"She said she would be. She promised." Rey hugs herself.

"People are mistaken, sometimes. And sometimes they lie."

Rey wants to cry, wants to scream. But she doesn't, she can't. She's so hungry and she has things she has to do.

"Will you stay with me?"

"As long as you want me."

"I gotta climb now. Can you do that too?"

"I can float. Trained force users can fall more slowly - or get a sense for how to climb."

"I'll keep an eye on you."

"I'm not usually so clumsy. But when I get this haul the blobfish promised I could have an extra quarter ration."

"...How about I teach you how to steal food."

"I don't think he'd be happy about that."

"You can use the Force, and you can be careful and make sure people won't know."

"Are you sure? I don't want to get into more trouble."

"We'll be careful, and we'll practice a lot before taking any major steps."

"I should finish this so I have some food now. I haven't eaten in a few days and if I'm gonna learn I should eat first."

She nods. "Food's important."

"Have you been on this sort of ship before? I think it's an Imperial battlecruiser from the big battle."

"Yeah. I've been on them - quite a lot, actually."

"Do you know where I can find anything that's worth a lot?"

She smiles, closes her eyes, and then points. "There's also some stuff that's harder to get to or less safe, but there's some really valuable stuff that way, and it's pretty safe. I can teach you how to sense on the way."

Rey sets off on the safer route. If Anakin knows a lot about ships she's going to get so much stuff that eventually maybe she can even afford to sleep somewhere that is warm and safe and not filled with other people that constantly steal her stuff.

And Anakin teaches her how to just know her surroundings, and how to focus on what she wants and get a sense for how to get to it - "I used to find closing my eyes helped a lot, there."

It does require a good bit of mindfulness and meditation, the way Anakin does it, and a friendly trust in the Force.

It's hard to trust something she just found out the existence of, but she can do it. It... feels familiar. Like she's been doing this all along but just not paying much attention to it. She's not very good at meditation though, she just wants to move around and do things.

Anakin understands that entirely. Has Rey ever run so far and so long that her mind narrowed in on one point, smooth and drifting?

!!! Yes, she has. She closes her eyes and tries to focus on that feeling. Of the speed and exhaustion but also the focus and sheer exhilaration. When she's going so fast that it's only her and -

it's calming and everything makes sense.

Good.

And, like the path before her feet when she's running -

Her steps will lead her to her destination. They can't not.

Rey follows the path, settling in a sort of calm that she hasn't ever reached before. She continues on and eventually -