Spark of Hope

Chapter II

Rey was woken this time by BB-8 beeping. It felt like she had just laid down too, before the little orange-and-white ball became her alarm clock. His beeps weren't frantic like they were in danger, so she didn't jump up—she instead curled into her pillow.

His beeps grew frustrated, and he rammed into her bed. "Rey, wake up!" he beeped.

"Just a bit longer, BB-8. Please."

"No! We're almost to Akiva!"

"Chewie can handle the landing on his own," she stated.

"The General has asked for you!"

There was no refusing General Leia Organa—not going would be disobeying her orders. Rey groaned as she pushed herself up out of bed and swung her feet out.

Seeing her now awake, his beeps turned happy, and he rolled around impatiently. She shook her head as she got up: the General probably just asked the droid to get her, but knowing BB-8, he takes jobs too seriously. She bet that was due to Poe's influence.

Rey hurried to get ready, anyway; once finished, BB-8 joyfully beeped and spun out of her room to lead her. She obediently followed him through the Falcon's curving corridors. Noise filled the usually quiet passageways with the Resistance survivors now awake and roaming. They all acknowledged her when she passed, which she returned, but the simple nods meant so much more—they saw her as the Jedi who could tip the odds in the favor of the Resistance. Talk about pressure.

When they came on to the spot where Kylo Ren had appeared last night, Rey stopped to consider the wall. No one—that she knew of—could establish a connection between them, so why was the Force doing it? And she also thought about his reaction to learning Master Luke was dead: he didn't seem happy; he actually looked... sad.

"I didn't know walls could do that."

Rey jumped at Poe's voice; she turned to find him looking at her knowingly.

"Do what?" she asked.

"Make someone solemn and look at it softly." His eyes turned to the wall. "No offense, it's a nice wall, but it's boring. There's nothing special about it." Poe looked back at her. "So, what's it to you? What do you see that I don't?"

She scrambled for an answer. "It's... hard to explain."

"So, a Jedi thing?"

That was a good assumption than trying to explain Kylo Ren being in the Millennium Falcon even when he's on the other side of the Galaxy, and her not raising the alarm at the sight of their enemy. "Yes."

"And you were just talking to the wall last night?"

"In a way."

He looked skeptical.

BB-8 came rolling back to them, fussing at Rey for falling behind and boasting to Poe about getting her.

"I see that, Buddy; good job."

His droid proceeded to inform him that they were headed to see the General.

"Can I accompany you?" he asked.

BB-8 stuck out his lighter and lit it, looking like a 'thumbs up', pulling out a smile from her and Poe. Finn taught him that, and he tends to use it a lot. Rey thinks it's because he likes the smiles he receives since his little action is so human.

The best fighter pilot in the Resistance talked with her as they followed the droid rolling ahead of them. His conversations avoided asking her about 'the wall' incident, but she felt that he just held back his curiosity. She didn't have to look into his mind to know that he had figured she lied. Polite.