Kylo was still in the meadow, still sleeping in the cave on Tatooine. He saw Padme appear, as he leaned against the tree. He was delighted. She had come back! He leapt to his feet and jogged in her direction.
"Hello there, Padme!" Kylo said with the biggest smile on his face. The smile quickly disappeared when he approached her. She was upset, tears streaking down her face.
"Padme?" he uttered softly, concerned about her. She gazed at him, not knowing what to say to him. His heart ached, because he felt her pain and sorrow.
Kylo opened his arms and tightly embraced Padme. He held her close as the tears became sobs. Kylo hated seeing her this upset, but he knew she was not ready to talk about what was bothering her. She needed someone just to hold her, someone that was not a member of her family.
"I'm here, Padme. As long as you need me," he vowed to her. Padme slowly calmed down. She felt safe in Ben's arms.
After a few minutes, she pulled away. Twice she had cried in front of him.
"He must think I'm a mess!" she thought to herself.
"If you're a mess, then I'm a disaster," Kylo responded back out loud. Padme was surprised that he knew her thought.
"Force Bond, remember?" he added, with a small smile on his face.
"I remember," she replied. "My face! Oh, it must look horrible!"
"Not at all," Kylo whispered in a husky voice. He wrapped his arms around Padme's waist. She felt a shiver go down her spine, but she also wrapped her arms around him.
"Please let there be no interruptions!" Kylo thought to himself, as he brought a hand to Padme's face. She closed her eyes as he leaned in and placed his lips onto hers for a kiss.
"Thank the Maker!" Padme said to herself, as Kylo kissed her.
"Thank the Maker is right!" Kylo responded back non-verbally. He wanted to keep kissing her, but he sensed she wanted to take things slowly. So he withdrew his lips from hers.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Kylo asked her, as he took her hand and led her to the tree.
"About what?" Padme asked, a little embarrassed.
"About what upset you. Wait, what did you think..." Kylo paused. Padme thought he wanted to talk to her about the kiss!
She turned her back on him, feeling ashamed.
"Don't feel that way," he told her. She turned to face him, and smiled.
They sat down on the ground. Padme shared her frustration about her family, wondering why they felt they needed to keep secrets from her.
"So you found out a secret they were hiding from you?" Kylo asked. She nodded her head in agreement. He felt compassion for her. He could definitely relate to her feelings.
"I'm sorry about that. It's not a good feeling, being kept in the dark, especially about family stuff," he added, as he caressed the side of her face.
"You understand," Padme replied, as she titled her head. "Because it happened to you, too."
Kylo's face went pale. Did Padme know what he had done? He mentally blocked the memories, so that she could not read them. But if she knew, then she would have ran away. Instead, she stayed there, waiting for him to respond.
"I'd rather not talk about it," he finally said to her. "It's very personal."
"Oh," she uttered in dejection.
"But one day, if we ever meet face to face, I will tell you everything," Kylo promised her.
"And I will do the same," Padme replied.
They came to an understanding. If they did not want to talk about something, the other person would not push them to.
"I'm tired of talking, anyway," Padme sighed.
"I agree," Kylo replied with a mischievous grin on his face. He leaned in and kissed Padme, his arms wrapped around her waist.
Padme and Kylo, or Ben as she knew him, continued to meet every night in their shared dreams. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes they would kiss, and other times, they would lean against the tree and hold each other in silence.
Padme's family stayed in Hosnian Prime. The Senate decided not to declare war on the First Order. The Order started their assault on the Outer Rim. Their first target was Endor, in revenge of what the native Ewoks in aiding the Rebellion years ago. Luke, Leia and Han gathered as many volunteers as they could get to fight. But the enemy countered back, and they seized control of Endor.
Kylo continued his quest to find Luke and his family. He would kill anyone who was in allegiance to the First Order, since it was birthed out of the Empire Vader had reigned over.
He had left Tatooine, and made his way to Ryloth. It was a planet strong in tradition of rebelling against the Empire. He remembered reading about freedom fighter Cham Syndulla, and his daughter, General Hera Syndulla.
Kylo wanted to take a break from seeking revenge. He decided to stay in Lessu, the capital city of Ryloth. He needed time to think. It had been three months since he and Padme formed the Force bond. Kylo was at a crossroads. He still desperately wanted revenge, but his desire to be with Padme was just as strong.
He knew that she wanted to fight against the First Order. Kylo tried to stay neutral. He despised the Order, but the Rebellion was being led by Luke Skywalker, who he hated.
He was walking around Lessu when he saw from a distance a couple of Stormtroopers, harassing a young Twilek boy. Kylo wore his helmet and black outfit. Without thinking, he ignited his light saber and began attacking the Stormtroopers.
"Run!" he screamed at the boy, who obeyed. Kylo quickly killed the soldiers. He was disgusted by them, trying to pick on a little child!
Kylo looked and saw a legion of them heading in his direction. He felt the anger build inside of him. If they wanted to fight, he would give them one. They advanced. Kylo struck them down, one by one. He felt the fury of the Dark side flow through him as he stabbed and slashed his enemy, using Force push and pull in his assault.
Another legion of Stormtroopers stood by in amazement at the masked warrior. The leader of the First Order, General Armitage Hux, came from the back to see why the troops were not moving. His evil eyes stared at what this single person was doing.
"General, do we advance against him?" the lead Stormtrooper, Captain Phasma, asked.
"No," General Hux replied. "He needs to be captured. This man is a force user, he cannot arrested by regular means. Have a small group of soldiers take the special taser and handcuffs, and follow him. When they have him cornered, seize him and bring him to me."
Kylo fled back to the place he was staying at. He knew he needed to get off the planet before any more Stormtroopers come after him. He quickly packed his few belongings, grabbed his lightsaber, and ran out the door.
He encountered a Stormtrooper. Kylo was about to reach for his lightsaber, but he was tasered from behind. He fell to the ground, stunned by the shock given to him. He was quickly handcuffed from behind, and roughly forced to his feet. They dragged him away, and took him on a shuttle ship to the Finalizer.
Kylo was thrown into a cell. The soldiers entered and locked the door behind them. They tore his mask off . Kylo tried to fight them off as they proceeded to undress him. They took turns restraining him, as they kicked, punched and spat at him. Kylo grunted in pain.
Before he was tasered, Padme had just stepped out of the shower. She was in her bedroom when she felt pain in her body. At first, she thought she pulled a muscle after her training session with Luke. But the pain kept coming, on different parts of her body, growing more intense. She tried to get to her bed, but she felt like she was being restrained. Padme then felt strange hands on her body, as if they were touching her while she was naked.
She was terrified. Padme finally managed to make it to the bed. She laid on top of it, trying to figure out what was going on with her. She tried to calm herself down by breathing, but it was not working.
Kylo laid on the floor, naked, bruised and bleeding. The Stormtroopers pulled him up. Padme cried in pain as she felt the tightness around her arms. Kylo was brought into the interrogation room. Both he and Padme felt the restraints being placed on their hands and feet.
"Padme," Kylo called to her through the Force.
"I'm here, Ben," she softly replied. "Where are you?"
"In the custody of the First Order."
"Ben, no! Get out of there!"
But Kylo could not escape. That was the moment General Hux walked in the room. Padme felt Ben's fear as the general drew to his prisoner.
Author's note: If you wanted to be spoiled and know the name of the young Twilek boy, you can read my story "Children Know Best".
