Ghosts of the Dyad - A Reylo story

The Room

Rey woke a while later, laying on a white tiled floor, the chill of the tiles stinging her cheek. She could barely lift her head up. All she could see was white, blurry white. She blinked the moisture from her eyes and the haze of her vision started to clear and focus.

She was in a doorless box of white. White tiles on the floor, the ceiling, the walls. She shivered. The familiar but hazy stature of Kylo Ren was leant against one of the corners, his arms folded and his face expressionless, looking at her. He contrasted with the white of the room, standing out.

"Where..." she said weakly. She could only manage the one word.

Kylo wanted to go over to her, help her up and explain that he would keep her safe. He was so clueless but it was easier to stay cold, so he just stood there, looking at her.

"No idea." He whispered bluntly.

He always tried to stay calm with her. Everyone else, he would yell and roar like some untameable beast, but with her, he spoke as quietly as he could.

"Is this you?" She asked, her voice raising. "Have you done this?"

"This isn't me." He said in his same low, hushed tones.

Rey looked puzzled. Her head was thumping and she felt exhausted. She shuffled over to the same wall he was against and lay her head back against it, staring at the blank ceiling.

Kylo hurtled over to the adjacent wall, bashing against it with his palms with rage like some caged wild animal.

"Let me out of here!" He roared, making Rey flinch.

"I'm no more thrilled about being stuck in a box with you than you are with me but hitting the sides and screaming at it isn't going to get us out." She said softly, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "So would you please stop making so much noise, I have a headache!" She said louder with a tone of annoyance.

Kylo stopped looked at her. "I-I don't do well in tight spaces." He said starting to pace.

He walked over to the wall she was sat against, turned his back to it and slid down next to her sitting with his legs out straight, regulating his breathing.

"We need to think our way out of this." She said after a moment of silence.

Kylo felt trapped. He felt like the room was getting smaller and smaller. He knew that Rey could sense he was tortured, that she could sense his fear and pain, he knew she didn't need the force to know that he was hurting. It was like she understood him on a completely different level, like she related to him deeply.

She didn't know what to do in that moment. So she moved her hand and gently placed it on top of his, not quite holding it, just resting. He awkwardly looked over at her, reeling from her soft touch. She smiled at him comfortingly and said:

"It'll be alright. We'll find a way out of this."

Kylo looked down. Her touch radiated through him.

"I just feel trapped. Not just here, all the time." He said. "I keep having these thoughts and it's almost like they swallow me whole. I don't even know who I am anymore." He continued, his eyes becoming misty and slightly glazing over with tears.

He felt so vulnerable which is what he feared the most, just the thought of crying in front of her made his chest tighten up again. He couldn't even turn it into anger or coldness. He concentrated on Rey's warm palm on top of the back of his hand, gentle and radiant. His expression flickered.

"I know exactly what you're feeling. I feel trapped which makes me feel out of control, then things get dangerous." She said, her voice trembling. She knew he would understand. "So if we both feel trapped, we can be trapped together...I mean technically we already are but.." she said, trying to sound more comforting.

He looked at her, his face saying nothing but his eyes subtly saying "thank you."

Her fingers interlaced with his as she squeezed his hand. She felt him relax a little. He was so torn up and just from holding his hand, she felt his guilt, his trauma and his fear of vulnerability and she knew that's just what he needed - someone to say "you aren't alone," someone to hold his hand and she longed to be that person.

After more silence, he stood up, holding her hand back and helping her up.

"Feel all the sides of the room, see if there's a door or a portal...if there's a way in, there's a way out." He said. This was the first time Rey had ever heard an element of hope in his voice. So they felt the walls, the floor, even the ceiling. There was nothing. Rey looked down.

"We're never getting out of here are we?" Rey sighed. He saw the hope fade from her eyes, a look he'd never seen on her before. He felt something new wash over him, a feeling that he couldn't quite pinpoint but he knew one thing. That he couldn't bear to see her beaten. At that moment, Kylo did something he'd not done in a long, long time. He hesitated at first, leaning his body towards then away from her, unsure of what he was about to do, unsure whether she'd reject him. He could see she needed it, so reluctantly, he pulled her into a hug with his big, magnificent arms. Her head lay on his chest and he laid his chin on her head.

"We'll find a way - we always will." He said with a whisper.

It was just then, a golden light shone between them, blinding them both. They were cast apart, kylo's arms stretched out trying to reach out to her, then suddenly Rey was back in the desert and dropped to the floor, sand in her mouth and her insides still stinging from the smoke as she coughed and spluttered.

Ben woke up curled on his bathroom floor which seemed vaguely reminiscent of the room he had been trapped in. He was filled with a stinging sensation throughout his body. Weak, he got up and staggered to his bed, lying down and wondering if it was just a dream.