Underneath it all

Building bridges.

Soap suds splashed over Kylo as he scrubbed the mud off the windshield of one of the freighters, his mind on the challenges ahead.  It was odd to think where he would be now if he hadn't had Rey by his side.  "Need some help?" Came a voice next to him.  He turned quickly, his damp hair sticking to his forehead.

Rose stood there, a cloth in one hand and a bucket in the other.  Unsure of her intentions Kylo nodded, stepping to the side so that she could work next to him.  For a moment they both were quiet and then Rose spoke.  "You know C3PO speaks very highly of you, so does Rey and so did your mother".  Kylo shot her a sideways glance but never stopped scrubbing.  "For some here it's hard to accept you, for me.....well I can see the good in you, and I get it.  Rey's explained what Luke did...what choice it forced you to make".  Kylo stopped working then and turned to the small girl in front of him, "I made my choice that night.  I went to the only person I knew would have me.  Snoke.  He took me in, mentored me".  Rose nodded, "I have made a deal with myself, I am not going to judge so quickly before I know all the facts.  Finn, you know him as FN2187, well I accused him of being a traitor to the resistance because I saw him getting into an escape pod but really he was trying to save Rey.  And you, well.....".  Kylo interjected,  "I deserved your judgement".  Rose shook her head, "No. You were just trying to survive, to fit in, to make it like the rest of us, anyway you could." Kylo looked at Rose, surprised by her words. She did a little smile at him and then started washing the freighters windshield again. "Do you love Rey?" Rose asked suddenly as she rang out her cloth. Kylo looked at her, his stomach fluttering. He knew the answer to that, Rey was everything to him. His eyes met Roses and he nodded slowly. Rose smiled and went back to cleaning, "She loves you too, hold on to that, we need love these days, it makes us strong". Kylo watched the small girl for a moment more before he went back to his cleaning duties. She was wiser than her years he thought, wiser than he had been.