"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kylo
I walked down the hall of the Resistance base, my feet dragging on the floor with every step. I tried to remain calm but my entire body felt like it was convulsing with nervousness. A man ahead of me in a grey uniform led me silently down the hall to The Command Room. I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
When the doors open I stepped inside and stopped in my tracks. Before me sat my mother, at the head of a long table, her fingers clasped together and pressed against her nose. She looked up when I entered, her expectant gaze locking with mine.
The last time I looked into my mother's eyes was when we were at the Jedi Temple. At that point I was lost and hurt. I didn't trust anyone. All I wanted was to go off on my own and try to make sense of my life. My parents had come to try and convince me to stay but I wasn't listening. I'd already made up my mind and somehow my mother realised this. Before my ship took off I looked back and there were tears in her eyes. There were tears in them now.
We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. I couldn't find the words. I just couldn't.
"Kylo." she said. I was taken aback, I'd expected her to call me Ben. She's got up from her seat and stood beside it, one hand resting on it's back. I took a step forward and had an overwhelming urge to just run towards her and hug her. Then I'd apologise and everything would be alright. Except it wouldn't.
"I'm glad that you're here." she said slowly, almost cautiously.
"Do you really mean that?" I asked her, my tone flat. I didn't want seem cold but at the same time, if I showed her how I really felt, I'd break down completely.
"Yes." She moved closer to me, her features calm and relaxed. I stood rooted to the spot watching as she made her way across the room. Soon she was beside me looking up into my eyes.
"No matter what you've done you are still my son. And I'm happy that you're here."
I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips, but they remained tightly shut.
"So why did you come back?" she asked. Her tone was not judgemental but sincere.
I sighed softly. "Rey."
She smiled in a motherly sort of way and that's when I realised how much she'd aged. Tiny wrinkles stretched from the corners of her face and the roots of her hair were a subtle but visible shade of grey.
"I'm happy that you two met. Hopefully you can be a good influence on each other."
I nodded. "She's so special." Then I paused, wondering if I'd revealed too much. I didn't know how my mother would react to the idea of us being together. She gazed thoughtfully out of the window. "You must've really bonded over your training sessions." she said, a knowing smile twitching at the corner of her mouth. I nodded.
"I remember what young love felt like." she added wistfully, closing her eyes. Then I felt pang of guilt.
"I'm sorry." The words tumbled out, unable to be contained any longer. "I'm so sorry."
She turned to me. "I know." she said.
"I just thought that if I did it I would..." then I stopped, realising that I was trying to justify killing my own father. I covered my face with my hands and suddenly all the shame and sadness I'd been pushing away overcame me. I sunk to the ground. I'd killed my own father. He'd loved me and trusted me and I'd killed him.
"Kylo." My mother's soft voice interrupted my agonizing thoughts. She placed her hands over mine and gently pulled them off my face, taking them in hers. Reluctantly I lifted my head.
"I forgive you. I always have." she said. Her eyes were glowing with warmth and kindness, and in that moment I felt like I'd finally made peace with my demons.
I rose to my feet, still gripping her frail hands tightly in mine. How could she be so forgiving when I'd caused her so much pain? Exhaling I let her hands drop and we stood facing each other, the air around us tense with emotion. I thought of hugging her again but settled with the opinion that that would be far too awkward. So I changed the topic.
"Snoke is planning something." I said, regaining my composure. She straightened up as well.
"Yes. We have been gathering intel on it over the past few weeks." she replied. "What he's planning is, horrific, but we will put a stop to it before he can carry it out."
A few devastating ideas crossed my mind. Nothing was beyond Snoke.
"What's he planning?" I asked.
"Ah." she answered, a glint in her eye. "You will have to wait until the next strategy meeting to find out."
I nodded. "And we'll have to get you a new uniform, no more of this black clothing." she added, tugging playfully at my cloak. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, I'd been wearing black for years and it'd started to feel like a second skin. But I didn't want to seem difficult so I smiled widely and didn't argue back.
"Mum...why do you call me Kylo?" The question had been eating away at me for some time and I'd finally managed to get it out. Her expression remained completely neutral as she said, "I can't pretend that you are still the same person that you were. But at the same time, I don't feel entirely comfortable calling you by the same name Snoke called you." She paused and her expression darkened briefly but then she continued, "I called you Kylo so that you would feel like you were on familiar territory. Now that we've been able to talk, I'd like to go back to calling you Ben, if you don't mind." Her warm brown eyes searched mine anxiously.
"I don't mind." I said truthfully. A small smile spread across her face.
I turned to leave, feeling much lighter than I'd felt when I'd arrived.
"Ben."
I turned. "Yes?"
"I'm proud of you. Of what you've become."
I nodded. I didn't have to read her thoughts to know that her words were honest ones.
Maybe I wasn't irredeemable.
YOU ARE READING
When Light Meets Dark - A Reylo Romance
Fanfiction"Do you know what will happen?" I glanced at Snoke's ever gruesome face, partially hidden in the shadows. "What?" "Do you know what will happen...if a Sith Lord and a Jedi join together?" I just looked at him and didn't say a word. "Light and dark...