Ordered

Chapter 14 - In Which Kylo Ren Has A Feverish Nightmare

(Chapter Rating: T)

Starkiller Base was destroyed. As long as Ren held onto that one truth, he knew the rest was the same vile nightmare.

The elder Han Solo stood before him. His white hair reflected the lights as they shifted from blue to red. The paternal sternness in his eyes bore into his son's soul. This was in the past. Another truth. However, the damaged Ren stood before his father. The present and the past were not one. A lie.

High up in the doorway, Rey stood, as she had many times before, in his memory. This, too, was true. However, she was older, weary, and heavy with child. Instead of her traitorous friend, three young boys stood at her side. A fourth was on the way. Looking past Han Solo, Ren knew them immediately as his own sons. They resembled Rey, but with his height and long, dark hair. Each was strong and perfectly formed. The future, the present, and the past looped together. The Force held each it in its own time.

The oldest was already taller than Rey. Anakin, he knew instinctively. He would be Anakin. Their conscientious, noble, first born. Remarkably, the next one was Han. He had the Solo nose and jaw structure. His namesake had been a huge martial battle. For weeks, he was just "the baby." Ren refusing the name Raeh, because it was insanity. Yet, Rey insisted Revan and Cade were not proper names and she had to carry the child for nine months. So, Han was his quiet, peacemaking second-in-command, fondly referred to as "the other one". Luke was the third and youngest. By this point, Ren had given up fighting about names, and simply called him "the smallest one". When he wasn't seeking attention or throwing a tantrum, Luke had the darkest eyes and a scheming little smirk.

The one-to-come was their latest attempt at having a girl. Although Rey loved each son, every woman wanted her own heir. A look-alike companion to pass on her love, wisdom, and kindness in her old age. However, Ren's aggressive virility had chosen yet another male successor. He'd promised that next time, he would be more placid and would will the Force to give her the daughter she dreamed of nurturing. But, now, he would never get the chance.

Regardless of the young audience, Ren had to obey his destiny. The pull, the darkness was there. Quickly, his red lightsaber impaled Han Solo through the gut. As his father fell, his dying frame pulled Ren down with him. As the body dissolved into a corpse, Ren struggled to keep his hold on the metal ledge. His own body was fading away. Although the stench was overwhelming, Ren's eyes never left them. His wife. His descendants. They were everything.

Through the void, he watched Luke carelessly run over. No paternal cry would be heard. Ren was already translucent, helpless, as the small boy held up his helmet, destined to take up the mantle of Kylo Ren. Although they were dauntless youths, they, too, would fall to the blade. The unborn would be named Ben, for the father he never knew. He alone would not be enough to protect his mother when his brothers were dead.

Although he forbid them, his warning remained mute. Their house was divided against itself. Before his eyes, Luke slaughtered Han. Anakin tried, but could not avenge his righteous brother. With the elder brothers gone, Ren pleaded for Ben to protect Rey and not seek vindication. But Ben was weak and foolish, craving adventure and power to call his own.

Overburdened, Ren could not hold on. He had loved her, but it wasn't enough. With little choice, he surrendered to the darkness. His ghost faded.