LOCATION : MAIN LIBRARY - STARKILLER BASE

STARDATE : 16/09/1843

"There are three main parts to your training."

Ren's voice was muffled slightly by the large mask, and I ended up having to jog to keep up with his long strides as we made our way through the ship towards the library. I had been woken very rudely that morning by a trooper making its way into my dorm room, which I shared with twenty other kitchen workers, and telling me to get up because Ren needed me Right This Exact Second.

I had barely had time to throw on some clothes, a simple black tank top and a pair of black leggings, and tie my hair up in a ponytail behind my head before I was dragged unceremoniously through the twisting halls and dumped outside Ren's quarters. He, irritatingly, had been ready immediately.

"You have your force training," he explained, continuing to walk. My stomach rumbled, I hadn't had time for breakfast that morning, and was starving.

"That's what we did yesterday?" I asked. He nodded his covered head, and I grimaced at the memory. In the back of my mind, I could still feel my throat constricting under the pressure of his force. I mean, I had managed to throw the guy into a wall using just my mind, so it hadn't all been bad, but I'd appreciate not almost getting choked out for the foreseeable future.

"Then, we have the theory. You can't just know how to use the force," he explained, continuing to walk, "You need to know how to understand it."

I nodded, feeling my ponytail swing behind my head as I walked. That made sense, I guessed. Mostly, I was just happy that I didn't have to spend the whole day trying to force-move that bloody helmet.

"What's the third?" I asked as he spun around a corner and reached a large set of double doors. He pushed them open and walked inside gesturing for me to follow him.

"The last part of your training, Robin, is combat skills. It doesn't matter how many bricks you can force-throw at someone if you can't handle a lightsaber you'll die in a fight. We will be studying that this afternoon."

I tried to suppress a slight groan at the news. My body was still aching after the events of yesterday, and I didn't even move a lot during force-training. I wasn't looking forward to combat skills, especially not against a guy who was at least a foot taller than me, and looked like he carried so much muscle mass he could throw me against a wall with one arm.

I said nothing, however, instead following Ren through the long corridor to a second door. He carefully removed one of his gloves and pressed a long pale finger to the print scanner. He saw me staring.

"It's locked to most of the crew," he explained, sliding his glove back on his hand as the door beeped and he pushed it open, "Reading is thought of as a luxury by Snoke, and Starkiller base doesn't have time for luxuries." It may have just been my imagination but there seemed to be a note of anger in his metallic voice.

I stepped through the door and promptly stopped breathing.

"Holy fuck," I muttered, slightly louder than I had expected, as I heard a small snort from inside Ren's helmet at my statement.

"I know, right?"

The library was incredible. The ceiling itself was so high that I could barely see it, and all around me were stone pillars and large wooden shelves, stretching so high that they tapered off beyond my field of vision. And all around me in every nook and cranny were books, books, books. I'd never seen so many in my life. There were books on the Resistance, the Force, Jedi training and the rise of the First Order, but as well as that there were novels and encyclopaedias, spanning as far as the eye could see. I turned to Ren, my eyes bright.

He had removed his mask and was holding it underneath his arm. He averted his eyes when I looked at him, as if slightly embarrassed that he had been watching me staring.

"I come here all the time, when I have a few hours spare," he admitted, walking further into the library and gesturing for me to join him. I followed, struggling to keep up with his long strides. "I'll get your fingerprints on the system so you can come in when you want."

My brow wrinkled in confusion at his offer. That was surprisingly kind of him.

"Thanks" I responded. It would definitely be nice to have the opportunity to come in here more often.

He stuck his arm out to a large wooden bookshelf on his left, and a heavy leather-bound tome flew into his outstretched hand. He took a seat down at a wooden table and gestured for me to do the same. I perched myself on a comfortable cushioned chair and placed my elbows on the table in front of me.

"Read the first Chapter," Ren said to me, sliding the book across the space between us.

Ah, shit.

I was hoping that I wouldn't have to tell him this, somehow hoping that he would just teach me himself. I toyed with the corner of the book.

"Read the Chapter, Robin. What are you waiting for?" He asked, his voice impatient.

"I, uh," I mumbled out, uncomfortable, "I can't read very well."

He raised an eyebrow over a dark eye.

"What?"

I sighed and leant back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest in embarrassment.

"I know the alphabet, roughly," I explained, "But we never got taught much else."

He leant forwards against the table towards me, folding his arms in front of himself. His face was shocked.

"They never taught you how to read?" There was a tone of disbelief to his voice.

"I'm a chef, Ren," I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, my face red, "The ability to decipher syntax and the ability to make a good souffle don't really cross streams."

"Shit," he breathed out the word almost inaudibly, "I didn't know. I'm sorry,"

I wanted to say something in response but didn't get to speak, as he unexpectedly stood up and dragged his chair around the table, sitting next to me instead. There was roughly half a metre of space between us, but I could still feel the heat radiating from his body.

He grabbed the book and opened it up to the first chapter.

"You know the alphabet?" He asked me, looking at me intently. I nodded. We had all been taught during our initiation periods, and I distinctly remember a too-happy blonde teacher trying to drill all 26 letters into our heads.

"What's the title of this Chapter?" He asked, pointing to the thick black writing at the top of the page. It was a single word, with no spaces. I sighed deeply. This was going back a long time.

"It starts with an M."

He nodded, "It certainly does, but we're gonna need a bit more than that."

I rolled my eyes at the sarcasm in his voice.

"Alright," I placed my finger on the M at the beginning of the word and traced each letter as I read, "M-I, uh, D-I-G"

"That's a C," Ren interrupted me. He drew a semicircle on the table with his finger, "A C is a half-circle, a G has a stalk in the middle of it, "He then traced out the shape of a capital G on the table with his finger. I saw the difference. "You do it."

"What?"

"Draw it out,"

I looked at him to see if he was joking, but his face was deadly serious. I gingerly traced my finger in a semicircle on the soft paper of the book.

"C."

I then drew out what I thought was a G, a semicircle with a slight bridge on the end. Ren shook his head.

"Not quite."

He reached his hand over to mine and grasped my finger gently, tracing out a capital G. Even through the leather of his gloves I could feel the warmth of his fingers. The contact surprised me, it was the first time he had touched me since he had grabbed my shoulders roughly in his quarters, pulling me up fro the ground. This was a different kind of touch entirely, far more gentle.

"That is a G," He said, removing his hand and nodding at the book, "Carry on."

"C-H-I,"

"That's an L,"

"Sorry, L. O-R-I-A-N-S. Midi-chlorians?"

He nodded at me, taking the book and sliding it over to himself.

"Midi-chlorians," He answered, his eyes skimming over the words on the page at an alarming rate. It was humiliating to think that he could devour a whole book in the time that it would take me to read one page. "Midi-chlorians are the reason everything in the universe can survive. They're microscopic living creatures that live in the cells of all organisms. You have them, I have them, that ass of a head chef you used to work for has them."

I snorted out a laugh.

"Some people, however, have more than others. Force-wielders and Jedi have a higher concentration of midi-chlorians than ordinary people."

I nodded in interest. Looking over at the page, where the words all slurred together into a jumble of letters. I'd heard about midi-chlorians, but didn't know enough about them to fully understand them.

It looked like that was about to change.

After 4 hours of force theory, complete with Ren getting increasingly more annoyed at me as my reading incompetence became clearer, we finally ended for a break. There were times when he asked me to read out whole sentences from the book, and it would take me at least five minutes each time. He stopped when he heard my stomach let out a deep rumble for the fourth time.

"Have you eaten today?" He asked me. I shook my head.

"You should get something," he told me, standing up from the table and closing the book, handing it to me, "We're starting combat training this afternoon."

My eyebrows raised in surprise as I grabbed the book and held it to my chest. Combat training. That would be difficult work. I followed Ren through the corridors of the library, holding the book in my hands tightly.

"You should take another one," Ren told me, holding out his hand to the table, making his helmet float from into his outstretched grasp, "Practice your reading."

I nodded. Yeah, that made sense. Another book was a good idea. There were a few slightly shorter bookshelves near me, still towering over me, but not so tall that I couldn't see the top of them. I bent down to look at the books on the bottom shelf, squinting my eyes in an attempt to read the titles on the spines.

One of them stuck out to me. 'The History Of The Jedi'. I bit my lip and placed down the book I was holding, pulling the thick book out of the bookcase. It was wide, and stuck as I pulled, so I tugged slightly harder.

"Come on, we don't have all day." A voice came from Ren. I rolled my eyes and gave the book a giant tug, leaning back as I pulled. It finally came free, leaving the bookshelf wobbling slightly at the momentum. It wobbled forwards, and tipped, falling towards me, ready to crush me under it.

My mouth opened in a scream as the giant wooden structure came toppling down on me, hundreds of books falling with it. I raised my hands above my head.

I heard the low crash of a metal helmet being dropped on the floor.

My hands were still over my head, but nothing was falling on me. There was no pain, no noise. I looked up in confusion to see the entire bookshelf, along with all of its books, hovering precariously over me unnaturally. My eyes flicked to Ren, whose hand was stretched out, a look of panic on his usually unexpressive face. His eyes were wide, his hand shaking slightly with the exertion of holding up an entire tonne of wood and paper.

"Get out from under there," He said through gritted teeth. I grabbed my book and rolled out from underneath the bookcase, which was only a few inches above my crouched body. As soon as I was out of range, Ren dropped his hand and the furniture crashed to the floor, books and papers spilling everywhere. He was breathing heavily.

"Can you try not to be a walking disaster for five minutes, Robin?" His voice came out slightly strained, and I could see a single bead of sweat forming on his pale brow. Holding up such a heavy object, even for a short time, had definitely had an effect on him. Adrenaline was running through my body, my heart thumping as I looked up at him.

"You just... you just saved my life..." I mumbled.

He pursed his lips and picked his helmet up from the floor where he had dropped it. He looked down at me with an expression of contempt, but I couldn't help but notice that there was something else in those dark eyes. A flicker of emotion that resonated with the fear I had seen in his face when I had nearly been crushed.

"I'll try not to make a habit of it," He responded coolly, "Get some lunch, Robin. This afternoon we start combat training."

With that he turned on his heel and walked out of the library, leaving me stood alone, clutching my books, breath coming fast, wondering what the hell had just happened.

ACH AYE THE NOO PLEASE REVIEW that actually rhymed which is pretty cool, Hope you're liking so far. x