Finn and Rose had been lucky in their search for supplies. There was a stream nearby with fish, and plenty of gourds and fruit along the way. Rose was a little bit worried that the mossy firewood they found wouldn't start, but the light saber would ignite just about anything, damp or not.

Finn had no experience handling food, they found out. The First Order fed their troops mostly ready-made meal packs. Rey could at least be trusted to cook the fish, or at least not burn them. She'd never had fish on Jakku and was surprised by how delicious the disgusting-looking creatures were when she first tried one on Ahch-To. It had taken much convincing from Chewbacca to even try one after Master Luke made her try the sea cow milk though.

Night started to fall and the three of them found some emergency blankets and vaguely comfortable spots to sleep on. Rose took the first watch of the night and Finn fell asleep right away, but Rey kept replaying the day in her head until she slipped into a dream.

There were soft green fields all around her, and her toes were planted firmly in the cool, moist soil. Someone familiar took her hand and kissed the back of it. His smile made her heart flutter quietly. She turned her head at the sound of two small children calling to her. They ran up, clinging to her legs and laughing. She had been in this dream before. Rey turned again to the man beside her. Ben wrapped an arm around her waist. His smile was warm and happy.

What bliss, Rey thought.

Finn woke her up for her watch with a bundle of leftover fish and gourd. It was still dark, but as she nibbled on the food outside by their fire, the jungle filled with mist and light. Rey yelped at a large multi-legged insect that crawled over the side of her perch and then scuttled across the leaves, shimmering blue and yellow. Mostly she listened to unseen birds calling each other from the trees.

Eventually, she walked over to Kylo's ship. She poked her head inside, but he wasn't there. She was relieved not to have to face him again right then. She ran back over to the other ship to wake Rose, and then returned to start the repairs.

Half the day was spent clearing out debris when Rey realized Kylo Ren hadn't returned. She went to check on Finn and Rose, who had nearly finished preparing lunch. They ate and Rey returned to the TIE Silencer, but there was still no sign of him. She tinkered around with some scraps that might be re-purposed, though her concentration had scattered

After getting nowhere with the repairs, Rey wandered back to her friends complaining about the overly complicated inner workings of First Order ships.

"We should go take a dip in the stream. Get all the gunk off," Rose suggested.

"That sounds great," Finn chimed in. He was still used to frequent showers. Something about how much sweating happened under Storm Trooper armor.

"Nuh-uh. Girls only. You can go later."

Rey grabbed one of the leftover packets of food.

"Before we go, I'm going to leave Ben some food."

Finn raised an eyebrow at her. "Let the man fend for himself, Rey. That's the least he could do."

Rey shook her head. "I get the feeling he'll forget to eat if I don't."

Finn sighed at her as she left, but nonetheless she wandered over, unsure if he'd come back while she wasn't looking. He was right about not being able to see into the cockpit from the outside. Rey laid the food on a rock, rapped once on the hull, and bolted.

Rose was waiting for her by the edge of the jungle.

"So he does make you nervous after all," Rose teased.

"Of course he does!" Rey felt her face get hot.

The two girls looked at each other and broke out laughing.

"Please, let's talk about anything else."

"Do you know how to swim?"

Rey did not. In fact, she had only been in a moving body of water once before and found it more upsetting than the revelations of the mirror cave. She didn't realize it was something people did for fun.

This made Rose even more determined to teach her and now Rey was up to her thighs in rushing water, refusing to move. The "stream," as Rose dubbed it, was a fast-moving river nearly 50 feet wide. At the edge, Rey could see the rocks underneath the water, but the middle of it was dark and muddy. She was strongly reconsidering their friendship as Rose tugged at her elbow, urging her to step in deeper.

"You can't get clean if you just dip your toes in, silly!"

"I can do perfectly well with just a bowl of water," Rey insisted. "Really, I've done it many times."

"Just try it," Rose whined. "I can touch the bottom without having to put my head underwater and I'm shorter than you are!"

Rey gulped. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. People did this all the time on worlds with more water, right? She stepped forward to cheers from Rose and once more.

The water plunged around Rey. She gasped, felt it enter her mouth, and spit it back out as quickly as she could. Her eyes were still open and she could see Rose's torso before her in the murkiness, but her friend was no longer holding her hand. Before she could reach out, something invisible pulled her from behind and sent Rey tumbling through the water.

"REY!"

Everything was happening faster than Rey could react. Her head would break through the surface, but she couldn't get her mouth open for air before she'd be tossed back underwater. The current slammed her into a rock and pushed out what little breath and energy she had left. Her mouth filled with water again. She could feel herself giving up hope as the water thrashed her about.

Rey felt something clasp around her waist then pull her back. She had no will to fight against it until suddenly her head was above water again. She coughed and gasped for air. She grabbed at whatever had allowed her to surface and realized that Kylo Ren was dragging her out of the river and onto the shore. Rose ran up to them and collapsed on her knees beside them.

"REY! Are you alright?"

Rey couldn't get enough air in her lungs to answer her. It felt like all the warmth had left her body and a weight was crushing her chest. A pounding noise thudded through her head. Her heart? No matter how much she tried, she couldn't breathe deeply.

"She seems okay, just shaken." Kylo responded.

He loosened his grip on her waist, but Rey grabbed on to his arm tightly.

Don't let me die, she wanted to scream.

He looked down at her, recognizing the fear she was going through. She felt his arms wrap around her shoulders.

"You're safe," his soft, deep voice echoed in her ear. "I'm here. I've got you."

Rey closed her eyes, tears rolling down her cheeks like waves. At some point she heard Finn arrive, his voice loud and panicked. She couldn't make it out over the pounding. Then Rose's voice answered him, and all fell silent except for Kylo's whispers.

"Breathe. Just breathe."

"We're all here. You're safe."

She felt his nose pressed against the side of her head. She squeezed his arm harder. He grasped her shoulders firmly in response. They stayed like that for a while until Rey realized she was breathing normally again. She felt her body relax.

"Are you feeling better now?"

Rey nodded and he let go. She turned to look at her surroundings and found Rose's face distorted with tears.

"Rey..." She choked on the sounds. "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault."

Finn put his hands on Rose's shoulders to comfort her.

"No," Rey eked out the sound. She meant to continue, but was overcome with a coughing fit. Kylo put a hand on her back.

"Do you think you can stand?" He asked after the coughing subsided.

Rey nodded and Finn reached over to lend her hand up. Rose engulfed her in a hug, still teary-eyed.

Back at camp, Rey found herself being spoiled like never been before. Finn gave her his prized jacket to wear while her top dried and he got the fire going again. Rose busied herself making a fresh meal for Rey. Kylo wandered off, but returned with his cape and wrapped Rey in it.

Then he took his shirt off and laid it by the fire next to Rey's top.

Rey saw Rose look up and stare. She didn't need to look, but snuck a peek anyway. And then Finn noticed.

"Man, put your shirt back on! Nobody needs to see that!"

Rey tried to stifle her giggle, but wound up snorting.

"My shirt is wet," was the only response Kylo Ren could come up with. Rey didn't bother to hold back her laughter anymore.

When she finally stopped laughing, she looked up at him again only to see him blushing slightly. Rey took off his cape and shoved it toward him.

"Here," she laughed. "It's too warm with this jacket on anyway."

He took it and sat down next to her. He pointed his face away from the crowd, and Rey smiled at his shyness.

"Thank you, Ben," she said soft enough for only him to hear.

He turned to look at her, clearly uncomfortable with this current situation, with anyone but Rey.

"You're okay?"

She reached up to brush a hair off his cheek.

"Much better."

Author's notes: Sorry this chapter's so short, my dear readers. It just came out that way. I had a great deal of fun writing it and I love seeing your reviews. This is my first fanfic ever, so just seeing that anyone enjoys it at all is so wonderful. Thank you!