Kylo's Story, Part 11 - Jealous

A bloodcurdling scream rips me from my dreamless sleep.

I jump out of bed, throwing the blankets aside. The sheets tangle at my feet and I fall to the hard ground. I kick at them, cursing under my breath. Finally I've got my footing and I run. There are no more screams, which worries me more than if Rey were still screaming. I run down the sleeping chambers hall, where I ended up getting moved out of Rey's room to a new room, farthest at the end. My mom's idea. Finn's room is in a different hall altogether. My idea.

I round the corner so fast that my hand touches the marble floor, but my bare feet stick well enough to keep me from sliding.

I burst into Rey's room, almost ripping the entrance curtain off its rod. I see Finn holding Rey as she cries and suddenly my chest feels like I smacked into a stone wall. He glances up, sees me, then pulls away from Rey. She looks up too. I hadn't even thought about the fact that I'm shirtless, but with Rey's eyes on me I feel practically naked.

I need to leave. Finn's here for her... I turn. Wait, how did he even get here before me? Was he already here with her? A sinking feeling settles into the pit of my stomach.

"Kylo!" Rey stretches her hands out to me. I hesitate only for a second then rush over to her. She throws her arms around me and hugs me so tight that it almost hurts.

"I had a nightmare that you tried to kill yourself and jumped over the side of a cliff into the ocean," she gasps for a breath then continues. "And BB-8 was destroyed," her voice catches and she squeezes me tighter. "And... I... killed Poe."

Suddenly she lets me go, her eyes wide. "Where's Poe?" She looks to Finn, who is now standing off to the side. He looks away. I swallow hard. BB-8 rolls back and forth slowly, her gears the only sound in the drafty room. Our silence seems to answer Rey's question and she breaks down into sobs, covering her face with her hands. My heart races. I want her pain to stop.

The voice in my head startles me but I recognize it immediately. Mom is at the entrance, in her night clothes, looking concerned. Seeing her this way takes me back to my childhood. Somehow I'd forgotten she is Force sensitive like me, since she never uses her Force strength. I never understood why though.

"Is she alright?" Mom asks Finn, who's closest to her. He nods. She looks back to me. "Come on Ben, let's leave her be." She waves her hand to us and I get up. Rey grabs my arm to stop me, looking up at me with big teary eyes.

"Come on Finn," my mom says softly. "You too BB-8." Then the three of them leave through the curtain. I stare after them for a moment, thinking about Mom. My force sensitivity came from her side of the family. Dad was never Force sensitive. And yet mom never trained to be a Jedi.

Rey lets go of my arm. "You don't have to stay," she says.

I sit back down on the bed. "I want to." 

Her small frame trembles slightly. "It was so real. I was flying over the oceans. I was the eagle, the great eagle that watches over Ahch-To. And I saw your ship, on an island far away from the other islands. Then I flew down closer and saw you on the edge of a cliff. I tried to call out to you but I could only cry like an eagle and you wouldn't listen. Then you stepped over the edge and jumped." She lowers her head and I put my arms around her, pulling her into my lap. She curls up close, resting her warm cheek on my bare chest. Her night gown slides off of her bare legs as she tucks her knees up to nestle into my arms. Her bare feet look so tiny it stirs my heart for some reason.

"You saved me," I whisper, running my hand over her hair to comfort her. My heart aches from all the exertion its been getting. Rey sets a warm palm on my chest. "I watched you drown..." her hand clenches into a fist and she buries her face in my neck.

"No, you flew me to the temple." I clasp her small shoulders, gently moving her back. "See the scars..."

She gasps, likely noticing the talon marks for the first time. Her eyes shine and her cheeks are flushed. She's never been more beautiful. She reaches out and gently caresses the scar on my left shoulder. "I remember," she whispers. "I remember flying... you were so heavy."

I grin and she gives me a shy smile, then frowns again. "I dropped you off at the entrance to the tombs, so you'd know where I was. I thought you were in despair, over me. I wanted you to know I wasn't dead."

I pull her close again and she flinches. "Ouch."

I let go and she looks embarrassed. "My back..." she trails off.

"You hurt your back?"

She shakes her head, re-positioning herself on my lap and looking away. "It's nothing."

She sighs. "My skin got a bit of frost bite from the stone coffin, being on my back for so long. The medic gave me some medicated lotion to help it heal but I couldn't reach my back to put it on." She turns slightly as though showing me. I reach up and slide the top of her night gown aside so I can look. The skin on her back is red and looks dry and cracked. I frown.

"I didn't know who to ask, to help me put the lotion on."

I cringe. I shouldn't have said that, or thought that. Rey's cheeks flush even more and she gives me an angry glare. She climbs out of my lap and stands up.

"I'm sorry." I put my hands in the air, palms forward as though surrendering. I really am sorry. It was a stupid thing to say.

"Finn is just a friend," she says heatedly.

"I know." I tell her, but my mind says,

"What?" Rey hisses.

I lower my hands back down. I seem to have a lot less control of my thoughts directed at Rey, than my words. But lately sending her a communication using the Force seems to be as simple as having a thought, and I almost don't notice that I'm doing it half the time.

"He did spend the night here. He was apparently guarding my room from outside in the hall, which I was unaware of until he came running in when I screamed." She places her hands on her hips. "And I don't see why I need to explain myself to you Kylo Ren."

My shoulders slump. "You don't have to." I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants. The room is chilly and Rey's bare feet are on the cold marble floor. I get up off the bed. "Come, sit down, please."

She crosses her arms and smiles slightly. "You're jealous."

I frown, then walk to the entrance, but stop before leaving. "Rey?"

"Yes?"

"Call me Ben."

She nods. I move the curtain aside.

"Ben...?" 

I freeze. The sound of my name on her lips sends a rush through me.

"Yes?" I look back at her.

"Will you please help me put the lotion on my back?" She looks down at the ground, her face flushing even more than before. 

I let the curtain fall back down, swallowing hard. "Of course."

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