A Lesson to Learn

Chapter 21

Rey felt a tugging at her heartstrings as Kylo continued to kneel before her, nuzzling his face into her stomach, pressing kisses between lingering cries. She felt her eyes well with tears again at seeing him so distraught, not having truly realized the extent of his love and adoration for her, reaffirming Rey's choice to choose Kylo despite the crazy truth that had been revealed to her.

With a love this strong, the devil quite literally brought to his knees in front of her, Rey was sure that they would be able to get through this unusual hiccup in their relationship - no matter how unique their particular situation was.

"How did you know, Kylo? How did you get here so fast?" Rey finally managed to ask, too consumed in consoling the mess of a man before her to have spoken anything substantial before now.

Kylo pulled her closer in response, trying to calm his emotions, feeling overwhelmed with the depth of his feelings for the woman before him who had miraculously decided he was still worth having in her life. For someone who wasn't used to experiencing such a wealth of emotions across his immortal lifespan, he sure was getting his fill of them now. Any other time, this would have definitely made him embarrassed, maybe even laugh - but the pain of having almost lost Rey was much too real to care about such little concerns.

After some time, Kylo finally found his voice, "I-I felt the pull... I thought I'd never feel it again but I did-so I came as fast as I could. I felt when you opened up the bond and I had to come. I had to see. Wanted to- no, I had to know. If you felt the same way. If you need me like I need you."

Rey swallowed against the dryness overtaking her throat, hard lump forming at listening to Kylo, feeling guilty for having taken the time for herself to decide whether this was something she wanted to commit to- to believe.

Rey shook her head of these notions, fingers still running through Kylo's wavy hair, knowing that any other decision would have been wrong - that she truly needed to know this was something she wanted before calling Kylo back, to give her the clarity of mind to truly hear him out. After having been separated, Rey was finally ready to accept Kylo, all of him - whatever that meant.

"Kylo, I... I've always loved you, needed you. I never lied about feeling that way about you. You just... you have to understand how crazy it is to hear what you've told me, to know that you might not even be- that you aren't human," Rey whispered, moving her hands from Kylo's hair down to cup his face, laying his chin on her stomach as she looked down into his watery eyes.

"I was hoping you would pick up on the ring... that you would come to me. I missed you, Kylo," she admitted, stroking back his hair to gaze at him, to show him she was being honest and truthful.

"Of course I came back, Little One," Kylo murmured back, getting up from his knees and rising to his full height. He pulled her close and leaned back to look down at her, holding Rey's face in his hands, tilting her chin up to meet his eyes. "I want to give you everything - anything. Whatever you need and want. Whatever will make you feel safe and comfortable and let me back into your life."

"I just need the truth. The whole truth. Everything. No more lies, Kylo. I can accept this, I think, if you're completely honest... about who you are, where you come from, how you ended up here, and everything concerning our relationship. I just need to know. I don't want anymore hiding - even if it's complicated or hurtful or sounds insane."

Kylo could only nod in response, bringing his forehead down to touch hers as he smiled softly at the love of his life. "I'll tell you everything. I promise. No more lies and no more hiding, sweetheart. I want this and I want you, and I'm going to prove it to you, Rey."

Rey smiled back, feeling in her heart and her soul that this was right. Maybe the way they came together may have been fabricated, but she had picked that ring out for a reason that day - maybe they were meant to have found each other.