into the darkness - kylo ren / ben solo

chapter seven - recovery

Luna had been in the hospital wing for about two months recovering. Cassie and Hux would visit her from time to time, but she was mostly in and out of consciousness. Kylo hadn't made a single appearance during her stay, which disappointed her. Maybe what he said that night was true. He didn't want her. Was she really that surprised though? He had made his hatred of her pretty obvious throughout their time together.

Her hand had been cut clean off, and so they gave her a robotic hand. Of course, it was taking her quite a bit to get used to it, but she should be good as new soon. Her fall had caused her to break her ribs in four different places, and Jaurus' body had landed on her in a way that tore her meniscus. It took a surgery and quite a bit of physical therapy to get her walking again, but she managed to do it.

One afternoon, her nurse came in to discharge her. She would be on light duty for about another week, but she was happy to be out of that chilly, uncomfortable hospital room. As Luna was about to leave, the nurse handed her a letter. On it, written in sloppy black ink, 'Meet me in my quarters.'

Luna recognized Kylo's handwriting. She had never been to his quarters before, so she had to ask a random stormtrooper to help guide her there. Once she got there, she stopped for a second. Did she really want to visit this man? He hadn't seemed to concerned about her the past two months, why did he want to see her now? Probably to speak to her about training.

She knocked on the door and it opened immediately. She walked in and stood there in awe as the door closed behind her. His room was huge, well decorated, and to top it all off, the ceiling was painted to look like the galaxy. It was so beautiful. She wondered why he was always grumpy if he had something like this to wake up to every morning.

Kylo didn't even acknowledge her presence at first. He was in the kitchen, filling a mug with freshly brewed coffee. He set it down on the table and beckoned for her to join him. He had set out a croissant with a side of jam for her. It wasn't much, but it was sweet of him to consider her like that. "Thank you," Luna mumbled softly.

He watched her for a moment. He looked different...he appeared to be a bit flushed and disheveled. His wound had healed into a scar, his hair was messy, and he seemed uncomfortable. Maybe he wasn't used to having company in his quarters. "How's your hand?" he said suddenly, and then sat back in his chair, looking at his coffee.

"Is that what you summoned me here for? To ask about my hand? You could've just visited me, you know," she replied. She just wanted him to put some effort. She wanted him to care for her. But maybe that was too much to ask.

"I couldn't," he said simply, frowning at the black liquid in his 'Galaxy's Best Commander' mug that Hux had gifted him for his birthday one year.

"Of course you couldn't," she frowned, growing frustrated.

He gripped his mug tightly, sighing. "I couldn't face you. Not after I failed you," he murmured, earning a surprised look from his apprentice. "I thought you were dead when you fell," he continued. "I put you in that position. I didn't protect you when I should have. I'm sorry."

The Kylo Ren...apologizing? Luna sat there for a minute in silence, trying to process everything. Had the incident with Jaurus really been eating Kylo up inside? Now she felt bad for thinking he was such an emotionless asshole. He seemed to have a hard time expressing his emotions.

"It's not your fault," Luna responded quietly, guilt washing over her. "You told me not to wander, and I did just that, out of spite. I'm sorry for not listening to you."

Her mentor nodded slowly, and then looked up from his cup. "Are you feeling up to a trip?" he inquired, studying her robotic hand with dark eyes.

Another trip? "But I thought they recovered my lightsaber," Luna replied with a confused tilt of her head.

"Not a work trip. I just need to get out of here. And I figured you could learn some new things about the galaxy," he said as he finished the last sip of his beverage. A sightseeing trip? She was all for that. Luna grinned for the first time in what felt like forever. "Okay, I'll make arrangements. Be ready in an hour."