You stopped, heels digging into the ground. Your arm shot out to block Finn's chest and keep him from running forward. He stopped, and you both stared wide eye down the barrel of two blasters. 

"Run!" you shouted, and you grabbed Finn's hand tight. You ran to the right, using the Force to push them back from you and give you a running start. Terrified, you looked up at Finn. "Where do we go?" 

"There's a bunker for refugees and runaway prisoners," Finn said. "Poe showed me!" 

"How far?" you asked, looking behind you. They were back there, running and pushing their way towards you. They fired at the dirt just behind your heels, making you yelp. 

"Turn here!" Finn yanked your arm and darted between two carts that held fruits. He ducked down below the draped curtains that decorated the wagons. You kept your eyes on the crowd. For the moment, it appeared you'd lost them - but then that moment was over, and they were firing at your heads, missing by inches. 

"Finn!" you cried.

"Hang on!" He stopped suddenly, turned, and grabbed your shoulders. "Go in here!" He shoved you in a small shop that was completely empty. "To the corner shelves!" 

You went over there; metal shelves held pieces of junk and clunks of other metals. But underneath was a crawlspace, and as you dropped on your knees and crawled through, you found yourself going down a slope of ice cold stone.

You found yourself in a room no bigger than your own sleeping quarters on base. Finn was right behind you; face slick with sweat. 

Still on your knees, you moved towards him. Footsteps from inside of the store made him reach over and hold a finger up over your lips. You froze, eyes shot open wide in terror. 

But the stormtroopers left just as quickly as they had come, and they didn't find you or Finn. 

In the silence, you looked around the room. "What kind of bunker is this?" you asked. 

"It's not," he said. "It's a supply room for the store. But Poe says it works."

You couldn't help but laugh slightly, shaking your head. You sat back against the wall, working on catching your breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked. 

"I'm fine," you told him. "You?" 

He nodded, and you nodded, looking around your surroundings. 

Your heart was in your throat and you were out of breath, not only because of the run itself, but the fear you had for your life. Kylo wanted you alive. What did he have planned for you?

"Does running ever get easier?"

"No," he said, and you believed him.

"Now what?" you asked.

"We sit here," he said, "and give it a night. That way they move on and we get out of here before the sun rises. There's food and water and other supplies. We'll be okay."

You nodded.

The next few hours, you and Finn found ways to entertain yourselves. Tossing back and forth crumbled foil from the food portions you ate, counting the stone tiles on the ceiling, passing a canteen of water back and forth.

"What was the easiest part of it?"

He furrowed his eyebrows in thought. Your back was against the wall, his shoulder touching yours, your arms crossed over your own chest.

"The easiest part of the Order?"

"Mhm."

"Deciding I wasn't gonna kill for them," he said, "but even that was difficult to come to terms with. It wasn't how I was raised. I was stolen from my family. Mentally tortured, trained to kill, grew up thinking that having a couple of kills in your name meant you were successful. I decided I couldn't - that I wouldn't - and I ran."

You shook your head. "Wow."

"What about you?"

You sighed and frowned. "The easiest part of the First Order for me was... well, all of it was. Because I had him, and that was all I ever wanted."

"Why?"

"Luke Skywalker trained me," you said, "he trained me to be a Jedi. But I had darkness in my heart. I influenced Ben Solo, who was ordered to protect me, a princess. And he influenced me to lean towards the Light. In the end, our powers twisted together, and we formed a bond. We were so strong together and hid our relationship from everyone, but we were dumb and young. I was sit home to be brainwashed and tortured, and Ben turned on Luke.

"By the will of the Force, we were betrothed six years later. I couldn't remember him. He remembered me. I saved him." You smiled. "I was always saving him, and that is what made it so easy."

Finn was silent for a long moment. "You... make him sound like a human instead of a monster."

"He's both," you said. "Like I am. Like you are. No one is perfect."

"Rey is," he whispered, and you looked at him.

Smiling, you said, "Then there's a side of Rey you haven't seen. Even those we love aren't perfectly good or bad. Some are better than others. Some are worse. It just depends."

"You're more good than bad," he said.

You stared at the floor. "You haven't known me long enough, Finn," you breathed.

"I feel like I have."

You couldn't help it - you stared at him. And you tilted your head close to him, and he leaned close to you, and your eyes closed, with his head against yours.

"Thank you," you breathed.

Sometime later, you fell asleep.

/ / /

In your dream, you were sitting there awake. Your legs were tingling and numb; they had fallen asleep from sitting too long. You lifted your head from Finn's.

YOU CAME.

Startled, you looked at your friend, but he was asleep. You blinked, confused, and upon opening your eyes, blackness consumed the room.

Gasping, you got up on your feet quickly and looked around again and again and again. You finally stopped when you felt a cool breeze.

You turned slowly.

You were in your old bedroom in your palace, wearing your nightgown made of fine silk. Your hair wasn't short; it fell down your back in curly ringlets, still slightly stiff from wearing it up the night before.

What in the stars...

YOU'RE REALLY HERE.

"Kylo," you whispered, your hand touching your hair. He was standing in front of your vanity in the shadows. "How did you..."

PLEASE.

He stepped out of the darkness. The light from your window, the blueness of the moons, illuminated his face.

His deep, dark, brown eyes. Not the gold ones that haunted your nightmares.

His lips moved as he spoke with pure defeat and sadness.

HELP ME.