"Up, up, up! We have a problem!"
Rey banged desperately on the sleeping quarter door. A bewildered Finn slid the compartment open,
"What.." But she interrupted him.
"Kylo Ren is coming, he knows where we are. You need to find a planet to leave me on. If we stay together, you'll all die."
All Finn can do is blink.
Rey runs back in the direction of the cockpit to find the nearest habitable planet. Her wide eyed friends stumble after her, confused and frightened.
—-
"Prepare my personal shuttle!" the Supreme Leader snaps at the first officer he encounters on the way to the bridge.
That feeling is warm in his chest, an irresistible pull in the direction that the force was leading him. He had to follow her, now. But that didn't mean he was going to leave that sniveling snake Hux unsupervised in his absence.
"HUX," Ren barks, scaring the svelte red head nearly out of his skin. Kylo savors tormenting him.
The overly ambitious General schools his expression back into one of controlled calm.
"Yes, Supreme Leader."
Kylo approaches him menacingly and in a low voice says, "You and I are going on a mission."
Hux could not hide his gulp.
—-
"Rey you don't have to do this," Finn begged.
"There's no way we can leave you alone with him, we won't lose you, we'll fight," adds Poe.
Rey sighed rubbing her head. It was impossible to explain, and she couldn't blame them. She'd never abandon one of them to mercy of the most dangerous man in galaxy. But that's why they had to go. He won't kill her. But he won't think twice about slaughtering them. She explained this for what seems like the hundredth time.
"How do you know that? How can you be so sure he won't kill you? How will you escape?"
Rey held Finn's gaze, her first friend and fiercest protector. Rey puts a hand on his shoulder willing him to understand. It had only been a few months, but Finn was more family to her than anyone had ever been in her life.
"Finn, please trust me. I know it's hard to believe, but there is good in Kylo Ren. He and I are the same kind of… force being… if that makes sense."
Finn scoffs.
"He killed Snoke to save me."
Finn and Poe sat stunned. Rey explained that she had only shared this information with Leia and they had agreed it was too sensitive to share widely with anyone else. Who would believe it? Who would understand? No, they agreed it was better that the galaxy see her as the hero who slaughtered Snoke, than the Jedi-in-training with a weird connection to Kylo Ren who inadvertently helped bring him to power.
"If I can turn him, it could end the war…"
"No," said Finn, repeating it over and over to himself he fled the cockpit.
"Finn…" but he was gone, his obvious hurt of not being told leaving a trail behind him.
Rey locked eyes with Poe but only saw uncertainty in his eyes.
She didn't have time to make them understand. Kylo Ren was coming, and she had to defeat the twisted alter-ego if she was going to bring Ben Solo back to the light. She set a course for the nearest habitable planet. They'd be there within the hour, and somehow in that time, she had to convince her closest friends to let her go…and if they wouldn't, she thought darkly, she'd have to take matters into her own hands.
—-
When the Supreme Leader insisted that he go alone to acquire the girl who murdered Snoke while Hux and a contingent of fighters held back on a destroyer, his first instinct as a tactician was to fervently advise against it. It was a sure plan for disaster, one that could end in his…death…?
A cruel grin tugged at the corners of his thin lips. Perhaps the girl would help him accomplish what he was plotting to do anyways.. with little to no effort of his own.
If Ren' s track record with this girl was anything to go by, he would likely be left near death in the wreckage of some bizarre battle of wizardry and then… Hux wouldn't hesitate to fire that blaster again.
"As you wish Supreme Leader," Hux assured in his oily voice.
—-
Rey hesitantly follows Finn into the sleep compartment.
He's sitting on the edge of his bunk, face in his hands. He speaks before she reaches him.
"When were you planning to tell me that you can talk to that monster in your head, across the whole damn galaxy?"
"Never," she says honestly, "because I knew you'd look at me the way you are now. Like I'm a monster too."
"No," he says, reaching for her hands. "Rey, I want you to free of all this madness. I wanted us to run away together, to be safe."
Gripping his hands she kneels before him.
"There's no running away from this," she explains gently, "It's not something I can wish away. I have to face him Finn. Or he'll chase me around the galaxy and never stop. And he'll find me every time."
"Let me stay with you," his voice cracks.
Tears were threatening the corners of her eyes.
"I will come back Finn, but I won't let you die."
And before he can argue again Rey lifts a hand to his cheek and pulls his consciousness away from him, the same way Kylo did to her on Takodona.
Finn slumps and Rey embraces him. Hopefully they'll be light years away from her before he wakes. She lays him down and returns to the cockpit. After the revelation about Kylo, Poe is much more willing to cooperate with the plan to leave her on the planet, with the promise that they would return to Leia and come up with a plan to get her back. Hopefully there's enough time for them to get well clear of the First Order hoard she imagines is on it's way.
—-
The world is mild and green. Grassy cliffs over look blood red lakes. Tall jagged black rocks jut out of the meadow as the Falcon takes off. Rey covers her eyes as it blasts back off into space.
Assured of her friends' safety, she now focuses on the task at hand. Facing the fast approaching Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. She can feel his presence growing closer, hotter in her chest. Now she needs to figure out a way to turn his black heart.