, I, however, am immensely grateful that you have found it in your heart to forgive me. I will spend the rest of my days trying to make myself worthy of you. However, I feel I must mention that you must move on from me, I have a thirty-year sentence ahead of me, and I would hate to think that my being incarcerated is the reason you do not get to live a long and fulfilling life. However, should I earn the privilege, I would like one day for you to visit me so that I may apologize to your face for all the hurt I have put you through. Until then, letters must suffice, and I will anxiously be awaiting your next message.
Love, Kylo Ren
Dear Kylo,
You have nothing to apologize for. I have come to realize that our past does not define us, and I should not have let yours cloud my ability to see the man you are now. Your most recent mistake aside, I see you as a man who has spent so much time running from who society deems him to be because you would rather be judged on the things you have and will do. I know first hand what that was like. I never shared my history either, but I believe it is time you know, I grew up in the town of Jakku, I was an orphan…
The letters continued for months making this prison sentence pass much quicker than his previous one. He was lucky, Kylo decided, to have someone like Rey despite all the mistakes he had made. He was content with where he was. The insults from other inmates and glares from the guards did nothing to dampen his spirit. Yes he was in jail but Rey had forgiven him, and if it took being a model prisoner for Rey to be allowed to visit him, then so be it. He smiled inwardly as he read his latest letter from Rey.
Dear Kylo,
They call them cold-blooded killers
they say they are heartless and mean.
But I say this with pride
that I once knew Clyde,
when he was honest and upright and clean.
But the law fooled around;
kept taking him down,
and locking him up in a cell.
Till he said to me;
"I'll never be free,
so I'll meet a few of them in hell"
The road was so dimly lighted
there were no highway signs to guide.
But they made up their minds;
if all roads were blind,
they wouldn't give up till they died.
The road gets dimmer and dimmer
sometimes you can hardly see.
But it's fight man to man
and do all you can,
for they know they can never be free.
Love you, stay strong, Rey
Dear Rey,
That was both haunting and beautiful what was it?
Love Kylo
The letters were most of the time short little tidbits of what she was thinking followed by a recap of her time without him. His were responses to her queries more often than not. He had no intention of sharing his life behind bars with her but he was desperate to hear anything he could about her. Her letters, which arrived in batches were his lifeline, the one thing he credited to keeping him sane, and no matter what she sent he made sure to answer it. Sometimes they only shared sentences at a time, to her it must have felt like the world's slowest conversation. To him, these letters where everything.
Dear Kylo,
That was an excerpt from the Trail's end by Bonnie Parker, I've been thinking about it a lot recently.
Love Rey
Dear Rey,
Do you compare me to Clyde often?
Love, Kylo
Dear Kylo,
No, I just can't help but see the similarities between you and Clyde. After all, you both have been faced with rather impossible odds over the years and…
He kept every letter she sent him. Hid them in a compartment he had found beneath the floorboards of his cell. Some would call him pathetic for keeping the oftentimes flowery words of a woman he had known for less than six months but to him they were everything.
As time wore on and Kylo continued to be a model prisoner he was finally granted visitation rights. When they asked him to make a list of people who he would like to be allowed to see him he had only one name for the list. His Rey.
Kylo,
What are we going to do when you get out of jail? I know you have many years left in your sentence but if you didn't, if you could walk out of there tomorrow, what would you do?
Love, Rey
Rey,
We can do whatever you want. No matter how big or small, I would be happy doing whatever as long as you were there with me.
Love, Kylo
Dear Kylo,
Your letters have become overly sappy as of late. I like it, don't get me wrong but I have to ask, are you ok, is there anything I can do for you. Also, you said whatever I want, so if all I want is to dance….
Love, Rey
Dear Rey,
I am fine, if my language seems flowery or different it is only because you have changed me for the better. I live for your letters Rey and I would do anything for you so if what you want is to dance than we will dance the night away. And though I cannot be free I would love it if you would come and visit me. I have been granted visitation rights, you are on my list of approved visitors.
Love, Kylo
Kylo started to get worried he had come on too strong when a week went by without him having heard from Rey. All of his fears however were washed away when a guard came to his cell.
"You've got a visitor, stand up"
Kylo hastened to comply knowing that only one person could be here to visit him. Expecting to be cuffed and led to a room he stepped away from the bars but was shocked when instead of being led out Rey was led into the corridor in front of his cell.
"You two have half an hour." the guard said gruffly "You may not pass anything to him and he may not pass anything to you. Understood?" the last part was directed at Rey.
"I understand."
"And you may not touch him or reach through the bars for any reason," The guard said, Rey nodded, the guard stared at her for a moment longer before walking towards the end of the hallway, "I will be just down the hall if you need me, ma'am," he said, walking off.
Rey watches him go for several seconds before turning to look at him. "Hi," she said shyly, looking at her feet.
Kylo wanted to reach through the bars and make her look at him but instead settled for saying "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Rey said finally looking him in the eye "Is everything alright, are they treating you ok?"
Kylo nodded "Yeah, everything is perfectly ok."