Several days flew by in a haze, each encounter easier than its predecessor. Every day was the same routine: Rey packed plenty of military rations and other edibles in her beat up satchel, piloted her speeder to the prison encampment, and sat in Kylo Ren's cell block, making sure he ate what she gave him. The first few days were a struggle, for the prisoner outright refused the pity offering. It wasn't until about the third day in that Rey used rather questionable methods to goad the man into eating. Rey rested in a chair and kicked her feet up on a table that had furnished the small room neighboring Kylo Ren's cell. Without even the slightest glance towards the prisoner, Rey pulled a large, juicy apple from her sack and proceeded to eat to her heart's content.
If looks could kill, Rey would surely be laying on the floor bleeding out before Kylo Ren. The haggard looking man sat against the back wall of his cell, a vicious scowl plastered to his face as he watched the apple repeatedly reach the scavenger's mouth. Kylo Ren would be lying if he said his mouth wasn't salivating, though he was unsure if it was in fact the sight of food that had caused it.
Rey stood and stretched her limbs, delightful pops echoing within the cavern along with her contented sigh. The scavenger took one last bite of her fruit and tossed the core into a nearby trashcan. Rey grabbed hold of her bag and tossed it over her shoulder, making way for the door. "Wait…!"
When Rey finally looked towards the cell sharing the room, Kylo Ren had crawled to the thick glass that had separated them, his eyes defiantly trained on the floor and his fists clenched in his lap. "May I…" Kylo Ren tightened his fists, trying to find the strength to push the rest of his thoughts past his horribly chapped lips.
Before he could continue, Rey sauntered over to a deposit slot in the wall and placed several pieces of fruit and bread within. With a press of a button, the slot closed and a track brought the items to the other side of the glass. Several silent moments passed before Kylo Ren slid over to the slot and removed a chunk of bread, bringing the baked good to his lips and tentatively ripped off a piece, eating as politely as he could.
A small smile graced the scavenger's lips, her shoulders relaxing in relief. "I wouldn't eat too much too fast if I were you. It doesn't feel so great when you do," Rey warned Kylo Ren before taking her leave.
Needless to say, the prisoner threw caution to the wind and wolfed down the rest of the bread as soon as the scavenger had disappeared from sight.
One week quickly turned into two, and Rey never missed a single day. Most days she and Kylo Ren would sit silently, eating together in peace. Other days she would make small talk, asking if he felt better, or if the guards were treating him properly. He always answered, regardless of his reluctance (though he was never too nice about it either).
They were sitting in silence again when Rey broke the silence. "Have you finished eating," she asked, watching the prisoner wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. A small nod was the only reply she had received. Rey rose from her usual spot, brushing herself off. Only this time she didn't grab her satchel to leave. "Stand up please?" Kylo Ren glanced up at the scavenger in confusion. "Just…trust me. Please stand up."
With a hand braced against the glass, Kylo Ren took his time and rose to his feet on unsteady legs. No doubt from his weakness and the injury Rey had inflicted on him some months ago. "What is it? What do you want?" he asked, his voice tired with a twinge of agitation as he stared down at her through the glass. Rey ignored the man's line of questioning and moved over to the cell door, opening a slot built into the door. "Put your hands through please," she continued politely, waiting patiently as Kylo Ren shuffled over and obeyed, a quizzical look morphing his features. The scavenger grabbed hold of one of the man's wrists, a strange shiver creeping from the base of her spine as their skin made contact. 'I've never touched him before,' she realized, shaking the thought from her head as she brought up restraints and bound Kylo Ren's wrists together.
Before the prisoner could open his mouth to ask, Rey piped up, answering the question he was surely going to ask. "You need some fresh air. I'm taking you outside," Rey explained, punching in a code on a datapad mounted to the wall. With a soft hiss, the glass slid apart, bringing Rey and Kylo Ren fully face to face for the first time in months. Both of the individuals seemed a little lost in the small phenomenon.
The prisoner moved first, breaking the tension. "Ladies first," Kylo Ren mumbled, clearing his throat and motioning his hands towards the door. Rey proceeded to lead them through a side hallway, taking care to shelter Kylo Ren from the vicious stares and words that were sure to meet him down the other path. With a great heave against the door at the end of the hall, the metal tore through foliage that had blocked off the little used exit.
Rey had never seen someone so calm and at peace when Kylo Ren took his first few steps outside. The scavenger may have felt downtrodden on her home planet of Jakku, a sea of sand, but at least she had the light of day to warm her skin. She didn't know how it was possible, but the prisoner had seemed even paler than he was before.
Without a word, Kylo Ren shuffled further into the lush vegetation that engulfed them, following the soft, lulling sound of water trickling over stones. Rey followed him silently, watching the man's serene face as he went. The scavenger wasn't sure why, but something delicate tugged at her heart and twitched her mouth into a small, delighted smile.
"Rey?" The ring of her name snapped the scavenger out of her haze, genuinely surprised that she had heard something from his lips other than 'scavenger'. "May I have these taken off," Kylo Ren asked, a hopeful, almost pleading look on his face. "I won't do anything. I promise…"
Taken aback by the politeness of the man's request, Rey stood silent for a moment, unable to formulate words to answer the prisoner. Rey's face grew crimson, realizing Kylo Ren had been watching her expectantly this entire time. "Ah, s-sure," she barely sputtered out, embarrassed as all hell.
The scavenger opened the restraints, tensing in preparation of what may come. But whatever she was expecting never came. Kylo Ren took a step back and rubbed his sore wrists, casting a glance in Rey's direction. "Thank you," he spoke softly before turning to the stream ahead. Kylo Ren knelt next to the gently flowing water and dipped his hands in, bringing the liquid to up to clean his face.
Rey followed him shortly after and rested against the thick tree trunk near the water's edge. "Enjoying yourself," the scavenger asked, her voice almost on the verge of teasing. Rey's question was rudely ignored. Instead, Kylo Ren replaced her question with one of his own. "Why did you do it?" The man leaned back onto his heels, a mask of confusion and bewilderment covering his face as he stared up at the young Jedi. "Why didn't you just kill me? I didn't need your pity then and I don't need it now."
Many nights had passed as Rey had wondered the same thing. The scavenger took a long pause before answering. "I feel it too," Rey spoke with her eyes focused on the ground beneath her feet, repeating the words Kylo Ren had used with her once upon a time. "The loneliness, the pain, the absence of not really belonging anywhere. All of it. It's not that I didn't want to kill you. It's that I couldn't. Because I finally saw you for who you were; not a creature behind a mask, but a human being. A human being that felt like everyone else." The scavenger finally pulled her eyes up to look at Kylo Ren. "You're right. You don't need my pity, nor do you deserve it. Not after what you've done. But you do deserve my understanding; after all, how am I supposed to go on ignoring somebody with feelings that so closely resemble my own?"
Rey had no time at all to react when Kylo Ren came at her, slamming his hand into the tree and causing the scavenger whip back in fear, a seething scowl twisting his face as he barred his teeth. "You know nothing about me, scavenger. You know nothing of what I've endured, what costs I've had to suffer in my life. I would have been happy to die back in that swamp or in my jail cell. There is nothing left for you to salvage from the shell of a man that I am now. So stop trying." The prisoner ripped the restraints from Rey's hands and shackled his own wrists together. "Take me back to my cell. We're finished here," he hissed, taking a step back from Rey and giving her some room.
The journey back to Kylo Ren's cell block was deafeningly quiet, only the soft crunch of leaves and rocks under their feet breaking the silence. Even in the following moments within the cell block, not a single word was spoken between the two as Rey placed the prisoner back into his cell. The scavenger swiftly packed her things away in her satchel and headed for the door, pausing for only a moment, a thought on the tip of her tongue.
"Don't forget who you are…Ben Solo," she spoke softly before taking her exit. She didn't stick around to see Kylo Ren viciously hit the glass behind her.