Chapter Text
At night on Jakku, Rey would sometimes unravel the wrapping around her arms and look at the words scrawled there in Basic: Jessika Pava. She wasn’t sure what they meant or who they were or why they were there. Maybe it was something her parents had done to her, to make sure that they could find her again. Maybe it was some sort of family name, or a location, or a password.
During sandstorms some nights, as Rey’s shelter rattled around her, Rey fell asleep whispering the two words repeatedly. “Jessika Pava. Jessika Pava. Jessika Pava.”
When she met Finn, he had words on his arm, too. “Poe Dameron,” she read out loud, still pointing her staff at him. “What’s that?”
“He’s BB-8′s master,” he said, holding up a hand so that the droid wouldn’t zap him again. “He didn’t survive the TIE Fighter crash.” He addressed his next words to Rey’s new companion. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t save him.”
BB-8′s “head” drooped and he began to roll away, putting away his electronic prod.
“It’s a person?” Rey said. “Why is he on your arm?”
“I have no idea,” Finn said, still on the ground and staring up at her.
“Are you from the Resistance?” Rey said, putting aside the mystery of the words for later.
Han Solo had two words on his arm as well, peeking out from under his rolled up sleeve as he dashed around the cockpit, trying to keep his ship from falling apart again. “Who’s Leia Organa?” Rey asked him when the Falcon settled down.
“You’re too forward, kid,” Han said, shaking his head. “Don’t you know better than to ask a question like that?”
“No,” Rey said. “Why? What’s wrong with asking? What do the words mean?”
Han turned and gave her a long, steady look, then sighed. “She’s my soulmate. You know. The person you’re destined to be with, or so decrees the Force?”
Rey’s eyes widened. “Soulmate? That’s what this is?” She went to pull off the wrappings on her arm, but Han stopped her.
“A lot of people out there think soulmates are a private thing. Many don’t have good stories about theirs. I’d say you shouldn’t bring it up too readily, unless you meet yours.”
“Do you have good stories about Leia Organa?”
Han nodded. “And some bad ones, too.”
“Child,” Maz said. “Your destiny is ahead of you. Luke. The Force. Your soulmate, Jessika Pava.”
Rey glanced down at her arm, but it was still covered.
Maz let out a quiet laugh. “I have lived long enough to see the way that a soulbond brands anyone in it. I know that if you continue forward on your path, you will find her. And you will love her, as she will love you.”
Rey pulled away from Maz, shaking her head. “I can’t do any of this.”
“Your soulmate,” Kylo Ren said, his hand still outstretched towards Rey’s head. She could feel him rummaging through her mind, and wanted to retch from the way she felt terrified and violated. “You’ve just begun to understand what finding her would mean. You’ve known her name for your entire life but never known her, never even been close.”
Rey gritted her teeth, concentrating on forming mental barriers around the image of the map that BB-8 had shown her. She had to. She couldn’t give up the Resistance.
“I know her,” Kylo Ren. “Would you like for me to tell you who she is? Where she is? I will save her if you show me the map.”
Rey pretended to think about Kylo Ren’s offer, taking a deep breath, trying to marshal her strength to resist him further. She knew that she could not give in.
Poe was sitting next to Finn’s bed when Rey came in to say goodbye. He glanced up, smiling reflexively, although it wasn’t as bright as it had the potential to be. “He’s still steady.”
Rey nodded, sitting on the other side so that she was facing Poe across Finn. Finn’s arm on Rey’s side was turned so that the words “Poe Dameron” were clearly visible. “Right,” she said. “Did you see…”
“I’m going to let him tell me,” Poe said. “I want him to be able to make that choice for himself.”
“Right,” Rey said. They were silent for a moment, watching Finn breathe, before she looked up at Poe. “Do you know who Jessika Pava is?”
Poe looked up. “She flies with me.”
“I think she’s my soulmate,” Rey said, showing him her bare arm, feeling strange without fabric touching it.
Poe looked at the words carefully for a minute, then grinned fully for the first time since they got back from Starkiller. “Lemme comm her. You should meet Jessika before you leave to go find your destiny.”
"Destiny," Rey echoed, brushing her fingertips against the words on her skin, which seemed to tingle at her touch.