Her lips were cold, and unpractised, but the kiss itself was warm and warming. For two, three, four seconds he held her there, then she pulled back and he set her on the ground.

And prayed she hadn't noticed his body's reaction to hers.

Rey looked up at him, touched his cheek, then turned to go back to the house. It took Kylo a moment to regain his composure (and be grateful for the baggy long jacket he was wearing) before he started following her. He could still feel the burn of her lips, the grip of her arms, and the impending warmth of the lava pits.

They'd broken a deep path on the way down, so the walk back was much easier. Rey trudged ahead, turning from time to time to smile at him then continue. As they approached the cabin, the snow started falling heavily, and she stopped near the car and stood looking at the house.

"So you've been lying to my grandfather? Or did he make an assumption that you never bothered to correct?"

Kylo's heart stopped. He'd been so careful, kept his contacts infrequent and undetectable – or so he thought. What had she found out?

"Or are you bi? And just forgot to mention that side to Poppy when he asked you to look after me?"

"I'm ... what?" He came up beside her where she was still looking over the house, measuring up proportions with her hands like an artist as the snowflakes fell. There were six inches of snow on the roof again, mounding on the skylights and absent from around the chimney. "What did you say?"

"Oh yes, I was warned that you were a finocchio." She turned and grinned at him. "Isn't it obvious? You've worked for Poppy for four years, and never had a girlfriend or even been seen with a girl in all that time. The only person you've talked to is his pretty redheaded bodyguard, and Hux makes no secret of his preferences. Besides," she held up her hands again, taking proportions this time of the sides of his head. "you've got ricchione."

"What the hell are ricchione?"

"You don't know?" She put her hands down. "Big ears. It's a sign of ... well, it's a sign."

It took all Kylo's self-control to not yell at her. He'd been shockingly hot-tempered in his younger days, although he'd managed to keep it under control while working for the Don. Being a brawler would not have helped him at all. So he didn't lash out. But he did turn and walk back to the cabin silently, stalking hard through the snow and clambering over the large mound still at the front. He could hear her following, slipping a little on the icy patches. At the entrance, he banged his boots to get the snow off them then slipped them off as he walked in the door, scooping them up to put in front of the fire. It would take until the next day to dry them. He could cope without for that long.

Returning to the porch, he hung up his coat and now-sodden scarf, and adjusted his holster so that it didn't pull. Rey had already put up her own coat, and scampered inside towards the kitchen. For a minute he stared unthinkingly at her coat, its bright pink hues obvious even in the dimming light from the front. Then he shook his head, disgusted at his own foolishness. Four years of being quiet, saying nothing, giving away nothing, and he had almost blown it to this slip of a girl. If someone as naïve as her could bring him close to saying things he didn't mean to say, perhaps it was time to get out of this business. He just needed to finish this job, and then he could go.

But he couldn't leave her unprotected. And if he left now, she might not be safe.

Then he laughed out loud. Four years of acting a part, and this was what the audience had thought he was portraying. No wonder he'd been considered safe to look after the Principessa. He'd almost been too good – although it was a miracle that he'd not looked at a woman all this time. If Palpatine thought he'd been lying about this, what else would the old Don think he'd been covering up? It was only because he'd put his body and soul into the job that he hadn't had time for anything else. Driven was a word often used to describe him. Or obsessed. And yet this tiny package had almost broken his cover.

And kissed him.

He'd have to keep playing it cool. She was young, inexperienced. She was probably just testing him. Either to make sure he was on her side, or because she was a horny almost-teenager stuck in a cabin with a man. It probably wouldn't matter what man. She'd be making the moves on anything under 40. Which meant that at 30, he was in danger.

And had to be more chill than the snakes in the woodpile.

He bounded up the stairs to get a warm pair of socks, and his trainers. Checking his bag for any sign of tampering, he pulled out a balled-up pair and slipped them on, enjoying how a simple thing like clean and dry socks could give such pleasure. The wet ones went back downstairs to hang over the firescreen, and he stoked the fire at the same time.

Rey pleaded a headache, and went upstairs for a short sleep before dinner, but before she did she handed over the extra bag she had acquired at the library. At his raised eyebrow, she grinned.

"Miss Holdo thought you might like some new things to read." Inside the bag was a variety of books, all stamped Deaccessioned. "She said she was clearing out the shelves, and you'd be doing her a favour. Here. She particularly recommended this one." Rey reached in and pulled out The Road to Science Fiction Vol. 3. There was a scrap of paper showing where some previous reader must have stopped and left a bookmark in place.

Kylo waited until Rey was upstairs before opening the book. On the scrap, in a childish hand, a drawing showed a black-clad spaceman with a laser pistol standing under a dark flag. He stared at it, then smiled at the words Kylo Ren underneath. He'd been eight when he drew it, and heartbroken when he'd lost it. It must have been in a book he'd returned, because he had never read this one. And it meant one more person knew who he was and where. But this had to be a signal that she would not betray him. When he went to town later in the week, he would go and talk to Miss Holdo.

Settling down on the couch and tucking the bookmark at the end of the book, he started at the beginning. 2217 Time Zone V (EST) 7 Nov. 1970-NTC- "Pop's Place": I was polishing a brandy snifter when the Unmarried Mother came in ...

He'd just finished The Cold Equations when he heard Rey coming down the stairs. He noticed the drop in temperature, and built the fire up while she headed for the kitchen. Shortly afterwards something smelled wonderful, and she called him into a steak dinner that had him drooling as soon as he saw it.

"You really are very good at this."

"Well, your turn tomorrow night."

"Fair enough."

"And not soup."

"Oh."

"There's plenty of choice." She put some more sour cream on her baked potato, her glass of water refracting the light from the bulb above them. It also showed her face, thoughtful, almost guilty. He waited. She wasn't very subtle about things; no doubt she would say what was bothering her soon.

"And I'm sorry. If you're gay, that's your business. I was just ... I wasn't sure. The way you looked at me in the bath – I wanted to know. But it's up to you to tell me."

"So you kissed me to find out if I was into women."

"Into ... yes, women." She took a sip of water.

"Am I the first man you've ever kissed?"

"Of course not!" She blushed, and looked away.

"So that's a yes."

"Oh come on. What do you think Poppy would do if I had kissed anyone."

"He'd kill me." Kylo took his own water glass and raised it to her. "I am honoured to be your first kiss, Principessa, but I think perhaps we can both agree not to tell your grandfather about it. I doubt if he'd be as forgiving of you as well."

"Perhaps." A drop of water fell on the wooden table, and she started making shapes with it like a child fingerpainting. "Hypothetically speaking, does it count if the other person kissed me first?"

"Who?"

"Never mind. Just a thought."

"Do you mean, were you my first kiss? No. No, I've definitely had some experience in kissing over the years."

"Oh." She looked up at him, blushing slightly. "So you'd be able to teach me."

"What? No!" The glass only just made it down to the table, although a little sloshed over the edge. "No. Definitely not."

"Why not?"

"You're too young ..."

"22!"

"... and you're only feeling like that because I'm the only man around."

"Not true. Unkar Plutt was my bodyguard for years, and I certainly didn't ever want to kiss him." She shuddered. "And besides, there's guys in my course, and I don't want to kiss any of them either."

"Have you considered that they're probably gay too. Straight guys don't tend to take beauty courses."

She looked about to say something, but he laid his hand on hers.

"Let me explain something to you."

"Well?"

"I'm your bodyguard."

"And you're not Kevin Costner and I'm not Whitney Houston, yet here we are."

"Yes, but Whitney Houston's grandfather wasn't going to ... never mind."

She snorted. "Yeah. Never mind. That was what you wanted to explain?"

"It's ... a professional relationship. You and I."

"Like a sex worker?"

It was a good thing he wasn't drinking wine at that point û the stains would never have come out of the wooden tabletop. "No! No, I mean that my job is to protect you, but if you start ... if you regard me as anything else but your grandfather's employee, and we get into a situation, I need you to do whatever I tell you to. To run, or to hide, or not to interfere if there's a fight. And if you start seeing me as more than just your bodyguard, you might not do that." He grabbed a paper towel and mopped up most of the water. "Although thank you for referring to them as sex workers."

"People you know?"

"Some."

"You'll have to tell me one day."

"One day. But can you do it?"

"See this as a professional relationship? I suppose." She looked uncomfortable, and it worried him. It can't be easy having a contract out on you, and he was sure it must be weighing on her, but he didn't know how to help. Get her to talk about it? Or just keep reassuring her? Maybe there was something concrete he could have her do.

"It has to be. I'm sorry, Rey."

She rubbed her hands over her face, as if to wash something off. "If it wasn't?"

He sighed. He should have known she'd ask that. "It is what it is. If it wasn't, if I hadn't been assigned to keep you safe, we might not even have met. And if we had, could you really see your grandfather being happy with you dating one of his Capos?"

"No-one would be good enough for me, in his eyes. You're right." Her face was forlorn, and the sadness cut right into Kylo's soul. "I don't think he approved of my parents' marriage. Mama was his only daughter, and ... no-one told me specifically, but I think that's why they ran away. Because Poppy didn't want them together." She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "I'm not sorry that I kissed you, but I don't want to get you into trouble with Poppy. From now on, you might get a quick friends-only kiss on the forehead at bedtime, but that'll be it. Will that be all right?"

"I think we can cope with that. Like a brother and sister."

"My big brother." The smile was back – the sad one. But a smile at least. "There is one thing I do need from you, though."

"It depends."

"A new name."

"You don't like Rey?"

"I'm still not keen on you using Principessa." She scowled. "When Poppy uses it, he's showing me off, like a china doll or something special he found at an antiques shop. And some of his people use it, like Mr Hux, and ... and Snoke." It looked for a moment to Kylo that she had swallowed bitter aloes, so distasteful was her expression. "I was trying it for the week, letting you use it, but it's not me."

"What would you like me to call you?" He knew what this was. She wanted something that was his, and his alone. If she couldn't have the man, the name would do.

Although it had been what his father would call his mother. Your Highness. And in all the years and the arguments and the frustrations, it had been the thing that would bring a smile to her face.

He dredged his mind for Italian endearments. "Topolina?"

"Too cute."

"Passerotta?"

"That's for little kids."

"Patatina!"

"I am not a potato!" She flicked a bit of water at him. "Why not something that's not Italian?"

"I'll have to think about it."

She left it at that, although the look of extreme suspicion on her face only had him laughing. He just hated seeing her so low. That was the reason for the teasing, surely.

Two hours later, Rey came past him as he was reading on the couch. Toothbrush in hand as she headed off to bed, she kissed the top of his head and patted it in a rather condescending manner.

"Goodnight, Kylo."

"Goodnight, Kitten."

She stopped and stared at him, but he only grinned back at her.

"Kitten?"

"It fits."

"Fine, then." She swung back around to head up the stairs, but not before he spotted a soft smile on her face.

Finocchio – Faggot (comes from "Fennel", no idea why)

Ricchione – Calling someone ricchione means their large ears indicate they are at least bisexual.

Topolina – Little mouse

Passerotta – Sparrow Chick, usually only used, as Rey says, for little children.

Patatina – Little Potato

Much thanks to Miss Boss Woman Sir for checking the Italian for me.