Royal Arrangements [Kylo Ren x Reader]

chapter four

Your eyes were red and teary. Kylo rushed to you, cape flowing out behind him, hair wild around his face. He dropped down to one knee, his hand supporting you by the back of your leg and the other on his daughters.

"Girls," he said, voice worried.

Alula looked up. "Daddy!" She was crying harder now.

He then pulled them to him, crushing them to his wide chest. He was crying now, unable to contain his relief of having his girls safe. He kissed the tops of their heads, breathing in the scent of their hair.

"I'm here, my loves," he said to them. "I won't let anything happen to you girls. I promise that I won't." To reassure you at the same time, he squeezed your leg.

You stood there, pained and scared. You weren't sure how to even process what happened. Everything had hit so fast, and now it was over. It was silent.

You felt the pain in your back again. Flinching, you dropped your arms to your sides.

With flooding eyes, Kylo looked up at you. Immediately he stood up, lifting the girls as he did so. He stumbled a step closer to you, reaching to wrap an arm around you and bring you to his chest.

"No," you mumbled, pulling back.

Hurt flashed over his eyes. You knew he thought you were resenting him; something he always feared. He had put you in danger once again. This time, your daughters, too.

"Mama's hurt," Alula said.

Kylo finally understood. Quickly, he turned you around, looking at the burns on your back and shoulders. He gulped and put the girls down.

"I'm fine," you said, but your voice was shaky. You weren't fine.

Kylo ignored you. He couldn't carry you, not when your skin was blistered and bleeding all down your back. He looked over you nervously; panicked.

It didn't look too bad, but he was prone to overreact. It was barely a third degree burn; he had seen worse - but not on his wife.

You looked him in the eyes. "Don't... don't worry the girls," you breathed through your teeth.

He ignored you. "How did this happen?"

Your throat burned with tears you tried to hold back. "It all happened so fast, Kylo," you breathed. "We were running because they weren't any pods left, and then the entire wall was just - just gone, and I grabbed the girls and covered them- and I-"

You couldn't finish. Kylo hushed you, pulling you against him. He kissed the side of your head and closed his eyes.

"I don't want to scare them," you cried.

He glanced down. They were clinging to his legs now, their big brown eyes looking up at him.

"Girls," he whispered, "I want you to stay right next to me. We need to take Mama to the infirmary. She needs a medical droid."

"Yes, Daddy," they said.

They peeled themselves off of his leg and travelled behind their parents, clutching the back of Kylo's cape like a lifeline.

A trail of destruction was all you could see on the way to the infirmary. By the time you reached the medical wing, you had seen several injured and unconscious stormtroopers, flametroopers, and snowtroopers. Kylo must have ordered everyone to fight back.

He sounded strained when he spoke in your ear. "I am so sorry for putting you in danger. I didn't see them attacking - not this way, not this much."

"No one did," you said. You remembered what he said to you just a day ago. There are so many things that I can't protect you from. "You can't blame yourself."

"There's no one else to blame," he said, jaw tight. He knew that Snoke would be livid about letting something else slip through the cracks. He was losing control.

"Why don't you blame whoever orchestrated the attack for a change?"

He knew who it was, and it didn't make him feel any better. Who else would have the authority to give an order like that besides General Leia Organa? His mother, the woman who unknowingly put her grandchildren in danger.

He brought you to a droid. "I demand her to be looked over now. She's suffering from severe burns on her back-"

"We'll take care of it, Commander."

It was not the droid that spoke, but Astoria. Your midwife. You smiled halfway. You were tired and in so much pain.

"I'll look at her myself," she said, and she took you by the hands.

Kylo nodded. He watched you go, reaching behind him for his daughters. They were more terrified than he was, but somehow, they seemed braver. They were strong - strong like you.

"Mama," Adhara whimpered.

Alula grabbed her sister by the hand for a brief moment. "Mama is gonna be okay, Alula. I can feel it."

Kylo wished he had that confidence. When he looked at his future, he saw more instances where you were put in more danger. More close calls, more reminders of the war.

There was only one thing he could do to keep you safe, and he was not sure he could do it.