Redemption: A Reylo Story

Complicated Moves

REY

Day one, I awake in my dwelling to the hum of a lightsaber swinging outside. Dressing quickly and heading out, I watch Ben perform a lightsaber routine in the clearing near my hut.

The hum of the saber, the flow of the light, the slightly acrid tang in the air mesmerizes me—violent yet graceful—much like Ben himself.

Although still dressed in all black, he wears a lighter-weight tunic than his normal uniform. Something in my gut tenses while watching him. He truly is a fantastic male specimen. I quickly try to put this thought out of my mind and tell myself it's just the effect of the dyad.

Sweat drenches his flushed face. Although I know he sees me, he ignores my presence, continuing the routine for another five minutes before breathlessly asking me to join him.

For the next three hours Ben teaches me advanced lightsaber techniques and how to anticipate your opponent's next move. He doesn't allow me to use his lightsaber, so I use a short staff with equal weight. When we take a break for food and water, he goes straight to his ship without a word. I go to my dwelling, retrieve my refreshments, and come back outside. I eat while listening to the indigenous bird-like creatures play a symphony with their strange, elongated beaks—a comforting lullaby.

After the break, Ben returns and begins 
to teach me a new fighting routine. He calls it Kalite-Duram.

Kalite-Duram is slower and very fluid. I am nowhere near as graceful as Ben and repeatedly stumble during some of the more complicated moves.  During my fifth attempt at a certain form, I completely lose my balance and begin to fall. Ben catches me with both of his hands on either side of my waist. At the shock of his touch, I stiffen as does he. He feels it, but does not remove his support. Instead, he guides me through the move with his hands firmly planted on my waist.

Leaning over my shoulder, his warm breath blows across my neck. My flesh erupts in goosebumps and I feel certain he notices. I can barely concentrate on breathing, let alone a complicated fighting move.

What is wrong with me? I can feel something warm unfurling in my belly, a foreign feeling. I am keenly aware of the heat his body is giving off. Has he moved closer to me?

Kalite-Duram lessons end ten minutes later. "That's enough for today," Ben states abruptly, walks away, and disappears inside his ship leaving me to feel like a failure.

I have only a couple of dreams tonight, but one leaves my cheeks burning. I also have that dream again where I awake thinking, for just an instant, Ben is sitting on the end of my bed.

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Day Two starts much the same as the first, with me waking to Ben outside practicing his lightsaber routine. But, when I approach, he switches off his lightsaber and states, "We are going to work on using the Force for mind probing."

A shiver races down my spine at the thought, remembering our first true encounter on his ship and his attempt to extract the map to Luke Skywalker from my brain. The feeling of being violated remains at the forefront of my memory. I also recall being able to get a peek inside of Kylo Ren's mind and then being able to push him out altogether.

Do I really want to willingly practice this with him? 

I become suspicious that maybe he will use this as an opportunity to extract the location of the latest Resistance base from me or worse yet, their plan to kill him and his entire military command staff three days from now.

"No," I state simply.

Tilting his head to the side, he looks at me curiously, but doesn't ask why.