Xia hadn't heard anything else for months after that. Convinced that it was merely a result of exhaustion, she easily dismissed it from her mind. One afternoon, she was surprised when Kylo Ren visited her as she was polishing the Droid in her bedroom.

He always knocked first, which alarmed her slightly that he could be a gentleman. Xiamara imagined it would only be quite embarrassing if he walked in on her while she was indecent.

Her hands, still holding the rag, rested on her lap. Meanwhile, BB-3 gave a whistle and a whirr that closely resembled a greeting. Like Xia, the Droid expressed nothing but respect towards the warlord, though Xia wasn't sure if BB-3 was merely trying to keep the two of them from being separated, and therefore remained on its best behavior.

"We have unfriendly company on its way. A couple of rogue pirates affiliated with your former master."

This was a surprise - not a good one, at that. Were they here to try and capture her?

"You are to stay in my quarters until they are disposed of. Understood?"

"Yes, master," Xia nodded, rising to her feet. She looked at BB-3, and the trio moved to Kylo Ren's quarters. He left her locked inside so that no one but himself could enter. Xia felt very uneasy, and somehow, the room felt colder than usual. She sat in a chair by the window that overlooked the endless void of space, though saw no ships coming towards them. Instead, she saw Crait, a beautiful, yet desolate planet she had always wanted to visit.

"I hope he sends them with their tails between their legs," she said to the Droid, who bleeped in agreement. It felt like the longest wait in her life when she finally heard a sound at the other side of the door. However, it sounded more like tinkering on the door, like someone was trying to break in. Quickly, Xia spotted a poleaxe mounted on the wall and seized it. Though she never had to fight in her life, she was ready to start swinging if her life depended on it.

"She's here!" growled a familiar voice. It was Ivan's right-hand, Gloth, a full-blooded Feeorin with a nasty temper. Sometimes, he scared her more than Ivan did.

Suddenly, the door opened, and as the two pirates stepped in, the girl's grip on her weapon tightened. Seeing them after all this time only made her angry, when she initially suspected she would be fearful.

As Gloth charged at her, she flung the poleaxe in a wide motion in front of her, causing him to leap back and away from her. He grunted, gritting his teeth. "You're really going to wish you hadn't done that."

Again, she swung at him, yelling this time as she did. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You'll have to kill me first!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

To her surprise, it wasn't Gloth that spoke, but the familiar voice of her master as he quickly put an end to the Feeorin closest to the doorway. Xia exhaled, quickly getting out of dodge as Gloth and Kylo Ren started fighting one another. The red glow of Ren's lightsaber gave color to the room around them, as there was very little light already.

Xia said nothing, but she was undoubtedly hoping the pirate would meet his end. Suddenly, the ship began to rock, as if it had come across a disturbance in its flight. Xia stumbled a bit, and even BB-3 went rolling to the other side of the chamber by sheer gravity. Even the two fighters staggered at the turbulence.

"Master, look out!"

Gloth was coming up behind Kylo Ren with a hidden dagger. She was standing between them before she could think twice about it. Poleaxe still in hand, she drove it hard into Gloth's skull, gasping as blood struck her face.

But it was the sharp pain in her side that caused the air to hit her lungs.

Gloth was certainly dead, but Xia knew what she had done was quite stupid.

"Damn," she heard Kylo Ren grunt, and she fell into what she could only guess was his arms when the darkness shrouded her eyes.

In her mind, she asked herself no girl just over eighteen should have to inquire.

Am I going to die?

In the void, she saw nothing, but an unfamiliar voice could be heard as if it was coming from very far away.

"Xia, do you hear me?"

It sounded like a man, though one significantly older than her. She couldn't move her mouth, but somehow, the words escaped her mind and reached out into the empty space around her.

Who's there?

No response, but a tightness emerged in her chest, as if whoever the voice belonged to was trying to get some sort of message across to her, but its intent was unclear.

Suddenly, in came a sharp breath, and light flooded her eyes again. She was lying down, and the pain subsided as quickly as it came. She sat upright, and it took her a couple of moments to realize that she was in her room again, and beside her, Kylo Ren was sitting in a chair, apparently waiting for her to wake up. He had changed out of his warlord clothes, though it wasn't uncommon for her to see him wearing simple, black clothes.

"You're awake."

"Yeah..." she exhaled. Although his voice was quite even, he seemed rather relieved that she was okay. Had she been hurt like that as Ivan's property, she doubted he would have reacted like that. "Did I...?"

He seemed to know exactly what she was asking before she even finished.

"You passed out from shock, nothing more." He pulled down the blanket from her torso. There was a hole where she had been stabbed in the black, tank top that she wore, but beneath the fabric was no wound. At first, she stared at the spot in disbelief. She had heard rumors of the Force, but had never seen it in person.

"You did that?" She almost asked why, but held her tongue. She was still his slave, after all, and she had to choose her words carefully. Questioning his motives would not be a wise idea.

"It was no trouble." He seemed more human than she had ever seen over these past, couple of years. She almost wondered if she ever knew him at all. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes... Thank you, sir."

He nodded, his expression harder to read suddenly as he got up from the chair. At first, she expected him to tell her to prepare a bath for him. The room was tense, and she didn't notice at first that she had been holding her breath.

"Get some rest. I will check on you in the morning."