Chapter Text
Rey can’t help but get lost in the happiness and laughter as she walks around the festival looking for a clue. The whole tribe of Aki-Aki are alive in the spirit, dancing as they celebrate the holiday.
Twinkling giggles cause her to turn her head, her eyes catching a group of small children all enjoying the story they’re being told. It makes her mourn the childhood that had been robbed from her when her parents left. But it also makes her feel something she can’t quite place. Something more on the other spectrum of life than childhood.
A touch breaks her from her thoughts. Looking down she finds one of the Aki-Aki children tugging on her arm. Rey kneels down to be at eye level. The alien says welcome in her native tongue and tells Rey her name as Threepio translates. The young child then places an intricately beaded necklace over her head. Rey suspects it’s a fertility necklace of some sort.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you. I’m Rey.”
She says something again that Rey doesn’t understand so Threepio explains that the child would be honored to know her family name.
It shakes Rey for a moment. She doesn’t know how to reply, or moreso doesn’t really want to but she obliges the youngling. “I don’t have one. I’m just Rey.” She tries her hardest to give a convincing smile as to not show the hurt she’s actually feeling from the question.
It doesn’t seem to faze the little girl as she seemingly believes in Rey’s smile. The child then takes her hand, saying something about dancing and pulls her into the thick of the crowd.
Rey isn’t quite sure of the dance but attempts it nonetheless to please the girl and actually finds herself getting lost in the excitement of it all. The tribe is rejoicing in the festival of the ancestors as well as praying for the new generations. Different members try to show her the dance and engage with her, spinning her around them, just thrilled that she’s partying with them. The laughter bubbles up out of her, beginning to really enjoy the experience.
She starts to get a little dizzy, members spinning her from person to person, but she’s having too much fun that she doesn’t care at the moment. All thoughts of a mission have abandoned her, just letting her be Rey for the first time in forever. Rey without the responsibilities of saving the galaxy and ending the war. In this moment, there is no war. She can just relax and have fun. And it’s thrilling.
Someone spins her out a little too far and she bumps into someone’s chest with a thud. The stranger catches her, making sure she steadies on her feet.
“I’m so sorry,” she says quickly before looking up.
Seeing who caught her, she tries to tug her arms away, but he resists, just grabbing her hands and starting to dance.
“Don’t react. Wouldn’t want to make a scene now would we?”
His voice has that smugness that always makes her annoyance start to bubble and she can feel the smirk forming on his face. She looks around suddenly concerned with the crowd. “Can they see you?”
“I don’t know. Can they? Or are you dancing by yourself?” Kylo tilts his head to the side, smirk growing a little wider. He always has a bit of fun teasing her. They continue to dance around the people, Rey looking cautiously around to see if anyone is staring.
“What do you want, Kylo?”
He decides to be blunt. “Palpatine wants you,” he states in a hushed tone.
His answer makes her eyebrow raise. “Working for another master now, are you?”
Rey watches as he readjusts his jaw, something that she has noticed is a common occurrence when being challenged.
“I have other plans.”
Kylo decides to change tactics. He knows he needs to reach deeper inside her mind to get the result he wants. “I offered you my hand. I know you wanted to take it.” His eyes begin to soften despite his face remaining stoic. “Why didn’t you?” he asks quietly, his voice brimming with emotion.
“You had the chance to kill me. Why didn’t you ?” she counters back.
He looks deep within her eyes, catching her off guard slightly, but she remains strong.
Rey’s tired of talking about the past. He has information she needs and she’s determined to get it. “Why does he want me?” she asks, changing the conversation.
“I don’t know,” he replies, still dancing her around the festival. No one’s caught on if he’s here or not. “But I do know that you’re feeding into his plans by finding a map to get to him all by yourself.”
She juts her chin up, looking into his eyes defiantly. “I’m not alone.” Poe, Finn, and Chewie are all with her, helping her with this mission. She chooses that particular wording because she knows the reference will cut into him.
His eyes soften. They make their way along every inch of her face, almost as if memorizing it and it throws Rey for a minute.
“No…” The word comes out in barely a whisper.
Both of them can’t help but be thrown into memories of that night in the hut. Everything that happened and everything they saw flooding back into their minds. Quickly as it came, both brush it away. There’s no time for mourning what could’ve been.
Kylo pulls them to a screeching stop. Rey would’ve flown sideways if it had not been for him holding onto her tightly, making sure she doesn’t fall. He looks piercingly down into her eyes in a way that would frighten her if she didn’t know the inner workings of his soul.
“You can’t hide, Rey. Not from me.” He brings her closer to his chest, his voice becoming quieter. More intimate. “I will find you. When I offer you my hand again, you’ll take it.”
She raises her face closer to his, not allowing him to intimidate her. “We’ll see,” she says in almost a cutting whisper.
Suddenly he rips the necklace from around her, holding it tightly in his fist. His eyes widen in a roguish manner. “Thanks for the location.” He spins her away with a thrust of his hand.
Rey quickly turns back around only to find that he’s vanished into thin air. Her hand comes up around where the necklace had previously been hanging from. He’s coming. She needs to go warn Poe and Finn. Running off, she goes to find them. They need to leave as soon as the can.