Hiraeth

Rendezvous

Special thanks to my beta-reader Chridder (from A03) for helping me out with this.

Special thanks to Darkangel4066 (from AO3) for making this book cover for me.

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Kylo Ren was livid. Worse than livid... he was down right murderous.

What was supposed to be a short trip to Coruscant regarding his marriage contract to Rey Kenobi went south pretty fast. War, interrogation, torture — these are challenges he can manage, challenges he lives for. But chit chat and sitting around? These things make his blood boil.

Two days after meeting with Tao, Rey and Ken, he was preparing to return to the Supremacy when he received a transmission from his master informing him he'd been relinquished of his duties until further notice so he could spend time with his betrothed.

A gift, his master said, to get to know her better before their marriage. A gift could be turned down, but Kylo knew better than that. Long years serving Snoke have taught him that regardless of the form it comes in — suggestion, advice, gift — anything his master says is to be taken as a demand. In Snoke's mind, a request is simply a delicately — worded order. Anything he asks, he expects to be done, no exceptions.

This supposed gift was just a thinly — veiled humiliation.

Kylo hated idleness and didn't have a clue how to talk to a woman, let alone spend leisure time with her. Yet a few hours after receiving the transmission, here he was, seated at a fancy restaurant in a wing reserved only for couples, hidden from prying eyes.

This was where he asked Rey to meet him, to let her know about his master's gift.

To say she was unhappy would be an understatement. As soon as he shared the news, she froze in shock. She stood still a moment, then took a water glass and threw the contents in his face... well, his mask. He had no intention of ever showing her his face.

Then she got up from the table and went outside to the balcony where she watched the lights of Coruscant while Kylo stayed behind. He never took his eyes off her, watching as she gazed at the city, dark clouds gathering in the sky. The rain started suddenly, heavy drops trickling down on her, but she remained still.

Kylo mind tricked a passing waiter into taking his black cloak and giving it to Rey, so she wouldn't get soaked to the bone.

He watched her reaction through the glass wall. She received the cloak graciously, exchanging a few short words with the waiter before he left in a daze. Then, she stood there, collecting herself. Based on her body language, Kylo could tell she wasn't pleased with his trick with the waiter.

Well, he didn't care. He only cared about not looking worse than he already did with the people of the First Order. His master and Tao Kenobi would berate him if he allowed his betrothed to get sick standing in the rain, and he could already imagine the gossip among the lowers officers about him neglecting his future wife. That won't do. He had a reputation to uphold.

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Rey stood on the rainy balcony, jumping when a shadow appeared beside her, covering her with a black cloak. She relaxed when she realized it was only a waiter and not Kylo Ren.

As the cloak shielded her from the rain, the waiter blinked, collecting his bearings, then looking at her with knitted brows. "How did I get here?" he asked no one in particular.

"You don't remember how you got here?" Rey asked worried.

"No. The last thing I remember, I was passing by a black figure in the private wing, then I found myself here." The waiter appeared dumfounded.