Author's Note: So, I know I said I might not write anything else, but, well, here you go. This is a follow-up to Connections, probably just a two-shot. This chapter got pretty out of control length-wise.
Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.
"Rey, you need to sleep." General Organa's low voice is uncharacteristically gentle.
Rey jumps at the sound nonetheless, dropping the new lightsaber base she's tinkering with. The older woman puts a hand on Rey's shoulder and sinks down on the bench seat next to her. It's the middle of the night, and they're in the common area of the Falcon, parked in their current base, the one where they've been trying to rebuild since Crait.
"I can't, General. Something is wrong." She shakes her head vehemently. She's exhausted because for the past forty-eight hours or so, she's been plagued with flashes from the Force, screaming at her that something is amiss. She picks up the saber without looking at Leia. "He still hasn't checked in, has he?"
Leia sighs. "No. He hasn't. But Rey, Poe is on a scouting mission for a new back-up base site. He may have just had to go comms silent. I'm sure he's fine." Leia sounds like she's trying to convince herself as much as she's trying to convince Rey.
"All due respect, General, if he was all right, I would know it, just like I know that he's not." She finally looks up at Leia, eyes red-rimmed and hair wildly out of place. "And you know it too, or you wouldn't be sitting here. When can Chewie and I go? We need to go. Soon." Tears well, and Rey blinks them back. "Please, General." The last words are barely a whisper, and as she says them, she wraps her free hand around the ring that hangs on a chain around her neck, Poe's mother's ring.
Rey's movement, touching the ring that until he left last week hung around Poe's neck, isn't lost on Leia. The older woman rises. "He has a scheduled checkpoint in four standard hours. If he misses it, you and Chewie have a go. And Finn has been pestering me, too. Take him and Rose with you, would you? My only condition is that you go to your room and try to sleep for at least three hours. I can let Chewie know that he needs to make sure the Falcon is ready to go, and I'll alert Finn and Rose as well."
Rey jumps up and hugs Leia. "Thank you."
Leia shakes her head as Rey releases her. "I'd rather you go with permission, and I know you're really sitting here on this ship because you were planning to go, clearance or no." Rey opens her mouth to argue, but Leia holds up a hand. "You have a perfectly serviceable room where you could be working on your saber. I know that when you moved in with him, Poe even got you a special workbench for your shared quarters."
Rey blinks in surprise, making Leia chuckle for the first time since Poe went dark on them two days ago, five days into his two-week mission. She pats Rey on the shoulder again. "Who do you think gave him permission to go find it?"
Leia leaves, and for whatever reason, it's that small revelation that makes the dam break. She packs her saber away, leaving it there on the Falcon, and she steals back to their quarters with tears sliding silently down her cheeks. When she finally gets to their room, she steps in and closes and locks the door behind her.
Grabbing the soft shirt that Poe often wears to bed, she strips off her own clothing and slips his shirt over her head. She curls up on their bunk, hand wrapped around his mother's ring and his scent all around her, and she lets the sobs come. In minutes, she cries herself to fitful sleep.
Almost three-and-a-half hours later, she wakes up shivering. The Force shimmers and buzzes around her, and despite the warmth of the room, she's freezing. She also feels on edge, not anxiety or fear exactly, just wariness and a need to be on guard. She blinks a few times before breathing out, "Poe, where are you?" In addition to speaking aloud, she thinks the words hard, but all she gets are flashes of a forest that could be almost anywhere. Then, the Force seems to fade.
"Kriff!" she swears. Standing up, she goes into the refresher and gets cleaned up and dressed. As she looks in the mirror and pulls her hair back, she thinks about the images when she woke up. She is certain that it was Poe trying to tell her where he is. They can mentally communicate with clear words across relatively short distances, but he's several systems away. To be honest, she's amazed that he's able to reach her even if it's just images and sensations.
She throws some of her clothes and rations in a pack, and then, just in case, throws a change of his clothes in the bag too. With a thought to how cold she was when she woke up, she grabs her heavy poncho and stuffs it and his jacket into her pack. When she has the bag packed, she puts on her blaster holster and slips the weapon into it, grabs her staff, and steps out the door to head to command with the pack over one shoulder and the staff over the other.
When she enters the control room, she sees Finn and Chewie standing near Leia at the communications panel. Finn spots her and comes over, taking the pack from her. He then gives her a one-armed hug. She clings to her friend for a moment, determined to keep her composure this time. "Anything?" She asks even though she already knows the answer.
Finn steps back. "No. Still silence. Rose is already on the Falcon, installing a comms enhancer that she's been working on. We're packed up and ready to go. I think Chewie has finally started to really like Poe. You should see the number of weapons he loaded up."
Despite the knot in her chest, she smiles a little. Finn nods at that, and he takes her hand, pulling her over to Chewie and Leia, the general asking the comms officer some questions. When they get to them, Finn drops Rey's hand as Chewie pulls her protectively to his side.
Leia looks up and starts to speak, but Rey beats her to it. "He was due to check in ten minutes ago and didn't, correct?" Leia nods. "The planet he's on is cold, at least for part of the day. And it's forested, green. So, we can narrow our search area based on his projected route. I don't think he's been captured; he's on edge but not afraid, at least not yet."
They all stare at her for a moment before Leia rolls her eyes. "What are you waiting for? Go." She makes a shooing motion with her hand, and Rey almost cries in relief. Chewie and Finn head towards the hangar, Finn still carrying Rey's bag. As Rey follows them, the general calls out to her. When Rey turns back, Leia says, "Go get him back, Rey. And may the Force be with you."
"Will do, General." Rey tries her best to look surer than she feels. "We'll be back with him before you can notice that we're gone."
When Rey gets to the Falcon, they pull up a star map of Poe's expected route. While the timeframes were loose, a single fighter slipping in and out of planets to recon potential back-up bases for them, they are able to narrow down the list of possible places where he could be to two planets and one moon, all within the same star system on the far Outer Rim.
She and Chewie head for the cockpit and take the Falcon up, jumping to hyperdrive as quickly as they can. The first stop is half-a-day's ride, so they now have some time. Chewie offers to keep an eye on the controls – she knows he probably sits in the cockpit alone and thinks about Han – so she gives him a firm hug and leaves him to it, knowing that he wants to be by himself for right now.
She wanders into the common area to find Rose at work on the lightsaber, spread out across the table. "Where's Finn?"
Rose looks up. "I have him getting us all some breakfast." She peers at Rey. "Are you all right? I'd be going crazy if it was Finn." She blushes lightly.
Nodding and squeezing her friend's shoulder, Rey sits down next to Rose. She nods to the lightsaber. "How is it going?" The slightly smaller-than-before kyber crystal sits on the table next to it, and Rey picks it up, feeling a slight vibration from it. There had been one small crack in it after the old saber broke, but Chewie had buffed it out for her. She is oddly attached to it, so she hopes it will work when she and Rose get the casing fixed. This time, the metal they're using is much stronger than the old, and much less likely to break.
"Well," Rose replies, "Honestly, Rey, once I gave you some ideas, you did all the work. I think it's ready."
"Really?" Rey is surprised. She figured that Rose would have to do a lot of work on it after she herself did the basic construction.
"Really!" Rose slides the weapon to Rey. "These things seem complicated, but from looking at the broken one, I realized that they are actually simpler than they appear." She watches Rey hesitate, and she offers, "The only way you can find out if the crystal will work is to actually try it, Rey."
Rey stares at the weapon and then at the crystal in her palm. What if it doesn't work? When will she have time to go find another crystal? And does it even matter to her if she loses Poe? The tears well again as she remembers something. Before an alarmed Rose can ask her what's wrong, Rey whispers, "He said he'd go with me if I have to find a new crystal."
Understanding flashes across the smaller woman's face. "We'll find him."
"I need to believe that, but it's hard right now. I can't hear him in my head at all, and when we're both on base, he's always there, sometimes just a quiet, comforting buzz in the back of my head, sometimes his voice as if he's right next to me. His other missions until now have been short, a day or so. Those were hard. But I can't hear him and haven't really for days except for flashes and dreams. I need to hear him, Rose. I'm going crazy in the quiet." She tries to lighten the moment. "And you know he talks a lot. It's really never all that quiet except when we're asleep."
Rose smiles, shaking her head and rubbing Rey's back comfortingly, and Rey jumps a little when a large hand hits her shoulder. With his other hand, Finn puts a tray of food down on the table, and he sits on the other side of Rey. She turns into him, and he envelopes her in a strong hug. "Rosie's right, Rey. My girl always is, you know? We'll find him."
Rey nods silently, smiling despite herself at Finn's sweet nickname for Rose and getting herself back under control. She leans back from Finn, and he gets up and sets some food out for them. With a small sniffle, Rey says, "Thanks, both of you." She sighs.
Rose nods and takes a large plate of food up to Chewie in the cockpit. When they're alone, Rey elbows Finn, who sat back down after arranging the food. "She's wonderful, Finn. I'm so glad you have her."
He grins, and it lightens her heart a little, at least for a moment. "I'm lucky to, Rey. She's so much better than I am. But I'm trying to live up to whatever it is she sees in me."
"Finn, she sees the same thing Poe and I see. Strength and bravery."
He shakes his head. "You and Poe are brave. Rose is brave. I'm just lucky. And often in the right place at the right time."
"Stop that right now, Finn. You saved me on Starkiller and nearly got yourself killed in the process. You tried to save what was left of the fleet by walking right back onto a First Order ship. You are just as brave as the rest of us. You need to go easier on yourself."
Embarrassed and clearly wanting to change the subject, he grabs a cup of caf and motions to the saber and the crystal. "Think it's going to work?"
Rose comes back in, and she sits close to Finn. "Try it out, Rey."
Rey stares at the saber again for a moment before nodding resolutely. She picks up the crystal, and she slips it gently into the chamber inside the weapon, clicking it shut and standing up. She moves clear of the table, takes a deep breath, and activates it. As if it always has, the blue glowing beam jumps forth from the new casing. After Rey swoops it carefully around a few times, both Rose and Finn let out joyful whoops.
Chewie comes from the front of the ship, clearly curious. He growls in approval at the sight of Rey with her lightsaber in her hand. He turns and opens a drawer, pulling out a floating sparring sphere. He tosses it to her and explains what it is. Tears come to her eyes, and she turns off her lightsaber. She puts the saber and the sphere down and walks to Chewie, throwing her arms around him in a hug.
Rose and Finn look confused, so Rey turns to them and explains, "That sphere is the same one Luke used right here with Ben Kenobi, the first time he worked with a lightsaber."
She gives them a quick smile, and she activates the orb. With a pat to her shoulder, Chewie heads back to the cockpit. Activating her lightsaber, Rey sighs and thinks that at least this will give her something to do while they head towards the Outer Rim system where they think Poe likely is.
A few hours later, they arrive at the first planet they wanted to check. They stay in orbit, scanning the planet for any types of beacons. Rose also pulls up her new comms enhancements, scanning for any local communications equipment that is active. Most importantly, Rey finds a quiet corner of the Falcon and tries to reach out to Poe via the Force. If he's on the planet, there's at least a chance that they can truly hear each other.
She gets nothing back but the same silence she's heard for most of the past week. About to give up, she thinks as clearly as she can via the Force, "Respond, Poe, where are you? Is it a moon?" The silence persists, but she's suddenly hit by a warm wave, almost a feeling of relief. Her eyes widen, and she thinks hard again. "The moon then? Do whatever you did again, Poe, if that's right. I felt it." The wave hits her again, and she almost sobs, echoing the feeling of relief. "We're coming, Flyboy. Sit tight."
With that, she jumps to her feet and sprints to the cockpit. When she gets there, she pushes past Finn in the doorway and climbs straight into the pilot's chair. She begins flipping switches, preparing to make a short hyperspace jump. Knowing that the rest of them are staring at her, she catches her breath and says, "Brace for the jump to light speed. He's on the moon of the next planet over, the forested one."
"Are you sure, Rey?" Finn sounds skeptical. He understands that she and Poe are Force-connected, but he doesn't always believe just how strong it is.
She shoots a look over her shoulder at him. "Yes. Now sit, Finn. I don't want you to go flying out of the cockpit."
He complies quickly. Rose and Chewie are already in their seats, so Rey makes the jump. It's a much shorter trip this time, as it's to another planet and moon in the same system as the first. When they get into orbit around the clearly heavily forested moon, they start scanning again. Rey, still in the pilot's seat, tries to reach out to Poe. She makes herself relax and she thinks hard again. "Poe, we're here, in orbit. Where are you? Can you turn on your comm if it isn't already?"
She feels the same warm wave, and suddenly she can also feel him in the back of her mind, warm and alive and real, even if still wary and exhausted. "Rose, is your enhanced comms system working?"
Rey hears a click. "Yes, up and running."
With that, Rey opens a comm channel to his last known frequency. "Poe, this is the Falcon. Can you read? Poe?"
Seconds later, there is the scratch of a connection, and then his tired voice. "Hey, Beautiful. I've missed your voice."
All of them in the cockpit sag in relief, and Rey has to swallow a sob. After a moment, she replies, "Same to you, Commander. Where are you?"
He sighs. "In a place you can't get to. Almost three days ago, I hit some sort of magnetic storm and lost control of my X-Wing. BB-8 and I punched out, had to drop in through the trees, but the forest is so thick that you won't be able to get anywhere near close enough to pick me up, especially not in the Falcon. I'm still, if what I saw before I had to eject is right, about a two-day walk from the nearest place where you could get to me."
He pauses for a moment, then goes on, "And I think I set off an alarm of some sort when I landed. There's a group of First Order scouts here, arrived yesterday. I'm not sure, but I think they're trying to track me, but they aren't anywhere close yet." As if he can read her racing mind, he adds, "And don't you dare do anything stupid, Beautiful. I'm not in perfect shape, but I can walk for a couple days. I'll be fine."
"Kriff. All right, Poe. Hold on a moment." She looks at Rose. "Can you vector in on his location?"
The tiny mechanic nods. "I already have. He must be on short-range comms. I don't think anyone would pick him up, even with the right frequency, without my equipment."
"Thanks. Tell Chewie where to take us. I'm going to go get ready to drop." She pats Chewie on the shoulder, and he growls but nods begrudgingly. Rose just pats her arm as she passes. Finn follows her, and his reaction is not nearly so obliging.
"Rey, what do you think you're doing?" He sounds outraged, but she just ignores him.
She clips her new lightsaber to her belt and puts her blaster in its holster. She then pulls her poncho out of her pack, pulling the garment over her head. That makes room in the pack, so she adds a med kit, extra bacta gel and patches, water purifier, an extra empty bag, and another blaster from Chewie's stash. She then closes the pack and adds a rolled-up blanket and tent to the outside, and she shoulders the whole thing. Once it's secure, she picks up a long length of rope and throws her staff over her shoulder.
"You are not jumping out of this ship, Rey. No matter how close we can get to the canopy. Are you crazy?" Finn sounds more upset by the moment, and she whirls on him as she pulls on a pair of fingerless leather gloves.
"What if it was Rose, Finn. Or even me? Would you stay here?" Her eyes blaze, and she shakes her head. "You know you wouldn't." She spins and heads for the cockpit. "Chewie, Rose, are we close?"
Rose stands up, taking in the fact that Rey clearly has plans to exit. She rattles off some coordinates. "Meet us there in two days." She shoves a small map into an open pocket on Rey's pack. "Both this location and the target location are marked."
She thanks Rose as Chewie yells in protest. Rey just shakes her head at him. "Are we close to him, Chewie?" At his clearly reluctant admission that they should be right over him, Rey responds, "Then get me as low as you can. I'm dropping down to him."
He levels a look at her, but after a moment, he calls his agreement. She nods back. "Thank you." She puts a comm in her ear. "Comm me when we're in position, Chewie. As close to the tree canopy as possible. And once I'm down, also call back to the base to let them know we found him but will be a few days." She spins again and heads away from the cockpit. Finn is waiting for her at the controls for the ramp.
He doesn't argue, just silently holds out a helmet. She shoots him a grateful look and straps the helmet on. He then wraps her up in a bear hug and whispers, "You both come back safe, Rey. BB-8 too. That's an order."
She steps away and gives him a weak smile. "Yes sir." She then gets the green light from Chewie, and she hits the button to drop the ramp.
They must be near Poe, because she suddenly hears his voice in her head, as clear as if he was standing right in front of her. "Kriff no, Rey. You are not jumping out of that ship."
With one last look at Finn, she steps carefully out onto the ramp. They're only three or four meters above the thick tree canopy, which is whipping around in the wind caused by the Falcon, just adding to the stiff wind already blowing here on the surface. "Thank you, Chewie," she says over the comm. Then she thinks, "Kriff yes, Flyboy, I am definitely jumping out of this ship."
Before he can reply, she scans the tree tops and sees what she's looking for. A large branch is clearly visible, reminding her of the beams inside the guts of the old Star Destroyer on Jakku. Without wasting time to overthink it, she launches herself forward, using the Force to guide her jump. A moment later, she hits the branch, nearly falling but managing instead to climb up on it. She straddles the large branch and waves them off, saying, "Chewie, I'm good. Get out of the atmosphere. We'll see you in two days."
With that, the Falcon's hatch closes, and the ship shoots along the tree canopy for a while, stopping periodically, trying to confuse any First Order scouts. Rey uses the rope to tie off on the large branch. She then slowly begins to descend through the canopy. The trees still move with the wind, but it's less with the Falcon's departure. She has a fairly clear view of the ground. She can also feel Poe (who is pretty mad at her) approaching. Looking down, she can see why a rescue wouldn't work, as it would be nearly impossible for a person at 100% to climb into the canopy – and she can sense that he isn't 100%.
Without waiting for him to arrive, she scales down the tree, moving until she's about five meters up and runs out of rope. She tenses when she hears a crashing noise in the forest, but a moment later, BB-8 barrels out of the underbrush. She can't stop the grin, and she lets go of the rope, using the Force to help her safely jump the rest of the way.
By the time her boots hit the forest floor, she feels Poe behind her before she sees him. She whirls around, and her eyes widen. His hair is more unkempt than usual, and his face is scratched and bruised, a particularly nasty bruise showing along his jaw under the week's-worth of beard growth. His orange flight suit is torn in several places, and she can see a lot of dried blood on his left leg, which he seems to be favoring. But his eyes are the same warm brown as always, and she almost collapses in relief at seeing him in one piece.
Unfortunately, he also looks livid with her, and tension radiates from him. "Damn it, Rey, what were you thinking?"
Ignoring his anger, she rips off her helmet and drops the pack and her staff, and she throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body to his. Before she can speak, she starts shaking like a leaf. She buries her face in his neck. "Oh, Beautiful," he breathes out, pulling her tight to him. "I'm sorry."
She shakes her head and whispers, "Not your fault." She takes a shaky breath. "I couldn't hear you. I couldn't hear you at all. I knew you weren't all right. I knew something was wrong."
He pulls back and presses a kiss to her mouth. She grips the front of his flight suit, leaning up into the kiss as if she'll never get a chance to kiss him again. One of her hands moves to his face, and his hiss of pain when she touches the largest bruise makes her jump back. "I'm sorry!" She suddenly feels how much pain he's in, not just in his face, but in his leg too. She furrows her brow. "Sit."
He starts to argue, but she's not having it. "Sit, Commander, and don't hide your pain from me again." She goes to get the pack and carries it with her as she follows him.
He sheepishly and gingerly moves to a nearby fallen log, carefully sinking down on it while stretching his injured leg out straight. "Rey, I'm sorry, I didn't want you jumping down here with me. If you knew I was hurt…"
She stops digging through the pack long enough to glare at him. "You could have been perfectly fine, and I wouldn't have hesitated, especially not after you told me about the scouts." She pulls out the change of clothes she brought for him, the medkit and the bacta gel and patches, coming over and kneeling next to him. She lays the clothes out next to him on the log.
Standing up, she silently starts to help him get out of the flight suit. She gets the bacta gel and a fabric pad, dabbing some gel on each cut and gash she encounters. When she gets to his waist and begins to peel the suit down his legs, he hisses again. "Left leg. The fabric is sticking."
She nods, getting a pair of scissors from the medkit. She gently cuts the fabric of his flight suit away so that she can pull it off of him without hurting him more. "Better?" she asks softly.
He reaches down and cups her cheek with his palm. "Yes. Thank you."
"You're welcome, but you may not be so grateful when I have to get the fabric out of the wound." She removes his boots and pulls his suit the rest of the way off, leaving him in his shorts. She looks at his left leg and cringes on his behalf.
She pours some water from her pack on the seven-inch gash on his left thigh, trying to loosen the fabric. She lets that sit for a moment, finishing up the bacta on his chest, back, and arms. It dries quickly in the cool air of the small moon, and he shivers a little. She blinks. "I was cold when I woke up today. So cold."
He nods. "It was strange. I knew you couldn't really hear me, but I could definitely feel you." She looks up at him, and he admonishes her, "Rey, you can't just not sleep when I'm away. That isn't sustainable."
She looks back down, grabbing his shirt and helping him pull it over the dried gel. When he has his shirt on, she turns her attention back to his leg. The gash is jagged and ugly, but it doesn't look too deep. She frowns and turns back to the medkit, pulling out some tweezers. Instead of speaking, she thinks, "I'm sorry, Flyboy, this is going to hurt."
His hands drop to the log, and he digs his fingertips into the wood. He thinks back, "It's all right, Beautiful. Just do it fast."
She gets an end of the fabric and pulls it free of the gash in one stroke. He closes his eyes and grunts in pain. "I need to clean it, Poe." He nods, remaining silent and keeping his eyes closed, his fingers gripping the wood tighter.
As gently as possible, she cleans the dirt and debris out of his leg. Once it's clean, she covers the gash with bacta gel, and then she covers the gash with a bacta patch for good measure. After that, she firmly wraps the whole thing with a bandage from the medkit. When she's done, she feels his whole body relax. She finishes covering the few small cuts on his legs with bacta gel, and it also dries quickly. She grabs the pants she brought for him, and she helps him pull them on. She even puts his boots back on him.
She realizes that his skin also feels warm, likely the start of an infection. She goes back to the medkit and gives him an injection of antibiotics. "Do you have a blaster?"
He shakes his head. "Lost it in the crash."
She passes him the spare one from the pack, and he makes sure the safety is on and tucks it in the cargo pocket on the right leg of his pants. She also passes him his jacket, and he shrugs into it and closes his eyes again. "Do you need food?"
He shakes his head. "Had some ration bars and water about an hour ago."
"All right." She pulls out the smaller, empty bag and tucks his ruined flight suit into it. Then, she pulls the tent and blanket from the outside of the pack and tucks it inside now that there's room. She puts the medkit in on top, but before she closes it up, she asks, "Do you need a painkiller? Tell me the truth, Poe."
He nods. "Yes." He must sense her shock at his honest reply. Opening his eyes, he looks down at her. "I hit a tree at a very high rate of speed, Beautiful. Everything hurts right now. This was a pretty place to crash, but it was also a painful place to crash. Also, aircraft-killing magnetic storms, so this place? Definitely not so good for a base."
She chuckles and gives him another injection, this one loaded with a painkiller. As she finishes loading the pack and pulling out Rose's map, she can feel his pain start to ebb away. When it seems to be at least somewhat at bay, she shows him the map. "Which way from here, Flyboy, and can you actually walk?"
He rolls his eyes and takes the map from her. He points over her shoulder. "That way. And yes, but can I use your staff?" At her raised eyebrow, he gives her a lopsided grin. "As a walking stick, Rey."
She laughs softly and passes it to him. "Really, Poe, can you walk?"
"I can, and yes, I'll tell you when I need to stop. And I can take the bag with my flight suit in it." She starts to argue, but he just says, "Rey, my leg hurts, but I can carry a small bag."
She nods begrudgingly and hands it over and then shoulders into the pack. BB-8 rolls up a moment later, surprising them both. The little droid was probably quietly standing watch nearby. Rey crouches down to greet him. "You seem to have fared better than your master, little one." She pats the little droid, who beeps happily at the attention.
Poe rolls his eyes, pulling himself upright using the staff. He waivers a little on his feet, and Rey stands up, alarmed. He puts his free hand on her shoulder, steadying himself. "I'm all right." He blinks a few times before focusing on her again. "And BB-8 fared better because while I hit a kriffing tree, he landed in a giant pile of leaves."
They start walking then, BB-8 rolling ahead of them. He moves carefully, but definitely more easily than before. As much as he protested her coming down here and as much as he was upset with her, he's also damned grateful. She reaches down and takes his free hand, she murmurs, "You're welcome, Poe." As they walk hand-in-hand, him using the staff for support, she asks, "Where are the scouts?"
He motions behind them. "That way. Catching up but I think still a decent distance away. And I'll admit that with the clean up, the meds, and the staff, I'm moving a lot faster."
"You think we'll be able to safely rest tonight?"
"If we can find a defensible spot. I'm not entirely sure that they're even chasing, though. They might think that I died in the crash. My X-Wing exploded on impact." He sighs in frustration at that. "And I'd just gotten it configured the way I like it."
She squeezes his hand. "But you like fixing them up."
"That I do, Beautiful." After a moment, he says softly, "I'm really glad you're here, Rey. I didn't like the quiet either."