Rey didn’t really consider herself a creative person which was why she was surprised to find the invitation on her nightstand when she woke up. An afternoon of wine and painting, it said and she furrowed her brow. What kind of painting could a person do if they were drinking wine? Especially if they had a lot of wine. It sounded like fun though and she wasn’t a big wine drinker anyway so maybe the painting would actually look like something. Probably a big mess but there was only one way to find out.
Several hours later, she was standing at Luke’s door with a painting in hand and a big smile on her face. True, the smile could have come from the two glasses of wine she’d had which was a lot for her, or it could be because she’d actually painted a not bad picture of Marty. Since the dog could care less that she’d had a portrait painted. Rey decided to stop by and show it to Luke. She admired it again while she waited for him to come to the door.
With two empty rooms and Abby frequently in medical at odd hours, Luke has the house to himself when the knock sounded at the door. He hadn’t been expecting anyone, but when he pulled the door open to find Rey standing there, he was far from disappointed by the surprise visit.
“Hey,” he said, smiling at her as he stepped back to let her come inside. “I wasn’t expecting you. Is everything okay?” He didn’t sense anything in the Force, except for a little excitement, but it seemed polite to ask rather than poking around in her head.
“I’m fine,” she said with a big smile as she walked in. “I got a surprise this morning. For some reason I got invited to this wine and paint thing.” Rey laughed and turned around the picture she had in her hands. “I don’t think Signor Da Vinci has anything to worry about but it was fun. It’s supposed to be Marty by the way in case you can’t tell. Her ears aren’t really that crooked. Could be the wine though. I had two glasses and that’s not normal for me.” Rey was far from drunk but she slightly more hyper than usual.
Tilting his head, Luke studied the picture. “Not bad,” he admitted. It certainly looked better than what he could have done. It was impressive for an impromptu event and two glasses of wine. It was obvious enough who the subject of the painting was. “Are you going to hang it in your house?”
“Probably. I can’t think of anything else to do with it,” ‘she said with a shrug. “And it’s nice to be able to say that I did it. A sense of accomplishment and all that. I should find a frame though. Maybe Atlantis will offer framing classes.” It wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility. Atlantis had dome stranger things than offer art lessons.
“Maybe they will,” Luke agreed with a smile. He was glad to see that Rey had enjoyed her night of painting. It was nice to see the smile on her face. For all of Atlantis’ whimsy, they were in the middle of a war and genuinely happy times weren’t always easy to come by in wartime, even for people like him who didn’t spend much time on the frontlines. He thought it was important to appreciate those good moments when they got them.
“Things have been awfully quiet the last couple of months,” she said as if she had been able to read his thoughts (which she could but she hadn’t in this case). “Just the one mission before the holiday. I’m sure COS hasn’t given up, I don’t think that will ever happen. When it’s over, I wonder what will happen? I mean we know that some people stay and build lives here.” She knew that she stayed here, Shamara and Shania had known her but they had said nothing to give her any hint as to what he life was like. Or if it included Luke.
“That’s usually a sign of a coming storm,” Luke mused aloud. He wasn’t honestly sure what he would choose to do when the war was won. They were fighting for an important cause here, but he had important work to do at home, too. Finding and training a new generation of Jedi, being there for Han and Leia and for his nephew. As much as Luke could be guilty of looking ahead, he was trying not to in this case.
“I know. I’m going to look on the bright side though. It’s a new year so good things should happen.” She looked at him and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “No matter what, I’m glad you’re here. That we’re here together.” Rey felt her face grow warm, she was not good at this but at least she could tell him that much. This was not something she ever would have expected to happen between them but it had and she wasn’t sorry.
“I’m glad, too,” Luke agreed. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. What the future held he couldn’t have said, but the present was something he was certain of and he was happy to share that present with Rey.