Chapter Six

In the moment before Rey pulled the walls down around them, in the moment before her escape, a million things fought for dominance in her mind. The soft sadness in Kylo Ren's eyes, rising to the surface like moonglow on a puddle of water. The emotion radiating through The Force between them, a feeling almost—almost—like hope. The way something within him tried calling out to something in her, the way something in her wanted to answer right back.

Above it all, though, only one imperative floated to the surface, dominating every other whim or thought. Escape. I have to escape.

But once she'd actually attempted that escape, once she was flying through the air without any way of saving herself from the inevitable crash waiting for her down below, another though took escape's place.

Panic. It gripped her lungs and puppeted her body, until she was flailing and screaming her plummeting way towards the cruel, unfeeling streets of Coruscant below. There was no pain, just the terror and the rushing wind all around her.

This is how I die, she thought, bitterly, jumping out of a building trying to escape Kylo Ren.

But then, just as she thought she was done for, the air around her stopped rushing. Silence took its place. All around her, energy shifted and spun, creating a kind of barrier around her, holding her taut in the middle of the sky as if someone was holding her by the end of a string.

…Not just someone, she discovered as she descended slowly, gently, down towards the lower gardens of the palace. Because when her feet touched the ground and the energy protecting her dissipated once more, she turned to see Kylo Ren drifting slowly behind her.

Once, she'd heard some deep space pilots stranded on Jakku discuss these creatures called angels, rumored to be the most beautiful beings in the world, the kind of ephemeral harnessers of magic who saved dead-in-space pilots from the brink. And as he drifted down towards her, moving through The Force with enough concentration to make his hands tremble, she was positive they couldn't have looked as beautiful—or as terrifying—as he did in that moment. Every few seconds, his expression shifted from rage to hurt and then back again, continuing the cycle until finally, he stood before her.

Only, Kylo Ren wasn't looking at her anymore. He was looking just over her shoulder, at someone whose presence inspired such awe that he immediately dropped to his knees in deference.

Her blood chilled as the life-force around them burned with an icy darkness that wrapped around her throat and tightened, choking her without ever even touching her. She knew even before she was turned around to face him who now held her on the end of a string.

Vader.

This force choke was nothing like what she'd just experienced a moment earlier with Kylo Ren. That had been protective, a salvation from her own stupid death. This was a punishment, and she felt every shred of Vader's hatred pulsating through the pain radiating throughout her entire being.

The hissing mechanism of his voice spoke in measured words, completely calm despite his rage. "What have you done?"

"I was…" Rey clawed at her throat, as if she could peel the invisible hands away from her. "We were…I can't—"

"Emperor Vader."

Kylo stood, and Vader mercifully dropped Rey, where she crumpled to the ground in a pathetic heap. Anger swelled inside of her; she'd never been pathetic before. Not even an Emperor was going to make her feel that way. Rage at her own failure swirled inside of her, too. If she'd actually managed to fall safely and manipulate the Force like she'd planned, she wouldn't be here at Vader's feet, dreaming of mercy she didn't think would come.

She couldn't believe she was depending on the intervention of Kylo Ren, of all people. He'd saved her from Vader's clutches once; the fact that he'd now done it twice…She couldn't allow it to happen a third time.

Determination blossomed in the seeds rage had planted. She would learn the ways of The Force. She would use that training to escape. But before she did, she would make sure she slaughtered Darth Vader first.

"When you told me you had her in hand, this was not the result I expected," Vader said, ignoring the girl regaining her breath at his feet. He walked without a Storm Trooper escort, armed only with the lightsaber resting at his hip. For a brief moment, Rey wondered if she could be fast enough to rip the thing from its hilt and run him through with it, but she barely felt strong enough to raise her arm, much less swing a sword. Her resolve to one day kill this man only strengthened with the realization that she could not do it right this moment. "Either you have failed me or she has failed us both. Which is it?"

"We were training."

"Training?"

"She has raw power, Emperor," Kylo said, lowering his voice as if they were plotting something very secretive indeed instead of the fate of their self-proclaimed future Empress. "More power than she knows. Learning the ways of The Force will take time. And a few castles might get broken in the process. But this could be the reason that The Force led her to us. She could become a powerful weapon if aimed in the right direction…" He glanced down at her, his voice dripping with implications that sent a sudden, forbidden rush of heat pooling in the pits of her belly. "And with the right incentives."

Rey tried not to think of what incentives he meant, tried not to think of his bedroom and his soft hands and the way his mind sometimes brushed against hers like a gentle kiss. Instead, she puzzled over his assertion of her power. Did he really mean it or was he trying to manipulate Vader in some way? Was it even possible to manipulate Darth Vader?

"And your suggestion?"

"Coruscant's atmosphere can be stifling. There are too many people, too many prying eyes, too much activity. I suggest taking her somewhere secluded. Perhaps Akiva or Naboo or Dantooine or—"

"Naboo. You will take her to the palace on Naboo."

Darth Vader's voice was certain. A chill ran its way down her spine. Something shifted in Kylo's face, something she couldn't quite place. Was it confusion? Concern? What was so wrong with Naboo? Her mind flashed back to the portrait on the wall she'd passed during her excursion through the castle. The portrait of the red-dressed woman slashed through with lightsaber scorches, that had been painted on Naboo. Were the two linked somehow?

"Master—"

"As Padmé Amidala was to Anakin Skywalker, so, too will Rey of Jakku be to Ben Solo."

"Yes, master," Kylo dipped a bow, his face tight and unreadable.

Rey shivered. Her name on Darth Vader's tongue made it sound like a curse. She didn't know who Padmé Amidala or Anakin Skywalker or Ben Solo were, but Darth Vader seemed certain her name fit amongst theirs.

"Train the girl," Vader instructed. "Bend her to your will. And see that she does not threaten the will of The Force again."

"I swear it."

"Together, we will destroy the rebellion. We will kill Ben Solo. And we will set fire to the past. She will be the spark."

"It is an honor, Master."

The Imperial Gardens at the base of the Palace on Coruscant could barely be called gardens at all. Instead, the ground had been covered with metallic statues of constellation-lines, and without proper care and supervision, the entire garden had been overtaken by insidious, grotesque weeds that clung to the metal wires and stretched their vines wide towards what little sun Coruscant naturally had. Sometimes, when he was given to introspection, he thought that these gardens were a bit like him. A thing once filled with sunlight and life now overrun with decay and death.

Today, though, he wasn't given to introspection. Today, he had one concern and one concern only: making sure Rey of Jakku didn't die in his care. No matter how many times he told himself he needed to defer to Emperor Vader's wills and whims, he couldn't shake the feeling that they were linked, and that if something happened on her end of that link, something in him would break, too.

When Vader disappeared, Kylo pulled his cloak tighter around his body—protecting himself from the fierce winds—and made for the castle. The harsh sting of betrayal—of her betrayal—burned like a fresh brand against his dead heart. She'd played him like a Growdi Harmonique, coaxing him into exactly the right key for her to pull one over on him.

He'd thought…For a moment, he thought that perhaps, maybe, possibly, there was more than hatred in her heart for him. He thought that she'd not seen him as a captor, but as a fellow prisoner. He thought that perhaps she was even starting to like him, to see something in him.

But no. She'd not seen anything or cared about him. She hated him. And was willing to plummet to her death in order to avoid being with him. The pain of that was worse than any fresh lightsaber stab.

He'd barely made it four steps out of her presence—she was so untrained in The Force that she practically beaconed out her every emotions when she wasn't carefully guarding them, meaning being close to her was the emotional equivalent of jumping headfirst into a stormy midnight sea—when her quiet, insistent foot fall followed behind him.

"Who is Ben Solo?"

"Nobody."

"Why do you have to kill him?"

Because I can't be Ben Solo anymore. Ben Solo is a creature of The Light, a creature of The Past. And Emperor Vader and I are going to kill the past. And the rebellion that tries to hold onto it…Including my parents. Of course, he couldn't tell her the truth. Not the entire truth, anyway.

"Because Emperor Vader demands it."

"And that's all the reasoning you need?"

"Yes."

"But—"

Another question danced to her lips, but he spun on her, towering over her slight form and letting the raw pain and hurt of her dive from the hole in the practice room blaze across his features. He couldn't hide it or run from it.

"Am I really so terrible? Is the idea of being with me so horrifying that you would sooner throw yourself out of a window than even try?"

Rey blinked up at him. She suddenly looked so small. "…I thought I would be able to save myself."

She hadn't answered his question, which was all the answer he needed. Yes, she would prefer death than being with him.

"Well, you couldn't. But with training, you may. We leave for Naboo in the morning."

"What if I refuse?"

He motioned towards the castle, where Vader lay in wait. "You'd rather stay here with the real monster?"

"No."

"Then come with me." Carefully composing his face, he did his best to absolve himself of any emotional baggage, to keep his voice nice and level. But it was impossible to ignore that Rey's betrayal wouldn't have hurt if he didn't feel anything for her. "I will protect you. And teach you. And, perhaps, when it is all over, you will not want to throw yourself out of a window at the thought of being near me."

Coruscant's limited sunlight played against the soft golds in Rey's eyes. She was the light. And it was so tempting to want to bask in her glow. "Why did you save me?"

"From your fall or from Emperor Vader?"

"Both."

He could have regurgitated the lie he'd told her the last time he'd saved her, that it was all because the Will of the Force demanded her to stay alive. But she hadn't believed him then; she wouldn't believe him now.

"I don't know."

"That's not a good enough answer."

As he walked away in a cloud of swirling emotions and a swishing cape, Kylo Ren knew that she was right. But, for the moment, he had no other answer to give her.

A Naboo excursion! I'm so excited for y'all to read the next part of the story. It's so much fun. Leave me a review and let me know your story predictions or what you liked about this chapter! It really helps me write faster, knowing that there are people out there enjoying this story!