Chapter Text
It was cold where they were now. Most of the Resistance thought she was locked away practicing Jedi voodoo. The truth was Rey was just unaccustomed to these low temperatures and, as such, could hardly muster up the willpower to pull herself from her bed... that was mostly the truth anyway.
Her eyes flickered over to where Kylo was perched on the edge of her bed. They hadn’t spoken since Crait. There was nothing to say. Still at times, such as these, he'd come and sit and watch her with his gentle eyes. In return she’d pretend not to notice.
General Leia Organa had a soft spot for the girl who had a connection to her family. A daughter to her husband, a protege to her brother, a- well she wasn’t quite sure what the girl was to her son. But Luke had said her son was still capable of coming back to her, the way he had brought their father back.
Leia enters the room without hesitation, “no one’s seen you since we’ve landed. How much longer do you plan on hiding away in here?”
“It’s cold,” Rey mutters out pressing herself further into her blankets. Kylo grants her a reassuring squeeze on her calf and a sad sort of smile. She wonders how Leia doesn’t see him.
Leia hummus crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow, “colder than the nights on Jakku?”
She thinks about it for a moment. On Jakku their was no time to cry and lay in bed all day. At least not if she wanted to survive and get back to her family. But it was always warm by morning on Jakku, “yes.”
Leia sighs moving over to Rey’s vanity. There isn’t much there, mostly the basics in every room on base, her home beacon from Finn, the Jedi books from Luke, her old staff, the broken lightsaber. Her fingers trace along the items for a moment and she feels a pang of sympathy for this girl who had already lost so much, “come, sit.”
Rey thinks of arguing, but the look Leia gives her convinces her that would be a bad move. Still she took her blankets with her, wrapped up like a human burrito. She could feel Ben’s eyes on her back but he made no move to follow her.
“Sit,” it’s said politely but Rey still knows it’s a command.
She can see herself in the mirror now: her freckled nose chapped red from the cold, the sharp angles of her face poking out from the messy mop most people call hair, she felt like a small ugly child.
“I never knew my birth mother,” Leia starts picking up a brush and tugging the blanket away from Rey’s face, “she died when I was very young.”
“I’m sorry,” Rey mumbles awkwardly, she’s not really sure what to say in times like these.
“I am too. I was told she was a great queen and a great senator, I could have learned a lot from her. But,” she pause a tight sad smile on her lips, “I learned a lot from the mother who raised me, I can’t imagine trading that for anything in the world.”
Rey could feel her chest tighten, her own loneliness eating at her. Soft bristles gently untangled her hair.
“My mother used to do my hair when I was a little girl,” Leia says with a small bit of humor in her eyes, “I was quite a brat about it at the time, but those were some of my best moments with her.”
Rey nods, she feels as if Leia’s trying to tell her something. Problem is whatever it was it is lost on Rey, “did you use to brush Bens hair?”
And, of course, when she’s talking to Leia it’s Ben. She can only imagine calling him Kylo would sour the moment. He tenses behind them and Rey wonders if she should have brought him up at all.
“Not as much as I wish I would have,” Leia's fingers are gently dividing Rey’s hair and she can see the sad look in her eyes in the mirror, “I was quite busy when he was young. He was rather fond of it though. He always was insisting that I show him how I did whatever elaborate concoction I was donning that day.”
“Why,” Rey frowned her brow furrowing. She can’t imagine the supreme leader ever having such an elaborate hair style.
Leia laugh softly, “he was a very sweet boy despite what people might think. He wanted to be able to do my hair for me someday when I got too old to do it myself.”
Rey tries to meet his eyes in the mirror but he’s steadfastly looking away. She swallows harder than she means to, “do you ever think of what things would be like if...”
Leia waits for her to finish but nods when she realizes she’s not going to, “I’d like to say it’s a habit I grew out of, but I’m afraid it’s something I’ll never be too old for.”
Rey nods playing with the frayed edge of her blanket, “thank you for doing my hair, it’s nice?”
Leia laughs at that admiring the braided crown that sits upon Rey’s head, “I’m glad you like it. I used to wear my hair like this quite often when Han and I were first starting out. Well almost like this. Yours is a bit shorter, I had to improvise.”
Rey touched it gently trying to picture Leia and Han young and in love, “thank you.”
“Thank you,” Leia laughs, “it’s nice not to have to be the general all the time.”
“You don’t ever have to be the general with me,” Rey’s says softly before being overcome with embarrassment, “I mean- I meant-“
“Family then,” Leia says softly a reassuring hand on Rey’s braid.
“Family?”
“Family is more than blood,” Leia points out moving towards the door, “I for one think anyone would be honored to have you for a daughter.”
Her throat tightens unbelievably as her vision gets slightly blurry, “you want me?”
“We all want you Rey,” Leia sighs, “but if you’re going spend your time moping around in here with my idiot son- can you at least tell him it’s never too late to come home. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”
“I-“ she wants to deny it, “I’ll tell him.”
“Thank you,” Leia sighs, “dinner should be ready soon. Will we be seeing you?”
“Yeah,” Rey breathes and Leia leaves.
She turns to look at Kylo- Ben- Kylo? There’s something going on within him she can’t quite understand.
She opens her mouth to say something... and then he’s gone. There’s almost a relief in that. She knows he’ll be back later, he always is. For now though she was going to go see her family. She’s kept them waiting long enough.