Confronting Fear

Bright Star

You don't need to bother, I don't need to be
I'll keep slipping farther
But once I hold on, I won't let go til it bleeds

Bother - Stonesour

Rey stared at ceiling above her bunk on board the Millennium Falcon. Her reunion with Leia had been as emotional as she had expected and despite being wiped out by the events of the past two days and the lingering weakness left by the saber building ritual, she couldn't sleep. Even with the dorms available inside the mountain, they had decided it was best that she keep her private space in the Falcon in case Ren decided to visit. If he could see her surroundings now the red salts of Crait were far too recognizable.

She turned over trying to get comfortable. This was all such a disaster. She had no wayfinder and no way of finding Exegol. Even if she did, she had no idea what to do when she got there. Her thoughts drifted to her rescue by Poe, Finn, and Chewy. She hadn't seen them again since arriving. Her full report had taken several hours, plus another hour of crying as Leia held her. She smiled, wondering for the thousandth time how she went from being completely alone to having such a wonderful found family.

"Thinking of someone in particular?"

Rey sat up as Kylo stepped into view.

"Several someones actually, not that it's any of your business. Why are you here?" Rey spit.

"I'm not here by choice sweetheart. But as we both know, the Force doesn't really care." Kylo said with acid.

Rey sighed. "No it really doesn't. If it did neither of us would be in this mess."

"Don't pretend that you care about me or my thoughts in all of this." Kylo retorted. "If you did you wouldn't have left three times now."

She was on her feet now and in his face ready to verbally destroy him. "And if you cared you'd know that I don't want what you're offering me! And trying to kill all the people I do care about sure as fuck doesn't help!"

"You broke our deal, in doing so you made the Resistance a target again." he said dangerously.

Rey's famous temper flared at the accusation. "How exactly did I break the deal? Everything was going fine, I thought anyway. I certainly wasn't happy about the situation. It's never easy being a prisoner no matter how nice the cell...."

"You weren't a prisoner." Kylo interrupted.

Rey laughed darkly. "Oh yes I was. I was kept in a room locked from the outside and not allowed to leave without an escort. That's called being a prisoner." anger dripped from every word.

"You came willingly and apparently stayed willingly based on how quickly you got out." resentment replacing anger in his tone.

Rey smirked in satisfaction having beaten him at his own game. "First, no I didn't. I exchanged myself for three of my friends that you had imprisoned, so my presence therefore was not willing. I stayed so they would be safe. Second, you really need to get your head out of the Force and get some better technicians. I was almost insulted at how easy that panel was to rewire. The cuffs were harder but I have my ways. "

They both paused as they heard a loud banging at the door, a series of concerned growls and trills filtering in from the other side.

"Yes, Chewy, I'm fine. Just another nightmare."

Chewy muttered a confirmation before returning to his own cabin.

Kylo smirked. "Bright Star?"

"It's a nickname he gave me on Ach.... when I was training with Luke. He's the only one who gets to use it."