Star Wars Ep VIII : The New Empire

Chapter 21: Déjà Vu

"We're nearly to Drecenia," Ben announced as he stood over the pilot's controls.

"Good," Rey said, stretched out casually across her chair. "I think I would lose my mind if I had to stay in here any longer."

For four long days they had been travelling through empty space, little conversation passing between them as Ben kept a vigilant watch over his security scanners. Rey noticed that he seemed to have grown more testy, no longer as open to teasing, and certainly not open to any questioning. Rey often chose her words carefully, not wanting to trigger the full force of his temper, whatever that would entail.

Though she felt more at ease around Ben now, no longer as intimidated by his sizable presence, Rey still felt a tension between them, assuming it was the connection of their Force bond. She felt a rising electricity deep down to her core, and her heart beat harder in her chest whenever she merely looked at Ben.

Rey couldn't help but wonder why the Force drew her to him physically; she experienced emotions and drives that she felt to be confusing.

She repeatedly reflected on when Ben's arms had wrapped around her when she'd been flooded with his memories, as well as when he'd carried her through the fuel station. She had a strange yearning to feel his arms around her once again, but she tried to repress these impulses.

She studied him as he analyzed the ship's controls, as she'd now done many times before. Her eyes traced over Ben's lanky, masculine figure, the soft tendrils of his thick black hair.

Rey let her own hair down more often now. Out of boredom, she tried new hairstyles for herself, faced with nothing else to do in the dark, empty ship. She'd experimented with ponytails, buns, braids. She felt disappointed that Ben never commented on the obvious changes in her hair.

Rey now leaned her head back in her chair, kicking her feet as they hung over the edge of the armrest. She felt uncomfortable with the long spans of silence that took place between her and Ben.

"Don't you ever get lonely, flying alone in this dark thing?" Rey asked, wondering how he would react to the question.

Ben seemed to stop with whatever he was typing onto a screen, turning his head slightly. "Lonely?"

"Yes."

He turned his face further to meet her eyes, and Rey regretted the question as his expression soured. "Shouldn't I be asking you, Scavenger?" He snapped. "You're the one who was abandoned on a barren rock."

Rey frowned, momentarily hurt, but he had a point. Ben dropped his eyes, turning his face back to the controls.

They remained silent for about a half hour after this brief exchange before Rey saw a growing grey dot on the horizon through the view of the ship's window. She stood up from her chair, walking up to the control board but keeping her space from Ben. She somehow sensed that he wanted to maintain distance between them.

The small grey planet of Drecenia grew near, and Rey realized that its coloring was the mark of ice and snow. She looked down at her thin tan clothing, wondering how cold the surface of the planet would actually be.

Upon reaching the planet, Ben silently descended the ship down through the thick atmosphere. Minutes later, they broke through the cloud layer as their ship descended along with the falling snow.

Rey scowled, seeing no lights or signs of civilization. "Isn't this planet inhabited by anyone?" Rey asked, scanning the white horizon.

"Not by anything sentient," Ben said.

Rey turned her face to look at him. "What lives here, then?"

"Nothing you'd want to encounter," he said cryptically, meeting her eyes for a moment.