For genprompt_bingo
Dec. 29th, 2020 07:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofleithianTitle: Fireside Chats
Summary: What compelled Rey to start trusting Kylo on Ach-To?
Prompt: Wild Card — Episode Tags and Missing Scenes
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Disappointment. Humiliation. That was the best thing Rey could feel after stumbling out of the Mirror Cave, thwarted and cheated — and seeing Kylo’s apparition, she felt her already sour mood sour further.
“Oh, it’s you,” Rey said, stiffly. She wasn’t about to give in right now, even with the crushing weight of disappointment over simply not knowing what happened to her parents. She had hoped that she could find out about them, figure out what happened to them. And the gaps...they were there, like loose or missing teeth, nagging at her and tormenting her.
“Not even so much as a ‘hello’?” Kylo said. “I suppose I should be used to it now.” Then, “You changed your hair. And you’re wet. What happened to you down there?”
“None of your business, that’s what." Even setting up the wood to make a fire, Rey wished, absently, that Finn was here. That anyone was here. Master Skywalker inexplicably hated her. She was bound, all but chained to, a man who had tortured her and injured Finn.
“It’s strange,” Kylo said. “This bond, whatever it is — it seems to not show me your surroundings, but I can see pieces. You’re dripping, cold...and you’re building a fire. So...did you fall into a lake somewhere?”
“I’m not telling you where I am.” Then, “Don’t you have anything better to do then annoy me?”
“The Supreme Leader is — ” Kylo cut himself off abruptly in that moment. Rey could see snippets, though, of Snoke bellowing at Kylo; a terrible, scarred, possibly humanoid figure. The gold robe would have made the situation almost comical if Snoke didn’t just seem so angry.
(Now that she thought about it, she had felt like electric shocks were traveling up her body at one point. Like she’d been submerged in molten carbonite)
“Force Lightning,” Kylo said. “Don’t look like that; he said his master was far worse to him. It’s the way of the Dark Side. The Force is pain, the Force is focus, after all. The Force is what distinguishes the weak from the strong.”
“I don’t believe that,” Rey said. “And...” She paused. The way Snoke had been yelling at Kylo, humiliating him, putting him down...it reminded her uncomfortably of another girl. And Plutt. True, Plutt wasn’t a ruler of any sort, but he had had control over her. How much she could eat.
“What, exactly?” Kylo said.
“You didn’t deserve that,” Rey said. “No one does.”
“You know from experience, don’t you?" Kylo said. “Oh, you do.” A beat. “That...creature in your memories. Who was he?”
“Was torturing me not enough?”
Kylo did wince. Then, “I never liked the torture,” he said. “The one I most regret was a man. You saw him in my memories. He...” A beat. “It was before you. I had no desire to torture him. When I first tortured someone, I threw up afterwards, but after a while, I managed. You get used to it. Conditioned for it. But this man..."
“He meant something to you,” Rey said. She couldn’t imagine anyone meaning anything to Kylo. Or maybe those who meant something to him he just found ways to hurt. She thought of Han, tumbling into the abyss on Starkiller Base. After he had touched Kylo’s face, inexplicably...
“Kylo Ren,” Rey said, “Do you just find ways to hurt the ones you love? You say you didn’t hate your father...but you never told me why you killed him.”
Kylo looked down. He looked, unexpectedly, vulnerable and alone. Then, “I did it to be stronger.”
Rey scoffed. “Truly a flawless reason for killing your own father. If my own father came back for me...”
"He threw you away like garbage.”
“This, again?” she said.
Kylo sighed. "I’m trying to tell you the truth.”
“How would killing your own father make you stronger?”
“It’s how the Dark Side works.” A beat. “I had an extensive education. ‘He will strengthen himself through sacrifice. He will immortalize his love.’ That was...well, that was how it was supposed to work. At least.”
Rey bit her lip. She was still angry with him. She tried to force herself to remember Han being impaled before her eyes and how it had felt like losing another father figure, but she remembered what Kylo had mentioned.
He will strengthen himself through sacrifice. He will immortalize his love.
And Kylo hadn’t even managed to do that. He’d been emotionally frayed enough and injured enough for her to beat him on the Starkiller planet. For Finn to hold firm enough. A novice to the Force and a non-Force-Sensitive.
It struck Rey that she really did, despite herself, feel compassion for him.
Kylo had revealed so much. Like he was just desperate to talk to someone, anyone at all.
She knew the feeling.
“I tried to find out what happened to my parents,” Rey said.
Kylo sighed. “The definition of insanity right there, scavenger. Besides...just because you have parents doesn’t mean they’re essentially gods.”
Rey got the fire going after some work. Pulled up a blanket as she sat down, soaking and cold.
Kylo continued. “You think they swam there?”
“No. There was a cave,” Rey said. “It was strong with the Dark Side. Luke...accused me of being drawn to the Dark Side when it first called to me.”
“Well, Skywalker’s an idiot,” Kylo said.
“It’s not his fault,” Rey said. “I mean...he’s just upset...”
“The Echani say that battle is a form of expression. Going by their logic...you're as far from the Dark Side as a Jedi in training can be.”
It shouldn’t have made Rey feel better. It did anyway. What kind of bizarre galaxy had she stepped into where Kylo was being kinder to her than Luke? Luke was supposed to mentor and support her. He didn’t, though. Not so far. He seemed to be using the lessons as an excuse to rant about how it was everyone’s fault but his for what happened to Kylo. Passing the scrap, as people on Jakku would say.
Rey told Kylo the rest of her story. From there, it just seemed too easy, like she was an open holobook. Because she needed someone. Anyone to listen to, in the dark where the fire lay.
Summary: What compelled Rey to start trusting Kylo on Ach-To?
Prompt: Wild Card — Episode Tags and Missing Scenes
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Disappointment. Humiliation. That was the best thing Rey could feel after stumbling out of the Mirror Cave, thwarted and cheated — and seeing Kylo’s apparition, she felt her already sour mood sour further.
“Oh, it’s you,” Rey said, stiffly. She wasn’t about to give in right now, even with the crushing weight of disappointment over simply not knowing what happened to her parents. She had hoped that she could find out about them, figure out what happened to them. And the gaps...they were there, like loose or missing teeth, nagging at her and tormenting her.
“Not even so much as a ‘hello’?” Kylo said. “I suppose I should be used to it now.” Then, “You changed your hair. And you’re wet. What happened to you down there?”
“None of your business, that’s what." Even setting up the wood to make a fire, Rey wished, absently, that Finn was here. That anyone was here. Master Skywalker inexplicably hated her. She was bound, all but chained to, a man who had tortured her and injured Finn.
“It’s strange,” Kylo said. “This bond, whatever it is — it seems to not show me your surroundings, but I can see pieces. You’re dripping, cold...and you’re building a fire. So...did you fall into a lake somewhere?”
“I’m not telling you where I am.” Then, “Don’t you have anything better to do then annoy me?”
“The Supreme Leader is — ” Kylo cut himself off abruptly in that moment. Rey could see snippets, though, of Snoke bellowing at Kylo; a terrible, scarred, possibly humanoid figure. The gold robe would have made the situation almost comical if Snoke didn’t just seem so angry.
(Now that she thought about it, she had felt like electric shocks were traveling up her body at one point. Like she’d been submerged in molten carbonite)
“Force Lightning,” Kylo said. “Don’t look like that; he said his master was far worse to him. It’s the way of the Dark Side. The Force is pain, the Force is focus, after all. The Force is what distinguishes the weak from the strong.”
“I don’t believe that,” Rey said. “And...” She paused. The way Snoke had been yelling at Kylo, humiliating him, putting him down...it reminded her uncomfortably of another girl. And Plutt. True, Plutt wasn’t a ruler of any sort, but he had had control over her. How much she could eat.
“What, exactly?” Kylo said.
“You didn’t deserve that,” Rey said. “No one does.”
“You know from experience, don’t you?" Kylo said. “Oh, you do.” A beat. “That...creature in your memories. Who was he?”
“Was torturing me not enough?”
Kylo did wince. Then, “I never liked the torture,” he said. “The one I most regret was a man. You saw him in my memories. He...” A beat. “It was before you. I had no desire to torture him. When I first tortured someone, I threw up afterwards, but after a while, I managed. You get used to it. Conditioned for it. But this man..."
“He meant something to you,” Rey said. She couldn’t imagine anyone meaning anything to Kylo. Or maybe those who meant something to him he just found ways to hurt. She thought of Han, tumbling into the abyss on Starkiller Base. After he had touched Kylo’s face, inexplicably...
“Kylo Ren,” Rey said, “Do you just find ways to hurt the ones you love? You say you didn’t hate your father...but you never told me why you killed him.”
Kylo looked down. He looked, unexpectedly, vulnerable and alone. Then, “I did it to be stronger.”
Rey scoffed. “Truly a flawless reason for killing your own father. If my own father came back for me...”
"He threw you away like garbage.”
“This, again?” she said.
Kylo sighed. "I’m trying to tell you the truth.”
“How would killing your own father make you stronger?”
“It’s how the Dark Side works.” A beat. “I had an extensive education. ‘He will strengthen himself through sacrifice. He will immortalize his love.’ That was...well, that was how it was supposed to work. At least.”
Rey bit her lip. She was still angry with him. She tried to force herself to remember Han being impaled before her eyes and how it had felt like losing another father figure, but she remembered what Kylo had mentioned.
He will strengthen himself through sacrifice. He will immortalize his love.
And Kylo hadn’t even managed to do that. He’d been emotionally frayed enough and injured enough for her to beat him on the Starkiller planet. For Finn to hold firm enough. A novice to the Force and a non-Force-Sensitive.
It struck Rey that she really did, despite herself, feel compassion for him.
Kylo had revealed so much. Like he was just desperate to talk to someone, anyone at all.
She knew the feeling.
“I tried to find out what happened to my parents,” Rey said.
Kylo sighed. “The definition of insanity right there, scavenger. Besides...just because you have parents doesn’t mean they’re essentially gods.”
Rey got the fire going after some work. Pulled up a blanket as she sat down, soaking and cold.
Kylo continued. “You think they swam there?”
“No. There was a cave,” Rey said. “It was strong with the Dark Side. Luke...accused me of being drawn to the Dark Side when it first called to me.”
“Well, Skywalker’s an idiot,” Kylo said.
“It’s not his fault,” Rey said. “I mean...he’s just upset...”
“The Echani say that battle is a form of expression. Going by their logic...you're as far from the Dark Side as a Jedi in training can be.”
It shouldn’t have made Rey feel better. It did anyway. What kind of bizarre galaxy had she stepped into where Kylo was being kinder to her than Luke? Luke was supposed to mentor and support her. He didn’t, though. Not so far. He seemed to be using the lessons as an excuse to rant about how it was everyone’s fault but his for what happened to Kylo. Passing the scrap, as people on Jakku would say.
Rey told Kylo the rest of her story. From there, it just seemed too easy, like she was an open holobook. Because she needed someone. Anyone to listen to, in the dark where the fire lay.
