"An interesting choice of words – 'someone you used to love'. Are you certain that is what you feel?"
His question shocked her, his proximity frightened her. He was still at eye-level with her, and the faint sound of his breathing through his distorter did not help to ease her discomfort. She could spot the hilt of his lightsaber resting lightly on his hip and briefly thought she may be able to grab it somehow, but the light shaking of his head indicated that he had seen where she was looking and there was no point in even trying.
"That is what happens when someone you were close to leaves without so much as a goodbye. Perhaps if he had given me that courtesy then I might feel different."
She expected him to respond with some sort of callous remark, but instead, he remained silent. He was considering her – and after a few long seconds she could feel the familiar presence of his mind within her thoughts.
"Why do you keep probing my mind? I can't imagine there is something there you haven't already thoroughly searched."
"Have you ever considered I've been looking for something new?"
"If you think I have any valuable information to spare about the Resistance you are sorely mistaken."
"Then that is not what I'm looking for anymore."
"Care to enlighten me as to what it is you are looking for?"
"Not as of yet, no."
Somewhere underneath his words she sensed a small change of tone in his voice. Cara could feel a certain pull towards him again – a desperate need to learn something, anything, about the man in front of her. Something that would explain the change of tone in his voice, the reason he never truly hurt her, the purpose of the mask he hid his face behind.
Just as she was about to ask him another question, he stood up and looked down at her, waiting. After a moment, she realized he was waiting for her to stand up. She complied, albeit reluctantly, and followed him down the hallway back to her cell. She struggled to keep up, his long legs making it hard to match his stride. For some reason, it reminded her of all the times she had had to run to keep up with Ben as they both pretended to be Jedi when they were kids. Cara had already known then that she would never become a Jedi – she had absolutely no affinity with the Force and had already decided that she would one day train to become a medical officer. Ben, on the other hand, was strong with the Force; so strong, in fact, that his parents often talked about sending him off to his uncle Luke to train. They were worried that he would lose control. Their fears were not unfounded.
Suddenly, the masked man in front of her stopped walking, and before she had the chance to respond she slammed straight into his back. Quickly, she took a step backwards, worried that she may have angered him somehow. He turned around slowly, and she braced herself for whatever pain he planned on inflicting her with. Instead of physically hurting her, however, she could feel him once again entering her mind, pulling further at the memory that had just been resurfacing.
"Your mother told me you threw another fit. Did you really destroy your parents' living room?"
"They didn't listen to me! I told them that I didn't want to go to train with Uncle Luke yet, and they told me I had no say in the matter."
"Would it really be so bad if you went there? Imagine all the things you'll learn! When you learn control, you could be so strong. Why is that so bad?"
"Because I don't want to leave everything I've ever known!"
"You're not overly fond of everything you've ever known." Cara reminded him, looking at her friend pointedly.
"Not everything, no. Some things though."
She smiled at him, a warm feeling spreading across her skin as she looked at her oldest and frankly only, friend.
"Ben, listen to me. I know you. I know you're defiant, and stubborn, and you hate people telling you what to do. Guess what? I do too. That doesn't mean that everyone in the world is out to get you. Not everyone is trying to stop you from becoming whoever it is you want to be."
"You aren't. They are."
Cara sighed, sitting on her friend's bed while contemplating what to say next.
"Do you remember when we were eight years old and we would pretend that we were Jedi? You used to tell me then that all you wanted was to become as powerful as your uncle."
"Maybe I didn't know any better then." He said, his voice getting smaller as he listened to his friend speak.
"Some things don't change, Ben. Not even after nine years. I know who you are. I know that you can do this."
He did not respond; instead, he moved to sit next to her on his bed. They had spent many afternoons like this together. She would read some kind of medical text book, he would read about the histories of glorious battles from another time. They'd play games together, and talk for hours. Those were the memories he would always take with him, no matter what would happen to him in the future.
"You really think we can do this?"
"We? I'm not the one who is going to train to be a Jedi."
"I still mean 'we'. How can we remain friends if I go off to another planet to train?"
"Oh, please! Ben, we've been friends for eleven years, I think we can deal with this."
"Eleven years. That's a long time."
"Yes, it is. Well done for noticing."
He playfully slapped her arm, and she chuckled at him. She knew she would miss him, but she also knew he had to go. She would never tell him this, but whenever she heard about another one of his temper tantrums, it would frighten her. That was not the Ben she knew. It was the Ben everyone else seemed to know.
"You know what? One day, I'm going to be even more powerful than my uncle."
She smiled at him, and put her arm around his shoulders.
"I know you are."
Cara gasped as he quickly pulled out of her thoughts, and she struggled to catch her breath as she slumped once more down to the floor. Before she fell, however, she noticed he stumbled backwards a bit as well just before he could right himself.
"Get up." He ordered, his sudden change in demeanor frightening her.
She tried but failed. Her legs gave out. When he finally noticed that she would not be able to get up on her own, he forcefully grabbed her upper arm, making her shout out in pain. He ignored her, and dragged her further down the rest of the hallway until he pushed open the door with the Force and shoved her inside. He followed her in, and she winced as the door slammed shut behind him. Once again, she was trapped in a small space with her captor with nowhere to run. She did not know what to feel anymore.
Surprisingly, she could tell that he was trying to catch his breath as well. She could hear the heavy sound of his breathing through his mask, and his shoulders heaved up and down as he regarded her. She also noticed that his hand was on the hilt of his lightsaber. Cara had no idea what he would do next.
She heaved herself up on the small bench in the corner, using the last of her strength to sit down. She looked up at him, willing him to say anything to diffuse the tension.
"You puzzle me." He finally said, after a few minutes of total silence.
His statement confused her. "How so?"
"You say this boy – this man, left you without so much as a goodbye. You say you do not love him anymore. Yet you desperately try to stop me from picking at his memories. Why does that bother you so much? Why do you care about someone who abandoned you?"
His words struck a chord with her. She remembered Ben's promise to her – how he had promised to never abandon her. She knew her captor was right, and even with that realization she could not help the familiar pang of sadness she felt whenever she thought of her old friend. She was silent for a few moments as she contemplated her answer.
"Sometimes I hope he didn't have a choice."
He fell silent again. The tension was still palpable in the room and she did not know whether or not to look at him. Suddenly, without being able to stop herself, she said something she probably should not have.
"You puzzle me as well, you know."
His head quickly snapped in her direction. "Do I now?"
"You keep me prisoner here, you've tortured me, and yet you've never actually done any real damage to me, physically. Mentally, you search through my memories, sifting through past events that have absolutely no meaning to you whatsoever. So why do you keep me here? What is my purpose?"
"That is for myself to kn-"
"You haven't even told me your name." She interrupted him, hoping to startle him into telling her.
"Why would you care about my name?"
"It seems only fair. You know so much about me already. I would like to know who it is I'm dealing with."
He studied her once again. She felt scrutinized and vulnerable, and she got up from her seat on the bench and walked over towards him, a new found confidence in her steps.
"What does it matter if I know your name? Does it hide who you really are? Does your name have some significant meaning? Are you worried I will recognize it?"
He did not respond. He stood as still as a statue, watching him come towards her. He looked straight into her eyes – although she would never be able to tell – and he could feel his own resolve slipping away as he gazed into the light grey eyes he knew as well as his own.
"If you're going to keep me here, I would like to know your name." She repeated herself, only stopping once she was right in front of him. She noticed he gripped the hilt of his lightsaber even tighter, his fingers curling around the metal as she boldly took another small step towards him.
"Kylo – my name is Kylo Ren!" He practically shouted it at her, as though he was trying to convince himself of his name more so than her. She was surprised as he suddenly stalked away from her, slamming the door behind him. It was silent in the room for a minute, right up until she heard the familiar sounds of destruction that can only be wreaked by a lightsaber right outside her door.
A/N: Thanks to all the people following, adding to their favorites and reviewing! Is anyone else having issues with their reviews not showing up? I do get the email notifications and they're all lovely, but then I look on the website or on the app and none of the new ones show up. I hope they fix it soon! New chapter will probably be up tomorrow.