The Prettiest Star - Star Wars - Kylo Ren

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Pain seared through Aya's body as she descended towards the ground. Her mind was a mess yet she felt a strange sense of peace through it all. Of the noise and madness surrounding her, she knew that her time had come to leave this place.

But, before she hit the ground, hands gripped her sides, ripping her out of the state of slow motion she was in just milliseconds before. She felt herself being turned around, her vision was obscured by tears of pain. The grip was restricting, she couldn't escape it, yet it was still gentle. Aya found herself staring into a familiar pair of brown eyes. They held every emotion she could think of. A few metres away, his helmet and lightsaber lay discarded in the dirt.

He was kneeling and supporting her with his knee, unsure of what to do or say. He couldn't bring himself to hurt her, despite the voices telling him to do so. Instead he just stared at her, relishing in the sight of her comforting face. "Kylo," She spoke quietly. Slowly, she raised a hand and stroked the side of his face, brushing away a few strands of his hair. She could hardly believe that he was there.

There was a change in her thoughts. She knew she had to be quick, she could sense the painful second hand of her clock ticking ever closer to the final minute. "Years ago when you destroyed your uncle's temple, you saved a little girl and left her on a planet called Jakku. What was her name?"

He opened his mouth but no words came out, he couldn't find anything in his mess of a mind. Her question threw him off, he began to anger under his inability to react. Seeing his confusion, Aya delved into his mind and began to search with him. He could feel her opening doors of his subconscious he didn't know existed. Once more, he felt helpless under her power and clueless as to who she was. He had never met anybody quite like her.

They were both ripped out of his mind when a shout echoed across the bay, it was large in volume and was laced in anger. "Cerrulo!"

Aya recognised the voice in an instant and turned to face it. Metres away, Poe Dameron stood. He was covered in dirt and blood, dressed in his familiar brown jacket. Tears of lost memories stung Aya's eyes. Relief spread through her body. For one ridiculous second, she believed that she could go back to the very beginning and rejoin the Rebel Alliance. She almost called out to him until she saw the expression of complete hatred in his eyes and the blaster held in his grip.

It dawned on her, in that second, what was about to happen. Guilt and regret washed over her as she quickly turned to Kylo. Straining to gather the energy in her body, she ignored the glaring pain and leaned towards him, catching his lips in hers. The kiss was short as she pulled away, her hand gripping the hair on the back of his head. She stared into his eyes, pressing her forehead against his. "I'll see you on the other side." She whispered.

In the seconds that she had done this, Poe had raised his blaster. Aya heard the sound of it being fired. Before she could realise what was happening, she felt pain, white hot pain. Then there was nothing.

Kylo watched as the light faded from the eyes of the prettiest star he had ever seen.

-----

"Rey."

The word echoed into spiralling sounds that twisted and distorted into entities that were no longer words. Everything was alive in movement that was only usually seen in the corner of the eye. However here the movement existed, at least it appeared that way, in a throbbing motion that moved in rhythm with the observer's heartbeat, if they had one.

Colours that had never been seen by a human eye danced across the landscape that warped like a memory over time. Shadows glowed and twisting light protruded from emptiness. Father Time reclined in his palace, he didn't bother with this dimension for mortality wasn't needed. Everything was alive, yet everything didn't exist. The world was humming with paradoxes that could barely be acknowledged by a mere mortal.

Atop a surface that had the appearance of a marble pedestal lay the figure of a young woman clad in a gentle white dress. She had short black hair and olive skin (however the colours kept changing into varying hues at irregular intervals). Her hands were neatly clasped and rested on her stomach delicately, they had not moved for years.

"Rey?" An old man that stood next to her spoke. His brown robes had not changed since his first arrival.

Her eyes opened and instantly stared at him. "There is hope. You know there is."

Slowly, he nodded, the air around him shifted and glitched in his movement. "I expect that is why you returned so quickly."

Gradually, the woman pulled herself upright, sending spirals of colours and sound tumbling about her in waves of turmoil. She sat on the pedestal and was as still as the surface itself, her chest didn't rise in breath and no heartbeat moved blood in her veins. "You know that is why I returned. My work is done."

"How did it go?"

"Why do you ask? You observed it all."

He smirked slightly. "I wish to see your view."

She sighed, but no breath exhaled from her lungs. "The mission was a success. In a few years time the Force will awaken and the girl, Rey, will spearhead it, I know she will."

He nodded slowly once more. "I fear Kylo Ren may not be the same again. You weren't so delicate with him."

"I had no choice, he was my only way through to Luke."

"Was it worth it? You pushed him further into the dark side. He is now fuelled with anger against himself. The dark side relishes in self-hate."

"He will pull through, there is still light in him, I am sure of it."

"I fear not." The old man looked across the shifting landscape, now a city, now a forest. "He loved you. Your betrayal was strong enough for him to never love again."

She shook her head and slid gracefully off the pedestal that proceeded to flicker and fade behind her like a stone falling under water. "He is stronger than you believe."

For a moment they stood in a silence as the man glanced towards her. "You feel bad for him don't you."

She frowned slightly and returned his gaze. "Are you suggesting I love him?"

He chuckled slightly, the sound increased in volume and danced around them before dispersing. "No, you aren't the type to fall in love with a mortal. However you regret what you did, I can see it."

As he spoke her eyes widened. She rushed to a lake which had formed for a few moments beside them, as she approached it, it solidified. Leaning over slightly, she glanced into the shimmering surface. Her reflection twisted and shifted from colour to colour, however it still showed the face of a young woman. "I'm still her." She spoke in a hoarse voice. "I'm still Aya."

"We take the form of the life we most regret." The old man spoke from behind her sadly. "That is why I am still the old man who cowardly wasted his years hiding from the galaxy. That is why you are still the girl who betrayed the man who loved you."

Water lapped at her bare toes before absorbing into her skin as though she was a body of water herself. She continued to stare into the lake, finally letting the overwhelming emotions take hold of her. Pain and regret crawled up her throat and grabbed hold of her head.

"I'm sorry." She half-whispered to someone who couldn't hear her. "I'm so sorry Kylo."

In the corner of her eye, a tear manifested. At first it crept across her eye lid and pushed itself over the wall of lashes. Then it raced down her cheek before halting at her chin. After a moment, it dropped and flew through the open air before hitting the lake with a small drip. Rings of small waves travelled across the water's surface in the tear's absence.

The ripples slowly dispersed until they were no more just as they would the day when Kylo Ren murdered his own father in a loveless rage that Aya had created.