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Kylo Ren was swamped with paperwork. Who knew becoming Supreme Leader came with so many duties? Snoke had apparently taken a hands-off approach, but Kylo knew that many people wanted his position and head, His supposed “most trusted”, Hux, one of them. His assistant droid, XB-56, piped up in his robotic voice. “Master Ren, if I may, I suggest you get some sleep. You have been up for a longer than optimal time and sleeping now is recommended.”
He sighed, looking at the clock. It was past midnight and he needed to sleep if he wanted to be functional tomorrow. He walked over to the disguised door that hid his quarters from his office, unlocking the complicated mechanism.
He walked into the room, pulling on his pajamas. He flopped on his bed. He looked at his ceiling, the polished black planes reflecting him. A familiar tingle went down his spine, announcing the start of the bond. He groaned. Why did the bond have to connect them now? He had to go to sleep. The sound blotted out, the final sign the bond had started.
He kept staring at the ceiling, ignoring her. They had ignored each other the few times the bond connected after Crait and had a wordless agreement not to bother the other person. He had made the mistake of attempting conversation more than once and had a black eye for a few days. She was surprisingly strong despite her light build.
A low moan came from his side. Of course, the Force had to put her on his bed next to him. He dared to look over, and she was evidently sick. She was red as a Muja fruit and shivering under a thin blanket, occasionally moaning. He felt a small bit of sympathy for her. Being ill was never enjoyable.
He called his datapad to his hand, intending to continue working on his reports to try and ignore her. He signed on and noticed that he had been locked out of his files until tomorrow. XB had evidently predicted him trying to do more work. He sat up, moving to throw it against the wall, but at the last moment remembered his sleeping bond mate. He lowered his hand and flipped through the functions. He remembered seeing a function that allowed the user to scan for illnesses and know what to treat the sick person with. He was certain that Rey wouldn’t wake up during the process.
Kylo clicked on it, and the datapad produced a scanner. He hovered it over Rey and the scanner moved over her. The datapad beeped, announcing it had found out what she was sick with. He looked at the results, squinting. An Akivan flu? That couldn’t be possible. You didn’t get this severe of a reaction unless you had an immune system deficiency. And even then, you had to have practically lived under a rock not to... Oh. She had lived on Jakku, so she practically had lived under a rock.
Akivan flu was relatively easy to treat, however. Enough hearty food and medicine could help you beat it. His mo... No. General Organa had a special recipe she made for when anyone got the Akivan Flu. Nuna noodle soup. He hadn’t had it in a while. He knew the recipe but hadn’t needed to make since the Jedi Academy because of the First Order’s resources.
The Resistance obviously didn’t have anything to help with it, as the Last Jedi, their most valuable asset, was currently feverish and moaning in discomfort with no-one by her side to help her beat a childhood illness. The Force picked the right time to activate the Bond for once. He could help Rey, and maybe once she was better, she might talk with him on how to break the bond.
Kylo got up and walked to his closet, grabbing a small blanket that was, like everything else, black. He gently draped it over Rey, and she stopped shivering. A small smile crossed his face that he quickly swept away. It wouldn’t do for him to have feelings that weren’t hatred for his enemy.
He walked to the couch, grabbing the datapad. Kylo entered the recipe for Nuna Noodle Soup into the food order service. He would probably get reprimanded by XB for eating after midnight, but it wouldn’t hurt Rey to have some food when she woke up, and if the bond closed, he would have a decent bowl of soup. He set the datapad down and went to sit in his office to wait for the soup.
Two minutes later, a R4 astromech droid entered his office with a bowl of soup. He took the bowl and the astromech rolled away. He opened the door to his quarters, planning to leave the soup on the night table. He opened the door and Rey was staring at him wide-eyed.
“Ben?” she murmured. “Am I hallucinating?”
Kriff.
He forced himself to nod. It was better she thinks he was a hallucination than that he was actually there. He knew she would only try to fight him if she knew he was there and not a hallucination.
“Yes Rey, you are.” He sat down on the bed next to her, putting the soup in his lap and holding a spoonful up for Rey. “You need to eat this; it will make you feel better. It’s Nuna Noodle soup.”
Rey giggled, clearly woozy from illness. “Okay hallucination. You look like Ben, so I will trust you.” She leaned in. “But don’t tell Ben that.” She grinned loopily.
Kylo choked. She trusted him. He smiled. “I won’t. But you need to get better. This is good to eat when you have Akivan Flu.” He held the spoon up to her mouth, and she ate the soup.
“This is great! So much better than the rations I’m getting.” She grabbed the spoon and bowl of soup out of his hand and frowned. “If I’m hallucinating, how is this so good? It’s the best I’ve ever had, and this blanket is so soft.” She looked at him closely. “And I’ve never seen Ben smile.”
He panicked. Had she figured it out? “
She reached her hand towards his. He yanked it back, and the bond broke.
He looked around. The blanket and the soup were nowhere to be seen. Had they transported it through the bond? The scholar in him was intrigued, but he was worried. Had Rey figured out that it was him that was helping her and not a hallucination? He rolled over, trying to forget about the whole situation.
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Leia walked into Rey’s quarters. She had gotten notified that Rey had seemed like she was talking to someone, and she should go see what had happened. She opened the door and walked in. Rey was digging into a bowl of soup under a black fluffy blanket that obviously wasn’t one of Rey’s things. She sat down on the edge of Rey’s bunk.
“Where did you get that soup? It smells like my-” Leia gasped in realization. “My Nuna Noodle soup that I used to make for Ben when he was sick!”
Rey looked at her curiously. “Are you a hallucination too? My mind is picking strange people to hallucinate. What’s next, C-3PO?”
Leia smiled, aware of what must have happened. Ben had probably seen how sick Rey was and taken care of her. And knowing him, he got her his favorite thing to eat when he was sick.
“Sure. Make sure to eat all the soup, Rey. You need to get your strength up.”
Leia got up, smiling, and walked out of the room. Maybe there was still hope for her little boy after all.