Saving the Monster

Chapter 19

Rey couldn't believe it, this was exactly what they needed, people, lots of them.  She glanced at Poe and he smiled broadly back at her.  In fact all of her friends were smiling.  Yes, this was what the resistance badly needed after all of their losses. 

Ships and transport turned out to be in short supply.  Including the Falcon they only had a handful of ships, meaning that they would have to undertake numerous trips back and forth to ferry the new people to the resistance base on Ajan Kloss.  Poe didn't seem phased but the prospect worried Rey, if the First Order caught wind of where their base was then new resistance members or no new resistance members, they were sunk.

Rey opened her mouth to say just that, when the same sudden wave of deep sorrow and anguish swept over her.  She steadied herself on the chamber wall, her eyelids closing, her chest becoming tight, tears stinging her eyes. No one noticed, too wrapped up in discussing their next moves and so Rey slipped away, down the passage and up, into the sunshine, closing the trapdoor behind her and gasping for breath.

She stumbled back through the village, heading behind a cluster of rocks, pleased of the cool shade that they afforded.  Tears ran down her cheeks now and loneliness surrounded her.  Was this Kylos pain?  It had to be didn't it? 

She pictured him slumped somewhere, his head down, misery radiating off him and then suddenly, quite without thinking, her hand was held against her chest, as if it was his and she was whispering, "It's ok, it's ok".

The change of feeling happened almost immediately, it lifted, as though a weight had moved from her shoulders and as she continued her soft whispers she felt the tears stop and her heart beat return to normal and she knew, knew for certain that it was Kylo Rens pain she had felt, his tears and his misery and she had soothed him, he had heard it and been soothed by it.

A sudden thought hit Rey then.  Had he felt her loneliness, her sadness at no one knowing the real her?  Had he spoken to her, tried to comfort her, was it really his voice that she'd heard on Ajan Kloss?  Rey knew the answer, of course it was.  He had comforted her and now she had soothed him.

Rey's hand stayed on her chest, feeling her steady heart beat, or was it his?  She inhaled deeply before heading back underground.