"Breathing"

Rey turned slightly away from the small fire the group of survivors had started to keep themselves warm. She felt eyes raking over her again.

She sharply inhaled.

A familiar feeling washed over her for a moment.

The feeling passed as quickly as it came in the blink of an eye.

She exhaled. Too close, yet too far for any comfort.

She knew that he would take whatever he wanted. He had seen her every fear, her every discomfort, her every insecurity in an instant when he probed her mind.

She also knew that his eyes betrayed every feeling, every truth he had nestled within him.

So, she kept running. Pushing so hard, that left her breathless with every space jump the remnants of the Resistance made.

She inhaled deeply as she sat to meditate.

Dark pools of brown that reflected burning ashes that cascaded around them. Incoherent words, deep murmurings, and pleading ministrations danced across the bond that ribboned between them. They made no sense, but was everything they both needed.

She exhaled slowly, straining and pushing her lungs, trying to make the moment last.

Inhale.

He was a living legacy, the blood of heroes and royalty mixed together.

He had a loving family that wanted nothing but for him to return home to begin to forgive. He was wanted.

Exhale.

He could be everything the Alliance could have dreamed up, the very definition of a beacon of endless hope. He alone could turn the tides.

He was a murder. But he had every moment, a clear path paved in front of him to make strides back towards the light.

Inhale.

She saw it. The moment his eyes blinked, leaving hers. Emotions that needed no words, and feelings that had no other names lost as his eyes flickered backwards at the empty throne.

Exhale.

Peace and distance was her salvation. Her resolve was too mixed with loss to stop running now.

"Please…" she whispered back to the stars.