I'm on a dark planet, made entirely of burning lava and black mountains. It's a dream, yet I can feel the heat from the lava on my face and smell the burning everywhere. A flash of blue catches my eye and I look over to see two Jedi's fighting on the dark coals of a mountain side. One of them is dressed as a Jedi, the other in darker clothing. I sense he's a Sith Lord. I watch as he's overtaken by the Jedi Master, which surprises me, and lands onto the hot coals, his body igniting into flames. I look away, wanting to wake up but unable to.

Then I see a girl, dressed in a long dress. She's pregnant and boarding a spacecraft with a gold-coloured android.

"Ben," someone says from behind me. I turn to see the Jedi Master that was fighting the young Sith Lord who burst into flames. The Jedi Master has light coloured hair and a short beard. His eyes are a striking blue, like Hux's.

"Don't let him turn dark," he says to me.

"Who?"

"My grandson, Armitage."

"But..." Hux is already dark, not in the same was as a Force sensitive person would be dark, but he's not exactly a nice person. "He's not Force sensitive," I say instead.

"He must never find out, that in fact, he is." The Jedi's blue eyes stare intently into mine. "Protect him."

I wake with a headache. Hux is still in the chair, his eyes closed and his head resting to the side. I'm not sure what to think of the dream, but now I feel unsettled and I need to get out of the room. It's already an hour past wake time and I'm not sure if we were supposed to report anywhere this morning. I get out of bed and head for the washroom.

When I come out I find Hux still asleep in an uncomfortable looking position in the chair.

"Hux?" I push on his shoulder. "Hux, wake up."

He opens his eyes and looks up at me, squinting.

"It's morning," I say.

"Ow..." Hux rubs the back of his neck.

"Do you want to sleep in the bed for a bit?" I ask. "I'm going for breakfast."

Hux nods and gets up slowly. I feel rested enough after five hours of sleep, but I wasn't the one who had to sleep in a chair. Hux stumbles over to the bed and falls down onto it.

I open the doors and walk out, leaving him to sleep.

* * *

The mess hall is a lot busier than I thought it would be, considering it's already an hour after wake time. Food is laid out on tables at the back of the mess hall, in a buffet style, but I head for the food synthesizer instead.

"Where's Hux?" Phasma grabs my arm from behind.

I turn to look at her. "Good morning."

"Where's Hux?"

"In his room."

"Did you lock the door?"

"I don't know, why?"

"Five people were killed last night in the mess hall."

"What? When?"

"At around 04:30. People are saying it was you and Hux, that they saw you two there around that time. And now some of them want revenge."

"It wasn't us," I say. "But I left Hux in his room, sleeping."

"Did you lock it?"

* * *

The door to Hux's quarters swishes open and Phasma and I rush in. Hux is still in his bed sleeping. We breathe a sigh of relief and I will my heart to stop racing.

"We should check if he's okay, though," Phasma says, walking over to the bed.

"Don't wake him," I say, following her.

I look down at Hux. He's breathing and looks fine, and he also looks so vulnerable. Anyone could have walked in here and killed him, he's such a heavy sleeper.

"I didn't think the games would start until tonight," I whisper to Phasma.

She shrugs. "Well, the ones who are dead, are dead. So I guess they won't be in the games."

"I have to protect Hux," I whisper. "But I don't know if I can."

Phasma gives me a questioning look.

"Never mind," I say.

"Let's go out in the hall," she says. I nod and follow her out.

----

"The Red team?" Phasma asks, sitting beside me in the hall, leaning against Hux's door. I take another bite of the egg sandwich I got from the food synthesizer, while Phasma guarded Hux's door.

"Yeah, that's what Hux calls them. They're the biggest group," I tell her.

"I think I know who they are." Phasma fidgets with her phaser in her hand.

"I'd put that away before someone sees it," I mumble through a mouthful of egg sandwich. Phasma clips it back to her belt and sets her shirt over it.

"I can't believe you two just missed the death match in the mess hall last night, by like only a few minutes. I'm glad we've got our own food and water though. That was a great idea."

I nod, finishing off my sandwich and grabbing my drink.

"So now we're down to seventy players," Phasma continues. "And the Games officially start tonight. I know the rules are 'no hiding' but I really think we should hide out this first night."

"Phasma..."

"Yeah?"

I set my empty juice bottle aside, not sure how to say this. "Me and Hux, did we..."

Phasma waits for me to continue but I don't. I don't know how to ask her but she'd be the one to know the answer.

"You spent the night in his room last night," she says to me.

"Is that a question?"

"Sort of. Where did you sleep last night?"

"In Hux's room."

"In his bed?"

"Yeah."

"With Hux?"

"No I... Why would you ask that? Hux hates me."

Phasma rolls her eyes. "Maybe a bit, because you're his competition."

"No I'm not, he's stronger than me."

"In a way, but you have Force powers."

"Yeah, Force powers that haven't been working lately."

"You just have to focus."

"It's not that easy."

Phasma shrugs.

"Did anything happen between me and Hux?" I finally ask. "Is that why I had my memory erased? I know there was a lot of emotional stuff, I just don't know what it was about."

I hold my breath, waiting for Phasma's answer. When she doesn't reply I say, "but I'm not like that. I like girls, not guys. I don't understand-"

"Nothing happened between you two," Phasma says, not looking at me.

"Oh," I sigh. "Good. I didn't think so."

Phasma nods.

"Can I ask you something?" I say.

"Yep," she says, still not looking at me.

I rub my face with my hands. "Is it weird if I..."

"If you what?" Phasma looks at me now and I start fidgeting with the laces of my boots.

"If you what?" Phasma asks again.

"Sometimes I feel drawn to Hux," I say, feeling my cheeks begin to heat up. "But I can't really figure it out. It's like I'm desperate for his attention, or I just want to see him suddenly, or stand close." I shake my head. "I used to avoid him and wish I never had to see him again. I don't know why that's changed."

"He's very charismatic," Phasma says. "It will make him a good leader someday. But he doesn't let anyone close to him. We're the only ones he tolerates, to even be in his presence." Phasma smiles at me. "And I can see why you'd feel confused. He is the prettiest teenage boy I've ever seen."

I laugh at her choice of words.

"I think he's even prettier than me," Phasma says, making me laugh again. "I should have cut his hair shorter. I only ended up making him look more charming with that stylish hair cut."

I groan and cover my face with my hands. "We have to stop talking about Hux."

"Don't take yourself so seriously. People in high stress situations feel more desperate for affection and comfort. That's all it is. You're turning to him for security, because this whole damn game is really scary."

I lower my hands. "Hux never feels desperate for affection."

"You'd be surprised."

I look at Phasma. "You and Hux...?"

"No!" She gives me an angry glare. "He doesn't like me in that way, obviously since he likes you."

"What?"

"Nothing. Never mind." She sighs. "This would be so much easier if we weren't all teenagers, maybe if we were a bit older and wiser."

"Do you think the others struggle with this kind of stuff too?"

"I know they do. I'm the only girl here, remember? Trust me, they struggle with hormones too."

"Oh." My shoulders slump. "Phasma, back when we were at the school and I came to your room... I shouldn't have-"

"You don't need to keep apologizing for that, okay?"

"Okay."

Suddenly the door we're leaning back against swishes open and we both fall onto our backs at Hux's feet. He looks down at us. "What the hell?" he says.