Rey stood beneath the spray of hot, steamy water showering down on her. Every few minutes she wondered again if she'd died and arrived in a heavenly afterlife. Cleaning herself on Jakku had never been so luxurious or pleasurable. Water was scarce, and clean water even scarcer. The fact that jets of pure, heated water continued to blast against her back without any sign of stopping was a miracle she would never find anywhere on Jakku.
The peaceful sleep she'd found in the private quarters Maz gave her within the castle, and the elegant comfort of her bed, added two more miracles to her day.
"Don't forget the miracle Jenny pulled off when she got us past the First Order on Jakku," Rey murmured to herself.
And so her mind finally began to wander from the miraculous shower to her current situation. She'd helped Jenny escape Jakku and determine her next step: contacting the Resistance. Jenny's course was set, and Maz would help her now.
Which left one glaring question: What would Rey do now?
Jenny could return her to Jakku with ease, assuming the First Order ship no longer orbited the planet. Rey knew that the longer she remained away, the greater the chance she would miss the chance to see her family when they returned.
Yet a hollow, dreading ache beat in the rear of her mind. She refused to acknowledge it.
So the most logical choice for her was to find out whether the First Order still watched Jakku, and then ask Jenny to drop her off on her way to find the Resistance.
"No," Rey whispered into the humidified air.
As she spoke that word, she pictured Jenny's petite, smiling face, her bravery in fixing her rocket ship while under attack by the First Order, her smirks and her laughs and the wonder in her eyes when she surveyed the Jakku desert.
"I've never met anyone like her," Rey whispered. "How can I let her go now?"
And then Rey's bare shoulders, soothed for so long by the streams of hot water, each seemed burdened by two forces tugging her their direction. On one hand, her desperate desire not to be off world when her family came looking for her. On the other hand, her yearning to explore the worlds beyond Jakku, a yearning both intensified and embodied by Jenny herself.
And in Rey's heart, a new feeling began to smolder.
When Rey finally shut off the shower, her mind reeled in confusion. She stepped out of the stall and stood in front of the clothes Jenny had loaned her, retrieved from Jenny's ship. Rey dressed mindlessly at first, but soon became distracted by the softness and fineness of the fabric in Jenny's clothes, unlike any cloth found on Jakku.
A full-length mirror in the refresher station showed her that the sleeveless black top and short, dark-green leggings fit her surprisingly well.
"I'm sure the chest is more roomy on me than it would ever be on her," Rey mused both in chagrin and excited amusement.
She stepped out of the refresher, slung her staff and pack over her shoulder, donned on her boots, and stepped into the hallway.
As the door to her quarters slid shut behind her, the door to Jenny's adjacent rooms opened, and Jenny emerged. Her clothes resembled the ones from yesterday, but with a blue top instead of green and with a pad of some sort of stretched animal hide protecting each of her thighs. She wore her blaster tucked in the holster of a thin belt and her own pack of discarded clothes on her back.
"Well hello," Jenny chimed. "How did you sleep?"
Rey found herself beaming at the memory. "Wonderfully," she exhaled.
Jenny smiled warmly. "Good. I'm glad to hear it." Then she added more quietly, "You deserve loads more nights of wonderful sleep."
Rey pursed her lips and folded her arms as a rare bout of shyness gripped her. "Thanks."
"Well, we both collapsed in our bunks pretty quickly last night, so we never got a chance to sort this out," Jenny began, and Rey's fighting instincts prickled, "but what are you going to do now? Do you...want to come with me when I talk to the Resistance?"
Rey gritted her teeth. She wasn't ready to have this conversation yet. "I was still thinking of returning to Jakku."
"Oh." Rey thought she could sense the faintest flicker of disappointment in Jenny's voice and face. "Do you think it's safe?"
"I'll find out," Rey said. "I need to get back in case my family comes looking for me."
"Right..." Jenny said. Her bright eyes looked into Rey's and her mouth opened as if ready to say more, but closed soon after.
"Do you even know if Maz can locate the Resistance?" Rey asked into the uncomfortable silence.
"She seems like the type who could do," Jenny mused. "Imagine I'll find out soon enough."
She took a step closer to Rey. "I know finding your family is important to you," Jenny continued, "but….well, Tinny's a good back up and all, but I could use a second set of hands to help me out. Hands that aren't, you know, metal."
She reached out and took Rey's hand in hers. Rey looked questioningly from her hand to Jenny's face. Jenny smirked in response and gently rubbed her fingers over Rey's palm.
"Not exactly Jergens smooth, but certainly softer than Tinny's plating," Jenny said.
Rey's pulse beat faster, but not from fighting instincts. She grimaced at Jenny. "What kind of 'help' are you talking about?"
Jenny stepped even closer, so close her face hovered only a few hairs' breadths from Rey's.
Heart racing, Rey became keenly aware that they stood alone in a silent, deserted hallway of the castle, and of the warm, fresh breath wafting from between Jenny's lips.
"I know we were only introduced yesterday," Jenny said quietly, "but when I saw you properly, the morning after you rescued me..." She hesitated. "Well, it took me a while to realize it, but the sight of you was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."
Jenny closed the space between them and her lips brushed Rey's.
Sudden panic seized Rey. Her mind flashed back to hundreds of nights huddled in a dark alley corner, hiding from the night gangs, then to a hundred days spent prowling the outskirts of the outpost while listening for the telltale footfalls of brigands stalking her.
Never too close, never too much trust.
Rey flinched and stumbled away from Jenny.
"I'm, I'm sorry," Jenny breathed. "Maybe I got a little carried-"
"No, it's not..." Rey looked away in discomfort. "I've never…, it's like..."
Rey clenched her fists, furious at herself. Jenny wasn't a member of a night gang or a desert brigand. She wasn't a backstabbing scavenger or a greedy thug. Jakku could never produce anyone as incredible and magnificent as Jenny. So why couldn't Rey let her guard down just this once?
"Look," Jenny offered, "I understand if you're not into-"
A thunderous rumble resounded through the castle and the floor heaved beneath their feet. Rey slammed into one wall, Jenny into the other.
"What in bloody hell?" Jenny exclaimed.
"Attention everyone, initiate Emergency Protocol Alpha!" Maz's reedy voice ordered over the intercom. "They're here!
"The First Order is here!"
