Star Wars: Defiance

Five

Word count: 1292

"So, what do we do now?" Rey asked, wringing her hands together.

Rose had just left, leaving Rey and Kylo to their own devices. They both found it impossible to look the other in the eye and return to their earlier conversation. Maybe because they weren't ready to discuss such foreign feelings, or maybe it was cowardness to admit they had them.

"Pretend?" Kylo answered, laughing without humor.

"Pretend what?"

"That I wasn't First Order. That your friends might actually accept who I truly am. That they wouldn't shoot me on sight." 

"Rose won't tell them," Rey sighed, sitting on a stone bench. "And after a while, I'm sure they would get to know you beyond your mask."

Standing above her, haloed in the ghostly light of the moon, Kylo looked lost and lonely. You're not alone.

"It's never going to be easy," she said, finally meeting his eyes. "We can't lie and tell ourselves that everything will work out overnight. But Finn and Poe, they'll come around eventually. Just trust me."

His eyes held an expression she couldn't quite place—curiosity, longing, hope. "I do."

After a few moments, she sighed, breaking eye contact. "I should go."

He blinks. "Yes. That might be best."

Rey nodded and got up to leave. With her hand on the door, she glanced back at him. "Thank you, Ben."

"For what?" he asked immediately, surprised.

"For . . . not leaving me alone." She smiled slightly before escaping into the night. As she climbed the stairs to the other huts, she wished that he would call her back. Wished that he would ask her to stay.

He never did, so she continued on.

. . .

Rose hadn't met many people like Rey. She was fierce and impossibly stubborn and drew smiles from the saddest people.

When Rose had walked in on Rey and Kylo Ren, she was shocked, to say the least. She didn't know what to think about the elopement that could possibly take place in the near future, but she knew that Finn and Poe would do everything in their power to stop it.

She couldn't blame them. Wouldn't she try as well?

But she owed it to Rey to keep her secret. Rey deserved to be happy, like her and Finn.

Finn. Rose sighed and set her head in her hands. Finn would reject the idea of anything to do with Ren at first glance, but he would come around. It wasn't like him to hold grudges, especially when it concerned Rey.

But Poe? Poe would be difficult, she decided. She would have to tinker around and have their commlinks mysteriously stop working, at least until Poe settled out of his fiery rage.

Now that might take a while.

Rose was still contemplating on how to convince Poe when a knocked sound from her hut's door.

"Come in" was her immediate reply, not even taking the time to consider who it might have been. For a sickening moment, she feared it might be Kylo Ren, come to stab a lightsaber through her chest for walking in on his conversation with Rey.

But her fears dissipated as soon as Rey entered, leaving Rose to feel silly.

"Hey," came Rey's meek greeting.

"Hi."

The two stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, and Rose lost herself in how pretty Rey looked in the firelight. No, pretty was too simple a word. She looked more like she was born from the stars themselves, destined to glow with beauty and grace. It was no wonder how she captured the heart of the galaxy's number one tormentor.

Rose realized all too late how long she had been staring when Rey cleared her throat.

"Um—uh—" Rose stammered. "Seat? Uh, sorry, words. Do you want to sit?" She moved to allow Rey room next to her and smiled apologetically.

"Sure. Thanks," smiled Rey. She didn't seem that bothered by Rose's incompetency, so that was a plus.

"So, I'm guessing you came to discuss. . . ." Rose trailed off.

"Ah, yes," Rey worried her lip, "that."

Rose waited patiently in silence for her to continue.

When Rey did begin again, she was quiet, almost hesitant.

"I'm sorry you walked in on that, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I just . . ." she searched for the words, gazing into the fire with faraway eyes. "I just couldn't bring myself to face you or Finn or Poe when you knew. And I was scared you wouldn't accept me."

Rose was quick to shut down her fears. "Rey, I would never shun you for something you can't control. Love"— Rey blushed at the word—"that's hard to find. And out of an entire galaxy, you managed to find someone who could share those feelings with you." 

Rose thought of Finn, of his goofy smile and caring personality. She thought of how lucky she was to end up with someone like him, and all of her prejudice against Ren fell away. If he could make Rey as happy as Finn made her, then maybe she could forgive him for all the havoc he'd wreaked under the First Order's insignia.

"Thank you, Rose. I mean it. I'm so lucky to have a friend like you in all of this mess."

A minute passed in comfortable silence.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rose asked softly.

Rey tensed up, but eventually, her shoulders relaxed and she nodded.

"I don't really know where to start," she admitted. "So much happened, it's a long story."

"I've got time."

"Alright. Well . . . Ben and I . . . we have this thing."

Rose nodded for her to continue.

"The Force connects us so that we can see each other across the galaxy." Rey paused to gauge Rose's expression, which was surprisingly neutral. "And we talked. I learned about what prompted his turn to the Darkside, and he comforted me when I was so, utterly alone." There was a fondness in her eyes as she spoke, recalling a memory Rose couldn't see.

"We learned that we could touch each other through the bond. When we did, and our hands met . . . Rose, I saw his future. And though it may not have been exactly right," she grimaced, "it felt so real that I went to him on the Supremecy.

"He took me to Snoke, but when Snoke told him to kill me, he didn't." There was something in her voice that told Rose that she didn't quite believe it herself. "Instead of killing me, he killed Snoke, and we fought off his guards together, side by side. But then . . ." She shook her head.

"I should've known he wouldn't have been completely ready to return to the light then. It was unfair of me to expect that of him, but I did, and when he didn't come—" her voice broke. "When he didn't come back with me, we fought over my lightsaber, causing it to split in half.

"We were both rendered unconscious, but I awoke first and escaped. And now," she finished, "here I am." She spread her hands wide, looking at Rose for a reaction.

Rose was silent, eyes wide.

"That makes a lot more sense," Rose finally said, the puzzle pieces clicking together in her head. "I can see why you like him so much."

Rey let out a breath of air. "I guess I do."

"I'll try to keep Finn and Poe innocent as long as possible, but Rey, you can't hide a human being on a small island unnoticed forever. Especially not one of his size."

"I know." She sounded remorseful.

"But I'll help you through whatever comes."

"Promise?"

"Promise."