Chapter 34.

Her head was absolutely throbbing.

The cold concrete floor was helping, however.

With stubborn eyes, Rey slowly opened them, trying to remember what had happened.

Slowly, she sat up and glanced around the dark room, only to realize she was in a prisoner's cell, though she did not know who's ship she was on. Thankfully, Rey saw that she was alone, letting her know that Kai and Flora must have escaped successfully, and Sano must have not gotten to them.

'Ugh... Sano...' Rey thought as she remembered his face before he knocked her out. Though she had this planned out, the one thing that surprised her was seeing his face in the mix of it all.

Scooting back to place her aching bones against the cool bars of the cell, a guard she hadn't noticed spoke up from the entrance up the stairs.

"Hands where I can see them, scum!" He snarled at her, moving his blaster to her direction. Rey glared at him as she crossed her arms over her knees, resting her chin on them.

At the moment, she felt much too weak to bother playing a mind trick on him, and knew the effort would go to waste if she-

"Step aside." A husky voice called out, followed by the sound of heavy boots.

Rey's head whipped back up so fast that her temple began to triple its pounding, not only recognizing the voice, but the angry tone with it.

Kylo Ren approached the guard, his eyes daring any defiance from the trooper, who quickly scurried off to leave the pair alone. Kylo watched him leave, making sure to feel no presence around within earshot.

For a moment, Rey's breathing hitched as she realized this was no force bond, but Ben Solo here in the flesh. Not taking her eyes off of him for a second, she stood up on shaky legs, admittedly intimidated by the cold glare he was giving her as he quickly made his way to her, his cloak swinging behind his large, long legs.

Without any struggle whatsoever, Kylo easily broke the prison door from its lock, swinging it open as he stepped inside, and though he was furious, Rey couldn't help but notice that his eyes glanced over her entire body, from toe to head, his eyes did not miss a single piece of her exposed flesh that was still peeking out from her costume..

All Rey could do was watch with wide eyes, not needing to channel the force to feel the anger that was rolling off of him.

"Well?" he demanded.

Rey blinked, unsure what to say or where to start. She glanced down and quickly back to him, frozen.

"What in the-" Kylo began as Rey cut him off.

"I had to do something." Rey said, louder than she intended, making Kylo's tone jump higher.

"This?" He roared.

"Yes! You couldn't beat him without starting a war, a bigger war than we already have on our hands-"

"I had some of them on my side, they would have pledged their allegiance to ME-"

"Who? You mean that tall blonde woman and that man named Cosic? They were already plotting your death the moment Vicar was out the way!" Rey yelled, and this statement made Kylo grow quiet as his breathing grew harder, just as the look he was giving her.

Rey quickly felt his mind shove into hers, and she let him this one time, only to let him see the truth.

Once he did, Kylo hissed as his hand balled into a rough fist, turning his body away from Rey so he could steady his anger.

Rey wanted so badly to comfort him, to tell him it was okay, that she had a plan. Yet, she knew right now was not the time. And so, she waited. She let his anger roll away, and the let the tension pass as much as it could before she spoke.

"I couldn't take the chance." she muttered quietly. This time, when Kylo turned to her, he was no longer glaring, though he had a blank look in his eyes.

"Why? If Cosic would have killed me, you could have killed Vicar, and that would be the end of it of any possible stong leader and your rebellion would have a better chance." He said.

Rey blinked several times in shock.

It had never occurred to her to let it play out that way.

To Rey, in the end, her hope still cast itself in Ben Solo returning to the light, and they would defeat all they needed to, together.

In every scenario, he stood by her side.

What else was there?

What else mattered?

The galaxy mattered, the lives of everyone who lived and contributed some sort of peace, mattered.

And for Rey, somehow, of all the beings in the galaxy, Ben was her own peace...

"Because..." Rey said, her eyes falling to the ground as he stepped closer. She couldn't help the tears that threatened to slip over, but refused their release.

'Because?' she asked herself.

"Because?" Kylo asked her.

She still had no way of saying the answer.

When Rey looked up, she met his soft gaze, and she saw a glimmer of hope, a sliver of shock in his own eyes. For a moment, the silence that accompanied the pair was enough.

And with no word said, Kylo's brow gently furrowed, his eyes sweeping over Rey's face, the face of a Jedi that risked it all to save him, her own bonded-enemy.

Their paths were meant to intertwine, and their bonds deemed them fated, together.

As if for the first time, this hit Kylo harder than anything he had experienced, harder than any thought he had ever imagined.

This, Rey, he was sure of.

His eyes locked onto hers, and hers onto his as both of their heartbeats quickened, pulsating harder and throbbing in their own ears.

Briefly, his eyes shot down to her parted, pink lips.

His head bent down, moving forward to Rey, who quickly reared back, her eyes wide open with shock as she registered what he was trying to do.

For a second, Kylo's anger teased a comeback as his eyes began to narrow at her.

To Rey, she had never experienced such a thing herself, though she witnessed this type of affection several times back on Jakku. Yes, she believed she and Kylo nearly did do this before... but this time, it felt much more intense.

He was here, and so was she. This was no bond, and with that in mind, the electricity in the air grew, and so did the warm feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She gulped, her lips parting again as her breathing hitched once more.

Rey glanced towards his lips, soft and rough, imagining the taste.

Hesitantly, Rey moved her chin up, needing to step closer to Kylo in hopes of reaching him. When she did, he reared back this time, watching her curiously.

Rey's eyes hardened as Kylo's did, watching and studying one another to foresee their next move.

And together, they moved towards one another, their lips meeting and moving in perfect synchrony.

Every single feeling felt so new, so fresh. Rey couldn't help the small gasp that escaped as her eyes closed, Kylo's warm lips pressing against hers.

He suspected that it may be a new experience for Rey, in fact, the thought excited him even more.

'Mine.' he thought to himself as he deepened the kiss, though when he felt her tongue softly flicker against his bottom lip, neither one of them expected his reaction.

Snaking his arm around her, he pressed her against his long being, and both marveled at how well they fit against one another. Rey felt the hottest blush fill her cheeks and neck as Kylo's breath quickened, their mouths working quick to devour and taste one another.

Kylo's hand slowly crept up from Rey's side, to her arm, and eventually to her neck, softly grasping it, and had it been anyone else, Rey would have reacted defiantly and aggressively against it.

However, this was meant in no way like that.

To Rey, it actually felt good, and the realization shocked her as her hand mindlessly went straight into his hair, raking through it and gripping it gently as she had thought to do so before, and had seen him do such numerous times. Kylo's breathing stopped momentarily, and his lips almost froze.

Rey thought she may have gripped his hair too hard, but when she felt him try to hide a shudder, she felt the pleasure roll off of him in waves, small ripples hitting Rey herself.

Breaking apart, Kylo pressed his forehead against Rey's as the pair tried to steady their breathing.

Rey's eyes opened softly, peaking up at him through her lashes as he did the same.

"I have to go. Vicar will be calling for you soon." Kylo quietly said, swallowing the regret of having to stop what they had begun together.

There was no way possible to deny how good it felt, how good Rey felt. In every corner of the galaxy, in every level of power he had achieved, there was nothing that could come close to how good this was, and that confused Kylo even more.

Rey glanced down, her hand moving to lay gently over the wrist that still lay at her neck. Kylo watched the movement, needing to look away as milky flesh of her neck and chest teased him.

Slowly, reality settled back with the both of them as Kylo moved away, straightening his cloak and running his gloved hand through his hair.

Regretfully, Rey licked at her lips, feeling another blush return as she recalled just seconds ago how Kylo did the same to her.

"I'll be okay." she assured him, meeting his gaze. The hungry eyes he had before was placed with a worrisome, blank stare.

"He's going to challenge you. He'll push you until no end." Kylo replied, a hint of anger and frustration returning to his voice.

With a sure nod, Rey looked Kylo square in the eye and responded. "I was planning on it."

Kylo nodded, glancing away as he turned his ear to the hall. Clenching his jaw, he glanced to Rey once more before turning on his heel and leaving the cell, replacing the broken door back onto the latch.

Through the bars, he watched Rey with a steady and hard gaze.

Down the hall, several footsteps approached that belonged to two guardsmen who hesitantly glanced from Kylo to Rey.

"Uh-hm. Master Ren? Master Vicar is requesting your presence." One of the men called out to Kylo.

With a single nod that only Rey could see, Kylo turned and left with one of the guards, the other stayed with Rey.

Sighing, Rey slid back to the floor and into the position she was in previously, her arms hanging over her knees.

This time though, her headache was gone, and with her lips still warm, she smiled.

( X )

Author's Notes:

OMG ...... OMG!