Let the Light In

Chapter 36: Stray

Chapter 36: Stray

Rey would never be able to show gratitude enough to account for all the good her friends did.

Finn was all too ready to crack jokes and make her laugh. Chewie spent ages making sure she was in peak health. Myri made sure everyone from her Hoth squad knew she was safe, and brought them into the party for good measure. They were soon joined by Poe's and Finn's squads respectively.

Poe. Poe had become Rey's reliant crutch. He was a sympathetic ear, and someone to lean on. He didn't judge her whenever she reached for the bottle while they played pazaak in the corner and chatted. He didn't press her to join in the other activities. But there was something in the way he looked at her throughout the night, as if he were watching her and analysing her. Even when they laughed together, and the room filled up, he still watched her with an odd intensity that Rey couldn't quite figure out.

It seemed that the Resistance troops would take any excuse to throw festivities and raise spirits. Rey's return was no different. Soon enough, the common room was full, and the gathering spilled out onto the patio, and then the grass thereafter. Caffa, juma, and a little whiskey, flowed through the night, and pazaak was the order of the day.

At least no one had started Nar Shaddaa rules yet, but Rey supposed that would crop up soon, if the singing and dancing was anything to go by.

But, mercifully, Poe did not even coax her to take part. He himself stayed with her and did not get immersed in the larger party. Finn and Myri were invested enough for the both of them, and Chewbacca was also content to watch. Naturally, no one would dare bug a Wookiee.

The energy of the gathering itself was enough to lift Rey's spirits. While she originally started telling them what Yavin Four and Dromund was like when they asked, they soon realised how it unsettled her to speak of it, and ended the conversation, instead turning to more light-hearted activities.

Rey was thankful to know people like them.

It was the early hours of the morning when Rey quietly left the room, letting the party continue. Poe walked with her to her quarters, silently offering more consolation and support than words ever could, even without knowledge of what she had truly been through.

She opened the door, but he did not let her go in.

He pulled her back and into his arms, squeezing her in a tight, reassuring embrace. Rey melted into the gesture, hugging him back, her chin resting on his shoulder.

Poe didn't let her go.

"Rey," he started, his voice loud in the silence of the corridor, reminiscent of the looks he had been throwing her earlier. The muted music of the party seemingly miles away. "I can see that whatever happened out there affected you one heck of a shot. And I'm guessing it had a lot to do with our mutual Forceful friend, even though you'll probably never admit it-"

Rey flinched in his arms, and she knew he felt it. He held her snugger.

"-I'm just spitballin' here-" His tone was light, as if telling a happy tale. Rey could tell it was wistful affectation. "-But I'm thinking a lot more happened than you're letting on, Sweets. And hey, if your edginess is anything to go by, I'm trusting it's something that needs to be kept hidden, else you wouldn't be doing it, right?"

Rey felt instantly guilty, "Poe-"

He shook his head, and rubbed her back, still not letting her go, "I'm not blind, buddy, I can see something's up, and I'm willin' to bet my pilot's helmet that it's got to do with good ol' Ben-" His voice broke a bit, even accusingly, and it made Rey's gut twist.