Through the Darkness || Finn&Rey

Chapter 5

After a heated argument (which is better: an X wing or Y wing) which I had silently listen to, Rey casually states, "I think I'll go head on to bed," I nod, she must want me to visit another night.

"Sweet dreams, sweetheart," I immediately turn my attention to Koden, who is soon blocked as Rey leans across the table. I lean forward slightly to see him

"Don't call me that, again." She seethes, glaring directly into Koden's calm, pale brown eyes; I am perturbed and unsure how he is not somewhat thrown by her aggressive demeanour.

"Goodnight, Rey," Poe interjects before Rey's anger overflows, his small smile makes her shoulders relax slightly. She nods once to him before slowly straightening herself into a standing position. I glance at her briefly avoiding eye contact, worried her irritation will return and be directed onto me, I look away. Yet I feel her burning gaze and when I glance back I see she is staring at me, looking at me as if I have done something wrong.

"I'll just go to my room then..." She trails off. It takes a moment longer before I stand up quickly, Poe looks at me curiously.

"I'll walk you... to your room." I say firmly, squirming out of my seat.

"Bye." I call to the two men, I look back at Poe and he raises one eyebrow in suspicion. I turn back around and follow Rey out of the dining hall, taking a few large strides to catch up to her in the hallway.

"You really are the worst," Rey grunts, "You can never pick up a hint, can you?" She groans.

I stop walking, "Sorry," I call, she turns around to face me and sighs, I offer her a smile, to which she responds with a painful eye roll and I glimpse a subtle smile before she turns of her heels and continuing to walk to her room, I follow closely behind her.

She leads me down many halls before stopping in front of room 27, Rey opens the door, first I see a wardrobe embedded into the wall beside the door, a small double, partially hidden by an wall, the moonlight from the window behind it dances on the sheets bed underneath a window at the back of the room; a desk in the right corner. Another door on the right leading to what I assume to be a restroom. There is a small sink fixed into the left wall, a few cupboards above it. It is cosy. Rey steps over to her wardrobe, opens it and takes out a long white nightdress. I remove Poe's jacket and place it on the chair at the desk, I hear Rey call to me from the restroom where she is changing, telling me I can sit down. I lower myself onto the edge of her bed, it yields to my weight.

Emerging a few moments later wearing the gown, she looks simply lovely, but I don't know how to tell her; I take a deep breath and smile instead. She sits beside me, for a while we sit in a strange silence, that isn't uncomfortable, yet it is still somewhat awkward.

I turn to her, "Did you find Skywalker?" I lean my hands on the bed behind me and lean back, "That is where Poe said you were going," I probe hoping it will lead into a deeper conversation. She nods, bringing her legs up onto the bed and crossing them.

"I went and returned his Lightsaber-" she begins, but I cut her off

"Rey!" I groan wrathfully, her eyebrows twitch with concern, and my lips turn up into a big smile "I was getting pretty good with that," I laugh, she huffs as she shakes her head at me.

Rey continues, telling me how and they worked together for a few days, "I had to come back, it was getting too hard to concentrate..." She trails off slightly.

"Why was that?" I ask, she opens her mouth as if to reply, but she doesn't.

"Because I was scared," she quickly says before continuing, now allowing me time to respond, "We flew the falcon back, and brought Luke with us," I don't say anything. Scared, the word floats around in my mind, and I remember what she said to me when I first saw her again... Suddenly I realise what she had just divulged to me.

"Wait, he is here, at base?" I cannot fathom it as Rey says yes, a moment passes where I realise that he is the most important man in the universe. Planets were destroyed in search for him, and he now sleeps just a few hallways away.

"He will leave again tomorrow; he only came to give his condolences to General Organa." A silence falls upon us, both unsure what to say.

I lean forward and bring my hands to my pants, rubbing up and down awkwardly. Rey looks down at her hands, she picks at her fingernails; that's when I notice the small bumps covering the entirety of her exposed arms. "Are you cold?" I enquiry, she glances over to me, "Do you want my jacket?" I ask gesturing to its place only a few feet from me. Rey looks into my eyes for a moment taking a deep breath in she smiles slightly and shakes her head.

"No thank you," She uncrosses her legs and stands up; she walks over a small lamp and flicks the switch on. I twist around to watch her silently walk to the curtains behind me; the moonlight shrinks as the two drapes meet. Rey then pulls back the bedcovers and conceals her body under them. She pats the spare space beside her. Before I realise I am under the sheets too; our bodies lying close together.

"Keep telling me about what you did," I reopen the topic as we lay starting at the ceiling. I occasionally turn my head to look at her; the light of a small lamp illuminates just enough of the room for me to see her features as she grins and frowns and furrows her brows in confusion as she explains her training. As she tells me about how she balanced herself upside down on small rock her voice slowly trails off and she falls asleep, curling up on her side so that she is facing me. I wonder if she has always slept like this: in a protective ball, her knees brought as close to her chest as she can, shielding almost all her vital organs from any predators lurking in the moonlight. I can't take my eyes off of her, and I watch her for longer than I have watched anyone just absorbing the way she looks: so peacefully vulnerable. I contemplate leaving - she is safe - no harm will come to her. Yet I cannot bring myself to even slightly shift my weight in fear it will move the bed. I convincing myself the reason I want to stay is so she doesn't have to worry about what's in the darkness.

I sink deeper under the covers the bed accepting my weight, graciously dipping to fit me, the comfort is indescribable. After more than a week of the harsh surface of my infirmary bed I feel as if I am falling asleep on a cloud.