Star Wars- In another Life.

Chapter 18- Paasana

Commander Poe Dameron sat at the Dejarik table on board the Millennium Falcon, arms crossed tight against his chest, staring grimly at the murderer opposite him- Kylo Ren. He'd watched this man kill innocents on Tuanul, including Leia's friend, the old gatherer Lor San Tekka. Poe didn't care that Kylo was General Organa's long-lost son and intended to make his feelings on the matter plain. He wished he could be in the cockpit flying with Chewbacca and General Solo, but there were enough pilots on this ship currently, including the villain before him who once had been his childhood playmate; maybe that was why the tension within the main hold was so palpable. Rey was sitting silently with them, her gaze shifting from one to the other. Poe would've liked to get to know the girl from Jakku who'd helped him better, but he had no intention of taking his eyes off his enemy. Kylo, however, seemed utterly absorbed in the cracked chair in which Poe sat.

"If you have something to say, Dameron," Kylo purred before turning to sneer at him. It wasn't a question, nor a statement, merely an offering. Poe leaned forward, accepting the invitation, keeping his hands tightly crossed.

"I don't trust you. I saw you on Jakku, in the village. I saw what you did, and I know what you are. You're a cold-blooded killer, and you do not deserve their trust, help, or forgiveness." 

Poe wasn't merely referring to the Resistance. He referred to Leia, Han and the girl who'd innocently been swept into a complicated family divide but who treated Kylo as though he had morals and a conscience; Poe knew better.

Kylo nodded, moving his mouth as if considering, "That's fair. Anything else?" he asked, head cocked slightly.

Poe sat back, a little disappointed not to get a more significant reaction. He really wanted an excuse to punch the criminal before him in the face.

"No, I'm done," Poe replied as he tried to keep his face and body language as antagonistic as possible.

Kylo nodded again, then stood without a word to Poe or Rey and stalked off towards the forward cargo holds. Rey watched Kylo go; she wanted to follow him, concerned by what she'd seen, but she lingered and turned to Poe.

"Did you know him before?" she asked.

He unfolded his arms, relaxing a little now that Kylo had vacated the area, "We played together a little as kids, but we weren't ever really friends."

"We were," Rey replied, and Poe looked at her surprised, "I've known him my whole life, through the Force. There's still light in him."

"You're wrong," Poe replied. Rey hadn't seen what happened on Jakku, how Kylo had mercilessly struck Lors down and slaughtered the villagers without a second thought. "Rey, you might think you know the man on board this ship with us, but you don't."

He watched Rey think, purse her lips and nod. 

"Maybe," she said as she swept her hair behind her ear, stood and walked after Kylo. 

Poe watched her leave. She had no idea what or who Kylo Ren was. He wouldn't follow her, but he'd make sure he'd help her if he could.

Rey found Ben sitting on the floor, head leaning back on the forward hold's curved wall, his arms resting on his raised knees.

"Ben?"

He didn't turn to look at her, just closed his eyes with an exasperated sigh, "Please stop calling me that." He opened his eyes and turned to her, and continued directly. "Ben Solo is dead, has been for a long time. There is only Kylo Ren now."

She sat beside him, legs crossed, looking at him candidly.
"You don't really believe that. I feel the conflict in you; it's tearing you apart. You can't return to the First Order, your Knights or your master now, just like I can't return to Jakku."