The squeeze to her hands took her by surprise, particularly the metallic firmness of one of the grips, and she looked up at Luke despite herself. There was a part of her that kept trying to blame herself for what had happened to Han, just as there had been a smaller but no less insistent part of her that wondered if she'd been abandoned on Jakku due to some fault of her own, but Luke seemed to believe that Han was too hard-headed for that to be the case. And really? Despite having only known Han for such a short amount of time, Rey could definitely see that.
But it was his last remark that caught her completely off-guard. The fact that Luke could claim so earnestly that Han - that anyone - would have placed enough value on her to have been glad to have known her despite everything that happened... she had no idea what to make of that, nor of the sting of tears that she felt threatening the corners of her eyes.
She didn't want to cry, not in front of Luke, not when they'd already both wasted so much time tip-toeing around their words and wondering if they'd said the wrong thing at any point. But when it felt as though she might not be able to help it, she leaned in, resting her head against his shoulder and biting hard at her lower lip to keep the worst of it back.
After a few long moments, she managed to take a long, slow breath that helped to clear her head a little, and she gently slipped her hands out of his so she could embrace him properly, hands lightly moving up along his arms and towards his shoulders. "Thank you," she murmured quietly. "I don't think I realized how much I needed to hear that until you said it. I know it's not my fault, but... I wish I could have done something. I could have done something. But... not even the Force can help us change the past, can it?"
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But it was his last remark that caught her completely off-guard. The fact that Luke could claim so earnestly that Han - that anyone - would have placed enough value on her to have been glad to have known her despite everything that happened... she had no idea what to make of that, nor of the sting of tears that she felt threatening the corners of her eyes.
She didn't want to cry, not in front of Luke, not when they'd already both wasted so much time tip-toeing around their words and wondering if they'd said the wrong thing at any point. But when it felt as though she might not be able to help it, she leaned in, resting her head against his shoulder and biting hard at her lower lip to keep the worst of it back.
After a few long moments, she managed to take a long, slow breath that helped to clear her head a little, and she gently slipped her hands out of his so she could embrace him properly, hands lightly moving up along his arms and towards his shoulders. "Thank you," she murmured quietly. "I don't think I realized how much I needed to hear that until you said it. I know it's not my fault, but... I wish I could have done something. I could have done something. But... not even the Force can help us change the past, can it?"