REY

I wake to a dark room, lit by a row of purple overnight lighting, running along the floor all the way around the room. Above, a narrow window circles the room too, through which the stars shine. How long was I asleep? Where am I?

I sit up slowly, my body heavy with sleep. I have to find Poe and the General. They're on board too. Is this a trap, letting us all board the First Order ship, to capture the last of the Resistance?

I reach for my necklace beneath my shirt, and let out a sigh of relief when I feel it still there.

"Finn..." I take the necklace out and push the button on the beacon pendant, then wait. They're likely out of voice comm range but if Finn's beacon receives my signal it will light up and he can reply by hitting the button on his beacon and then mine will light up in response.

I hold my breath, waiting for the beacon to light. Even if he doesn't respond, it doesn't mean he and Rose are not safe. It could just mean they're too far out of range to receive the signal or send one back.

Suddenly the glow from the beacon lights up the room. I wrap my hands around the pendant. They're alive. They're fine, just out there being heroes, helping save the Galaxy one colony at a time.

I jump down from the bed, which is so high I can't reach the ground until I slide off. I look up at some movement from above and get startled when I see my own reflection. How strange, to have a mirror on the ceiling. But I like the room, It's so luxurious.

I walk carefully across the soft carpet, not wanting to trip on anything. My arm bandages are stiff, making it hard to move my wrists. But they're clean at least, unlike the rest of my clothes, which stick to me now. I look around for an entrance to a washroom, but everything lays in shadows and I'm too hungry anyway to think about getting a change of clothes at the moment.

I stop at the door leading out of the room and brace myself for what will be on the other side. It could be the middle of day hours and the halls might be filled with activity and noise. I wiggle my toes in the soft carpet. Where are my boots? Who took them off after I fell asleep? Where are the lights in the room? My stomach growls. I need to find some food.

"Lights on!" I say loudly. Nothing happens. "Computer." I clap my hands. "Activate wake hours lighting." Again, nothing happens.

I sigh and push the door button. I'll just go out barefoot. The door doesn't open and I push the button again, my pulse increasing at the thought of being locked in this room. The door opens and my shoulders relax. The hall is dark and empty. Where is everyone? Why is it so quiet? Am I dreaming again?

No, no, no. Please don't be a dream.

I don't want to see Kylo Ren in a dream. Not now. Not ever again. I act differently in dreams. If he were in front of me in real life I'd slash him with my lightsaber, but last time I visited him in a dream he... My hand flies to my belt. The lightsaber isn't there.

The door begins to close again and I push the button to re-open it. One thing at a time. First food, then boots, then weapons. I step out into the hall, expecting a cold, hard surface beneath my feet but the hall is lined with carpeting as well. There's a control panel next to the elevator and I head for it. I can check the ship's layout and look for a food area.

The screen is functional and the system easy enough to navigate. I pull up a map and search for cafeteria. There's a food area on this level, just in another wing. I glide my finger across the screen. One of the rooms has a large open space called the swimming pool arena. In comparison to the other areas of the ship this place is quite large. A large pool of water? Maybe for marine life of some sort?

I lift my hand off the screen and it goes dark again. I'll head to the food place first, then decide what to do next.

The food hall is quiet and lit with off-hours lighting. I don't see anyone but I spot a food synthesizer, like the ones I would sometimes find in ships that crashed on Jakku, when I went scavenging. But they never had power and I'd never actually tried one before. I look at the symbols on the buttons. They don't really make sense. There's a keypad with lettering, to input words I suppose, but I don't know how to form words using lettering.

"It's not working right now," someone says from the shadows.

I jump, expecting to see Kylo Ren step out holding his light saber. But it's only a First Order pilot, sitting alone at a table near the back with a cup in his hand. "The ship's systems are not fully operational yet. Something to do with an upgrade fail."

"Oh," I say in response.

"There are pre-made sandwiches and bottled drinks over there." He points to a food storage until to my left. I can't make out his facial features from the dark corner he's sitting in, but I don't hear any animosity in his voice. 

The food storage unit doors are made of glass and I see plates of sandwiches inside. At least now I know they don't actually have sand in them. I think of Rose and Finn again. They must be hungry too, by now. I hope they're okay.

The pilot leaves before I take a seat at a table and I enjoy my sandwich in peace, thinking about Kylo Ren and our unexpected circumstances now. If he wanted me dead, he could have killed me while I was passed out on pain killers, and if he wanted me prisoner he could have locked me in my room. But I can't simply believe that we're all going to work together peacefully to defeat a common enemy. I'm just not ready to let my guard down so easily, not when it comes to Kylo Ren.

I finish the sandwich, made with some kind of spread inside and thick slices of bread. The simple meal makes me feel better. I get up, curious about the marine area I saw on the map. I grab a drink bottle from a counter and head back out of the eating area. I'm not tired at all and it's still sleep hours. I head toward the water arena, thinking of Ahch-To and all the water there, both above and below the island. I loved the rain and the waves. Something about water calms me and draws me.

The overhead lights come on when I step into the large open space of the pool area. My breath catches at the sight of the massive amount of water in the flooring. It's like a small lake, but more symmetrical and square. I walk closer. The pool is so full that water has spilled out over the edges. I step into the overflow in my bare feet. It's warm.

I reach down and run my hand over the smooth surface, creating a path on the water which smooths out again, sending tiny waves in all directions. The water is so clear I can see to the very bottom. But I can't tell how deep it is exactly. There is no marine life or anything else in the pool.

I stand up and remove my jacket and belt. Then I reach for my necklace, then stop. Maybe I should just head back to my quarters and find a bathing room. But what if it doesn't have a bathing room? I don't even know how to get back to the room I came from.

I sigh, longing to be surrounded by the smooth water which now warms my feet. It would be wonderful. If I'm not allowed to enjoy other physical pleasures in this life, because I'm too highly Force sensitive, then I should at least take the chance to enjoy something like this. I'll likely never get another chance to swim in water like this, alone. On Jakku, being in a pool of water was something I never got to do.

Decided, I set my necklace onto my jacket then sit down at the edge of the pool, lowering my legs into the water. I smile and kick my feet. For this moment, while everyone is resting and safe from harm, I won't think about the war and the Ruling Order or Kylo Ren and how he affects me. Or the fact that I have no known family and no prospects for creating my own. I just want to exist, peacefully, even for a short while.

I scoot forward to the edge of the pool and lower myself into the water, forgetting that my wrists hurt when I bend them.

"Ouch!" I quickly pull my hands away and I lose my grip. I sink down fast, water rushing over my head. I kick my feet frantically and grab onto the side of the pool again, pulling myself up. I'm definitely in the water now! I wipe the water off my face and move my hair back.

An image of Kylo Ren with his shirt off flashes through my mind. He was sweaty when we communicated that one time, when he was shirtless, as though he'd just finished some sort of exercise or training, or perhaps stepped out from a bath.

Stop, stop, stop!

Why did he have to be shirtless? I asked him to put a towel on or something but he just stood there. He knew his lack of shirt was affecting me. I'm sure of it. He could probably tell easily by my response. I'd been so flustered and embarrassed. That's why he didn't grab a shirt and cover up. He enjoyed seeing my reaction.

I look down at my hands, still gripping the side of the pool. I'd been so engrossed in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed my body rising. The water is rising too, as one big mass, swallowing me up again. What's happening?

I let go of the edge of the pool and swing my arm out, dispersing the water near me into a bunch of smaller balls of water. I look down and gasp when I see that I've floated higher up. Has the ship's gravity stopped working? 

I try to move but it only sends me into another spin. My heart races. There's nothing I can do to get out of here. I should stay floating above the pool water anyway, so I don't have a hard landing when the gravity kicks back in.

Great, how will I explain this to everyone, if I'm still here when day hours kick in and they find me drowning at the centre of the pool? What would I say, I was just going for a walk and fell in the pool? Now I wish I was actually dreaming after all, still on the pills which put me into a deep sleep.

I reach for one of the water bubbles beside me and squeeze it in my hand. It moves through my fingers and forms a bunch of smaller balls of water. I smile then notice the ceiling is below me now and the mass of the water from the pool above me. I've spun upside down. I tilt my head back and do a slow back-flip in the air, enjoying the weightlessness. A few water bubbles brush my upper arm and chest like a gentle caress. I gasp at the touch and suddenly think of Kylo Ren and our hands touching when we were connected with the Force, sitting across from each other in the hut on Ahch-To. I felt his touch, he removed his glove, he let me touch him. A shiver runs through me.

I imagine our hands touching again, only this time Luke doesn't interrupt us and Kylo pulls me around the fire between us and toward him, his eyes full of emotion. I don't resist but let him pull me onto his lap. I imagine him drawing me against him and me wrapping my legs around him, his hand resting on my back, his breath blowing against my neck...

Kylo...

------

KYLO REN

Kylo woke with a start at the sound of Rey's voice calling his name. No, not calling, but sighing his name...

He sat up in the captain's chair. When had he fallen asleep? The night time crew members didn't seem to notice that he'd dozed off. He turned on the small viewscreen at the armrest of the Captain's chair and entered his passcode. He had to check the trackers.

... to be continued...

Author's Note: that last bit was just a teaser for tomorrow, because I'm too tired to keep writing tonight haha. See you guys tomorrow.