Chapter 8

Rey was practicing her forms with the red lightsaber when Kylo woke up. He stretched and scratched the back of his neck, freeing the hairs that had glued to his neck in his sleep. She glanced at him when he sat up, but continued her routine. He drank in the image. She had changed into fresh clothes at some point and put her breast bindings back on. He thought back on last night and smirked. She was wild and beautiful, and she somehow had his lightsaber.

"I had that locked away," Kylo said.

Rey swung gracefully at the cage and stopped a split hair short of cutting the steel beam. "I know."

He watched her swing some more. She had unexpectedly good form given her shortage of training, but then, he had long suspected she may have borrowed from his own training through their link. He had found himself better-informed on ship and droid specs than he had been before Snoke connected them. It was only sensible to assume the knowledge and skills exchange went both ways. Yet, last night was clear evidence that she was still quite naive to some things.

He watched her another minute or so then made his way to the refresher to get dressed for the day. Hux would be apoplectic if he knew Kylo had left Rey alone with his lightsaber, but Kylo didn't see a reason to fear while he got ready for the day. She would have already killed him if she had wanted to. After last night, he wasn't sure she even wanted to leave.

He came out to find Rey meditating on his bed. The lightsaber was on a nightstand. He picked it up and attached it to his belt. "Sleep well?" he asked. After his shower last night, she had curled up against him again before falling asleep.

A light blush spread across her cheeks. "No nightmares."

He smiled. "Me either." They both knew how rare having no nightmares was for them. "Would you like to keep sharing my bed? I can have a second bed delivered if you prefer to sleep alone."

Rey opened her eyes and gazed at him. "There's no need." She frowned and looked down. "Unless you don't want me in your bed."

Kylo's heart swelled until it hurt. "I want you there," Kylo said softly.

Rey looked back up at him, and they gazed at each other. "There's so much I don't know," Rey said.

Kylo smirked. "You need a teacher," he said, quoting the words he had said to her several times now regarding the force.

Rey laughed softly. "I guess I do."

Kylo nodded and wondered that he could find anyone so beautiful. "I'll get you some holos to watch that should explain things while I work in the office, and afterward you can let me know if you have any questions." He gazed at her once more before heading into his office.

Once inside, he checked his messages on the com, ordered breakfast, requested delivery of the standard biology lessons provided to all stormtroopers at puberty, and received lengthy updates from a testy Hux on First Order business via holo. When the First Order business concluded, Hux eyed Kylo.

"She didn't kill you in your sleep," Hux said.

Kylo suppressed a smile at the memory of what had happened in the night. "I said she wouldn't. She could have… easily, but she didn't."

Hux's eyes narrowed. "You don't find that suspicious?"

"Not at all," Kylo said. "She likes me, Hux. She doesn't want to kill me anymore than I want to kill her."

Hux raised an eyebrow. "Surprising. You seem rather confident in her affections now." Kylo blushed. "I see. The girl pretends to be attracted to you, and you completely lowered your guard."

"It's not like that, Hux," Kylo growled.

"If it's not like that, then what is it like?" Hux asked.

"It's none of your business what she and I do together. Suffice it to say that Rey is not one to pretend affection or attraction. She is innocent in that regard."

"But that does not mean she is not plotting something. How do you know that the girl is not in contact with your mother? That is a thing those jedi can do, is it not?"

Kylo sneered. "My mother is no jedi. She's barely force-sensitive."

"But can she communicate across distances through the force?"

Kylo took a breath and let it out while he considered it. "She has not done so with me… at least not with words. We can sense each other's presence when reaching out into the force… sense each other's emotions, know where the other's located, but not quite talk in the way that would be necessary for planning." He paused, considering. "I'll look into it."

"Good. I have another issue to address with you. I received a notice that the cage was not locked last night."

Kylo narrowed his eyes at Hux. "She was in my bed. Is that a problem?"

"Yes, having a security risk wander freely while you sleep is a problem, Ren," Hux growled. "What will you be doing next? Sharing your lightsaber?"

Kylo did not dare speak, but Hux recognized the unsaid confession.

"You're kidding me, right?" Hux said.

"I had it locked away like you asked. When I woke up, she was practicing with it."

"My plans for her containment did not include her having access to a lightsaber, Ren!"

Kylo raised an eyebrow at that. He wanted to berate Hux for having such poorly designed containment plans, but he did not want to provide Hux with motivation to reconsider Rey's containment with him. "I'll handle it."

"You haven't even left your quarters, and there's still the question of allowing her any freedom of movement within them."

"I'll handle it," Kylo repeated and turned off the holo. He looked behind him, and Rey was standing in the doorway, watching. "Well?" he asked her, wondering what she had heard. She flinched, and he realized his voice had came out harsher than intended. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Someone's at the door," she said.

He closed things down at his desk as she watched, stood up, and followed her out the room. She immediately went to the cage and closed the door behind her. Kylo locked her in and leaned on the bars, gazing at her. Could she possibly be plotting against him? "Do you?" he asked.

"Do I what?"

"Do you communicate with my mother through the force?" he asked.

Rey shrugged. "Some. It's like you described. I know that right now she's on a planet far away. She's not hurt, and she knows I'm not hurt, and she's thankful for it. I think she knows I'm with you. She worries about me a lot. You too. However, if she has a plan, she's not shared it with me."

He nodded. "And did you know you could escape with my lightsaber?"

"The force wants me to stay," Rey said, as if that settled everything.

Kylo sighed at her insistence on blindly trusting the force. "Do you want to stay?" he asked. She stared at him. He thought of how she had curled up to him each of the three times they had settled down to sleep last night and how right it had felt. Could she really want to leave that behind?

Rey didn't answer.

Kylo felt his heart crack, and he realized he had to leave so he could think clearly about what was going on. Maybe Hux was right. Maybe Kylo was letting his attraction to her cloud his judgment.

Kylo checked that the cage was secure and opened the door. A stormtrooper stood with their breakfast and the requested holos along with a device to watch the holos on. Kylo dismissed the stormtrooper, closed the door, and brought the food and holo set-up to the cage. He opened the cage to set the items inside and closed it again.

"You're not letting me out?" she asked, somewhat frantic.

Kylo shrugged. "I can't. Something came up and I have to leave, which means you have to stay in here or we'll set off one of Hux's containment traps. You have everything you need though, and I'll check in on you before long."

"Kylo," Rey said as he walked towards the door. He stopped and looked at her, and she stared at him, unsaid words dying on her lips.

Kylo pursed his lips and exited his quarters.

Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think!