Rey quickly caught up with Luke, who turned to her just before they reached the door to the hangar where Kylo Ren was being held. He assessed her expression, crossing his arms thoughtfully.

"You don't have to come with me for this," he said, his words heavy with meaning.

"I…" Rey thought a moment. "I need to. This has to be harder for you than it is for me."

"I have had twelve years to think of what I'll say to Ben. But I think for now, I'll simply listen and consider what I see. While the ysalamiri are here, I can't get a proper read on him. And even if they were gone, I'm not sure he hasn't learned to block out mental intrusions."

Rey's eyebrows knit in confusion. She had no problem probing Ren's mind those months ago when he had trapped her in that interrogation room.

"You got through to Ben when he wasn't expecting you to push back," Luke said, as if anticipating her thoughts. "Snoke will have made sure he has put up his guards."

"So we really do have to hear him out?" Rey said, her stomach falling.

Luke set his jaw, but did not respond. He pushed the button to open the automatic door, revealing an entrance into a block of cells, walled off by stone and glass. Luke walked slowly down the row of cells until he reached the one that held the dark haired man seated on the floor, his head leaned back onto the stone wall.

Kylo Ren's eyes were closed, and he took a steadying breath before opening them, the shock he felt only registering for a second before adopting a neutral expression once again.

Luke stood before the glass for a moment, observing his nephew. Rey uncomfortably did the same, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Uncle Luke," Ren said, looking at his hands, which were dangling casually as his forearms rested on his tucked knees. If said in any other tone, Rey would have taken it for sarcasm. Instead, Rey interpreted this as grave acceptance.

"Ben," Luke said, shaking his head. "Look what the dark side has done to you, son."

"I'm not your son, in case you have forgotten," Ren's tone still maintained its lackadaisical manner.

"No," Luke said, his voice raising an octave. "No, you killed mine."

Rey felt as if she had been punched in the gut. Luke had a son. That Kylo Ren killed. Rey had not yet heard the full story of Ben's betrayal, but knew better than to press for it. Pressing Luke for answers as to her own past was one thing. This was entirely different.

Ren's lips pressed together in a thin line, and he shook his head slightly, staring off past Luke.

"I know," he said. He stood slowly, and approached the glass, looking at Rey for a few seconds before looking back to Luke. "I've come to explain myself. I only hope you'll hear me out. I can't take back what I did, but maybe some of my actions will be clearer once you hear what I have to say."

Rey's emotions got the better of her. Tears prickled slightly at the corners of her eyes, but she ignored it, letting it pass. "What could possibly excuse killing children? Your own blood? Your father?"

"Rey," Luke said, in a warning tone, gentle but firm.

"No, it's a fair question," Ren said, intervening. "There's more to it, and I hoped to explain at the trial, but… I did those things, at the temple, after Snoke got to me. My time in the Senate brought me close to him, but of course you know that whole story, Uncle Luke. And I killed in his name. For years."

"What changed?" Luke said, still not betraying what emotions Rey knew were raging underneath his calm exterior.

"It was slow. It started with small orders, but eventually I couldn't ignore the pull to the light anymore. He's merciless, Snoke. When I started to object to orders, he punished me."

How terrible for you, Rey wanted to say, but held her tongue for the sake of her teacher.

"And then there was Han Solo," Ren said. He was now looking at Rey, as if trying to atone for what he did to the only man who had, at that point, served as a kind of father figure. "The order to kill my father couldn't be violated. I had to do it to earn Snoke's trust. It was the beginning of the final phase of my training."

"So you've earned his trust," Luke said. "And how did you go from killing your father to fleeing from your master?"

Kylo Ren swallowed and licked his lips, weighing whether or not he should say this next part of his story.

"He sent me here for her." Rey had to shake her head, not sure she heard him right.

"What?"

"I'm supposed to bring you to him. He thinks I'm here to do his bidding. I came here and surrendered, but that was just what I had to tell the Resistance. What I'm telling you is the truth."

Rey looked over in the corner, looking for the damned ysalamiri, blocking her ability to violate Kylo's mind in anger.

"You think you can just absolve yourself by being honest? Lull me into a false sense of security because you've been so damned honest? Master Luke, those little things over there shouldn't be here. " Rey was fuming.

"Rey," Luke said, warningly. He turned to Ren. "Those things won't be here much longer, I can tell you that. And I know that when they're gone, your wards will be so high that neither Rey nor I could penetrate them to feel out your intentions. But…"

Luke ran a hand over his beard, covering his mouth for a moment. "Your trial will commence tomorrow, and if you're allowed to live, you must do everything I tell you, leaving no room for doubt that you have followed all of my orders."

Kylo nodded, an understanding passing between uncle and nephew.

"The second you cross me," Luke said, adopting a tone that frightened even Rey, who wasn't the target of the words he doled out, "I will cut you down. Do we understand one another?"

Kylo nodded once, and at that, Luke had finished with him. He turned to his padawan, and addressed her directly. "Get some rest. Tomorrow will be a long day."

He left without another word, leaving Rey alone with the monster who cut down her only friend, and the only man who'd ever been a mentor to her. The monster who invaded her mind.

Rey's stomach flipped at the sight of him, which unsettled her even more than his mere presence. He looked down at her in a curious mixture of sorrow and hope.

"You came here for me," Rey said. "What does he want with me?"

Kylo's eyebrows knit together for a moment. "To bend you to his will. Dominate your mind. Use you until there's nothing of you left. He knows who you are. He won't stop until he has you."

Rey shook her head. "I didn't ask for any of this."

"No one does. But I'm your only hope against him. You know that, deep down."

Rey said nothing.

"You may hate me. You may disagree with my methods. You might not share my feelings about the dark side. But it's in you, I can feel it. It's in your blood," Rey's chest fluttered at the memory of learning that she was the granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine. Ren took a deep breath. He had to step back, or he was liable to sabotage his own workings on the girl. "In that room… I know you felt it. Our bond. I won't let him have you. Not now."

She had to leave. The way he looked at her made her skin prickle. He looked at her like he revered her, and at the same time, was preying upon her. Her feelings told her not to trust this wolf staring at her from behind the glass. But at the moment, the only solace she was able to give herself was that she trusted her Jedi Master. The trial was tomorrow, for the next twelve hours, Rey could exist in the blissful land of avoidance.

Rey shook her head, and without a word, bolted out of the building, heading for her quarters in the Falcon.

He was likely to be sentenced to death by the council, she told herself, wiping a tear from her face as she briskly walked away. She couldn't help but entertain that small nagging feeling in the back of her mind.

… What if he wasn't?