Hunted

X. The Answers

It had taken some coaxing on his part, but Kylo had finally persuaded her to walk with him back the way they had come. He tried to slow his long strides down to match her pace, careful not to alarm her in any way.

This felt strange for him, this concern over what someone other than Snoke thought of him. He was so accustomed to people stepping out of his way and obeying his every whim that he'd forgotten what it felt like to trip over his words and think of the best ways to phrase them.

The longer they walked, to more she began to feel comfortable with him, against her better judgement. She thought back to her mother's premonition and tried to push it away into a corner, where it still looked at her, but she could focus on other things like the way his mouth looked when he talked or his eyes scrunched into his face when he smiled.

Inside, she told herself, there is Light in his heart. His facade is pure darkness, but she could sense a Light beneath it, muffled and suppressed, but there, glowing however feebly.

Kylo watched her every expression carefully, analyzing each arch of her eyebrows and twist of her mouth as she contemplated how to answer him. She was still mistrustful, but after some more careful explanations he had managed to appease her anxiety somewhat, repeating more than once that he was not there to kill her, or anyone else.

It felt bizarre to be around someone with the Light side again. Spending all his days surrounded by the Dark side made it easier to resist the temptation when the light called out to him, begging him to return. He knew that he had strayed too far from the Light to ever go back, or even find satisfaction in it if he had wanted to. The power and control that came from the Dark side called to him day and night, keeping it's hold on him in a vice grip, refusing to let go.

He sensed none of that struggle between Light and Dark within her. Indeed, when he tried to read her thoughts, she glowed from the inside when he tried to study her. The brightness of her interior light was so brilliant it felt almost blinding.

Distracted by his thoughts he listened to her chatter on and on as he listened, still pondering the answers she gave to his questions while trying to remember more he had wanted to ask her. He didn't want there to be anything he did not know about her.

When they arrived back at the tree where he had found her she began to recount for him the events with the men in white uniforms the same day he had first chased her in the woods. She showed him the direction the man had been thrown when he had turned towards her and she panicked, somehow blasting him backwards in the process.

Stunned, he listened as she told him how she had been running back to the village when they'd stumbled across each other, and then it was his turn to explain what he and the soldiers in white had been doing on Takodana in the first place.

He explained to her the nature of the mission, recover critical government information that would lead to the capture of an important outlaw. She accepted everything without question, and he marveled at her naive innocence. Even though he equivocated in some of what he said, much of it was the truth, he was just totally unsure how he was going to convince her to come back with him to the Finalizer when it came time for him to leave.

The hour began to grow darker and finally she told him, "I think I should go."

What he wanted to do was tell her she had to stay with him, talk to him all night and answer every question, and in the morning leave with him on his ship to return with him and show Snoke that he was not a failure, that he could follow a task through to completion.

Instead he nodded his head, as if it were natural that he had come all this way to find her and then be left on his own in the woods for the night. He could use the force to find his way back to the TIE fighter, and to find his way from there back to here, but that still meant he had no idea where she lived.

He was just about to speak and ask her if she would meet him here again tomorrow when she spoke, "Will you still be here tomorrow?"

Smiling again, he answered, "Yes, yes, I'll be here tomorrow. First thing."

She nodded her head, accepting his answer, before turning to head back to the village, trusting the cover of impending nightfall to help hide her path if he chose to try and follow. Thinking better of it though, she spun around and looked back at him, 10 feet away and standing on the boulder next to hers, with his arms crossed over his chest and shaggy hair caught in the breeze, "You won't follow me, will you?"

He didn't answer for a moment, and in that brief span of time she was suddenly deathly afraid that she had misjudged him, that she had allowed herself to be duped and now he was about to follow her back to the village to unleash murder and mayhem.

Kylo sensed her fear, and then allayed it for her, "No, I won't."

"Promise?"

His smile broke the widest yet and he chuckled as he reassured her, "I promise."

Smiling back, she turned to leave when she heard him call out, "So what do I call you?"

Giving one last smile over her shoulder she called back, "Serela! What should I call you?"

"Kylo. Kylo Ren."

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Back in the TIE fighter, Kylo used to radio to make contact with the Finalizer.

Unfortunately, it was Hux who answered his call.

"Yes?" his sour voice put a damper on Kylo's good mood.

"Tell Lord Snoke I have found the person we are looking for and look forward to delivering them soon."

A long pause preceded Hux's response, as if bracing himself for bad news, "Luke Skywalker?"

"No."

Kylo could almost hear the sigh of relief as Hux received the confirmation that he still had failed to find and deliver his uncle to Snoke, a feat which he himself might be able to deliver on his own.

Neither men betrayed any note of these feelings in their responses to each other though. Hux's only reply was simple, "I will relay your message to Lord Snoke."

Kylo turned off the radio. There was no need for social niceties with his competition. He had found her, he had begun to build her trust, and tomorrow he would see more of her, hopefully convincing her in 2 days time to return with him.

He settled into the pilot's seat, tilting it back as he pulled a blanket over himself, preparing for a night of little sleep, for he was too excited for the events of the following day.

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That night Reha remarked to her daughter that she seemed extremely distracted, as she seemed to wander around the cottage aimlessly, lost in thought and her silent musings.

"Am I?" she asked her mother dreamily, her mind preoccupied with the day's events and the way Kylo looked when he smiled at her. There was much darkness in him yes, but underneath that darkness there was still light. The Darkness in him was what had frightened her each time they met, the Light was what had made her feel drawn to him in spite of it. It felt almost as though he held both in equal measure, but the Dark had long ago asserted it's dominance and tried to bury the Light.

Yet underneath the debris in his heart it was still there.

"Yes..." Reha said hesitantly, "You've hardly touched your food."

"Mmm," she responded, not considering that her mother expected more of an explanation than agreement to her statement.

Reha's expression was amused, clearly something had happened in the woods that day, or someone.

Although she was tempted to press for more information, she allowed her daughter to keep her secrets for now. Time will tell her heart said, A storm is coming soon that may consume us both. Best to let her have whatever happiness she can now.

If only she had known her daughter's happiness would be the cause of the storm.