Between it All

Preparation

When Ben and Rey arrived at the meeting, it had already begun. Leia was speaking, and her voice slowed as she looked up to the newcomers, but did not stop her speech. Rey gave a hasty apology, and she and Ben took two seats at the table. Rey settled into the empty chair next to Poe, and Ben slumped into the vacant one to her left.

After scooting her chair in, Rey brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear and rested her elbows on the table, listening intently to Leia.

"...and after they are safely on Axelrae, we will dispatch our fighters and engage the enemy."

Rey turned her head to see Ben frowning. He opened his mouth, and the room fell into a nervous hush.

"If you don't mind, General-- why is it necessary to send us to Axelrae? I don't think the Resistance would have much use for kyber-- except for the fact that Rey and I do need new lightsabers--"

Leia snapped her head towards her son, a bit hurt by his name for her. "As the Supreme Leader of the First Order--"

"--not anymore--" Ben inserted gruffly.

"--you are an important asset to the Resistance; I do not want to lose you."

"I don't need protection," Ben said with a roll of his eyes, his voice filled with irritation.

"I know you don't. But both you and Rey are weaponless, and need to be safe. Plus, it doesn't seem like she will let you go alone." She raised an eyebrow, which made Rey chuckle.

"We are also still waiting on responses from our allies on whether or not they will send a force to help us. Therefore, like we had discussed at an earlier meeting, keeping you...somewhere other than here-- will make them more likely to help."

But suddenly Leia's face fell into a somber frown.

"And...there wasn't a good time to mention this until now, but... since it came up, I might as well say it." She sighed, which made a bolt of fear shoot through Rey. "This morning I received a transmission from the First Order saying that they want you dead." Her eyes shot back and forth between Ben, and then Rey. "Both of you." 

Rey's stomach lurched as the room fell into a cold silence. I don't know why I let myself think things were finally falling into place....

"Rey, I won't let that happen," assured Ben, putting a hand on her leg.

"I know you won't." Replied Rey with a gentle smile.

She felt a sudden, strange wave of nausea pass through her, but she hid it well from the rest of the group. Except for Ben, of course, who started to run his thumb across Rey's thigh in loving circles. When the group began to have a loud conversation about how the day's planning and preparations would go, Ben took this time to speak with Rey.

Rey heard Ben's voice enter her mind like so many times before--that soothing, deep, melody that felt like water running over rocks.

"You aren't feeling well."

Rey wasn't surprised by his matter-of-fact statement. His prominent tone of worry made his sentence seem like a question, to which Rey replied her answer.

"Yeah, I just got nauseous, that's all. I'm fine."

Her answer didn't seem to satisfy Ben, but he accepted it nonetheless. He patted her leg and withdrew his hand, feeling his mind retreat with his touch. Rey didn't know why she felt sick-- she wasn't consciously nervous about the upcoming battle or anything.

Rey didn't really remember much of the rest of the meeting. Most of it she didn't understand anyway-- there were too many technical battle terms that she was unfamiliar with. The parts she did remember, however, had to do with what the plans were for the next couple days. Because of her knowledge of mechanics, Rey was supposed to help with checking the weapons, and then fixing those that didn't work correctly, or dismantling them and using the parts for something else if they were completely broken. On the other hand, Leia requested that Ben stay back with her and help her figure out the battle plans. Seeing as that Ben knows the First Order's strategies, Leia reasoned, he would be able to anticipate their plan of attack and help the Resistance strategize accordingly.

Once the Resistance was dismissed from the meeting to begin their assigned task, Rey headed straight to the hangar with Poe and Rose, who were in charge of fixing and cleaning up the ships, and equipping them with some newer technology. The ex-scavenger took a seat at a table next to several racks of weapons, which mainly consisted of blaster pistols and some blaster rifles. The black metal of the weapons hanging on the racks glinted with rusted silver accents. The spot was well lit by some natural light coming through skylights in the ceiling of the hanger, but she clicked on an extra lamp and pointed it down towards the table for extra measure.

She enjoyed the monotony of the work, using the same method for checking every blaster. Safety off, check that the trigger works, joints cleaned, parts tight and secure, battery charged, safety on. Those that failed a step she'd take apart, sometimes finding the problem and fixing it, and others she'd fully dismantle, tossing their parts into a slowly-growing pile. Poe or one of his helpers would occasionally come over and rummage through the stack, usually taking a part or two each time, and maybe asking to borrow a wrench. She had soon forgotten about the commotion and noise around her, her hands numbing her mind to the frantic people rushing around on their respective errands. She lost herself in the blissfully mundane task-- she was thankful for the distraction from all of the stress.

At around midday, Rey finished her task. It was nearly the afternoon, and therefore, she decided to have some lunch. She hadn't realized how quickly the time had gone. Rey stood up from the workbench, her joints groaning at the sudden stretch. Hanging up the last repaired blaster, Rey headed to the meeting room, where lunch was usually set up.

Upon entering the room, the first thing she noticed was how tired everyone was. Heads hung low, feet were dragged, and people were sitting on the cool tile floors, wiping sweat from their brows on the backs of their hands. At the sight, Rey's adrenaline fell, her having realized just how worn she was as well. Looking around at the bedraggled Resistance, Rey realized that no one was expecting to have to prepare this much. With how much work that still needed to be done, without the aid of the allies who still hadn't arrived, prospects looked grim.

She brushed her hair back with a nervous hand and approached the table of food. She gathered a plateful, all of the dishes suddenly looking incredibly enticing. As she did so, she couldn't help her eyes from glancing to the side. Ben was leaning down over a table, his back hunched and neck craned forward in concentration. The braids of General Leia's bun stood beside him, also tilted up towards the ceiling as the mother looked down at the papers strewn across the desk. Ben was moving his hand across the papers, occasionally making some motion, obviously to describe something he was saying.

Rey found herself staring at them. The actions were so...normal. Exactly how a mother and son should act. Plus, Rey could tell that Ben was enjoying this-- the planning, the strategizing. Rey almost laughed. He takes after his mother. She watched as Ben rested his hand back on the table. And then, with amazement, she watched as Leia's hand, adorned with jewels and rings, slid toward Ben's, and came to rest on top of his.

And then--something amazing happened.

Nothing.

Ben didn't recoil, didn't flinch-- it was as if the act did not bother him. Perhaps it no longer did. Rey tried to conceal the look of astonishment most likely plastered all over her face. Instead, she tilted her lip from an open-mouthed gape into an awed smile.