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General Hux had a fan club.
He was feared and revered by many, yes, but he also had a fan club. It was the sort of club dedicated to worshiping a person with mannerisms that rivaled the most prominent of religions and the darkest of cults. Ren discovered this early in his time with the First Order. He wasn’t surprised, of course, that it existed. The General was someone of great power and even greater publicity. As the youngest general appointed to anything in many millennia, the galaxy had quite a bit to say about him. So, the fan club wasn’t surprising.
What did surprise him was that the fan club consisted entirely of small children, most of whom had yet to finish their primary schooling.
In hindsight, it was something that Ren should’ve expected. After all, the various interviews and propaganda videos that featured Hux didn’t give the galaxy a fearsome image of him, so much as it gave them someone to admire. He spoke well, using his youth to his advantage.
“I may be young, but my youth is my greatest advantage,” he said in his most popular holonet interview. “The First Order started as my father’s dream while the Galactic Empire still ruled, but he died before he could see it finished. I remember talking with him about everything that could be accomplished, everything that could be fixed within the galaxy. The New Republic may be on the rise, but the galaxy’s last attempt at a republic had righteous ideals, but failed due to infighting and a lack of control. Emperor Palpatine had a strong command, but his reign was a dictatorship motivated by fear rather than loyalty.”
It was a holovid that took the galaxy by storm: The First Order’s first message to the rest of the galaxy.
Hux spoke with conviction. He presented the sort of propaganda that planted ideas rather than boasting strengths. “The First Order can bring balance. We will bring the peace that the people have so craved since the days of the Old Republic. With all of the Republic’s ideals and the strong command of the Empire, we will become what they could not.”
It was an offering of peace, and a warning of war. “Perhaps our methods are ruthless, but bowing to an enemy sends a message of fear to our people. We are reasonable. We are not unkind to our allies, and if you’ll let us, we would gladly call you friends. However, until there are treaties in place, we…I cannot afford to let the citizens of the First Order think that their way of life will be over run. I cannot grovel before the republic and let my people think that their homes will be burnt to the ground. They trust me to protect them. I am not allowed to be kind…for their sakes.”
It sparked controversy, conversation, everything that Leader Snoke said it would. Though Ren found the General annoying at best, he could not deny that his charisma was far beyond that of any being he’s ever seen. The following interviews and propaganda videos only thrust the First Order and General Hux further into the lime light. He did everything from answering questions to giving tours of their capitol.
Which brings Ren back to Hux’s fan club. Naturally, such a break out celebrity would develop a following. The galaxy was locked in a heavy debate about whether or not Hux – and by extension, the First Order – could be trusted, but there’s always a group who loves the new celebrity, worships them like a god.
It’s just a little odd when that group turns out to be every pre-adolescent with access to the holonet. It perplexed the adults as to why so many children loved a man who rarely smiled and spoke only how great his First Order would be if only the rest of the galaxy would join him. However, the children seemed to think differently.
Ren had discovered just how deeply enamored they were while digging through holonet archives one evening. Snoke told him that learning the secrets of his grandfather would be more physical than intellectual. “Feel what he felt,” Snoke told him. “Go where he traveled, see what he saw, and learn why he forsook the light. I could tell you his story over again, but it would be nothing you’ve not already heard. You must see it, live it, and then you will understand.”
So, Ren buried himself in research, compiling a list of every planet Darth Vader had walked and why. He was half-way through some old article about his grandmother when an alert flashed on his datapad to inform him of Hux’s latest campaign message. Typically, Ren ignored them, but he’d never been good at using technology, so when his too-large hand accidentally opened the video, he resigned himself to watch it. Well not actually watch it, rather he read through the stream of comments about the video that the less-intelligent beings of the galaxy deemed it necessary to leave.
He’d expected to find heated debates and insults being hurled in every language known, but instead he discovered an endless stream of misspelled praises, most of which were variations of “I LUV GENRAL HUGS!!1!! HES THE BEST!!!111!”
General…Hugs?
After looking through the comments of a few of the more popular interviews, and finding a holosite full of drawings of Hux (quality ranged from toddler-scribbles-in-a-color-scheme-that vaguely-resembled-Hux to professional-artists-with-too-much-time-on-their-hands), Ren had to cut his research short because he couldn’t stop giggling.
Obviously, Ren couldn’t resist teasing Hux with the nickname. He did so subtly, usually when drawing Hux’s attention to which Hux would shoot him a confused glare and ask “What did you just call me?” Ren always managed to play it off, often poking fun at Hux in the process (“General, I called you by your name. You’re a little young to be hard of hearing, don’t you think?”) It was fun up until Leader Snoke addressed it, telling him to focus on his training rather than teasing the General.
The next day, Ren made sure to roughly knock shoulders with Hux while passing each other in the corridors of the Finalizer, and muttered “tattle tale” under his breath. He swears he said it quietly enough for his voice modulator not to register it and project the words into the room, but he also swears that he saw the corners of Hux’s mouth twitch.
Ren was not the only passenger of the Finalizer who knew about the ridiculous nickname, but he only found that out after Leader Snoke shut down his fun. Apparently, the crew saw Ren teasing Hux as permission to do the same. Except for Phasma, none of the crew seemed to do it on purpose, but if Hux’s lieutenants slipped up every now and again during meetings Ren wasn’t going to call them on it.
Hux’s newfound aggravation became a source of great joy to Ren, who was very happy to have a mask that covered his shit-eating grin. Even if Hux did cast a glare in Ren’s direction every time someone called him “Hugs”, Ren would take the blame.
But the icing on the cake had to be that Hux had no idea where the nickname came from. Sure, he blamed Ren for his crew’s insubordinate behavior, but he also blamed Ren for the nickname. It wasn’t until they went to Naboo for the first of the peace meetings that Hux even discovered that he had a fan club.
Their trip to Naboo served a dual purpose. Hux went for the peace meeting. Naboo had a long history of allying with both the Republic and the Empire as the people were Imperial sympathizers while the government preferred the Republic’s ruling style. This made them a viable candidate for joining the First Order as they had yet to pledge allegiance to the New Republic. Hux’s messages about the First Order being a balance between the Old Republic and the Empire were a huge selling point for the leaders of Naboo.
Ren went for his training. His grandfather spent much time there with his grandmother, and Ren knew she played a huge role in his turn to the dark side. This would be a very good place to discover his grandfather’s emotional connections to power.
When they landed, it was a grand affair; nothing like what they were met with in their own territory. Huge crowds were gathered at the space port and they screamed and yelled all sorts of things as Hux stepped off of the ship.
“Get off our planet, fire monkey!” yelled some.
“General, save us!” yelled others.
Hux showed no signs of surprise or alarm, that is, until the children broke through the crowd.
For those first few moments, Hux regarded the crowd just as he regarded everything he deemed unimportant: with cold but polite indifference. Then, as soon as he stepped foot off of the transport shuttle’s access ramp, ungodly shrieks at frequencies that could only be reached by small children rang out over the crowd. From the legs of the finely dressed citizens, children ran out and headed straight for Hux.
The troopers tried to hold them back, but they were better equipped to handle threats with weapons or rowdy crowds of people their own size and larger, not pint-sized monstrosities with sticky hands. That being said, most of the kids actually stopped at the perimeter of troopers. The few brave ones squeezed past, completely disregarding the panicked shouts of their parents and the angry threats of the troopers. Soon enough, Hux had 20ish children all crowded around him, asking him questions.
Ren let himself laugh, but what ended up happening was more along the lines of indignant squawking coupled with strangled breaths while doubled over and weeping tears of pure joy. No one paid attention to him. They were all too busy worrying about Hux’s reaction to the children.
Hux looked horrified…or as horrified as someone such as himself could look. In fact, Ren would say that he almost looked panicked, and not the mid-way-through-a-battle-and-my-plan-isn’t-working kind of panic either. It was pure, unadulterated terror. He was frozen in place, arms raised above their tiny heads, but their hands pulled at his boots and pants and coat causing Hux to stumble every which way.
“It’s the Shouty Man!” they screamed. He was berated with innocent questions and whiney demands. Hux looked like he was about to have a meltdown.
“Genral Hugs, will you come play with us?” Asked a little boy, tugging on Hux’s great coat.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Hux’s eyes widened in realization, finally understanding where Ren had gotten the nickname from. He glared at Ren anyway.
Ren just laughed some more and sent him a “good luck” through the force. With a little flick of his hand, Ren pushed Hux forward so that he stumbled and tripped. The children screamed as the General fell and then descended on him like a pack of mynocks.
Amid the chaos, Ren slipped away unnoticed. He had his own mission here, and while the General’s misfortunes were the highlight of his day, he needed to finish his business here before Hux concluded his meeting. Using the force only to diminish his presence, Ren managed to make it to the edge of the hanger without incident, which was a miracle considering he decided to wear civilian clothing instead of his normal ensemble. It was a personal choice on his part to enjoy Naboo without all of the fanfare and intimidation. This was the one planet he enjoyed visiting when he was a child. It didn’t seem right to view it through the eye holes of his mask.
That’s when it happened.
“SILENCE!” Hux screamed. “CEASE YOUR SCREAMING AND REMOVE YOUR HANDS BEFORE I HAVE THEM REMOVED!”
Ren, along with the entirety of the hanger, froze. It was so suddenly and completely silent that the sounds of the city outside of their hanger seemed more out of place than the silence.
Though Ren couldn’t see much from the edge of the hanger bay, he could certainly feel it. Everyone was afraid, especially the children. The younger ones were on the verge of tears. Hux’s sudden flare of anger settled quickly as he remembered where he was and why he was there.
Eagerly, Ren waited for him to give the order to clear a path. Ren was so ready to watch Hux slip into his icy cold efficiency that tolerated no nonsense and walk out of there while the children cried.
But he didn’t.
Hux sighed. He crouched down so that he was at eye level with the children, and then he spoke to them, gently but firmly. “I cannot hear you if all of you scream everything all at once. If you wish to speak with me, then gather round. One by one, now. No pushing. Younger ones first.”
Ren was baffled. He expected the children to star screaming again. He expected a few of them to cry from the shock of Hux’s previous yelling. Instead, they did as they were told. They gathered around him in a semi-circle, each of them taking a turn to tell Hux something mundane and insignificant and maybe give him a hug, and then they dispersed as Hux turned to address the crowd of adults. He handled the situation just like everything else: with a frightening calm and commanding tone, and they all listened.
Too stunned to move, Ren ended up standing by the hanger bay entrance as the crowd filed out. As Hux approached, Ren saw that he still had a few kids around him, and the little boy who first called him “General Hugs” was holding his hand.
“You build castles with your blocks?” He heard Hux saying to one of the children. “Well, that’s quite a coincidence. The First Order happens to need more amazing builders like you. Maybe you could show me how good you are at building.”
“Genral Hugs, is that your ship in the sky?” One girl asked, pointing towards the looming figure of the Finalizer that orbited the planet.
“Why, yes it is.”
“You should paint it orange with sparkles!” The girl said, and Hux actually smiled. Ren has never seen him smile before.
“What a marvelous idea. It’ll look incredible.”
“And it’ll match your hair!”
“Even better! Why didn’t I think of that? You must be an artistic genius,” The girl beamed up at him, and Hux turned to the boy holding his hand. “What would you add to my ship?”
“More cannons!” The boy shouted.
“How many more?”
“Uh….Thirty-bagillion!”
“Thirty-bagillion? Are you sure that’s enough to protect my crew?”
“Yeah!”
“Then I’ll have a talk with my engineers about that. In the meantime, how would you like to see the cannons up close?”
The children lit up and began screaming again. “Can we?” “I wanna see the cannons!” “Can we see bridge too?” “I wanna look at the stars!”
Hux smiled down at them softly, “Of course, of course. All in due time, little ones. I’ll have a talk with your schools about field trips. Would you prefer to see the Finalizer, or the ship yard?”
“Fine-izer! Fine-izer!” they chanted.
“Very well. Maybe Captain Phasma will let you watch the troops train as well.”
They talked excitedly as they passed Ren. “Genral Hugs, who’s that?” One little boy asked when he noticed Ren staring.
“Him?” Hux met his eyes with a wicked smile. “Oh, he’s no one important.”
Deep down, Ren knew Hux was just helping him keep his cover, but the way he said it set Ren off. “Look at how much attention I’m getting” Hux’s eyes mocked. “Look at how much they love me and not you.”
Ren sent Hux a string of angry curses through the force that Hux didn’t bother dignifying with a response. He chose instead to tell the children that he too loved to play dress up, especially when he had to attend formal events and got to wear pretty dresses like their queen wears.
Angrily, Ren stalked off. He didn’t have time for this. He had a mission to finish. He needed to focus on finding out more about his grandparents’ relationship. When he was a child, he’d always asked, but no one could tell him much about it. Now, in the palace gardens, away from the screaming crowds, Ren could meditate and look back on all of the lives lived there.
He doesn’t know how long he spent meditating. Time tended to pass in odd intervals while he meditated, but when he opened his eyes, the sun was high in the sky. It must’ve been early afternoon. Hux’s meeting would start soon, meaning Ren had a few more hours to himself before he had to return. Preliminary meetings never lasted long, so he’d have to be quick.
Exploring the palace was helpful, but until Ren could come back with his personal shuttle, he was stuck in the city and could not access the places most significant to his grandparents. So, Ren let himself wander. With the Force, no one saw him, giving Ren easy access to every room and building, but it was the garden he loved most. Not only was it large and beautiful, but it also over looked the city at just the right angle: high enough that he could see into the horizon, but not so high that he couldn’t glance into the small market square below.
There, he relaxed, trying to focus on his grandparents and the significance of their relationship, when he suddenly heard crying. Ren didn’t need his physical sight to know it was a little girl who’d lost her parents. He’d heard her clearly enough, running about the square, asking for directions that no one could give her.
It was a test from Snoke, Ren was sure. Don’t reach out. Don’t help her. Don’t soothe her. Let her grow and learn her lesson. Leaving her alone is the best way to help her. In this way she will grow stronger. In this way she will-
“Genral Hugs!” She called out.
Ren looked over the ledge. He had to. If Hux was near-by then there was a show to see. This whole Hux-is-good-with-kids thing was probably just for the crowds. There was no way that he actually liked kids, and Ren was determined to prove it, even if he would be the only one to know. In this little market square, there was no one but the little girl, and Hux who approached from one side. The remaining citizens had left for one reason or another, and for those who didn’t leave, well…Ren waved his hand and gave them a reason.
“Genral Hugs, wait!” She had noticed him as Hux walked past her, but he was quite a few feet away by now and she had to run to keep up with him.
Hux was alone. Surprisingly, not even his guards accompanied him, but the small cylindrical stick in his hand told Ren that Hux probably snuck away to take a break. The girl whipped furiously at her face, and kept calling out to him. Ren was sure Hux would ignore her, given there was no one around for him to show off to, but he stopped. She ran into his leg and fell to the ground with a little gasp.
Starting with little sniffles, her face contorted in pain and she began to wail as tears streamed down her face. Again, Ren expected Hux to sigh or roll his eyes and tell her to stop crying, but again Hux proved him wrong. Immediately, Hux dropped to his knees, a worried frown on his face. The girl reached out to him, and Hux scooped her up, walking them to a near-by bench to sit together.
“Forgive me, Flower,” he cooed, sitting her in his lap. “Was I walking too quickly?”
“Uh huh,” the girl sniffled, clinging to his shirt, and Hux pulled out his handkerchief to wipe away her tears and snot. Her little sobs shook her body, and there would probably be tear-stains on Hux’s shirt, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Don’t cry now. Strong girls don’t cry. Tell me, where are you parents?”
The girl shrugged, cries reducing back to hiccups and sniffles as Hux rubbed her back soothingly.
“Would you like to come with me, then? I have very important things to do, but you can stay with me until we find them.”
“D-do you mean the meeting?” She looks up at him with big eyes and Hux’s hand on her back pauses.
“The one you talked about in the holovideo,” she continued.
“Yes, it’s a very important meeting. Do you know what for?”
“No.”
“I’m going to ask your queen if she’ll let Naboo join the First Order. Then you can see me every day.”
“Really? Every day?” The girl became excited, her previous pain forgotten at the thought of being able to see her idol every day.
“Every day, little flower, especially if you become one of my troopers.” And of course, Hux is going to spew out propaganda to a five-year-old.
“You mean the scary white soldiers? I don’t wanna be scary!” Her face contorted into an adorable little frown that even Ren couldn’t resist smiling at.
“But, Flower, they’re only scary to get rid of the bad guys. If you wear that armor, then all of the bad people will be afraid and they won’t hurt you or any of your friends and family.”
“They won’t?”
“They won’t. I’ll even give you a special name. You’ll be…FN-0001. F for Flower, N for Naboo, and the number means you’ll be number one. You’ll be the best. Would you like to be my best trooper?” He tapped her nose and she giggled, flashing Hux with a huge smile.
“Yeah! I wanna be General Hugs’s best trooper! Then I’ll see you every day!”
“That’s right, Flower. You’ll see me every day. Come along now. I need to get to my meeting, and you need to find your parents.” Hux scoops her up again, choosing to carry her instead of let her walk, but she doesn’t fight it. The girl just leans her head on Hux’s shoulder and starts talking to him more animatedly.
“Can my friends be your troopers too? Revan and Malak always protects me, so maybe they can protect you too.”
“I’d like that very much. We’ll ask them together.”
Once again, Ren found himself baffled as Hux walked off with the girl. Never had he expected Hux to react so gently, so kindly to anyone, even children, but Ren witnessed it himself. Twice, he watched Hux interact so kindly with the tiny beings, but no matter how hard he thought about it, Ren could not wrap his mind around Hux being such a fatherly man. He’d see it again, for a third time, when he returned to the shuttle that evening.
The sun just started setting when Ren returned. They weren’t scheduled to leave until sundown, but Ren had had enough of the civilian clothes. It felt too odd for him to be without his mask for very long, as much as he enjoyed exploring Theed without it.
To his surprise, Hux was already at the shuttle. The other officers that made the trip to the planet surface were still absent, but Hux and his Stormtrooper guards were there, and they were playing with the children.
As in, Hux was doing push-ups with a few of the younger kids on his back while some of the older ones ran around the hanger bay wearing his hat and great coat. One or two of them talked to the Stormtroopers, whom Hux had apparently allowed to be out of regulation long enough for the children to try on their helmets. There were smiles and laugher all around, most noticeably on Hux’s face.
It may have been the strangest sight Ren’s ever seen.
When he neared the group, the little boy from the beginning of the day called out. “Hugs, Hugs, look! It’s the man who’s not important. Why is here?”
Hux rolled over, causing the kids on his back to tumble to the ground in laughter. He sat up as he addressed the question. “Well, he may not be very important, but he’s still very strong. His name is Crylo Ren and he’s the strongest warrior in the First Order.”
The children “ooh”ed and “ah”ed, and Ren felt a smile tugging at his lips. He bent down, following Hux’s earlier example, and properly smiled at them. “That’s right. I’m stronger than any-“
Wait a second.
Ren looked over at Hux as the General’s words registered. “What did you just call me?”
Hux shot him a condescending smirk instead of answering, but even if he did answer, Ren doubted he would’ve heard it. The children started to gather around him, saying things like “Is your name really Crylo?” “Your name is funny!” “Hugs says you have a cool sword!” “Do you cry a lot and so that’s why your name is Crylo?”
There were ten of them, maybe twenty, and it was more overwhelming than when Snoke questioned his loyalty. It was insanity. Just one of these little monsters would’ve been too much for him, and Ren was sure these children were the well-behaved ones. This is Naboo after all. His grandmother was fourteen when she was elected queen. The children on Naboo are the most well-bred in the galaxy.
That being said, Ren thought of his mother for the first time in years. He knew he was much worse than these children are now. How did his mother do it? How did she raise him and not try to strangle him every time he opened his mouth?
Ren raised his hands, ready to wipe their minds. It was a bad move, he knew. Someone would catch wind of it and Hux would be on his case for months, but as soon as he started to reach out to their little minds, Hux stopped him.
“Now, now, what did we discuss?” Hux said, drawing the children’s attention to him. “Don’t crowd him, and if you’d like to speak then raise your hand.”
Obediently, the children listened. They were quick to move, eager to please their idol. As soon as they settled, a dozen hands shot up in the air. It wasn’t any less intimidating, but when Ren looked to Hux, Hux only raised an eyebrow prompting him to pick one.
Hesitantly Ren sat down with his legs crossed and his mind open. He knew what Hux was playing at: Mold the young minds and create a generation that would sympathize with them. However, he also knew that any adults who walked in on the scene might think Ren and Hux were trying to brainwash them…well…technically, that is what they’re doing, but they don’t want anyone to know that. So, Ren keeps his mind open; he’ll sense it if someone walks into the hanger.
Slowly, he points to a little boy in the front of the group. “Is your name really Crylo?” He asks.
“No, it’s actually-“
“But Crylo is funny. I like it!” All of the children mumble their agreements. It makes Ren a little mad to have been interrupted and insulted like that.
“That’s not my name. You can call me ‘Kylo’ or ‘Ren’ or ‘Kylo Ren’ but not ‘Crylo’.” There’s an angry sneer on his face, and Hux rolls his eyes dramatically. The children look very dejected and a little scared. The boy who asked the question is on the verge of tears.
Once again, it’s up to Hugs Hux to save the day. “Stop being so dramatic, Crylo. See children, it’s fine. He doesn’t really mind; he’s just playing a game. You can call him Crylo if you’d like.”
“Really?” The same boy asks.
“Ye-“
“No! That’s not my name,” Ren interrupts Hux, who proceeds to stare at him like he’s the biggest idiot in the galaxy.
The little boy starts to sniffle, and a few of the other children look like they’re about to start crying as well. Panicked, Ren looks to Hux and opens a mental channel. “Why are they crying?”
“Because you’re an idiot.”
“But that’s not my name!”
"Do you honestly think they care?”
Ren raises his hands to wipe their minds, but Hux stops him again. “Don’t you dare,” He glares at Ren.
“Oh, then I assume you’ll fix it?”
“Why should I? It’s your problem. Deal with it. May your damn Force be with you.”
Ren glared at Hux, resenting his mockery of Ren’s earlier send off to him. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he looks out at the kids. The little boy is hiccupping now, and the others aren’t far behind. With a sigh, he says, “But if you really want to…I guess it’s alright if you call me ‘Crylo’.”
“R-really?” The little boy sniffles.
“Really. You can call me,” Ren sighs again. It’s painful for him, but if it’ll stop a full-out tantrum… “You can call me Crylo Ren!” Ren loudly sniffles and dramatically wipes a tear from his face.
Instantly, the children’s mood is lifted. A few of them giggle at his antics and then the hands start shooting up again. With the crisis averted, Ren tries to let himself relax and answer their questions. “Why do you have so many moles?” “Can we see your sword?” “Why is your hair so long?” “If you work for the First Order then where’s your uniform?”
He gives in to a few of the demands, and Ren definitely smiles when the children stare in awe at his lightsaber. Hux and the Stormtroopers keep them back while Ren demonstrates a few of the fancier fighting stances.
By the time the rest of the officers return to the shuttle, the children managed to drag Hux and Ren into a game of pretend where Ren is a vicious beast and Hux with his little army of troopers have to defeat him in order to save the bigger Storm troopers. It’s not something Ren would normally do and he has a feeling it’s not something Hux would normally do either, despite being so infatuated by the children. If anything, it feels like pull of the planet, calming him, filling him with peace. Then, lying on the ground after being “shot” by Hux, Ren understands.
He watches Hux and the children celebrate the rescue of the Stormtroopers and he realizes why his grandparents so loved this planet, why his grandfather had become so enamored with a bold, quick-witted, strong-minded politician. Now he understands, and now it’s time to move on. Understanding is all he needs. Such feelings won’t work out for Ren. He’s not strong enough to allow himself that pleasure yet. One day, maybe, but not today.
“It’s time to go,” Ren says, standing. The children look up at him with sad faces and a chorus of “aww”s, but Hux is quick to silence them when he sees the approaching officers.
“Kylo’s right. It’s getting late, and I believe some of your parents are here,” Hux says. The children whine again, but Hux gathers them around with promises to visit soon and make sure they get a field trip aboard the Finalizer.
Then, one by one, the children all go to Hux, giving him hugs and saying their goodbyes. Ren leaves them, turning to gather his abandoned lightsaber and helmet. He returns his things to the ship as the Stormtroopers start the engines and the officers strap themselves in, but after a moment’s hesitation, he returns to the hanger to get one last look at the planet.
Most of the children had left, but one little girl hung around Hux, begging him to stay. It was the same girl from the market square. Hux hugged her and kissed her head, and she whined, but with tears in her eyes she finally said goodbye.
Ren turned to leave, but then he felt a tug at his pant leg. Looking down, Ren saw the same little boy who’d first called Hux “Hugs” and called him “Crylo”. With a soft smile, he bent down to meet the boy’s eyes.
“You never told me your name,” Ren says.
“Atton,” the boy mutters shyly.
Ren ruffles his hair. “It was very nice to meet you, Atton.”
“When I grow up, can I be just like you?” Atton asks suddenly. “I wanna have a cool light sword and a mask and cool powers just like you!”
Just like him? Ren was taken aback. No one had ever admired him before. Even before his days as the master of the Knights of Ren, he’d never been a popular character. It tugged at his heart a little; just enough to compel Ren to reach out to the boy and search his life force.
Ren felt it like a spark. The Force was strong with him. He could become something with the right training. “Maybe, one day, you will.”
“Really?” Atton asked excitedly.
“Yes, but only if you join the First Order,” Ren almost smacked himself for sounding like Hux, but unlike Hux’s ridiculous propaganda, his message had a purpose. “I learned to be strong through my master, and my master is the leader of the First Order. You’ll have to join us if you want to be like me.”
“Then I can train with you and have my own light sword!” Atton tackled Ren with a hug, surprising him again. The little arms around his neck held on tight, and after a moment Ren let his large hands settle on Atton’s back.
“I’ll see you later,” Atton said, pulling away. He flashed Ren a huge smile, that Ren couldn’t help returning. “Crylo!”
Ren’s smile faltered, and Atton ran off, laughing. As he stood, a hand landed on his shoulder. Ren turned just in time to watch Hux pull it away and walk up the access ramp onto the shuttle, but he swears the corners of Hux’s mouth twitched.
“Crylo,” Hux acknowledged him very respectfully, despite the ridiculous nickname.
Ren paused before replying.
“General Hugs.”