Hux raises my hand into up towards the ceiling. We're lying on our backs, hands clasped, shoulders touching.

"All remaining systems will bow to the First Order!" Hux says in a mock commanding voice, then drops our hands between us onto the bed. "So, what do you think of my future speech?"

"I think... it will be great," I say, turning on my side to face Hux, keeping hold of his hand. The sheets feel cool on my bare arms, it's great to be free of all the layers of my clothes and just be in a pair of night-hour bottoms and no shirt. Hux is also out of his uniform and his hair is a little messed up now, no longer perfect. I smile, resisting the urge to mess it up even more.

"How do you stay so strong all the time?" I ask him. He looks to the ceiling and his smile fades.

"Because I have you, here with me," he says softly. His face crumbles for a second as though he's going to cry but he quickly recovers, and I realize suddenly that he wears a mask too, one that he never takes off.

"Tell me about Millicent," I say, to change the subject.

Hux takes a deep breath then says, "she demands attention one minute, then claws me the next minute when I try to pet her. She kind of reminds me of you."

I laugh, rolling onto my back again. "What did you remember? When you were drugged and your memories came back."

"Phasma told you about that?"

"She didn't tell me what you remembered, just that you remembered."

Hux sighs and doesn't answer. I close my eyes and rest, feeling light without my mask and clothes, and vulnerable, but safe next to Hux.

"I remembered us," Hux says softly. "Our childhood together at the Academy, me wanting to be you, the great grandson of the Dark Lord Darth Vader, then, later, just wanting to be... with you."

Hux goes quiet and I squeeze his hand, which is still in mine, warm and relaxed beside me. I open my eyes but don't say anything.

"I can feel it coming back again," Hux says.

"What?"

Hux lets go of my hand and wraps his arms around his face. He turns his back to me, shifting onto his side. My chest tightens.

"Hux?"

He doesn't answer but I can tell by his breathing that he's crying.

"I can feel when people are scared," I say. "It feeds my Force power, sometimes." I swallow hard. "Why are you scared?"

"I'm not," Hux grumbles.

"What are you scared of? I can feel it."

"We've had this conversation before, Ren."

"No we haven't."

"We have. You just don't remember."

Suddenly I think of Rey, Hux's pain bringing my own to the surface. "She'll always remember me as the scary monster that came to see her after her parents left," I say, the hurt rising in my chest. "That was her biggest fear, that her parents would abandon her. And I didn't even try to find them, and now it's too late..."

I turn on my side too, away from Hux, and cry.

Sometime in the night I fall asleep then wake again to the day hours. No one has come to wake me and when I turn to look behind me I'm relieved to see that Hux still there, beside me.

"Hux," I say, nudging him.

He wakes, an angry expression on his face before he even opens his eyes.

"Go away."

"Come on." I sit up and pull him into sitting position. He opens his eyes, looking groggy and with messy hair. I smile. He was right. Rey is tough and will make a life for herself. I need to move on and I can ask Snoke to help me do that, to help me forget. Then I can focus on what I have now. I wasn't alone last night and I won't be alone as long as I have Hux.

Hux rubs his eyes then lays back down.

"We slept in you know," I say to him. "A lot."

He grins and closes his eyes again. "Just tell them we were putting together plans for the new Death Star that we're going to call Starkiller Base."

"Okay." I lay down close beside him and turn his face to me. He opens his eyes and quickly moves back, putting some space between us. I feel the same fear in him, returning.

"Ren-" he says.

I close the distance between us before he can object and press my lips against his. They're softer than I expected. I pull away and Hux catches his breath.

"Are you awake now?" I ask him. He looks stunned and doesn't answer.

I get up to go synthesize us some breakfast. The call button beeps and Hux groans, covering his face with a pillow. I head back the other way to the door and turn on the monitor. It's Phasma, and she's not in uniform, just her regular clothes. I unlock the door and it slides open.

"Ren," she says, looking me over. "Just getting up?"

"Yeah."

She steps in and gives me a big hug. "Feeling any better?"

"Yes," I say.

"Good, because I'm hungry and rumour has it that the Captain's quarters has its very own food replicator." She stops when she sees Hux on the bed with the pillow over his face. "Did you kill him?"

"No, he's just being dramatic."

Phamsa walks past him to the back section of the quarters where the dining area is. "So is he going to be okay?" she whispers to me.

"Yeah, I think we're all going to be okay," I say, smiling at her.

"Me too," she smiles back. Suddenly her face turns serious. "Snoke is not going to like you two... getting along."

"He can't keep us from..." I stop, unsure of how to finish that sentence.

"Just be careful," Phasma says, her eyes sad. "Snoke has a way of turning people against each other." She gives me another quick hug then her smile is back. "What do you want me to make you for breakfast? I'm quite skilled with the food replicator, you know."

"Pancakes!" Hux yells in a muffled voice from under his pillow. Phasma rolls her eyes. "I'm glad you're both okay and that we're all together again."

"Yeah," I say, pulling her back to me for another hug. "And I'm glad you're skilled with the food replicator, because I'm starving!"

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THE END

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Author's Note: Well, I know this ended differently than some of you may have wanted it to, with Rey's plot, but Ren couldn't be with Rey because they will see each other again in the future, when they're both adults, in The Force Awakens.

Thanks again to all those who read all the way through this fanfic! I took it off Wattpad for a while and edited the entire thing, posting chapters whenever they were ready and rewriting some parts before re-posting.

If you've been patient enough to wait for these final chapters to be resubmitted then I love you for it! Thanks for reading and for the comments and all the support. One day I will finish my third Star Wars Fan Fiction, the sequel to The Last Jedi. One day...