Disclaimer – I of course own nothing of Star Wars (regrettably) and only the OC Neri Lei can be called my own. I hope you like it!

Chapter One

The ground rumbled and shook beneath Neri's feet and she stumbled against a tree to steady herself, though the tree was making a crackling descent to the ground along with her. Pushing her white-blonde hair out of her face, she searched her surroundings frantically for a sign that help could be near. There was nothing, no one around her aside from the fleeing wildlife and splintering trees. She smelled smoke and scanned the horizon for fire, paling at the thought that she would be burned to death.

She heard a deafening crack and the ground began to open up beneath her feet, pulling her downward into the gouge being formed. Without thinking, she felt a pull to move forward and jumped across the growing void, nearly teetering into it before finding solid ground. She peered into the gash, stepping back cautiously as the world around her collapsed inward.

Neri's breath was loud in her ears, the only sound she could hear, and she searched her mind for the path she should take. She shut out her surroundings, closed her eyes, and felt the creeping power of her consciousness slithering out of her body to find a way for her to survive the day. It had been too long since she had allowed it to flow from her; the warmth of it was sluggish and unfamiliar in her body, like someone waking from a long sleep. She smiled despite her predicament, reveling in the feel of the Force wrapping around her.

There! Her eyes snapped open and she ran without hesitation, the growing crevice to her right as she darted between falling trees and panicked animals. She reached a clearing and slowed, looking around for what had drawn her to the spot. Was there a transport? A fellow Resistance pilot seeking her out? Had they seen her escape the crash of her X fighter? She frantically scanned the forest around her and saw nothing, no sign of salvation.

With a small, scared whimper, Neri backed away from the edge of the ever growing void before her and registered briefly that her heels had hit something before she toppled back and hit the cold, hard ground.

Moaning at the immediate soreness in her backside, she tried to untangle her legs from the dark mass she had tripped over. She squinted her eyes in the dying light, trying to make out what it was, and stumbled back several feet when she realized it was a man. Her legs caught together and she flailed, cursing her lack of grace. Steadying herself, she peered over at the stranger.

He was dressed in all black, body covered completely other than his face. He wasn't moving, so Neri leaned forward cautiously and inspected that face. He was not an old man, perhaps only a few years older than herself, and had heavy brows and large features that were marred by a long slash across his face. His dark hair, curls matted with blood that could have only been his own, stuck to his forehead and the gruesome gash there. His stillness unsettled her and Neri wondered if she was sitting beside a corpse.

Neri wondered who he was, why he was laying in the woods alone in such a state. The metallic stench of blood wafted off of him, and she saw several spots on his dark clothing that were soaked through with it. She looked around her for any indication of who the man might be and her eyes landed on a metal tube half buried in the snow.

Glancing at him, she crawled over to the tube, her hands stinging from the cold. She dug it out, turned it over in her hands, and pressed a button towards the base instinctively.

A bright red light erupted from the tube in three places and then flickered once, twice, before going out. It was a brief moment, but Neri had seen its true shape, the unique signature of that lightsaber. A horrifying realization spread through her and she looked at the man behind her, suddenly very afraid. She did not know his face, but she knew his weapon. Everyone in the galaxy knew that weapon.

Kylo Ren. Murderer and enemy of the Resistance. Her enemy.

Fear, slow moving and heavy, spread through her body and she felt herself frozen where she kneeled. She held his lightsaber tightly before her, as though she could defend herself with it, and flinched as she heard a voice in her mind.

Ben, it said, my son.

Neri knew that voice, knew the memory that it had come from. She shook her head, willing the memory to leave her. Ben Solo was dead. Kylo Ren lived on.

She leaned over the man, pulling a small knife from her flight suit. She had used it to cut herself free of her wrecked fighter and positioned her shaking hand to rid the galaxy of him once and for all. She took a deep breath and raised her hand.

My son, the voice repeated, deafening in her mind.

"He is not your son anymore," she said aloud. Her voice was amplified by the quiet around her, but she suddenly realized that there was no quiet, that she had created the void of sound around her. The power within her rekindled and she felt it lowering her hand.

Blinking several times, Neri came back to the world fully and acted without thought. The knife was sheathed again, her murderous intentions stowed. She tucked the lightsaber into her belt and stood, feeling the ache of the day radiating through her body. The noise of the imploding planet was deafening in her ears now that she let it in, and the rumble of the earth beneath her feet falling away made it difficult to move.

The crevice grew ever nearer to her and Neri jumped forward, landing on the other side of the fallen Kylo Ren. Mustering all of her strength, she heaved his much larger body with her own, falling back onto the ground with him atop her. She felt sweat dripping down her neck and shoved him off of her, not taking time to be graceful about it. Dragging herself to her feet again, she moved him another few feet, repeating the process until that damned crevice was at least a few minutes from swallowing them.

With one hand on the lightsaber in her belt, Neri leaned forward over Kylo Ren's face. Pushing her fear back and trusting the push she felt from the Force, she felt his neck for a pulse and found one there, though it was not as strong as it should have been.

She sunk back onto her calves and pushed her hair out of her face. It was knotted and bloody, and she thought absentmindedly that she must have sustained a cut when she crashed onto the planet.

"I'm going to die," she whispered to the universe around her. "I'm going to die with this murderer." At least, she thought, she would not die with his blood on her hands. She would be free of that crime.

She looked down at his face, serene in his unconsciousness. He looked less a murdered and more a sleeping child, innocence marred only by the gash across his face. Pushing a clump of hair from his sticky forehead, Neri wondered why she had not left him to fall into the void that was creeping nearer to them. She would be guilty only on inaction then, of allowing a man to die a few moments earlier than intended by the universe.

All men deserve redemption, said the voice in her head, from another day's memory. She scoffed at the idea that he was redeemed by her not murdering him where he lay.

"Yes, but some are beyond it," she responded aloud. She felt tears beginning to sting her eyes and sighed unsteadily. Looking around her at the destruction that had been wrought, she let the tears flow. She wondered, not for the first time, why such things happened in the universe, why such fighting was necessary. Balance was impossible in such flawed creatures. She couldn't even find balance in herself.

"I'm going to die," she accepted. She settled into her spot and pulled off her belt, dropping it onto the ground. Her goggles, draped around her neck, followed suit, her fingers lingering on them in the snow.

My son, said the voice again, softer now.

Neri barked out a laugh sardonically. "Yes, Han, your son, dying here beside me. Ben Solo or Kylo Ren or whoever he is, dying here despite everything. Dying like any other man."

My son.

Neri wanted to scream and was prepared to when the man before her stirred. Without thinking, she leaned over his face, her loose hair tumbling over her shoulders and onto him.

Kylo Ren let out a long groan and opened his eyes, which were so dark as to nearly be black. He blinked several times, trying to take in his surroundings, and seemed to snap back to consciousness once he saw the young woman's face above his own.

Neri felt herself being pushed back into the snow, though no hands touched her. Kylo Ren's gloved hand was outstretched towards her, focusing his energy into getting her away from him. He seemed to register her flight suit and the now dry blood on her head, his eyes squinting suspiciously.

She pushed back against it, refusing to be bested when she was about to die, and felt his power waning. He gasped and sputtered as he tried to keep his hold on her but, finally, his hand fell to the ground and he made a desperate sort of keening sound. The sound shook Neri and she felt an involuntary pity for the man.

Cautiously, she leaned towards him again, holding her hair back with one shaking hand. His eyes were squeezed closed, the gash barely missing the right one.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said quietly, her soft voice barely audible over the cacophony around them. "I-I know who you are and I don't want to hurt you."

His eyes opened and caught hers, and she saw the suspicion in his face, knew that he had no reason to believe what she had said.

"We are about to die. I don't need to kill you," Neri whispered, her throat suddenly very sore. She felt tears coming to her eyes again and didn't care. She let them fall onto his chest with soft pitter-patters.

The ground lurched beneath them again and Neri felt it begin to crumble. She closed her eyes and steeled herself, ready to fall into the unknown.

Beside her, Kylo Ren was struggling to sit up, not ready to die. His eyes darted around him for an option, any option, and a wide smile spread across his face when he saw what was approaching.

The last thing Neri remembered was the sound of a blaster firing, and then the world disappeared.