SAVIOR [Kylo Ren]

Eye Of The Storm

"Hux. Hux did this." The fire burned as bright as the colour of the General's hair. A question gnawed at Kylo yet he found himself at a crossroads. Was it too sensitive? Would she be bereaved? Either way, she deserved to know the truth, to see the truth. "Do you wanna see what he did to you?" Ree looked scared but then it turned to determination. 

"Show me." Kylo helped her out of bed and then they limped over to a full-length mirror opposite of the bed.

"Let me help you," Kylo offered. There were three ribbons on the back of Ree's robe so he undid the one at her neck and then on in the middle of her back, leaving the third one on the tailbone untouched. "Now, turn around," Ree followed suit so she had her back against the mirror. She cranked her neck to look at her exposed back through the mirror.

What she was horrifying. There were countless wounds that had been sewn up. Her back was ruined like someone had poured a million glass shards over it and walked upon it. A web of stitches. a gasp was all that left the blonde. Then followed the memories. A massive wave of trauma washed over her and she had to physically grab onto Kylo's shirt to not collapse. The memory of getting flogged 50 times was painful but nothing compared to the look on Tyaln's face. How frightened and malnourished he looked. Tears begun to trickle down her face. "Shh, it's okay," The mighty Ren assured as he embraced Commander Keelor, she burrowed her face in his shoulder, feeling some of his charcoal locks in her face.

"It's not okay," Ree mumbled into his shoulder.

"No, I-I know that it's not okay." Kylo mentally facepalmed himself. Of course, it wasn't okay, she had nearly been beaten to death, Kylo reminded himself. "Ree." Kylo grabbed her attention and she looked up at the man with wild brown eyes. "I'll kill Hux for what he did to you." Once again that fiery darkness appeared in his eyes.

"No, Kylo. You don't understand." Ree sighed. "It- It was my choice." As Ree explained Kylo's jaw drooped.

"What? Why would you let him do that to you?!" Kylo released himself from the embrace.

"Because..." Ree trailed off, not knowing where she would start, "you remember Tylan, right?"

"Yeah, that pupil of yours." Kylo calmed himself down a bit.

"Right. Well, I was walking past the stage and saw Hux accusing him of breaking into his private chambers, stealing food and then running away from stormtroopers. He was sentenced to 60 lashes. They were gonna whip a 12-year-old boy! 60 times! I couldn't just stand by and let it happen!" Ree paused, she could hear herself becoming riled up, "so I stepped in, I took the punishment instead of Tylan."

"Why would you do that for him?" Kylo furrowed his brows.

"He's like a little brother to me. I love him," Ree didn't understand why Kylo had to ask, "that's what you do for family," her statement was more of a question, "you know, right?" He turned his back to Ree, not wanting her to see the new tears in his eyes

"No, I don't!" Kylo gritted through his teeth.

"Kylo?" Ree placed a comforting hand on his shoulder but he just shrugged it off, "don't you have a family?"

"I have one. But I don't love them and they don't love me!" Kylo had resorted to yelling.

"Why?" Ree asked suddenly realising that maybe Kylo also was parentless. Ree had in some way assumed that no one else had could have lived through the same trauma that was her childhood. That no one else understood the pain of never knowing the warmth of a mother's smile or the comforting touch of a father's hug.

"I... I don't talk about it," Ree could hear some sadness in Kylo's voice.

"Maybe... I should tell you about my childhood." Ree suggested carefully, hoping that they could meet halfway. "As you know, I grew up in a factory on Corellia. All my memories from my childhood are about mechanics and machines. No friends, no other children. Just me and the adults working there. The factory owner told me that the only reason I was there was because his wife forced him to not throw away the baby he found on his doorstep one morning." Ree paused as she tried to swallow the lump of cries that formed in her throat, "that's all I know about my origins, my parents never tried to contact me, make sure that I was okay, they didn't even leave a note with my name! Ree Keelor the factory owner gave me."

"Why Ree?" Her story had piqued his interest,  making him turn around.

"He told me he took Ree out of reject since that's what I am. I wasn't good enough for my parents so they placed me at whatever doorstep they could find!" When Ree was done, tears streamed down her face.

"You're not a reject. You're everything to me," Kylo comforted as he wiped away tears from her cheek.

"You mean that?" Her cheeks heated up.

"Of course! And If you don't believe that then I've been doing a shitty job." it made the blonde chuckle between the tears. "Since you were so open about your past, maybe I should be too."

Kylo helped Ree move over to the bed again and they both sat down, facing each other. "My mother's name...is Leia Organa." Kylo paused waiting for a reaction since he just told her that the Master of the Knights of Ren's mother is the General of the guys they're fighting but all he got was a blank stare. "And my father is Han Solo." Immediately, Ree burst out in excitement.

"Are you kidding?! Is your dad the Han Solo?! He's a legend on Corellia!" Ree was practically jumping up and down in her seat, "is he really as amazing at flying as the legends say? Did he really make the Kessel run in 14 parsecs?!" Ree's question poured out of her, wanting to know everything about the famous Han Solo.

"12 parsecs," Kylo muttered under his breath, knowing that all too well since heard had heard that story approximately one million times. "Hate to break it to you, but Solo's not that amazing," Kylo grunted.

"No? Why?" Ree asked surprisingly, not being able to imagine that her idol was anything less than marvellous.

"Never home. Always being away on some races." Kylo muttered.

"At least you had parents!" Ree argued, trying to cheer him up.

"For a while. They sent me away too." 

"What? Where?"

"To my uncle. He was supposed to show me the ways of the Force. Instead, he betrayed me." His gaze was off in the distance, his eyes had become projectors for flashes of memories. He could still see his uncle towering above him, lightsaber ignited, ready to slash him in half.

"Betrayed you? How?" Ree grabbed Kylo's hand and made a soothing motion with her thumb.

"He tried to kill me, so I defended myself." Did Kylo kill his uncle, Ree wondered. Not wanting to further upset him, Ree didn't press the matter. "After that, Snoke took me in. He showed me the dark side of the force. He showed me how strong it is and-"

"Kylo," She cut him off, he was getting enraged, "you don't have to defend your choices. I understand what you did and I respect that." He seemed to calm down, his tense shoulders relaxed and his fiery eyes went back to those sorrowful ones.

"Thanks." He said and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Now, can we get out of here? I don't want to spend another minute in this acetone-smelling place." Ree pleaded and Kylo went to get the doctor. After some evaluation, the doctor deemed Ree healthy enough to go home. 

The rest of the day was spent in Kylo's quarters, they ate, Kylo read some files, Ree took apart the cleaning droid and then put the droid together again. They conversed and they were silent. They laughed, argued and went through all the other emotions in a matter of hours. Exactly what would happen when two individuals with strong personalities were together. A shitstorm of feelings and opinions but most of all, love.