The Millenium Falcon zoomed through space as Rey watched through the window. Stars streamed past like little blurred memories as Poe typed in more coordinates into the system. Rey was the co-pilot for this journey even though it irked her a lot. She liked being in control of her own missions and journeys, and she did not like being second in command. She only tolerated it with Hans because well, he was Han Solo, the best pilot in the whole galaxy. It wasn't that she didn't like Poe either. In fact, she really admired him after hearing of all the battles he has helped win. She really just preferred to be by herself.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" said Poe leaning back in his chair and stretching
Poe speaking startled Rey, and she slightly jumped in her chair as he spoke.
"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you, I-I- just really like the view when I travel." he said looking nervous but smiling, "I usually pilot by myself, so you know I'm not too good at small talk."
Rey calmed down and gave him a slight smile. She wasn't really in the mood to talk too much, so she just nodded and said,"I usually fly by myself too."
Poe looked down and seemed satisfied with Rey's answer. She was about to turn back around when Poe said,"I have I ever told you why I became a pilot?"
Rey looked back kind of confused at the question and said,"No, you haven't."
"Well, I'd suppose not since we don't really talk that much, but I became one because... I really wanted a limited edition Battle of Endor toy Ewok." He said blushing slightly and laughing.
Rey couldn't help but let out a laugh. She looked to him and asked,"You really became a pilot to get a toy? Why?" She questioned now smiling.
"I always thought Ewoks were really cool, okay? My dad took me to the city one time, I think in Corellia, and I got to see and play around with one. I mean I really thought it was cool when I was a kid. Anyways, I saw in a catalog from my mom that they had these ultra-realistic Ewok toys, and I remembered I wanted one so bad. I asked my mom daily if she would get it for me, but she would always say that if I wanted one, I'd have to fly to Corellia to get it myself. And you know? I did just that." Poe said smiling and looking rather pleased with himself.
"You really learned to fly just to get a toy?"
"I sure did. I mean of course I put my amazing talent to use to help other people and be good and blah blah blah, but I really wanted that toy, man" He said.
Rey giggled some more. She really enjoyed the story and began to think of her own story. She learned how to pilot through an old simulator she found abandoned on Jakku. When she wasn't scavenging for scraps and parts, she would spend her time learning to fly. She would have daydreams of one day buying her own ship and looking for her parents. She would go to all ends of the galaxy and meet all kinds of people and see all kinds of wonders. She would then find her family and finally feel the sense of belonging she yearned for all her life. The thought saddened her a little thinking of her old life, but Poe talking pulled her out of her thoughts.
"But hey, I just want you to know you can trust me. I know that's kind of hard to do especially after everything you've been through, but I want you to know I'm not one of those bad guys," Poe said with seriousness in his voice.
"I believe you, Poe. I just tend to be a little more reserved I guess. Everything is so much more different now. Everything seems a lot more hopeless with the First Order being at an all time high." She said releasing a lot of the worries trapped in her mind.
"I understand, Rey. I think it's been a real hard time for everyone.", He said with a somber look on his face,"The Resistance lost so many people in such little time. I was so happy to hear about this mission because if all of this is true, the people wanting to rebel, well that means there is still hope for us. We can really kick ass if we can just get even a few more people."
Rey knew he was right too. The Resistance could really be a strong force if they just had the right people. General Leia had left them with a few profiles on the people they were to try and meet. Rantho Saycoz was apparently very big in the black market world of machine manufacturers for war. Ever since the Empire was still in order, he had a whole monopoly on his hands. Quite the rich fellow too with ties and connections to all sides of the war. Rey had a feeling that he wasn't trustworthy though. No one who makes his money through the use of building weapons to harm people can be a good person. Then again though, she was in an odd relationship with a full blown force sensitive warlord.
Just as Poe finished speaking, Finn came bustling in the cockpit looking rested and refreshed. He came up behind Rey's chair and effectively pushed her out of her seat.
"Hey! What was that for? What are you doing?" Rey somewhat screamed as she walked back around to her chair.
"I am taking over as co-pilot right now because you missy needs to get some sleep." Finn said whiping around to the console.
Rey turned his chair back around and promptly said, " I will most certainly not go to sleep! I am the co-pilot on this mission, and I will not be thrown out of my chair like som-"
"The General gave me specific orders to make sure you take breaks, so that you can have a calm demeanor when we talk to these people" Finn said cutting her off.
"What do you mean a 'calm demeanor'? I am calm! I am always calm!" Rey exclaimed. Finn and Poe looked at each other and started to laugh at Rey's little outburst.
"Yeah, okay. You're right, you are totally calm. I'm just following orders that were given to me Rey, and I'm pretty sure you'd do the same thing if the General gave you orders." Finn said happily,"Plus, you need sleep cause you're looking pretty rough right now."
Rey couldn't really argue with that. She still had on the same clothes she had left in, her hair was piled on top on her head in a ponytail of sorts, and the bags under her eyes were dark and heavy. She also could feel how tired her body was, and how much it yearned to be under the warmth of a blanket. She shuffled her feet and started walking away while mumbling some quite profane words about her counterparts.
"Hey, its not nice to curse you know!" Poe said laughing at her pouting.
Rey promptly raised her middle finger in one last act of defiance to her orders of sleep. She walked to the bunks, and decided it was time for a change of clothes. She softly pulled off her current attire and slipped into a simple beige, long-sleeved tunic with stretched out black pants. She also undid the binding around her chest to give her a chance to be really comfortable. Rey hurried into her bed feeling much better to just lay down and rest. She laid for a while until she couldn't tell if she were sleeping or awake.
Everything all around her felt like fuzzy and warm. The world she knew, and the one she wanted to explore seemed to all blend together. She felt like she was back on Lothal, laying in the tall grass and staring at the night sky. It all felt so beautiful to her. She closed her eyes and basked in the sounds of the meadows around her. Chirps and squeaks could be heard all around with the night life of the animals abundant. When she opened her eyes, she suddenly got the sense that she wasn't alone.
I agree. It is quite beautiful here, Kylo said through their bond.
Rey sighed heavily aloud and shot back, Why can't I ever just be alone with my thoughts and dreams?
It's not like I wanted to come here. You seemed to pull on our bond, so the force made me visit you.
I absolutely did not call for you to come here! Rey exclaimed.
Oh yes you did. All I could feel today was the constant tug of you pulling at our bond. It infuriated me to say the least because all I tried doing was shutting you out, but you couldn't stop could you?
"I never called for you, okay! I would never do that to begin with because being around you infuriates me too!" Rey yelled rolling over to see him.
He was in front of her when she did roll over though. His body was so close to her that she could feel the heat rolling off of him. His face was close to hers enough for her to see every detail of his face like the small almost invisible freckles across the bridge of his nose or the soft curl running alongside his face.
Rey suddenly felt extremely flustered by the closeness of their bodies, and she was about to roll away when he placed his hand along the curve of her waist. Bolts of electricity pulsed through Rey as she felt the warmth of his hand. The force inside of her hummed the highest notes while they laid there. Similar warmth that she felt all the times they had talked before returned. This time, though, it felt different. It felt intense and deep with burning desire emanating from it. She had never felt this way around anyone who had touched her.
"If it infuriates you so much, Rey, why don't you do something about it?" Kylo said in a low,deep voice.
Hearing his voice made the warmth turn into fire within her. She was feeling so many things at once, yet all she wanted to do was feel him even closer to her body. She was so confused by the feelings she was having for him in the moment, but he seemed to take advantage by moving his hand up from her waist, trailing to her cheek and resting it there. Rey looked into his eyes and then rested her gaze onto his full lips. He began pulling her towards him when all of a sudden the cold air of reality set in.
She awoke from her dream so quickly that she fell off her cot, heaving heavy breaths. She got up from the floor and shuffled back into her cot.
It was all just a dream, She thought.
She supposed she should've been happier knowing that it was just a dream. She really just felt even more empty inside. She didn't understand the meaning behind what she had just experienced. Rey tried to reason that having a force bond with someone can make them feel a lot more attached than normal. But this wasn't just attraction. It was pure desire to be close to someone, and it was something she had never felt in her life. She still could feel the physical effects of the desire she felt. Everything was all so new to her, and it was quite overwhelming. Right as she even considered going back to sleep, the air went cold. Sound seemed to leave the room as Kylo manifested on the end of her cot.
"What do you need? You have been pulling on the bond for the last hour, but I couldn't do anything because you wouldn't let me in." Kylo said in an aggravated voice.
Rey looked stunned for a minute, remembering the dream she just had. She didn't even realized that she was pulling on their bond when she awoke. She instinctively crossed her arms around her chest to make up for the lack of proper clothes or bindings.
"Oh, um, sorry I guess I was having a bad dream, and I pulled by accident." She lied quickly. She was trying to stay calm, but she couldn't help the small blush coming to her cheeks.
"How the hell do you pull on the bond by accident?" He sneered.
"I don't know! Listen, it happened but lets just try to make each other go away cause I really can't deal with you right now." She said in a hushed hurried voice. She didn't want Finn or Poe to walk in on her talking to the air like some lunatic.
"No. I want to know why you kept pulling on the bond." Kylo demanded as he started to try and look into her mind.
He didn't get very far as she shut him out quickly, but not quickly enough as he had seen a small glimpse of the beginning of her dream. He flinched as she did shut up out and looked towards her.
"What were you dreaming about?" He questioned curiously looking at her perplexed as to why he was in her dreams.
"I-I-I'm not sure what it was or even what it was about because it was a very quick and mundane dream, and I guess it caused me to pull on the bond cause I don't know how this damn thing works!" She exclaimed all in one breath.
He sat there silently watching her. He eyed her up and down, and that made her a bit uncomfortable being under his watchful eye.
"I can help you. Help you shut out the need to reach out. Shut out the force, Shut out everything. It takes practice, but I've done it before with Snoke. I know it can get maddening having someone always in your thoughts, filling your own privacy with their presence. I can teach you." Kylo said.
Rey was stunned by this proposition. She thought he was just going to argue with everything she was saying, yet there he sat offering her a way out of her torment. He was also offering her the idea she had been longing to try. If she could learn from him, not only would she get the chance to tune her force skills, but she'd also have a chance to try and persuade him to the light again.
"I'll do it." She said calmy.
He looked stunned for a minute, but then nodded his head,"We'll start tomorrow then."
Rey looked at him again. She studied his face for just a second and remembered how nice it felt to have it close to her. She shook the thought from herself quickly and climbed back into her cot. After a while the cold air turned warm again and sound seemed to come in softly like a light rain on Lothal. She went to sleep with hope in her heart that she still had the chance to show Ben Solo to the light again.