Kylo stands awkwardly to the side as you hold your mother in a tight embrace.
She's shorter than you are; she looks like a little child next to Kylo's tall, looming figure.
She's tracing little circles with her thumb on your hand, still completely speechless. Both of you can not believe what is happening right now- it's a miracle. Both of you had been so sure that the other had been dead.
But here you are; looking into each other's eyes.
"Well," she croaks, her voice dry. You have all been quiet for too long. Even Kylo; whom you had temporarily forgotten about.
"I suppose you can come inside. I may have some bantha milk left, and some portion bread. Not enough for two, I'm afraid, I barely have enough for myself-" She lifts her eyes to look properly at Kylo, the kind smile on her face slowly diminishing, stopping mid-sentence.
"You're dressed like the leader of the First Order." She says it as though she has only just noticed this.
You feel your throat constrict, and take a step back to stand next to Kylo. You can sense his nervousness.
"Yes. Ex-leader," you say slowly, unsure as to how your mother will take it.
Lillian's hand jerks up to cover her now O-shaped mouth, unable to mask the terror in her eyes. "You're the one.." She points a shaking finger at him, and you feel Kylo look down, his heart swelling up in regret. "You're the one they call Kylo Ren?"
"Yes, but, but- Mum, he's changed. I swear it. He's helped me escape. We've been training and planning an escape for months now."
"Vega," she grabs your arm, squeezing tightly, desperately trying her best to shock some sense into you. "Even Unkar Plutt has warned us about him."
Her face changes completely then, and still grabbing onto your arm, pulls you roughly into her, stands between you and Kylo. "He's the one that took you away."
Kylo opens his mouth to interject, but you quickly step away from behind Lillian and face her, grabbing her face in your hands. "It wasn't him, it's the First Order. There's so much we have to explain to you-"
"We?" She asks, her eyes starting to glisten with tears. "Who's 'we', Vega? You and the man who took you away from me?!"
You feel your heart racing, your pulse going equally as fast. You're torn- you can feel your mother's disappointment, her hurt, and you can understand her anger at Kylo. It is the same anger you felt for him up until recently.
But you can also feel Kylo's regret. His shame at being.. Himself. You can't abandon him now. He's done bad things, true, but he was beginning to change.
Kylo's gone. And Ben has taken his place. You can feel it.
"Can Ben and I come in? We need to explain."
She hesitates for a minute, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, nibbling her lip, her eyes wide. All signs of nervousness.
Fear.
"..Ben?"
****
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