Bonded in the Silence: A Reylo Fanfiction

Chapter 22: Exhale

Before he could move, the female swam calmly towards him, and Ren staggered his stance as the waves of the water. Her eyes had turned predatory in appearance, and she lunged at him once she had got a footing on the bottom of chamber. He knocked her aside, but not before an incredible pain tore through his side, and he looked down to see a small blade sticking out of the side of his torso. Without thinking, he grabbed hold of the handle and pulled it out quickly. The Clawdite was panting hard, and produced another knife. She was quick and most likely lethal to her enemies.

Rey had already been under too long. Ren threw the knife back at her, guiding with an invisible force straight into her heart. The force pushed the end of the handle deep until it found its mark, and before her body could fall into the water, she too reverted to her true form. Her body floated past Ren toward the shore, leaving a trail of red in the dark water behind it.

Kylo strode forward urgently, the resistance of the water against each stride slowed him down; his eyes fixed on the area of water he saw Rey go down. The water finally got deep enough that his boots couldn't touch the ground, but that was close enough to the spot for him. He took a deep breath before diving under the black water.

The frigid water tickled his scalp as his whole body was submerged, an odd, heavy feeling when one wore anything but swimming costumes. Growing up on Chandrila, he had been graced with many years of swimming lessons, practising holding his breath for long periods at a time. He even beat Han once on a day at the beach.

His breaststroke was still powerful as his hands cut through the water and he opened his eyes, but there was nothing to see under the surface. Inwardly, he panicked as he groped around under the water, searching furiously for Rey's body in the abyss. The back of one hand knocked against something solid, and he wildly reached around underneath the water to find it again.

He finally was able to grasp her small arm, and worked his arms around her ribs before driving upward. Breaking the surface with a desperate gulp of air, he pulled Rey's torso up against him but her neck flopped backward limply. Fear flickered within him in response to her limpness.

Swimming on his back, he made it to the ground his boots could reach and used his footing to get up onto the shore. Once the water was only up to his waist, he cradled Rey's petite frame in his arms and lifted her up high against his chest. His thighs worked hard against the water as he struggled to quickly get onto the shore. He rushed to lay her down on the dry portion of the floor, her pale face turned to the side as he knelt beside her. Ren reached up to frantically rip the clasps to his cloak apart, releasing the lagging weight.

"Rey?" he controlled his voice as he shook her shoulder. "Rey, can you hear me?" urgently tapping her face with his gloved hand, but there was no response from her.

He grasped his forehead with both palms in overwhelming panic.

Think...think damn it!

He forced himself to breathe, and focused as the adrenaline ran its course through his body. He recalled the field training of the First Order included resuscitation protocols in very rare events, a review for him after being taught how to save a drowning victim on Chandrila.

Removing his gloves and tossing them onto the ground beside her, he hesitated before carefully and gingerly parting the v-neck of her robes in order to expose her chest more. The delicate fabric of a breastband was revealed, and he swallowed anxiously. He lined up his palm against the sternum between her small breasts and laid his other hand on top of it, interlacing the fingers together. Positioning himself with his shoulders over her, he proceeded to thrust down on her chest multiple times, and the sounds of ribs cracking caused shivers to travel up his spine.