Ben follows behind her, a dark shadow that looms, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t find comfort in it. She knows that he would never let any harm come to her.
Now that he isn’t the one trying to cause it.
They walk in silence, and Rey lets him take the lead as she looks around the space with obvious curiosity. Her attention is so taken up by the train racing by that she walks into his back at the end of the stairs, and then murmurs an apology before stepping up to the Information booth.
“Hello,” says a woman with eyes that seem a little too wide. “Name?”
“Rey,” she answers, and feels her own eyes widen when the woman asks for her last name. It’s a question she’s gotten many times, one that always hurts, but this is the first time that she’s been faced with it since learning of her true lineage. She inhales sharply and takes half a step back, shaking her head a little. She thinks of names she would like to have, that she would be proud of— Skywalker, Organa. Solo. But they are not hers. After so many years of wondering, she finally has a name and she doesn’t even want it. “I don’t— it’s just Rey.”
The woman nods and slides an envelope across the counter. There is something written on it and for a moment she’s terrified that she’ll see it there, in irrefutable print. Rey Palpatine.
But no, it says only Rey, and she feels her eyes stinging embarrassingly as she stutters out a thank you and takes the envelope. She turns around and almost bumps into Ben again, pausing to give him a look that she hopes isn’t desperately sad before she goes to rush back up the stairs, suddenly wanting to be back outside.
no subject
Now that he isn’t the one trying to cause it.
They walk in silence, and Rey lets him take the lead as she looks around the space with obvious curiosity. Her attention is so taken up by the train racing by that she walks into his back at the end of the stairs, and then murmurs an apology before stepping up to the Information booth.
“Hello,” says a woman with eyes that seem a little too wide. “Name?”
“Rey,” she answers, and feels her own eyes widen when the woman asks for her last name. It’s a question she’s gotten many times, one that always hurts, but this is the first time that she’s been faced with it since learning of her true lineage. She inhales sharply and takes half a step back, shaking her head a little. She thinks of names she would like to have, that she would be proud of— Skywalker, Organa. Solo. But they are not hers. After so many years of wondering, she finally has a name and she doesn’t even want it. “I don’t— it’s just Rey.”
The woman nods and slides an envelope across the counter. There is something written on it and for a moment she’s terrified that she’ll see it there, in irrefutable print. Rey Palpatine.
But no, it says only Rey, and she feels her eyes stinging embarrassingly as she stutters out a thank you and takes the envelope. She turns around and almost bumps into Ben again, pausing to give him a look that she hopes isn’t desperately sad before she goes to rush back up the stairs, suddenly wanting to be back outside.