Manipulation (Kylo x Reader)

Chapter 1 - Wandering Years

I felt my irritation grow. If this boy wanted his uncle's attention, he had two options. Ask for it, or work for it. I wanted to reach out and give him the confidence he clearly lacked—I could feel his power—but I was worried he would recognize it as Luke had. I decided to wait until I was seated at a table, and answered my peer's curious questions, before I tried to probe further. But something else happened before I could focus on the boy.

"She is the daughter of an Imperial Grand Admiral," Luke said. At that, I felt the brooding boy's energy shift. 

Commander Lilya and Grand Admiral Thrawn's kid?  My mother would be thrilled to hear of Lilya's survival. An almost audible scoff from his thoughts; he was annoyed.

I shuddered, the deep voice in my head alarming. Who was his mother? Uncle... I turned to Luke.

"My mother spoke highly of you and Leia," I said warmly. "My papa just finds the Jedi fascinating," I added with a light chuckle. The Jedi master smiled for the first time since I arrived.

"Your mother was..." he trailed off, and I gently probed his memories. He was remembering his first time meeting her. He'd been intimidated by her. I smiled. That's my mama. "An incredible woman. If she hadn't of taken on the great burden of finding the remaining Jedi, I'm not sure we would have won the war. Did she tell you that?"

I laughed out loud. "Sir, are you sure you met my mother? She's too humble to tell it quite like that. She gives all the glory to the Jedi, and my father." I chuckled again. "Though, that's pretty much how Papa tells the story." Papa loved to tell me stories of Mama.

"Was she a Jedi too?" a small Twi'lek girl, maybe nine, asked.

I shook my head.

"Then how is that possible?" a teen human asked. I could feel his skepticism.

Luke answered for me. "She brought the Jedi together. Though," he said, putting on a show of thinking of something. "After she killed half of the Empire's military leaders and destroyed the Death Star, without the Jedi," he said with a sly smirk in my direction. At this, I felt the curiosity of the brooding boy twitch.

I let them banter, as my thoughts drifted to him. I met his eyes. Gently, I wrapped warmth around him. Not much. Just enough to hopefully go unnoticed. When nothing in him shifted, I added a little more. He looked away, down at his plate.

She's too pretty to notice me. What? Oh no. Did I give him feelings of affection? That's never happened before. It wasn't my intent.

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When I felt Master Skywalker fall asleep later that night, I slipped outside. The scenery was beautiful. Tall, wild mountains in the distance, young forests nearby. I slowly walked through the ankle length grass, enjoying the feeling of the animals, the vegetation, the bugs, the whole biome down to the microscopic bacteria.

I went to my knees. I could feel the balance so wholly. The dark and the light, yin and yang.

An eight legged creature released a deceptive toxin, luring prey into his sticky web. He wasn't even hungry. He simply killed all he could get his fangs in. Dark. His most common prey, the stingfly, had a life span of one week and reproduced at an incredible speed. They infected small animals when they stung, killing them within hours. If the eight legged insect didn't constantly capture and kill the stingflies, balance would be disrupted. Small animal species would die out. Within years, the ecosystem would have shifted irrevocably. A new one would eventually begin to form, but not in my lifetime. Light.

I shifted my focus to the sentient species. Two force learners were awake, talking deep into the night. Friendship.

She's like a goddess. My eyes flew open at the thought invading my mind.