What She's Worth (Reylo)

Chapter 21

The next day, Rey helped Ben clean up the mess he had made of his room. She had insisted on doing so despite his protests and so he had little choice but to let her.

As they cleaned in silence, his thoughts once again drifted towards his parents. His mother was reported to be alright, though as he had expected, the Centrists and the Populists were now pointing fingers at each other, hurling accusations and conspiracy theories on the other having masterminded what was now called the Napkin Bombing, named so from the warning his mother had seen handwritten on her table napkin—a warning Leia Organa had heeded and ultimately saved countless lives.

As for Han Solo, Ben opted to not think about him and his predicament too much. Rey was right in that aspect. It hurt to even think about it and he was angry with himself for hurting for the man who was never there when he needed him.

"Speaking of Rey..." Ben thought as he turned to look at his former roommate, who was using the Force to levitate some of the debris into the trash. They'd been working on the room for almost an hour but she had scarcely said a word. She hadn't even looked him in the eye when she buzzed his door that morning. "Rey?"

She stopped what she was doing and stiffened, but didn't turn to look at him. "Y-yes?"

"You're awfully quiet today," he noted, and approached her from behind, which seemed to make her more still than she already was. "Is something wrong?"

This time, she did turn around, but kept her head low, her fingers tugging at the hem of her tan robe. "Ben...about last night..."

He raised a quizzical brow. "What about last night?"

His words seemed to startle her into looking up at him, her hazel eyes wide. "You mean...you don't remember?"

"I remember waking up alone, and that you left a tray of food for me." Ben continued to study her, folding his arms across his chest and cocking his head to one side. "Why? Was I supposed to remember something?"

"N-no." She was relieved and disappointed at the same time, though how he knew that, he wasn't sure. It was a gut feeling he supposed, and it was a strange combination of emotions. "I'm sorry...about leaving you alone like that. I didn't want to wake you. You looked like you were having a good dream..."

"Yeah...as a matter of fact, I did have a good dream..." he mumbled mostly to himself, his heart skipping a beat when he remembered. That young woman had been so beautiful...and she looked like...

He blinked away from his thoughts and stared at Rey's face. And the longer he looked at her, the more she seemed to grow uncomfortable.

"What?"

"Rey...do you...still remember your family?"

She shrugged. "Not that much. I mean, I have the holovid of my fourth birthday, but it feels like I'm looking at someone else's memories, you know?"

That unnerved Ben a little, especially knowing now that the holovid was a fake. He tried not to let it bother him too much. "Do you...happen to recall if you maybe have an older sister?"

Rey frowned. "Why would you even think that?"

"I dunno...just a wild thought," Ben mumbled, running a finger across a spot on his cheek before moving them across his lips. "But do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Have an older sister."

"No." Rey shook her head, then paused for a bit. "At least, I don't think so. I don't recall much of my childhood except the memories I have with you." She looked wistful for a moment before she shook her head and frowned at him once more. "Why are you suddenly asking me this?"