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In the same year, practically galaxies apart, two children are born.
One is brought into the world out of shame, a bastard born of a kitchen wench and a well respected commandant.
The other is born the celebrated son of a princess and a bounty hunter.
They are both raised by robot nannies, though the princess’s son’s nanny has a golden, sparkling personality.
The bastard son has short, flaming ginger hair. He is taught to keep it neat. He also has clear blue eyes, but no one ever tells him he got them from his mother. He’s never met his mother, and he never will.
The princess’s son has thick, dark, curly, hair. He likes it longer, which results in teasing from his father. He cuts it once, and immediately regrets it. His eyes are a dark brown.
The ginger boy learns from an early age that because he is illegitimate, he is worth nothing. His childhood is full of pain and beatings, the only respite from it being his studies. He learns to ignore the pain as he walks, and to keep his head high, and hide the tears that always threaten to spill. He absorbs every bit of information presented to him, and devours books about old generals and their battles and strategies. He memorizes maps and what planets hold what alliances.
The dark haired boy is older than the other children on the planet, and is left to himself a lot. He embraces his creativity and studies the Force, it’s history, and the history of the Jedi. It is his uncle that decides to train him, and many other children who show aptitude and proficiency in controlling the Force.
At age 15, the ginger boy is forced to flee his home planet, and is given his first blaster. He desperately shoots it at the invaders, the his fathers voice ringing in his ears as most of his shots miss. They go to a far off system, barely inhabited. It is then his training begins. His father tells him this is the only way to make him proud. This is his purpose. At first the idea of taking lives repulses the boy, but soon it turns into his drive, to finally make his father approve of him.
At age 15, the dark haired boy is given a lightsaber, and is trained in how to use it. He is implored to be careful, but the thought of what the lightsaber can do block out those warnings. It is also at age 15 he learns of his heritage, and the darker part of it. An equally darker voice now speaks to him, drawing him down a different path.
When he is 16, the ginger boy is now part of a new military power, called the First Order. He is the lowest ranking, but that won’t last for long. His prowess is soon noticed by the Supreme Leader, who promotes him quickly, much to the disapproval of his father. His father says he is weak. He will prove him otherwise. He devises a plan to make the perfect soldiers, and is able to execute it with his new ranking.
By the age of 16, the dark haired boy has been denounced by all of his family. He is no longer the son of a princess. He has committed the murders of around a dozen children. He is taken in by the leader of a new military power, Supreme Leader Snoke. He is now the son of the dark side, as was his grandfather. He begins a different kind of training. He is reborn with a different name, a difference face.
Armitage Hux and Kylo Ren are both 20 when they first meet. They are both to head the building of a new base, using Kylo’s power and Hux’s plans for a new weapon for the First Order.
The first thing Hux notices about the sith is his helmet. He sees it as the Siths barrier against the world. And part of him wants to get to know the man beneath it. He is curious as to how Kylo Ren became the way he is.
The first thing about Hux that Kylo notices is his hair. A rare shade of red. The second thing is Hux’s eyes. Kylo gets the impression that those blue eyes have seen too much, and how they bored into Kylo’s being.
They don’t speak a word to each other, but the purpose of the meeting is lost to them as each tries to figure the other out.
They meet again on the planet to be turned into the base, except this time Hux is with a man Kylo assumes to be his father. He sees the man reach out and backhand Hux. Anger flares up, and his hand immediately goes to his lightsaber. A thud echoes as the man kicks at his son, and Hux is now crumpled on the ground. The older man walks away, shaking his head. Kylo walks over, and offers Hux a hand. The ginger shakes his head, murmuring something about not being weak, and gets up on his own. Kylo sees his eye swelling, and reaches out with the Force, guiding and healing the blood vessels back down, and healing the top layer of skin. Hux puts a hand to his face, and whirls to face Kylo, who is already walking back the way he came.
The third time they meet, it is during Hux’s promotion to General. It is the effectiveness of his new brand of soldiers that earns him the title. Kylo notices his father is absent.
The next day Kylo is sent away to squash Rebels on some far out planet. Hux doesn’t want him to leave. He finds it hard to talk to the helmet, and he awkwardly tells the Sith to be safe.
The first time Hux sees Kylo without his mask is after Kylo has been shot in the side by Rebel forces. Hux has stepped into the medical bay, and was shocked to be met with blue eyes piercing him. The blue eyes of Kylo Ren.
“General.” Kylo’s voice is smaller without the helmet’s voice modulator.
“Sir.” Hux gives a small nod, studying the other mans face, trying to memorize it.
Kylo doesn’t know what to say to the General. He feels intruded upon, but doesn’t want the General to leave. He can’t even look away from the eyes that seemed to express concern for him.
Hux understands why Kylo wears the helmet now. Because without it, he’s emotional. Vulnerable. Even so, he still wants Kylo to take the helmet off more often.
Hux visits Kylo twice a day afterwards. They manage to become friends. It’s good for while. Kylo feels less lonely, and Hux feels a sense of security and belonging.
Then Brendol Hux dies. Kylo feels a sense of relief, and Hux feels nothing. Or so he tells himself.
Hux keeps a straight face during the glorious military funeral. Kylo walks him back to his quarters, and follows Hux into the room.
“Hux.”
“What?” Hux doesn’t look at him. There is a click, and Hux knows Kylo’s helmet is being removed. He feels his hand shaking.
“Hux. Talk to me.” Kylo’s voice is softer. It makes Hux’s next words easier.
“No. There is nothing to be said. My father was a great man.” He chokes on the last words.
“No. You’re hurt.” Kylo steps forward, and Hux feels the Force pressing into his consciousness, as well as Kylo’s hand on his arm.
“Leave. Get out.” Hux throws up every mental barrier he can think of, and steps away from Kylo. “GET OUT!”
Kylo leaves, and Hux is left sickened by the fact he sounded exactly like his father when he said that.
The next months are misery for both Hux and Kylo. Their friendship is now nonexistent.
It isn’t until Hux finds Kylo lying bloodied in the snow, that their stupid feud is forgotten. As the planet breaks apart beneath them, Hux is kneeling in the snow, pulling Kylo’s head into his lap, alternating between yelling into his comm for an escape pod, and murmuring to the half conscious Kylo.
“Kylo, stay with me.” Hux’s hands were shaking, but he kept a finger on Kylo’s pulse. Weak, but still there. “Kylo please. Please, I know what I said was stupid, and you- you were right. I swear if you stay alive I’ll tell you.”
They were picked up by an escape pod finally, and Hux still held Kylo in his lap.
Kylo nodded into consciousness a few minutes later, and the first thing he saw was Hux’s concerned face above his.
“General.” He murmured.
“Armitage. My name’s Armitage.” Hux murmured. Kylo nodded.
“Armitage.” Kylo repeated, closing his eyes.
Their ages are forgotten as The First Order regroups. All they know is how to move forward. Life resumes as normal.
Except now Kylo Ren now removes his helmet when it’s just him and a red haired general in the room. And they both feel a shiver run through them as the general grabs Kylo’s hand.
Because each thinks the other is the most beautiful thing in all the galaxies.
The bastard son is in love with the curls framing the scarred face of the princess’s son. He’s in love with the softness betrayed by the other’s dark brown eyes. He’s in love with how safe he feels when Kylo holds him.
The princess’s son is in love with the blue eyes that remind him of the moon filled sky of the planet he once called home. He’s in love with how the fiery hair represents the fiery personality. He’s in love with the bastards determination and drive to succeed.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, two lost souls make history, and move beyond their pasts, forging their future together.