*EXTRA LONG CHAPTER*

I wake up from a nap to flashes of blinding red light, the shrill wail of sirens deafening.

I sit up, startled, my knees wobbly from sleep as I attempt to scramble from my bed. I slip a pair of pants hastily on, and as I'm trying and failing to pull boots over my feet while my hands tremble, the door slips open with a menacing hiss. This sudden, unexpected appearance frightens me and I fall on my butt, my face burning with embarrassment.

"You need to evacuate." A domineering stranger barks from the entryway. Outside, troopers, officers, droids, nurses, and any other inhabitants of the base alike rush in the same direction, the panicky feeling they're each exuding hitting me like a wall.

I immediately begin to grasp at what's happening, although the reasoning behind it all is still completely unclear to me.

"Just give me a minute." I blurt, sweat starting to bead on my forehead. I try to stuff a few basic things in a pack I found in the closet, just in case I might need them in the near future. Secretly I'm also doing this to stall, as I haven't decided if I should trust this complete stranger to lead me to safety.. or with my life, if it truly came to it.

I'm fully aware that now's not the time or place for deep contemplation, yet here I am.

"Lyra, now." They order angrily, as if I'm some kind of juvenile halfwit. I look up at them so quickly I feel a white-hot crick in my neck. The tone, even modified through their strange mask (not unlike Kylo's) sounds eerily familiar.

I bite my lip and search for the last few things I decidedly need at an even quicker pace.

I shove my lightsaber, which I had somehow managed to steal back when Kylo was busy with his duties, into my bag. The cool metal of the hilt is a stark contrast to my warm, clammy palms. Lastly, after a moment's hesitation, I shift the lavender sweater on over my thin tank top.

"Okay.." I drawl, finally approaching the strange man who had appeared to retrieve me.

He starts down the corridor immediately, skirting the edges of the large crowd that had materialized. His long strides keep me practically running to keep up with him, and I silently thank the Force that I am at least in the best shape to do so.

Or, so I thought.

I'm caught off guard as a wave of searing pain impacts me as immediately as a punch to the stomach, and I cry out, my voice cutting through the endless nervous chatter of those surrounding us like a knife. I heave for a moment then stop, doubling over.

My blaster wound from some time ago had somehow managed to split open again, likely credited to the intense amount of effort I was putting forth. I collapse jarringly onto my knees over the tiles, the throng splitting around me as if I were a new rock dropped into a stream, interrupting its flow.

The man clothed in black I had been following wheels around at the sound of the scene I had just caused. Without hesitation, he effortlessly scoops me up from the ground, one arm at my back and the other under the bend of my knees, and he is on his way just as before.

I see that night has fallen over the planet once we reach the hangar, and I am deeply surprised when I hear the familiar screech of fighters in the air.

"What's going on?" I finally ask, peering at the man's visor where his eyes should be, which happens to be more discernible in his mask than in Kylo's.

"The base is under attack. Those damned Resistance fighters are getting what they want! Only a matter of time before this planet is in ruin." He explains, his modifier lending an extremely gruff tone to his voice.

He boards one of the larger command shuttles and places me at a bench, about to leave me, when I stop him.

"And what's your name?" He freezes, words likely turning over in his head as he contemplates what is seemingly a simple question.

"Perseo."

"Perseo Ren." I elaborate, but he doesn't wait for me to say anything else, already disappearing.

I consider following him to pester him with one of the thousands of questions that had just appeared in my mind following his new divulgence, when my gaze catches on the command ship's newest inhabitant- a man that I haven't seen for quite some time now, whose face starts an angry fire burning deep beneath my rib cage.

General Hux.

He seems a little shaken, and there's even a small, fresh cut glistening like a ruby on his otherwise pasty features. He regards me with a sneer as his gray-ish eyes meet my own.

"Take off immediately. Get as far away from this sham as possible." He snaps in the general direction of the cockpit, brushing past me.

"Sir, the Supreme Leader has requested that we search the forest for Lord Ren before are to make our escape." Responds one of several troopers, as I we feel the vibrations of the ship humming to life.

"Bah!" Hux shouts, slamming his hand on the headrest of a seat in the lounging area in frustration.

He'd managed to slip my mind throughout the terrifying experience of evacuation, and that's when it finally does hit me that we're abandoning this planet, and they have yet to find Kylo.

He's missing.

Gone.

Bile rises in my throat as I simultaneously feel the wind having been knocked out of me. I search desperately for our connection in my mind, my heart, in the Force surrounding me and beyond but I can't find it anywhere, not even the faint reassurance of a heartbeat.

Why do you care so much, laserbrains? With Kylo out of your life, you'll finally be free of the pain you've suffered in near silence for over six years!

"I see something, sir." The words pull me out of my stupor and I look to General Hux, the next words tumbling out of my mouth surprising even myself.

"Let me go with you." I say.

"That would be ridiculous." He immediately dismisses, fixing a faux-leather glove over his bony knuckles.

"Please. I promise I won't try anything. I just want to help." I beg, biting my lip, hoping the desperation ringing clear in my voice is enough to appeal to his emotions.

That is, if he has any.

His lips twist into a grimace. "Very well."

I jump to my feet, the throbbing in my split wound all but miraculously disappearing as I take in the gravity of the situation.

I hear Hux mutter to one of the troopers to stay behind me and keep a blaster pointed in my direction at all times, and I can't help but roll my eyes. Before I leave, I slip my lightsaber into my waistband, just in case.

The snow pelts my bare face the moment I step outside, and I have to squint to make anything out in the darkness and blur of the minor blizzard. Hux walks ahead of me several feet, hands clasped firmly behind his back, maintaining his ramrod straight posture. He glances back at me and the troopers surrounding me, before pursing his lips. He stops.

I step to a spot beside him and catch what he's focused his eyes on.

My heart stops, a persistent ringing shutting out every other sound from my ears. Despite the snow on the ground that is deep enough to almost reach my knees, I rush forward. The word no is trapped on my lips, but nothing comes out.

A heap of black on the forest floor blanketed in a lovely white.

Scarlet.

Blood.

So, so much blood.

As I grow nearer the snow becomes shallower, as most of it had been caught in the limbs of the trees before ever touching the ground.

I fall to my knees, peering at his face.

He's so pale, his closed eyelids already shrouded in angry purples and yellows. Wet, black strands of hair stick to his forehead. Blood has pooled at his waste, indicating the presence of a serious would underneath his clothing. His lips are parted, blue. A long, bleeding gash takes up the entirety of the right side of his face, having narrowly missed his eye.

I recognize it as a lightsaber wound immediately.

I press my palm to his cheek. Ice cold. A whimper escapes me.

A dull ache takes over my body as I take it all in, take him in. I press my other hand to his chest, feeling for anything.

It's there. So slow, so faint and weak, but not gone.

"He's alive!" I shriek, startling my companions.

Hux strides closer, examining the scene as he would vermin making a nest in his kitchen.

"Move quickly then, silly girl. We haven't much time." He grabs my shoulder and attempts to rip me away, his fingers squeezing hard enough to bruise, but I don't budge.

The troopers are upon us like a flock of birds, working as a group to carefully lift his limp body from the ground.

I remove one of his gloves and clutch his ice cold hand as we hurry back to the ship. I sniffle and grimace, tears falling over my numbed cheeks.

"P-please, don't leave me Ben. I... I still love you. I do." I choke, my words likely sounding hysterical to everyone around me.

I don't care.

We board the command shuttle moments later and medics hurry him away. The pilot slips from the planet's atmosphere, just in the nick of time.

-

SO MANY THINGS JUST HAPPENED OMG

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