Wayward [Kylo Ren]

II

II

Kaida watched as Ben stopped in his tracks, just a few feet from the door. She watched with bated breath as his shoulders tensed. She knew he was either going to stay, or he was going to leave her. She wasn't quite sure what she wanted him to do.

He surprised her: he left her cell, shutting the door. Though Kaida wouldn't admit it out loud, it hurt her a little bit inside. He heard me, I know he did. But he still walked out that door like I hadn't said a word. She had to remind herself that this man, he was not who she remembered. He was someone...dark, someone unrecognizable. He was practically a stranger.

She remembered a different time, a time where they were anything but.

~*~

Kaida was excited but apprehensive at the same time. She'd heard rumors about the Jedi from the time she was a little girl. She couldn't believe she was in-tune with the Force, that it brought her closer to becoming one. From the time she knew she was Force-sensitive, she longed to learn its ways, properly, and wield a lightsaber.

She was amongst a group of younglings, all eager to learn, master their abilities, and begin their path to becoming a Jedi. She was among a group of all races and species, children from all walks of life. It was incredible, just how many Force-sensitive children there were.

To her, being one with the Force and seeing others like her, it made the Jedi feel like less of a myth.

It was one of her free sessions, where she wasn't required to train. She relished those times, because training was, well, training. It was difficult, even though she had been told by few that she was learning faster than the others. She liked the praise.

Kaida was lying on the grass, enjoying the sun kissing her body. She enjoyed the breeze that moved the grass against her skin, and her hair. She exhaled a deep sigh of content. The hard work had the best payoffs.

"You alright?"

Kaida opened an eye to find a boy with dark hair standing over her. She laughed. "I'm just enjoying being outside." She squinted. "You look like you could use a bit of sun. You look pale."

"Don't remind me," he grumbled. "Even my parents say I'm a little too pale. Dad jokes that because of my complexion I'm not his. Mom never finds it funny."

"You want to join me?" Kaida sat up now, intrigued. Most of her free time was spent alone. Not that she didn't make friends, she just wanted the time to breathe and be away from the others. She spent enough time being amongst younglings in her training sessions.

"Sure." The boy sat down next to her. Kaida noticed that his face still looked boyish, but it was that awkward phase of slowly maturing. She guessed he was a little bit older than her. "Why are you out here by yourself?"

"I like to be out here," Kaida said, looking out ahead of her.

"See something interesting?"

Kaida laughed. "Just looking. Sometimes I let my mind wander. It's calming." She turned to the boy. "What's your name?"

"Ben. Ben Solo. Yours?"

"Kaida," she said proudly. "Kaida Quinn. You might know my brother, Axel. His name gets thrown around a lot, and not in the good way."

"So he's a troublemaker?"

"You could say that. Just little things, though."

"So far," Ben teased. "But I might've heard the name a few times. Your training going alright?"

"It's tough, and long. But I know the payoff will be big in the end. I take it more seriously than my brother. He's still a boy, doing boy things."

"And what are those 'boy things' exactly?"

"I don't know, I'm not a boy." Kaida wrinkled her nose. "Why are you asking? You should know."

"I'm a bit surprised at you."

"Why?"

"You never said anything about my name."

"Should I have?"

"I'm Ben Solo. You know, the son of the famous Han Solo and Leia Skywalker? My uncle is a Jedi Master."

Kaida shrugged. "So you've got famous parents, and a famous uncle. I don't think that makes you seem any different than me."

"You're the first person to say that. Everyone else seems to treat me differently, like they expect so much of me. My mom's a Skywalker, and my uncle is a Skywalker, and my dad is a famous smuggler. And my grandfather..."

"He's also a famous rebel fighter, your dad," she reminded him. "And...I know who your grandfather is, too. I've heard the stories." She looked at him. "Does that bother you, that your grandfather was...a Sith Lord? That he almost ruled the galaxy?"

"I'd prefer to be associated with my parents and uncle, not so much my grandfather. But I can't do anything about it. It's my lineage."

"Well, if I were you, I'd use him as inspiration to be the best Jedi in the history of the galaxy."

Ben smiled at Kaida, and from that first smile, she knew she was bound and determined to be friends with him.

~*~

Kaida thought back to the boy she'd first met on that day. Thinking about it now, his complexion looked exactly the same as it did before. She could see the growth in maturity in his face. Back then, his hair had been much shorter. He'd sounded like a boy who had too much pressure on him at such a young age.

Kaida rolled her neck to relieve it from stiffness. It did nothing to help her. Her back was starting to ache, but this chair she was restrained to held no wiggle room to adjust. She was trapped, on her back, like an exposed turtle. She wondered how long it would be before he would come back and try to take advantage of her vulnerability.

Her green eyes took note of the plainness of her cell. She wondered about Axel, if he was being interrogated next. Would Axel remember Ben? Would Ben remember Axel? He remembers me, but that doesn't mean anything.

Kaida felt wetness on her face, but she couldn't wipe it away. It was a tear, something that she had become more friendly with when the fall of the Jedi happened, and afterwards. She would shed tears for her fallen friends, she would have nightmares of that unfortunate day. She would, still could, hear their dying screams in her head. Why am I hearing them? Why shouldn't he? He's responsible for their deaths!

More tears fell down Kaida's face. These weren't tears of sorrow. They were of something more powerful, of something that as a Jedi, she should never have to feel.

Anger.

**So, yes, Ben is a little bit older than Kaida. Time-to-time we'll jump from present day to back when the two were younglings in training.

 I think the flashbacks might be the happiest parts of this story.**