Reylo: These Violent Delights

Chapter 48: Fuck the Greater Good

Rey's eyes flew open as Kylo's voice rang in her ears.

With a surprised yelp tumbling through her lips, she shot up in bed and almost fucking died when she saw him standing across the room, casually leaning against the wall. The Supreme Leader. Here, in the bunker of his enemy's base, with the rest of the Resistance right outside her door.

She just stared at him, her mouth stupidly hanging open. She blinked once, twice, then multiple times, expecting his figure to disappear with the effort. But he didn't budge. If anything, his presence solidified before her when he smirked, his eyes gleaming wickedly as he returned her gaze.

"Please," Kylo mused, gesturing toward the bed. "Don't stop on my account."

"This isn't real," Rey whispered, unable to take her eyes off him. "This...this can't be real."

"Actually, it is," he said, pushing himself off the wall. He sauntered toward her, and she bolted out of bed, instinctively grabbing the first weapon she could find. She spun around and pointed Zeven's knife at him.

Kylo stopped in his tracks, hurt flashing across his face. "After all this time, you still think I would hurt you?"

"Yes. No. I don't know," she rambled, mind racing. She vehemently shook her head. "This...this isn't really you. This can't be you."

Kylo held up his hands and started to approach her again. "Rey—"

"Stay back!" she panicked, thrusting a shaking hand in his direction.

He stopped, assessing her with those dark eyes as he pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. He spoke to her calmly, his low voice sending shivers down her spine. "Rey, put the knife down. I am only here to talk to you."

"How? How are you here?" she asked, trembling as she kept the blade raised. "Did you track me from my dreamscape? Is the Order here, too? Did you already kill the others?"

"No, Kitten," Kylo said softly so as to not frighten her. "I'm not actually on your planet. Neither is the Order."

"Then...are you on Exegol? Is that how we are connected?"

"That's not it, either. This is a direct bond. This..." he trailed off, looking around the room as though he was now questioning how he was here. "This is something else."

"Well, what is it?" Rey asked, voice quavering. "What's going on?"

"There's a Force signature here. A strong one. That must be how I'm here in your physical space," Kylo muttered, more so to himself as he peered around the room. "I'm...I'm drawn to it. Unbelievably so."

She blinked, her hand faltering around the knife and dropping just a bit. "You mean, your mom's Force signature?"

"No. Not my mom's. It's something dark, something—" Abruptly stopping, Kylo pointed to her right. "It's that."

Head swimming with confusion, Rey turned to follow where he was motioning, brows knitting when she saw the only possible thing he could be talking about—the pendant Leia gave her. She looked at him, her tense posture loosening as her hand collapsed by her side. "My necklace?"

Kylo's entire body looked rigid, unmovable. "Yes. That's the crystal Luke tried to give me on Batuu," he said with a smothered temper, trying to hide his anger from her. But even with his efforts, she could tell that he was livid. "Which means I was right."

"About it having a Force thing attached to it, to mess with you or track you, or something like that? The thing they put in my head last time...?"

Unable to tear his eyes away from it, all Kylo did was give Rey a terse nod. Shifting her gaze between him and the necklace, she walked to the bedside table. She set down the knife—cheeks reddening at her overreaction—and scooped up the pendant. The moment it hit her palm, she pulled in a sharp breath, her hand flying to her temple as her head began to pound. "Fuck."

Over the high-pitched whine in her ears, Rey heard Kylo demanding that she set it down. But she couldn't. Her mind felt like it was being torn apart, but all she could do was look at it, this thing that felt like it was a part of her now. Thump, thump, thump, her beating heart crashed against her sternum as the whine jumbled with low, muddled static in her eardrums, possessing her from the inside out, making her gasp for air and—

The pendant flew from Rey's hand, crashing on the floor across from her and releasing her from its hold. "Stars," she panted, stumbling forward to grip the table. "What was that?"

"Something far more dangerous than a beacon," she heard him mutter lividly. Swinging her heavy head toward him, she watched him transform into the Supreme Leader right before her eyes, pacing as he sprouted calculations about this unexpected revelation as though she wasn't even there. "But a Force-destabilizer? No, no, it couldn't be. That wouldn't impact Rey. It would have to be something else malicious, something he forged from the power on Exegol."

"Um, Kylo? What's happening?"

He tightly turned to her, fuming. "Did Luke give that to you? Hm?" He tossed an acrid glance at the door. "Is he here?"

Rey flinched back, offended. "What? No. He's not."

"Don't lie to me, Kitten," he warned, glaring at her with his chin tipped down, the prominent ridge of his brow intensifying his dark gaze. "I will know if you're lying. I will know if—"

"Kylo, stop," she pleaded with a burst of footsteps toward him, putting her hands up in the slow-down motion. "I would never take anything from him, not after what he did to you. I only have it because Organa reminded me that it was mine when I was a kid, and before that, my mother's. Skywalker didn't give it to me—he isn't even here. I am telling the truth."

"But my mother is working with Skywalker, Rey," he stressed, using his hands to speak. "Even if she gave it to you, it still came from him. They did something to it. It's full of powerful, dark energy designed to torment me. It's dangerous. You can't keep it. You have to—"

"I will give it back to her," Rey interrupted, trying to get ahead of his panicked down spiral. "I will destroy it if I can. I promise."

As he stared at her face, reading her authenticity, his expression softened minutely before training his eyes down her body, taking her in with a potent intensity. In the silence, she did the same, trying not to pay too close attention to his bare chest, littered with scars, or the way his sweatpants hung lowly along his waistline. Instead, she focused on his face. He looked exhausted, his cheekbones gaunt and void of color, while the dark bags encircling his eye sockets looked like bruises.

Bloodshot eyes snapped to hers. "Comfortable?"

She jolted back at the sudden coldness in his voice. "What?"

"That shirt," he seethed, stepping closer to her. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "Does Drox know that you're pleasuring yourself to me while you sleep in his shirt?"

Rey stepped back, her brows pulling together. "Uh..."


"Does he even know what happened between us, hm? Or did you jump right back into his arms and pretend like we never met?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Don't play clueless," he warned, closing the space between them to tower over her, his fists balling by his sides. "There was someone next to you last night after you woke up, and now you're wearing a man's shirt. I know what's going on. I'm not fucking stupid."

Rey couldn't help it—she laughed in his face. "You think I fucked Drox?"

Glaring at her from the tip of his nose, his chest rose and fell with a swift, powerful effort. "Well?"

"I have no idea whose shirt this is. Stop being so dramatic," she said with an eye roll, looking down to tug on her oversized shirt. "I was given a bag of clothes when I got here. Everyone contributed."

"And last night?"

"Zeven," Rey said firmly, looking back up at him. "Look, I punched Drox in the face this morning. So I think it's safe to say I didn't sleep with him."

Kylo's eye twitched. "You punched him...in the face?

"Yes. I broke his nose." Rey shrugged one shoulder. "Blood was everywhere."

"Why?"

"He touched me," she said, wrapping her arms around her chest. "And said some not-very-nice-things."

Kylo became eerily still. "He touched you."

"Yes."

"Where did he touch you?"

She cocked her head to the side. "That vein on your forehead...looks like it's gonna burst."

"Where did he touch you?"

"Just my hair, for star's sake," she mumbled, giving him a dismissive flick of her hand as she turned to the bed. "It's fine. I handled it. He won't bother me again." Rey plopped down and eyed Kylo as he stayed in the center of her room. Other than letting out a deep sigh to release some of the tension in his shoulders, he remained unmoving as he watched her with a look that made butterflies swarm in her stomach. She wet her lips, having a hard time holding his gaze. "Kylo..."

He took a step closer to the bed. "Rey?"

"I'm not going to pretend that I understand how you're here," she muttered, gesturing toward the crystal pendant on the floor. "But why are you here? What do you want from me?"

"I want to apologize."

Her mouth popped open. "What?"

"I want to apologize to you for all the things I have done. For hurting you. For diminishing your light."

"For diminishing my light?"

He nodded once, and Rey watched his face closely. He seemed authentic, and even though Kylo had been a giant pain in her ass since meeting him, he had never lied to her. She cleared her throat. "Thank you."

Outstretching his hand, he approached the bed. "Will you come back now?"

She jerked her head back. "I...it hasn't even been two weeks, Kylo. I need time. We need time...apart."

"No. We don't." As he loomed over the bed, he extended his hand farther, his bottom lip quivering as he pleaded with her. "I love you. You love me. I feel it. There is no reason to be apart. Take my hand, Rey. Just take it."

"Kylo..." She swallowed the lump in her throat, looking up at him as tears threatened to fall. "It's not that easy. It's—"

"No, no! You're still holding on! Let go!" he flared, swinging his hand with taut, precise movements for emphasis. "What else do you want from me? What else do I need to do to get you home? Tell me!"

Something inside of Rey snapped. She sprang off the bed and stood before him, planting her palms on his chest to shove him. "You wanna know what I want, Kylo? Huh?" She pushed him again, and he stumbled back, his mouth opening in surprise. "I want to go back to that night at Groman's Cantina and I want all of this to have never happened! So that I would see you here, in a Resistance bunker, and not hesitate to shove my blade through your kriffing heart!" she yelled, pushing him again, so his back collided with the wall behind him. "But nooo, instead, just fucking looking at you breaks my heart! It hurts me, Kylo. You hurt me. Because you're bad for me. You are a monster. But I can't help but love you! And I—"

Firm hands grabbed her face, full lips clashed with hers. Rey's pulse quickened, her mind racing as he held her mouth to his. He had kissed her hundreds of times, but this felt different. Desperate, starved, primal, and deep down, she knew she shouldn't kiss him back. That her physical needs would cloud her judgment. But his lips were soft and warm, and he was cradling her face with an agonizing tenderness, and all she wanted right now, at this moment, was to get lost in his kiss. In his touch and body and the way he was pressing against her and making her feel something other than sadness. She melted against him and kissed him back.

Kylo acted quickly. Traveling his hands down Rey's body, he stopped at her hips and bent down to hoist her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to him as he carried her across the room. He didn't break the kiss as he laid her back on the mattress. Hot, wet, passionate—the kiss consumed her, stoking the residual embers in her lower belly from earlier. She swung her hands around his neck and intertwined her fingers in his hair, twirling and tugging and playing with his locks as he groaned against her lips. She didn't dare pull away to speak, but she yelled at him from inside her mind to hurry.

Quickly pivoting to the side so that he was propped up on one elbow beside her, Kylo grabbed Rey's shirt and pulled it up. The second he got it off, he buried his face in her neck and placed sloppy kisses along her skin, alternating with sucking and biting as his free hand traveled along her breasts. He palmed them one at a time, massaging them before rough fingertips found her nipples and squeezed, eliciting the deep moan that spilled from her lips.

Kylo pulled away from her neck and tackled her mouth again. His lips feasted on hers like he was a starving man, unable to satiate himself with just a taste. Red hot passion coursed through her veins as his hand slid down her stomach and hovered above her sex. When she moaned, bucking into his hand, he finally broke the kiss, panting. "Open your legs for me."

She eagerly obliged, purring as he massaged her everywhere but where she needed it most. He teased the length of her slit with his index finger, grunting as he looked down the breadth of her body to watch what he was doing. She kept trying to lift her hips up to make him apply more pressure, but Kylo only let the tip of his finger in.

"Kylo, please," Rey whined, grabbing a fistful of his hair to pull on it.

With a grunt, Kylo sunk two fingers inside. She gasped as she arched her back, her hips rocking to the rhythm he set, already relentlessly pounding into her knuckles deep. His gaze remained fixated on his hand stuffed between her legs, working her with wet plunges. "Fuck. You're so wet for me."

"Yes, yes, yes," Rey whined, thrashing her head back and forth.

"Were you thinking about me as you played with this little pussy?" he rasped, pulling out to rub her clit. "Huh? Tell me what you were thinking about."

"I, I—" she tried to speak but couldn't. Kylo had her this close to coming already. She could only manage to lift her head and look down, watching the muscles ripple beneath his skin, ribbed with veins, as he stroked her clit with firm, precise circles. She cried out, swiping a leg out farther so that she was spread open for him as much as possible. Her breathing escalated, her lower body tensed. Her limbs began to twitch, and her hand shot out to grip Kylo's forearm, her nails digging into him as she whimpered and mewled.

Kylo leaned in to whisper in her ear, his fingers caressing against her wetness. "That's it, Rey. Show me how you come for Daddy."

Her whole body went rigid. Her nipples hardened, the curve of her spine deepened, and for a moment, the only sound in the room was Kylo's guttural growl in her ear. So low and raspy and sinister, it set Rey over the edge, making her come so hard the lights dimmed in her room as she yelled. A small voice in the back of her head cautioned her for being too loud, but she was too enraptured by his touch to give a fuck.

The next few moments were just a blur. As soon as she went limp against him, he climbed on top of her and situated himself between her legs. She looked down to see Kylo tug down his pants and boxers to spring his cock free. With a hand curled around the top of her thigh, he pulled her closer, palmed his length, and sunk it into her pussy. She cried out in pain, in pleasure, and he grunted, pausing for the briefest of seconds before thrusting in and out at a pulverizing pace.

"Gods, I fucking missed this cunt," he breathed in her ear. "I've missed you."

I've missed you too, Rey thought, but when she tried to say it aloud, she sounded like she was being murdered...but enjoying it? Moaning wildly, she threaded her fingers in his hair and tugged on his scalp, directing his face to hers. Her lips locked with his as he dove into her harder to stuff her full of his cock, and time became incongruent. Kylo was ravaging her like a beast, their bodies slamming together with a loud clap as they blended together, blurring the line where hers ended, and his began. When that familiar feeling started to build in her core, she had to break the kiss for air.

Kylo kept his face next to hers, clasped her hands in his, and pinned them above her head. He slowed his pace, sliding in and out of her with steady, slick thrusts. "You take this cock so well," he cooed, "isn't that right, my little scavenger slut?"

"Yes, Daddy," she moaned, arching up so her breasts smashed against his chest. Her wrists twitched in his grasp, and through her hazy gaze, she saw a wildness flash in his eyes.

Jaw tense, Kylo repositioned to secure her wrists with one hand, the other flying to her throat. Squeezing into her flesh, he held her still and peered right into her soul, increasing the voracity of his thrusts. His icy-cold tone flooded her skin with goosebumps. "When I tell you to, you're going to come again. Show me you understand, Kitten."

Rey nodded, unable to speak. All she could do was gasp for air as Kylo reamed into her. Her eyes closed, and her mouth hung open in a silent scream. She clenched around him as his cock seemed to grow firmer inside her, squeezing into her tight pussy and stretching her open. His hand remained unyielding around her throat, giving her just enough oxygen as the other abandoned her wrist to grab a fistful of her hair.

Kylo's lips fluttered together as he grunted, burying his face next to her ear. "Come for me."

The first wave of Rey's orgasm hit her hard, spasming as the Force surrounded her clit, sucking and twirling while Kylo pounded her. Legs shaking, nails digging into his back, she clenched around him and cried out, coming on his cock even harder than the first time. Moments later, she felt him spill his cum inside her, twitching and throbbing as her walls still contracted around him.

"Fuck, Rey," Kylo hissed, dick pulsing as he heaved forward, giving her every last drop. With a deep sigh, he let go of her throat and slowly pulled out, sending a rush of warmth spilling out of her cunt and onto the sheets. Sweat beading on his forehead, he rolled off her and pulled her to his chest.

Rey leaned into him, her cheek resting on his rib cage as she traced her finger tenderly over one of his scars. Kylo lazily draped his arm around the smallest part of her waist, his heaving chest rocking her head up and down with each breath. As her post-orgasm daze brought on a wave of weightless bliss, every inch of her body hummed with pleasure, with contentment, and based on the energy emanating from Kylo, she knew he felt the same. But she knew that the glow would eventually subside, leaving nothing but the ugliness of the truth. She slammed her eyes shut, desperate to keep the feelings out just for a few more minutes, but her efforts proved futile.

Kylo's arm tightened around her waist. "What is it?"

"I want this," Rey whispered, fighting back tears. "I want you."

"Come back. Tell me where you are."

She steadied her breathing. "If I come back, will I be free?"

"Yes," he said without hesitation. He cleared his throat. "Yes."

Rey shakily pushed herself off his chest. Grabbing the sheet, she pulled it up to cover her naked body, peering down at him with tears in her eyes. "Completely, entirely, I can do whatever-the-hell-I-want free? "

Kylo's throat rippled as he swallowed. "Yes. We can...try that."

"What do you mean by try? Does that mean at any moment you could change your mind and lock me up again?"

"We don't have much time; the Force-bond is weakening. I feel it," he said urgently, sitting up to grab her arms. "Meet me on Coruscant at your happy place. Leave now. I will be there waiting for you, by the lake. We can talk—just us. Please."

Rey searched his face. A part of her wanted nothing more than to just jump back in his arms and stay there for the rest of her life. But her gut was telling her that Kylo just wanted to feed her what she wanted to hear, and she'd never forgive herself if she fell for it and ended up a prisoner of war again.

She leaned into him, choosing her words very carefully. "Kylo, please, listen to me. I do want this. More than anything, I just want things to be normal. With you, me, and Ani, but—"

Kylo jolted back, genuine surprise touching his features. "They didn't tell you."

She stiffly tipped her head to the side. "Tell me what?"

"Rey..." he started, her name sounding heavy as it fell from his mouth, "Ani is gone. Along with the Finalizer, and Hux, and everyone else that was on that ship."

"Gone? What? What do you mean? Where did they go?"

"The night of the celebration, the First Order sustained six separate attacks. The Finalizer was destroyed."

"Destroyed," Rey panicked, her voice cracking. "Destroyed by who? By what?"

"The Resistance," he said with significance, watching her face with a penetrative gaze. "I thought they would have told you this."

"No, no," she shook her head, her hand flying to her chest. "No. They didn't tell me anything. They haven't said a word about it. This can't be true."

Kylo's lip twitched down. "I have no reason to lie to you about this."

His words punched Rey in the gut. She knew that he was telling her the truth—Ani was gone at the hands of the Resistance themselves. A small sob tore from her throat.

"I'm sorry, Rey," Kylo said, placing a heavy hand on her knee. "I can get you another cat, just—"

She pushed herself off the bed. "Why? Why did they do that?"

"This is war," he said with a sigh, slowly detangling himself from the sheets to swing his feet over the side of the bed. He followed her with tired eyes as she started to pace around the room. "And they are trying to win it."

"But Ani..."

"I know."

"Fuck Hux, but all those innocent workers? Custodial, medical, engineers..."

"I know."

"Seventy-five thousand people. All dead! For what? What did they gain from this? An upper hand, anything?"

When Kylo remained silent, Rey stopped pacing and looked right at him. "Well?"

"I'm not sure," is all he said, his mood suddenly shifting. His movements were slow and calculated as he grabbed his boxers and sweatpants and slid them on.

She knit her brows. "What do you mean you're not sure? You're the Supreme Leader! Will there be a counterattack? What's going on?"

"Unless you swear fealty to the Order..." Kylo started, a grim expression on his face, "that's still classified information, Kitten."

Rey's heart dropped. Reality came crashing down on top of her. The Resistance hadn't told her anything, and now, neither would Kylo. Why would they? She was just drifting aimlessly, desperately seeking a tether to hold on to. For a purpose. A home. As she staggered on her feet, Kylo crossed the room to hold her.

"Listen to me. Time is running out. I know that you know the Resistance isn't right for you, so why are you still there? Please, come back, Rey. Come home."

"I...I don't have a home," she whispered, desperately clutching onto him to stop herself from collapsing. Her bleary eyes shot to his face as she stuttered over her words. "I don't know what to do, Kylo. I'm so lost, so afraid."

"Come to me. I will take care of you," he rasped, his form starting to lose shape in front of her. "Meet me at the lake. I will be waiting."

Rey tried to grip him, but his body began to feel less solid beneath her fingertips with each passing second. "Kylo, wait, I can't—"

Even as he began blurring into her surroundings, she could see a hardness settle into the lines of his face. "I am going to find you," he asserted, his low, dark voice sending chills up her spine. "And when I do, you'll know where your home is—with me."

As the last sharp edge of his promise cut into her, his figure dissipated entirely and slipped through her fingers like smoke. Rey crumpled to the ground, sobbing as she brought her knees to her chest and held them there in the fetal position. She knew he wasn't in the room anymore, but she could still feel him like he was right next to her. The hair on the back of her neck rose, and her whole body shook with chills as his voice reverberated through the room one last time.

"See you soon, Kitten."

Rey's cries came harder now. She was confused, and lost, and afraid, and that alone terrified her. She used to be so sure of herself, but now doubt consumed her. She wanted Kylo, but she didn't want to be held captive again. She wanted to have a purpose, but she sure as hell wouldn't side with the Resistance or First Order. She had no idea what she wanted, except for Ani, to hold him while she fell asleep.

Rey... Ani is gone.

Pain shot through her heart. Guilt overcame her as her tears flowed until they ran dry, leaving nothing behind a residual numbness that made her feel exhausted and lethargic. She had to resist the urge to stay curled up on the floor, to lay here until Zeven would eventually find her. But even though she was confused and lost, her gut was telling her something she knew to be indisputable. And right now, that's all she had.

Forcing herself off the floor, Rey threw on some clothes and fixed her face before grabbing the pendant by the chain. She tore through the door, attempting to keep her head high as she made her way to find the General. Eyes were on her the entire time—whether they heard her with Kylo earlier, or were just curious as to what she was doing, she didn't know or care. All she could focus on was what she had to do next, getting angrier and angrier as she made her way to the central cavern.

Once she arrived at the dark, musty room she was in earlier today, Rey saw General Organa speaking with her old comrade and the Resistance's best pilot, Commander Poe Dameron. They were clearly discussing something important, judging by the way they were huddled together and whispering, but that didn't deter her. She stopped a few feet from their table and chucked the crystal pendant at the General's feet.

"How dare you?"

They both looked up at her, but Rey kept her eyes on Leia. She didn't look surprised. Keeping her voice calm and in control, she gestured to the seat next to her and pleasantly addressed her. "Ah, Rey. Perfect timing. We were just discussing—"

"I knew you were shady, but manipulating me into taking my old necklace back just so it would lead Kylo directly to me? To drive him insane or make me go back to him and fix him or whatever deranged fucking reason of yours?" Rey spat out an angry scoff, hating how her hand shook as she pointed an accusing finger at her. "That's low, even for you, General."

Leia grimaced. "I was afraid this would happen," she muttered before glancing at Poe. "Leave us, Black Leader. Please."

With a nod and a shifty glance at her, Poe obeyed, leaving her alone with the General. She tried to approach, but Rey stepped back, bringing her to a halt as she put her hands up in defense. "Rey, please let me explain. I—"

"Oh, oh, now you want to explain?" she mocked, her brows raising as a contemptuous smile scorched her lips. She shook her head from side to side. "Nuh-uh. We're done here, General. I'm not waiting for your little friend to come give me the answers I deserve," she said, mimicking her from this morning. "Not when you lied to me about the pendant and failed to inform me that you just murdered an entire dreadnought of people. Again."

"Wait, wait," she pleaded, desperation crossing her face as she took a tiny step closer to her. "I didn't lie about the pendant, and—"

"Oh, lemme guess—you didn't lie about it, but you left out some very important facts about it, hm? Such as its ability to allow Kylo into my physical space? Huh, is that it? Real convenient if you ask me, seeing as how you're the one that forced us together in the first place."

Leia's slight shoulders rose with an inhale, her lips pressing into a hard line. "Look, I understand you're angry, but I have a very good reason for not divulging the whole truth to you." She pivoted to gesture behind her at the station. "Please, sit with me, and we can talk about it."

"No," Rey shot back, turning around. As she headed for the corridor, she called out over her shoulder. "I told you, we're done here. I'm getting my things, and then I'm—"

"Wait, please!" Organa yelled after her. "Luke Skywalker will be here any minute, just to see you!"

Rey stopped with her back to Leia, an array of emotions ripping through her. Shock, confusion, and a little bit of awe. But as she recalled what he did to Kylo and how she was only in this position because of him, she settled with anger. With tight movements, she turned to look at her and spoke with muted rage.

"He wanted nothing to do with me the last time I saw him. Why would I care that he wants to see me now?" Before the General could speak, Rey held up her hand, that tight, mocking smile finding her lips again. "Let me guess, since he failed with the pendant, he wants to put another beacon in my head, doesn't he? To help you with your little plan to bring me back to Kylo?"

"No. He's coming here to apologize to you." There was a significant pause as she struggled to bend down, picking up the pendant. It swung back and forth as she thrust it forward, holding it up for her to see. "To apologize for this."

"What is it?" Rey shifted her flinty glare between her and the crystal. "And don't give me a sob story about how it was my mothers."

"But it was your mother's," she said, urgently crossing the cavern to get to her. Rey stepped back as she approached. After what happened when she touched it, she didn't want to go anywhere near that thing. Lowering her eyes to roll the crystal between her fingers, Leia spoke with a soft, sad voice. "At least, she was wearing it when you were conceived."

Rey made an incredulous noise. "And how in the galaxy would you know that?"

"Because it's a kyber crystal," she continued, looking down at it as though she were in a trance. "A powerful one created by Emperor Palpatine many moons ago. Unlike the other one he designed to steal Force powers, this one acts as a vessel to grant them, just like it did to you when you were conceived." Finally, Leia set her big, brown eyes on Rey, her lips forming words that stole her breath away. "And that, my dear child, is why I'm giving this back to you. This crystal truly, unequivocally belongs to you, Rey. As does the power within it."

Rey blinked rapidly. Her whole body buzzed with shock, with denial; even though something deep, deep inside of her accepted Leia's words without hesitation, she still resisted, swaying her head from side to side. "No," came her hoarse whisper. She tried again. "No. I don't have powers, I don't...I don't have anything."

Leia nodded, tears filling her eyes. "You're right, you don't. But you used to when you were a little girl. And when Ben came right to you in a room full of children, he was too young to understand, but the darkness within you...it's why you two gravitate toward each other, why the connection between you two is undeniable, cosmic. And that's why, after all these years, I made it my last mission to bring you back together."

Rey remained frozen, trembling and barely breathing as she just looked at her, trying to digest what she was saying. "I..." She had to stop, swallowing the lump in her throat. "What happened?"

Shame settled into the deep lines of Leia's face. "Luke heard about Ben's attachment to you at the orphanage and wanted to see it for himself. When he found you, he knew right away that something was wrong. He sensed Palpatine's power in the necklace, in you, and the visions he saw upon looking in your head drove him to do the unspeakable. He stole the Force from you and transferred it back into this," she said, extending the pendant between them. "And now, all you have to do is put it on, and your Force abilities will be restored."

Rey flinched back as she tried to hand it to her, recoiling as though the crystal was poisonous. "This...this can't be real," she said, gulping as she began to retreat. "You're lying."

Something in Leia's face snapped. It came over her faster than a tidal wave, her eyes gleaming with a crazed passion as she frantically grabbed Rey's hand, trying to stop her from leaving. "Wait, wait, please, you must take it, you must wear it! Luke was wrong. He was afraid you two would bring destruction to the galaxy, but he was wrong!" she raved, her grip on Rey's wrist becoming painful. "Together, you will bring balance to the galaxy, to the Force! This will change everything! It will fix everything!"

Rey didn't allow herself to believe a word she was saying. She stumbled back as she ripped away from her, whispering, "I want nothing to do with this."

"No, no, no! Don't go, Rey!" Leia pleaded with desperation. She followed as Rey spun around, hastening down the corridor. "Please, think about the greater good! Luke will—"

"Fuck the greater good," she spat, spinning around to look at Leia one last time. "And fuck Luke Skywalker."

Without looking back, Rey left General Organa and the Resistance behind, once and for all.