A Seam Within the Galaxy • Kylo Ren

Ch.17

I gather to my feet after rolling over my shoulder, dodging a quick fist stemming from Commander Ren. I manage to focus on him as quickly as I can, shoving him away from me, all praise to the force. He snickers as he repositions his footing, going to move forward and then realizing he cannot, as I have frozen him solid. The look on his face is quite devastatingly handsome, but I move too quickly to take it in for any enjoyment. Within an instant, I summon a wooden staff closest to me, flinging through the air for me to grasp. I swing as quickly as I can manage and turn the staff to him, pointed directly at his neck as he is nothing but a solid mass before me.

"You're dead." I muse, wiggling my brow at him. He gives me a mere grin before I hear the shelving units on the walls behind me rustling. Before I know it, a second wooden staff sweeps my weight out from underneath me. I promptly slip and fall, my legs flying into the air. Before I am able to hit the ground, Commander Ren suspends me in the air about an inch off. I release my force hold on him, as he does the same for me, I gently thud against the tiled floor with a huff.

"We're both dead." He jokes as his teeth peak through his lips for a smile, letting out a tired sigh. I stay on my spot on the floor, panting as the sweat from my forehead beads down across the side of my face. The Commander maneuvers to the side, kicking my water bottle closer to me, to which I grab and hastily drink from.

He chose to sit down on the ground next to me as he finishes his water, his eyes scanning over the mess we had made of the training room. Weights scattered about, different staffs and stuffed practice dummies laying on their sides. A few weapons driven into targets, with some rogue knives hanging from the ceiling. This was probably the fourth or fifth week of training with him, pretty much every day, if not every other day to rest. We had become better acquainted, feeling as if I could say we had become friends. There was no tension between us, we both wanted the same thing. It was obvious he wanted me to learn properly.

Compared to our first training session, with the young child from Ithor, things weren't as awkward either. I didn't feel a strain when we were in each other's personal space as we trained, often I felt the pull between us and used it to my advantage, letting myself want to run toward him to fight, or to forcefully pull him closer so I could take a jab at him. I felt the same brimming in him too, how badly there was a need for us to get even closer. I knew training and constantly colliding our bodies made up for it to some extent, but the desire in the energy between us seemed to grow more and more each day we didn't give into it fully.

Neither of us had ever mentioned it either, simply knowing it was there and choosing not to comment. There were times within sessions that we nearly brushed lips having become so close, we happened to be so wrapped up in sparring that we didn't realize until we had stepped away. It was too strong, too tempting for either of us to run from it, but too fear-inducing to relinquish all our power to it.

It was distracting, the spark between him and I; guilty of letting myself get caught up in the moment while feeling the desire, entertaining it a bit too long. Only a few times had I felt the Commander pay it too much mind; one time in particular having entertained the pull so much that he ended the training session forty five minutes earlier than usual. It was obvious why he did, as we were making much progress, but I didn't think twice about his reasoning in fear of embarrassing him any further than he already was. As good as the terms we tread upon were, I feared ruining the progress we had made by pointing out the obvious. I didn't want to anger him, or make him resent me. Nothing was ever mentioned of it, and we certainly didn't feel confident enough to bring it up the next time we trained.

It was as if a giant Blurrg followed the two of us around while we were together. We saw it, and actively tried our best to ignore it.

I continue to pant, my chest and stomach rising and falling as I'm sure there is a puddle of sweat beneath me. I keep my eyes shut and slow my breaths, practicing a simple cool down meditation to gather myself together. He had taught me the importance of meditating, even if it consisted of drawing deep breaths from my diaphragm to slow myself down. I had a lot of knowledge under my belt thanks to him.