Loving the Enemy: A Reylo WWII Story

Les Coups

Rey walked down the main street of the town, ration cards in hand. She hadn't seen Ren since she left that morning, both still a little embarrassed around each other after the morning affairs. She had completely avoided her mother in law, instead keeping mostly in her room, until she could sneak out of the house unseen. 

Today, she was determined to find fresh bread, regardless to how long it might take. She had already waited in line at 2 out of the 3 of the bakeries so far, only to be turned away due to the impending bread shortage. As Rey rounded the corner of the town square, on her way to the next bakery, she saw what appeared to be a scuttle in the street. Rey walked closer, curious to find out more. As she neared, she could see an old man being dragged by two German soldiers out into the center of the town square. The two german soldiers continued to slap and punch the old man. In slow motion, Rey saw the old man, reflexively reach for one of the German soldier's gun. As quick as lightning, Rey saw the two German soldiers deflect the older man's frail hand and in return grab their wooden bats. They began beating the man over the head. All common sense left Rey's mind as her veins ran cold. She couldn't let them hurt this old man. No! No! This can't be happening! No crime that he had committed was equivalent to death by bludgeoning. Rey dropped her ration cards and sprinted to the center of the square where the man now lay bloody and unconscious on the ground as the german soldiers continued to beat his body. 

"Arrêtez- Vous! Arrête! Please stop!" screamed Rey, as she ran and grabbed onto the arm of one of the German soldiers. The German soldier flung Rey to the ground as he continued to beat the man. "Arrêtez! Please NO!" sobbed Rey as she got back up and begged the soldiers, hanging onto their arms, trying to get them to drop their batons. Rey quickly glanced down at the old man; his head had many large gashes, his nose was clearly broken, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. Shit! One more blow could be fatal... Not thinking, Rey flung her body on top of his in an attempt to shield him from another blow. Rey closed her eyes, body tight with tension, as she awaited the oncoming blows. For a moment, all she heard was the sound of boots loudly crunching the gravel of the town square as the wearer of them ran towards her. She heard many more stomps follow that first pair. Rey opened her eyes just a peak, and only then, did she see Ren running towards her, the bats high above her coming down, and see the desperation in his eyes as he yelled for his soldiers to stop. His words didn't reach the ears of his soldiers fast enough though, and the bats fell, crashing into Rey's back making her cry out in pain. When Ren reached the soldiers, he quickly pushed them away from Rey, eager to keep them away from her. 

When Ren's soldiers quickly filled him in, alerting him of a villager that was being beaten in the town square by one of his men, Ren knew he needed to get there quickly. From what he was told on his jog to the town square, he knew that one of his soldiers saw the older man attempt to steal a loaf of bread from the German dining quarters and felt it was only fit to punish in the town square. Ren's soldiers had tendencies to be extreme and overly brutal, whereas Ren preferred fairness and strict rule following. This needed to be dealt with swiftly and fairly. So, he walked quickly to the town square trying to minimize the uncourtly damage to the old man as much as possible. However, just as he arrived to the entrance to the town square, he saw an all too familiar brunette fling herself over the old man's body. Ren saw the wooden bat raised, and his mind went blank. He sprinted shouting for his soldiers to stand down, yet it was too late. Helpless, he saw the bats rain down on sa chère. As he reached her, he pushed the soldiers back, trying to keep his rage in check in an attempt to not advertise his emotional attachment to Rey. 

"How dare you betray my orders! This man deserved a proper trial not a public death by bludgeoning! And you start beating an innocent woman! Both of you will report to my office at once!" Ren marched off, dragging the soldiers away with him, wishing with all his heart that he could hold Rey's broken body. Cradle her and wipe her tears. But he couldn't, not for the sake of the show. 

Rey had felt the bat come down. It was a pain she couldn't even describe. But an almost worse pain was seeing Ren walk away from her without even saying a word or giving her a glance of worry. As Ren's footsteps faded, Rey felt a pair of hands wrap around her waist, pulling her off of the old man. Rey leaned heavily on the person's frame trying to keep upright on her trembling legs. Only after a few seconds did she look up to see who was supporting her. Poe. Rose's husband. The man Finn had Rose cheat on for years. Without a second, Poe swung Rey into his arms and marched her out of the square, leading her down one of the smaller corridors in town. Rey soon lost all sense of direction; Poe turned right down a dark alley, then left, then left again, and then right; each alley darker with a smaller width than the last. Suddenly, Poe looked behind him before turning left one last time. At the end of the corridor, there was a small wooden door that Poe knocked on in an elaborate way. Only then did the door open and Poe put Rey back onto her wobbly feet.

"Poe. Where am I?" asked Rey, eyeing some of the townspeople in the small dark room that the door opened to. 

"Rey, it would be best to not ask too many questions. But, you're with the French Resistance"...