Chapter Text

Rose didn’t really get to speak to Rey until three days later, when she finally resumed her duties at the hangar. No one had seen hide nor hair of Kylo Ren save Rey, his mother, and at least six guards. Rey offhandedly mentioned that the guards were there to give themselves piece of mind than anyone else. As Finn and Poe had so helpfully pointed out, the only one who kept the Supreme Leader in check was Kylo Ren himself, and Jedi Rey.

The defected First Order Leader had been interrogated almost endlessly since he stepped foot on the base, and Rey stayed by his side nearly the entire time. It was only now that Ren was in yet another series of “talks” with the General that Rey was permitted to get away for a bit, having deemed the Resistance base not in imminent danger if she stepped away for a few hours. Rose assumed the lightsider could have gone back to her room, but she had chosen instead to work. Was it the X-Wings and droids she wanted for company, or Rose?

They exchanged meager pleasantries, but as the minutes dragged on, Rose figured Rey had sought out more mechanical distractions than flesh and bone ones. The taller girl was tight lipped and the tension between them heavy. Rose had to break it.

“I don’t get it.” she blurted out suddenly to the silence.

“Which part?” Rey asked sardonically. It was clear to both parties Rose was talking about him .

All of it . Rose thought to herself. Why you didn’t tell me. Why you hugged a murderer. How you could share a room with a monster . To ensure Kylo did not sabotage the base or kill any more Resistance members than he’d already managed in previous campaigns, Rey was to chaperone him at all times. Including at night. Rey had scarfed down her meal that first night and gathered a few of her (already quite limited) personal items before returning to Ren’s “room”. It was more like a cell, with a reinforced lock that only opened from the outside and was (as expected) heavily guarded. At the time Rose had gaped at the news.

“You’re sharing a room with him!?”

Rey shot a light glare back, “There’s two beds.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Rey had muttered that she had to go, ducking her head to hide a blush.

Returning to the present and seeking a more diplomatic answer that was less likely to upset her friend, she picked a slightly less contentious topic. “The Force bond.”

Rey sighed. Rose hoped it was in relief, that this was safer waters than other discussions that would remain unsaid. For now.

“When it first started we would suddenly appear to each other. Like he was just standing in a room with me.” Rey flashed her a wry smile, “The first time, before he could even try to talk to me I shot him with my blaster.” Rose offered a small smile in response. That’s my girl. It faded, the next obvious question being So how did you get to this point?

“We realized the other wasn’t really there, just a projection. Sort of like what Luke did before he-” Rey paused, gathering breath. Always recounting the past for the Resistance members was a minefield. You always step on some painful memory when treading there.

“Anyways, at random we could see and talk to each other. Eventually the Bond got stronger and we could control it, pull the other into our heads if we wanted to. Or shut them out. It became a contest of wills a few times when he wanted to talk and I shut him out, like a mental tug of war. We are evenly matched in that.” Rey said with a hint of frustration. “We also learned how to project just our voices so we didn’t always have to talk out loud into thin air like crazy people. About a month ago it reached the point where it was permanent and always present. We can reach each other’s minds if we are allowed, and we always have some information flowing between us. Moods, things like that, so we know if the other is in danger.”

“So can he hear us right now?” Rose asked, her eyebrows raising and feeling slightly alarmed.

Rey tilted her head a minute amount, her eyes staring into the middle distance like she was checking. She responded a second later. “No, he’s focused on his mother right now.” A chill came over Rose. Would anything she said to her friend now pass to him if he happened to be watching?

“Can he really see into your mind? See everything you do or hear?”

“Not quite like that.” Rey insisted, seeming to pick up on the mechanic's concern, “Only when invited, otherwise the bond is usually clamped down. If I wanted to show him, and he was actually paying attention, I could let him see and hear. But only if I allow it.” Rey insisted. Rose let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

“Still, that has to be odd, right? Being inside Kylo Ren’s head? Him being in yours?”

Rey stiffened at the name, only referring to him as “Ben”. Eventually though she just offered a shrug. “I suppose. It is more like a holo projection though, or a comm link, only more convenient. We can show memories or feelings that are too hard to put into words. Though being able to feel emotions makes talking...straightforward I guess. If we hide our emotions, the other can tell. You can never lie or deceive.”

She nodded, chewing over Rey’s words. Rose didn’t think she’d ever desire such a thing, even for someone like Finn, but then again, she wasn’t Rey.

Rey feared being left alone again.

--

“This is weird.” Rose commented to those assembled at the cafeteria table. Sitting next to her, as always, was Finn. Across the table was Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix and Poe. Normally sitting on the other side of her was Rey. That seat was decidedly empty.

Because Rey and Kylo Ren were sitting together.

Together in a table in the middle of the Resistance.

And the rescinded Supreme Leader was no longer wearing black. Instead the imposing figure that normally towered over subordinates cowering in fear was dressed in plain and drab Resistance garb, and stuffed into a chair that seemed too small for his overly large frame. It was an improbable and absurd sight.

Murmurs of agreement bubbled up around Rose, and side-eyed glares and glances were aimed at the couple who ate silently at the table a short distance away. Rose couldn’t help but stare along with them. Rey was more drawn in on herself than usual, though she still attacked her food with an unmatched ferocity. It had startled Rose when she first saw how Rey ate, but Finn subtly shook his head for her not to react to it. Not that she would say anything to begin with. Rey ate like the food in front of her could be snatched away any second, that the meal she was gifted could be the last sustenance she would see for days. It twisted something inside her gut painfully to watch. Kylo Ren on the other hand, ate like a prince. Dignified, small bites, even the way he held his cutlery extruded silent superiority. You couldn’t find a more mismatched dining pair if you tried. If the darksider was bothered by his companion’s poor table manners, he made zero indication of it, his expression placid.

“Why is he even here?” Finn growled, his contempt out in the open.

“Man needs to eat.” Poe answered with a lazy shrug.

“That’s not what I meant.” Finn snapped. Rose looked stunned at the bitter retort. Finn was always amiable to the ace pilot, and she could never recall him speaking so harshly towards him. Poe seemed to not be offended, if anything, he was indifferent to the whole situation. She wondered how much of that was a facade. Poe had been doing far better at keeping his brash nature in check since Crait.

“He is providing the Resistance with information on the First Order. Names, coordinates, weaknesses. We haven’t had such a wealth of knowledge since the war began.” Kaydel supplied, her tone measured as it normally was.

“Why isn’t he in a cell then?” Finn redirected his glare to the lieutenant. She unflinchingly met his gaze.

“He is a Force user.” she stated plainly, as if it were obvious, “There isn’t a single cell on this base, or this planet that could secure him. He is the most powerful man in the galaxy. There is only one person who could stop Kylo Ren, and she’s sitting right across from him.” her reply curt.

Rose gently squeezed Finn’s upper arm, trying her best to suffuse the gesture with calm. “Rey is more or less his jailer. Which means he can’t go anywhere without her, and she can’t go anywhere without him.” She directed her next words to the rest of the table. “She’s just as trapped as he is, she told me so herself. Any cell he’s thrown in, she has to go too, just to ensure the Resistance’s safety. She’s been eating meals in his quarters for the last week and she’s tired of it. You all know how it was for her on Jakku, and then she comes here and she’s eating in a cafeteria for the first time. She missed this, she missed eating with us.”

“Why isn’t she then?” Poe asked.

Rose shot a glare at him now too. “You want to share a table with him ?”

The silence at the table was a resounding answer.

“She doesn’t want be be holed up in his room, and she doesn’t want to make us uncomfortable either. This is her compromise.” Rose said, glancing one more time over at her friend. She only wished Rey could eat among her colleges without the weight of their stares. Her’s included she noted ruefully.

Just then, the corner of Kylo’s mouth upturned slightly in to what might, might , be considered a smirk. And a second later, Rey burst out laughing, before silencing the sound with a hand clapped over her mouth. Her eyes still shined with restrained giggles though as something humorous passed between them, unspoken and intangible to anyone but the odd pair of Force-sensitives.

“It’s still weird though.”

--

In the following weeks Rose came to realize that Rey’s oddness wasn’t exactly Rey’s . It was his . Theirs , maybe the most accurate term. They had been talking to each other constantly since the day she and Rey met, only now Rose saw it for what it was. The glances up at the unseen figure, the ear perked to the unheard voice, it was him all along. The poor attempts at hiding it from Rose were all but abandoned ever since Kylo made landfall on the base. When it came to the Bond, Rey only let her guard down around Rose, but she kept a meager amount of composure with everyone else. It was an implicit trust they had. The mechanic and scavenger worked on endless ship repairs with no commentary on the strange, half-present third wheel. Rey could look like a crazy person having a conversation with the voice in her head, and Rose wouldn’t comment on it. Most of the time.

“What’s got you so wound up?” she asked once Rey was gritting her teeth so hard Rose thought she might be hearing the bones scraping. Rey had been in a bad mood all morning, and her eyes occasionally flared with hostility and outrage, her brows knitting together as a silent argument took place. Rey was levitating her mag wrench wildly and almost conked Rose in the head twice already, and finally she had to speak up.

“I’m going on a mission. He doesn’t want me to go.”

There was never any question who ‘he’ was.

“...why?” Rose ground out after a few moments and dodging the flailing mag wrench once more. She had been sorely tempted to ask if he was angry at his old colleges being felled by Rey’s laser sword. The Resistance was going on the offensive now, making use of Kylo’s intel and striking an important First Order stronghold.

“He thinks I’ll be in danger.”

Rose was surprised, but only for a moment. For some reason, Kylo Ren cared for Rey. Part of her could see why, who didn’t love Rey? She was kind, strong, brave. The Last Jedi. Hope of the Resistance. Talented mechanic. Good friend. Supplier of illicit booze. What was there to hate about this girl?

No, the question was how a murderous monster managed to care about anyone .

“Won’t you?” Rose found herself asking.

“No! I mean, yes, but I can handle myself. Finn is coming, and Poe. We always have each other’s backs, this isn’t any different...No, it’s not like that...I’ve fought before, with you if you recall...No!”

Rose merely raised an eyebrow as one side of the argument began to be spoken aloud. This is so weird . Rose thought. The bickering was reaching a new level of intensity and Rose thought she could almost hear Kylo yelling in fervent tones.

Oh, no, she actually could hear him.

“You have never been in a battle of this magnitude and you are not yet fully trained in the Force!” Heavy foot falls of boots on the hangar floor sounded over Kylo Ren’s low but intense voice. The Supreme Leader didn’t need to yell to make himself heard. Rose’s blood turned to ice at the prospect of sharing airspace with the darksider, the towering spike of cold fury that she swore electrified the air.

Rey didn’t seem to suffer from Rose’s invisible terror, instead tearing herself from the belly of the ship she’d been working in and rounding on the other Force user. Thankfully the wayward mag wrench clanked loudly to the ground as it’s wielder had her attention diverted elsewhere.

“I am trained enough, I can handle myself!”

“You could get hurt!” He snarled, his voice raising the smallest measure, “You could-” Kylo’s words choked off, like he couldn’t bear to voice that possibility.

“What, I could die? ” Rey didn’t share that reluctancy, instead scathing out the word like she was beating Ren with it. Her barb struck true, the man flinching, even if only slightly. If Rose wasn’t starring on in horror, she might have regarded Rey with no small measure of pride. She was cowing the First Order’s Supreme Leader under her intense hazel gaze. She held no punches as she brutally continued.

“This is war Ben, people die. You know that.”

“I won’t allow it.” he responded in a low threatening growl. Rose swore that invisible electricity in the air was positively crackling now.

“Allow!?” Rey bellowed, loud enough to make Rose flinch now.

At that tiny flicker of movement Kylo Ren finally made note of her presence and whirled upon her. Rose’s breath stuck in her throat and her heart seized in her chest at the sight of those burning dark eyes and scarred face. When Rey looked upon him she saw Ben. She saw something worthy of her consideration or even possibly redemption.

Rose saw a mass murderer.

She saw death.

“We will continue this conversation in private.” Kylo ordered in a low baritone, gripping Rey’s arm tightly. She wretched it free, an iridescent rage marring her features.

“We will continue this conversation wherever I kriffing please!” A beat. “Which is in the back room!” This time Rey roughly grabbed Ren’s upper arm and jerked him into the room of spare parts and tools. Rose doubted Rey could move that man with her strength alone, Kylo Ren was clearly a willing captive at least. The tense conversation continued behind a closed door, but Rose was thankful that the rescinded Supreme Leader was out of sight once more.

She could remember how to breathe.

--

The fight lasted for another twenty standard minutes, Rey often raising her voice. She was surprised that Kylo managed to keep his low enough so that Rose could never make out any of the words, his temper was infamous after all, but she swore the tone took on a pleading edge as the conversation continued. Eventually there was a tense silence and Kylo retreated back to wherever he came from. His shoulders drooped slightly and his features were tight, his dark eyes no longer burning but downcast. It was a walk of defeat. Once he cleared the hangar door he was once more descended upon and surrounded by the contingent of guards who’d been waiting just outside.

Rey emerged from the back room a moment later, though she didn’t look like she’d earned a victory. Instead there was that same sense of exhaustion that hung around her, weighing her down as it had the first night Kylo Ren was on base.

“Rey?” Rose tentatively asked.

Rey shook her head. “I’ll be alright.” she responded.

Rose for the life of her couldn’t place what exactly prompted her next question. Maybe it was the haunted look in Kylo’s eyes.

“Will...will you both be alright?”

Rey looked over in shock, then a small, tired, but endlessly grateful smile shone her way.

“Yeah, we will be.”

--

After a long shift in the hangar and Rey had cooled off from the argument, Rose offered to walk with Rey to empty storage building that Finn, Rey, and other Resistance members often used to spar.

“No, that’s all right, I’ll see you later.”

“Will I?” Rose asked, a little more biting than she intended. Rey wasn’t in their shared dorm half the time, instead suspiciously staying in Kylo Ren’s quarters. Kylo had earned the General’s trust enough by now to remain supervised by only the guard contingent when Rey wasn’t around, but she still spent a lot of time with the ex-Supreme Leader. Too much, in Rose’s opinion, but she never voiced it out loud.

“You will,” Rey answered, a slightly cool edge to her words, though it quickly faded, “but you probably don’t want to see me spar today.” the words heavy with intent. He would be there.

“No, I think I do. Especially after your fight.” Rose countered, and Rey looked aghast.

“It isn’t like that!” The bitter edge was back, sending a brief flare of panic through the mechanic. Were they fighting now? Rose never fought with Rey. Not once. “He wants to teach me, to make sure I’m prepared for the mission.”

The words hit Rose and a pang of guilt overtook her. She knew from that haunted look of Kylo’s that he would never want to hurt Rey. She didn’t know how, or more importantly, why , but she knew in her bones that suggesting he intended otherwise was a low blow. Not that Rose gave two bantha-shits what Kylo Ren thought or felt, but Rey for some reason cared for him. And so Rose now had to regard him with some measure of amiability as well. At least to her friend’s face.

“I get it, I’m sorry. But can I please watch? I just want to make sure you are ok.” Rey studied her critically for a moment, and Rose let a conspiratorial smile bloom. “Besides, I want to watch you kick his ass.”

Rey bit out a sharp laugh, and whatever tension lay between them broke, the uneasy understanding flowing once more among the two friends. Rose had little time to revel in it, as her and Rey completed the short walk to the old storage building, the entrance flanked by the defector’s armed entourage.

Kylo was waiting for them, standing on a wide padded mat that marked the sparring arena. If he was surprised by Rose’s appearance he masked it entirely. Knowing them, Rey had probably already informed Kylo to her presence. Instead it was her that was taken aback; Despite the cooler evening temperatures, Ren was wearing a light shirt that clung a little too tightly for her tastes, considering how easily Rose could discern the tall man’s physique in unquestionable detail. She might not understand all of why Rey chose Kylo Ren, but at least one aspect was entirely transparent to her now. Rose told herself she was not, not, fleeing as she scuttled away to her usually spot in the corner where she typically observed Finn and Rey going at it, curious to see how different this bout would be.

Rey shed her coat and the two took up their respective implements before facing off. They started with basic forms, their wooden weapons clacking noisily. Rey worked with a quarterstaff and Kylo used what Rose recognized as a bokken, the combatants choosing the non-lethal versions of their favored weapons. There was a set rhythm here that even a non-combatant like Rose could identify. She couldn’t always make sense of limbs or movements, but she could understand the dance, the rhythmic beat that the pair followed. ‘Clack, clack, clack’ over and over their weapons sounded out against each other, in practiced measures. After the two had warmed up, the fight began in earnest.

Or at least Rose thought it had. Rey quickly pressed any advantage, her swift and graceful blows aiming to drive Kylo Ren back. He fended off her every move nearly perfectly, but never pressed back in offensive strikes. Rey would occasionally find an opening and score a grazing hit or two. But for each of her victories, she was looking increasingly agitated.

“Ben!” she barked finally, lowering her staff. “This was your idea! Will the First Order hold back too?”

“No.” He answered simply, exhaling with an air of resigned acceptance. His eyes slid over to Rose, only for a fleeting moment. Rey caught it, and seemingly whatever thought followed the gaze.

“She understands, she’s seen me spar before. It’s not like Finn hasn’t earned me a bruise or two.”

Suddenly the man positively bristled with rage, even Rose could feel the sudden change in the air. “Has he hurt-”

“Cut that out.” Rey snapped, cutting him off, “I give as good as I get. Worse in Finn’s case, his weapons of choice are less deadly than mine. Can you just trust me for once? Let me show you that I can handle myself.”

Kylo regarded Rey for a long moment before widening his stance, his body kept low. He twirled the wooden bokken in his wrist with a flourish before finally attacking.

And this was them truly fighting. Rose couldn’t hope to keep up. Rey was still deadly grace, a lithe, wild, desert-honed fighter of twirling vicious blows, but Kylo Ren was equally frightening. His movements weren’t graceless per-se, but they extruded raw brutality, each powered strike flowed from one move to the next, no momentum wasted in a savage onslaught. Kylo had the distinct advantage of strength, but he was also a bigger target, his long extended limbs often the aim of his opponent’s staff. Rey would attack with frequent lashes from both ends of her weapon, her hit rate faster, though unlike Kylo she had to use both hands most of the time to wield it. He would often attempt a grapple, and she would use her staff to fend him off. Both combatants fought dirty, lashing with elbows and kicks, a deadly dance as they circled, struck, feinted and parried. And it was truly a dance, a tandem movement of limbs, an undeniable push and pull as the two read the other’s moves at the speed of thought. It reached a fever pitch and Rose couldn’t discern who was winning, the action too fast for her eyes to track.

Finally Kylo Ren’s free hand caught Rey by the wrist, and utilizing his superior mass, pulled her while he ducked low and threw his weight under her. The move knocked her up off her legs, rolling him over his back on dumping her onto the padded floor with a noisy ‘thump!’

“Ow.” Rey gritted out, and a look of concern flitted across Kylo’s face as he peered over the felled girl. Something unspoken passed between them and his worried expression faded, Ren offering a hand to his downed partner. He hoisted her up and she shook herself off before falling into another fighting stance, a wide grin parting her lips.

“Round two?”

--

The mission was a resounding success. The First Order was dealt a suffering blow, and between Poe and Leia’s sound strategy, the Resistance’s talented fighters, and Rey’s dominating presence in a fight, there was no loss of life. On their side at least. The only side that matters.

Rose had eagerly crushed Finn in a hug when she saw him return, running up the ramp to him before he could even fully disembark the shuttle. The sight of a still bleeding cut on his forehead had her quickly turning to fretting instead. “It’s nothing.” he soothed, before pulling her into another hug. A guilty twinge had Rose pulling back from him slightly, scanning the rest of Finn’s party for injuries. He wasn’t her only friend who had volunteered to throw themselves in harm’s way after all. Thankful there were none, but one of their number was decidedly missing.

“Where’s Rey?” Rose asked, and Finn’s expression darkened, looking over Rose’s shoulder. She traced his gaze to Rey’s quickly retreating figure as she darted to the residential section of the base. The direction she was headed made it certain as to what, or rather who , her destination was. Finn’s jaw clenched, and Rose felt his body tense up as he came to the same conclusion she had.

“Hey, let’s get you to the med bay and get that cleaned up.” Rose gently ordered. She laced her fingers with Finn’s and tugged him away, the gesture seemingly distracting him from the burning hated of the man Rey was running off to. He sighed, acquiescing to Rose’s insistent pulling and relaxing the slightest bit.

“Yeah, all right.”

--

The day following the successful mission, Rey had “procured” another bottle of booze to celebrate, this time Chandrilan brandy. Like most of the nights Rey and Rose had spent sharing a bottle, the conversation started light but as their levels of inebriation rose, their reservations concerning sensitive conversation topics dwindled dangerously low.

Tonight the discussion centered around boys.

“He’s not a boy, he’s a man.” Rey objected, her odd accent only getting more pronounced and surly as she drank. “He’s thirty years old.”

Rose grunted, “Yeah, I noticed he was older. I heard Princess Leia was younger than Han Solo too.” she gave Rey a side-eye stare that made the taller girl blush and returned it with a mock scowl.

“General.” Rey automatically corrected.

Rose waved a hand in a ‘yeah, yeah’ gesture as she took another sip. Then she suddenly gasped. “Oh Maker, that means Ky-Ben is a Prince!” she exclaimed, just now connecting the dots. “No wonder he’s such a prissy eater.” Rey frowned slightly at that, seemingly not sure on how to comment, and Rose continued, undeterred. “If you married him, then you really would be a Jedi Princess.” Rose jokingly teased. Rey hated the title that had been incorrectly applied to her, often by the less informed Resistance fighters on base.

“What about Finn?” Rey clumsily tried to shift the focus off herself, “Are you two…” Rey circled a hand, not sure what term to use. In the Resistance short lived flings to hasty weddings and all relationship configurations in between were fair game. It was a time of war after all. “...a thing?” she finally settled on.

Rose helplessly shrugged. “Don’t know. He fussed over me constantly when I was recovering. At first I wasn’t sure if he was just grateful that I saved his life, or if it was something else.”

“Well you like him, right?” Rey inquired.

Rose nodded, a soft smile on her lips. “Yeah. I do. I mean, I kissed him!” she burst out laughing as she recalled that moment on Crait, “Oh, I was halfway passed out and thought I was a goner, so I just knew I needed to kiss him before the end. It was a terrible kiss!” Rey joined in on the round of giggles. “But after, when things calmed down a little...I don’t know, we care about each other but I think we’re both scared to admit it.” To build something more, only to lose it.

“You should kiss him again.” Rey said, as if that was that.

Wanting to take pressure off her, sick curiosity had Rose asking, “Have you kissed Ky-Ben?”

Rey stiffened, a wide-eyed stare aimed at her friend. She was searching, seeing what exactly Rose was hoping to learn from her answer. If there was judgement coming.

Finally she nodded.

Rose couldn’t help the creeping smirk. “I figured, you do spend most nights in his room after all.” she teased, hoping to ease her friend’s concern. She knew Finn and Poe had vocally objected to the odd pair’s relationship from day one. While Rose still hated the man, she knew he treasured Rey above anything, and in turn Rey...cared for him? Maybe something more. Something Rose hated to comment on because she despised hurting her friend. They’d had that unsaid promise, to tell the truth even if it hurts. But she couldn’t say aloud what she really thought of Kylo Ren to Rey. The galaxy had hurt Rey enough, the Resistance judged her enough, she didn’t need to heap on to that.

Though her teasing comment had Rey blushing an even more alarming shade of red.

“Maker, did you!?...”

Rey’s stunning lack of denial all but confirmed Rose’s suspicion.

“You did! Oh stars, you slept with him!”

Rey had a pleading and humiliated look on her face, and Rose could see the hint of tears forming in those hazel eyes. Rose couldn’t suppress a wince. She knew Rey never had anyone before, and the scavenger was bracing herself for a wave of condemnation coming her way. For sharing herself with a monster. She wouldn’t do that to her friend.

Rose downed the last of her brandy. “Well, is he a good lay at least?” she asked finally.

“Rose!” Rey sputtered in surprise, before barking out an embarrassed laugh. Rose quickly lost her own composure, the inebriated girls dissolving into another fit of giggles (and Rey an occasional snort that rekindled the giggling anew). They were suddenly interrupted by Kylo Ren throwing open the door, darkening the entryway. Rose sobered instantly, her hackles raised and instantly on edge. He was alone, the guards dismissed after Kylo had continued his self-enforced incarceration in his quarters while Rey was on her mission off-world. The General deemed manning an armed contingent a waste of resources when Rey was with him practically all hours anyways. He quickly crossed the small room in long strides, snatching up the bottle of brandy off an end table.

“You are giving me a headache.” he muttered down at Rey with mild annoyance. She only offered up an apologetic grin, still giggling lightly and not perturbed in the slightest at his intrusion. Rose found herself a little surprised Rey hadn’t warned her Kylo was coming. Maybe the brandy was dulling the Bond.

“I’m keeping this.” he said, turning to the door, bottle still in hand.

“Hey!” Rey objected, leaning toward him and reaching for the bottle “That’s mine! I sto- uh…” Kylo Ren raised an eyebrow at the admission. How does he not know? Rose thought, somewhere under the haze of fear. Perhaps Rey shut him out when she went on her little “missions” around the docks where the privateers frequented. Then again, she could see why Rey might not want him to know, as all-consumed as he was over her safety.

“Fine.” she finally acquiesced, leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms in an adorably petulant pout. Kylo actually...smiled? His lips were quirking up into something that was certainly not a sneer, but Rose didn’t think such a gentle expression was possible on the man’s face. The way he looked at Rey...it just shouldn’t have been possible for a monster. Maybe a trick of the light, or her own inebriation.

He turned to leave, but halted for a moment, his dark eyes falling on Rose. A brief look crossed his face, just as unimaginable as the smile had been.

He looked at Rose with gratitude.

--

“Come on, Finn!” Rose yelled over he shoulder as the Resistance hero trailed behind her. When she cornered him that afternoon and asked (demanded) that he accompany her on a walk off base, he’d been looking for something. Or rather, someone. Rose could easily guess who; Rey had disappeared after their shift in the hangar, and Kylo was always quick to gather her up. Finn hadn’t taken the news well that Kylo Ren was no longer surrounded by guards every day cycle, even if he admitted that it was a pointless exercise. Rose hoped that perhaps a walk with just the two of them up the mountain trail would distract him from the darksider’s presence among the Resistance, and hopefully she would have a chance to take Rey’s advice.

The trail was short but quite steep, Finn often having to offer a hand when pulling Rose up a particularly jagged bit of landscape. The air was thin and all the more biting the higher they rose in elevation, a welcome sensation to cool the prickling sweat of her brow. Despite the strain on her legs, she knew the view from above promised to be spectacular. So regardless of the heavy panting and tired limbs, she persisted. The trail leveled out ahead, climbing no longer. “I think this is it!” Rose exclaimed, rushing ahead through the dull, grey surroundings.

It was indeed. The trail overlooked a valley, the wide expanse lined with white-peaked snow dusted mountains. The landscape on Nod Kartha was usually bland and barren but the sunken valleys held greenery, old sturdy trees and hardy shrubs that lined sapphire blue lakes. In contrast the rocky walls of the valley held bands of subtle color, dust oranges, muted reds and dark burnt umber. The setting sun made the embedded striations of minerals, still lake surfaces, and snow peaks glitter with shards of reflected golden light of the fading sunset.

However before Rose could fully take in the grandeur of the scene spread out before her, she quickly realized that they weren’t alone. Seated nearby on a wide rock was Rey and Kylo. Or rather, it was Ben Solo . The man she saw in that moment couldn’t have been Kylo Ren. He was surrounding her entirely, enveloping the desert-dweller in his long limbs while she leaned back against his chest, one of her hands idly laced in his. Rey was not small by any means, taller than Rose and towering in spirit, but nestled into Ben and cradled by his strangely large hands, she looked tiny. Utterly encased and protected, an odd sight for a fearsome warrior. He was nuzzling into her wind-swept hair, his wide mouth brushing against her temple as they stared out at the vast landscape. They were quiet with lips unmoving, the Bond the only thing needed flowing between them on invisible strings Rose could not perceive. Kylo Ren had no place in this gentle scene.

Suddenly, and as one, both Rey and Ben snapped their gaze to Rose as if sensing her presence. Weird, Rose thought, more Force mumbo-jumbo. Finn caught up to her a second later, a dark scowl taking over his face. In response to his sudden intrusion of the peaceful moment Kylo Ren returned, the limbs holding Rey now a protective cage and his dark eyes growing cold once more.

“So this is where you’ve run off to.” Finn said icily, eyes locked with the darksider.

“Sorry Rey, we didn’t know you were up here.” Rose quickly said, trying to explain and diffuse the building tension.

“That’s alright.” Rey politely replied, eyes darting between the two men. Eventually and apparently she came to a sad conclusion and the two Force users wordlessly untangled themselves. While resolute, there was a hint of hesitation to separate. “We’ll head back to the base now.”

“Good.” Finn grunted, spite lacing the word.

Rey could only look sadly at Rose with resignation, letting out a quiet sigh that she was sure was too low to catch Finn’s ear, if he was bothering to listen at all. The two departed, the air suddenly feeling colder in their absence.

Well I’m not getting that kiss today , she though morosely.