Lavender and Bergamot

And the world carries on

You had seen her upset before. Upset that she had been subpar during her training that day, upset that she didn't understand her powers. She had been upset around you , but never cried. Now you stood outside her tent and you could hear her crying. Once the fight had ended we were all supposed to be happy. You were supposed to celebrate, and drink and dance, just like they did when the Empire fell. It's not like you weren't happy, or drinking or dancing. Most of the base was in-fact. You could see the giant bonfire where most were collected, music humming through the trees. But you were here, standing pathetically outside of the hero of the resistance's tent, like an idiot. She definitely didn't want to see you  right now. Why would Rey, the single savior of the galaxy, want to see you , a lousy rebel spy, after what she had just been through .She honestly didn't even know if you were alive or not. After the crap everyone pulled on Exegol, a lot of you were lost. You're even lucky to be standing here. you had done enough standing though, she was still crying and you couldn't just let her stay there like that. With a deep breath you opened up the flap to her tent and walked in.
She was sitting cross legged on her cot, her hair taken out of the three buns she typically dawned. Her eyes were swollen, and tears stained her face. you could tell she had been at this for a while.
"Rey..." you couldn't get another word out before she had quickly crossed the tent and enveloped you  in a tight embrace.
"Thank the gods you're alright" she whispered, holding your head under her chin. you decided to not move, letting her have this moment as long as she needed it. Once she stepped back, she kept her arms on you , examining you as if you was broken.
" I promise I'm not hurt. You on the other hand, need to get those cuts taken care of" you looked at the scrapes she had on her face, worry across your face. She shook her head, then tucked some  of her brown hair behind her ear before sitting back down on her cot
" I've had much worse. This is nothing" she blindly traced the marks on her face with her fingers. you shook your head back at her as you walked over, making sure to take your boots off before you joined her on her cot. There was a silence as your eyes met each other's. You think you both were just taking in the fact that the other was actually sitting across from each other, living and breathing. You know both of you had talked about not making it out. You were both prepared for it, everyone was prepared to die. You took another glance at her eyes, a million hues of green and brown danced inside of them.
"Well..you came  to see if you wanted to join me at the bonfire? you know Poe would want you there"
you leaned away from her awkwardly, not knowing how you had actually started leaning towards each other. Rey cleared her throat, pulling away as well and wiping a rouge tear off her cheek.
" I've never been good at things like that. Being alone all my life hasn't exactly equipped you  with skills for it."
you nodded, understanding  what she you meant and not wanting to push her boundaries. you started to get up to go back. Rey grabbed your hand before you got both feet off of her cot.
"Will you stay with me though?"  She asked, her eyes were down, hidden behind her lashes. you swallowed nervously, you did want to comfort her.
"Oh..uh..okay" she held onto your hand, so you decided to grab her other one.
"What are you doing?" Rey said, a smile starting to crawl onto her lips. You rolled your eyes and pulled her up off of her cot. She stood just a little taller than you.  You could hear a hushed slow tune playing from the fire across camp. Slowly, you intertwined both your fingers, pulling Rey away from her cot and closer to the center of the tent. Her fingers tensed around yours, clear anxiety washing over her face. you gave her a spin, and responded.
"If we're going to be in here, I might as well teach you to dance. Now..I'm not VERY good at it, but it's atleast som-"
"No, it's perfect " Rey interrupted you , a full smile spread across her face. you stared at her for a moment. It was rare to see her this let go. Her face  may have been stained with tears, and had cuts on it, but to you  she looked like the center of the galaxy.  you cleared your throat, not wanting to stare at her for too long.  In a short while later you had your hand sitting around her hips, your fingers intertwined with one another and her other hand resting on your chest. You swayed back and fourth to the muffled music. Occasionally one of  your stepped on the others foot, which made you both laugh. You were both kind of bad at it.
" I told you! I'm not very good at it!"
"No! You're great at it! I'm just not made to dance!" Rey said with a sad smile. you laughed and shook your head.
" Absolutely not! Anyone can dance!!" you pulled away from her momentarily. Both of you went quiet, just holding and looking at each other. Rey slowly pulled you into a hug, and yoh started to rock back and forth to the distant song. you don't know how long it had been before you felt her body start to tremble. She was crying. You brought her closer to you, smoothing over the stained and wrinkled robes she wore to the best of your ability. You felt her dig her nails into your shoulders as her sobs became  more loud, more desperate.
"You miss him, don't you?" you asked quietly. Almost above a whisper, as if she was a frightened animal. you felt Rey nod her head and loosen her grip on you .
" I do. His presence..is just missing. " her voice shook as she spoke.
You knew Kylo Ren had passed, it was the resistance's main celebration. But anyone who was anyone also knew that him and Rey had had a connection. It only made sense for her to feel empty.
"He'd be happy that you're here. That you're alive"
you felt her nod again, this time  her breathing returning to a more normal pattern. you let her pull away from you. You appreciated how open she was being with you. At the end of the day she was a kid, like you , fighting a system much larger than herself, and she deserved a break. Before you could help yourself, you let yourself brush a tear from her cheek. You could feel her face grow warm, and yours as well.  Rey's hand grabbed the one  that lingered on her face and held onto it. She then guided it down, and pulled your body back over to the cot, deciding you had had enough dancing for the night.
   You sat crossed legged, across from each other. The other not exactly knowing what to do. you looked her up and down. Despite being through hell and back, she managed to look stunning.  Her eyes, the prettiest shade of hazel you had ever seen. you caught myself glance down at her lips, a cut sat above them. You wished you could make it better. You could feel her eyes looking you  up and down as well. You were probably covered in oil, and other people's blood. You were both a mess honestly. Rey's arm extended , her hand brushing a stray hair from your face and behind your ear. You sighed and leaned into her embrace, not wanting the moment to end. Once you opened your eyes after what seemed like a millennium, your faces were nearly touching. Your noses mere inches apart. Your face grew hot, being this close to her was overwhelming. You could see every freckle on her face, every minor scar from scavenging. Everything was perfect. You finished admiring her, and once you did your eyes met. She blinked a few times, and you blinked back, her eyes wavered to my lips for a second and then back to your eyes. She was wordlessly asking for permission, and you gave that to her as you leaned in and closed the distance between you two. Her lips were chapped, and warm, but you couldn't have cared less. Being wrapped up with her was the only thing that mattered. Rey was right here, kissing you .She was alive. You had managed to both make it out of the war alive You leaned into her, eventually resting your arms across her shoulders. This resulted In her pushing back, one arm propping herself up, and the other resting on your cheek, rubbing circles where her thumb was. It felt normal, the most normal it had felt in a while to have her flush against you. The war was over, and we were here together. She pushed back against you, forcing you to be mostly underneath her. You had one arm around her waist as you supported both her's and your's weight. You wanted to keep as much connection between you. Sooner than you liked Rey pulled back. And for the first time  in a long time she smiled at you , a toothy, crooked smile. You couldn't help but reciprocate it as you sat back up, nearly crawling into her lap. She leaned in, resting your foreheads together. You watched as she closed her eyes, her lashes resting against her cheeks. You took that as a sign to close your eyes too, wanting to take in this moment. After today, neither of you knew what was going to happen tomorrow. The galaxy could fall to shit again or a new, more hopeful world would rise from the ashes of The First Order. Rey hummed quietly to the drinking toon that the party attendees were singing. You liked it. You liked it a lot. This is how you two were supposed to be. Her and you in your own little world. you took a deep content breath. The smell of Rey hung in your nose. Despite everything, she managed to smell like bergamot and lavender, two of your favorite smells. You had learned to love that scent. Throughout getting to know her it became home, it was a sign that everything was going to be okay. And in that second with your foreheads pressed against her's, you really believed it.  As Rey exhaled she laced her fingers with your and silently laid down, pulling you on top of her. You rested your head on her chest, one hand managing to slip out of Reys and find its way to her hair. You looked up at her face to see a small smile fall on her lips, her eyes still closed.  You continued to play with her hair as you closed your eyes, listening to the music and happy whoops outside the tent.
Your eyes opened, you must have fallen asleep at some  point because there was no more music, and Rey's breathing was slow and steady. You didn't know when you had fallen asleep or why, but it had to be time to get back to you tent. Your roommate would be worried sick. Slowly you took your hand out of Rey's hair, not wanting to wake her up, and crawled off of her. Right as your feet had touched the ground Rey shifted and sat up slightly, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.
"Hey, I think I should g-"
"Stay" she said it so surely it shocked you honestly didn't know what to do, so you stood there for a minute before she spoke again.
"Please stay" she was softer this time , less sure. Her voice shook a bit. But the way she looked at you  left you speechless. You couldn't leave her, not now. She had been to hell and back, she was defeated. you could tell by the way she looked at you that she needed you .
"Of course " you said without a thought. Rey scooted over on her cot and held her arms out for you to get in. You crawled in them, tucking your face under her chin. Rey wrapped her arms around you as you closed your eyes. In that moment you realized that not only did she need you, but you needed her. Both of you needed healing and you were prepared to help each other through that. That night you spent the first of many nights in her arms, falling asleep to the smell of lavender and bergamot.