When Light Meets Dark - A Reylo Romance

When The Sky Falls

"Stephen kissed me in the spring,

Robin in the fall,

But Colin only looked at me

And never kissed at all.

Stephen's kiss was lost in jest,

Robin's lost in play,

But the kiss in Colin's eyes

Haunts me night and day."

~Sara Teasdale, The Collected Poems

Rey

Akiva was the sort of planet I dreamt of when I was a little girl. Growing up on Jakku, which was more or less a barren wasteland, I longed to explore the planets which I only heard about in stories, and their vibrant colours tainted my imagination. So waking up every morning to the sights and sounds of the Akivan jungle filled me with satisfaction that no one else would really understand, or at least it used to.

I stretched out the last damp shirt over a branch and wiped my brow. The sun was high in the sky and I'd just finished an hour's worth of laundry down by the stream. Kylo and I had been on Akiva together for almost five rotations and as the days passed I felt myself sinking into a natural rhythm with him. We hunted, cooked, trained, slept. Gradually I believed that I'd managed to ease him out of his vengeful state of mind and although our training sessions were still very intense, there wasn't a moment I regretted spending with him.

Leaving the clothes to dry in the humid air I began to wander through the jungle. It took me a while, but eventually I found Kylo. When I met him he had a pile of logs cradled in his arms which I guessed he was taking back for firewood. The heat had finally gotten to him as strands of hair clung to the sides of his face and he wasn't wearing a shirt, a sight which I still hadn't quite gotten used to. When he saw me he pushed his hair back with his free hand and gave me a smile.

"Are you ever going to wear a shirt?" I teased him as I approached. He looked at me with an amused smile and replied, "Well, maybe I would if you'd stop borrowing my clothes." Since I couldn't think of a clever response I simply rolled my eyes and fell into step with him. The wood seemed heavy and he staggered a little under it's weight.

I took a deep breath. "Kylo I need to tell you something."

He craned his neck to look at me, a look of mild curiosity on his face.

"It's about Finn." I said, before I could stop myself. I knew the heat wasn't the only reason why I was sweating.

"Again?" he asked, not sounding annoyed but more confused. "You're still worried about how he's doing with the Resistance?"

"No." I replied. The voices in my head were screaming at me, telling me to stop before it was too late. I closed my eyes and swallowed, desperately hoping that their noise would subside. But in the end, the only voice I heard was mine.

"We kissed."

Kylo kept walking. He reached a space between the trees where he finally stopped and set down the fire wood. When he stood again his eyes were cold and his face devoid of emotion. I could hear him taking slow measured breaths as he stared at me.

Then the words began to tumble out. "I'm so sorry." I said. "I never meant for it to happen, we both just got caught up in the moment and--"

"When?" he asked. I froze.  

"When did it happen?" he reiterated, his voice cracking at the end.

"Two days before I found you." I bit my lip, waiting anxiously for his response. But his silence spoke volumes.

"Kylo." I pleaded. He was looking over my head now with an expression that was still blank, but I could see his hands were clenched into tight fists by his sides. 

"I'm so sorry." I said again. "I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but I promise you it meant nothing. I was just so upset about everything and I was so angry at you for leaving when-"

"So that's why." he said, giving me a look that made my heart skip a beat. "I hurt you, and so you decided to hurt me back by kissing your best friend."

"What? No, no, he kissed me." I said frantically. Everything was coming out wrong.

"But you kissed him back." he said. His voice was quietly aggressive. I hated seeing him angry, and it stung even more to know that I was the cause of it. A very long uncomfortable minute stretched out in silence and I stared at the ground unable to move. Then things got a lot worse.

"Let me see." he said.

When I looked up he was already looking at me. I blinked, hoping that he was not asking me to do what I thought he was. But the steely glint in his eyes told me otherwise.

"I can't." I replied and shook my head.

"Rey, let me see." he repeated. I didn't understand why he was asking, but I could see that he was hurting and showing him would be like rubbing salt into the wound. I waited for him to change his mind but after a while I realised that he wasn't going to. With a sigh I lifted a shaking hand I reached out in his direction. We both closed our eyes.

I didn't know where to begin, but my memories led me to the moment when I entered the command room. I watched everything replay as I walked over to the table. Finn and I talked a bit and studied the board. Then I began to cry. As we watched, I could sense Kylo's breathing speeding up. I wondered if he felt guilty for not being there. When Finn kissed my forehead his body stiffened, and then I watched in despair as our lips met. Our kiss was much longer and deeper than I remembered and I didn't know how much more Kylo could bear. Quickly I retrieved my hand and took a few steps away from him.

Kylo kept his eyes closed for a long time and I felt a lump forming in my throat as I watched him. His hands were trembling ever so slightly and I longed to reach out and touch him, to tell him how much I loved him and how much I regretted doing this to him.

"I don't know how to make this right." I said, my voice heavy with remorse.

He opened his eyes. "It's fine Rey." he said calmly.

"Don't lie to me." I begged.

He walked over to his pile of wood and began to gather the logs into his arms again, his back to me. "I said it's fine." he said again through gritted teeth. I watched him gather up all of the wood and then turn slowly to me.

"I'm going to take this back." he said before pausing. "And...I think it's time we went back to the Resistance." His voice was disconcertingly calm and the thought of our return felt like a drop of ink in the ocean of emotions I was feeling. I didn't know what to say, I couldn't even nod.

And so I watched him go until his figure vanished between the trees.

 ***

Heyyy. 

So we all kind of knew that it had to happen eventually. Anyway thanks for following the story so far and to those of you who drop a vote here and there I really appreciate it. If you enjoyed this chapter please consider leaving a comment, and I hope to see you guys very soon. 

Padme