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As soon as she was sure that she was alone, Rey screamed her frustration at the waves and the rocks and the sandy beach.
They'd crashed. They'd crashed, and it was her fault, and now they were stuck here on this Outer Rim piece-of-barren-rock planet with only a short-range beacon to call for help. The Resistance needed them, needed them now. And they were stuck here.
All because Rey had failed to keep the steering yoke under control and had botched that emergency landing like a rookie pilot.
At least no one had got hurt - not that there had been many people on the ship to get hurt, anyway, only her and Rose and Poe Dameron's droid who'd tagged along because they needed his skill hacking doors and data ports. Poe had told them to take very good care of BB-8, and that if they didn't, he'd tell General Organa. Force, Poe was probably pacing the floor of the comms center right now, worried sick about why BB-8 hadn't checked in with the Resistance in over an hour.
Force. Force. If Rey couldn't even keep a droid safe for its owner, how was she supposed to be the last hope the Jedi – the whole galaxy – needed?
As she quietly muttered to herself, clenching and unclenching her fists, Rey kicked away a pebble. It skipped across the wet sand and silt until it disappeared with a plop into a shallow tide pool.
Watching it go actually made Rey feel a little bit better, so she shuffled along between the rocks and kicked another pebble. And another one. And another one, and another one, and another one. With each one she kicked away, she let out a little sigh, or a grunt, or a growl - until her foot slipped and suddenly, she wasn't kicking a very small pebble, but a very big rock.
Her toes connected with it before she could alleviate the blow. The rock sure felt very solid, and the pain kicked in a heartbeat later, turning the snarl Rey had had prepared for the pebble into a very real scream.
Cursing, she pulled her knee up to her chest and felt her toes. They didn't feel broken, but boy, they sure felt like they were gonna bruise. Again, Rey screamed, more briefly this time, but no less loud.
The sound had barely had time to dissipate before a voice at Rey's back asked, "You done?"
Rey's heart plummeted into the tips of her toes before it rose again just as fast to beat high and hard at the back of her throat. Praying to the Force that her face wasn't in fact flushed to the roots of her hair - even though it felt like it was - she hopped on one leg to turn around and face the source of the voice.
Of course, it was Rose. The mechanic was standing there, the sleeves of her jumpsuit rolled up to the elbows, her lower arms streaked with grease and engine oil, her hair tied back from her face with a colourful kerchief Rey had gotten her at a market a few months ago. Also, she was staring at Rey like Rey had grown a second head.
"Was that… a Jedi thing you just did?" she asked slowly.
Rey's face did a thing which felt like a smile but probably looked more like a grimace. "Uh. Yeah."
Rose looked at her for a little longer, her cheeks pinking, before she turned her head to study the rocky shore very intensely. Under her breath, she muttered something Rey didn't catch, but it sounded a bit like "So hot."
Rey cleared her throat, and Rose flinched. When she looked at Rey again, her cheeks had darkened even more in colour.
"Yeah, so," she began, one hand coming up to wipe sweat that wasn’t there off her brow, "I found out why we crashed. Turns out the problem was-"
Rey out her foot back down on the ground, even though it still smarted a little. "Me."
Rose froze mid-wipe. "Excuse me, what?"
"Me," Rey repeated. "The problem was me. I got us stuck here because I thought I could make the turn, get us out of the gravity well in time, but I didn't. I'm so sorry, Rose. You have every right to be mad at me - I mean, I am. Mad at myself. Because I failed you."
Rose's mouth pulled up into a little O-shape. Rey stood a little straighter, firming her stance and steeling herself for Rose's inevitable agreement. Yes, you failed me. Yes, you disappointed me. No, I don't think you'll ever be good enough to be a Jedi, to be anything at all.
It never came. Rose's eyebrows pulled together, and suddenly she was frowning, sparks flying from her eyes. She thrust a finger in Rey's direction. "No, you're wrong. You should've let me finish. The problem wasn't you, it was me." She gestured at herself. "I just found a mistake that made the steering yoke seize up. I’ve checked over that part of the ship a hundred times in the past, during maintenance, but I never noticed it. I'm to blame, not you."
Rey felt her mouth fall open in disbelief. "No.".
Rose put her hands on her hips and nodded. "Yes."
Oh, Force. Rey wasted no time before she crossed over to Rose, closed the distance between them and hugged her friend close. She bent, Rose's hair tickling her cheek, and felt Rose's arms lock around her waist and hold on just as tight.
"I'm sorry," Rey muttered into the sudden silence. "I didn't mean to get so mad about what happened. It's not the end of the world, it can be fixed, and I- I don't blame you for it. Honest."
Rose snorted, but her body pressed ever so slightly closer to Rey's. "Yet you were ready to rip yourself to pieces about it. Stupid double standards. Is that a Jedi thing, too?"
Rey smiled. "I guess."
Rose's laugh bubbled out of her like fresh water, making both their bodies shake. Rey couldn't help it - she joined in, half hiding her face against the nape of Rose's neck. Maybe if she laughed long enough, she could ignore how good Rose smelt, how perfect Rose felt in her arms.
Rose squeezed Rey tightly one last time before she stepped back, out of the embrace. A tension which Rey hadn't noticed had been there had melted off her face when she looked up at Rey now.
"Okay, Jedi. Let's go try and fix up some dinner, alright? And tomorrow, we'll have to start scouting if we want fresh food to hold us until Poe gets here with the rescue team. You with me?" She held out her hand.
"Yeah." Rey took it, pressing down on the warm fuzzy feeling that wanted to make itself a home in her chest as she did. And as they wandered back to where their ship had crashed, with the grassy dunes around them and the sun slowly setting at their backs, she glanced over at Rose and said, "You know, I can't imagine anyone better to be stranded with than you."
"Me neither." Rose smiled and squeezed Rey's hand, and in the gentle pressure lay a thousand promises for the days yet to come.