The Wampa milk was tasteless, the cereal soggy. Ree kept her gaze fixed at the bowl of disgusting mush in front of her, not daring to look up at the man sitting in front of her. She played with the cereal, trying to make figures of it. Kylo focused on eating the porridge in front of him. The sound of the spoon hitting the bottom of the ceramic bowl filled the room, otherwise, it was a suffocating silence.
Ultimately, the tension became too much for Keelor. She rose up from her seat and went to the wardrobe and started putting on her uniform. She stood with her back facing the kitchen as she started removing her nightclothes. When she took off her tank top Kylo witnessed her scars. The Master of the Knights of Ren couldn't even count them, there was too many spread across her back, vertically, horizontally, diagonally. It was his fault for their existence, he thought. If he would have gotten there earlier, if he just would've stayed then he could've prevented it. It was just above 'making Ree afraid me' on the list of things he hated himself for.
After the Commander had put on her uniform, made up by a double-breasted blazer with a high neck and the First Order insignia on her arm. The blazer was accompanied by high waisted black pants and sturdy Chelsea boots. With lightsaber at her hip, she headed for the door. "Bye," Ree mumbled as she was about to press the button that would make the door open.
"No, wait." For the first time, Ren lifted his gaze from the bowl. He rose from his spot next to the kitchen table and walked over to Ree. Still wearing his nightclothes consisting of a black shirt and sweatpants. "You know I would never hurt you?"
"I know." Her eyes were fixed at the ground, "it's just that I've never seen you so..."
"So...?"
"So angry, no... So scared." Ree managed to look into his brown eyes, trying to register how he was feeling if calling him scared made him mad.
"I was. Still am." He looked at something in the distance.
"For what?" The blonde moved closer, wanting him to feel safe.
"The Girl." The Master of the Knights of Ren's voice quivered and goosebumps spread across his body.
"Why? I saw her, she's a nobody. Probably thought that helping the traitor would be her way out of that sandbox of a planet." Her words made him pinch the bridge of his nose.
"If she is who I think she is," Kylo gathered himself before continuing, "then she's dangerous." Ree laughed at Kylo's seriousness.
"What? She was fighting with a stick, I think we can manage her." How could a mere scavenger be dangerous to two of the most powerful people in the galaxy?
"I've seen her. In my Force visions." For the second time, Ree saw that look of terror in Kylo's eyes. She regretted having laughed, twice the look of fright in his eyes, not a good sign.
"What's a Force vision?"
"It's like a dream but it shows the past and the future. And I saw her."
"What did she do?" Keelor asked and swallowed a big lump, seeing Kylo this scared made her uneasy. The room had gone cold and strange, not familiar but instead like a trap.
"I was lying down on the ground and she was holding a lightsaber, pacing back and forth in front of me. Then I felt something warm running down my cheek and when I touched my face, I felt blood. The girl was still pacing and she looked at me..." Kylo trailed off, trying to hold back the tears. She placed her arms around her love, making circles with her thumb on his shoulder.
"It's okay, Ky. You don't have to keep it in when it's just us." She assured and Kylo nodded in response and let a few tears run down his cheeks. His eyes were now glossy and his rosy lips were quivering. Kylo took a deep breath so he could continue what he was saying.
"She looked at me... Like I was her prey." Ree looked shocked, that girl must be truly dangerous if it can make Kylo Ren physically shake with fear, Ree thought.
- - -
"General Organa?" Poe asked as he entered the control room. It was late in the night. Everyone was asleep except for the older General and the pilot who just got back.
"Poe?" The General asked as she turned away from the charts in front of her. She looked tired and worn out. "I was worried you might never come back." The General smiled half-heartedly, she may be his superior but after all this time she had developed an almost motherly love for the pilot.
"I'm here now, General. That's what matters." The pilot answered which was very typical of him, always living in the moment. Seeming to never be worried and always having hope, he reminded her of a special smuggler, it made the General smile.
"Do you have the map?" Organa asked.
"No. We were attacked by the Order but I managed to keep it out of their hands. BB-8 has it now." Poe explained.
"And where is BB-8?"
"I don't know. The First Order captured me-"
"What!?" The General interrupted Poe, "how did you escape?" She knew about their torture tactics and what her own son did to prisoners who didn't talk. It was brutal and painful and not everyone survived mind-probing, going mad in the process, Knowing Poe, she guessed that he hadn't said a word but that Kylo had forced it out of his brain.
"I had help, from one of their own. A stormtrooper." Dameron looked down, remembering his few moments with his savior who he would be forever in debt to.
"Where is he now?" She asked eagerly, that stormtrooper could have crucial inside information.
'He-he's dead," he stuttered, "we crash-landed and when I woke up neither he nor the ship was to be found." He couldn't cry over a man he barely knew but he still felt guilt. That the stormtrooper he had given the name Finn had rescued him and helped him escape his inevitable death and in the process, he had died. "There's something else I need to tell you, General."
"What, Commander?"
"I met her, Commander Keelor." Instantly the General was all ears, "I tried to shoot her but Ren saved her. She wanted to kill me right there but he stopped her. I think they listen to each other."
"What makes you think that?"
"The way they talked to each other. They listened and cared what the other said. They didn't talk to each other as if someone was more in charge, they were equals." The pilot explained and he could see in the general's eyes that she was beginning to understand what he was implying, it was a look of hope.
"I think it's time I talk to Miss Keelor."
- - -
The assembly room was darkly lit. Only one light cast down from the roof above Snoke's hologram. Where the light met the floor stood three high ranking officials, Hux, Keelor and Ren. The Supreme Leader was a stony grey, inhuman in a way. Even though he was old, wounded and fragile, he still managed to be the definition of power. "The droid will soon be delivered to the Resistance," The voice of the old man echoed in the hall, sending shivers up the blonde's back, "leading them to the last Jedi. If Skywalker returns, the new Jedi will rise."
"Supreme Leader, I take full responsibility for th-" The ginger on Ree's left was cut off.
"General!" Snoke boomed as he rose from his seat, "Our strategy must now change." It was clear on the wrinkles on Hux's face that he was irritated by the abruption.
"The weapon. It is ready. I believe the time has come to use it. We shall destroy the government that supports the Resistance, the Republic without their friends to protect them, the Resistance will be vulnerable and we will stop them before they reach Skywalker." The General explained. Kylo's masked face turned towards the General on his far left. The blonde next to Kylo didn't give the ginger even a glance. He knew why. Everyone in that room knew why. And the burning sensation Ree felt down her back every time she was in the same room as Hux only confirmed it.
"Go." Snoke was much calmer as he sunk down in his seat, "oversee preparations."
"Yes, Supreme Leader." Kylo thought that the General sounded a bit too excited, too proud. He watched Hux leave, exchanging dirty looks. The female between them didn't even flinch. Her gaze was fixed on the hologram in front of her.
The three Force-users of the First Order remained. "There's been an awakening. Have you felt it?" Snoke asked.
"Yes," Kylo answered for them both, Ree continued looking like the Commander she was, hands behind her back and a straight backbone. Her posture had never been as polished.
"There's something more. The droid we seek is aboard the Millennium Falcon." Ree put her gaze towards the floor, she had been personally responsible for losing the Millenium Falcon. "In the hands of your father, Han Solo." Snoke looked towards Kylo. Now the Commander had quickly turned her eyes towards her love, she tried to read the masked face. She knew of his complicated relationship with his father.
"He means nothing to me."
"Even you, Master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a test." It sounded as if their leader wanted to provoke Ren, get him to admit to something, Ree was quick to defend her lover.
"You have my full confidence that Ren will complete his mission. No matter the obstacle."
"By the grace of your training, Supreme Leader, I will not be seduced." Kylo quickly addressed, trying to be more humble than Ree had made him look.
"We shall see. We shall see..." Snoke hummed, clearly not convinced as his hologram disintegrated. The Master of the Knight of Ren and Commander Keelor looked at each other, even though one had their face covered, they shared uneasy glances.
- - -
The bridge of the Star Destroyer was about to explode from the silence. Everyone was waiting in suspense for the red beams to travel across the black space outside the window. Though they couldn't sit quiet, everyone still had to do their job, call orders in their headsets and press various buttons. The only two not doing any of that job were the two figures standing in front of the window.
The Master of the Knights of Ren wore his usual mid-coat and mask. Commander Keelor had put on her most formal uniform. It was very impractical, made of the unbreathable and not very moveable Gaberwool. Ree wore a black greatcoat that went all the way to her ankles. It had the First Order symbol on her forearm but no rank insignia around the wrist. The rank of Commander wasn't a part of the ranks, it couldn't be put higher or lower than Hux's rank but it still was a well-respected rank. Since her uniform was black and not grey or blue it showed that Ree was amongst the most high ranking but that was all the indication given of her rank. Other than the fact that she carried at her hip a lethal lightsaber. Under the heavy coat, she wore a simple high-neck button down in black, black suit pants and knee-high leather boots. "15 000 tractor beams. Half a million quintessence batteries. 8 million workers. Three trillion tons of steel. One weapon." The former Head Technician knew the Base like the back of her hand.
"A fierce machine that will bring an end to the Senate," Kylo answered as if he was talking to one of the captains. His voice was much darker and metallic than his normal one. Courtesy of the mask.
"You sound like Hux," Ree remarked, he only scoffed in answer. There was her Ky.
"You look like him." Now it was Ree's turn to scoff.
"I'll have you know that there wasn't really any other option. it's you who are underdressed." Ree straightened her back even though the heavy material of the coat was weighing her down.
"What is it to dress up for?" Ren asked nonchalantly, it was just to provoke his beloved, Ree knew that, but she still took the bait. She was the first to take her eyes off the window.
"It's a titanic feat of engineering" is was the work of her life, a project she had dedicated the last eight years of her life. And when Kylo first questioned it and then cut her off while she was defending it, had made Ree nearly slap her love.
"Thanks to you." His voice was soft, this was not what she had expected would come out of Ky's mouth, what would have been more probable, would have been another snarky comment instead of the validation.
"Thanks to me." Ree's words weren't louder than a whisper. She felt a small blush creep up on her face as she turned her gaze back towards the empty pit of space. He was proud of her and she was proud of herself.
"Ree," Ky had lowered his voice so that only the gorgeous blonde on his right could hear, "you're the smartest," his breathing became heavier and he took a step closer so that their shoulders brushed against each other, "strongest," suddenly, the most delicate gloved hand had made its way into Ree's coat. She could feel her breath quicken and the gloved hand made its way under the shirt, "most beautiful," they were in a room full of Captians and Liuetanants but still, the hand trailed down, "woman in the whole galaxy." Ky purred and now Ree realized how hard she was biting her lip.
"Look!" The voice of Lieutenant made the gloved hand slip away as delicate as it had entered. A crimson colour on Commander Keelor's cheeks had appeared as she fixed her gaze on the window in front of her. The man on the left wasn't as eager to look out, he lingered his gaze on the blonde, admiring how gorgeous his lover looked when she was embarrassed.
It started as one red beam in their peripheral vision. As the bright red beam made its way across the pitch-black sea, it spread, into several beams. every beam was heading for its own destination. The red light flared in the steel of Kylo's mask. If Ree wasn't blinded by the pure light of it, she was truly blinded by its glory. In a matter of seconds had it made its way from one side of the wide window to the other. It was magnificent.