Ignition
Since early morning the Force had pooled in her belly like heavy rainwater, gathering there steadily until it threatened to spill over. Familiar and yet completely new at the same time, the sensation soaked her through and made her restless and keyed up. Meditation was impossible, but Rey forced herself to sit still and wait with false patience and feigned concentration.
She had felt Ben's arrival to the Jedi Academy the moment his ship had landed in the hangar – no, the moment he had come out of hyperspace and had entered Coruscant airspace. So it was not really any surprise, when he finally appeared from behind a shelf of holobooks, grinning at her crookedly.
Rey refused to lift her eyes from the holochart she was studiously examining. For hours, she had waited anxiously in the library for him to come to find her, her mood growing steadily more annoyed as time went by. They hadn't seen each other for almost seven months – although Rey would never admit it, it incensed her that he had apparently so many other, more important things to do first than to catch up with her.
"How's my favorite cousin?" Ben leaned against her reading table, his lanky frame seeming to take up all the space around her.
"I'm your only cousin," Rey countered mulishly, but couldn't stop her mouth from pulling into a smile. She let her irritation trickle away; as always, the Force sparked and hummed between them, at the same time competitive and oddly content.
"True," he smirked, "although, who knows…" Luckily, he didn't finish that particular thought, although Rey knew it had nothing to do with the sharp look she gave him. Instead, he raised his eyebrows and asked dryly, "So, have you been hiding here all day?"
"I have not been hiding." Rey shut the holochart and pushed the teetering stack of holobooks further down the table with more force than was perhaps necessary. She stole a quick glance at his cousin: Ben looked the same as he had, when she had last seen him, although his dark hair was slightly longer, curling to rest against his nape. He was dressed all in black, the color he had favored since his teens. Rey felt the weight of his answering gaze and was suddenly unusually self-conscious. She wondered, if to him she looked the same as always.
"Dreaming then. What system were you visiting this time?" Ben sounded amused and she racked her brain for a suitable comeback, finding nothing. It was not fair – he had gotten to travel around the galaxy, he had seen so many different planets and amazing places, and she hadn't really been anywhere yet.
"Did you see Luke already?" She watched as his expression darkened at the mention of her father's name.
"We talked," he said curtly and refused to say anything more.
Ben's and Luke's relationship remained turbulent, despite there usually being several star systems between them. Rey knew that at least some of the schism derived from Ben's desire to go after the so-called Supreme Leader Snoke, an action that Luke – and Leia – didn't agree on. Something had happened between her cousin and the old crook, when Snoke had still been in Coruscant and had acted less like an unhinged, murderous dictator he had since proven to be. Rey herself had been too young then to be told anything about it, and Ben had never confided in her about what had really happened even as she had grown older and had become less of a child in his eyes.
All she remembered from that time was a horrible lurching feeling, like everything important had been teetering on the edge of something abysmal and terrifying. No one had told her anything and it had incensed her to no end. Immediately afterwards the whole incident, Ben had left the Academy to be with his parents and had travelled the galaxy on the Falcon for nearly a year, before coming back to finish his training with Luke. His relationship with his uncle had ever since been contentious, filled with plenty of conflicting feelings. As much as Ben respected Luke and wanted his approval, he rebelled against his old Master in equal measure.
"How long are you here?" Rey asked, knowing it could not be long. Whatever it was he did for the Resistance, it seemed to occupy all his time lately.
"Not long," Ben said, confirming her suspicions. He looked at her searchingly, warmth and something else – something elusive – flickering in his gaze. "I thought maybe you wanted to take a spin on the Falcon, before I'll leave."
"Uncle Han gave you the Falcon?" She knew she sounded incredulous enough to be insulting. A small worry started to creep inside her, threatening to grow bigger the more she thought about it. Ben's next mission had to be something dangerous, if Han had loaned him his precious ship.
Ben's mouth pursed up with irritation. "Someday, she's going to be my ship –"
"I'll come with you." The words tumbled out of her mouth impulsively, and they both knew she meant a journey that was a lot longer than just a short spin nearby. It sounded rash, but in truth, the thought of it – of leaving, of fighting, of flying – was not new. It had been steadily growing inside of her for numerous long, lonely months. People, her friends and family, were fighting. It was her turn to finally join them.
"Rey…" Ben looked a little lost; the tug of war between denying and accepting her was evident on his expressive face.
"You'll need a co-pilot." She tried to look and sound confident; she knew how to fly and fight and to do everything else Ben did as well as he did. He might have been ten years her senior, but she had trained just as hard as he had, had stretched both her mind and muscles beyond all endurance. Her lightsaber, comfortingly resting against her hip, thrummed with expectation.
"Maybe I already have one." But his protest didn't convince her; Rey could already see her victory in the tight set of his shoulders, the way he tried to avoid her eyes.
"You don't." She stood up, and they were suddenly mere inches apart. He was so tall she had to tilt her head up to try to catch his eyes. "You know it eside, Luke will flay me alive, if anything happens to you."ed him his precious ship. to grow bigger. year, before coming backis right." The Force surged between them, agreeing with her. Rey knew he felt it too.
Ben's fingers grazed her upturned face lightly, almost hesitantly. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he touched her cheek more firmly, the soft gesture at odds with his sneering words. "What would I do with a slip of a girl? Besides, Luke will flay me alive, if anything happens to you." There was an undercurrent of old resentment in his voice.
"You need me." Rey knew it deep in her very being, deep beneath her bones and blood and flesh. She couldn't explain it, but it was the absolute truth. She watched the emotions flash across his face, his need to refute her as strong as always. How many times had she heard him sneer, I don't need anyone! But he didn't say it now, for they both knew it would have been a lie.
"Come then," Ben said, the familiar smirk again firmly in place. His hand dropped from her face and he turned abruptly to go. "But don't blame me, when it all goes pear-shaped. And try to keep up."
"You try to keep up," she muttered, but started to follow his long, striding gait nonetheless. Someday, there would come a time, when she was in the lead and he would follow. Suddenly inexplicably chilly, Rey had a feeling it would be sooner than either of them would be ready for.
Worth continuing? These two awake all kinds of ideas!