Bloodlines ¤ Star Wars

III.

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Zooms and buzzes filled the den of the Solo home, it wide and expansive and perfect for the adventurous children that occupied it.

"Pew pew, I got you!" Aeliana yelled as she chased Ben around with a model X-Wing in hand.

"Did not!" the seven year old shouted over his shoulder as he ran through the den with a plastic tie fighter.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

Leia walked into the den, able to hear their argument building from down the hall. "Come on now, you two. Play nice."

"He's lying about me hitting him, but his ship should be obliterated!" Aeliana whined as she and Ben stood in front of their mother. "He wouldn't be able to fly that thing after my hit. It's Imperial garbage, anyway. Everyone knows the Strikefast models have terrible defense shields."

Han walked along the hall that went across the den, carrying a mug. "She's not wrong," he said as he went by.

Ben grumbled, setting the tie fighter down and throwing himself onto the sofa. "I always lose when we play this."

"Because you always choose the tiefighter," Ana noted with a cluelessness of the distant future. She climbed on to the sofa, sitting on her knees next to him. "You can't win if you're on the dark side."

Aeliana sat up, covered in a cold sweat. Her chest heaved, the lights around her beaming on. She tried to shield her eyes, but only found herself to be restrained.

A chair held her down, bindings on her wrists and ankles.

"Come on!" Ana groaned as she tried to pull up her arms. When another pull made no difference, she rested her head back. "Do you have to move me while I'm sleeping? I'm much lighter when I'm awake."

"But you talk while you're awake."

Ana stiffened, a chill running up her arms as she heard the hard, altered voice. Her heart rate flickered upward, suddenly worried that it could be heard outside of her body.

Silence swept over the cold room, only footsteps and Ana's nervous breaths able to be heard.

"Quiet now?" asked the mechanized voice almost taunting. "Consider me surprised."

Aeliana remained voiceless, still unable to see the source. She strained when unsuccessful, she knew he was right behind her.

The dark figure of Kylo Ren stepped around Ana's chair, his helmet remaining on. "How did you sleep?"

"Apparently wonderful if you could move me from my room and strap me down," Ana snapped.

"There's that fire," he rather dully replied.

"Let me go and I'll show you real fire."

Although a smirk was evident in Kylo's condescending laugh, his facials remained hidden.

Aeliana swallowed harshly, feeling sick as she looked up at the unfamiliar figure.

She didn't know him, not anymore.

"Ambassador Organa," Kylo echoed as he pulled up a rolling stool and slowly sat down in front of her. "Yet you have another career path behind the glamour of your royalty."

"Day job," she sarcastically snapped.

"Your humour has yet to change, Ana."

"Don't." Aeliana seethed, sudden hatred in her eyes. "Don't call me that."

Kylo watched her carefully from behind his mask. "Still defensive. I expected nothing less."

"You don't know me," she practically growled. "Stop acting like you do."

The room feel silent, the two of them the only souls in sight. Kylo's expressions were hidden from Aeliana, leaving her to question everything around her.

"Have you lied to yourself for all these years?" Kylo asked with a daunting tone. "Saying that your brother was dead? You've begun to believe it after all these years, that I can see."

Ana's eyes glowered with anger, "My brother is dead."

Kylo remained placid, "Then who stands in front of you?"

"A monster," Aeliana tugged against her restraints with no luck. "A monster hiding beind a mask like the coward before him."

Gloved hands reached up, his thumbs pressing on the release. The pieces parted, revealing a face long lost in time.

Ana's breath slipped from her chest, a pain her heart reminding her who she was.

Dark eyes in deepened sockets stared back, a mirror image of the boy she once knew. His skin was pale, features not unlike Aeliana herself.

"You can try to ignore who you really are, but there is no escaping me."

Ana had spent so long trying not to be angry. Anger dismounted her connection to the force.

"You're the one who left."

Although she spoke calmly, her anger was tearing at her insides to get out.

"I asked you to come with me," Kylo said sharply as he leaned in towards her, pain in his eyes. "But you denied me. You wanted to stay, to be with Luke."

"Our uncle loved us, he still does. But look at what you've done to him, to his pride." Ana strained against her restraints, "You wreck the galaxy searching for him when you're the one who chased him away."

Kylo clutched a fist at his side, although never making a move to strike her. "I know what I've done. I'm trying to fix it."

"There are so many other ways you could've gone about it," Aeliana expressed with a sigh. Her head was starting to hurt, pinching at the very back; memories fleeting. She shot Kylo a glare, "If you're going to leaf through my head you could at least be upfront about it."

Kylo watched Aeliana carefully, reaching out both hands and touching them to her temples.

Aeliana stared back, holding on to her will. Her breathing increased, her jaw clenching against the pain banging on her skull. "You always did try to take what you wanted."

Kylo let go, a drip of red falling from his nose. He glowered, wiping the blood as he rose from his tilted posture. "You will give me what I want," he darkly said. "One day, you'll tell me."

"I'll tell you something right now," Ana haughtily said before he could walk away from her.

Kylo turned back, having grabbed his helmet. "And what would that be?"

"For all I care, my brother died that day."

Kylo dropped his helmet, swiftly getting right in Aeliana's face. "I'll make you see the light, my light. My haven among the darkness, where we both belong. We're legacies."

"Of what? Our grandfather was a devil," Ana retorted with no quake in her voice.

"Our grandfather was the leader this galaxy needed," Kylo quickly snapped. "And I will finish what he started, with or without you."

Although tired, Aeliana laughed, "You will never be as strong as Darth Vader."

"Watch yourself, Ana." Kylo regripped a fist, "The time is coming. My time. The darkness will rise again."

"Maybe, but you at the head of an empire sounds like anarchy to me. You're a boy, you always will be."

"You'll see things my way, Ana-"

"Stop it," she snapped. "You lost the right to call me Ana on that day. I'm not familiar to you, I'm not your sister. You will not break me, I won't let you."

"That is fair," Kylo flatly said. "It's my fault you shut yourself, made yourself so cold." He brushed a stray hair from Aeliana's eyes, something oddly comforting about it. "It's that frost that will break you, much better than I ever could."