Author's Rambles: So, holy cow. Apparently over 500 people have read this fanfiction so far. Which is AMAZING. Thank you guys. We also have new followers and favorites and reviews which, is also wonderful! Thank you guys. Have a really long chapter in return because you're all awesome!
Hopefully we can get more reviews and favorites and what not. I know it helps other readers find this story so we'll see!
Speaking of reviews...
Reviews:
Guest: The sass is strong with this one. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Sam0728: He is slowly becoming the King of Sarcasm but, can he really out sass Ashlyn? Who knows! Thanks for reading!
As promised last chapter, we are going to delve deeper into Ashlyn's past. Let's see where that takes us!
Alright, let's get this party started!
Disclaimer: A-yup. Still don't own Star Wars or make any royalties off this.
He was right and Ashlyn hated that. He was right about a lot of things but, the most important thing he was right about now was the fact that the dreams returned. It had to have been the distance between them that cause their little break. Now they were back and just as ridiculous as ever. The moment she saw his smug, smirking, stupid face she wanted to punch him. However, she knew it wouldn't hurt him in the dream world. At least, she'd have some satisfaction about it.
They were back to square one now and had nothing to go one except for their new distance revelation. Ren still convinced Ashlyn had an undetected Force sensitivity about her and Ashlyn chalking it up to Kylo Ren not being able to control his properly. This, of course, caused a very angry fight that led to the conjuring of the utmost ridiculous things in the dream. One of these things being a Rathtar that Ashlyn tried to drop on top of Kylo. That didn't work as well as she planned and then the two were running from a Rathtar for the rest of the dream. Neither one able to focus enough to remove it.
They spent their waking hours apart, avoiding each other like the space plague. It was the better option to get things done but for the rest of the week, their dreams was where they met. Ashlyn even stopped hiding in the brick house. Their mission was to figure out how to stop the crossover, and that's where they kept it. Of course, things couldn't always be so easy.
Ashlyn had very little contact with anyone outside of StarKiller. There was a strict policy that all communications were to be sanctioned at specific times, in a certain area and on a private connection. This was more for the security of the base and the anonymity of it. The communications area normally held higher ranking officers, rarely did Ash see Storm Troopers there. Granted, she only glanced into the room a handful of times.
Today was different. It was her official one month anniversary on StarKiller and she felt the need to make contact with the man who had sent her here in the first place. He was smiling, the wrinkles under his eyes seeming more prominent. It could have been the fact that Ash hadn't seen him in a month. Yet, he still looked good for his old age. "Look at that uniform!" Laynor gushed as he commented on Ashlyn's appearance. "You look like an official member of the First Order."
Ashlyn grimaced slightly as she looked down at her jumped. "Yes, well, I'm trying to blend in like you asked."
"Not causing too much trouble, I hope." He snorted. When he didn't received a reply back, he sighed. "What did you do, Ash?"
Ashlyn shook her head defensively. "I haven't done anything.
"I know that look." Laynor said, receiving an eye roll from Ash. "I've known you since you were fourteen. That's thirteen years! Don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about! You've been in my care and in my shop for thirteen years, what is happening?"
It was true, since the day she arrived at the old shop at the young age of fourteen, Laynor had become a mentor to her. Granted he was not really a fatherly figure, he still took care of her. Laynor had been the reason Ashlyn learned her trade. He put her to work and made her useful. Some would look ill upon that sort of situation yet, Ashlyn was grateful at the end of the day. Laynor had taken her in at one of the lowest points in her life. "I ran into some—" She started, carefully choosing her words. "Issues."
"Issues?" He asked, his brows furrowing into a frown as he learned back on his creaky chair. "What type of issues?"
"Nothing major." Ashlyn shrugged, keeping her nonchalant tone. It was better to keep this conversation calm. Yet, she knew exactly where this was going. "I've been having weird dreams again—"
"Not this again." Laynor's shoulders deflated as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Have you told anyone?"
Ash shook her head. "No." Then immediately remembered Kylo Ren; Laynor saw the hesitation in her expression. "There's a Force user here who may know."
"Ash…" He said sternly. "How much do they know?" She didn't answer. "How much?" He repeated.
"Not much, I don't think." She admitted. "This time it's just—" She paused. "Different."
Laynor nodded. "I had thought six months was a short enough time where this dilemma wouldn't come to light. I need you to lay low and stay away from this Force user. You're almost done on your contract. Now, while I don't think they'll look twice at the dream scenario, you must be careful anyway." He pursed his lips before finally saying. "We've said too much already."
"So now what?" She asked. "Do I come home?"
Laynor forced a halfhearted smile. "Remember what I've told you?" He said. "Keep it safe?"
"Keep it hidden." She replied, a small smile tugging on her lips.
"That's my girl." He said. "Now don't you have work to do?" He teased.
Ashlyn full out smiled. "I'll check in again soon."
"Please do." Laynor replied as the transmission disconnected.
Ashlyn sat back in her seat now staring at the black screen before her. Ashlyn hadn't been fully honest with Kylo Ren. Then again, what did she owe him that warranted such honesty? She didn't. Yet, Ashlyn had been harboring a bigger secret than she had let on to.
From the age of seven, Ashlyn had been having very strange dreams for a young child. It was like Ashlyn had been watching her life slowly unfold before her. At first, it didn't make sense. Yet, when she told her Mother about her Father dying in a freighter accident it began to make sense.
While the dreams were not always constant, she would have days or sometimes weeks when her dreams would only show a forecast of something that could happen. That was the problem, it was never definite and when it was… well, Ashlyn wished it never was.
Then there would be nothing for months, sometimes even years at a time. Her mind would go quiet until the nightmares came back. This time in the form of her younger brother. In thirteen years, Ashlyn still couldn't talk about it. There was no right time to talk about it. She didn't believe there ever would be.
Did that make her Force sensitive? Probably not. It just made her weird and questionable. Laynor had gone the extra mile to keep Ashlyn out of trouble. Whether or not it was for his own personal gain, less of a headache to worry about perhaps. It didn't matter to Ashlyn. She would just rather not dream at all. For a good long while, it worked. Yet, the day she stepped onto StarKiller, things changed.
Her data pad blinked a few times, removing Ashlyn from her daydream and snapped her back into the reality. She was still on StarKiller and like Laynor said, her weird dreams were not important. She had to keep it safe and keep it hidden. The best way to do that was to keep busy and it looked like Sid had something new for her.
"You want me to go outside?" She asked, praying she had heard him wrong. Immediate regret washed over Ashlyn that she had ever responded to the data pad message. Now here she was in Sid's office, her jaw nearly hitting the floor.
Sid just nodded. "Unfortunately. There's a panel outside that works the manual door switch. It's not reacting properly, we need it up and running and you're the only one available."
"Yeah but—" Ash tried to find an excuse, she had none. "It's so cold. There's snow. I've never been in snow."
Sid grinned. "Then this should be a fun, new experience for you." Ashlyn groaned as she turned on her heels and headed out of Sid's office. "Dress warm!" He called after her. As much as she loved Sid and really enjoyed his existence, she found she also hated him all the same. Okay, it was more of a love-hate scenario.
Regardless, she was trudging out the nearest utility door and into the freezing cold tundra of StarKiller. Even with the three coats she found, Ashlyn felt like she was freezing to death. People who chose to live on a planet like this willingly were just crazy in her mind.
Stomping her way through the snow, she dragged her handy tool kit with her and marched out to the woods. What she needed was a small little wiring panel that was further from the base for safety reasons. She had a feeling the problem wasn't in the switch but the actual power supply to it. Right now, she wished death upon the man who designed the distance so far from the warmth and shivered as she continued walking.
Finally, buried under fresh snowfall, she found the breaker box and plopped down next to it. The cold was unbearable on her legs, she could feel it through the material of her pants. She had to work quickly and make sure all cables were connected properly. They weren't. Groaning through chattering teeth, Ashlyn kept thinking about how miserable of a time this way. Unfortunately for her, her thoughts and bad vibes were unknowingly being broadcasted elsewhere.
'Can you stop complaining? As much as you think I'd love for your discomfort, it's actually rather annoying' She heard.
Immediately Ashlyn stopped what she was doing and looked around the very empty woods. She looked behind her to the base, nothing. "Hello?" She called out, receiving barely an echo in return.
'In your head, dear.'
"Oh by the maker, no!" She groaned, realizing who she was hearing in her head. "You can do this too?"
'You know you can just internally speak and I can hear it, right? It will more than likely sound better without the constant teeth chattering.'
So Ashlyn tried. 'Can you hear me?'
She could hear the smirk in Kylo Ren's… thoughts. 'There she is. Now stop complaining.'
'Maybe you should stop listening in on my thoughts. Also, it's freezing outside!'
'Why the hell are you outside?' He asked as if that was the dumbest idea.
'Working.'She said. 'Not my choice.'
'So you'll tell me no when you don't want to do something but not Sid?'He asked. 'I'm your Commander.'
Ashlyn smirked. 'Yeah but, I like Sid. There's a difference.'
'Ouch, my ego.'Kylo said flatly. 'Are you even wearing a coat?'
'Three, actually.' She admitted sheepishly.
'And you're still cold?'
Ashlyn frowned as she continued adjusting the wiring on the panel. 'I'm not used to cold.'
'Apparently.'Kylo responded dryly.
'So is this just a thing now? You're going to just pop into my head and talk to me? Listen in on my thoughts?'
'I try not to do that, you find out a lot of weird things about people.' Ashlyn immediately felt panic rush over herself. 'I listened in because I could feel your distress, like how you're panicking right now.'
'This is creepy.'She said, looking back down at the panel. Ashlyn had been so focused on her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the heavy footsteps coming up behind her until he was already standing over her.
"Well no wonder you're freezing." Ashly yelped, jumping as she turned to see a very amused Kylo Ren behind her now. His mask under his arm as he stood towering over her.
"Great!" She gasped, holding her hand to her chest as her heart thudded. "Can you teleport now too?"
He chuckled. "I walked, actually. I was heading down to the maintenance bay when I could feel your distress."
Ashlyn narrowed her eyes. "Why were you going to maintenance?" She asked accusingly.
"Relax, I wasn't going there for you." He informed her with distaste. "I began to notice a drop in temperature in my apartment and went to ask Sid if he had any information as to why."
As she shivered slightly, something sounded off about the heating situation. "The temperature should be on an automatic timer." She informed him, although it was more of Ashlyn talking to herself. Kylo Ren didn't really care, he just wanted it fixed. "To be honest, the base has been a little cold today."
"Maybe it's broken, like everything else on this base." He said mockingly.
Ashlyn glared as she turned back to the panel she had been working with and continued in her attempts to fix it. "Are you just going to stand here and watch me work?"
"I was going to see Sid, remember?" Kylo informed her not-so-nicely. "Although, I couldn't resist checking to see if you were an icicle or not."
Her laugh surprised him, he expected an angrier response. "That would make life so much easier for you." She teased.
"Indubitably." He found himself teasing right back. "But then I'd have a frozen maintenance worker on my conscience and General Hux would never let me live it down."
"You have a conscience?" She feigned being shocked; Ren just smirked in reply. Ashlyn found the source of the problem, someone swapped wires. With a low growl, she ripped the wires from their ports and rearranged them accordingly.
At that point, Kylo Ren was now to her immediate left, crouching down to see what she was working on. "You always seem to know what you're doing." He commented.
"I make it up as I go." She murmured as she rewired the console. "Aren't you cold?" She asked, noting out of the corner of her eye he wasn't wearing anything extra on top of his normal attire.
"I'm normally a warm person." He explained simply.
"Is it from being angry and aggravated all the time?" She was half joking.
Kylo Ren snorted. "How can I not be when you're constantly invading my dreams?"
She attached the final wires, her teeth chattering still as she closed the panel. "I'm sure I'm not the worst annoyance in your life, Commander."
"I'd be lying if I said you were." He agreed. "Let's go inside, it's freezing out here." Ashlyn wanted to hit him but, not in the same sense as earlier. This time, it was a more playful need. For once, she didn't exactly feel hatred towards Kylo Ren. Instead, she felt a more extreme dislike as they headed back into the base.
As the pair headed down towards the maintenance bay, Kylo Ren replaced his mask over his head once the two entered the base. Ashlyn found that curious in a way. She also noticed something else as they walked, she wasn't getting any warmer and could still see her breath. "Maybe you're not crazy." She offered, wrapping her arms around herself. Her three coats still on her body, making her look ridiculous indoors.
As if on command, Sid rounded the corner. He immediately stopped in his tracks when he noticed Ashlyn was not alone. In fact, she was with the last person he ever expected her with. "Commander." He said, giving a short, quick nod to the masked man. "I was not expecting your presence down here."
"It seems I'm not the only one with a rapidly declining temperature in their apartment." He responded, the distortion in the mask made his words sound more menacing. Although, to Ashlyn, she simply found it annoying.
"That's what I came to tell Ashlyn." Sid said. "It looks like the heat is out on all floors. Something isn't working."
Kylo Ren retorted. "No kidding."
Ashlyn gave him a pointed look, something Sid did not let go unnoticed. Any other person to do that, he was certain Commander Ren would have killed them by now. "Do we know where the problem lies?"
Sid shrugged. "We're going to have to keep checking—" And then the lights went off.
"Fantastic." Kylo Ren's mask hissed. He could practically feel the agony coming from the 100's, particularly from General Hux's office. He snickered to himself.
Ashlyn grabbed her small flashlight from her toolkit, Sid had done the same. Now the three were standing in the dark hallway barely lit by the miniature lights. "I guess we better get to work." Ashlyn said to no one in particular before turning to Kylo Ren.
"Take the generators up on the 100's; I'll send everyone to a different generator and we'll work our way in." Sid said.
Ashlyn nodded, pointing the flashlight at the shiny silver and black mask. "Do you need help getting up there?"
"I suppose I could tag along." Kylo Ren said. Now Sid was really concerned and interested in how these two were speaking. It was something he'd have to concern himself with later.
"Keep your data pad and commlink on, I'll be in touch." Sid said, turning quickly and heading back down the hallway he came from.
Ashlyn and Kylo Ren turned and headed for the stairs; which was going to be a very long and cold walk. "Sid is concerned." Kylo said in passing as they began walking up the stairwell.
"What do you mean?" Ashlyn asked, the two matching step for step as they headed up.
"He thinks you're being too reckless in how you speak to me." Kylo Ren said, his words sounding menacing even though he wasn't actually angry. "That one of these days I'm going to cut you in half with my lightsaber."
Ashlyn scoffed. "You wouldn't dare after the damage you've already done. Also, could you please stop invading people's thoughts? That's a complete and total invasion of privacy."
He simpered. "Sid didn't have to say anything, it was written all over his face."
"Well, I'm now making it a rule. No mind reading in my presence." She was adamant over that.
"And who are you to tell your commanding officer what to do?" He had a point.
"The girl in your nightmares." She reminded him. "You'll still have to deal with me even after you close your eyes."
Kylo Ren was glaring under his mask. "You know what? Maybe I should run you through with my lightsaber."
"Watch it or you're walking up the stairs in the dark." Ash threatened. "Then see how you'll get to your apartment."
"You know, I don't actually need your help. I have my own source of light." He revealed, pointing to his lightsaber. This caused Ashlyn to scoff and start running up the stairs now, leaving him behind in the dark. The echo of distorted laughter following her up the stairwell as she tried to distance herself further from that jerk, Kylo Ren.
Panic erupted throughout the base as temperatures dropped and maintenance had no rhyme or reason as to what caused the sudden outages. The base was in total darkness and what was worse, it was getting dark on StarKiller. Sid had warned everyone that once nightfall came, they'd have to stop working and find some way to keep warm.
That was when Ashlyn found out most rooms, except for hers and the rest of the original east wing, had a working fireplace. Her apartment had not been fully equipped. Now, too many eager teammates were willing to share their rooms with Ash. She politely, and albeit eagerly, declined. She'd figure out her own way to keep warm. Besides, she wasn't all too concerned yet about the freezing temperature. What concerned her was the silent generator before her. Something happened and yet, Ashlyn Novafall drew a blank.
All wiring checked out; power should have been flowing through the system naturally. However, it wasn't. Something was amiss and Ash couldn't pinpoint it. Whether it was the distraction of her chattering teeth or the creeping and lingering fear in the back of her mind that someone else was listening. She did wonder if he could sense her agony now.
That's right, Kylo Ren, that jerk with the giant apartment and gorgeous fireplace. He was probably sitting in front of it, reading one of the many books in his bookshelf. By the maker, how she envied him in that moment.
Hours had flown by without a single second glance. The commlinks were constantly going off with a new voice on the end about their sectors. Yet, everyone having the same issue of not knowing where the power grid was failing. The voices began to grow quiet as teammates dropped like flies from the cold until it was only Sid and Ashlyn still working in their appropriate sectors. "Did you try the couplings?" Ash asked, her teeth chattering worse now.
She was sitting in front of the generator, her legs to her chest and data pad on the floor next to her. She kept staring at the downed engines and downed power grids. She zoomed in and out of different wiring and schematics, hoping that the answer would jump out at her. The base was counting on her and the rest of maintenance to get everything up to working standards. She couldn't even do that. Ashlyn felt helpless and completely unsure what to do.
"Ash, we have to call it a night." Sid said, his teeth chattering as well. "We aren't going to get anywhere like this. Are you sure you're okay going to your room?"
Ash shook as she tried to keep her voice calm. "Yeah, I'll be fine." She tried to sound as convincing as possible. "Go on to bed, Sid." The commlink went dead as Sid turned his off.
She couldn't sleep now, she couldn't stop. Ashlyn had an impulse to fix what was broken. A constant need to repair and replace. Her fatal flaw came in that form. Sometimes, things that were broken couldn't be fixed. She learned that the hard way once. Surely, Ash could have fixed it. She saw it coming. She saw what was coming to him. If she just had more time, if she had just been smarter or faster. She could have fixed it.
Her mind was racing as she pulled her legs closer to her chest. The cold burning through her as she slowly rolled to her side, curled up in fetal position. The data pad light the only thing illuminating the room as she scrolled through the schematics again and again. She had to find it, she had to find the source. The obsession consuming her; perhaps even killing her as she couldn't find it in herself to stop.
Then, Ashlyn felt lighter than air. She was flying. Was it finally sweet death taking over? Was she finally losing it? No, it was much worse. He held her bridal style in his arms as he angrily carried her out of the main 100's generator and down the hall towards his apartment. She didn't want to go there, she was needed elsewhere. Kylo Ren didn't care, he showed that the moment the door closed behind them and he carried Ash to the roaring fireplace.
Gently, although he simply wanted to drop her for being so stupid, he placed Ash down in front of the fire. She was still curled up and shaking. The fire felt hotter than normal, probably from her freezing cold skin. A warm and comfortable sensation came over her; a blanket was carefully draped over her as Kylo Ren moved to where her head was and sat down next to her. His knees arched, his arms hanging draped over his knees and his coal eyes locking with the roaring fire. "You should have called it a night." He barked. "What's the point in freezing to death? You're useless to the First Order dead."
"I have to—" She shuddered. "Fix it."
"And you will. I have no doubt you will." His tone was still angry. "But you aren't thinking straight. Your head is a clouded mess right now."
She tried to joke. "Maybe I should freeze myself more often, you can't read my thoughts."
"I'm being serious, Ashlyn." He said her name. Ash couldn't even think of a time he had ever said her name in the first place. Then again, Kylo Ren probably did but it held no weight compared to now. "That was foolish of you. You're smarter than that."
Her body was warming up now, she could actually feel her toes again. "That might be the nicest thing you've ever said." He sighed, defeated. She wasn't getting it. Or rather, she was. Yet, her defense mechanism was to always hide behind humor and sarcasm, it made things easier. Ashlyn forced herself to sit up now, completely wrapped up in a blanket cocoon as she sat next to Kylo Ren in front of the fire. "Sometimes—" She began, breaking the silence between them. "I need to distract myself and the only way to do it is to lose myself in my work." She turned, looking at him. "Don't you ever need to lose yourself? Lose who you are for a moment just to forget the bad stuff?"
Kylo didn't look at her. "More than you know."
"I think that maybe if I just keep myself busy, it won't catch up to me." Ash looked back at the fire. "If I just work hard and fix everything I have control over then—" She began to choke up. With a deep breath, Ashlyn cleared her throat and continued. "I can make amends over the things I couldn't save."
Her wording confused Kylo Ren. What exactly was Ashlyn saving? His mind flashed to the blond haired boy again. The one with the similar blue eyes as Ashlyn. "What happened to him?" He had asked that question before but, this time his tone was gentle. It was genuine; Kylo Ren actually wanted to know without gaining leverage over Ash.
"I lived in the slums of Coruscant and around 23 ABY we had an outbreak." Ashlyn began.
Kylo Ren knew what she was talking about, it was huge new throughout the galaxy. He had remembered his mother demanding aid for the people living in Coruscant. A memory he'd force to block out just at the thought of her. "The Brainrot Plague." He acknowledged. "A biological weapon that was used during the Clone Wars."
Ashlyn nodded. "Many thought it was eradicated long ago, however, upon finding a secret separatist base—" She inhaled deeply. "It was supposed to have been released during the Clone Wars but, that plan failed. It was an accident when it did go off." She tried to reason. "We thought we were safe, Mother didn't want to leave no matter how much I begged. I just knew it was going to get us. He was sick within the week, she came down with it days later."
"How did you manage to avoid catching it?" Kylo Ren asked finally.
Ashlyn shrugged. "Some said I was lucky to have made it out okay. Lucky? Lucky to have lived after watching the horror that happened to my family. A horror that I so helplessly stood idly by and watched. Something I could have prevented if I had just tried harder."
"Your mother was the one who did not want to leave. There was nothing you could do."
And deep down, it was eating her alive knowing what she knew. She saw it, she dreamt it. Even though she had seen horrors like this before, her mother was almost certain that they were out of the reach of it. Then it spread. By that time, it had been too late. "Laynor Gal-far was an old acquaintance of my father. He took me in when I had no one. I learned early on that getting caught up in my work helped keep the nightmares away."
Her mind kept wandering to that day; it repeated in her mind over and over again like a broken record. Kylo Ren could sense it and her obvious discomfort from it. He quickly stood up and wandered over to the bookcase. He needed to distract her; calm her down. The cloudiness and chaos in her head was driving him crazy. Ashlyn watched him curiously as he skimmed through the shelves before grabbing four books and heading back to his seat. He placed the four books in front of him. "Choose one."
Her eyes immediately locked onto the old, tattered brown book. It seemed so out of place and so different from the rest. She reached over and picked it up. "This one?" She asked.
He exhaled sharply through his nose. "Of course you picked that one." He mumbled before moving the other candidates out of the way. Ashlyn opened the cover of the book, revealing messy scribbling on the front cover. 'Property of Ben Solo'. She found it curious. However, she was distracted when he held his hand out for the brown book. Ashlyn handed it to him and watched as Kylo Ren placed the book in front of the both of them and opened it. The book was an encyclopedia on the galaxy. It showed charted systems and pictures of their inhabitants and so many different details about each known planet. "Where do you want to go?" He asked.
She unwillingly smiled. "Someplace warm."
He returned the smile and flipped through a few pages until he found Mustafar. "How about here? It's a volcanic planet; small but, it's definitely warm."
Ashlyn stared at the picture of the red planet, noticing the mention of its very limited inhabitants like the Roggwart and Xandank. Creatures she had never seen in person and probably never would. "Might be too warm for me." She admitted.
Kylo flipped the page a few more times until he stumbled upon Tatooine. "How do you like sand?" He asked.
Ashlyn looked at the sand covered planet in the picture and grimaced. "That might be too much sand."
He smirked. "You're so very hard to please."
She grinned. "So I'm told." Ashlyn gently flipped through a few more pages, looking for a planet that seemed perfect to visit someday. Granted, she probably never would. At least, the distraction Kylo Ren had planned was working. Her eyes locked onto a small blue-green planet. The description sounding absolutely beautiful, calm seas and rolling hills. It was a part of the Core Worlds and had nothing too dangerous to hide from. Except for the fact that it was part of the New Republic and a highly political base. "How about here?" She asked.
Kylo Ren didn't have to look twice to know exactly where she picked. "Chandrila." He mumbled. An odd sensation washing over him as he tried to push everything aside. A feeling of home and hatred all wrapped into one as he looked at the familiar planet. "I was born in Hanna City." He said in passing.
Ashlyn looked at him with an honest expression of shock. "You were born on the most politically influenced planet?" He said nothing as Ashlyn looked back at the planet book. "What was it like?"
"I spent my early childhood there." He admitted. "That's really about it." Ashlyn could tell he didn't want to talk about that part of his life too much. He seemed to pull away; distance himself from it completely. She tried something else. "What's it like?" She asked.
"Chandrila?" He asked with disinterest.
"No." Ash corrected. "Having the Force. What is it like?"
Kylo Ren was almost relieved that the subject had changed now. "It's like having an extra sense. You can feel almost everything that isn't physical. You feel its presence and life force in a way. It's being connected to everything around you and using that connection to channel energy."
"And that's how you can get into people's heads?"
He gave her a pointed look. "In so many words, yes. It's also not that simple and takes years of training to learn how to harness the power of the Force."
"Can anyone learn the Force?"
"No." He said simply. "There are Force users and Force sensitives. The users have a much easier time learning to harness the energies around them. Sensitives are able to learn but it's not as easy. They can have some tendencies that naturally come with the Force but, not everyone can learn to harness it."
Ashlyn's top teeth raked over her lower lip as she phrased her next question carefully. "How does one find out if they're sensitive or whatever?"
"It can happen in a many number of ways." Kylo Ren said. "Having a Force heavy bloodline helps. Otherwise, little things can give hints and clues. Force users also can help identify another Force sensitive person." He looked at Ashlyn again. "Sometimes your dreams tell you."
Ashlyn rolled her eyes. "I'm not Force sensitive."
"So you keep saying."
"If I were, I'm pretty sure you would have figured that out by now." Ash said.
Kylo smirked. "Who's to say I haven't?"
Ashlyn went serious now. "I'm pretty sure you would have killed me already." She wasn't wrong but, she also wasn't right. It was more complicated than that. "The First Order doesn't want any more users around, right?"
"Like I've said before." He began. "Different circumstances call for exceptions to the rules. I'm sure the First Order wouldn't mind another user on their side, if push came to shove."
Ashlyn shook her head. "I don't think I'd want to be trained in the Force. It sounds way too hard."
Kylo snorted. "You need discipline."
"Luckily for me, I'm not sensitive so none of this matters." She replied, stretching her legs out in front of her. Ash wiggled around her blanket cocoon, adjusting the blanket more as she brought her legs back in to her chest. "I'm just Ashlyn Novafall, a mechanic who can't fix the frozen StarKiller base."
"Not tonight, at least." Kylo said patiently. "You should rest, I'm sure you'll be very busy tomorrow."
Disappointedly, Ashlyn nodded. "I suppose so." Kylo Ren was the first to move, forcing himself to stand up from his comfortable position on the floor. "Commander?" He hummed in reply. "Thanks for—" She paused. "All this, I guess."
Kylo nodded, changing subject. "You can take the bed, if you wish." He said dismissively.
Ashlyn smiled and shook her head. "Honestly, I'm really happy by the fire."
"You're going to have a headache in the morning." He informed her.
"I'll live." That smile. It was different. It was very different. Kylo Ren had never seen her smile so sweetly before, a smile that had no malice or contempt behind it. It was as genuine as genuine could be. A smile he was almost certain he'd never see again. "Goodnight, Commander."
Turning on his heel, Kylo Ren headed over to the couch of his apartment. Ashlyn had laid down on her side, still curled up on the floor in her blanket cocoon in front of the fire. He'd move her to a more comfortable location when she fell asleep. For now, he'd respect her wishes of sleeping on the floor. It didn't take long for Ashlyn to fall into a deep sleep, and like he had promised to himself, Kylo Ren moved Ashlyn to his bed. He knew deep down she'd probably freak out in the morning, which would be hilarious to him then. For now, it was more about her comfort. He wandered back over to his couch, plopping down and closing his eyes knowing full well he'd see her soon in his dreams.
Final Thoughts: Oh snap! Was that some non-hostile bonding going on there?! Only time will tell when Part 2 goes up! Thanks for reading, remember to review!