The Power Inside (Kylo Ren)

Eighteen

Elle feel asleep and woke up in Ren's arms. He had chosen to ignore his final orders of the night and sleep next to her. Neither of them knew what to do from here; it was a complicated situation. She looked up at Ren who was still sleeping. Elle smiled to herself and ran her fingertips softly across his arm. 

Ren opened his eyes and looked down at Elle. She hadn't noticed that he had woken up so he kissed the top of her head. 

"Hey." he said quietly.

"Hi." she responded just as quiet.

"What time is it?"

"0736." 

Ren immediately got out of bed. "I have to go." 

Elle wished that he would stay longer but she understood that he had a schedule. He rushed out of the room, kissing Elle's head before leaving. She went to the lavatory and took a shower. She let the hot water run over her as she tried to recollect her memories of last night. Elle didn't remember much from before Ren arrived which wasn't surprising to her. She was sure that Alan would know but decided to deal with that later. 

She had felt different when she woke up; it was like an emptiness but a good, necessary emptiness. It would inevitably be filled back up again but there was now a choice as to what it would be filled up with. However, there was still the pain and anger she constantly felt and that would never go away.  

Elle walked to the mess hall to eat something before looking for TJ and Dez. It was crowded and she could barely find an empty table to sit at. Thankfully, there was one in the far corner of the hall. She got her tray of food, sat down, and started eating. The food was terrible as usual so she mostly moved it around on her plate with a fork. 

There was an uncomfortable feeling that suddenly wrapped itself around Elle; she looked around and noticed that across the mess hall was the same group of soldiers that had been staring at her a while ago in this mess hall. She couldn't figure out what their problem was. She didn't recognize any of them let alone have any past interaction with them that would warrant their behavior. 

Instead of instantly rising to anger, she decided to attempt to ask them exactly what their issue was. She got up, emptied her tray, and walked towards them. They all tried to avoid eye contact as she loudly pulled up a seat and sat down at the table with them. 

"Who wants to tell me what your guys's problem with me is?" she said bluntly. 

They all stared at her in silence. 

"No one's man enough to speak up? Were you not expecting such a small girl to actually confront you?" 

The silence remained as they all stared at their food in an attempt to avoid the current situation. 

"Stare at me one more time while I'm just trying to eat and I will make sure that you suffer for it." 

"That's quite a big threat for such an inferior little girl." one of the soldiers finally said. 

"I'd be happy to show you assholes just how wrong you are." 

"We'd be happy to show you what would happen to you if you tried." another one chimed in. 

"You all are so pathetic. Please go ahead and continue to jerk each other off." Elle said as she stood up and walked away from the table. 

Who the fuck do they think they are? 

Elle walked down to engineering to find TJ and tell him about what happened. She couldn't find him when she first arrived so she waited near his work station. 

"Elle!" TJ greeted. 

"Hey TJ." she responded. 

"How is everything going with the Commander?"

"Oh, uh I've moved passed it and asked that he do the same."

"You're being too forgiving for what he did."

"You're probably right but I'd rather not dwell on it and make my remaining time miserable." 

"Fair enough. Have you eaten yet?" 

"Yes! That's actually what I came here to tell you."

"You came to tell me that you ate?"

"No no. The group of soldiers that were staring at me the day you stopped me were there again. They were all just staring at me as I ate." 

"Elle...what did you do?"

"I didn't fight them if that's what you're thinking. I simply sat down at their table and asked them what the fuck their problem was." 

"Did they threatened you?"

"Yeah, I threatened them too. I'm not worried about it but you should have been there to see their faces when I pulled a chair up to their table and sat down. It was hilarious."

"Elle you can't just threaten soldiers and not expect them to do something about it." 

"Well I'm not going to just sit there and let them stare at me like a bunch of pricks."

"You need to tell Commander Ren about them." 

"Why are you so worried TJ?" 

"Because I know what happens on this ship. Not everyone is nice, especially soldiers who think they are tough shit." 

"Fine, I'll mention it to Ren when I see him later." 

"If you don't then I will." 

"I said I would!" 

"Alright good. Head back to your room and wait for him. I don't trust those guys." 

Elle groaned and reluctantly agreed. She didn't understand why TJ was freaking out about it; If she wasn't worried then why would he be? She planned on telling Ren about it even before TJ told her to. Elle was really lost in thought about everything: last night with Ren, this morning with the soldiers, and just now with TJ. She decided she'd ask Alan what he thought when she got to her room. 

When she was almost there, the sound of footsteps brought her back to reality. Elle thought nothing of it and kept walking. 

"Hey, bitch!" a voice from behind her yelled. 

Elle spun around, her face hot with anger, only to see the same group of soldiers with a series of evil smirks on their faces. 

Fuck...TJ might have been right.