Chapter Text
“Ma’am… new peace terms from the First Order have just come in.”
Rey blew a stray piece of hair from her face. “Let me guess— we’re denying their first offer?”
She could hear Threepio pause, joints whirring as he considered what she had just said. She had to turn, momentarily abandoning her place on the balcony of their apartments, to make sure the droid was still there. “…At least, that’s the plan. Or what Leia told me was the plan.”
“Well…” the droid sputters, “General Organa has requested your presence on the roof as soon as possible. The terms will be read in a public hearing, with both sides of the peace negotiations present. This includes the general, the commander… and you.”
Public hearing? That struck Rey as odd, especially for revised peace terms from the First Order. It had been hard enough to convince General Hux, de facto representative of the First Order in negotiations, to even come to the table. Rey smothered her annoyance, abandoning the ledge of the balcony entirely and returning inside. “Fine. Tell her I’ll be up shortly.”
Since she had arrived on Coruscant two weeks ago, she had spent every waking moment of her free time drinking in the unexpected beauty of the city. After years on the desolate Jakku, always seeing the same handful of faces, the appeal of the city was not lost on her. She had never seen so many people in one place— and all from different walks of life. Every inch of the place was teeming with activity, and she sat at that balcony day in and day out, trying to observe as much of it as she could before the dream ended and she returned to reality. Between that, training, her duties with Leia, and late nights out drinking with Poe, she had certainly kept busy on the capital planet.
Rey stopped by her own quarters to properly dress. The First Order had requested a brief respite from negotiations to address internal organization, giving Rey a day off while Leia and Poe strategized. She had spent most of it meditating outside, letting the noise of the city fall away while she focused on the Force. Before long, though, her concentration would waver, and she went back to the balcony, welcoming the disruption of activity. She still wore her training clothes: gauzy fabric draped over a thick woolen vest and leggings. Her feet were bare, pale toes pressing against the sleek marble floors of the apartments.
In her room, she fished through her closet noncommittally for a dress, swatting aside a spectrum of colors and fabrics before finally grabbing what she had come for: an emerald green gown, made of a soft, sturdy cloth. Even bodyguards and escorts were expected to dress formally when attending the Senate— one of Leia’s rules that Rey had come to detest. But the gown was simple, compared to the other outfits Leia had purchased for her, and ideal for hiding weaponry. She would never admit it to anyone, but part of her loved the gowns decorating her closet, and after years of the scrappy, utilitarian garb of a scavenger on Jakku, the extravagant attire of the Senate was a luxury she found herself happy to get used to.
Rey undressed quickly and tugged on the gown, pulling her arms through sleeves that hugged her wrists. Its neckline draped off of her shoulders, but never truly sat right; after a few minutes of fumbling, Rey gave up, letting it rest where it may. She slid on a nondescript pair of satin slippers and pulled her hair out of their knots, letting it rest in loose waves on her shoulders. Lastly, she grabbed her saberstaff, tucked it into the folds of her skirt, and headed for the door.
Rey ran into Poe in the hallway, heading towards her. “Hey,” he breathed by way of greeting, changing his pace. He looked sharp in traditional Resistance dress blues, creases ironed and medals gleaming on his lapel. “I was just coming to get you; Leia says we need to leave for the Senate chamber, like, now.”
“Well, here I am,” Rey muttered, holding up her skirts as she hurried after Poe. “You look nice, by the way.”
Poe flashed a cheeky smile behind her as they rushed through the halls. “You too. Got your saber on you?”
“Always,” Rey murmured under her breath, loud enough for him to hear, as they rounded a corner, the roof doors in sight. Rey Force-pressed the door’s release button and the pair rushed out into the midday sun before the entrance had fully slid open.
“You’ve got to stop showing off like that,” Poe muttered, and Rey had to smother a grin.
Leia and Threepio were already waiting for them by their ship, a basic T-1 shuttle more suited for realspace than lightspeed. Poe had done his best to paint over the Resistance symbol emblazoned on the ship’s side (only at Leia’s insistence, of course, as she advocated for neutrality in the Senate), but the logo could still be plainly seen, even from a distance.
The four of them piled onto the ship, Threepio bringing up the rear while Poe settled into the pilot’s seat, punching in the coordinates to Coruscant’s governmental offices. Rey sank down next to Leia, who leaned over to adjust the neckline of her gown.
Rey smiled in thanks. “I never can get this one to sit right.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Leia’s fingers twirled around a strand of Rey’s dark hair, giving it a slight curl. “You’d look beautiful in anything.”
Rey rolled her eyes, leaning back against the seats of the shuttle as Poe lifted the ship off the ground. “It doesn’t matter if I look beautiful. The only thing that matters to me is keeping you alive.”
Leia shot her a scrutinizing glance, one eyebrow raised in a way that still felt maternal to Rey. “You and I both know that’s not true.”
She couldn’t hold back a sigh this time. It was a conversation she had had with Leia time and time again since they had landed on Coruscant— if negotiations worked in their favor, Leia and Poe couldn’t support the Resistance’s diplomacy on their own. Commander Dameron was poised to succeed Leia in a military capacity— most likely as the foremost commanding general, but he could secure an admiralship with time— but she had no heir in government. Her seat as New Alderaan’s representative had been empty since her resignation years before, and Leia apparently saw a knack for politics in Rey that could be fostered. Just as Luke had trained her in the ways of the Jedi, Leia was training her-- albeit against Rey's will-- in the ways of diplomacy. Rey often walked into meetings guarding Leia, and came out of them advising her.
“I’m just here as a security detail,” Rey reminded her. “The dresses I wear have nothing to do with that.”
“Never underestimate the importance of appearance,” Leia intoned, ever the patient instructor.
“Uh, General?” Poe interrupted from the cockpit. “I think we've got a problem.”
The ride to Coruscant’s governmental district was a short one— Rey estimated they were probably there already.
“What is it— is our parking space taken?” Leia called in jest, sneaking Rey a wink as she stood. Rey followed her to the cockpit, sneaking a glance through the ship’s solitary viewport, and had to stifle a gasp.
A Resurgent-class Star Destroyer was hovering above the Senate building.
“The Finalizer,” Rey breathed. It was high enough in the atmosphere of the planet to be out of the way, but was difficult to miss, hovering in the periphery of Rey’s vision even as she focused on the Senate building.
Leia whistled. “Way to make an entrance.” She turned to Rey, a smile dancing on her lips. “What did I say about appearances?”
“I’ll say,” Poe echoed. He directed the shuttle’s flight path towards the building’s hangar, where senators present to arbitrate negotiations were arriving. The holding hangar was large, but mostly abandoned; as the New Republic crumbled, its senators had fled to their homeworlds, seeking security for their people rather than stability of the government they safeguarded. However, a few had braved Coruscant to attempt peace, to secure an end to the war that wreaked havoc on all corners of the galaxy. Rey respected and admired those few.
The shuttle docked at their usual section, near the building’s entrance. A maintenance droid tapped into their comms channel, and Poe granted access with a flick of a switch, shutting the ship down. “Come on. We’ve got a hearing waiting for us.”
As they made their way down the ramp, Threepio tottering behind them, Rey stopped cold in her tracks. “The Force… you can feel it, can’t you, Leia? It’s different here. Different than usual.” She swallowed. “Someone’s here.”
Leia’s brows furrowed as she turned to meet Rey’s eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Could that have anything to do with it?” Poe’s voice was dark, and when Rey looked up, she saw him pointing across the hangar at a jet-black Upsilon-class shuttle. Her stomach sank.
“The Supreme Leader has finally arrived,” Poe muttered, ignoring the tempered silence from the women beside him. “Hux must have messed up in a bad way to-“
“Let’s go,” Rey finally interrupted, storming past the both of them in an attempt to clear her mind of Kylo Ren.
They made their way through the Senate building’s lobby minutes later, assuming the usual stance. Leia, flanked by Rey and Poe, and followed by an uncharacteristically silent C-3PO, was cordially greeting senators and the First Order representatives she had managed to befriend. Rey was smiling and shaking hands with the best of them, but her mind was elsewhere, even as she idly checked for threats against their lives.
She had blocked Kylo Ren out of her mind for months, making it a priority to think about anything but him. It made her angry, now, to realize he still evoked emotion in her. She thought honing her Jedi training over the past few months had wiped any sentiment regarding him away, but now she suspected it had only let those feelings fester. Feelings of fear, then hatred, melting into apprehension, and eventually a faint understanding, even sympathy. But after their battle on board the Supremacy, she decided she was right the first time— Kylo Ren was destined to let his past ruin him, and take anyone down with him along the way. His thirst for power, for control, would never heal the wounds of history, try as he might.
She still remembered their last interaction, over their shared bond— and her shutting the Falcon door on him, leaving him at the base on Crait. Since then he had appeared to her multiple times, at first silent and brooding, but later yelling, shouting at her to say anything, to do anything. She had always ignored him, going about her work as if he wasn't there. Eventually he had stopped appearing at all, but she still felt his presence, the presence of their bond, lingering in the back of her mind. Not gone, just forgotten. Suppressed, by the both of them.
No, there was no room in her heart to care for a man like that.
A bell sounded over the intercom in the lobby, signaling the start of session. “Looks like they’re ready for us,” Leia murmured, just loud enough for the four of them. They made their way inside with the rest of the negotiators and senators.
Once the occupants of the lobby had filtered into the hall, boarding their platforms, the Senate’s presiding chancellor stepped forward on his stationary platform at the dead center of the hall, in full view of everyone present. “We’re all here, it seems; the meeting can begin.”
Leia stood towards the front of their pod, Rey just behind her, with Poe and Threepio lurking towards the back. Most of the platforms were empty, as senators escaping to the safety of their planets were not likely to return to Coruscant anytime soon. The First Order’s diplomatic corps occupied most of the eastern half of the room, filling some of the spare pods. Whereas the Resistance had opted to send a squad of four to represent them in negotiations, the First Order had sent forty agents of their own, each with their own bundle of assistants and droids, and General Hux as the leader of them all. Today, however, Hux stood on a platform removed from the center of the First Order’s bloc, looking more irritable than usual. His usual spot was occupied by a tall, looming man, clothed entirely in black and flanked by a pair of stormtroopers. Rey had to avert her eyes, again shoving down her emotions, but she already knew who it was. Kylo Ren.
The chancellor cleared his throat. “I'll make this quick to give our speaker as much time as possible. The First Order’s diplomatic team have elected to replace their head in negotiations. Their Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren—“ Rey resisted a shiver, even just at the mention of his name— “has swiftly prepared a set of terms for the Resistance, presented today by him. Supreme Leader, the floor is yours, at your leisure.”
Kylo Ren’s pod zipped forward, soaring above the chancellor, and Rey finally allowed herself to observe him in full. He looked worse from the last time she had seen him; high command had not been kind to him. The scar bisecting his face, the one Rey had given him on Starkiller, marred his features, the bruise still barely blooming under his right eye. He looked pale, more peaked, with dark bags signaling his stress and fatigue contrasting with the pallid white of his skin. His eyes were rimmed with red, jet-black hair unkempt. However, Rey noticed that his hands did not shake, and his pupils stayed trained on the holoscreen in front of him, no doubt displaying the speech he was poised to deliver. Whatever his physical appearance told her, it was clear that Ren was of a strong emotional will, at least in this moment. Rey snuck a glance at Leia, who seemed to be unaffected by the image of her estranged son.
Kylo Ren cleared his throat, and the platform quickly amplified his voice for the entire Senate chamber to hear.
“Here we go,” Poe murmured from the back of their own pod. Rey had to shoot him a scornful look before returning her attention to the chamber, her senses attuned to the scene before her while deftly ignoring her bond with Ren.
“Thank you, Chancellor, for the opportunity to speak today.” His voice was calm, practiced, but that undertone of silent rage, chaos simmering just below the surface, was still present. “As prime representative of the First Order, I have created a set of peace terms for the Resistance—“ at this his gaze briefly flickered over to Leia’s platform, and locked onto Rey’s— “to consider.” His eyes were glued to her now, and she had to steel herself, remind herself not to look away, not to show weakness. Her eyes narrowed, daring him to break their contact, and finally he did, returning to the holoscreen in front of him. The entire exchange lasted only seconds, but she felt it had been hours since he had begun.
“The defining condition of my terms relies on the establishment of a new subset of government, operated by the First Order and beholden to the New Republic. Upon the end of the war, the First Order would limit their rule to a handful of systems in the Unknown Regions, primarily the abandoned Rakata system. Any extension of rule of government beyond this would have to be sanctioned by this Senate. This First Order, this provincial government, will act as a fresh start, a new settlement for those who seek peace and order in the Galaxy.” There was a pointed look at Leia from Ren at that, and Rey could practically hear Poe rolling his eyes as he shifted in place.
“In exchange for limiting power to these systems, the First Order will be represented in the New Republic Senate, with one seat granted per system controlled. We also demand a stronger New Republic, a Senate clean of corruption that our government can be safely and fairly represented on. Misconduct and chaos has plagued this government for too long, to the detriment of the entire galaxy. I can only hope the First Order's induction into the New Republic will help clean it up.”
“These can’t be his only conditions,” Leia murmured to Rey and Poe. “This is too easy, to just cut us loose; it leans too far in our favor for the Order to be happy about this.”
“Oh don’t worry. There’s a ‘but’ coming,” Poe warned, eyes trained on Ren’s platform.
Ren continued speaking. “To avoid any potential conflict between two warring sides, the Resistance would dissolve into the New Republic, acting as a standing militant arm of the government, while the First Order becomes a separate administration— that previously mentioned subset of the New Republic. This rebel group has incited conflict and strife for long enough; acting purely as peacekeepers protecting the New Republic will foster a safer galaxy.”
“He can’t just dismantle the Resistance— that’s an imbalance of power!” Poe’s hushed whisper was stoked with indignant outrage, but he broke off his tirade at a simple wave of Leia’s hand.
“Let him finish.”
“In order to facilitate a smooth transition of both groups, a liaison would be assigned to spend six standard months of each year with the First Order’s new government, and then the Resistance’s military outfit, monitoring operations of both to ensure they follow New Republic guidelines. Fortunately, I have already selected the liaison: General Leia’s personal bodyguard.” Kylo Ren’s eyes lifted from the holoscreen again, locking onto Rey’s gaze. Her heart jumped into her throat, her skin getting warm, and she swallowed hard. “Rey.”
The eyes of every person in the chamber shifted to her, and a wave of murmurs resonated throughout the room, even from the First Order’s bloc. She had to tap into the Force to stay rooted to her spot, to keep herself from running off of their platform, into the lobby and out of the building. Her palms rested on the guard railing, and she pressed the heels of her hands into the cool metal to ground herself. Leia and Poe hardly moved next to her, attempting to maintain that air of aloof indifference to the terms, but she felt both of their eyes gradually slide to her. She couldn’t afford to do anything but keep her breathing steady, her eyes locked on Ren’s, refusing to break his gaze.
Out of nowhere, she felt Kylo tapping into their bond, asking permission for entry into her mind. Shocked more than anything, she slammed down her mental defenses immediately, grounding herself in the Force, keeping solitary in her own self. After another eternity, he turned away.
“This is the essence of our terms. Details of this document have been sent to the offices of presiding senators, as well as representatives of the Resistance. I look forward to negotiating this armistice with the appropriate parties. Chancellor, I yield the floor back to you." As his pod zipped back to its place at the forefront of the First Order's bloc, a wave of chatter began to build, everyone trying to take advantage of the short reprieve in speakers to discuss these revelations before the Chancellor retook the floor.
"That can't be all of it," Poe breathed. “He's gotta be hiding something in the fine print.” His voice— all the sounds around her— felt muffled to Rey, as if all of it was happening far away from her.
"We'll comb through the document when we get back to the apartments," Leia was murmuring, almost as an aside. Rey snapped back to the present when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" She shifted and found Leia's maternal gaze on her, her eyes two pools of pure concern, pure sympathy.
She managed a nod. "Yeah." She was still aware of her surroundings, of all the senators and First Order diplomats sneaking glances at her, and tried to maintain her composure. She still felt Ren's presence, too, either through the Force or sheer proximity. It made her break out in a sweat. "We can talk about it when we get back."
Leia nodded, apparently satisfied, for now, by her answer. “Okay."
Poe sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, if it's legitimate, the First Order's rolling over and letting us have the war. Nothing in those terms had any teeth to it. Except for that last part, of course," He added hastily, sneaking a glance at Rey. “All we have to do is sit back and watch them imperialize their own system.”
Leia spoke quietly, maintaining the calm composure of a woman at home in the Senate, used to its flair for dramatics. "We thought we'd be lucky if we came out of this with the New Republic still intact. I didn't even think Hux and the others were taking these talks seriously."
"I don't think Hux had anything to do with these terms," Poe murmured. "Look."
He was right. Even from across the Senate chamber, Rey could see that General Hux was a particular shade of red, rage emanating from his form. "Did any of their diplomatic team know about this?"
Before Poe or Leia could answer, the chancellor, who had re-taken his place at the center of the chamber, cleared his throat, and began to speak. Rey couldn’t bother to listen to him summarizing the plan, asking for speakers. All her mind could focus on, all it could go back to, was Kylo Ren.
Why would he want her as a liaison? Out of everyone in the galaxy, Rey thought she was the absolute person he would want to spend a single minute with, let alone six months of the year. After leaving him on Crait, king of his ashes, she thought she would never earn his forgiveness— a forgiveness she had to train herself not to even consider craving. Guilt had threatened to eat her up inside, but she kept it at bay by reminding herself who Kylo was— a monster. He had killed the rebels, letting them die on those transports to Crait, and before that, his own father. Countless people, a scope of death haunting him like a specter, too big for her to wrap her head around.
What would her role even be? How was she supposed to facilitate a transition of not one, but two military factions into a government and a defense squad? What little she knew of galactic government, she had learned from the people standing next to her over the past month, and even then she still felt out of her element.
Maybe the whole thing was just a trick— she wasn’t supposed to be facilitating anything, and instead would end up as Ren’s plaything, another Force user to toy with until he got bored and did with her what he pleased. The thought of that made her queasy.
Her mind was a tempest, every possible end to her predicament beating around inside her mind. She felt too small, as if the pressure of her thoughts would make her explode. Her fingers were shaking again. Her body was desperate for an outlet to expend all this nervous energy, but the tenets of diplomacy demanded she remain still, and her pride, most of all, commanded her to show strength in the face of her enemies. Even now, as she sorted through her thoughts, she could feel Ren’s piercing gaze on her. She elected not to meet his eyes for fear of another staring match, instead pretending to look captivated by the chancellor’s speech as her mind raced. Eventually, though, the weight of her thoughts threatened to topple her, and all she could think about was leaving.
“Excuse me,” Rey murmured, withdrawing from her position on the platform. She moved slowly, as if her departure was planned and intentional on the part of the Resistance corps, and not a moment of panic.
Leia covertly caught Rey's wrist, her eyes still trained on the chancellor. “You sure you’re alright?” Her mouth barely moved as she spoke.
Rey smiled down at her feet, pretending to fuss with her skirts. “Fine. I just… need to breathe. I’ll meet you both back at the apartments.” With that, she turned, her dress slightly twirling around her at the movement, and left the platform, returning to the chamber’s main entrance halls.
She knew she should probably go straight back to the apartments, where Poe and Leia would be expecting her shortly. Her mind could probably use the rest, and she could think of nothing better than a few hours at her balcony, ruminating on the millions of lives going on below her, none of them existing with the potential fate of the galaxy on their shoulders.
It was tempting. But something else was calling to her, a call she could never deny. She knew exactly where she needed to go.
The Jedi Temple on Coruscant was abandoned, rarely visited by a population who swore it was haunted or cursed. Before it had become the Imperial Palace, under Emperor Palpatine, the temple had housed the Jedi Council. Rey had held a morbid fascination for the building since she had arrived with Leia and Poe on the planet; though Leia claimed its days of utility were long past, Rey still sensed the Force resonating through the structure. Nothing can protect a power that strong for centuries and not contain remnants of it.
She walked up the steps, letting the rest of her surroundings fall away as she entered the temple. The building was massive, bigger than any downed ship she’d scavenged on Jakku. Four gargantuan pillars decorated the four corners of the building’s roof, with a fifth at its center; they were as dilapidated as the rest of the structure. When she approached the threshold, she pressed a hand against the stone walls, and felt the dormant power pulsing beyond the rock. Rey had been afraid that the Imperial takeover of the temple would have toppled the balance of the Force existing here, but a few decades of the dark side had failed to wipe out millennia of the light. She took a deep breath and stepped inside.
The main entrance hall of the Temple was cavernous, seemingly unending from Rey’s position at the front. The hall had once been draped in lavish carpets and tapestries, simple yet impressive adornment for an order of seemingly ascetic Jedi. She imagined the halls bustling with men and women from all walks of life, clad in plain robes with sabers at their hips. Now, though, the temple was in ruins, seemingly annihilated of any beauty or utility by Palpatine’s men after his death. Rey strode towards one of the massive marble columns, pressing the warm skin of her palm to the cool, smooth stone, and closed her eyes.
And then she felt it.
The Force, thrumming through her own body, mingling with the lingering power in the building. She felt unity with the temple, with the power of it. It was overwhelmingly of the light, of good… but there was something else, too.
She snatched her hand away, recognizing the temptation of darkness. Even though she had felt it running through her for only a moment, it quickly overtook her emotions, toppling the calm stability she felt in the light. Unable to center herself, her composure unraveled, and she sank to her knees, feeling the unforgiving hardness of the marble floor even through the fabric of her dress. The question that had pulsed through her mind, the only thing she could think of on the way here, was coming to the forefront now. She had to turn to the only thing she knew she could really trust— her only constant companion.
“What am I going to do?” Her voice was just a whisper, but it reverberated through the hall, the only sound in the building. She felt a wetness on her cheeks, and realized she had started to weep.
The Force responded in kind. She could feel tendrils of energy, of warm power and light, flowing and braiding around her, as if embracing her.
Despite her predicament, the events of the public hearing, she felt safe here, protected. A quiet calm fell over her. The events of the past hour fell away, leaving only herself, her own thoughts and feelings, and the Force.
"I thought I might find you here."
Rey cringed, jumping at the sound of Kylo Ren's voice. Any semblance of peace or calm she had been able to create just moments before quickly dissipated, replaced by that nervous displeasure and dread she had felt in the Senate chamber, with his eyes boring into her.
Discreetly wiping her cheeks, she turned her head to the side, eyes trained on the hem of her skirt. She refused to stand, or even look at him. “Why are you here?”
“Same reason you probably are.” Ren’s voice sounded nonchalant, as if their conversation was mundane. She could even hear his cape sweeping the floor as he paced. This was not just a materialization of their Force bond, she realized; he was here with her. “We’ve both felt the sheer energy of this place, reverberating through the planet.”
“You followed me,” Rey retorted, now fully turning to face him. He was by the door, the same entrance she had come through, just steps from the threshold. At this distance, just feet from her, she could see just how damaged he truly was— the bags under his eyes were exaggerated, skin paler than she had previously thought.
“I didn’t. But believe what you must.”
Yes, I think I will. She knew he had followed her, there was no other explanation for it, but she elected to keep her mouth shut, saving her energy for what was sure to be a long-winded argument between them.
Rey bowed her head again. “…Do you want to talk about it?” She tentatively tried to cut the maliciousness out of her voice, asking a genuine question rather than spitting back an insult. “Crait, the Supremacy, everything that happened—“
“I’d rather not.” Ren’s voice was strained, and Rey switched topics seamlessly, wishing she’d never mentioned it. Truth be told, she hadn’t exactly wanted to discuss it either, but it felt like the dewback in the room, pressing down on their conversation.
She transferred her embarrassed frustration into her next question. “Why did you come, anyways? If what you say is true.” Rey ripped her gaze from his long enough to gesture to the dilapidated opulence of the main hall. “I thought you hated the Jedi.”
Kylo stopped pacing. “I don’t,” He murmured, his eyes passively scanning the hall. “Some part of me admires them.”
“Then why ever forsake the Jedi Order?”
His gaze met hers again, eyes piercing her. “You know why.”
Rey scoffed. “I suppose I just don’t understand the rationale of abandoning an entire way of life just because of one man— one night, one misunderstanding.”
“It’s bigger than that. You can never understand the true power the dark side can give someone when you choose to isolate yourself from it.”
“A choice I gladly make.” Rey was nearly sneering.
The Supreme Leader barked out a harsh laugh that was more of a scoff. “Sure you do.”
The fact that Kylo Ren was finding any humor in this at all incensed Rey even more, and she scrambled to her feet, rage surging from her in waves. “I can’t believe you.” In a moment of impulse, she fished through her skirts for her saberstaff and pulled it out, pointing the hilt at him. Her thumb rested threateningly on the forward emitter. “I should strike you down, here and now, and end this nightmare myself.”
“Ah, there it is.” Kylo’s eyes narrowed, and he took a careful step forward, observing her like a specimen. “That power— untapped, but available. Dormant, but ferocious.”
It took Rey a moment to realize what he was talking about. Then she detached herself from the Force flowing through her, and hastily stashed the weapon back in the folds of her gown, heat warming her cheeks.
“Don’t be ashamed of it, Rey. Embrace it. Let it drive you.”
“Never.”
“Oh, of course.” Ren tsked, shrugging in a too bad manner. “I nearly forgot you’re too arrogant to even consider—“
“It’s not arrogance,” Rey had to snap back. “It’s my own sense of right and wrong.”
“I can’t wait to hear all about your staunch morals while we work together over the coming years.” His voice dripped of sarcasm.
Rey tensed. In her anger, her startlement at his sudden appearance, she had almost forgotten about the terms he had read at the Senate. Almost.
“That’s never going to happen.” She hissed between her teeth.
“What other choice do you have?” Kylo’s voice was not mocking, or vindictive like she might have expected, but realistic, detached, almost empathetic. “If you reject these terms, the First Order will walk away from peace talks, find your band of rebels, and destroy the Resistance once and for all.” He tilted his head, admiring the columns of the temple as he spoke. “The deck is stacked against you. The First Order has all but won this war. Taking this deal is the only chance of survival for you and your friends; rejecting it is certain death.”
There has to be another way, Rey felt herself wondering.
“There isn’t.” Ren’s voice was quiet.
Rey jumped. “Don’t do that.”
He turned, making eye contact with her again. “Do what?”
“…Read my thoughts. Get into my head.”
Ren scoffed, turning away to pace again. “I wasn’t reading your thoughts; the Force was. They just so happened to project them to me.”
The bond. She chose to direct her attention to his previous point, snarling as she paced towards him.
“I don’t know what kind of game you’re crafting,” Rey hissed, stopping in Ren’s path. “But I refuse to play along.”
Kylo Ren only smiled, eyeing her like a parent might view a petulant child. “In time, you’ll see why I had to do this. For now, your petty insolence is a small price to pay.”
“Pay for what?” She was a good six inches shorter than him, and had to stand on the tips of her toes to try and seem intimidating.
She waited for his response, keeping her brow furrowed as her eyes bored into his, but eventually she noticed his gaze drift, down her face and across her lips. Before she could stop herself, she was mirroring the movement, absorbing the fullness of his lips, the tendrils of hair curling around his face, the way the deep red of his scar contrasted with the pale cream of his skin. She watched his eyelashes droop, brown irises darkening as he took her in, blinking, and… was that lust she saw in his eyes?
No, she thought to herself, physically shaking her head and stepping away. Stop it. This is not Ben Solo.
Ren stepped away too, though he kept his gaze on her, and never answered her question as he made his way back down the main hallway.
“I’m here to meditate,” He called behind him, almost as an afterthought. “And I don’t like meditating with… company. You should go back to your band of rebels. No doubt they’re searching for any loopholes in the terms right now— I should save you the trouble and inform you that there are none.”
Rey caught her emotions before they could wash over her and smothered them until she could speak without her voice shaking. “I was here first. You can’t dismiss me.”
But he was already gone, marching down the hall.
Rey clenched her fists at her sides, trying to control her breathing as she assessed her options. She could stay here, to spite him, but that would mean inviting further interaction with Kylo— which was the last thing she wanted. She opted to return to the apartments— Leia and Poe were probably ready to strategize with her anyways. The thought made her sick, but she was already resigned to her fate. She left the temple, left the shattered semblance of safety the Force had created for her, and made her way back.