Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction using characters and elements from the Star Wars universe, created and trademarked by George Lucas and currently owned by Disney. I do not claim ownership over any Star Wars characters or elements from the Star Wars Universe. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and is not claiming to be any part of the Star Wars canon. Thank you to Disney for letting me play with the characters and not suing me for writing them into a new situation.
NOCTURNE IN THE KEY OF B SOLO
by MALOREIY
~ Chapter 6 ~
When Rey's best friend, Rose, found out that Rey was planning on attending a concert at Coruscant Hall in a blouse and her one good pair of black slacks, she just about had kittens. Horrified, she'd insisted on going through every scrap of clothing in Rey's closet, only to finally determine that Rey had absolutely nothing appropriate to wear.
Rey had thought the scariest part would be telling her friend that she was going to a concert on an invitation from a stranger, but Rose actually found that exciting and romantic. No matter that Rey had told her that she was pretty sure her neighbor was just being nice and wasn't even planning on showing up, Rose was convinced that it was the beginning of a great love affair and therefore Rey had to dress appropriately.
Unfortunately, Rey didn't have many friends, and most of them were guys. Certainly none of them were from the rich set that regularly went to formal concerts.
In the end, Rose's older sister, Paige, had volunteered her old prom dress for the cause, and together they'd managed to get it to fit very credibly. Although Paige was quite a bit shorter, she had a penchant for very high heels, so Rey was able to manage fine with some flats.
Rose had desperately wanted to put Rey's hair into a classic updo, but since they were running out of time, the best she could do was three little buns running down the back of her head.
Rose assured her it was elegant. Rey thought she looked a bit like a dinosaur.
As Rey raced down the sidewalk of downtown Coruscant, she was grateful, though, both for the flat shoes and the hardy hairstyle.
No one had told her parking at the Hall was so ridiculously expensive, so she'd parked her old Jakku Junker a few streets down and was hoofing it to the theater so she wouldn't be late.
Since she was moving so fast, she didn't have time to lament the fact that she had no wrap or coat that would match the dress, and so she was bare-shouldered in the chilly air. No doubt she'd be less comfortable on the return trip, but she couldn't worry about that now.
As she approached the crowd of people gathered outside the huge glass windows of the theater lobby, she had a moment of trepidation.
What if the ticket clutched in her hand was no good? What if it was all just a prank after all? What if they all took one look at her and knew she didn't belong there?
Paige's prom dress was a bright, sunny yellow color. It had seemed formal and festive in Rose's living room, but looking around, Rey didn't see any other colors so bright. Everyone was wearing dark jewel tones—sapphire and emerald—and for some reason, an awful lot of red. Or, 'garnet,' she supposed.
Her yellow princess-style dress stood out like a laser beam.
The other women were also dripping in fancy jewels and wearing impeccable make-up. Rey only had a bit of eyeliner and mascara because Rose had insisted.
She ignored the curious stares, tried to look like she was perfectly normal, and approached the ticket master with a shaking hand.
To her profound relief, he simply scanned the ticket and directed her to the lower levels.
Once inside, she was so giddy at the idea of being at such a fancy concert to listen to someone who was being billed as 'one of the upcoming premier musicians of Coruscant,' that she stopped noticing the curious stares and the frowns.
She just wanted to find her seat.
Someone handed her a program, and she was struck again by how intense Kylo Ren's eyes were. She couldn't tell if he was incredibly angry or incredibly sad. Perhaps his eyes changed when he played.
She arrived at the row where her seats were, and started to squeeze her way past the other patrons who were already seated. They let her pass with slight frowns, and she repeated her excuses and apologies until she arrived to where her chair number was supposed to be.
But it wasn't there.
She double-checked her ticket again. D17.
The chairs skipped right over her number!
An awful feeling of frustration swept over her. She knew it had just been a trick. She felt so incredibly stupid standing there, staring at the space where her chair was supposed to be, and she wondered how fast she could get out of the theater and back into her car, and back into her regular clothes and her regular life. And she was never going to send her damn neighbor any messages again!
"Excuse me, miss, that's my seat."
She looked up at the person speaking to her, appalled to find there was the slightest sheen of tears obstructing her view. If she was going to cry, she needed to wait till she got outside, or she'd have mascara running all down her face.
"I'm sorry, I had been trying to find my seat and it—it doesn't seem to be here." She gestured helplessly at the chairs. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "I'll just be going."
The woman frowned and held out her hand.
Rey reluctantly showed her the ticket.
The woman glanced at it for the briefest second and then handed it back to her with a roll of her eyes. "You're odd," she said.
"Excuse me?" Rey was shocked at the casual way the woman had just insulted her. Just because she looked a little bit different and was clearly out of her element was no reason to be rude to a stranger.
"I'm even," the woman explained. When it was clear that Rey still wasn't understanding, she grabbed her own ticket and pointed at the seat number. "D16, even." Then she pointed at Rey's ticket. "D17, odd. You're on the wrong side of the theater, your seat is over there."
She pointed down the row on the other side of the next aisle.
Comprehension dawned on Rey, and a smile lit up her face. "Oh, thank you! Oh, I'm so sorry! Of course!"
The woman's irritation seemed mildly eased by Rey's profuse thanks, and Rey quickly made her way back out towards the aisle, excusing herself past all the same people she'd inconvenienced before.
When she got to the aisle she realized she really should have just continued straight through to the other side, rather than backtracking. The only way she could see to get to the other side was to go all the way back up the aisle and through the hallways to the other aisle.
The ushers were encouraging everyone to take their seats, so she hurried back up the aisle.
The theater doors were closed as she tried to head down the correct side of the theater.
An usher frowned at her, but she just held up her ticket as she reached for the door handles. "I'm so sorry! I'm just going to take my seat! I was on the wrong side! I'm an odd! I'll be quick, I promise!"
She breezed past him, and was relieved that he didn't stop her or follow her as she quickly made her way down towards the front.
The lights were starting to go down, but she had enough light to find Row D, and from this end, reaching D17 didn't require squeezing past so many people.
She hurried past everyone, her heart racing, anxious to be in her seat when the program started. She felt a thrill when she found the seat that matched her ticket and plopped down into it gracelessly, accidentally kicking the seat in front of her.
The woman, a very tall blonde with short cut hair, leaned over to her companion, a skinny red-headed man, and said, rather loudly, "They let such riff-raff in nowadays. No class, no dignity."
The man agreed with her wordlessly.
Rey flushed at the pointed comment, but didn't feel like starting any fights. She half wished she hadn't come at all, as the entire experience had been nothing but trouble so far.
The panic of getting to her seat, though, had at least caused her to temporarily forget her worry about whether or not Ben Solo would be joining her. Frantically she looked around, wondering if she'd just squeezed past him and hadn't even noticed.
On either side of her was an elderly couple, and they both seemed occupied in their own conversations.
If Ben Solo was coming, he wasn't going to be sitting next to her.
Horrified, she wondered if maybe he hadn't known about the even and odd seats and was sitting on the other side of the theater. She started to look over to where she'd been, thinking she might be able to spot someone else who looked confused, but it was already too dim in the theater to make out those on the other side.
She looked closer at the people sitting by her, but none of them seemed like the kind of man who made the music that she listened to every night.
She wondered again why Ben Solo had invited her to this concert, but resolved to just enjoy it and worry about the 'why' later.
Then the curtains lifted.
And when Kylo Ren began to play, everything Rey had worried about completely slipped her mind.
She sat entranced, completely enthralled with the melodies coming from the piano—so familiar and yet wholly new and beautiful—and with the man playing them.