Stronger Together (Kylo Ren x Reader | Maia)

What Would Yoda Do?

Luke

I was still getting used to Force again—to people again. Simple things that I had ceased to notice before my exile now seemed to cost a lot of my attention. Insects busy working, simple flickers in the Force like animals and people dying and giving birth, sometimes even plants were too loud.

On Naboo, however, things felt quiet. As I pulled my ship lower, I felt the people below, especially the two I shared DNA with. Leia, my subdued sister, always present, but always hidden. And my nephew, her son, who was the complete opposite. He had learned to conceal himself at a young age, hiding his true feelings. He was harder to see sometimes, and other times, he was like a blinding light, consuming everything nearby.

As I landed, however, I felt the girl, too. She was neither like Leia, nor like Ben. She was tortured, and I didn't mean by Snoke. He had said she was conflicted, but that was too small a word for the raging battle inside her.

It was, to say the least, concerning.

As I sat and listened later to Han and Kylo discussing Maia, her presence did more than touch my awareness. It caught my attention immediately. The inner turmoil was like a pot that had just begun to simmer, having remained warm for far too long with no sign of boiling.

My eyes shifted to Ben, waiting for him to notice her struggle, but he'd just sat back down from Hux's return. As the simmering bubbles started to grow in size, I got a glimpse of her strength.

I had assumed she simply skimmed the Force, using it only in time for miracles. But I was wrong.

She had hidden it, forgotten it. Was she the strongest force user? Unlikely. But she was no measly squib. She was trying to use the Force on herself, I realized.

Kylo's head shot to the left, the direction Maia and Leia were. Han asked what was wrong at the same time he launched out of his chair, then I heard her scream. It was like a ringing in the ear, so very faint I wasn't sure it was real. But it was, because the others turned as well.

I closed my eyes as my nephew—Kylo or Ben, whatever the hell I was supposed to call him—leapt into the sky with a strength I could feel, his panic palpable. I searched for the women through the Force, finding them quickly. I heard her next scream strongly and tried to connect with her, to calm her.

But instead, I fell into her pain. I felt the concern of one of Kylo's Knights approaching behind me, and heard the words between my friends. But it was her pain that ripped at me, a bottled-up cocktail of the past.

Flickers of the memory that was now a raging boil attacked me, and I worked to remain calm and neutral. It was difficult, as she was consumed with emotion: fear, anger, hate, grief. When her memory subsided, I felt her horror, her shame, her pain. I felt her grow bright in the Force, brighter than Ben had once been, an explosion of pure Force energy. It wasn't dark or light, to my surprise. It simply was.

As she ran, I tried to follow along. I trailed over logs with her, heard the sound of water as she splashed across a creek.

I felt her begin to crumble, and watched Kylo approach. I couldn't hear everything they said, but I felt their feelings. When Kylo shoved himself into Maia's memories, I was overwhelmed by the scene—and Kylo's intense reaction.

But the thing was, it didn't feel like Kylo. Kylo would have never let me tag along like this, and I was no fool, I knew he was aware of my presence. He knew I was connecting to them both, trying to glean what was happening. And he simply ignored it. Maia did too.

But that wasn't Kylo. I was invading the privacy of both of them, he should have pushed me away.

It wasn't until he left Maia's mind that I pulled out, slowly returning to my own body. Leia had returned, and Han was holding ice to her wrist. Hux was pacing—quite anxious, actually—and Chewie was off closer to the field, simply staring in the direction they were. Lando and the Knight must have been behind me, as I could feel them near.