entitled: i will come back for you.
summary: "I will come back for you." ; "I don't believe you." ; There's a sadness in his eyes, but also an understanding. An understanding of who she is, and all she's been through, and it sends chills running down her spine.
rating: k+
disclaimer: look. just be happy i don't own the thing.
word count: 1,419
dedication: once again, for the lovely arbutus-blossoms for her amazing, inspiring art.
notes: i've got major writer's block for my other reylo project at the moment, so you get more in the jedi masters universe.
i will come back for you.
.
He's leaving and she hates it.
He's leaving and she hates him for it.
It was a ridiculous, entirely irrational hate, but she couldn't help the sudden unease and the absolute loathing she was feeling toward him. He was leaving her.
"Rey?"
It's Poe's voice that pulls her from her thoughts, but he still has to put an arm up to keep her staff from meeting his face.
"Shit – sorry!" She tells him, her grip on the staff loosening as she lets it fall away.
"It's fine," he tells her with a laugh, "I knew what I was risking coming in here while you were at it like that."
Like what!? Pink lips purse to keep the words from falling from her lips, because she knows exactly what he means. She's been in this room all morning, and no one's dared step inside to call her out.
Not even the one person she desperately wanted it to be.
"Did you need something?" She asks, her fingers twitching around the staff, her grip tightening once more.
"He's leaving soon," he speaks the words so nonchalantly, but the look in his eyes tells her exactly who he's talking about. "Don't you want to see him before he goes?"
"If he wanted to see me, he'd come find me himself." She doesn't mean to snap, but the words come out cold, harsh, and she turns back to the punching dummy.
"I know you don't do well with goodbyes, Rey," she jerks her now narrowed gaze back toward him, her glare enough to make him pause for a moment before continuing, "But I know you're only going to be even more upset if you don't go see him before he goes."
He's right, of course.
Poe is almost always right.
He gets that from Leia. Rey has to fight back a snort, realizing that Poe takes more from his idol than Ben does from his mother, and that was certainly saying something.
"You're probably right," she tells him, turning her back on him once more. "But I'm fine. If he doesn't want to see me before he goes, I don't need to see him."
She hears a heavy sigh behind her, but doesn't turn to face him, "Alright. Just remember we're fighting a war, Rey – you never know when you might not see the person you love again."
She glances back just as he's leaving, but it isn't until the door slides shut that she throws her staff across the room and feels all the energy just fly out of her. She walks over to the wall and falls back against it, letting herself slide into a sitting position until she can hug her knees to her chest and rest her chin atop them.
Memories start flooding her mind then – memories of being abandoned on Jakku, of clinging to false promises of return, of living sad and alone for years until Luke Skywalker and Ben Solo walked into her life, bringing about a group of people who were now much more than friends to her.
They were her family.
And he –– he was so much more than that.
As one particular memory lingered, Rey pushed herself to her feet heading out of the base and into the trees outside with not a single word or glance spared to any of the people who were surprised to see her step outside the training room.
.
"I can't believe you got us lost!" She screeches, throwing her hands in the air as they walk through the trees.
Her frustration with him was never anything new, this time, though, she wasn't sure she'd be able to get over it. It had been one of Luke's tests, and because of Ben she was sure she'd failed it.
"I didn't do anything!" He shouts right back, coming to a sudden stop and turning to glare at her. "And we are not lost!"
"Oh, yeah, sure." She snorts, pushing past the trees and him, making sure to slam her shoulder right up against his as she moves past him.
She doesn't make it very far, however, because his hand has curled around hers, yanking her to a sudden stop. She jerks her gaze back toward him, eyes narrowed into a dark glare of her own as she stares him down.
"Why the hell are you so mad at me? It's not like I got us lost on purpose, and it's you and me, Rey," his voice is still echoing through the trees, but the anger she had been so sure was there had slipped away. "We've dealt with so much worse than getting lost in a bunch of trees. So if you think I'm going to buy that that's why you're so pissed at me, you're full of it."
"It's –" She's grasping for an excuse – anything he might believe, but all she can give him is the truth, jerking her hand out of his in the process. "You're leaving me!"
His eyes widen, and he looks genuinely taken aback, but he doesn't the the chance to speak before she continues.
"Don't think I didn't hear you and Master Luke! He wants to send you on some mission without me!" There's a crack in her voice and she hates it, almost as much as she hates the fact that she's admitting to any of this. "You said we were partners. That it was me and you, always. But they're trying to take you away from me and you're perfectly fine with replacing me!"
His pale complexion has gone completely red, and she has no doubt her own cheeks burn with the same color. At that moment, she wants nothing more than to take back the words and walk away, but there is no going back. Her pride was much to great, and there was no chance he would let her simply walk away after an admission like that.
"Rey –" He pauses, and she waits patiently for him to continue, despite the desperate need to turn her back on him and refuse to hear a damn thing he has to say. "Rey, I would never replace you."
"That's not what it looks like."
He slips his hand into hers this time, lacing his fingers through hers and it hits her that when he had stopped her earlier, it had been the first time he'd held her hand at all.
She's amazing her face hasn't simply burst into flames at that moment.
"I will come back for you."
"I don't believe you."
There's a sadness in his eyes, but also an understanding. An understanding of who she is, and all she's been through, and it sends chills running down her spine. "Then I'm just going to have to prove it to you."
.
It's far from being the same location ; where that moment had taken place was back on Ahch-To. She had been just as angry as she was now, surrounded by trees and darkness, and him.
"Why did I think I'd find you here?"
"Because you're a pain in my ass." She answers quickly, hoping the Wisterias hanging above them cast enough shadow to hide the sudden unease that grasped at her. Still, she slowly turned to him, arms folded across her chest.
"I know you're upset."
"Do you now? Funny how you know that when I haven't seen you around for days." There's snark in her tone, easily masked to someone who didn't know her well, but it was Ben and he knew her better than she knew herself most days.
"I was busy –"
"Preparing for you mission, I know."
"Rey."
"Ben."
The action is slow, deliberately so, so that she knows what he intends to do and has the chance to stop him should she wish to. But Poe's words are echoing in her head, as is the memory of a time very much like this one.
And maybe back then, she would have shoved him away. Maybe she would have remained infuriated enough to stop him.
But things have changed, and he has proven his word to her time and time again.
So instead, she sinks into his hold, palms resting flat against his chest just before his lips capture hers. Soft, sweet, and far too sweet for her liking, though he lingers when they pull apart. His forehead presses against hers, lips brushing against hers with every word he breathes out.
"I'll come back for you, Rey."
"I know you will."
end.