Direct continuation of chapter 3. :P
SSS
Finn stares through the glass wall separating the impromptu infirmary from the rest of their tumble-down base, and wonders if there is a single race in the galaxy that hasn't been forced to invent a word for betrayal.
On the other side of the window, Kylo Ren slumbers fitfully, drugged as deep as they can get him because with one exception, the Resistance would rather see him dead than conscious enough to use the Force or swing a Saber. He's almost completely healed now, the puncture in his lung mended at Rey's insistence.
Betrayal.
Sometimes, he wonders why he doesn't just do it. Shoot the bastard through the thin sheet of glass and have it over with. What does he care that he's Leia's son? Han's son? He's Kylo Ren.
But Rey asked him to keep Ben Solo safe.
Finn's hands clench at his sides.
Rey can't be here all the time. With as few of the Resistance as remain, she has duties and responsibilities just like the rest of them, even beyond being the last remaining Jedi. So she asks Finn to guard him when she cannot. Because Finn is the only one she truly trusts in the wake of Leia's death.
He hates that he wants to deserve that trust, even at the cost of Ren's continued existence.
At the moment though, Rey is on the far side of the room, across the bed from Finn's window. She's sitting braced against the wall, her head bowed and arms wrapped loosely around her knees, and if Finn didn't know any better he'd say she'd fallen asleep.
SSS
"They can't keep me here forever." his voice, dark and rich with frustration, rolls out of the darkness, crashing over Rey like she imagines a wave would do.
"Maybe." she agrees. She can't say he's wrong; their supply of sedatives is already depleted. A few more weeks at most, and they'll have to find another way to keep him contained.
His resentment washes over her, and beneath that a clawing sense of anxiety. He is trapped here, in his own shadows. They won't let him out.
"Are they going to kill me?" he asks derisively. He knows they want to. He also knows that she won't let them. She thought at first that her protection would gal him, but he seems to accept it without question.
She doesn't rise to the bait. For a few moments, there is only silence.
"Why do you keep coming back?" his voice is sullen now, and right behind her left ear. She resists the urge to turn or step away.
"Why do you keep letting me in?" she retorts. The bond they share isn't enough for her to enter his mind without his consent. Their bond exists between them, rather than inside either. For her to enter his thoughts like this, without difficulty time after time, he has to allow it.
It is his turn to refuse an answer. Instead, the darkness around her begins to swirl, and shapes begin to coalesce, slowly replacing the shadows with light and color. Something inside Rey relaxes.
SSS
Finn checks the time on the wall. He could be doing something. Surely he has better things to do. He could be with Rose, or sparring with Po, or... something. Anything, other than watching Rey not watch Kylo Ren.
He doesn't move.
SSS
She's never seen a sea so blue.
"Where are we?" she can't hide the wonder in her voice. He has seen so many more places than she has, and though she would never say it aloud, she is grateful for how generous he is with his memories. For the places he has shown her in the space between them.
Sitting with his back against a rock a few yards from her, his arms folded across his chest, Kylo shrugs.
"I don't remember the name of the planet."
"It's beautiful." she whispers, but her eyes soon return to him as he gazes out at the water. He is beautiful too, in his own way. Beautiful, and broken.
A wave crashes up on the sand, washing up to touch the tips of their boots. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knows she can't stay here much longer. Her break must almost be up. But she can't leave him like this. Not when his melancholy seeps into her bones.
He doesn't respond when she slumps down beside him.
"I'm sorry." she tells him, very quietly. He shrugs again, and after a few hesitant moments she lets her head just rest against his shoulder, trying to offer comfort.
By the time she has to leave him, he has begun to lean back.
SSS
He wishes Rey wouldn't look at him when she leaves Ren's room. Wouldn't stop to talk to him. Wouldn't be so completely calm and collected and certain.
But she does, and she is. She stops to ask him how he is, how Rose is, what his assignments are like for the day. As if she hasn't done anything wrong. Anything that might go against everything they're fighting for.
And she thanks him. She wraps her arms around him in a grateful hug and thanks him for taking care of Ben. Of Kylo Ren.
He hugs her back hard and stares through the glass. On his bed, Ren's head tilts, his fingers twitching in his slumber.
Betrayal. He can only hope it's for the right reasons.