Dark. Cold. Silent. Still. He preferred it in no other way. In his room, Kylo Ren sat at the edge of his bed with his chin propped on top of his laced fingers, thinking.

With Snoke dead—the one who instigated the connection—the Force Bond should've ended. But he should've known better: at the end of the battle at Crait, he and Rey shared a Force Bond, and Snoke had been dead for more than an hour. And he was smarter than to accuse Luke Skywalker of connecting them—he remembered the old man's horror and anger at seeing them touching hands in that hut.

The ghost of her hand lightly touched his palm. He looked down at his hand as he reminisced. She had reached out first, and he met her; both had hesitated before finally touching the other. Energy, unlike what he had ever felt before, passed through his skin like electricity. His hand had so easily dwarfed hers, it made him laugh looking back on it.

But in that touch, the vision he saw paired with it gave him so much hope: she would join him. What he had seen didn't resemble them fighting together when he had killed Snoke. So Kylo held on to the belief that his vision would still come true.

After the battle with the guards, he had reached out to her. He offered her a place by his side; they didn't have to be enemies. They could remain cordial; deepen the relationship they had begun to build through the Force Bond; become friends. Kylo could see the dilemma in her eyes; he thought she was going to join him when Rey lifted her hand...

Anger broiled within him. No; she refused him. Objects in his room shook under his power in the Force. Rey didn't take his hand like he took hers. She continues to hold on to the past; continues to believe she can bring him to the Light.

Kylo scoffed at that. He had devoted all he had to the Dark Side; if there was still Light in him, he would never give in to it. Rey sounded too much like Leia...

Both women were too similar: seeing promise in everything; fiercely loyal; socialize with traitors, smugglers, or rebels and consider them friends; famous lineage... Kylo gritted his teeth. Rey would probably make the same poor decisions his mother did. But there was always the chance that she wouldn't abandon him like that woman.

He shook his head to clear the thought. Thinking of his mother or the man that called himself Kylo's father always made him lose control, and he didn't need to destroy this room like all the others. But not so now. Han's death didn't fulfill his hopes of losing himself in the Dark Side. He almost killed Leia, but something held him back. And now Uncle Luke was gone too. The only connections he had in the Galaxy were nearly gone. Instead of liberation, Kylo was left with wretchedness and isolation.

Kylo got up and walked over to the windows shielded by curtains. Using the Force, he pushed a button to open the curtains, revealing the expansive emptiness of space dotted with millions of stars. The Sovereign—the new flagship of the First Order—currently hovered over the planet of Naboo, receiving fuel, provisions, and extra manpower.

Space usually settled him. His loneliness fit the vast void—he found belonging, something he had long tried to deny he longed for.

Now it wasn't enough. He had grown tired of his isolation because of the Force Bond connecting him and Rey. It took a while, but she had seemed to grow comfortable talking with him. In turn, he felt the same. He had found companionship with her.

Why? Why did he enjoy learning more about her and revealing himself to her? He kept a wall between him and the outside world—even the powerful Snoke couldn't breach it. So, how did the girl get under it?

He shook his head again, trying to get her, her face, her eyes, her voice, out of his head. But she stubbornly lingered. Kylo didn't need distractions—he didn't get distracted—but Rey had become one. He knew he needed to get rid of it, but he honestly didn't want to. Maybe he could somehow learn how to live with the distraction...

Knocks sounded on his door, bringing him out of his reverie long enough to tell whoever to enter. The door slid open and Hux's arrogant aura seeped into Kylo's room. Even though he had to admit Hux was extremely cunning in his intelligence, Kylo couldn't stand the General. As soon as Hux's smarts weren't needed anymore, he would kill that insufferable worm.

"Supreme Leader." General Hux's voice dripped with disdain. Kylo didn't need the Force to know the ginger thought he himself deserved the title of Supreme Leader. "The six you requested have been gathered. They await you within the Throne Room."

"Very well. Leave."

The man left without another word, probably as eager to go as Kylo wanted him out.

When the door shut, Kylo released a heavy sigh as he laid his head against the window and closed his eyes. As the Supreme Leader now, there was much he had to do. Reassure the Galaxy that it needed the order of the First Order. Prove himself as a worthy leader to the First Order—Hux would probably never accept him; not that he cared. Find and destroy the Resistance. Kill the last Jedi...

First, though, he hadto inform the Knights of Ren about what he required them to do. After anothersigh, he turned to go to the Throne Room.