He had expected them to run, or hide. He had half-expected fifty X-wing fighters to be waiting when he dropped out of hyperspace and came into orbit above the small planet. But as his small ship descended down into the rocky planet, he knew they had not run or called in a fighting force. He knew Luke Skywalker and the Scavenger were there, but alone. He could sense this through the Force. He could sense through the Force that there was no duplicity forthcoming, no traps set.
It made him uneasy.
As he landed the small ship and cautiously disembarked he sensed her immediately, waiting a few hundred feet up the rocky shore; likely she had sensed him coming since he dropped into orbit.
"Hello, Ben."
He paused. "Ben Solo is dead. I killed him."
She nodded. "So I've heard. But I found him alive, deep down inside of you."
He ignited his saber then and stepped forward towards her menacingly, expecting her to draw her own. Instead, she continued to examine him.
"Why are you wearing your mask? I've seen you without it now. You don't need it."
"Stop delaying this. Draw your saber and fight me."
She gazed at him for a few more moments before turning away and walking up the long path towards the top of the island.
"Sure, I'll fight you. But first Luke Skywalker wants to talk to you."
—
He followed her up the mountain, her lithe form in front of him handling the snaking steps with ease. He knew well where they were; this place was a legend, and at the training academy they used to tell hushed stories of the first Jedi that had gathered here to train and study. The hundreds of thousands of stacked stones against the verdant green of the hills were as beautiful as he imagined, and he swallowed back a childlike sense of wonder and desire to explore.
As they crested the top of the island, Skywalker was waiting for him. Kylo Ren laid his hand on the hilt of his lightsaber, ready to press the button and ignite the spitting red fire at the first sign of trouble.
"So this is where the great Jedi Luke Skywalker hides from the First Order," he said, knowing the voice filtered through the mask be a mutation of what Luke remembered.
"Not so great, maybe." Skywalker cocked his head to one side, slowly waking a little closer to Ren and then sitting on a crumbling foundation of stacked stones. Rey joined him, kneeling first to stoke the fire before taking a seat.
"Not so great a Jedi that I was able to see the harm I was doing to you-to the entire Resistance. Not so great a Jedi that I wasn't able to see past my own ambitions to what those around me needed." He looked at Ren with sad eyes, eyes filled with regret. "Not so great a Jedi that I didn't make grievous errors."
Ren scowled inside his mask. "Don't think you can manipulate me, Jedi. Nothing can divert me from the path I have chosen."
Skywalker shook his head. "I'm not trying to manipulate you, Ben. I'm trying to make things right. Or make a small step towards making it right."
"Your efforts are useless. Stand and fight me and you will see I have grown past you."
"Stop!" Rey rose, her eyes bright with anger. "God damn it Ben, will you listen to him? He wants to finish your training."
Ren almost ignited his light saber then and there and cut down the both of them. How dare they want him-now? After everything? But instead, he reached his hands up and activated the buttons that released his helmet. As he drew it over his face he felt the cool, damp air of the island settle over him, coil into his curls.
Rey's passion was a burning light in his consciousness, but he stared at Skywalker. "Why," he asked quietly, with terrifying fierceness, "would you want to do that?"
Skywalker stood up, and drew closer to Ren. "Because you are my apprentice. And because i did it all wrong the first time around. I should have concentrated on training just a few-and really seen your training through, and then you could have helped me in training others. I was afraid, so afraid that the First Order would take everything we had worked for. I wanted everything too fast, and I tried to do it all myself. And I didn't do any of it right."
He paused, and then with courage, drew closer, and placed his hand on Ren's shoulder. "And because I miss you Ben. You are my nephew. I love you, and I should have been there for you when your parents…" He shook his head sadly. "Well, when they weren't."
Ren's face betrayed no emotion, but he stepped back until Skywalker's hand dropped from his shoulder, and looked away. He thought furiously, shielding his mind from the scavenger. He knew there were things about the Force that Snoke could never teach him, secrets that only Jedi Knights with their knowledge of the Light had mastery over. If he could gain access to those secrets, he could use them to defeat the Resistance-and to bring glory to the First Order.
He wouldn't be able to hide his intentions. No, in the rigor of the training he would be found out-he knew that. So he would have to be clear about it and not pretend to have turned. They would know otherwise.
"If I do this," he said, turning back to Skywalker abruptly, "You mustn't think I owe you loyalty in any way, or that I am pledging myself to you. I am loyal to the First Order."
Skywalker bowed his head in agreement. "Of course–though I do hope you change your min-"
"I won't," he stated dully. His gaze shifted to Rey, who had been sitting quietly next to the fire as this had been taking place. "And the scavenger–what about her?"
Skywalker half-smiled. "As I said. You'll help me in training others."
He was rewarded with two sets of shocked eyes.