Chapter Text
***USS Resistance, Lieutenant Commander Hux’s quarters, Stardate 52259.87***
Rey checks on Kylo later that evening. He’s all right, but she can’t help feeling guilty for being the cause of so much distress. When she enters Hux’s apartment again, she’s quite surprised to find Finn on the floor, cuddling a besotted Millicent while Kylo is resting on the couch.
“Hi,” she croaks, and the boys smile at her. “How are you feeling?”
“Better. Dr. Tico helped me, thank you for calling her. And Finn kept me company when she had to return to the infirmary for an emergency.”
“Weren’t you going to play Dom-jot with Rose tonight?” she asks to Finn.
“Yes, but several people got food poisoning. A replicator malfunctioned. I’ve been able to see a real cat instead, the Dom-jot table can wait,” he answers, scratching Millicent’s chin.
Kylo’s eyes are tired, and he lets a yawn escape his mouth. “I should cook for you two, and for Dr. Tico as well, without replicators. I promise you won’t get any kind of food poisoning from me.”
Finn gets on his feet. “You should think about resting, let’s talk about it tomorrow? Have a good night.”
Rey and Kylo are alone now, and she doesn’t know what to say anymore.
“I’ll go too.”
“No,” whispers Kylo. “Stay. Please.”
She sits on the couch, next to his feet. He’s wearing the black standard socks required with the Fleet uniform, and his feet look impossibly long. She barely restrains herself from touching them, keeping her hands in her lap instead.
I always feel the strangest of urges when I’m around him .
Millicent jumps on the couch too, finding a warm spot in Kylo’s arms. Kylo pets the cat, but his eyes are full of sorrow, and she perceives confusion coming from him.
“I think my father died because of me. I’m not sure, my memories of the accident feel hazy.”
Rey smiles at him, and takes his hand. It’s cold.
“Let’s change the subject? Today has been hard on you.”
“Talk to me?” Kylo asks, his eyes closed. “Your voice is soothing.”
She sighs. “I fear I won’t be good company tonight.”
“How so?” Kylo inquires.
“I’m worried. I tried to contact Ren earlier, but he didn’t answer my message. What if something bad happened?”
“You don’t have to disclose anything about them you don’t want to. I was an asshole. I shouldn’t have demanded anything from you.”
“But you’re not being an asshole anymore, are you?”
The cat purrs.
“Would you be able to tell if something happened to him?” Kylo asks.
Rey thinks about her dream. “I’m not really sure.”
“Are you close with Ren’s current host?”
Rey nods. “When I was fifteen, Ren visited me on Betazed. I used to live there with an old family friend, until he died later that year, so when Jacen found out about it, he came. I remembered their previous host, Ezra. I used to exchange messages and letters with him with such fondness and childish admiration. But when I saw Jacen for the first time, I’m pretty sure I fell in love on the spot. He was tall, with gorgeous hair and eyes, and a crooked nose.”
Kylo snorts.
”He convinced me to enlist. I was good at repairing ships using salvaged pieces, from when I lived on Camor V, and he knew it. I have great memories of the Academy, and we began to write each other again. But then he began traveling to the Gamma Quadrant for business, and the last time I heard from him, he told me he was too busy to maintain a steady correspondence. It’s been a few months, now.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
Rey laughs while shaking her head, and Kylo bursts out laughing with her.
“For your information, since I’m incapacitated, this doesn’t count as a date.” He winks. “Would you reconsider going out with me?”
***USS Resistance, Bar, Stardate 52261.54.***
Captain Organa is sitting in a secluded corner of the bar, alone as usual, but today her eyes lack their typical light. She fiddles with her untouched drink, and Rey has to draw her attention with a wave of her hand.
“Rey,” she snaps. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”
“Captain,” Rey greets the woman, detecting glimpses of deep guilt coming from her.
“Dr. Tico told me that my son had a panic attack yesterday evening, but you were there. Thank you for helping him.”
Rey shakes her head. “I didn’t. Finn and Rose helped him, I ran away.”
“But you alerted the infirmary,” Leia sighs deeply. “I feel that I failed him, Rey. Being a good mother, being simply a mother was never my priority. He happened and I wasn’t able to be there when he needed me the most. His father was absent as well. I’m trying so hard to rectify that, but everything I try to do to reach out to him only alienates him further.”
Rey bites her lips. Kylo’s relationship with his mother is complicated indeed: she knows they love each other, but they’re too proud and stubborn to simply listen, and ask for forgiveness. She sits at the table, taking Captain Organa’s hands in hers.
“I can’t say I fully understand what ails you both, since I grew up without parents, and I would gladly give one of my legs to go back in time and prevent our ship to crash on Camor V, and experience having a family. I wish I could help you, really, but I can’t do anything: it’s between you and Kylo. Leia, you have to talk to him.”
The Captain’s gaze is downcast, her hands are trembling, but Rey’s touch helps steady them.
“I love him so much, Rey, you have no idea,” she murmurs, a lonely tear crossing her tired face. “But I keep hurting him, and it’s not my intention, I swear.”
“Tell him. He needs to know he’s loved unconditionally. Because right now, he doesn’t.”
Leia nods, drying her face.
***USS Resistance, Ensign Ben Solo’s quarters, Stardate 52283.30.***
Rey falters when Kylo opens the door half naked, clearly just emerged from the shower, wearing only a loose pair of pants. Suddenly, she doesn’t know where to look anymore, the pale expanse of his chest almost occupying her whole field of vision, dark spots running down, until they disappear into the waistband of his pants. He’s stunning, and if he doesn’t cover himself, she knows she’s going to put her hands on him.
“Do you have something–a cowl or something you could put on?” she stutters.
He looks… huge. She already knows he’s a big man, but without a shirt on he looks even more imposing. He’s beautiful and broken, and he makes her head spin and her heart beat like mad. She shouldn’t like him so much, yet she does.
He smirks. “Make yourself at home.”
Bastard.
She sits on a small ottoman in front of the holographic fireplace. It’s the first time she’s entered Kylo’s apartment, and it’s definitely more decorated than Finn’s. There are weapons hanging on the wall, tasteful pottery, a couple of plants (again, with thorns). A small wooden horga'hn statue –the kind used to communicate one’s sexual availability on the planet Risa– is watching her from the table, but when Kylo returns, clothed this time, he moves it out of her view. Classy.
He sits on another ottoman, in front of her, puffing his cheeks out. “I had organized an outing at the hot springs of Vulcan, on Holodeck Three. But if you’re not comfortable with wearing a swimsuit around me, we can do something else.”
“What? No!” She squeals. “I–I just wasn’t expecting… that,” she concludes, pointing at his chest.
He laughs. “Hot springs it is, then.”
***USS Resistance, Holodeck 3, Stardate 52283.90.***
Rey’s delight when the square patterns of the Holodeck morph into one of the most beautiful landscapes of Vulcan is almost palpable, and it warms Kylo’s heart, making him forget about Ren. He knows that the symbiont could be missing, or even dead, right now, but all he can think about is her smile. What’s wrong with him? What would Admiral Snoke think of him? He would think that I’m weak for focusing on a woman instead of thinking about power and knowledge, even after… .
He can admit it to himself now.
Even after my father died because of me.
Rey takes his hand. “Let’s go, I can’t wait to take a dip in the hot water.”
He lets her guide him towards the hot springs. It would be nice to forget about symbionts and hosts for once and just… live. Rey turns around, smiling, and his heart skips a beat. They remove their clothes slowly, and she smiles upon seeing him shirtless again. Her skin is not unblemished as he had imagined, and he discovers that he likes that a lot, his eyes roaming over her small scars and stretch marks. The time seems to stop for a second or two: she is beautiful, radiant, free.
My polar opposite.
She squeals while dipping her toe in the hot water. How could he have thought for a second that she was uninteresting, boring, plain?
“Kylo, come in, it’s wonderful!”
He follows her into the water, and she takes both his hands, guiding him in the middle of the shallow pool.
This time, she’s the one initiating the kiss. “ We’re playing by my rules here, ” she said.
He’s surprised, but he doesn’t stop her, and longing floods his heart. He wishes that time would freeze, he wishes he hadn’t been born a half-Trill, he wishes there was no Ren to worry about. Her wet hands tangle with his hair, making him moan into her mouth. Her presence is exhilarating, she’s everywhere at once, her hands and lips the only things making him feel alive. He gulps when she caresses the markings on his face, he whimpers as she strokes his erection.
“Too much?” she asks, without removing her hand.
“Never,” he answers, lifting her up and carrying her out of the water.
***USS Resistance, Holodeck 3, Stardate 52284.06.***
Rey is currently kneeling between his legs, her beautiful lips nibbling at his foreskin. She looks at his cock like it’s a gift. No one had looked at any part of him like that before. He’s about to die. He killed his father, he cannot and does not deserve this. She engulfs him to the root in her incredible mouth, a wicked hand caressing his sensitive balls, and he has to stop her before the inevitable happens.
“I’m not going to last if you keep up like this,” he admits.
“Would it be a bad thing?” she retorts, removing her panties–but keeping her bra on.
The sight of the dark thatch of hair between her legs makes his head spin. Is this a dream? He reaches for her pussy but she swats his hand away, straddling him and grinding her already wet centre on his hard length. She’s soaked. This is torture, a delicious kind of torture.
“Is this all right?”
He can't help nodding, and whimpering, causing a wicked grin to bloom on her lips. She slowly impales herself on him, a hand on his chest while the other one grips his cock, lining it with her slit. She’s scorching hot, velvety, perfect. He’s sure his eyes are trying to roll back in his skull. She is the most perfect being in the Quadrant, and he’s a murderer.
“Stay with me,” she whispers in his mouth, while fucking him like he actually deserves it, biting his lips, eating him alive. He missed this sensation, the laughs, the smells, the human touch. Feeling bold–and hoping that his hands aren’t too cold for her, he moves the triangles of her bra, exposing her tiny, pebbled nipples, grabs her hips and fucks into her harder and faster, coming with a grunt. Too soon.
There, you ruined everything as usual.
Shut up , he seethes to the voice in his head that dangerously reminds him of Snoke, and rolls them over, opening her legs and diving for her centre. Her nether lips are pink and glistening under the artificial sun of the holodeck, and he noses at her downy hair before finally tasting her.
“Kylo,” she whispers.
But she’s smiling, like she doesn’t care that he came too soon, and greets his tongue with a moan full of pleasure. He licks her again, tongue prodding at her clit, and she comes when he nibbles delicately on it, the sounds she’s making almost enough to make him come again.
For once, he’s thankful to be alive.
***USS Resistance, Lieutenant Rey Kenobi’s quarters, Stardate 52285.35.***
That night, Rey dreams of Ren again. They’re swimming in the milky liquid, and they’re desperate, cries of pain echoing through the cave they’re in. They’re calling for her help, she can feel that, and it looks like the dream isn’t a dream anymore, but a vision: Ren is in a situation of high distress, possibly in danger, and she has to do something.
That leads her to knock on Kylo’s door at four in the morning. He’s disheveled from sleep, but comes at the door in a matter of seconds, and hugs her tightly.
“Rey, are you okay?” His worry for her is palpable, and it makes her anxiety spike.
They sit in front of the holographic fireplace again, like the last time she’d been in his apartment. The horga'hn statue is back on the table, but she doesn’t even have the energy to smile at it. But Kylo is here for her, and he’s waiting patiently for her to begin speaking, his eyes never leaving hers.
“Ren is in danger, for real. I can feel it. I’ve dreamt about them, and they were calling for me. They’re in pain, possibly their life is in jeopardy. Jacen isn’t answering my messages. Something happened.”
Kylo doesn’t question her visions. “How can I help?”
“I can try to contact them through the dream, see if they can send me their location somehow.”
“I will ask the Captain to interrupt the current mission, and we’ll look for Ren.”
Rey gulps, the urge to cry overwhelming. “Kylo, please. I don’t want to lose them.”
She extends her hand, and he meets it halfway, touching her rough skin delicately. This is somehow more intimate than having sex with him at the hot springs. She doesn’t even notice the tears running down her cheeks until he caresses her face, and she leans into his touch.
“You’re not alone,” he whispers.
“Neither are you.”
The kiss they share is soothing, the heat they feel for each other left for another time.
***USS Resistance, Captain’s Leia Organa quarters, Stardate 52285.72.***
Kylo leaves Rey in his bed, asleep now, and goes looking for his mother. It’s early, and he has to knock on the door to her private quarters. She answers, still in her sleeping gown, looking quite surprised to see him.
“Ben? What happened?”
He doesn’t even flinch at her using his old name. “Rey’s friend, Ren, is sending her disturbing visions. It looks like they’re in danger. They could be dying.”
“I’m so sorry to hear this. I’ll contact the Symbiosis Commission right now, see if they can do anything to help.”
“Mother,” pleads Kylo. “Please, don’t. Let me go without telling the Commission anything. This could be my only chance to get a symbiont.”
Leia hides her face behind her hands, and sighs. “I admit I can’t, or rather, I don’t want to understand this obsession of yours. I may be born a Trill, but I’m a Vulcan at heart. However you’re my only son and I love you, just tell me the right coordinates and my ship is yours.”
Kylo’s head spins, and his instinct tells him to squeeze the Captain against his chest, and never let her go. He does it. She’s so tiny, frail, and old that holding her almost hurts. How many years have passed since they embraced for the last time? Ten? Fifteen? Twenty? He can’t remember.
“Ben,” she sighs, tears already pooling at her eyes. “I’m so sorry I’ve never been a good mother to you. Could you ever forgive me?”
He smiles, but he doesn’t answer her question. “Thank you for listening, and for your help.”
“Just come back in one piece, please.”
“I’ll come back with an extra piece, if all goes well,” he murmurs, rocking Leia between his arms.
***USS Resistance, Holodeck 2, Stardate 52292.36.***
After a couple precious days, Ren is finally able to broadcast to Rey the right coordinates to find them; not in a dream, but during her daily Klingon Calisthenics routine. Luckily, Rose is with her, so she catches Rey right before she can fall and injure herself, having blacked out from the sheer force of the visions that keep flashing in front of her eyes. She sees unfamiliar faces of Trills: happy people, sad people, dead people.
It’s like Ren opened a channel to communicate telepathically with her through the space and the time, sending out a loud distress call across the universe. She sees Ashoka, her eyes lifeless. She sees Ezra, his skin burned, almost unrecognizable. She sees Jacen, unmoving, a rivulet of blood coming out of his mouth. She sees a wrinkled, pale Trill, trembling and crawling on a dirty floor. Ren cries, seeking her help, desperate. It looks like these are the last hours for their host. Luckily, they seem to be stuck in the Orellius System, not too far from where the USS Resistance is currently located.
“Jacen is dead,” croaks Rey. “Ren has another host, old and frail, and they never consented to be transferred. We have to hurry.”
***USS Resistance, Shuttlebay 1, Stardate 52294.08.***
Kylo, Rose, Finn and a distraught Rey are waiting for the Captain’s permission to take off and finally reach the dying symbiont, stranded on the only M-class planet of the Orellius System. As promised, Leia grants them passage, and a shuttle with four seats. Finn is the one behind the controls, while Rey is next to him, nursing a debilitating headache, spawned by Ren’s feeble stream of consciousness. Kylo is fussing behind her, and Rose is busy preparing a portable stretcher and two bags of medical supplies, in order to transfer Ren to his new host.
“Have you ever operated on a Trill?” Finn asks Rose, breaking the tense silence.
“No, this would be a first for me. My field of expertise are ex-Borgs.” she winks.
“What are you two talking about?” Rey asks, her eyes barely open.
Kylo takes her hand, squeezing it. “Ren needs a new host, and I’m the only Trill on board.”
“So, you’ll finally get what you were looking for.” Rey snaps.
The bond with Ren is preventing her from perceiving Kylo’s intentions and feelings, but the wounded look on his face is there for anyone to see. She didn’t intend to hurt him with her harsh comment, but she lacks the energy to soften her words right now.
“I won’t lie. But I’m here to help your friend too,” he murmurs.
Rey chastises herself. She knows that her lover isn’t focused solely on Ren anymore. He’s changing, trying to be a better person not only for the symbiont, but for himself too.
Worry quickly replaces anger. “You’re not even a full Trill, if they reject you, you’ll die!”
“Do you have another solution?” Kylo’s frustration is so strong that it floods her, bypassing her unease.
“We should have called the Symbiosis Commission.”
“Ren is dying right now, calling the Commission would only be a waste of time. I won’t budge. I’m sorry.”
Rey starts crying silently. “I don’t want to lose them. I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t. I promise.”
***Orellius System, SS Santa Maria wreckage, Stardate 52295.40.***
Rey is tired, the mental connection is draining her energy. When her steps falter upon exiting the shuttle, Kylo is right behind her, crouching and lifting her into his arms.
“Thank you,” she smiles. “It’s right in front of us, inside that abandoned ship.”
He squints his eyes. “You’re right, that’s a Erewon Class ship, I mistook it for a rock covered by grass.”
Finn and Rose unload a stretcher and other medical equipment. They walk to the old wreckage, now covered by wild vines, its roof collapsed under the merciless attack of the local wildlife.
“They’re down there!” Rey is getting antsy, and Kylo releases her from his arms. She descends a flight of stairs, and he has to stop for a moment to help Rose with her bags. When they reach the end of the stairs, he almost feels his knees give out from under him: there are two bodies in the room. Rey is crying, cradling the green haired head of the corpse that surely belonged to Jacen Ren, a puddle of dried blood spread on the dirty floor. The other body is Admiral Snoke, and Kylo almost has to excuse himself, the acrid taste of bile pooling in the back of his throat.
I should have guessed that he was involved in this mess.
That explains Snoke’s silence during the last year. After Kylo’s last failure on the USS Finalizer, he’d decided to take the matter in his own hands, looking for Jacen Ren himself instead. But something had gone horribly wrong.
I killed Han for nothing, then?
He approaches Snoke’s prone figure, noticing how his badly-stitched stomach pulses under the symbiont’s distress. Rose is already there, analyzing the ghastly figure with her tricorder.
“My child,” Snoke croaks. “Ren is rejecting me. You’ll have to bring me to the nearest hospital.”
Kylo’s cold stare stops on the pitiful scene in front of him. His once fearsome mentor is now crawling on the floor, after having gone behind his back to kidnap Ren. His ears are ringing and his inside burn with anger.
“Can you tell me,” Kylo spits. “Can you tell me why this symbiont is so important for you?”
“Ren’s first host was a powerful Trill. His name was Plagueis. He knew how to obtain immortality, but I can’t access his memories. Ren won’t let me.”
Kylo is seeing dark spots in the corner of his vision. “You made me kill my father so I could become a host, and yet here you are, willing to perform surgery on yourself nonetheless!”
“You didn’t kill anyone, my child, you’re too weak even for that. I organized the accident to make you forget your human side, but you ruined everything as usual, feeling guilty instead of proud.”
Kylo begins having difficulty breathing. “Who’s this Plagueis? What does my grandfather has to do with all of this?” he shouts, as Finn puts a hand on his shoulder, trying to soothe him.
“I needed to motivate you somehow, to give you a purpose. You were weak, and uninterested in being joined. You were my only means to obtain Ren for myself. And yet, you failed as usual. Look what you’ve made me do.”
Kylo is crying, completely out of himself. His breathing becomes shallow, but he thankfully loses consciousness before having another panic attack.
***Orellius System, SS Santa Maria wreckage, Stardate 52295.44.***
Rey watches in horror as Rose has to intervene on Kylo, swiftly injecting a sedative in his neck. She runs to him, cradling his limp body like she cradled Jacen’s dead one. His cheekbones are streaked with tears, and she dries his face with her sleeve, cupping his head, caressing his hair. So, Snoke was the one to kill Kylo’s father. Her skin crawls.
Was the accident a ruse to hide everything, then? Did Snoke meddle with Hux’s computer too?
The fact that Ren is now inside that creepy, old man makes her want to throw up.
“I’m sorry, but your vital system is failing” Rose tells Snoke. “We have to transfer the symbiont as soon as possible. We can’t save you, but I’m sure that being a Trill you’ll understand that Ren has the priority here.”
The old Admiral is mumbling, too feeble to talk.
There is no time to return to the shuttle, and Rey helps Finn position Kylo on the stretcher while Rose injects Snoke with an anesthetic and cleans the still-fresh wound on his abdomen with a disinfectant solution. Everything happens in a haze, Finn and Rose are exchanging words, quickly working on the two prone men, but she can’t hear what they say, her ears ringing too loudly to permit her to concentrate on the surgery.
What if Ren rejects Kylo too?
She doesn’t want to lose him. He’s an asshole. He’s plagued by his own demons. He fell in love with her, she knows. Somehow, she just knows. And she has feelings for him too. New, terrifying feelings that make her knees tremble and her heart beat so fast that she thinks she’s dying too. The thought of their last night together, when she slept between his arms, makes her heart soar. She takes his limp hand between hers, wishing she at least had the Prophets to pray to, as Rose does.
“Kylo’s iso-boramine level is regular,” states Rose, checking on him with her tricorder. “We can proceed.”
She opens Kylo’s abdomen with a scalpel, while Finn–a bit clumsily–cuts Snoke’s stitches; Rey can’t help but stare, the surgery horrific and fascinating at the same time.
“Here we are,” Rose announces. “Say hello to your friend, Rey!”
Seeing Ren for the first time outside of a host is slightly underwhelming.
“You’re… a worm?” she can’t help whispering, and everybody laughs nervously.
“Come on, let me insert the symbiont, we’re almost finished here.”
Ren slides smoothly into Kylo’s abdomen, already knowing where to go, and Rose proceeds to close the wound. Now they’ll have to wait three or four days to see if Ren will accept Kylo. Snoke, now a corpse, watches them from his corner, his tongue lolling limply out of his mouth.
Rey shivers at the sight of it.
***USS Resistance, Infirmary, Stardate 52305.34.***
Kylo can perceive Ren’s presence even before waking up. He feels different, yet the same as always. His two brains have dreamed for ninety-three hours straight, memories of Ren’s past hosts mingling with his own. It’s like a thousand generations of Trills live in him now. He’s one with Ren.
Yet, the first word he utters, before opening his eyes is “Rey”.
“I’m here,” a sleepy voice answers.
He squints, and she’s there, next to his infirmary bed. Her hair is disheveled, her eyes are puffy and red from the lack of sleep, and she’s beautiful as always.
“Should I say it?” he asks.
“Say it, please. It’s a tradition.”
He clears his voice. “Don’t worry, little one. You’re safe now.”
Rey hugs him, her voice broken. “I missed you so much.”
He laughs. “Who did you miss more? Ren, or me?”
He begins caressing her hair. She’s crying and smiling at the same time, and he wants to kiss her forever.
“Both. What should I call you now?”
“Kylo Ren doesn’t sound too bad,” he answers, drying her tears.
She laughs. “Well, I refuse to call you Ben Ren.”
He laughs with her. “Kylo Ren it is, then.”
***USS Resistance, Lieutenant Commander Hux’s quarters, Stardate 52342.25.***
Kylo is surrounded by friends. He’s definitely not used to it, but Ren is, so everything is going to be okay in the end. Almost two weeks since the joining with the symbiont, they’re in Hux’s quarters, sitting in a circle on the floor like they’re still cadets, playing “Never have I ever” and drinking black hole cocktails. Unfortunately, Millicent is hiding from the crowd, probably under the bed, and Finn is quite sad about that: he loves the orange beast so much that Kylo is plotting to bring another rescue on board for his new –his first– friend.
Hux sounds more excited than usual tonight. He sips from his glass, then says “Never have I ever gotten into a fight with First Officer Dameron!”
Rose and Kylo drink. That happened more than once actually: Dameron knows how to grate on one’s nerves. Everyone laughs, all this happiness is making his head spin.
“Never have I ever…” Rose begins. “Had green hair.”
Kylo drinks, alone. Jacen had green hair. Maybe this is not the right game for him, having lived so many lives, retaining centuries of memories inside himself.
It’s Finn’s turn. “Never have I ever… been on Camor V.”
Kylo drinks again, followed by Rey. The questions seem suspiciously aimed at him now, and he begins to pout.
Rey winks at him. “Never have I ever known the secret to immortality!”
“Oh, come on!” Kylo exclaims. “That was a ruse, and Snoke fell for it. Every Trill knows that the secret to immortality is getting a symbiont.” That had hurt so much, knowing that the old admiral had played on his insecurities and Han had died for nothing. But he can’t do anything to change that now, and decided to let the past die. He’s a new person now.
“You have to drink, come on, buddy.” Finn pats his shoulder, and Kylo squeezes his hand.
“No, I’m tired. I’m going to bed. Is anyone coming with me?” he says, winking at Rey.
Everyone howls, and she blushes. He loves teasing her. Without meeting anyone’s eyes, she gets on her feet, taking his hand, and they exit Hux’s quarters. She’s tipsy, and chatty. He can’t wait to see her mouth otherwise occupied, and he kisses her deeply. She bites his lower lip, smiling.
“I never asked you if Jacen knew I had a crush on him,” she laughs.
“He definitely noticed, but he thought you were too young for him.”
“Luckily. We couldn’t be together, if I’d been with him. Stupid Trill laws and everything.”
He winks. “How does it work now, should I be jealous of myself?”
Rey laughs, and he kisses her again.
He’s ready to live ten thousands lives now.