Rey turns a pebble over in her hand before skipping it across the still pond. Once, twice, thrice it bounces, sending out ripples like cries for help. Then it sinks to the bottom, taking her heart with it.
It's all temporary, she knows. Time will pass, and her children will return for the holidays, and the house will be bright and loud and lively again.
Still, that doesn't lessen the pain now. She has never been good at being separated long-term from the people she loves. When she and Poe first started dating, they spent months apart at a time until it almost destroyed them. They promised after that to limit off-world solo trips to a fortnight unless absolutely necessary.
And now it's their children's turn to travel the stars. She can't blame them for catching wanderlust, and she would never want to hold them back. And she knows this feeling will soon pass and her days will brighten again. But for now, Poe's doing recon on the other side of the planet, and she's between padawans, and she misses her family to her core.
So she picks up another pebble, skips it across the pond, and waits.
A/N: Prompt: 'The world is too quiet without you nearby.' from The Beatrice Letters by Lemony Snicket