Leia is really cheeky. Just Saying...
Chapter 6
"Must you really leave so soon?" Rey asked, as she stood in Leia's room, watching her pack away her belongings a few days later
"Indeed I must, I am needed back home. My husband is incapable of doing much without me" She said cheekily, earning a laugh from Rey "But I shall return, now that I have a reason to" She smiled back at Rey
"What do you mean?" Rey asked with a frown. Leia turned to her
"I wish to unlock your repressed magic" Leia said and Rey took a step back
"W-What do you-" Rey started but Leia interrupted
"I know you can do magic, I saw it myself when you were young. I understand losing your mother was difficult, but you can't keep your magic repressed, it can be very damaging. I want you to try by yourself to bring it out and I shall return in a month. Please?" Leia begged, taking Rey's hands
"O-Ok… I'll try" Rey managed. She didn't want to hurt herself, but was she really ready to start practising magic again? She hadn't done any magic since she was 8, just after her mother had died
"Try what?" Kylo's voice sounded from the doorway and both women froze, Leia recovering faster than Rey
"Why dancing of course!" Leia exclaimed like it was obvious "I've asked Rey to keep up with her dancing, maybe asking the dashing cook that has stolen young Rose's heart, or maybe that old stable boy if he's still around" Leia watched as Kylo's eye twitched
"She has no reason to learn to dance" He said stoically
"What about when she marries? Surely she will dance at her own wedding?" Leia huffed, and turned to close her case
"She will go nowhere near Poe Dameron" Kylo growled
"Oh, and who else will dance with her? You?" Leia scoffed
"Maybe I will!" Kylo rose to Leia's challenge, just as she suspected he would
"I bet you don't even remember the lessons we gave you as a child" Leia enjoying teasing her son a little too much
"I do remember!" Kylo was seething, and Rey was caught in the middle of it awkwardly, easily able to see Leia presenting her son with a challenge
"Then I shall return in a month and see how wrong you really are. If she has made progress, I shall not bring your father with me on my following visit" Leia smirked and Kylo clenched his fists
"That man will never step foot inside my home" He hissed
"Then prove to me you aren't as useless as he thinks you are. Teach the girl to dance" Leia smirked and turned to Rey "I shall see you in a month my dear, if my son ever mistreats you, be sure to write me" Leia shoved a piece of paper into her hands with an address on it, then she placed a loving kiss on Rey's cheek, which Rey returned, before she turned to her son "Won't you see me out?" She asked and Kylo begrudgingly escorted his mother out of the room, finally seeing that she had set him up and he had fallen for it like he always did.
"Why must you be so awful to her?" Leia hissed when they were at the top of the staircase, out of earshot
"Me? You pushed her into the lake!" Ren hissed back
"Oh I was going to catch her... But I didn't need to" She shot him a sly look and he rolled his eyes
"I wasn't going to let you harrass my staff, Mother" Ren growled as they reached the bottom of the staircase, where Leia's bags laid
"It was hardly harrassment" She scoffed and waved her hand, the doors opening to reveal her carriage waiting for her. Ren waved his hand and her bags loaded themselves onto her carriage
"It was. You physically pushed her" Ren argued, but tried to sound bored as to not key his Mother in on how pissed he was at her for it
"And I suppose the way you allowed her to cling to you after, was necessary to her rescue?" Leia had a perminant smirk plastered on her face
"She was startled, I'm not a Monster" Ren scoffed, but paused. Hadn't he refered to himself as such only recently?
"I am so looking forward to returning and seeing your progress" Leia hugged her Son, chuckling when he refused to return the embrace
"You mean Rey's progress" He corrected with a huff
"If you'd like" She gave him one last cheeky grin, before she entered her carriage and was on her way.
It was the following Sunday that he found her, relaxing on the grass by the lake reading a book that Rose had let her borrow, as Leia had suggested she do. She didn't seem to hear him approach, so he came to stand behind her and cleared his throat, causing her to jump and hold the book to her chest, as if to hide it's content, which quite intrigued him, but he shook it off. He was there for a reason
"B-Ben" Rey gasped, his given name slipping from her lips. He curled his upper lip, but didn't find himself as enraged as he felt when his mother called him it, so he let it be
"I'm here to teach you to dance" He said curtly, and Rey smiled
"I didn't think you were serious" She said, but marked her page in the book, and stood up, brushing grass from her light pink dress
"I will not allow my so called father to enter my home, and so we both must endure" He said and motioned back towards the manor
"So… You're asking for my help?" She asked with a smug smile
"What?" Kylo asked, his face blank, but his stare hard
"Well, like you said, I don't really need to dance, you need me to dance" Rey felt so smug, she knew it showed on her face, but she didn't try to suppress it. Kylo knew she was right, but he hadn't asked for help since he was a child
"You'll do it because my Mother asked it of you" He said between gritted teeth
"I'll do it, if you ask me nicely" She crossed her arms across her chest, and Kylo sighed
"I'd rather not force you to do it, but I will if I have to" He growled and Rey laughed
"All I'm asking is for you to ask me to accept your dance lessons. Why is that so difficult?" Rey rolled her eyes at him
"Please" He ground out, the word feeling foreign on his tongue
"Please what?" Rey pushed, taking a step towards him in encouragement
"Please… Will you let me teach you to dance?" He managed. He wasn't sure why he didn't just use his magic to force her into the manor. He could if he wanted to
"There, was that so difficult?" Rey beamed and bounced off towards the house. Kylo followed
her, grumbling to himself. He should have forced her.
"No. It's 1… 2… 3… 4…. Your timing is all off" Kylo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, before he set the music going again. He was starting by teaching her to simply keep the beat. She found it much easier when she had Leia leading her
"I'm trying" Rey huffed, trying to move her feet in the correct steps, which she could do, just not fast enough to go with the music
"For Goodness sake" Kylo grunted and stalked towards the frustrated girl. He took her hand in his and placed his hand politely high up on her back. Rey gasped as he held her, his hands polite, but his face thunderous. She wished for him to hold her in a less passive-aggressive way. He pushed her foot back and started counting, leading her, sighing when she stood on his foot and they had to start again
"I wasn't ready!" Rey exclaimed as they restarted.
An hour and a half later, Rey could do the basic steps… If Kylo was there to lead her
"You need to learn to pick up the pace when you're alone. It'll seem less like a chore if you can get the hang of it without me there to help you" Kylo sighed and waved his hands, the double doors opening for Rey to leave "I'll find you during the week when my feet have healed" Kylo tried to make a joke, but it came out more as an insult and he cringed as Rey slinked out of the room. He couldn't do anything right.
That night Kylo laid in bed, unable to sleep. He kept going over the feeling of having Rey in his arms. She was so slight, he felt that he would crush her if he held her too close, or maybe he would intimidate her. As awkward as it was for him to hold her so far away when dancing, he didn't want to scare her away, or get too close. He wanted to literally keep her at arms length.
He heard a floorboard outside his room creak, and he sat up in his bed, hearing faint footsteps pass down the hall. His curiosity piqued, he threw on some trousers and silently opened his door. He looked up and down the corridor but it was empty, so he closed his door behind him and headed down the corridor where the footsteps had led off to. He came to a halt as he heard footsteps making their way up the staircase. He had an inkling of who it was, but wondered what she was doing up there without permission to be there. He followed her up the stairs and just saw her slip into the ballroom. He let out a sigh. She was a persistent one, but if she meant for a late night practice, how was she to start the music without him to do it for her? Surely she could practise in her own room? He approached the door after a few moments of silence and slowly peaked his head in. She was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes closed. She was wearing a simple, white nightshirt that went down to her knees, but she had on a black pair of shoes with a slight heel
"1… 2… 3… 4…" She whispered to herself as she tried to get her feet to cooperate "Oh, come on! He's not even here and I'd be stepping all over his toes" She grumbled to herself, before straightening her back and trying again, counting out loud as she went. Kylo watched her for a little while, feeling slightly bad for her. Dancing was something that came easy to Kylo, having learnt when he was a child, but for a girl like Rey, who has had no reason to learn, he can imagine it to be frustrating.
He sighed to himself for what he was about to do. He stepped fully into the room, and waved his hand, the music starting, startling Rey so much she actually jumped into the air, her eyes shooting open
"O-Oh! I-I'm sorry to be here without permission!" She rushed, but Kylo shook his head
"You need the music to learn properly" He said simply and motioned for her to continue, but she wasn't paying him any mind… Well, she wasn't paying his hands any mind, her eyes were glued to his exposed chest. Kylo raised an eyebrow as her eyes raked over him. Why hadn't he put a shirt on? Rey on the other hand was thanking the Gods for the sight in front of her. And what a sight it was. His chest was toned and muscled in a tasteful way. She watched the way his chest moved as he breathed in and out, to the trail of hairs that ran down his stomach and disappeared… Rey's eyes darted away suddenly, her face going redder than he had ever seen it. Her reaction amused him and almost made him want to keep his chest exposed, but he waved his hand and a shirt appeared in it "Whenever you're ready" He said as he pulled the shirt over his head. When his vision was unobstructed, he saw that Rey was calming herself, before she took a deep breath and started again, this time to the music.
He decided that she had improved slightly since earlier on that day, but could still use some guidance, which is why he found her in his arms again, shortly after she had started
"You really need to learn to do this without my lead" He said, before he led her through the steps. He could see she was more confident dancing with him, than she was by herself. Maybe a lack of confidence was the problem? But he couldn't bring himself to speak as he admired the concentration on her face. She really was quite pretty. Kylo shook his head, deciding to distract himself "Why did you come here to practice?" He asked, hoping she knew he wasn't mad
"I tried to practice in my room, but it was impossible on the carpet" She muttered
"Surely there was another room? The entrance hall perhaps?" Kylo asked
"I didn't want Hux to see me" She blushed "And the flooring in here is much easier to move on. My feet slide easily around in here... I should probably get to polishing the floors in the entrance hall when my other cleaning is done" She nodded to herself, as if she was speaking as an afterthought
"I suppose that makes sense" Kylo nodded, seeing the logic in her words "Then you have permission to come in here, but only in here" He said sternly and Rey's eyes sparkled up at him and a smile made its way onto her lips. He made her smile like that. He tried not to smile back, to show any emotion, but he felt the twitch in his lips before he could stop it
"It's okay to smile, you know. And not a smirk, an actual smile" Rey said cheekily, and he thought he should punish her, but he found her cheek to be quite endearing. He didn't deserve to feel such light. He felt self hatred trying to seep through to extinguish the light she had created, but she just continued to talk "You might actually look charming if you did" The cheek just seemed to flow from her, like her mind had no time to catch up with her mouth as she spoke
"Ah, so you think there's hope for me yet?" He smirked down at her, knowing full well he was dancing the line between cheek and flirtation. Rey's eyebrows shot up
"Did I say such a thing? I'm not sure if you're too far gone" Rey smirked back at him and he let out a laugh
"Oh how you wound me" Kylo chuckled, continuing to lead her around the room, noting how she barely seemed to be concentrating on her footwork, and she seemed to simply take his lead
"Well, as the only person here who isn't too scared to tell you the truth, I feel it my duty to keep you down on earth with us, lest your ego inflate like a balloon and carry you away" Rey raised an eyebrow at him, which he took as a challenge
"You have a lot of cheek to be talking to me as such" Kylo smirked over the top of her head, catching a glimpse of them in the mirrors on the far side of the wall. They were an odd couple, her in her nightgown, and him in his mismatched clothes, his feet bare while hers held almost appropriate dancing shoes
"Well, I have recently came to the conclusion that your bark is worse than your bite" Rey shrugged, bringing his attention back to her
"Oh?" He asked, bringing them to a stop by the edge of the room. He dropped his arms and took a step towards her. She took a step back, only for him to follow her, and so they continued until Rey's back hit the wall "Are you sure about that, Rey?" The way he said her name had her shivering, but not in the way he thought
"Y-Yes" Rey tried to stand tall, but he leaned a hand on the wall beside her head and leaned down into her
"I wouldn't underestimate me if I were you. I can be a very dangerous man" He warned, but his tone was still fairly light
"I think you used to be a dangerous man" She breathed, finding that her breathing was quite shallow, and her body felt like it was catching fire. He was so close
"Then why are you trembling?" He asked, taking her trembling hand in his as an example
"Oh" Rey puffed out, as if only realising that she was, in fact, trembling. She needed to leave, but he had her caged in
"You didn't even notice your own body's reaction to me. It's an instinctual thing when faced with a danger you don't yet know or understand. You can sense the danger in me" Kylo whispered, his breath washing over her. She closed her eyes and relished in the minty scent
"Maybe I can" She agreed, but didn't mention that she was anticipating the danger that came with a man like Kylo. He was like the dark and mysterious stranger in the book she had been reading in the gardens that very day. At that thought she started feeling hotter, as if the invisible flames were intensifying, engulfing her body. If anyone were to walk in, this could be seen as some sort of flirtatious, or even passionate encounter! Kylo still had hold of her hand, but she daren't pull it away, enjoying the feeling of his large hand engulfing hers, protecting it, as he had with her when he saved her from the lake that day with his Mother. The music continued behind them, forgotten by both occupants as their encounter continued
"And yet you're still here. Surely your body has told you to flee?" Kylo asked curiously
"My body tells me lots of things, it doesn't mean I listen to it" She replied, looking straight into his eyes, her breathing still shallow to the point where Ben had started to notice. He also noticed that her face was flushed a lovely shade of pink, and that her pupils were dilated slightly. Those weren't the signs he had come to associate with fear
"Maybe you should" Kylo said, hoping she'd see the message through his light warnings; He was Dangerous. She should flee
"I-It's late… I should head back to my room" Rey managed to get out. Kylo let out a breath, thinking she finally got his message, but as he stepped back, she went with him, taking a step forward to follow him "Th-Thank you" She whispered, then gathered all the courage she could find before it failed her, stood up on her tiptoes, and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. She quickly darted from the room, thankful when the heavy doors closed behind her. She took a breath before she descended the stairs, hearing the music stop just as she reached the bottom. She hurried her pace so he wouldn't catch up to her. Stupid! She berated as she dashed across the stairs in the entryway and went up to her corridor, closing the door quickly behind her, even though she knew he wouldn't have followed her. How unseemly, for the Master of the house to be following a simple maid to her room at this time of night.
She toed off her shoes and dived into her bed. She quickly realised that she had left the fire on, and so she took it as an opportunity to practice bringing back her magic, as Leia had asked of her… Rey closed her eyes and focused the way her Mother had always told her. She let the room around her fade away, until her mind was blank and devoid of anything, and her body felt like it was floating in a white expanse of nothingness. It was calm, and familiar. Too familiar. Rey's eyes opened and she focused on the fire, but nothing happened. She wasn't focused enough. The white expanse had scared her and she had rushed it. Instead, Rey stood up and sorted the fire out herself. She then climbed back into bed and allowed the dimming embers to guide her into a restless sleep.
Hope you liked it!
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