Author's Note: We jump between Kylo and Rey's perspectives a lot in this chapter.

Chapter 12 - Still holding on

Rey rolled over and suddenly found herself falling off the bed, letting out a yelp as she thudded onto the floor.

Rey?" A female voice called out from outside her door. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Rey replied.

"Can I come in, please? The female asked.

Rey sighed. "Be my guest."

Connix entered the room and shut the door behind her. She looked at Rey, who was pulling herself up off the floor. Connix furrowed her brows. "What were you doing on the floor?"

"I rolled out of bed," Rey awkwardly laughed. "Some Jedi I'm turning out to be."

Connix smiled. "We can blame the alcohol. It does dull the senses."

"About that," Rey began.

"Me first," Connix interrupted. "I've been pacing outside your door for a while and I need to get this out." She pointed to Rey's bed. "May I?"

"Of course," Rey said, openly gesturing. They both sat down on it.

Connix placed her hands in her lap, took a deep breath, and exhaled. "I came here to clear the air," she said, peering up to meet Rey's gaze. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I was out of line. I shouldn't have commented on your sex life and..."

"No, no, no," Rey interrupted, grabbing Connix's hands that were fidgeting in her lap. "I'm the one who needs to apologise. I went too far. I was so mad. What I said was horrible." She paused. "I think I took my anger at Poe out on you too. I should never have implied you were easy, or that you and Poe should..."

"It's okay. Let's just agree that we both said things we shouldn't have. Chalk it up to the alcohol," Connix snorted.

Rey smiled. "We can do that."

"I have to ask: are you actually dating someone, or was that an excuse to avoid Poe's advances?" Connix queried.

"It's true. All of it." Rey bit her lip. "Are we okay now?"

"We're good." Connix looked at Rey's attire. "While we're being honest, do you mind if I ask what you're wearing?"

Rey glanced down and saw Kylo's tunic. Oh no! "I … It." How can I explain this?

Connix could see her hesitation. "You don't have to tell me. It's alright."

"No, I got it from the shipment," Rey forcefully shrugged. "We can't waste supplies."

Connix chuckled. "I suppose we shouldn't. Poe did say they found a heap of dark clothing," she continued. "Not many people would want to wear it."

"I will," Rey declared. "Wearing black doesn't mean I'm evil."

"Our Jedi would never join the dark side," Connix declared. "Now that's settled. Poe would like for you to repair the ships in the hangar."

Rey, looking concerned, asked, "You spoke to Poe?"

Connix nodded. "Since your little outburst, he finally noticed me. I suppose I owe you a thank you."

"Just forget it," Rey quickly rebutted. "Please forget it."

Connix smirked. "Already done. I'll see you out there," she said, leaving with a sweet little wave.

Rey went over to her cupboard and began searching for fresh attire, but she only found her training clothing from the previous night and clean undergarments. She brought her palm to her forehead. Most of her clothing wasn't there.

Kylo was sitting in his office. He had placed Rey's tan tunic, 3/4 pants, and boots in the bottom drawer of his desk. After she had disappeared from his bed this morning, he realised she wouldn't have much clothing on her side of the bond. Not unless you count the shipment, but he couldn't count that. There was no way she had packed it away into her room yet. He knew it was a matter of time before she came back in search of some pants.

He was in the middle of a heated discussion with Hux when Rey suddenly appeared next to Hux's shoulder.

"As I said..." Kylo turned his head towards her, his expression softening. "I knew you'd be back."

Hux frowned and looked at the space beside him. "Who are you talking to?"

Kylo raised his hand to silence him, continuing to watch Rey. "I have something for you." He leaned down and retrieved the clothing from his drawer, holding them out to her.

She stepped forward and grabbed hold of the clothing. Hux flinched when she abruptly appeared.

Rey turned towards the General. "Good morning, General."

Hux rolled his eyes. "Of course, it's you."

"Who else?" she innocently replied.

Hux tried to keep his eyes from exploring her frame. It didn't escape his notice that she looked like she was only wearing Kylo's tunic. "What can we do for our Empress today?"

"Just fetching some pants," she smirked. "I left mine here last night." She leaned over the desk towards Kylo.

Kylo didn't look at Hux. "Eyes up, General."

Rey saw that Hux straightened up in her periphery. "I'll leave you boys to it," she grinned.

Kylo let go, and she disappeared from Hux's sight.

"Thank you. I'll see you later," she said as she gripped the items closely to her chest. "I'd kiss you, but I wouldn't want the General to faint."

With that, she ended the bond.

Kylo smirked and looked up to meet Hux's expression.

Hux shook his head. "Does she have to do that? It's creepy."

"Just be mindful of yourself General. You can never be sure when my Queen is watching you," Kylo said.

Hux visibly swallowed.

Kylo continued, "As I was saying…"

Rey had spent the first half of her morning repairing two of the X-wings. She hadn't come across Poe, Finn, or Rose yet. She had managed to fix the jammed canopy relatively quickly. The starfighter with the malfunctioning hyperdrive had taken most of her time.

"Done," she declared to no one in particular.

"Do you think it's ready for a spin?" Poe's voice appeared behind her.

"I was just about to test it," she said, pointing at the other X-wing she had fixed earlier. "That one is done too."

Poe ran a hand through his hair. "Would you like some company?"

"Not really," she retorted.

"Come on," he pleaded. "I promise to be on my best behavior."

She snorted. "Like last night?"

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't exactly remember what happened last night," he replied. "Connix gave me the cliff notes, but it's still all a little fuzzy."

She sighed. "I can put it all behind us if you remember one thing."

"What would that be?" he hopefully replied.

"We're just friends," she firmly stated. "Nothing more."

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I can accept that."

"Time to jump in that X-wing, General, and bring BB-8," she said. "That little guy was left out last time, and it's not fair to leave him behind this time."

He smiled. "Good idea."

It wasn't long until they were all strapped in and ready to depart.

"Where should we go?" Rey queried.

"How about a quick jump to Inusagi?" he offered. "It's a neutral planet. It's only a couple of minutes' jump from here."

BB-8 chirped in a series of happy beeps.

Rey laughed. "You're right, buddy. We will be back in time for lunch. Let's do this."

In the airspace above Inusagi, Kylo stood in the hangar of the Finalizer, preparing to join a squadron of TIE Fighters that were conducting a series of dog-fighting exercises.

"Your craft is ready, my lord," a thin man with a balding head bowed to Kylo.

Suddenly, a series of alarms sounded in the hangar around them, and red lights began flashing.

"Incoming Resistance fighters," a woman's voice announced over the speaker system.

Kylo was washed over with Rey's force signature. "Rey," he gasped.

Rey, BB-8, and Poe exited hyperspace. The stars streaking past the windshield disappeared, and the Finalizer loomed into view.

"Damn," Poe shouted. "What are they doing here?"

Rey felt Kylo's force signature washing over her. "Ben," she whispered.

Poe wasn't listening. "Solo, we need to split up. I'll meet you back at base. Jump to a few planets first to shake them off."

His order jolted her back to focus. "Copy that," she replied.

Poe's ship had already disappeared. Rey tried to engage the hyperdrive to jump to Takodana, the first planet that came to her mind.

However, a red flickering light caught her eye, indicating a hyperdrive failure.

"Are you kidding me?" she cried.

TIE Fighters were scrambling around her, with one narrowly missing her wing. Her ship's warning system beeped, alerting her that she had been locked onto. She began evasive maneuvers as the TIE Fighters circled back.

Kylo had already jumped into his TIE Silencer, flicking the switches to initiate takeoff.

However, his open channel to the other TIE Fighters was unresponsive as the communication was being directed to the Bridge.

"Ren to Bridge. Disengage immediately," he commanded as his ship lifted off and screeched out of the hangar.

"Say again?" Hux replied.

"Disengage immediately. The ship is friendly," he urgently hollered into his comm. "I repeat, the ship is friendly."

Hux calmly inquired, "The ship is friendly?"

"It's Rey!" Kylo growled. "Disengage immediately!"

Rey threw her X-wing into a dive, and the sudden change in trajectory silenced the alarm.

Her heart began hammering in her chest. After a few beats, the alert was back. She tilted the ship to the left before turning it right and pulling up and over a TIE Fighter that was attempting to box her in.

She started a barrel roll and then straightened up before a laser skimmed her wing, causing no damage. Multiple targets had locked onto her now. Her eyes glanced around her windshield, desperately searching for an open space. Everywhere she looked, she could see a ship. She was surrounded.

Kylo now had Rey in his sights in the distance. Her X-wing was encircled by TIEs.

"All units, fall back," Hux ordered.

Kylo exhaled sharply as the order to disengage was relayed through the system.

The TIEs began peeling off, all except one. He could sense the pilot's intent.

"No!" Kylo shouted.

He fired upon the TIE, and it exploded in a spectacular ball of fire. It was too late. The pilot had already shot at Rey's X-wing.

Kylo could only watch as her wing was clipped, throwing her into a dangerous spin.

The blast's intensity propelled Rey forward, smashing her head against the control panel and cracking open her helmet. She was in a daze as her Starfighter hurtled uncontrollably towards the planet.

The G-force within her ship was increasing, and she could hear the blaring alarms grow faint.

Becoming slack in her restraints, she couldn't lift her arms or even her head.

Kylo's voice whispered in her ear, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. Her vision was blurred, and as Rey's eyes fluttered closed, unconsciousness took hold.

Kylo called out to her, "Rey? Can you hear me?"

He stretched one of his hands up, concentrating on slowing her descent. At the speed she was hurtling towards Inusagi, her ship would certainly detonate. He flew towards her while simultaneously using the Force. He could feel that she was unresponsive.

Every passing second felt like an eternity.

One. Two. Three.

His heartbeat thumped in his ears as they broke through the atmosphere and the hilly terrain came into view. He managed to stop the spin of her aircraft, pulling the nose up just in time as it skidded along the ground.

Despite the rough landing, he knew that Rey had survived. He swiftly landed his TIE Silencer beside her crashed ship and leapt out of his aircraft, rushing over to her and throwing her cockpit open.

Rey was slumped forward, and her damaged helmet had been thrown free from her head upon landing. Her face and hair were matted in blood, which was trickling from a gash that ran diagonally across her forehead and disappeared into her hairline. He leaned in, unclipped her seatbelt, and carefully scooped her up into his arms.

Her head slouched lifelessly into the edge of his neck. Smearing her body fluid across his face. The metallic smell overwhelmed his senses. His breathing caught in his throat. He was no stranger to the unsettling aroma, but this was different.

Knowing that it was Rey who was bleeding made this different. He steadied himself and held her close to his chest. He finally had the woman he loved in his arms again. But this wasn't the reunion he had been expecting.