After the Fight [for jakkujedi]

[fulfillourdestiny]

It was instinct, to raise his hand. feel the smack of the weight of the lightsaber hitting the leather of his gloves and to ignite. The guard choking him dropped to the floor and Kylo had not looked round once. His gaze focused on Rey, and he pushed himself to his feet, staring over at her. His breathing was hard - from exertion or adernaline, who knew - but his gaze did not move.

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[jakkujedi]

It had been a brutal battle, but it appeared Ben had chosen a side. The light side. He'd killed Snoke instead of her and then they'd taken care of the rest of the guards. But she could only be amazed for a moment before she turned her attention to what was happening in space.

"Ben, the fleet!" She shouted. "Order them to stop firing, you can still save them." If he didn't, the rest of the Resistance would be lost.

[fulfillourdestiny]

He steps forward, and the sight of the throne, of the broken lower body catches him. For a moment, he cannot hear anything, cannot hear what Rey is calling him him, because all eh can do is stare at the throne, at the remains of the man who had been invading his mind since... since he could remember.

It's almost a slap when he realises that for once there is only himself in his head, and he stumbles backwards, breathing heavy again.

"I... what?" He shakes his head, looking over at Rey in confusion.

[jakkujedi]

Without hesitation, she walks over to him and pulls him closer to where she was standing, so he can see what's happening. So many ships have already been lost.

"Order them to stop firing, please Ben." She begged, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. He'd killed Snoke. He'd chosen a side.

[fulfillourdestiny]

He blinks again. It's a slow, sluggish movement, as if he's dragging his brain through a swamp to try to see up with their own thoughts. He reaches for the intercom system and his order is almost reflex.

"Stop wasting firepower trying to strike that fleet from air," he barked towards them. "You still won't get them all. Pull back and think of something else."

That... was probably not what Rey had meant. That planet was familiar to him though. He was sure he'd been there once with Lei... Once. When he was younger.

[jakkujedi]

That definitely wasn't what Rey had in mind, but it was a start. Hopefully enough of the fleet would make it to safety now, but they still had to figure out their next move.

"We have to think of something to help them." Rey said.

[fulfillourdestiny]

He kept glancing back to the throne, to the mess around them. Something to help...

"We need to get you out of here," he said suddenly. "Hux will be along any minute to find out why that order was given."

[jakkujedi]

"I'm not leaving." Rey insisted. "We have to find some way to help the Resistance, Ben." She pleaded with him. She didn't care if Hux came, she'd fight him too if she needed to. But she wasn't leaving Ben, not now.

[fulfillourdestiny]

"If you get arrested, that won't help them at all," he stressed, still looking in a bit of a daze. Without another mind invading his own... Had it always been so quiet? He needed to deal with Hux, he couldn't let Rey get caught up in that.

Then... he needed to work out where he stood

[jakkujedi]

"Well, where am I supposed to go?" Rey asked. She didn't want to leave him, not now. But she knew he had a point.

[fulfillourdestiny]

"I... don't know." He didn't, he didn't know what to do about anything. For the first time in as long as he could remember, his mind was free of outside influence, and yet he couldn't think of a single thing to do here. What... what would work best?

"They're expecting you?"

[jakkujedi]

"I don't want to leave you." Rey said, finally expressing what she was feeling. They didn't have a lot of time, she knew that. She just didn't want to leave him. She felt like if she did, she might never see him again.

[fulfillourdestiny]

"If they find you here, they will kill you." His voice was blunt, stating the facts and nothing else. It shouldn't need to be said that he didn't want her dead; he had killed Snoke in part because his... the man had ordered him to kill her. Even if their Bond was false, he knew that Rey had to be alive: to be his equal. To be... something.

"I need you alive," he frowned at the words coming out. "You... there's more to this story."

[jakkujedi]

"Promise me, Ben. Promise me if I leave right now I'll see you again." Rey pleaded with him. If he promised her, she could go. She trusted him. She just didn't want to leave.

[fulfillourdestiny]

Even though he had technically rescued the Resistance, saving their lives by calling off the fleet and lifting the rocks from the back entry to the cave, Kylo still found himself their prisoner. His moth... Leia had looked pensive, on seeing him standing there with Rey when they had made their way out. FN-2187 had looked shocked, scared, and murderous, and the rest of the Resistance seemed to match his expressions. He had always had an ability to step into people's minds. He hadn't needed to do it there to see how much he was unwanted.

He had been interrogated. He cooperated, within reason, and now he was bound in one of their cells. He pushed slightly at the cuffs that encased his wrists, trying to stop his hands from moving. They were tight, not much give. He leaned back, his own back touching the cold stone calls. They hadn't moved far from Crait; piled on to the Falcon and to the nearest place they could. Reinforcements had shown, finally, but it had been hours after the call went out.

His cell was miserable, depressing, but it was to be his home while he awaited his fate. Life or death... who knew what they would decided?

At least the food tended to be better than First Order prisoners were granted.

[jakkujedi]

Rey still believed Ben could be redeemed, be saved. And obviously, at least some small part of Leia felt the same way because he'd been spared. Spending time in a cell was better than the alternative, though maybe Ben wouldn't have agreed with that right now. Rey wasn't alright with just writing Ben off as a loss. They had a connection, and only they could truly know how the other felt. It hadn't been severed when Snoke was killed. She knew Ben was worth saving. She just hoped she'd be able to convince him of that too.

She approached his cell, and asked his guards for some privacy, not that they actually even had to be near one another to talk. Not with the connection. But she'd wanted to see him in person, not just in her mind. They'd been reluctant, but eventually they left them alone.

"Hello Ben, are they treating you well?" Rey asked, as she stood there outside his cell.

[fulfillourdestiny]

He felt Rey's approach before even saw her, and Kylo pushed into into a better seated position. Just because he was miserable in this place didn't mean she deserved to see any of that. She, at least, would get the best of him.

Even if her question did cause an eyebrow to raise as he lifted the cuffed hands.

[jakkujedi]

Rey nodded. She didn't think the cuffs were necessary, but she didn't know if she had the authority to have them removed either. At least she could offer him some comfort.

"Hopefully you won't be here too long."

[fulfillourdestiny]

The cuffs were necessary, at least to the point of view of the people in the Resistance who were worried about how easily Kylo Ren could turn on them and cut down their already limited numbers. So they took his lightsaber away, cuffed him with the heaviest set they could find, and locked him in the smallest cell they could with as many guards as they could manage.

Honestly, he could see himself being flattered by their fear.

"Just until they decide whether they want me dead or not," he commented flatly, lowering his hands and giving as much of a shrug as he could manage. A hand twisted, fingers twitching, but it was nothing more than just reflex. "...How are they treating you?"

[jakkujedi]

"They're not going to kill you. Leia won't let that happen." Rey said. And neither would she if she had any say. Which she didn't really, but she would still advocate on his behalf. She didn't like seeing him in the cell, but she knew it was necessary for now.

"I'll see what I can do about the cuffs and getting you some more space." It wasn't a promise but she would always do what she could for him. "Alright, this is still so new for me." She admitted. For so long she'd just been a scavenger on an obscure planet that was basically nowhere. Now she was a resistance fighter and a Jedi. It was a lot to handle for one girl.

[fulfillourdestiny]

Kylo couldn't help but give another look there, one that said he knew that what Leia personally thought on the matter wasn't really in consideration here. It would come down to what was best for the Resistance and if that meant he had to die, Leia would need to bow to that choice. He shifted in his seat.

"You're their new symbol," he commented dryly, a surprisingly serious look on his face as he looked up at her. "They'll keep you busy." Especially when it gets more known she's willingly visiting him.

[jakkujedi]

"I never asked to be a symbol for anything." Rey told him. She wasn't saying he was wrong but she didn't think of herself that way either. She just wanted to be Rey. Things were a lot simpler when she was just a scavenger on Jakku.

"I still don't know why I was chosen for...all this."

[fulfillourdestiny]

"No one ever does," was his simple retort. Leia didn't asked to become a symbol of the Rebellion back then, and yet it was part of her legacy, part of the life he had grown up hearing more stories about than anyone. He gave a small shrug.

"The Force picks who it likes."

[jakkujedi]

Rey still didn't know why it would be her of all people, but the universe was mysterious like that. Ben would have been a better choice, and maybe if things hadn't gone the way they did...he'd be the new hope for the rebellion. Maybe he still could be.

"Can I get you anything? Some food? Perhaps a blanket?"

[fulfillourdestiny]

Kylo was silent for a few more minutes, hands still twisting at random moments inside the cuffs. It could have appeared as though he was trying to get rid of them, but honestly, he was just trying to keep the blood flowing. If he sat with his hands still too long, they felt almost numb with the cuffs on.

"... What did you see? In the hut?" It's asked quietly.

[jakkujedi]

"You may want to be more specific." She'd seen him in the hut. Him and the things she thought would come. That was why she'd trusted that he would choose their side when it came down to it. And he had. But she didn't know for sure if that was what he was referring to.