~ 𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 ~ A Ben Solo/Kylo Ren Story

22.

Celeste couldn't stop thinking about the strange voice she'd heard, and the tiny thing that had come out of her ear. What did it all mean? Who was that woman she'd heard? Did that have anything to do with the strange memories that kept surfacing?

She hated that so much was happening all at the same time. She was lost and confused constantly nowadays. Had it really been nearly 3 months on the ship? Suddenly, as if on cue, her head started aching. She stumbled backward, sitting on her bed and holding her head in her hands, and as her eyes shut, a vision appeared before them. 

"Hi! I'm Rey. You must be the new recruit Leia was telling me about. I heard you're very skilled for someone with no training in the ways of the force," The brunette winked, smiling warmly as she held her hand out to shake. Celeste's hand shook it. 

"U-uh yeah! I'm Celeste Vega. I've heard so much about you," Celeste blushed, "I live on a tiny planet, but everyone there has heard of you and worships you. It's an honor." Rey grinned again.  

"You're cute! And you know Poe already, right? Went to flight school together, or so I've heard? He speaks very highly of you." Celeste flushed again. 

"Yeah, I've known him forever," She trailed off as she saw an older brunette woman approaching them both. 

"General," Rey said, bowing her head. 

"I see you've met Celeste. And I assume you've felt how powerful she is, of course," The general said, nodding back. 

"I have. I think she'll be a great addition to the team!" Rey smiled again, and suddenly the vision faded away, the image as fleeting as water in Celeste's cupped hands. 

~~~~~

"What was that?" She murmured to herself, as she opened her eyes. She checked the time, and though the vision had only been a minute or so, almost 3 hours had passed. Vega cursed loudly, now she'd be late for training! She had woken up about 2 hours early, so as to prepare to see Ren again, but now he'd be even angrier at her than he would have in the first place. She shivered at the thought. His metallic voice in that mask made her tremble when he was angry. 

She debated even going to training, maybe she'd say she was sick or something. But he'd be able to read her thoughts. She braced herself for his anger as she pushed open the door to the training room and found him sitting on the floor, sharpening a knife. 

"H-hi. I'm really sorr-" She started timidly. He rose in an instant and she flinched.

"What happened? Are you hurt? Did something happen? I didn't want to intrude but I've been worri-" He cut himself off. The softness in his voice caught Celeste off guard. 

"I-I don't know what happened." She replied softly, deciding lying wouldn't be the smart thing to do. "I had some sort of vision. It only felt like a minute but when I snapped out of it, it had been nearly 3 hours..."

~~~~~

Kylo knew from experience that visions often didn't mean great things, in relation to the force. 

"What kind of vision? What happened?" He asked quickly, being careful to not raise his voice so as not to alarm her. Celeste recounted her vision.

"It was like watching a movie from a first-person perspective. I wasn't controlling my body but I was speaking, and they were calling me by my name. I know who Rey is, but only her name and what she's done, and I know Poe, we've been friends for a while-" A flash of jealously shot through Ren "-But I didn't know the older lady." 

"Well," Ren said carefully, "I will need some time to think about what it could be. It's always a possibility that is was simply a dream, but I tend to believe it is something more. Why don't we take the day off from training?" He suggested. Celeste's round eyes were full of uncertainty.

"What do you think is happening? What's wrong with me?" She asked softly, wrapping her arms around herself nervously. Oh, how he wished it was his arms wrapping around her comfortingly. 

"You're going to be fine," He said softly. 

"I promise." 

~~~~~

Later, in his chambers, Ren's mind raced. It stopped on the strange instance that had happened just when Celeste had gotten onto the ship. Hux. And how his mind was mysteriously blank for a few seconds. Ren had never understood why that had happened and had assumed that he had just dozed off on the job or something. But it was odd. A strange, blank space in his memory. He remembered an offhand comment that Celeste had made during training. She had said how she didn't even remember how she got on the ship, she just remembered being on the planet, living like she usually did, going to sleep, and when she woke up she was chained to a chair on the ship. She laughed about how calm she was about it, considering the situation. 

Maybe--just maybe, if he could find Hux's missing memories--he'd be able to get hers back to. He had to test it out on Hux first, obviously if anything bad were to happen it should happen to Hux. Ren had hurt her enough already, he didn't think he could stand to hurt her yet again. 

A/N: Hello! If you're enjoying this story so far, please consider leaving comments, votes, add it to your reading lists, or even follow me for more stories in the future. It really means the world to me, and I love seeing everyone's comments and thoughts! This story is currently under editing, and your support keeps me motivated to continue. If you like my writing style, be sure to be on the lookout for more, similar stories in the future! Thank you! :)

EDITED