Star Wars Imagines

Young Love(General Hux)

The first time he saw her, they were fourteen. Her wild (H/C) curls were chopped short, her (E/C) eyes were intelligent and full of life, her face hard and calm, betraying no emotion. She held a staff, alert and ready to take him down. He held a blaster with shaking hands, ready to do the same. His ginger hair was neat, combed to perfection, and everything about him was perfectly groomed. They couldn't have been more different. And yet, when their eyes met, he knew she was the one for him. They both knew it. Her eyes widened, and her grip on her staff tightened. He dropped his blaster. Her eyes followed it as it hit the sand, and she looked up at him, allowing the smallest trace of curiosity grace her features. He stuck out his hand. "My name is Armitage," he said. She glanced at his hand, then put her staff on her back.

"Save it," she spat. "I have no time for general boys and social niceties." She took a few steps backward, her short brown boots slipping in the sand. Then she turned around and ran, light gray coat flapping in the wind, staff bouncing on her back. He watched her go, every step of the way. And he loved her.

They met nearly a week later in similar circumstances. Both ready to take the other down, but neither wanting to do it, or willing to admit their aversion to harming the other. However, this time, a sandstorm was about to hit, and he lived on the outskirts of town. She sighed and put her staff on her back. "Come on," she said. "You can stay with me until the storm passes. But don't try anything, general boy." With that, she turned and began to sprint toward her home. He had no choice but to follow.

The storm didn't pass for months. He tried to strike up a conversation, but she rarely spoke. She cooked, and he helped her with various household chores to earn his keep. And as the months passed, they grew closer. He learned her name was (Y/N). She was an orphan, left to die on Jakku. She survived by working hard and not trusting anyone. Slowly, her walls fell down, and she began to show him her mind, her emotions.

One day, they were sitting beside each other against the wall in her home. She was mending a hole in his jacket. He watched her work, her movements precise and quick. He placed a kiss on her cheek, and she stopped sewing. She slowly turned her head to look at him. He blushed and lowered his eyes. He felt her hands on his shoulders, and then her lips were crashing against his. When she broke off the kiss, she was smiling, cheeks pink. "You distract me, you know that," she said, and he grinned. She rolled her eyes at him, and kissed him again. He grabbed her shoulders and pressed her against the wall, kissing her roughly. Her fingers found their way into his hair, messing it up. He didn't care. They started sharing a bed that night. Nothing happened, but at night she would rest her head on his chest, and he would hold her against him. They woke up like that every morning.

After the storm passed, they continued to see each other. He would sneak away to spend a few minutes at her, maybe a few hours if they were lucky. Sometimes they didn't see each other for weeks, months at a time. She missed him in that time. One day, she tried to visit him in his home on the outskirts.

She fought the guards, and managed to get in. She defeated every guard who stood in her way, until she found him. He stared at her, (H/C) curls askew and a wild, mad grin on her face. She put her staff on her back. "Armitage, I wish you wouldn't leave me alone for so long," she said, then ran to him. He ran to meet her, and they crashed into each other in the middle of the hall. He held her against his chest, pressing kisses to her mouth, which she gleefully returned. Then they heard a blaster fire, and her grip on him tightened as she let out a gasp of pain. Armitage looked over her head to see his father, holding a blaster. She fell to the ground, and he slid an arm around her back, lifting her up. "Don't worry (Y/N)," he said. "I can save you." His father sneered.

"Are you really so naive as to believe that boy," he asked.

"Armitage," she said softly. "I'll see you in a better place."

"(Y/N)--" She pulled him to her, and pressed a kiss to his mouth. She leaned back, and he took her hand, tears welling up in his eyes. She smiled up at him, pressing something into his hand. Then she closed her eyes, and exhaled one last time. Drops of salt water fell onto her face, which he wiped away quickly. "Quit your crying boy," his father ordered. "She was an intruder, a danger to us. She's not worth it." He felt anger rise up inside him, hot as his tears.

"What do you know," he screamed at his father. "You don't care, you just hurt everyone around you! You didn't even care about my mother enough to stay with her, so don't tell me that (Y/N) isn't worth my tears!" He scooped up her corpse and ran.

He buried her on the edge of town. He made sure the sand wouldn't move and take her away. He rolled a large stone over her, and wrote her name on it. The thing that she had pressed into his hand was still there. It was a necklace, a locket, with an image of them sitting together and laughing at a cantina. He clipped it around his neck, and hid it under his uniform.

***

Years later, Armitage went to her grave, hair dyed black, wearing a light jacket, loose, cotton pants, and short brown boots. He placed flowers on her grave, repainted her name, and sat down. "Hey," he said softly. "My father's with you now. Give him a good, hard slap for me, okay?" Armitage laughed a little and ran a hand through his hair. He fingered the locket. It was the only thing he had to remember her. He opened it and looked at the picture. They were so young, so innocent. He tried to imagine (Y/N) as she would be now, a woman of twenty-nine. The most beautiful woman in the galaxy. He sighed. When he met her all those years ago, he had fallen in love with her on sight. And he still loved her.