It was around here that Luke realized he'd lost. He wasn't sure what, exactly, the game had been, but he was entirely without the upper hand and he knew it. Every sentence out of her mouth was subject to gross misinterpretation by him, and the way she flushed and made a point of eye contact only further established that she knew.
What could he do? He could not call her on it, admitting to his own craven thoughts and thus driving her away for good. And he could not purposefully drive her away after that little speech, even if his body wanted very much to interpret it in a way she could not have meant. To deny her now, after her words of understanding and friendship, was to be cruel in a way he could not cover as unintentional. He was trapped between her innocent devotion and his own misplaced desires, and the only possible course was to give in--to her. Let her set the path and the tone and meditate away the follies of midnight. He could put this all behind him because, in truth, he was not strong enough to throw away a declaration that, even without the dreams, would have brought tears to his eyes.
She was utterly wrong, of course, to put that kind of emotional energy into someone like him. But he could no more stop her than he could stop the wind.
"One day," he said quietly, "you'll have friends enough that you don't have to rely on the one other person on an island for that." He shook his head. "But I'm not going to fight you any longer, Rey." After everything she must have seen, for her to offer something like this... he'd be a fool to throw it away.
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What could he do? He could not call her on it, admitting to his own craven thoughts and thus driving her away for good. And he could not purposefully drive her away after that little speech, even if his body wanted very much to interpret it in a way she could not have meant. To deny her now, after her words of understanding and friendship, was to be cruel in a way he could not cover as unintentional. He was trapped between her innocent devotion and his own misplaced desires, and the only possible course was to give in--to her. Let her set the path and the tone and meditate away the follies of midnight. He could put this all behind him because, in truth, he was not strong enough to throw away a declaration that, even without the dreams, would have brought tears to his eyes.
She was utterly wrong, of course, to put that kind of emotional energy into someone like him. But he could no more stop her than he could stop the wind.
"One day," he said quietly, "you'll have friends enough that you don't have to rely on the one other person on an island for that." He shook his head. "But I'm not going to fight you any longer, Rey." After everything she must have seen, for her to offer something like this... he'd be a fool to throw it away.