Star-Crossed

"Darkness rises, and light to meet it.

I warned my young apprentice that as he grew stronger,

his equal in the light would rise."

This fanfic will be a retelling of the movies. I love the relationship/chemistry between Kylo and Rey but hated how glossed over it was. I want to really explore their dynamic in-depth. I plan on plagiarizing (please don't report me, lol) the portions of the novelizations that focus on Kylo and Rey, and then expanding on them (like the movies, the novelizations aren't in-depth enough for my taste). I'll also be tweaking some of the existing scenes slightly, because I thought some things didn't make much sense (like Finn picking up a lightsaber one time and being able to hold his own against Kylo). I'll add in a few of my own original scenes as well, but nothing that will change the story too much, because I really like it the way that it is. Obviously I will change the ending so they get the HEA they deserve. I'll most likely go a bit beyond the ending as well, so we can see what life could have been like for a redeemed Ben Solo and Rey. I won't focus on the other characters too much, as it's mainly Reylo that I'm interested in. When there's a passage of time, just use the movies to fill in the blank of what happened. It'll end up rated M, but will definitely be a slow burn. Not really sure what the posting schedule will look like yet, I'll have to find my groove first and then let everyone know. But, I am pretty obsessive, so it should be updated fairly often. Any who, I hope this helps bring some peace to those still recovering from the heartbreak that was RoS, enjoy!

Chapter 1: He fell in love with her sometime between "what girl" and "forget the droid, we have what we need."

There he was, just at the periphery of her dream, as always. Rey watched as the masked figure extended a gloved hand towards her, beckoning her to come closer. Entranced, she took one hesitant step forward, and then another. She paused for a moment, shivering. If she closed her eyes, she could feel his presence in every fiber of her being, as if they were one entity. Smiling, she opened her eyes and reached towards him. Just as their hands touched, skin against cool leather, he vanished.

Rey awoke with a start. Sweat drenched the white linen shirt she wore and tangles of curly, dark hair stuck to her face. She'd had the dream again, she realized. Devastation cut through her, hard and fast. The sensation was so overwhelming, so powerful, that she gasped out loud. She could handle physical pain. Jakku was a harsh, unrelenting planet where thirst and hunger were a part of everyday life. As a scavenger, she was no stranger to broken bones and torn ligaments, which were commonplace in such a dangerous profession. It was the emotional pain that she hated having to endure. As if her parents abandoning her weren't enough, she had been plagued by dreams of a masked being who made her feel… whole. He called to her as she slept, promising a future where she wouldn't feel so painfully alone. Rey wanted nothing more than for the dream to continue, but as always, the figure would vanish just as quickly as he had appeared.

Frustrated, she balled up a corner of the sheets in her hand. If the dreams would just stop, she could live with how out of place she felt. She could handle the pain that came with being utterly, devastatingly alone in a galaxy full of other life forms. But the dreams had been increasing in frequency, to the point where she was sure they were close to driving her mad. If she were still on Jakku, and not aboard the Millennium Falcon, she would have done what she usually did after having the dream - run until she couldn't run anymore. One foot in front of the other, until her dinner threatened to make a reappearance. It wasn't until she was completely spent, until the physical pain outweighed the emotional pain, that she could put the dream behind her and move on. At least until the next day. With an agitated sigh, she threw off the covers and went to find Han, Chewie and Finn.

The great sweep of the external observation portal on the Star Destroyer Finalizer allowed anyone standing before it an uninterrupted view of the vastness of space. Suns and nebulae, mysteries and conundrums, all were laid out before the view. It was a view intended to awe and inspire, hence the presence of the portal where visual pickups and monitors would have sufficed just as well.

Kylo Ren regarded it in silence. He had been trained in contemplation, was skilled in deliberation, could remain meditating just so for hours at a time. But he was losing patience.

Approaching from behind, all Lieutenant Mitaka could see was a tall, caped figure silhouetted against the spray of stars. He did not look forward to having to make the report, but it was his responsibility and he had no choice. It wasn't the first time he had been compelled to deliver bad news to a superior officer. But Kylo Ren was different. Not precisely a superior officer but something else. At that moment, Mitaka would rather have been anywhere else in the civilized galaxy than alone in a room with Kylo Ren.

The caped figure did not turn. He did not have to. Mitaka knew Kylo was aware of his arrival as if he had watched him approach. He was tracking the lieutenant with something other than eyes.

"Something to report, Lieutenant? Or have you come, like myself, to marvel at this view?"

"Sir?"

A gloved hand rose to take in the sweep of light and energy arrayed before them.

"Look at it, Lieutenant. So much beauty among so much turmoil. In a way, we are but an infinitely smaller reflection of the same conflict. It is the task of the First Order to remove the disorder from our own existence, so that civilization may be returned to the stability that promotes progress. A stability that existed under the Empire, was reduced to anarchy by the Rebellion, was inherited in turn by the so-called Republic, and will be restored by us. Future historians will look upon this as the time when a strong hand brought the rule of law back to civilization."

Mitaka forbore mentioning that the Republics had developed their own codes of law. To do so would have been… indelicate, and he doubted that Kylo was in the mood for a political discussion of any kind. Standing at attention, he presented his brief report.

"Sir. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to acquire the BB-8 droid on Jakku."

Now Kylo did turn. Mitaka would have preferred it the other way. He always found it unsettling to have to gaze at the metal mask beneath the cowl.

"It was destroyed?" Do not tell me, Lieutenant, that the droid was destroyed."

Mitaka swallowed hard. "No, sir. At least, not as far as we are able to determine. Reports from the ground indicate –"

He was interrupted. "No aerial survey results?"

"Two TIE fighters accompanied the recovery party. Contact has been lost with both and it is assumed they encountered unforeseen difficulties."

Kylo sneered softly. "You equivocate like a senator. Go on."

"Reports from our troopers on the ground indicate that the droid escaped capture by taking flight aboard a stolen Corellian freighter, a YT model. An older craft but in the hands of a competent pilot, a capable one."

Atypically, a touch of uncertainty colored Kylo's response. "The droid… stole a freighter?"

"Not exactly, sir. Again, according to these preliminary reports, it had help." Mitaka was starting to sweat. "We have no confirmation, but brief glimpses by our troopers correlated with the location of an earlier crash site lead us to believe that the trooper FN-2187 may have been –"

He broke off as Kylo reached for the lightsaber at his belt, activated the weapon, and raised the intense red band high. Expecting a swift judgement, Mitaka closed his eyes and shrank back. The sound of screeching metal and breaking glass filled the observation portal, causing Mitaka to open his eyes again. Kylo was attacking the nearby console, the walls, the deck, ripping and slashing long lines of bleeding metal into the very fabric of the ship. His rage was terrible to behold. Mitaka strove to maintain perfectly still, to control his breathing, to become as invisible as possible lest he become nothing more than an inadvertent recipient of Ren's fury. Whether by chance or design, Ren spared him.

Shutting off the lightsaber, the taller man turned to the wretched bearer of bad news. He spoke calmly, as if his mad, destructive rampage had been nothing more than a brief interlude: an illusion.

"Anything else?"

At least the worst of the report has been delivered, Mitaka knew. And he was still standing alive. He allowed himself to relax ever so slightly.

"The two were accompanied and likely abetted in their flight by a third party, presumably a local. A girl."

Raising a gloved hand, Kylo pulled the startled lieutenant violently forward until his fingers were wrapped around Mitaka's neck. As the officer struggled to breath in the remorseless grasp, Kylo Ren's voice took on a timbre lower and more menacing than any the lieutenant had ever heard.

"What girl?"

For such a small droid, BB-8 was remarkably persistent. Kneeling beside him, Rey continued to argue.

"You have to go back, you're too important. They'll help you."

As she spoke, her words were nearly drowned out. She looked to the sky and her confusion quickly turned to horror as she saw a fleet of First Order ships headed towards the castle. The castle – where her friends still were. A sickening feeling rocked through her, settling in the pit of her stomach.

Without a moment's hesitation, she pushed herself to her feet and took off running, BB-8 hot on her heels. The forest around her became a blur, the various shades of green blurring together to form one blended hue. Run. The thought echoed across her mind and she did not allow herself to think of anything else. She concentrated on putting one foot in the front of the other, she was reduced to a mass of bones, muscles and ligaments, working together in perfect harmony to propel her forward. She ducked and twirled gracefully to avoid the protruding branches that seemed intent on gorging out her eyes and her feet barely made contact with the mossy carpet as she flitted across it, but her chest heaved with the effort and beads of perspiration trickled down her forehead as her lungs shrieked in protest.

Only when she reached the top of a slight incline and was afforded a view of the castle did she allow herself a moment to stop. Wide-eyed, she watched in horrid fascination as swooping TIE fighters let loose a fury of blasts and explosions that quickly began to reduce the stone walls, turning them to dust. She watched as a large tower toppled over, and prayed that somehow her friends had managed to flee the complex before the attack had begun in earnest.

"FN-417, hold position." Rey turned to find a stormtrooper in the distance, facing away from her. With shaky hands, she reached behind her back and fumbled with the blaster. After aiming it at the stormtrooper, she pulled the trigger. A moment of panic ensued when nothing happened, and then she remembered that the safety was on. Holding her breath, she released the safety and fired the weapon again. This time, a crimson beam of light flew out of the weapon, finding purchasing in a rock beside the stormtroopers head. Alerted to her presence, the stormtrooper spun around and returned fire. She ducked out of the way just in time as a tree beside her erupted in flames and splintered branches flew. Biting her lip in frustration, she focused her aim and pulled the trigger again. This time, the shot connected with the stormtroopers chest, sending him careening backwards until a sickening thud could be heard as his lifeless body hit the ground. She stared at her blaster in shock, as if someone else had been responsible for pulling the trigger.

Snap out of it, she thought to herself, at the same time BB-8 chirped loudly beside her.

Looking up, a red beam of light flew past her cheek so closely she could feel its warmth. Raising her blaster in the direction the attack had come from, she fired off multiple shots while simultaneously rushing back into the forest, under the cover of the trees.

Realizing just how close the First Order were to obtaining the map, Rey pleaded with the droid to leave.

"You have to keep going, stay out of sight, I'll try to fight them off."

BB-8, finally listening, spun around and took off. She breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as another tree erupted beside her. She reached instinctively for her face, shielding her eyes as bits of bark flew in all directions. Ducking, she ran deeper into the forest, imagining the searing hot pain of a blaster bullet finding purchase in her exposed back.

As the alien woods closed in around her, she jumped at every sound, glanced sharply at every wind-rustled branch and falling leaf. Holding tightly to the blaster, she tried to formulate a plan, but slowed down as she sensed something up ahead. Bringing her blaster up, she watched as a figure stepped out from behind a tree.

He was tall and cloaked entirely in black, his face hidden behind an ominous mask. In his hands he held a lightsaber unlike any she had ever heard of. Its beam was an intense, burning red like a controlled flame, and near the hilt, a pair of shorter beams shot outward, perpendicular to the main shaft. She felt the blood in her veins turn to ice.

Raising the blaster, she fired numerous shots at the figure, and watched in dismay as he deflected each shot with the lightsaber's beam effortlessly. Almost as if it were a game, she thought in terror as she continued to fire. Sparks flew as the lightsaber connected with the volley of blaster bullets, filling the woods with a smoky scent.

Her heart was pounding so loudly inside of her head, she couldn't hear anything else. With a sickening feeling, she realized that shooting at him wasn't going to work. More than that, she realized that he was, without a doubt, playing with her. She wasn't a threat to him at all. The image of a cat toying with a mouse filled her head. Stumbling backwards, she ducked behind a large rock and quickly scrambled up it, her fingers easily finding purchase in the dirt. The figure followed closely behind, the whirring sound of the lightsaber cutting through the pounding in her head. Turning around to face him again, she raised her blaster, although she knew it was in vain. She fired at him uselessly, her expression distraught. She hadn't imagined what her death would look like, or feel like. But if she had, it would not have been like this. Terror, pure and raw, threatened to overwhelm her and she wished fervently that she would slip into unconsciousness. She didn't want to be awake for whatever was going to happen next.

Growing tired of his game, the figure raised a gloved hand and held it toward her, palm outward. As she inhaled sharply, her hand froze on the blaster. She tried to turn, to run, but her legs refused to respond. She was frozen, immobilized against her will with invisible restraints. She could only stand there among the trees as he came toward her.

Shaking, she watched as he halted an arm's length away from her, studying her face from behind his mask. She said nothing as he walked slowly around her paralyzed body. Frightened, she tried to follow him with her eyes, but her head would not turn. Having circled her, he moved even closer, peering into her face, her eyes. She stared back at him, wondering what was beneath the metallic mask. Perhaps he was grotesquely mutilated, so hideous that the mask was a necessity.

"The girl I've heard so much about." He said finally, breaking the silence in the small clearing. His voice, while ominous, was not unpleasant.

She stared back at him, defiant.

Shutting down and belting his lightsaber, Kylo contemplated his immobile captive. He felt a strange pull towards her, something he hadn't felt before. After a moment, he reached up slowly, holding his hand inches from her face. The pressure he applied was not physical, but she felt it immediately. Pain exploded behind her closed eyes as she felt him violate her mind. A single tear slid down her cheek as she strained against the intrusion. Fighting him took so much effort, her breath started coming out in short, ragged gasps. If only she could get a hand free, or a leg – but no part of her body responded to her commands.

She was suddenly overcome with the urge to rip off his mask and hook her fingers into his eye sockets. It wasn't fair, the amount of pain and suffering that he was responsible for. He should have to pay for it, in blood.

"You would kill me. Knowing nothing about me." He murmured, sounding both impressed and surprised.

"Why wouldn't I kill you? I know about the First Order." She shot back, her words dripping in venom, despite her fear.

Ignoring her, he continued. "You've met the traitor who served under me. A minor annoyance grown larger than he deserves. You find him more than tolerable." He drew back slightly, bemused. "You've even begun to care for him. A weakness, such distractions."

She agonized as she stared back at him. Surely she hadn't thought of Finn! She'd tried to keep her mind blank, her memory locked, and still he had managed to sneak his way in. He was within her mind and her thoughts, and there was nothing – nothing! – she could do to keep him out. To resist him. But she kept trying, her muscles cramping with the effort. In the corners of her vision, she could see white dots.

Suddenly he put his face so close to hers that they were almost touching. "The map. You've seen it."

She could hardly swallow as she strained to pull away from him, anything to pull away, to get him out. She wanted to scream.

Nearby, explosions could be heard. He ceased his probing as he turned toward the now ruined castle.

Relieved of the mental intrusion, she sucked in great, long draughts of air.

A clutch of stormtroopers, breathing hard, came toward them through the trees.

"Sir," the leader gasped, his alarm and dismay evident, "Resistance fighters. We need more troops!"

Kylo considered. Though he was not technically in charge of battlefield decisions, no officer would attempt to overrule any decision he choose to make.

"Pull the division out. Forget the droid. We have what we need."

Before she could contemplate his words, the unconsciousness that she had wished so desperately for earlier came. Kylo caught the girl just as she collapsed.