Part 7

Rey plastered her back to the wall and closed her eyes. She let out a deep breath. What had she done? Why had she said all of those things to him? Did she believe those words? And if so, how was she gonna keep true to them?

She knew that's what Leia had asked of her and that's what she had vowed to do, but still, she hadn't recognised the confidence in her own voice when she had delivered that speech. Now, she couldn't help but wonder if she was trying to convince him or herself, or both.

The fact that she didn't have an answer to her own questions unsettled her. But what disturbed her most, were the feelings that had taken over her when she had seen the mask: the fear, the concern, none for herself, all for the man before her. Well, not the man, she hadn't seen the man Kylo Ren just then, she had seen the little Ben, young and scared, wanting to hide away from the world; the little boy that was running away from pain, turned into a man that was running away from the light.

Rey felt a deep ache in her chest, an ache that made it harder to breath. She knew that pain too well, knew the brokenness, the need to run away. But until she had met Ben, she had never been tempted by the darkness; and now, something was pulling her towards him more and more. Was it the darkness in him? Was it the Force? Or was it something else?

Rey leaned her head against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut, letting out a groan. Her head was too full, her heart too overwhelmed; life had been much simpler on Jakku where she only had one thing to do-survive until her parents returned. Of course, now she knew that they never would have returned, that she would have spent her life waiting in vain, because her parents were dead; that was a type of grief she was still learning to live with. It was easy, forgetting how long she had been alone when she was surrounded by people all the time on the base; but at night, when she was by herself, she would remember exactly how those long lonely nights on Jakku had felt. That's when she would imagine an ocean, and the island, and then his face, always his face lately, and his voice, calming and caring: Don't be afraid, I feel it too. It was funny how he could be millions of light years away and still make her feel less alone. That was something she didn't usually care to admit, even to herself, but now she was alone and it was quiet in the empty corridor, and she felt like she could. Plus, they had shared something, something had transpired between them that changed things; how, she didn't yet know.

Finally feeling steady on her feet, Rey started down the corridor. It was a long, winding corridor leading to the main meeting room. On her way there, she passed the recovery room Rose was in; she saw Finn with her inside and she stopped to watch them. The window was a one-way mirror, so they couldn't see her. Rose was sat up in her bed, engrossed in Finn's story. Dressed in a white gown, she looked better today: there was a hint of colour in her cheeks, her bruises were fading away and her wounds were healing. From behind the glass, Rey couldn't hear Finn's story, but she could see Rose throw her head back with laughter and she smiled. She was so happy that the two of them had found each other; but, if she were to be honest with herself, she found she longed for the same thing as well.

"They look great together, don't they?"

Poe's question startled her. She must have not heard him come down the corridor and stop beside her.

She smiled at him then looked back at the two. "Yes, they truly do."

She had grown more comfortable around Poe in the past months. Perhaps it was because they were both training other pilots, perhaps it was because of their devotion to Leia or the fact that Finn was always with Rose. Perhaps it was neither of those things, perhaps it was because she felt at ease with him.

"They've got nothing on me and BB-8, though," Poe joked.

She laughed. "Hmm, I don't know, I feel like me and Chewie just get along better,"she teased.

He raised a dark eyebrow. "Oh, really?" Rey nodded, which made Poe carry on, "Me and BB-8 make the best team!"

"Yeah,"Rey grimaced, "not so sure about that."

"Wow, are you saying that you and Chewie make a better team? Because I can prove to you, we," he said, pointing his thumb towards himself, "work together better than you guys."

"Oh, really?"Rey challenged.

Poe nodded vehemently. "Really."

"All right," Rey said, folding her arms together, "then how about we test that out?"

Poe shrugged nonchalantly."Anytime and anywhere, sweetheart," he winked at her.

Rey rolled her eyes. "Well how about now?"she asked smirking. "You two and us two, we'll race."

"Fine. But you can't use the Millennium Falcon!" Poe pointed out.

"Fine. Me and Chewie can handle whatever." Rey bragged.

"Oh, we'll see about that."

A*A*A*

"Whoooho, what was that, Dameron?" Rey questioned, as she exited her cruiser.

"What?" Poe faked innocence.

"That move!" She narrowed her eyes and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You cheated!" From behind her she heard Chewbaka give a loud "Arrrr" in agreement. "See? Even Chewie says so!"

"What?" Poe feigned outrage. "I would never."

Rey rolled her eyes. "Whatever, you just cheated because you knew you couldn't beat me and Chewie fair and square." She poked him in the arm, then turned around to give him access to her protection gear. It was something that they did now, after she had struggled to take the gear off herself the first few times, Poe had offered to help and now it became a thing they did every single time. It was like a dance, they would always do it as they were walking to their lockers, she would turn her back to him, then he would quickly undo the bonds, which allowed her to take the gear off.

When he was done, Rey turned around to face him again. "You know, I never pictured you as a cheater, Dameron." She shook her head at him but smiled.

He gave her a cheeky grin. "Well that makes two of us, because I never pictured you as a liar."

Rey gasped. "How dare you?"

He just wiggled his eyebrows, which made Rey roll her eyes. "Think fast," she said, throwing the rucksack at him.

He caught it just in time. "What's this for?"he asked.

Rey shrugged, walking away from him. "Nothing, just didn't feel like carrying it," she said and heard Poe laugh in her weak.

AN: First of all, thank you for all the faves, follows and reviews! You guys are awesome. Second, I know this took longer to update but I felt like I needed to write the following 3 chapters all in one go...so make sure to keep an eye out for the next one :)Also, please make sure to check out my other two fanfics: Reylo Oneshots and When we were young xxx