Darkness At Dawn • Kylo Ren [1]

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"I will become your worst nightmare so I can protect you from becoming it yourself."

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The cold look on his face gave Bellamy shivers. His hands were tightly closed around the cold surface of the grey handle of his lightsaber. He seemed to have no sense of humanity. His heart seemed to be made of stone since he had just brutally killed all the Resistance fighters bringing a peace offering.

Bellamy had watched him do all of that and would never forget the evil glint in his dark, beady eyes. They walked into the Finalizer tall and proud but were surprised by the sudden ambush of Stormtroopers and Kylo Ren himself. The battle ended in minutes, with the beautiful casket surrounded by the humble but dead fighters, scattered across the floor.

He turned his head and showed a ghastly face, bloodshot eyes with a pair of bloodless lips. "Bellamy, are you ready to see your mother?"

Bellamy gulped, her face timid and scarce. She had never witnessed so much death in her entire life. "Yes."

Kylo took his helmet off, knowing that Elara liked him better without it. His breathing hitched suddenly and he couldn't bring himself to open the casket. He didn't want to break again, he didn't want to cry, he couldn't. "Go on Bellamy, go look at her."

Bellamy walked over to the casket, her hands behind her back as she stepped on her tiptoes to reach the flower embroidered lid. She was shaking with fear, for she didn't want to see what her mother had become.

"Fear is a part of being human Bellamy, it's the precursor to bravery." Elara had told her. "We need it, it wakes us up and allows us to do what needs to be done. So feel it, own it, let it ignite your thoughts."

She pushed away every ounce of adolescents she had left and opened the casket, her eyes welled with tears immediately. "She doesn't look dead."

Kylo looked up, placing a hand through his hair. He shut his eyes together and squeezed. "What does she look like Bell?"

"Beautiful."

That was enough for Kylo to come to the casket, his watery eyes staring down at Elara. It was true, Elara looked beautiful. Her cheeks remained a slight red and her lips, a comforting pinky-blue while she wore a simple black gown. Dull cuts and bruises made an appearance but that didn't bother Kylo much, Elara always had bruises, it was just the kind of person she was.

"She does look beautiful, doesn't she?" He whispered softly, a sense of warmth coming back to him.

Bellamy nodded, placing her hand in Kylo's gloved hand. "You know what Grandmother Leia said to me when my other grandmother died? She said she's in a better place."

Kylo's face twitched but he remained silent.

Bellamy hiccuped quietly. "Do you think she's watching us right now?"

Kylo closed his eyes once more and a strong aura captivated his body like a breath of fresh air. "Yes."

Bellamy nodded, nuzzling her face into Kylo's black robes. The tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks and dripped from her chin. She was too sad to cry out or wail, she just stood there as still as a statue while the magnitude of her loss swept over her.

"I'm going to give you a choice Bellamy." Kylo looked down at his daughter, picking her up in his strong arms so she could get a better look at Elara. "You can stay here with me and I can train you or you can go back to the Resistance, with Jude."

Puzzled and torn, Bellamy glared at Elara, hoping that if she looked long enough, Elara would spring to life.

"The Resistance is the reason she's dead." Kylo quickly added, his stomach turning. "They blew up the planet, they knew she wasn't off it yet."

Bellamy's eyes gleamed. "If I stay here, will you love me just as much as she loved me?"

"Of course."

"I'm staying with you then." Bellamy bit the inside of the cheek. "I want to be like mommy."

"And so you shall." Kylo declared. "But stronger."

And so they stood there for a while longer, watching Elara lay completely still. They didn't exchange any more words but eventually, Bellamy had fallen asleep in Kylo's arms and he would have to bring her to his room to sleep. She was his responsibility now and he would do everything in his power to protect her. He would train her to not even know the power of the light and become ruthless, just like he was planning to do.

As they walked down the corridor, Hux stopped them with an abrupt question. "Is the girl okay?"

Surprised Hux had a heart, Kylo responded. "My daughter has so many of my traits and none of it is helping right now. She will stay here and I will train her like how Snoke had trained me. There will be days in which she will need a mother's firm hand just like when she was a young child but she will not be able to receive it. One day, she will have all the desire to be free but with so many skills still to learn. Of course she'll leave before she's ready, I know she will because she has too much of Elara in her, and those last lessons will be the hardest of all." Kylo stopped, watching Hux's mouth drop open. "As for my son, he is in the care of the Resistance. I can't do anything about that but I believe one day our paths will cross. Jude despises me, I feel it in my bones General, but as far as anything goes, Bellamy is the one piece of Elara I have left. Do you understand that?"

Shocked, Hux nodded. "I do."

"Good." Kylo hummed in response. "This is the last time I will speak to you like this. If you mention this to anyone, I will kill you myself. It will be a very slow and painful death General Hux, is that understood?"

"Yes." Hux's eyes returned to that icy colour that could turn anyone to stone. "Unless I kill you first."

They parted ways, walking in opposite directions and neither one of them bothered to look back. Kylo had made a vow to himself and he intended to keep it.