#also a concept i invented: when she's checking in on him via the force it'll glow

[lightsiided]

     "i have something for you." A GIFT. any time they're forced to separate, lately, she finds herself doing all she can to delay the inevitable. problems in her galaxy call to her, but it feels increasingly difficult to leave. time refuses to stop no matter how hard she wills it to. eventually, the day ends, the ship's ready for the journey, and there's nothing left to do but trade final goodbye kisses.

thor remains on her mind from the moment she leaves until the second she returns again. rey misses him almost before she's even gone, and her mood dampens further as the lightyears between them grow, diminishing his presence in the force, wedged right behind her brain.

that she can feel him when they're apart is the only thing to make it bearable enough for her to go about her duties. she can't help but wonder if it's the same for him -- does he have as much trouble functioning without her? how present is she in his daydreams?

rey can't QUITE make it so that he can check in on her with just a thought, like she can to him, but perhaps there's something else she can do to ease the sting.

her hands reach for his, as they both linger by the falcon's ramp where it sits waiting for her. "the first lightsaber i ever held was luke and leia's father's. it called to me SO CLEARLY. i used it as my own until it exploded in battle with the first order -- it saved my life more than once."

she releases him only to reach in her pocket, retrieving the kyber crystal that once powered the saber, blue and cracked down its middle like ice. "including that day it shattered," rey continues. "in the aftermath, i was unconscious, but... the crystal stayed in tact, mostly, and came to me one last time." her lips curve up at the corners. "it nearly burned my hand off waking me up, ACTUALLY. anyway, you know the rest. i left in the escape pod, and... i've held onto it ever since."

"the crystal's cracked, so i can't use it to forge a new lightsaber. it'd be too unstable. i think it brings me luck, though. i can't explain it, but i always have. and kyber crystals are loyal, sort of, so i think it's attuned to me after all this time. or at least I WANT TO think that."

shaking her head, she pulls thor's hand forward, turning his palm over so she can press the crystal inside of it. "i want you to have it." slowly, rey curls his fingers closed for him. "so that i can be with you when i'm not with you. and so that it can bring you the luck it's brought me." her eyes are serious when they lock onto his, the words weighted on their edge. he has to stay alive. has to. there is no other OPTION.

rey lets her hands drop, then, shrugging her shoulders shyly. maybe this was a stupid idea. she's always been hopelessly sentimental, probably from so much time spent hoarding junk -- from all the years where it was all she had. it seems absurd, to think of a time where her dolls and dried flowers and speeder were the most important things in the galaxy to her. now there is so much more to lose. so much more she is desperate to keep.

"there's an old saying," rey murmurs, knowing she's pushing the limits of how much time she has before she really needs to LEAVE but unable to tear herself away, "that the strongest stars have hearts of kyber." she glances down at her toes. the warmth in her face makes her think her cheeks are probably pink. with a nod at the crystal in his hand, rey looks back up to thor, trying to gauge his reaction. "now you have mine."

@othunderous