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Breathe. Just...breathe.
That familiar desert sun beat down upon her back and shoulders, surely to leave a crop of new freckles in its wake.
She felt a drop of sweat descend down her spine just as she flicked another off her brow. It was blisteringly hot out, and they had been out there amongst the sandy dunes and baked, rocky outcrops for hours , but Rey of Jakku did not stop in the face of a little heat. She embraced it as an old friend.
Her ears picked up the unmistakable sound of his TIE Silencer and, almost on instinct now, her heart started to beat a little harder. Was it nerves that sparked such a reaction in her? Adrenaline? Or was it just the simple, comforting knowledge that he was still chasing her; that he was still there?
She squinted against the bright glare of the white-hot sun. He was there; a quivering black dot upon the horizon, quickly getting closer. She could feel his adrenaline now; she could sense his excitement and his faith in her. It gave her all the confidence she needed.
She ignited the Skywalker legacy lightsaber. Its subtle vibration sent a chill up her arm.
She couldn’t hide the inevitable smirk that appeared upon her face as she turned her back to the mighty Kylo Ren. She could almost laugh out loud, thinking those words to herself. The mighty Kylo Ren. He’s mighty, alright. But not as mighty as me.
And then she was running. Breathless, kicking up sand and dust in her wake. She flew across the soft desert floor like it was nothing much different from walking on flat, even ground. She was panting, and he was getting closer fast . But she had a few yards on him yet.
No, she’d let him get almost close enough, and then she’d turn the game around in her favour, as per usual.
He was right on her tail now. She could see the pointed wings of his Silencer in her peripheral vision. It thrilled her, because she knew what came next.
...Three, two…
One.
In one powerful backwards leap, Rey found herself upside down in mid-air. She had just enough time to look down and see him through the window of his ship, looking back at her in amazement, with an infatuated smile decorating his face.
No one else she has ever met has ever looked at her like that . No one else could ever make her feel like that, with just a look. Nobody but Ben.
She landed perfectly atop his ship in a crouched position, and adjusted her eyes toward the horizon.
Again, she couldn’t resist smiling as the two of them streaked over the sandy desert landscape, and she was positive he was laughing in his pilot’s seat. She could already hear Ben’s voice when they would finally get to their usual spot:
“You wanna run it again?”
Maybe this time she could convince him to take a break, just to watch the binary sunset hand-in-hand with her.
She’d always heard it was the most breathtaking sight to see on Tatooine.