Screams filled the chamber as Kylo Ren writhed in agony on the floor. "Master…please."
"I grow so weary of your weakness, Kylo Ren," he said in a dry tone as he reined more force lightning onto his shrieking subordinate.
Ren had tried to tell Snoke how she had been fully trained, but he had refused to believe him. He had only just barely managed to limp his way out of the reclamation facility before the resistance had blown it up. Captain Phasma had narrowly managed to get a transport shuttle past all the resistance pilots, and they had lost over half their tie fighter escorts getting back out again.
"There is no such thing as balance! She has deceived you. She was only strong because she has tasted the power of the darkside – and you failed to bring her to me!" he shouted down to Ren, this time assailing his mind with a pain even worse than what he had inflicted on his body.
Finally when he couldn't scream anymore, Snoke withdrew his power. He rolled over and vomited blood onto the chamber floor. He had burst a blood vessel in one eye and his nose was bleeding.
"If she cannot be brought in alive, then she must be eliminated. Perhaps the other Knights of Ren would prove more useful to me?"
"Master..." he pleaded, struggling to at least get back onto his knees. "She is so close to the darkness. I felt her hatred. Skywalker must have filled her head with lies about balance to keep from losing her, as he lost me. I beg you; just one more chance."
"One more chance. Only one. If she cannot be turned to the darkness she must be destroyed. If you fail me…I will make you pray for death before I am through with you."
"Yes, master," he said as he put his helmet back on and limped out of Snoke's chamber.
The medics were never happy to see him, and today was no exception, but at least this time he seemed to tolerate them better as they placed a bacta pack on his injured leg. A medical droid stitched his lip. He waved it away before it could finish cleaning the rest of his wounds. "Leave," he commanded.
When he was finally alone he allowed himself to think about her, about what she had said.
I. Am. Grey.
"What did she mean? There is no other way. There couldn't be. It's not possible!" he pondered, as he remembered the furious hatred he had felt from her. He had never seen anything so strong and beautiful in his life.
Maybe someday you will meet me in the Grey
He cursed himself. Cursed himself for being weak, for wanting so desperately to believe her lies. It was a deception, more temptation from the light that still burned inside her, and he couldn't deny that he was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. He began to feel resentment and anger. She would tear him apart if he did not get her under his control. He had fought too hard, for too long, to earn his rightful place in the darkness, to let anyone jeopardize that. Her temptations were already costing him the favor of his master. The one who had saved him. The one who had guided him, shown him the way. He was being ungrateful for all that he had been given, and it was all her fault. If there was one thing Kylo Ren hated, it was losing control.
He closed his eyes, and allowed himself to sleep.
After the Battle of Jakku Canyon, as it came to be known, the resistance forces made for Takodana, where their new temporary base was being set up.
The entire base came rushing out to congratulate the pilots on their victory. Rey was instantly overwhelmed as a rush of people came to pat her on the back and raise her onto their shoulders, as they did most of the pilots. Eventually they set her down, shaken and embarrassed at all the attention. She was so relieved when the general approached her and gave her one of her warm calming hugs.
"I hear you made us proud out there today, you all did."
She felt awkward as she knew she was blushing. "I had the best help," she finally said. "I saw him. He's still alive."
"I know," replied the general, suddenly looking very sad. "I won't lie that I want him back, but I can't let him do to you as he did to Han. If it ever comes down to it, if you have to destroy him in order to save yourself. Do it."
Rey nodded. She understood what that statement had cost the general, but she couldn't help feeling guilty about it. As much as she hated Kylo Ren, she knew destroying him would hurt General Organa, and there was nothing in the world Rey wanted less than to hurt the woman who had given her so much.
Suddenly she felt a tug at her sleeve and looked down to see a familiar orange woman. "Maz!"
"Well, well, let me look at you. Let me look!" said the tiny alien woman as she adjusted her goggles into an extreme zoom. When she looked into Reys eyes she must have seen something there that shocked her. "It is true," she said, almost under her breath. "So you're the one we've been waiting for. I thought you felt special. You felt it too, didn't you?" she said turning her question to the general.
"The moment I saw her," she replied.
Rey felt a little weird being discussed over. Thankfully Master Luke appeared just then. It had taken him longer to get away from all the admirers. "Maz Kanta! It's been so long!"
"Luke Skywalker, you are a sight for these old eyes. I'm so glad you are back. I see she got your father's saber to you."
"I'm really grateful to you for that. By the way, there was a hand too, did you find the hand?"
"Still looking," she replied with a chuckle.
Rey's moment of peace suddenly shattered as she was gripped with a horrible sense of terror and panic. It was him. She cast one look to Luke, and in that instant he knew exactly what was happening.
"Leia, privacy, now! It's an emergency!" he said as he gripped onto Rey's arm.
"What?" the general asked, wondering what had suddenly come over them.
"This way!" offered Maz, who led them into an ancient stone fortress that she had had cleaned out so that the resistance could use it for their temporary base.
Maz moved quickly down the stone hallways, passing many resistance workers moving equipment. "Here, in here," she guided them into a room that had a heavy wooden door and shut it behind them.
They made it just in time as Rey dropped to her knees and let out a blood curdling scream.
"Rey? What's happening?" cried the general.
"We can't help her," replied Luke. "She feels what he feels."
A look of shock spread over the general's face. "Ben?"
Luke nodded. "They share a bond. It cannot be severed. They feel each other's emotions, even pain. Snoke is torturing Kylo Ren for his failure today."
General Organa gasped, her eyes suddenly filling with tears. The horrible knowledge that her son was somewhere being tortured, that Rey was being tortured; no mother ever wants to feel so helpless, so powerless.
Maz just shook her head in sorrow. She knew bonds that strong could only be broken by death.
Rey finally stopped screaming and writhing on the floor for a moment, she was gasping for air, blood began to trickle out of her nose.
"Rey? Let me in! What's happening? What's happening?" they heard as Finn began to pound on the door. He had looked for Rey as soon as he could get away from Poe and the rest of the victory celebration, only to see her be dragged off in a hurry by Luke, the General, and Maz Kanata. He knew something was wrong. He had hobbled after them as quickly as he could on his cane, but had been shut out. He was about to turn and let it go when he had heard a piercing scream, and he knew that it was Rey. That she was being hurt; horribly hurt!
"Finn!" she cried through gasps of air. "I'm okay. It's all right, I'm okay," she called, but in a lower voice added: "Don't let him see me like this! Please, don't let him see me like this. He wouldn't understand," she begged as tears rolled down her face.
"Finn, please don't…" she had tried to plead with him when a flash of pain entered her mind worse than anything she had ever felt before, and she let out another horrible scream. Over the past year she had become used to the occasional moments when Snoke had exerted his dominance over Kylo Ren, thankfully they had been few and far between, but none had ever been as bad as this.
The general clasped her hands over her ears, tears streaming from her eyes. Somewhere her son was being torn apart.
"Rey? Let me in! Let me in now!" shouted Finn, as he started to try and break down the door.
And then…it stopped.
She lay on the floor, shaking and fighting so hard not to wretch all over the floor. Finn had ceased pounding into the door when her screams had abruptly stopped. "Stay with her," Luke asked as he opened the door, and blocked the way so Finn couldn't get in.
"What's happening to her? What is this?" he asked, his face wet with tears as he tried to see past Luke into the room, but Luke would not budge.
"Come, it's over now," he said as he grabbed Finns arm and led him away from the door, shutting it behind him.
Rey could hear Finn and Master Luke talking about her down the hallway. She had never told him, she had never told anyone but Master Luke about the bond. She was deeply afraid that her connection to him would be seen by others as a weakness within herself; as though she had been tainted. The whole base had probably heard her screams.
"Rey…how long?" the general asked, as she and Maz helped pull her up and set her in a chair.
She inhaled a deep shaking breath, her eyes glistening with tears. "Since Starkiller."
Luke finally returned. He looked relieved when he saw that it was over. He kneeled beside her and placed a gentle robotic hand on her knee. "I got him to calm down, but he wants the truth. He's your friend; he deserves the truth. He'll understand."
"Will he?" she asked, looking into her old master's gentle blue eyes as she shed more tears.
"No one would wish this upon themselves," he said.
It was late, the sun was setting over Takodana. She could hear music in the distance as the rest of the resistance base was throwing a celebration over their recent victory, but there was no more joy in her heart. She had decided to avoid the revelry and retire to her quarters early that night. She needed to be alone. She needed to mediate on the day's events.
She would speak to Finn first thing in the morning.
There was great turmoil within her. She had felt it. She saw him when she had spoken to him of the Grey. She had felt his longing, his desire, and his deep loneliness. In that one moment she had watched him step just a little into the light, and clearly Snoke had punished him for it.
She could not feel every physical pain he endured, or she'd of felt her saber bite into her own leg that day, but she could feel the pain that hurt him beyond his body, the pain that went right into the soul. Which is why she could always feel it when Snoke tortured him, it was a type of pain that went far beyond just the physical. She wondered why he didn't put up barriers around his mind during these moments of agony. She knew he could, every once in a while she could feel him intentionally trying to keep her out, perhaps during the more intimate moments of his day. Did he want her to feel his pain? She had a hard time believing that, he had too much pride. What was worse was knowing that whatever pain she felt, he was feeling at an even higher level.
She had always hated herself for the moments she had allowed herself to feel pity for Kylo Ren; when his loneliness had ached across the bond, in the other times when Snoke had tormented him. She had even felt a twinge of guilt when she saw the scar that she had left across his face. He did not deserve her pity. He deserved no sympathy. He was a monster. A murderer! But now…she could not help it. The pain and suffering he endured lasted long after the tortures of Snoke had ended, and in a way, they were worse than the physical pain.
She laid down on her bed and feel into a deep sleep.
She could feel him in the snowy forest, but he was not giving chase the way he normally did. He was slower, more cautious, more alert. She waited for him in the place where they had clashed so many times.
When the black beast finally stepped from the brush and into the starlight, she could see that this time, he was injured. He limped on one bad paw. She could smell the fresh blood in his shaggy fur – his blood. She watched as bright red droplets fell into the pure white snow from his bloody snout. His glowing eyes fierce and angry.
She took a tentative step towards him, but he raised his hackles and let out a threatening growl, baring his gleaming fangs.
She stopped where she stood. She let him continue to growl and snarl at her. She could sense his pain. Then she took one more step, but he did not back away, nor did he charge, though his snarl grew louder.
She sat on her haunches in the snow and stared back at him with her pleading amber eyes aglow. A few more moments passed; eventually he tired of growling, and took one limping step towards her. She felt a moment of fear. An injured beast is a dangerous beast, but she waited still and silent.
He regarded the air around him. Sniffing into the sky, she could sense his distrust of her behavior, but still she remained. He took another hesitant step towards her. She could feel that one wrong move, and he would either attack or bolt. She waited as he continued to approach. She could feel the heat of his breath upon her own snout. She could hear him sniffing in her scent. She sniffed him in return, and felt him relax a little.
Then slowly, gently, she leaned forward and licked the wounds around his face. She felt him freeze up, confused, alarmed…but as she continued to lick away the blood she could feel him relax. He leaned closer into her, taking comfort in her contact.
He suddenly skittered back away from her, as if he had been startled by something. She stood, but did not approach; then she turned and bounded up the rocks. When she looked back he had moved further back towards the brush, but she could see a small patch of white fur upon his chest.
A note from your humble author: I wanted to make this a longer chapter, but my hubby was home sick from work all day yesterday, and it's funny how a little flu can turn a grown man into a big needy baby. I'm lucky I got as much writing done as I did. Next chapter I hope to get these two face to face again.
I am so grateful to everyone who gave me all the positive feedback on the last chapter. I'm so happy you guys are enjoying the story. Originally I was thinking of it being about 12 chapters, but I can easily see myself lengthening this store by nearly twice as much. You guys really help motivate me to keep the chapters coming! So once again, thank you! ^_^
P.S. If I had to pick one song to be the soundtrack for this story, it'd be the instrumental version of "She-Wolf" by Megadeth, I won't lie I listened to it on loop quite a few times writing the last chapter lol