Bonded | Kylo Ren x Reader |

~Gardens~

The next morning, you are the first to wake. You didn't want to be cooped up in your room, that would only stress you out more, so you decided it was a good time to do some exploring. The palace and its grounds were massive and it would take up most of your time. Besides, it would be a good distraction. You open up the doors to the balcony, allowing the room to air out and let in the refreshing breeze. After digging through the closet for a little while, you settle on a gorgeous white ruffled gown embroidered with yellow roses and sheer, puffy sleeves. A silver glisten on your dresser catches your eye and you freeze in your tracks, your heart sinking at the sight of the butterfly necklace Kylo had returned to you on Coruscant.

You gingerly scoop it up, cradling it in the palm of your hand and running your thumb over the delicate pendant. Did you really want to make up with Kylo? You swallow the lump in your throat at the memory of what you had told him last night. Did you want to? Not yet, but you did want to make some things clear with him. You pick up the front of your dress and burst out of your room. Even if he wasn't awake yet, it was worth a try. Your heels click against the marble, echoing through the silence of the palace as you run towards his room. You stumble up the stairs and come to a screeching halt at the corner at the sound of the handmaidens' voices outside of his door.

"Did you deliver the Supreme Leader's breakfast?" One asks.

"He's not in there. When I looked inside, the bed wasn't even slept in. I don't think he slept in his room." The other replies and adds with a giggle. "You know him and Queen Syala. They probably slept together again."

Your heart drops and it felt as though you were frozen in place. The handmaidens shuffle down the hallway, giggling and gossiping and completely absent to your heartbreak. Your fist tightens around the necklace. You had told him to just fuck Syala. What if he had? He had done it before with his secretary. What was stopping him now? You storm up to his door through a blur of tears and fling the necklace on the floor, kicking it roughly under the door. You hear it skitter across the tiles as it slides into his room. With a choked-up sob, you cover your mouth and rush down the stairs, only wanting to get as far away from the palace as possible.

You had no clue where you were going or how this was going to end for you, but you didn't care. As you push past a pair of wooden and glass double doors, you find yourself at the edge of the sprawling castle gardens. It was a sea of green and colorful flowers all around that grew with set boundaries and were undisturbed by a single weed.

You wipe away your tears with the back of your hand and step onto the gravel, your gown just barely skimming over it and pushing the grey pebbles aside. Neatly trimmed, green hedges flank the paths as they branch off in dozens of directions. Thin streams ran in between colorful flower beds and those pathways, each running into a small pond. Stone benches line the edges of the water or sit beside bigger flower beds.

It was an endless abyss of mythical beauty that you didn't mind getting lost in. The sun was warm upon your head, but the gentle breeze brought cool streams that made it nearly perfect. Rays of light shine onto the ponds and streams, causing them to glitter and shine. The entire garden seemed to just glow around you. If this place wasn't now a semblance of hate for you, you would want to stay forever.

It made you forget about the First Order, your duties, and the ever-growing war around you. Why you couldn't pluck up the strength to leave it all behind was beyond you. Everything was so peaceful and surreal that it made your skin crawl at the thought of returning to the dark coldness of the Supremacy. You felt as though you were a princess in a beautifully told fairytale. But this was no fairy-tale and your life wasn't promising you happy, storybook endings.