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Rose spotted him in a blur, amongst excitement and relief, from the high vantage point over Chewie’s shoulder. Pale skin, pale eyes, slight build and long legs, much much taller than she remembered. Once Chewie let her down, she pushed past the throngs of joyous, hugging friends and kissing lovers.
“Reeve!” she yelled. The young man searched side to side, and then downward as she leapt into his slim frame. “I almost didn’t recognize you! You’ve grown so tall in what, a standard year?”
“Puberty hit me late and hard.” He chuckled. Even his voice had gotten deeper, more mature. “Good to see you, Rose.”
“Thanks for coming out and bringing the whole crew from Atterra. I really mean it. We needed all the support we could get. We couldn’t have won if it weren’t for you guys.”
She squeezed him tighter and he continued to chuckle. “Let me get you something to drink,” he said, patting her back. Her hold softened and she let him go. “Jogan juice or something hard?”
“Surprise me.”
Reeve’s face lit up in a bright smile before heading towards the refreshment station. Rose watched his back recede into the distance. She took a deep breath of the thick celebration air. It felt great to be alive, on a lush green planet, among found family, friends, life . The moment could not have been more perfect, aside from—
“Handler. Is the resistance so foolish as to leave a prisoner unshackled and unattended?”
She whipped around to raise her chin at a very different pale face. Where Reeve’s pale eyes twinkled with hopeful youth, these ones burned with a different type of passion, something fueled on spite and loathing or whatever the First Order had ingrained deep into his sallow skin.
“That ankle cuff is a shackle,” she answered coldly. “I designed it myself. Try anything funny and your body will be stunned. Run away from the base and you’ll explode. I don’t want to clean the mess of your blown-up limbs, so just behave.”
“Escort me back to my cell. I would rather sit in isolation than partake in any more of this frivolous nonsense. The cuff is chafing my skin, further aggravated by this intolerable humidity.”
“Okay princess. Afraid your pretty hair will frizz up with all this humidity?”
“No, but I see that yours does.”
Rose grabbed the electro-shock prod from her belt and brandished it towards his chest. “Say anything more and yours definitely will,” she threatened, waving the prod. Blue sparks crackled. “I won’t hesitate.”
From the corner of his eye, Hux watched the tall young man wade through the sea of people, two canteens held high in his hands, swerving in time to avoid collision with the dancing bodies. Above the crowd, pale green eyes met pale blue ones. Rose was grabbing his elbow, pulling him away, but he kept his gaze firm on the kid’s faltering smile. Hux smirked.
She dragged him into the bush and pushed him forward onto the path leading to the makeshift prisoner’s barracks. The noisy festivities, gradually dimming, were replaced by the steady hum of nighttime insects and the shuffle of dirt from their footsteps. Slow footsteps, thanks to Hux who controlled the pace.
“Will you hurry up? Geez, for a man with such long legs, you’d think your stride would be longer.”
“My stride is perfectly normal. Unlike you, I am not overcompensating for any shortcomings.”
“Oh I want to stun you so bad right now. But then I’d have to drag your dead weight ass back to your cell, something that would take the whole night to accomplish. I’m already missing the celebration, I wanted to catch up with Reeve. Who knows if he’s gonna stay or return to Atterra Bravo first thing tomorrow.”
Hux came to a full stop. “This celebration. You act like you have won the war. I’ll have you know, the First Order is more than just starships and weapons—”
“Don’t. Just shut up, okay? It’s one night. We’re celebrating being alive after surviving Exogol. Now hurry so I can get back to celebrating since you clearly don’t feel the same.”
“What is your relationship with that boy?”
She poked his back with the unignited prongs of her prod. “Keep moving, Hux.”
He didn’t comply. Instead, he turned around and leaned into her face, so close, until he no longer saw round cheeks but only sparkling deep-brown eyes. They flashed blue, and then he only saw black.
**
It started long before, but that was when I understood the stakes.
**
“We’ve decided to stay. At least until the war is officially over. The First Order’s presence on Atterra is gone, which is great, but… I want to do more. I want to fight.”
“Even without your grandmother?”
“She’s with me in spirit.” The young man abruptly looked away from Rose, eyes glistening as his voice cracked. “She passed away.”
“Reeve, oh stars, I’m so sorry.” She took him in her arms, and he clung to her for support. “This war has taken so much from—”
“Handler!”
“—all of us. When I lost Paige, I completely lost my sense—”
“Handler!”
“—of… p-purpose in the—”
“Handler!”
“— damn idiot .”
“Your assistance, if you please?!”
Rose took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
Reeve frowned. “Who is that guy?”
“You haven’t seen the holos?”
“What holos?”
“It’s best that you don’t know.” She sighed, dropping from the embrace. Without another word to Reeve, she marched over to Hux who was sitting at a workbench in the repair station, engine parts laid out, neatly organized by function. Ancient datapad in hand, he flicked through its contents with a placid expression, as if he hadn’t just been desperately calling for her help.
She stared him down, hands on her hips. “What do you want?”
“Never mind, I figured it out.”
“Then why did you—” She looked back, but Reeve was jogging away to join his crew.
“Oh? Did I spoil something for you? Do you perhaps, fancy that flyboy?”
“Just shut up. We went on a life-or-death mission together. I care about him, okay? That’s what happens on missions, you start caring for your comrades. You wouldn’t understand.”
“I perfectly understand. That is why I asked.”
He stared her down, with passionate determination and something else. Not spite, but something dangerous that hooked onto her like the binder on his ankle, refusing to let go when she tried to shrink back. “ Armitage ,” she growled. “Whatever you’re thinking right now, forget it. It’s the past.”
**
I never forgot about it and neither did you.
**
Small fists pounded against durasteel doors, causing no dents, only bruises on the side of her palms; the First Order gloves were sturdy, but not thick enough to cushion the blows. Rose sank to her knees, sweat dripping from furrowed brows, high-collared tunic clinging to her skin as she panted. Hux watched the rise and fall of her chest, constrained by the form-fitting teal synthcloth. She took off her cap and flung it aside, then snapped open her collar to breathe freely.
“Well, looks like this is it. The end. Stuck, in a turbolift, with the man I despise most in the galaxy.”
“I would return the sentiment, although, I cannot say that I particularly despise you.” She looked up with those intense, deep-brown eyes twinkling with something that he couldn’t quite place. He tried to hold the gaze and not let it dip to the exposed collarbone shining with sweat. It took a moment to find his voice again. “H-hatred requires energy. You are simply the most insignificant person in the galaxy.”
The mysterious twinkle vanished; rage became evident on her flush face. “Y-y-you scumsack ! I’ve been tolerating you up until now as an ally, as our spy . But now that it’s the end, I am not holding back!”
She grunted and swung an angry fist that he caught with ease. Twisting her arm, Rose screamed but refused to go down without a fight; she kicked him in the shins then behind the knees. He cursed to the Stars, stumbled, and fell to the ground where she mounted him, straddled him, grabbed him by the collar to—
The lift violently jerked. Her body flung forward. Their lips connected.
And Hux understood.
Her soft, generous breasts squished significantly against the flat planes of his chest. He was floored.
**
That wasn’t even a kiss, and yet somehow, we knew. Something changed the next time our paths crossed.
**
“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. I was supposed to escape on my ship, not on yours. How do you not have a kriffin’ escape pod on this ship?! That’s beyond protocol. You shouldn’t have been able to fly it out!”
Hux pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore the little spitfire whose unruly hair, once so neatly coiled in an elaborate updo, sprung free like crackling embers. She closed the already small distance between her heaving chest and his heart trapped behind layers of thick luxurious cloth—he never quite liked the feel of a dress tunic.
“It is not my fault those bandits stole parts of my ship. We are lucky that it is operational, unlike your dodgy craft that offered no resistance against their thieving claws.”
“My ship was not dodgy! They targeted it because your pristine ass design is so sleek, they had nowhere to rip! And yet, they managed to steal a whole kriffin’ escape pod.” Rose huffed, appearing absolutely undone despite the cosmetics that withstood their daring adventure. Her red-painted lips pressed into a firm line. She backed off, turned on her high heel, and walked towards the viewport. “Anyway, what’s the plan? Maybe just drop me off anywhere? I can find my way back to the Resistance.”
The open-back dress exposed her shoulder blades, two wings ready for flight if he came too close. But he had to try. Step by measured step, he approached until he miraculously stood next to her, gazing into the great blue of hyperspace. “Hide in the trunk. I’ll have the cargo delivered to my chambers, then I’ll arrange your escape.”
“ That’s your plan?!”
“I cannot afford losing more time and raising suspicion for my absence. There are already murmurs that I have become unhinged after my demotion— spending more time in the seedy alleys of backwater planets, gambling, hanging around that sort of ilk.”
Rose snorted. “Well, they’re not wrong.”
“Precisely. Nobody would suspect that I picked up some bounty on my trip. The flight log recorded a significant layover in Canto Bight before our subsequent mishap in the greater Cantonica desert.”
“What are you going to say you won?” She turned to him, chin up, a smirk playing on those pretty red lips. “Fine jewels, rare treasure, a beast that bites?”
“Yes. That is precisely what I’m going to say.” He leaned into her, the tip of his nose brushing against hers. A bold move, one that could easily scare her, but she seemed transfixed, stunned, somehow clipped at the wings and unable to fly away. “I’ll report that I found a reserve of precious smelt from a dead planet.”
She breathed out, hot puffs of air warming his upper lip. “You are vile,” she whispered, still not backing off. “I hate you.”
**
You sure ate your words after that. They say that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference.
**
Rose stood in the doorway of his bedchamber, arms crossed and silent. Hux rested his back against the headboard of his bed, comfortably seated with the black duvet draped over his lap as he perused a datapad for some light reading.
“I’m tired of sleeping on the sofa, Hux,” she finally admitted. “I mean, my bed back at the Resistance isn’t great, but it’s not freezing. No wonder you people strut around clothed up to your neck. It’s so damn cold. When can I leave?!”
“When Ren leaves on a mission planetside. It shouldn’t be much longer.”
“You said that yesterday, it shouldn’t be much longer ,” she repeated with a terrible Imperial accent. “I’m starting to grow suspicious.”
“I cannot control Ren’s whims. He is unpredictable and I must tread with caution.”
“Really? Is that it? Well, let’s hope they don’t grow suspicious over your refresher water consumption—I’m gonna go take a shower, a real hot one.”
“Go right ahead,” he said, keeping his voice level despite his heavy tongue. Once she turned on her heel, he peeked over the datapad. His heart pounded to the sway of her hips as she left for his refresher. He shook off the feeling, set down the datapad, and laid on his side.
He drifted off to sleep then suddenly awoke at the shuffle of sheets behind him. She had climbed into his bed and was inching closer. Her small body slotted along the curve of his back.
“For warmth,” she said, grabbing fistfuls of his sleepshirt.
“Just warmth?”
“Yeah, just warmth.” Her hand moved, lower and lower, until it rested on his hip. She began stroking his thigh.
“Then, allow me to raise the efficacy.” He flipped around to face her, to envelop her tiny body into his. “Better?”
“Better. Aside from the hard thorn jabbing into my groin.”
“Bear with it.”
“No thanks. I’d rather face my hardships head-on.” She bucked into him and his mind blanked. “Don’t you agree?”
**
It was a dangerous game. One that we kept indulging time and time again.
Even when I did not have intel to share, we would find a way to meet.
It could not last forever.
**
The skin of her inner thigh was downright addictive. He loved the supple give of her flesh, all soft and comfortable like a home he never knew until now. He wished they could stay like this forever, tucked into the safe cocoon of their shared duvet, basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking.
Just her, in his arms.
“When the First Order wins the war, will you stay by my side?”
She tensed, soft muscle hardening into durasteel. “I thought you were defecting. Didn’t you turn spy to take down your Supreme Leader?”
“Yes. To undermine his power and usurp the throne. Once he is eliminated, the First Order will need strong leadership that only I can fill.”
“No, Armitage. That’s not right.” She pushed herself out of his grasp, cracking the cocoon and letting cold air slip in. He caught her wrist before she flew away for good.
“Please, Rose. I need you.”
**
We drifted apart. I could stand your hate, but not your silence.
I had to do something, anything, to keep the connection alive.
…
Even betray my life’s work.
**
“Wait!” Hux shouted before FN-2187 slipped through the hangar doors. “Blast me in the arm. Quick.”
“What?”
“Or they’ll know.”
FN-2187 raised the blaster, but irritatingly did not fire. He was wasting time; what part of you’ve got seconds did this halfwit not understand? The impeders would reactivate if he stalled any longer.
“Why are you helping us?”
“Rose Tico!” Hux urged. “Promise me. Keep her safe.”
The blast never came. Instead, FN-2187 shot out his arm and clutched Hux’s shoulder to drag him towards the Falcon. “For the record, I’m doing this for her. She’d never forgive me if I left you here to die.”
**
Rose, I am imperfect, immoral, a despicable excuse of a human being.
But despite my faults, my shortcomings, I have decided. I want to be better.
**
“There you are!”
Hux pushed the thick, yellow-tinted goggles onto his forehead and peered over the hulking frame of the scavenged TIE ion engine. “Where else could I have gone?” He set down the hydrospanner onto an adjacent workbench, along with the goggles and oil-stained gloves. “Scared that I ran off into the forest and blown myself into bits?”
“Look, I know that you know that the ankle cuff isn’t operational, hasn’t been for quite some time… since before the mission in the Kuat Drive Yards.”
“Before?” His heart sped up at the implication, that perhaps Rose had trusted him again, even without saving the team that day with his near sacrifice. “Why?”
“I… don’t know. It was just…reckless, I guess. But you never tried to run.”
His booted feet crunched into dry soil and discarded cables; it only took a couple of strides to enter her personal space, just on the edge. “Where else could I have gone?”
“You skipped dinner,” she diverted, but remained anchored into place, even when he took another small step closer, and another, until he had to tuck in his chin to stare at pretty pink lips hesitating to speak. “Poe said the mission went well and that he’d like to have you on the team again.”
“Is that an order or do I have a say in the matter?”
“The choice is yours.”
“Then, I refuse.”
“What? Why? You get to be out there in the sky, in space—sure, our ships aren’t as fancy as your battlecruisers, but there’s no uncomfortable humidity and you get to command again. You won’t have to stay cooped up in this makeshift repair station anymore.”
He ran pale slender fingers through his loose ginger hair, not minding the grease and moisture. “I defected for one and only one reason, I thought this was well-understood.”
“Survival, I know—”
“No, Rose,” he interrupted, gently taking her hand and holding her tight. “You. I threw it all away for you .”
For a second, when she shook from his grasp, he thought that she would run.
But she didn’t.
Her hand reached up and she pulled him down by the open collar. His lips fell onto hers, so perfect, like taking a leap of faith and being caught in a comforting embrace. She tasted like the hot meal he had forgone that night. He didn’t realise his hunger. He had forgotten how much he missed her kiss.
**
I long to show you that I can grow beyond the destiny imposed by my father because you have shown me a life outside of the war machine.
You showed me that life is more than survival.
And I want to share this life, until my dying breath, with you.
“Rose Tico, will you marry me?”
He brandishes a blue flower at her heart, vibrant like the sparks of her electro-shock prod from long ago. It doesn’t stun her. Her lips curve and her mouth opens wide as she releases a back-arching howl of laughter. A younger him would interpret the bark as an affront, a mockery on his Arkanisian tradition, but now he knows. It’s just Rose. Ever expressive Rose, laughing to alleviate her nerves.
She accepts the flower and smiles. Her deep-brown eyes, twinkling with happy tears, reflect the golden hue of the sunset. She is simply radiant.
“Dummy,” she says, a little out of breath. She playfully swats his head with the flower. “You really caught me by surprise with that one. At first, I thought you were going to break up with me— kriff, bringing up the past like that, it’s embarrassing. Then, well… your timing is uncanny.”
“I do not understand.”
“Kneel, Tage.”
An odd request, but he complies. Perhaps he should have knelt throughout.
From her breast pocket, she pulls out a medallion shaped as half a gear. She loops the chain over his head and the pendant falls in the center of his chest, a comfortable, assuring weight. Her forefinger slips beneath his scruffy chin, and she lifts his gaze into hers. “You’re always one step ahead. I want to match your stride and walk together, side by side, until we grow so old that our droids will carry us around. Armitage Hux, will you marry me?”
She dangles a bounty this big, this significant, right below his nose.
Of course he’ll bite.
