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"Now now sweetheart, let's not do anything we'd regret."
Rey’s lunge for freedom was cut tragically short as the Kylo caught her by the belt loops on the back of her trousers.
She felt herself being yanked back and winced, anticipating the feel of solid concrete being slammed against her flesh.
But no such feeling came.
Instead, as she fearfully looked up at her captor, Kylo had frozen, seemingly entranced by the vivid bruises that littered her skin.
"Who did this to you?"
"Wha-?"
"I didn't make these marks, so who did?"
"Does it matter?"
"It does to me. Who did this?"
"Why does it matter? Are you so proud that you can't stand the thought of anyone hurting me other than you? Is that it? Is that all I am to you? A punching bag?" A few stray tears trickled unbidden down her face.
"I SAID, WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!?!?" Kylo roared with all the fire of a million suns and with all the might of a thousand deadly bombs.
Rey cowered away, trying to make herself as small a target as possible. She was used to the Kylo's rage, but this was unlike anything she'd experienced before. It was more angry, more hurt, more fierce. Several more tears went flying down her cheeks.
"DONT MAKE ME ASK YO- oh, oh no don't do that. No don't cry." Kylo's voice suddenly changed, it got softer and a note crept in that (if the Rey hadn't known better) could have been mistaken for concern. "Don't cry."
"I- I'm not crying idiot. And I don't see why you need to know about the- the bruises."
"Okay, fine! Be like that! I don’t care anyway! I'll see you when I see you, I guess." Suddenly Ren was all business again, stalking out of the cell leaving Rey sitting in the cold, damp dungeon. And somehow she felt sad that the man had gone, and that that moment had passed..
A few days later Rey managed to escape the castle where she was being held, after jumping two stories into the lake and running for miles over treacherous marshy land with a sprained ankle.
Even despite the pain and cold she was glad to be free, glad to breathe that sweet fresh air again... even if it did smell like bog water.
Now though, she was at a loss as to where to go. She knew she had to escape this planet, preferably even this sector, but she had to be careful. One false move could broadcast her exact position to Kylo, and that was the exact opposite of what she wanted.
So she had to be careful. Any escape plan was immediately 10x harder than normal due to her and Kylo’s Force connection. He’d already tried to link with her twice since she’d escaped and it was only through intense concentration and extreme mental stress that she was able to keep him at bay.
She knew that she couldn’t hold him off much longer.
He came to her in her sleep. Appearing in her dreams. At first she wasn’t sure if it was just a dream or if it was the Force Connection manifesting itself through her subconscious, but as the dreams grew more and more frequent it became clear that Kylo was trying to connect with her again.
Finally she couldn’t hold him off any longer, it was taking all of her mental energy to just keep a clear head, and the stress of everyday life was taking its toll. So when he next came calling, she couldn’t keep him away.
“Rey." The connection was weak at first, she could barely hear what he was saying. “Rey!” The connection grew stronger and his voice was clearer though there was still there was no physical appearance.
“Shove off, nerf-herder.”
Suddenly the connection became much clearer, Kylo’s image swam into view before her.
“Rude. Hasn’t anyone taught you any manners?” The faintest trace of a smirk appeared on Kylo’s face. ‘”Anyway I’m not here to make small talk. I have a proposition for you.”
“I said, shove off!”
“Aww don't be like that. What have I ever done to you?” Kylo faked a pout, bringing out those dark chocolate puppy eyes.
Rey didn’t rise to the bait, not bothering to list all the ways he’d hurt her.
“Anyway, my offer is this: Come back to my castle and I don’t kill you immediately.”
“That offer makes no sense and you know it. You can’t kill me immediately anyway because I’m here and you’re there. Besides why in the universe would I exchange this relative safety for your dark, damp, dangerous castle where I will no doubt be tortured and eventually killed?!?”
“Because I asked you to."
“What?” Rey sat up, confusion written clearly on her face.
“You’ll come to my castle because asked you to.” Kylo’s voice was quiet, but it had a dangerous edge to it, clearly stating that he was not to be trifled with.
“NO! I WON’T! Rey screamed, but she was shouting at thin air, Kylo had gone, leaving Rey to sit up all night wondering what to do.
Obviously she would continue with her plan to leave the planet. It would be suicide to return to Kylo’s castle. Besides, she didn’t even want to go back. Yes. She would definitely leave the planet, preferably tomorrow. Absolutely. Her mind was made up. There was no way she was returning to that place.
.....
At first light Rey set off...back to Kylo’s castle.
._.
All the way there she tried to convince herself to turn around, to hitchhike off of this dump of a planet, to leave this backwater galaxy behind along with all memories of Kylo.
And yet she just kept walking.
When she finally arrived at the looming black castle she was ready to collapse, it was all she could do to knock the vast double door before she crumpled into a heap on the doorstep.
She was vaguely aware of being wrapped in some kind of blanket as strong arms lifted her up and carried her inside.
She jolted awake, reaching automatically for her lightsaber only to realise her arms were weighed down by some sort of heavy covering which under further inspection turned out to be Kylo’s cloak.
She was lying on a bed, an unusually comfy one at that. Her hands were free but her ankles were shackled to the bed post, presumably to stop her from doing a runner.
She craned her neck to see around the rest of the room. It was decorated luxuriously thick black pile carpet, black velvet drapes, an armchair was tucked up a corner next to a floor-to-ceiling bookcase.
And yet despite the rich decor the room had a very lived-in sense to it. A spare cloak was flung carelessly over the armchair, books lay face-down strewn over the floor, a half finished painting was propped up against a cabinet.
With a jolt Rey realised that she was in Kylo’s room, lying on Kylo’s bed, wrapped up in Kylo’s cloak. And despite herself she wondered why he’d chosen to put her here, in his private quarters.
She jumped as the door to the room swung open. She flopped down, feigning sleep in a desperate attempt to make him leave. She was already regretting her decision to come here, wishing that she had set off in the opposite direction never to return to this awful castle.
She lay as still as she could, screwing her eyes shut as Kylo approached the bed.
“Rey? Rey I know you’re not sleeping.” She could feel him towering over her, leaning over the bed to look at her face. Reluctantly she forced her eyes open.
He was much closer than she’d expected, his face mere inches away from hers. She’d expected him to be wearing his signature mask and gloves but instead she was greeted by his bare face and hands. He was propping his head up on his fists, staring directly into her eyes.
“Good morning sleepy head.” He grinned at her, that adorable lopsided grin that he always used. Why was he being so nice to her? She’d been expecting the normal cold, cruel, power-hungry Kylo that she’d always knew.
It was a trick. It had to be. He was trying to get her to let her guard down before the torture began.
“Yes. Well. It’s hardly a good morning is it? I’m trapped in this stinking castle with you. I should never have come back.” Kylo blinked, surprised by Rey’s hostility. He’d been making a special effort to be nice but obviously she was having none of it.
“Okay well. Come on then.” He started leading the way out of the room, looking back in confusion when he realised that Rey wasn’t following him.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, I happen to be shackled by the ankles to your stinking bedpost.” She glared ferociously at the man.
“Oh, uhh, yeah sorry.” Kylo drew his lightsaber and before Rey could react, he sliced swiftly through the chains restraining her.
Slightly shaken, Rey pulled herself together and stood up. She managed an impressive two and a half steps on her jelly-like legs before promptly collapsing into Kylo’s arms.
He picked her up and swung her round, depositing her back on his bed before flopping down next to her.
“Just give it five minutes and you’ll be back to normal.”
“What have you done to me you pig!?!” Rey lashed out at Kylo who effortlessly caught her tiny hand in his large one.
“I haven’t done anything. And don’t call me a pig please. It’s rude.”
“Am I hallucinating did you just say please? I didn’t think you were physically capable of being polite.”
“It happens on occasion. I’d make the most of it if I were you, it’s unlikely to happen again in your lifetime.”
“In my lifetime!?! I knew you were going to kill me as soon as I got here! I should never have come.” At this point Rey realised that Kylo was still holding her hand and she shook herself free from his grasp. “I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!”
“Stop shouting."
“NO! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I-" Rey was cut off as Kylo calmly placed his hand over her mouth.
“I asked you to stop shouting.” He murmured quietly in her ear, his voice deep, smooth and rich, like dripping honey.
Rey stopped struggling and prised his hand off of her mouth, pulling a face at him. “I think my legs are better now.” She huffed.
“You sure?”
“May as well try.” She shrugged, standing up.
Kylo put his arm around her waist, just in case she collapsed again but she shook him off saying “I'm fine!”.
“You sure about that?” Kylo chuckled, grabbing the back of Rey’s robe, stopping her from falling flat on her face as her legs gave way yet again.
“Fine.” Rey reluctantly accepted the proffered elbow, hooking her arm through his for support.
As they slowly made their way down the corridor Rey was struck by the distinct lack of guards and general decrease in security measures.
“Where are all your guards?”
“Oh I don’t have too much security here, they’re all off serving on Sith ships and stuff. I don’t really mind, I prefer the peace and quiet to be honest.”
“Oh. Huh.” Rey filed that information away for potential future use. “Where are we going now?”
“The kitchen. Unless you’re not hungry?”
“Oh no I’m starving. Its been weeks since I last had a proper meal. I’m basically running on fumes at this point.”
“Well we’d better get you a slap-up breakfast then!”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Rey asked the question tentatively, afraid of running everything by questioning his motives.
“Oh don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten that we’re deadly enemies but we can do all the fighting and stuff later, for now I’m your host you’re my guest.” He grinned. “And besides, it’s no fun duelling someone who collapses a very five seconds, is it now?”
And Rey had to admit, that last quip did make her smile.
Rey was sitting on the counter-top in Kylo’s kitchen, he was busy cooking her breakfast while she told him bits and pieces about her life growing up. She was still wary that he was suddenly going to hurt or even kill her but for the most part that fear had subsided.
She could smell the bacon cooking, hear Kylo’s laughter, feel the warmth from the stove and for a while she could almost forget the whole ‘worst nemesis' thing she and Kylo had going.
...
An hour later they were enemies again. They were fighting furiously, supposedly to the death. Kylo had made her breakfast, and waited a few minutes before drawing his saber. Rey was still unarmed and therefore had to improvise.
She’d stepped inside Kylo’s swing and wrestled his weapon out of his hands. She kicked it across the floor and leaped onto his back, trying to fell the giant.
Kylo staggered over to his lightsaber and swiftly picked it up, skilfully throwing Rey off of his back straight into a wall.
Rey had retaliated by hurling a chair at him, following up by cracking him across the jaw with a curtain pole.
Kylo stumbled backwards into the crockery cabinet and began chucking plates, cups, bowls and glasses at Rey who batted them aside with the curtain pole.
Rey slashed at him with a knife, Kylo stabbed at her with his saber, she kicked him in the ribs, he flung her across the room, she tripped him up, he twisted her arm behind her back.
It was a constant back and forth. The battle raged on for hours as they fought.
And then it was over.
By some miracle Rey managed to knock Kylo out with the curtain pole. She grabbed his lightsaber and prepared to finish it. All it would take was a swift stab through the heart and she would be free of him forever.
But she couldn’t do it.
As she stood above him, saber poised, ready for the kill, something stopped her. Something held her back. Some deep, raw emotion that prevented her from bringing the weapon down in its deadly arc.
She pocketed the saber, ran to the docking station, stole Kylo’s ship and flew halfway across the galaxy before she stopped to think about what she had nearly done.
Six months later
Rey woke up in much the same manner as she had woken up every morning over the six months since she had left Kylo Ren and fled across the galaxy. She dragged herself out of bed and staggered into the kitchen of the ship she had stolen from Kylo.
She’d landed on a tiny, uninhabited backwater island and had been living off of the rations that had been packed into the ship's pantry. Water wasn’t a concern, the planet was 90% H2O after all, but food was running low and Rey was dreading having to leave the planet to pick up more.
Living in complete solitude -bar the odd seabird- was tough but nothing that Rey wasn’t used to after all she’d been through.
But no more. Today was the day she was going to have to visit the nearest space-port and get some food. Rations had all but run out and Rey was fed up of eating the same meal replacement gel every single day. It was time to get some real food.
Besides, Kylo hadn’t made contact in months. Maybe he’d forgotten all about her!
Deep down Rey knew that that could never happen, Kylo would always come after her whatever happened. It was just a matter of time.
The first thing she did when she arrived at the space port was buy the biggest burger the diner had to offer, complete with chips, salad and every condiment she could get her hands on. It had been months and months since she’d had a proper burger and it tasted so good she could have cried.
Then she did a big shop and stocked up on non-perishable food and walked back to the ship laden with bags and bags of supplies.
It was all going so well. She nearly made it without any problems! But naturally, the universe had other plans.
It was just as she was loading up her ship that the fleet of military ships filled the sky, jumping out of hyperspace to greet her. Almost before the ships registered in her peripheral vision Rey was off and running into her ship, gearing up and preparing to take off.
If only she could get into hyperspace, they wouldn’t be able to follow her there. She would be safe.
I would like to tell you, dear reader, that she made it. That she made the jump into hyperspace and that she got away unscathed. Unfortunately that was not what happened. Rather this is how the events played out:
Just as Rey fired the engines into life, her ship was boarded by the enemy forces. She wasn’t entirely sure who was attacking her, only that they were hostile and she needed to escape.
By this time they had reached the door to the control. Thankfully Rey had had the presence of mind to lock it but it was only a matter of seconds before they blasted it down.
Taking cover behind the console, Rey opened Kylo's lightsaber. Unsurprisingly she hadn’t had cause go use it in the months of solitude and bar a few experimental swings it had lay unused in a drawer aboard the ship.
Rey heard the door being blasted down and the forces march in. She jumped out from behind the console, lighsaber swinging madly. She decapitated three of the droids before they even realised she was there.
She advanced slowly, parrying bullets with the saber, stabbing droids where it was possible, dodging them where it wasn’t.
The cracked crystal was unstable, making the saber hard to control and the hilt was heavier than Rey was used to. But even despite this, she was winning the battle and was on the point of triumph.
....until the rest of the army boarded the ship.
She was incredibly outnumbered, they had seemingly unlimited soldiers and she was just one person. Still she fought valiantly, knocking off more droids than even she had expected.
But just as she was tiring, just as the exhaustion was setting in, just as she was on the point of collapse a droid got in a lucky shot. Right below the ribs. This was followed up with a blow to the head and another to the collarbone.
And just as she was losing consciousness she spotted a blue lightsaber swinging madly right at the back of the group of soldiers. And the soldiers were dying to the saber and it was advancing towards her and everything was fading... and everything was going black and...and...
And then Rey knew no more.
By all accounts Rey should have died that day. She was unconscious, surrounded by highly trained enemy soldiers who were very good at their jobs and had the sole goal of killing her dead.
And yet she lived.
How on earth did she live? How did she not die? Well I have two words for you.
Kylo. Ren.
Yes he was the owner of that blue lightsaber that felled all those soldiers. He was the one storming up the ship he knew so well to save the life of his worst ever enemy.
Crazy, I know!
Anyway back to the story....
Kylo stormed up the ship towards where he knew Rey was, killing droids and soldiers left right and centre. He wasn’t just angry, he was absolutely fuming. Here was a whole army doing his job! Rey was his enemy, it was his job to kill her!!! The absolute cheek of these soldiers!
He finally reached Rey lying unconscious on the floor. He picked her up, effortlessly flinging her over his shoulder in a vague approximation of a fireman’s lift. He dispatched the final few droids and strode back down and out of the ship.
He must have looked odd to any passers by, dressed all in black, carrying two lightsabers -one blue, one red- and an unconscious girl slung over his shoulder. Not that there were any passers by to see, everyone had been evacuated the moment the fleet had landed. The only observer was an old, one legged man who had been through enough in his time that he wasn’t really shocked at anything any more.
Kylo boarded his ship, dumped Rey unceremoniously in the sick bay and set a course for his castle.
Rey woke up with a flash of pain as Kylo calmly prodded at her gun wound.
“Good morning sleepy head.” Rey felt an odd sense of Deja vu at his words, taking her back to the last time she woke up in his castle.
“What happened? Why am I here? I thought I died.”
“Nah you didn’t die. It was a close enough thing though! As it is, you have two fractured ribs, a blaster wound, and a whopper of a bruise on your temple.”
“Yeah I can feel it! Why am I here though?”
“I- I uh. I may have slightly rescued you...slightly." Mumbled Kylo, staring at his feet.
“Okay, say that again, but with clarity.”
“I...I rescued you! Okay?” Kylo stared menacingly at Rey, daring her to make fun of him for rescuing his worst enemy.
“Huh. Thanks I guess.” Rey suddenly was at a loss for words, not knowing how to react to this unexpected revelation.
They lapsed into an awkward silence, broken only by Rey’s hisses and grunts of pain as Kylo treated her wounds.
Finally Kylo finished bandaging her blaster wound, and had made a sling for her arm. This would help with keeping the ribs completely still.
“You’re gonna have to take it easy for the next....” Kylo checked his medical handbook, “..four to six weeks.”
“WHAT!?!?!” To Rey, who was very active and got bored within two seconds of sitting still, this sounded like an absolute nightmare.
“Yeah, no strenuous activity, no stretching, sports are off limits...yeah basically that’s it. Luckily the heat from the blaster shot basically sealed the wound, so you didn’t lose too much blood which should speed up the healing process, we just have to watch out for infection."
Six weeks later.....
Rey had to admit that Kylo was a good nurse. He was very attentive and concerned about her, though he wasn’t the gentlest, most sympathetic carer in the world.
Her ribs were pretty much fully healed now, and she was back on her feet. She wasn’t quite up to duelling yet but she was getting there.
Rey and Kylo had switched lightsabers again, so Kylo had his red one and she had her blue one. Rey was looking forward to starting sparring practice with Kylo once her ribs were fully healed.
They’d fallen into a sort of routine, making breakfast together and then spending the day doing whatever needed doing around the castle and walking around the grounds. It was hardly the most interesting life.
Two weeks after that......
They were in the middle of their second duelling match of the day. It was nearly midnight and they were both getting tired. This duel was of the more playful variety, with less pure hatred and more helpless giggling.
“Hah!” Shouted Rey, parrying Kylo’s blow. She turned on heel and ran as she saw the look of quiet determination on his face, clearly he meant business.
She sprinted at full pelt up the three flights of stairs to the top floor, where she darted into her bedroom to seek cover, giggling uncontrollably, under the bed.
She heard the door slam open as he strolled leisurely into the room taking his time, he knew that there was nowhere left for her to run. No escape.
He started methodically going around the room, checking in every cupboard, pulling the covers back on her bed, even checking the shower in her en-suite, laughing quietly all the time he was doing so.
Finally he strode back over to her bed and prepared to look under it. Truthfully he’d known from the second he’d entered the room exactly where Rey was hiding, the muffled laughter was enough to give that away, but he’d humoured her and looked everywhere else first.
He knew there was no escape for her now as he bent down to peer under the bed.
He gasped as she shot between his legs, scrambling to her feet and darting out the door, even as he fumbled for his saber.
He sprinted after her, hot on her heels in pursuit. She bolted up the one remaining flight of stairs to the upper tower. It was the only place left to run, there was no way she’d get downstairs before he caught her. So to the tower!
She had dashed up the forty-two steps into the tower room before she realised that she had well and truly trapped herself. There was no way she was going to jump five stories down on to the ground and there was nowhere for her to hide.
She sat quietly by the window, her only chance was to disarm him before he “stabbed” her. Of course they weren’t really going to kill each other, it was only a friendly game after all, but if he burst the pocket of red paint strapped to her front he would win the match.
She heard him walk leisurely up the steps, he knew as well as she did that there was no escape from this room.
He cautiously opened the door a crack, wary of a surprise attack, and when none came he slipped through, closing the door firmly behind him. He spotted her sitting over by the window and walked over, twirling his lightsaber in joke menace.
He stood over her, looming triumphantly over her huddled form.
Rey closed her eyes, waiting for the feeling of the bag of paint bursting so that she could ‘die' dramatically. But that feeling didn’t come.
When she tentatively opened her eyes Kylo was crouching down in front of her, leaning his hands on the wall behind her. His saber lay discarded at his feet.
There was a look in his eyes that Rey had never seen before, a dizzy, out of focus look in those melted chocolate, adorable, puppy eyes of his.
“I- I don’t want to fight you anymore.” He whispered, his face mere inches from hers as he leaned down.
“Me neither.” Rey closed the gap between them, pressing her lips against his.
And as her brain exploded into fireworks, Rey realised what that look in Kylo’s eyes was.
It was love.