Till there are no stars left in the sky

Part 10

            When Aurora woke the next day she could feel something was off. A flutter in her heart that refused to beat right told her something big was about to transpire. Through The Force she could feel the soldiers were on edge, and she heard irregular waves of pounding feet stomp past at intervals far to close to be a normal day. They were on high alert. Her mind thrummed with the possibilities this could now present. What was all the buzz about? Why was everyone on edge? Could this present her with the opportunity she had been waiting for to escape?

Her thoughts were broken when a familiar presence brushed her mind. The door opened to what would normally be her metallic friend, but the ever ominous Kylo Ren marched through instead. She sat up quickly as he briskly came toward her. He did not slow or hesitate at the sight of her in her night clothes, to Aurora's great embarrassment, and her faced reddened several shades. Never in her life had she been clothed in so little in front of a man. She pulled the sheets tightly around her body, trying to hide her embarrassment as the intruder clearly paid no attention to her attire. Kylo Ren strode forward not turning his mask to face her direction. Instead, he chose to stand facing the viewing window in his usual, disconnected sort of way. Though, perhaps, he noticed her embarrassment and was giving her a bit of privacy.

"Forgive me for the intrusion," he breathed slowly, "I am going to be candid with you about the situation that you no doubt have sensed by now. The resistance has gathered the mass of their fleet, and their trajectory suggests they intend to lead an attack on this ship."

Aurora stared blankly at him. She was confused why he was here at all, she moved to voice her bewilderment but was cut short as Kylo Ren continued.

"I don't know the motive behind such a reckless move but for your safety I am requesting you accompany me while this threat stands." His head slowly turned to face her. "I am giving you this choice, but know that by accepting you will be in the line of fire. In turn I will protect you."

Aurora's heart skipped, and she flung her hand out calling her robe to her and donned the garment swiftly, tying the belt securely at her waist. She stood suddenly emboldened by the small plea in his voice. " Give me one reason to trust you." She said with a smirk. "Do you have any idea how much pain you have caused me?" Hurt laced her words, and Aurora had to remind herself to keep her guard up and not let her emotion show. She tried to poise her body in a defiant stance. Her heart kept hammering inside her chest as she now stood uncomfortably close to her captor and had to gaze up to meet his line of sight. She knew moving would show weakness, so she remained still. Kylo Ren's mask tilted down meet her gaze. The black void that covered his face did nothing to calm her tumultuous nerves.

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Kylo Ren sensed her apprehension. "Mark my words, I am the only one on this vessel who cares of your destiny. To anyone else, you are nothing more than a threat, job, or waste of space. If things turn, no matter how unlikely that is to happened, they would rather see you dead than risk you turning on them." His words were filled with harsh honesty, but he wanted her to chose to be by his side. He had invested a great deal in training her. But the choice had to be hers. He had taken everything else from her. All she had left was her choices, and if he took that away as well, she would never be able to trust him. He wanted her loyalty because throughout her training as her strength and ability grew he began to see the possibility that she could be more than just a weapon; she could be an equal. At times he grew angry with himself for the brutal methods he used to push her. He hated most he brought about the same feelings he tried so desperately to rid himself of and forget to radiate from her: isolation, hatred, inadequacy, weakness, loneliness, and the feeling of being nothing more than a disposable piece in a much larger game. These feelings were familiar to him. He had never been able to overcome them in himself, and now he had birthed the same feelings in her that he had struggled to overcome, with no success. In his mission to make her more powerful, he had marred her with the same scars that plagued him every day. The thought brought a bitter disgust in his gut.