A trail of fresh blood mapped Kylo Ren's movements as he retreated from the corpse laden cell; the bright coppery liquid tracing a path through the halls, periodically spotting the marbled floor, until it ended abruptly at a thick steel door complete with multiple sophisticated locks. On the other side of the threshold, an inwardly frantic Kylo Ren was carefully cradling Rey's body as he gently lowered her onto dark sheets, supporting her head with pillows as he did so.
He could barely hear her breath as he pushed blood crusted hairs away from her swollen face, carefully tucking them behind her ears. There wasn't any time back in the cell, but now, he took in every inch of her, assessing injuries as his eyes scanned her body from head to toe, and what he saw scared him. He'd seen death and bloodshed – he'd executed it, more than once – but he wasn't prepared for this.
She was unconscious, but it was still obvious that both her eyes were swollen shut, the skin around them purple and peppered with small cuts where the skin broke under pressure. Her nose was crooked and leaking blood – clearly broken - and there was a large split in the middle of her bottom lip, the soft pink skin now raw and stained with red.
His eyes fell next, to her torso, where her already ragged clothing had been torn through multiple times – exposing the black and purple bruises that lined the skin. Running his hands over the injury he visualized the internal damage, connecting with the Force and using it to see internally. He drew a sharp breath when the image cleared, and he could see; she had multiple broken ribs and was bleeding internally – the sharp bone puncturing precious tissue. The sight showed him the damage to her lower leg as well – one bone snapped clean in half and lodged in the surrounding muscle, the other severely fractured and threatening to do the same.
Kylo tried to stay calm, but the damage to her system was too great – the physical pain shutting her mind down, the internal injuries bleeding her dry. He felt her heartbeat slow with each passing second, her light dissipating as it did so. There was nothing he could to save her, to stop the bleeding, and the tears came unwillingly to his eyes.
The darkness inside of him didn't want to admit that he could care so much for her after such a short time, but there was something else there – something that came alive when she was near, when she spoke – even when she was yelling at him. A barely noticeable flicker, a light blue streak across the back of his mind when he looked down at her where she lay – like a gentle reminder of something important.
It hit him then, an image of the training room – Rey across from him as the Force manifested itself in a way that he had never witnessed before. The dark waves of his own power crashing into and melding with the peaceful blue streaks of Rey's; a rich, warm sapphire where they met in the middle. It spoke of balance and connection and-
His eyes shot open as he looked down at Rey to see his memory of earlier today seemingly manifest itself before his eyes. The pale blue wind was wrapping itself around her limbs, up and down her body – focusing itself around her worst injuries – as if providing a map for him. Kylo was unsure of himself, but the breeze seemed to be beckoning him forward, teaching and instructing.
He felt only half there as he instinctively pushed out with the force, his hands resting on her body – one on her stomach, the other on the broken leg. The Force flowed around him as it did before, dark, coalescing, filled with emotion – and he directed it all at Rey's injuries. A perfect replay, the dark and light came together around her injuries – surrounding them in a rich, warm blue energy. It flowed through her like water and caressed the wounds like a soft breeze, swirling and healing under Kylo's guidance. He directed the energy toward her ribs, pushing them back into place and sealing them together – fragments knitting and smoothing over to return to normal. Then he was focusing on the internal lacerations, seemingly sewing them closed with the Force itself – energy weaving back and forth through the tissues, pulling the gaps shut and securing them in place.
His attention was then drawn to her leg, and he wasted no time in directing this newfound power to the large break there. He watched mystified, as under his touch and influence, the bone pulled back out of the muscle, the tears healing as it did so, to slide back into place. The fractures seemed to melt away under his fingers, as the last of the bone was fused and healed.
Kylo was exhausted from having expended so much energy already – but there was one last thing he had to do. His hands found her face again as he cupped her cheeks and willed the healing power to last just a little longer. Concentrating all his strength, he began to close the cuts, and reduce the bruising that surrounded her eyes. Her nose snapped back into place and the split in her lip had just begun to heal when his vision blurred, darkness closing around the edges. He was just quick enough to catch the edge of the bed as his legs gave out and he fell to his knees – head rested beside Rey's hand where it lay motionless on the sheets as he lost consciousness.
Rey woke first, dazed and vision blurry, with a throbbing pain in her cheekbones and across her abdomen. It was nothing compared to what she had felt before she passed out though – the pain had been raw and burning; a shudder passed through her as she replayed the sound of her leg snapping beneath the weight of the stormtrooper –
My leg, she thought as she gingerly pulled herself up against the sleek ebony headboard, surprised and confused that it didn't cause her pain as she moved – mystified when she found that she could still bend her knee and swivel her ankle. It was healed, and, confounded by this discovery, Rey made to check for the rest of the injuries that she knew she should have but was interrupted when the sound of another human's breathing registered in her mind.
Memories flitted through Kylo's mind as he slept – dreams of failures, of disappointments. He'd always been proficient in lightsaber combat, ambitious and wanting to learn, but when it came to the more sensitive side of the Force he was found lacking. The energy was only ever there to accompany his anger, his pain at being abandoned, tossed aside – every attempt to use it for happiness or compassion resulted in blank stares and hours of work with no reward. He'd been the only one, he remembered, who couldn't use the Force to heal at all – it was like a wall had dropped between the ability and him – every time he tried he was met with silence; as though the Force suddenly retreated and was nowhere to be found.
In his dreams he could see the many attempts – practicing on simple cuts, bruises – his fellow students succeeding with ease and him – clueless as to what magic they were weaving, angry that it wouldn't come to him – that the ability to heal, himself or others, would elude him so.
And then there was Starkiller Base and the burns from the Skywalker lightsaber. First Order medical crews had stopped the bleeding, sewn him up and grafted the burns – because he couldn't do it himself – not that any of them knew it was a possibility of course. But it still irked him, the scars – especially the one that trailed from left brow to right cheek – a constant reminder not only of his defeat, but of his inability to even begin to master an essential Force technique.
But, that image was replaced with Rey, energy pouring from him and into her – healing wounds so great they would've caused her death. Something had freed itself within him, granting access to this new power, granting him a chance to save her life – why?
She slowly swiveled her head to inspect the sound and her jaw almost dropped. Kylo Ren, dark waves of hair framing his face as he rested his head on the mattress, just inches away from her hand, was asleep – his features softened and almost boyish, almost – innocent. Rey had no idea what to make of this predicament as she took in her surroundings – other than the man asleep in front of her.
The bed upon which she lay was clothed in dark satin sheets, softer than any material she'd ever felt before; it boasted a large ebony headboard which she was currently using to lean against and was flanked on either side by relatively ordinary looking waist high cabinets that were fashioned from the same wood. The walls enclosing them were a dark, cold gray with nothing to interrupt the color except for a rather large window that looked out onto the depths of space. The starlight that filtered in through the heavy panes provided the only illumination in this unknown room and consequently, Rey could barely make out what lay in the darkest corner; an obsidian colored, gleaming podium and upon it - some disfigured object that, while it may have once been black, was now a deep, soot infused gray – as if it was painted in ash. The only other features in the room were the twin steel doors set on either wall; one of which was guarded by a keypad.
Returning attention to her own situation, Rey cautiously peered down, expecting to find her clothes torn and stained with blood but, while that was true for the sheets surrounding her – dark and crusted spots outlining her position – she herself was relatively free of it. The clothes she wore were not her own – similar in style and identical in color, but devoid of any abuse – of any blood. She started to panic a little then, realizing that somebody must have changed her clothes while she slept – was it him? She thought – eyes darting to the sleeping figure next to her only –
He wasn't asleep anymore. Kylo Ren stood at his full height beside where she sat, gaze intent on hers as she registered his presence. A wave of anger flashed through her as her eyes narrowed accusingly at him.
"Did you do this!?"
He looked slightly taken aback, if only for a moment, before he replied, "If you mean 'did I save your life', then yes." Unhelpful wit always being his first line of verbal defence.
It wasn't unlike every other time she'd woken up to find him in her presence, but Kylo still managed to be surprised when he was met with anger. He hadn't expected that, and it grated on his nerves. A sarcastic comment on his lips, he was just about to retaliate, when he noticed the slight blush on Rey's cheekbones - visible even under the bruising that still dotted her features. She wasn't looking at him anymore – instead, her eyes focused on the new and blood free, sand colored shirt she wore.
Oh… OH, Kylo thought, feeling like a stunted idiot. She thought… Now it was his turn to be slightly red, embarrassed at the thought despite his maturity. Nearly thirty years old yet the prospect had him unsettled. It was clearly mortifying for Rey though, as he watched her features shift – tears threatening at the corner of her eyes as she imagined the worst.
"No, it wasn't me." He choked out, slightly stuttering, "I had a female servant come in." In all honesty he could barely even remember making the demand and wasn't sure if it occurred before or after he healed her – his mind was fuzzy from all the energy and power he had used.
A realization came to him then – that if he'd passed out here, beside Rey – then the servant had swapped her clothes right in front of him – why wasn't he woken up? He pictured the image of himself asleep and defenceless as he kneeled by the bed and a whole new wave of embarrassment clouded his thoughts – but he gritted his teeth and pressed his lips together, trying to keep that emotion far away from his face – after all, if Rey knew he had been there, even asleep, he doubted her anger would ebb.
"Oh. I'm sorry for yelling at you then." A pause as she contemplated how to phrase her next words deciding to just get straight to the point.
"Why would you help me?"
"Why order your men to beat me half to death just to stop them at the last possible minute?" her breathing increased as her emotions spiked again, this time it wasn't in anger, but frustration, confusion – hurt. Her eyes glistened as they searched for an answer within his own, an explanation. "I don't understand." She managed to add in the tiniest of voices as her head dropped, hair forming a veil around her features.
That question sent a jolt of hurt through Kylo as he connected the dots – Rey thought it was his idea, that he'd given the order. She wouldn't look at him anymore, shoulders trembling slightly as he drew closer to her – taking a seat at the edge of the bed. Anger swirled inside him at the accusation, but he choked it down – he had to explain, she needed to understand he had no part in it.
"Rey," he said softly, and she instinctively tried to move away at the sound of his proximity – shoving herself across the bed, wincing as she did so. She tried not to show the pain it caused her, but he wasn't surprised. He hadn't had enough energy to heal all the bruising on her body and he imagined, that under her new shirt, her abdomen would still be covered in black and purple splotches as it was earlier.
"Rey, it wasn't me." He said imploringly, taken aback that it had come out like that – with so much need for her to hear him. "I didn't know what was happening until you screamed." – that warranted him a confused stare from Rey, her eyes narrowed with loathing.
"You formed a channel in the Force Rey, and it linked you to me." He paused "that's when I knew – and I…put a stop to it." He involuntarily reached out towards her as he said those last few words, not knowing whether he wanted to comfort her or ring her neck for accusing him.
She recoiled from his touch, "I don't believe you. Hux told me your plan, that he would…weaken me physically so I couldn't fight back mentally – against you" she snarled as she turned away and started to stand, trying to get further away from him.
He was around the bed in the blink of an eye - some basic instinct driving his actions as her knees buckled and she began to fall to the floor. His arms came around her of their own volition – one around the shoulders, one under the backs of her knees – as he stopped her descent and lifted her against him. The hazel eyes gazing up at him were filled with so many different emotions that her expression was unreadable – they flickered uncomfortably as she became agonizingly aware of how close they were – but he tightened his grip on her and began to speak again.
"I swear to you Rey, I didn't know… I was…convening with the Supreme Leader when it happened." Her gaze was uncertain as she listened to him – but she didn't try to break his hold on her – probably to spare herself more pain he thought to himself. Kylo didn't know why he was so hell-bent on proving himself to her but for some reason, the small trust or understanding they had built meant everything to him at that moment.
"I'll prove it to you." He whispered in a voice that was barely audible as he prepared himself – no one, save for himself and Snoke, knew about what happened in the dark – what he would have to let her see. Part of his brain was screaming no – but it was drowned out by that sad, weak part of him – the part that didn't want to be alone.
Rey wasn't sure why she wasn't putting up any resistance to Kylo Ren's embrace as she looked up at him with untrusting eyes – waiting for him to make good on his statement. It didn't take long – like a shift in the wind, she felt the wall between their minds drop, a mental signature beckoning her forward into the dark abyss of his thoughts.
At first, she couldn't see anything, but the vision slowly cleared to reveal a man, dark in his dress, standing vigilant before a great throne – upon which sat a looming and horribly disfigured specter. It's skin white and twisted, eyes crooked and harrowing as they bored into the figure before him – Kylo, she realized. So, this must be his master – The Supreme Leader Snoke, that she kept hearing about.
The pale figure was berating Kylo where he stood, about – her. Distaste, palpable even in the memory, rolled off him in waves as he glared at his apprentice – shaming him for his inability to retrieve the map from her mind. She watched with disbelief, frozen and invisible, as the darkness in the room seemed to coil and slide along the floor, wrapping around Kylo – the mask covered his expression, but she could see his body shaking as if he were in pain and she could hear his breathing intensify before her. His mind spoke to her of pain from the shadows as though it was a regular occurrence – an old friend. This is what happens when I fail – a voice with no origin told her, betraying his thoughts – his secret.
The scene was dark and menacing and she wished for it to end, to put a stop to the disgusting abuse she was witnessing – her own assault temporarily forgotten as she relived this so recent part of Kylo's life with him.
The coiled bands retreated from his figure, and he weakly fell to the floor, kneeling to this cruel farce of a leader. It was then that she heard the scream, her scream, in the back of Kylo's head – a ripple through the Force as everything she was feeling came barreling down on him. She watched, with a renewed appreciation and almost – awe – as he abruptly stood and left the room – leaving his master behind without so much as a word.
After that, his recollection of what happened was hazy – a mass of anger and rage as he barreled through the halls, shredding the door of her cell and – the memories flashed in her own mind at the same time as his as she remembered. Despite being half conscious she remembered his burning red lightsaber as it cut Hux in two and sliced through stormtrooper after stormtrooper as he made his way to her.
Opening her eyes, she was met with Kylo's gaze – so raw and vulnerable and trusting in that moment as he looked down at her. Rey didn't know what she'd done to warrant the trust he'd placed in her, but it instantly calmed her anger towards him. There was no doubt in her mind that what he'd shown her was the truth and it made her feel – warm – that somebody, especially Kylo Ren, had placed that much faith in her.
Kylo waited for a response with baited breath, mind still swimming with the reality of the side of him that he kept buried from everyone – everyone but her it would seem.
"You killed Hux." Her voice came from below him, and his stomach dropped, expecting to feel a new wave of fear or loathing from her. Waiting for her to try and scramble out of his arms – to regain the distance between them.
"Thank you." Her voice again, louder and more sure this time, interrupting his inner ramble. He couldn't believe what he heard.
"What did you say?" he asked, bewildered and desperate for the confirmation.
"I said thank you, for killing Hux – and the stormtroopers."
Kylo couldn't believe what he was hearing – this girl, so full of life and so in tune with the light side of the Force was thanking him for ruthlessly taking lives. But that's when he realized – Rey wasn't a Jedi, there were no rules or codes for her to follow – just her own will, her own beliefs – so there was nothing holding her back from being content with the deaths of the people who'd nearly killed her. The statement was brutally honest, and he found himself unable to look away from this girl – a new appreciation for her settling itself in his mind.
"Umm, would you mind putting me down now?" She asked, squirming in his arms and he almost – laughed. A half smile pulling at the corner of his mouth as he tried to contain the sound while he gently set her back down on the edge of the bed.
"Thanks." She said after she was once again sitting on the mattress, her toes gently brushing the floor as her legs dangled over the edge. "Also, for catching me," her cheeks pinked at that statement, "I wasn't expecting that to happen."
He sat down beside her then, careful to keep some space between them.
"I wasn't able to heal you completely," he said, "keeping you alive drained too much of my energy."
"I wondered why you were sleeping like that…" she murmured quietly, as if thinking to herself, before continuing "How did you? Heal me, that is. I don't see any medical supplies around – not like before."
"It's called Force Assist – the ability to heal others through the Force. I visualized the energy fields around you, your injuries and I directed the Force to, essentially, reverse the damage." He explained the process to her in close to the same way that Luke had so many years ago – omitting the fact that he'd never healed anyone, not even himself, before – and that the 'energy fields' he mentioned were some strange mix of her powers and his own. The prideful monster inside of him refused to let slip his inadequacies in this particular ability thus far and he didn't want to contemplate the meaning of their melding manifestations of the Force – he just hoped that she wouldn't question how he'd treated her ankles and wrists with bandages instead of healing them on the spot.
A sigh of relief nearly escaped his lips when the question never came, and she changed the topic, but was quickly shoved down by the particular topic she chose.
Rey was hesitant, to say the least, to prod more into his secrets than she already had, but seeing that vision of him before his 'master'- breathless and pained – tugged at her heartstrings.
"What did he do to you?" She asked him, a little more emotion clouding her voice than she'd intended, but he just stared back at her like she'd spoken in Binary, so she clarified, "What did Snoke do to you?"
A range of emotions played over his features as she waited for an answer; the old standby – anger – sadness, uncertainty, the one that struck her most though was fear – for the briefest of seconds before his expression went cold, she had seen a glint of fear in his eyes, the way they flickered briefly to their surroundings – to ensure they were alone.
"It doesn't matter." Was all he replied, devoid of emotion.
"It matters to me," Rey said softly as her gaze fell to the floor, "Whatever it was that I saw, whatever Snoke did to you with those black – things – it was because of me."
When he said nothing in response she continued, "A week ago, heck, two days ago – I wouldn't have cared, I would've said you deserved it." She flinched at the harshness of her own words. "But now…not even you, Kylo Ren, deserve to be abused by your allies, by your teacher – the one who's supposed to guide you."
"As if you would know," he snapped angrily, "you've been alone all your life – no friends, no family, no teacher" – he sneered, "you know nothing Rey."
Uncharacteristic for Rey, she felt no anger towards him at those words – he was in defense mode, the walls he let down for her were snapping back into place, protecting him from the pain – the same loneliness that she felt everyday of her life – the same wish to belong somewhere.
"You're right." She said, "I don't know, but I do know how it makes me feel and I'm not going to deny it. I… I think you were tossed into a situation you couldn't control, that you didn't know how to control and somewhere along the line it turned you into the person you are now." She paused for a breath, grateful that he hadn't interrupted her yet. "I'm not saying your innocent and I'm not saying I forgive you but…I just…." With every word she felt like she was betraying her friends – Finn, Chewie, even the members of the Resistance she'd never met – but it was the truth, so she forced herself to continue. "I don't think you deserved what's happened to you and what's happening to you now."
Kylo was in a sort of stunned silence as she finished speaking, not sure how to respond or what emotion he should feel – anger, gratitude, confusion maybe? No one had ever spoken to him like this before, as if they were on equal footing – Snoke looked down on him, and all the others looked up, intimidated and fearful of the towering Force-sensitive in his black and chrome mask. He was still struggling with how to respond when she quickly spoke up again, abruptly changing the topic and somehow managing to sound mildly cheerful – he was grateful for the reprieve.
"So, where are we?" she asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.
Kylo would've thought she'd figured that much out by now, so her question elicited a small chuckle from him – broad shoulders shaking slightly, dark thoughts temporarily forgotten – as he turned his gaze toward her once more.
"We're in my private quarters."