Let the Light In

Chapter 23: Kismet

Chapter 23: Kismet

Guilt seemed to be a constant in Kylo's daily life of late.

Well, ever since she came back into it.

Her dream, however, if it was unsettling to her it was doubly so to him. As much as he had tried, he could not turn his mind away from her for long. Especially not when she was virtually screaming the thoughts and images across the bond, as erratic as her falling-asleep had been. Again, he had bled out in her nightmare, and it confounded Kylo as to why the Force would plague her with this specific imagery. More so, he could not fathom as to why it distressed her so.

This time he had bled out in her arms, and Kylo could watch no more as her gut-wrenching cries had echoes across the Force. Just after he cringed away, her torment yanked her out of her own dream, and Kylo immediately closed off his mind with the only weak block he could muster.

Those thoughts beleaguered Kylo for most of the morning, and his mind was constantly tossed between utter confusion and complete denial. Whichever way he thought about it, it made no sense to him. One thing was certain, though, and that was Kylo needed to better barricade his own mind.

Her will was simply too strong, and she would unwittingly break him before he ever amassed the courage to twist her.

It had happened again mid-session, and at first, Kylo had thought nothing of the storm raging just on the fringes of his mind.

Then, the semi-tame storm had turned into a cacophonous squall, and the barrage against his meagre mental block had proven too much.

Rey did not know it, but Kylo had felt everything as she wrung the life out of those two grunts, and she had enjoyed it. He, on the other hand, not so much. Being inundated with such raw energy- the pure rush that came with learning a new skill- it had left him breathless and vulnerable.

Kylo had dragged himself back to his chambers riddled with new wounds, all of them in stark contrast to the silver scar over his shoulder.

That scar.

Kylo hoped that Snoke would either overlook it or assume him healed on his own. It had been so long, in all likelihood the Supreme Leader would not care any longer. His robes had always hidden the injury. They would continue to hide the scar. The less Kylo saw it himself, the better at any rate. He did not need a constant knot in his throat every time he remembered all she had done for him, and the healed wound only amplified the feeling that was already there.

Now, she had started discovering Dark powers all on her own, and Kylo was in two minds about it.

He had never truly intended to show her Lightning nor Choke. They were essentially gateways to the much crueller side of the Force, and Kylo did not particularly wish to see her fall so.

Then again, the only way he was going to save her at all would be to make her fall. Kylo should have been happy, really. Happy that the taste of Lightning he had given her had spurned her into discovering Choke on her own, happy that she was embracing all that the Force had to offer, and it would undoubtedly lead her to the Dark Side. He should have been pleased.

Instead, he felt rattled. Perhaps even a little scared.

Not scared of her, oh no. He could never be scared of her. She could have him on his knees with her saber at his neck and he would still be in awe of her rather than afraid.

Kylo was scared for her.

His fitful musings were interrupted by his door being opened. Kylo whirled around, expecting an Elite, but meeting the grizzled yet cunning face of one of his oldest fellow Knights instead. His Second, in fact. Banor. The man still carried that gruesome mace.