All of the Stars

Part 9 : Magnificent

Kylo hadn't left his room in a day.

It was boring alone on the ship, without anything else to do you took to training. Kicking imaginary foes and doing endless press-ups was not your ideal version of practice, however.

Kylo's mind was still closed off, stronger than when you had tried to reach it before. He was more cautious now.

Sometimes you heard him swear from his room. Deciding it must be because of the lightsaber you let him be, although you were itching to see what had become of the metal by now. He seemed to be working constantly, his Force never resting.

You ate bread and drank water, trained, looked out the window, and were incredibly bored.

You attempted to fix your hair in a new way, like some of the cleaners used to do. But you found yourself feeling stupid and girlish, who would care what your hair looked like anyway?

Your clothes were waiting in your room for when you would need them, currently, you stayed in your comfortable training clothing.

The stars reminded you of stories of snowflakes, how each flake was individual and different. However, it wasn't this that interested you, it was the fact that you had never remembered learning that fact.

Snowflakes were not something that you had ever thought about from the time you woke up on the First Order Star ship until now, and yet, when you imagined snowflakes now they came with a warm sense of being loved. It felt like a memory.

You hadn't had a memory like that since you arrived.

It was while you were drying your hair, testing out the manipulation of water with the Force. You weren't getting very far, chunks of hair were soaking while others stuck up at strange angles, bone dry.

You heard Kylo's room's door opening but decided to ignore it, giving him space.

Kylo's footsteps came into your room, and the next thing you knew, the moisture was lifted from your hair, leaving it perfectly smooth and straight.

With a grin you turned to Kylo, ready to make a joke about how this is why his hair must have been so perfect all along, instead you come face to face with a box.

The box was around a forearm in length, it was plain black and had a clasp on the sides.

Kylo's eyes were trained on yours, there was a hint of a smile on his lips, but it was so small it was almost not there.

"Open it." His deep voice fills the room, slightly rough from lack of use.

Swallowing, you press on both sides of the case, before lifting the lid, under a piece of fabric is the hilt of your saber.

The metal is completely white, around 30 centimetres long. Around the shaft is a twisting silver, looking closely you realise that the silver is made to look like vines, growing from the hilt, creeping up the metal and then twisting closer and closer, forming a handhold, before twisting apart again and coming together at the crown of the saber. Turning the hilt in your hands you find a small band of glass around which the vines are separated from, within here is a pedestal, smaller than a finger.

Kylo points to it.

"It's for the crystal... I kept the colour neutral, so... You know... Whatever the outcome is. It'll fit." He looks nervous, you can barely believe that Kylo created this. He must have taken so much care, each leaf of the vine is engraved, the metal made smooth and perfectly formed to your hand.

"Kylo..." Your eyes brim with tears, although there is no crystal in the saber yet, you imagine the pulsing power that comes from this weapon.

Kylo looks even more worried as if he thinks you will tell him you don't like it. But it's perfect.