The Letter (Ben Solo/Kylo Ren & Original Female Character)

The Surrendering

The funeral for the murdered wookiee, Krawn, was in the next morning, and Ben, Sara, Han and Chewie attended to pay their respects; but seeing the heartbroken community was affecting Sara in an emotional level she wasn't used to feel. She couldn't stop thinking of the family she had seen she could have with Ben in the future, and how she would feel if such a tragedy had happened to them.

She approached the widow – by Malla's insistence – with words of regret and sorrow, fearing the female wookiee's reaction to her presence. But Krawn's wife, Lynna, pulled Sara into a hug, whimpering: <"None of this was your fault, dear Sara."> and her sweetness only deepened Sara's feeling of sadness and guilt.

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Ben watched Sara walking away from the gathering right after talking to Lynna, she went towards the beautiful lake that there was near the village and took off her shoes, walking about a meter into the lake, letting the water touch her bare feet, it was a little chilly that day, despite the beautiful sun, a cold wind ran through the village, shaking the trees and chilling those not covered in the thick wookiee fur coat.

"She's blaming herself, isn't she?" asked Han, stopping beside his son.

"Yes."

"Maybe you should go there..."

"I will, I'm just giving her some space right now, I feel she needs to be alone for a while." and he watched her a little longer. She was crying, he could tell by the way she occasionally wiped her face in the colorful blanket she had over her shoulders (painted by Sabine herself by the look of it). She paced in the shallow part of the lake, her blue curls all messy because of the wind, making her look even more beautiful in his eyes. He walked slowly towards her, watching her reaction. She felt him approach but didn't frown, she softly smiled instead, and his heart nearly stopped.

He reached her, and stood beside her, without saying a word, his boots stopping the water from wetting his feet; he looked at her face as she stared at the beautiful lake, her deep sadness reaching out to him. He took another step, closing the distance between them, and put an arm around her waist, expecting to be thrown away or cursed at, but she just sighed and got closer, laying her head on his chest, just like the night before.

"What's wrong, loth-cat?" he whispered.

She smiled at the nickname, "I feel so guilty, Ben. Hux came here because of me. I caused the death of that wookiee."

"No. Hux did it. I did it. But not you." He wrapped both arms around her, feeling her complete acceptance of his embrace in the way she slowly rubbed her face against his shirt. "It's not your fault the First Order is hunting you; Palpatine wants you for some twisted reason, and Hux came here to kidnap you. They are in the wrong, not you." he tightened his arms around her and felt her sigh against his chest.

Sara loved his smell, she rubbed her nose on his neck, remembering how she'd felt being carried by him to her bed the previous night; it had been so good to be in his arms, her ear over his chest, just listening to the sounds of his breathing and heartbeat.

They enjoyed the sound of the lake kissing the sand and the comfort of each other's presence for quite a while. The soft breeze reminding Sara of the vision she'd had at the Temple and she smiled. Ben felt her emotions slightly change and heard her chuckle softly.

"What is it?" he looked down at her face, with curiosity.

"I remembered something." She whispered, looking up at him, one hand holding her blanket over her shoulders and the other resting on his chest, her fingers toying with his shirt buttons. "The night I got to the Base late, I was coming back from the Temple; from the Gateway, to be more accurate. And the Force showed me something there, a glimpse of a future that could be mine."